LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. o Shelf ;:ir^..^L.t ^ UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. T laC E] Farm and Household CYCLOPAEDIA. A COMPLETE READY REFERENCE LIBRARY FOR FARMERS, GARDENERS, FRUIT GROWERS, STOCKMEN AND HOUSEKEEPERS, CONTAINING A LARGE FUND OF USEFUL INFORMATION, FACTS, HINTS AND SUGGESTIONS, IN THE VARIOUS DEPARTMENTS OF AGRICULTURE, HORTICULTURE, LIVE STOCK RAISING, POULTRY KEEPING, BEE KEEPING, DAIRY FARMING, FERTILIZERS, RURAL ARCHITECTURE, FARM' IMPLEMENTS, HOUSEHOLD MANAGEMENT, DOMESTIC AFFAIRS, COOKERY, LADIES* FANCY WORK, FL ORIC UL TURE, MEDICAL MATTERS, Etc., Etc. WITH TWO HUNDRED AND FORTY-NINE ILLUSTRATIONS. New York : F. M. LUPTON, PUBLISHER, No. 3 Park Place. 1885. COPYRIGHT BT F. M. LTTPTON, 1886. S6 b\ PREFACE. Thk purpose of this volume is to supply a ready reference library of use- ful facts and suggestions for farmers and housekeepers. Within the pre- scribed limits of the work it would be impossible to present the fullest details of agricultural and kindred sciences, hence the author has deemed it politic to deal mainly with the more practical relations of agriculture and domestic ajBfairs. Such matters as are self-evident and well understood by every practical agriculturist — as for instance the details of the cultivation of the commoner farm products — it has been thought wise to treat upon but meagerly, in order that full scope might be given to practical hints and use- ful suggestions in all branches of agriculture. The object of the work is not to tell the farmer and the housewife that which they already know, but to present to them valuable information which it is believed cannot fail to be of material assistance in rural homes. In the preparation of the work great care has been taken and no pains have been spared to make it complete in every detail. Consultation of the best authorities insures its reliability, and it is believed that it will be found invaluable by all who become possessed of it, and that it will prove one of those exceptional books which are prized more highly by reason of age and constant association; for it will doubtless be consulted almost daily in the course of rural and household affairs. There is hardly a day in a farmer's life but that some problem arises not easy of solution without a reliable treatise of this kiud to consult. Sucli a want it is the purpose of this volume to supply. The author is well aware that the masses of agricultui-ists have but little money to waste upon luxuries of any kiud, and he is equally con- fident that the purchase of this book, far from being a waste of his hard earnings, will prove one of the most profitable of investments. Its pei'usal will develop new ideas, new methods and new theories in every branch of farm labor of incalculable value, and the household department will be found equally as serviceable to the farmer's wife as will the agricultural de- partment to the farmer. In the compilation of the work we have been largely indebted to the leading agricultural journals of this country and Europe, as well as to many standard works upon agricultural and household topics. Access to exten- sive files of the former could alone insure completeness in a work of this kind. Entire originality, therefore, we do not claim. We maintain, how- ever, that we have succeeded in producing a work of far greater value than any exclusively original production could possibly be, for we present herein the views of nearly all the ablest writers in the coitntry ui^on the various topics treated, giving to the people at large the benefits of their extensive experiment and research. It would be possible for a farmer, by subscribing for all the leading agricultural periodicals of the country for a number of years and by purchasing a considerable library of standard works upon the eubject, and carefully culling therefrom such items and articles as he con- !▼ PREFACE. sidered of the greatest intereat and value, and pasting them in a scrap-book, to collect a mass of matter equivalent to that portion of this book allotted to "The Farm," and his wife, possessing herself of authorities upon the sub- jects in -which she is interested and pursuing a like course, might produce a partial dupUcate of the matter contained in the department of " The House- hold " ; but the cost would have been as three hundred to a unit, and the result would be a clumsy, voluminous scrap-book with no method of ar- rangement, in comparison with a neat, handy and convenient volume ar- ranged with every facility lor reference. From this indisputable argument the value of the work to all interested in the subjects of which it treats may be computed; but we would not bo misunderstood as claiming that the pos- session of the work by a farmer and housekeeper will obviate the necessity of subscribing for the agricultural paper as usual, for, while the book is the more valuable for reference, especially in cases of emergency, the agricul- tural paper is indispensable as enlightening the farmer upon the new theo- ries constantly being promulgated and the new discoveries at all times being made, without which knowledge he would fail to keep pace with the age in which he lives, and therefore be unable to compete with his more progressive neighbors in the prosecution of his calling. The term " Cyclopaedia " as applied to the work is a misnomer according to the lexicographer's definition, inasmuch as the alphabetical arrangement of titles, as required for works thus designated, has not been preserved, the compiler being convinced that the arrangement of the subject-matter in departments would be more acceptable to the public. As by common usage applied to any work covering all subjects embraced in a certain field of knowledge, however, the title is entirely in keeping with the character of the book, for as a treatise upon all matters pertaining to the farm and the house- hold it is complete. It is a book for each of the heads of the rural house- hold, being equally as valuable and interesting to the farmer's wife as to the farmer himself, and may be truthfully said to embrace the cream of more than a dozen ordinary volumes, for it combines a book on Rural Archi- tecture, on Crops, on Fertilizers, on Gardening, on Fruit Culture, on Live Stock, on Poultry, on Dairy Farming, on Bee Keeping, on Implements, on Farm Management, on Cookery, on Medical Matters, on Fancy Work, on Floriculture, on the Toilet, on Domestic Economy and Household Manage- ment — in fact, it embraces all subjects in which farmers and housekeepers are most directly interested. The arrangement of the work in departments will, we think, commend itself to all, while the copious index at the end will render it extremely easy of consultation. The book is a permanent storehouse of useful facts, hints and suggestions for farmers and housekeepers. It may be consulted upon any problem or in any emergency that may arise, and will rarely fail to elicit the information desired. We believe it to be tlie very book that every farmer and housewife needs, and that it will repay its small cost many times over each month in the year. CONTENTS. PAOB Rural Architecture 11 Fences and Gates 27 Field Crops 37 Fertilizers 58 The Garden 81 Orchard and Vineyard 103 Small Fruits 180 Live Stock 137 The Poultry Yard 190 The Dairy 221 The Apiary 232 Farm Implements 241 Around the Farm 265 GooKiNQ Recipes 277 Ladies' Fancy Work 349 Flobicdlture 381 The Home Physician 412 Thb Toilet 461 vi CONTENTS. The Laukdhy , 471 Hints and Helps 483 Index 531 LIST OF ILLUSTKATIONS. PAGE An Inexpensive Cottage. —Elevation n " " Ground Plan 12 An Ornamental Country Cottage.— Elevation 13 " " Ground Plan 14 Elevation of an Octagonal Barn.— Fig. l 15 Plan of Basement.— Fig. 2 16 Corner Joint.— Fig. 3 l*> Corner Brace.— Fig. 4 16 Plan for a Barn.— Front Elevation l" " '• '• " Ground Plan 18 A Complete Stock Barn.— Elevation 19 Ground Plan 20 A Convenient Barn.— Fig. 1 21 Fig. 2 21 An Old Barn Improved.— Elevation 22 " " " " Plan of Basement 23 Appearance After Completion.— Fig. 1 24 Manner of Applying the Rollers.— Fig. 2 24 Model Carriage House and Stable.— Elevation 25 " " " " " Ground Plan 26 Farm Fences.— Fig. i 27 Fig. 2 -•-• 28 Fig. 3 28 Fig. 4 29 Fig. 5 29 Section of Straight Rail Fence 29 Durable Fence Posts 30 Always-Ready Gate 30 A Good Farm Gate 31 A Cheap Gate 31 Fancy Gates.- Fig. 1 32 Fig. 2 32 Fig. 3 33 Fig. 4 33 'i'restle Frame Used in Boring the Posts 34 Shovel, Axe and Digger 35 Trestle for Pointing the Rails 35 Section of the Six Rail Fence 36 Auger wneel 36 Pence for Marsh or Soft Soil 36 Wheat Shoclcs. —Fig. l 37 Fig.2 38 Fig.3 38 HowtoStack Straw 39 An Ohio Corn Crib.— Fig. 1 40 " " " " Fig.2 40 A Convenient Corn Crib 41 Corn Cribs.- Fig. 1 42 Fig. 2 42 Fig. 3 42 Contrivance for Catching the Potato Beetle 47 Mushroom Culture.— Tub 84 Movable Beds Against a Wall 84 Bed with Two Sides Partially Uncovered 85 Movable Shelf 85 The Melon Worm 96 Pruning- Making the Cut 103 Pruning.— Fig. 1 105 viii LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. PAOB Pruning.— Fig 2 106 Grafting Apple Trees 107 Transplanting Large Trees.— Fig. l 108 Fig. 2 109 Belgian Fruit Gatherer 112 In tlie Vineyard.— Fig. 1 126 " " " Fig. 2 126 " " " Fig. 3 127 Keeping Grapes in Winter.— Fig. 1 128 Fig. 2 128 A Cheap Trellis 129 Horsesboe.— Fig. 1 140 '• Fig. 2 140 To Break Horses from Pulling at the Halter.— Fig. l 141 " " " Fig. 2 142 How to Prevent Horses from Kicking 143 One Cause of Hide-Bound 144 Ringing a Bull 156 Relieving Choked Cattle 157 Cattle Rack 159 To Prevent Cattle from Hooking Fences 161 To Prevent Cows Kicking 162 Cheap Shelter for Stock 164 Feed Rack for Stock 166 Calf Weaner 167 A Winter Piggery 174 Convenient TrougTi 175 A Convenient Feeding Trough 177 A Good Pig Sty 178 Pig Scraping Table 181 An English Method of Hurdling Sheep 184 Sheep Ticks Magnified 186 Tank for Dipping Sheep 187 Feed Rack for Sheep 188 A Poultry House for Chicks 190 A Model Hennery.- Elevation 191 " " •' End View of Interior 192 Movable Poultry House 193 Model Poultry House.— Elevation 194 " " " PlanandYard 194 Chicken and Duck Enclosure 195 Inside of Incubator • 19^ Incubator Closed l^J Top Heat Incubator, on Table 198 Form of Tank 198 How to Raise Artificially Hatched Chickens.— Fig. 1 198 " " " " " " Fig. 2 199 " " " " " " Fig.3 199 Brooder 200 Canvas Covered Case 20i Common Transporting Case 201 Suspension Egg Carrier 202 A Rustic Poultry House 204 Packing Poultry Fig. 1 206 " " Fig. 2 206 Feeding Hopper ^| A Perfect Feeding Hopper ^% Chicken Coop.— Fig. 1 210 Fig. 2 210 Grain Chest for Fowls 213 An Inexpensive Chicken Coop ^i° A Cheap Chicken Fountain 217 Dairy Pail ^ Milking Pail ^l Strainer ^ Double Strainer *« Milk Cooler.— Fig. l ^ Fig. 2 ^ Power for Churning.— Fig. 1 *** LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. ix Power for Churning.— Fig. 2 ^^^ w n :: FJK-a •■'■";■"■;■;"::""::::::::;:::::::::: 225 Fig. 4 225 Improved Butter Worker.— Fig. i .".'.'.'.';.'.' 227 " Fig. 2 007 Movable Shelf for Holding Butter Prints. . . ooa Platform .„, Arrangement of Hives '..'.'.'.'.'. 0,9 Inside of End Piece 00, Outside of End Piece o^. View of Side Piece .„o Design of Roof ;:" Appearance When Complete 23s The Main Bee House, Showing Tiers of Hives.... -m The Swarming Bag 5^ The Queen Breeding Hives '.'.'.'.'.'.'.'. 09? Centrifuga: Machine, Showing Inside oqr The Queen Cage....! i^ Bee Hive.-Fig. 1 ." i^ ;; :; Fig.2 :::::::::::::;:::::::::::::; f^ '' " Fig.3 zil Combined Roller and Vibrating Harrow. . 041 Hay Elevating Apparatus ^Ti Home-Made Tool.— Fig. 1 ^t " " Fig.2 ::::::;::::::;:::::::::;;::::;::::;:::: m Improved Tread Power olt A Good Corn Marker ;!? A Good Clod Crusher ;t? Spile or Post Driver .It- Coulter-Cleaning Plow Attachment '.'.'.'. ois Farm Tool House .^o Corn Sheller ■'. ^ A Good Weeding Implement !.'.!!.'.'.".'.!". oin Thomas' No- Patent Scraper oXV Clod Crusher. ^51 A Good Road Scraper o?i Snow Plow ~ii Bag Holders or. Hand Plow i^l Making and Keeping Ice '.". ;?? Smoke House.— Fig. l o?« Fig.3 zii Trap.- Fig. 1 '^" " Fig.2 .'...;.■.■.■■■.■.■;.■.■.■.■ A Mink Trap A Good Mole Trap .^"i Martin Box fii Rustic Seat.— Fig. i i^ Fig.3 m Rustic Garden House orb HowtoThatch Roofs Hi Work Table Cover ^ Embroidery Designs.— Blackberry '.'.'..'.'.'.'.'. oTn " ;' InitialLetter '.'.'.'.'.'.'.'.'.'.'.l'.'.'.'.'.'.'.'.'.'.'.]]']'. 350 Work Basket fj, PillowSham T^i Clothes Brush Holder.-No. 1 ,?, Back of No. 1 ill Hanging Basket X?* Ornamental Scrap Bag ^« Toilet Pincushion ,„ Needle Cushion tti Pen Wiper 1% Music Portfolio and Stand iiL Fancy Card Basket i°l screen :::::::::::::y.::::\\::::v:::::::::::::: ^ 260 260 261 X LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. FAGE Slipper Case 360 Card-Receiver and Watch Case 361 Toilet Bottle Case.— Fig. l 362 Fig.2 362 Catch- All 363 Ottoman 364 Toilet or Work Basket 364 Crochet Sofa Pillow or Bolster 365 Handkerchief Box 366 Wall Pocket 367 Floral Transparency 368 Lamp Shade 369 Glove Box and Cover 370 Sachet 370 Ladies' Fancy Bag Purse 371 Scissor Case and Needle Cushion 372 Hanging Portfolio 373 Visiting Card Stand 374 Work Basket, Open 375 " " Closed 376 Knitted Dressing Slipper.— Fig. 1 376 Detail of Fig. 1.— Fig. 2 376 " " " " Fig. 3 376 Stand for Cigar Ashes 377 Baby Basket 378 Embroidered Chair Cover 379 Work Stand 380 Ivy for Picture Frames 381 Double Window and Plant Shelf 384 Pretty Arrangement for Sitting-Room Windows 385 Bay Window with Plant Platform 386 Deep Bay Window with Brackets 387 Ornamental Wardian Case — , 389 Rustic Hanging Basket 391 The Mud System of Slipping Plants 394 Rustic Flower Stand 395 A Miniature Green House 397 Megarrhiza Californica 399 Bromus Patulus Nanus 399 Rhynchocarpa Glomerata 40O Begonia Davisii 400 An Ivy Screen 401 A Living Vase 402 A Wardian Case 404 Stand for Ferns 406 TreUis for Plants 407 A Washing Machine 471 Convenient Clothes Bars 473 Clothes Sprinkler 47& THE FARM. RURAL ARCHITECTURE. AN INEXPENSIVE COTTAGE. — ELEVATION, All Inexpensive Cottage._We give the plan of a neat and beautiful country cottage, the low coat of construction of which adapts it to the wants of those in moderate circumstances, while, in attractive appearance and gen- eral convenience, it rivals those of a much higher cost. This cottage is designed in the rural Gothic or English manner, but much modified, so as to adapt it to almost any site. The light, open porch may be omitted without injuring the design. In the plan, .4 is the porch, from which we enter the hall or entry, 8 feet wide, with the two best rooms, each 16x18 feet, on either side of it. Connected with the living-room, in its rear, is a good pantry. B is the back entry, communicating with the kitchen. C is the back porch, which may be left open in summer, and inclosed in win- ter, when it will serve as a place for coal and wood. On one side of the kitchen fire-place is a closet, and on the other a sink, into which, if possible, 12 THE FARM. a watei'-i)ipe should be brought. The first story of this cottage is 10 feet, and the second stoiy 5 feet, on the sides, and 8 feet in the middle of the rooms. The pitch of the roof is a right angle. The cost of this cottage, with the interior neatly finished and painted in oil color, and the two principal rooms grained and varnished like oak, and their walls papered with suitable paper — all the other rooms having brown walls whitewashed — would be about $800. All Ornament al Country Cottage. — We give on pages 13 and 14 illus- trations of a plan and elevation of a cheap, but very ornamental, country cottage, which will be found both convenient and comfortable for a small family. If this plan is not extensive enough to meet your wants, it can be easily enlarged upon by making additions, or by enlarging the size of the whole plan, and thus in- creasing the dimensions of the rooms. This, however, would necessarily add to the cost of construction. The cottage, as shown in our illustration, presents a very aristocratic appear- ance, and, considering the small amount of money re- quired for its construction, is, we think, a veiy desk- able plan for a cheap and good dwelling-house. The dimensions of the rooms on the ground floor are plainly given in our second illustra- tion. The porch, with its seat, is lai-ge and roomy; the living-room is of good size, well lighted by a square bay-window. The kitchen is well supplied Avith closets. The first floor could be very much im- proved by adding a one-story kitchen at the rear, making the living-room into a parlor, and the kitchen into a dining and sitting-room; the additional cost would be very small. The second floor contains three bedrooms, very conveniently arranged, and each provided with a closet. The two down- stairs rooms and the large front bedroom are supplied with open fire-places, the value of which for ventilation is so often overlooked in cheap houses. Besides this, there should be ventilating tubes or shafts in the chimney sides, with registers opening from each room, thus insuring a good system of ventilation. The roof should be ventilated by openings under the pro- jected eaves. The estimated cost of this building is from $1,200 to $1,800, according to locality and style of finish. General Suggestions to Tliose Intending to Build. — The following excellent recommendations are from the American Home and Farm Cyclo- pedia: Farmers can afford to leave cellar-kitchens, basements, thii'd stories, and all other unnecessary stair-climbing devices to their city cousins, who AN INEXPENSIVE COTTAGE. — GROUND PLAN. BUBAL ABCHITEGTUBE. 13 have to count the cost of every square foot they build upon. The only ad- vantage of second stories in the country is that they are more healthful for sleeping apartments. If every fire has a separate flue, and each flue terminates in its own par- ticular chimney-top, there will never be any trouble over smoking fires, if the chimney is high enough. Proper care in the arrangement of various rooms will save those who have to do the housework a thousand needless steps. Kitchen and dining- AK ORNAMENTAL COUNTKY COTTAGE. — ELEVATION. room should always be adjoining apartments. The cliina closet best opens into the dining-room. A trap-door connecting the pantry with the dining- room is a great convenience. It is well to have the wood-shed very near the kitchen, and connected with it by a covered way, avoiding exposure in in- clement weather. An attic over the entire house, with a window at each end, will be found of signal utility for drying clothes in bad weather. Provide plenty of closets and cupboards in all of the rooms. The lady of the house, who is the one most vitally interested in this matter, should not 14 THE FAliM. Vie allowed to insist upon this in vaiu. Varnishing wood will make the paint last longer, and saves iucalcnlable elbow grease in house-cleaning. Shingles of cedar will last from thirty to forty years, and those of pine from twelve to twenty years. In the arrangement of out-buildings, the following relative proximity will be found conveuieut: First, the house; attached to that the kitchen-wing, with wood-house appended; then, at a little distance, the privy, carriage- house, and workshop, with pig-sty and poultry-house adjoined. Stone and brick walls should always be furred off, leaving an air space between the stonework and plastering throughout the entire wall, and open- COAL AN ORNAMENTAL COUNTRY COTTAGE. — CtROUND PLAN ing into the attic. This prevents dampness, and insures an equable tem- perature. Brick houses must have a slate, sheet-copper, or tarred paper cut-off inserted in the fovmdation just below the water-shed, as otherwise the moisture of the ground is worked up by the brick, keeping the walls con- stantly damp. Frame houses may be made much warmer and more comfortable than they usually arc by covering the studding with tongued and grooved sheathing, and this in turn by tarred building paper, placing the weather boarding over the whole. Fit the sheathing and weather boarding closely .•iround door and window-frames, and let the tarred paper lap over a httle where there is likely to be a crack. RURAL ARCHITECTURE. Vi Where ingrain carpets are to be UBed, it favors their economical cutting to have either the length or breadth of each room some multiple of their usual width — one yard — as twelve feet, fifteen feet, etc. Construction of an Octagonal Barn. — There are various plans for laying out and building banis of this shape, in all of which the principles are the same. There is a concrete or stone foundation wall, which may be cither below ground for a cellar or partially below it for a basement, or wholly above it for a stable, an inclined way being built on two opposite sides to give access to the bam floor. Upon this foundation the sills are laid, the comers being made at an angle of 135 degrees, instead of 90 degrees, as in the square building. There are no cross-beams necessary except upon the floor, there being eight bents in the building, all on the outside, the plates FIG. 1. — ELEVATION OF AN OCTAGONAL BAKN. being mortised exactly as the sills are, and the posts placed with regard to the necessary doors and windows, and the strength necessary to support the roof and stiflen the building. As many braces as may be thought needful may be used, but the braces must all be on the lines of the walls, and none of them cross-braces. The roof is an eight-sided cone, strengthened with purlin plates, and may be open at the center for a cupola or ventilator. The joints of all the plates and the sills will be at an angle of 62 1-2 degrees, in- stead of 45 degrees, as in a square building. This form of the frame will give a roof of the strongest kind — one that cannot spread, if well put to- gether, and one that offers less resistance to the wind than any other form of elevated roof. Inside of the bam there is nothing to interfere with the piling of grain or hay to the roof, and a wagon may be driven anywhere upon 16 THE FARM. FIG. 2. — PLAN OF BASEMENT. the floor. The plan of the basement is shown at Fig. 2, a being a passage for the cows, and a drive-way for removing the manure; h, h, are the stalls for the cows, of which there are fifty-two, having the feed-trough toward the center, and all reached by an inner drive-way. There are six stalls, and a room at each end of the stalls for harness. At e is a place for storing plows, carriages, wagons, or machines. A drive- way (f,f) passes through the basement from east to west. As many win- dows as needed may be built in the wall. The sills of the bam are laid upon the wall, as already mentioned; the posts are 28 feet high, and the plates upon these sup- port the rafters. The plates are fastened to- gether at the ends by be- ing halved, and the cor- ners fastened by half-inch iron bolts, as shown at Fig. 3. At each corner is a brace of 8x8 timber, bolted to and through the plates by three-quarter-inch bolts, and strength- ened by an iron plate on the inside, through which the bolts pass. The shoulders of the corner rafters rest upon these braces and plates, as shown at Fig. 4. These rafters are of 6x12 timber. Purlin plates of 8x10 inch tim- ber are bolted under the rafters, and are fastened together at the comers in the same manner as the plates. The intemiediate rafters rest upon these purlins. Iron tie-rods may be used to strengthen the rafters and hold them to- gether, if thought necessary. Fig. 1 shows the elevation, with a portion of the roof re- moved to show the manner of laying the rafters and bridging them. A crown rim is bolted to the rafters at the point of the roof — or, rather, the rafters are bolted to the crown rim — which supports a cupola. The cupola is fifty feet from the floor of the bam, the roof rising twenty-two feet, and the post being twenty-eight feet high. The floor of rio. 3.— cokner joint. the barn is laid upon beams, supported by no. 4.— coknek brace. brick piers or timber posts in the basement. A line of beams may be laid above the flool- on either side, above which floors may be laid; the space thus made may be used for granaries, or stor- age of farm tools or machines, or other cumbrous property. Plan for a Barii._We present herewith a plan for a new and improved barn. For convenience, neatness of appearance, and practical utility, it will RURAL ARCHITECTURE. 17 be found most excellent, and should any of our readers contemplate build- lug, they would do well to give this article a careful study; and should they not desire to follow out the plan to the letter, they might still be able to gain from it some valuable hints iu planning a barn of a different style. The fol- lowing is the description of the plan wo have illustrated: A, stables, 8x28, for nine cows, earth floor; B, man's room; C, carriages; D, harness room; E, meal or shorts; F, shelled corn; G, oats; H, passage-way; I, passage-way, 4 feet wide, platform floor, with pump; L, box for mixing feed; M, stairs; N, O, stalls, 5 feet wide; P, Q, R, stables, 6 feet ^vide; S, feed-bin for cattle; V, feed-box for horses; W, wagon shed, earth floor, 18x21; X, wagon shed, open at south and east, 9x17; Y, tool room, 9x10; Z, feed-bin; W, T, water-troiigh. Main barn, 30x42 feet; posts, 18 feet in the clear; shed wing, 26x30 feet; posts, 12 feet in clear; lean-to shed, 14 feet wide, 42 feet long — all to have roof at one-third angle of rise. There will be 230 feet in length of wall underground, to be built of rough stone 1 foot high and 18 inches thick. Upon this is to be laid, in courses, qiiariied stone, in blocks, not less than 8x12 inches, 1 foot high and 1 foot thick, and all pointed. There will be r e cj u i r e d twelve piers, each 18 inches square and 2 feet high; these to be built of stone, and four of them to have the upper stone 12x18 inches. All to be laid in good strong lime mortar, and in a workman-hke and substantial manner. There will be required for sills 334 feet in length of 8x8 timber, and 42 feet in length, 6x8; this last for the sill in fi-ont of cones in lean-to shed. For posts, girts of main beams, plates, etc., etc., there will be required 913 feet in length, of 6x6. For purlin beams, girts, etc., there will be required 454 feet of length, 4x6; and for intermediate girts, braces, etc., 394 feet of length, of 3x4 stuff. The sides should all be of oak or white pine. 18 THE FARM. The main beams, purlins, posts, girts, etc., may be of oak, ash, red birch, white pine, or white wood. The joists are to be of oak or white pine, and these will be required as follows: 103 pieces, each 14 feet long, 2x8; 20 pieces, each 9 feet long, 2x8; 20 pieces, each 10 1-2 feet long, 2x8; and 11 pieces, each 8 feet long, 2x8. The rafters will be as follows: 42, each 19 feet long, 2x4 at TIW ^ "^^^ W -26, X ^e Q. Q: Uj o ,i- L.?, 03 oe one end and 4x6 at the other, for the main beam; 21, each 17 feet long, 3x4, for the lean-to shed; and 30, each 16 feet long, 2x4 at one end and 3x5 at the junction of the first with the second stories (as shown from outside). There should be a strip inserted of 2x2. The frieze board to be 8 inches Avide and 2 inches thick. The boards all to be straight edge, and the whole to be bat- tened with sti-ips one inch thick and three inches wide, having the edges beveled half an inch, exhibiting a face of two inches. The whole to be of good, merchantable, dry pine timber. The roof boards may be of any Ught nURAL AliCniTECTUnE. 19 and durable timber, and shall be laid so that no space of over two inches may be found. That portion of the roof which projects beyond the up- right portion of the building shall be of double thickness. The shingles are to be of the best quality, and laid only 4 inches to the weather. The win- dows are to be made as per plan, all frames to be of seasoned pine, free from knots. The sash windows of 12 lights, each 9x12 inches, except two, ■viz., one in south end of main barn, and one in east side of same; these to be as shown m plan. The blind windows to be hung with butt hinges, and fastened with hasp hooks, both outside and inside. They are to swing outward. The doors are all to be formed to present an appearance outside same as balance of bam. They are to be jack-planed sufficient- ly to render them free of splinters iu hand- ling. They are to be placed and formed of height, width, etc., as shown in plan. They > are all to be hung with wrought-iron strap o hinges, and secured by latches and hasp hook g staples. 3 A Complete Stock Burn. — We present M herewith an illustrated plan, with careful de- J§ scription, of a complete stock barn, embrac- § ing many good and sensible points in its ^ construction, from wliich we trust our friends > may gather some valuable suggestions. a The body of the main barn is 100 feet long *| by 50 feet wide, the posts 18 feet high above ^ the sill, making 9 bents. The beams are 14 ^ feet above the sills, which is the height of the ^ inner posts. The position of the floor and | bays is readily understood from the plan. • The floor, for a grain barn, is 14 feet wide, but may be contracted to 12 feet for one ex- clusively for hay. The area in front of the bays is occupied with a stationary horse- power and with machinery for various farm operations, such as threshing, shelling corn, ciitting straw, cnishing grain, etc., all of which is driven by bands from drums on the horizontal shaft overhead, which runs across the floor from the horse-power on the other side; this shaft being driven by a cog-wheel on the perpendicular shaft round which the horses travel. A passage four feet wide extends between the bays and the stables, which occupy the two wings. This extends up to the top of the bays, down which the hay is thrown for feeding, which renders this work as easy and conven- ient as possible. A one-sided roof is given to the sheds (instead of a double-sided), to throw all the water on the outside, iu order to keep the interior of the yards dry. Eave-troughs take the water from the roofs to cisterns. The 20 THE FARM. cisterns, if connected by an underground pipe, may be all drawn from by a single pump if necessary. The floor of the main barn is three feet higher than that of the stables. This will allow a cellar iinder it, if desii'ed — or a deeper extension of the bays — and it allows storage lofts over the cattle, with sufficient slope of roof. A short flight of steps at the ends of each passage, admits easy access from the level of the barn floor. The sheds, which extend on the three sides of the barn, and touch it at the rear end, are on a level with the stables. An inclined plane, from the main floor through the middle of the back shed, forms a rear egi-ess for wagons and carts, descending three feet from the floor. The two rooms, one on each side of this rear passage, 16 by 34 feet, may be used for housing sick animals, cows about to calve, or any other purpose required. The sta- bles at the front ends of the sheds are convenient for teams of horses or oxen, or they may be fitted for wagon houses, tool houses, or other purposes. The rooms, 16 feet square at the inner corners of the sheds, may be used for weak ewes, lambs, or for a bull stable. Racks or mangers may be fitted up in the open sheds for feeding sheep 6RECS SHEQ3 ] I ^ - * LJ A COMPLETE STOCK BARN. — GROUND PLAN. or young cattle, and yards may be built adjoining, on the rear, six or eight in number, into which they may run and be kept separate. Barred parti- tions may separate the different flocks. Bars may also enclose the opening in front, "or they may, if required, be boarded up tight. Step ladders are placed at convenient intervals, for ascending the shed lofts. A granary over the machine room is enterecl by a flight of stairs. Poles extending from bay to bay, over the floor, will admit the storage of much additional hay or grain. A Coiiveiiient Burn. — A recent inqiiiry about how to build a barn, writes a correspondent of an agricultural periodical, tempts me to describe mine, which I think very handy. My barn is situated on a side hill with an inchue of about seven feet in forty to the west. There is a bridge at each end for a driveway, only one of which is shown in our illustration, Fig. 1. On the right, as you enter the main door, the bays extend down to the ground nine feet. Under the main floorway I keep my sheep. Under the bridge each end is open, to give the sheep plenty of light and air, as it will not do to keep them too warm. In stormy weather I close the doors. On RURAL ARCHITECTURE. 21 CONVENIENT BAEN the left of the main floorway is the cow linter, and, beneath, the pig pen. The arrangement will be more readily understood from the illustration, Fig. 2. 1. Sheep pen; 2. Barn floorway; 3. Standing floor in the linter; 4. Cows' manger; 5. Iron strap used instead of stanchion; 6. Tie chain; 7. A trough filled with dirt or sawdust for the animals' front feet to stand on, thus pre- venting slipping; 8. Cows" feed door; 9. Sheeps' feed door; 10. Sheep rack; 11. Pig pen; 12. Windows used for cleaning sheep pens and pig pens; 13. Tight partition; 14. Walk behind the cows; 15. Scuttle for cleaning out manure. It will be noticed that the door through which the sheci:) arc fed opens downward, and does not con- flict with the cows' feed door, which lifts ujiward. By having these doors the linter can be closed up tight in cold weather, and the cattle will keep warm. The main part of the barn need not be clap-boarded. So long as the roof is tight and the hay does not get wet, it is no injury to the fodder to have it well ventilated. This ventilation is indeed beneficial and necessary to carry off fi-om the fodder the effluvia from the manure in the cellar. Clieap Barn Cellar. — But comparatively few farmers (as compared to the masses) have yet been convinced that it will pay to construct a root-cel- lar, and then to raise the roots to fill it with, but for all that, those who have lii-()vided themselves with cel- lars find they pay. As it is not always convenient to have one beneath the bam, it may be built above ground as follows: Dig down three feet tlie size desired; twelve by twenty feet makes a good large cellar; and ten by sixteen feet will do for six or eight hundred bushels. Get on hand a lot of small logs or poles from six to ten inches iu diameter, with which to build the portion above ground. Cut the poles for each side three feet longer than the \^•idth or length of the excavation. Place the first two poles on flat stones or blocks back a foot from the edge of the hole dug, and upon opposite sides. Flat- ten the ends with the ax and lay two cross poles as you would in starting a log house. In these end pieces one foot from the end cut notches for the next side poles to he in. With each round, set the side poles in a foot, which will give a regular slant to the roof, and make a very strong frame for the weight that is to come iipon it. The end that is to contaLa the door should be carried up straight, while the other may be slanted up, as the sides. CONVENIENT BAKN. — FIG. 22 THE FARM. Cover this frame with cull or common lumber, laying the boards on up and down. Next put on a heavy layer of marsh hay or straw to keep the dirt from coming in contact with and rotting the lumber; over this put a foot of earth. A shute should be provided for filUng the house, and a small ventilation flue for winter. The end where the door is located should be double boarded and filled in between with saw-dust or cut straw; there should also be a double door. A storing house of this kind, if well made, -nill last eight or ten years, and give as good satisfaction as one costing $200. How an old Barn was Improved. — We present herewith a brief de- scription of how an old barn was remodeled and greatly improved without much expense, and furnish illustrations sho-sving the barn after the changes RURAL ARCHITECTURE. 23 had been made, aud the plan of the basement underneath in detail. By a careful study of this plan, our readers may be able to gather some valuable hints and suggestions. The original building was the common 32x42 feet barn, with fourteen posts, a fourteen-feet floor in the middle, with bay on one side and stable on the other, with a lean-to of thirteen feet in the rear, the building standing on the line of the road and facing the west, the grounds descending say one foot in thirty to northeast. It was first raised so that the northeast corner would clear six feet, dug out to a level of one foot below that of the lowest comer; then a ditch was dug one and a half feet below that under the outside sills, all around which was filled with MANURE SHEO \ urn 8 STALLS ■ I.T.I, ALLLY JOXa.8 HAY SHOOT * I # STALLS ~12X2 is' BAY ¥eX20 >»<- -J'^ >v HOAD AN OLD BABN IMPROVED.— PLAN OF BASEMENT. small stone. A substantial stone wall was laid on the west side, and twenty feet on both north and south ends; the rest of the building was double- boarded save where protected by other buildings. The front doors were then closed, the floor taken up, cut out the bay girts, and laid off a floor of twenty feet on the west side (space reaching from the ground to roof), made a floor twelve feet wide in upright and all of lean-to — in all twenty-five feet, and cut a door in south end. The bay now would hold more than the whole bam before; a large floor, 25x42, thirteen feet of which can be used to store grain, and a space of 25x42 feet for stable. A good idea of the interior construction may be obtained from the illustrated plan of the base- ment. 24 THE FARM. Hanging Barn Doorg on Rollers. — The great convenience of sliding or rolling doors on the farm outbuildings is well known, and as every farmer with a little ingenuity can construct them himself, there is no reason why they should not be generally adopted. Our illustration. Fig. 1, repre- sents the sliding doors, completed, as applied to the barn; Fig. 2, the man- ner of applying the rollers to the doors and track. The rollers, track and other trimmings may be obtained at any hardware store. The track is first securely fastened to the edge of an inch or two-inch board, about four or five inches wide. This is then firmly nailed or spiked to the building, parallel to and even with the top of the doorway, and should extend the width of the door on each side. In order that the doors may run easily, the track should l)e laid as level as possible, and upon one board. The manner of fastening the rollers of the doors is clearly shown in the engraving Fig. 2. The doors are placed upon the tracks at the ends of the latter, and are prevented from running off by placing a block at the end of the track or upon the side of the door. The track should be pro- tected from the weather by some kind of covering. Two narrow boards nailed together similar to an eaves-trough, and fastened to the building above the track and rollers, form the best kind of protection from snow or riG. 1. — APPEARANCE AFTER COMPLETION. -Our engraving of the elevation, riG. 2. — MANNER OF APPLYING THE ROLLERS. Model Carriage-House ami Stable on the following page, shows doors of the rectangular, car- riage-house portion of the building; also door to hay- loft. The carriage-house doors are folding, and open outward, as they can be made closer when hung on hinges than when hung on rollers; and as it is desirable that all doors and windows should be as close as practicable, that they may not affect the ventilation, the ingress of which is provided for by a subterraneous air duct, seen at A, in the ground plan. The posts are sixteen feet in length; the ceiling of the stable is nine feet in the clear, with storage in the loft for twelve tons of hay. The oat bin is a cylinder of one hundred bushels capacity, around which circular stairs are built. Its location could not be more convenient, as six horses can be fed grain with walking but fourteen feet, on account of the six stalls being with the head end around a semicircle of sixteen feet diameter. This circular area is open to the cupola, and being supplied with air through the floor, under the stairs, and the animals all breathing into a common een- RURAL ARCHITECTURE. 25 ter directly under the egress, the air is constantly changed without a per- ceptible current, and it is nearly at the temperature of the earth below the frost and solar influence; no doors nor windows need be opened. By reference to our illustration of the ground plan, it will be seen that the stall partitions are radial. The stalls are five feet in width in front, and eleven feet at the rear end. The stalls V and VI are arranged with strong gates hung to the wall of the building, in a line with the stall partitions, which, when closed, as seen in stall YI, foi-ni spacious, convenient box stalls. There is no partition between the carriage-house, "Nil, and the stable por- MODEL CABBIAOE-HOUSE AND STABLE. — ELEVATION. tion of the building, except that formed by the stall partitions and tho gates closed, as seen in stall VI. The ventilation is so effectual that the air of the stable does not effect the carriage-house; and it being arranged with three drive doors, three paii's of horses to carriages may all be driven into the carriage-house at once, and the doors closed behind them, and the horses taken to their respective stalls. There are two harness closets, H, H. The rectangular figures in each stable floor, are cast-iron drip grates, each covering a sink, or pit, into which the urine falls. These are all con- nected by pipes, which all connect with a main inner conduit, laid in the 26 THE FARM. ground by way of the stable door. This conduit discharges into the manure house. The quadrant-shaped figures at the head of the stalls, are hinged iron mangers, which may be turned into the feeding passages for conven- ience in feeding, and the man- gers may be unhinged and removed from the building when cleansed. The circular figure in the line of the stall partitions, is the base of a sheet-iron hay tube, which is supported at the height of the manger, and extends to the upper surface of the loft floor, where it is supplied with hay. These tubes have an opening to each stall, so that one tiibe sup* plies two horses, the tube be ing covered at the top, and close, except the feeding open- ings, and the lattice bottom to them protects the hay from air and dust, and is the most per- fect and durable hay-feeding arrangement yet discovered. The object of the lattice bot- tom to the hay tubes, is to preserve the hay seed which sheds. It falls into a drawer for the purpose, and the seed thus saved is of excellent quaUty, and the quantity thus collected well remunerates for the cost of the arrangement. The cupola is octangular, and has four openings, with stationary blinds, and four with glazed sash, which thoroughly light the hay-loft and feeding passage. The building is perfectly lighted and ventilated, and exhibits a pretty elevation from any point of view. MODEL CARKIAGE-HOUSE AND STABLE.— GROUND PLAN. FENCES AND GATES. Farm Fences. — In the following list of faiin fences we have endeavored to illustrate and describe only those that are of practical value and in actual use by many farmers. They illustrate the various modes of arranging rails for the turning of stock and indicating the boundary line of farms. In many sections of the country the common crooked, zig-zag (sometimes called the Virginia or worm) rail fence is extensively used, and, in consequence of the scarcity of the desired material, cannot be immediately replaced by the im- proved board, post and rail, iron or stone fence. As C(jmmonly constructed, with ^vide-8preading stakes at each corner, it occupies a strip of ground nearly a rod in width, which is far worse than useless, affording a harboring place for noxious weeds, etc. rf W ^ ^.^ m' Fig. 1 represents a section of a straight rail fence. The stakes are first driven in the soil from four to six inches asunder, suf3&cient to admit of a rail of medium size; a stone or block of wood a few inches in height is placed between the stakes, upon which are properly placed two or three rails; a piece of annealed wire is then placed around both stakes, the ends being well twisted together, iipon which are placed rails until within a few inches of the top, when another bit of wire, a wooden pin, or a wooden cap, as most convenient, is attached. In building this class of fence, it will be necessary to cut away with an axe a portion of each end of many rails, that they may fit closely within the stakes. In this, as well as other rail fences, the largest and heaviest rails should be reserved for the top, rendering their removal by unriily stock and high mnds less easy. Keep the crooked ones in a panel by themselves, and if they are very crooked it is policy to nae them for stakes, or consign them to the flames; for to have a fence to please and not to provoke the intrusion of stock, use none biit straigld rails. When economy of rails is desired, immediately after setting the stakes cast up a ridge of earth by plowing two furrows on each side, throwing up the second furrow -with a shovel, making a ridge a foot or more in height, and not less than a foot in breadth at the top; proceed as above iu the con- struction of the fence; sow grass seed upon the ridge. This plan saves two rails to a panel, renders the stakes more firm and less liable to heave by the action of the fi'ost, and unruly cattle do not have the same advantage in attempting to get through or over it. In situations not liable to the preva- lence of high winds, this is the fence that should be used, occupying less FARM FENCES. — FIG. 1. 28 THE FARM. FAKM FENCES. ground than many other kinds; and, when properly constructed, it is a substantial and neat fence. Fig. 2, though in appearance somewhat resembling the previous one, is more expensive, and is designed especially for the use of poles or slender rails that it would be im- possible to properly arrange in a fence by any other plan. To the stakes are nailed cleats, as shown, from four to seven at eveiy set of stakes. Size of rails and purpose of fence will decide this point. A ridge of earth can be thrown up as in the previous plan, -with a corresponding economy of timber. -^ yi^^ Fig. 3 exhibits a mode of stak- jT^T;::^ ing a zig-zag fence. After the foundation has been laid, the -FIG. 2. stakes should be driven; holes should be made with a crowbar to the depth of twenty inches at least. One man, stauding on a box or bench, drives them with a sledge-hammer or common wooden beetle, while an assistant keepf3 them upright. Make all the holes before you commence driving the stakes, which should be all sharpened, and the top end reduced to a size admitting the caps to pass over them readily before they are brought to the field. ■\^^lcn the fence is made four or more rails high (the size of rails, etc., will goveni), the caps arc put upon, and the fence finished by the addition of two or three more rails. In localities where caps are expensive or difficult to obtain, good annealed wire, size 10, will answer all pui-poses. It should be drawn tightly up around the stakes; it will bury into them, and the weight of the rails above the wires will rest upon the stakes, having a tendency to keep them iu the ground when acted upon by the frost. The most expeditious manner in which to sharpen stakes is to have a large, flat block of wood for the stake to stand on, which is held upright with one hand and sharpened with an axe held in the other; a hollow cut in the upper surface of the block will consider- ably expedite the operation. Hop poles, stakes for grape-vines, etc., are best sharpened in the above manner. In Fig. 4 is shown the best plan known for staking the common rail fence. It dispenses with stakes at the corners, and in consequence of their central position, they are not liable to be broken or loosened while plowing; nor does the fence occupy as much land as by the old mode. In consequence of the central point at which the stakes cross the upper rail of fence, it is required to sustain the weight of the stakes and riders; therefore, this part should be made strong and durable, of well-seasoned material. FAKM FENCES. — FIG. 3. FENCES AND GATES. 29 FAllM FENCES Fig. 5 represents a plan of bracing a rail fence, whether it be staked aad ridered, staked and capjDed, locked and ridered, staked and wired, or wii-ed and pinned, all of which kinds of fence are easily blown down by a heavy wind, rails broken, stock let into fields of valuable grain, time spent, :ind patience exhausted in rebuilding them. The manner of using the arrangement is clearly shown in the figure. It consists in placing on the inside leeward comer a piece of rail, one end resting upon the ground, the other placed undemeatli the third rail from the top. A fence braced as 3 V£ ridered fence by the side of it has been prostrated three times, although in a leee exposed situation, thus demonstrating the value of this attachment when used in connection with the common rail fence. Straiglit Rail Fence. — We present a section of straight rail fence, which will be found easy and cheap to construct, and economical in saving timber and occupy- ing space on the land. In constructing this fence good posts should be finnly y^^i/'x FARM FENCES. — FIG. 5. set at such distances apart as will admit of the rails reach- ing from the center of one post to the center of the other. If necessary, straighten the face of the posts with an axe, and hew down the ends of the rails to a uniform thickness. These rails are fastened to the posts by means of a stake, which rests on a stone or block of wood, and is firmly wired at the top and bottom to the post. In constructing the fence it is better to wire the bottom of the stake first — at the proper distance — and the top rather loosely, so as to admit the rails easily. When the rails are laid up draw the top wre tight, and if proper care has been taken in straight- ening the face of the post, hewing the ends of the rails, etc., the work will bind to- gether very tightly. The fence will last as long as the posts; it is strong, requires no nails, nor any more wire than to stake an ordinary crooked fence, and it takes but little over half the posts necessary for au ordinary board fence. SECTION or STRAIGHT RAIL FENCE. 30 THE FARM. Duraljlc Fence Post:;. — We give herewith a drawing and description of a fence post which we think will last one's life-time. The bottom of the post is formed of a stone — some kind that will drill easily — about eight inches thick and twenty long. In this stone two holes are drilled, one an inch and a quarter in diameter and three inches deep, and the other, half an inch in diameter and two inches deep; the holes should be about one foot apart. Bed the stone in the ground nearly level with the surface, with the small hole on the inside of the fence. Next take a scantling four inches square and three feet long, and put a bar of inch and a quarter iron into one end, lengthwise, about six inches. The end of the bar should project four or five inches. Place this into the largest hole in the stone, hold it plumb, turn in melted brimstone, and you have a post. Bend the end of a rod of half inch iron, and fasten in the other hole in the same way; the other end should be flattened and attached to the scantling with a stout screw. The bar should set tight in the post, and about one inch space for air should be left between the scantling and stone. Al-ways-Ready Gate. — We give an illustrated plan of an always-ready gate — a small gate for a barnyard or elsewhere, where a passageway is much iised. It is very convenient. This gate swings in a V- shaped inclosure, or in two sides of a triangle. Having the top hinge the longest and the post plumb, the gate, at rest, always hangs in the center, and rightly constructed will always leave a passageway of two feet. Cattle cannot get through it, nor do we think sheep will pass it. It is always shut and always open. It requires no watching to keep it closed, and will be found convenient in many ways. DUEABLE FENCE POSTS. ALWAYS-READY GATE. FENCES AND GATES. SI A Good Farm Gate. — We present herewith an engraving of a good and serviceable farm gate, which may be easily and cheaply constructed as follows: Four posts are set firmly in line, so that the front will be true. Measure fourteen feet, on line with those already set, and set the post the gate shuts against. Then place the sill for the gate to run on, fourteen or sixteen feet long, put down sohd. The sill for the gate to run back on can be made of any light material that will sustain the weight of the gate. The sill should have about one inch down grade toward the shutting post, and be spiked fast to A GOOD FABM GATE. the posts. The gate is made of any width lumber, and long enough to lap four inches on the shutting posts, and about two feet on the groove post, to keep it shady. At the bottom, the gate must have two boards to support the bolts that the rollers turn on. These rollers should be six inches in diameter, an inch thick, to run on half-round iron, placed at a proper distance from the bottom board of the fence, so as to let the gate pass without rubbing. The iron rod should have holes punched so as to let twelve-penny nails through to nail to the sill, about two feet apart. Nail down the rod and it is ready for the gate. The gate is put together with iixieeii two and one-half inch bolts and eight three and one-half inch bolts; the three and one-half inch bolts go through three boards at the bottom. The rollers (as per drawing) go between the bottom boards close under the brace, so as to get the bearing; the bolts should fit the rollers as tight as possible. These rollers in their place, put up the gate on the rod, and run it back on the fence; mark the four posts one inch above the top of the gate; saw them off square, in hue; place on top of the posts a joist twelve inches wide, two inches thick; let it project over in front of the gate far enough to clear it; now nail a six-inch strip on the edge of the joist, so that the top edge will be even with the top side of the joist; the four inches projecting down will serve as a groove for the gate to run in and keep it in its place; now spike the joist to the top of the post firmly; let the gate lap on the shutting post about four inches on half the posts; then nail the ends of the boards to the post occupy- ing the other half, so that the gate will shut against the butts, which will help sustain the post; now nail a board solid in line with the butts, and thick A CHEAP GATE. 32 THE FARM. FANCY GATES enough to project a quarter to a half inch from the gate; nail a stout board on the previous one, and let it project over about three inches toward the gate, and in line with the post, so as to make a groove for the gate to stand in. If it is properly shaped the gate will jam in it and remain solid until it is removed back. A Cheap Gate. — This gate, illustrated on preceding page, is designed merely for farm use. Wood and dietal or wire are combined in a novel manner in its con- struction. It may be cheaply made by un- skilled labor, and combines lightness with durability. The gate is composed of two wooden uprights, one at the hinge end and the other at the free end, two horizontal rails and an obUque brace connecting the rods. An iron brace connects the upper end of the inner upright, and is provided with an eye which receives the pintle of upper hinge. Wires are stretched between the up- rights, forming a complete panel. This gate is very light, and at the same time simple and strong. Some Fancy Gates. — For the benefit of such readers as may be contemplating the luxury of a new front yard or garden fence, or, in fact, an ornamental fence of any de- scription, we present on this and the following page iowv neat and orna- mental designs of cheap, fancy framed gates, which any carpenter can make, and which may be used appropriately with almost any style of picket or even with iron fences. These gates are usually made three feet six or eight inches wide. The space between the posts for an ordinary door yard gate shovild be three feet ten inches. That is, however, a matter to be decided by convenience, and the use to wliich it is to be put. A wide gate is more convenient than a narrow one, especially where baby carriages and wheelbarrows are nrach used, and the gate is employed as a common and general entrance and exit by the family for all purposes. To Presei->-e Fence Posts.. — A cor- respondent at Benton Harbor, Mich., sends us the following statement by Parker Earle (a widely known horticulturist), in the Chicago Tlmei^, and requests our opinion of his mode for preserving fence posts. In answer, it may be stated that no single experiment, or no single series of experiments under Uke circum- stances, can be adopted as a rule for unlike conditions. For general appli- cation, we would recommend first impregnating the whole of the post with crude petroleum as a general preservative, and when dry apply hot tar to the portion going into the ground, but none above. The petroleum will penetrate the pores, and the tar coating will hold it there. The following is FANCY OATES. — FIG. FENCES AND OATEF^. 33 FANCY GATES. — FIG. 3. Mr. Earle's atatomcnt: "In building a fence around our young orchard, ?everal years ago, wo tried many plans for I'rescrviug tlie posts. Having occasion to remove the fence this winter, we noted the condition of the posts as follows: Those sot with no preparation were decayed an inch or more in thickness; those coated with a thick wash of lime were better preserved, but were quite seriously ittackod b}' worms; those posts coated with hot tar were perfectly sound as when first put into the ground; those painted with petroleum and kerosene were equally sound, and as good as new. In future we shall treat all posts in the following manner before setting: Let the posts get thorouglily dry, and then, with a pan of cheap kerosene and a white- wash brush, give tlie lower third of the post, the part to go into the ground, two or three good applications of the oil, letting it soak in well each time. Posts so treated will not be troubled by worms or insects of any kind, but will resist decay to a remarkable degree. This we find to be the simplest, easiest, cheapest, and best method of prcsei,-vation." — Country Gevtleman. Eaay Metliod of Taking Up Posts — Wishing to take up fence posts, which were sound, and standing solid in heavy clay soil baked hard by drouth, a cor- respondent made his head save his muscle: " I found that by poxiriug a pail of water around the post it may bo very readily loosened liy the hand. Then by hooking a chain about it loosely, slipping the noose down as far as possible below the surface of the ground, and hooking the other end of the chain around a piece of light scantling, near the center, to act as a lever, the post may be lifted out of its bed very casilj'." A Good Fqiicp.— Kaise black walnut posts on the lot where they arc wanted. If they grow fast they will do in from five to seven years. Use the barb wire. Black walnut injures crops less than almost any other tree. No stock will gnaw or hurt it. The roots run straight down, so you can plow against the trunk. It grows straight and tall, and has but few limbs. The working of the tree will not break the wire. Black wal- nut will pay all expenses in a few years in fruit. Post and Rail Fences. — We give herewith plain directions, with appro- priate sketches, which we think will enable any ordinai'ily skillful farm-hand to make the simple machinery necessary for l)oring the holes in the posts, mortising them out, pointing the rails, digging the holes in the earth, and putting up a good and substantial rail fence. The posts are 7 1-2 feet long for a six-rail fence, which is the best and most generally used, and 3 to 4 inches thick by 7 to 8 inches wide. These posts arc hewn out. The holes in the post9 are oblong (up and down the post), and in size are 2 1-3x6 inches. FANCY GATES 34 THE FARM, The raila are 9 1-2 foot long, and 5 to 6 inches wide by 2 to 3 inches thick on the bark edge, and a quarter to a half inch thick on the other edge. In building the fence the bark edge is placed doum, as the thin edge sheds rain or snow more readily, which prevents rotting so rapidly. The rails lap in the holes about five or six inches, as shown in the section, Fig. 4. In making the posts the timber is c\it into proper lengths, and then split in proper size and hewn, leav- ing the ground end for two feet rough and unhewn, giving a stout base. This part of the work is done in the forest, after which they are hauled home, and put in piles ready for Iwring. The mode of making the oblong holes in the post is sho-svn in the cut (Fig. 1), a representing the post, thin edge up. Two holes are bored ydih. a two-and- a-quarter-inch auger at the points shown by the holes in the post on the trestle at o. The auger holes are six inches af)art//'o»(i. outside to outside. The trestle frame is made of stout timber and planks, as shown in the fig- ure. The planks are put on the benches edgewise, and fastened with stout pins. A plank is placed from one bench to the other for the post to rest on, and these benches are eleven and a half feet apart. In the two planks it will be seen that notches are sawed at points to cor- respond with the holes to be made by the auger. These notched planks are placed thirteen or fourteen inches apart, to enable the round or square wheel (see Figs. 1 and 5) to run easily in between them. The post is held on the plank firmly by stout wooden pins and wedges. The bottom hole in the post is made two inches above the ground level. The next hole is three inches from the top of the bottom hole; the next four inches above that; the next is five above that; and the top hole is six inches above the one below it. In boring the holes the auger, which is firmly fastened in the wheel, must be moved (wheel and all, of course) into the proper notches, and in this way every post is bored /•' E N a E S A N 1) a A T E S . 35 alike, and all tbo holes in the post are the proper distance apart. After your posts are bored, the next step is to have a narrow-blade axe, with a short handle, as shown at r. Fig. 2 (a common axe, wonld do, however), and with this mortise out the holes, which is done by laying the post flat- wise on the ground, or on a stout, low trestle, similar to the " pointer " shown at Fig. 3. When one side is mortised half out, turn the post and finish. A good hand will bore and mortise fifteen posts a day with these tools. The rails for this kind of a fence are split out in the woods, 9 1-2 feet long, all of the same length. A good hand can ciit down the tim- ber and split out one hundred of them in a day, in fair timber. They are hauled home gener- ally before being pointed. The ends of the rails should fill the holes as nearly as possible, so as to exchido moisture, the tighter the better. Pointing the rails is simple work. Two short-legged, stout trestles of any rough logs are placed about eight feet apart, as shown at Fig. 3, in each of which two large wooden pegs are driven to receive the rail, and between these pegs the rail is placed, thin edge up, and fastened in between the pegs with wedges of wood. They are now shai-pened off to about an inch thick for six to eight inches, the comers shghtly ni^jped, and the work is done. A man will point over two hundred in a day. To make holes in the earth, a digger (see Fig. 2) is used. It is about ten inches long by five wide, made perfectly straight, and to weigh, handle and all, about twelve pounds. It is made of good iron, laid with the best steel. Any blacksmith can make one. They cost about $1.50, without handle. The handle should be six feet long, and heavy. A club at one end would do for a ram- the fence, set the first post 4. After the FIG. 2. — 'e to it that you are paid for it next fall. Let us take a fork every few days and go around that straw stack, taking the loose straw that is under foot and cover 60 THE FARM. up that bare spot of ground. Throw it wherever the manure is thin, and the cattle will tramp it more, making better manure of the straw, while it helps the quality of what is already there. Take a horse and sled every week or so, and move that pile of horse manure and that pile of corn-stalks. Put them around in thin spots in your yard, like you did that straw, and then see what a difference it makes in your yard. Above that cow manure pile just have a few stock hogs where they can get at it, and I dare say it will be taken care of. Two or three hogs are the best aids you can find to assist about the yards, but in justice to the hogs I will say that it is not the best thing for them. But every farmer has a few stock hogs that he is carrying over winter, and I am sure he cannot keep them cheaper than in his barnyard, where they get most of their living out of the cattle droppings and what is left after feeding. If your cattle are fed on corn in the stable, the hogs will thoroughly scatter the manure pile to secure the corn. But now let us look a little to the bedding of our cows and horses. You road of A.'s or B.'s plan of securing liquid manure by troughs and pits, but you say you cannot do that way. I will tell you what yoii can do. Go to that straw stack and take largely of straw to bed your stock with. Don't be afraid of it, but make their bedding deep, especially behind them, where it will catch all the droppings. Then in cleaning your stables don't sort the straw too close, but throw out all that is dirty and fill up again with clean straw. The result will be that you are saving nearly all the liquid manure as well as brother A. or B. does it, and you have not had any of the troiible you were so afraid of. Moreover, your cows have had the benefit of a nice bed to sleep on, and they come out of the stable looking clean, instead of reminding you of a walking manure pile, as we often see cattle that are poorly bedded. There are some who have not got this extra amount of straw to lavish on their stock. To all such I say, go to your nearest saw-mill and get sawdust, and use freely for bedding, as this is as nearly as good an absorbent as straw, and makes good bedding. Now, my brother farmers, such of you as trill not give heed to the subject of foreign fertilizers and articles pertaining thereto, just try my plan for your own home-made fertilizers, and see how much you can increase them, and just that much will you increase your profits of the farm. Let us keep our eyes open through the winter, and at every opportunity turn a hand toward the barnyard, and manage carefully until we turn our stock out in the spring, and then we will counsel together again as to how we will handle what we have already saved, so as to improve the quality, and reduce the quantity, thus lessening the expense of removing to the field. goinethiiig in Regard to Fertilizers. — Different soils and different crops require very much different treatment and different elements of plant food. A judicious cultivation of the soil adds to its producing capacity. The elements of plant growth contained in soils are unlocked and made available to some extent by proper working of the soil. It was formerly believed that it was necessary to add all the constituents of plant growth to the soil before plants could be produced. That if we wished to raise wheat we must add the constituents of wheat. If wo wished to raise potatoes add the constitu- ents of potatoes. This is not now considered absolutely necessary. If we use a fertilizer rich in nitrogen, phosphoric acid, and potash, with judicious rotation of crops, we may not only raise good crops indefinitely, but bring the land up to a higher state of productiveness every year. On some soils we could safely leave ouk the potash, enough being yielded PERTTLTZKRS. 61 annually by decomposing particles of soil — unlocking the sand grains, as it were, to get their treasures. On some soils nitrogen perhaps would not bo called tor at first, and on others, rarer still, phosphoric acid might for a time be found sufficient in the soil. Cereal crops are especially benefited by nitrogen and nitrogenous man- ures. Usually from forty to eighty pounds per acre are recpiired tor full crops or largest crops. Clover is the V)est medium to use in charging soils with nitrogen. It is a nitrogen trap that is easily set and sure to catch. Clover may be specially fertilized vnth jDlaster. Potash is of little value in cereal growing, and phosphoric acid not greatly called for. In connection with nitrogen, phosphoric acid and potash are both useful in small quantities. For Indian corn phosphoric acid is perhaps the best special fertilizing clement. Land plaster often does good service. On some soils potash also proves valuable. Grass requires all the elements of plant food. Well-rotted maniire is pei-hajis the best special manure for it. Bone-dust comes next. Either of these can be used at seeding, or afterward as top dressing. Clover requires nitrogen and phosphoric acid in suuiU quantities. Potash and lime are its nioKt valuable manures. Turnips require nitrogen and phosphoric acid, the latter in soluble form. Superphosphates are specials for the turnip crop. Mangels want more nitrogen and less phosphoric acid than turnips. Potatoes are similar to tiirnips in their likes, and on most soils they need a supply of potash furnished. There is usually potash enough in our common barnyai-d manure for potatoes. One hundred pounds of good bone, thirty-five pounds sulphuric acid, and thirteen pounds of water, mixed in a wooden vat or tub, ^vill make one hundred and forty-eight pounds superphosphate dry. In mixing, however, much more water will be found necessary to possibly properly mix the mass, and when properly mixed, if after standing a day or two it is too damp, may be dried by adding ground plaster, or other material. The bone-dust should be wet with the water first, then the acid added, a little at a time; by so doing the vessel in which the mixture is made is less acted ujjon, and the incorporation with and action iipou the bone is better. Stir with a wooden hoe or mixer. Never attemjJt to reduce whole bones with the sulphuric acid. The advantage of reducing bones or rock phosphate with sulphuric acid is to render the solubility in water the greater when applied to the soils. Liming soils really adds no plant food to the soil, but has a tendency to develop it in the soil by the caustic, dissolving, breaking-down eftect that the actiou of the lime has iipon the particles of the soil, unlocking them, making them give up their hidden stores of plant food. It not only acts upon the mineral constituents in the soil, but upon the vegetable constituent parts. Variation in Manures—The subject of manures is of the highest im- portance in practical farming, for it is the basis of every eflbrt at improve- ment. It is much better understood than formerly, thanks to the effort of agricultural scientists, combined with the experiments of practical workers. There are, however, S(mie points which, though fully established, are too often overlooked. One of the most important of these is that bulk counts for little in fertil'zatiou as compared with quality. The introduction of guano and similar concentrated fertilizers, as superphosphate, nitrates of 62 1IIE FARM. potash or soda, has had a wonderl'tiUy educating influence in this respect. Farmers have marveled to see the large results from application of a few hundred pounds per acre of these fertilizers, and in some quarters these re- sults have led to an undervaluation of the home-made manures. The fact that the concentrated fertilizer, being deposited generally with the seed, is more immediately available, does not demonstrate its superiority -except for the single crop to which it is applied. The farmer who owns the land he tills, as most American farmers do, is interested not only in immediate pro- fits, but in maintaining, if not increasing, the fertility of his soil. It behooves such a farmer to make himself thoroughly posted as to the comparative value of stable and barnyard manures made from dillerent feeds and by dif- ferent animals. There is a much greater variation in the value of stable manure than is usually supposed, and this not depending on the amount or quality of the litter used as an absorbent, but rather on the excrement itself. A well-fed horse standing idle in the stable passes more of the manurial value of what he cats in his excreta than the same horse fed on the same material and hard at work. The nitrogenous and phoaphatic materials that are of great- est value for all crops are precisely those which are retained in the working animal to repair the waste of sinew and bone from labor. There is an equal and invariable difference in manure, depending on the kind and value of the food used. It does not follow that food of highly fattening qualities will make rich nranure. Few materials are more fattening than sugar, but as sugar is only carbon, though it will lay on fat rapidly, it adds little of value to the manure pile. Oil-meal makes a valuable fertilizer, for while the oil in the meal is ftittening, it is also rich in phosphates. English farmers have grown rich, or, what i^ the same thing, made their farms rich, by feeding oil-cake to fattening animals. The oil, of little value manurially, went into the fat cattle and sheep, while the principal part of the most valuable fertil- izing material was returned to their farms. We have other feeds costing much less than oil-meal, which for the resulting manure are nearly or quite as valuable. Among the least understood of these feeds is wheat-bran and coarse middlings. These are rich in the phosphates, comparatively poor in fattening qiialities, but of more value for working animals than is generally supposed. It has been found by experiment that a mixture of wheat-bran with corn-meal makes a miich better feed for work-horses than corn alone. It is not only in diluting the corn, which by itself is of too heating a nature, that such a seed is valuable, but the bran is absolutely richer in nitrogen and greatly richer in phosphates than the corn-meal. The time will undoubtedly come when progressive farmers in the older sectious of the country will feed for the purpose of making the most valuable manures with as nmch carefulness as they now feed for growth, milk, wool, or fat. In large sections of the country most of the profit of feeding must be found in the manure pile. As this fact becomes better recognized, the ma- nurial value of certain feeds and the difference in the resultant manures will receive that attention which its importance in the farm economy deserves Ho-*v to Enricli tlie Soil. — The Farm and Firesidp. says: The produc- tion of paying crops on old, upland clay soils depends largely upon restoring to it, in the most economical way, the plant-food most needed by the crop to be grown. If corn is to be grown, manures containing a liberal amount of phosphoric acid and potash will be required. As these substances are valu- able, constant cropping with corn will soon greatly diminish the value of the land. If wheat is to be grown care must be taken to supply the necessary amount of phosphates. Wheat, oats, barley, and rye each require a laryc per cent, of ammonia, which accounts in part for the excellent resulls that follow the use of anmioniated superphosphates. If a crop of seven hundred and fifty pounds of seed cotton is grown upon an acre of land, about six and one third pounds of phosphoi-ic acid and seven and a half of potash will be taken from the soil. In growing tobacco the soil is quickly exhausted of potash; for this reason excellent results follow the planting of this crop on newly cleared lands. Manures of all kinds should be carefully saved and applied to suit the needs of the crop to be grown. Cabbage grows luxuriantly when supphed with green manure. The bean plant, on the contrary, requires that which is thoroughly rotted. Nitrogenous manures greatly in- crease the yield of wheat and other grains, and when used with phosphates on soils of average fertility, give a visible increase of root crops also. An- other important factor in enriching the soil is a judicious rotation of crops, to be determined to some extent by the soil, climate, and the leading crops to be grown. In the North clover is indispensable, but in the South the corn- field pea answers an excellent purpose, especially for green manuring. In this section, whore the soil is clay, and wheat and corn are the leading crops, red clover is indispensable. Soil exhausticm maybe measurably prevented by even the simiilest of all rotations, ^hat of wheat, followed by clover, and this by corn. Such a rotation may be begun by sowing red clover in March upon the fields now seeded with wheat. Sow three pecks of red clover and one peck of mammoth clover, and one peck of timothy seed upon each six acres. The clover sliould not be pastured for the first year, except f«r a sufficient time for the hogs to pick up the scattered grain after liarvest. After the 1st of June of the second year the clover can be pastured, but a sufficient quantity of that in which the most timothy grows should be reserved to cut iov hay. This system provides for the accumulation of manure in a level yard with raised sides, so that the liquids will keep the entire crop of wheat straw and refuse cornstalks and other matter in a moist condition, and the decomposition of these materials is much hastened. After the haying and harvesting season is over, twenty-two horse loads of manure are applied to the acre on the clover field; that is to be plowed to a depth of eight to ten inches vei-y early the following spring, where the corn corp is to be planted. Each load is divided into eight piles, placed five and one-half yards apart. Before seeding to wheat the corn is cut and shocked, and a heavy, sharp-toothed harrow precedes the drill. The high-cut stalks, when harrowed down, act as a mvilch for the wheat plants during the winter, and measurably prevent washing even upon high ridges. A great advantage in this method of rotation is that the labor reqiiired to bring w^ the land in April is not half as great as in midsummer, and the com, by being planted fully a week earlier than it can be on similar soils where thei-e is no sod, yields abundantly and matures early, so that there is no delay in se('eiug doul:)le in value, and that of the hog five times that of the horse. Hen manure, mixed with two or fliree times its own bulk of muck, or even loam, is as good as most guano kept for sale. AsheSj % THE FARM. leached or uulcached, are excellent. The contents of the closet may be kept inodorouH, and iu an easily workable condition, by casting plaster uu them ireqiicutly iiutil removed, and then by adding lour times as much more of muck or loam, you will have a fertilizer equal to poudrette. Bones, old lioots and shoes, hogs' bristles, and all old scraps, which would otherwise lie about as nuisances and eyesores to all who see them, may be made solu- ble and lit for fertilizing by burying them in uuloaehed ashes, with an occa- sional slight watering and stirring of the heap, and addition of ashes, until reduced to a proper state for pulverizing. The pig should be supplied with all the weeds you can gather before they seed, and peat, muck, tui-f, etc., if thrown into his yard, he will work over, and pay for his keeping by largely increasing the amount of manure. He will work over ten or twelve loads if given to him. Clover as a Fertilizer — A stick of wood burned on the surface mostly passes oft" iu gas, leaving only the ashes; but the same stick if burned in a coal-pit, excluded from the air, forms a mass of carbon of nearly or quite its original size. Now all decay of vegetable matter is a slow combustion, and when this is dcme under the soil, not only the gases retained in the soil, but more carbon is formed, and this carbon has the power to appropriate the valuable gases always present in the atmosphere. The great value of clover as a fertilizer is due, first to the carbon furnished by the decay of the plant, and second to the fine mechanical efiect on the soil; which renders it jjorous, so that the atmosphere penetrates it and deijosits plant food. It is clear that better fertilizing effects will result from the plowing down of the crop to decay iu the soil. Ordinarily more can bo made out of the tops than they are worth for manure, and if rightly managed, the roots will supply the needed fertility. Iluiue-iuade Superphospliate. — A Western journal remarks that almost every farmer has upon his own premises one of the best superphos- phate manures kuown. The elements are found in the old bones, scattered carelessly over yard, garden and farm, and common wood ashes, generally allowed to go to waste. If the bones are gathered, placed under shelter, thoroughly mixed M'ith three or Umv times their bulk of ashes, kept moist with water enough to make a good lye and occasionally stirred and mixed, they will, in a few months, become so tender and friable that they may be pounded into powder, and in this state they form a valuable manure, better than the average of the commercial fertilizers that seem so expensive. The ashes, of course, should be mixed with the bones. The fertilizer thus made should be applied by the handful in the hill of corn, and its eti'ects may be early seen in the deep, rich green of the growing plant. This may seem like small business to a farmer who has but little spare time, but it is by just such economy that our best farms become so profitable, and it is by lack of such economy that so many farms fail to yield even a comfortable living. Soap Sucl ;. — The value of this article as a stimulant of vegetable life can- not bo too highly appreciated. It contains the aliment of plants in a state of ready solution, and when applied, acts not oulj' with immediate and obvious effect, but with a sustained energy which pertains to few even of the most concentrated manures. When it is not convenient — the most economical method, perhaps, of irsing it — it should be absorbed by materials which may be used as an iugi-edient in the cles. — The following is an extract from an essay on "Market Gardening," read before the American Nurserymen's Association, at Dayton, O. : Within the past dozen years many important ad- vances have been made in earliness and in quality of vegetables. Among beets we have the Egyptian, which matures at least five days ahead of any other variety, except the Old Bassano, which was too hght in color to suit; in cabbages, the Early Sunmier;'and iu cauliflower, the Snowball; in celei'y, 82 THE FARM. the Golden Dwarf; and the next season is likely to develop A, gl-eat improve ment in the N^w .Vhite Walnut celery — a stout, solid kind, having a rich, walnut-like flavor, and graceful feather-like foliage. In lettuce, the black- seeded Simpson and the White Summer Cablmge lettuce now lead all the out-door varieties. In muskmelons, the Hackensack, of which many thou- Band acres are grown for the New York market, ia almost exclusively planted. In peas, a great improvement is developed in the dwarf variety known as American Wonder, though for general early crop the improved Dan O'Rourke is best. Potatoes vary so much in different localities that it is difficult to say which of the new sorts are most valued; we find, however, that in our general trade more of Beauty of Hebron is planted than any other of the new sorts. In radishes, the Round Dark lied is now the main favorite, while next in order comes White Tipped Turnip. In spinach, the Savoj' and the new Thick-Leaved are the best for general crop, though we lind that the Savoy should not be sown in spring, as it runs too quickly to seed. Though every year brings out new claimants for favor in tomatoes, it is my convic- tion that we have not advanced one day in earliuess, unless in such varieties as Key's Prolific and Little Gem (which are of poor quality), in twenty-five years, although we have now many varieties somewhat improved in quality. The varieties now most poi)ular with New York market gardeners are Acme and Paragim, tho\igh, from the unusual advertising given to Trophy, the general cultivation of that is greater than any other; but, as it is usually found now, it is far inferior to many others, besides being one of the latest. Rotation of Garden Crops. — Have yoii not frequently noticed that some men change their garden spots every few years ? If you ask them why they do so, they will tell you that vegetables don't seem to do well there after a few years' cropping. In starting a garden on an ordinary piece of ground, which has not before been used for this purpose, two or three years are required to get it pul- verized and enriched sufficiently to produce a first-class crop, hence the necessity for rotaiuing the same piece of ground for garden purposes. This can be done by adopting a proper system of rotation. It is a good plan to make a diagram of the plot used for a garden, and have it marked off into divisions of suitable proportions for the vegetables required. Each division should be numbered, or, what is just as good, the name of the vegetable raised there written upon it. These diagrams drawn each year should be carefully pre- served, so that, by referring to them, one could ascertain just what had been raised on each particular division for years back, and by this means keep up a systematic rotation. For convenience, the garden-plot should be long and nari'ow, thus enabling a horse ciiltivator to be used to advantage. I have noticed that most gardens are nearly sipiare in form, but have never yet been given a good reason for this. A garden 8x20 rods in size can be cultivated with a horse at less expense and with less work than a garden 3xi rods can be worked by hand, as gar- dens of this size usiially are. Such garden vegetables as rlnibarb, asparagiis, and others of a like kind, requiring two or more years to reach the proper bearing condition, should, of course, be given a permanent place for several seasons; but they, too, need removing about once in four years, in order to get the best possible re- sults. TLey should never be so located as to interfere with the cultivation of other vegetables. THK GARDKN. 83 Many gardeners pnt these plants among their small fruits, but they are as much in the way there as anywhere in the vegetable garden. They will not do so well, and are also a heavy drain cm the soil, causing an injury to the bushes about them. The best way is to give them one of the long, nar- row divisions, above referred to, clear through the length of the garden. How to Make a. Good aurden. — The soil must be well drained, either naturally or artificially. It must be rich; and the manure should be thoi-oughly worked into the soil. Plow the land in the autumn, and plow it again as early as possilde in the spring. If there is any rubbish, remove it or dig holes and bury it below the reach of the plow. Then plow again, or work the laud with a cultivator. I take otf some of the inside teeth of the cultivatoi", so that the horse can draw the cultivator as deep, or nearly as deep, as the land has been plowed. This work should be done when the soil is dry and the weather warm. You cannot possiljly stir the soil too much while the sun is shining. It lets in the sun's rays and warms and mellows the soil. On light, sandy soil, thoroughly and deeply plowed and manured the fall previous, there are many crops which can be sown to advantage without again plowing in the spring. It often happens in this latitude that five or si.x inches of the surface soil in the spiing is thawed out and dry enough to work, while underneath the ground is frozen solid. If we wait till this frozen soil can be plowed, we frequently lose a good opportunity for putting in early ci'ops of peas, potatoes, onicms, cabbage, lettuce, radish, spinach, etc. And besides, the soil that we turn up with the plow, and which comes to the surface, and in which we sow the seed, is cold and damp, while the surface soil which we turn under is warm and dry. Transplanting. — Inexperienced gardeners are apt to tliink that a rainy day is the only fit time for setting out plants, and will often delay a week or two longer than is necessary waiting for it, and finally plant when the ground is soaked and when they sink to their ankles in the soil. That is the worst time that could possibly be chosen, excepting when the ground is congealed with cold. For it is impossible that the mold, sticky and clammy while wet, can filter among the roots, or remain of suitable texture for them to spread themselves in, permeable to them and equally pervious to the air in every part without anywhere exposing their tender parts to actual contact in chambers of corrosive oxygen. A rainy day is an advantage if the plants are set before the ground has become wet, but the safe and sure way is to go for the plants as soon as the ground is fully prepared, no matter how dry the weather. A pail or bucket should always bo taken to carry the plants in, having a little water in the bottom. The roots being set in this will absorb until the plant is so gorged that it will endure a drying air after being set in place. If the ground is very dry, water should be poured in before plant- ing, which is very much better than pouring uprinkling the hills with bone-dust, which opera- tion I repeat every daj' until they are out of reach of the striped bug, that foe to melon patches. Now I don't say that sprinkling with bone-dust is a sure preventive in all cases to the bug, but it has proved a jiaying applica- tion to me. I have had fewer bugs in my melon patch since I began using Till-: (1AU])EN. 93 it, and it also acts as a tonic to the vines, making them more vigorous. I ilo not confine the applications of bone dust to melon vines, but use it whero- ever I fear the stiiped bugs." A Now Metliocl of AVatermeloii Culture. — A correspoudcut of the liaral New Yorker describes the following method by which an extraor- dinary crop of watermeloua was raised: Holes were dug ten feet apart each way, eighteen inches square and fifteen inches deep. These holes were filled with well-rotted manure, which was thoroughly incorporated with the soil. A low, flat hill was then made and seed planted. When the vines were large enough to begin to run, the whole surface was covered to the depth of a foot or fifteen iucliea with wheat straw. The straw was placed close up around the vines. No cultivation whatever was given afterward; no weeds or gi'ass grew. The vines spread over the straw, and the melons matured clean and nice. The yield was abundant, and the experiment an entire success. This is surely worth trying. Uoxe^j for Melons and Cucumbers. — It is a good plan to make boxes, say twelve inches square and eight iuches high, without bottom or top; these, l^laced over the cucumber or melon hills, and covered with grass, give an impetus to the plants early in the season that nothing short of a hot-bed will effect. If very early, place a little fresh manure around these boxes to keep the contents warm. It is astonishing what an eftect this simi^le contrivance will produce; and not only is it valuable for protection Irom the cold weather, but it is equally valuable as a protection from melon biigs and other predatory insects that seem to watch for oiir choicest esculents. Cucumbers on Trellises. — No one who has not tried it can have any idea of the luxurious growth of a cucumber when trained on a stake, which has a set of stubby side branches left along its length, and the crop on some so trained was enormous. By this the vines occupy less space, and it is the natural habit of the cucumber to climb instead of trailing on the ground. How to Groiiv Early Cabbages. — A successful gardener writes: I BOW the seeds of the kinds I wish to grow in February or first of March, in small or shallow boxes, in forcing-pit, hot-bed, or if these are not to be had, a siinny window of the house will do. The boxes I use are eighteen by twenty-four inches, three inches deeji, made of one-half inch boards. The kinds of early cabbage I generally raise are Early Jersey Wakefield (best if pure), Winuingstadt, Early Summer and Fottler's Early Drumhead. "The first two fir early, the others for second early. I only treated the first two as above stated; the second early I sow in common hot-beds from the 1st to the 15th of March. After the seeds sown in boxes are up and about three inches high, it is necessary to transplant them in other boxes, like those they were sown in, about one and a half to two iuches aj)art every way; or put one plant in each pot, and pots close together in boxes, treating the same as if planted in boxes. Pots are better than boxes, and I use them largely. About one week or ten days before planting in garden, they must be hard- ened oft" by exposing gradually, night and day, in the open air. I set my plants tlie end of April or beginning of May. The plants which are in boxes are taken in the boxes to the part of the garden where the ground is ready to plant. Plant Wakefield twenty inches in rows and Early Sunnner the same; the other kinds twenty-four inches. The rows should be thirty incthes apart, so that a cultivator can bo used. Early radish, lettuce, spinach, etc., 94 THE FARM. can be sown between the cabbage rows, and be out before the cabbage needs all the room. After cabbage, celery can be sown, on the same groimd. In this way other vegetable plants can bu raised to advantage. In fact, I have raised all the following with success: Early cauliflower, early lettuce, early kohlrabi, early savoy, early celery, early beet, early tomatoes, early cucumbers and early squashes. Fertilizer for Cabbage — " I find," says a writer in the New England Home>,tcad, "that cabbage needs more hoeing and stirring of the soil than almost any other crop. Neither do I approve of too much stable manure, except for an early crop, for it has a tendency to dry the soil and does not furnish potash enough. I had much rather have tobacco stems or stalks, cut up fine and plowed under broadcast, with some chemicals in the drill, for a medium or late crop. As to chemicals, whether to be iised alone or in com- bination with other manures, I recommend this formula as being best and cheapest, which every farmer must make for himself: Two hundred pounds of dry ground fish, two hundred pounds of bone meal dissolved in sulphuric acid, two hundred pounds castor pomace and one hundred pounds of muriate potash, or more if the potash salts (kainit) are used. The fish and castor pomace furnish ammonia in quick and slow forms; the bone, phos- phoric acid; while the potash is very necessary to a cabbage crop. A ton of this mixture costs about $40, and is sufficient for an acre wit^i light manuring, or half the quantity if manure is used liberally. This is the best cabbage grower I have found. With it and tobacco stalks, used as described, I raised cabbages that weighed over twenty pounds. One dozen, as they were taken to market, weighed over two hundred iiounds." Novel 3Ietliod of Grooving Cabbages. — A novel plan for setting celery and cabbage plants which has several desirable points to recommend it, is to place them between the rows of your potatoes or sweet corn after the last hoeing. The growing corn or potatoes will afford a partial shade which is very desirable at the time of setting the young plants and until tliey get fully established, and yet ripen and can be removed in time for them to occupy the ground as a second crop. Two crops on one piece of ground with ten dollars' worth of labor and manure will afl'ord more profit than one crop on which five dollars are expended. Parsley. — No garden is complete without a parsley bed, and nothing looks prettier or more ornamental. It is not only useful in soups, but for garnishing dishes of meats and vegetables it cannot be surpassed. The only objection to it is its slow germination. As a small bed of parsley is sufficient for a family garden, the labor necessary to its cultivation is trifling, as the attention to a few square yards of ground can hardly be considered an encroachment upon regular work. It is a native of Sardinia and loves warm weather, but owing to the length of time required for the seeds to germinate, it should lie sown very early. It the seed is soaked for twenty-four hoiirs in warm water, previous to sowing, they will sprout in shorter time, or, what is better, mix them with earth dampened with warm water, and keep near the stove in a box until the seeds burst. The earth in the box should not be allowed to become dry from evaporation, but the moisture should be kept by frequent additions of warm water, care being observed not to have it too wet. The ground should be very rich, with well-rotted manure if any is used, spaded deep and fine, and well raked, in order that not the smallest lump or stone may i-emain. Then sow the seed in rows, mixed with radish, THE ART) KM. 95 and cover lightly. As the radish will soou push through and hIiow the rows, the grass can be kept down with the hand. Spiuacli. — Spinach, though an aristocratic crop on some accounts, may become also the one crop of the masses for early use, if they will only grow it. And this is the way: Wheel some manure upon the patch where your early garden peas were, spade the ground thoroughly, mark it off in drills eighteen inches apart and an inch or so deep, aud sow to spinach. That is all there is to it. Sow the seed tliickly in the rows, and when it has attained sufliciont size to thin out, what a delicious dish of " greens " you will have this fall, at a season, too, when, although green things are generally no rarity, yet, because of their extreme delicacy and lusciousncss, you will esteem them a great and rare treat. Then with the on-coming of freezing ground, cover with straw or litter of any kind. Let this remuin till after the frost is out of the ground in the spring, when it may be taken off, and, with the first tulips of your llowcr garden, you will also have spinach greens for your din- ner — a most delicious and healthy dish. Moreover, if you do happen to have more than you want, just talce them to the village market, aud sec how readily you can sell the surplus. Perhaps, indeed, you may thus establish quite a prolitable local trade in this delicious ci'op. Try it. Poles for Beuii ) ai»d Otlier Climbers. — White birches and alders so commonly used for bean poles, are about the poorest, for they last only one season at the best, and sometimes break off at the surface of the ground, and let down the beautiful pyramid of green before the pods are v'\y>c. White cedar from the swamps is durable, and the rough bark enables the vines to climb without any help from strings, but these are not always accessible. Eed cedar is much more widely distributed, and on the whole makes the best bean pole. The wood is as durable as the white cedar, and young trees, from which poles are made, grow quite stout at the ground, and, if well set, will resist very strong winds. A set of these poles will last for a generation. Fur bean poles, all the side branches are trimmed off, but for a support for ornamental climbers, these jnay be left on. A cedar, six or eight feet high, with the branches gradually shortened from below, upwards, makes an ex- cellent support for ornamental vines. One of these, covered with a clematis, or other showy climber, makes a pyramid of great beauty. It is well to pre- pare a supply of poles for beans and other plants before the work is pressing. Beets. — For beets the soil should be rich, mellow and deep. Plant in drills about two inches deep and the rows about twelve or fifteen mches apart. Set the seeds in the drills about two inches apart. For field culture the rows should bo wide enough to admit the horse cultivator and the roots not nearer than one foot in the rows. The mangel-wurzel beets grow to a very large size, are coarse and wonderfully productive, making excellent food for cattle. Those who have never tried the mangels for stock have yc t to learn of their great value for cattle, both for milk and meat. Then, they are juicy and refreshing, and add to the health and comfort of the animals. In no way can so much good food be grown as cheaply as in mangels. TUe Melon AVorm — The melon worm ( PluikiUitrn Uijidiitfasslc(e. Thin sections of the diseased portions reveal the fungus with its spores, under the higher powers of the microscope. As the spores arc exceedingly numerous, the soil becomes in- fested with them, and communicates the trouble to plants upon the same soil next year. A diseased crop should not be followed by cabbage again. Only healthy plants should be set. An application of lime to the soil has proved of benefit, and from the nature of the trouble, he thinks, the use of sulphur would be iiseful. Soil for Sugar Beet^i. — The beet requires a deep, permeable soil, for its roots penetrate deeply into the ground and are abundantly supplied with fine fibers through which it receives its nourishment. If the soil does not permit the root to grow down deeply the top will be forced to grow above the ground, and the crown which grows out of ground is nearly worthless for sugar purposes. A deep, sandy loam is the best soil to produce beets ricli in sugar. They will, however, grow on a variety of soils, and any soil which will plow and subsoil to the depth of twelve or fifteen inches is a good beet soil. Avoid all wet lands and muck bottoms as unsuitable. Beets will not flourish on wet lands, and what grow are not sweet. Muck bottoms produce large tops but small roots with little sugar in them. Sulphur and Tobacco. — A mixture avy crops and splendid specimens of pears to the libei-al use of this fertilizer. Not only did we use all that we could save on the place, but bought liberally at good prices. If enough cannot be secured to put over the whole surface spread the ashes around each tree. The best time to ap- ply the manure is in late fall or early spring, after the plowing and before the harrowing. If there is an undue growth of wood and foliage diminish the supply of manure; and it is sometimes well to put the land down to clover (never to timothy, wheat, rye or other uncultivated grain), and let it remain one or two years in sod. It can then be plowed and planted with com to break the sod, and the ground either used for vegetables or kept fal- low. —Agriculturist. "Waste Bones for Trees ami Vines. — The bones of fish, fowls, and the large and small pieces of bones which are purchased with beefsteak and mutton, constitute the very best food for fruit trees and grape vines, if the fragments are only placed where the roots can lay hold of them. Instead of allowing pieces of bones to be cast into the backyard, as food for stray dogs and cats, domestics should be directed to deposit everything of the sort in a small tub provided with a cover. As soon as a few pounds have accumu- lated, take the tub to some grape vino or fruit tree, dig a hole thi-ee or more feet long, a foot or two wide, and not less than a foot deep, into which the bones arc dumped, spread over the bottom of the excavation, and covered with the soil. The more the fragments can be spread around, the better, but they should be buried so deep that a plow or spade will not reach them. The roots of growing vines or fruit trees will soon find the valuable mine of rich fertility, and will feed on the elements that will greatly promote the growth of healthy wood, and the development of fair and luscious fruit. Many horticulturists and farmers purchase bone-dust costing not less than two cents a pound, simply to enrich the soil around and beneath their trees and vines. Fragments of bones are just as valuable as gro\ind bone, al- though their elements of fertility will not be found available in so short a time as if the large pieces were reduced to atoms. Nevertheless, if large bones be buried three or four feet from a grape vine, the countless numbers ORCHARD AND VINEYA RD. Ill ot mouths at the ends of roots will soou diesolvo, take up, and appropriate every particle. When cast out of the kitchen door, bones are a nuisance; whereas, if properly buried, they become a source of valuable fertility. Lot every person who owns a grape vine or fruit tree save all the bones that pass through the kitchen, and bury them whore they will be turned to some profit. OrcUara Mjiiiugeuient. — In three years, says a writer, I improved the production of my fruit trees from fifteen to two hundred bushels, by treat- ing them in the following manner: I first reduced the top one-fourth, then in the fall I plowed the soil as well as I could, it being quite rocky, and turned a short furrow toward the tree. As I worked from them I let the plow fall a little lower, and when between the trees I allowed the plow to run deep, so that the water would settle away from them in the spring. I hauled a fair quantity of coarse manure, pulverized it well, and marked out the hills, measuring each hill. I planted corn and beans, and harvested a nice crop of corn, beans, and pumpkins. The following spring I repeated the same form of cultivation, and harvested the second crop of corn, beans, and pumpkins, which paid mo to satisfaction. My trees began to grow very fast; and that fall I harvested seventy bushels of very good apples. The following spring I manured for the third time, planted it to potatoes, wliich grew very large, but rotted very badly. I made up the loss, however, by harvesting 200 bushels of large and natural fruit. I changed the production of a yellow bellflower tree from three-fourths of a bushel to seven bushels, and sold them for $1.25 per barrel, which I think a very good return for my labor. From my experience I am of the opinion that most trees have too nuich top for the amount of roots and a deficiency of nourishment for pro- ducing a developed fruit. I like fall or winter pruning. Always cover the cut with grafting wax or a thick paint. After removing the limbs by thin- ning out the center of the tree, it has a tendency to make it grow broad. Too many varieties are bad, and hardy stock is all that is needed. Tlie Roots of Fruit Trees. — While fruit growers are aware now that the roots of trees and plants extend to a great distance, still it is difficult to break away from the old habit of manuring about the trunks, trusting that somehow or other the fertilizer will be appropriated, and fearing that if spread broadcast it may some way become lost. It will be found difficult to place manure in an orchard or vineyard where the plaints will not reach it, and if properly spread it will not be lost. Should it .sink into the subsoil the roots will follow it and bring it back by the ear, as a teacher Avould a truant school-boy. We have observed the roots of apple trees in sand pits extendLug downwards ten feet. We recently followed the roots of an old grape vine twenty feet under the location of a defunct building. When we stopped digging, the roots were as large as a little finger, were four feet be- neath the surface, and probably extended ten feet farther. A pile of ma- nure about the base of this vine would have done but little good. Know- ing the extent and habit of root growth, it is apparent that ci;ltivation close about the trunks of the trees or vinos is not necessary; and is often produc- tive of more harm than good in marring and breaking, besides tempting pro- fanity on the part of the plowman. Ho>v to Fertilize Fruit Trees. — Here and there on all farms and in most fruit gardens will be seen an occasional tree or graj^e vine which seems to lack vigor — does not grow well, and yet seems to have no particular dis- 112 THE FA li M. ease. The itrobabilities are that the tree is dying of etarvation and needs a liberal supply of food. When you give it this ration do not pile a load of manure around the trunk of the tree or the body of a grape vine. That is just the place where it will do the least good. Nearest the trunk of the tree the roots are all large; the fibi'ous roots — the feeders — are farther off, near the ends of the roots. These only can take up the niitriment. It is always safe to assume that the roots extend as far from the trunk in every direction as do the limbs of the trees, and to properly fertilize, spread the manure all over that area. Then fork it in, and you have done a good work and done it well. If some disease has begun its work on the tree, you will put the tree in a healthy, vigorous condition, the better enabling it to successfully con- tend against its enemies. We have seen numerous old pear and apple trees, bearing poor and gnarled fruit, which the owners consider of no value, which such treatment as we have outlined above would restore to their original usefulness. A Belgian Fi-i»it Gatherer. — We illusti'ate a novel little invention for gathering fruit as used by the Belgians. It is made as follows: Take a pole ten or twelve feet long, and on top of this attach a thin disk, as shown by the illustration, al^out six inches in diameter, set with wooden teeth, just like the teeth of a hayrake. Carefully placing this under a pear so that the pear rests on the disk, and giving a slight twist, it will at once detach and bring down the fruit without marring or injuring it in anyway. BELGIAN FRUIT QATHERKB. Ho-»r to Renew an Orcliarcl. — We would plow the orchard in the fall, and then either cross-plow it in the spring or cultivate it thor- oughly, according to its condition. Thorough working the ground will help the orchard and also the crop. It should be plowed shallow, especially under the trees, and care should be taken not to break oft' or mutilate the roots. Much damage is done to orchards by careless plowing. Com is the best hoed crop for an orchard, and beans the next best. Potatoes should never be planted in an orchard, as they exhaust the potash from the soil, and this is just what the apple trees require. Barley, or spring rye, is the best adapted to be sown for the seeding. Under the apple trees the grain should be thinly scattered, for much seed would only be wasted on account of the shade, but the grass seed should be put on thickly. The least exhaustive crop should always be grown in an orchard, or else the trees will be robbed of needed sustenance; hence it is always best to pasture the ground rather than mow it: nothing will run an orchard down so fast as to make it a meadow, as it is a double robbery. The ground may be plowed in the spring, but for an orchard, we would prefer turning it over in the early autumn, in order that the trees may have the full benefit of the decayed sod and the more mellow soil. Errors in Fruit Tree Culture — Deep planting is one error — to plant a tree rather shallower than it formerly stood is really the right way, while many plant a tree as they would a post. Hoots are of two kinds — the young and tender rootlets, composed entirely of cells, the feeders of the trees, always found near the surface getting air and moisture; and roots of over one year old, which serve only as supporters of the trees, and as conductora OliOirAJil) AKJ) VIN]£YARP. 113 of its food. Henco the injury that ensues when the delicate rootlets are so deeply buried in earth. Placing fresh or green manure in contact willi the youug roots is another great error; the place to put nianiire is on the sur- lace, where the elements disintegrate, dissolve, and carry it downward. Numei-ous forms of fungi are generated and reproduced by the apjilication of such manures directly to the roots, and they immediately attack the tree. It is very well to enrich the soil at transplanting the tree, but the manure, if it be in contact with or very near the roots, should be thoroughly decom- posed. Fruit Tree Culture. — A writer in the Western AgricuUnrisl gives these rules, which are of wide application: 1. Instead of " trimming up " trees according to the old fashion, to make them long-legged and long- armed, trim them down, so as to make them even, snug and symmetrical. 2. Instead of manuring heavily in a small circle at the foot of the tree, spread the manure, if needed at all, broadcast over the whole surface. 3. Instead of spading a small circle about the stem, cultivate the whole siirface broad- cast. 4. Prefer a well pulverized, clean surface in an orchard, with a moderately rich soil, to heavy manuring and a surface covered with a hard crust and weeds and grass. 5. Kemember that it is better to set out ten trees with all the necessary care to make them live and flourish, than to set o\it a hundred trees, and have them all die from carelessness. G. Kemember that tobacco is a poison, and will kill insects rapidly if properly applied to them, and is one of the best drugs for freeing fruit trees rapidly of small vermin. Protection of Trees. — Mr. A. M. Daniels, in an address before the Chenango County Farmers' Club, in relation to the protection of trees, stated as the result of his oljservation that, " when the ivxiit is stimulated to rapid growth by an abundance of juices in the tree, it is aft'ected by the hot sun and drying wind. In the disease called the frozen sap blight, so disastrous to young oi-chards when it affects the trunk, tho tree dies. This occurs more frequently after severe winters, by inactive or an-ested circulation. Young orchards should be protected from the hot sun or cold of winter by tihe use of straw, cloth, or board boxes. The scorching rays of the sun should never be allowed to come on the body of a tree, and Nature by the foliage i)rovides agamst it. No fruit tree can stand freezing and thawing in spring without being injured by it. The great object to be attained in raising a young orchard is ripened and mature growth. WTien that is attained we are on the road to success. Late growth should not be stinnilated." Fruit Cellars. — Fruit cellars need careful oversight; for the late sorts to come to proper perfection, and to keep well, they must bo in a tempei-a- ture as low as may be without freezing; it must not be forgotten that fruit in ripening gives oft" heat, and this must be regulated by the admission of cold air from without. In ripening, a considerable amount of carbonic acid is given off, which would be of use in retarding the ripening, but very danger- ous if allowed to accumulate in the cellar of a dwelling, hence ventilation by means of a chimney, or in some other manner, is a matter that must be attended to. Tliiuning Fruit. — An orchardist who makes his trees bear a moderate crop every year, of larger and finer fruit than when crowded, gives the fol- lowing dii'ections for doing the work: A light ladder is used to give ready access to any part of the tree. Tlie branch is held in the left hand, while 114 THE FAliM. with sheep shears in the right, every bunch of apples is cut ofif, leaving a part of the stem of each fruit. This is done as soon as the blossoms have fallen, and before the young fruit has attained any size. When this branch is en- tirelj' cleaned, the next branch is skipped, and the third cleaned of the fruit like the first, and so on until every alternate branch is divested of its fruit. This work is not done ou the small limbs here and there over the tree, but on main branches, and equally on both sides ot the tree. Of mediiim-sized trees, an active man will go over fifteen or twenty in a day» Destroying tlie Pluin Curculio. — A great deal of useless advice has been given out concerning easy methods of destroying the plum and peach curculio. In most parts of the country it is impossible to raise plums unless one exercises a daily warfare against the insects. Persons who have two or three plum trees about the yard should succeed in raising fruit enough for their own use, but this they are seldom able to accomplish. Tbe less trees one has, the greater will be the proportionate number of insects to attack them. Such methods as burning coal tar under the trees, hanging cobs, satu- rated with molasses, among the limbs, are usually of no avail in saving a crop of plums or peaches. The only sure method is persistent catching. The curculios spend their nights near the base of the tree, under chips and barks. Early in the morning they ascend the trees, to lay their eggs in the young fruit. There are two modes of catching them. The one devised by Mr. Ransom, of Benton Harbor, Mich., is to nicely smooth tlie earth about the l>ase of the trees, and to lay a few small blocks of wood or chips on the surface. The beetles crawl under these for shelter, and can be taken very early in the morning before they ascend the trees. The chips should be examined as soon as one can see in the morning. This is the method most practiced in the extensive peach belt of Michigan. The other method is to spread a large sheet under the tree, and jar the beetles off ou to it 1)y means of one or two qxiick blows with a long-handled mallet or bumper. Each of the large branches should be struck, and the mallet should be wound with cloth to prevent injury to the trees. This practice should be followed early in the morning also, as when the days get warm the beetles are too lively to be caught. Many of the best peach and plum growers practice both these methods. In the case of a few trees about a yard both should be used, and there will be little doubt as to a good reward in fniit. The practice should be followed up every morning for a couple of weeks after the blossoms fall, and at wider intervals imtil the in- sects disappear. A sheet may be stretched over a large wooden frame for convenience in handling. A Suggestion to Growers of Plums. — If you want a good crop of plums or damsons, as soon as your trees are out of blossom, and the Iruit formed, keep a hen with a brood of young chickens tied beneath the tree, and give her a range as wide as the boughs of the tree, and she and her brood will destroy every curculio, and reward your care and forethought with a crop of luscious plums. Keep the chickens ther6 until the fruit be half or more than half grown. Manure for Fruit Trees. — It is best to abstain from the use of stimu- lating animal manures, unless decomposed, and previously composted with mellow soil. Nothing is better than wood ashes to induce a sound, healthy OnOHARD AND VrNKYAni). US growth and good yield. The scrapings of the wood pile mixed with ashes, decayed leaves, and road washings, are all of value as manures. Salt sprinkled aroiuid the trees, or applied in the form of brine, is frequently beneficial, especially where the fruit falls before ripening. Maxims for Fruit Groivers. — All fruit trees like a rather dry, rich soil. On a cold clayey bottom diseases are usually frequent. Do not plant deep; cut off tap roots, and encourage surface tibres. Surface manuring is the best mode of doing this after the tree is planted. Do not allow anything to grow vigorously arm;ud your trees the first year of planting, nor allow the soil to become hard or dry. Iiisectai Iiijuriou!^ to Frtiit Trees. — To keep the insects from the trees requii'cs the closest observance, and, soon as found, destruction must com- mence. Their habits should be learned as much as possible. When the in- sects are in the winged state is the time they lay their eggs. They multiply with astonishing rapidity, one insect often hatching thousands in a single season. June ia the time most of the insects lay their eggs, and at that time bonfires should be built at night, when the insects will fly into them and be destroyed; or, if you have only a few trees in the garden, get some bottles with wide mouths, and till half full with a mixture of water, molasses, and vinegar, and tie up in the trees; empty in a week, and fill again. And at that time (June) the bark should be washed with soft soap, the trunk and the limbs as far as can be reached; also sprinkle a handful of coarse salt around the roots of the tree — wo have found it valuable. Put coal ashes, about a pock, ar(jund the base of each tree, as it not only drives away the grubs, but acts as a fertilizer. The best way to kill insects on the tree is to dust air-slaked lime over it when the dew is on the tree; or, steep tobacco stems in boiling water, and, when cool, syringe the tree. Birds are of great value in destroying insects, and they should have the best of care given them, to encourage their building and living on the place, especially our common sparrow (not the English sparrow), wrens, bluebirds, robins, quails, etc. Don't allow them to be frightened or shot at, and they will pay well. Toads and bats destroy a great many insects in the spring. As the green fruit drops it should be gathered up and fed to the hogs, for it contains a Avorm which biirrows in the ground. Where small quantities of trees are grown, as in the garden, it is a good plan to fence in the trees, and let the hogs or chickens eat the green, wormy fruit as it tails; we have known plum trees to bear enormous and paying crops when treated in this way. Pear Bligltt ttnd PeacU Yellows — Pear blight and peach yellows are subjects of prolific and dissenting discussion at every horticultural meeting. Mr. Satterthwait, in a report on the diseases of fcuit trees to the Pennsyl- vania State Horticultural Society, points out the great ditt'erence between the two diseases; namely, that while the yellows is extremely contagious, no one need fear to plant a pear tree where a blighted one has been removed. He stated that he had thousands of trees, vigoroiis and entirely healthy, that were planted l)esjde the stumps of trees killed by the pear blight, and not one was ever affected. Ho regards it as proved to a certainty that pear blight is an entirely different disease in its nature from the peach yellows, and he mentioned, as additional proof, that it is a usual occurrence for pear trees to be locally aff"ected, or in a single bi-auch, without the disease spread- ing, and the tree entirely recovering its liealth and vigor. 116 THl: parm. Mr. Satterthwait reported favorably of the Kieffer pear, about which opin- ions are so variable With him it has proven not only woudertully produc- tive, but handsome iu appearance and gaining high prices in market. He believes the quaUty of this much-disputed pear depends lai'gely on properly ripening the fruit. His plan consists iu ixickiug Ihe pears in wooden boxes, containing about one bushel each, and jDlacing them in a cool, dry cellar, one on top of the other. In this connection it may be well to state that C. M. Hovey, of Boston, is credited with saying that the Kieffer is the least satis- factory of all his eight hundred varieties of the fiear — another indication that the Kietl'er gives difterent results in different localities under varying circum- stances. Tomato Leaves a Reiuedy for the Curculio— " I planted a peach or- chard," writes M. Story, of the Society of Horticulture of France, " and the trees grew well and strongly. They jiist commenced to bud when they were invaded by the curculio (pulyou), which insects were followed, as freqiiently happens, by ants. Having cut some tomatoes, the idea occurred to me that, by placing some of the leaves around the trunk and branches of the peach trees, I might ])rcserve them from the rays of the sun, which are very power- ful. My surprise was great, upon the following day, to tind the trees entire- ly free from their enendes, not one remaining, except here and there where a curled leaf prevented the tomato from exercising its influence. These leaves I carefully unrolled, placing upon them fresh ones from the tomato vine, with the result of banishing the last insect and ehabling the trees to grow with luxuriance. Wishing to carry still further my experiment, I steeped in water some leaves of the tomato, and sprinkled with this infusion other plants, i-oses, and oranges. In two days these were also free from the innumerable insects which covered them, and I felt sure that, had I used the same means with my melon patch, I should have met with the same re- sult. I therefore deem it a duty I owe to the Society of Horticulture to make known this singular and useful property of the tomato leaves, which I dis- covered by the merest accident." TUe Codling Moth aitd Otiier Enemies of the Apple. This old enemy of the farmer is now getting in his work iipon the growing apples. Where an orchard is infested with them, we know of no reliable method cf getting rid of them and saving the crop. The curculio, which is so destruc- tive to the plum crop, is of late quite as damaging to the apples, in some sections doing much more harm than the former; and there is still another pest which is working a terrible harm to the crop — the apple maggot ( Trip- peta Poiiiouella). This burrows in the apple, often several maggots being found in the same apple. The eggs are laid by a small fly, somewhat resem- bling the common house-fly, but much smaller, through a small opening in the skin, made with its ovipositor. The best guard against these pests is for every farmer who has an orchard to keep sheep or swine running in it all the season through. These will eat up every infected apple and thus destroy the larvffi, which, if left unmo- lested, will bring forth a crop of pests for next year's crop. If every one would do this, it is safe to assume that the ravages of these pests would be materially decreased. Diseased Cherry Trees. — Many of our neighbors' cherry trees are be- coming knotty, and dying, writes a correspondent of The Rural Neir Yorker. A lady narrated iu our hearing, a lew evenings since, her experience with a ORCHARD AND VINEYARD. 117 tree of the same description. A large tree, of the common red variety, stood by the kitchen door. The body and limbs were knotty and rough, the fruit scanty and worthless; the dead leaves in fall were continually drifting over the porch and walk; in fact, in the good housewife's eyes, the tree was simply a nuisance, and she importuned her husband to remove it. He re- fused to do this, however, and she determined to kill the tree. First, a bar- rel of beef brine was poured abcmt the roots, and this was followed by boil- ing suds, every wash day. Tlie result was satisfactory, but far from that anticipated. The following season the tree was loaded with superior fruit, and was free from all knots and other defects. The enormoi-s crop and changed appearance of the tree might not have been attributable to the ap- plication of brine and soap-suds, yet we beheve the experiment to be worthy of trial. Kerosene as an Insect Destroyer. — Kerosene is a cheap and effective insecticide where it can be applied without injury to the growing tree or plant, but to what extent it can be safely used has not been fully deter- mined, the results obtained not being uniform. Spraying kerosene upon the leaves of cotton killed the plant. The bark of elm-trees, around which bands of felt saturated with kerosene had been apphed, was destroyed wherever the oil reached it. The trunks of orange-trees which had been wet with kerosene to destroy scale insects were deniided of the greater part of the bark to which the oil had been apphed. On the other hand, a bark louse, which was very abundant upon some ivy, was destroyed by the appli- cation of pure kerosene, with no apparent bad results to the vine. Protection Against Pear Bliglit. — The Onrdener's Monthly gives a statement from G. R. Dykeman, uf Shippeusburg, Pa., of his experiments in applying oil to the trunks of fnrit trees — a practice which has been strongly recommended for its beneficial effects, amtmg other things as a protection against pear blight. Mr. D. applied oil last year to 600 peach trees, 200 apple, several pear and plum trees, and 100 quince. All the peach trees, five years planted, were killed; the other trees were not injured. Other peach trees were painted with refuse lard and linseed oil, and these are all dead. The object in greasing was to keep the rabbits off. Oil is sometimes applied for the white scale. Injuries to Trees — Injuries to trees should be repaired as soon as dis- covered. Limbs broken by snow and ice must be sawed off to make a smooth wound, and this covered with paint, varnish, or wax. Barking by mice or rabbits often looks more serious than it really is. The majority of cases will recover if the Avound is protected by a thick poultice of cow-dung and clayey loam, bound on with a piece of coarse material. In very severe cases the tree may be saved by connecting the bark above and below the wound, by means of twigs of the same tree; the ends are chamfered, and inserted under the bark above and below, to bridge over the wound, cover- ing the exposed parts with grafting wax. Protection Against tlie Plum Ctircnlio. — A fruit grower states that he kept a plum tree from curculios by sprinkUng the ground under the tree with com meal. This induced the chickens to scratch and search. The meal was strewn every morning from the time the trees blossomed until the fruit was large enough to be out of danger. The consequence was that the fowls picked up the curculins mth the moal, and the tree, being saved from the presence of the insect, was wonderfully fruitful. 118 THE FARM. Suggestions to Fruit Growers. — I liud that lime, wood ashes aud old iron put around the roots of declining fruit trees have a very beneficial oftect, writes a fruit grower of many years' experience. These fertilizers restore the tree to a healthy condition, and also greatly improve the fruit in quality aud quantity. I made the application on a Windsap and Never Fail, about half a bushel of mixed lime and ashes to each, and dug it in with a hoe some six feet aroxind the trunk, and put the old iron immediately around the base of each. The trees put forthwith renewed vigor, bloomed abundantly, aud yielded a good crop of fiiiit. An excellent wash for trees may be made thus: Heat an ounce of salsoda to redness in an iron pot, and dissolve it in one gallon of water, and while warm apply it to the trunk. After one applica- tion the moss and old bark will drop off and the trunk will be quite smooth. The wash has highly recuperative properties, making old trees bear anew. I have tried soft soap as a wash with good results, aud also a coating of lime in the spring season, which is a fine specific for old trees. The ques- tion is often asked, is it best to manure trees iu the fall or spring ? I have found the summer season to be a good time; I have much faith in miilching, especially young trees, for several seasons after they are planted. Apple trees are said to have two growths during the season — the secondarj^ growth takes place after midsummer, hence it is that a top-dressing of good manure, and also coarse litter, facilitates the late growth, and often produces very marked results in the habit and formatiou of the tree. The good effect that mulching has to young trees is, that it wards off the intense heat of the sun from the tender roots, and also has a tendency to hold moisture. A good top-dressing of stable manure in the fall, around young trees, with a good many corn cobs cast over the surface of the soil, give satisfactory results. Ants on Young Trees. — An authority says that ants do not destroy trees. The ants are after the lice which are hurting the trees. These lice exude a sweet substance which attracts the ants, and the ants do no harm. To get rid of the lice make a solution of whale-oil soap, and add to a pailful one drachm of carbolic acid. Syringe or spray this on the under side of the leaves and it will either kill or drive away the lice, and the ants will be seen no more. Diseased Peach Trees. — The following is said to be a sure remedy for the yellows in peach trees: " One part of saltpetre to two of salt, placed close to the body of a tree before a rain. It seems not only to destroy anj' fungoid growth of vermin which may be infesting the roots, but to act as an excellent fertilizer." Suggestion Regarding Apple Trees. — It is a good idea to wrap the trunks of apple trees with burlap sacks, and to examine the wrappings every few days, or at least evei-y week, to ascertain if any of the grubs or worms of the codling moth have found their way into them, that they may be destroyed. Tlie Peacli Borer. — A fruit-grower placed tobacco-stems around the trunks of peach trees, and there is not the slightest sign of a borer in any of the trees so treated. He set the stems around the butts of the trees, and tied them at the top. It keeps off rabbits as well in winter. ORVHARD AND VINEYARD. 119 Fruit Growing Joltings. — "Line upon line, precept upon precept," saya a Southern fruit grower, must be written regarding the proper manner of planting out fruit trees; uot that there exists a great diversity of opinion, but because so little heed is paid to the plain teachings of nature and com- mon sense. " The way father or grandfather did it " is authoiity for the ma- jority, and they seek no further knowledge. Now the world moves, and many nt^w and valuable methods have been devised which insure the desired kind and quality of fruit, hasten maturity and prevent decay. The non-progressive orcliardist sells his fruit for a nominal figure, whenever he has any to sell, which is not often, and is con- tinually complaining because his orchard " doesn't pay." It does paj' for all the labor bestowed iipon it, but it will not pay for what it docs not receive. Any kind of a fruit tree is an enormous feeder if it produces any amount of fruit. Who can reasonably expect to receive barrel upon barrel from any given tree, year after year, when nothing is fed to it? As well might the owner expect to work a week on the memory of a Sunday dinner. Trees should be led, therefore, and liberally, too, if large crops of fine fruit are expected from them. The old-fashioned way of crowding trees in the space devoted to orchard pui'poses is still persisted in, notwithstanding the teachings of nature to the contrary. Trees are crowded in the rows like lodgers in a tenement house, and the results are as disastrous in one case as in the other. Trees, hko human beings, need air and light. They raust have these, or their lives do not reach three score years and ten. Fruit vnll ii,o( grow in the shade, and it is beyond the power of any man to cause it to do so. 'Tis triie, when trees are young, a proper space seems unreasonably lai'ge — there seems to l^c a waste, but there really is none. It is question- able if planting small crops, like strawberries, melons, tomatoes, etc., is ad- visable, even in the earlier stages of growth, and it certainly is not unless a liberal quantity of some proper fertilizer is applied. As the tree enlarges and reaches out its arm-like branches, it asks for more food; it also asks that God's sunlight may be permitted to kiss it from topmost branch to root, and unless this request is granted it shoots skyward, bearing no fruit except upon its highest bi-anches, and becomes liable to be attacked by numerous diseases. Who has not noticed that a tree, standing solitary and alone, alirays bears a liberal quantity of fruit ? Who has not noticed that such trees are invariabh' healthy ? Who has uot remarked that if the entire orchard was like this or that solitary tree, there would bo money iu fruit growing? Must so plain a lesson be unheeded ? Can we not learn so simple a lesson with- out paying the immense price we do for tuition ? The number of trees upon a given area docs uot determine the value of the orchard. If they are in ex- cess of the proper number, they certainly are, comparatively, of little worth. One argument xised by those who favor close planting is that the shade thereby produced kills the grass and weeds which would steal the life-blood of the tree. This argument is born of pure laziness, and if carried into effect, as it too often is, the tree is deprived of its means of thrift, that its loafing owner may not blister his hands or burn his neck iu his efforts to keep grass and weeds from choking his trees. We have often walked throtigh the orange groves on the lower Mississippi and been amazed at the imbecility so extensively displayed. A dense forest instead of an orchard, dead limbs and clinging moss, close thorny tops with 120 THE FARM. small, sour, gnarly, diseased fruit on the extremities, is the rule. Occasion- ally we find an orchard owned by a man who uses his brains for some useful purpose, and there we find fine trees, with sunshine all around them, with light, open branches, clean and smooth; large, perfect fruit on every twig and branch from top to bottom, far better in quality than his neighbor pro- duces. In the first instance the fruit is difficult to dispose of, and prices are ruinous. The owner is always in debt and always will be. In the other case the fruit finds eager purchasei'S at remunerative figiires. The owner "gets ahead" in the world by using a small modicum of brains with his muscle. In raising fruit trees for profit, the following general principles should not be overlooked: 1. Effective drainage; 2. Thorough preparation; 3. Lib- eral fertilization; 4. Procuring best varieties; 5. Intelligent cultivation; and each of these general principles may be sub-divided, and each will afford the owner a theme for constant study. That fruit growiug, as now practiced, is non-paying, we are ready to admit; that it may be made immensely profitable, we confidently assert. To attain this desired object something must be done besides blindly treading in the footsteps of old ways and expecting nature to perfoi'm impossibilities. The whole Southei-n country can be made a vast fruit-field. Any and every man may literally " sit under his own vine and fig tree." Millions can be annually added to our material wealth. There need be no poverty in such a country, and there will be none in the near future, when our almost boundless resources are more fully developed. "Wliiat Pears Sliall I Gro-»v I —What is said regarding the growing of apples, pears, field crops, flowers, or any plant or crop having a place in our agricultural or gardening operations, must be said with reference to certain wants, conditions, circumstances, or localities, if the directions would pos- sess any value. No rule suits every case; no crop or i^lant is applicable to every locality; no advice meets every condition. Still, there are certain well-understood principles which are of value, because embodying the accu- mulated results of the best practice, under varying conditions and circum- stances. Now, as I'egards pears, a farmer or gardener who is to set a number of trees in spring would naturally ask, shall I set Dwarfs or Standards ? To this there might be given several answers, and they woiild take shape some- thing after this form: For profit, for permanency, for market purposes, the Standard; for quick returns at the expense of short life, for grounds of small extent, for family uses, the Dwarf. The Standards are long-lived, grow larger, and produce more frxiit (one or two varieties excepted) than the Dwarfs. Besides, the trees seem to have the habit of growing wood for future use— a good quality where one is planting for profit and permanency. The Dwarfs, on the other hand, come into bearing young, are well adapted for garden culture, or where a few pears are wanted for family use, but at ten or a dozen years old have seen their best days. The tree is most at home in a rather heavy loam, but it must be warm and rich, kept clean and mellow by frequent culture— something the trees delight in diiring the growing season. Animal manure, wood ashes, and farm compost are the ])est fertilizers, and these, as is well understood, should be applied in the fall. The best pear-growers are united in the belief that thorough and systematic pruning — not with saw and knife, on the butchering principle, but the pinching off all surplus young shoots, when ORCHARD AND VlNEYAllD. 121 not over four to six inchea long — regulates the growth and welfare of the trees, and has a tendency to induce the maturity of the fruit spurs, by which means an earlier and better quality of fruit is obtained, while the ti'ee itself is kept xiniform, well balanced and handsome. If those not experienced in pear culture arc to set out trees, they certainly cannot have a bettor guide than to ascertain from growers in their own localities the varieties best adapted to their soil, situation, local circumstances, rather than to learn these points by their own, perhaps expensive, experience. A day spent in obtain- ing this information among one's neighbors will be time well used. After all, one likes to see varieties. So here is one, made up after much study and inquiry, which it is believed will not vary greatly from the list which a hundred of the best growers in the best pear sections of New Eng- land would recommend. It is true some we have placed high on the list might be put down a peg or two, and others brought to the top which wo have placed further down; but a list of the best eight varieties would be very likely to include these sorts, in about these positions: 1. Bartlett, a general favorite, of admirable quality and always salable at the highest price. 2. Socket, high flavor, productive, uniformly bringing a good iirice in market. 3. Sheldon, a fine grower and good bearer, selling for the highest price. 4. Beurre d'Anjou, an excellent, productive and profitable sort. 5. Duchesse d'Angoxxleme, very popular and of the highest quality. 6. Beurre Bosc, an esteemed late sort, high flavored and much in demand as a mai'ket pear. 7. Lawrence, a good bearing sort, one of the best winter pears. 8. Vicar of Wakefield, very productive, and, as it ripens out of season of most others, finds a ready market at good prices. Girdling Fruit Trees. — Some yoai's ago, on an Iowa farm, a span of spirited horses, hitched to a wagon, got away from the driver and ran through the orchard, running over and badly barking some dozen trees. This was early in June. The next year those trees, and especially the limbs most barked and scarred, were full of fruit, while there was a very limited quantity on the balance of the orchard. But what is the philosophy of this girdling trees or vines to make them bear fruit? Trees and vines do not grow merely by the absorption of moisture and material direct from the earth. It is true the roots take up from the earth the water and mineral matter necessary for plant growth, but it does not go directly to the part where it is to stay. But these go up, not between the bark and wood, but in the body of the tree or vine to the leaves, where it is combined with the^carbon which is absorbed by the leaves, and goes through Nature's secret laboratory of combining water, mineral and carbon, until they are sufficiently digested to be used as wood growth, when it passes downward and is deposited in the infinitesimal cells beneath the bark. So that the growth is made by the downward flow of this prepared material for wood growth. Now, if the tree or vine bo girdled on the body or limbs, this prepared sap cannot pass below where the bark is taken off, and consequently that part above the girdle receives more than its share of sap, while none is sup- plied to the body below the girdle. Thus the limbs are crowded with growth food, which causes the develoi^ment of fruit buds — makes the limbs grow faster and the fruit larger. But this process, if the main body of tlie tree is operated on, will in the end ruin the tree. The body and roots must have nourishment as well as the branches, and this girdling deprives them of this support. If this system is practiced at all, it should be only a part, leaving 122 THE FARM. the ungirdled limbs to supply nourishment to the balance of the tree. June is the time girdling is done, which is onlj' intended as preparatory to the next year's crop. It is claimed, however, that girdling in June makes a more perfect development of the fruit then on the limbs. Gu'dliug is done by taldng out a rim of bark entirely around the tree, limb or vine, not over one-fourth of an inch wide. Sometimes this space is healed up the first year, but certainly the second year, if the tree be not too feeble and sickly. We advise all to go slowly and carefully in this matter, but it is worthy of an experiment by all. But yet there are many things which need studying, and diverse matters should be reconciled. One contends that girdling stops the rapid growth of the tree, and causes a more abundant fruitage. Another that girdling causes an abnormal growth of the limb, and the largely-increased pro- duction of fruit. Great are the mysteries of Nature. Covering for Woniids of Trees — It often happens that, either by in- tention, as in pruning, or by accident, trees are wounded in various ways. A common practice is to ct)vcr large wounds with coal tar; but this is ob- jected to by some aa injurious to the tree. Expei'iments made in the or- chards and gardens of the Pomological Institute, at Ruthlegen, in Germany, go to show, however, that its true use is not injurious; but that, on the con- trary, a callous readily forms under the tar, on the edges of the wound, and that the wounded part is thus protected from decay. There is, neverthe- less, another objection: for if the tar is applied a little too tliick, the sun melts it, and it runs down on the bark of the tree. This can be obviated by mixing and stirring and thus incorporating with the tar about three or four times its weight of powdered slate, known as slate-flour — the mixture being also known as plastic slate and used for roofing purposes. It is easily ap- plied with an old knife or flat stick, and though it hardens on the surface, it remains soft and elastic underneath. The heat of the sun does not melt it, nor does the coldest mnter weather cause it to crack— neither does it peel off. The same mixture is also useful for other purposes in the garden. Leaky water-pots, barrels, pails, gutters, sashes, etc., can be easily repaired with it, and much annoyance and loss of time be thus avoided. It will stick to any surface, provided it be not oily; and as it does not harden when kept in a mass, it is always ready for use. A gallon will last for a long time. A most excellent preparation for small wounds and for grafting, is thus prepared: Melt a pound of rosin over a slow fire. When melted, take it from the fire and add two ounces of balsam of fir (Canada balsam), or two ounces of Venice turpentine (not spirits of turpentine), stirring it constantly. As soon as it is cool enough, mix in four to six ounces of alcohol of 95 degrees strength — according to the season — until it is as thick as molasses. It keeps well in close-corked bottles for a long time. Should it become too thick, by the gradual evaporation of the alcohol, it is easily thinned by putting the bottle in warm water and stirring in sufficient alcohol to bring it to a proper fluidity. It is applied with a brush. This preparation is much better than liquid grafting wax composed of resin, beef-tallow and spirits of turpentine, which often granulates. If there be any danger that the cions will dry up by evaporation, they may, beneficially, be brushed over with this composition, it being first made more fluid by adding alcohol. By this means I succeeded, in February of last year, in grafting a single eye of M^\e Sepinaria upon a lemon tree, in a dry sitting-room, without the use of any glass covering. ORCIIARI) AND VINEYARD. 123 Preserving Fruit. — Light and heat are the agents iu ripening fruits. The sagacious pomologist, therefore, keeps them in a dark place and at as low a temperature as possible short of freezing. Heat and moisture cause decay. Hence the fruit room, in addition to being kept cool, is also kept dry. These three conditions were observed by Professor Myce in his system of preservations, ice being used for cooling, and proper dryers for taking up the superabundant moisture. We have had ripe tomatoes kept for three months in such a house, and iu the most perfect manner. Fruit-growers may arrive sufiiciently near the mark, so that fniit may be kept perfectly during the cold months, by means of frost-proof walls, and a careful system of ventilation, avoiding a thorough draft. Since fruit is easily affected by odors, care should be taken that the air of any fruit house should be kept clean and sweet. To this eud nothing but fruit should be kept in the fruit house— at least nothing that will give off un- pleasant odors. So particular are some in this respect that they will not keep apples and pears in the same room. To insure perfect cleanliness, the ■walls and floors should be frequently whitewashed with Ume. We see no reason why the sub-earth air duct system may not be one of the best means for winter ventilation, as it certainly must be for summer ventilation. With care fruits may be retarded iu their ripening for long periods. When wanted for use they are removed to a warm and light place, where they quickly mature. When extra fine specimens are to bo preserved, they are carefully packed in some dry odorless substance, as cotton-wool, brau, buckwheat hulls, dry oak leaves, or pure sand. Land plaster is said to bo an excellent means for saving apples through the winter intact. A thin layer of plaster is placed in the bottom of the barrel, then a layer of apples, and 80 alternately layer of plaster and apples until the barrel is filled, when the barrel is headed and kept in a cool place until spring, coming out sound and intact. This plan should keep russets, and other varieties liable to shrivel, and those wishing to keep apples as late as possible, and having no fruit house, may find this plan valuable. There will be no loss iu the plas- ter, for it will be worth all it costs, and more, for sowing on the land after the apples are used Barli Lice on Apple Trees. — Judicious pruning of the branches, drain- ing the land where the trees stand, manuring the soil and keeping it free from grass and weeds, all have the efiect to promote vigorous growth, and are therefore useful in preventing the depredations of bark lice. Unless a vigorous growth of a tree can be insured, it is of little use to ajiply sub- stances to kill the lice. The lady-bird, whose presence should always be welcomed on farms, is the mortal enemy of the bark louse, as it is of many other sorts of insects. But hurtful insects increase so much faster than use- ful birds do that we may never expect to see the latter exterminate the former. Indeed, no amount of cultivation and no number of birds ever col- lected in an orchard will be sufficient to clear it of the scale bark lice, if they ai-e generally distributed among the trees. If but a few trees have bark lice on them, and they are well covered with them, it is best to cut them up. This heroic treatment yy\i\ prevent their spreading to other trees. The time to kill the insects is when they begin to hatch. They are most readily killed by applying some wash to the bark with a stiff brush or swab. The articles most highly recommended for killing the lice are strong lye made of wood ashes, a solution of caustic soda of potash, diluted soft soap, and a mixture of lime whitewash and kerosene oil. If the latter is employed, the j^ropor- 124 THE FA R M. tions of the mixtiire should be one pint of kerosene to a gallon of the white- wash. Whatever substances arc chosen, they should be applied thoroughly. To insure complete destruction of the insect, a second application should be made some days after the first. Top Grafting Trees. _A practical fruit grower gives the following as his mode of top grafting: I have in a measure discarded the old system of cleft grafting, for a cheap, safer and easier way. I save the cions by cut- ting them in the fall or early winter, pack in sand or sawdust and keep in a cool cellar. After the trees have come out in leaf, during May and June, cut a bud from the cion and insert under the bark well tied and waxed to keep out the air and water, setting one bud in each leading limb all over the tree. In the course of two or thi'cc weeks these buds will have connected or else have died. For all that have connected saw the limbs off above the bud and throw the growth into them. Those that have died set again in July or August with buds taken from the new growth of wood, and cut them off the next spring. I set tops in that way in twenty seedling apple trees twelve years old iu June, 1878, juitting in on an average twelve to the tree. In 1884, six years from setting, they have forty bushels of Stark apples, worth one dollar per bushel. The expense of budding was ten dollars. If the same trees had been changed by cleft grafting the change would have coat two or three times that amount. Hints on Marketing Pears. — Pears, M'hether early or late, should never remain on the tree until they become mellow. Whenever they have made their growth they should be gathered. It is easy to tell the proper condition by observing the ease with which the stem parts from the tree. If, on taking hold of the pear and lifting it, the stem readih' breaks away from the spur to which it is attaclied, the fruit has received all the nourishment it can get from the tree, and the sooner it is gathered the better. Pears are scut to market in crates and half barrels; especially fine specimens are sent iu shallow boxes, only deep enough for a single layer of fruit, and each pear is wrapped iu thin white paper. Extra specimens of any of the standard kinds will bring enough more to pay for this extra care in packing. The early varieties mature quicker after gathering than the later kinds, but all shoiild reach the market in a firm and hard condition. As with all other fruits, it will pay to carefully assort i>ears. Make three lots, firsts and seconds for market, and the third for keeping at home — for the pigs, if need be; there is positively no sale for poor pears. Ants in the Orchard. — Many of the leading orchard proprietors iu northern Italy and southern Germany are cultivators of the common black ant, an insect they hold in high esteem as the fruit grower's best friend. They establish ant-hills in their orchards, and leave the police service of their fruit trees entirely to the colonists, which pass all their time in climb- ing w^ the stems of the fruit trees, cleansing their boughs and leaves of malefactors, mature as well as embryotic, and descending laden with spoils to the ground, where they comfortably consume or prudently store away their booty. They never meddle with sound fruit, but only invade such apples, pears and plums as have already been penetrated by the canker, which they remorselessly pursue to its fastness within the very heart of the fruit. Nowhei-e are apple and pear trees so free from blight and destructive insects as in the immediate neighborhood of a large ant-hill five or six years old, The favorite food of ants would appear to be the larvie and pupse of OnOffAPxI) AND ViNEYAnh. 1'23 those creatures which spend the whole of then- brief existence in devouring the tender shoots and juvenile leaves of fruit trees. Cultivating tUe Orcliarcl— A successful fruit grower pursues the following plan: He plows his orchard one way, leaving strips close to the trees about eight feet wide, and plants potatoes, covering them with straw. In the fall, when he digs his potatoes, he piles the straw, and the next spring lie plows the ground crosswise and plants again, using the same straw. After the straw has been used two years, it is turned under in the fall, to manure the ground. In this way his orchard is manured with very little trouble, and he cultivates his orchard at the same time. HG says that he does not believe, from his own experience, that it is good for fruit trees to have the plow run any closer than four feet on each side, but thinks it better to cultivate in this way between the rows than to seed down to grass and pasture. Hints on Gatlxering Apples and Pears. — Most people are disposed to gather the autumn fruits too soon. A rule is generally adopted by gar- deners, that if the pips of the apples or pears are turning brown, the crop may be taken; but a decidedly dark and settled hue of the seed is a safer criterion. As to the objection that waiting late into the autumn causes a loss of the fi-uit by ialhng, it has little weight, because it is by this process that the weaker and least sound fruit is got rid of, while the best remains. Tak- ing the crop too early will not only injure the good fruit by causing it to elmvel, but will also render frequent removals necessary in order to separate from the stock the rotten ones, which would, of themselves, have fallen from the tree if more time had been given. To Preserve Pear Trees From Bliglit. — A New Hampshire fruit grower preserves his pear trees from blight by winding a rope of straw around the trunks so as to completely cover them from the ground to the limbs, keeping it on, moderately tight, through the season. His theory is that the blight is caused by the rays of the hot sun coming in contact vnih the body of the tree, heating the sap and causing it to dry up and the bark to grow to the wood of the tree. Iron for Fruit Trees.— The scales which tiy off from iron being worked at forges, iron trimming, filings, or other ferruginous material, if worked into the soil about fruit trees, or the more minute particles spread thinly on the lawn, mixed with the earth of flower beds or in pots, are most valuable to the peach or pear, and, in ftvct, supi^ly necessary ingredients to the soil. For colored flowers they heighten the bloom and increase the brilliancy of white or nearly white flowers of all the rose family. Secret of Raising Q,uinces. — Purchase the orange variety, and set the trees from six to eight feet apart in rich soil. Bandage the stem with two or three wrappings of old cloth as far do^vn in the ground as possible, as the root starts from near the surface. Let the bandages run six or eight inches above the ground, then pack the soil a couple of inches around the band- ages. This should be renewed every spring. Fruit Pests.. — At the time when fruit trees are blossoming, and when sparrows have commenced their annual raids upon them, a good way of driving away these diminutive plagues, consists of lime-washing the trees. When thus whitened, the birds disappear. I'M THE PAliM. IN THE VINEYARD. — FIG. 1. Ill tlie Vineyard — We present herewith a brief illustrated article, from the pen of a successful grape grower, giving some hints and suggestions on the planting and culture of grape vines, which we think will bo found inter- esting: "I have been looking over my foraier years' work, have been reading back, or rather over again the views of othei-s, and after studying all I took my spade and digging fork and went to an Isabella vine, planted some ten years or more since, and which has never shown any disease, but yeai-ly ripened its fruit regularly and evenly. It was on clay soil. I dug carefully all around it a distance of four feet each way from the vine, or eight feet diam- eter, took out a trench with the spade, then with my fork I commenced to shake out roots, which I found much as here represented (Fig. 1). Of course the length of the roots is not here shown, for some I broke off in digging; but there was no direct tap root of any size, and altogether the larger portion of the roots were within ttn inches of the surface. Small roots as large as a goose quill, it is true, wore apijareutly down below. Some of them pulled upon lifting the vine, others broke off, but there was not a large or main root so situated. It may not be that this is any guide showmg the general habit of i-oots of the vine, when grown in vineyards of clay soils and yearly pruned; but for the present I will so con- sider it, and when I plant avoid, as I have generally heretofore, setting the roots too deeji. Most workers on the grape tell us that the roots must be planted deep, at least, they must have ten inches of soil over and above the upper root of the plant; and > they tell us that if the plants are too small for such pur- pose, theu wo must excavate a basin, set the plant, and as it grows fill up around the stem. The accompanying figure shows this mode of plantmg as I understand it (Fig. 2) . A straight line drawn across from the ends of the dotted line would show the level of the ground; the dotted line the excavation, with the plant having two eyes, and set in just deep enough to cover the lower eye or bud with soil. The roots are shortened as hero shown to about eighteen inches in length and spread out regularly, setting the base of the main stem on a little mound or rise, not a sharp cone, but a broad mound. The next manner of planting, highly recommended by a good cultivator, I have followed with good results. It is to prepare the ground where this plant is to stand by finely pulverizing it, then excavate a breadth or circle sufficiently wide to admit of straightening out the entire roots of the vine IX THE VINEYAED. — FIG. 2. oncffAni) AND YiNEYAnT). 127 without cutting away a Biuglo inch; make the excavation about six inches deep at the outside of the circle and rising so that the center is four inches below the level of the surrounding ground. Fig. 3 shows this method, the straight line being the surface of the mound on which the plant is placed before filUng in the earth. This depth for planting I believe a good one.'' "Winter Care of Grape Vines. — All varieties of grape vines not thor- oughlj' hardy should receive some winter protection to secure best results, and it is claimed by many that it pays to give protection to the hardiest kinds even. Some growers attribute their success with Delaware, Duchess, Koger's Hybrids, etc., simply to covering, while their neighbors signally fail with the same varieties. As the treatment in both cases is exactly alike, the different results can only be attributed to the protection given in one case and its omission in the other. The process is simple, and depends on the extent of the operation. After the vines have shed their leaves and ma- tured their wood, they should be pruned, and on the approach of cold weather, loosened from the trellis, bent down on the ground, and held vberi-ies.^The strawberry endures cold well, writes a successful small fruit grower, but not the great sudden changes of tempera- ture, and cold, drying winds. If the situation is such that the plants are not exposed to the winds, and the stools are large and thick with foliage, this foliage will be a sufficient protection; doubtful, however, should the snow be very deep and close packed, and lie long, or ice form on the surface of the ground, locking it for a long time. It is worse still if the frost extends deep into the ground. Under such circumstances the smothering influence may either kill the plant or seriously injure it. The plants without covering are safe whei-e the winter is mild and the soil has perfect drainage. But the safe thing is to cover the plants. For perfect protection I find nothing so good as hemlock In-ush, or straw kej^t in place by a hemlock bough, with the con- cave side under, thus preventing the fatal pressure of the snow. I put on the covering at the beginning of winter, aud keep it on until spring frosts are over. The plant will then come out fresh, strong and imharmed, and imme- diately push its growth. This answers for a small plot of ground. For field culture, light stable manure with three or four parts of sawdust, or other fine vegetable absorb- ent, to one of manure, succeeds well as a covering, but shoirld be used only where the soil requires the fertility, as too high manuring produces foliage rather than fruit. Vegetable material worked into the soil is one of the best elements in the strawberry culture, as also in the culture of other berries. It loosens clay and improves the character of sandy soil, seeming also to form the right pabulum for the fruit. I also get the best crops and the finest berries in this way. Two weeks ago I gave the plants a sprinkling of liquid manure SMALL FRUITS. 13« (diluted urine), and they are brightening up and invigorated so as to with- stand the winter better, and put out strong and early in the spring. This attention is only a trifle, but it helps a good deal. The strawberry, like the grape, is very susceptible to treatment, and can bo made to do much more than we usually see. Cultivation of Stra-*vberi-ies. — An Illinois journal says that the pre- paration of the ground for strawberries, and, indeed, for all berry fruits raised in the garden, is exceedingly simple. Any land rich enough to bring forty to tifty bushels of corn per acre, under good cultivation, will do. The ground should bo plowed deeply and thoroughly well pulverized. Mark the land if for held culture, the distance as for corn. If for garden culture, the field may be marked both ways, and one good plant placed at each intersec- tion, spreading the roots naturally, placing the plants so the crowns will not be above the surface, giving a little water to the roots if the soil be not fairly moist, and after the water has settled away, drawing the dry earth over all. For garden culture, one plant to three feet of space will be sufficient, unless the plants are to be raised in stools, and the runners kept cut out, when a plant to each two feet will be about right, if you want extra large berries. The cultivation is simple. The spaces between the rows, about two feet wide, may be kept clean with the cultivator. In the rows the weeds may be kept, early in the season, clean with the cultivator; later, when the runners have encroached on the rows, the weeds must be pulled out if necessary, but on fairly clean soil, the cultivation will not be difScult. Beds of the pre- vious year, and which should be in full fruit this season, may be kept clean between the rows with the cultivator. The weeds will not trouble much until the crop is gathered. Abont Raspberries. — Not one-half the people grow raspberries that should. To say nothing of the excellence of this fruit freshly taken from the vines, with cream or without, it is really the best there is for canning, and either raw or canned it finds a ready market. It is easily cultivated, joro- duces large crops, and has few insect enemies. In starting a bed the best time is in the fall, but if neglected then, plant early in the spring, pressing the earth firmly about the roots and cutting the canes off six inches high. Count all stickers as weeds except three to five to the hill. The hills may be four feet apart each way, so they can be v/orked with the plow and cultivator. No stakes are needed, for the canes are kept stocky by being pinched off hen about a yard high. As to varieties, of course there is none better for this locality than tlie Brandywine. It is true and tried. It carries well to market, and its bright red color makes it the most salable berry in the catalogue. For liome use alone it is no better than the Herstiue, but this is not solid, and the plants need covering in winter north of this latitude. The Herstiue is a splendid berry — good enough for anybody. The Philadelphia is a valuable old stand- ard, but is soft and too dark in color. The Reliance is nearly of the same color, but we believe every way better than the Philadelphia. The Cuthbert is immensely praised just now, and so many unite in com- mending it, that it certainly must have merit. It is perfectly hardy, and thrives Nor-th and South. It is said to be very productive, the berries are immense, and the bearing time holds on a long time. The Queen of the Market is quite similar to the Cuthl^ert, in fact so nearly alike are the two berries, that many consider them identical. 134 THE FARM. The above are all red varieties. Of the hlack caps the Mammoth Cluster is the old popular variety, liut the new Gregg is said to be greatly superior to it. The Blackberry and Wliortleberry. — Those who find it difficult to get good ripe blackberries and whortleberries maybe glad to know that they can be grown in their own gardens as well as the strawberry, and that with the right treatment they will surpass in flavor and size any which may have grown in their grandfather's day. The low-bush or i-unning blackberry grows best on a warm soil of either sandy loam or gravel, and when properly grown and well ripened is much better than any of the high bush varieties. The plants should be set in May, in rows three feet apart and two feet in the rows. Care should be taken to select good strong young roots, and those which bear large sweet berries, avoiding those which bear the sour berries that ripen later in the season; it is best to mark the plants when the fruit ia ripening, or secure the assistance of ouo who knows where the right variety grows. For garden culture the ground should be well hoed the fii'st part of the season, and mulched with leaves or hay about the first of August. If properly cared for the first year, but little needs to be done the next spiing; the crop Avill be large if the vines are well supplied with water during the ripening season; during this time they require quite as much water as the strawberry. The berries should not be picked until fully ripe, and to be in the best condition for sauce should be picked but a short time before eaten; when thus picked, they surpass in richness and flavor the strawberry; as it cannot be transported when fully ripe, any better, if so well as the strawberry, its good qualities are known only to those who cultivate it in their own gar- den, and iinderstand the right time to pick it. But few dishes can bo placed iipou the table so acceptable as a dish of good, well-ripened blackberries of the variety which grow on the low running vines. To keep the garden clean, new vines should be set every year, and the old ones removed as soon as the berries are picked. The whortleberry, both the high and the low-bush, re- quires a different treatment from the blackberry; it will grow on almost any soil. Bushes should be selected that are known to produce large-sized and good flavored berries; they should be set near enough together to shade the ground; a large portion of the top should be cutoff; the ground be mulched with a heavy coat of leaves, and should not be disturbed by cultivation, but should bo kept well mulched until the bushes are thick enough and large enough to shade the ground, and thus they protect themselves; when once established they require but Uttle care. When the bushes seem to have too much old wood to bear well, they should be cut down to the ground in the autumn; the next year they will make a vigorous growth, and the year after bear some very large berries, but not a full crop until the following year. Croosebei-ries and Cui-rants. — There is no reason why both these very iiseful fruits should not be found abundantly in every garden. They are no trouble to raise. They grow readily from cuttings. Take the wood of last year, from six to ten inches in length; prepare the bed or place where they are to stand permanently; force them into the ground not less than four inches, press the dirt firmly around them, mulch them, and let them alone. If a brush is desired let the buds on the cuttings remain; but if a tree or single stem be preferred, remove all the buds that would go beneath the surface. Let them stand about three feet in the row; and if there ia more than one row, let the rows be four feet apart. SMALL FRUITS. 135 In the spring the fiead wood of both the gooseberries and currants shouUl be cut out, and the new growth should bo thinned where there is too much, as it will interfere with the product. The best red currant is the Dutch, and the best gooseberries are Downing'a Prolific and Houghton's Seedling. Advantages of MiilcUing. — The Germantown Telegraph says: " Al- though wo have suggested many times in the past the great advantage of mulching raspberry and blackberry beds, it cannot bo suggested too often. But this mulching should not be done or rather renewed in the season until the heat of the sun or drought requires it; neither should it bo done until after the suckers or new plants show themselves and are of sufficient height not to be injured by the application of the mulch, which, if too thick and applied too soon, will in a great measure prevent the sproiiting, and where it does not will cause the sprouts to be weak and spindling. Currant bushes also delight in a moist, cool soil, and mulching provides this if applied in sufficient quantity. Anything in the way of weeds, small branches of trees, grass from lawn cuttings, etc., will answer. The mulching of tomato plants, egg plants, etc., will pi'ove very beneficial. We know that some persons have not our faith in mulching, and prefer beds of plants, young trees, etc., to have the soil stirred up about thein frequently. This, wo are aware, is excellent, but it does not hinder the mulching also. Let the old mulch be removed, the soil well loosened, and then apply fresh mulch." Fa.ll Setting of Small Fruits. — It is urged that those contemplating setting small fruits should give one trial at least to fall setting. All that is necessary is to either back up over the roots with earth, or throw a forkful of litter over each plant, before the ground freezes up, and in the spring haul this away. First, because they get settled in thoir place, and getting the benefit of early spring rains, start early, and make a full growth next season, while if set next spring, it cannot bo done properly until the ground is set- tled and the heavy spring rains have ceased. Second, all fruit growers know how pressed they are for time in the spring. Third, raspberries and black- berries have very tender germs that start very early in the spring, and these are likely to be broken off if set then, while if set in the fall, they have not started enough to damage them in transplanting. And fourth, but not least, a much larger proportion of them live when set in the fall — a fact abundant in itself to show the superior merits of fall planting, especially of blackber- ries, raspberries, currants, grapes, and such sorts. Red Raspben-y. — There is no fruit that is in greater demand at such paying prices, and with which the market is so poorly supplied, as the red raspberry, and one reason why the market is so poorly supplied is because there has been sent over the country so many tender sorts that have so easily winter killed, but now with such hardy and productive sorts as the Brandywine, Philadelphia, Turner, Highland Hardy, Thwack and Guthbert, and that succeed so well wherever tried, there is no excuse for not having this delicious fruit in abundance. Another reason why they pay so poorly is that they have been allowed to grow helter skelter all over the ground. If you would have fruit in abundance, and of larger size, the suckers must be kept down same as weeds, and the same cultivation that will keep the ground in proper plight and keep weeds down will keep suckers down. Easy nietliod of Cultivating Small Fruits. — A writer in the New York Tribune says: " It is a source of constant regret with farmers that 136 'THE FARM. small fruits require so much care and attention, and that, too, iu the seasoil when they are hardest at work at sometliing else. Field work miist be done at all events, and the ' berry patch ' struggles on single handed with the weeds and grass, till it submits to the inevitable sward. Some years ago coming into possession of a patch of black cap raspberries that had received the usual shiftless culture, I treated them in the following way: After care- fully plowing and hoeing them, I covered the ground with a heavy layer of very strawy maniire, and the work was done, not only for that year but for the two years following, only renewing the mulch each spring. Only a few striiggling Canada thistles will ever grow through such mulch; the soil is always rich and moist, and the berries can ask no better treatment. Since that time I have tried the same plan without removing the sod, and find the result ia quite as satisfactory. Farmers, try it, and j'ou will not need to complain that berries cost more than thoy are worth. Winter Proteclioii of Strawberry Vines. — A good strawberry pro- tector is a cheap baked-clay saucer, twelve to thirteen inches in diameter, with a hole in the center. The advantages claimed by its use are: a much larger crop; much finer berries; cleaner, and free from sand and dirt; mulching the ground; the retention of the rains to the roots of the vines; killing the weeds; early ripening; easier picking. They are turned over as a winter protection to the vines. Persons who have used it pronounce it the most important invention ever made in connection with strawberry raising. Setting a Strawberry Bed. — The old plan of spading under a portion of the old strawberry bed, so as to leave the plants in rows, will not pay. Better reset clean land with vigorous plants, arranging to grow a crop of potatoes every third j'ear to clean the land and mellow it. The iiicking of berries on heavy clay lands causes it to become so packed as to require cul- tivating at least one season in every four with some hoed crop. S^'rawberry plants may be set in May or in August; in fact, at almost any time during the spring, summer or fall season. E^asy Metliod of Disposing of tlie Currant Worm. — A successful small fruit grower circumvents the ravaging currant worm by allowing no sprouts to grow. He allows but three main stems to a bush, and rubs off all root sprouts when about six inches long. The worms begin with the new growth first; hence, he says, no api'outs, no worms. The fruit also is far finer on plants thus treated, the common red Dutch being nearly as large as the Cherry currant, and a better bearer. An Easy Metliod of Irrigation. — An old fruit can may be pierced with one or more pin holes, and then sunk in the earth near the roots of the strawberry or tomato, or other plants, the pin holes to be made of such size that when the can is filled with water the fluid can only escape into the ground very slowly. Practical trials of this method of irrigation leave no doubt of its success. Plants thus watered yield bounteous returns through- out the longest droughts. Trellises for Blacfebeiiies and Raspbeii-ies. — The fruit canes of the blackberries and raspberries should be tied up to stakes or trellises. The young growing canes form the fruiting ones for next year; cut away all except three to five to each stool, and when large enough tie them up; they should be pinched off at four feet for raspberries and six feet for blackberries. LIVE STOCK. Hotv_ to Judge a Hor^e. — 1. Never take the seller's word. If dis- posed to be fair, be may bave been tbe dupe of anotber, and will deceive you tbrougb representations wbicb cauuot bo relied upon. 2. Never trust aborse's moutb as a sure index of bis age. 3. Never buy a borse wbilo in motion; watcb bini wbile be stands at rest and you will discover bis weak points. If sound, be will stand firmly and squarely on bis limbs witbout moving any of tbcm, feet planted flat upon tbe ground, witb legs plump and naturally poised. If one foot is tbrown for- ward witb the toe pointing to tbe ground and tbe beel raised, or if tbe foot is lifted from tbe ground and tbe weigbt taken from it, disease of tbe navicular bone may be susiDCcted, or at least tenderness, wbicb is a ijrecnrsor of dis- ease. If tbe foot ia tbrown out, tbe toe raised, and tbe beel brougbt down, the borse bas suffered from laumitis, founder, or tbe back sinews bave sprained, and be is of little future value;. Wben tbe feet are all drawn to- gether beneath the borse, if there bas been no disease, there is a misplace- ment of the limb at least, and weak disposition of the muscles. If the horse stands with bis feet spread apart, or straddles witb his hind legs, tbei'e is weakness of the loins, and the kidneys are disordered. WTien the knees are bent, and totter and tremble, the Ijcast has been ruined by heavy pulling, and will never be right again, whatever rest and treatment be may have. Contracted or ill-formed hoofs speak for themselves. 4. Never hwj a horse witb a bluish or milky coat in bis eyes. They in- dicate a constitutional tendency to ophthalmia, moon-blindness, etc. 5. Never have anything to do witb a horse who keeps his ears thrown backward. This is an invariable indication of bad temper. 6. If tbe horse's bind legs are scarred, tbe fact denotes that he is a kicker. 7. If tbe knees are blemished, the horse is apt to stumble. 8. When tbe skin is rough and harsh, and does not move easily and smoothly to the touch, the horse is a heavy eater, and digestion is bad. 9. Avoid a borse whoso respiratory organs are at all impaired. If tbe ear ia placed to tbe heart and a wheezing sound ia heard, it is an indication of trouble. Feed for tlic Horse — One of the most sensible articles on the treatment of a borse is that wbicb is given from a physiological standpoint by Colvin. It is the opinion of this aiifbority that the horse's stomach bas a comj)acity of only about 16 quarts, while that of the ox has 250. In the intestines this prQportion is reversed, tbe borse having a capacity of 190 quarts against 100 of tbe ox. The ox, and most other animals, have a gall bladder for tbe re- tention of a part of the bile secreted during digestion; the horse bas none, and the bile flows directly into tbe intestines as fast as secreted. This con- struction of the digestive apparatus indicates that tbe horse was formed to eat slowly and digest coiitinually bulky and inuutritious food. When fed on bay it passes very rapidly tbi-ougb the stomach into tbe intestines. Tbe 138 THE FAIiM. horse can eat but about five pounds of hay in an hour, •which is charged, during mastication, with four times ita weight of sahva. Now, the stomach, to digest well, will contain but about ten quarts, and when the animal eats one-third of his daily ration, or seven pounds, in one and one-half hours, he has swallowed at least two stomachfuls of hay and saliva, one of these hav- ing passed to the intestines. Observation has shown that the food is passed to the intestines by the stomach in the order in which it is received. If we feed a horse six quarts of oats it will just iill his stomach, and if, as soon as he finishes this, we feed him the above ration of seven pounds of hay, he will eat sufticieut in three-quarters of an hour to have forced the oats entirely out of his stomach into the intestines. As it is the office of the stomach to digest the nitrogenous parts of the feed, and as a stomachful of oata contains four or five times as much of these as the same amount of bay, it ia certain that either the stomach must secrete the gastric juice five times as fast, which is hardly possible, or it must retain this food five times as long. By feeding the oats first, it can only be retained long enough for the proper digestion of hay, consequently it seems logical, when feeding a concentrated food Uke oats, with a bulky one like hay, to feed the latter first, giving the grain the whole time between the repasts to be digested. Feeding Horses. — Another authority M'rites as follows: The horse has the smallest stomach, in proportion to his size, of any animal. This space ia completely filled by four quarta of oats and the saliva that goes into the stomach with it. Horses are generally overfed and not fed often enough. For a horse with moderate work six or eight quarts of bruised oats and ten pounds of fine hay are sufficient. This should be fed in three meals, and is better if fed in four. A horse's digestion is very rapid, aud therefore he gets hungry sooner than a man. When he is hungry he ia ineffective, aud wears out very rapidly. Water fills the stomach, lowers the temperature, and di- lutes the gastric juice; therefore a horse should not drink immediately be- fore eating. Neither should he be watered immediately after eating, because he will drink too much and force some of the contents of the stomach into the large intestine, which will cause scouring. Scouring is also caused by too rapid eating, which can bo prevented by piitting half a dozen pebbles half the size of the fist iuto the manger with the oats. Give only a moderate drink of water to a horse. A large drink of water before being driven will have a very quieting effect on a nervous horse. A race horse always runs on an empty stomach. Digestion progresses moderately during exercise, if the exorcise is not so violent as to exhaust the power of the horse. I con- sider bruised oats worth twenty per cent, more than whole. They are more perfectly digested. I j^refer oats to any other grain for horses. Cracked corn is good under some circumstances, but I would not use meal or shorts. The disease called big head is caused by feeding corn. When a horae comes in hot I would give a moderate feed immediately. If the horse is too tired to eat I would take the feed away. A heated horse is a reason against water- ing and for feeding, for the system is just then in a condition to begin diges- tion. A horse will not founder if fed immediately when hot. I prefer dry feed, unless the horse has some disease of the throat and lungs. I do not consider it worth while to cut hay. I always feed hay from the floor, then the horses do not get particles in their eyes. Raising a, Colt— A colt ia regarded as an incumbrance because he is useless until he arrives at a suitable age for work, but it really costs very LIVE STOCK. 130 little, compared with his value, to raise a colt. When the period arrives at which the colt can do service, the balance sheet will show in its favor, for young horses always command good prices if they are sound and well broken. One of the difficulties in the way is the incumbrance placed on the dam, which interferes with her usefulness on the farm, especially if the colt is foaled during the early part of the spring. Some farmers have their colts foaled in the fall, but this is open to two objections. In the first place, spring is the natural time, for then the grass is beginning to grow, and nature seems to have provided that most animals should bring forth their young in a sea- son beyond the reach of severe cold, and with sufficient time to grow and bo prepared for the following winter. Again, when a colt is foaled in the fall he must pass through a period of several months' confinement in the stable, without exercise, or else be more or less chilled with cold from time to time. Should this happen, the eftect of any bad treatment will be afterward manifested, and no amount of atten- tion can again elevate the colt to that degree of hardiness and soundness of body that naturally belongs to a spring colt. Besides, a colt foaled in the spring will outgrow one foaled in the fall. An oljjection to spring colts may be partially overcome by plowing in the fall, or keeping the brood mares for very light work, with the colts at liberty to accompany them always. A colt needs but very little feeding if the pasture ia good and there is water run- ning through it. He needs then only a small feed of oats at night — no corn — and if he is given hay it is not necessary to give him a full ration. What he will consume from the barn will not be one-third his value when ho is thi-ee years old, and if he is well bred the gain is greater. When a farmer raises his horses he knows their disposition, constitution and capacity. It is the proper way to get good, sound, serviceable horses on the farm. It should not be overlooked that a colt must be tenderly treated from birth, and must lie fondled aud handled as much as possible. Ho should never hear a harsh word, but should be taught to have confidence in everybody he sees or knows. This is an easy matter if his training begins from the time he is a day old. He can bo thus gradually broken Avithout difficulty, and will never be troublesome. No such thing as a whip shtmld be allowed in a stable that contains a eolt. Colts should not be worked until three years old, and then lightly at first, as they do not fully mature until they are six years old, and with some breeds of horses even later. Mares with foals at their side should be fed on the most nourishing food. To Bit a Colt. — The true way to bit a colt is not to bit him at all; that is, let him bit himself. When my colts are one year old, I begin to teach them to hold the bit in their mouth. The bit is of pine, some half-inch in diameter, aud five inches in length. This piece of soft pine is held in the mouth by a cord tied to cither end, and fastened on the head, back of the ears. The colt loves to have the bit in his mouth, because it enables him to bring forward the saliva process. Ho will bit, and work it over in his moiith, and enjoys it hugely. He mil welcome it, and will actually reach out and open hia moiith for it, as a trained horse will for a bit. After a few days, you can tie strings making miniature reins to this bit, and teach the colt the proper use of it. When this is done, he is ready for the regular steel bit. Put your bridle on with a leather bit, large and pliant; throw your check- line, if your bridle has one attached, into the pigsty; get into your wagon and drive off. This is all the " bitting" a colt needs. Treated in this way, he will have a lively, yielding. Sensitive mouth. He will take the bit bravely 140 THE FARM. when working up to his speed, but yield readily to the driver's will. A horse, bitted in this sensible way, can be driven a forty-chp with the lines held in one hand, or be lifted over a live-barred gate with the strength of a single wrist. If you do not believe it, try it and see. A Convenient Horse- sUoe. —Among the numeroiis horseshoes lately devised in this and other couutiies, that invention in England, by Mr. Joseph Offord, seems worthy of special notice. Its object is to fit the hoof with a mov- able but firm covering, which can be readily adjusted to fit every kind of work and road, so that, like its master, the horse may own several sets of shoes for different occasions. The device con- sists in having one or more perfectly wedge-shaped holes in the side and close to the HORSESHOE.— FIG. 1. edge of each shoo (Fig. 1), in which triangular cogs, or wedges, are inserted. These are fastened by the fangs being brought, with- out touching the hoof, to the outside of the shoe, over which they are clenched with a small hammer. The cogs do not penetrate the hoof, and there is no risk of hurting the horse. The holes being wedge-shaped, can- not fill up with stones or dirt, and the fangs being malleable, the wedges are easily removed or inserted at pleasure. It is necessary, however, to get the holes punched in the shoes before the horse is shod, and for the coachman to be provided Avith a sup- ply of these patent cogs to insure safety on any road in frost or on wood. As many are accustomed to use a cog which screws into the shoe, Mr. Oflford has prepared a steel wedge- shaped one (Fig. 2) for this purpose. The screw cogs are, of course, more expensive. In using them the shoe has to be drilled and tapped with one or more holes before the horse is shod, holes when needed, or removed at pleaaur HORSESHOE. — FIG. 2. The cogs are inserted into these by means of a wrench pro'S'ided LIVE STOCK. 141 for this purpose. We give two illustrations, reproduced from the Agricul- lural Gazette, showing both these methods, with the punch, wrench, and cogs, both of which have stood the test of many years' experience, and have given great satisfaction. To Break Horses from Pulling »t the Halter— Two methods of breaking a horse of this habit are here illustrated, as follows: TO BREAK HOnSES FROM PTJLLINO AT THE HALTEE. — FIG. 1. Fig. 1.— Get a strong half-iuch cord twenty-two feet in length; put the center under the tail like a crupper; twist them a few times as you bring them forward over the back; pass for- ward on each side of the body, the pass them forward through the halter below the jaw. Tie firmly to a tree, post, or stall, and excite the animal by any means that will cause him to pull, until the habit is overcome. You may even whip across the nose keenly until there is perfect submission, which will not require long. Hitch in this way for a few days, or so long as there is is any predisposition to pull on the halter. Fig. 2. — This contrivance consists of an ordinary ring halter, with the two side rings connected by a strong, flexible cord. Whenever the horse pulls, the inner part of the cord is drawn forcibly against his jaw, and the effect is a severer punishment than he is willing to endure. to break a horse from pulling AT A HALTER.— FIG. 2. Warts on Horses. — A correspon- dent of an English agricultural journal writes: " Inquiries are made for a cure for warts on horses, mules, and cattle. Many remedies are prescribed U2 THE FARM. —many barbarous and cruel to the animal. I will give you a remedy often tried, and never known to fail. Anoint the wart three times with clean, fresh hog's lard, about two days between times. I have had warts on my horses— bleeding warts, of large size, rattling warts and seed warts, to the number of more than one hundred on one horse's head. I have never been able to find the warts for the third application of the lard. All disappear after the second application. I have sent this prescription to several agri- cultural papers, hoping it would be of some use to farmers. But they all seem slow to believe, perhaps, because the remedy is at hand and costs no- thing. I own I was slow to believe myself; but, having a fine young mare with large bleeding warts, that covered parts of the bridle and girths with blood whenever used, I thought there would be no harm in trying lard on them. When the mare was got up for the third application, there were no warts, and the scars are there now, after more than fifteen years, with very little change. I may say that for cuts, bruises, galls, etc., the application of fresh lard— either for man or beast — is worth more than any patent liniment in use. It will remove pain instantly, and docs not irritate raw flesh, as all liniments do. Stumljliiig Horses—The Pittsburg Stoclcman saj's: " Some good horses are addicted to stumbling while walking or moving in a slow trot. A well- versed veterinarian states that there are two causes that would tend to pro- duce this faulty action; one a general weakness in the muscular system, such as would be noticed in a tired horse; the other a weakness of the ex- terior muscles of the leg, brought about by carrying too much weight on the toe. To effect a cure, he adds, lighten the weight of each front shoo about lour ounces; have the toe of the shoe made of steel instead of iron, it will wear longer, have it rounded off about the same as it would bo when one- third worn out, in order to prevent tripping, allow one week's rest; have the legs showered for a few minutes at a time with cold water through a hose, in order to create a spray; then rub dry briskly, from the chest down to the foot. Give walking exercise daily this M'eek, for about an hour, twice a day. When you commence driving again omit the slow jog — either walk or send him along at a sharp trot for a mile or two, then walk away, but do not speed for at least several weeks. By this means the habit of stumbling from either of the above causes will be pretty well overcome. Cure for Balky Horse. — Hermann Koon, my German neighbor, writes a correspondent of the Prairie Fanner, is as patient a man as belongs to that patient race. Coming along the road a month or so ago, I saw Her- mann lying in a fence corner, under the shade of an elm, quietly smoking his pipe. A quarter of a mile or so beyond I saw Hermann's horse and buggy by the roadside, the horse evidently tied to a post. This was a queer condition of affairs, for my neighbor is one of the most industrious men I know. My curiosity was aroused, and I stopped for an explanation. In broken English he told me his horse, a recent purchase, had proved balky, had stopped near where he now stood and no amount of coaxing could in- duce him to go on. Hermann did not curse the animal, he did not lash it with his whip, beat it with a chib, build a fire under its belly, nor resort to any other of the brutal means some men use in siich cases. He quietly got out of the buggy, tied the horse to the post, and walked off. Hermann had been taking it easy under the tree for three long hours. He thought the horse would be glad to go noAV if requested to do so. It had once before stopped LIVE STOCK. U3 with liini, aud after a patiout waitiug aloue, for au hour, it went ou all right. He expected about four hours, this time, would effect a permanent cure of the bad habit. I went on about my busine'^s, leaving the stolid German to his pipe and his thoughts. To-day I met him again. He said the horse was eager to start when he went back to the buggy, aud though ho has used it every day since, no disposition to balk has been manifested. He believes there will be no repetition of the offense. Most men think they cannot afford to waste time in this way, perhaps, but if the horse is cured he is a valuable one, whereas, if it had become a chronic balkcr, through cruel management, it would be worthless. Hermann thought he could not make money faster than by saving the reputation of his horse. It is a new system, but Hermann says it will work well every time, if the horse is not naturally vicious. It looks reasonable to me, and if my nag ever tries the stop game -vvith me, and I can command patience sufficient, I will try his jjlan. Kicking Horses — We present herewith a method that will be found available in all cases of kicking by horses. The beast should have a good pair of bits in his mouth, to which should be attached a strap or rope sufficiently long to reach back between and behind the fore legs about eight inches, and should pass through the girt or surcingle. A loop should be made in this, the back end of the rope or strap, about two inches or more in length. Now take a rope about seven or eight feet long. (The length of the rope v.-ill depend upon the size of the horse; the rope should be long enough to allow of a free use of the horse's hind legs in traveling.) Pass one end of the rope round the leg, upon the inside, so the fastening shall come upon the outside, to prevent interfering, and bring it round upon the outside of the log, and pass the end over and around the middle of the rope and wind it round the rope upon the outside of the leg, as illustrated. Draw the nooso up round the pastern— i. e., between the fetlock and hoof— and pass the unfastened end of the rope through the loop in the rope or strap which passes through the surcingle, and fasten the end round the other leg, as was done the first time in fastening. This mode of fastening is simple, is easily done and undone, and will not work off, provided the noose is drawn up tightly around the pastern. If you have a horse that is addicted to the unpleasant hab- it of kicking, try this experiment, and you ynW find that it works admirably. Training Vicious Horses — A new and very simple method of training vicious horses was exhibited iu West Philadelphia, and the manner in which some of the wildest horses were subdued was astonishing. The first trial was that of a kicking or " bucking" mare, which her owner said had allowed no rider on her back for a period of at least five years. She became tame iu about as many minutes, and allowed herself to bo ridden about without a HQ-W TO PKEVENT HOESES FEOM KICKING. Ii4 THE FARM. sign of her former wildness. The means by which the result was accom- plished was a piece of light rope which was passed around the front jaw of the mare just above the upper teeth, crossed in her mouth, and thence secured back of her neck. It was claimed that no horse will kick or jump when thus secured, and that a horse, after receiving the treatment a few minutes, will abandon his vicious ways forever. A very simple method was also shown by which a kicking horse could be shod. It consisted in connect- ing the animal's head and tail by means of a rope fastened to the tail and then to the bit, and then drawn tightly enough to incline the animal's head to one side. This, it is claimed, makes it absolutely impossible for the horse to kick on the side of the rope. At the same exhibition a horse which for many years had to be bound on the ground to be shod suffered the black- smith to operate on him without attempting to kick while secured in the manner described. CraLU and Sores on Horses.— If the owner of the horses, the farmer ONE CAUSE OF HIDE-BOUND. himself, could always be among his work animals, they would receive more attention and better treatment; but as he has so much to think about and look after, he cannot give this department his careful supervision, and many errors creep into the management which could not otherwise be found there. Thei'e are some horses which chafe more readily than others, while some do not have the collars and harness fit them, which will invariably cause galls or sores; and even when the harness does fit properly, the warm weather, or giving the horse a hard, warm day's work, may cause shoulder or saddle galls to appear, which will soon become larger and bad sores, if not promptly attended to. Bathing the shoulders, with spring or well water hardens them, and decreases the tendency toward galling. When galls ap- pear, wash the affected parts with good white castile soap (only use the best castile and none other), and warm water to cleanse them. After the parts LIVE STOCK. 14S have been dried with a soft cloth or rag or sponge, anoint the parts with a mixture of pure glycerine in which a little carbolic acid lias been mixed. Do this at night after work. lu the morn cleanse well again, as above, and put on some pulverized alum if you work the horse regularly. Continue this course until the sores are pei-fectly healed up. "Working Mares in Foal — It is quite common to see or hear inquiries as to how near the time of foaling, a mare may be worked without injury to her or the colt, on the supposition that it is necessary for her to go idle for a month or two before. This is not the case; and in the hands of a careful man she may be kept at such work as plowing, harrowing, or cultivating without the least danger, until she is ready to foal. Of course, fast driving or working to a heavy wagon tongue, on rough or muddy roads, or where heavy backing is to be done, should not be allowed. The writer has always worked mares moder- ately on the farm, when necessary, until it was evident they were likely to foal within a few hours, and has known of their foaling in harness, en route from the plow to the liarn, but never with any bad results. While we think it more humane to let a mare have a few days' liberty before this trying event, there seems to be little necessity for losing the work of a strong mare for any great length of time before foaling, and we would prefer to allow the extra holidays afterward. Ordinarily, she will do first-rate work with a ten days' vacation, provided that she is not put immediately to work that is too severe, and fed partly with something else than corn. Kicking in the Stall. — The habit of lucking in the stable arises from idleness. Regular day work is the best remedy, but when that is not suffi- cient, a branch or two of some prickly shrub, nailed to the posts, will often stop the habit, care being taken to arrange it so as not to prevent the animal from lying down and obtaining needed rest. Mares are supposed to be much more subject to this vice than geldings or stallions; but so far as our personal experience goes, there is little difference. A broad leather strap, to which is tied a small wooden log, are commonly applied to one or both legs, but they are not always sufficient. A heavier weight than two pounds should not bo used, for if a horse is frightened by it, he may kick worse and do himself injury. When, however, he is well used to a wooden log, and has got over liis first alarm, a heavier one may be put on if required. The strap, which should be broad, is buckled around the leg above the fetlock, and the weight suspended from it, which should not reach farther down than an inch and a half above the coronet, as the coronet would inflame to a mis- chievous extent if bruised. Sometimes a weight is required for each leg, if the animal kicks at both stall posts. Occasionally, when all other remedies fail, the practice will cease when the animal be turned loose in a roomy box stall. Reining Horses. —The habit of reining in horses very tightly finds less favor with many persons than it did. It is not easy to see in what way the habit originated. If a man has a load of anything to pull, he wishes to get his head as far forward as iiossible to pull with ease. But the horse is de- nied this. His head is reined back tightly, thereby making it much harder for him to pull the load. To our view, a horse looks better, and we know he feels bettor, Avhcu pursuing a natural, leisurely, swinging gait. It is as necessary for his head to oscillate in response to the motions of his body, aa it is for a man's hands to do the same tiling. A horse allowed hia 14v Good Co-^vs are Rnined. — Milking is an art, and the farm hand who knows how to milk properly is more valuable to the careful dairyman than any other help. Of course, anybody can milk, and some can milk a dozen cows before breakfast. The careful manager, however, is not so anx- ious for fast help as he is to employ those who are careful. The operation should never be hurried, but the milk should be drawn steadily, and, as it flows, naturally. Some cows have very tender teats, and the rapid milkman forgets this fact in his endeavor to make speed. The cow that is naturally im- patient and fretful does not like to submit to rough handling, and her disposi- tion is soon ruined by such treatment. With the constant irritation she will fail in quantity, and be less productive, just as any human being would fail to perform faithful service when laboring under mental affliction or trouble. As the udder becomes distended and filled with milk, the desire on the part of the cow is to be relieved of its contents, and she willingly submits to it for the relief it occasions. The constant practice of being milked at stated intervals impresses itself strongly upon her, and she will seldom offer resist- ance without cause. When a cow, therefore, that has been a patient deliverer of milk becomes fractious, the fault can always be traced to the milkman. The careless dairyman is the one who complains of the failure of his cows to keep up the flow, and bloody milk, garget and other evils are the results of his own bad management. There is another point in the treatment of cows that demands attention, and that is allowing them to stand a long time wait- ing to be milked. With cows that give large yield it is very painful, and when the udders have been filled to their iitniost, and the milkman is not on hand to relieve them, they become exceedingly nervous and restless. This LIVE STOCK. 161 will do more to cause a cow to go dry before her period than anything else, and many a good cow has been sent to the shambles through diminution of quantity, simply because nature has revolted at her sufferings, and allowed her to dry up because her storehouse was not emptied of its contents at the proper times. She should also be milked to the last drop, if possible, and as the last portion of milk is claimed to be the richest, the udder should bo left with nothing in it. With regularity in feeding and milking, and kind treatment at all times, the cow will not only become gentle, and remain so, but will milk on several weeks longer than otherwise. An experienced dairyman needs help that are skillful, and he knows how to judge the milk- man's work by the behavior of his cows. When a stable of cows begin to give trouble in milking, it is only necessary to observe the manner in which they are milked in order to cure the evil. The udder of a cow is a very delicate structure, and she quickly rebels at rough usage or improper periods of milk- ing. To Prevent Cattle from Hooking Fences. — The mode herewith illus- trated will bo found a sure cure for cattle that hook or put their heads through fences. Take a one-eighth inch annealed wire ten inches long; make a ring in one end (one inch and a half) ; grind the other end sharp, to punch through the gristle iu the nose. The animal's head has to be fastened securely in the stanchions, iu order to bore the holes through the horns, which should be done with a three-eighth inch bit; then punch the wire through, and make the same sized ring in the sharp end; now take a cord that will run easily through the holes in the horns, and tie one end to the ring on one side and pass the cord through the holes in the horns to the other ring; the wire sliould be bent up above the nostrils to prevent the breath from rotting the cord; the cord should not be very tight when put on, for the rains will tighten it enough. To keep a bull from jumping and hooking fence, put on the above and a poke with the sword or arm running throiigh a wire ring in the nose, long enough to keep the arm from bearing on the wire, and *he animal is at home all the time. Currying Milch Cows — To the farmer the idea of currying a cow, milch or otherwise, is an absurdity; but to dairymen who have highly-bred cows, who take a pride in their business and get the top price of the market for their produce, it is a matter of moment, in that it is known to increase the milk flow and the butter produce by ten to twenty per cent, TO PKEVENT CATTLE TEOM HOOKING FENCES. 162 THE FARM. There are many points in the conduct of a dairy, unknown, indeed, un- thought of by farmers, that will presently have a prominent place in their management, very much to the benefit of themselves and those who receive and make use of their produce. Among those are: Succulent food, protection from inclement weather, kind handling, thorough and careful milking, full and regular feeding, clean stabling (when stabled), and an absence of foul odors, good ventilation, plenty of light and that thorough cleansing of the skin without which no milch cow can perform her duty thoroughly and well. With all these we must, to have a " tip top " article of butter, have the washing of the udder and teats before milking, and with this an entire absence of the filth accumulated in feeding and lounging between milkings. Of all these, one of the most important is that of periodical currjing, in that it cleanses the hide of superfluous hair, keeps it active and healthful and void of that pecuhar odor so commonly found in milk and sometimes in butter. It promotes the secretion and disposition of the putrid particles of the animal system which would otherwise be- absorbed by the secretery glands and be carried off in the milk, and leaves the latter not only purer but of a much better quality, and gives promise to the butter maker of a higher color and a purer flavor to the butter from the churn, hence a higher price in the market. Herein may eeem lots of trouble over details, but when reduced to a system they occupy little of time, labor or expense. To Prevent Co-ws Kick- ing- — We give an illustration of a patented device for pre- venting a cow from kicking, which is said by those who have used it to be efi"ectual. It consists of a light iron semi-circle intended to go over the back of the animal, with a joint and ratchet at the side, and a wooden block at each end, which fits to the flank of the cow, and prevents her from moving her foot forward. The inventor claims that it can be affixed iu three or four seconds and that its operation is neither cruel nor harsh. On the contrary the habit has been entirely cured after it is used for a short time. It will doubtless suggest a modification that wHl be useful to farmers without infringing upon the patent. Black Tongue in Cattle. — The symptoms are inflammation of the mouth, swelling of the head and face, discharge of bloody saliva, and high fever marks the first stages. Ulcers soon appear iinder and on the sides of the tongue. Then the throat and neck swell, and if the disease is not checked gangrene ensues and the animal dies. The disease is said to yield readily to early and proper treatment. Tbe following has proved very successful: The animal should be bled from the neck vein. Give him castor oil, one pint, to be repeated in ten hours if it should not operate. Then use the following: Powdered burnt alum, four ounces; chloride of lime, two ounces; com meal, two quarts. Mix, and with this powder swab the mouth frequently. TO PREVENT COWS KICKING. LIVE STOCK. 163 Lice on Cattle— A correspondent of the Country (Tentleman says on this siibject: The more common remedies recommended for relieving cattle and stock from lice are more or less dangerous to life or health, and must be used with extreme care. An unfailing remedy which may be used by any one without danger to life or limb would bo a boon to many farmers. Such a remedy we have in the boe-larkspur of our flower-gardens. A strong tea made from the seeds or foliage of the plant can be used as a wash with perfect safety. Any part of the plant may be used in making the wash, either green or dried. The plant should be gathered before it is frosted, and cured and preserved as other herbs arc. In the use of kerosene, mer- curial ointment, tobacco, etc., great care must be used or injiiry results from absorption; it enters the limbs or other parts of the animal and is oft«n a permanent injury. No such danger need be appi-ehended in the use of larkspur. All the parts where the vermin lodge should bo well scrubbed with the wash, and if thoroughly well done in a pleasant, mild day, one ap- plication is sufficient. In former days, when school cliildren were ti'oubled, I have heard old people tell their experience in using this remedy to their complete satisfaction. Another equally harmless remedy is aloes in fine powder, which may bo used dry by filling a common pepper box with the powder and sprinkling it freely into the hair on the neck, back, sides and rump of the infested animal. Rub it thoroughly through the hair and on the skin with the ends of the fingers. Leave the animal undisturbed for a week, then card thoroughly and apply as before. Continue this at intervals of a week, till not a Uving parasite is left. Usiially two applications, if thor- oughly made, will suftice. Another writer saj^s that to destroy lice on live stock he has foiind no- thing better than strong carbolic soapsuds. The soap usually sold under that name is not strong enough for the purpose. It may be easily prepared and at any degree of strength that may bo required. Get a pound of car- bolic acid crystals, which may be had at any wholesale druggist's. I get them in Boston at a cost of sixty cents per pound. Take ten pounds of com- mon bar soap, put in a pan with a little water and heat until dissolved. Take out the cork from the bottle containing the acid, and set it in hot water, which will cause the acid to become fluid; add this to the soap and stir well. Set away to cool and you will have a soap at a small cost that will be strong enough to Idll any vermin wliich infest domestic animals, and which will cure barn itch or any cutaneous diseases to which they arc liable. It is good to cleanse and heal sores, and a wash of it will be found good where animals are hide-bound and the skin out of condition; it will be found good to wash the inside of poultry houses to render them sweet and kill and pre- vent vermin. It is a cheap, safe and sure remedy, and should find a place in all well regulated premises. A stock-grower, writing to the New York club, gives his mode of de- stroying lice on cattle. He says: " I destroy them with brine — any kind of salt water will do it. I find two kinds of Uce; the blue lice, and I think the other is hen lice. I tried red precipitate one year; it killed the lice, two yearlings, and a two-year old. But washing the cattle with brine is easier, and they get into the habit of licking one another, and are more gentle toward each other. Another writer recommends grease. He says: " Insects breathe by means of small pores on their si^es. Grease or oil that comes in contact with the insects closos the pores and stops the breathing. Mercurial oint- ment kills as much by the lard in it as by the mercury — that is, so far ae the 164 THE FARM. vermin arc concerned, but not as to the animals that hck it off from their bodies, so that ahuost any oily or greasy application will be destructive to insect vermin that infest animals if it is applied where it will do the most good." Still another authority says: " A good remedy for Uce on cattle is water in which potatoes were boiled. For every one of your cattle take two quarts of water and eight middle-sized potatoes cut in half. If you have ten cattle, you must take eighty potatoes and twenty quarts of water. When the potatoes are soft take them out. Get a large sponge and wash the cattle freely, choosing a warm day. Comb them with a currycomb, and you will be astonished to see the eflfecte of the potato water." Clieap Slielter for Stock. — Shelter for stock is one of the great needs of farmers. It is costly to build a barn and shed, but for simple purposes of shelter farmers might make greater use of their abundance of straw. In S(mie localities it is customary to burn this as the readiest means to get it out of the way. A much better use might be made of it in constructing shelter for all kinds of stock, both against rain and cold. A very good plan is to make a frame of poles (as the engraving represents), and stack straw over them. This work should be done at threshing time, but if it has been neglected it may be done ^-v.^-^g^s^g:^^^^^^^^^^ at any later time. It pays ' ■ '^ "'*"' - richly in health, thrift, and in the saving of food, to provide shelter. CHEAP SHELTER FOR STOCK. The Soiling System with Co-vi-.s — It 18 a ques- tion of economy as to whether it is wise in us to allow the herd the full oc- Fi cupancy of a pasture, in order to reap the products in the shape of butter and mUk. A large herd re- quires a large pasture, and before any estimate can be made in the way of profit and loss, the value of the pasture itself, and the probability of what it may yield if cultivated, should be considered. The soiling system, which demands that the cattle shall be fed at the barn instead of pasturing in the field, has many advocates, and the reasons in its favor are that fewer fences are required, more manure is saved, larger yields of milk and butter are procured, and less space is required. Those who oppose the method say that it requires extra labor, and that the health of the stock is improved by their having the liberty of the pasture. Every consideration should be made, however, regarding the conditions. If the stock is kept on farms that are too large for cultivation, and where space is no object, with an unlimited supply of grass that cannot be utiUzed except by beuag pastured, then the soiling system is not economical, for no necessity arises for its practice; but on small dairy farms, where land is valuable and the products \^itliin easy reach of the best markets, the system of stall feeding of cattle is one that should be carried to an extreme, for the result will be very profitable, any other method being suicidal in the extreme. The extra labor required is equalized by the saving in fences, and LIVE .STOCJv. 165 the care and management is balanced by the savings of the liquid and solid manure. Both systems, therefore, are protitable under certain circum- stances, the whole matter being regulated by soil, climate, capacity for pro- duction, and distance from market. Raining Calves. — A stock grower writes: As a general I'ule, I let the calf suck the cow for three days, then I take it away; and after it has been twelve hours without food, I give it some new milk — about ten pounds, if I can get him to eat it. If, while the calf is running with the cow, you can handle it a little, so as to make it tame, it will learn to eat much easier. I am a large, stout man, and can easily hold a calf. If the calf is tame, so that it will come up to you and suck your hand, you can get it to eat the first time without much trouble; but if it is not tame, I get a-straddle of the calf, back him up in a corner, hold the pail between my knees, put one finger in the calf's mouth, and with the other hand hold the calf's head in the pail, and keep doing so until the calf commences to suck. Sometimes he will begin right off, and others will refuse for maybe ten minutes; but I never had one but what would suck after a while. By the third time I feed him I commence to take my finger out of his mouth, and do so more and more iintil he drinks without having a finger to suck. I feed entirely on new milk for ten days, then give about half new and half twelve-hoars-old skimmed milk (using the cream I take off the milk on the table); then, after another ten days, I drop the new milk, having dime so by degrees, and feed half twelve-hours-old skimmed milk and half skimmed milk. I work it so for a little while; but soon give him all skimmed milk, giving about eleven or twelve pounds at a feeding, and feed twice a day, without any meal or bran. I give in winter all the hay they want, keeping some before them all the time. After a calf is three months old you can give it some meal or shorts, if you wisli; but I do not think it is best if it can have plenty of milk. I feed calves imtil about five months old, and then commence to wean them by degrees. If calves scour while they are being fed milk, I give them about two teaspoonfuls of salt. In the summer I feed them their milk cold, and it is generally thick, soitr milk. In the winter I warm it a little, about milk- warm or blood-heat. It is well to handle your calves some while they are eating, so as to make them tame, and that is one advantage of raising them by hand, for they are generally tame. Cliawoal for Sick Animals. — In nine cases out of ten, when an animal is sick the digestion is wrong. Charcoal is the most efficient and rapid cor- rective. The hired man came in with the intelligence that one of the finest cows was very sick, and a kind neighbor proposed the usual drugs and poisons. The owner being ill and unable to examine the cow, concluded that the trouble came from over-eating, and ordered a teaspoonful of pul- verized charcoal to be given in water. It was mixed, placed in a junk bottle, the head turned downward. In five minutes improvement was visible, and in a few hours the animal was in the pasture quietly grazing. Another instance of equal success occurred with a young heifer which had become badly bloated by eating green apples after a hard wind. The bloat was so severe that the sides were as hard as a barrel. The old remedy, saleratus, was tried for correcting the acidity. But the attempts at putting it down always raised cougliing, and it did little good. Half a teaspoonful of fresh powdered charcoal was given. In six hours all the appearance of the bloat had gone, and the heifer wis well. 166 THE FAliM. How to Brealt a Heifer or a- Vicious Cow to Milk. — A vicious COW becomes so only by education, or, as it is sometimes said, by being spoiled. The case is much worse than that of a heifer, and when the cow is appar- ently cured of a bad habit, it is liable upon slight provocation to return. The principle involved in the treatment of all brutes is to employ kindness together with the means of proper restraint. In the case of the young or the vicious cow, place her in stanchions or fasten her securely. Pass a girth- either a strap or a rope — aroiand the body, just in front of the bag, letting it pass in the rear of the right hip and in front of the left. Draw the girth somewhat tightly — more or less so, to correspond with the severity of the case. Take pail and stool, and sit down to the milking. The case must be a very obstinate one which will give any lasting trouble. The philosophy of the treatment is that the strap so restrains the actions of the muscles of the hind legs that the animal cannot kick to harm, or get its foot into the pail, while the restraint is steady and sure and the punishment not severe. A woman or boy can manage an ordinary case. Heifers broken in thia way, we think, become more thor- oughly gentle and sub- missive. Of course an even temper and kind treatment must be strict- ly observed. Feed Rack for Stock. — The rack rep- resented in this engrav- ing is designed to be placed against a building or wall, under cover. It may be adapted to any kind of stock by placing it at the proper height. The cut plainly explains its construction. The trough below the slats may be used for feeding grain or roots. This style of rack is very popular in Europe. Science Applied to Stock-Feeding. — It is often necessary to mix differ- ent kinds of food to secvire the best combination of flesh and fat-producing elements. Experiments have been made in Germany to ascertain what is the proper combination of these principles. Ordinary food contains two leading elements, one of which supplies the flesh and muscle of the animal frame, and the other the fat and heat. These two elements should bear a certain relation to each other. In the combination producing the best re- sults, the ratio is one of the muscle-producing to three or four of the fat- producing. Our common crop contains these elements in very different ra- tios. In corn-fodder it is 1 to 10, which is too small proportion of the muscle- producing element in proportion to the fat-producing. In wheat straw, they are 1 to 15; in oat straw, they are 1 to 16; in German millet, they are 1 to 3, so that this, when cut in the dough state, possesses the proper combination. In corn (grain) they are 1 to 7 or 8, too much of the fat for the muscle-pro- ducing elements. This corresponds to our experience. Corn is too heating for work stock in our climate in summer. It is, however, excellent for fat- tening animals. In oats (grain) these elements are 1 to 5, nearer correct FEED HACK FOK STOCK. LIVE STOCK. 1G7 than in com. In wheat bran, 2 to 8 1-2; in rye, 1 to G. Etiropean field bean Las 1 to 1.8 (one and eight-tenths), showing too much muscle-producing for the fat-pi*oducing elements. The proper medium may be attained by mixing two kinds of food. Thus corn and peas mixed make the ratio about correct. Clover hay is 1 to 3; lucerne, 1 to 2; vetch, 1 to a little more than 2. HoAv Practical Fanners Manage tlieir Cattle. A well-known firm of practical farmers give the following information of the method pursued by them: "Unless the weather is stormy, we turn our breeding bulls out for exercise half of every day, often with the cows in the pasture, when none of them are in heat. After breeding our cows we keep them in a stable, where they cannot be with the other cows for from ten to fifteen hours. We have a few stalls that are specially designed for cows that are due to calve during cold weather, and, of course, these are made as wann as we can get them. We turn the cows out with their calves three times each day, until the calves are six to eight weeks old, then only twice a day. We rarely allow calves to run with dam in pasture, though we put the calves out to grass as soon as they have learned to eat it. Feed young calves well on shelled coi"n, oats and meal. Have separate pastures for bulls and heifer calves and do not allow them to pasture together after the bulls are three 01' four months old. Our dry cowa we winter principally on hay, feed- ing very little grain, except to young stock and those that have calves at their sides, or those de- signed for the show-ring. We breed our heifei's when about twenty months old." Calf "Weaiier. — This invention relates to the class of calf weaners adapted to be attached to the central cartilage of the calfs nose, like a bull ring, the parts of the weaner being pro- vided mth sharp points that come against the cow's bag when the calf attempts to suck. The parts or sections of the device are attached together by a pivot forming a part of one of the points. They are held closed by means of a small screw. This device is very effective, simple and cheap. Traiutug Horns. — If it is desirable to straighten a horn, you may fre- quently scrape with a piece of glass, or a knife, the hollow side, which ^vill cause it to grow faster on that side; but in that case it must not be scraped deeply, for then it becomes weaker on that side, and will be turned toward the weaker side. Some scrape the side toward which they wish to turn the horn quite thiu, and then scrape the opposite side just enough to make it grow faster, and that will turn it toward the thinly scraped side. If you ^vi8h to turn a horn up, scrape on the under side just enough to make it grow faster on that aide. A very barbarous way to turn a horn is sometimes practiced, by searing ^vitli a hot iron on that side toward which the horn is to be turned. This pi-events the growth of horn on that side, and the growth upon the other side turns the horn. The horns may be polished by rubbing them with fine sand paper, and then with pumice-stone, and then oiling them. But this artificial manipulation of homa is seldom necessary. The horns of well-fed cattle will generally grow in comely shape if lot alone. The hair is sometimes oiled to give it a glossy appeai-ance, but the best gloss ia put upon the hair by rich and appropriate feeding. Nature, under proper conditions, does this work best. 168 THE FARM. Hollow Horn. — The first symptoms of the disease are readily seen. The auimal affected refuses to eat, aud shows au indisposition to move about. If not properly treated at once, the disease hoon becomes so severe as to pre- vent the animal from feeding at all, and death is generally the result. The old plan of boring the horns and i^ouring in turpentine should never be re- sorted to, as it does no good, and gives the animal unnecessary pain. The horns are not effected, and consequently need no doctoring. The tongue is the member wherein lies the trouble. By securing the animal's head, so as to prevent injury to yourself from its horns, and then pulling out the tongue and pressing it downward, over the under lip, hundreds of little black heads of so-called flesh-worms will rise above the surface. Take a dull table knife and scrape off these black heads carefully and gently; then throw on the tongue a little salt or pepper, or both mixed together, which will bring up the saliva aud set the animal's tongue to working. In a few hours at most the animal will begin to eat, and the trouble will be ended. We have never known this remedy to fail, no matter how severe the case. Taste of Turnips in Millc. — There are several remedies, says the American Agriculturist, to prevent the taste of turnips in milk, but we be- lieve no one of them can be strictly relied upon as effectual; we will, how- ever, give them in order: 1. The objectionable taste comes from the crown of the turnip. If this is cut ofif and thrown away entire, the remainder will not affect the milk. 2. Dis- solve a teaspoonful of carbonate of soda in a teacupful of warm water, and add this to six gallons of milk when first set in the pans. For a single gallon, of course one-sixth of the above would be sufficient, and for two or three gallons in due proportion. The turnips ought to be given to the cow imme- diately after milldng. 3. Pulp or crush the turnips so fine as to make them quickly and easily digested after eating, and when fed mix with ciit hay or straw. 4. Scald the milk as soon as drawn from the cows. The best way to do this is to insert the milk can into a large pan or kettle about three- quarters full of boiling water, and stir tlie milk until it reaches 80 to 90 de- grees of heat, and then set it away to gradually cool oti". The cream then rises thick, comes off in a lump, and is churned quickly. All the above remedies are so simple as to be easily tried, and if they do no good, cannot effect harm. Leaves for Bedding. — An economical farmer writes: " In the scarcity of rye straw, and the absence of saw-dust and other material for bedding cattle, we have been forced to use forest leaves to keep the horse and cow in cleanly condition, and on the whole are much pleased with them. The gathering was from the roadside, and along the walls, where brush and leaves had accumulated for years. A few basketfuls wei-e put under the animals every morning, and kept there until they were well saturated with the urine, and then thrown out into the manure heap. With a plenty of this material, kept dry under a shed, and used abundantly, there is very little loss of liquid manure. As an absorbent, it is much more effective than we expected to find it. Leaves have a high reputation as a material for the hot- bed and the compost heajD, and are worth the labor of gathering, in most cases for their fertilizing properties. Cords of them are going to decay in the sight of almost every rural home, and it is the rare exception that they are utilized. Meanwhile the fields and garden are famished for want of manure, or supplied with concentrated fertilizers at forty dollars a ton. LIVE STOCK. 169 TUe First Milk — The custom of weaning the calf from the cow when it is only three days old is a barbarous one. We are familiar with the fact that cows arc sometimes injured by such a course, also, especially if she is naturally of a nei-vous, anxious disposition, she soon learning the habit of holding up her milk, and when a cow holds up her milk she has become addicted to the most incurable vice known. There is another thing con- nected with the weaning of the calf at so early an age, which is the plain statement that we make in claiming that the milk is unfit for use, although the calf is usually taken away in order that the milk may be sold. Those who have had experience in the dairy know that milk from cows that have recently come in is ropy, and possesses a distinct characteristic in appear- ance from that of cows that have been iu service for a longer time. Thus, it is not only unnatural to deprive the cow of her calf so early, but to use the milk. It also pays to keep the calf on the milk until it is old enough to be sold at a fair price. Obstructed Teats. — The more the udder is stimulated to extra secretion of milk, so much the more is it liable to congestion and inflammation. The pressure, too, of a great quantity of milk iu the udder upon the circular muscle (sphincter), which closes the cud of the teat, tends to set up more or less irritation there, and this will sometimes result iu excessive thickening (if the walls and hard milking, or even complete closure of the orifice. The simplest and best treatment is to slightly dilate the opening of the teat, once or twice a day, with a perfectly smooth probe. A silver milking tube, about a twelfth of an inch m diameter, will answer; or, when this is not available, a probe of the same size made of gutta percha. A small size will bo neces- sary at first, and, after a day or two, when that passes easily, a larger one, until finally the orifice is easily dilatable and the milking sufficiently free. In every case the probe should be well oiled, and introduced with caution, so as to avoid injury to the internal parts. A silver tube should be warmed before it is introduced. To Test tlie Healtli of a Horse or Coav. — In hoi'ses the pulse at rest beats forty times, in an ox from fifty to fifty-five, and in sheep and pigs about seventy to eighty beats per minute. It may be felt wherever a big artery crosses a bone. For instance, it is generally examined in the horse on the cord which crosses over the bone of the lower jaw iu front of its curved posi- tion, or iu the bony ridge above the eye, and in cattle over the middle of the first rib, and in sheep by placing the hand on the left side, where the beating of the heart may be felt. Any material variations of the pulse from the figures given above may be considered as a sign of disease. If rapid, hard and full, it is an indication of high fever or inflammation; if rapid, small and weak, low fever, loss of blood or weakness. If slow, the possibilities point to brain disease, and if irregular, to heart troubles. This is one of the princi- pal and sure tests of the health of an animal. Black Leg. — Black leg in young cattle generally attacks calves in the fall when they get the rank growth of feed and are subject to sudden changes of weather from rains and frosts. It sometimes attacks thrifty calves in the winter when they are in the house and eating dry feed. We believe the herdsman can trace the disease back to the cause, and we believe the cause is the same in winter as in fall and spring; that is, rapid growth from generous feed and liability to sudden chills from being kept in too warm houses and exposures to cold while oiit during the day. Stables 170 THE FARM. should not be too warm, nor should calves be deprived of exercise. Salt- petre in salt is used by experienced herdsmen as a preventive; bleeding will prevent the disease spreading among calves; for, although it is not con- tagious, the cause that produces it in one is apt to produce it in others. Treatment of Horn Brittleness. — In treating cows for horn brittle- ness, a stock raiser in Austria found no good resulting from feeding bone meal when the water used from a spring was perfectly soft — that is, without mineral matter. But upon changing them to the water of another spring containing carbonate, sulphate and phosphate of lime, and chlorate of mag- nesia in small quantities, the effects were as follows: 1. The animals drank half as much again as before. 2. The cows gave more and better milk than before. 3. The worst diseased cows at once began to get better, and this was the first case in which any of them recovered without removal. 4. The oxen showed far better condition than could be previously attained on the best of food and with the most careful attention. No fresh cases occurred as soon as the change of water was introduced. Sores on Cattle. — There are many sores on cattle, which if kept con- stantly washed clean with cold water and kept free from dirt, would heal of themselves. A very careful herdsman says his practice of curing hoof-rot is to thoroughly cleanse the affected parts with warm water and soap; and then apply warm tar between the hoofs. In very bad cases there will be a large core to come oiit; remove it carefully with the thumb and finger, cleanse the cavity as above with soap and water, and then fill it with warm tar. Keep the parts thoroughly covered with tar, even if it is necessary to use a band- age. Keep the animal in a clean, dry pasture. It is no more liable to affect the whole system than any other ulcer. When once cured there is no danger of its appearing again unless from the same cause. Ho-\v to Milk a Cow. — The most economical way to milk a cow, all things considered, is to milk the»two fore teats clean, leaving off with a pretty full stream, and then milk the hind ones down to a short stream, and, returning to the fore ones, mUk them to the same condition, not touching the hind ones again. This will leave the teats empty, and the bag, too. It is a false notion that tugging away at the teats stimulates a cow to give more milk; but, on the contrary, emptying the bag as soon as possible yields more; then the cow can have the extra time to eat, which is a better stimulus than either. A slow milker is never tolerated in the dairy districts, and a " stripper " is an injury anywhere. The sooner a cow is milked, and all the organs connected with feeding, digestion, and secretion are left in their natural condition, the better it is for the cow. Caked iTdder— When a cow's milk suddenly dries up and becomes clotted in the udder, it is probably due to garget or inflammation of the udder from some one of many causes. The udder is then hard or lumpy, and hot. A remedy is to give the cow at once eight or twelve ounces of Epsom salts, with half an ounce of saltpetre, repeating the latter in six hours. If the milk is difficult to draw, a solution of one ounce of carbonate of soda in a pint of water should be injected in the teats with a syringe, and then milked out. This will bring away the curded milk which, if left in, will make matters very much worse. If the cow ia feverish, the saltpetre may be repeated for a day or two. To bathe the udder in cold water, rubbing and squeezing it gently for a considerable time, is useful. LIVE STOCK. 171 Another remedy is to wash aud rub thoroughly with water as hot as you can hear your hand. Then rub with a dry cloth. Then apply hog's lard, or what is better, grate good yellow carrot line and simmer it in the lard to an ointment and apply aud rub as above. Cows "Wiiiter Tlieniselvn.^. — Many farmers are accustomed to dry off their cows early, milking them only about eight months. We think it im- proves the milking qualities of the cows to milk them ten months, but they should be well fed. We have a neighbor, who, ten years ago, tound himself short of hay in the fall, and lamented that he should have to pay out nearly all of the product of his cows through the summer to purchase hay at high prices to M'inter them. He had a moderate amount of straw, and we sug- gested that the product of his cows from the lirst day of December, if well fed, would pay for all the corn and meal, middlings, etc., necessary to winter his cows in tine condition. He tried this, keeping account of pur- chases of feed and sales of butter, and found that the butter came out ten dollars ahead tu the spring. Corii^tnlks for Cattle. — A Maine farmer says: Farmers justly set a high value on well cvired corn stalks, but some find a difticulty in getting their stock to eat them as cleanly as they wish. I have overcome this difficulty this winter by sprinkling tliem with hot brine. I withheld dry salt from the stock a while, also husks, aud made a brine by putting salt into a watering pot and pouring on hot water; gave the husks a bountiful spi-inkliug and fed them the last thing at night, instead of feeding them in the morning, as formerly. I think if I had tried this plan years ago I should have saved a great amount of fodder that was thrown out and trodden under foot. Foul Foot in a Cow. — Cows and horses are subject to a disease of the feet similar to scratches in horses. Diseased granulations, similar in ap- pearance to the heart of a cauliflower, break out and excrete a thin acrid matter. The treatment should be, to dress the diseased part with caustics, such as powdered sulphate of copper (blue vitriol) or sulphate of zinc (white vitriol), rubbed up smoothly, with clean, sweet lard, and give the animal repeated doses of one ounce hyposulphite of soda, as an alterative. The soda should be given every other day for a week or ten days. Kicking Cows — A writer says he once had a very valuable heifer which was an exceedingly vicious kicker. To cure her of the habit, he put a common garden hoe end iu front of her off hind leg, and behind and above the gambrel joint of the nigh hind leg. Then sitting down on the right to milk, he put the handle of the hoe well up under his arm and began milk- ing. The heifer could not stir either hind leg, and after one week she could be milked safely without fettering, and proved to be a valuable aud gentle animal. Waviu "Water for Cows. — Warm water is an excellent thing for cows giving milk; it is as good as two or three quarts of meal a day; but if you mix meal and shorts with it cows must be allowanced, as they will drink too much— enough to diminish the flow of milk. The quantity will vary with the character of feed and the cow. A little good judgment is a nice thing here, as everywhere else. Roots for Stock. — The value of roots for stock is not appreciated to the extent that it should be. In the rotation of crops in England turnips rank 172 'I'lm FARM. high, and it is not uncommon for a farmer to devote from twenty to fifty acres to this crop. Cattle are kept there in line condition in winter on raw turnips, and the latter also make excellent food for sheep. On rich land the crop produces very largely, and a comparatively small space is sufficient for or- dinary wants. .Tumping Cattle. — To stop a COW or steer from jumping over fences nail a horseshoe on one forward foot. This prevents the hoof from spreading, and consequently renders the animal unable to spring. This is calculated to be very effectual. Mixing Hay for Stock. — A mixture of one-third clover hay with timothy and redtop is recommended for any kind of stock. This mixture, it is said, will produce more milk, more growth, and more fat in stock than clear timo- thy and redtop. Proportions of Food — A milch cow, on the average, requires daily three per cent, of her weight in hay to keep her in health, an ox two per cent., or two and a half per cent, if working moderately. An ox fatting, five j^er cent, at first, and four and a half per cent, when half fat; sheei^ three and a half per cent, to keep in store order. If other food is substituted for hay, or a part of it, its comparative value as a nutriment must be ascertained. Thus, eight pounds of potatoes are equal to four pounds of good hay, while eight pounds of turnips are only equal to one and three-fifths pounds of hay. Carrots for .Stock. — It is asserted, by those who have tested the matter, that for stock-feeding an acre of carrots is worth about two hundred per cent, more than the same ground will do in grass. This will pay for increased expense of cultivation, and leave a fair margin of extra profit. Cattle take readily to carrots as a portion of their daily food, and the large yield per acre shoiild make them a greater favorite with farmers than they genex'ally are. The thinning and weeding appear to be a great drawback to their more general cultivation. But with this expense the crop pays well. Celery Tops for Cows — A writer in an AustraUan paper states that in many instances the leaves of celery are highly esteemed as food for milch cows, and are often i^reierred to red clover. The cows are said to eat them greedily, and to yield on this food a far richer milk than on any other. Some- times leaves are cut up small, scalded with hot water, and given as a mash mixed with bran, and sometimes they are fed whole in their natural state along with the other ordinary food Tlie Best Feed for Cattle._We have seen pumpkins fed quite freely with excellent result in quantity and quality of milk; but it is not fit or eco- nomical to feed too largely of any one food. Potatoes fed in moderation are excellent for milk; but given in too great a quantity they will reduce the yield. Turnips or beets miist not be given too liberally; corn fodder, given as a sole ration, is unprofitable; birt fed with half pasture will keep up the yield of milk and add largely to the profit of the season. Phospliates for Cattle. — A natural instinct leads cattle to eat bones when their pastures are deficient in lime or phosphates of lime. If these bones are brought home and reduced to a fine powder, mixed with salt, and placed in a box or boxes fixed in the barn-yard, the cows will lick them and LIVE STOCK. 173 derive very great benefit from them. This will save their teeth, and prevent them from choking themselves, as they might readily do with a piece of bone. Those who have no old bones should purchase a few, and treat them in the way indicated. Stra-w and Bran. — Professor Henry, of the Wisconsin Experimetdal Fann, holds that it is wise economy on the i^art of the farmer who has a great straw stack, and small herd of cattle, and some hay, and who will not enlarge his herd, to sell the hay at $7 or $8 per ton, and spend the money in buying bran at $11 and $12, and feed it with the straw, together with some oil- meal. Good bright straw is made equal to hay by the addition of the protein in the bran and meal, and the whole is thus made into a far better quality of manure than usually comes from the usual way of feeding the hay, and half washing the straw. Feeding Bran witli Meal — For winter feeding, where cattle are kept in stalls and heavily fed, there is no better divisor for corn meal than wheat bran. It is also cheap, and furnishes what the corn meal lacks. When cat- tle are fed on corn meal as the principal food for fattening, it is apt to clog if fed in too large quantities; hence, our best feeders are in the habit of iising bran as the cheapest and best means for rendering the meal fed more di- gestible. Rings on Cows' Horns. — The first ring appears when the bo\inc is two years of age, and sometimes before. The ring gradually increases during the third year, and is fully formed at three years; the second ring appears during the fourth year, and is complete at the end of the fifth year; after that one additional i-ing is formed each year. A cow with three rings is six yeara old; with four, seven years old. After nine or ten years the rings are no indication of the age. Care of Oxen. — Oxen that work on frozen roads, although there is no ice, should be shod. The rough, hard surface wears down the hoofs very fast,, and causes inflammation of the interior; the trouble may not become appar- ent until later, when the mischief is difficult to repair. If the feet are tender aud hot, and a slight lameness is perceived, examine the hoofs between the claws, cleanse the feet, and apply the needful remedies without delay, aud 80 save trouble in the future. To Exterminate Rats and Mice. — An English agricultural paper says: " Several correspondents write to announce the complete extirpation of rats and mice from their cow-stalls and piggeries since the adoption of this sim- ple plan: A mixture of two parts of well-bruised common squills and three parts of finely chopped bacon is made into a stifi' mass, Avith as much meal as may be required, and then baked into small cakes, which are put down fur the rats to eat." Garget in Cows.— It is said that eightdrops of tincture of aconite dropped on a piece of bread and mixed with the food at night, and next morning four drops more given in the same manner, will generally complete the cure of garget in cows. Scours in Calves. — For scours in calves, a raw egg broken into their milk is the most effectual remedy. A piece of rennet soaked in milk iw ali^() good, but we prefer the raw egg. 174 THE FARM, A "Winter Piggery. — The object sought in the erection of this piggery is to secure a neat, clean, cheap and comfortable shelter for young pigs. The structure is thirty feet long, six feet wide, five and a half feet high in front, and four feet high at the rear. The roof slopes only one way, and projects fifteen inches, to throw water away from the pens. First make the spot on which it is to be built a foot higher than the natu- ral surface, with stiff, good clay soil. Gravel must be put on this several inches deep. Set round white oak posts a few inches in the ground at every corner of each pen or division. Nail on, with double-ten nails, scantling, two by four inches. Board up with vertical boarding, one by twelve inches. Cover the roof of building with the same material, and make slatted divisions for the pens inside. Our illustration shows the trough into which slops and water are poured from the outside. These have a one-inch hole at one end, with peg to let off surplus water in cleaning. A piggery of this size will hold from ten to thirty, according to size and age. It should be built facing the south, so as to allow as much sunshine as possible to enter the doors. Whitewash the g inner apartments for health; also the outside, g which gives the structure a pleasant appearance. o The ornamental verge board is sawed out of one- ^ inch plank a foot wide, aud a one-inch auger hole H p^t through the center of the figure, as shown in ^ the cut. The rafters project a foot over the front, ^ which proves a solid basis upon which to nail the Ian:tgentent of .Swine — One great feult in the manage- ment is to keep too many hogs together in one shed or inclosure. From want of proper protection in the way of housing, hogs are very apt to crowd together iu bunches during cold weather; and, coming into the sheds wet and dirty, and being obliged to lie either on old and filthy straw bedding or (m a wet and damp tloor, their sweating aud steaming soon produces a foul atmosphere, and the bedding, not being removed at ]u-oper intervals, gets rotten, and adds to contamination of the air. Being thus packed together in the building, the hogs, iu a warm and perspiring condition, are next exposed to the influence of cold winds and wet, by being turned out in the morning hours to rim in the field among grass wet with cold dew or from rain or hoar-frost, or to be fed from troughs iu the yard. Among the common con- Bequences are congestion, cold or catarrh, and, if the so-called hog cholera A CONVENIENT FEEDING TROUGH. 178 TUE FAHM. happens to be prevailing, they are almost certain to be affected with that disease, as their systems, under such management, are rendered predisposed or susceptible thereto. In many places the hogs are kept in miserable sheds, no provision being made for proper drainage, the groiind sloping toward the sheds, wliich frequently being unpaved, or without proper flooring, arc con- stantly damp and wet, while pools of urine and filth abound, and with wind and sleet approaching from all quarters. In proportion as the standard of breeding has become higher, so has the vital force, energy, and hardiness become lessened; and the effects of improper quantity and quality of food, filthy or stagnant water, faulty construction of houses, and iindue exposure to atmospheric influences, have become proportionately more baneful. A Good Pig Sty. — ^We furnish herewith a plan for a good pig sty, with a detailed description showing the best manner of constructing the same. Our illustration represents the ground floor, 25 feet wide by 32 feet long. A is an entry five feet wide, running the whole length of the l>uilding, with a door at each end; it is used for feeding, as the troughs in boxes b, b, b, b, run along one side of it. The roof extends only over the entry (a) and the boxes b, b, b, b. The boxes c, c, c, c, are not under the roof. The whole building is floored yn\h plank, with a shght'deprcssioniu grade toward the front of about half an inch to the foot, for the purpose of drainage. The inside partitions need not be more than about four feet high. The small door between b and c is hung by hinges from the top, so as to open either way, made to work easy, not reaching quite to the floor. The pig soon learns to push it open and pass through, and the door closes after it. When pigs are put into the boxes, one corner of the box floor (c) should be made irei, and the pigs will be careful not to wet anywhere else. O, o, o, o, are feeding troughs. The height of the building should be seven or eight feet. No bedding is required. Keep the floor clean. Hog Cholera. —The Lewistown Gazette, published in Fulton County, 111., says: " Every paper in the United States ought occasionally to keep the fact before its readers that burnt corn is a certain and speedy cure for hog chol- era. The best way is to make a pile of corn on the cobs, effectually scorch it, and then give the affected hogs free access to it. This remedy was dis- covered by E. E. Lock at the time his distillery in this county was burned, together with a large lot of store corn, which Avas so miich injured as to be unfit for use, and was hauled out and greedily eaten by the hogs, several of which were dying daily. After the second day not a single hog was lost, and the disease was entirely conquered. The remedy has been tried in a number of cases since, and never failed." The Washington (Iowa) Gazette says Mr. Donahey, of that piace, furnishes the following recipe for the cure of hog cholera: To prevent hogs from hav- c 1^ 1 c 1 1 'i 1 1 c Id l3 Id t o o o o a : A GOOD PIG STY. LIVE STOCK. 179 ing cholera, quinsy, or pneumonia, use one gallon of soft soap, four ounces of saltpetre, and half a pound of copperas. Mix well in swill, and feed to about forty hogs in one day. In four or five days give the following: Carbolic acid, eight drains, black antimony, two ounces, half pound of sulphiir. Mix well in swill, and feed to aboiit forty hogs in two days. Repeat the above once a month, and it will prevent any of the above diseases. I have used it for ten years without a single case of any disease among my hogs. A simple cure for hog cholera, says the Keiiliicky Lice Stock Record, is an infusion of peach-tree leaves and small twigs in boiling water, given in their slop. Peach leaves are laxative, and they probably exert, to a moderate extent, a sedative influence over the nervous system. They have been used as a worm destroyer with reported success. They have also been recom- mended as an infusion for irritability of the bladder, iu sick stomach and whooping cough. The cases of fotal poisoning from their use in children are on record, as peach leaves contain prussic or hydrocyanic acid, but as it is almost impossible to poison a hog, their use would not be objectionable. The specific is worth a tiial. The report of the Georgia Agricultural Department has a statement to the eftect that forty cases of hog cholera were averted, if not cured, by turning the animals on to a quarter of an acre of clover, to graze for one week. It has long been held that this disease springs mainly from malnutrition, and too much feeding on corn or other carbonaceoiis food. The fact that clover — a nitrogenous fodder — in this case averted the threatened disease is of great interest. The culture and use of clover in the South may through thia knowledge be greatly extended. Nancy Agree, of Missouri, some years since claimed the $10,000 premium offered by the legislature of that State for a cure for hog cholera. Her spe- cific is as follows: " Take inside bark of the wild cherry tree and boil it down with water so as to make a strong solution, and give it to the hogs to drink, excluding them from water.* It has proven a perfect cure, even in the last stages of the disease. I also recommend an admixture of the root of the bull nettle." A correspondent of the Journal of Agricul/ure recommends a half tea- spoonful of carbolic acid iu a gill of milk. This remedy, he states, has been successful iu every case and not only cures but stops the spread of the dis- ease. It is administered Irom the mouth of a loug-necked bottle. The Pig ag a. Plowman. — Farmers everywhere, says the American Agriculturist, are influenced by the construction of railroads and other means of quick transportation, but none of them more so than those who grow meat as a branch of tlieir farm operations. The pork-raisers in the older States come in competition with the swine products of the prairie States, where the pig is a condenser of the corn crop, and among the most economical methods of sending that cereal to market— yet even with cheap freights, it will not do for Eastern farmers to abandon the sty, and look to the West for their salt pork and hams. There are economies to be practiced in swine raising that will make the Eastern farmer successful in his competition with the West. He has the protection of freights over long distances which can never be veiy much reduced. The home market will always be remunera- tive, so long as pork products are in demand. His lands need manure, and that which is made in the sty and under cover, is among the best of the home made fertilizers. Herding swine upon pasture, or old meadow, that needs breaking up, is not very much practiced, but is one of the best methods of 180 THE FARM. raifling pigs. They are as easily confined within a movable fence as sheep, ntiHze the grass and coarse feed quite as well, and perform a work in stir- ring the soil that sheep cannot do. The nose of the pig is made for rooting, and we follow Nature's hint in giving him a chance to stir the soil. A mova- ble yard, large enough to keep two pigs, can be made of stout inch boards, about fourteen feet long, and six inches wide. For the corner posts use two by four inch joists. Nail the boards to the posts six inches apart, making four lengths or panels four feet high. Fasten the corners with stout hooks and staples, and you have a pen or yard fourteen feet square, which is easily moved by two men. If you place two fifty-pound pigs into this yard they mil consume nearly all the grass and other vegetation in it in three or four days, and thoroughly disturb the soil several inches in depth. When they have done their work satisfactorily, the pen can be moved to the adjoining plat, and so onward through the season. The advantages of this method are, that it utilizes the grass and other vegetation, destroys weeds and in- sects, mixes and fertilizes the surface of the soil about as well as the ordi- nary implements of tillage. In the movable yard there is thorough work. Even ferns and small brush are effectually destroyed. "Worms and bugs are available food for the pig. And it is not the least of the benefits that the small stones, if they are in the soil, are brought to the surface, where they can be seen and removed. The pig's snout is the primitive plow and crow- bar, ordained of old. No longer jewel this instrument, but put it where it will do the most good, in breaking up old sod groiind, and help make cheap pork. Cliarcoa,! for Hogs— -We have but little doubt that charcoal is one of the best known remedies for the disordered state into wliich hogs drill, usu- ally having disordered bowels, all the time giving off the worst kind of evacu- ations. Probably the best form in wliich chai'coal can be given is in the form of burnt corn — perhaps, because when givijuin other forms the hogs do not get enough. A distillery was burned in Illinois, about which a large number of hogs were kept. Cholera prevailed among these hogs somewhat extensively. In the burning of buildings a large amount of corn was con- sumed. To this burned and partially burned corn, the hogs had access at will, and the sick commenced recovering at once and a large portion of them got well. Many farmers have practiced feeding scorched corn, putting it into the stove or building a fire upon the ground, placing the ears of corn upon it, leaving them till pretty well charred. Hogs fed on still slops are liable to be attacked by irritation of the stomach and bowels, coming from too free generation of acid, from fermentation of food after eaten. Charcoal, whether it be produced by burning corn or wood, will neutralize the acid, in this way removing the irritating cause. The charcoal will be i-ehshed to the extent of getting rid of the acid, and beyond that it may not be. Hence it is well to let the wants of the hog be settled by the hog himself. Iron Hog Troughs. — Upon the subject of the best material for hog troughs, a writer says: " I make them out of iron, not out of iron-wood, but cast iron. I grappled with this problem a half dozen years ago and mas- tered it. I became an inventor. I had an invention pT;t into the form of a model and got the proprietor of an iron foundry to cast eight troughs after the model. They were put into the different pens and they are there now, bright, clean, smooth, sound, and all right, and I expect to leave them just in this shape to my heirs. The model cost $18, and the troughs 6 cents a LIVE STOCK. 181 pound, and they weighed an average of at least 100 pounds. The spout is cast with the trough in one solid piece, and there are also feet cast and at- tached, by which it is fastened to the floor. The corners are made rounding and so is the bottom, so that freezing does not crack them, as the ice does not press against the coi-ncrs or sides, but around the whole. They are easily cleaned out, as the slo])ing sides allow the dirt to slide out before a broom, are always in place, and will never wear out. The wear and waste and annoyance of modern troughs became unbearable. Now I contemplate this part of farm experience with a feeling akin to perfect satisfaction. The trough is not patented." Pho.spIiates Essential to Pigs— Experiments made by Lehman upon young animals showed that food containing an insufficient amount of phos- phates not only affects the formation of the skeleton, but has an essential in- fluence upon its separate parts. A young pig was fed one hundred and twenty-six days upon potatoes alone; a result of this insuflicient food, ra- chilis (rickets, or softening of the bone). Other pigs, from the same litter, fed upon potatoes, leach-out-meat, and additional phosphates, for the same length of time, had a normal skeleton; yet even in these animals there was a difference according to the kind of phosphate added. Two that were fed on phosphate of pot- ash iiad porous bones, specifically lighter than the others, which were fed upon phosphate and carbonate of lime. Pig Scraping Table — This table can easily be made by a handy man. It is formed by bars of wood fixed into a frame. By using a table of this description when scraping jngs, the water and hair fall to the ground, and the latter is ef- piq scraping table. fectually disposed of. It is a simple arrange- ment, and its construction and use will materially aid in neatness and de- spatch. Preparing Foot! for Swine — A writer gives the following opinion: " The present practice with the greater number, I believe, is to prepare food for pigs either by steeping, steaming, or boiling, under the belief that cook- ing in any shape is better than giving in the raw state. I am not at present prepared to say definitely what other kinds of food may do, raw or cooked, with pigs or other domesticated animals, or how the other animals would thrive with peas or corn, raw or boiled; but I now assert on the strongest x^ossiblc grounds — by evidence indisputable, again and again proved by actual trials in various temperatures, with a variety of the same animals, variously conducted — that for fast and cheap production of pork, raw peas are fifty per cent, better than cooked peas or Indian corn in any shape." Hogs as Producers) of Manure. — One hog, kept to the age of one year, if furnished with suitable material, will convert a cartload per month into a fertUizer which will produce a good crop of corn. Twelve loads per year multiplied by the number of hogs visually kept by our farmers would make sufticient fertilizing substance to grow the corn used by them; or, in other words, the hog would pay in manure its keeping. In this way we can afford to make pork at low prices, but in no other way can it be done without Iobb to the farmer 182 THE FARM. S-wine Raising. — The American ArfricvMurisl contains the following sensible advice regarding the raising of swine: Pure air helps to make pure blood, which, in the course of nature, builds up healthful bodies. Out-of-door pigs would not show so well at the fairs, and would proba- bly be passed over bj' judges and people who have been taught to ad- mire only the fat and helpless things which get the prizes. Such pigs are well adapted to fill lard kegs, whereas the standard of perfection should be a pig which will make the most ham with the least waste of fat, the long- est and deepest sides, with the most lean meat; it should have bone enough to allow it to stand up and help itself to food, and carry with it the evidence of healthy and natural development in all its parts. Pigs which run in a range or pasture have good appetites — the fresh air and exercise give them this — hence they will eat a great variety of food and much coarser than when confined in pens. Nothing need go to waste on the farm for lack of a market. They will consume all the refuse fruits, roots, pumpkins, and all kinds of vegetables, which will make them grow. By extending the root patch and planting the fodder corn thinner, so that nubbins will form on it, and by putting in a sweet variety, the number of pigs may be increased in propor- tion. A few bushels of corn at the end of the season will be ready the next year for any crop, and ten times the advantage accrue to the farm than if as the pigs are usually managed. Bone Meal for sti-engtiieniiig Hogs. — Most farmers have noticed that in fattening swine, especially when they are crowded rapidly, they always appear weak in their hind legs, and sometimes lose the use of J:bem entirely. An intelligent farmer says that he and his neighbors have made a practice of feeding bone meal in such cases, and find that a small quantity mixed with the daily feed will prevent any weakness, and strengthen the animals so as to admit of the most rapid forcing. As bone meal is known to be a preventive of cripple ail and weakness in cows, it looks reasonable that it should also be a benefit to hogs, which arc often confined to a diet con- taining but little bone-making material. Keeping Hogs Clean. — The floor of a hog pen should be of plank. The pen and hogs can then be kept clean. If the animals are permitted to root up the floor of the pen and burrow in the earth, they will always be in an uncleanly and unwholesome condition, and much food will be wasted. It is quite unnecessary for either the comfort or health of the hogs to let them exercise their natural propensity to root in the ground. The exercise is really a waste of food and takes so much from their growth. Hogs Avill fat- ten most quickly when they eat and sleep and remain perfectly quiet, as they will do in a dry, warm pen, with a clean plank floor, and bedding of clean straw and plenty to eat. Ho^v to Give a Pig Medicine. — At a recent meeting of an EngUsh Farmers' Club, Professor McBride spoke of the difticulty of administering medicine to a pig. He said: " To dose a pig, which you arc sure to choke if yoii attempt to make him drink while squealing, halter him as you would for execution, and tie the rope end to a stake. He will pull back until the rope is tightly strained. When he has ceased hia uproar, and begins to reflect, approach him, and between the back part of his jaws insert an old shoe, from which you have cut the toe leather. This he will at once begin to suck and chew. Through it pour your medicine and he will swallow any quantity you please." LIVE STOCK. 183 Hay for Hogs. — Veiy few are aware of the fact that hay is very bene- ficial to hogs; but it is true, nevertheless. Hogs need rough food as well as horses, cattle or the human race. To prepare it you should have a cutting- box (or hay cutter), and the greener the hay the better. Cut the hay short and mix with bran, shorts or middlings, and feed as other food. Hogs soon learn to like it, and if soaked in swill or other slop food, it is highly relished by them. In winter use for hogs the same hay you feed to your horses, and you will find that, while it saves bran, shorts or other food, it puts on flesh as rapidly as anything that can be given them. Piiralysis in Pigs. — Pigs are frequently subject to a partial paralysis of the nerves of the lumbar region, by which motion of the hind quarters is rendered difficult or impossible. It sometimes results from inflammation of the covering membrane of the spinal cord, caused by expoeui'e to cold. The remedy is to rub turpentine or mustard paste upon the loins, and to give a teaspoonful of saltpetre in the food once a day. Dry i^ens and protection from rains in the hot season ai-e the best preventives. Poisonous .S^vill — ^A correspondent of the Prairie Farmer, having complained of a disease among his hogs, is told by another correspondent that the symptoms are similar to those of hogs of his own, which he is satis- fied died from eating swill that had become poisoned by standing too long. He says: " Chemists say that when swill stands a certain length of time after it has soured, it becomes poisonous. I don't know that this is so, but I do know that I shall not feed any more old swill." Roots for Hog* — Parsnips, carrots, Swedish turnips, and especially raangel-wurtzels, will all fatten pigs. The roots ought not to bo given in a raw state, but always cooked and mixed with beans, peas, Indian corn, oats, or barley, all of which must be ground into meal. When pigs are fed on such cooked food as we have stated, the pork acquires a peculiarly rich flavor, and is much esteemed, especially for family use. Ecouoiuy in Hog Raising — One man who let his hogs run on grass and artichokes all summer, was sure that his hogs paid him from fifty to sixty cents per bushel for the corn they consumed (not counting anything for the grass). Another man, who kept his hogs in a pen all summer with- out anything but corn and water, did not realize more than ten or fifteen cents per bushel for the com consumed. tVater for Hogs. — Hogs require free access to water in the summer time. If they can have a place to bathe or wallow in, it is beneficial to them, as it cools and cleanses the skin. Mud is not filth^t is a good disinfectant and healtlxful. Sometimes mud baths have been found useful as medicinal treatment for sick people. Scurvy Pigs—It is said by a farmer who has tried the experiment so often as to be sure of his ground, that buttermilk poured over the back of a scurvy pig will entirely and si^eedily remove the scurf. The remedy is simple. SquasK for Fattening Hogs — A New York farmer declares that an acre of Hubbard squash will fatten ten more hogs than the corn that can be raised on the same ground. He has gathered from six to eight tous from an acre. 184 THE FARM. Hurdling Sheep. — The accompanying illustration shows how an Eng- lishman fed his sheep on an irrigated pasture, by the use of hurdles of a peculiar description. The hurdles are twelve feet long and are made with a stout pole bored with two series of holes twelves inches apart; stakes six feet long are put into these holes so that they project from them three feet LIVE STOCK. 185 on each side of the pole. Oue series of holes is bored in a direction at right angles to that of the other, and when the stakes are all properly placed they form a hurdle, the end of which looks like the letter X. The engraving shows how these hurdles are made and the method of using them. A row of these hurdles is placed across the field. The field in which they are used consists of six acres. A strip of ten feet wide is thus set oft', upon which four hundred sheep feed. They eat up all the grass upon this stiip and that which they can reach by putting their heads through the hurdles. The hurdles are then turned over, exposing another strip of rather more than four feet wide at each turn. When this is fed off", the hurdles are again turned over. The sharp points presented by the hurdles prevents any tres- passing upon the other side of them, and by using two rows of hurdles the sheep are kept in the narrow strip between them. Their droppings are very evenly spread over the field, and it is richly fertilized by them. At night the sheep are taken off and the grass is watered. The growth is one inch per day under this treatment, and when the field has been fed over, the sheep are brought back again to the starting point and commence once more eating their way along. Raising Feed for Slieep. — The corn raised especially for sheep should be planted in drills, three and one-half feet apart, and about six inches in the drill. It will ear sufficiently, and should be shocked when the ear is just passing out of the milk, in large, well-built shocks. And the most profitable use that can be made of this for winter fcseding is, to run it throiigh a cutter, directly from the shock, reducing to fine chaff", stalks, ears, and all. If cut one-fourth of an inch long, the sheep will eat it all clean; this we know from practical experience. With a large cutter, a ton can be cut in twenty to thirty minutes. This cut corn, fed in properly con- structed troughs, will furnish both gi-ain and coarse fodder. The only im- provement you can make on this ration, without cooking, is to feed with it some more nitrogenotis food, such as bran, linseed meal, or cotton seed meal. Wool is a nitrogenous product, and corn is too fattening a ration when fed alone. To Tell tUe Age of Slieei*. — The books on sheep have seriously misled flock-masters on this subject. Almost any sheep owner will tell you that after a year the sheep gets a pair of broad teeth yearly; and if you show that his own three-year-olds have four pairs of broad teeth, he can only claim that they are exceptions, and protest that they do not exceed three years of age. Now these cases are no exception, for all well-bred sheep have a lull mouth of front teeth at three years old. Some old, unimproved flocks may still be found in which the mouth is not full until nearly four years old, but fortunately these are now the exceptions, and should not be made the standard, as they so constantly are. In Cotswolds, Leicesters, Lincolns, South-Downs, Oxford-Downs, Hampshire-Downs, and even in the advanced Merinos, and in the gi'ades of all of these dentition is completed from half a year to a year earlier. The milk or lamb teeth are easily dis- tinguished from the permanent or broad teeth by their smaller size and by the thickness of the jaw bone around their fangs where the permanent teeth are still inclosed. As the lamb approaches a year old, the broad exposed part of the tooth becomes worn away, and narrow fangs projecting above the gums stand apart from each other, leaving wide intervals. This is even more marked after the first pair of permanent teeth have come up, overlap- 186 THE FARM. ping each other at their edges, and from this time onward the number of small milk teeth and of broad permanent teeth can usually be made out with ease. Auother distinguishing feature is the yellow or dark coloration of the fangs of the milk teeth, while the exposed portions of the permanent teeth are white, clear, and pearly. The successive pairs of permanent teeth make their appearance through the gums iu advanced breeds at about the following dates: The first pair at one year; the second pair at one year and a half; the third pair at two years and three months; the fourth and last pair at three years. It will be observed that between the appearance of the first two pairs there is an interval of six months, while after this each pair come up nine months after its predecessors. For backward grades, and the iinimproved breeds, the eruption is about six mouths later for each pair of teeth, but even with them the mouth is full at three years and six months. Sheep Ticks How to Get Rid of Them. — Sheep ticks are much more numerous and more annoying than many suppose. Men of experience with large flocks generally know and apply the necessary remedies, but there are hundreds of farmers whose time and attention are principally directed to grain growing, etc., and who keep but a few sheep, whose flocks are sorely troubled by this parasite, and they never discover the cause of the c^nl. The accompanying engraving of the insect in its diflerent stages, ia from the Cyclo- paedia of Agriculture. The sheep tick or louse lives amongst the wool, and is exceedingly annoying to lambs. Their oval, shining bodies, like the pips of small apples, and similar in color, may be found attached by the pointed end to the wool. (See engraviug Fig. 1; Fig. 2, the same magnified.) These are not the eggs, but the pupae, which are laid by the female, and are at first soft and white. From these issue the ticks (Fig. 3; Fig. i, the same magni- fied), which are horny, bristly, and dull ochre; the head is orbicular, with two dark eyes (Fig. 5), and a rostrum in front, enclosing three fine curved tubes (Fig. 6), for piercing the skin and sucking the blood. The body is large, leathery, purse-shaped and whitish when aUve, and notched at the apex. The six legs are stout, very bristly, and the feet are furnished with strong double claws. The English remedies are a wash of arsenic, soft soap and potash, decoction of tobacco, train oil with spirits of turpentine, and mercurial ointment. Ticks, when very numerous, greatly annoy and enfeeble sheep, and should be kept out of the flock if possible. After sheaiing, the heat and cold, the rubbing and hiring of the sheep, soon drive oif the tick and it takes refuge in the long wool of the lamb. Wait a fortnight after shearing to allow all to make this transfer of residence; then boil refuse tobacco leaves until the decoction is strong enough to kill ticks beyond a peradventure. This may be readily tested by experiment. Five or six pounds of cheap plug to- 13 -A FIG. 1. — SHEEP TICKS, MAGNIFIED. LIVE STOCK. 187 bacco may be made to answer for one hundred lambs. The decoction is poured into a deep, narrow dipping tank kept for this purpose, and which has an inclined shelf on one side covered with a wooden grate, as shown in our illustration below (Fig. 2). One man holds the lamb by the hind legs, another clasps the fore legs in one hand, and shuts the other about the nostrils to prevent the liquid entering them, and then the lamb is entirely immersed. It is immediately lifted out, laid on one side on the grate, and the water squeezed out of its wool. It is then turned over and squeezed on the other side. The grate conducts the fluid back into the box. If the lambs are annually dipped, ticks will never trouble a flock. Early Linuil>.^. — In many localities an early lamb will sell fur more money than will the ewe and her fleece; therefore, where there is a market for early lambs the breeding of these is a very profitable business, if the per- son who attempts it is pro- vided with ample shelter and understands the man- agement of both ewes and lambs. Lamlis for early market are bred so as to be dropped in February and March. February is a hard month to bring them through, and without judicious treatment and Avarm shelter many lambs wUl be lost. The chief aim is to get the lambs ready for market as soou as possible, as it is the earliest arrivals that gain the high- est prices. It is necessary to keep the dams in good condition with sufficient food to make plenty of nourishing milk. Exi^eri- ence and judgment arc required in feeding the lambs; they must have food enough to promote rapid, healthy growth, and yet of a character that will not produce scouring. While the lambs arc still with the ewes, it is well to supply them additional food. They can soon 1)e taught to drink milk which is fresh and warm from the cow. Later on, oats, rye and wheat bran finely ground together make an excellent feed. As a gentle laxative a few ounces of linseed oil-cake will be found beneficial and at the same time nourishing. As the lambs approach the period for weaning extra food should bo in- creased; indeed, the weaning must be very gradually accomplished. The sudden removal of the lambs from their dams is injurious to both. A plan generally followed to avoid the evil effects of a sudden change, is that of removing' the lambs to a good pasture of short, tender grass, and at night returning them to the fold with the ewes. The ewes must not be neglected. Their feed should be gradually diminished so as to diminish the yield of milk. How to Make Sheep Pay. — Any farmer in the Eastern or Mddle States having a farm of one hundred acres in good fence can keep a flock of FIG. 2. — TANK FOE DIPPING SHEEP. 188 THE FAR3I. fifty sheep and receive larger profits than from any other investment of the same amount, providing they will care for them in the following manner, viz. : Have your sheep in good condition when you take them from pastiire to winter. Have a sheltered pen, with plenty of room, to protect them from the cold and storms; have au out-yard where they can be allowed to go in on nice sunshiny days, in which throw cornstalks, oat or wheat straw, if you have plenty of it, for what the sheep do not eat will make manure, so there will bo nothing lost. Also keep the sheltered i)en dry, by throwing in straw, as fast as it is cut up in maniirc. Feed them on clover hay. If you do not grow any buy it, for one ton of clover hay is equal to two tons of any other for sheep, in my experience. Try and have your lambs dropped in January or February. Build a small pen ahmgsidc of yoTir sheep pen, cut a small hole, so the lambs can get in, but not large enough to admit the sheep. Put troughs in the lambs' pen, and feed them on ground feed. They will soon find the hole and learn to eat, and if you have never tried it before, you will be surprised how much faster they will grow, and you will also find that the butcher will buy your lambs earlier, and pay a larger price for them than he will for your neighbor's, who does not observe the above advice. Feed Rack for Sheep. — Feed racks for stocks are indispensable articles of furniture in the sheds and yards of the farm. We give an engraving of one of these, designed especially for sheep. Its dimensions are thirty inches high, twenty- eight wide, bottom formed by nailing together four boards, eight or nine inches wide, in the shape of two troughs, or the letter W, resting on the cross piece B. The novel feature, perhaps, is the cant boards A A, which are hinged and then fastened by movable braces. These boards serve as par- ticular shelter to sheep, both from storm and chaff from fodder; and by moving the braces they assume a vertical position, and thus keep out the sheep while one is filling in the grain. Why Slieep are Profitable. — Sheep are profitable for several reasons, among them being the small expense of maintaining a flock. By that we do not mean the plan pursued by many of turning them into the woods and fields to be called up occasionally to be " salted," but they cost but little when cared for, because they are not choice in the matter of feeding. They greedily devour much that would be unserviceable, and for that reason are a necessary adjunct on a farm as a measure of economy. Where they become serviceable mostly is on those pastures that are deficient in long grass, and which are not used for making hay. It is ou this short grass, even if scatter- ing, that the sheep pick up good feeding and thrive well. In fact, long grass is not acceptable to sheep, as they graze close to the ground, A flock of sheep would almost starve in a field of tall clover, and will quickly leave such for the privilege of feeding on the short herbage that grows in the fence corners, in the abandoned meadows, and among the wheat stubble. The crab grass, which becomes a weed on light soils, is highly relished by sheep when just beginning to spread out, and even the purslane is kept down by FEED BACK FOB SHEEP. Liri: STOCK. 189 them. Fields from which the corn has been harvested afford them much valuable pasturage, and they ai-e always able to derive something for food on places that would support no other animal. In saying this it is not in- ferred that they require no care at the barn. They surely do, but require less than may be supposed. They are also great renovators of the soil, scattering manure evenly and pressing it in, thus impro\'ing the ground on which they feed. They multiply rapidly, a small flock soon becoming a large one, and they produce profit in three directions— wool, mutton and lambs. Tar the Noses of Slieep. — The months of July and August are the ones when sheep in many locaUties are subject to a most aggravating annoyance from a fly {oestrus bovis), which seems bound to deposit its larvas in the nostrils. It infects wooded districts and shady places where the sheep resort for shelter, and by its ceaseless attempts to enter the nose makes the poor creature almost frantic. If but one fly is in a flock they all become agitated and alai-med. They will assemble in groups, holding their heads close together and their noses to the ground. As they hear the buzzing of the Uttle pest going from one to another, they will crowd their muzzles into the loose dirt, made by their stamping, to protect themselves, and as the pest succeeds in entering the nose of a victim, it will start on a run, followed by the whole flock, to find a retreat from its enemy, throwing its head from Bide to side, as if in the greatest agony, while the oestrus, having gained his lodging place, assiduously deposits its larvie in the inner margin of the nose. Here, aided by warmth and moisture, the eggs quickly hatch into a small maggot, which carrying out its instincts, begins to crawl up into the nose through a crooked opening in the bone. The annoyance is fearful and mad- dening, as it works its way up into the head and cavities. The best known remedy is tar, in which is mixed a small amount of crTide carbolic acid. If the scent of the acid does not keep the fly away he gets entangled in the tar, which is kept soft by tlie heat of the animal. Any kind of tar or turpentine is useful for this purpose, and greatly promotes the com- fort of the sheep, and prevents the ravages of the bot in the head. Increasing «ho Growth of AVool. — The use of chloride of potassium is recommended in Germany as a means of increasing the growth of wool on sheep. Some German chemists have made experiments with the article, proving that the growth of wool is promoted by its use. It is administered in the proportion of one part of chloride to nine parts of salt. It not only increases the production of wool, but improves the quality, and promotes the general health of the animal, we are told; but the proper quantities to administer are not stated. To Cure Poisoned Sheep. — Take rue leaves, as many as you can grasp between thumb and forefinger. Bruise them; sqiieeze the juice into a half teacup of water, and drench the sheep with it. If the sheep are poisoned very bad, drench the second time, which will never fail to cure. Crossing Merino on ('oniinon Sliaep. — A Meiino ram crossed on a flock of common sheep will double the yield of wool through the first cross alone, thus paying for himself the first season. THE POULTRY YARD. A Poultry House for Chickens. — The poultry house we have illustrated ia designed for youug chicks. It can be attached to a coop, and is made of laths. It is the length of a lath and half a lath in height. Such an arrangement allows the mother some room to move about, and enables the j'oung chicks to reach air and sun. Almost any bright boy can nail the laths together, and it will materially increase the chickens' chances of life. Eemember that the first few days are the most critical and require extra attention. More fowls are destroyed in infancy, like humans, by injudicious feeding than at any other time. The first four weeks' management of the young chicks is everything, for no after cares can compensate for neglect during the critical period. For the first twenty-four hours no food should be given the chicks of any kind. At first there may be given hard-boiled egg, chopped fine. This need only be given for two or three days when the food should be changed to one consihting of oatmeal cooked in milk, to which an egg has been added. The second week the milk and oatmeal gruel, stifily made, should be continued, and good wheat screenings allowed also. After the second week the food may be varied so as to consist of anything they will eat, but do not confine them to a single article of diet, as disease of the bowels may occur. Green grass, cooked vegetables and milk may be given freely. The chicks should not be allowed to roam outside with the hen, if possible, until the sun is well up, as dampness is more injurious to them than cold. When vQry young feed every two hours, as feathers, bone and meat are forming fast, requiring plenty of nourishment. "When cleanliness is observed but few diseases appear. Never let a surplus of food remain after the feeding is over, but see that they are sufficiently supplied before taking the excess away. Young chicks are not troublesome to raise if a little system and care are practiced. A Model Heunery — The breeding of new and choice varieties of poultry has grown to be quite an extensive industry in this country during the past few years, and it is not entirely confined to those who make it a business, either, as many of oiir farmers have learned, at last, that it pays to devote more time and attention to the raising and care of poultry than they formerly were willing to give to it. The model heunery herewith illustrated and de- scribed combines all the essential requisites for convenience, cleanliness, the A POULTEY HOUSE FOR CHICKS. Tfflt: POULTRY YAItD. 191 health of the fowls, and the separation of the different varieties, together with all the modern impi'ovements, from which many good hints may be ob- tained, if not wishing to adopt the plan just as it stands. " This building ia nearly 75 feet long, 13 feet high, and 12 feet wide. It is built of wood, the roof shingled. To the highest pitch of the roof it is 13 feet. The elevation or height from the ground or foundation in front is 4 feet, which cuts a twelve-foot board into three pieces; the length or pitch of the roof m front is 12 feet— just the length of a board, saving a few inches of a ragged end; the pitch of the rear roof is 6 feet, and the height of the build- ing from the ground to the base of the roof is just G feet, which cuts a twelve- foot board into two pieces. The ground plan and frame work are planned on the same principles of economy of timber. By this plan no timber ia 192 THE FARM. wasted, as it all cuts out clean; there is also a great saving of labor. The foundation of the building rests on cedar posts set four feet into the ground. This house contains eight pens, each one of which will accommodate from twenty-five to thirty fowls; each pen is nine feet long and eight feet wide. All the pens are divided off by wii-e partitions of one inch mesh. Each pen has a glass window on the southern front of the house, extending from the gutter to within one foot of the apex of the roof, fixed in permanently with French glass lapping over each other, after the fashion of hot-bed sashes; they are about eleven by three feet. Each pen is entered by a wire door six feet high, from the hallway, which is three feet wide; and these doors are carefully fastened with a brass padlock. The house is put together with matched boards, and the grooves of the boards are filled in with white lead and then driven together, so as to make the joints impervioua to cold or wet. On the rear side of the house there are A MODEL HENNERY. — END VIEW OF INTEBIOH. four scuttles or ventilators, two by two leet, placed equidistant from each other, and to these are attached iron rods which fit into a slide with a screw, 80 that they can be raised to any height. These are raised, according to the weather, every morning, to let off the foul air. Each pen has a ventilator besides the trap door at the bottom, same size, which communicates with the pens and runs. These lower ventilators are used only in very hot weather, to allow a free circulation throiigli the building, and in summer each pen is shaded from the extreme rays of the &mx by thick shades fastened upon the inside, so that the inside of the house is cooler than the outside. The dropping boards extend the whole width of the pen, and are about two feet wide and sixteen inches from the floor; the roosts are about seven inches above and over this board. They are three inches wide and crescent- ehaped on top, so that the fowls can rest a considerable portion of their bodies on the perches. Under these dropping boards are the nest boxes, where the fowls lay, and are shaded and secluded. The feeding and drink- T H E POUL Tli Y YA R I) . 193 ing troughs are made of galvanized iron, and liuug with hoolcs on eyes, so that they can be easily removed when they require cleaning. One can stand at one end of this long house and see all the chickens on their roosts. By seeing each other in this way the fowls are made compan- ionable and are saved many a fero- cious fight; at the same time each kind is kept separate from the other. Each pen has a run 33 by 12 and 15 feet; these runs are separated by wire fences 12 feet high, with meshes of 2 inches. The house is sur- rounded with a drain which carries off all the moisture and water, and pre- vents dampness. In- side the house is cemented all through, and these cemented Hoors are covered with gravel two inches deep. The house is heated in the cold weather just enough to keep water from freezing. The plan of this hen- nery is remarkable for its simplicity and hygienic arrange- ment. The cost of the labor and ma- terial is under $500. Movable Poul- try House— Those who have tried mov- able poultry houses regard them as ex- ceedingly protitable arrangements, and very desirable. We give an illustra- tion of one in use in England, which is UKUinted on wheels, with a floor raised high enough above groimd to form a dry run. It has a set of mova- ble laying nests at back, outside flap-door with lock, large door with lock, for attendant, small sliding door and ladder for fowls, two shifting perches, 194 THE FARM. ELEVATION. — LENGTH, 24 FEET; WIDTH, 11 FEET; HEIGHT, IN FRONT, 9 1-2 FEET; HEIGHT, IN REAR, G 1-2 FEET. and sliding window. The benefit birds of all description derive from change of place, not only arises from the pleasure every animal as well as man de- rives from changes of scene, but by being preserved from the exhalations emitted by excrementitious matter and decaying food. Model Poultry House. — We give a plan of poultry house and yards, combining many good points and conveniences. The building is enclosed with worked spruce or pine boards, put on ver- tically, and the height so arranged that each bo^rd M'ill cut to avoid waste. All the pieces are cut off of the full lengths in front, making just half a rear length. The rafters of thirteen feet joist, with either battened or shingle roof as preferred. The building is supposed to face the south. The entrance door, E, opening into the passage, P, three and a half feet wide, which runs the length of the build- ing; smaller doors, D, each two feet wide, opening into the roosting room, R. The nests are raised about a foot from the floor, and also open into the room R, with a hinged board in the passage, so that the eggs can be removed with- out entering the roosting rooms. The perches. A, are movable, perfectly level, and raised two feet from the floor. The parti- tion walls are tight, two boards high, above which is lath; the passage wall above the nest, and also the doors, D, being of lath also. The roosting-rooms are seven and a half by eight feet, large enough for twenty-five fowls each. Win- dows are six feet square, raised one foot from the floor. We prefer the glass to be six by eight or seven by nine inches — as these small sizes need no protec- tion strips to prevent the fowls from breaking them. The holes, H, for egress and ingress of the fowls, are closed by a drop door worked by a cord and pulley from the passage way. Another door can be placed in the other end of the passage way if desirable. This arrangement of the yards, Y, of course would not suit every one; some would prefer smaller yards, making each yard the width of the room and adding to its height. The house above is designed for only three varieties; but by simply adding to the length, any number of breeds may be accommodated. The simplest and most economical founda- tion is to set locust or oak posts about four feet deep, every eight feet, and PLAN AND YARD. THE POULTRY YARD. 195 spike the sills on them. Thoro is then no heaving from frost; and all the underpinning necessary is a board nailed tc the sill and extending into the ground a couple of inches. A sc'ting room can be added by making the building four feet longer. The room should be in the end next the door, so as to be always within notice. Such a house built of seasoned lumber and well battened, will shelter any fowls — excepting, perhaps, the Spanish, Leghorns, and a few of the more tender va- rieties — from all ordinarily cold weather; and we be- lieve it to be the cheapest and most convenient house for general use. Cliickeii a.ns is under shel- tered runs, guarded from cold winds, the ground dry, and deep in sand and mortar siftings. Further warmth is iiunecessary if the mothers are good; and if the roof is of glass, so as to seciire every ray of sun, so much the better. Cleanliness of coops, beds, flooring, water vessels and flood tins must be absolute. The oftenor the chicks are fed the better, but food must never be left; watply proper food in liberal quantities and at frequent and regular intervals, and j^ay a strict attention 208 THE FARM. no. 1. — FEEDING HOPPER. to cleaulinesa aud thoroiigbucss iu all the details of the management, need not expect even to succeed, not to even consider the question of loss or profits, for aucccss and profit hero means work, work, work." Feeding Hoppers for Fowls — Wo give herewith designs for two styles of feeding hoppers for fowls, deeming anything that has a tendency toward economy will h e beneficial to the farmer as well as to the amateur breeder of fowls. The illustration. Fig. 1, rejiresents a very good and easily constructed hopper, that can be made to contain any quantity of corn re- quired, and none wasted. When once tilled it requires n o more troiible, as the grain falls into the receiver below as the fowls pick it away, and the covers on that which are opened by the perches, aud the cover ou the top, protect the grain from rain, so that the fowls always got it quite dry; and as nothing less than the weight of a fowl on the perch can lift the cover ou the lower receiver, rats and mice are excluded. Our illustration, Fig. 2, represeuta " a perfect feeding hopper," Avhich, from the description h e r c given, can be easily con- structed by any person. A is an end view, eight inches wide, two feet six inches high, and three foet long; B, the roof pro- jecting over the perch ou which the fowls stand while feeding; C, the lid of the receiving manger raised, exhibiting the grain; E, E, cords attached to the pei'cli and lid of the manger or feeding trough; I, end bar of the perch, with a weight attached to the end to balance the lid, otherwise it would not close when the fowls leave the perch; H, pully; G, fulcrum. The hinges on the top show that it is to be raised when the hopper is to be replenished. When a fowl desires food it hops upon the bars of the perch, the weight of which raises the lid of the feed box, exposing the grain to view, aud after satisfj'ing its hunger jumps off, and the lid closes. Of course the dimensions of either of these feeding hoppers may be increased to any size desired, no. 2. — A PERFECT FEEDING HOPPER. THE POULTUT yard. 209 Winter Egg-Productioii._The following is from the Count-ry Gentle- man: To obtain a breed of fowls that are perpetual layei's is the object that many aim at. This is an impossibihty, for nature will exhaust itself and must have a period of rest. In order that we have a perpetual produc- tion of fresh eggs, the business must be arranged beforehand. There is a chtference in breeds, some laying better than others at any time of the year, and others, again, giving their eggs in winter. There is Uttle difficulty in obtaining eggs in summer, but the winter eggs must be worked for, and the fowls managed beforehand. Hens that have laid well during the summer cannot be depended on for late fall or early wdnterj even if well fed, but will generally commence in January, and keep it up throughout February and March, giving a good supply of eggs if not too old. But it is better not to allow such birds to go into the winter. They are generally fat, after having finished the annual moult, and should be killed for the table. After the second annual moult hens are apt to become egg-bound, especially if well fed and fat. The excess of fat that accumulates about the lower intestines and ovaries weakens these organs and renders them incapable of performing their offices. Hence the fowl suffers and becomes profitless. When left too long the bird becomes feverish and the flesh is unfit for food. The better way is to avoid this trouble, since there is no cure, by not allowing the birds to go into the second winter. Trouble of this kind seldom occurs with pullets or young hens. To obtain a supply of winter eggs, we must have the chicks out ifi March or April. Leghorns and some of the smaller breeds will do in May or the first of June, but the Brahmas and Cocliins must come off early, that they may have the full season for growth. The Asiastics are generally good layers in winter, and need less artificial heat, as nature has not furnished them Avith any ornamental appendages which suffer by exposure to frost. For them it is not necessary to spend large sums in warm buildings. What they can dispense with in this respect they demand in feed, wliich must be given I'egularly. The feed must be kept up and varied with animal and vegetable chet. The supply of water must never fail. We must feed and feed a long time before the eggs \vill come. Any breed of hens will con- sume an enormous quantity of feed before commencing to lay, but afrcr having once liegun they will not require, or even take so much grain. When laying, their great craving is for vegetable and animal substances, and crushed clam or oyster shells. Fowls that are regularly trained have certain portions of the day for their different feeds. My birds require their shells at night, as well as their greens, and their grain in the morning, and always fresh water. When one has the time and convenience, and enjoys the petting of fowls, making warm stews on very cold days is an admirable plan, and the birds relish them marvelously. Take beef or pork scraps, and put into an old kettle, having them previously chopped fine, and fill it half full of water. While stewing, throw in a dozen chopped onions, two dozen cayenne peppers, and the day's coffee and tea-grounds. Thicken the mixture with cornmeal, and serve it around among the hens hot. They relish it amazingly when once taught to eat it, and will look for the ration daily at the certain time. On cold winter days give this feed between two and three o'clock in the afternoon, and the chicks get their crops warmed up for the coming cold at night. If scraps are n'ot handy, boil unpeeled potatoes, and serve in the same manner, adding a little grease or cold gravies left over from yesterday's dinner. The combed varieties require warmer quarters and sunnier exposure 210 TIIK FARM. CHICKEN COOP.— FIG. 1. than the Asiatics, and arc good winter layers after Decenaber and early January. They will lay in the I'all it early hatched, but the change of fall to winter, and the getting into winter quarters afl'ects them, and they seldom comnieuce again before the days begin to lengthen, at which time Brahmas will cease egg-production and become broody. Where one has the con- venience it is well to keeii both kinds, in order to insure a supply of eggs. It is useless to expect many eggs from old fowls of any variety. Have the buildings ready early, and the fowls of the right age and in condition to insure success. The business of our domestic hen is to produce eggs, and we must feed her for it. A Cliic-Ueii Coop — Nail short pieces of matched boards together as indicated in the cut; then board up the rear end tightly, and nail nar- row strips of boards or lath in front; put a floor of boards in the back part of the coop, large enough for the hen to brood her young upon, and lay a wide board in front to feed upon, as long as the width of the coop. The coop should be at least two feet high, and from two to three feet deep. The board in front may be turned up at night to prevent tlie young against rats, cats, etc., and should remain in the morning until the dew is off from the grass. The coop should be moved every two or three days to a clean place. The second engraving shows a coop of another construction, the tight apartment at the end with a shde door to let down every evening, keeps the Uttle inmates secure from all enemies. A few auger holes must be made for ven- tilation. The front is a simple frame, with lath attached at sufficient dis- tances to allow the chickens to pass through. The top should be made separate, and attached to the side by leather hinges. Feeding and Laying. — The best of feed some- times fails to induce the hens to lay. This is not because the fowls do not get enough, but because it is not the kind they desire. It may be feed consistmg of everything that serves to satisfy the demand for egg material, and yet no eggs will be the result. There are several causr.s for these complamts, one of the principal being the fact that a plentiful supply of pure fresh water is not always within reach, and unless water is plentiful the fowls will not lay. Water being the principal substance in an egg, it cannot be limited Unless the water can be procured for the egg the fowl cannot lay. And in cold weather it must be so situated as to be either protected from freezmg or else have a little warm water added to it occasionally. Now this is a trouble- some job in winter, but water will freeze on cold days, and consequently is CHICKEN COOP. — FIG. 2. TIIK POULTRY YA Jl T) . 211 useless to the fowls when in a frozen conflition. The feed, however, even when of the best quality, may not give satisfaction. In that case, when no eggs are beiug derived, change it eutii'cly for three or four days. Give something entirely different in the morning from that previously given, even if inferior, but still give whole grains at night in cold weather, for then the fowls go on the roost early in the evening, and have to remain in the coops until daylight, which is nearly thirteen hours, and so long a period demands the solid food in order to keep them warm during the long cold nights. Whole corn and wheat is best for them then, but in the morning any kind of mixed soft food makes a good meal for a change. The changes can be made by using good clover hay, steeped in warm water, after being chopped fine, slightly sprinkled with meal, and fed warm, which will be very acceptable. A lew onions chopped fine will also be highly relished. Parched gi'ound oats or parched cracked corn is a splendid change of food for a few days from the ordinary routine of every day. It stimulates them if fed warm, and is a good coi-rectivo of bowel complaints, especially if some of the gi-ains are parched till bui-ued. The matter of feeding is to give variety, and if the food is of good quality also, a good supply of eggs may be expected at all times, but Avith good quarters and plenty of water the prospects will be better. Successful Poultry Raising. — Mr. Charles Lyman, a successful raiser of poultry, writes as follows: In raising poultry or stock of any kind, it should be the aim of every one to keep it healthy and improve it. You can do it very easily by adopting some systematic rules. These may be sum7ned up in brief, as follows: 1. Construct your house good and warm, so as to avoid damp floors, and afford a flood of sunlight. Sunshine is better than medicine. 2. Provide a dusting and scratching place where you can bury wheat and coi-u and thwa induce the fowls to take the needful exercise. 3. Provide yourself wth some good, healthy chickens, none to be over three or four years old, giving one cock to every twelve hens. 4. Give plenty of fresh air at all times, especially in summer. 5. Give plenty of fresh water daily, and never allow the fowls to go thirsty. 6. Feed them systematically two or three times a day; scatter the food so they can't eat too fast, or without proper exercise. Do not feed more than they will eat up clean, or they will get tired of that kind of feed. 7. Give them a vai-iety of both dry and cooked feed; a mixture of cooked meat and vegetables is an excellent thing for their morning meal. 8. Give soft feed in the morning, and the whole grain at night, except a little wheat or cracked corn placed in the scratching places to give them exercise during the day. 9. Above all things keep the hen house clean and well ventilated. 10. Do not crowd too many in one house. If you do, look out for disease. 11. Use carboHc powder occasionally in the dusting bins to destroy lice. 12. Wash your roosts and bottom of laying nests, and whitewash once a week in summer, and once a month in wiuter. 13. Let the old and young have as largo a range as possible — the larger the better, 14. Don't breed too many kinds of fowls at the same time, unless you are going into the business. Three or four will give vou your hands full. 212 THE FARM. 15. Introflnce new blood into your stock every year or so, by either buy- ing a cockerel or settings of eggs from some reliable breeder. 16. In buying birds or eggs, go to some reliable breeder who has his reputation at stake. You may have to jiay a little more for birds, but you can depend on what yon get. Culls are not cheap at any price. 17. Save the best birds for next year's breeding, and send the others to market. In shipping fancy poultry to market send it dressed. Fisli for Poultry. — In preparing fish for fowls, we prefer to chop them up raw, add a very little salt and pepper, and feed in small quantities in conjunction with grain and vegetables; but tor young chicks it is advisable to boil before feeding, and simply open the fish down the line of the back bone, leaving to the chicks the rest of the task. This food shall be given to layers sparingly, or we may i)erceive a fishy smell about the eggs, especially if the fish is fed raw. All who can will do well to try this diet for their fiocks, and note its effect on egg production. We have always marked a decided increase in the rate of laying following an allowance of fish fed in m:;derate quantities. There are hundreds of our readers who live near or on rivers or lakes, or the sea shore, where they can get considerable offal fish, si;ch as are either too small to market, or are cast out as unfit to be sold. Hundreds of bushels of these fish are annually used for manure, either composted or plowed in direct. In this connection they are verj' good, though many a basketful could be put to better account by feeding them to your fowls; and they are very fond of this diet, though care must be taken not to feed it exclusively, for it may cause extreme laxity. To c«ire Pip. — This is a troublesome and somewhat fatal complaint to which all domestic poultry are liable; it is also a very common one. Some writers say it is the result of cold; others, that is promoted by the use of bad water. But, whatever the cause, the disease is easily detected. There is a thickening of the membrane of the tongue, particularly at the tip; also a difficulty in breathing; the beak is frequently held open, the tongue dry, the feathers of the head ruffled and the bird falls ofl' in food; and if neglected, dies. The mode of cure which, if piit in practice in time, is generally suc- cessful, is to remove the thickened membrane from the tongue with the nails of the forefinger and thumb. The process is not difficult, for the mem- brane is not adhesive. Then take a lump of butter, mix into it some strong Scotch suufl", and put two or three large pills of this down the fowl's throat. Keep it from cold and damp, and it wU soon recover. It may, perhaps, be necessary to repeat the snuff balls. Some writei's recommend a mixture of butter, pepper, garUc, and scraped horseradish; but we believe the Scotch snuff to be the safest, as it is the most simple. Eggs ami Piiliets. — Unless you want a large proportion of cockerels do not sell all the largest eggs you can jaick out. There are no means known by which the sex of eggs can with certainty be determined. Although many thought some sign indicated the sex, yet after repeated fair trials, all these indications have entirely failed with me, except the one which follows: With regard to the eggs of most of the feathered kingdom, if you pick the largest out of the nest, they are the ones that generally produce males, especially if they happen to be the first laid. Even in a canary's nest it is noticeable that the first egg laid is very often the largest, the young from it is the first out, keeps ahead of its comrades, is the first to quit the nest, and the first to sing. THE r O UL Til Y YARD. 213 How to Produce Layer.-* — Mr. L. Wright says: In every lot of hous some will be better layers than others. Let us suppose we start with six Houdans— a cock and five hens. Probably out of this five two may lay thirty eggs per annum more than either of the others; their eggs should be noticed and only these set. By tollowing this for a few years a very great increase in egg production may be attained. My attention was drawn to this subject by a friend having a Brahma pullet which laid nearly three hundred eggs in one twelve-month, tliough valueless as a fancy bird, and the quality de- scended to several of her progeny; and I have since found other instances which prove conclusively that a vast improvement might easily be oft'ccted in nearly all our breeds were that careful selection of brood stocks made for this purpose which the fancier bestows on other objects. It is to be regretted more is not done in this way, and having more room than I had, I hope my- self to make some experiments in this direction shortly. I will say now that I am perfectly certain the number of two hundred eggs per annum might be att^ained in a few years with i^erfect ease were the object systematically sought; and I trust these few remarks may arouse a general attention to it among those who keep poultry for eggs only, and who can easily do all that is necessary without any knowledge whatever of fancy points, or any attempt to breed exhibition birds. A Grain Chest for Fowls. — Wo illustrate an excellent grain chest for fowls. The trough {!), two inches high. The front of the chest extends down- ward no further than the top of the trough, thus leaving a free passage for grain from the chest into the trough. The dotted line (2) shows the position of a board in the chest, placed there to conduct the grain into the trough as fast as it is eaten out by the fowls. The platform (3) is for the fowls to stand upon while eating. It should not be wide enough to induce them to form a habit of sitting upon it. A board (4) is fastened to the front of the chest and extends over the trough to prevent filth from falling into it. The cover of the chest (5) should ex- tend a little over the front, that it may be handily I'aised, and should rest inclined to prevent fowls from roosting on it. An extension of the back of the chest (6), with tAvo holes in it, is provided so that it may be hung on cor- responding wooden pins. If it is hung up in that way it will bo necessary to put some kind of a key through each of the pins, to prevent its beiug jarred off from them. It should be hung so that the platform will be at least two feet from the floor. It may be made any length. A square chest, for a post in the yard, can be made on the same pi'inciplo. How to Fatten Turkeys. — Nothing pays better to be scut to market in prime condition than the turkey crop. Many farmers do not understand this. Their turkeys gi'ow on a limited range, getting little or no food at home through the summer, and if fed at all with regularity it is only for two or three weeks before killing. I 'sec these lean, bony carcasses in the local GKATN CHEST FOR FOWLS. 214 THE FA mi. markets every winter, and feel sorry for the owner's loss. They have re- ceived a small price for their birds and a still poorer price for the food fed out. The average life of a turkey is only seven months, and the true econ- omy of feeding is to give the chicks all they can digest from the shell to the slaughter. If they get all they can eat on the range, that is well. Usually this should be supplemented by regular rations when they come from the roost in the morning and two or three hours before they go to I'oost at night. The food may be slack in the morning, so tliat they will go to the range with good appetites, and fuller at night. They should be put upon a regular course of fattening food as early as the middle of October, when you i^roposo to kill the best birds at Thanksgiving. The younger and lighter birds should be reserved for the Christmas and New Year's markets. They continue growing quite rapidly until midwinter, and you will be paid for the longer feeding. There is nothing better for fattening than old corn, fed partly in the kernel and partly in cooked meal mashed up with boiled potatoes. Feed three times a day, giving the Avarm meal in the morning, and feeding in troughs with plenty of room, so that all the flock may have a chance. North- ern corn has more oil in it than Southern, and is worth more for turkey food. Use milk in fattening if you keep a dairy farm. Feed only so much as they will eat up clean. Cultivate the acquaintance of your turkeys as you feed them. No more cliarming sight greets your vision in the Avhole circle of a year than a largo flock of bronze turkeys coming at call from their roosts on a frosty November morning. New corn is apt to make the bowels loose, and this should be guarded against. There is usually green food enough in the fields to meet their wants in the fall, and cabbage and turnips need not be added until winter sets in. If the bowels get loose give them scalded milk, which will generally correct the evil. Well-fattened and well-dressed tur- kej'S will bring two or three cents a pound more than smaller birds. It will not only be better for the purse, but for your manhood, to send nothing but finished products to the market. Preserving E^ggs. — Several Practiced MelUods. — Several ways of preserving eggs are practiced. The object is to prevent evaporation from the egg. Cutting off the air from the contents of the egg preserves them longer than with any other treatment. An egg which has lain in bran even for a few days will smell and taste musty. Packed in lime eggs will bo stained. Covered with a coat of spirit varnish eggs have kept so perfectly that after the lapse of two years chickens were hatched from them. A good egg will sink in a body of water; if stale, a body of air inside the shell will frequently cause it to float. When boiled, a fresh egg will adhere to the shell, which will have a rough exterior; if stale, the outside will be smooth and glassy. Looking through a paper tube directed toward the light, an egg held to the end of the tube will appear translucent if fresh; but if stale it will bo dark — almost opaque. Spirit varnish for preserving eggs is made by dissolving giim shellac in enough alcohol to make a thin varnish. Coat each egg with this and pack, little end down, so that they cannot move, in bran, sawdust, or sand; the sand is best. Whatever is used for packing should be clean and dry. For preserving in lime, a pickle is made of the best stone linTe, fine, clean salt and water enough to make a strong brine, usually sixty or sixty-five gallons of water, six or eight quarts of salt, and a bushel of lime are used. The lirao should be slacked with a portion of the watei", the salt and the re- THE rOULTKY YARD. 215 mainder of tbo water is added. Stir at iutervals, aud when the pickle ia cold and the sediment has settled, dip or draw the liquid otl'iuto the cask iu which the eggs are to be preserved. When only a few eggs are to be pickled a stone jar will answer. At the Birniiughani Poultry Show, England, prizes were offered for the best dozen preserved eggs that had been kept two months. The eggs were tested by breaking one of each set competing for the prize into a clean saucer, also by boiling one of each lot. The eggs that had been preserved iu lime-water, it was found on breaking them, presented cloudy whites. Eggs preserved by rubbing over with bees- wax and oil showed thin, watery whites. Eggs that stood best the test of boiling and which gained the first prize had been simply packed iu common salt. These had lost little, if any, by evaporation, had good, consistent albumeu, and were pleasant to tlie taste. The exhibit which took the second prize was served as follows: Melt one part of white wax to two parts of sijermaceti, boil and mix thoroughly; or two parts clarified suet to one of wax aud two of spermaceti. Take new-laid eggs, rub with antiseptic salt aud fine rice starch. Wrap each egg in tine tissue paper, putting the broad end downward; screw the paper tightly at the top, leaving an inch to hold it by. Dip each egg rapidly into the fat heated to 100 degree.?. Withdraw and leave to cool. Pack broad end down- ward in dry, white sand or sawdust. The judges were inclined to believe that had the trial been for a longer period than two months, this latter method would perhaps have proven the better of the two. The eggs were excellent, and on stripping off the waxed paper the shells presented the clean, fresh appearance of newly laid eggs. The following is a recipe for packing in salt: Cover the bottom of a keg, cask, jar, hogshead, or whatever you choose to pack in, with a layer of fine salt two inches deep; upon this place the eggs, small end down, and far enough apart so that they will not touch each other or the sides of the re- ceptacle; then put on another two inch layer of salt, then another layer of eggs, aud so on until the package is ftill. This ia the method that wo used, and is on the whole the best method for housekeepers and for those who have only a small number to pack for market. The salt can be used over and over again. The following recipe is also given for keejiing eggs: Put them in an open- work basket or colander and immerse them for a moment in boiling water; let them stay just long enough to form a film on the inside of the shell; this excludes the air. Then place them iu some convenient vessel, small end down, and set them in the coolest part of the cellar, where they will keep till wanted for xise. Cheap Poultry Houses— The following directions for building cheap poultry houses arc clipped from W. H. Todd's descriptive catalogue: We find the best and most successful plan to manage and make fowls pay is to scatter them over a large range in fields and orchards. For this pur- pose cheap, convenient, and comfortable houses are best. My plan is to build 16 feet long and 8 feet wide, 7 1-2 front (facing south), and 4 1-2 back, boarded upright and battened, with a shed roof, .shingled. Sills are 2x4: inch-plank halved together. Plates, same size. Rafters, 2x2. Lay the sills on sleepers, and on these lay a tight floor, which cover with dry earth 4 to 6 inches deep, removing and renewing twice a year. This keeps fowls dry, warm and healthy. Place an entrance door near one end, on the front, and 216 THE FARM. at least two windows of six 8x10 lights. Partition across the middle, with a door. Fix ventilators at the highest point in each end, sheathed to exclude storm and wind. Erect roosts 20 inches high, for twent}' fowls, with a mova- ble nest or two, and a box, partly filled with dust and ashes, and you are ready for " business." Forty large fowls can be accommodated and thrive well. Since the house is double we are in shape for running two breeding yards. Fence can be built cheaply with lath nailed upright to two 1-incli-thick pieces, the lower one 8 or 10 inches wide, and the upper about 2, 30 iuchfa apart; the lath may be 3 inches ajjart, and a short piece 16 inches long, tacked to the bottom board, and to a light striii running lengthAvisc tlio panel. It is best to make this fence in panels about 12 feet long. Set a post where they come together, and pass a wire aroixnd panels and post, fasten, and you have light, cheap, strong fences. The house can be made warmer if necessary by lining with tar-board sheathing. An Inexpensive CHickeu t'oop. — A correspondent writes as follows: " Having made a good discovery, I am desirous of giving it to the people. Betug engaged in raising chickens for profit, it was necessary to make cheap coops to keep them in for a few weeks. I take an old barrel and tack every hoop on eacli side of a seam between the staves with an inch wrought nail; after cUnchiug the nail, I saw the hoops oft' on the seam. Then I spread the barrel open, as shown in the illustration, by cutting a board about twenty inches long for the back of the coop, and two small pieces to tack laths on for the front part. I have the upper section of the back fastened with leather hinges, so that I can open it at pleasure. Every- body has old barrels which are almost valueless, and the trouble and ex- pense of making a coop of this description is so small that it is not worth mentioning, while to buy the material and make a coop of the same size, it would cost aboiit one dollar." CUicken Cholera. — A New Jersey correspondent gives this remedy: Take of pulverized copperas, sulphur, alum, cayenne pepper and rosin, of each equal parts, and mix one teaspoonful in four quarts of meal. Give three days in succession, then once a week as a preventive. I have seen it used successfully. It mil not cure those wliich have it, but will prevent spreading of the disease. For a disinfectant, use crude carl)olic acid— one tablespoouful in one gallon of water. Sprinkle the hen house often, say about twice a week. Another correspondent says: I used a strong tea made of white oak bark, which I used in the driaking water as a preventive. When a fowl was taken sick I used it pure, giving several teaspoonfuls at a time, four or five times a day. I have taken fowls ao far gone that they were past eating or drmking, and "cured them in a few days with this simple remedy. As a disinfectant I use crude carbolic acid, pouring it on a board in the chicken house and on the perches, coops, etc., or anywhere that the fowls frequent. If you will try this plan for awhile, removing all infected fowls from the flock, and keep the surroundings clean, I think yon will soon get rid of the disease. AN INEXPENSIVE CHICKEN COOP. T HE r UL Til Y YA RD. 217 The followiug prescription we find in the Snulhcni Cullirninr, and it is said to be very efticacious in chicken cholera: Glycerine and water, each a halfounct^; carbolic acid, ten drops. When the tirst symptoms of the dis- ease are apparent, give five drops, and repeat at intervals of twelve hours. Usually the second dose effects a cure. A neighbor informed me that cholera was very destructive among his poultry, and at my suggestion he tried the luregoing recipe. He reports that the progress of the disease was promptly arrested, and in almost every case a cure was accomplished. Infertile Eggs — There are many reasons why eggs hatch so poorly, when from pure bred stock, one of the greatest being want of stmnina in the flock from which the eggs came, caused by being kept too closely confined. As a rule it is best to procure eggs for hatching from fowls which have free range, which is a great promoter of healthfulness, though there is no reason why eggs should not hatch well when from fowls in confinement, if those fowls are given good care, plenty of food, and have good sized yards to run in. Want of fertility may be duo to running too many hens to a cock; about ten hens of the Asia- tics (Brahmas and Cochins), and from ten to fifteen of the laying breeds (Leghorns, Hamburgs, etc.) to a cock being about the right number to secure good re- sults, other things being equal. A Clieap C'liickoii Foun- tain — Take an emptied tomato can, bend in the ragged edges where it has been opened, make a hole in the side one quarter of an inch from the edge, fill it with water, put a saucer on it, and quickly invert both. The water will then stand in the saucer constantly at the height of the hole. Chickens can drink, but cannot get in the water, which remains clean. ChicUen L-lcc — The first signs of lice are with the early setting hens. Frpm their nests soon a whole house will be overrun with the pest. Chicks show the presence of lice very quickly, and lice are certain death to them if they arc not protected. Have all nests movable, and change the contents frequently. With sitting hen's nests be sure to have the nest clean and the box and surroundings whitewashed before she is placed. Whitewash and the dust box are the surest preventives of lice. Tut two or throe coats of white- wash on every interior spot in the building: the lice harbor in the crevices of the rough sidings, and on the under side of the perches. Let the fowl house have a dust box. Mix hot ashes with the dust occasionally to dry it. Do all this early in the year, before spring laying and sitting. Kerosene and lard when applied is a sure cure, but they are too often dangerous in their effects. A Httle castor oil on the head and under the wdugs of sitting hens is very effective. Don't keep a brood hen in a little coop without a dust wallow. If you want your fowls to be free from lice you must keep their habitation clean. The best way to do that is by occasional change of the nest contents and a thorough whitewashing of the apartment. A CHEAP CHICKEN FOUNTAIN. 218 THE FARM. Raising Tnrkeys. — The difficulty of raising turkeys is a serious draw- back to the profits of tlie business, but the exercise of care will obviate the difficulty. At first, and for about six weeks, turkey chicks are very delicate, so much so that even a warm shower will finish them. If they can be kept alive for about two months they begin to assume a more robust character, and will soon become the very hardiest of poultry. The chicks, therefore, should be provided with shelter, and the shed which furnishes this would be all the better if it had a woodeu floor. The best feed for the first week is hard boiled eggs, mixed with minced dandelion. It is thought the dande- lion serves to keep the bowels in order. At all events the young birds pre- fer dandelion to all other green food. At the end of the first week add gradu- ally to the boiled eggs bread cri;mbs and barley meal, constantly lessening the amount of egg until at the end of three weeks it may be entirely discon- tinued. Now give boiled potatoes as a part of the food, and a small portion of some small grain may be added, in fact making the food very much like that of other poultry. If fed in this way and kept dry, they will come along all right. Ho^vto Raise DucUi. — A writer who thinks unlimited water a bad thing for young ducks, recommends the following treatment for them: "Ducks are easily hatched, and, if properly managed, they are easily raised — much more so than chickens or turkeys. Probably the worst thing for ducklings is the first thing they usually receive, and that is unlimited range and water to swim in. The little things are, in a measure, nude, and should be kept in pens with dry soil floors or stone pavements that can be washed down daily. No kind ot poultiy will succeed on bare boards. All the water they need is best furnished by burying an old pot in the ground and laying a round piece of board on top cf the water with room for the ducks to stick their heads in and fish out the corn that is put in the water. This amuses them and does no harm, while, if allowed to go off to ponds or streams, they are very liable to fall a prey to vermin in some shape, or to get their bodies wet and chilled from remaining too long in the water. Their pens must be kept clean if they are expected to thrive. Gapes ill Foivls — The parasite that causes gapes in fowls is of a red color and about three-quarters of an inch long. The remedies are mimer- ous, but chiefly consist in removing the worms. One way is to moisten a feather from wliich all but the tip of the web has been stripped, with oil, salt water, or a weak solution of carbolic acid, introduce it into the wind- pipe, twist it around once or twice, and then withdraw it. A teaspoonful of sulphur mixed ■with a quart of corn meal and water, and fed to the fowls morning and evening, is also a good remedy. The Foultry World, anys: As soon as we discover any symptoms of gapes among our chickens, we kno^v that there are worms— very small red worms — in their \vindpipes, and we give them camphor in their drinking vessels strong enough to make quite a taste of the camphor. Then, if any get the disease quite badly before we discover it, we force a pill of gum camphor down the throat, about the size of a small pea, and the fumes of that dose will kill the worms. No kind of worms can live in camphor; hence, camphor must be a powerful vermifuge. A Connecticut poultry raiser writes: " Perhaps some who raise fowls will be interested m my experiment tried last season on a chicken with the gapes. I gave it about a quarter of a teaspoonful of kerosene, and as it seemed bet- THE rOUL TK Y YA K J) . 219 ter for a clay or two, I repeated the dose, giving uoarly oue half a tfaHpooii- fiil for the second time. The chicken was about the size of a robin at tlie time, but is now full-grown, weighing several pounds. I cured chickens affected with a disease we thought cholera, by giving powdered alum dis- solved in water." Eggs. — How Iiici'ea.setl. — If an increase of eggs be desired in the jjoul- try j'ard, before large sums are expended in the purchase of everlasting lay- ers, wo would recommend the system of keeping no hens after the tirst, or at most, after the second year. Early pullets give the increase, and the only wonder is that people persist, as they do, in keeping up a stock of old hens, which lay one day and stop the next. In some parts of Europe it is the in- variable riile to keep the pullets only one j'ear. Feeding will do a great deal — a surprising work indeed — in the production of eggs, but not when old hens are concerned; they may piit on fat, but they cannot put down eggs. Their tale is told, their work is done; uothing remains to be done with them but to give them a smell of the kitchen fii-e, and the sooner they get that the better. liaip Cliiclceiis.—Late chicks may be more profitable than early ones. Chickens from eggs set in August and September may bo kept warm in a tight, glazed house, and fed so that they will grow continually through the winter, and if they come later all the better, if they are well kept and fed. The early broods will be salable at good prices, when the market is bare of chickens, and the later ones will furnish sirring chickens long before the usual supply comes to hand. Spring chickens hatched in fall, or even in winter, are rare, but not entirely iinknown to a few persons who made the discovery that with good feed, warm quarters, a warm mess at least once a day, warm drink and cleauhness, there is no difficulty at all about raising them, and at a good profit. Cure for Scaly Legs in Fo^vl — A sure cure of scaly legs in fowl is effected thus: Insert a feather in the spout of a coal oil can so that too lai-go a stream will uot run out; get some one to hold the fowl by the wings; take hold of a toe of one foot at a time, and pour a fine stream from the hock joint to the end of each toe, taking care that all parts of the foot are wet with it. One application a year is enough, if done at all, and at the time when they need it, say during January or Febriiary. The scaly appearance is caused by an insect, which the oil most effectually kills, and leaves ihe legs clear and bright looking. This will answer even when the legs are twice their natural size, which is frequently the case when neglected. Roup.— Fowls exposed to dampness in severe weather are apt to take cold, which often culminates in roup. The writer has cured this disease by injecting kerosene into the nostrils by the means of a bulb syi-inge, and then using it to gargle the throat. The latter is effected by holding the throat close enough to prevent swallowing, and, after the gargling, pouring the liquid out on to the ground. Repeat this once the next day; then feed with boiled rice and scalded milk, keeping water away for a few days. To Get Rid of Skunks. — To rid your poultry yard of skunks, purchase a few grains of strychnine, roll it np in a ball of lard, and then throw it at night outside the yard, whei'o the animals' tracks are seen. As they are very fond of lard, they will ewallow it quickly, and in the morning you will 220 THE FARM find your enemy dead. But you must be careful to shut up the doga and cats, as they are equally fond of lard. It \a the easiest way to kill any ver- min, as they die very soon. Skunks will kill and cat full-grown ducks and hens, and suck their eggs, whenever they can gain entrance into the poultry- house. Road-diisf for tlie Heiiiievy. — Collect a few barrels of dry earth, road- dust, fine dry dirt in the cornfield or potato patch, or anywhere that is most convenient. This is a handy thing to have in the fall and winter lor sprink- ling iiuder the roosts and on the floor of the poultry-house. It absorbs am- monia, kcejis down smells, and keepis things ship-shape. It will pay to at- tend to this when it can be so easily done. It coats but little, and is a real advantage. TUe Jjangsiians. — There is a prf)minent featui'O of the Langshana not possessed by the Black Cochins, which is activity. They come in as an ex- tra desirable breed, l^etween the leghorns and the sitters, for they commence to lay early, and when about to enter upon incubation are easily broken. They are largo in size, fine-boned, hardy, and grow rapidly. Thej' are the strongest rivals for public favor that the Plymouth Rocks have, and are just as certain to go to the front as if they had been known for centuries. Their qualities as a farmer's fowl are good, and they v/ill entirely supersede many other breeds in time. Poultry Mannve. — Collect the droppings as often as possible, and com- post them with dry dirt. If dry dirt is inconvenient on account of the earth being frozen, iise good ground land plaster instead. The mixture of ground plaster and poultry droppings is better iliau either alone, and the ammonia is thereby saved. A good dusting of plaster over and imder the roosts, and plentifully scattered all over the floor of the poultry house, couditces to the health of fowls and destroys foul odors. How iVests Slioiild be Made — Eggs hatch much better if the nests are made by jilaoiug a ciit turf, and shovel of mold, sand or ashes in the box or basket, and on this a little short straw, than if straw only is used. In this way a convenient hollow is obtained that prevents the eggs rolling out from under the setting hen. In cool weather the eggs are thus kept of a much more equable temperature than in nests made simply of loose straw. To Fatten «eese._To fatten geese, an experienced practitioner says: Put up two or three in a darkened room and give each bird one pound of oats daily, thrown on a pan of water. In fourteen days they will be found almost too fat. Never shut up a single bird, as geese are sociable and will pine away if left alone. Nests of Sawdust — To prevent hens from scratching their nests make the nests of sawdust. Do not have the boxes too large— only long enough for two nests, with a partition. Place a little hay on the sawdust until the hens get accustomed to it; also sulphur, to prevent vermin. Heu.-i Eating Kgs^ — If hens got into the habit of eating eggs, take enough bran and corn meal of equal parts for one feeding, and enough vine- gar warmed to make the meal wet enough for the hens to eat. Mix together and feed it to the hens. THE DAIRY. Apparatus for Milking. — Absolute cleanlineBS in milk ia as much to be desired aa iu any other article of food. We fear that farmers and dairy- men, as a rule, do not give as much attention to this mat- ter as it really requires. We present herewith an illus- trated article on this subject from the pen of a practical dairyman, which we consider worthy of attention, and trust that many will profit by its suggestion: " Every reasonable person desires to have his or her food perfectly clean. Milk and dairy products are not always clean, to put it very mildly, and the filth that finds its way into milk is of a very dis- agreeable, if not unwhole- some, kind. As a large por- tion of the milk of a family cow — and much of that sold —is used by children, owners of cows should be excessively careful to have the milk perfectly clean and pure. This is easy to be done if it is desired. It requires only the determination to do it, and a very little attention. The cow is not a cleanly animal, by any means, and some cows seem to delight in making themselves filthy. One of my best cows will take pains to lie down di- rectly iu her droppings, so that the udder is always besmeared, and other cows are very careless about it, at the best, so that it is neces- sary that a part of every milking apparatus should consist of a pail of water, a sponge and towel. Before the cow is milked the udder should be washed and wiped di-y. For this purpose I have used a pail arranged as shown in the engraving (Fig. 1), which is taken to the barn at every milking. Previously the stable-man has brushed and carded the cows, and has cleaned and sauded or littered the so that there is no coarse filth to remove, and only the remaining o.*"'^ DAIRY PAIL. — FIG. 1. MILKINO PATL. — FIG. 2. floor. smears. But if these arc left on the teats, the filth will get into the pail in 222 TnK FARM. STEAINER. — FIG. 3. spite of all efforts. The pail lias a hook on one side upon which the sponge is caiTied, and a box on the other, in which an old towel or pieces of cloth are kept. With these the iidder and teats are washed and dried before the cow is milked. The time used— not lost— is well spent. " The milking jjail should Ije provided with a straiuer_. and I have found none made for sale free from some objection, either as regards the difficulty of cleaning or dura- bility. I have my pails made to order with the strainer upon the half cover of the pail at the edge, and with a lip at the edge to cause the milk to How easily. (See Fig. 2.) There is no difficulty in washing this pail, the wire gauze cannot be broken in the washing, aud it is perfectly cleaned with ease. Hairs cnnitnt be kept out of milk at some seasons, and a fine hair carried lengthwise uhU pass through the finest wire cloth. It is thei-efore necessary to use precautions in straining. A hair will not pass through a cotton cloth, and iu strain- ing milk into a deep pail I use the strainer shown at Fig. 3, which has a piece of washed, somewhat coarse aud thin, white muslin, fastened around the bottom hoop. This causes the milk to pass through three strainers at one time, which is sufficient. Where the milk of several cows is strained, the strainer should be rinsed after each use, other- wise the after milk passes over all the impurities gathered in the strainer. For shallow pans the double strainer, Fig. 4, is excellent. The middle strainer fits closely into the bottom of the basin over the fixed strainer, and the basin rests in the perforated hoop which stands in the milk pan. A cloth may be tied over the top of the basin if thought proper. With all these precau- tions the most complete cleanliness is within easy reach, and if the cow is healthy and well fed, the most fastidi- ous person may drink the milk without auy apprehension. While it is so easy to be clean the conscientious dairyman need have uo excuse for violating pro- priety, and excuse himself by the idea that it can't be helped. " Every dairy utensil should be of tin. No wooden vessel should be used in milking, as the wood absorbs the milk, which sours in the pores and there curdles, aud every particle of curdled milk, whether effected by rennet or by acidity, like the leaven of yeast, is an active agent for souring other milk. As curd of milk is hardened by heat and made insoluble, dairy utensils should first be washed with cold water and soap, and when thoroughly well cleaned they may then be scalded. Curd is dissolved by alkali, and the free alkali of the soap not only removes the grease of the milk, but also any particles of milk which by an accident may have been retained iu a crevice or comer, DOUBLE STRAINER.— FIG TTIK DAIRY 'm ".11(1 there soured or curdled. To make the cleaning of dairy vessels more easy, it is well to have no sharp corners, but to have all the joints made round, and this may be done easily if one has the milk pails made to order." Milk Cooler—There are quite a number of devices for this purpose, and some of them are too com- plicated, which must al- Avays be a serious objection. Our engraving represents a n English milk cooler, which is heartily commend- ed. In this apparatus a very small quantity of cold water, passing upward in a very thin stream between two corrugated sheets of metal, i-apidly abstracts the heat fmm two shallow streams of milk descending outside the metal sheets (Fig. 1). D is the inlet and F the oiitlet of the water, which, being supplied from a higher level, flows throtigh the refrigerator (B) by the force of gravity. A tap of the milk receiver (A) regulates the flow of milk into a small trough at the top of the refrigerator, punctured with holes, through which the milk runs, and is spread into so fine a sheet that, instead of falling rapidly from step to step, it follows the corrugations of the surface. In the enlarged section (Fig. 2) of a part of the refrigerator the descending arrows indicate the current of milk gi-adually cooling as it descends. The current of water passing upward is warmed, so that when it passes out of the spout at F it is very nearly of the same temperature as the milk in the receiver. This device appears to be quite simple. Ho-»v TH E FA 11 M. 257 SMOKE HOUSE.— FIG. 2. not in use for smoking meat, is au excellent rcccpt.aclc for aahoB, which ought never to be kept in contact with wood, on ac- count of the danger from epontaneons combustion. Our next illustration, Fig. 2, represents one of the best arranged smoke houses that we have ever seen. It was large and built of brick, with an iron door which is generally kept locked. In the gable end there is a tire- place with a door. "A" shows the fireplace with door, for making the smoke, a chimney leading up on the inside of the wall letting tlie smoke into the room. The advantage of this arrange- ment is that the fire for smoking is built without en- tering the building, and sim- ply by opening the door of the fireplace. The smoke passing up the chimney ou the interior side of the wall is cooled, and thus the meat does not come iu con- tact with heat from fire. In the ordinary smoke-house, as is well known, the pieces of meat often break loose from their fastenings and fall into the fire or ashes underneath, and are in- jured or destroyed. In this plan the ash room may be partitioned off and the meat kept iu a room by itself, and the door being always kept locked, except at such times as the meat is de- sired for the table, there is no chance of loss from thieves or flies. One can keep meat in this house in perfect condition from one end of the year to the other, and no losses can accnie from any source. For those who want a cheap, easily made smoke house, our illustration, Fig. 3, will meet the requirement. It is made in a slight rise of ground, by an archway of brick, at the lower cud of which the SMOKE HOUSE. — FIG. 3. 258 THE FARM. fire is made, while at tbe iipper end is placed a barrel or box coutainiug the hams and other meat to be cured. The lower end is closed after the lire is well started, to prevent a too rapid burning of the corn cobs or other ma- terial used in smoking the meat, and also to direct the smoke to the upjjer orifice for escape. Ensilage.— This word, which is only a few years old, grows out of the discovei-y made by a Frenchman, Auguste Goftart, that green crops, when stored in water-tight pits called silos, under a heavy i^rcssurc, do not rot, but are preserved fresh and sweet, and retain all their nutritive juices for a year or more; and that, when offered to cattle in this condition, in the win- ter, are preferred to any dry food. It is not surprising that the discovery made a sensation among farmers and cattle feeders in this country, and that there is exhibited a keen desire to know all about it; for, not only can a great deal more in weight, of green food than dry, bo raised on an acre, but ensi- lage possesses the advantage of supplying cattle with siicculent summer feed in the winter — an advantage of great value to milch cattle. Any green crop that stock are fond of when in a growing state is good material for ensi- lage — grass, clover, rye, yoirng com, sorghum and vegetables; but coi-n, clover and the grasses are most generally used, because when growing they are full of juice, which is lost in curing into hay or fodder, but preserved in the silo. Several kinds of green crops may be packed in the same silo, and the ensilage is said to be improved by the variety. Corn, either drilled or cultivated or sown broadcast, and cut in its most juicy condition, is the basis of most ensilage experiments in this country; it may be packed in the same silo with clover or grass of any kind cut green, and successive crops of corn may be planted for mixture with different kinds of grasses in their season. As it is estimated that ten to twenty tons weight of green crops may be cut from an acre of good soil— five to ten times as much as the weight of a dry crop of grain or hay— it is easy to see how much more profitable it is to save green crops in the form of ensilage than to allow them to mature and dry. Col. J. W. Wolcott, of Boston, who owns a farm near that city, raised 460 tons of ensilage on thirty-four acres— being fourteen tons to the acre— one year. By raising two crops on the same soil he has gathered as much as "twenty-one tons per acre. On one piece of ground he gathered thirty-one tons per acre, but " that com was fourteen feet high," he says. He adds: " I am satisfied that an acre of ground will keep a cow twenty-four months." When the silo is opened in winter the contents are foiind in a sort of cheesy condition, and require to be sliced off with a sharp axe. They have undergone a slow and slight fermentation which does not impair their merits as feed and is not offensive to cattle. Indeed, the first smell of ensilage 'is said to " set cattle wild for it," and they prefer it to any other kind of feed. Sik)8 are variously constructed. The usual plan is to dig pits ten feet wide, fifteen feet deep, and as long as may be desired, on sloping ground, and make tliem water-tight with cement. Mr. C. W. Mills, of Pompton, New Jersey, prefers to build a strong frame, boarded up tight and close with thick "lumber, entirely above the ground, something in the fashion of an ice house. The green crops may be packed into them, either whole or cut up with a cutter; each plan has "its advocates, though the weight of opinion is in fa^or of cutting, as it allows of closer packing. As the crops are thrown in they are tread down as closely near the edges as possible, and when the silo is" full it is covered and weighted with heavy rocks or earth, and then shedded over to protect it from the weather. In a few weeks the ensilage is AROUND THE FARM. 259 " ripe " aud ready for use. One end of the silo, if built along the ground, may be opened and the ensilage cut out and fed as it is wanted. Its quaUty will depend on the crops of which it is made aud the care with which they are packed away. Nearly all animals will eat it; cattle like it and thrive on it, aud for milch cows it is particularly valuable, as it increases their flow of milk and keeps them in cheerful, healthy condition. WHat Goes -witU a Farm.— When a farm is bought or sold, questions often arise as to what goes with it, and disputes may often be avoided if farmers know just what their farm deeds include. In brief, says Mr. Haigh, of the Detroit bar, m the American Agriculturist, where no reservations are made in the deed, the conveyance includes the land, the buildings upon it, and all such chattels or articles as have become so attached or fixed to the soil or to the buildings, as to become what is known in law as " fixtures." What constitutes a fixture depends largely on the intention of the owner in putting it there, and also upon the manner in which it is affixed. Anything so affixed to the roll or the buildings that it cannot be removed without in- jury nearly always goes with the farm, and anything of a permanent nature, fitted for permanent use, and annexed thereto by the owner with that inten- tion, generally goes with the land, though it might be severed without any injury, as the following examples will illustrate: All fences on the farm go without, but not fencing materials, as rails, etc.; if bought elsewhere and piled upon the farm, aud not yet built into a fence, they have never yet been " annexed." But rails built from timber standing on the farm and piled up for future use go with it; their original annexation is not severed by being changed from standing trees to rails. If, however, they were cut with the intention of using them elsewhere than on the farm, they would then be per- sonal property and would not pass. The bare intention in the mind of the owner in this instance makes the difference between real estate and personal property. Hop poles, if they have once been used iipon the farm, are re- garded as a part of it, though at the time of sale they are stored away for future use. Loose scaffold poles, however, laid across the beams of a barn, have been held not to be a part of the realty. Standing trees, of coiirse, are a part of the farm; so are trees cut or blown down, if left where they fall, but not if corded up for sale; the wood has then become personal property. To Tan Hided. — W'^e think that many farmers would tan sheep and other skins, with the hair and wool on, if they were told how. They are very con- venient for sleighs, wagons, house rugs, and many other purposes. We give the following from a reliable source, remarking that it is essentially the same that we found in use by the trappers and hunters in the wilderness: All fatty and fleshy matter should first be removed from the skin, and with sheep skins the wool should be washed clean with soft soap and water, and the suds be thoroughly rinsed out. For each skin take four ounces of salt, four ounces of alum, and half an ounce of borax; dissolve these in one quart of hot water, and when cool enough for the hand to bear, stir in sufficient rye meal to make a thick paste. This paste is to be spread thoroughly over every part of the flesh side of the skin, which is then to be folded together lengthwise, and left for two weeks in an airy place. Then remove the paste, wash and dry the skin. When nearly dry, it must be worked aud pulled, and scraped with a blunt knife made for the purpose, shaped like a chopping knife, or with a piece of hard wood worked to a sharp edge. The more the skin is worked and scraped as it dries, the more pliable it will be. Other fare can be tanned with the fur on. 260 THE FA EM. TBAP — FIG. 1. AVeasel, Rat, and Vermin Traps. — The common steel rat-trap is fre- quently used with good success in destroying these vermin, but we give herewith an engraving of a trap in this connection (Fig. 1), which we think will be found more effectual, and it is so simple in its construction that any one can make it. The trap consists of an oblong box, the end of which draws out, and is provided with a looking-glass in the internal side, which attracts the vermin on looking in. The entrance of the trap is formed of two spring doors made of wire, which allow the vermin to enter with least pressure. These doors have sharp points where they meet, which, although not felt by the vermin when entering, will prevent it from with- drawing after having once introduced its head. Near to the looking glass a bait is suspended, and a cage is also fixed with a chicken to serve as a decoy. These traps are self-setting, simple, inexpensive, fit for all sizes of vermin, and safe for the house, farm-yard, or game preserve. We also give an illustration of another trap (Fig. 2), which can be easily made by any person conversant with the use of a saw, hammer and nails. The top and bottom of the trap are made of oak board one inch thick and twenty inches square. It is divided into two parts, making really two distinct traps. The corners are of wire- about one-quarter of an inch in diameter, and the sides and partitions of No. 7 wire. Holes are bored both top and bottom, and the wires inserted. The corner wires are riveted, holding the trap firmly together; the doors are of oak, three quarters of an inch thick, and are kept in place by a cross wire on the top board of the trap, and by two small staples near the bottom edge of the door, which slide on the upright wires on each side. The treadle X is also oak, working on the upright pin O, as a fulcrum, and being held in place by the wire hook V working on a pivot at P, and on the lower end of which the bait is placed. One side of the trap is represented as set, the other as sprung. Trapping tlie Alink, Skunk, trap— no. 2. Etc—Next to the weasel, the mink is most dreaded among poultry. In localities near salt marshes, swamps, ponds, and sluggish streams they most abound. The ravages of the mink are easily told from those of the weasel or any other animal. He almost always carries off a portion of his prey and tries to secrete it. If you find a half-grown chicken or old fowl dead and dragged wholly or partly into a stone wall or under some building, you may be certain it is the work of a mink; and if you go to work ligJd, you will be just as certain to trap him. One pecuUarity of the animal makes his capture easy— he alicays returns to a spot where ho has hidden his quarry, or where he has made a raid; and Alio UN I) THE FARM. 261 if he misses it, vnW go scarchiug aronud for it. A Imowledgo of this fact led to the inveutiou some years since of the trap we now illustrate. It is un- patented and our readers our free to make and use it. The trap should be three feet long, one foot wide, and one foot high, out- side measurement, and may be made of ordinary faced pine boards. Nis the only solid part of the ioji, to which is hinged the lids L and D, and also in which the standard S is mortised. The lid L is held up by the rod A, in which are one or more notches to elevate it the desired height, catching or hooking over the pin B, and projecting a few inches beyond. Under A, and hinged into the standard by the pin P, is the lever T, also pro- jecting an inch or more beyond. C is a treadle board, hinged at Y to the bottom of the trap, and connecting by the wii-o W to the lever T, elevating it about two inches when set. H is the Jiait box, separated from the main trap by a wire screen, XX. is a window, of which there should be one on each side about three or four inches square, also covered with wire or wire cloth, and D is the hd of the bait box, fastened down by the pin E. If you have a chicken or fowl that has been killed by the mink a night or two preceding put tJutt into the bait box and close the lid, placing the trap as near the spot where the dead fowl was found as you can. If a live fowl is put in, no harm can be done to it, the screen effectually protecting it. The mink enters the trap, and as soon as his weight gets well up on the treadle it pulls down the lever T, the projecting end of which dislodges the i-od A, and drops the lid L. It is best to have a loeight upon L, or else a catch to hold it down when sprung, as we have known an old mink to pry up the lid and get out. We have never known this trap to mus when set immediately succeeding the depredations of one of those vnrminls. Next to the mink, the skunk is the most destruotiTe to poultry. The best way to trap him is with eggs, of which they are passionately fond. They are not particular about the qualily, as they seem to favor a rotten one, or one with a dead chicken in it. Tie the egg in a piece of netting, and fasten it to the treadle of a steel trap, or to a common box trap. Find their burrow, and set your trap near the mouth. It is nearly useless to set a trap where a theft has been committed. The animal may not go back there for months. He might possibly be caught iu a night or two. But the chances are against it. Crows and hawks are to bo classed among the enemies of poultry. The former prey only on young chickens and eggs. Catch one and hang it in your poultry yard; no other crow will come near it. The quickest and surest trap for crows is to place a steel trap in the shallow water of a pond, so that the jaws when open, are just under water. On the treadle place a small tuft of grass or moss, making a miniature island. Then cut a small stick with three branches, forking iu such a manner as to support an egg on them; stick this about six or eight inches from the trap; lay a httle moss, grass, or leaves over it, and place the egg on the forks, so it will appear as if floating on the water; cover the remainder of the trap lightly with grass, so as to hide it from sight, for Mr. Crow is very observant. To obtain the egg the A MINK TRAP. 262 THE FARM. crow will light on the " island," and find too late he is caught. When hawks are troublesome the only remedy is to shoot theui. Yon will soon notice that he visits your yard about a certain time every day, and by watching for him you can soon rid yourself of the troublesome visitor — of course provided you are a good shot. Trapping Groniid Moles. — We give an illustration upon this page of a very good and simple trap that may be successfully used in catching that troublesome little pest, the ground mole. It is made of two ash boards, a full inch in thickness, seven inches in width, and two feet six inches long, attached to one end by a broad butt hinge. The form given to the bottom board is shown in the cut, the central slit being made to admit the free play of the trigger, which is represented by itself in the right-hand corner of the sketch. It is of iron, ten inches long; the lower part shaped like a paddle, five inches long, one and one-eighth inches wide, and the left-hand end, notched as shown, and three-quarters of an inch wide pei-pendicularly. The post, sixteen inches high, is curved to the circular sweep of the top board on its hinge. The teeth, six in niimber, on each side, are riveted seven-eighths of an inch apart, in a plate five and one- fourth inches long and one inch wide, contain- ing four screw holes, placed zigzag, and this is found much firmer and more secure than if the teeth were in- serted directly in the upper plank. The trap is set, as shown in the cut, across a mole track, first digging a hole eight inches square and sis inches deep, and returning the soil, taking care to exclude all stones and large pebbles. Press the earth down pretty firmly, and set the trap so that tlie trigger touches the surface of the ground exactly over the line of the track. When the mole goes along his accustomed road, and finds it obstructed, his move- ments in reopening the track inevitably heaves up the surface, so as to set off the trigger, and the teeth on one side or the other will catch him. Weight the trap with a heavy flat stone. Ridding tUe Land of Stuntps. —We have frequently noticed persons when clearing land make a brush pile over a green stump, with the expecta- tion, apparently, that they were pursuing the right course to effectually rid the land of its presence immediately, while in fact no better means could be resorted to in order to insure its indefinite preservation. It has been the experience of the writer that a stump should never be fired until it has be- come sufficiently " seasoned " to insure its entire consumption, else the charred remnant becomes impervious to the action of the elements, and it will remain a troublesome customer to deal with for long years after. These thoughts are suggested from a quite recent experience in dealing with some very " old settlers," which the hands on the farm wished to fire A QOOD MOLE TKAP. AEO UN J) TEE FA Tt M. several years back, and were only prevented from doing so by a positive command to the contrary. By a little patient waiting we are gratified ^vith seeing " the places which once knew them, know them no more forever." This is one plan of treatment. Martiit Boxes. — The box-hoiisc does very well if made of any small box abont fifteen inches square (which can be had of any grocer), with a division put in it so that two families can inhabit it. A square hole should bo sawed out at the bottom edge opposite each division, and the bottom nailed on. Place the box on a pole from twelve to fifteen feet high, or on the gable end of a roof, or even in a tree, and your house is finished. It can be painted or not, or even made in fancy designs, which are quite attractive to the eye. The illustration given on this page will convey the idea. A hop, or other rapid-growing climber, if planted at the bottom of the pole, will climb up it and cause it too look quite orna- mental and picturesque. We have seen them built two stories high, made like a diminutive gothic cottage, which is quite pretty. The house should be made before the martins come, as they are generally in a hurry to locate and go to " housekeeping." By all means give them some kind of a home. Cisterns. — Many who have eistema and depend upon them for their sup- ply of water for family use, hardly realize the importance of keeping them sweet and clean. Rain water as it comes down from the clouds is prob- ably as pure as any water can be, but after it has washed over a roof and down the conductors into the cistern, cai-rying with it dust, leaves, and other rubbish that may have gathered on the roof or in the gutters, it is not strange that the cistern should need to be maetin box. cleaned out every year or two. If the cistern is not much iised the water is quite likely to become bad. It may look all right, and not taste very bad cither, and yet not be healthful. Of course all cistern water should be filtered, and a soft brick filter is perhaps the best; but even then it will be- come necessary to clean the cistera as often as every two years, and better every year. To Purify Cistern*! — Throw in two ounces powdered alum and two ounces borax to a twenty barrel cistern of rain water that is blackened or oily, and in a few hours the sediment will settle, and the water will be clari- fied and fit for washing ^g4 the PAnj^r. Silos ami Ensilage. — The new sj-stcm of preserving and feeding ensi- lage, says an intelligent writer, is one of such simplicity that doubting minds are incredulous as to possible results. If the building of a silo and the sub- sequent process of tilling with ensilage were some wonderful secret, or per- haps a new discovery protected by a series of patents — if the use of the sys- tem were permitted only under the payment of heavy royalties — there is a class of skeptical minds who fatten on uncertain quahties, and who have but little faith in any practice which is within the reach of persons of ordinary intelligence and common sense. It is difticult for many minds to realize the facts claimed for ensilage or to explain to themselves why such results should be secured by processes so simple and by apportions so economical. Yet proof, absolute demonstration, is within the reach of every inquiring mind, or of every enterprising farmer who is willing to spend fifty dollars for commencing experiments ui^on his own farm. It is a most singular fact that the doubting minds are those who have had no practical experience on the subject, but whose conservatism is on the parade. It is equally suii^rising that no intelligent, pi-actical attempt at silo building or ensilage feeding has resulted in failure, although men of all classes and attainments have exiDerimented with the new system. It would be reasonable to expect many failures among so many beginners of varying capacities, were there anything intricate or uncertain in the process and its ai;xiliaries. No authority in this country is competent to pronounce posi- tively upon the future success or failure of this new system; it is for the in- terest of no one to urge or induce the adoption of the system by any unwill- ing farmer, and no one is to be enriched by the multiplication of silos, except, perhaps, the individual owners. Many a conservative farmer will await the report of his more enterprising neighbor, who has built a silo, yet it is certain that before many years every one will have an opportiinity to judge the merits and drawbacks of the system of ensilage. New "Way -witli a Silo. — A Massachusetts farmer records his experi- *;nce as follows: We had always raised more or less Indian corn, \ising the stalks for wintering our limited number of cattle. After increasing our herd we planted fodder corn to help out our stock of corn stalks. However, the hard labor attending the cutting, binding, shocking, and curing the fodder made us willing investigators of the new and highly recommended system of ensilage feeding. From all who had constructed silos and tested ensilage we heard uniformly favorable reports. We could not learn of a failure, hence we determined to test ensilage for ourselves, only hesitating on ac- count of the probable labor and expense attending the erection and weight- ing of a stone silo. Learning that wooden silos found favor with some farmers who pro- nounced them equally as good, so long as they lasted, as the more costly stone affairs, we determined upon constructing our silo of wood. Our barn is a two-story building, measuring 4:0x80 feet. It contains several large bays, the dimensions of which are 20x24 feet. We sealed up one of these bays with 1 1-4 inch matched spruce boards covered with tarred paper. We cemented the bottom of the silo, also the walls under the sills of the bam. We coated the inside of the silo with coal oil to prevent the effects of mois- ture upon the boards. We stored about 125 tons of corn fodder in the silo, treading it down by men, instead of horses, by reason of the small size of the silo. We were about three weeks storing the whole of our fodder on account of the lack of A no VNT) TITE FA R M. 265 help. For covpriug the silo wo used hemlock boards and tarred paper, no other weighting lieing applied until some three or four weeks later, whou we stored a quantity of dry corn stalks iipon the top of the silo. Upon opening the silo we found the fodder in a perfect state of pre- servation, the ensilage showing no mold, except a little on top, just under the cover. In preparing the fodder, we employed a two-horse power to run our cutter, the latter being provided with a carrier for delivering the fodder in the silo. Rustic Seatj for the Lawn. — The garden and lawn are incompletely furnished if they are not sup- plied with some kind of seats whereon one may recline at ease. Fortunately these seats need not be costly; it would, indeed, show bad tas^te to have them so. Something easy, graceful, fan- tastic, rustic — something that the sunshine or the wind will ncit harm, or have its beauty destroyed hy the rahi. The materials for such seals are nearly always at hand — at least on every farmer's prem- ises. All that is required is a little skill and patience to construct them. The branches of the trees may be bent and shaped into tasteful chairs, and any desired form given to them. The branches of the red cedar tree and wild grape vino furniah the best of material for this style of rustic seat. Our illus- tration, Fig. 1, shows a very pretty chair A few pine boards cut out and nailed together, as RUSTIC SEAT. — FIG. 1. RUSTIC SEAT. made in this manner represented in the engraving, Fig. 2, will form a cheap and convenient rustic seat, which will be admired for its very simplicity and quaintness. A favorite shade tree ou the lawn may be surrounded with seats so at tached that one in sitting may lean against the truulc Our illustration, Fig. 3, viill give a good idea of how seats of this kind may be constructed. Of materials there are plenty around almost every homestead — tasteful labor only is wanting to make appropriate rustic seats. The position of such seats is worthy of consideration. As they are mainly intended for use in warm weather, they should be amply shaded. A BUSTIO SEAT.— FIG 26G THE FARM. position should be chosen that commands a good prospect — if not a distant landscape, then of the beauties of the lawn and the flower garden. Some, at least, should be screened fi-om observation by shrubbery — fragrant if pos- sible — where one may read or work. It is during the warmer months that the garden and lawn offer their greatest attractions, and everything that tends to make them more enjoyable should be provided. How to Preserve Cider — A pure, sweet cider is only obtainable from clean, sound fi'uit, and the fruit should, therefore, be carefully examined and wiped before grinding. In the i^resa use hair cloth or gunny in place of straw. As the cider runs from the press let it pass through a hair sieve into a large open vessel, that will hold as much juice as can be expressed in one day. In one day, or sometimes less, the pomace will rise to the top, and in a short time grow very thick. When little white bubbles break through it draw off the Uquid through a very small spigot placed about three inches ft-om the bottom, so that the lees may bo left behind. The cider must be drawn off into very clean, sweet casks, preferably fresh liquor casks, and closely watched. The moment the white bubbles before mentioned are perceived lising at the buughole, rack it again. It is usually necessary to repeat this three times. Then fill up the cask with cider in every respect like that originally contained in it, add a tumbler of warm sweet oil and bung up tight. For very fine cider it is cus tomary to add at this stage of this process about half a pound of glucose (starch sugar), or a smaller portion of white sugar. The cask should then he allowed to remain in a cool place until the cider has acquired the desired flavor. In the meantime, clean barrels for its reception should be prepared, as follows: Some clean strips of rags are dipped in melted sulphur, lighted and burned in the bunghole and the bung laid loosely on the end of the rag so as to retain the sulphur vapor within the barrel. Then tie up half a pound of mustard seed in a coarse muslin bag and put it in the barrel, fill the bar- rel with cider, and add about a quarter of a pound of ismglass or fine gela- tine dissolved in hot water. This is the old fashioned way, and will keep cider in the same condition as when it went into the barrel, if kept in a cool place, for a year. Professional cider makers are now using calcium sulphite (sulphite of lime) instead of mustard and sulphur vapor. It is much more convenient and effectual. To use it, it is simply requisite to add one-eighth to one- quarter of an ounce of the sulphite to each gallon of cider in the cask, first mixing the powder in about a quart of the cider, and giving the latter a thorough shaking or rolling. After standing Imnged several days to allow the sulphite to exert its full action it may be bottled off. The sulphite of lime (which should not be mistaken for the sulphate of lime) is a commer- cial article, costing about forty cents a pound by the barrel. It will preserve the sweetness of the cider perfectly; but imless care is taken not to add too much of it, it will impart a shght sulphurous taste to the cider. The bottles and corks used should be perfectly clean, and the corks wired down. A little cinnamon, wintergreen or sassafras, etc., is often added to sweet cider m the bottle, together with a dram or so of bi-carbonate of soda at the moment of driving the stopper. This helps to neutralize free acids, and renders the liquid effervescent when unstopped; but if used to excess, it may prejudicially afl'ect the taste. ABOUKT) THE FARM. 267 Wliat Bii-as AcfoiiiplisU — The swallow, swift, aud liawk are the guardians of the atmosplioro. They check tlie increase of insects that other- wise would overload it. Woodpeckers, creepers, and chickadees are the guardians of the trunks of trees. Warljlcrs aud flycatchers protect the foli- age. Blackbirds, crows, thi-ushcs, aud larks protect the surface of the soil. Snipe and woodcock protect the soil under the surface. Each tribe has its respective duties to perform in the economy of nature, and it is an undoubted fact that if the birds were all swept oil" the face of the earth man could not live upon it, vegetation would wither and die; insects would become so numerous that no living being could withstand their attacks. The whole- sale destruction occasioned by grasshoppers which have devastated the West is to a great extent, perhaps, caused by the thinning out of the birds, such as grouse, i3rairie hens, etc., which feed upon them. The great and in- estimable service done to the farmer, gardener, and florist by the birds is only becoming known by sad experience. Spare the birds and save the fruit; the little corn and fruit taken by them is more than compensated by the quantities of noxious iusects they destroy. The long-persecuted crow has been found by actual experience to do more good by the vast quantities of grubs aud insects he devours than the harm ho does in the grains of com he loulla up. He is, after all, rather a friend than an enemy to the farmer. Recipe for Curing Meat. — To one gallon of water take one and one- half pounds of salt, one-half pound sugar, one-half oimce saltpetre, one- half ounce potash. In this ratio the pickle can be increased to any quantity desired. Let these be boiled together until all the dirt from the sugar rises to the top and is skinmied off. Then throw it into a tub to cool, and when cold pour it over your beef or pork. The meat must be well covered with pickle, aud should not be put down for at least two days after killing, dur- ing which time it should be slightly sprinkled with powdered saltpetre, which removes all the surface blood, etc., leaving the meat fresh and clean. Soma omit boiling the pickle, and find it to answer well, though the opera- tion of boiling purified the pickle by throwing oti" the dirt always to be found in salt and sugar. If this recipe is strictly followed, it will require only a single trial to prove its superiority over the common way, or most ways of putting down meat, aud will not soon be abandoned for any other. The meat is unsurpassed for sweetness, delicacy, and freshness of color. Value of Drainage._As a matter of fact there is very little land in our country that would not be improved by drainage. Many light soils are springy, aud the crops are injured in them by stagnant water. Heavy laud can never do its best until drained. Vast areas of low-lying but rich laud are practically valueless for want of drains to carry off the reduudant mois- ture which forbids the growth of any but aquatic plants. Many who admit the importance of this improvement are puzzled about the ways and meaua of effecting it. The Drainage Journal mentions the following plan, which is well worthy of serious consideration: " Some enterprising tile manufacturers select careful farmers who own flat lands, and make them something like the following proposition: That the farmer make a careful estimate of liis average crops, and the tile manufacturer proposes to furnish the tile neces- sary to drain thoroughly the lands designated in the agreement, the farmer to furnish the labor of putting in the drains at a stipulated price, to be paid out of the excess of crops grown on the land over and above the average yield before agreed iipon, and the tile manufacturer agreeing to take the 208 THE FARM. balance of the increase in four or five crops (as agreed) to cover the cost of the tile. On level lauds, where the average crop runs low and the laud by nature is rich, it is a safe proposition for the tile manufacturer, if the farmer honestly performs his part of the contract. On rich level lands that need drainage, and need it badly, it will pay twenty-live per cent, annually on the iuvestmeut, aud in some instances more." Rustic Garden House. — No accessories to the garden add more to its beauty and comfort than pleasant, comfortable seats and resting places. They may bo composed of a few sticks, forming a simple seat under the shade of some tree, or may be made iu the form of rustic houses. Simpli- city, however, must not be lost sight of, and no foolish attempt should bo made to eclipse the simple beauty of nature by any expensive display of art. In our travels on the Hudsou we once stopped at the beautiful garden of A. J. Downing, and after admiring the line specimen trees it contained, and surveying the finely-kept lawn, we found ourselves reclining in a pretty rus- , ,, tic house, a view of which .^ y^^ jg given m the engravmg on this page, and we now present it as a model for this kind of work. A lit- tle patience and taste and a very few tools ■will enable one with ordinary mechanical skill to erect such a house at leisure times, almost without coat. How to Make Sorgo Vinegar. — A corre- spondent writing from Loutre Island, Mo., in the Rural World, tells how he made 1,000 gallons of No. 1 vinegar mostly fi-om sorgo skimmings. Ho says: "Of coiirse the first skimmings are not used. I had two 160-gallon tubs. Into these I put about 70 gallons of apple pomace (cider and all), 25 to 30 gallons of skimmings, according to thickness, then filled up with rain water. I let it remain for two or three days, then drew it off and put in a large 1,000-gallou cask, which I finished filling by the latter part of October. Next spring I drew it off in 40-gallou barrels, put them in a warm place where the sun shone on them part of the day, and I soon had the very best of vinegar. The above casks were in an out-house where it was as cold as out of doors. Of course it had no time to sour that fall, as winter set in early in November; consequently freezing did not hurt it, though it should not freeze after once becoming sour. Pressed or dry po- mace is just as good, only add skimmings and water for the cider taken. Vinegar made this way is better, I think, than when made of sorgo alone. It can hardly be detected from pure cider vinegar, and is just as good. Bear in mind that only enough water should be added to reduce the strength of the skimmings to about that of cider. You need saccharine to make good vinegar. You can't make vinegar from a few apple peelings and a barrel of rain water." BrSTIC GABDEN HOTJSE. AROUND THE FARM. 209 Blasting Sinmps.^The following is the uindns operandi of blasting Btiimps with dynamite; Make a hole an inch in diameter near the stump, inclining at au angle of about forty-five degrees, so as to reach underneath the body of the stump. This hole may be made with a crowbar through the soil, but if there be a large deep tap-root it will be necessary to continue the hole iuto the body of the tap-root by means of a long auger. A cartridge containing three or four ounces of dynamite is thuu inserted to the bottom of the hole, and a slow match having a peculiar percussion cap on the end is inserted in the cartridge. The hole is then tampered with earth, and when all is i-eady the outer end of the match is lighted, and the operator retires to a safe distance. The explosion usually not only extracts the stump from the ground, but tears it into pieces small enough to handle easily. The dynamite costs about forty cents per pound, so that a three or four ounce charge, with its fuse, would cost about ten cents— making the cost of blow- ing up a stump about ten cents, besides the labor. Ho-^v to TliatcU Roofs. — Rye Straw threshed with a flail and kept straight, with the short or broken straws raked out, is the best material. The roof is made ready for thatching by nailing strips of boards, say one by two inches, across the rafters, putting them a foot apart. The pitch should be steep, to in- sure a waterproof and durable roof. The straw should be cut to a uni- form length, and care taken to have it straight and all right. The sketch shows how the roof is prepared for the straw, and the manner the courses are laid. Tie the straw in bundles that will average six inches in thickness. The band should be close to the upper end, the one which is fastened to the cross strip. The courses should overlap, so as to make the roof the thickness of three bundles. Fisli Culture for tUe Farm. — No farm should bo without a fish pond, well stocked, any more than it should be without poultry. This may be a startling announcement to farmers who have to go one hundred feet to water, but it is none the less practical, as much as to keep stock on such a farm. Water must be produced in either instance. On most farms the drainage is favorable to jjonds by throwing a dam across some sag or ravine and retainmg the water that Avould naturally run off. The pond would serve the purpose of both stock and fish. Wliere this plan is not practicable, a piimp worked by a wind-mill will ausM-er as Avell if kept running; the sur- plus water drained into an artificial pond would supply the water. The pond should be at least eight feet deep in the center. This would give the fish an opportunity to place themselves beyond the reach of ice. A pond of fifty feet in diameter would accommodate a reasonable supply of fish for an HOW TO THATCH EOOF8. 270 THE FARM. urdiuary family if the fish are properly fed. Perhaps there is no fish so well calculated fur this character of farming as the carp. It feeds on vegetables, and in its habits has about the relation to an ordinary game fish that the farm yard fowl has to the game fowl. A Siiggestiou for Drainage— A Missouri farmer relates an experience which offers suggestions, which, while they may not be exactly new, may have for many, great practical value. There were upon his farm several depressions which in wet seasons held jjonds of water. To drain these by ordinary means would have been very expensive, because no gravel could be got near the farm, and there was no tile factory in that vicinity. Open ditches were out of the question. The services of an expert well-borer were secured. He sank several test shafts iu various parts of the farm, and found that the underlying ground was a tenacious bhie clay, fourteen to sixteen feet thick, and almost perfectly impervious. Beneath this was found a strata of white sand. The well-borer and his machine were placed in a wagon, which by means of a long rope was hauled to the deepest parts of a pond about an acre in extent. Here he bored a well down to the sand, completing the operation before sunset of the day when the work began. In thirty-six hours the water had disappeared and the pond was dry. To make this short perpendicular drain permanent he had it cleared of sediment, sunk the shaft about two feet into the bed of sand, and filled to the top witli clean, coarse gravel from a creek bed. The gravel was heaped about a foot high above the shaft to strain the water properly that the shaft might not become choked. They are thousands of places in the West where, year after year, farmers have plowed around such wot spots, giving them up to the possession of rushes and frogs. Yet they could bo drained easily by a few hours' work. Iu Western Michigan a large swamp lay for years on the southern edge of a village, a noisome barrier to progress and a bono of contention iu village and township politics. To drain it a large ditch a mile or two long would have been required; but some one, fortunately, discovered that a thin sheet of clay was all that kept the water from going down into a deep strata of gravel, boulders and sand. The wells were sunk and the swamp thoroughly drained at an almost nominal cost, leaving rich black soil, which is the most produc- tive and valuable in all that district. There may be thousands of similar swamps, where two or three days spent in sinking test shafts would show a ready means for converting sloughs or swamps into fields of wonderful fertility. Important Use of Coal Oil— A Southern farmer says: " I once read an article enumerating some of the practical uses to Avhich coal oil can be suc- cessfully put, iu which the writer suggested that it would be an etfective remedy" against the apparently indestructible bott or grub in horses. I had a horse which had always been sohopelessly infected with boih grubs and the small intestinal worm, that ho could never be kept iu a better condition than that of a skeleton, and with a ravenous appetite, and the best of treat- ment with the use of all known remedies, appeared to be nothing more or less than an improved type of a successful worm manufactory. Out of pa- tieuce and disgusted with my patient, and not knowing how much kerosene a horse could take without injury, yet determined to " kill or cure "—not caring much which— I commenced to drench with a gill of oil, intending to double the dose every day till a " cure " or a " kill " was ef!'ected. On the AROUND THE FARM. 271 first day I gave a gill, on the next a half a piut, and on the third a pint, and it was very soon apparent that that was euoitgh both for the worms and the horse. Large quantities of both kinds passed, and the horse appeared to be on the point of passing too, but ho didn't; and soon after all the usual symp- toms of worms had disappeared, and the horse commenced to improve rap- idly in flesh and general condition, and is now in better condition than I have ever seen him, and still imprcving. " I also experimented with kerosene on cut nails to make them take the place of wrought nails in a cart body I was building. I brought the nails to a red heat, dropped them into the oil and let them stand until cool, when they could be clinched, bent and twisted into any desirable shape almost with as much case and safety as a piece of wire, of the same size. My cart body recpiired 100 nails, for which any blacksmith would have charged me one dollar. Two pounds of ten penny nails cost ten cents, leaving a balance of ninety cents in favor of the kerosene. This ia a small item, but the farmer can save many such during the year, and it ia the little things that pay." Draining AVet Land. — The objects of draining arc: 1. To carry off surface water, by open drains. 2. To lower the water Une. 3. To prevent waste of the surface-applied manure, by washing off the soluble elements before they become incorporated in the soil. 4. To put the soil in a condition to be beuelitted by the use of lime, ashes and alkaline substances. There is no use in manuring or liming land that lies under water half the year. 5. To make the land a better absorbent of ammoniacal, nitrogenous and carbonic acid gases — so necessary for the growth of all crops. 6. To make the soil more porous, so that rains and melted snow shall descend through the soil, leaving their fertilizing elements in the earth that has acted as a filter, instead of flooding the surface and carrying all their rich freights off of the laud. The infinitely wiae Father has provided a vast reservoir of the richest agricultural elements which He pours ujion the earth, in the rain and snow, for us to utilize. The science of agriculture is teaching the wise how to se- cure and utilize these elements. One way to do it is, to render the soil porous and friable, ready to receive and hold the nitrogen and carbonic acid gas that is precipitated upon it in showers and snow. The nitrogen thus precipitated by rains goes down to the alkaline elements constantly being liberated in the soil and unites with the potash, soda and hme, forming the nitrates of lime and soda and potash, thus making the soil one vast labora- tory, on nature's grand scale, for the production of a fertilizer that will never deplete but constantly enrich the lands of the intelligent agriculturist. 7. To enable the farmer to start his plow from ten days to three -weeks earlier in the spring, and to keep it going when lands undrained are unfit to work. The time lost on undrained lands in the spring and fall and after heavy rains, which can be improved on well drained lands, will be sufficient in from one to three years to satisfactorily drain most fiirms. 8. To make the land earlier and later. Well drained land is much warmer and advances the growth of plants faster than land saturated with water. As Ave can start our plows from ten days to three weeks earlier on drained fields than on undrained, there is more than a corresponding differ- ence in maturing of the crops in consequence of a warmer and quicker soil. And as the plow can run later in the season when the fall rains are made to 272 THE FABM. percolate tlirougb the soil into drains, so the season is not only earlier in the spring but con-cspondingly prolonged in the fall, enabling one team to accomplish during the season much more work. Every farmer knows what a rush and hurry there is, when ground is iindrained, to push things when soil is tempered just right for work. Well drained land is always tempered right. Steady work, which accomplishes the most, and not hurry, becomes the order of the day, while there is always time to do everything well. 9. Another object of draining is to deepen the soil. Where the water line has been six inches from the surface, that is the depth of the man's farm for all practical purposes. Neither cereals nor root crops will go down below the water line. Trees do badly. Apples, pears and quinces blight when the top roots go below the water line. Lowering the water line twelve inches gives the tiller of the soil a new farm more valuable than the first. The potash, soda, phosphoric acid and lime of the first six inches has sunk down into the strata below. As these substances, so necessary to the growth of plants, sink down into the earth when wet, so they rise in the form of nitrate when the ground is dry. So that underdraining gives the farmer control by clovering and root cropping, of more valuable elements and greater quantities of them, than he can aflford to buy. 10. The last object of draining we will mention is, to render the farm and neighborhood more healthy. This is no unimportant consideration. We know of districts of country many miles square which twelve years ago were greatly subject to chills and fevers, but which, by only partially draining and liming, have become almost entirely free from these maladies. It is just what any thinking person would suppose. Where the laud is low and the water lies cither on the surface or within an inch or two of it, the surface vegetation is decomposed by the action of the moisture as soon as the warm rays of the sun fall upon it. Malarial marsh gas is eliminated; bilioiis and intermittent fever, stomach and bowel afflictions, that carry off numbers of children, follow as a natural and nccessarj' consequence. Where there is only a small pond hole, that dries iip in summer, near the house, doctors arc sure to be in demand. We hardly know where to stop writing on this important subject. Many other reasons for draining will readily suggest themselves, and farmers should study the various methods of draining wet land. Ho-w to Core Hams. — This receipt is fifty years old, and it is the best. To each twenty pounds of fresh meat make a mixture of one-fourth of a pound of brown sugar and a dessertspoonful of ground saltpetre; rub this well by hand into the meat; then with coarse salt cover the bottom of a bar- rel, say to half an inch; put in hams, and cover with half an inch of salt, and so on until the barrel is full; hams should remain in a cool place four weeks; when salted, wipe and dry them, and get some whole black pepper, which you must gi-ind yourself, and pepper thoroughly, especially about the hock and bone; let the ham lie for two days; then smoke for eight weeks. Axle-Grease. — A first-rate axle-grease is made as follows: Dissolve half a pound of common soda in one gallon of water; add three iionnds of tallow and six pounds of palm oil, or ten pounds of palm oil only. Heat them to- gether to 200 or 210 degrees Fahr.; mix, and keep the mixture constantly stirred until the composition is cooled down to 60 or 70 degrees. A thinner composition is made with half a pound of soda, one gallon of water, one gal- lon of rape oil, and a quarter of a pound of tallow, or palm oil. AROUND THE FARM. 273 Driving Nails Into Hjirel "Wood — The editor of an agricultural peri- odical witnessed an experiment of driving nails into hard seasoned timber, fairly dried. He says that the first two nails, after passing through a pine board, entered about one inch, and then doubled down under the hammer; but on dipping the points of the other six or eight nails into lard, every one was driven home without the least difficulty. Carpenters who are engaged in repairing old buildings sometimes carry a small lump of lard or tallow for this purpose on one of their boots or shoes. Good Well Curbing. — The best timber for curbing a well is hemlock, which is veiy durable when under water, and gives no flavor to the water. Of the woods some mention, all would rot very quickly except pine and tamarack, but pine is objectionable on account of its strong flavor. If hem- lock cannot be procured, tamarack would be the best. The timber should be cut in two or three inch planks, and j^ut together by halving the timbers at the end, and holding the halved parts dovetailed or cornered together, so that the sides cannot bo forced in by the pressure of the earth, the upper half of one piece flitting upon the lower half of the other piece. To Repair Leaky Roofs. — One of the very best preparations for repair- ing roofs that leak is to procure coal tar at the gas-works, and mix finely- sifted coal ashes or road dust with it till about as thick as mortar. Plaster with this carefully around leaky-roofed valleys or gutters, or about chimney flushings. It will soon set as hard as stone, and apparently as indestructi- ble. This preparatitm is very cheap, and would probably answer equally well spread all over a roof previously laid with felt or roofing paper. Once put on properly, it would seem to be there for all tune. A Clieap Rain Gauge. — To make a rain gaiige for fanners' use, just as good as if it cost three dollars, take a quart fruit can free from dents, hold the top in the fire until the solder is melted, then knock it off; place the can on a post, with brackets nailed around to keep it in place. Make a rule six inches long, divided into tenths of inches — one made out of a strip of slate is best. Measure the rain every morning after falling. An inch of rain is a good rainfall, if it conies gently. This in weight will be 226,875 pounds, or 113 tons 875 pounds to the acre. Burning Stumps. — Tree stumps are said to be easily removed by boring a two-inch hole eighteen inches deep into the stump. Do this in the fall, and fill with a concentrated solution of saltpetre, and plug up to keep out water. By spring it will have permeated every part. Then fill the hole with kerosene, set on fire, and the whole stump, it is said, will be consumed, even to the roots. It would seem to be feasible, and it is certainly an easy way to get rid of stumps. The ashes will remain to fertilize the soil. How to Get Rid of Rats. — The Etiglish Standard says: " Several corre- spondents write to announce the complete extirpation of rats and mice from their cow-stalls and piggeries since the adoption of this simple plan: A mix- ture of two parts well-bruised common squills and three parts finely-chopped bacon is made into a stiff mass, with as much meal as may be required, and then baked into small cakes, which are put down for the rats to eat." WItitewasli That "Will Stick. — To make whitewash that will not wash off by the rain, one peck of lime should be slaked in five gallons of water, in which one pound of rice has been boiled until it is all dissolved. The rice 274 THE FARM. water should be used hot, aud the mixture covered up closely until the lime is slaked. Then add a pound of salt, aud the wash heated to boiling when used. It is not an expensive preparation. It can be prepared by any person wishing to use a good wash, aud is highly satisfactory. Brother farmers, tiy it. Signs of a. Prosperous Fanner. — Wheu lights are seen burning in his house before the break of day, in winter especially, it shows that the day will never break on the breaking in of the winter of adversity. When you see him drive his work instead of his work driving him, it shows that he will never be driven from good resolutions, and that he will certainly work his way to prosperity. When he has a house separate from the main building purposely for ashes, and an iron or tin vessel to transport them, it shows that he never built his dwelling for a funeral pyre for his family, aud perhaps himself. When liis hog-pen is boarded outside and in, it shows that he is " going the whole hog or none," in keeping plenty inside his house and poverty out. When his sled is safely housed in summer, and his farming implements covered both winter and summer, it plainly shows that he ^vill have a good house over his head in the summer of early life and the winter of old age. When his cattle are properly shielded and fed in ^^dnter it evinces that he is acting according to Scripture, which says that " a merciful man is merciful to his beast." When he is seen subscribing for a newspaper and paying for it in advance, it shows that he is speaking like a book respecting the latest movements in agriculture, and that he will never get his walking papers to the land of poverty. To Clean an Old Roof. — Those wishing to know the best means of re- moving moss and earth accumulations from an old shingle roof, are advised to spi-inkle lime freely along the comb of the roof, and let the rains dissolve and carry it over the shingles. Every particle of dirt and moss will be re- moved by it. If kept clean, shingles will last much longer. This method is as good and eheax^er than any direct application to the shingles. Paint for Farmers — Farmers will find the following profitable for house or fence paint: Skim milk, two quarts; fresh slaked lime, eight ounces; linseed oil, six ounces; white burgundy pitch, two ounces; Spanish white, three pounds. The lime is to be slaked in water, exposed to the air and then mixed with aboiit one-fourth of the milk; the oil in which the pitch is dissolved to be added a little at a time, then the rest of the milk, and after- ward the Spanish white. This is sufticient for twenty-seven yards, two coats. This is for white paint. If desirable, any other color may be produced; thus, if cream color is desired, in place of the part of Spanish white use the other alone. To Prevent a Carriage from Spotting. — A newly-varnished carriage is liable to spot. To prevent this some wash the carriage two or three times in clean cold water applied with a sponge instead of using a hose; this will help harden the surface, and prevent it to some extent from being injured by the mud or water getting splashed on the job. Never let mud dry on the surface, and then wash off expecting to see no spots on the varnish. You will certainly be disappointed, aud the only way to remedy this evil will be to have it revarnished. Soft water is better than hard water for the washing AROUND THE FARM. 275 of carriages, as the lime which is in the hard water is Tery liable to injure the varnish. Reiiioviiig Carbonic Acid Gas or Potil Air from AVells. — A corre- spondent gives an account of an extemporized apparatus for removing car- bonic acid gas from wells. It was simply an opened out umbrella let down and rapidly hauled i;p a number of times in succession. The effect was to i-e- move the gas in a few minutes from a well so foul aa to instantly extinguish a candle previous to the use of the umbrella. Whenever there is an escape of gas in an apartment, the adoption of this plan will be found useful. To Render "W'ood Uuiiiflaiuniaiile. — Professor Kedzie, of the Agi-i- cultural College of Micliigan, an expert chemist, says that a paint or wash made of skim milk, thoroughly skimmed, and water brine, will render wood uninflammable, and he proved it by experiment. He said this paint, or white- wash, is durable, very cheap, impervious to watei", of agreeable color, and, as it will prevent wood from taking fire, urged its use, particularly on roofs, outbuiklings, barns, etc. Remedy for Burdocks. — It is said that a certain and speedy remedy for biirdocks has been found in kerosene oil. A small quantity poured into the heart of a plant, dii'ectly after cutting, leaves no trace of then- existence save a small hole in the earth where they stood. Eeflned or crude oil will accompUsh the purpose just us well. Paint for One Cent a Pound. — To one gallon of soft, hot water, add four pounds sulphate of zinc (crude). Let it dissolve perfectly, and a sedi- ment >vill settle at the bottom. Turn the clear solution into another vessel. To one gallon of paint (lead and oil), mix one gallon of the compound. Stir it into the paint slowly for ten or tifteen minutes, and the compound and paint will perfectly combine. If too thick thin it with turpentine. A Good Word for Toads. — Toads, according to Prof. Miles, live almost entirely upon slugs, caterpillars, beetles and other insects, making their rounds at night, when the farmer is asleep— and the birds, too— and the in- sects are supposed to bo having their own way. French farmers understand these facts so well that they purchase toads, at so much a dozen, and turn them loose. Protect tlie Swallow. — Among insectivorous birds the swallow is worthy of great encouragement. An examination of the stomachs of eight- een swallows killed at different seasons of the year showed that they con- tained an average of 406 undigested insects each, and not a single grain of corn (of any kind), or the least particle of fruit or a trace of any vegetable. Plan for Keeping Hams. — A veiy good way of keeping hams is to wrap them in strong brown paper so that the ashes cannot come in contact with them. Then pack them in clean, hard wood ashes, in dry boxes or barrels. This will keep well cured hams quite sweet, as the ashes serve as a protec- tion against insects. The boxes should be set in a cool, dry place. Improving Laivns. — For ridding lawns of unsightly weeds, siich as plantain and dandelions, the following plan is recommended by an experi- enced gardener: To the end of a light wooden rod attach a small sponge, or better, wind a few thickueases of cloth around it, dip the sponge in oil of 276 THE FARM. vitriol, and with it touch the heart of the weed. The oil of vitrol may be car- ried iu a wide-mouthed bottle at the eud of another rod. Mold ill Cellars. — To get rid of mold in cellars, put some roll brimstone into a pan and set fire to it; close the doors, making the cellar as nearly air- tight as possible, when the fungi will be destroyed and the mold dried up. Repeat this simple and inexpensive operation every two or three months for two or three hours at a time. Tlia-wing Frozen Apples. — It is stated by those who have had the ad- vantage of experience, that if apples which have been frozen are thawed in the dark they are uninjured; but if in the light, they very soon become unfit for use. We should suppose the same result would most likely appear if the experiment were tried with potatoes. AVasliing Harness — It is bad policy to wash harness with soap, as the potash injures the leather. If the harness becomes rusty rub off the dirt as well as possible with a soft brush, and apply a dressing of grain black, fol- lowed with oil or tallow, which will fasten the color and make the leather soft and pliable. A Good Suggestion Abont Harness. — Add a Uttle glycerine to the grease applied to harness, and it will be kept iu a soft and pliable state, in spite of the ammoniacal exhalations of the stable, which tend to make it brittle. Gas Tar for Wagon Wheels. — A farmer who has tried it speaks in the highest praise of gas tar for painting wagon wheels, stating that it tightens tires and spokes better than anything that can be tried. Mice in tlie Grain Chest. — If you are troubled about the grain chest with mice, watch for their holes and scatter a little copperas in them. A few grains will drive them away. Rats and Mice — Rats and mice will go into a trap much more readily if a piece of looking-glass is put iu any part of the trap where they can see themselves. They are social little creatures, and where they can see any of their tribe, there they will go. THE HOUSEHOLD. COOKING RECIPES. Breakfast Dishes. To Make Good Coffee. — French cooks arc famous for the excellence of their coffee, which they make so strong that one part of the liqiior requires the addition of two parts to reduce it to the proper strength. This addition is made with hot milk. The large proportion of hot milk, in the place of so much warm water, gives the coffee a richness like that made by the addition ol cream in the ordinary way. By this means any housekeeper desirous of making good coffee, can have it without cream. Hominy Muffins.- Take two cups of very fine hominy, boiled and cold; beat it smooth and stir in three cups of sour milk, half a cup of melted butter, two tablespooufuls of salt and two tablespoonfuls of white sugar; then add three eggs well beaten, one tablespoonful of soda dissolved in hot water, and one large cup of flour; bake quickly. Corn MiLffins. — One pint of com meal, one pint of sour milk, two table- spoonfuls of soda, two eggs, two tablespoonfuls of sugar, three tablespoou- fuls of melted butter, a little salt. Stir soda into the milk and mix with the meal; add the eggs, melted butter, sugar and salt. Beat briskly, and bake in cups in a hot oven. Very nice breakfast cakes. Breakfast Mnffin.s. — Set a rising as for bread overnight. In the morn- ing, early, warm a pint of milk and beat into the dough sufiicient to make it as for ordinary mufiiu batter; beat well for five or ten minutes and set to rise for breakfast. Bake in rings on a very hot griddle, and turn frequently to prevent burning. Buttermilk MuiHn.s. — One quart of sour milk, two eggs, one teaspoon- ful of soda dissolved in warm Avater, a teaspoonful of salt, and flour suffi- cient to make a good batter. Beat the eggs well, stir them into the milk, then add the flotir and salt, and lastly the soda. Bake in a quick oven. Bread Griddle Cakes — To a pint of bread crumbs add one pint of boiling milk; cover closely and let it stand over night. In the morning mash to a smooth paste and beat in the yelks of two eggs; then slowly add one- half pint of cold milk, beating all the time; and one-half pint of fliour with which a measure of baking powder has been sifted; lastly add the whites of the eggs, beaten to a stiff froth; fry Uke griddle cakes. Buckwheat Cakes—The best buckwheat cakes are made with an addition of com meal flour and oat meal flour to the buckwheat, in this pro- 278 THE HOUSEnOLD. portion: Six cups of buckwheat, three cups of oatmeal flour, or if this cannot be obtained, substitute grahara flour in its place, and one cup of corn meal flour; to this add- a dessertspoon evenly filled with salt, two tablespoonfuls of molasses, and lukewarm water sufficient to form a batter; stir through the flour well four teaspoonfuls of baking powder before wetting; but these cakes are much better raised over night with yeast. Frencli Pancakes. — To make Frcncli pancakes, take two eggs, two ounces of butter, two ounces of sifted sugar, two ounces of flour, half a piut of new milk. Beat the eggs thoroughly and put them into a basin with the butter, which should be beaten to a cream; stir in the sugar and flour, and when these ingredients are well mixed, stir in the milk, keep stirring and beating the mixture for a few minutes. Serve with a cut lemon and sugar, and pile the pancakes on a dish, with a layer of preserves or marmalade between each. Egg Pancalies. — Beat six eggs light, add some salt, and one pint of flour, and stir in gradually enough milk to make a thin, smooth batter. Take a hot griddle or skillet, butter the l)ottom, and piit in enough batter to run over it as thin as a dollar piece. When brown turn it. When done take it out on a dish; put a little butter, sugar and cinnamon over it. Fry another and treat likewise, and so on until a plate is piled. Send hot to table for dessert or breakfast or tea. Cream Pancalces. — Take half a i)iut of thick cream, two ounces of siigar, and a teasi^oonful of finely-powdered spice; beat the yelks of three eggs, add them to the cream; mix well together; simply rub your pan with a bit of frUiire, make it hot, put in a small qiiantity of the batter, so as to have the pancakes as thin as possible. Serve them sprinkled over with grated lemon peel and pounded loaf sugar. Corn Griclclle Cakes. — Two cups of coarse corn meal, two cups sour milk, or buttermilk, one egg, one tablespoonful graham flour, one teaspoon- ful soda dissolved in boiling water, make a batter of the meal, milk, eggs, oud flour; if it is too thick add a little milk; then stir in the dissolved soda, beat well, and bake immediately on a hot griddle; do not scorch the cakes. AVlieat Griddle Cakes. — One quart of sour milk, two even teaspoonfuls of soda and one even teaspoonful of salt, flour enough to make a good batter; stir until the lumps are broken; fry at once. To Make Batter Pancakes. — Well beat three eggs with a pound of flour, put to it a pint of milk and a little salt, fry them in lard or butter, grate sugar over them, cut them in quarters, and serve them up. Breakrast Corn Cakes. -Two eggs, one clip sweet milk, two table- spoonfuls sweet cream, one-half cup sugar, three-fourths cup flour, two cups Indian meal, three teaspoonfuls baking powder. licnion Flapjacks.— -One pint of milk, fovir eggs, juice of one lemon, a pinch of soda, and flour enough to make a light batter. Fry in hot lard. Serve ■with sugar and nutmeg. Delicions ■Waffles— One and one-half pint sweet milk; one teacup butter and lard, or one cup of either melted and put in the milk, then stir in the flour; next beat the yelks of four eggs, and add with two tablespoonfuls COOKING RECIPES. 279 of yeaat and beat very haril. P.cat the whitoH last, aud stir them ia gently. The consistency of the batter should be about like griddle cakes, or so it will run easily in the ii'ons. Iloininy Fritters, — Cook the hominy well; let it boil down ]n-otty tliick before using; add to one quart of boiled hominy about half a cup of sweet milk, one egg, a little salt, aud flour enough to fry and turn without running; onl}' enough lard required in frying to prevent burning; too much milk and flour toughens them. Omelet. — Comparatively few of our housekeepers dare attempt an omelet, but there is nothing difficult about it. The chief cause of failure lies in not having the spider hot enough, or in making an omelet too large for the i^an. For a spider eight inches in diameter, not more than four eggs should be used. For an omelet of this size, use four eggs, one teaspoonful of salt, and two tablespoonfuls of cream, or in place of that, use milk. Beat the yelks alone to a smooth battel', add the milk, salt and pepper, and lastly, the well-beaten whites. Have the frying-pan very hot. Put iu a tablcspoon- ful of butter, which should instantly hiss. Follow it quickly with the well- beaten mixture, and do not stir this after it goes iu. Cook over a hot fire, and as the egg sets, loosen it from the pan without breaking, to prevent burning. It should cook in about teu minutes. When the middle Is set, it is a good plan to place the i^au on the high grate in the oven to brown the top. This is not needed if you turn half of the omelet over upon itself before turning the whole from the pan upon a hot dish. Eat while hot. ScraniWecl Eggs. — Many use only eggs with butter and salt for this dish — for four eggs, one tablespoontul of butter. Melt the butter and turn in the beaten eggs, and stir quickly one or two minutes over a hot fire. A common practice is to increase the quantity without impairing the quality by adding milk — a small cup to six eggs, and a tablespoonful of butter with salt and pepper as preferred. Stir these ingredients over a hot fire, putting in the butter first, until the whole thickens. It should be soft and creamy when done. It is very fine served on toast. Eggs a, la Creine. — Hard boil twch c cggs, aud slice them in thin rings. In the bottom of a deep baking dish spread bits of butter, theu a layer of bread crumbs, and then a layer of boiled eggs. Cover with bits of butter, and s^jrinkle with pepper and salt. Continue thus to blend these ingredients until the dish is full or nearly so. Crumbs over which bits of buttca- are spread, must cover all of these bits of eggs, aud over the whole mixture a pint of sweet cream or sweet milk must bo poured, before it is baked in a moderately heated oven. Eggs IVe-wport Style. — Take one pint of bread crumbs aud soak in one pint of milk. Beat eight eggs very light, aud stir with the soaked crumbs, beating five minutes. Have ready a saucepan in which are two tablespoon- fuls of butter, thoroughly hot, but not scorching; pour in the mixture, season with pepper and salt, as the mass is opened and stirred with the "scram- bling," Avhich should be done quickly with the point of the knife, for three minutes, or until thoroughly hot. Serve on a hot platter, with squares of buttered toast. StiiflTed Eggs — Six hard boiled eggs cut in two, take out the yelks and mash fine; then add two teaepoonfule of butter, one of cream, two or three 280 THE HOUSEHOLD. drops of ouiou juice, salt and pepper to taste. Mix all thoroughly, and fill the eggs with the mixture; put them together. Then there will be a little of the filliug left, to which add one well-beaten egg. Cover the eggs with this mixture, and then roll in cracker crumbs. Fry a light brown in boiling fat. Cupped Eggs. — Put a spoonful of high-seasoned brown gravy into each cup; set the cups in a saucepan of boiling water, and, when the gravy heats, drop a fresh q^q into each cup; take off the saucepan, and cover it close till the eggs are nicely and tenderly cooked; dredge them with nutmeg and salt. Servo them in a plate covered with a napkin. Eggs a. l!i Blode. — Kemove the skin from a dozen tomatoes, medium size, cut them up in a saucepan, add a little butter, pepper and salt; when sufficiently boiled beat up five or six eggs, and just before you serve, turn them into the saucepan with the tomato, and stir one way for two minutes, allowing them time to be well done. A Nice DisXt. for Breakfast. — Take some slices of bread cutting, off the crust; make a batter of three eggs and a pint of milk; soak the bread in it; put some butter in the frying pan; fry the slices of bread till brown. A Good Way to Cook Eggs. — Heat and grease the muffin irons; take a dozen eggs, break an egg in each muffin ring; put pepper, salt and a lump of butter on each; then put in the oven; as soon as it is slightly browned remove with a fork; dish and send to the table hot. Breakfast Dish. — A nice dish for breakfast is made by taking bits of ham that have been left from previous meals, cutting in small pieces, and heating them with two or three eggs stirred in. Pieces of beef may also be used, and enjoyed if properly cooked. Chop them fine, season with butter, pepper and salt, and serve hot. The excellence of these dishes depends upon the way in which you cook and season them. Anything which is warmed over, in order to be palatable, must be nicely prepai-ed. Potato Cakes for Breakfast. — Save from dinner a soup-plate of mashed potatoes, add to it half a saltspoonful of pepper, the same of nutmeg, a little salt and the yelk of an egg; form into small cakes, put in a buttered baking-pan, brufeh the top with the white of an egg, and brown in a quick oven. A Clieap Breakfast Disli. — Stale bread may be made into a palatable dish for breakfast by dipping it in butter and then frying in lard or butter. Make the batter with eggs — a teaspoonful of corn starch mixed in a table- spoonful of milk to each egg. A little salt should be added. Soups. Asparagus Soiip.—Three pounds of knuckle of veal will make a good strong stock. Put the veal to boil with one and a half bunches of asparagus, a gallon of water, and let it boil rapidly for three hours. Strain and return to the pot, adding another bunch of asparagus, chopped fine, and boil twenty minutes. Take a cup of milk, add a tablespoonful of flour; let it all just come to a boil and serve. Season well with pepper and salt. Potato Soup. — Mash to a smooth paste one pound of good mealy pota- toes, which have been steamed or boiled very dry; mix them by degrees in COOKING RECIPES. 281 two quarts of boiling water, iu wliich two ounces of the extract of meat have been previously dissolved, pass the soup through a strainer, set it again on the fire, add pepper and salt; let it boil for five minutes, and be served with fried or toasted bread. Whore the flavor is approved, two ounces of onions, miuced and fried a light brown, may be added to the soup, and btewecl in it for ten minutes before it is sent to table. Groeu Pea Soup. — Put two quarts greon peas into four quarts of water, boil for two hours, keeping the steam waste supplied by fresh boiling water — then strain them from the liquor, return that to the pot, rub the peas through a sieve, chop an onion tine, and a small spi'ig of mint, let it boil ten minutes, then stir a tablespoonful of flour into two of butter, and pepper and salt to taste; stir it smoothly into the boiling soup. IServe with well-buttered sippets of toasted bread. Cream-of-Rice Soup. — Two quarts of chicken stock (the water in which the fowl has been boiled will answer), one teacuj] of rice, a quart of cream or milk, a small onion, a stalk of celery, and salt and pepper to taste. Wash the rice carefully, and add to the chicken stock, onion and celery. Cook slowly two hours (it should hardly bubble). Put through a sieve; add sea- soning and the milk or cream, which has been allowed to come just to a boil. If milk, use also a tablespoonful of butter. C'liicUen Cream Soup. — Boil an old fowl with an onion in four quarts of cold water until there remains but two quarts. Take it out and let it get cold. Cut oS" the whole of the breast and chop very fine. Mix with the pounded yelks of two hard boiled eggs, and rub through a colander. Cool, skim, and strain the soup into a sovip pot. Season; add the chicken and egg mixture, simmer ten minutes and pour into the tureen. Then add a small cup of boiling milk. Saturday Soup—Collect all the bones which you have on hand, beef, veal, mutton or fowl, and boil together one day. The next morning remove the fat and put the soup on to heat. If you have a little cold hash or a few croquettes, put them iu, and add a saucer full of canned corn, salt and pepper to taste, a few slices of onion, half a tcaspoonful of celery salt, one cup of stewed tomato. Boil all together, and just before serving put in a few drops of caramel to make it a good brown. Cauliflower Soup. — Cauliflower and butter. Peel the cauliflowers, and put them in boiling water. When they arc perfectly soft, strain the water ofi", and put them in the saucepan again with some butter. Moisten them with water or beef broth, and finish cooking them. Put some slices of fried bread in the soup, and let the whole boil gently until it is thick; then serve it. Minute Soup. — Excellent for supper where something warm is desired, or for the little folks when they return from school " almost starved to death." Light bread or crackers crumbed in a bowl or deep dish, add a lump of butter, half a cup of sweet cream, plenty of pepper and salt; if fond of onions, cut a few slices thin and lay over the top and pour over plenty of boiling water, and you will be surprised to see how good it is. If not fond of onions, add an egg well beaten, after the water is poured over, and stir well. Veal Cream Soup. — Boil the remnants of a roast of veal until the meat falls from the bones; strain and cool. The next day put on to boil, with a 282 THE HOUSEHOLD. slice of oniou and oue-third of a cup of raw rice. Let it simmer slowly for an hour. Add salt and pepper to taste. Just before serving add one cup of rich milk, or cream if you have it, heated first in a separate dish. Serve with grated Parmesan cheese. Macaroni Sonp._Piit into a stewpau of boiling water four ounces of macaroni, one ounce of butter, and an onion stuck with Ave cloves. When the macaroni has become quite tender, drain it very dry, and pour on it two quarts of clear gravy soup. Let it simmer for ten minutes, taking care that the macaroni does not burst or become a pulp; it will then be ready to serve up. It should then be sent to the table with grated Parmesan cheese. Beef Soup. — Three pounds beef, three onions, three quarts water, one- half pint pearl barley. Boil beef slowly about an hour and a half, then add onions, sliced, and pearl barley (previously well washed and soaked half an hour); then boil about an hour longer. More water may be added, suffi- cient to have two quarts of soup when done. Season to taste with pepper. One Day 8oiip. — Half a can of tomatoes, five or six cold boiled or baked potatoes, half an onion, one stalk of celery or a few celery tops. Boil all to- gether until the vegetables are very soft. Put through a colander, add pep- per and salt, and a pinch of sugar. Just before serving pour in one cup of hot milk with a pinch of soda dissolved in it. Sift over the top a few very dry bread crumbs. Mutton Soup. — Take the water that remains in the steamer after the mutton is cooked; there should be about three quarts; add one-half cup English split peas, nicely washed, one small onion, and cook gently three hours, adding a little more water if it cooks away miich. Before taking from the fire add salt and pepper to taste. Poultry Soup. — Take the carcass and bones of any poiiltry, turkey par- ticularly, and put ui a kettle with plenty of water, and boil all the forenoon, filhng lip with hot water if necessary, and at dinner time you will find to your suqirisc a most savory soup; season with salt and pepper. Bean Soup. — Put one quart of beans to so.ak over night in lukewarm water. Put over the fire next morning with one gallon cold water and about two pounds salt pork. Boil slowly about three liours, add a little pepper. It is better to shi-cd into it a head of celery. Strain through a colander and serve with slices of lemon to each guest. Julienne Soup—Put a piece of butter the size of an egg into a soup kettle; stir it until melted; fry three onions and then put in three quarts of good stock, salt, pepper, mace and celery seed, two chopped carrots, two chopped turnips, a pint of dried peas that have been soaked in water over night. Boil two hours. Codfisli Soup — Boil a teacup of codfish in three pints of water for twenty minutes; add three tablespoonfuls of flour and a little hot water; boil up once; add two pints of milk, let it boil; add three eggs. When served in a tureen, add one jioached egg for each person. Vegetable Soup. -Take one turnip, one potato and one onion; let them be sliced, and boiled in one quart of water for an hour; add as much salt and parsley as is agreeable, and pour the whole on a slice of toasted bread. COOKING llEdlFES. 283 Tomato Soup — rour a quart of boiliug water over a pint of canned to- matoes. Let them boil for an hour, or until they become soft. Strain and return to the fire. Stir in a teaspoonful of soda; this will make it effervesce, and while it is still foaming add a pint of boiling milk, a large piece of but- ter, pepper and salt. Thicken slightly with cracker-dust and servo immedi- ately. Summer .Soup. — Eight potatoes boiled soft, i)ieco of butter size of two eggs; boil ono quart of milk and one quart of water together, and jiour boil- ing hot on the soft potatoes; atraiu, and then boil half an hour in the iiiilk and water. Plain Soup — Boil fresh beef or mutton bones three hours, salt; to one gallon liquid add one teacup washed rice, two or three cloves, boil one-half hour, and it is done. Oki-a Soup. — To five quarts of water and a shiu of beef add four dozen okras, sliced thin, and a few tomatoes; boil from six to seven hours, and add salt and I'ed pepper to taste. Meats and Poultry. Polteil Beef. —Choose lean beef; rub it over with saltpetre, and let it lie twelve hours; salt it well with a mixtui-e of bay salt and common salt. Put it into a jar of the requisite size, immerse it in water, and let it remain four or five days. Then take it out, wipe it dry, and rub it with ground black pepj)er; lay it in a pan, cover it with a crust, and bake seven hours. Take it out when done and let it cool; then pick out the skins and strings, and beat it in a strong mortar, adding seasoning of mace, cloves, and nutmeg, in powder, and a little melted butter and Hour. Press it closely into pots, and pour over it clarified butter. Frencli Beefsteak. — Cut the steak two-thirds cf an inch thick from a fillet of beef; dip into melted fresh butter, lay them on a heated gi'idiron and broil over hot coals. When nearly done sprinkle pepper and salt. Have ready some parsley, chopped fine and mixed with softened butter. Beat them together to a cream, and pour into the middle of tlio dish. Dip each steak into the butter, turning them over, and lay them round on the platter. If you desire, squeeze a few drops of lemon over, and sei'vo very hot. An Excellent DisU — A dish equal to the best steak and cheap enough for any man, is prepared from a shanlc of beef with some meat on it. Have the bono -well broken; wash carefully to remove bits of bone; cover with cold water; watoii when the boiling begins and take off tlio scum that rises. Stew five or six hours till the muscles are dissolved; break the meat small with a fork — far better than chopping — put it in a liread pan, boil down the gravy till in cooling it will turn to a stiff jelly. Where this is done, gelatine _ is quite superfluous. Add salt, and, if liked, other seasoning, and pour it hot upon the meat; stir together and set aside over night, when it will cut into handsome mottled slices for breakfast or supper. Cliicken "Viennese Style. — Procure two very young spring chickens, pluck and draw them carefully, without injuring the skin. Take a very sharp knife and cut each exactly in two; sprinkle with a little pepper and salt, rub a little fresh salad-oil over each piece, and thoroughly egg and 284 THE HOUSEHOLD. breadcrumb them. Rub a little suet on a clean gridiron, place it over a very clear fire, with the four pieces of chicken, broil them very carefully until of a nice brown color; then having ready a hot dish, with four pieces of toasted bread on it, lay half a chicken on each piece of toast, and pour over all a good white sauce, which must be made with a little raw cream. CHicken Patties. — Chickeu patties are made by picking the meat from a cold chicken and cutting it in small pieces. Put it in a sauce^jan with a little water or milk, butter, pepper and salt. Thicken with a little flour and with the yelk of one egg. Line some patty-pans with crust, not rich and yet not tough, rub them over "with the white of the egg, and bake. When done, fill with the chickeu, and send to the table hot. Cut out round cakes of the crust for the tops of the little pies, and bake on a common baking tin. It is very little trouble to do this, and the pleasure afforded each child by having a little chicken pie of his own amply pays the right-minded cook. Smothei-etl CliicUens._Cut the chickens in the back, lay them flat in a dripping-pan, with one cup of water; let them stew in the oven until they begin to get tender; take them out and season with salt and pepper; rub together one and one-half tablespoonfuls of flour, one tablespoonful butter; epread all over the chickens; put back in the oven, baste well, and when tender and nicely browned take out of the dripping-pan; mix with the gravy in the pan one cup of thickened milk with a little flour; put on the stove and let it scald up well and pour over the chickens; parsley, chopped fine, is a nice addition to the gravy. Virginia Fried Chicken — Dice and fry cno half pound of salt pork iintil it is well rendered. Cut up a young cldcken, soak for half an hour in salt and water, wipe dry, season with pepper, roll in flour, and try in hot fat tmtil each piece is of a rich brown color. Take up .and set aside in a warming closet. Pour into the gravy one cup of milk— half cream is better; thicken with a spoonful of flour, and add a spoonful of butter and chopped parsley; boil up and pour over the hot chicken, or, if preferred, serve with- out the cream gravy, with bunches of fried parsley. Plain boiled rice should accompany this. Beef Rolls — The remains of cold roast or boiled beef, seasoning to taste of salt, pepper, and minced herbs; puft" paste. Mince the beef tolerably fine, with a small amount of its own fat; add a seasoning of pepper and salt, and chopped herbs; put the whole into a roll of puff paste and bake for half an hour, or rather longer, should the roll be very largo. Beef patties may be made of cold meat by mincing and seasoning beef as directed above, and baking in a rich puff paste in patty tins. Veal Cutlets — The cutlets should be cut as handsomely as possible, and about three-quarters of an inch in thickness; they should, before cook- ing, be well beaten with the blade of a chopper, if a proper beater be not at hand; they should then be fried a hght brown and sent up to table, gar- nished with parsley, and rolls of thin-sliced, nicely-fried bacon; they are with advantage coated previously to cooking with the yelk of an egg, and dredged with bread crumbs. A la Mode Clilcken. — Pick and draw a fine young chicken, wash and wipe dry and season with salt and pejiper. Make a nice pastry, roll out an inch thick; wrap the chicken m it, tie in a cloth, and boil an hour or two, ac- 00 KINO BEG I PES. 285 cording to the tenderness of the fowl. Make a dressing of one tablospoonful of flour, one of butter, and sufficient boiling water to make a smooth paste. Place the chicken ou a dish, and pour the dressing over it, garnish with parsley or celery leaves and a hard-boiled egg cut in slices. Cnn-y — Take cold chicken, turkey, or cold lamb, cut it in small pieces, and put in a frying-pan with about a pint or more boiling water; let it stew a few moments, then take the meat out, thicken the gravy with a little flour, add a teaspoonful of curry powder, pepper and salt to taste, and let it boil up once; have some rice boiled whole and dry; put it aiouud the outside of the platter, and in the center put the meat; throw the gravy over the meat, not the rice, and serve. Tripe a la Lyonaise witU Tomatoeis — This economical dish, which is in the reach of every family, is very fine. Take two pounds of dressed and boiled tripe, cut into small strips two inches long and put into a sauce- pan. Parboil and drain ofl" the first water; chop a small onion fine and let all stew twenty minutes; add half a teacup of thickening and then stir in half a can of tomatoes. Season with salt and pepper. This dish has become very popular in all the hotels throughout the country. Boiled Com Beef. — This is much improved if cooked in plenty of water, and when thoroughly done, left until cold in the same water that it was boiled in. Lift the pot off the fire, and let pot, water, and meat grow cold together. This will make it much more moist and juicy, besides tender and sweet, than if taken out hot and all the moisture in it dried out by standing and steaming until it grows cold. Hams, tongues, etc., should be cooked in the same way. To Cook a Rabbit. — When nicely dressed lay it in a pan and cover with cold water, and add half a teacup salt and soak over night; in the morning drain ofif water and cover the rabbit inside and out with dry corn meal, and let stand till time to cook for dinner; then rinse, cut up and parboil in slightly salted water until tender; take out, roll in corn meal and fry a nice brown; an onion sliced and laid over it while parboiling is an improvement for those who like the flavor. Baked Hani. — Make a thick paste of flour (not boiled) and cover the ham with it, bone and all; put in a pan on a spider or tAvo muffin rings, or anything that will keep it an inch from the bottom, and bake in a hot oven. If a small ham, fifteen minutes for each pound; if large, twenty minutes. The oven should be hot when put in. The paste forms a hard crust around the ham and the skin comes ofl" with it. Try this, and you will never cook a ham in any other way. Sauce Piqnante. — Put a bit of butter, with two sliced onions, into a stewpan, with a carrot, a parsnip, a little thyme, laurel, basil, two cloves, two shallots, a clove of garlic, and some pai-sley; turn the whole over the fire until it be well colored; then shako in some flour, and moisten it with some broth and a spoonful of vinegar. Let it boil over a slow fire; skim, and strain it through a sieve. Season it with salt and pepper, and serve it with any dish required to be heightened. Minced "Veal and Eggs. — Take some remnants of roast or braised veal, trim off all browned parts, and mince it very finely; fry a shallot, or onion, 286 THE HOUSEHOLD. chopped small, in plenty of butter; when it ia a light straw-color add a large pinch of flour and a little stock, then the minced meat, with chopped parsley, pepper, salt, and nutmeg to taste; mix well, add more stock if necessary, and let the mince gradually get hot by the side of the fire; lastly, add a few drops of lemon-juice. Servo with sippets of bread fried iu butter round, and the iDoached eggs on top. Boned Clxiclteit — This is nice for picnics. First take out the breast- bone; then remove the back with a sharp knife, and next the leg bones; keep the skin iiubi'oken, and push within it the meat of the legs. Fill the body with alternate layers of parboiled tongue, veal force-meat, the liver of the fowl, thin slices of bacon, or aught else of good flavor which will give a marbled appearance to the fowl when served; then sew up and truss as usual. Pigeon Pie. — Border a dish with fine puff paste, lay a veal cutlet (or tender rump steak) cut in thin slices at the bottom of the dish; season with salt, cayenne, nutmeg, or pounded mace. Put as many young pigeons as the dish will contain, with seasoning as above, and in the interstices the yelks of some hard-boiled eggs; put some butter over them, fill up with good gravy, cover with paste, glaze mth the yelk of an egg, and bake. Bliitton Cutlets in. tUe Portuguese AVay — Cut the chops, and half fry them with sliced shallot or onion, chopped parsley, and two bay leaves; season with pepper and salt; then lay a force-meat on a piece of white paper, put the chops on it, and twist the paper up, leaving a hole for the end of the bones to go throiigh. Broil on a gentle fire. Serve with sauce Eobert; or, as the seasoning makes the cutlets high, a little gravy. A Bro-ivn Sauce. — For one quart. Stir gently in a stewpan over a slow fire, till of a light golden color, two ounces of butter and two ounces of flour, then add two pints of stock; stir till perfectly smooth; add four toaspoonfuls (one and one-third ounce) of the extract of meat and a sprig of marjoi'am, one of thyme, and two of parsley; boil a quarter of an hour slowly; strain, season, and it is fit for use. Fried Meat Cakes. — Chop lean raw meat, as you would for eausage, season with salt, pepper, and onion; shape into flat cakes, dip the cakes in egg aiid bi'eadcrumbs, and fry in dripping. Any meat may be used for this dish, biit it is particularly nice of beef, and the finest portions need not be put to this use. Drain on a strainer; have ready a dish of nicely mashed potatoes, on which put yoin* beef-cakes, and serve. Veal Scollop. — Put a layer of cold chopped veal in a buttered dish; sea- son with salt, pepper and butter; then strew over it a layer of finely pow- dered cracker, and pour over a little milk to moisten it; add another layer of veal and so on. When the dish is full wet well with gravy and warm water, cover with a tin plate and bake. Remove the cover ten minutes be- fore it is done to let it brown. TUiclc Gravy — Melt in a stewpan a piece of butter the size of a walnut; add two tablespoonfuls of flour; mix well; then add one pint of hot water, half a teaspoonful of the extract, and sauce to taste. This will be found suitable for poultry, or wherever thick gravy is required. The above may be made richer by using a larger proportion of extract. coo KIN a RECIPES!. 287 Ilasliod Fo-wl. — Take the moat from a cold fowl and cut it iu small pieces. Put half a pint of well-flavored stock into a stewpan, add a little salt, pepper and nutmeg, and thicken with some flour and butter; let it boil, then put in the pieces of fowl to warm; after stewing sufficiently, serve with some poached eggs laid on the hash, with a sprig of parsley in the center, and garnish round the plate with pieces of fried bread. Clilclcen Fried. — Cut some cold chicken into pieces and rub each with yelks of eggs; mix together some bread crumbs, pepper, salt, nutmeg, grated lemon-peel and parsley; cover the pieces of chicken with tliis and fry them. Thicken some good gravy by adding flour, and put into it cayenne pepper, mushroom powder or ketchup, and a little lemon juice, and serve this with the chicken as sauce. To Remove Fishy Taste from Game — Pare a fresh lemon very care- fully without breaking the thin white inside slun, put inside a wild duck and keep it there forty-eight hours, and all the flshy taste so disagreeable iu wild fowl will be removed. Every twelve hours remove the lemon and re- place with a fresh one. A lemon thus prepared will absorb unpleasant flavors from all meats and game. CliicUen Fritters — Cut into neat pieces some tender cold chicken and let them stand awhile in a mixture of lemon juice, salt and pepper. Make a batter of milk, egg, flour and salt, stir the cliicken into it, and then fry in boiling lard, putting one bit of chicken in each spoonful of batter. Serve very hot, taking care to drain the fat off well. Garnish with parsley. Chicken Croquette — Two sweet breads boiled; one teacup of boiled chicken, hashed; one boiled onion, one teacup of boiled bread and milk, quarter pound butter, salt and pepper. Chop chicken and sweet breads very fine, mix iu well the other ingredients, shape into rolls, then dip in the yelk of an egg, then in cracker dust; droj) into boiling lard and fry brown. New "Way of Cooking ChIckens._A new way of cooking chickens is to parboil them and then drop them into hot lard, a la doughnuts, and fry a few minutes. This will serve to make variety in the bill of fare, but will not wholly take the place of the favorite method of browning iu butter. Nice gravy may be made by adding milk and flour to the butter in which chickens have been fried. French Chicken Pie — A tander chicken cut in joints, half pound salt pork exit in small pieces, boil the two together till nearly tender in a little water; line a deep dish with pie-paste, put in the meat, season with salt, pepper and chopped parsley, put in a little water and cover over with the pie-puste, which shoiild be rich; bake forty minutes. Pickled Tongue. — The remains of pickled tongues are very nice inter- mixed and placed in a pan and pressed, when they will turn out resembling collared meat. A little thick jelly may be poured into the pan with them, r-ilices of cold tongue may be warmed into any kind of savory sauce and laid in a pile in the center of a dish, the sauce being poured over them. A D'^>Iiciou4 Beefsteak. — Have your frying pan very hot, wipe the steak dry, place in it and cover tightly; turn frequently and keep covered. When 'lone, add to the gravy one tablespoonful hot coflee, a good size lump of butter; salt and pepper to taste. Pour over the steak and servo hot. 288 THE HOUSEIIOLB. X Veal Omelet. — A veal omelet is prepared by chopping a little cold veal and adding to it the beaten egg. Cold boiled ham may bo chopped and added in the same way; alHO veal and ham together, which ib very nice. Three or four tablespooufuls of meat arc enough. A little chopped parsley is sometimes added, but herbs are not now so much used in cooking as fonnerly, though they are an addition to the flavor. How to PlcWle Tongues. — A good-sized tongue requires to boil at least three hours. It is a good plan to soak it over night in cold water. To cook it, put it on in cold water and let it come slowly to the boil. Some cooks change the water when it is half done; if this coiarse is taken, be sui'e that the fresh water is boiling before the tongue is placed in it. Roast Partridge. — Lard them well with fat pork; tie the legs down to the rump, leaving the feet on; while cooking, baste them well with but- ter. They require twenty-five or thirty minutes to cook. To make a gravy, put the drippings into a saucepan with a piece of buiter about the size of an egg, and a little flour and hot water. Let it boil up once. To Dress Cold Fowl. — Take the remains of a cold fowl, remove the skin, then the bones, leaving the flesh in as large pieces as possible; dredge with flour, and fry a light brown in butter; toss it up in a good gravy well sea- soned and thickened with butter rolled in flour; servo hot with bits of toasted bread. Bread Sauce for Partridges. — Cut up an onion, and boil it in milk until it is quite soft; then strain the milk into a cup of stale breadcrumbs, and let it stand one hour. Then put it into a saucepan, with about two ounces of butter, a little pepper, salt, mace and the boiled onion. Boil it all up together, and serve it in a sauce-tureen. Stewed Liver. — Cut up into slices half a pound of calf's liver and the same quantity of fat bacon; put first, a layer of bacon at the bottom of a pie- dish, then one of liver; sprinkle with pepper and salt, add one medium- sized onion and one apple, both cut up; cover down and let it stew gently iu the oven for about one hour and a quarter. No water is required. How to Make Meat Tender. — Cut the steaks the day before into slices about two inches thick, rub them over with a small quantity of soda; wash off' next morning, cut into suitable thickness, and cook as you choose. The same process will answer for fowls, legs of mutton, etc. Try, all who love delicious, tender dishes of meat. A Nice Supper Disli.- Grate or mince lean ham very fine; mix with it the yelk of an egg and some cream; season with a very little nutmeg. Have ready some small slices of bread half an inch thick; toast them a delicate brown; then, while hot, spread the meat over it; break the yelk of an egg over the top and brown slightly in the oven, and send to table hot. Spiced Veal. — One pound of veal, chopped very fine; season with two well-beaten eggs, a tableepoonful of butter, teaspoonful of salt and sage each. Put it into a cake-pan, and bake about an hour. Slice when cold. Mint Sauce for Lainli. — Two full tablespoons of very finely-chopped young mint, one of pounded and sifted loaf-sugar, and six of the best vine- gar. Stir all these ingredients together until the sugar is dissolved. COOKING RECIPES. 289 Delicious Flavor to I.aMl>. — To give a delicious flavor to lamb which is to be eaten cold, put in the water in which it is boiled whole cloves and long sticks of cinnamon. To one leg of lamb allow one small handful of cloves, two or three sticks of cinnamon. If the lamb is to be roasted, boil the cloves and cinnamon in water, and baste the lamb with it. Fillet of Veal Boiled. — Bind it round with tape, put it in a floured cloth, and in cold water; boil very gently two hours and a half, or if sim- mered, which is, perhaps, the better way, four hours will be taken; it may be sent to table in bechamel or with oyster-sauce. Care should be taken to keep it as white as possible. Cold Tongue on Toast — Take cold smoked tongue or ham; mince or grate fine, mix it with the beaten yelks of eggs and cream or milk, with a dash of cayenne pepper; prepare thin, small, square pieces of buttered toast; place on a heated platter, putting a spoonful of the meat on each piece; cover with dish cover, and send to table hot; for breakfast or lunch. Veal .Sausages. — Take fat bacon and lean veal in equal quantities, with a handful of sage, a Uttle salt, pepper, and, if at hand, an anchovy. Let all be chopped and beaten well together, floured, rolled, and fried. Veal sau- sages are better suited for persons whose digestion is not very strong than those made of pork. Excellent Tea Disli. — A delicious di.sh for tea or lunch is made thus: On a veiy fine wire gridiron (or one made of wire net used for screens), place some shoes of salt pork, cut as thin as possible; on each slice lay a good sized oyster, or two small ones; broil and serve hot. This, with coffee, crisp toast, with chopped cabbage, makes an almost ideal lunch. A Good Breakfast DisH — A good dish for breakfast is made by chop- ping pieces of cold boiled or fried ham just as fine as it is possible to chop them; mix them with cold mashed potatoes, an egg or two, a little butter or cream, or both, form into balls, flour them, melt a little biitter in a frying pan, and brown the balls. Serve hot. Mutton Pie. — Take the mutton chops from the forequarter, season high- ly with pepper and salt and put into a baking dish with alternate layers of apples, pared and sliced, and a little sprinkling of chopped onion. Put a crust of not very rich pastry over the top, and bake for twenty or thirty min- utes in a hot oven. To Cook a Duck. — To cook a duck satisfactorily, boil it first itntil ten- der; this can be detei-mined by trying the wing, as that is always a tough part of a fowl. When tender, take it out, rinse it in clean water, stufl' and put in the oven for about three-quarters of an hour, basting it often. Pressed Cliicken. — Boil two chickens tender, take out the bones and chop the meat fine, add a small handful of bread crumbs, season to taste, wth butter, pepper, salt, and a little sage; pour in enoiigh of the liquor to make it moist; mold in any shape you choose, and, when cold, cut in slices. Scrambled Mutton — Three cups of cold boiled mutton chopped fine, three tablespoonfuls of hot water, one-fourth of a cup of butter; put on the stove, and when hot break in four eggs and stir constantly until thick. Sea- eon with pepper and salt. 290 THE HOITSEROLD. The Right "Way to CooU Steak — Broil steak without salting. Salt draws the juice in cooking. It is desirable to keep this in if possible. Cook over a hot fire, turning frequently, searing on both sides. Place on a platter. Salt and pepper to taste. Boiled Tongue. — If the tongue is not hard, soak it not more than three hours. Put it into a stewpau with plenty of cold water and a bunch of herbs; let it come to a boil, skim and simmer gently until tender, peel oft" the skin and garnish it with parsley and lemon. Frizzled Beef. — Chip the beef as thin as paper with a very sharp knife. Melt in a frying-pan butter the size of an egg, stir the beef about in it for two or three minutes, dust in a little flour, add half a teacup of rich cream, boil and serve in a covered dish. Roa.sted Tongue. — Soak for two hours; sprinkle salt over it, and drain in a colander; this should be done with fresh tongues before using; boil it slowly for two hours; take off the skin, roast, and baste with butter. Sei-ve mth brown gravy and currant jelly sauce. Spiced Beef. — Five pounds of the shank, boiled five hours, with celery seed. Drain off the gelatine, and then chop the meat veiy fine, add pepper and salt to taste, and put it into a cloth on a platter. Cover with the cloth and press it. Broiled Ham. — Cut into thin slices, pour boiling water over them, let- ting it remain ten minutes. Wipe the ham a httle and place it on the grid- iron; this takes out the salt. Ham that has been boiled broils nicer than the uncooked meat. Liiver Pried as Cntlets. — One egg to one pound of Uver; have the liver cut thin; scald; wipe dry with a towel; beat up the egg; dip the liver in the egg, then into powdered cracker; fry brown. This is very nice; serve with tomatoes, if preferred. A Good Way to CooU Liver. — A good way to cook liver is to fry it ia butter, with an onion cut in small pieces scattered over it. Cook slowly; when done, add a lump of butter and a little flour; stir well, and turn over the liver. Serve with Saratoga potatoes. Fish. Oyster Onnelet. — Twelve oysters, if large, double the number if small; six eggs, one cup of milk, one tablespoonful of butter, chopped parsley, salt and pepper; chop the oysters very fine; beat the yelks and whites of the eggs separately, as for nice cake, the whites until they stand in a heap. Put three tablespoonfuls of biitter in a frying-pan, and heat while you are mix- ing the omelet. Stir the milk in a deep dish, with the yelks and seasoning. Next add the chopped oysters, heating them well as you add gradually. When thoroughly mixed pour in melted butter, and finally whip in the whites as lightly as possible. Have the butter in the pan very hot, and pour in the mixture. Do not stir it, but when it begins to stiffen, slip a broad- bladed knife around the sides and cautiously under the omelet, that the butter may reach every part. As soon as the center is fairly set, and the bottom brown, turn out into a hot dish. Lay the dish bottom upward over COOKING RECIPES. 291 the frying-pan, which must bo turned upside down dextei-ously. This brings the brown side of the omelet uppermost. This is a delicious break- fast or supper omelet. Fisli CUo-\vder. — Take a cod or haddock weighing about four pounds; skin it, cut in small pieces and wash in cold water; take one-fourth pound (scant) of salt pork, cut in pieces and fry brown in the kettle in which the chowder is to bo made; pare and slice five medium-sized potatoes and one small onion; place a layer of potato and onion in the kettle; then a layer of fish, dredge in salt, pepper and flour; put in alternate layers until all is used; add hot water enough to cover, and boil gently thirty minutes; add one pint of milk, six crackers split and dipped in cold water; then cook ten minutes longer. Spiced Oysters. — For 200 oysters, take one pint vinegar, one grated nut- meg, eight blades of whole mace, three dozen whole cloves, one teaspoonful salt, two teaspoonfuls whole allsijice, and as much red pepi^er as will lie on the point of a knife; put the oysters, with their liquor, into a large earthen vessel; add vinegar and all other ingredients; stir well together and set over a alow fire; keep covered; stir them several times to the bottom; as soon as they are well scalded they are done; put into jars; if a larger quan- tity is made it can be kept for a long time; of course these are eaten cold. Fried Oysters. — Use for frying the largest and best oysters you can get. Take them from the liquor, lay them in rows upon a clean cloth and press another lightly upon them to absorb the moisture; have ready some beaten eggs and some cracker dust. Heat enough butter in the pan to cover the oysters. Dip each one in the egg first, theu into the cracker, rolling it over, that it may be completely covered. Drop them into the frying-pan and fry quickly to a light brown. Do not let them remain in the pan an instant after they are done. Serve dry, on a hot dish. Broiled Oysters. — Choose large, fat oysters; wipe them very dry; sprinkle them with salt and pepper, and broil upon one of the gridirons with close bars, sold for the purpose; you can dredge the oysters with tiour if you wish to have them brown, and many persons fancy the juices are bet- ter preserved in that way; butter the gridiron well, and let your fire be hot and clear; broil quickly and dish hot, putting a bit of butter upon each oyster as it is taken fi-om the gridiron. Codfisli -»vitli Cream. — Pick out carefully in flakes all the flesh from the remnants of some boiled codfish; melt a piece of butter in a saucepan, and add to it a large pinch of flour and a gill of milk or cream, with pepper, salt, and grated nutmeg to taste, also the least bit of cayenne; stir well; put in the fish, and gently shake it in this sauce until quite warm. If the com- position be too dry, add a littlo milk or cream; then add, oft' the fire, the yelks of two eggs, beaten up with a little milk, and servo. Broiled Salmon. — The middle slice of salmon is the best. Sew up neatly in a mosquito-net bag, and boil a quarter of an hour to the pound in hot, salted water. When done, unwrap with cai"e, and lay upon a hot dish, taking care not to break it. Have ready a large cup of drawn butter, veiy rich, in which has been stirred a tableapoonful of minced parsley and the juice of a lemon. Pour half upon the salmon, and servo the rest in a boat. Garnish with parsley and sliced eggs. 292 THE HOUSEHOLD. Oyster Patty. — Scald the oysters in their own liquor, beard them, drain them perfectly dry, and flour and fry them lightly in butter. Take each oyster separately -Nvith a fork and put them into a stewpan, strain the liquor in which you have scalded the oysters into the butter and flour that remains in the frying pan, stir well together, and season with a little pepper, salt and a little juice of lemon; pour the whole on the oysters, and let them stew. When nearly done thicken with a small quantity of butter rolled in flour, and fill your patties. Salmon Croquettes. — Mix the fish thoroughly with an equal quantity of boiled rice, adding a little melted butter, and salt and pepper to taste. Mold into small sausage-shaped forms, and roll them first in finely-pow- dered crackers, then in beaten egg yelk, and again in the cracker crumbs. Fry in hot fat like doughnuts. A palatable, nutritious food, easily prepared, and as the egg prevents the entrance of much fat they are readily digestible. Clams witli Cream. — Chop fifty small clams, not too fine, and season with pepper and salt. Put into a stewpan butter the size of an egg, and when it bubbles sprinkle in a teaspoonful of flour, which cook a few minutes; stir gradually into it the clam liquor, then the clams, which stew about two or three minutes; then add a cup of boiling cream, and serve immediately. Baked Bluefish. — Chop up an onion and fry it in butter; then add half a pound of soft, fine bread crumbs, a tablespoonful of fresh butter, a little chopped parsley, pepper, salt, and a few drops of lemon. After cooking a very little, take it up and add a well-beaten egg. Stuff your bluefish with this. Serve the fish with a drawn butter sauce having a little finely-chopped l)ickled asparagus in it. Deviled Crabs. — Boil your hard crabs, aud take out the moat and mince it. Grate two ounces of bread crumbs and mix with them two hard-boiled eggs chopped fine, some cayenne, salt, and lemon juice. Add all this to six ounces of the crab meat, make moist and rich with cream, clean the shells, fill them with the mixture, and put some bread crumbs over the top, and bronn in a hot oven. Crab Sauce. — Mix about two or three ounces of butter with a little floiir, and melt it in about a pint of milk. Stir it over the fire for a few minutes. Pick the meat from a fine boiled crab, chop it into small pieces, season it with a little cayenne, powdered mace and salt, and stir it into the melted butter and milk. Then warm it gradually and simmer for a minute or two, but do not let it boil. Panned Clams. — Allow one ps.tty-pan with nearly upright sides to each person. Cut stale breld in rounds to fit the bottom of each pan, butter it, and wet -with clam liquor. Fill each pan nearly full of clams, pepper and salt them, and lay a bit of butter on each. Put them in a dnpping-pan, cover with another, and bake till the edges curl — about ten minutes. Serve in the pans. Codfish Balls.—Boil and pick the codfish. Boil potatoes, mash well, mix with them a piece of butter, season with pepper and salt, and add cream snough to moisten them. Mix codfish and potatoes together in like propor- tion, and add three or four chopped hard-boiled eggs, and a little finely- minced onion. Make into cakes and fry in boiling lard. COOKIN& RECIPES. 293 Oyster Toast. — Toast white bread nicely, then place oysters with their juice on the fire; as soon as boiling remove, take out the oysters, set the juice back again and stir in a large tablespoonful of butter rubbed with a little flour, let this boil five minutes, remove, then add the yelks of two eggs, pepper, salt, a little chopped parsley, and the oysters, which have been poitnded fine; use the mixtiire to spread over toast; set in the oven to heat thoroughly. HoTv to Cools Clams. — Take one dozen clams — open, saving juice and meat — chop the meat fine. Take six eggs, mixing the whites and the yelks; then mix the clams (juice and meat) with the eggs, and cook over a slow fire, stirring constantly till the mixture has the consistency of stiff cream. Take off and serve — a dish fit for a king. Fisli Croquettes. — Take one pint of any cold white fish, flake it veiy fine, remove all bones and pieces of skin; season it highly with salt, pepper, cayenne and onion juice. Let the taste decide, but remember that fish needs more than meat. Moisten the fi.9h with one cup thick cream sauce. Clam Cakes. — Make a batter of one egg, beaten light, with one cup of milk, two and one-half cups of flour, and a little salt; beat well together and then stir in lightly three dozen clams that have been washed and drained, and drop in hot fat with a tablespoonful of batter, and one or two clams in each spoonful, fry brown and drain in a colander. Serve immediately. Cornisli Fisli Pie. — In Cornwall almost evei-y kind of fish is put into a pie, well floured over, with a little chopped parsley and onions, a little pep- per and salt, some broth or water, and a nice shoi-t crust over it; there is a hole left in the crust at the top, and through this hole some cream is poured in juat before serving. Pickled Oysters. — Open the oysters, and take each one away from its liquor; boil some vinegar, equal quantities, with the liquor of the oysters; put in some whole mace; drop the oysters into the boiling liquor, and lift them speedily from the fire; then bottle them. This method keeps the oys- ters from shriveling. To Broil Smoked Halibut—Select halibut of a dark-brown color, the thinnest and hardest; soak twenty-four hours in cold water, with the flesh side down; only cover vnth water; broil over hot coals; serve with a little butter, or poach eggs and dish them with the halibut as if for ham. Clam Soup. — Twenty-five clams, opened raw and chopped fine; add three quarts of water; boil them one-half hour, then add a pint of milk, one onion chopped fine, thicken Avith butter and flour, beat three eggs in the tureen, and pour yoiir broth over them boiling hot. . Broiled Mackerol. — Split down the back' and clean; be careful to scrape all the thin black skin from the inside. Wipe dry and lay on a greased grid- iron; broil on one side brown, and then on the other side. The side that has the skin on should be turned to the fire last. Oyster Macaroni—Boil macaroni in a cloth, to keep it straight. Put a layer in a dish seasoned with butter, salt, and pepper, then a layer of oys- ters, alternate, until the dish is full. Mix some grated bread with a beaten egg. Spread over the top and bake. 294 THE HOUSEHOLD. Oyster Loaf. — Cut a round piece five inches across from the top of a nicely-baked round loaf of bread; remove the crumbs, leaving the crust half an inch thick; make a rich oyster stew and put it in the loaf in layers, sprinkled with bread crumbs; place the cover over the top, cover the loaf with the beaten yelk of an egg and put it in the oven to glaze; serve very hot. Sauce Piquaute for Pisli. — Make a brown saiice by frying a chopped onion in a little butter, adding a large teaspoouful of flour and a tumbler of stock. Simmer a little, strain, and put in a teaspoonful of vinegar, one of chopjjed cucumber pickle, and one of capers. Fisli Sauce. Take half a pint of milk and cream together, two eggs, well beaten, salt, a little pepper, and the juice of half a lemon; put it over the fire, and stir it constantly until it begins to thicken. Vegetables. Boiling Potatoes. — To boil a potato well requires more attention than is usually given. They should be well washed and left standing in cold water an hour or two, to remove the black liquor with which they are im- pregnated, and a brackish taste they would otherwise have. They should not be pared before boiling; they lose much of the starch by so doing, and are made insipid. Put them into a kettle of clear cold water, with a little salt, cover closely, and boil rapidly, using no more water than will just cover them, as they produce a considerable qiiautity of fluid themselves while boiling, and too much water ^vill make them heavy. As soon as jusL done instantly pour oft" the water, set them back on the range, and leave the cover off the saucepan till the steam has evaporated. They will then, if a good kind, be dry and mealy. This is an Irish receipt, and a good one. Snap Beang and Potatoes. — Snap some beans and parboil them; then pour into a colander and let the water drain off. Take several potatoes, peel, and cut into small pieces; put into a saucepan a spoonful of lard and an onion cut up small, the potatoes, and last, the snap beans. If you have any beef broth, pour just enough into the skillet to cover the beans; if not, use boiling water; season with salt and pepper; let it boil till the potatoes are done. Should there be any broth, pour it off; add a piece of butter the size of a walnut and dredge a little flour over the beans; mis thoroughly by stirring, and let it simmer a few miniites longer, then remove from the fire. To C^ook Asjjaragus — Scrape the stalks till they are clean; throw them into a pan of cold water, tie them up in bundles of about a quarter of a hundred each; cut off the stalks at the bottom all of a length, leaving enough to serve as a handle for the gi-cen part; put them into a stew pan of boiling water, with a handful of salt in it. Let it boil and skim it. When they are tender at the stalk, which will be in from twenty to thirty minutes, they are done enough. AVatch the exact time of then- becoming tender; take them up that instant. While the asparagus is boiling, toast a slice of bread about half an inch thick: brown it delicately on both sides; dip it lightly in the liquor the asparagus was boiled in, and lay it in the middle of a dish; melt some butter, but do not put it over them. Serve with butter. Asparagus with S^ggs. — This dainty luncheon-dish is made of what- ever asparagus may be left over from the previous day. Supposing there COOKING RECIPES. 295 are a dozen heads of asparagus, cut the green part into pieces the size of peas, melt an ounce of butter in a saucepan, add a tablespoonful of cream or milk, a tablespoonful of gravy, a Uttle pepper and salt, and three well- beaten eggs. Throw in the asparagus, stir the eggs quickly over the fire for half a minute till they are set, and pour the mixture neatly upon slices of bread which have been dipped in boiling water and buttered. Stewed Cucumbers. —Cut the cucumbers fully half an inch thick right through; put them in a saucepan, just covering them with hot water, and let them boD slowly for a quarter of an hour, or until tender, but not so as to break them, then drain them; you want now a pint of good cream, and put your cream with a teaspoonful of butter, in a saucepan, and when it is warm pop in the cucumbers, season with a little salt and white pepper, cook five minutes, shaking the saucepan all the time, and serve hot. It is just as deUcate as asparagus, and a very nice dish, indeed. Stuffed Turnips. — Peel and boil in boiling water well salted a quart of medium-sized turnips; as soon as they are tender drain them, cut a slice from the top of each, scoop out half the middle with a teaspoon, mash the part taken out, with a little salt, pepper, butter and the yelk of an egg, and fill the turnips with the mixture; put on each one the slice cut from the top, brush them over with the beaten white of an egg, set them in a baking dish and brown them in a hot oven. Serve them hot. Macaroni. — People who like macaroni will find pleasure in eating it when prepared in this way: Boil it until it is tender, taking care to preserve the shape so far as possible. When it is done drain off' all the water and pour over it a little sweet milk, with a lump of butter and plenty of pepper and salt. While the macaroni is boiling, cook in a separate saucepan enough tomatoes to make a pint when stewed. When the macaroni is ready for the table, pour the tomatoes over it; serve hot. Stuffed Egg Plant. — Cut them in half lengthwise, and parboil them in salted water; scoop out most of the inside and pound this to a paste in the mortar with a little fat bacon and some mushrooms previously chopped up, a little onion also chopped, pepper and salt to taste, and a Uttle crumb of bread soaked in stock. Fill each half with this mixture, lay them in a well buttered tin and bake for about a quarter of an hour. Stuffed Squash. — Pare a small squash and cut off a slice from the top; extract the seeds and lay one hour in salt water; then fill with a good stuffing of crumbs, chopped salt pork, parsley, etc., wet with gravy; put on the top slice; set the squash in a pudding dish; put in a few spoonfuls of melted butter and twice as much hot water in the bottom; cover the dish very closely and set in the oven two hours, or until tender; lay within a deep dish and pour the gravy over it. Saratoga Potatoes. — Cut raw potatoes in sUces as thin as wafers with a thin sharp knife; lay them in cold water over night, a bit of alum will make them more crisp; next morning rinse in cold water and dry with a towel. Have ready a kettle of lard, hotter than for fried cakes, and drop in the potatoes a few at .a time. They will brown quickly, skim out in a colander and sprinkle with salt, or lay them on a double brown paper in the oven till dry. If any are left over from the meal, they can be warmed in the oven, and •Nvill be just as good for another time. 296 THE hOTTSEHOLD. Baked Onions. — Peel ten large onions without breaking the layers; boil them for half an hour in well-salted boiling water, and drain them; when cool enough to handle cut a hall-inch slice from the top of each, and take out a teaspoonful of the middle part; chop these pieces tine, mix them with half a cup of stale bread crumbs, a saltspoonfiil of salt, quarter of that quantity of pepper and the yelk of a raw egg; use this force meat to stuff the onions, lay them on a baking dish, brush them with the white of the egg beaten a little, dust them with fine bread crumbs and bake them slowly for forty minutes. Serve them hot. Potato Dumplings — Peel some potatoes and grate them into a basin of water; let the pulp remain in the water for a couple of hours, drain it off, and mix wth it half its weight of flour; season with pepper, salt and chopped onions. If not moist enough add a httle water. Roll into dumplings the size of a large apple, sprinkle them well with flour, and throw them into boiling water. When you observe them rising to the toi) of the saucepan, they will be boiled enough. An Appetizing Entree—Take cold boiled cabbage, chop it fine; for a medium-sized pudding dish full add two well-beaten eggs, a tablespoonful of butter, three tablespoonfuls of cream, with pepper and salt ad lihUum. Butter the pudding dish, put the cabbage in and bake unul brown. This may be eaten cold, but it is much better if served hot. It is especially good with roast pork or pork chops. Fried Cauliflower — Pick out all the green leaves from a cauliflower and cut off the stalk close. Put it, head downward, into a saucepan full of boiling, salted water. Do not over boil it. Drain it on a sieve, pick it out into small sprigs, and place them in a deep dish with plenty of vinegar, pepper and salt. When they have laid about an Lour iu this, drain them, dip them in batter, and fry iu hot lard to a golden color. Irish Stew. — This is the stew that is mostly made in Ireland. Put some slices of boiled corned beef (never fresh) into a stewpan with a good deal of water, or thin stock, two large onions sliced, and some cold boiled potatoes (whole) and a little pepper. Stew gently until the potatoes are quite soft and have taken up nearly all the gravy; some will break; but they should be as whole as possible. Turn all out on a flat dish and serve. To Cook Spinach. — Boil spinach in the ordinary way; drain it and get off all the water; chop it just as finely as possible — it cannot be divided too much. Take a small onion, slice it very fine and brown it in butter; chcp this fine and mix it with the spinach; have a teacup of milk, a tablespoonful of flour, a dessertspoonful of butter, some salt and popper; stir in the spinach and cook about ten minutes. Tomato Pie. — Peel and slice enough green tomatoes to fill one pie; to this allow four tablespoonfuls of vinegar, one of butter, and three and a half of sugar, flavor with nutmeg, bake with two crusts very slowly. If you choose you may stew the tomatoes first, and then there is no danger of the pie being too juicy. Excellent "Way to Cook Tomatoes.—A delicious dis^ (especially suit- able with cutlets, steaks, broiled ham, or anything served without gravy) may be made by cutting tomatoes into thin slices, and grilling them over a coo KINO RECIPES. 297 sharp fire for ten minutes, or thereabouts; they should then be coated with a mixture of bread crumbs, fresh bu' ter, mustard, salt, pepper and sugar (proportions according to taste), and returned to the gridiron, or put into a hot oven to crisp. Baked Beets— One of the most satisfactory ways to cook beets is to bake them; when boiled, even if their jackets are left on, a great deal of the best part of the beet is dissolved and so lost. It will, of course, take a little longer to bake than to boil them, but this is no objection; allow from flfieen to twenty minutes more for baking; slice them and eat as you would if they were boiled. One nice way to serve them is to chop them fine. After they are cooked season with pepper, salt and butter. liille Cabbage. ^Wash a large cabbage, out it in inch pieces, rejecting the stalk, and drain it in a colander. Meantime peel and chop an onion, fry it for one minute in two tablespoonfuls of drippings of butter, add the cab- bage, with a teaspoonful of salt, and a quarter of a saltspoonful each of pep- per and grated nutmeg, cover it, and simmer it for twenty minutes, stirring it frequently to prevent burning. Serve it hot. Vegetable Hagli — Chop, not very fine, the vegetables left from a boiled dinner, and season them with salt and pepper. To each quart of the chopped vegetables add half a cup of stock and one tablespoonful of butter. Heat slowly in the frying-pan. Turn into a hot dish when done, and serve immediately. If vinegar is hked, two or moi-e tablespoonfuls of it can be stirred into the hash while it is heating. Baked Cabbage. — Boil a firm head for fifteen minutes, then change the water for more boiling water; boil till tender, drain and set aside to cool. Mince some boiled ham; mix with bread crumbs; add pepper, one table- spoonful of butter, and two eggs well beaten, and three tablespoonfuls of milk; chop cabbage very fine; mix all together, and bake in a pudding-dish till brown. Serve hot. Succotash. — Cut the corn from eight or ten cobs; mix this with one-third the quantity of Lima beans, and cook one hour in just enough water to cover them. Drain off most of the water; add a cup of milk, with a pinch of soda stirred in. When this boils, stir in a great spoonful of butter rolled in flour, season with pepper and salt, and simmer ten minutes longer. Potatoes a la Ducbesse. — Take some cold, boiled potatoes, cut them into rounds, cutting with a cake cutter wet with cold water. Grease the bottom of a baking-pan and set the rounds in it in rows, but not touching one another, and bake quickly, first bi'ushing them all over — except, of course, on the bottom — with beaten egg. When they commence to brown, lay a napkin, folded, upon a hot dish and range them regularly upon it. macaroni Cheese. — Boil two 'ounces of macaroni, then drain it well. Put into a saucepan one ounce of butter; mix it well with one tablespoonful of flour; moisten with four tablespoonfuls of veal stock and a gill of cream; add two ounces of grated cheese, some mustard, salt and cayenne to taste, put in the macaroni and serve as soon as it is well mixed with the sauce and quite hot. Stewed Mashrooms. — Slice the mushrooms into halves. Stew ten min- utes in a little butter seasoned with pepper and salt and a very little water. 298 THE HOUSEHOLD. Drain, put the mushrooms into a pie dish; break enough eggs to cover them over the top; pepper, salt and scatter bits of butter over them; atew with bread crumbs and bake until the eggs arc set. Serve in the dish. Ste^ved Carrots. —Boil the carrots until they are half done, then scrape and cut iuto thick slices; put them into a stewpau with as much milk as will hardly cover them; a very little salt and pepper, and a small quantity of chopped parsley; simmer them until they are perfectly tender, but not broken. When nearly done add a piece of butter rolled in flour. Serve hot. Potato Croquettes. — Take six boiled potatoes, pass them through a sieve; add to them three tablespoonfuls of ham, grated or minced finely, a little grated nutmeg, pepper and salt to taste, and some chopped parsley; work into this mixture the yelks of three or four eggs, then fashion it into the shape of balls, roll them in bread crumbs, and fry in hot lard, and serve with fried parsley. Imitation Duek. — Boil two onions until nearly soft; then chop them flue, and nux with pieces of stale bread crusts that have been soaked awhile in cold water or milk. Add a little powdered sage, some pepper and some salt. Grease a baking tin, put the mixture in, and strew over the top some grated bread and bits of butter. Bake it for half an hour and serve for breakfast, or a side dish at dinner. Potatoes Fried Whole. — When nearly boiled enough, put small po- tatoes into a stewpan with butter, or beef dripping; shake them about to prevent biirning, till they are brown and crisp; drain them from the fat. It will be an improvement if they are floured and dipped in the yelk of an egg, and then rolled in finely-sifted bread crumbs. This is the ordinary French method. Scalloped Squash. — Boil and mash the squash in the customary way aud let it cool; beat the yelks of two eggs, and when the squash is nearly cold, whip these into it, with three tablespoonfuls of milk, one of butter I'olled in flour and melted into the milk; pepper and salt to taste; pour into a buttered bake-dish, cover with fine crumbs, aud bake to a light brown in a quick oven. To be eaten hot. Potato Pie. — Peel and grate one large white potato into a dish, add the juice aud rind of one lemon, the beaten white of one egg, one teacup of white sugar, one cup cold water; pour this into a nice under crust and bake; when doue have ready the beaten whites of three eggs, half cup powdered sugar, flavor with lemon, spread on the pie and return to the oven to harden. A Delicious Dish. — Take a large fresh cabbage and cut out the heart. Fill the place with stufling, or veal chopped very fine, and highly seasoned, rolled into balls with yelk of egg. Then tie the cabbage firmly together and boil in a kettle for two hours. It makes a very delicious dish, aud it is often useful for using small pieces of meat. Haricot Beans. — Soak half a pint of the small white beans over night in just enough cold water to cover them; the next day boil two hours, strain and put in a pie-dish with one-half ounce of butter, a teaapoonful of finely- chopped parsley, previously fried; cover with slices of raw bacon, and bake a quarter of an hour. COOKIKO ItECIPES 299 Potatoes Fried -witli Butter. — Nicely wash and pare some floury po- tatoes; cut each into any form you fancy, such as a large lozenge, etc.; then thinly slice them, so that the pieces may be of a uniform shape; dip them into either a sweet or savory batter, fry them in plenty of butter, and serve them quite hot, with either salt or pounded loaf-sugar strewn upon them. Scalloped Tomatoes. — Pare and slice; scatter fine ci-umbs in the bot- tom of a bake-dish; cover with slices of tomatoes, seasoned with sugar, pep- per, salt and butter; cover with crumbs and then with tomatoes; till the dish in this order, covering all with crumbs, with bits of butter sprinkled upon them. Bake, covered, half an hour, and brown. Celery Sauce. — Pick and wash two heads of celery, cut them into pieces an inch long, and stew them in a pint of water and a teaspoonful of salt until the celery is tender. Rub a large tablespoonful of butter and a spoonful of flour well together; stir this into a pint of cream, put in the celery, and let it boil up once. Serve hot with boiled poultry. Fried Potatoes. — The French method of cooking potatoes affoi'ds a most agreeable dish. The potatoes are peeled, wiped, and cut into thin slices, and thrown into a fi-ying-pan containing an abundance of hot lard. As soon as they become brown and crispy, they are thrown in a colander to drain them; then sprinkle with salt, and serve hot. Onions and Tomatoes. — A side dish, which will be new to many cooks, is made by slicing very thin some onions and green tomatoes, in about equal proportions, and frying them together just as you fry onions alone. Salt them well, and, if there is any danger of their being greasy, drain before serving. Sauce Robert. — Put two medium-sized onions, chopped very fine, with a large lump of butter, in a stew-pan; let them brown well, constantly stir- ring; add a teaspoonful of flour mixed with half a pint of good stock; salt and pepper; cook about five minutes; add a teaspoonful of mixed mustard and one of vinegar. Tomato and Onion Omelet. — Take equal parts of sliced onions and tomatoes, peeled and freed from pips, chop them both coarsely. Fry the onions in butter. When cooked, without being colored, add the tomatoes, with pepper and salt, and stir the mixture on the fire. Make a plain omelet in the usual way, and insert this in the fold on dishing it. Scalloped Onions. — Boil, till tender, six largo onions. Take them up, drain and separate them; put a layer of bread or biscuit-cnimbs in a pud- ding-dish, then a layer of onions alternatelj', until the dish is full. Season with pepper and salt, add a little butter, moisten with milk, and bi'owu half an hour in the oven. Baked Caulitlo^ver — Put cauliflower to soak in salted water for an hour or more; look over carefully; remove the hard stalks and leaves; scald for five minutes; cut into Jpieces and jDut into a pie-dish; add a little milk, and season with pepper, salt and butter; cover the whole with dry grated cheese and bake. Green Corn-Calces.— Cut the corn from the cob and stir it into a graham batter made with sweet mifk; fry, and serve hot with melted IXitter. 300 THE HOUSEHOLD. .Scalloped Potatoes. — Pare the potatoes, cover the Lottoni of a baking- dish with bread crumbs, theu add a layer of sliced potatoes, then bits of butter, salt and pepper, fill the dish with the alternate layers, wet the whole with milk, and bake the whole for an hour and a half. Lima Beans witli Cream—Put a pint of the shelled beans into just enough boiling salted water to cover them, and boil them tender; then drain off the water; add a cup of boiling milk (or better, cream), a little piece of butter, pepper and salt. Let the beans simmer a minute in the milk before serving. Corn witli Tomatoes — Cut the corn from the cob and put it with an equal quantity of tomatoes that have been sliced and peeled; stew these together for half an hour; then season to taste with salt and pepper and a little sugar; stir in a liberal piece of butter and simmer a few minutes longer. Browned Potatoes. — Steam or boil small-sized potatoes, peel and place them in a stewpan with some melted butter, shake occasionally, and when all are well browned serve upon thin slices of toast which have been dipped in Chili sauce that has been thinned with a little weak vinegar. Tomato Sauce— Pare, slice and stew the tomatoes for twenty minutes. Strain and rub through a colander, leaving the hard and tough parts behind. Put into a sauce-pan with a little minced onion, parsley, pepper, salt and sugar. Bring to a boil; stir in a good spoonful of butter rolled in flour. Boil up and serve. Baked Tomatoes for Breakfast. — Take a quart of cold stewed toma- toes, beat into it two eggs, two tablespoonfuls of bread crumbs, a tablespoou- tul of chopped parsley, a little more salt and pepper, and bake for twenty minutes in a quick oven. Potato Sno-»v — Take large white potatoes and boil them in their skins until tender, drain and dry them near the tire, and peel; put a hot dish before the fire and rub the potatoes through a coarse sieve into it; do not touch afterwards or the flakes will fall; serve immediately. Potato Puffs. — Take any outside slices of cold meat, chop and season with pepper, salt and cut pickles. Mash potatoes, making them into paste with an egg; roll cut with a dust of flour; cut round with a saucer. Put the seasoned meat on one-half and fold like a puft". Fry a light brown. Potato Fritters. — Grate six cold boiled potatoes, add to them one pint of cream or new milk, and flour enough to make as stiff a baiter as for other fritters, the yelk of three eggs, theu the beaten whites, salt, and fry in sweet butter. Fried Egg Plant. — Peel and parboil five minutes, cut slices crosswise, season with pepper and salt, roll the slices in the beaten egg, then in fine bread crumbs (or they may be dipped in batter); fry a light brown in hot lard. Horseradish Sauce. — Grate the horseradish, boil an egg hard, pound the yelk, and add to the above a little raw cream, mustard and vinegar added the last thing. It must all be mixed cold and then heated. C OK IN G RECIP E S . 301 Potato Ball 4. — Manh boiled potatoes; add butter, size of an egg, two spooufula of milk, a little salt; stir it well; roll with your hands into balls; roll them in egg and crumbs; fry them in hot fat, or brown in the oven. To Prepare Potatoes for Breakfast. — A nice way to prepare potatoes for breakfast is to cut cold boiled ones in square pieces, and dip them in beaten egg, and put them on a buttered pie-plate in the oven; when they are hot and brown send them to the table. Green Com Padding. — Take twelve ears of sweet com, grated, one and one-half pints of milk, four well-beaten eggs, and one and-half teacu^js of sugar. Mix the above. Bake it for two hours in a buttered dish. Canliflower Omelet. — Take the white part of a boiled caiiliflowor; after it is cold chop it very small and mix with it a sufficient quantity of mcII- beaten egg to make a very thick batter. Tomato Toast. — Prepare the tomatoes as for sauce, and while they are cooking toast some slices of bread veiy brown, but not burned; butter them on both sides, and pour the tomato sauce over them. Tomatoes Fried. — Do not pare them, cut in slices; dip in pounded crackers sifted. Frv in butter. Salads and Relishes. Fine Cucumber Pickles. — Make a brine that will bear an egg, and drop in the cucumbers; cover them with grape leaves; weight them down, and let them stand ten or more days. Then take them out, drain well, and soak a day or two in plenty of clear water, frequently changed. Afterward put them in a kettle with grape and cabbage leaves and a lump of alum. Cover with weak vinegar, and let them stand until they turn green. Then take out, drain, and put into stone jars. For each three gallons of ijickles use one gallon of cider vinegar, and place into it one ounce each of mace and celery seed, two ounces of ginger, three ounces each of cloves and stick cin- namon, four ounces each of mustard seed (black and white mixed), choice black pepper and allspice, two tablespoonfuls of ground mustard, a handful of chopped horseradish, two pods of red pepper, four onions, and two pounds of sugar. Boil, and pour it hot over the pickles. More sugar can be added to suit the taste. Cover the jar very closely, and expose to the sun every day during hot weather. Egg Pickle. — Obtain a moderate-sized, wide-mouthed earthen jar, sufficient to hold one dozen eggs; let the latter be boiled quite hard; when fully done, place the same, after taking them up, into a pan of cold water. Remove the shells from them, and deposit them carefully in the jar. Have on the fire a qiiart (or more, if necessary) of good white wine vinegar, into which introduce one ounce of raw ginger, two or three blades of sweet mace, one ounce of allspice, half an ounce of whole black pepper and salt, and half an ounce of miistard seed, with four cloves of garlic. When it has simmered for half an hour, take it up and pour the contents into the jar, taking care to observe that the eggs are wholly covered. When quite cold, stopper it down for use. It will be ready after a month. When cut into quarters they serve as a garnish, and afford a nice roUsh to cold meat of any kind. 302 THE HOUSEHOLD. JUelicions Beet Salad. — Boil some Bermuda beets and set them on ice to get thoroughly cold. If they are large they will take many hours of boil- ing, and must be cooked neither too long nor too quickly — in either case they will be tough and hard. Cut them up in small, not too thick, slices, add some nicely-sliced cold potatoes, and a shi-ed or two of onion— juat enough to flavor the salad. Now dress it with plain French dressing of much oil, a little vinegar, salt and pepper. Arrange it in your salad dish, and having chopped finely a hard-boiled egg, arrange it over the salad, leaving a rim of almost an inch and a half iincovered. On this rim arrange sprigs of the small watercress. "With the deep red of the beets showing through the delicate green of the cress and the white and yellow of the egg, the salad looks beautifully, and it tastes so deliciously that it can never go begging. The Bermuda beets must be used, as they are the sweetest and richest. Some people add a little raw sliced apple — the fruit must be tart and soft. Celery Salad. — Take threcicbunches of celery, chop fine in a chopping bowl, sprinkle over it salt and a little pepper, then beat up one egg in a saucepan, add half teacup of vinegar, two tablespoonfuls of sugar, and four tablespoonfuls of salad dressing; stir it altogether and when it comes to a boil put in the celery and let it all boil for about five minutes, stirring con- stantly, then put it into a dish and have an egg boiled hard, which cut in slices and lay over the top; garnish around the edge with the tops of the celery. It is best when cold. I make chicken salad the same way, by taking as much chicken as celery, and a little more vinegar and salad. Potato Salad. — To one pint mashed potatoes (those left over from din- ner are just right), add the smoothly-rubbed yelks of three hard-boiled eggs, reserving the whites cut in transverse slices to garnish the dish; shce one cucumber pickle, one teaspoonful ground mustard, pepper and salt to taste; heat one teacup good vinegar, dissolving in it a lump of butter the size of a walnut; pour the vmegar over the pickle and seasoning, and add the mashed potatoes by degrees, rubbing and incorporating thoroughly. We think you will find it an agreeable addition to the table. diicken Salad. — Cut the meat from two chickens, or one if you want a small dish. Add an equal quantity of shred lettuce, after you have cut the chickens into narrow shreds two inches long. Mix in a bowl. Prepare a dressing thus: Beat the yelks of two eggs, salt lightly and beat in, a few drops at a time, four tablespoonfuls of oil; then, as gradually, three tea- spoonfuls of hot vinegar and half a teaspoonftxl of best celery essence. The mixture should be thick as cream; pour over the chicken, mix well and lightly, put into a salad dish and lay sections of two hard-boiled eggs on top, with a chain of sliced whites around the edge. Pickled Canltflo-iver. — Take half a dozen small heads of cauliflower and break them into sprigs; then boil them in enough salt and water to cover them; let them scald until a sprig from the broom can be run through them, or a fork will pierce them easily; then skim out into jars and make a pickle of one gallon of vinegar, half a pound of brown sugar, one ounce of unground pepper, half an ounce of cloves, one ounce of white mustard seed, one ounce of celery seed and one ounce of turmeric; boil all together for twenty minutes, and pour while very hot over the cauliflower; cover closely and it will keep all M'inter. COOKING- RECIPES. 303 Tomato Catsup. — Cut oue peck of ripe tomatoes in halves, boil them in a lined saucepan until the pulp is all dissolved, then strain them well through a hair sieve and set the liquor on to boil, adding one ounce of salt, one ounce of mace, one tablespoonful of black pepper, one teaspoonful of red popper, oue tablespoonful of ground cloves, five of ground mustard; let them all boil together for five or six hours, and stir them most of the time. Let the mixture stand eight or ten hours in a cool place, and add oue pint of vinegar, and then bottle it; seal the corks and keep iu a cool, dark i^lace. How to Dress Sala one small cup of sugar, and a piece of butter the size of an egg; beat the squash, butter and sugar thoroughly, add yeast aud beat again, add flour till quite stiff to stir with a spoon, let it stand over night, in the morning put in gem pans, or make into biscuit, let rise and bake; these should be eaten while hot. BroAvii Bread. — One pint cornmeal, pour over it one pint boilmg water, teacup molasses, shorts or graham Hour enough to make a stiff batter, two eggs, one teaspoouful of soda dissolved in a little boiling water; steam three hours by jDutting in a pan in a steamer over a pot of hot water; keep the water boiling all the time. Bread Clieesecakes. — Slice a penny loaf as thin as possible, pour on it a pint of boiling cream. When well soaked, beat it very tine, add eight eggs, half a pound of butter, a grated nutmeg, half a pound of currants, a spoon- ful of brandy or white wine. Beat them up well together, and bake in raised crusts or patty pans. Oraliain Gems. — Take cold water and make a batter of graham flour, a trifle thicker than for griddle cakes; salt a little if you like; bake in iron gem pans; the pans should be well heated before the batter is put in; bake in a very hot oven about twenty minutes. It will improve them to use part sweet milk, though they are good without. Oatmeal Crackers. — One teacup of oatmeal, aud water enough to make a dough; mix well and quick; if it will bear to be rolled out with the rolling pin, roll it; keep at it in the same way until it is one-quarter of an inch thick; do it very quickly or it will dry; make only dough enough at one time for one cracker; do not brown in baking. Rosettes. — Beat the yelks of three eggs very light until they thicken. Add one quart of milk and one tablespoonful of melted butter aud a tea- spoonful of salt. Mis three teaspoonfuls of baking powder with three cups of flour, and add to the milk and eggs. When all the lumps are beaten out add the whites of the eggs whipped to a stiff froth. Bake immediately in mufiSn pans in a quick oven. Frencli Rolls. — One pint milk, small ciip yeast, and flour enough to make a stiff batter; let them rise well, add one egg, one tablesi^oonful batter, aud flour enough to make it stifl' enough to roll; knead well and let it rise; then knead again, roll out, cut with round tin, put in a pan aud let them rise until very light; bake quickly and you will have delicious rolls. Mix in the morning and have them for tea. Tea Rolls. — One pint of milk, one quart of flour, two tablespooufuls of butter or butter and lard, one-half Vienna yeast cake. This makes the sponge. Let it raise, salt it, dissolve a very small quantity of soda, and put into the sponge. Mix it with a quart of flour aud let it raise again, then cut out and put in pans, to raise very light before putting into the oven. Scotcli Sliortljread. — Rub together into a stiff" short paste two pounds of flour, one pound of butter, aud six ounces of loaf sugar. Make it into square cakes about a half-inch thick, pinch them all along the edge at the top, dock over the whole surface of the cake, put them on tins so as to touch each other by their edges, and bake in a moderate oven. COOKING RECIPES. 309 French Toast. — Beat four eggs very light, aud stir with them one pint of milk; sUce some nice white bread, dip the pieces into the egg and milk, then lay them into a pan of hot butter aud fry brown. Sprinkle a little pow- dered sugar aud cinnamon or nutmeg on each piece, and serve hot. German Cream Biscuits. — Take four ounces of butter, six ounces of powdered loaf sugar, seveu ounces of flour, one tablespoonful of fresh cream, and one egg. Make the above into a dough, beating it well; then roll it out very thin, cutting it into square pieces two inches loug aud one broad. Bake in a quick oven, and when done they should be a light yellow brown. Oraliam Biscuits. — Three cups graham flour, one cup white do., three cups of milk, two tablespoonfuls of lard or butter, one heaping large spoon- ful of white sugar, one saltspoonful of salt, one teaspoonful of soda, two tea- spoonfuls cream of tartar; mix ^ud bake as ordinary soda biscuit. They are good cold. Oatmeal Gems.^Oue beaten egg, one cup of sweet milk, one cup of cold oatmeal pudding, beat all together, add half a teaspoonful of soda, and one and one-half cups of flour. Tliis quantity will fill the gem pan. Does not hurt some dyspeptics. Breakfast Rolls Without Socla. — Two eggs, oue aud a half cups of milk, a teaspoonful of salt, aud flour enough to make a thick batter. These must be baked in an iron gem pau, or they will be a complete failure. A quick oven is desirable. Dyspepsia Bread — One pint bowl of graham flour; dissolve one-half a teaspoonful of soda in two- thirds of a cup of yeast and add to the mixture one teacup of molasses; pour in sufiicient warm water to make it somewhat thinner thau flour bread. Oatmeal "Wafers. — Oatmeal wafers are relished by babies and older childi-en, too. Take a pint of oatmeal and a pint of water, with almost a teaspoonful of salt; mix and spread on buttered pans; make it just as thin as it is possible and yet have the bottom of the pan covered; bake slowly. Oatmeal Biscuit. — Take half a pound medium oatmeal, qxiarter of a pound flour, oue dessertspoonful of baking powder; mix with two ounces butter and half a gill of milk, made hot in a saucepan. KoU out quickly, and bake in very thin cakes. Light Rolls. — Boil four potatoes; mash them and piit into a pint of boiled milk, two tablespoonfuls of butter melted in the milk; flour enough to make a stiff batter; half a pint of yeast, one tcasi^oonful of salt. Graham Wafers.— Put a pinch of salt into one-half pound of graham flour; wet it with one-half pint of sweet cream; mix quickly and thoroughly; roll out as thin as possible, and cut in strips; prick and bake in a quick oven. Good Bro-»vn Bread. — Four cups of cornmeal, three of rye, one of molasses, one large teaspoonful of soda dissolved in warm water. Mix very thin, steam three hours, and bake half an hour. Try it. Railroad Yeast. — One tablespoonful of ginger, one teaspoonful of soda, one pint of boiling water; thicken with coarse flour or middlings; let it rise, and set in a cool place. Use a teaspoonful to a baking of salt-rising bread. 310 THE HOUSEHOLD. Rice Biscuits. — Take half a pound of sugar, half a pound of the best ground rice, half a pound of butter, and half a pound of flour, and mix the whole into a paste with eggs (two are sufficient for this quantity). Indian Meal Puffs. — In one quart of boiling milk stir eight tablespoon- fuls of meal, four spoonfuls of sugar; boil five minutes, stirring all the time; when cool add six beaten eggs; pour in buttered cups; bake half an hour. Steamed Bro-wu Bread. — One quart of Indian meal, one pint of rye flour; stir these together and add one quart of sweet milk, one cup of mo- lasses, two teaspoonfuls of soda, and a little salt. Steam for four hours. Tea Puffs. — Two and one-quarter cups flour, three cups milk, three eggs — whites and yelks beaten separately; three teaspoonfuls of melted butter, a little salt. Bake in muffin tins in a hot oven. Block Biscuits. — Half a pound of butter beaten up to a cream, half a pound of ground rice, three-quarters of a pound of flour, half a pound of loaf sugar, four eggs, and a httle sal volatile. Old Blaid Bread. — One quart of flour, two eggs, two tablespoonfuls of lard, one teaspoonful of salt, one teacup of yeast, one cup of milk; make up in a soft dough; reserve one-third of the flour for second rising. Rice Biscuits — Sift seven ounces of sugar; then add to it half a pound of the best ground rice, seven ounces of butter, seven ounces of flour, and mix it into a paste with eggs — two are sufficient for this quantity. Ginger Biscuits. — One pound of flour, half a pound of fresh butter, half a pound of powdered lump sugar, three-quarters of an ounce of ground ginger, two eggs. Bake five minutes in a quick oven. Indian Bread. — Two cups of Indian meal, one-half cup each of rye meal and wheat flour, two thirds of a cup of molasses, one pint of sour or buttermilk, one teaspoonful of saleratua or cooking-soda, one teaspoonful of salt. Egg Sandwiclies. — Boil fresh eggs five minutes; put them ia cold water, and when quite cold peel them; then, after taking a little white off each end of the eggs, cut the remainder in four slices. Lay them between bread and butter. Corn Gems. — Two cups commeal, two cups flour, two cups sweet milk, two eggs, three heaping teaspoonfuls of baking-powder, one-half cup butter, one-half cup sugar; bake in gem pans. Improving Bread. — If, when bread is taken from the oven, the loaves are turned topside down in the hot tins, and are allowed to stand a few min- utes the crust will be tender and will cut easily. Tea Rusks. — Three cups of flour, one cup of milk, three-fourths of a cup of sugar, two heaping tablespoonfuls of butter, melted, two eggs, three teaspoonfuls of baking-powder. Johnny Cake. — Take one pint of milk, one pint of meal, three table- spoonfuls of flour, two tablespoonfuls sugar, one tablespoonful butter and one egg. COOKING RECIPES. 3U Tea Biscnits. — Two pounds of flour, two ounces of butter, one cup of milk, one or two eggs, half a cup of sugar, one cup of yeast; set at night, bake in the morning. Cottage Brtsad. — One quart of flour, one large spoonful of sugar, one of butter, one egg, one teacup of yeast; put to rise, and bake ae biscuits. Jellies and Preserves. To Preserve Pine-Apples In Slices. — This can bo made with the West Indian pines. Choose ripe but sound ones, and cut them into sUces about one inoli thick, aud cut off the rind. Weigh the slices, and to every two pounds of fruit put one pound and three-quarters of white sifted sugar. Boil them together in a preserving pan for half an hour, and, if the shces are then tender, take them out carefully with a wooden spoon and place them upon a deep dish, boil the syrup for a short time longer, aud then pour it over the slices of pine-apple. This process must be repeated for three suc- cessive days, after which the preserves may be put into jars and covered. Russian Jelly for Invalids. — Instead of throwing away the jieel and core of apples from making a pie or pudding, put them in a jar and pour over them a pint of hot water; put the jar by the tire or in the oven until the water tastes strongly of the apples; strain the apple-water ott", and throw away the peel; then add to the apple-water one tablespoonful of largo sago; set it to the fire until the sago has absorbed all the water; then put it in a mold, and it will be ready for use; to be eaten either hot or cold. A little lemon juice added improves the flavor. The proportion of peel and water must be according to the quality of the apples, as some are so much sharper than others. No decay should be allowed to be in the peel. Rhubarb may be used in the same way. The jelly should taste strongly of fruit. This jelly is most refreshing in sickness. Grape Presei-ves. — Grapes partly ripe are delicious preserved in the followiug manner: Pick out those that are knotty or wormy; take the rest, a few at a time, in a coarse sieve, ^vorking them around with the hand until the seeds are loosened, when they will drop through, leaving the skins and pulp in the sieve. Drain the juice off the seeds, and to every pound of pulp, skin, and juice, allow half a pound of white sugar. Put all into the preserv- ing kettle and cook slowly about three-quarters of an hour. Put hot into jars, a brandy paper on top, and seal up. Frosted CuiTants. — Currants, white of egg, cold water, pulverized sugar. Pick fine, even bunches, and dip them one at a time into a mixture of frothed white of egg and a very little cold water; drain them until nearly dry, and dip them in pulverized sugar; repeat the dip in sugar once or twice, and lay them upon white paper to dry. They will make a beautiful garnish for jellies and charlottes, and look well heaped in a dish by them- selves or with other fruit. Plums and grapes are very nice frosted in the same manner. Currants mixed with a sufficient quantity or raspberries, put in a glass bowl and eaten with powdered sugar and plam cream, make a very nice dish. Chicken Jelly— Cut half of an uncooked chicken into small pieces and break the bones; pour over it a quart of cold water, and boil slowly until it 312 THE HOUSEHOLD. is reduced to less than half; season with salt and a little i^epper, if the latter is allowed the invalid. Strain through a colander, then through a jelly-bag into a mold or bowl. If the chicken is quite tender, boil carefully the breast of the other half of it; cut it into dice and put it into the mold or bowl, and cover it with the liquid. When the jelly has hardened, scrape off the layer of fat at the top of the mold before turning the jelly on a platter. Mock CUampagne .Telly— Take one quart of flue cider, mix this with one pound of loaf sugar or sugar to taste, the juice of four lemons, the grated rind of one, and some pieces of stick cinnamon, the whites of two eggs well beaten, one box of gelatine; soak the gelatine in a pint of cold water one hour, then add a pint of boihng water, the cider and other ingredients; stir the mixture until the gelatine is well dissolved; then put it on the fire and boil five minutes, strain through a jelly-bag into molds, set in a cool place or on ice to harden. Preserved Cherries. — To ten pounds of cherries allow five pounds of sugar; stone the fruit and put in a porcelain kettle in layers with the sugar; let it heat slowly until the juice is drawn out, or it may stand in a cool place, even over night; when stewed until tender, take the cherries from the syrup in a little strainer, and put them in cans placed on a board in boiling water. Boil the syrup until thick, then fill the cans and fasten the covers. Hints About Making Preserves. — It is not generally known that boil- ing fruit a long time, and skimming it well, without the sugar and without a cover to the preserving pan, is a very economical and excellent way — eco- nomical, because the bulk of the scum rises from the fruit, and not from the sugar, if the latter is good; and boiling it without a cover allows the evapo- ration of all the watery particles therefrom; the preserves keep firm and are well flavored. The proportions are, three-quarters of a pound of sugar to a pound of fruit. Jam i uado in this way, of currants, strawberries, raspber- ries, or gooseberries, is excellent. Lemon Syrup. — Take a dozen lemons; slice them thin; take ten pounds best white sugar; place a layer of sugar and one of lemons in an earthen jar; let them remain over night, then pour as much water over them as will make a syrup; place the jar in a kettle of water, and let them simmer but net boil; strain and bottle, and you will have a delicious flavoring when lemons are expensive. Lemonade can be made from it by using a few spoonfuls in water. The lemons can be placed on a plate after they are strained from the syrup and used in preserves for flavoring. Apple Jelly. — Make a syrup of a pound of sugar, putting in sufficient water to dissolve it; when boiled enough, lay it in the peeled and cored halves of some large sour apples, let them simmer till tender, then lay them carefully in a dish so that they will remain unbroken and in good shape; add another pound of sugar to the syrup, let it boil, skim it, and when partly cool pour it over the apples; when the dish gets cold each dainty piece of apple wUl be surrounded by a delicious jelly; eat them with cream. Orange Jelly— One-half box of gelatine soaked in one-half pint of cold water for half an hour; then add the juice of five oranges and two lemons and one and one-half cups white sugar; turn on one pint of boiUng water and set the pail containing the ingredients in a kettle of boiling water to heat, but do not let it quite boil; then strain into an earthen yessel to cool. COOKING RECIPES. 313 Before bringing to the table cut in squares and place in a glass sauce dish. This is much liked, and is very nice for the sick. Citron or Watermelon Preserves—Peel and cut eight pounds of rinds, soak twenty-four hours in salt water (three tablespoonfuls in water enough to cover), soak again in alum water, three tablespoonfuls of alum as above; then soak in fresh water twenty-four hours. Take one ounce white ginger root to one and a half gallons water, boil till tender enough to pierce with a straw; then to eight pounds of fruit make a syrup of seven pounds of sugar, boil tUl transparent and season with cinnamon; delicious. Orange Marmalade. — Take equal weights of sour oranges and sugar. Grate the yellow lind from a fourth of the oranges. Cut all the fruit in halves at what might be called the " equator." Pick out the pulp, and free it of seeds. Drain off as much jnice as you conveniently can, and put it on to boil with the sugar. Let it come to a boil. Skim and simmer for about fifteen minutes, then put in the pulp and grated rind, and boil fifteen minutes longer. Uncooked CuiTant Jelly. — To one pint of currant juice add one pound of granulated sugar, stir the juice very slowly into the sugar until the sugar is dissolved, then let it stand twenty-four hours and it will be stifl:' jelly. Tie it with paper dipped in brandy, and set it in the sun. Half a bushel of cur- rants makes twenty-two one-half pint glasses of jelly. Calf's Foot Jelly. — Take two calves' feet; add to them one gallon of water; boil them down to one quart; strain, and when cold remove all fat; then add the whites of six or eight eggs (well beaten), half a pound of sugar and the juices of four lemons; mix well. Boil for a minute, constantly stir- ring; then strain throiigh a flannel bag. Raspberry Jam. — To every quart of ripe raspberries, allow a pound of the best loaf sugar. Put sugar and berries into a pan, and let them stand two or three hours. Then boil them in a porcelain kettle, taking off the scum carefully. When no more scum rises, mash them and boil them to smooth marmalade. When cold, put them in glass tumblers. Peach Butter. — Pare ripe peaches and put them in a preserving kettle, with sufficient water to boil them soft; then sift through a colander, re- moving the stones. To each quart of peach put one and one-half pounds sugar, and boU very slowly one hour. Stir often, and do not let them burn. Put in stone or glass jars and keep in a cool place. Coffee Jelly. — Take one package of Cox's gelatine and dissolve it in a pint of cold water. Let it stand until well dissolved, and then put two tea- cups of strong hot coffee in a quart cup, fill the measure up with boiling water and stir gelatine, coffee and water together with a pint of sugar; after stirring let it settle, and pour the mixture through a strainer into molds. To be eaten cold with cream and sugar. White Currant Jam— Boil together quickly for seven minutes equal quantities of fine white currants carefully picked from their stalks, and of the best pounded white sugar passed through a sieve. Stir the preserve gently the whole time, and be careful to slum it thoroughly. Just before it is taken from the fire, throw in the strained juice of one good lemon to four pounds of the fruit. 314 THE HOUSEHOLD. Preserved Citron—Cut the citron in thin slices, pare off the outside rind and take out all the seeds, put in the preserve kettle with water enough to cover it; boil till it can be pierced easily with a fork, skim it out and strain the water, placing it back in the kettle; allow three-quarters of a pound of sugar to a pound of citron; dissolve the siigar in the liquor; cut three or four lemons into it and lot it boil till it is as thick as required, then put in the citron and boil; when it is transparent, then it is done; if boiled too long the citron will be tough. Plnm 3Iarnialade. — Rub the plums, after draining, through a sieve or colander to take out the stones and skins. Add half a pound of sugar for each pint of pulp, boil slowly, stirring well to prevent burning, until it is a smooth thick paste. Excellent marmalade is made by mixing the sifted pulp of wild plums and crab apples. Gooseberry Jelly. — Boil six pounds of green unripe gooseberries in six pints of water (they must be well boiled, but not burst too much); pour them into a basin and let them stand covered ^Nath a cloth twenty-four hours; then strain through a jelly bag, and to every pint of juice add one pound of sugar; boil for an hour, then skim it and boil for one-half hour longer. Spiced PeacUes. — Pare, stone, and halve the fruit; allow nine pounds of peaches to four of sugar, and nearly one pint of vinegar; boil the fruit in water until tender; thou pour off, and add the sugar and vinegar, with a few whole cloves, cinnamon and a little mace. Boil half an hour. Q,nince Marmalade. — Pare, core and quarter the quinces; boil them gently, uncovered, in water until they begin to soften; then strain them through a hair sieve, and beat iu a mortar or wooden bowl to a pulp; add to each pound of fruit three-quarters of a pound of sugar; boil it till it be- comes stiff, and pour into small molds. Blacltberry Jelly. — This preparation of the blackberry is more agree- able than the jam, as the seeds, though very wholesome, are not agreeable to all. It is made in the same way as currant jelly; but the fruit is so sweet that it only requires half the weight of the juice in sugar. Jellies WitUout Fruit. — To one pint of water put one-fourth of an ounce of alum; boil a minute or two; then add foiir pounds of white sugar; continue the boiling a little; strain while hot; and, when cold, put in half a twenty-five cent bottle of extract of vanilla, strawberry, lemon, or any other flavor you desire for jelly. Crab Apple Jelly. — Cut out the eyes and stalks of the apples; halve them and put in a preserving kettle with enough water to prevent burning. Cook until soft; then strain through a sieve, and afterward through a muslin bag; to every pound of juice allow one and one-quarter pounds of sugar. Boil gently for twenty minutes. Lemon Jelly. — Isinglass, two ounces; water, one quart, boil; add sugar, one pound, clarify, and, when nearly cold, add the juice of five lemons, and the grated yellow rinds of two oranges and two lemons; mix well, strain off the peel, and put it into glasses or bottles. Blackberry Jam. — To each pound of fruit add three-fourths of a pound of sugar; then put together and boil from one-half to three-fourths of an hour. COOKING RECIPES. ' ' 315 Currant Jelly.— Fill a jar with currants and place it in a kettle of boil- ing water. Boil till the fruit is well softened, stirring frequently, then strain through a cloth, and to every pint add a pound ot white sugar. Boil teu minutes, skimming until quite clear. Black currant or grape jelly can be made in the same way. Apple Jam — Core and pare the apples; chop them well; allow equal quantity in weight of apples and sugar; make a syrup of the sugar by adding a httle water, boiling and skimming well, then throw in a littlt grated lemon peel and a little white ginger. Boil until the fruit looks clear. Plum Preserves — Weigh your plums, scald them, put on a dish or waiter; be sure to strain; weigh as much sugar as fruit, and to every pound add a gill of water; let sugar boil, skim, add scalded fruit, cook two hours and a half; put in air-tight jars. Picklefl PeacUes and Plums — To seven pounds fruit, three pounds sugar, one quart vinegar, one ounce cloves, one ounce cinnamon. Scald vinegar and sugar three mornings in succession, and pour on the fruit. The third morning scald altogether. Tapioca .Jelly. — Wash eight ounces of tapioca well; then soak in one gallon fresh water, live or six hours; add the peels of eight lemons, and set all on to heat; simmer till clear; add the juice of the eight lemons with wine and sugar to taste; then bottle. ' Isinglalis Jelly — Pnt four ounces isinglass and two ounces cloves into one gallon water, boil it down to half a gallon; strain it upon four pounds of loaf sugar; add, while cooling, a little wine; then bottle. Gooseberry Jelly. — Sugar, four pounds; water, two pounds; boil to- gether; it will be nearly solid when cold; to this syrup, add an equal weight of gooseberry juice; give it a short boil, cool, then pot it. C'ranben-y Jelly. — Make a very strong isinglass jelly. When cold, mix it with a double quantity of ci-anberry juice. Sweeten and boil it up; then strain it into a shape. The sugar must be good loaf, or the jelly will not be clear. Peaclt Marmalade. — Peaches too ripe for preserving answer for mar- malade. Pare and quarter them, allowing three-quarters of a pound of sugar to each pound of fruit, and half a pint of water to each pound of sugar. Boil one hour and a half, stirring constantly. Gooseberry Jam. — Take what quantity you please of red, rough, ripe gooseberries, take half the quantity of lump sugar, break them well and boil them together for half an hour or more, if necessary. Put into pots and cover with paper. Pickled Apples— Apple pickles are delicious. Pare and halve the apples, removing the cores carefully, to keep them in good shape. Steam till soft. Put spiced vinegar over them. Puddings, Pies, Etc. Apple Fritters. — First pare the apples, and then with an apple-corer cut out the core from ttie center of each; then cut them across in slices 316 ■ ' THE HOUSEHOLD. about one-third of an inch thick, having a round opening in the center. Next make a fritter batter by the following recipe: Beat three eggs well; add a part of one pint of milk and a little salt; then the remainder of the pint of milk and one pint of flour alternately, beating it all quickly. The slices of apples must now be immediately dipped in this batter and fried in boiling lard; sprinkle over with sugar and serve in a circle, one overlapping the other, with or without sweet sauce in the center. Amber PucUliiig— Four eggs, their weight in sugar, butter and flour, peel of one lemon, and gi-ated rinds of two; beat the butter with your hand to a cream, then add the flour, sugar and beaten eggs by degrees, then the peel and juice of the lemons; butter a mold, and when all is well mixed fill it quite full; put a buttered white paper over the top and tie well over with a cloth, put iu a pan of boihng water and boil for about four hours. Apple Cliarlotte.— -Take a loaf of stale bread, and butter the slices; pare and slice a dozen apples; take a lemon, grate the skin, and save the juice; place at the bottom of a stoneware bakmg dish a layer of apples; scat- ter brown sugar on it, some of the lemon gratings, and a little juice; then put in a layer of the buttered bread; keep on until your dish is full, having the crust on top; bake iu a moderately hot oven. Do not make it too sweet. Apple Pudding. — Peel and quarter enough apples to cover the bottom of a deep tin plate; then make a batter of sour milk, soda and flour, with a tablespoonful of lard to enough flour to make a batter that will cover the apples. This should not be thicker than for pancakes. Pour it over the apples and bake till brown. Then, when done, turn it on a large plate with the crust down. Over the apples scatter sugar and cinnamon. Apple Sonffle. — One pint of steamed apples, one tablespoonful of melted butter, half a cup of sugar, the white of six eggs and the yelks of three, and a slight grating of nutmeg. Stir into the hot apples, the butter, sugar, and nutmeg, and the yelks of the eggs well beaten. When this is cold, beat the whites of the eggs to a stiff froth, and stir into the mixture. Butter a three- pint dish, and turn the souffle into it. Bake thirty minutes in a hot oven. Serve immediately with any kind of sauce. All tlie Year Round Pudding — Line a pie-dish with paste, spread on three ounces of any kind of jam (raspberry is the best); then beat well in a basin the following: Tbi-ee ounces of bread crumbs, the same of sugar and butter, the rind and juice of half a large lemon; add this to the pastry and jam, and bake half an hour. An Excellent Pudding — One-half pound suot, shred fine; one half pound grated bread crumbs; one-quarter pound of loaf sugar, the yelks of four eggs and whites of two well beaten; two tablespoonfuls of orange mar- malade or sliced citron, if preferred. To be put into a butter mold and boiled for two hours. To be served with wine poured over it, or sauce. Pudding a, I'Elegante.— Cut thin slices of light white bread, and line a pudding-shape with them, putting in alternate layers of the bread and orange marmalade, or any other preserve, till the mold is nearly full. Pour over all a pint of warm milk, in which four well-beaten eggs have been mixed. Cover the mold with a cloth, and boil for an hour and a half. Serve with wine sauce. COOKING RECIPES. 317 Delicious Apple Sauce. — Pare and slice thin as many apples as yoii wish. Put them into a tin basin or pudding dish, with enough sugar to make them sweet and a little water. Bake slowly until soft. They ^vill turn a rich i-ed, and have a flavor far exceeding stewed apples. Apple Dumplings. — Make them the usual way, place them in a deep pudding dish; make a liquor of water, sugar, butter, and a little nutmeg; the liquor should very nearly cover the dumplings; bake on one side, turn them on the other; bake about three-fourths of an hour. Albany Puifs — Beat the yelks of six eggs until they are very light; stir in a pint of sweet milk, a large pinoh of salt, the whites of the eggs beaten to a froth, and flour enough to make a batter about as thick as boiled custard. Bake in gem pans in a quick oven. Apple Custard. —Take a half cup of melted butter, two cups sugar, three cups stewed apples, four eggs, whites and yelks separately beaten. Bake in pie plates iu bottom crust. Brown Betty. — Take one cup bread crumbs, two cups chopped sour apples, one half cup sugar, one teaspoonful cinnamon, two tablespoonfuls butter cut into small bits. Butter a deep dish and put a layer of chopped apple at the bottom, sprinkle with sugar, a few bits of butter and cinnamon, cover with bread crumbs, then more apple. Proceed in this way until the dish is full, having a layer of crumbs on top. Cover closely and steam three quarters of an hour in a moderate oven, then uncover and brown quickly. Eat waiTU with sugar and cream, or sweet sauce. This is a cheap but good pudding, better than many a richer one. Bread Pudding. — Soak two or three French rolls cut into slices in a pint of cream or good milk; add the yelks of six eggs, beaten, some sugar, orange-flower water, three pounded macaroons, and a glass of white wine; tie it lip in a basin, or buttered cloth; put the pudding iu boiling water, and let it boil for half an hour. Serve with wine sauce. Baked Lemon Pudding. — Mix the following ingredients together in the order in wliich they are placed: Moist sugar, one-quarter pound; bi-ead crumbs, six ounces; eggs, well beaten, three; lemon peel grated and juice, two; bake one and a half hours in a moderate oven. Bird's Xest Pudding — Pare and core as many apples as will stand in a dish, and fill the holes with sugar. Make a custard of a quart of milk, eight eggs, and a quarter of a pound of sugar. Pour it over the api^les, gi-ate a nutmeg over the top, and bake one hour. Fried Bananas— Peel and sUce the bananas, spriukle with salt, dip iu thin batter, and fry in butter. Serve immediately. Cup Plum Pudding — Take one cup each of raisins, currants, flour, bread crumbs, suet, and sugar; stone and cut the raisins, wash and dry the cui-rants, chop the suet, and mix all the above ingredients well together; then add two ounces of candied peel and citron, a little mixed spice, salt, and ginger, say half a teaspoonful of each; stir in four well-beaten eggs and milk enough to make the mixture so that the spoon will stand upright in it; tie it loosely in a cloth, or put it in a mold; plunge it then into boiling water, and boil for three and a half hours. 318 THE HOXJSEHOLI). Cranberry Sauce—Wash and pick over the cranberries; put on to cook in a tin or porcelain vessel, allowing a teacup of water to each quart. Stew slowly, stirring often until they are thick as marmalade. Take from the fire in little over an hour, if they have cookod steadily; sweeten plentifully with white sugar and strain through a coarse net into a mold wet with cold water. Do this the day before using, and at dinner time turn from the mold into a glass dish. Cliocolate Puddlng._One quart of milk, fourteen even tablespoonfuls of grated bread crumbs, twelve tablespoonfuls of grated chocolate, six eggs, one tablespoonful vanilla; sugar to make very sweet. Separate the yelks and whites of four eggs; beat up the four yelks and two whole eggs together very light with the sugar. Put the milk on the range, and when it comes to a perfect boil pour it over the bread and chocolate; add the beaten eggs and sugar, and vanilla; be sure it is sweet enough; pour into a buttered dish; bake one hour iu a moderate oven. WTaen cold, and just before it is served, have the four whites beaten ^vith a little powdered sugar, and flavor with vanilla, and use as a meringue. Chocolate Cream Custards. — Set to boil a quart of milk; mix with half a cup of cold milk two ounces of grated sweet chocolate, pour some of the boiling milk into it, and then pour all back into the pan of boiling milk, stir- ring it all the time; when quite heated and about coming to the boiling point, add the yelks of six eggs which have been beaten with a cup of powdered sugar; when these are nicely blended add three whites, beaten with a little vanilla, keeping the three other whites for frosting; put in cups, and a table- spoonful of the frosting on the top of each cup. Cranbei-ry Pudding. — Cranberry p\idding is made by pouring boiling water on a pint of dried bread crumbs: melt a tablespoonful of butter and stir iu. When the bread is softened add two eggs, and beat thoroughly with the bread. Then put in a pint of the stewed fruit and sweeten to your taste. Bake in a hot oven for half an hour. Fresh fruit may be used in place of the cranberries. Slices of peaches put in layers make a delicious variation. Coffee Custard. — Mix one egg with a cup of freshly-ground coffee, pour on it a piut of boihng water; boil five minutes. Pour it off clear into a sauce- pan, add a pint of cream and boil. Beat from five to eight eggs with one and one half cups of sugar, and pour the boiling mixture over this, stirring it well. Set the whole in boiling water, and stir until it thickens. Cranben-y Roll. — Stew a quart of cranberries in just water enough to keep them from burning. Make very sweet, strain and cool. Make a paste, and when the cranberry is cold spread it on the paste about an inch thick. Roll it, tie it close in a flannel cloth, boil two hours, and serve with sweet sauce. Stewed apples or other fruit may be used in the same way. Delicious Fritters. — Put three tablespoonfuls of flour into a bowl, and pour over it sufficient hot water to make it into a stiff paste, taking care to stir it well to prevent its getting lumpy. Leave it a little time to cool, and then break into it, without beating them first, the yelks of four egga, the whites of two, and stir and beat all together. Have your fat or lard hot, and drop a dessertspoonful of batter in at a time, and fry a light brown. Serve on a hot dish with a spoonful of jam or marmalade dropped in between each fritter. CO OKI NO UECIPER. 319 Crow's IVest Fill a deep pudding tin or disL with apples cut in tliiu slices; sugar and cinnamon, or lemon, to sweeten and flavor to taste, and a little water; cover with a thick crust; bake until apples are tender; serve hot with bard sauce, or with cream and sugar; be sure to cut air holes in the crust to let the steam escape. Cream Fritters Beat three eggs to a froth, add half a pint of cream, the same of milk, a teaspoonful of salt, one pint flour, two teaspooufuls bak- ing powder; stir to a smooth batter; fry in hot lard the same as doughnuts. These are good hot or cold. Serve with sweetened cream or maplo molasses. Cake Pudding — Take odd bits of cake (if two or three kinds all the better), break in small pieces, put them in a pudding dish which has been previously buttered, make a rich custard; pour over the cake; bake or steam. It is made still nicer by adding cocoanut frosting, and setting in the oven till of a hght brown. Cocoanut Pudding. — One-half pound of butter, one-half pound of sugar, whites of eight eggs whipped to a froth. The white portion of one cocoanut grated into minute particles. Grease pan mth butter, and bake. For this pudding desiccated cocoanut answers as well as fresh cocoanut. Custai-d Pudding. — Take a pint of cream, six eggs well beaten, two spoonfuls of flour; half a nutmeg grated, and salt and sugar to taste; mix them together; butter a cloth and pour in the batter; tie it up, put it into a saucepan of boiling water, and boil it an hour and a half. Serve with melted butter. Cream Batter Pudding. — Half pint sour cream, half pint sweet milk, half pint flour, three eggs, half teaspoonful soda, a little salt.. Beat eggs separately, adding the yelks last. Bake in a slow oven, and you will find this the queen of puddings. Egg Pudding. — Take any number of eggs, their weight in flour, brown sugar and butter, and a few currants or chopped raisins, as preferred. Mix well together by means of the eggs. Bake in buttered molds; serve hot, with wine sa\ice. Cracker Pudding. — Pour one quart boiling water over six soft crackers, let stand until very soft; add three or four eggs, one cup raisins, one-fourth spoonful salt, sweeten, flavor or spice, bake. Very nice. Citron Pudding. — Mix one quart of cream with three spoonfuls of sugar, one-half pound of flour, one-half pound of citron peel, yelks of six eggs and a Uttle nutmeg. Bake in teacups in a quick oven. Cottage Pudding. — One cup of sugar, one cup of sweet milk, one pint of flour, two tablespoonfuls of melted butter, one teaspoonful of soda, two teaspoonfuls of cream tartar, one egg. Cracked Wlieat Pudding — Cracked wheat mixed with milk in the proportion of half a cup to a quart, and flavored with cinnamon and a raisin or two, makes a very good pudding. Cream Custard. — Eight eggs, beat and put into two quarts of cream; sweeten to taste; add nutmeg and cinnamon. 320 THE HOUSEHOLD. Date or Prune Pudding. — Take a quart of milk, beat six eggs, half the whites in half a pint of milk, and four spoonfuls of flour with a little salt, and two of beaten ginger; then by degrees mix in all the milk and a pound of dates, tie it in a cloth, and boil it an hour; melt butter and pour over it. Damsons are very nice instead of the dates or prunes. A Delicious Pudding. — Sift two tablespoonfuls of flour, and mix with the beaten yelks of six eggs, add gradually one pint of sweet cream, a quar- ter of a pound of citron cut in very thin slices, and two tablespoonfuls of sugar; mix thoroughly, pour into a buttered tin, and bake twenty-five min- utes. Serve with vanilla sauce. Dandy Pudding. — One and one-half pints of milk, four eggs, sugar to taste. Boil the milk and yelks and one teaspoonful of corn starch. Beat the whites to a stift' froth, after the cream is cooked, put it in a dish to cool. Then drop the whites, after sweetening, on the cream. Brown the top a few minutes. Englisli Plum Pudding. One-half pound currants, one pound raisins, one-half pound of beef suet, butter the size of an egg, three eggs, one nut- meg, two teaspoonfuls of lemon, three-fourths of a pint of milk, a little salt, flour sufficient to stiffen, mix well together; put into a bowl and bake four hours; cover bowl with a cloth. Sauce. — Three tablespoonfuls corn starch, one-half pint milk, one-half cup of sugar, one tablespoonful of butter; boil five minutes. Economical Family Pudding. — Bruise with a wooden spoon, through a colander, six large or twelve middle-sized potatoes, beat four eggs, mix with a pint of good milk, stir in the potatoes, six ounces sugar and flavoring, butter a dish, bake half an hour. This receipt is simple and economical, aa cold potatoes, which may have been kept two or three days, till a sufficient quantity is collected, will answer quite well. Egg Sauce. — Boil half a dozen eggs hard, when cold remove the shell, cut each egg in half crosswise, and each half into four quarters. Put them into one pint of melted butter. Floating Island Custard.—One-half gallon sweet milk, eight eggs beaten to a froth, yelks and whites beaten separately, add one tablespoonful of flour and a little milk. Set the milk on the stove in a tin basin or a por- celain kettle, bring it to a boiling heat, add the mixture of yelks of eggs and flour, let it boil up thick, stirring constantly. Flavor with lemon unless some other flavoring is preferred (lemon is best), beat the whites of the eggs to a stiff froth, sweeten the custard to your taste, place the white of eggs on top, let it remain over the stove a minute, then take it off and serve. This makes a very nice dessert if made properly, and is good either hot or cold. This receipt is enough for eight or ten persons. Orange Fritters— One pound of flour, one pint of milk with a tea- spoonful of salt in it, and one-quarter of a pound of melted butter, and three eggs beaten very light. Prepare four oranges by removing the yellow rind and every particle of white pith; divide into small pieces without breaking the skin. In each spoonful of batter put a piece of orange, and fry a golden brown; sift powdered sugar over as soon as taken from the pan. coo KIN a RECIPES. 321 Frtilt Roll—Make a crust as usual, which roll out in a long sheet. Cut a quantity of fruit, peaches, apples, or plums, or small fruit mashed, or jam, which spread thickly over and sprinkle with sugar; roll up and fold the ends over; then wrap in a strong cloth and tic closely, and place in a steamer. Serve with sauce or sweetened cream. Fig Pudding — Take a quarter of a pound of figs, pound them in a mortar, and mix gradually half a pound of bread crumbs, and four ounces of beef suet, minced verj^ small, add four ounces of pounded sugar, and mix the whole together, with two eggs beaten up, and a good teacup of new milk. AVhen all these ingredients are well mixed, fill a mold and boil for four hours. Farmers' Pudding — Heat one quart of milk to boiling, then stir in, slowly, one teacup of maizena. Mix with this about six good apples, pared and sliced, and add two tablespoonfuls of sugar, one of butter, and a little allspice and nutmeg. Pour the whole mto a deep dish, and bake until done, which will be in about forty minutes. Fruit Pudding. — One egg well beaten, one cup sweet milk, one and one-half cups of hemes, half cup of sugar, one spoonful of butter, one cup bread crumbs. Bake in a shallow dish. Crlnger Pudding. — Five eggs, two cups of sugar, two cups of butter, four cups of flour, one cup of molasses, one cup of sour milk, one teaspoon- ful of soda, ginger and allspice to taste. Bake in a jian or steam in a mold or pan. Sauce for Ginger Pudding. — One-half pint of molasses, one pint of sugar, one-half pint of butter, ginger to suit the taste, and a little water. Boil all together until the sauce becomes somewhat thick. Oolden Pudding. — Half a pound of bread crumbs, quarter of a pound of suet, quarter of a pound of marmalade, quarter of a pound of sugar, four eggs; mix the suet and bread crumbs in a basin, finely minced, stir all the ingredients well together, beat the eggs to a froth; when well mixed put into a mold or buttered basin, tie down with a floured cloth, and boil two hours. Serve with jjowdered sugar over it. Orahani Pudding. — One cup of graham flour, half a cup of sweet milk, a little salt, a tcaspoonful of baking powder. Turn over a pudding- dish full of sliced apples sweetened with either sugar or molasses. Bake till thoroughlj' done. This is a good dish for those who cannot eat rich pie- crust, and may be varied by using different kinds of fruit. Hard Times* Pudding. — Half a pint of molasses, half a pint of water, two teaspoonfuls of soda, one teaspoonfnl of salt. Thicken with flour enough to make a batter about like that for a cup c&ke. Put this in a pud- ding-bag; allow room to rise. It would be safe to have the piidding-bag about half full of the batter. Let this boil steadily for three hours. Sauce to serve with it is made thus: Mix two teaspoonfuls of either white or brown sugar with a lump of butter the size of a butternut; a little salt and one large spoonftil of flour should be mixed with the butter and sugar. When free from lumps pour boiling water slowly over it, stirring all the time. Let it boil up once or twice to make it of the desired thickness. 322 THE HOUSEHOLD. Hard Sance for Puddings — Stir to cream oue cup of butter with three cups powdered sugar; when hght, beat in juice of a lemon, two teaspoon- fuls nutmeg. Home Pudding. — One pint of milk, yelks of two eggs, three crackers rolled fine, and bake. Use three-fourths of a cup of sugar, and the whites of the eggs for frosting; spread over the pudding and return to the oven for a few minutes. Indian Pudding—Boil two quarts of milk, and while boiling stir in cornmeal enough to make it of the consistency of mush; take one cup of Buet, one cup of molasses, one tablespoonful each of cinnamon and ginger and stu- into the pudding; scald all together well, and then set away to get cool; add three well-beaten eggs, butter, size of egg, one cup each of cur- rants and raisins, salt and sugar enough to serve without sauce if you wish; then bake three hours slowly. Bi'audy sauce makes it equal to Enghah plum pudding. Indian Apple Pudding. — Pour three pints of scalded milk over one pint of sifted Indian raeal, stir in two lai-ge spoonfuls of molasses, two tea- spoonfuls of cinnamon or ginger, and one teaspoonful of salt, add a dozen apples, pared and sliced very thin. Bake in a yellow nappy for three hours. Serve with a sweet sauce. Kiss Pudding. — One quart milk, three tablespoonfiils cornstarch, the yelks of four eggs, one-half cup sugar and a little salt. Place part of it, with salt and sugar, on the stove and boil. Dissolve the cornstarch in the rest of the milk and stir into the boiling milk; also, add the yelks of the eggs and flour. Frostbuj. —Tho beaten whites of the four eggs, with one-half cup of sugar flavored with lemon. Cover the pudding and nicely brown. Save a little frosting to moisten the top, then put grated cocoannt over top to give it the appearance of snowflake. Kent. Pudding. — One quart of milk, six ounces of ground rice, three eggs, currants, sugar, and spice to taste. The milk and rice should be boiled overnight, and the other ingredients mixed in the next morning. Stir the mixture well before putting it into the oven. Lemon Meringue Pudtling. — One quart milk, two Clips bread crumbs, four eggs, one-half cup butter, one cup white sugar, one large lemon, juice and half the rind grated; soak the bread in the milk; add the beaten yelks with the butter and sugar rubbed to a crff&m, also the lemon. Bake in a buttered dish until firm and slightly brown; draw to the door of the oven and cover with a meringue of the whites whipped to a froth, with three table- spoonfuls of powdered sugar and a little lemon juice. Brown very sUghtly; sift powdered sugar over it and eat cold. You may make an orange pud- ding in the same way. Lemon Custard. - One cup of sugar, one of sweet milk, one tablespoon- ful of butter, three eggs, one lemon -mix lemon juice with yelks and sugar, add milk next, then the butter and flour. When the custards are cool spread on the whites, well sweetened, and set back in the stove to brown. Magic Pastry .—Two tablespoonfuls of pounded sugar, four ounces of fine flour, two eggs. Mix all together very smoothly, and fry in lard. COOKING RECIPES. 32S Iietnon Flitters. — Among the nicest of fruit fritters are those made of lemon. To cue cup of milk and one egg allow the juice and pulp of ouo lemon. Theue maybe served with sauce; with the grated peel of half the lemon added to flavor the sauce. Lemon Pudding. — One pound of sifted sugar, one pint of cream, one- half pound of butter, six eggs, and one lemon. Beat the butter and sugar to a cream, add the well beaten eggs, the grated lemon both puljj and peel, and the cream. Stir well, and bake. Ijemon Flap-Jack.4. — One pint of milk, four eggs, juice of one lemon, flour to make a light batter, pinch of soda. Fry in hot lard. Serve with sugar and nutmeg. Molasses Sauce. — One cup of molasses, half a cup of water, one table- spoonful of butter, a little cinnamon or nutmeg (about a half teaspoonful), one-fourth of a teaspoonful of salt, three tablespoonfuls of vinegar. Boil all together for twenty minutes. Lemon juice may bo used in place of vinegar if desired. This is very nice for an apple or rice pudding. Itlaple Sugar Sauce. — Break half a pound of maple sugar in small bits, put it into a thick saucepan over the fire and melt the sugar until it forms a clear syrup; then remove it from the fire and stir in two heaping tablespoon- fuls of butter cut in small bits. Serve the sauce hot with any fruit pudding. Mountain De-»v Pudding. — Three crackers, rolled, one pint of milk, yelks of two eggs, and a small piece of butter. Bake one-half hour, then take the whites of the eggs, beat to a stifl' froth, add one cup of sugar, and put it on the top and bake fifteen minutes. Orange Pudding. — Peel and cut in bits five oranges, rejecting the seeds. Sprinkle a cup of sugar over it. Boil a pint of milk, to which add the yelks of three eggs, well beaten, with one tablespoonful of cornstarch. When it thickens pour it over the fruit. Beat the whites of eggs with a tablespoonful of white sugar. Frost the pudding and brown it in the oven. Substitute strawberries or peaches if yoii like. Peach Pudding. — Beat the yelks of six eggs and one cup of sugar light; moisten one tablespoonful of cornstarch with milk and stir in the yelks of the eggs; flavor to taste. Stir this mixture in one quart of boiling milk. Let it boil up once. Line bottom of a pudding dish with peaches, peeled, cut in half, and sugared. Pour over them a layer of the custard; then peaches, and so on until the dish is full, leaving the last layer of custard; cover the tops with the whites of the eggs whipped to a ft-oth; put in the oven and brown. Serve hot or cold. To Ice Pastry — To ice pastry, which is the usual method adopted for fruit tarts and sweet dishes of pastry, put the white of an egg on a plate and beat it to a stiff froth. When the pastry is nearly baked, brush it over with this, and sift over some powdered sugar. Put it back into the oveu to set the glaze, and in a few minutes it will be done. Great care should be taken that the paste does not catch or burn in the oveu, which it is very liable to do after the icing is laid on. Orange Roly Poly — MaJie a short, light dough, the same as is used for any dumplings, roll into an oblong shape and cover the paste thickly \vith 324 THE HOUSEHOLD. sweet oranges, peeled, stirred thin and seeded; sprinkle with sugar, roll up closely, folding and pinching down the edge to keep in the syrup. Steam an hour and a half. Sei-ve with croam and sugar or hard sauce. Pan Pudding — This is a New England dish, and is nice where appe- tites are expansive. Take three cups of fine rye meal, three cups of Indian meal, one egg and three tablespooufuls of molasses; add a little salt and allspice, and enough rich sweet milk to make a batter stiff enough to drop from a spoon. Fry to a good brown in hot lard. Pineapple Fritters. — One pint of flour, half pint of milk, three eggs, half teaspoonful soda, three-fourths teaspoonful cream tartar, one table- spoonful sugar, salt to taste. Peel and slice one juicy pineapple, and cover with sugar; let it stand over night; stir in the batter when ready to fry. To be eaten while hot, with sugar. Pineapple Pudding. — Peel the pineapple, taking care to get all the specks out, and grate it; take its weight in sugar, and half of its weight in butter; rub these to a cream and stir them into the ajjple; then add five eggs and a cup of cream. It may be baked with or without the paste crust, as you may prefer. Peacli Potpie. — Put a plain pie crust round the edge of a pan; cut up some peaches, and put a layer of them into your pan, then a layer of sugar and nutmeg; cover with a crust, and bake slowly for two or three hours. Plum Pudding. — One pcund raisins, one pound currants, one-half pound citron, one-half pound candied fruit, one pound suet, one pound sugar, one pound mixed flour and bread crumbs, eight eggs, spices to taste; boil four hours. Pop-Overs. — One pint milk, one pint flour, butter size of a walnut, three eggs, beaten light, pinch of salt, add eggs last. Bake in cups, filling them half full. Puff" Puddiitg. — One and a half cups of flour, one of milk, two eggs, and a little salt; bake in a hot oven twenty minutes in pattypans. Serve with sauce. Q,ueen of Puddings. — One pint of bread crumbs, one quart of sweet milk, yelks of four eggs, piece of butter size of an egg. Flavor and bake. Beat the white of an egg to a froth with a cup of pulverized sugar. Spread over the pudding a layer of jelly, pour the eggs over and brown slightly. Serve with cold sauce. Q,uick Pudding.- Boil some rice; when done soft, break in three eggs, half a cup of cream or milk, and flavor to suit the taste. Give it one boil, and send it to the table with bits of butter on the top. Sweet Potato Pudding. — Beat to a cream one pound of sugar and one pound of butter, and two pounds of potatoes, mashed fine, five eggs, one wineglass of wine, and half a pint of milk. Bake in a crust. Steanied Pudding. — One cofleecup of buttermilk, one-tliird of a cup of sugar, one egg, a little salt, a heaping teaspoonful of soda, about three and one-half teacups of flour, and one small cup of raisins. Steam two hours. OOOKINO liECTPlJS. 325 New nice Piniaing—Mix four large teaspoonfula of rice flour with half a pint of cold milk, aud atir it into a quart of boiling milk until it boils again; then remove, stir in butter the size of an egg and add a little salt; let it cool, aud add four eggs, well beaten, two-thirda of a cup of siigar, grated nutmeg, half wueglassful of brandy or other flavoi'ing; Ijtiko in a buttered diah twenty miuutes. To be eaten hot with sauce. Rice and Apples. — Core as many nice api^les as will fill a dish; boil them in light syrup. Prepare one-quarter of a pound of rice in milk with sugar and salt, put some of the rice in the dish, and put in the apples; then fdl up the intervals with rice, aud bake it in the oven iintil it is a fine color. Raspbeii-y Fritters—Make a batter of a pint of milk, one egg, a little salt, and enough flour to make a mixture that will drop from a spoon. Add a cup of fine raspberries, with a tablespoonful of granulated sugar mixed with them. Fry in hot lard aud dash with powdered sugar. Raisin Pudding — One quart of sweet milk, six eggs, one-half teacup of butter, one-half teacup sugar, one teacup raisins with seeds removed, flour sufficient to make thick batter. Pour into a mold and steam until cooked. Butter and sugar flavored for sauce. Rice Fritters. — Take one cup of cold boiled rice, one pint of flour, one teaspoouful of salt, two eggs beaten lightly, and milk enough to make this a thick batter; beat all together well and bake on a griddle. Raspberry Custard. — Take three gills of rasberry juice and dissolve in it a pound of white sugar, mix it with a pint of boiling cream, stir until quite thick, and servo in custard glasses. StrawbeiTy Sliort-Cake — To make a nice strawberry short-cake, make a nice, rich biscuit crust, bake in a round tin, and when baked cut in two parts with a shar^j knife; put a thick layer of berries, sweetened to taste, on one half, then lay on the other half and fix in the same manner. Some think a cup of sweet cream poured over the top layer a great addition. The berries should be mashed before placing them on the cake. Swiss Pudding. — Put layers of crumbs of bread and sliced apples with Biigar between, till the dish is quite full; let the criimbs be the uppermost layer; then pour melted butter over and bake it. Or butter a dish, strew l)read crumbs thickly over it, add apples, raspberries, or any fruit sweet- ened, alternately with bread ci-umbs, until the dish is full; then pour melted butter, or rather small lumps of butter, over the top aud bake. Steamed Apples. — Select nice, sweet apples; wash and place them in a pan; turn a little water in the pau and stew; one-half cup sugar over as many apples as will cover the bottom of the pan; then cover with another pan and cook till done. If preferred, you can stew the juice down and turn it over the apples. They are much nicer than when baked. Suet Pudding. — Chop fine one cup of raisins and one-half cup of suet (one cup, if wanted very rich), add two cups of sweet milk, oue cup of sugar, four cups of flour, one teaspoouful of cream of tartar, two teaspoon- fuls of soda, and a Httle salt. Cover tight and steam or boil two hours. Leave room to swell. Pork chopped very fine, or a little less in measure of pork fat, may be used. Eat witli liquid sauce. 326 THE HOUSEHOLD. Simple Heiiinivt. — Put eiglit crackers iu a deep dish, pour enough warm water or milk over them to just cover them, and when soaked, which will not take longer than ten minutes, sprinkle with sugar, cover with cream, garnish with preserved peaches, pears, or quinces, and serve. Try it. Siio-w-Ball Pudding. — Take two teacups of rice, wash, and boil until tender; pare and core twelve large sour apples (leaving the apples whole); fill the apples with rice, and put it around outside; tie each one iu a separate cloth and drop in boiling water; servo while hot with cream and sugar, or any sauce desii-ed. Pudding Sauce. — One cup of sugar, an even tablespoonful of flour, and the same of butter. Mix to a cream. Put boiling water to them, mix thor- oughly and put on the stove to boil fifteen minutes, stirring occasionally. Flavor with grated nutmeg. Pudding Sauce. — Take the superfluous juice from a can of peaches, and heat it to boiling. Mix flour, butter and sugar iu about equal quantities, add a little vanilla, and cook the mixture in the hot peach juice. This is delicious for almost any kind of steamed or fruit pudding. A Fine Pudding Sauce. — When a sponge pudding is to bo eaten hot an excellent sauce is made of sugar and butter whipped to a cream, strawber- ries or other fruit crushed into it, and a little good wine. If properly made no better sauce can be used for a sponge pudding. Ste^veil Apples. — Pare your apples and place them in a steamer, with a clove in each; then put the steamer over a pot of boiling water, until soft; then take them iip in the fruit dish and shake powdered sugar over them. Sweet Apple Custard. — Pare and core sweet apples; stew them in water till tender; strain them through a colander, add sugar and spice to taste, and make them like pumpkin pies. Sallie Lunn. — One quart of flour, four eggs, one pint of milk, one table- spoonful of lard, same of butter, two spoonfuls of sugar, one gill of yeast. Tapioca Custard. — After soaking a cup of tapioca until perfectly soft, drain off any surplus water and add a quart of new milk; set the dish in one of boiling water to prevent sticking or burning; sweeten to suit the taste; when it begins to grow a little thick, add the yelks of four eggs, beaten, with one tablespoonful of sugar; remove from the fire as soon as it becomes the consistency of cream, or it will be too hard when cold; flavor to taste after it is done, and spread the whites of eggs over the top; brown a delicate color in the oven. Tiptop Pudding. — One pint of bread crumbs, one quart of milk, one cup of sugar, the grated peel of a lemon, yelks of four eggs, a piece of but- ter size of an egg, then bake. When done spread fresh strawberries over the top, or if not in season for strawbemes, use a cup of preserved rasp- berries; pour over that a meringue made with the white of the egg, a cup of sugar, and the juice of the lemon. Return to the oven to color; let it partly cool, and serve ^vith milk or cream. Tapioca Pudding. — Soak four tablespoonfuls tapioca in a little water over night; boil one quart of milk and pour over it while hot; when cool add COOKING RECIPES. 827 one-lialf cup sugar, one egg, and the yelk of one egg, well beaten; bake slowly one hour, spread with the whites of two eggs, beaten, return to oven, bi'own slightly; flavor with orange. Wine Sttuce for Pudding. -Half a pint of sherry or Madeira wine, and half a gill of water; bcil together, and add four tablespoonfuls of sugar, the juice of one lemon, and the rind cut into small pieces. To be poured over the pudding just before the latter is to be eaten. Waffles. — One pint of sour cream, one pint of flour, three eggs, half a teaspoonful soda, beat up, and bake on hot waffle irons, well buttered, and butter well as soon as removed from the iron. Yorlcsliire Pudding. — Make a batter mth five tablespoonfuls of flour, one egg, and about a pint of milk. Put some of the fat out of the dripping- pan into the Yorkshire pudding tin, and when it is boiling hot pour in the batter. Bake it in the oven for half an hour, and set it for a few minutes in front of the fii'e under the meat. Apple Meringue Pie. — Stew and sweeten juicy apples when yo\t have pared and sliced them; mash smooth, and season with nutmeg, or stew some lemon peel with them and remove when cold; till your pans and bake till done; spread over the apples a thick meringue, made by whipping to a stiff fi'oth the whites of three eggs for each pie, sweetening with a tablespoonful of powdered sugar for each egg; flavor this with rose or vanilla; beat until it will stand alone and cover the pie three-quarters of an inch thick. Set back in the oven until the mei-inguo is well set. Should it color too darkly sift powdered sugar over it when cool; eat cold. Peaches are even more de- licious when used in the same manner. Clierry Pie. — Stone the cherries; make a paste as for any pie, put in the fruit, add sugar, and about thi'ee tablespoonfuls water; sprinkle a table- spoonful flour over fruit; take a piece of butter the size of a walnut, and cut it in small bits over the top; make a paste of one teaspoonful of floiir to two of cold water, and wet the edges of the crust before putting on the cover; if properly done it will prevent the juice from running oiit; or, roll the edges together; while hot, see if it is sweet enough; if not, raise the cover and put in more sugar. Eat while sUghtly warm. Spring niince Pies. — A cup and a half of chopped raisins, one cup of sugar, one cup of molasses, one cup of warm water, half a cup of vinegar or good buikd cider, two well-beaten eggs, five crackers, pounded fine; stir all together and season with spices as other mince pies; bake with rich crust. For the top crust, roll thin, cut in narrow strips, and twist and lay across. Cream Pie. — One pint milk, two large spoonfuls sugar, one tablespoon- ful flour, yelks of two eggs and white of one. Beats eggs, sugar, and flour together, let the milk got boiling hot, pour in the beaten parts and stir until thick, make the crust and bake it; fill with the custard. Beat the remaining white of egg till stiff, spread evenly over the top, return to the oven to brown slightly. Flavor with lemon or vanilla. Custard Pie._One quart milk, three eggs, one tableapoonful com starch, one dessertspoonful extract vanilla, one cupful sugar, a very small pinch salt; beat the sugar and egge together, mix the corn starch in a Uttle of the 328 THE HOVSKHOLD. milk, and atir all ^Yell together. This is far superior to the ordinary custard pie made with four eggs. Leas sugar may be used if preferred. Mock Lieiuon Pie. — One cup of sugar, one heaping tablespoonful of flour, the yelka of two eggs (save the whites for the top of the pie), one tea- spoonful of extract of lemon, two-thirds of a cup of boiling water, two-thirds of a cup of stewed pie plant; mix the augar, flour, eggs and extract together; then pour on the water, then the pie plant; bake with one crust; when done, beat the whites to a stifl" froth and spread it over the pie, setting it back in the oren for four minutes. Pie-Crust AVitUout Liarcl— Take good, rich buttermilk, soda, and a little salt, and mix jiist as soft as can be mixed and hold together; have plenty of flour on the molding-board and rolling-pin; then make and bake as other pies, or rather in a slow oven, and when the pie is taken from the oven do not cover it up. In tlxis way a dyspeptic can indulge in the liixury of a pie. Oatmeal Pie Crust. — Scald two parts of fine oatmeal with one part of hot water; mix well and roll thin. As this bakes very quickly fruit which requires much cooking must be cooked fii'st before making the pies. This crust is very tender, possessing all the desirable qualities of shortened pie crusts without their injurious effects. Beverly Pie. — Pare and grate some sweet mellow apples — about a dozen; to a pint of the grated pulp put a pint of milk, two eggs, two table- apoonfula of melted butter, the grated peel of a lemon, and half a wineglasts of brandy; sweeten to your taste; to be baked in a deep plate, with only a lower crust. Corn-Starcli Custard Pie. — Very nice pies are made with two eggs, and two large tablespoonfula of corn starch to a quart oi milk; sweeten and spice to taste; the corn starch should be mixed smooth with milk and eggs beaten up in it, then thin out with more milk; sweeten, season, pour into pans lined with paste, and grate a little nutmeg over the top. lieinon Pie. — The juice and grated rind of one lemon, one cup of water, one tablespoonful of com starch, one cup of sugar, one egg, and a piece of butter the size of a small egg. Boil the water, wet the corn starch with a little cold water, and stir it in; when it boils up, pour on it the sugar and butter; after it cools, add the egg and lemon; bake with under and upper crust. Iiemon Pio. — Four lemons, one cup sugar, one cup molasses, three and one-half cups water, half cup flour. Grate the rind of two lemons and use with the inside of the four (but do not use the white skin, as it is bitter), cook these ingredients a few minutes before putting it between the crust. Lemon Meringue Pie. — Beat the yelks of four eggs, ten tablespoonfula of sugar, three of melted butter, and the juice of one lemon and a half, add three tablespoonfuls of milk or water; bake in an undercruat, then beat the whitea, pour over the top and put back in the oven to brown. Apple Custard Pie — Two well-beaten egga, one cup grated sweet apple, one pint sweet milk, two large spoonfuls of sugar, a little salt and flavor. I'OOKIXa RECIPES. 329 Aliiibarb Cream Pie. — Quo piut stewed rhubarb, four ounces sugar, one piut cream, t^o ounces powdered craclser, three eggs. Eub the stewed rhubarb through a sieve, beat the other ingredients well together, and just as the pie is ready for the oven stir in the rhubarb; pour the whole into a plate lined with pastry. Cover with strips and bake. Orange Pie. — Take the juice and grated i"iud cf one orange, one small cup of sugar, yelks of three eggs, one tablespoonful of corn starch, make smooth with milk, piece ot butter as large as a chestnut, and one cup of milk. Beat the whites of the three eggs with sugar, and place on the top after the pie is baked— leaving in the oven till browned. Buttei-inill£ Pie. — Beat together a heaping cup of sugar and four eggs, add half a cup of butter; beat thoroughly, and add one and a half pints of fresh country buttermilk. Line the pie tins with crust; slice an apple thin and lay in each pie; fill the crust with the mixture, and bake with no upper ClTJSt. Butteiiuilk Pies. — One cup sugar, two cups buttermilk, two eggs, two tablespoonfuls flour, two tablespooufuls butter; flavor with lemon. This makes two pies. Rice Pie. — To a pint of boiled rice add a pint of rich cream, two eggs, salt, and a little mace. Let these ingredients be well mixed, spread half the quantity in a deep baking dish, lay pieces of chicken iipon it and cover them with the remainder of the rice, and bake in a hot oven. Pnniplciii Pie. — Stew the pumpkin as dry as possible without burning; rub it through a colander. To one pint of the pumpkin add three eggs, one quart of milk, one teacup sugar, half teaspoonful salt, and nutmeg or ginger to taste. The above quantity will make two large pies. Marlborougli Pie. — Grate six apples, one cup of sugar, three table- spoonfuls melted butter, four eggs, jxiice and grated rind of a lemon, two tablespoonfuls brandy or wine, if yoi; choose; if not, omit it. Bake in au, under, but without top crust. AVasUington Pie. — Three eggs, one cup sugar, a scant half cup milk, half teaspoonful soda, a teaspoonful cream tartar, cup flour, a piece butter size of a hen's egg, spice to taste; this makes three layers; spread with jelly. Cocoanut Pie. — Grate one coooanut, add one pint of milk, three eggs, one cup of sugar and a little salt; add the cocoanut milk. Enough for two pies. Peacli Pie. — Line the pie pans with rich pastry, fill with ripe, juicy peaches, peeled and cut in quarters, sprinkle well with sugar, cover with a thin crust, bake half au hour. Serve cold. Prune Pie. — Stew the prunes as for sauce, stone and sweeten, and with nice pie ci-ust I think you ^vill call them good. Be sure and not have them too dry. Fancy Dishes. Pineapple Bavarian Cream. — One pint of fresh or canned pineapple, one small teacup of sugar, pne pint of cream, half a package of gelatine. 330 THE HOUSEHOLD. half a cup of cold water. Soak gelatine two hours in the water. Chop pine- apple fine, put it on with the sugar to simmer twenty minutes. Add gelatine and strain immediately through a cloth or sieve into a tin basiu. Rub the pineapple through as much as possible. Beat until it begins to thicken, then add cream which has been whipped to a froth. When well mixed, pour into a wet mold, and set away to harden. Serve with whipped cream. Lemon Float. — Boil one quart of sweet milk and three tablespoonfuls of sugar, and mix it with one tablespoonful of corn starch, stirred smoothly, and the grated peel of one lemon. When it has boiled ten minutes, add the yelks of three eggs, well beaten, and stir constantly for tive minutes. Put the pail it was cooked in directly into a pail of cold water, and stir it some time, then strain it into a pudding dish. Beat the whites of the eggs to a very stiff froth, add the juice of the lemon and two tablespoonfuls of sugar. Put them over the pudding and serve ice cold. Desiccated or fresh cocoa- nut grated finely can be added to the whites of the eggs, and ^vill improve the dish very much. PeacUes -witli Rice. — Take some peaches and cut them in halves; sim- mer them in a syriip for half an hour, then drain, and when cold arrange them on a dish round a shape of rice made as follows: Boil three table- spoonfuls of rice, picked and washed clean, in a pint of milk, with sugar to taste, and a piece of vanilla; when quite done put it into a basin to get cold. Make a custard with a gill of milk and the yelks of four eggs; when cold mix it with the rice. Beat up to a froth a gill of cream, with some sugar and a pinch of isinglass dissolved in a little water; mix this very lightly with the rice and custard; fill a mold with the mixture and set it on ice. When mod- erately iced turn it out on a dish and serve. Coffee Creaui. — This is a delicate and agreeable dish for an evening en- tertainment. Dissolve one ounce and a quarter of isinglass in half a pint of water. Boil for two hours a teacup of whole coffee in about half a pint of water (ground coffee is not so good for the purpose); add a teacupful to the melted isinglass. Put them into a saucepan ^vith half a pint of milk, and let the whole boil up; sweeten with loaf sugar, and let it stand ten minutes to cool, then add a pint of good cream; stir it well up and pour it into a mold and put it in a cool place to fix; turn it out on a glass dish before serving up. Cliai-lotte Russe. — Take one-fifth of a package of gelatine and one-half a cup cold milk; place in a farina boiler and stir gently over the fire until the gelatine is dissolved, pour into a dish and place in a cool room; take one pint of rich cream and whisk it with a tin egg-beater until it is thick; flavor the cream with either vanilla or wine, and sweeten to taste; when the gelatine is cool strain carefully into the prepared cream; line a mold with lady fingers; then pour the cream in carefully until it is filled; cover with lady fingers and ice the top if you desire it. Smo^v Ggg.'-i. — Snow eggs are formed by piitting over the fire a quart of rich milk, sweetening it and flavoring it with orange flower water. Separate the whites and yelka of six fresh eggs, and beat up the whites to a stiff froth. Drop a spoonful at a time into the boiling milk, turning them as quickly as possible, and lifting them out of the milk with a skimmer, place them on a sieve. Beat up the yelks and stir them into the milk; let them have one coo KIN a RECIPES. 331 boil and put in a glass dish. Arrange the whites around the edges and serve either hot or cold; the last is preferable. Airy Nothings — To three eggs put half an egg-shell full of sweet milk, and butter the size of a walnut; work in flour until you can roll the dough into as thin a sheet as possible. Cut into cakes with a saucer and stick aa you do biscuits; bake them quickly but not brown; heap them up on a dish and strew them thickly with powdered sugar. Note. — Allow one pint of flour to the other ingredients named above, although every bit may not be required; always reserve a little for the rolling out of cakes on a board. Snow Custard. — Boil eight eggs, leaving out the whites of four; add to them one quart of milk and five ounces of sugar; have a shallow pan of hot water in the oven; set the dish into it, and bake till the custard is thick; then set away to cool; beat the remaining whites very light; add half a pound of sugar and a teaspoonful of lemon juice; when the custard is cold lay the whites over the top in heaps, but do not let them touch. Cream Pie n ltd Orange Dessert. — Cut the oranges in thin slices and sprinkle sugar over them; let them stand two or three hours; serve on or- dinary fruit plates. The pie is made with a bottom-ci"Ust only, and that not thick, but light and flaky. Take one cofl'eecup of thick, sweet cream, half a cup of pulverized sugai-, a tablespoonful of flour, one egg; flavor with lemon e.x.tract; bake until you are sure the crust is brown and hard, so that it will not absorb the custard. "Whipped Cream—Take one pint of very thick cream, sweeten it with very fine sugar and orange flower water; boil it. Beat the whites of ten eggs with a little cold cream, strain it, and when the cream is upon the boil, pour in the eggs, stirring it well till it comes to a thick curd; and then take it up and strain it again through a hair sieve. Beat it well with a spoon till it is cold, then place it in a dish in which you wish to serve it. AVatermeloii Tea Disli. — Take a fully ripe watermelon, put on ice until thoroughly cold, slice, remove seeds and cut any shape you prefer, squares, diamonds, stars, size sufficient for mouthful, put layer into glass dish, sprinkle with granulated sugar, another layer with sugar, until yon fill your dish, sprinkle sugar over top, return to ice-box until wanted for tea. Dish and oat the same as any kind of fruit. You will be delighted. Comipote of Oranges.— Put a handful of loaf sugar to boil with a gill of water in a saucepan; when it boils, add the rind of three oranges minced finely or cut into very narrow strips. Let the whole boil five minutes, add a liquor glass of brandy, and pour the syrup (hot) over half a dozen whole oranges, peeled and cored, or cut up in any form you like. Leave the oranges in a basin with the syrup till quite cold; then pile them up on a dish and serve. Gooseberry Triile. — Scald the fruit, press it through a sieve, and add sugar to taste. Make a thick layer of this at the bottom of the dish. Mix a pint of milk, a pint of cream, and the yelks of two eggs; scald it over the fire, stirring it well; add a small quantity of sugar and let it get cold. Then lay it over the gooseberries with a spoon, and put on the whole a wliip made the day before. 332 THE HOUSE HOLD. Hen's N'e.^t. — Take four eggs, make a hole with a pm in one end, take oiit all the yelk and white, fill this with a hquid blanc mange, stand each shell in an egg cup and put it away to cool; put some orange marmalade on a dish; when the blanc mange is hardened, break off the shells, and stand the whole eggs in the center of the orange marmalade. This looks like a uest of eggs, and has a pretty effect for a supper table. I>ess«i<. — Make a batter as if for waffles; to one jiint of milk allow two eggs and enough flour to thicken; one teaspoonful of baking-powder should be stirred into the flour. Fill a sufiicient number of teacups with this and fruit in layers. Then set the cups in the steamer, and let the water boil underneath it for a full hour. Servo while hot with sugar and cream. Any jam is nice for this, or raw apples chopped fine. Ora-nge II uttev.^Pare eight large oranges, cut into thin slices, pour over them one and one-half cujjs of powdered sugar; boil one pint of milk; and, while boiling, add the yelks of three eggs, one tablespoonful of corn starch made smooth with cold milk; stir constantly, and when thick pour over the fruit; beat the whites of the eggs to a froth, sweeten, pour over the custard and brown in the oven. Servo cold. Cocoanut Cones. — One pound powdered sugar, one-half ditto of grated cocoanut, and the whites of five eggs; whip the eggs as for icing, adding the sugar as you go on, until it will stand alone, then beat in the cocoanut; mold the mixture with your hands into small cones, and set these far enough apart not to touch each other upon buttered paper in a baking pan; bake in a very moderate oven. Dorcas Americiin Cream. — Four eggs, half box gelatine, one quart milk. Put the milk and gelatine on the stove, and when nearly boiling, mix in the yelks well beaten. Beat the whites very stiff; then add sixteen table- spoonfuls of sugar. After they are well beaten, add to the other ingredients just as they come off the stove. Flavor with vanilla or anything you may fancy. Velvet Cream. — One ounce isinglass, a teacup of wine, the juice of a large lemon, one pint of rich cream. . Dissolve the isinglass in wine; rub large lumps of sugar over the lemon to extract the oil; squeeze out the juice, and sweeten to taste. Boil this mixtnr(3 and strain it; when quite cool add the cream, and put it into molds Spirals. — Two eggs beaten quite light, sufficient flour stirred in to make the mixture very stiff; add a pinch of salt and stir again; then roll out quite thin, cut strips about two inches wide and four long, and roll round the fingers as if curling hair. Fry in biitter till of a delicate golden shade, and siuinklo powdered sugar just before serving. Aniljrosia — One pineapple chopped quite fine, one-half box of straw- berries, six bananas sHced and the slices quartered, six oranges sliced and the slices quartered, one lemon cut flue. Sweeten to taste; add one wine- glassful of sherry or Madeii-a, and set away until very cold. Corn Starcli Blanc Mange. — Dissolve three tablespoonfuls of corn starch in new milk; heat a pint of new milk nearly boiling hot, pour in the starch, stir briskly, and boil for three minutes; flavor with lemon or vanilla. COOKING RECIPES. 333 Apple Charlotte. — This ia a seasonable dish. Take two pounds of apples, pare and core them, slice them into a pan, and add one pound of loaf sugar, the juice of three lemons, and the grated rind of one. Let these boil until they become a thick mass, which will take about two hours. Turn it into a mold, and serve it cold with either thick custard or cream. Sno^vflalie. — Dissolve in one quart of boiling water a box of gelatine; when thoroughly dissolved add four cups of white sugar and the juice of two lemons; when nearly cold strain; beat to a stilt' froth the whites of six eggs; mix the whole together, pour into molds and set on ice, or in a very cool place. This served with a boiled custard makes a very pretty dish. I.einon Conserve. — One pound powdered white sugar, quarter pound fresh butter, six eggs, leaving out the whites of two, adding the juice and grated rind of three fine lemons. Put all into a saucepan, stir the whole gently over a slow fire until it gets thick as honey. A delicious spread for bread, biscuits or rolls. Orange Tart. — Grate the vcllow of one orange, squeeze out the juice, being careful to avoid the seeds, the juice and yellow of half a lemon, fourth of a pound of sugar, two ounces butter, carefully melted, two eggs, leaving out the white of one, beat well, stir all together, line a tart tin, or pattypans with thin paste, fill and bake fifteen or twenty minutes. Snow Balls. — Two cups of sugar, one cup of butter, one cup of sweet milk, three ciips of flour, three teaspoonfuls of baking powder, whites of five eggs. Bake in deep square tins. The day following, cut in two-inch squares, taking the oustide off so as to leave it all white; take each piece on a fork and frost upon all sides, and roll in freshly grated cocoanut. Spanish Putf;!. — Put into a saucepan a teacup of water, a tablespoonful of powdered sugar, half a teaspoonful of salt, and two ounces of butter; while it is boiling add sufficient flour for it to leave the saucepan, stir in, one by one, the yelks of four eggs, drop a teaspoonful at a time into boiling lard, fry them a light brown; pour white wine and melted butter over them. Peach Butter. — Pare ripe peaches and put them in a preserving kettle, with sufficient water to boil thcni soft; then sift through a colander, remov- ing the stones. To each quart of peach put one and one-half pound sugar, and boil very slowly one hour. Stir often, and do not lot them burn. Put in stone or glass jars and keep in a cool place. German Trifle— Put one quart of strawberries, or any other fresh fruit, in the bottom of a glass dish; sugar the fruit, cover it with a layer of macaroons, pour over it a custard made with one quart of milk and the yelks of seven eggs, well beaten; sweeten to your taste; when cold, place on the top of the eggs, beaten to a stiff froth, with a little sugar. Havana Butter. — One and a half cups white siigar, whites of three eggs, yelk of one, grated rind and juice of a lemon aud a half, or two small ones. Cook over a slow fire twenty minutes, stirriug all the while. Very nice for tarts or to be eaten as presei-vea. Blanc Mange. — One ounce isinglass to one quart of milk, add sugar, cinnamon and mace to your taste; put it by the fire until the isinglass is dissolved; strain it, and put it in molds to cool. 334 THE HOUSEHOLD. Banana Pie._One who retains the " sweet tooth " of his childhood will find this to his liking: Make a banana pie with a lower crust only; bake the crust first, then till it with sliced bananas and powdered sugar; the fruit will soften sufficiently in a few momenta. Cover the top with whipped cream and eat at once. Orange Salad — Peel one dozen oranges, and cut in slices; put in layers, in a glass dish, sprinkling each layer plentifully with sugar. Squeeze "over this the juice of six oranges, and pour over all a glass of wine or brandy. Sweet oranges are best for this dish with very little sugar, but Mcssinaa are very good, well sweetened. Apple Snow — Put twelve apples in cold water and set them over a slow fire; when soft, drain them, take off the peelings, core them, and put them in a deep dish; beat the whites of twelve eggs to a stiff froth, put half a pound of sugar in the apples, beat them light, then beat in the whites. Elegant. Apple Cream — Peel and core five large apples; boil them in a little water till soft enough to press through a sieve, sweeten, and beat with them the whites of five eggs. Sei-ve with cream poured around them. Cliocolate Cream— Put over the fire one quart of milk; when it comes to a boil add three tablespoonfuls of chocolate. Thicken with corn starch and sweeten to taste. Flavor with vanilla. Serve cold with cream. Caledonian Cream. — Two teaspoonfuls of white sugar, one teaspoonful of raspberry jam, two whites of eggs, juice of one lemon. Beat for half an hour. Serve up sprinkled with fancy biscuits. Q,iiince Snoiv. — One-third pound of quince marmalade to whites of two eggs and quarter pound of sugar; pile in a pyramid in a dish and bake a pale yellow. Cakes. Weights anfl Measures—Two cups floiir weigh one pound; one pint flour, one pound; one pint white sugar, one pound; two tablespoonfuls liquid, one ounce; eight teaspoonfuls liquid, one ounce; one gill liquid, four ounces. Bon-ton Wedding Cake— Beat to a cream six cups butter and four of white sugar, add sixteen eggs beaten, then roll six cups currants washed and dried, three cups seeded raisins, two cups minced citron, two cups almonds blanched and cut fine, half cup lemon peel minced fine, and one tablespoonful cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and allspice, in three pints sifted flour, till they are well dredged with the flour, then add them all at once to the butter, siigar and eggs, add half pint brandy; mix very thoroughly and smooth, put in a largo cake pan well buttered and lined with paper, and bake in a very eneii oven for eight hours, watch it carefullv, and your cake will be elegant; ice it the next day with " transparent icing. ' Snow Jelly CaUe— Beat two eggs in a teacup and fill with rich, sour cream; one teacup of white sugar, one cup of flour, a little soda; not quite half a teaspoonful unless the cream is very sour. Bake in four round tins and brown as little as possible. Have a jelly prepared by soaking four COOKING RE CITES. 335 tablespoonfuls of tapioca in warm water uutil transparent, then add more water and place your dish in boiling water on the stove and cook until a transparent jully; flavor strong with lemon, almond, or wintergrcen. Gela- tine is just as nice as tapioca. This cake is not expensive and is very nice, and can be eaten by dyspeptics. Ricli Coffee CaUe. — Two cups of butter, three of sugar, one of molasses, one of very strong coffee, one of cream or rich milk, the yelks of eight eggs, one pound each of raisins and currants, one-half pound of citron, the same of figs, and five cups of brown flour after it is stirred. Put the flour in the oven until a rich brown, being careful not to burn it. When cold sift with it three teaspooufuls of good baking powder and a little salt. Cut the figs in long strips, dredge all the fruit with flour, beat the cake well up, and bake in moderate oven from four to five hours. Marble Calte. — Light Part. — Whites of three eggs, one-half cup of but- ter, one-half cup of sugar, one-half cup of milk, two cups of flour, one-half teaspoonful of soda, one teaspoouful of croam of tartar. Dark Part. — Yelks of three eggs, one cup of molasses, one-half cxvp of butter, two cups of flour, one teaspoonful soda, one-thix-d cup of milk, and flavor ^vith mixed spices, cloves, cinnamon, nutmeg. Birtter the tin and put in the pan alternate layers of light and dark parts, having the light part on top. Liemoii Cake. — One cup of sugar, four egga, three tablespoonfuls of sweet milk, three tablespoonfuls of melted butter, three teaspooufuls of baking powder and one cup of flour. Sauce. — One lemon (juice and grated rind), one cup of cold water, one cup of sugar, one egg, and tablespoonful of cornstai-ch. Beat lemon rind and egg together; stir in sugar and lemon juice; dissolve cornstarch in cold water. Cook in a tin over hot water till it jellies. Good Plain CooUies. — Two cups of white sugar, two eggs, one cup of butter (melted), one teaspoonful of soda, six tablespoonfuls of cold water; roll thin. You may scatter cocoanut over the top before baking. Another good recipe for cookies: Two cups of molasses, one cup of sugar, one cup of butter, one cup boiling water, two teaspooufuls of soda, two tablespoonfuls of ginger, one tablespoonful of cinnamon; roll as soft as possible. If you like the flavor of coffee, you can use half cold coffee and half water. Sand Hearts—Two pounds of flour, two pounds of sugar, one pound of butter, three eggs. Make up into a dough, and work till the ingredients are well incorporated. After rolling out and cutting into heart-shape, place the cakes on a pan and beat up one egg, spread some of it over them with a feather, and then sprinkle with granulated sugar. If a little coarse-grained all the better, mixing with it a little finely-powdered cinnamon. Watermelon Cake — White part, two cups of white sugar, two-thirds cup of butter, two-thirds cup of milk, three cups of flour, whites of five eggs, one teaspoouful of soda, and two teaspooufuls of cream of tartar. Red part, one cup of red sugar, one half cup of butter, one-half cup of milk, two cups of flour, one cup of raisins, whites of five eggs, one teaspoonful of soda, and two teaspooufuls of cream of tartar. Stone and roll the raisins in powdered sugar, stir into the cake, and turn into the middle of the pan, and pour the white part oyer and around it. 336 THE HOUSEHOLD. Frosting for Cake. — Allow sixteen tablespooufiila pulverized sugar for each egg. Take part of the sugar at first aud sprinkle over the egg; beat them for half an hour, gradually stirring in the rest of the sugar; then flavor. A little lemon juice whitens icing. Strawbei-ry juice or cranberry Byrup gives a pretty pink shade. It may be colored yellow by using some of the yelk of the egg or by putting the grated peel of a lemon or orange in a thin muslin bag and squeezing it hard into the egg and sugar. Currant Cookies. — One pound flour, one-half pound of butter, three- quarters of a pound of sugar, four eggs, one half pound of currants well washed and dredged, one half teaspoonful of soda dissolved in hot water, one-half lemon, grated rmd and juice, one teaspoonful of cinnamon. Drop from a spoon upon a baking tin lined with well-bxittered paper and bake quickly. Cocoaiiut Cake. — Three eggs (the whites of two of them to be used for frosting), two-thirds of a cup of sugar, two-tliirds of a cup of sweet milk, one and two-thirds cups of flour, one teaspoonful of cream of tartar, and a half teaspoonful of soda. Bake in thin round tins; make a frosting of the whites of the two eggs, well beaten, with four dessertspoonfuls of white sugar; spread on the top of the cakes and sprinkle the grated cocoanut with the frosting. Apple Cake. — A pleasant variation on the jelly and cream filling used for double cakes may be made of apples. Beat one egg light in a bowl, and into it a cup of sugar. Add to this the strained juice and grated rind of a lemon. Peel and grate three firm pippins or other ripe, tart apples directly into this mixture, stirring each well in before adding another. When all are in, put into a faiiua kettle aud stir over the fire until the apple custard is boiling hot and quite thick. Cool and spread between the cakes. Angel Cake. — Sift together four times, one and one-half cups of sugar, one cup flour, one teaspoonful cream of tartar; stu- in this very lightly whites of eleven eggs thoroughly beaten. Flavor with one -half teaspoonful of rose extract. Bake fifty minutes in a slow oven, not opening the oven for thirty minutes. Turn pan over on a rack and let cake remain in pan one hour. This is the simplest rule for angel cake that we have ever seen, and is excellent. A Useful Cake._One-third cup of butter, two cups light brown sugar, two eggs, beat all together. One cup of new sweet milk, three cups of sifted flour, throe teaspoonfuls baking powder. Stir all together, and bake in seven layers. For jelly cake take jelly, for orange cake juice and grated rind of one orange, whites of two eggs, make stiff with sugar. For lemon cake white of one egg, juice of one lemon, and teaspoonful extract of lemon. For cocoanut, whites of two eggs, thickened with sugar and grated cocoanut. Dolly Vardeu Cake— Two cups of sugar, two-thirds of a cup of butter, one cup of sweet milk, three cups of flour, three eggs, one-half teaspoonful of soda, one teaspoonful of cream tartar. Flavor with lemon. Bake one- half of this in two pans. To the remainder add one tablespoonful of molasses, one cup of chopped raisins, one-half cup of currants, piece of citron chopped fine, one teaspoonful of cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg. Bake in two pans and put in sheets alternately with a Uttle jelly or white of an egg beaten to a froth. (JO KINO RE GIF E S. 337 Almond Cake—Tlic iollowing recipe for almond cake is a good one. It makes a very nice cake for the basket. Take ouc cup of butter, one cup and a half of sugar, three eggs, half of a cup of milk, two teaspoonfuls of baking powder, about two cups of tiour; flavor with a little almond extract; blanch one pound of almonds; lay aside enough to cover the top of the cake when they are cut iu halves; choi) the rest and put into the cake. After the cake is iu the tin, lay the split ones over the top of the cake; they will rise and bi'own as the cake bakes. This is delicious; try it. Rai»ied Raisin Cake. — Dissolve half a square of compressed yeast in one large cup of milk and stir in one pound of Hoar, let rise; when light beat together eight ounces each of butter and sugar, yelks of four eggs, cup of stoned raisins, some fine cut citron, and grated peel of a lemon; stir now into the dough, beating it very light (it is best to use the hand), let it rise again in a round cake pan and bake iu an even but moderate oven. Sti-awbeii-y or Red Calce — Whites of five eggs; butter, one cup; sugar, one cup; red sugar sand, one cup; or if wanted very dark, two cups of red sugar, leaving out the white; sweet milk, one cup; corn stai'ch, one cup; flour, two cups; halving powder, three teaspoonfuls; then make a white cake and bake same as marble cake, or, if desired, bake in layers and put to- gether with frosting. Fanner's Fruit. Cake. — Soak three cups of dried apples over night in warm water. Chop shghtly in the morniug, and simmer two liours iu two cups of molasses. Add two well-beaten eggs, one cup of sugar, one cup of butter, one dessertsponnlul of soda, flour enough to make i-ather a stiff bat- ter. Flavor with nutmeg and cinnamon to the taste. Bake in a quick oven. lee Cream Cake. — Take the whites of five eggs, one and a half cups of sugar, one-half cup of butter, one cup of milk, one-half toaspoonful of soda, one teaspoonful cream tartar, three ciips of ti<5i;r. Separate tliis mixture and color half with strawberry coloring. Flavor this with vanilla, the white with lemon. Put in the wliito, then the pink. Bake slowly. Rice Cake. — Take half a pound of clarified butter, eight eggs well beaten, leaving out the whites of two, three-quarters of a pound of pounded sugar, and the grated peel of a lemon; mix these well together; then add grounded rice and dried flour, half a pound of each; currants and candied peel may be added, when approved. Pineapple Cake. — Three cups sugar, one cup butter, five eggs, three and one-half cups of flour, one-half cup cold water, two teaspoonfuls baking powder. Bake in layers; spread each layer with a thick icing, then cover with grated pineapple. Place on next layer and treat as before. Gelatine Frosting.— One tablespoonful gelatine, two tablespoonfuls of cold water; when the gelatine is soft, one tablespoonlul of hot water. When entirely dissolved add one cup of powdered sugar, and beat while it is yet warm until white and Ught; lemon to taste. Give good measure to all the ingredients. This frosts one sheet of cake Molasses Cookies. — Two cups and one-half hot molasses, one cup of shortening (half butter and half lard), ouc teaspoonful of ginger and one of cinnamon; dissolve two teaspoonfuls of saleratiis in a cup of lukewarm 338 THE IIOUSEIJO LI). water and throw iu as quickly as possible; add some flour and stir a few miuutes as you would soft cake, theu add moi'e flour; mix as soft as you cau conveniently and roll out. Baiianii Cake. — One cup of butter, two cups sugar, one cup of water or of sweet milk, three eggs, four cups of flour, three small teaspoonfuls of baking powder; mix lightly and bake in layers. Make an icing of the whites of two eggs, and one cup and a half of powdered sugar. Spread this on the layers, and then cover thickly and entirely with bananas, sliced thin. This cake may be flavored with vanilla. The top should be simply frosted. Buttei'inllk Cakes. — We advise those ladies who live in the country, where buttermilk can be easily procured, to try the following receipt, which makes a very good light cake: Into two pounds of flour rub one pound of butter, add three-quarters of a pound of currants, two ounces of candied peel, one pint of buttermilk, and one ounce of carbonate of soda. Mix and beat them well together, and bake in a tin. Baclielors' Buttons. — These delicious little cakes are prepared by rub- bing kvo ounces of butter into five ounces of flour; add five ounces of white sugar, beat an egg with half the sugar and put it to the other ingredients. Add almond flavoring according to taste, roll them in the hand about the size of a large nut, sprinkle them with lump sugar, and place them on tins, with buttered paper. They should be lightly baked. Bread Cake. — Two cups of very light bread sponge, take one cup butter and lard mixed, one cup sugar, one cup molasses, one tablespoonful cinna- mon, half teaspoouful cloves, one teaspoonful soda, one tablespoonful rich milk, two eggs; mix these ingredients well and add to the risen sponge, with flour to make as stift"as cup cake, and one cup of raisins; let rise until light and bake slowly. Coffee Cakes. — Three cups of bread sponge, one-half cup of butter, two tablespoonfuls of sugar, two eggs. Roll thin, cut out as for biscuit; sprinkle with sugar, cinnamon, and bits of butter. Bake slowly. Black Cake. — One and three-quarter potinds of flour, one and one- quarter pounds of brown sugar, one pound of butter, one and one-half pounds of raisins, one and one-half pounds of cuiTauts, one-half pound of lard, four eggs, one pint of milk, one nutmeg, and mace, one teaspoonful of baking powder. Wine and brandy. Filling for L..ayer Cake. — A delicioiis filling for a layer cake is made of one cup of stoned raisins and one lemon peeled, chopped together; mix with this half a cup of cold water and one cup of sugar. Beat this well together; if the cake is well baked, so that there is a crust on the top, put the filling in while the cake is still warm. Be sure to remove the seeds from the lemons. Old-Fashioned " Muster Gingerbread." — One cup molasses, two large spoonfuls butter, one teaspoonful soda dissolved in three tablespoon- fuls boiling water, one teaspoonful ginger; knead well but not hard; roll into sheets, mark with a fork and bake quickly; this will make three com- mon sized sheets; after it is baked and while hot, mix one teaspoonful sweet milk and one of molasses and wet the top. coo KIN a RECIPES. 339 Chocolate Jumbles. — One and a half teacups of white sugar, one-half a teacup of sweet cream, one- half a teacup of butter, one teacup of choco- late, half a toaspoouful of aodn dissolved in cream, one teaspoonful cream of tartar, one egg Woi-k very stiti" with Hour, mix the chocolate and cream of tartar in the tlour, roll thin, cut with a cutter. Honey Cakes— Three and one-half pounds of flour, one and one-half pounds of honey, one-half pound of butter, one-half pound of sugar, half a nutmeg, one tablespoonful of ginger, oue teaspoonful of soda; roll thin and cut in small cakes; bake in a quick oven, cover tight and let stand till moist. They will keep a long tiiue. This recipe has been used in one family for twenty-five years. HuclclebeiTy Cake. — One cup butter, two cups sugar, three cups flour, five eggs, one cup sweet milk, one teaspoonful soda dissolved in hot water, one teaspoonful each of nutmeg and cinnamon. One quart of ripe berries dredged well with flour. Stir them in carefully so as not to burn them. Bake in loaf or card. Boston Cake. — One pound of flour, one poiind of sugar, half a pound of butter, cup of sour cream, five eggs, teaspoonful of soda, spice. Beat but- ter and sugar to a cream, then yelks of eggs beaten very light, dissolve soda in cream, and add then flour alternately with whites of eggs beaten to a froth; spice to taste; fruit can be added; bake in a moderately hot oven, especially if fruit is added. Q,ueen's Cake. — One pound flour, one pound of sugar, half pound of butter, five eggs, flavoring essence to taste, cup of milk, one pound of cur- rants, spice and citron. Beat butter and sugar to a cream, add eggs well beaten, then milk, floiir, spice and fruit. Chopped raisins can bo used in place of currants, if preferred. Bake two hours in a pretty hot oven. Cream Cake. — One-half cup of butter, two cups sugar, three eggs beaten in one cup of milk, three cups of flour, two teaspoonfuls of cream of tartar, one teaspoonful of soda. Cream for middle, one pint of milk, let it come to a boil, one-half cup of flour, oue cup of sugar, two eggs, flavor with vanilla and a lump of butter. This is worth trying. Cream Tea Cakes— Two pounds of flour, a teacup of butter, half pint of sour cream, half a teaspoonful of saleratus, and a little salt. Mix well. If necessary, add more cream. Make into small round calces, and bake fifteen or twenty minutes. When done, open one side, and insert a piece of butter, or serve otherwise, hot. Mrs. Crabti-ee's Cake. — One cup sugar, one-half cup butter, three eggs, leaving out whites of two for frosting; one-half cup of sweet milk, one- lialf tcasi)oonfal soda, one teaspoonful cream of tartar, two cups, not quite full, flour. Frns(inf). — Whites of two eggs, beat to a froth, oue and half cups sugar; oue cup raisins chopped fine, one cup English walnuts, chopped fine. liatly Fingers. — Take two eggs, one cup of sugar, half a cup of butter, half a cup of sweet milk, two teaspoonfuls of baking powder; add enough flour to form a soft dough. Take a small piece of dough, flour it and roll with your hands as large as Vour finger; cut vhich may either be finished with a narrow furniture gimp or tufts of crewel; the bottom is covered with silk, which is dra'rni to a point at the end and finished by a tassel; the top is ornamented with two woolen tassels and a rosette. Table Covers, Etc. — A rich and handsome cover may be made of aida canvas, either square or in scarf style, with a wine-colored plush square in the center, fastened on with leather stitching in yellow floss. The edge of canvas should be raveled out and knotted into fi-iuge, about three inches from which feather-stitch a band of plush, and above this may be a design worked in crewels if it is a scarf, or, if square, in each corner. " Crazy silk patch- work " bands are much used for decorating ta- ble covers, curtains and chair covers. The pieces must be small and of elegant silk, satin and velvet. A simple and pretty table cover for a bed- room lamp-stand may be made of pale blue canton flannel trimmed with antique lace or with black velvet rib- b o n , feather-stitched on with yellow floss, and the edge finished with a fringe of blue worsted tied in. One similar to this made of cardinal all-wool canvas or basket flannel is pretty for the sitting-room. Neat and pretty bureau or wash-stand covers are made of scrim or dotted muslin in scarf shape, trimmed with deep lace and lined with pink or blue silesia. Serviceable and pretty covers for the sofa pillow and chair cushions in the sitting-room are made of the striped or plaid turkish towels, which are so inexpensive and yet pleasing to the eye. The prettiest pillow shams used are those made of four NO. 1. -CLOTHES BKUSH HOLDER. NO. 2. — BACK OF NO. 1. LADIES' FANCY WORK. 365 small hem-stitched handkerchiefs, joined with lace insertion, tinished with a frill of lace, and lined to match the other appointments of the room. They need not be made of expensive handkerchiefs; the thinner the better. For- tunate are those who possess one of those large wicker or rattan chairs, as they may be decorated so hand- somely with colored satin ribbon, run in and tied in bows, or a handsome scarf about twelve inches wide, and long enough to hang over the back and go down the back and seat, and hang over the seat a little. It may be made of a strip of plush in the center, and a strip of embroidery in crewel work on felt, satin, momie cloth or canvas of some contrast- ing color, or worsted work. Line and join the seams with fancy stitches in silk, and finish the ends with fringe. Another handsome decoration of a rocker would be a cushion covered with plush or embroidered can- vas. Put a puff of satin around the edge, and cover the seam with small che- nille cord. A pillow roll for the head-rest at the back should be made to match, and tied on with ribbons. Double-faced canton ilannel in wine color and olive green is much used for lambre- quins, table covers, curtains for archways and double- doorways, and also for win- dows, but it may fade when brought in such close contact with the sun and light. The trimming is usually a band of old gold, feather-stitched on, and the edge is finished with fringe or a hem. Hanging Basket. — The basket is wicker- woi-k, and the band at the top is of hght blue cloth four inches deep, with a scalloped piece a darker shade over it. The long stitches on the dark cloth are of tlie lightest shade of blue eilk, with a silver thread running with it. Throiigh the wickers run satin HANGING BASKET. 356 THE HOUSEHOLD. ribbon. Combine the two shades of blue in the tassels, with the silver wound round the tops of them. Heavy cord and tassels to hang it up by. The same design of trimming mil answer for any shaped basket. Ornamental Scrap Bag or Basket. — This basket, to hang against the wall, is composed of cardboard, covered with gray linen, embroidered with brown wool, and fastened in a cane stand. Cut out iirst a piece of card- board for the back and the bottom, and five pieces for the front. Bind them with a croasway strip of gray linen, cover them with gray linen, and work on the outside with brown wool the design in point russe, the stitches being taken through the cardboard. Then line the pieces with linen and sew them OKNAMZNTAL SCEAP BAG. together. Next prepare five pieces of thin cane, four and one-half inches long, for the edges of the back, and five four and one-half inches long, five four inches long, and six five inches long, for the front of the basket. At one-half inch from the ends cut a little hollow in the canes, and then fit them to each other and tie them together, first with strong thread and then with brown ribbon, according to illustration, and secure the basket iuto the stand. For the cover, cut a piece of cardboard according to the shape of the upper part of the back, doubled. Cut it in half through along the center, cover the side on which you made the incision with linen, and work on one- half of the design seen in illustration to the back of the basket, double the cover, sew the edge of the linen together, and sew on a cord, LADIES' FANCY WOIiK. 357 leaving a loop iu the middle. to hang up the basket. Two brass rings sewn at the back serve Toilet Pin- cu^liioii. — T h e foundation is a square o f lining about seven inches, s t u If e d with sawdust; it is covered with plain satin; satin rib- bon of a contrast- ing color is folded into points, and ihsposed accord- ing to design; tassels ornament the TOILET PINCUSHION. comers; a squai-e of fine Irish linen, six inches when hemmed (the hem one inch deep), is placed corner- wise over the cushion; this square i s ornamented with drawn threads and cross-stitch em- broidery in silk the color of the satin. NEEDLE CUSHION. IVeedle Cnslilon. — We give a design for a needle cushion, the frame of wliich can be made of rustic work. The leet can be connected by a chain, as the sketch indicates. The cushion can be filled with emery and or namented with any kind of needle- work that may suit the fancy. The edge may be ornamented with fringe, gimp, o r other convenient and suitable material. Pen Wiper. — Twelve disks of cloth of various colors are edged with ci-ystal beads. The rounds may be of any size wished, accord- ing as the pen wiper is required, large or small. They are then folded in four, and fastened to- gether in the center witli a few stitches of strong silk. "Wheat Ear Eflgiiig. — Cast on five stitches. 1. Two plain stitches; thread over, one plain, thi-ead over twice and purl two pen wiper, together. 2. Thread over twice, purl two together, four plain. 3. Knit three plain, thread over one, plain, 358 THE EOUSEHOLB. thread over twice, purl two together. 4. Over twice, purl two together, five plain. 5. Knit lour plain, over, one plain, over twice, purl two together. 6. Over twice, purl two together, six plain. 7. Kuit six plain, thread over twice, purl two together. 8. Over twice, pui-1 five together, three plain; then commence again at first row. Music PovifoHo and Stand. — This stand, as we illustrate it, is made of turned wood, with a portfolio made of pasteboard, covered with a design ot needle-work. Music stands of this sort are very convenient, as every musical family knows; but such a stand can be made as well, look as appro- MtrSIC PORTFOLIO AND STAND. priate and perhaps more ornamental, if made of rustic work. The woods, and often even the wood-pile, will afford ai)undant material for its manufac- ture, and when made by ingenious and loving hands, renders it, though of homely and inexpensive materials, nearly priceless in value. Basket for Fruit Pretty baskets for serving large fruit for luncheon are easily made. Take four pieces of cardboard and cover with any material preferred, and on each piece work or paint the flower of the fruit which the basket will contain. Fasten the pieces together by a knotted cord. Over the fruit throw a square of delicate macrame lace. LADIES' FANCY WORH:. 359 A I>esso» in Decorating. — Choose a plain, smooth, red-clay flower-pot. If it la rather stupid-lookiug all the better. With j'our box of water-color paiuts, lay broad bands of dull blue around top and bottom. If you prefer, you can paint the intervening strip black, instead of leaving it red, and the bands may be divided by a narrow line of yellow. Now you are ready for the pictures. If you possess some sheets of little scrap-chromos, you will soon be rid of your task. Select some very odd, grotesque ones, that will surprise each other as much as possible— a huge butterfly, tiny Madonna, reptiles, sprays, zebras, and the like. Paste them on in the most disorderly order you can imagine, and your work is complete. Another method is to cut from picture papers a quantity of small designs, being careful to ti'im them very neatly. Paint these all black, and lay on a dull red or blue ground. Whichever plau you choose, be cai'eful and not decorate too pro- fusely, as that would be quite unlike the Jaimnese, while it would hint most strikingly of a merry, mischievous little girl. Fancy Card Basket. - is lined with quilted satin, embroidered with silk. -The foundation of this basket is of wire, and it The drapes are of cloth pinked at the edges and FANCY CARD BASKET. 2 one. 3, 4, Antique Ijace—Cast on iifteen stitches. 1. Knit three, over, naiTOw, knit three, orer, knit one, over, knit six. Knit six, over, knit three, over, narrow, knit three, over, narrow, knit Knit three, over, narrow, narrow again, over, knit five, over, knit six. Cast off four, knit one, over, narrow, knit three, narrow, over, narrow, knit one, over, narrow, knit one. 5. Knit three, over, nari'ow, knit one, over, narrow, knit one, narrow, over, knit three. 6. Knit three, over, knit one, over, slip two, knit one, pass the slipped stitches over the knitted one, over, knit four, over, narrow, knit one, begin again from the fii-st row. How to Make a Screen — The accompanying illustration is that of a beautiful but expensive screen, which, however, may serve as a guide in the making of a much cheaper one. The frame-work of this is of caiwed wood, the screen itself of embroidered silk, covered with sheer white muslin, with 360 THE HOUSEHOLD. a plaited edge, which is put over the silk for protection. The height and width of a screen may vary, of course, according to the size of the heater or grate, and may consist of one piece as in the illustration, or of two, three, or half a dozen, joined by by hinges and resembling the con- sti"uction of cloth bars. Black walnut is a handsome wood of which to make the frame, which may be fashioned plainly or orna- mented to one's taste; but if that be to expensive, a cheaper wood may be employed, and stained to imitate something better. Cherry is again growing into great favor, and nothing could be prettier than a frame made of that. For the shade or screen proper a great variety of materials may be used. For convenience, make a light frame (like those over which mosqiiito netting is drawn for windows), which will neatly SCEEEN. fit inside the other; over this stretch smoothly and nail a piece of strong muslin or canvas, as the ground work for the ornamentation; in lieu of this tin might be used; wood is too much warped by the action of the heat. The canvas may be covered with gay-colored chintz, at twelve and a half cents per yard, or handsome cretonne at sixty cents, or brocaded silk, painted satin, or a large tine print or engraving or embroid- ered cardboard or canvas — almost anything one's fancy may devise. A very showy screen recently seen on exhibition had a black background on which was pasted all sorts, sizes, colors, and kinds of cheap prints, carefully cut out and applied withoiit any regularity of design, and then the whole heavily varnished. The effect was very gay and sparkling. Pressed ferns and autumn leaves, artistically arranged on a white or light background, or even black look finely; the back of the leaves should be well touched with mucilage, so as to adhere firmly. For a black background, velveteen, or plain black paper, to be had where wall paper is sold, are good. Slipper Case. — Cut two pieces of card- slipper case. board the size desired; cover them with momie cloth. Then cut of cardboard a smaller piece for the pocket; cover it on one side with the cloth, and fasten it in the center of one of the large pieces; then finish where it is joined with a worsted cord. Overhand the LADtEB^ Pa NOT TTOi?^. S61 twc large pieces together, and sew the cord all around the edge. To hang it, sew on two large brass rings at the back of the two top-side scallops. A Handsome Lace Spi-ead.—With forethought and some money one can easily make a beautiful set of pillow shams and spreads without any great expense. From time to time buy, as you see tho.yo which please you and are cheap, squares of antique lace; they come in all kinds of pretty de- signs. Choose those of uniform size and of the same quality. When you have enough set them together with a stripe of satin. Remnants of satin can be purchased sometimes at very low figures. For a border, catch the squares together diagonally and fit it in half squares of the satin. Put the edge of the lace squares over the satin, having first taken the precaution to overcast very delicately the edges of the satin. The spread may be lined or not, as you please. The pillow covers should be made to match. With proper care a set of this kind will last a long time, and when one considers the com- fort of always ha\'ing a handsome cover- ing for the bed at hand to dress it up for great occasions, the outlay of time and money does not appear to have been wasted. Hanging Card-Receiver and "WatcU Case. — Take two pieces of card, ten inches long and three and one-half inches wide, and cut the ends pointed as the design shows. Cover both pieces with velvet or sUk, and embroider a vine of flowei-8 on one end, or if preferred paint in water colors. Overhand the two pieces together and fini.sh the edge with •gilt cord. Make a ring of twisted cord at the top. Bend the card up at three inches to form the rack, and fasten at the sides with cord and tassels. Twist a large hook with gilt wire and sew an inch below the ling at the top, for the watch. To Prepare Skeleton Leaves — A CAED-BECEIVER AND WATCH fiASE. ready method of preparing skeleton leaves is the following: Make a solution of concentrated lye in hot water, in the proportion of about two ounces of lye to a quart of water; or, if this is not convenient, prepare the lye by dissolving four ounces of common wash- ing soda in a quart of water, adding about two ounces of fresh quick lime, boiling for about a quarter of an hour, and when cool decanting the liquid from the sediment. Place the leaves in this solution, and allow it to boil for about an hour, or until by trial the pulpy part of one of the leaves allows itself to be readily removed. When this is the case, the leaves are carefully removed, one by one, floated on a sheet of glass, and the pulp is removed by gently tapping or beating with a painter's stiff brush, or the like, taking care not to apply a rubbing motion, which would destroy the fibres as well. From time to time the disintegrated pulp should be washed away by allow- ing a stream of water to flow on the glass. When this operation has been 3fi2 THE HOUSKHOLI). TOILET BOTTLE CASE. properly performed, nothiug of the leaf remaius belimd but the network of fibres, or the skeleton. The next step is to bleach the skeleton leaves, which is easily done by placing them in a shallow dish of water, to which a small quantity of chloride of Imie has been added (say about a teaspoon- ful to a quart). In a day or two, at most, the fibres will be found bleached to a p u r e white, when they should be removed to a vessel of fresh water for final cleansing, in which they should remain for an- other day. From tlus they should b e re- moved, placed between the folds of a soft linen cloth, and allowed to dry; they are then ready to be pressed, curled, or arranged into ornamental designs, according to fancy. Another method of disintegrating the pulp of the leaves, which is sometimes followed, is to place them in a dish of water, keeping them beneath the water by the use of a sheet of glass, and exposing them to the sun- light. The disintegi'ation takes i:)lace slowly, requu-ing two weeks or thereabouts to complete it. The subse- quent operations are the same as those above described. Toilet Bottle Case. — The case is made on a circular foundation of cardboard, four inches wide, lined with black silk and covered with black cloth Vandykes round the edge. The latter is embroidered in satin overcast and feather stitch (see Fig. 2). The flowers are worked alternately in white and blue, the rosebuds with pink, and the wheat ears with maize silk. The branches and sprays are worked with several shades of olive and fawn- colored silk. On this foundation is sewn a cylindrical case of cardboard, two and a half inches high, and lined within and without with black satin. Two box-plaited ruchings of satin are arranged round it, and above these is a Vandyke sti'ip of black cloth embroidered in the same designs and colors as above described. Parlor Ornament. — Purchase a plain Indian straw basket, one of neat manufacture and pretty shape; paint it black; this gives an eflective background for the fruit designs painted on the sides and ends; line the basket with brightly tinted velvet, cover the TOILET BOTTLE CASE. — FIG. 2. LADIES' FANCY WORK. handle with silver or gold cord; the same should run along the edges of the opening. This dainty piece of home art forms a lovely card basket. A common straw hat, a size to tit a boy of six years, can be made into an artistic novelty. Face the brim with satin nicely pleated; fill the crown with artificial flowers; secure them from tumbling out by long loops of threads; suspend the hat from the top of a cabinet or music stand; the effect is very bright and pleasing. Industrious fingers willing to devote time to the manipulation of home decoration may shape out many lovely things from bits of silk, satin, velvet, and scraps of all wool goods. The top of a table covered with work of this kind is very handsomo, and a like decoration for a carved bracket is remarkably showy. CatcU-All._The frame-work of this article is made of pieces of cardboard sewed together The materials required for the outside are drab Holland cre- tonne, flowers, fancy braid, and worsteds to match flowers in color. A cord i s drawn through eye- let holes at the top of the bag, and a large tassel of wor- sted finishes the bot- tom. A Rose tt e .. — Rosettes are often useful in tidies, bor- ders and the like. To make the above, begin with a chain of four stitches, and unite in a ring. In this loop work twenty trebles. Second round. — catch all. Work one cham and one treble over each treble of the last round. Third round. — * On the treble and next chain make a leaf thus: The cotton twice round the needle, take up the stitch, work through two, cotton on the needle, draw through two; cot- ton on the needle, take up the stitch again, work through two, cotton on the needle, work through two; cotton on the needle, take up the next stitch, and work all off the needle, two loops at a time; then four chain. Repeat from *. Fourth round. — One DC on the middle of the four chain, * five chain, one DC on the middle of the next four chain; repeat from *. Fasten off neatlv at the end of the round. 364 THE HOirSEItOLD. Ottoman. — Materials: Wine and canary-colored cloth, heavy cord and taasels. Make a cushion of ticking a foot square, fill it tightly with curled hair, then make a case of the wine-colored cloth, and in the seam round the edge of the case full in one edge of the piece to form the puff, then turn it up, and turn in the upper edge and box-plait it, and sew firmly on the top of the case, leaving a space in the center nine inches square. Cut of the light cloth a piece for the center Uke the design, and braid it with gilt, OTTOMAN. ^^'^' ^1"6, and black braids, having the edge of the star pinked. Fasten it to the cushion in each point with a large bead, and finish each corner with a tassel. Draw the cord round the ottoman firmly, aud tie in a knot, leaving a loop in the center to lift it by. Toilet or IVorlt Basket. — Use black, polished, round wooden or baiuboo rods, an inch in circumference, two thin plates of wood four inches long and two and three- fifths inches wide, white satin, green veloui'S, shaded green, pink, ]iurple, aud brown twist silk, fine gold cord, green silk ribbon one-fifth of an inch wide, four white Venetian beads, four bronze rings, stout cardboard, small steel tacks, white sewing silk. The frame of our model is constructed of four pillar-like rods, each eight inches long, and holding Ijetweeu them two boxes, each consisting of eight wooden or bamboo I'ods, and a thiu wood bottom four inches long, and two aud three-fifths inches wide. The lower box, which is one and four-fifths inches high, requires four rods five and three-fifths inches long, and four rods four and one-fifth inches long. The upper box, which is two and one-fifth inches high, is of exactly the same size at the bottom, while for the top, which curves out- ward, the two long rods must be each six inches long, while the cross rods require a length of five and one-fifth inches. Small steel tacks connect the TOILET OR WORK BASKET. LADIES' FAXCY WOBK. 365 various pai-ts, those which are arranged into squares beiug notched where they intersect. Each of these squares encloses a pasteboard box covered with green velours on the inside, and on the oiitside with white satin, deco- rated by an embroidery of colored silks. The box is fastened at the top to rods by means of ovei-hand elitches of gold cord, making the rod appear as if twisted with the gold cord. The bows decorating the upper corners of the boxes are made of green ribbon, ten inches long, sewed to the rods in the middle and then tied. The handle, which is fastened to the upper box by moans of stool tacks, and is decorated with two ribbon bows, measures fif- teen inches in length, and is to bo wound about Avith gold cord. The four pillars are decorated at their tijis by Venetian beads resting ou bronze i-ings. Sofu. Pillow—Knitting or crochet. An exceedingly comfortaljle pillow to hang on a chair-back or to use when traveling is well illustrated in the cut herewith presented. Knit or crocheted in squares of diflereut colors, CEOCHET SOFA PILLOW OR liOLSTEK. almost any stitch may bo used, according to the fancy of the workers, and when stuffed and finished, with cord and tassels for the ends, and hung ou the back of the " old rocking chair," it forms no mean addition to the com- fort and ornamentation of a room. The predominant colors of the room will suggest the appropriate ones to be used, but should there bo no decided color prevaihng, a pillow made of alternate dark red and olive squares will be found both handsome and durable, as far as showing dust or soil from the head. Plush Blosatc. — The designs for this new and beautiful work can be pur- chased all ready prepared for use; but as many would like to try it who may find it difficult to procure them, they can, by following the given direc- tions, cut and arrange their own. One best suited to it is a border of autumn leaves, as the rich, variegated colors can be very effectively rendered in gold, crimson, brown and green. Maple leaves are prettiest, both in form ami color, and the size should be varied, some large, others small, arrang- ing them as a border. If possible, select several of the natural leaves, and cut the exact pattern in papgr. The plush may be purchased in small quan- 366 THE HOUSEHOLD. titles, an eighth of a yard of each color sufficing for a niiniber of leaves. Lay the paper patterns on the plush and cut with a pair of sharp scissors leaves from the dififerent colors. The groundwork is of plush; for instance, a scarf for the to^) of an upright piano may be of olive pluah with a lining of cardinal satin, and a border of autumn leaves. These should be prettily arranged across the ends of the scarf, and each leaf basted to keep it in place. The edges are fastened down with tinsel or gold thread, and a.^ it sinks into the soft plush, shows only a slight, glistening outline. The stems should be worked with silk matching the diii'erent shades of the leaves. The veining of the leaves is also worked with the same color of silk, and as it makes only a slight depression or crease in the plush, gives a very pretty natural effect. The leaves can be shaded by using different shades of plush. For instance, one-half of a leaf may be light crimson, the other a shade or two darker; or the point of a leaf may be turned ovei", sho wing light green against dark. Ai-ranging them in this way gives variety, also less stiflfneas of design. HANDKEECHIEF BOX. These same ]>lush designs may be iised on sateen or cloth, although in this case the term " mosaic" woiild not be applied. Tbe design described would, however, be very pretty arranged on a groimd-work of either of these ma- terials. This work is very beautiful for table covers, lambrequins, portieres or any large article that may require a decorative border. Handkercliief Box. — Take a fancy letter-paper box that is square, and opens in the center; make a tiifted cushion of satin on the top, and put an insertion of white lace around it with the same color underneath. If careful, with a very little glue, the sides can be covered with satin, finishing the edges with a silver or gilt cord. Complete the box by placing a little per- fume sachet inside. This makes a pretty present and is not expensive, as often small pieces of silk will answer the purpose of covering. Knittefl Insei-tioiis. — No. 1, Twist pattern— Cast on six stitches for each pattern. Pirst six rows: Plain. Seventh row: Slip three loops on a spare needle, leave them and knit the next three; then knit those on the spare needle. Repeat these seven rows. No. 2, Feather Pattern — Cast on twenty- LAJJIKS' FANCY WORK 367 five stitches for each pattern. First row: Kuit two together four times; then over and one plain eight times; then knit two together four times, and purl the last stitch. Second, third, and fourth rows: Plain. Kepeat from first row. Wall Pocket— We give herewith an illustration of a wall-pocket, which is ornamental and useful. It may be used for visiting cards, letters, papers, eewiug-materials, slippers, and various odds aud ends. Almost any kind of material may be used, but something bright has more attractiveness. The one the drawing was made from was of silk, of blue silk, lined with corn color, with cord of blue and gold, aud with raised embroidery in silk. The framework is cut from stiflf paper. When designed with especial reference to slippers, the pocket is cut quite in the shape of a slipper, with a loop at the heel, from which it is hung. For Christmas gifts they form pretty ob- jects for devoted fingers to manufacture. Floral Transparency. —The pretty transparency represented on next page is made by arrangingjiressed ferns, grasses, and autumn leaves on a 368 THE HOUSEHOLD. pane of T\'indow-glass, which should be obscured, laying another transparent pane of the same size over it, and binding the edges with libbon, leaving the group imprisoned between (use gum tragacanth in putting on the binding). It is well to secure a narrow strip of paper iinder the ribbon. The binding should bo gummed all around the edge of the first pane, and dried before the leaves, ferns, etc., are arranged; then it can be neatly folded over the second pane without difficulty. To form the loop for hanging the trans- parency, paste a binding of galloon along the upper edge, leaving a two-inch loop free in the center, afterward to be pulled through a little slit in the final binding. These transparencies may either be hung before a window, or, if preferred, secured against a pane in the sash. In country halls a beautiful effect is pro- duced by placing them against the side-lights of the hall door. Where the side-lights are each of only a single pane, it is well worth while to place a single trans- parency against each, filling up the entire space, thus aifording ample scope for a free arrangement of the ferns, grasses, and leaves, while the effect of the light is very fine. Leaves so arranged will pre- serve their beautiful ap- pearance throughout the entire winter. Flower Patterns for Enibi-oidery. — Great taste can be dis- played in selecting ap- propriate flower patterns for an embroidered de- sign. The double and single hyacinths, com- bined with a tulip, give a lovely effect. The fine dark blue of the former and the scarlet-margined yellow of the latter show to splendid advantage on black velvet or deep brown satin. White and purple lilacs mixed with the gold and yellow crocus give a striking design for floss and bead needlework, on a dark brown of some rich goods. The light blue crocus, with its pretty tippings of snow white, combines richly with the double red anemone, a de- sign well suited for a center-piece on a table or a piano cover. The border would look handsome worked in some sort of creeping plant, with the cor- ners finished oft' in star anemones clustered with autumn leaves. The Belle Laura tulip is of a lovely violet hue enhanced in beauty by the mixture of Avhite; this flower ia very effective in large pieces of embroidery with a touch FLOHAL TBANSPABENCr. LADIES' FANCY WORK. 869 of brilliant green foliage. A cluster of oxalia, with their brilliant hiies and dark green leaves, give a charming eiTect. Combined with pansies, this de- sign is a lovely pattern for the center of a sofa pillow; the border should be ■worked in buds and smilax, A bunch of heliotrope wrought in silk and worsted on black velvet gives a handsome design for applique work on satin to be iised for various decorative effects in upholstery. The best and most correct designs in flowers are made from the natural plants. The tints are easily matched in silk and worsted, and even in beads the various colors are given. Lamp Shade. — Materials: Three sheets of tissue paper, each one a shade darker than the other; six fancy colored pictures, one-eighth yard of white tarlatan, and one sheet of gilt paper. Cut six pieces of cardboard the shape of pattern, cover them with the tarlatan, then glue the gilt paper on LAMP SHADE. one side of each, just turning it over the edges. Then cut of the tissue paper square pieces the size of pattern; fold them across from corner to comer; then fold again, and n;n the four edges together and draw up tightly, form- ing the leaves. Sew them on as seen in the design, putting in the different shades. Fasten each section of the shade together by just tying at the top and bottom with coai'se, waxed thread. Glue a fancy picture in the center of each section. Q,uilt. liiiiiii^. — A handsome lining for a fancy silk quilt is made of plain surah silk, or, if that is too expensive, plain soft cashmere of a pretty color serves very nicely. It is often a question how the lining shall be tacked to the outside without marring its beaiity. A very pretty way is to first baste the outside carefully ou the lining— then divide the lining into squares, marking the coi-uers of each square with a thread. A pretty star may then be embroidered at every point, catcliing the two sides together, but taking care that the stitches do not show on the right side. A cardinal lining with GLOVE BOX AND COVER. 370 THE nOUSEHOLD. stars embroidered in yellow sUk is quite showy. A darker or lighter shade of the same color as the lin- ing used for the stars makes a tasteful combination. Glove Box ami Cover. — A glove box of the kind we illustrate may be cut and made from a large paper box. After the edges are neatly sewed, paste neatly over the outside a cover of white muslin, to make the box strong. Line and cover both box and cover with silk, iinishiug the edges with large silk cord or chenille. The outside may be ornamented in a variety of ways. Additional ornamen- tation may be secured by cutting curves in the sides of the cover. Both admit of much ingenuity and display of taste in arrangement and trimming. Attached covers are convenient for careless users, and much more easily trimmed, being simply fastened at the back, and lifted and closed like a trunk cover. Instead of using silk as a cover- ing, perforated paper (never get that in wliite, as it soon soils) lain against a smooth paper or cloth of a different color, and the silver and gold paper, perforated with large, square meshes, with initials or other ornament wrought in chenille, silk, or worsted, may be used to advantage. Sacliet — The sachet is of old-gold plush, embroidered with rosebuds and leaves, and trimmed with lace and bows of ribbon. Handkercliief Cases. — If for a gen- tleman, the size of the case would be eleven inches by eighteen inches, doub- ling down the center; for a lady, four- teen inches square; it shoiild be lined with silk, and lightly wadded, the wad- ding being scented. Cut a piece of satin, twenty-six inches long, and eleven inches broad, and line it with fine flan- nel, and a piece of satin quilted before- sachet. hand over it. Turn in the edges all round, and sew over neatly; fold the two ends in toward each other, until they meet to within about an inch. Sew over the double edges at the sides, and fold up the case. The handkerchiefs slip in on either side, into the two LADIES' FANCY WORK. sn pockets thus formed, the plain ones being arranged on one side and the fancy ones on the other. These cases are convenient if they are scented, which is done by sprinkUng sachet on to the flannel before the satin lining is added, and with a thin layer of cotton wool above. We may add that the satin should be quilted on to a thin piece of lining. We have given the dimen- sions to allow for turning in. There is another shape made like a large en- velope. The size and shape must be similar to the other, only the upper part which forms the flap to the envelope is brought to a point in the centei-, Avith each side turned in. A silk cord is sometimes added all round the sachet, and finished off at the point with a loop, which forms the button-hole, while the button is placed on the lower side of the case. liadies' Fancy Bag Pnrse. — The lower part of the purse bag is formed of black silk, in spider-web lace, lined with crimson silk, as also the upper part of the bag. Cords of crim- son silk draw the purse together near the top, and tassels are placed at each division and one at the bottom. Croclietecl Shawl. Mate- rial: Six ounces of Shetland wool. Make a chain the length of the longest edge of the shawl, which is three-cornered. The chain should be a multijjle of six. After making the chain * throw the thread over the needle and catch into the third stitcli from the needle, draw the thread through, thread over, draw through two, thread over, through two. This is the treble crochet stitch. Make eight more of these stitches in the same chain atitch. Put the needle through the third stitch from the shell and draw the thread through this stitcli and the one on the needle. This is single crochet stitch. Eepeat fi-om * to the end of the chain and break the thread. 2. Catch the thread m the middle stitch of the first shell of the preceding row. * Make three chain stitches, thread over the needle, put the needle through the next stitch to the one in which the thread is fastened, draw thread through, thread over, through two; keeping this loop and the foi-mer one on the needle, put thread over and make the same kind of stitch in the next stitch of the shell. Continue in this manner until there are ten stitches on the needle, then throw the thread over and draw through all the stitches, four chain and single crochet into the middle stitch of the next shell. Repeat from * LADTES' FANCY BAG PTJESE. 372 THE HOUSEHOLD. 3. Catch the thread in the same stitch as the preceding row and * make nine trebles in the middle of the first shell of the second row, single crochet into the single crochet at the end of the first shell in second row. Kepeat from *. 4. Like second row. 5. Like third row. Scissor Case and Needle Cusliioii._This is a neat little case intended to hang iipon the wall near the sewing machine or work table. Onr pattern is made up of brown silk, and finished with three rows of cords. The cords are also stitched on as finish for the pockets, which are sewn on the case itself. Cut from the illustration a pattern in pasteboard and a similar one in silk, allowing a margin to turn in. To make it more substantial line the silk with thin muslin. The back can be covered with cam- bric to match the color of the silk. The needle cushion measures three inches across, lined with musUn, and drawn in at the edge with a small cord to give it the proper curve; fill mth emery, fine sand, or v.'ool, if preferred. Table Mats. — Make a chain of twenty-five stitches. DC. all around to the beg^inning and turn the work. There is one stitch upon the hook; put tlie hook back through the last loop through which the cotton was drawn, put the cotton over the hook and draw it througli that loop alone; then put the cot- ton over the hooli and draw through the two loops upon the hook — DC. the row of loops on the back side of the mat to the end. Crochet twice in each of the three adjoining loops at the end — DC. to the other end. Crochet twice in each of the two adjoming loops at that end, bringing the ends of the first row around the mat together. Bring the cotton in front of the hook which has upon it one loop, put the hook through a loop at the end of this row where it commenced, and draw the cotton through the two loops upon the hook joining the row. Turn the work over, put the hook back through the last loop that the cotton was drawn through, put the cotton over the hook, draw throiigh that SCISSOR CASE AND NEEDLE CUSHION LADIES' FANCY WORK. 373 loop alone, put the cotton over the hook and draw through the two Icops. Crochet twice in the first loop of each of the two loops that had two stitches put in them. Proceed down the side to the other end— crochet twice in the first of each of the throe loops that had two stitches put in them, then go on to the begin- ning of the row, join and turn over the mat as hefore. Continue until the mat is of sufficient size. For the border pass one loop and make in the second five TO. stitches. Pass one loop and fasten down by DC. in the next and so on around the mat. The length of the chain in the middle of course determines the size of the mat. For coffee and tea pots make a chain of six, and fasten toget'ier. Crochet twice in every stitch to start the six points for Andening. The cotton suitable is Dex- ter's No. 6 four threads. A hook small enough to make it very comi^act should be used. The stitches to be crocheted all the time are upon the back of the mat. The mat is worked in ribbed (DC.) crochet, the hook being placed in the out- side half of each loop, and the woi'k turned at the end of each round. The increasings are, of course, to turn the corners, and the rounds are completed by an HC. before turning back. Hanging Portfolio. — This is made of pasteboard, covered with gilt or white satin paper. It can be of any size you ^vish. It may be left plain or a picture pasted on in front. Lace the sides together with a cord or ribbon. Hang with a cord and tassel. This is ornamental and useful for holding small articles. Plnsh Thermometer Frame.- licmove from the tin frame an ordinary thermometer, and cut a piece of stiff pasteboard to fit it like a picture frame. It should be about two inches ^ride. Cut a piece of Hght blue plush to fit the frame exactly, and gum it on the back. Draw this smoothly over the frame and tuni the raw edges of the plush over to the under side of the frame. Paint on the plush a pretty design of golden-rod. Cut a piece of pasteboard, exactly the size of the frame, and cover with light-blue silk or paper muslin. Overhand the edges of this and the plush together with blue sewing silk. Sew across the bade a loop by which to hang it, or if it is pre- ferred standing, fasten securely at the back a long wire, shaped hke a hair- pin. This makes a very good stand. HANGING PORTFOLIO. 374 THE HOVSEHOLB. Visiting Card Stand. — The frame ia made of black varnished rattan, but may bo made of wood in the form of rustic work. There are two flat plates which may be ornamented to suit by j^aintiug. The edges of these are hung by bead ornaments. Take a small strip of oil-cloth which fits around the edges of the respective plates, measure equal distances, sew black jet buttons on and string bronze beads, thus constructing the first row. Then take gold or amber-colored beads and make a second row; the third row of white beads. Stick these around the jet buttons to the oil-cloth. The four doiible twisted rows may be made of different colored beads. The ends of these can be sewed on to the oil-cloth, and, after they are se- curely fastened, cut the oil-cloth which shows from under the ornaments, and then fasten it to the edges of the plates. Bag for ICnitting- Work — lu these days of knitting and crocheting, a small pocket or bag is con- venient to hold the balls of wool, silk or cotton, and the needles or crochet hooks. This knitting-work pocket ia worn attached to the belt, and is made of ecru linen and lined with red satin, or any other material that one may fancy. Cut from each of these materials five jjieces of the following dimensions: Two inches wide at the top, not al- lowing for seams, one-half inch wide at the bottom and six inches long. These pieces are cut so as to bulge out at the sides, and are each four inches in width at the widest part. Embroider the linen in any design that you may fancy, but it seems desirable that this should be in outline stitch, and done with red silk. Join the linen pieces so that the seams are on the right side; notch them so that they will lie flat, and cover them with red silk braid, cross-stitched with some con- trasting tone or color. Join the Uniug and place inside this, and bind the top with the same braid and fasten down in the same manner. Work a red silk eyelet hole in one of the side pieces to allow the end of the wool you are working with to come through. Close the bottom of the bag with a bunch of loops of red satin ribbon, and sew an end of tlie same ribbon at the top of each of the scams, joining them together with a bow of the ribbon, in which is sewed quite a large shield pin to fasten it to the dress belt. Pin-Cusliion. — A pretty little pin-cushion in the shape of a bellows can be made as follows: First cut four pieces of cardboard (visiting or invitation ^^SITI'Na cakd stand. LADIES' FANCY WORK. 376 FIG. 1.— WOKK BASKET (OPEN). cards are the best), to the size required, and the shape of a small bellows; cover these four pieces singly with pretty silk or satiu, by turning over the edges and lacing them from side to side with a needle and thread to make them fit. Then join two pieces together, and sew over the edges neatly; sew a little piece of fine flannel or merino filled with needles to one joined side piece at the point; then put the two sides together and sew them well together at the point, leaving space enough for a gilt bod- kin to pass through and make the real point. Put pins in all around the edge, add a narrow ribbon band fastened by a i^in at the handle end, to keep the sides together. The inside of the bel- lows looks best with satin or plain silk, and the outside with bi-ocade. If a small design is embroidered or painted on the outside, it has a very beautiful effect. A common length of the bellows is three inches from the handle to the point. WorU Basket. — An octagon-shaped box or basket is used for the founda- tion; it is lined with quilted blue satin, ornamented with a small silk button at the cor- ner of each dia- mond. The out- side of the basket is covered with old-gold satin, put on in four large l^uffs; each puff is divided by a band of blue velvet em- broidered with a cross-stitch d e - sign; it is edged with lace and a fine gold cord. The lid is covered with velvet, also ornamented with lace, and a handle of wire covered with gold cord. In Fig. 1 the basket is shown open, and in Fig. 2 closed. Fig. 2 shows plain velvet bands, and in this figured silk is used instead of the old-gold satin. FIG. 2. — ^WOEK BASKET (CLOSED). FIG. 1.— KNITTED DRESSING SLIPPEK. 376 THE HOUSEHOLD , Knitted Dressing ^Uyyf^r. -Mater iaU required: Four ounce blue and four ounce white Berlin wool; four piua No. 12 (Walk- er's gauge), and a pair of cork soles. Commence the slipper at the toe with blue wool, cast on ten stitches, increase by putting the wool over the , . , pin at beginning of each row to make a stitch. Fig. 2 shows the outside of work, and Fig. 3 the inside with loops of white wool. When knitting with the white wool take it from two balls so as to have two lengths. 1st Kow: Knit plain. 2d Row: Make one, knit one, * take the dou- ble white wool, turn it twice over the pin to form a loop of about three-quarters of an inch (see W^gl^^rr^g^^jm^^m^ design), with the left-hand pin pass the last knitted loop over the four loops of white, knit two, repeat from * to the end of the row. 3d Row: Make one at the beginning of the row, sup the loops of white wool, knit the blue; in knitting the blue stitch pass the blue wool "^' 'jtf*<*;^s;;/\'v:tei>V/vv>.-j?ji w.', vi^^:p^-'^$iM^_ •• 5;> roidt'red C'iiair Cover instead of chintz covers for chairs. They can be mado of thin woolen material, or of linen. AVhen of wool they are embroidered with crewels. The better way to have the covers fit nicely, is to lay the material on the chair, pin it in place to hold it firmly, and lay the plaits and seams just where they should be, and cut the ma- terial then. There are no two chairs exactly alike in shape, and it will be found far more easy to fit them in this way. The seams and edges are bound with braid and the corners are laced down mth cords. The caps for the arms are fastened with buttons and button- holes. FeatUer Edged Braid Trininiing. — Fasten the thread to a loop in the braid — chain seven stitches, put the needle in the second loop from where you commence, draw the thread through the loop and the stitch on the needle, chain four more and fasten in the next second loop, then take up three more loops by putting ihe needle through each one, and drawing the thread through the loop, and tlie stitch on the needle, chain four stitches and fasten as before, chain four more and fasten, take up eight loops as the three were taken, chain two and fasten around the last four chain stitches, chaiu two more and fasten in the second loop from the eight taken up stitches, chaiu two, and fasten around the next four chain stitches, chain two, and fasten in second loop, then take up three loops, chain two, fasten around the four chain stitches, chain two, fasten in second loop, chain two, fasten around the seven stitches, chaiu four, fasten in second loop, double the braid together from this loop, and on the right EMBBOIDERED CHAIR COVEn. 380 THE HOUSE HO LB. side of the work take up a loop of each piece of the braid, draw the thread through these loops, leave the stitch on the needle, and so continue until all have been taken up, as far as the loop above the eight taken up stitches, on the opposite side of the braid, then draw the thread through two stitches at a time until only one stitch remains on the needle, then commence the second ^ scallop same as before. Crochet across the top of the completed edging, to sew on by. And I think it washes and wears better to cro- chet a chain of three between each loop on the lower edge, except those close between the scallops, simply drawing the thread through these. The needle must be lino and straight. Iiadies' Worlt-Stand. T h e skeleton of the work-stand we have illustrated is made of rattan. The squares between the rods should be covered with green, plaited silk, which is drawn together and either fastened with a button or a small rosette and a flat tassel. The bag, for the reception of embroidery or other fancy work, is made of green silk, drawn together by a green cord, at the end of which is a tassel of the same color. To hide the joints of the rods, a scarf of green ribbon is put at each juncture. In the lower part of the stand is a pin- cushion, which is made in the same style as the filUug-iu of the squares above, and also drawn and held together with a button. Mosaic Embroidery. — Mosaic embroidery is very effective for mantel drapes, piano covers, and screens, and is quite easily made. Take whatever material is chosen for the ground work and sew on to it with some fancy stitch odd patterns cut from various colored plushes WORK-STAND. FLORICULTURE. Ivy for Picture Frames. — Ivy is one of tlie best plants to liave in the house, as it bears a large amount of neglect and abuse, and gratefully repays good treatment. It is not rare to see a pot of ivy placed where it can be trained around picture ft-ames or mirrors, and thus border them with living green. A good plan is to dispense with the pot, or rather, have a sub- stitute for it, which is kept out of sight. Our illustration shows a picture frame wreathed with ivy after this method. Only a good-sized picture or mirror can be treated in this ■way, aud as such are usually hung so that the top of the frame leans forward, the space between the frame and the wall is available for the re- ceptacle for the plant. A pot or pan of zinc, of a wedge shape, and hize to suit the space between the frame and the wall, can be readily made by any tinsmith. This is to be hung against the wall so as to be quite concealed by the pic- ture, and the ivy tastefully trained over the frame. A rus- tic frame is better suited to this purpose, as it not only affords better facilities for at- taching the stems to the frame, but its style seems better adapted to this kind of decora- tion than more pretentious ones. Still, a gilt frame may be made beautiful in the same way. There is only one precaution to be used, viz.: not to hang such a frame over the fire- place, for the combined heat and dust would soon destroy the plant. Let it hang so that it may face a north or east window. Don't forget the water; the pan holding the plant is out of sight, and, therefore, should be kept in mind. Diseases of Room Plaiitf;. — The leaves of plants when iu a normally healthy state ai'e generally of a deep green color, but when diseased they IVY FOK PICTURE FRAMES. 382 THE HOUSEHOLD. become yellomah or white In the majority of cases snch a diseased appear- ance is produced by an excess of light or a lack of it, too much or too little ■water, unsuitable, overrich, or impoverished soil, or lack of drainage. When the discoloration first shows itself— and this is generally on the younger shoots — the condition of the roots should be ascertained by turning the jolant out of the pot. If tlie roots are healthy and fill the ball, or appear overcrowded, the discoloration indicates lack of nutriment, or too little or too much light. In the first case it can be remedied by shifting the plant into a larger pot, or watering the plant with liquid manure. If excess or lack of light is the cause, reference must be had to the character of the plant. Fei-ns, selaginellas, and plants of similar character that naturally grow in shady l^laces, become pale or yellowish when gro-\vn in bright light, while those whose habitat is in open, exposed sitiiations, become discolored when not having a sufficiency of light. In either case, when grov;n in pots, plants are more liable to become diseased throiigh this cause than when grown in the open air. The remedy, of course, is only to shift the position of the plant and place it where the light Avill better suit its nature. If the ball is not tilled Avith roots, and they do not appear to be fresh and healthy, the discoloration, in all probability, proceeds from excess of moist- \ire or unsuitable soil. To remedy the first, see that the drainage outlet is kept free and unchoked; if after a week or two this does not affect a change, then it is probable that the diseased appearance arises from unsuitable soil. Some plants, such as azaleas, cameliaa, and rhododendrons, in such case Avill not throw out a single rootlet from the old ball into the new soil, but gradually die back or make but weakly, spindling shoots. If the discolora- tion has been prodiiced Ijy bad drainage, excessive watering, or unsuitable soil, and is of such long standing as to cause the roots to decay, or the soil has become soixr, the proper remedy is to shake off all the earth from them and wash them by shaking them thoroughly in clean water, cutting off the decayed parts with a sharp knife, and replanting into light fresh earth, and seeing that the di-ainage is kept free. Pdch soil or large pots should not be used, the latter should be but little larger than the diameter of the roots. When the roots are well developed the plant may be shifted into a larger pot and richer soil. The leaves of plants from warm countries — oranges, for in- stance—will sometimes become yellow when exposed to a low temperature, especially when accompanied with much moisture; the remedy in this case is either to raise the temperature or decrease the amount of water given. Sometimes the discoloration is caused by insufficiency of water, which causes the roots to shrivel u^d. It may also proceed from giving too much water at one time, and then letting the ball become dry, or by only giving enough of water to moisten the surface of the soil for an inch or two, while below it may be as dry as powder. Carefulness and watchfulness are the only modes of preventing injury to the plants from such causes. When the leaves of deciduous plants fall off as their season of rest approaches, they should be placed in a lower temperature, and not have as liberal a supply of water as when growing. If evergreen plants, such as we generally grow in greenhouses, shed their leaves profusely and suddenly, it indicates that they have not light enough, or that the temperature of the room is too high, or the atmosj)here is too dry; the proi^er mode of treatment in such cases is self-apparent. Occasionally plants will die off suddenly near the surface of the soil, although the roots, leaves and shoots look quite healthy. This is often caused by the collar of the plant — the i^art where the roots are joined to the FLORICULTURE. 383 stem — beirg set too deep into the soil. Watering with very cold water when the soil in the pots has been exposed to the sun will also cause them to die off suddenly. Plants in pots should never have the pots exposed to the full blaze of sunshine, especially in the middle of the day. The crowns of her- baceous plants that have been kept dry, or comparatively so, during their season of rest, will rot away if the balls of roots are too liberally supplied with water. They should be kept in the shade, and but sparingly supplied with water, and that rather tepid, until they develop a leaf or two. Some plants, especially roses, when kept in rooms, are very apt to become mildewed, to the certain destruction of the leaves and flower buds. As soon as it shows itself the leaves should be washed with soap and water, rinsed off and flowers of sulphur dusted on with a dredging-box or a pepper-box, washing it off after it has been on for two or three days. The whole art of keeping plants in rooms is to provide an equable, moist temperature, light according to the nature of the plants, regular moderate watering, good drainage, suitable soil, cleanliness, and an avoidance of all sudden checks or shocks to the plant either in temperature or humidity. These are always injurious, as they produce disease and render the plant liable to the attacks of insects and fungoid growths. Cheap and Pi-etty Hanging Baskets. — The sweet potato, which is basket and contents in one, has, when successful, a very ornamental effect. Truth compels us to state that it is not always successful, and a yellow, scraggy appearance of foliage will sometimes reward the best-intentioned en- deavors; but given ordinarily favorable surroundings, which include heat and sunshine, this curious hanging basket thrives and covers a large space with bright-hued verdure. A large, sound i"00t should be selected, and the top for some distance down is then removed. Next comes the disagreeable process of removing the inside — leaving a wall all around, and a thicker one at the bottom. Three holes are then bored at equal distances, about half an inch from the top; and into these the suspending cords, which unite at the upper ends, are fastened. When tilled with water up to the holes, the sweet potato basket is completed; and if placed in a sunny window, it should be covered with shoots and leaves in a few weeks' time. Some of the sprays can be trained upward, and others allowed to droop. The red-skinned sweet potato has a pretty streak of silver in the foliage, and the two varieties on either side of a window make an agreeable contrast. If preferred, the hollow root can be filled with earth or sand instead of water — if with the latter, there should be two or three small pieces of charcoal at the bottom. A carrot treated in the same way sends forth a mass of feathery foliage whose vivid green brings a sort of sunshine into the dreariest day; and even a large sponge suspended by cords, thoroughly moistened and planted with flax, rape-seed, or any low growing verdure, is not to be despised. A very pretty basket can be manufactured by taking an ordinary one of wire and fastening to it raisin-stems, or bits of thin wire properly bent, and then dipping the whole into melted sealing-wax of a vermilion color until it is thoroughly coated. Brushing it over with the mixture would take less material. The effect of theses coraUzed sprays, glowing through delicate green vines, is really beautiful. Every one cannot succeed with a basket of growing plants, but almost any one can succeed with ivy; and a very ornamental hanging basket that requires little care can be made in the following way: Almost any kind of basket will answer, and there should be a good collection of autumn leaves varnished aijd prepared in sprays. Six or eight two ounce 384 THE HOUSEHOLD. bottles should be filled with -water, and hava odb or two well-grown sprays of ivy in each, placed in wads oi' cotton to keep them upright, the leaves ar- ranged in between and around the edge of the basket. The ivy will grow, and can be trained to run up the cords, as well as to hang over the sides; the only care required is to fill up the bottles as the water evaporates, and to keep the leaves free from dust. AVintlovK Gardening. — Wliat adds more to the cheerfulness of the home during the lonely, dreary days of winter, than flowers ? All can have FIG. 1. — DOUBLE WINDOW WITH PLANT SHELF. them, the poor as well as the rich, if a little care and forethought is used in growing and arranging them. The preparatory work consists in transplanting and fairly starting in small pots, in August or September, the Madeira vine, creeping Charlie, cypress \'ine, balloon vine, the common English, the German, or the Kenil- worth ivy, or morning glory, flowering bean, or sweet-scented pea, or, if you are disposed to be more aristocratic, smilax, lophiospermum, or, if the win- dow is large and the foliage is not deemed too rank, the clematis or the FLORICULTURE. 385 passion •sane. Nearly all of tUese, if thus started, will grow finely ami festoon your windows in a few weeks; some of them have line blossoms, which will add to the beauty of their foliage. Next, for the plants to make a display in your windows. What these shall be, and how they shall be arranged, de- pends very much upon the size, shape and character of your windows. If you have a V)ay or oriel window, either large or small, you can make it the most attractive leature of your room at a very small exiDense. First place your pots with climb-vines at the sides on low brackets, and the vines to make a beautiful frame for your windows. If the window is a deep bay, other and more delicate vines may be placed between the side windows and the main one — such as smilax, the Keuil worth ivy, or the cypress vine and trained over the ceiling of the bay. At the base of the windows have a shelf sii or eight inches wide (eight is best), supported by the ordinary Fia. 2. — PKETTY AEKANGEMENT FOE SITTINQ-KOOM WINDOWS. metal brackets, and in front tack the expanding framework (such as is shown in Fig. 1), which is now to be found for sale by the yai'd very cheap at all the flower stores — the black walnut is the prettiest, though the holly wood is very neat; stretch it to its full extent before tacking it on. Then selecting your hardiest and most freely-blooming plants— gerauiiims, pelargoniums, rose geraniums, all from slips potted in July or Ai;gust, periwinkles, fuchsias, heliotropes, bouvardias, cuphias, and newly-potted slips of ver- bena, with such other beautiful small plants as you may find desirable — place each pot in one al)out three sizes larger, which is partially filled with fine earth, and the space between loosely packed with moss. Set these on your shelf, arranging them with reference to complementary colors; put in the center where the main partition between the two divisions of the central window is, a good and shapely ardisia, which, if it has been plunged during 386 THE HOUSEHO LD. the summer, Avill, by this time, be loaded with its beautiful berries, which are in November just beginniug to turn to a beautiful scarlet. These ber- ries will hang on till June; and, while the plant is of very moderate price, it has no superior as an ornamental shrub. In the corners put callas, which should have been heeled or turned over to rest, as early as July or August 1st. Their position should be partially shaded, and where they will not have too much heat; when they begin to bud, they should have a plenty of warm, almost hot, water furnished them daily. They, too, should be placed in a no. 3. — BAY WINDOW WITH PLANT PLATFOBM. pot surrounded by a large pot, and the interstices filled in with moss. Across the center of the windows place other shelves with pots of smaller flowers, and, among the rest, creeping plants, such as verbenas, sweet alyssum, nemaphila lobelia, mesembryanthemum, etc., etc. On a table in the center, if you can have a neat box, zinc-lined, you can set in pots, hyacinths, amaryllis, cyclamens, iris, and the finest sorts of crocus, and, packing moss around them, keep them moist. From the ceiling of the bay may be suspended hanging baskets, taking the precaution to keep them moist. The outlay for all this is very little, and if you are ingenious you can do it all yourself. FLO III CULTURE. 387 But everybody has uot bay wiudows, or oven double windows. For these unfortunates, among whom we are sorry to be obliged to reckon ourselves, the simpler arrangement indicated in Fig. 2 is almost as effective. A shelf at the foot of each window supported on brackets, and, if preferred, protected by the expanding framework, will give room for four or six pots at each window, while the vines can be trained around the windows, as in the other case. A swinging bracket large enough for two pots can be attached to the outer side of the framework of each window, midway of its height, and a rustic basket attached to a hook projecting from the top of the window frame, if desired. On a table or slab between the windows a small jardiniere, containing an ardisia, or Tahiti orange, can be placed. In the selection of climbers for trimming the windows, avoid the climbing fern, which is offered 80 abundantly at all the flower stores. It cannot be made to live in parlors, FIG. 4. — DEEP BAY WINDOW TST[TH BHAOKETS. and in spite of all the care which may be taken with it will soon l^ecome dry and unsightly. The ivies, Madeira vino and cypress vine arc the best, though several other climbers arc pretty. The blossoms of the Madeira vine, which will come out if it is well cared for in Febrixary or March, are very fragrant, and will fill the parlors with their delicate perfume. The wall pockets so plenty in these days of scroll sawing, can be very easily adapted to the purpose of plant cultivation, and add greatly to the beauty of these simple decorations. Ho-w' «o Kill Insects on Plants. — Slugs are occasionally seen eating large holes or notches in the leaves of all succulents and begonias. They usually feed at night. Cut potatoes, turnips, or some other fleshy vegetable in halves, and place conveniently near the plants. The slugs will gather 388 THE HOUSEHOLD. upon the vegetable, and are easily destroyed. The white worm which infests, occasioually, all soils where plants are ke23t in pots, maj' be removed as follows: Sprinkle lime water over the soil, or sprinkle a little slacked lime on the earth, and in the saucer of the pot. Lime water may be easily made by slacking a large piece uf lime in a jiail of cold water, letting this settle, and then bottle the clear water for nsc. Give each pot a tablespoon- ful twice a week. To destroy the little bugs on the oleander, take a piece of lime the size of a hen's egg, and dissolve it in about two (jiiarts of water. Wash the stock and branches with this water. To destroy plant lice, take three and a half ounces of quassia chips, add five drachms Btavesacre seed in powder, place in seven pints of water, and boil down to live pints. When cold, the strained liquid is ready for use, either by means of a watering-pot or a syringe. Hot alum water will destroy red and black ants, cockroaches, spidei-s and chintzbugs. Take two pounds of alum and dissolve it in three or four quarts of boiling water. Let it stanel on the fire imtil the alum is all melted, then apply it with a brush (while nearly boiling hot) to the places fre- quented by these insects. Any choice plants may be preserved from the ravages of slugs by placing a few pieces of garlic near them. No slugs will approach the smell of garlic. Greenhouse slugs often become a nuisance in the greenhouse. A certain remedy is to sprinkle salt freely along the edges of the bench or table, the crossing of which is sure death to the slug. Another way of destroying insects ou flowers is to water the plants with a decoction of tobacco, which quickly destroys. Independently of the re- moval of the insects, tobacco-water is considered by many persons to improve the verdure of the plant. Prepare it as follows: Take one pound of roll tobacco and j)Our over it three pints of water, nearly boiling. Let it stand lor some hours before it is used. Kerosene oil may be used for destroying insects on plants by taking a tablcspoonful of oil and mixing it with half a cup of milk, and then diluting the mixture Avith two gallons of water. Apply the licptid with a syringe, and afterward rinse with clear water. This substance is death to plant insects, and we have never heard of its injuring the most delicate plants when used as here directed. The following is recommended aa a means of destroying the rose slug: Add a teaspoonful of powdered white hellebore to two gallons of boiling water. Apply when cold, in a fine spray, bending the tops over so as to reach the under surface of the loaves. One application is usually sufficient. This is a good way to treat the currant worm. The rod spider may be banished from plants by the simple process of cutting off the infected "leaf. A leaf once attacked soon decays and falls off; but then the animals remove to another. By carefully pur.suing this ampu- tation j)lauts will l^ecome remarkalily healthy. A new method for the getting rid of worms which destroy the house plants is a number of sulphur matches placed in the flower pots with their heads down. The experiment has been tried with success. Ammonia for Plants — If the house plants become pale and sickly, a dose of ammonia, a few drops in the water you water them with, will revive them like magic. It is the concentrated essence of fertiUzers, and acts upon plant life as tonics and sea air upon human invalids. FLORTOrLTFRE. 889 Orinimeiital \Var«Hai» Case. — The sides of the box are of mahogany, 1 1-1 iuch in thickuess, and the bottom of deal, 1 1-2 iuch thick, well framed and dovetailed toj,'ether, and streugthened with brass bands, and with two cross-bars beneath. The upper edge of the box is furnished with a groove for the reception of the glass roof, and this groove is lined with brass, to OKNAMENTAIi WABDIAN CASE. prevent the wood from rotting. The roof is composed of brass, and glazed with the very best flattened crown glass. The brass astragals are grooved for the reception of the glass, and not i"cl)ated, as in ordiuaiy glazing. Eyed studs are cast on the inner side of the ridge astragal, about half an inch in length, for the purpose of suspending small orchids or ferns from the roof. The inside of the box is lined with zinc, and at one of the comers an aperture is formed into which a copper tube, two inches long, la inserted, and fur- 390 THE HOUSEHOLD. nished with_a cock for withdrawing any auperfluous water that may at any time accumulate within the box. One of the panes is made to take out — this provision ia necessary for the occasional arrangement and airing of the plants, but the general arrangement is made by lifting the top off entirely. Rose Cultni-e. — Situation. — A jjlace apart from other flowers should be assigned to them, if possible, sheltered from high winds, but open and not surrounded by trees, as closeness is very apt to generate mildew; where they cannot have a place to themselves, any part of the garden best fulfilling these conditions will answer. Soil. — A most important item in their successful culture. That in which they especially deUght is a rich, unctious loam, that feels greasy when pressed between the fingers. Where this is not to bo had the soil must be improved; if light, by the addition of loam, or even clay, well worked in; where heavy, good drainage and the addition of coal ashes in small quanti- ties will help it, but in such places draining is more important. Planiing.— Mix some loam and well-rotted manure together, open a good sized hole, and till it with fresh soil; plant firmly. Shorten any very long shoots, and, if exposed to winds, secure the plant by short stakes. Manuring. — Roses are strong feeders, and will take almost any amount of manure; pig manure is the best, except in hot soils, when cow manure is preferable; stable manure is generally available and good. Exhibitors gen- erally apply a top-dressing in .spring, but it does not improve the appearance of the beds; a good top-dressing may be laid on the beds in autumn, and be dug in in the spring. Watering.— When coming into bloom, if the weather be dry, give a good drenching twice or three times a week; continue after blooming to prevent mildew. If greater size be reqriired, liquid manure may be used. Syringe daily for green fly. Pruning. — This may be done any time after the beginning of March, ac- cording to the season. Cxit out all wood over two years old and all weakly shoots. Weak-growing kinds should be pruned hard — that is, down to three or four eyes; stronger growing Iciuds may lie left longer. Cut to an eye that points outward, so as to keep the inside of the plant open. Teas and noisettes require less cutting back; the tops should be shortened and the weak shoots cut out, and they shoiild not be pruned until May. Use a sharp knife. Rustic Hanging Basket.^ — The accompanying drawing represents a rustic hanging basket that any person can make with the common house tools, axe, saw, knife, hammer and a few brads. First, procure from the woods two or three sticks of iron wood, or such as may suit the fancy. They should be selected, small trees, about three inches in diameter. After selecting the tree, cut itiip into pieces fourteen or fifteen inches in length; then, taking one of these round sticks, split off the four sides; this, if it splits well, will give eight pieces from two sticks, the number required to make the basket. The sticks, or pieces, should be narrower and thinner at one end than the other, as shown in the cut, and rounded at each end. Then procure a block or piece of inch board, and cut out a circular piece about three inches in diameter, slanting it a little so that the pieces will have the taper towards the bottom when tacked to the block. This gives the basket a little flare. They should fit close together at the point where the block is, and may be a little open, nearer the top, in order to fill between with moss. FLOniOrLTZTRE. 391 Now, the pieces being nailed to the block with brads, liegin to ornament it with grape-vines and roots. Roots are tacked to the under side of the block, to till it all up, and at the lower points of the pieces where they match, al- ways keeping in view one thing — to preserve the taperiug form aud matching the roots in every way that will bring them all towards the center with uni- formity. Next put vines on the sides, as per engraving, bring- ing two together over the places where the sticks match; also, weave in around the top two vines, in aud out alternately, and, fastening with brads, tack roots on the pieces between the ornamental work. Next put on a handle of grape-vine, giving it a single knot; tie at the top to form a loop, interweaving it with a smaller vine; then give the basket a coat of varnish and put in siiitable plants. Keep the basket partially in the shade, and occasionally dip it in a bar- rel of rain water. To Prepare Plants for Winter. — It is a great mistake to delay the work of jirepara- tiou for winter until it is sug- gested by cool nights or a warn- ing given by blighting frosts. When a plant has been taken from a pot and planted in open ground it nsiially outgrows its former jjlace, and ia too large for any vessel of convenient size. The root should be ciit away to a considerable extent and likewise the top or foliage must be correspondingly re- duced. Novices often fail at this point, for they dislike to part with any of the new growth, aud set the plant in a pot un- pruned, and expect what is not possible, that it will flourish. Cut back root system and branch system equally is the rule. Plants when thus transplanted need to be favored by being kept in the shade aud shel- tered from the drying winds until they have made a good start in the pots. Many of the house plants are kept in their pots during the summer and will need repotting, or the pot washed and the surface soil replaced by fresh, rich earth. A larger pot is needed by those plants whose roots have formed a mat along the inner surface. The ball of earth can be examined quickly ErSTIC HANGING BASKET. 392 THE HOUSEHOLD. by spreadiug the loft hand on the vessel— the stem passing between the fingers, and with the other hand on the bottom invert the pot and give the edge a downward lap against some object. If this does not siicceed, pour some water around the edge, and after a short time repeat the operation. All old pots should be clean, and if the new ones are used soak them in water until the pores are filled. A piece of broken vessel is placed over the bottom hole before filling in the potting earth. All the necessary pots, soil, etc., should be abandoned now, that they may be at hand when needed at any time during the winter. Selection of House Plants. — Select fresh, healthy plants for winter cul- ture, for they will repay all the labor you bestow upon them by bright flow- ers. The old geraniums, heliotropes, fuchsias, etc., which have flowered all summer, will be of no value for window gardening, while yoiing plants will soon be covered with buds and flowers. Small plants in small pots are far more desirable for house culture than large plants in such cumbrous pots that it requires a man's strength to move them. There are several winter-flowering fuchsias which will continue to bloom from October until May, in beautiful luxuriance, if you will only give them a spoonful of " Soluble Pacific Guano " once in two or three weeks, or give it in a liquid form by dissolving a tablespoonful of it in three quarts of hot water. It will also destroy the white worms which are so apt to infest the soil of plants that have not been repotted frequently. At least it proved an antidote with me last season. But if it does not exterminate them, take a piece of unslacked lime as large as a man's fist, and slack it in hot water in an old pail, and when the lime has sunk to the bottom, water the plants with it, and it will make their foliage luxuriant and destroy worms of all kinds. The lime can be used over several times. Tea roses, if well treated, make lovely plants for winter. Purchase well- rooted plants of iio;i Silene, Safran.o, Bella, and other varieties, and put them close to the glass and stimulate weekly with weak liquid fertilizers; or a Jacqueminot rose which bloomed in the summer may be taken up and potted in an eight-inch pot, with the richest compost made fiiablo with sand or sharp grits, cut back all the old wood and pull ofl' every leaf and place it in a fro8t-proo£ window, but where the sun shines in well, and you can force as handsome rose-buds as the florists. For a small amount of money a collection of winter-flowering plants can be procured; and though they will neither feed nor clothe the body, yet they will minister to the needs of the soul, which sometimes hungers, thirsts, and shivers, while the body is luxuriously fed, and clothed in fine raiment. Soil fbr Plants — Knowing that nearly every lady in the city finds it hard to get manure of the right qiiality for her plants, I thought this sug- gestion might be of some use to them. Gather up the fallen leaves and put them in an old box, or in some obscure corner where they will not have to be removed. After getting all you want, pile them in as close quarters as possible, then throw on them all of your dish-water, wash-water, or any water that will help to make them rot. Every week or two take a stick and turn the leaves over, and keep on doing this imtil they are all rotten, which they will be in a short time, and you will have as good a manure as any florist could want. If you could get the droppings from a cow and put them in an old dish and pour water on them; let it stand for a day or two; then take the liquid and pour it around the roots of the plant; it will give it & FLORIC UL T UHE. 393 (lark green color and make it grow vcrj- fast; but in putting the last named on the roots do not let any get on the leaves. As nearly every lady has some plant which they cannot pot, from its large size, they would he very glad to know of some way in which they can enrich the soil without going to the trouble of taking the plant out of the pot. By putting the hquid on every month it will make the soil nearly as rich and do the plant as much good as if they had put it in rich soil. Fmc charcoal is excellent to mix with the soil when potting plants, or to sprinkle on the surface of the soil of those already potted. It stimulates the gi'owth of the plants and deepens the colors. Iron tilings from a blacksmith or machine shop worked into the soil for plants, will add greatly also to the rich and bright color of the flowers. Sniilaz for a. Curtain. — Last season, writes a lady, I slipped some smi- lax out of a small pot into a box which I set on a shelf that was on the out- side of a south window. Tliis shelf was eight inches below the top of the •window-sill. The box was six inches deep, and so was a little lower than the sill. With a red-hot poker I burned a row of holes around the sides of the box, and filled it with a light, rich soil. Wheji the plant was fully es- tablished and had sent up nice thrifty sprouts, I drove nine small nails along the top of the window-pane, and slipped on to them the looped-up ends of a fine cord; the other ends of the cord were tied each to a nail which was stuck in the box by the sprout it was intended to support. The vines grew rapidly, and in a lew weeks' time had reached the top of the window; a week or two more, and the ends were drooping down from the top, thus forming a graceful valance to my beautiful curtains— a curtain far more beautiful than any made by mortal hand could ever be. In October, when the nights were growing frosty, I slipped the looped ends of the cords that supported the vines off the nails, and placed the box with the vine on a stand on the inside of the window and slipped the loops over nails, and so, without any trouble at all, had my window adorned with this lovely vino until Christmas. This vine so airily light, and so graceful, is peculiarly appropriate for the adorn- ment of thin evening dresses, and as lovely for the hair. Hot-AVater Cure for Sicltly Plants — M. Willermoz some time since stated that plants in pots may be restored to health by means of hot water; ill-health he maintains, ensues from acid substances in the soil, which, be- ing absorbed by the roots, act as poison. The small roots wither and cease to act, and the upper and younger shoots consequently turn yellow, or be- come spotted, indicative of their morbid state. In such cases the usual remedy is to transplant into fresh soil, in clean pots with good drainage, and this often with the best results. But his experience of several years has proved the unfailing efficacy of the simpler treatment, which consists in watering abundantly with hot water at a temperature of 145 degrees Fahr., having previously stirred the soil of the pots so far as may be done without injury to the roots. Water is then given until it runs freely from the pots. In his experiments, the water at first came out clear; afterwards it was sen- sibly tinged with brown, and gave an appreciable acid reaction. After this thorough washing, the pots were kept warm, and the plants very soon made new roots, immediately followed by vigorous growth. Golcleii-L,pavecl Horseshoe Geranium — If those who have the golden- leaved horseshoe geraniums will put them in the brightest sunlight, the colors will be brought out so that the plant will be as beautiful as if it were covered with blossoms. 394 TEE HOUSEHOLD. The Mnil System of Slipping Plants. — The following interesting article we fiud in the Bahyknnd Magazine: A child of five years can cut oft" a slip from a geranium, verbena, heliotrope, carnation, fuchsia, or even a rosebush, taking care that the slip is made from the young or green shoot; and in a plate or saucer filled with wet sand it will root just as quickly and as well as if put in by the hands of a gardener — provided care is taken that the sand in the saiTcer is kept wet by add- ing a little water to it each day until the slips show the small roots. The slip should be cut in the way shown in the draw- ing, taking it oft" either between or below the joints. The sau- cer holding the slips should be placed in some sunny window ■where it is warm enough for a little child. Nearly all kmds of slips can be rooted at any time of the year; but some, such as the coleus, salvias, and various plants called " warm-blooded," had bet- ter not be slipped until the warm weather comes in May. The slips will begin to show the little roots in from two to three weeks after being put in the saucers. They should then be potted in little pots about two inches deep, which the gardeners call thumb-pots. The slips should be potted in rich, soft mold, which can bo procured from any florist. Good garden earth will also do, only it must not be wet and sticky. If it can only be got in a veiy wet condition, dry stove-ashes may be mixed with it. When the slips are to be potted, first fill the little flower-pot full of earth, then with the fore-finger make a hole in the center big enough to put the roots in. Gently press the earth all around the roots, making it level and smooth on the top; then with a watering-pot sprinkle slightly the slips, now plants. Every other day they will require watering until they begin to put little white roots to the edge of the pot, which can be seen by giving the pot a tap on the table, and turning the contents out just like jelly from a glass. After the soil in the little pots gets filled with roots, which will be in four or five weeks from the time the slips were placed in them, it will be well to trans- plant into pots three or four inches deep. By May the slips that were put in the saucers to root in February or March will have made planta largo FLOn ICULTUTiF. 895 enough to set out in tbo opon garden, and by midsummer will be fino biishes covered with blossoms. Fuchsias. — rucbsias, after being exhausted with blooming, should have the terminal shoots all chpped off, and be rejjotted in a soil composed of leaf mold. In a few weeks new shoots full of flower buds will start all over, growing rapidly. Rustic Flo-\ver Stawcl. — A very simple and graceful arrangement for flowers requiring no more space than the tiny violet or crocus, or some BXrSTIC FLOWEE STAND. bright blossoming dwarf plant. A box frame, with four " posts " to sup- port the roof, is all the fontubitiou required. The rest is made of neatly cut pieces of s^raw, braided with three rows of red-stained willow or cane. The pretty flower pavilion is ornamented with wheat sheafs and grasses. Bright colored autun)u leaves, pressed and varnished, would look charming mingled with grasses. They can be fastened about the frame with wire. TUe Verbena. — The verbena is one of our most popular bedding plants, and is also used by many persons as a window plant, though for this pur- pose it is not generally recommended, as it does not do well in an atmos- 39G THE HOUSEHOLD. phere warmer than 50 degrees or 55 degrees, and must have plenty of sun- light, two requisites which but few persons can command. In the conserva- tory they should he given a top shelf, kept moderately dry and never watered in the morning, or when the sun M'ould be likely to shine upon them before the foliage is di\v, as it causes mildew; give fresh air whenever it is practicable to do so, and keep the plants stout and bushy by pinching back stray branches. A soil composed of two parts loam, two parts well- rotted manure and one part sand suits them best. Keep the surface soil loose and porous, to allow air to reach the roots, and provide good drainage. If green fiy appears fumigate with tobacco. To perpetuate the verbena use small ciittings taken from fresh growth instead of layers or old roots. The best way is to start the plants from seeds in the spring. By this means the plants do not bloom quite so early, but they are more hardy and vigorous, and flower more ^Drofusely than those grown from cuttings. Seedling plants are always the most satisfactory for bedding, and the only fault that can be found with them is, that the colors do not always come true from seeds. Presei-t'ing Autuiuii Leave.*.— Autumn leaves are used in various methods, the most popular being, perhaps, to dry them flatly and carefully, and take great care to preserve their stalks. When thoroughly dry they are varnished, which gives them a pretty gloss and also acts as a preservative to them from all insects and moths. After this they are carefully laid aside for the decoration of the winter dinner table, and may be most safely pre- served in a tin box with a well fitting cover. Grasses added to them are very effective, and when dry they may be dyed. They may be also frosted when dry, by dipping each stalk into a solution of alum and leaving them to dry upright. With the grasses and leaves may be used the dried everlast- ing flowers and the prepared moss, but I must warn my readers that no little taste is needed in then- arrangement to avoid the least heaviness of effect. I have found that glass vases and stands are the most effective for their ar- rangement, as the transparency of these increases the wished-for likeness and grace. Another way of using the dried leaves is for the ornamentation of tables, blotting books, or boxes. Old cigar boxes, when painted black, are very favorite articles for decoration, but now we know the value of var- nished unpainted wood, I fancy that many people will prefer the effect of the cigar boxes impainted, with the unvarnished leares gummed on, and the box and leaves varnished afterward. If, however, a black ground be especially desired, use " Brunswick black " to stain the wood, or "Brunswick black" and turpentine mixed to make a rich looking brown grounding. Then gum on the leaves in a central group, being careful to cut away all the under parts of the leaves, which will be hidden by others above, as too many thicknesses of leaf will make an uneven surface, and give an ugly appear- ance to the work when finished. Tlie Tuberose. — Because many farmers' wives cherish the belief that some wonderful skill attends the cultivation of this plant, they deny them- selves the pleasure of its possession. The bulbs must be lifted before there is any danger from frost, and spread in a warm, sunny place to thoroughly dry. If they become chilled in any way, either before being lifted or during the winter, their value is destroyed. But if kept in a warm closet, they -will repay for all the trouble by their spikes of beautifully pure and fragrant blossoms. Tuberoses are reproduced very rapidly. Therefore, after a start has FLORICULTURE. 397 once been made Tvith a collection of bulbs of one, two and three years' growth, the owner can continue to set the same, and there will be no trouble in having all that are desired. There is no difficulty about the planting and cultivation. They will do well on any soil that will produce a good crop of corn. The soil should be made mellow, so as io be easily worked, and the bulbs sot at such distance apart as the extent of surface will allow, and covered with the soil. All the cultivation that is necessary is to keep the soil mellow and free from weeds. If desired for early blooming the bulbs may be set in boxes the latter l)art of the winter, and kept watered, and in a warm room. They will then come to flowering earlier than if not set in the ground until all danger from frost is past. Let evoiy farmer's mfo and daughter cultivate a few of these plants that so beautify and adorn the homo. A Miniature Green House— This is a conveni- o n t and ornamental ap- paratus for growing flower- ing house plants, or for starting cuttings or seeds early in the season that are afterwards to be transplant- ed to open ground. B B is a large earthen vessel or pot, in the center of which, at the bottom, the small pot, A, is inverted. The space G G around this is filled with drainage material. On the top of this pot a smaller one, C, of porous earthen, and having straight sides, is set, and the space around this, D D and E E, is filled with mold and sand in which two circles of plants may be set. The pot, C, is filled with water, which percolates through the porous sides and keeps the mold moist enough for pxirposes of vegetation. Over all the bell glass, F, is placed. If the l)oll glass and large pot cannot be obtained conveniently, the same principles can be nearly carried out by constructing a square box of wood and framing panes of glass for the cover. Novel Method of Enriching Plants. _A French writer recommends a novel mode of enriching and promoting the growth, especially of gera- niums. Namely: Watering the plants with a solution of 150 grains of glue in about two gallons of water. A MINIATUKE GIIEEN HOUSE. ;598 THE nous Ell OLD. A Beautiful Basket Plant. — The finest hanging baskets we have ever seen, have been of single plants of the ivy-leaved geranium. The richness and elegance of the foliage, and the drooping or trailing habit of this plant are qualifications it possesses, rendering it eminently serviceable for baskets and vases. One plant is enough for a basket, but except in rare cases, it will require more time than is afforded the first season to show in its best condition. The plant is easily kept over winter, and the second season, if attention is given by the use of manure-water to sustain it, the growth will be exuberant. There are now so many varieties of this plant, that one has the opportunity to indulge his taste in selection. There are golden yellow- leaved ones, bronze, green with white margin, and one, L'Elegante, that has its green leaves margined with white that is tinged and streaked with pink. The colors of the flowers are different with each variety; there are scarlet, and crimson, and rose, and pink and white; again, there are single and double flowers. One of the best varieties for a hanging basket, on account of its fine foliage and free growth, is the double-flowered sort, Krenig Albert, having mauve or purplish lilac-colored flowers. The double flowers last much longer than the single ones, and this adds much to the value of the plant. For large baskets, where the best effect is desired in a short time, several of these plants of different kinds could be used for the margin, with other plants in the center Gro-wing House Plants in Moss. — In one of the Swiss villages nearly all the inhabitants are engaged in watch making. They work in large rooms, which, being abundantly lighted and well warmed, allow the workmen to cultivate plants that, on account of tlio uncertainty and ligor of the climate, cannot be grown in the open air. The president of one of the local horti- cultural societies in Switzerland gives an account of the great success Avith which plants are cultivated in moss in these watch factories. One great ad- vantage in the use of moss is the readiness with which plants may be grouped in large vases and boxes. In Franco a " fertilized moss " is sold, but ordinary moss, with occasional application of liquid fertilizers, will answer as well. Ordinary sphagnum, or peat moss, such as is used by florists in packing, may be employed, but the writer prefers the moss which grows in sheets upon rocks, and around tho trunks of trees at their base. Wire baskets lined with this moss are used, as are jardinieres of metal, glazed pottery, etc., taking care to provide sufficient drainage. Tho liquid fer- tilizer used on thess house plants should bo without unpleasant odor; weak guano water, solutions of nitrate of soda, or sulphate of ammonia may be employed, and very fine flour of bone may be mixed with the moss. Dutch Honeysuckle in tlie House. — An English writer gives the fol- lowing, which suggests a way in which hardy wood-climbers might be made available for window decoration in winter or early spring: " Some years ago, as I was passing through a room used only occa- sionally, I perceived an odor of fresh flowers that surprised mo, as none were ever kept there. On raising the curtain of the east window, I saw that a branch of Dutch honeysuckle had found its way between the two sashes at one corner, while growing in the summer, and had extended itself quite across the window; and on the branch inside there were three or four clus- ters of well-developed flowers, with the usual accompaniment of leaves, while on the main bush outside there was not a leaf to be seen. The flowers inside were Just as beautiful and fragrant as if they had waited until the FLORICULTURE. 899 MEGABBHIZA CAUFOROTOA. — FIQ. 1. natural time of blooming. Since then I have tried the experiment purposely, and always with the same good result." A heavy covering of the ground over the roots of the plants with loaves, and sxifficicnt protection of the stem outside, would allow this method to be practiced iu quite sevevo climates. Some New Plants Of- fered by German Florists. — Among the new plants of- fered by German florists, we take occasion to note the fol- lowing: Megarrhiza Californica, Fig. 1, is a new and very rapid growing member of the Cu- curbitaccffi family, of the same elegant habit and hand- some appearance as Pilogyne euaris, but of much larger di- mensions, the stems often at- taining a length of twenty to thirty feet in one season. The beautiful, glossy, silvery leaves, about three to six inches iu diameter, bear short scattered hairs, the small white sterile flowers appearing iu slender racemes, while the fertile ones grow singly, and are somewhat larger; the ob- long shaped friaits, about two inches long, are densely cov- ered with stout, pungent spines, similar to those of the Cucurbitacete introduced up to the present time, being of about the same size and form as a broad bean, and gei-- minating as easily and surely as pumpkin seeds. Tiie plant becomes fully developed when grown as an annual, but it can also be cultivated as a peren- nial, as it produces long and large tuberous roots. Bromus Patulns Nanus, Fig. 2, is cpiite a new form of this very valuable ornamental grass, differing from the original species, not only in its lower growth, but far more iu its much more graceful, thinner and shorter panicles. By comparing a panicle of Bromus patulus with the one shown in natural size in the figure, the superiority of the above-named sort may BKOMUS PATULUS NANUS.— FIO. 2. 400 THE HOUSEHOLD. EHYNCHOCAKrA GLOMEKATA. — FIG. 3. easily be noticed. This variety liaa already beeu cultivated for several years, and has proved perfectly true from seed. It represents a valuable addition to the assortment of ornamental grasses grown on an extensive scale for bleaching purposes or dry grass bouquets. Rhynchocarpa Glomerata, Fig. 3, is a charming and inter- esting climbing member of the same family, from Brazil, grow- ing twelve to fifteen feet in height. Its branching habit and thickly-set, abundant foliage make it especially well adapted for covering arbors and fences, or for garnishing festoons. The whitish flowers, as is mostly the case in this tribe of plants, are not very conspicuous, but the deeply-cut, five-lobed leaves, together with the numerous hazle-nut-liko fruits appearing in dense clusters, render this plant one of the most attractive climbers for outdoor culture. To judge by the tubcrous-likc root it may be treated as a perennial, but it succeeds well in any warm border as au annual. Begonia Davisii, Fig, 4, is a beautiful free-flowering new tuberous-rooted species of dwarf habit. The flowers are of the brightest scarlet imaginable, standing ■well out of the foliage, as the illustration shows plain- ly. Undoubtedly it is one of the finest introductions among the tuberous-rooted class. A Sponge Garden. — A hanging garden of sponge is one of the latest novelties in gardening. Take a white sponge of large size, and sow it full of rice, oats and wheat. Then place it for a week or ten days in a shallow dish, in which a little Mater is con- stantly kept, and as the sponge wi'.l absorb tho moist- ure, the seeds will begin to sproiit before many dnys. When this has fairly taken place, the sponge may be suspended by means of cords from a hook in the top of the window, where a little sun will enter. It will thus become a mass uf green, and can be kept wet by merely immersing it in a bowl of water. BEGONIA DAVISH. FLORICULTURE. 401 An Ivy Screen—The old Celtic word for cord ia ITedra, hence the gen- eric name of the true ivies, in alhision to their cord-like stems. The most common species is the Hedra helix, native of various parts of Britain, and from which many varieties have been produced. Old ruins of castles and churches, as well as the sacred temples of a later day, are often half con- cealed with the deep green leaves of ivy. In uur climate these plants do not succeed as well in the open air as in some portions of Eiirope; still, when planted in a half shady position on the north side of the wall, the hardy spe- cies will thrive most luxuriantly, as may bo seen by examining some of the old specimens in our Eastern cities. The ivies are esfjecially valuable for covering rock work, either natural or artificial, particularly when it is located in a cool, shady place, where few other plants will thrive. Within the past few years our florists have paid far more attention to the cultivation of ivy than formerly, and great numbers of plants are sold every year for hanging baskets and similar ornaments. Among the many fine climbers grown as house plants, there are few that succeed as well as the hardy ivies, for they re- quire very little care, not being very sensitive to cold, and thrive better in shade than when exposed to the direct rays of the sun. The ivies are also very readily jiropagated by cut- tings made from almost any portion of the stem, whether old or young, and they will strike root in al- most any kind of soil, clay, loam, peat, or sand, al- though a mixture of the last tAVO is preferable to the former. It must not, how- ever, be supposed that be- cause ivy will grow in a poor soil, that it does not prefer one that is rich; and if a strong growth ia desired, generous treatment must bo given. Many beautiful ornaments may bo made with these plants, and one of the most unique as well as useful, is the ivy as shown in the illustration. Such a screen cannot be made in a few days, but requires time, care and pa- tience. Provide a strong box of the length re(|uired for the screen, and fill it with silver-sand, peat, or leaf mold, adding a small quantity of soil scraped up in the barnyard. Some old pieces of bricks broken up finely may be placed in the bottom before the soil is put in; then fill up to within an inch of the top. Plant either well-rooted slips or cuttings, and then give water whenever required, but do not keep the soil constantly soaked. When the plants begin to grow, carefully tie them to slender stakes until they are three feet high, and then pat iip the frame for the screen, which should be of wire, painted green, and of any design to suit the fancy or purse of the owner. As the plants grow, the small shoots may be drawn througli the meshes of wire and interlaced, until both sides of the screen become a solid wall of " Ivy green." AN IVY SCREEN. 402 THE IIOITSEHOLD. We know that our lady readers will readily appreciate this hint, and know just where to place such a screen to produce the most desirable effect in a room, as well as how to keep the leaves free from dust, so that they will show to the best advantage. If a solid wall of green is considered too dark and gloomy, some of the variegated sorts may be intermingled with the plain leaved, but unless carefully tended and watched they will often ap- pear sickly and wither away. A T^iving Vase. — This process of ornamenting vases is by no means new; but, as the thing is still far from being common, and as it may give some one a new idea by which to help beautify the home, we have deemed it worth while to give a representation of it so as to show the result, and to indicate the means employed to obtain it, which are most simple. Though any kind of vases can be used indiscrim- inately, those in unglazed terra- cotta are preferable, being por- ous. In such vessels the water with which the vase is filled percolates constantly through the sides and moistens the plants which are fixed on its surface. This kind of vase is, however, not indispensable, for we can ornament all kinds, whether in glass or metal. In the latter case it is necessary to prepare the surface so as to convert it into a sort of soil, which it really represents — an operation which is easily man- aged by the aid of a piece of cloth or flannel which is fixed by means of a little packthread or thin iron or brass wire. This being understood, the means employed to grow the seed must next be described. If a porous vase be used it is filled with water or, better still, left in a pail of water to soak. After a lapse of 24 hours, when the water has thoroughly saturated the vase, it is laid on its side, and the seed sprinkled slightly over the surface, taking care to turn the vase in different directions, in order that the whole surface may be well covered with seed. This operation terminated, the vase is placed in a dark closet for some time, and, if possible, under a glass frame, so as to preserve humidity and facilitate germination. When the plants are developed, and in case they get detached from the vase, they are secured by passing round, in different directions, a little packthread or fine wire, which soon disappears under the vegetation. If a non-porous vase, after having well soaked the cloth which covers it, the seed is sown upon it and the same care is given it as has already been indicated. When a porous vase is iised it should be kept constantly full, as it is the water filtering slowly through it that feeds the plants which cover the sides. If that be insufficient to insure vigorous growth, the vase A LIVING VASE. FJ.ORI C UL T URE. 403 must be watered, taking caro to pour tlie water cautiously, so as not to de- tach the plants. If glazed or metal vases he used, glass bottles, for in- stance, they must be constantly watered; the water should be poured from the top over all, so that, in descending, it wets all parts of the cloth, which should always be damp. Whenever the plants droop they must be refreshed by watering them carefully. The vase should stand in a saucer or plate. The seeds used should be very line, and especially light and of easy and quick germination. The common garden cress is most suitable from its great rapidity of growth, the easy and very quick gea-mination of its seeds, and also on account of the little nourishment the plant requires; but it has several drawbacks; first, it has a tendency to sink more or less, then to have gaps, to show flowers very quickly and then to wither away. The common ryegrass is also suitable, but experiments with other seeds may be made. We ought to multiply and vary the experiments until satisfactory results are obtained. The following kinds of plants might prove suitable: Crested Dog's-tail Grass, White Clover, Yellow Clover (Mednago In imliua) ,'F\a.yi,\)\\i particularly the Timothy Grass (Fhleuia pratense), which appeal's to be sin- gularly appropriate for this mode of ornamentation. Let our readers experi- ment. How to CrroTV Smilax. — Smilax is an exceedingly graceful vine, with glossy, green-ribbed leaves, and is now more extensively used than any other plant for decorating parlors, the hair, and for trimming dresses. With a little care it can be grown successfully as a house plant. The vine does not require the full sun, but will grow well in a partially shaded situation. It can be trained on a small thread across the window or around the pic- tures. Grown from both seeds and bulbs. Pot the bulbs as soon as re- ceived, watering but little until you see signs of growth. They grow very rapidly and should always have strings to twine on. Give plenty of fresh air, but be careful and not let a direct draft of cold air blow upon the vines, as they are very tender when young. Give them a warm place and they will amply repay all care. When growth is complete the foliage will turn yellow. Then gradually withhold water and allow the bulbs to dry. They then can be put in some cool, dry place. After they have been in this dormant state six or eight weeks they will begin to show signs of life, and then are ready for another season's growth. Ferns in tlie Honse. — I should like to say to the person who wishes to know what ferns can be grown in the house, that I have had for three win- ters, in a furnace heated parlor, very handsome plants of Aspidium molle and Adiantum cuneatum; and I have a friend who has Pteris tremula, look- ing as well as it could in a greenhouse. I also know that Pteris hastata does well in the house; so does the Japanese climbing fern and Lygodium scan- dons. All require to be kept comfortaldy warm, not too wet, and seldom sprinkled— just often enough to keep tliem clean. I have found that wet- ting the foliage often causes it to turn black. To Keep Oeraniuius tliroagh tlie AVinter. — Those who have no place in their greenhouses for geraniums, etc., will do well to put them in a window with a south aspect, carefully covering the pots with a little straw or moss, in order to prevent the fi-ost from hurting the roots. Or take them from the pots and hang them up by the roots in a dark place, where the frost cannot touch them; if planted again in the spiiug they will shoot and flourish remarkably well. 404 THE noirsEnnLB. ■Wardiaii Cases. — An illustration of a Wardiau case is herewith given. A bed or box of well-drained soil, with a (cheap or costly) glass case over it, comprise a Wardiau case. The sides should bo of glass, else the plants will " spinder ui)." Take a common table frame, with the top of the tabic off; nail on boai'ds on the bottom of the frame, lino the whole with zinc, fill with earth (or set the plants in the case in pots), and over it put a case made of glass — common window glass will answer. Any glazier can make one at little cost. It may bo made of any shape and height desirable. There should be a door or sliding pane in it, so as to gain ready access to the plants. In the center of the bed should be a hole for drainage, over which a plant saucer should be inverted. Fill the bottom or the bed for an inch or two with broken charcoal. The case maybe filled with plants in spring or autumn. If in spring, the ferna may be gathered from the TTOods, and will giow all summer. It is a better time to make selec- tions than late in the fall. Plants in a Wardian case are not so likely to freeze with the same degree of cold in a room as unprotected house plants; but the room should be kept warm, nevertheless. The plants in a AVardian case require less care than plants in a room. Drench the soil well when the jjlanting is done, and they will require watering but once cr twice a month. They will need ven- tilation by removing the slid- ing pane or opening the door of the ease occasionally, when the moisture on the glass seems in excess, so as to ob- scure the glass. Not only ferns and mosses, b ii t wintergreens, princess pine, partridge beriT', the trailing arbutus, and scores of other pretty wood .plants, can be grown and arranged with rock and shell work, to suit the fancy and please the eye. We are astonished that these cases are not more conmion in the homes of tlie peoi^le. FresU-Blown Flowers In Winter. — Choose some of the most perfect buds of the flowers you wish to preserve, sucli as arc latest in blooming and are ready to open; cut them off with a \)sdr of scissors, leaving to each, if possible, a piece of stem about three inches long; cover the end of the stem immediately with sealing wax, and when the buds are a little shrunk and wrinkled wrap each of tliem tip separately in a piece of paper, perfectly clean and dry; then lock them up in a dry Ijox or drawer, and they will keep without corrupting. In winter, or at any time, when you would have the flowers blow, take the buds at night and cut otf the end of the stem sealed with wax, and pitt the buds into water wherein a little nitre of salt has been A WABDIAN CASE. FL O R I :4. — An ounce of nitrato of soda dissolved in four gal- lons of water is a quick and good stimulant for bulbs, to be applied twice a week after the pots are filled with roots, and the flower spikes are fairly visi- ble. A large handful of soot, or about a pint, tied up in a piece of old can- vas, and immersed in the same quantity of water for a day or two, will fur- nish a safe and excellent stimulant; also good and safe is a quarter of a pound of cow manure mixed in a large gar- den pot of water, and used as required. Any of these stim- ulants will do good, or the whole of them applied alter- nately will benefit bulbs that need more sustenance than the soil afibrds. Trellis for Plants. — With a little slightly-galva- nized wire any one can make the little iron trellis shown in our illustration on this page, in a very neat manner — and it will look much neater and prove handier and more graceful than the painted stick trellises which are so common. Ho^v to Grow tlie Pansy. — The pansy delights iu a cool, rich loam; the richer, the larger will be the flowers, in a partially shaded situation. It never flourishes as well during the hot days of July aud August as later in the season. Young plants, from seeds sown early in the spring, if the bed be very rich, will come into handsome bloom during the latter part of June. All the first blossoms should be picked off that the plant may first become robust. Even with the old plants, the great secret of keeping them in con- stant bloom is to pick off the blossoms early and constantly, since it weakens the plant more to ripen one seed-pod than to yield a dozen flowers. Autumn So-\ving of Flo^ver Seeds. — Persons say that the finest flow- ers they ever had of certain annuals were from " volunteer " plants from Mclf-grown seeds. The real reason for their superiority is not due to the manner, but to the time of sowing. Seeds are " self-grown " soon after they arc ripe, and the superiority of the plants from these suggests autumn bow- trellis FOK PLANTS. 408 THE HOUSEJIOLI). iny. The annual flowers classed as " hardy " should as a general thing, if practicable, be sown in autumn. Larkspurs and pansies are incomparably finer when thus sown. Clarkia, whitlavia, gilia, and nearly all the rest of the California annual, to give the best results, should be sown in autumn. To Repot Plants — Shake the old earth from the plants after they com- mence to grow in spring, then pot them into smaller pots than those just oc- cupied; as the i^lants make fresh growth and fill these pots with roots, repot into those ot a size larger, and so on until the plants are in their flowering l)otb. By adopting this plan the plants are supplied with fresh soil from time to time, and not kept growing on from year to year in the same soil, which soon becomes exhausted. The above remarks apply more particularly to such plants as fuchsias, pelargoniums, etc. Treatmeut ofEiiglisli Ivy — The use of the English ivy cannot be too strongly recommended as a dccoratiou in our rooms during the winter sea- son. A lady noted for the beauty and freshness of her ivies was asked the secret ot her success, which was simply putting a small piece of beefsteak at the roots ot the plants every spring and fall. It is also said that to lightly rub each leaf on both sides with sweet oil will preserve a fresh, vigorous appearance of ivies, in spite of furnace heat and gas, usually so injurious to all house plants. These simple measures are well worth trying. How to Make Moss Baskets— Very beautiful baskets for holding flow- ers can be made of the longer and more feathery kind of mosses. A light frame, of any shape yoii like, should be made with wire and covered with common pasteboard or calico, and the moss, which should first be well picked over and cleansed from any bits of dirt or dead leaves which may be hanging about it, gathered into little tufts, and sewed with a coarse needle and thread to the covering so as to clothe it thickly with a close and com- pact coating, taking care that the points of the moss are all outward. A long handle, made in the same manner, should be attached to the basket, and a tin or other vessel, filled with either wet sand or water, placed within to hold the flowers. By dipping the whole structure into water once in three or four days, its verdure and elasticity will be fully preserved, and a block of wood about an inch thick, and stained black or green, if placed under the basket, will prevent all risk of damage to the table from moisture. Carnatiojiri from Cuttings— Carnations are easily rooted from slips. Take off the small side shoots when about two inches long. If your plants are in pots, plant them around the edge, pressing the soil very firmly about the portion inserted. Do not water them only when the parent plant re- quires it. If they are cultivated in the ground, plant them in the same bed, taking the same precaution to make the earth compact about the slips, so they will not dry up instead of rooting. If the ground is slightly moist, it is enougli for them, but if very dry sprinkle occasionally. Gypsy Fern Case—This fern case consists of three bars crossed at the top and fastened into a triangular base. A basket is suspended from the center of the case, and the base is decorated with shells, acorns or corals. The best method of making this case is to have the base first made of wood, then lined with zinc. The sides should hold glass neatly filled into the bars, thus inclosing the plants from the outer air. The height should be about three feet, and width of base two feet on each side. Any florist can supply ferns for such a structure. Choose only the smaller growing sorts, and avoid FLORICULTURE. 409 those which branch widely. No hoiisohold elegancy is more desirable than a tasteful Icruery, well taken care of. Faclisias Among Roses. — A London florist had some of his standard roses killed by the late spring frosts, but having some largo fuchsia plants, they were used to fill Tip the " ugly gaps," and the result was a pleasant surprise. They stood the rough weather well, and vied with the roses as to quantity of bloom. He says: " If all is well we shall use fuchsias more ex- tensively next season." Treatment, of C'allas. — For bloonung callas, writes a lady, I use the soil from the henncrv, and on cold mornings I poiir hot water in the sau- cers; I have had a bloom from every bulb. As my fuchsias never grew very large, I put in fresh soil and then used some line manure from the hennery, and before s'jring it covered the window, with every shoot in full bloom. Frozen Plants— -VNTicncvcr house-plants are accidentally frozen, they should be placed in a dark place and then sprinkled with cold water Gera- niums, fuchsias, and similar kiuds of plants, may often be saved if care is given in thawing them out, even if frozen quite hard. The same rule applies to dormant plants, such as grape vines and trees that become frozen while being carried from one section of the country to another. If packages of plants are received in this condition they should be placed in a cellar and then sprinkled with cold water, and allowed to remain undisturbed until thawed. Burying in the earth will answer equally as well, although seldom convenient in cold weather. Hardy plants, when well packed in damp moss, seldom receive any injury from frost. Potting and "Watering Plants— -Plants cultivated in the house often suffer from being put into pots very much too large for them. The mass of soil, which is quite out of proportion to their needs, by frequent watering, soon gets into such a sour and sodden condition, that the roots rot away completely and the plant dies. Even when the amount of soil is not greater than the plant needs, it is quite an easy matter to give too much water to succulents, such as the cactus family, the agaves, crassulas, and others of like habit. In fact, these plants, when at rest, as most of them are during winter, need scarcely a drop of water. Covering for Tender Plants. — A horticultura\ writer says: I alwaj^s disliked the looks of cliimsy straw and matting coverings for plants. It made the garden look so mean that I thoxrght I would try another plan. I had read that evergreen boughs were the best thing with which to cover pausies and any tender plants, so I thought I would \ry it on tender roses and such things, and I never had such success. I believe there is some- thing beneficial in the balsamine odor of the leaves, the plants look so nice — almost like summer. A Novel House Plant. — The commo7i cranberry is a most attractive plant when properly cultivated in pots, and can endure a great deal of neg- lect which would be fatal to other plants. It only needs to be kept cool and moist. A compost of muck and sand is the proper material for potting it in. Although usually regarded as aquatic in its nature, it will not do to have the soil saturated with water. What it requires, is that water shall be within reach of its roots, and that the soil shall be one through which water can rise readily by capillary attraction. 410 THE HOUSEHOLD. Crysfalliiing Grasses. — A lady asks for directions for crystallizing grasses. The following is a good recipe: Dissolve in a quart of hot water all the alum you can by heating and stirring — it may be a pound, it may be twenty ounces. Have the grasses divided into small bunches, tied. When the solution begins to cool, dip in the grasses, holding them there five min- utes, three minutes, two or one minute, according to the size of crystals you wish. The cooler the solution the quicker the crystals form. A glass jar is convenient for heating the alum, as one can see through the glass when the crystals are forming, and know when to take them out. Do not let the grass touch the side of the jar. Plao« an old plate iinder the bottom to prevent the glass breaking. A Home-Made Flo^ver Stand. — A very pretty flower stand can be made out of a table, a bucket, and a half a dozen old tin cans. Place the bucket in the center of the table. Punch several holes in the bottom of each can, and screw them firmly to the table by screws in the holes. Arches of stout wire may bo made across the top of the cans. For ferns planted in the cans, which require a great deal of water, cover the top of the table with a shallow pan to catch the drip. Other plants should only have the soil kept damp. Geraniums are fine for winter blooming, as are also coleus, fuchsias, and petunias. Some kind of a vine should be planted in each of the corner cans. Trailing plants produce a good effect. The Acorn. —If an acorn be suspended by a piece of thread within half an inch of the surface of some water contained in a hyacinth glass, and so permitted to remain without being disturbed, it will, in a few months, burst, and throw a root into the water, and shoot upward its straight and tapering stem, with beautiful little green leaves. A young oak tree growing in this way on the mantel-shelf of a room is a very elegant and interesting object. I have seen several oak trees, and also a chestnut tree, thus growing, but all of them, however, have died after a few months, probably owing to the water not being changed sufficiently often to afford them the necessary quan- tity of nourishment from the matter contained in it. Moving Plants — In the fall those plants that are to be taken to the house to serve as window plants for the winter, should be looked after before the season arrives for their removal. If, with a sharp spado, each plant is cut around, so as to leave a ball of earth the right size for the pot, and then allowed to remain two or three weeks, young fibrous roots will form; when the plant, with the ball of earth attached is lifted, it will scarcely experience any check. To Keep a Bouquet Fresli—To keep a bouquet fresh for a number of days, sprinkle lightly with fresh water, then put it into a vessel containing soapsuds, which nutrify the roots and keep the flowei-s as bright as new. Take the bouquet out of the suds every morning and lay it sideways, the atalk entering first into the water. Keep it there a moment, then take it out and sprinkle the flowers lightly by the hand with water. Eeplace it in the soapsuds, and it will bloom as fresh as when first gathered. The soap- suds need changing every other day. "Watering Plants. — The following directions for watering house plants during the winter will assist those having care of them in keeping them in a healthy condition: Take carbonate of ammonia four parts; nitrate of FLORICULTURE. Ml potash (saltpetre) two parts; pulverize and mix well. Put one drachm (one- eighth of an ounce) of this powder into a gallon of rain water. Use this for watering plants. Give them a good sunlight and not too much heat, and plants will keep green and fresh. Flowers kept in a warm room should be watered with tepid water. Very cold water is apt to freeze the roots. Starting Plants. — Boxes in windows is an excellent way of starting plants for early setting, though it must necessarily be ou a small scale. For a small garden a good supply may thus be procured: In sowing the seeds, avoid putting them in too deep; a half inch is ample for all, and a less depth is better for the small seeds. Press the soil closely around the seed. Steam Baths for Geraniums— Geraniums and similar plants are greatly benefitted during winter if given a steam bath once a week. To do this place them above the bath after filling it with hot water. Close the doors and windows and let the flowers remain there for an hour or two. Another good method is to place the flowers in the kitchen on wash day, where the steam arising from the clothes will benefit them. Plant Fertilisers. — Two or three ounces of guano to a gallon of water is a proper proportion for house plants. Keep the mixture well stirred, as the guano, not being actually dissolved by the water, settles to the bottom. Save the soot that falls from the chmmeys when they are cleaned. A pint of soot to a pailful of water will make a liquid manure of the greatest value for flower beds and plants of all kinds. Cut Back tlie Geraniums._But few persons cut them back enough. If the stalks are cut back to within two or three inches of the surface of the ground, numerous healthy side shoots will put out and grow vigorously. The Amaryllis.—If any one has an amaryilUs she will find it will blos- som more freely if the dirt is kept away from the top of the bulb. An ama- ryllis should have plenty of water. THE HOME PHYSICIAN. Preventives of Malaria — Scarcely a section of our beautiful country is free from malarial disease in some of its forms. Many localities formerly free from malaria have recently been visited by this insidious foe of humanity. Two reasons are given for this result: First, the ponds and swamps have been dried up, and the lower forms of organic matter have been exposed to the air, and second, wells and springs have become so low that the water is very impure, and no doubt its use produces an un- healthy state of the human body. If the use of impure water alone were the cause of malarial difficulties the remedy would be simple, namely, to substitute pure water instead, if it could be had, or by filtration and other means, jDurify what was at hand. The malarial influence arising from swamps or marshes can be only counteracted by wrating the soil and thus getting rid of the lower organisms resident there. By means of drainage the sour soil Avater is carried off, the air enters and decay is completed — the poison is destroyed and a more hfaltliful condition ensues. But there are vast stretches of country where these means cannot be em- ployed, and other methods must be provided. It is now in'etty well proven by actual i3lantings in California of the blue gum tree, or EucalyjJtus of Australia, that by its use over a sufficient area the malarial tendencies can be counteracted. Unfortunately, by actual test, we find that the Eucalyptus Glohofta will not endure the culd of this section of the Union. What then can we employ ? Professor Maury, before oiy late internecine war, proved at the Washington Observatory that extensive plantations of the common sunflower will, during its growing season, counteract malaria. These can be grown all over our States, and should be extensively tried. The common willow, being a coarse feeder and rapid grower, revelling in wet and swampy land, has also been commended as one of the very best agents for the destruction of malarial germs. Its roots spread widely through the soil, while its leafage is simply enormous in proportion to its woody development. The three sorts of willow grow Avith great rapidity, but more immediate effects may be produced by planting sprouts of the osier or basket willow thickly all over the whole of a wet or swampy surface soil. This would be a remunerative product aside from its destruction of malaria. The plan is worthy of trial. Pneumonia — It will be remembered that in old age the lungs are much shriveled, less elastic, and can not be fully inflated; the air cells are dilated to about twice their size, many of the capillaries are obliterated, the breath- ing is more feeble and shallow, and the power to get rid of carbonic acid is greatly diminished. Hence pneumonia (inflammation of the lungs) is not only one of the most common diseases of old age, but the most fatal— over three-fourths (some THE HOME PIIYf^lCIAK. 413 say nine-tenths) of the aged dying with it. Tho main work of the kings is done by the air-cells, the tiny laboratories in which the smaller branches of the air-tiibes terminate, as the branches of a tree terminate in the leaves. Now it is these that are the seat of pneumonia. In the first stage of the disease they become — in some part of the lungs — filled with a sticky fluid, exuded frcm the blood vessels; in the second stage this fluid becomes solid; in the third it changes to pus. If the pus is absorbed— which is seldom the case in the old — the person may recover, but only after months of couvaleseuce. If it result in gangrene (mortification), the gangrene may form numerous small abscesses through an entire lung. In the aged the disease seldom commences with v.'ell-defined symptoms. In about one-half the cases there is simply a chill or a pain in the side. In most of the other cases the main symptom is a feeling of exhaustion. If there is already chronic bronchitis or asthma, the ])erson may merely feel a little tired, and suddenly die. Though most persona cough, there is for a time no expectoration. When it appears it is at first scanty, gray and frothy; then yellow, and at length reddish and sticky. Patients seldom complain of pain or difficulty of breathing. The more common exciting cause is cold, especially dry, sharp. Nine- tenths of all cases occur between November and May. During this period the aged cannot be too carefully protected from exposure. They should constantly wear flannel. About all that can be done for the patient is to stimulate him with drinks, nourish him with concentrated fluid food, and secure him absolute rest. Antidotes for Poisons. — (1) The most dangerous of the vegetable poisons are the hemlocks (including the hemlock dropwort, water hemlock, and the common hemlock), fool's parsley, monkshood, foxglove, black helle- boi'e, or Christmas rose, buck-bran, henbane, thorn apple, and deadly night- shade. In a case of vegetable poisoning, says Kunidedge, " emetics (the sulphate of zinc, if procurable) should be used at once, the back of the throat tickled with a feather, and copious draughts of tepid water taken to excite and promote vomiting. Where these measures fail, the stomach-pump must be used. Neither ipecacuanha nor tartar emetic should bo used to cause vomiting, as during the nausea they x^roduce before vomiting is excited the poison is more readily absorbed. Vinegar must not bo given until the poisonous matter has been removed; but afterward it may be given in doses of a wineglassful, one part vinegar to two parts water, once every two hours in mild cases, but otteuer — to half hourly doses — in cases of greater severity. Where there is stupor, the patient should be kept walking about, and if the stupor is great cold water may be dashed over the head and chest. Strong coff"ee may be used M'here the narcotic effect of the poisoning is veiy marked. It is all-important that in cases of vegetable poisoning a medical man should be sent for at once." (2) If a person swallow any poison whatever, or has fallen into convul- sions from having overloaded the stomach, an instantaneous remedy, more efficient and applicable in a larger number of cases than any half a dozen medicines we can think of, is a heaping teaspoonful of common salt and as much ground mustard, stirred rapidly in a teacup of water, warm or cold, and swallowed instantly. It is scarcely down before it begins to C(mio up, Ijringing with it the remaining contents of the stomach; and lest there be any remnant of poison, however small, let the white of an egg, or a teacup 414 THE HOITSEUOLB. of strong coffee be swallowed as soou aa the stomach is quiet. These very commou articles nullify a larger number of A'irulent poisons than any medicines in the shops. (3) Great quantities of Paris green are \ised during some seasons of the year, and as accidents may happen, it is well to know the antidote for the poison. Paris green owes its deadly pi-operties to arsenic, as does London purple. Should either of these be taken into the stomach, let the person drink copious draughts of milk, or raw eggs beaten up, and as soon aa pos- sible give an emetic, mustard ia as good as anything, and keep up the action of vomiting by giving milk between the paroxysms of vomiting. When the Btomach no longer rejects what is swallowed, give a good dose of castor oil. (4) It cannot be too generally known that the ordinary calcined magnesia, mixed with water, is considered a certain autidcte to numerous poisons, especially those of metalUc origin, such as arsenic, corrosive siiblimate, sul- phate of zinc, etc. In cases of this deplorable kind, two or three teaspoon- fuls of magnesia, mixed with water, should bo at once administered, which, in all probability, will save the patient until the doctric, which is moist- ened with vinegar, and the apparatus is applied at once to the painful spot. The application may be repeated two or three times a day. Dr. Ebrard states that, as a rule, the pain disappears in twenty-four hours, and i-ecovery ensues at once. (2) Take cucumbers, when full grown, and put them into a pot witli a lit- tle salt; then piit the pot over a slow fii-e, where it should remain for about an hour; then take the cucumbers and press them, the juice from which must be put into bottles, corked up tight, and placed in the cellar, where they should remain for about a week; then wet a flannel rag with the liquid, and apply it to the parts affected. (3) Half ounce of strongest camphorated spirit, one ounce spirits of turpen- tine, one raw egg, half j^iint best vinegar. Well mix the whole, and keep it closely corked. To be rubbed in three or four times a day. For i-heuma- tism in the head, or face-ache, rub all over the back of the head and neck, as well as the part which is the immediate scat of pain. (4) Dr. Bonnett, of Graulbet, France, recommends and prescribes for chronic rheumatism the use of the essential oil of turpentine by friction. lie used it himself with perfect success, having almost instantaneously got rid of rheumatic pains in both knees and in the left shoulder. (5) A very simple remedy for rheumatism of the extremities, and one that very often gives great relief is, to take a largo piece of thick flannel, sprinkle it well wth finely pulverized sulphur, and then bind snugly about the limb, with the sulphur next the skin. (6) For sciatic rheumatism the following is recommended: Two drachms iodide potassium, four ounces cinnamon water. Mix. Take a teasnoonful three times a day before eating. It is also excellent for dyspepsia. (7) Tincture of gum Guaicum, ten to fifteen drops, three times a day. I have never known it to fail in making a cure, except in cases of long stand- ing, when it will afford great relief. THE HOME PHYSICIAN'. 417 Toothache. — (1) Bi-carbonate of soda as a remedy for toothache, has been used very successfully. It was lirst introduced to the public by Dr. Duckworth, of St. Bartholomew's Hospital, London, who resorted to it when chloroform, carbolic acid, and everything else had failed. His recipe is to soak small pieces of cotton in a solution of thirty grains of bi-carbonate of soda to one fluid ounce of water, and insert the cotton in the touth. Dr. Duckworth is of the opinion that very frequently the pain is due to the con- tact of acid saliva with the decayed tooth; and therefore, it is important, in cases of toothache, first to determine whether the saliva had an acid reaction. If this be the case, then a simple alkaline application, as above stated, is the most efficacious means of cure. (2) The worst toothache, or neuralgia coming from the teeth, may be speedily ended by the application of a small bit of clean cotton saturated in a strong solution of ammonia to the defective tooth. Sometimes the applica- tion causes nervous laughter, but the pain has disappeared. (3) If the tooth contains a cavity which can be easily reached, fill it with sugar of lead. Allow it to remain a few minutes, then wash it out with warm water, being careful to remove all of it. This is the most prompt relief for toothache — save the forceps- with which we are familiar. (4) Put a piece of quicklime, as big as a walnut, in a pint of water in a bottle. Clean the teeth with a little of it every morning, rinsing the mouth with clean water afterward. If the teeth are good, it will preserve them, and keep away the toothache; if the teeth are gone, it will harden the gums, so that they will masticate crusts and all. (5) Take alum, reduce to an impalpable powder, 2 drachms; nitrous spir- its of ether, 7 drachms. Mix and apply them to the tooth. This is said to be an infallible cure for all kinds of toothache (unless the disease is con- nected with rheumatism). (6) Steep a i^iece of coarse brown paper in cold vinegar, then grate ginger on it, and apply to the side of the face affected; the application to be'made at bedtime, and kept on during the whole of the night. (7) One ounce alcohol, two drachms cayenne pepper, one ounce kerosene oil; mix, and let stand twenty-four hours — a sure cure. M'ounds. — (1) A wound produced liy a sharp cutting instrument will heal without troiiblo when the edges are nicely brought together, and left so, without putting on any salve, provided the access of air is shut off and the person possesses a good constitution. If the wound is jiroduced by a rusty nail, or a similar cause, so as to be jagged, it will soon become very inflamed, and in such a case it is recommended to smoke such a wound with burning wool or Avoolen cloth. Twenty minutes in the smoke of wool will take the pain out of the worst wound, and if repeated once or twice will allay the worst case of inflammation arising from a wound. (2) The best simple remedy for surface wounds, such as cuts, abrasion of the skin, etc., is charcoal. Take a large coal from the fire, pulverize it, ap- ply it to the wound, and cover the whole with a rag. The charcoal absorbs the fluid secreted by the wound, and lays the foundation of the scab; it also prevents the rag from irritating the flesh, and is an antiseptic. (3) Without waiting for it to stop bleeding, press the edges of the lacerated flesh together, and apply immediately a plaster made of soot and cream, binding it firmly on, not to be removed till healed, without cleanliness re- quires it. Then put another of the same on, without delay, not allowing exposure to the air any more than possible to prevent. 418 THE HOUSEHOLD. (4) It is not generally known that the leaves of geranium are an excellent application for cuts, wher%the skin is rubbed off, and other wounds of that kind. One or two leaves must be bruised and applied to the part, and the wound will be cicatrized in a short time. (5) There is nothing better for a cut than powdered resin. Get a few cents' worth, pound it until it is quite fine, put it in a cast-off spice box, with perforated top, then you can easily sift it on the cut. Put a soft cloth around the injured member, and wet it with water once in a while; it will prevent inflammation or soreness. (6) When a nail orpin has been run into the foot, instantly bind on a rind of salt pork, and keep quiet till the wound is well. The*"lockjaw is often caused by such wounds, if neglected. (7) It is a wise plan to keep a cup of alum water always convenient, so that sudden cuts or bruises can be bound up in a cloth wet in it. If treated thus they will heal quickly. Sprains and Bruises. — (1) The best treatmeut of sprains and bruises is the application of water, of such temperature as is most agreeable. The de- gree of temperature varies with the temperature of the weather and the vigor of the circulation. In a hot day use cool or cold water. If the circu- lation is low use warm water. The bruised or sprained parts may be im- mersed in a i^ail of water, and gently pressed or manipulated with the hand or soft cloth for ten or fifteen minutes, or even longer in severe cases, after which wrap up the parts in cloths wet in cold water, and keep quiet. This treatment keeps down the inflammation, and in nine cases oiit of ten proves a speedy cure. The liniments and filthy ointments so much used for sprains do not compare with this simple treatment in efficacy. (2) Take one part blue clay and two parts vinegar, and make into a paste, and bind on at night with a wet towel. One application is generally suffi- cient. - (3) Make pounded resin into a paste with fresh butter, lay it on the sprained part and bind it up. ■Wealc and Inflamed Eyes— (1) Borax, half drachm; camphor water, three ounces. The above simple prescription is in common use by the high- est medical authorities. It makes a wash unexcelled for the treatment of inflammation of the eyes. In using it lean the head back and drop three drops in the corner of each, and then open the eyes and let it work in. Use it as often as the eyes feel badly. (2) When the eyes become inflamed from any cause, do not rub them at all — such irritation is dangerous — but bathe them in tepid milk and water, keep the bowels open by some gentle medicine and eat little meat. The eyes are very sensitive to the state of the stomach. Avoid the glare of strong light. (3) Bathe your eyes night and morning in a tolerably strong solution of salt and water. We have known some remarkaTole cures effected by this simple remedy. After bathing the eyes daily for about a week, intermit a day or two, and then resume the daily bathing, and so on till your eyes get strong again. (4) Take rose leaves, the more the better, and put them into a little water; then boil; after this strain it into a bottle and cork it tight. You will find this liquid very beneficial in removing redness and weakness from the eyes. THE HOME FHYSICIAN. .419 (5) Cut a slice of stale bread as thiu as possible; toast both sides well, but don't biirn; when cold, lay in cold spi'ing oi" ice water; put between a piece of old linen and apply, changing when it gets warm. (6) Take half an ounce of Golden Seal (you will find it at the drug stores), pour one-hall pint boihng water upon it and let it cool. Bathe the eyes with a linen rag dipped in this, each night on going to bed, and you will soon effect a cure. (7) Three or five grains of alum dissolved in half a pint of water, and ap- plied to the eyes whenever they are weak or indamed. (8) Scrape a raw potato; use as a poultice; or slippery elm. Bathe with warm water or rose water. Dust in tlie Eye. — (1) If a ciudcr or bit of dust gets into the eye do not rub the eyeball; that only irritates it. If the intruder is beneath the upper eyelid, lift the upper lid ^vith the thumb and finger of the right hand, and with the forefinger of the loft hand raise upward the under eyelid while you pull down over it the u^jper lid. This will seldom fail to remove the cinder, the soft skin and ej^elashcs taking it off without injuring the eyeball. (2) A small camel's- hair brush, dipped in water and passed over the ball of the eye on raising the lid. The operation requires no skill, takes but a moment, and instantly removes any cinder or particle of dust or dirt, with- out inflaming the eye. (3) To remove specks of dirt from the eye, immerse it in cold water, then roll and wink it rapidly, sdll keeping it in the water, till the desired result is accomplished. In cases of slight inflammation or dryness of the eye, this bath has a good effect. Use tepid, slightly salted water, instead of the cold. (4) A celebrated oculist in Utrecht recommends, in all cases where dirt, lime, or specks get into the eyes, that the sufferer have pure olive oil poured in until everything of a hurtful nature is removed. The remedy is quite painless, and never fails to remove all foreign substances. Sore Tliroat.. — (1) An exchange thinks that salt and water, a large table- spoonful of salt to half a tumbler of water, used as a gargle for sore throat just before meal time, is an excellent remedy for such complaint. A little red pepper should be added if the salt water does not prove successful. Red pepper, honey or sugar, and sharp vinegar, simmered together, and then tempered with water so as not to be too strong, is a good remedy easily obtained. (2) Sometimes a sore throat can be cured by the following simple recipe: Soak in water a small piece of bread and mix with it a pinch of cayenne pepper; roll it up in the form of a pill and swallow it. Usually in three hours the patient will be rcUeved of all pain. In aggravated cases a second dose may be requisite. (3) If you have a sore throat, slight or serious, a piece of camphor-gum as large as a pea, kept in the mouth until dissolved, will give relief and ofttimes cure. It is said on good authority, if the gum is used in season, you will never have diphtheria — it is a good preventive. (4) A gargle of salt and vinegar, with a little cayenne pepper, will do more to disperse soreness of the throat than any other remedy of which we have heard. It stimulates tlie glands, promotes free secretion, and Avill sometimes cure in a few hours. (5) One ounce of best Peruvian bark, two wiueglassfuls of honey, burnt 420 THE HOUSEHOLD. alum the size of two walniits, borax the size of a shellbark. Mix these in- gredients in a quart of water, and then stew them until reduced to a pint. Shake the mixture previous to using it. (6) An excellent remedy for sore throat is brewers' yeast and honey- four tablespoonfuls of the first and one teaspoonful of the latter. Mix in a cup, and gargle the throat two or three times an hour. (7) Chlorate of potash dissolved in water is a standard remedy for sore throat, particularly when the throat feels raw. (8) Use a gargle of a goblet half full of water, with a teaspoonful of com- mon baking soda dissolved in it. Dieting for Health— This has sent many a one to the grave, and will send many more, because it is done injudiciously or ignorantly. One man omits his dinner by a herculean effort, and thinking he has accomplished wonders, expects wonderful results; but by the time supper is ready, he feels as hungry as a dog, and eats like one — fast, furious and long. Next day he is worse, and " don't believe in dieting" for the remainder of life. Others set out to starve themselves into health, until tlie system is reduced so low that it has no power of resuscitation, and the man dies. To diet wisely, does not imply a total abstinence from all food, but the taking of just enough, or of a quality adapted to the nature of the case. Loose bowels weaken very rapidly — total abstinence from all food increases the debility. In this case, food should be taken which, while it tends to arrest the disease, imparts nutriment and strength to the system. In this case, rest on a bed, and eating boUed rice, after it has been parched like coffee, will cure three cases out of four of common diarrhoea in a day or two. Others think that, in order to diet effectually, it is all important to do without meat, but allow themselves the widest liberty in all else. But in many cases, dyspeptic conditions of the system particularly, the course ought to be reversed, because meat is converted into nutriment, with the expenditure of less stomach power than vegetables, while a given amount of work does thi'ee times as much good, gives three times as miich nuti'iment and strength as vegetable food would. Scald Head. — This appearance is the result of a bad state of the system — bad blood — the humors affecting the head often in consequence of neglect of cleanliness, or too rough combing or brushmg of the head. There are cases in which wet cloths applied to the head, wet in arnica and water (four parts of water to one of arnica), may soon remove the difficulty if there is not too much of impurity in the system seeking an escape in this way. Such a child should be much in the open air, be regular in taking food, eat the simplest kinds— the less the better of grease, salt, and the sweets generally. The parts may be bathed in arnica, glycei-ine or sweet oil, to protect them from the irritation of the air, etc. In specially stubborn cases, it is well to jiroduce an irritation in another part of the body, bj' the mustard or blister plaster, diverting it from the head, since the head is more likely to be attacked than most parts of the body. Its appearance is not a misfortune, but the location is not the best. By no means use any sugar of lead or anything like it— an active poison — and do not attempt to " dry it up," or suddenly cure it, since there is always danger of driving it to some internal organ, some unsafe place; it is safer to do nothing, allowing nature to care for it, than to do wrong. It is not best to "dabble " with unknovA'u remedies — poisons — or to listen to all told you by THE HOME PHYSICIAN. 421 your neighbors, who may know nothing of the matter, though they may have had many children, which fact never gives intelligence. Medical Q,iialities of Leinonii. — A good deal has been said about the healthfulness of lemons. The latest advice is how to lase them so that they will do the most good, as follows: Most people know the benefit of lemonade before breakfast, but few know that it is more than doubled by taking another at night also. The way to get the better of the bilious system with- out blue pills or quinine is to take the juice of one, two or three lemons, as appetite craves, in as much ice water as makes it pleasant to drink without sugar before going to bed. In the morning, on i-ising, at least half an hour before breakfast, take the juice of one lemon in a goblet of water. This will clear the system of humor and bile with efficiency, without any of the weak- ening effects of calomel or congress water. People should not irritate the stomach by eating lemons clear; the powerful acid of the juice, which is always most corrosive, invariably produces inflammation after a while, but properly diluted, so that it does not burn or draw the throat, it does its medical work without harm, and, when the stomach is clear of food, has abundant opportunity to work over the system thoroughly, says a medical authority. ■ Wliooping Cough. — (1) Dr. Grath, of Vienna, proposes a singular treat- ment for this distressing ailment, which will doubtless receive careful con- sideration from the medical profession. He states that by placing twenty drops of the oil of turpentine on a haudkerchief, holding it before the face, and taking about forty deep inspirations, to bo repeated thrice daily, marked relief, succeeded in cases of laryngeal catarrh by speedy cure, is the result. Being called in to attend an infant of fifteen months in the convulsive stage, he instructed the child's mother to hold a cloth moistened, as already de- scribed, before it when awake, and to drop the oil upon its pillow when asleep. In this instance the remedy in its effect was most beneficial. The frequency and severity of the attacks sensibly decreased in the course of twenty-four hours, and by proper support by the help of stimulants, im- provement was rapid. (2) Dissolve a ecriiple of salt of tartar in a gill of water; add to it ten grains of cochineal; sweeten it with sitgar. Give to an infant the fourth part of a tablespoonful foxir times a day; two years old, half a tablespoonful; from four years, a tablespoonful. This has been a very successful mixture. (3) The following is regarded as an excellent remedy: Pure carbonate of potassa, one sci-uple; cochineal, one grain. Dissolve in six ounces of water sweetened with sugar. Dose for a child foiir or five years old, one teaspoon- ful three times a day, to be taken before meals. (4) The inhalation of air charged with ammoma vapors, as a remedy for whooping cough, has been tried in France with success. One of the methods of application employed is boiling strong ammonia in the room where the patient is. (5) Pound best black resin very fine, and give as much as will lie on a cent in a httle moist sugar three times a day, commencing before breakfast in the morning. I have known it to cure the most obstinate cases of whoop- ing cough in three weeks. (6) An excellent cure for whooping cough, and one that I have seen tried in several instances with entu'e success, is simply this: Steep a handful of 422 THE nous EH OLD. chestnut leaves in a jjiut of boiling water; sweeten, cool, and give as a com- mon drink five or six times a daj'. IVeuralgia. — (1) A very simple relief for neuralgia is to boil a small handful of lobelia in half a pint of water till the strength is out of the herb, then strain it off and add a teaspoouful of lino salt. Wring cloths out of the liquid as hot as possible, and spread over the part affected. It acts like a charm. Change the cloths as soon as cold till the pain is all gone; then cover the place with a soft dry covering till perspiration is over, to prevent taking cold. Rheumatism can often be relieved by application to the painful parts, of cloths wet in a weak solution of sal soda water. If there is inflam- mation in the joints the cure is very quick. The wash should bo lukewarm. (2) Procure a half-ounce of the oil of peppermint, and, with a camels' hair brush, paLat the parts of the face where the pain is felt. We have found it an excellent ajjpHcation in all forms of pain in the face. A drop applied to the cavity of an aching tooth, and confined there with a pellet of cotton, will arrest the pain. (3) A noted cure for neuralgia is hot vinegar vaporized. Heat a flatiron sufficiently hot to vaporize the vinegar, cover this with some woolen material, which is moistened with vinegar, and the apparatus is then applied at once to the painful spot. The application may be repeated until the pain dis- appears. (4) Have a flannel cap made to fasten under the chin; wear three nights; let three nights pass, then put on again if necessary. For neuralgia in eye- brows, bind a strip of flannel around the head; rub the teeth with equal parts of salt and alum, pulverized, on a soft, wet bit of linen. (5) Squeeze the juice of a good-sized lemon into a tumbler of water, and every half hour take two or three mouthfuls of this liquid. If relief is not experienced within twenty-four hours, continue the remedy. In slight cases the above has often i^roved an effectual cure. (6) Many cases of neui'algia have been cured by the common field thistle. The leaves are macerated and used on the parts affected as a poultice, while a small quantity of the leaves are made a tea of, and a small wine of the decoction is taken as a drink before each meal. (7) A simple remedy for neuralgia is horseradish. Grate and mix it in vinegar, the same as for table purposes, and apply to the temple when the face or the head is affected, or the wrist when the pain is in the arm or shoulder. (8) Haifa drachm of sal-ammoniac in one ounce of camphor water, to be taken a teaspoouful at a dose, and the dose repeated several times, at intervals of five minutes, if the pain be not relieved at once. (9) Persons troubled with neuralgia will find this a cure, if they try it. Two drops of laudanum in half teaspoouful of warm water and di-opped into the ears; it will give immediate relief. (10) It is said that the fumes of sugar snuffed up the nose will cure ordinary cases of neuralgia. Put a small quantity of sugar on a hot shovel and try it as directed. Karaclie. — (1) As soon as any soreness is felt in the ear — which feeUng always precedes the regular ache — let three or four drops of tincture of arnica be poured in, and then the orifice filled with a little cotton to exclude the air, and in a short time the uneasiness is forgotten. If the arnica is not resorted to until there is actual pain, the cure may not be so speedy, but it THE HOME PHYSICIAN. 423 is just as certain. If one application of the arnica does not eft'ect a cure, it will be necessary to repeat it, it may be, several times. (2) Persons will find relief for earache by putting in a spoon two or three di'ops of sweet oil, or, better still, almond oil, the same of molasses and laudanum, warming it altogether. Absorb some of the mixture in cotton wool; put it in the ear, with a piece of wool outside to keep out the cold air, repeating the thing if necessary. A roast onion heart dipped in this and surrounded with the cotton is also often very efficacious. (3) The most effectual remedy has been a small clove of garlic, steeped for a few minutes in warm salad oil, and put into the ear rolled up in muslin or thin linen. In some time the garlic is reduced to a pulp, and having ac- complished its object should be replaced with cotton to prevent the patient getting cold. (4) To cure earache take a bit of cotton batting, put upon it a pinch of black pepper, gather it up and tie it, dip in sweet oil and insert into the ear. Put a flannel bandage over the head and keep it warm. It will give imme- diate relief. (5) Dissolve assafcetida in water; warm a few drops and drop in the ear, then cork the ear with cotton. Worms. — Some members of the profession still cling with bull-dog ten- acity to the opinion that worms do not aft'ect the health of children, and that they are natural to them. The latter may or may not be true, but when they accumulate in the intestines, they produce the same disturbance that any foreign, indigestible substance would do. We find the picking of the nose, swollen lower eye-lids, restlessness in sleep, groaning, gritting teeth, starting, and lastly, spasms. Worms kill more children than teething; and when you find the above symptoms with a strawberry tongue and a fever, which will attack several times daily, going oif as frequently in cold sweats, you can swear that you have a case of worms, and had as well prepare and attack them. Now as to the best means of getting rid of them. I use the fluid extract of senna and spigeha in teaspoonful doses fur patients of eight or ten years of age, and less in proportion, night and morning, for three nights and days, following this up each morning with a good dose of castor oil, pro^^ded the senna and spigelia does not act. Then wait three days, and again institute the same proceedings, and for the same length of time. This treatment is for the lumbric oid. For the oxyuris, or " thread worm," I use any bitter infusion by enema, sulph. quinine, followed by an enema of common salt and milk — warm water half an hour afterward, which will destroy and expel them. The symptoms of the presence of the worm are the same as the former, with the exception that in the latter you will find the sufferer scratching the anus. If eveiy practitioner will use these he will be gratified by the restora- tion to Immediate health of many a little sufferer, who would otherwise linger in sickness for many months and perhaps eventually die. Warts. — (1) A much safer remedy for warts than nitrate of silver is sal- ammoniac. Get a piece about the size of a walnut; moisten the warts, and rub the sal-ammoniac well on them every night and morning, and in about a fortnight they will probably disappear. If not, do not despair, but con- tinue the process till they are gone. (2) The best treatment of warts is to pare the dry and bard skin from 424 THE HOUSEHOLD. their tops, and then touch them with the smallest drop of strong acetic acid, taking care that the acid does not run off the wart upon the neighboring skin; for if it does, it will occasion inHammation and much pain. If this is continued once or twice daily, with regularity, paring the surface of the wart occasionally, when it gets hard and dry, the wart will be soon effectually cured. (3) Take half an ounce of sulphur; half an ounce of alcohol, 95 per cent. ; put into an ounce phial, shake them well together, and apply freely once or twice a day for two or three weeks. By the end of this time, or a month at the most, the warts will be gone. (4) Dissolve as much common washing-soda as the water will take up; wash the warts with this for a minute or two, and let them dry without wip- ing. Keep the water in a bottle, and repeat the washmg often, and it will take away the largest warts. (5) Oil of cinnamon dropped on warts three or four times a day will cause their disappearance, however hard, large, or dense they may be. The application gives no pain nor causes suppuration. (6) The bark of the willow tree, burnt to ashes, applied to the parts, will remove all warts or excrescences on any part of the body. Biu-ns and Scalds. — (1) Mix common kitchen whitening with sweet oil, or, if sweet oil is not at hand, with water. Plaster the whole of the burn and some inches beyond it, all round, with the above, after mixing it to the consistency of common paste, and lay it on an eighth, or rather more, of an inch in thickness. It acts Uke a charm; the most agonizing pain is in a few minutes stilled. Take cai-e to keep the mixture moist by the apphcation, from time to time, of fresh oil or fresh water, and at night wrap the whole part affected in gutta-percha or flannel, to keep the moisture from evapor- rating. The patient will, in all probability, unless the flesh be much injured and the burn a very bad one, sleep soundly. (2) For burns and scalds nothing is more soothing than the white of an egg, which may be poured over the wound. It is softer as a varnish for a burn than collodion, and being always at hand can be applied immediately. It is also more cooling than the sweet oil and cotton which was formerly supposed to be the surest application to allay the smarting pain. It is the contact with the air which gives the extreme discomfort experienced from the ordinary accident of this kind, and anything which excludes the air and prevents inflammation is the thing to be applied. (3) The following is one of the best apphcations we know of in cases of burns or scalds, more especially where a large surface is denuded of the skin: Take one drachm of finely-powdered alum, and mix thoroughly with the whites of two eggs and one teacup of fresh lard; spread on a cloth, and apply to the jDarts burned. It gives almost instant rehef from pain, and, by excluding the air, prevents inflammatory action. The application should be changed at least once a day. (4) Common baking soda — the bicarbonate— has been found to cure burns or scalds, affording immediate relief when it is promptly applied. For a dry burn, the soda should be made into paste with water. For a scald or wet burned surface, the powdered soda (or borax will do as well) should be dusted on. (5) It is said that charcoal is a sure cure for burns. By laying a small piece of cold charcoal on the burn, the pain subsides immediately. By leav- ing the charcoal on for an hour the wound is healed, as has been demon- strated on several occasions. THi: HOME PHYSiaiAN. 42S (6) For bnrns sweet oil aud cotton are the staudard remedies. If tbey are not at hand sprinkle the burned part with flour and wrap loosely with a soft cloth. Don't remove the dressing until the inflammation subsides, aa it will break the new skin that is forming. (7) One ounce of pulverized borax, one quart of boiling water, hah" ounce of pulverized alum. Shake up well and bottle. Wrap the burn up in soft linen, and keep constantly wet with the solution. Do not remove the linen until the burn is cured. (8) Soak a piece of linen rag in linseed oil, suspend it from the tongs over a saucer, and ignite the lower end; the oil which drops from it, while consuming, should be applied, when cold, with a feather, to the burn or scald. (9) Smear the scorched surface with glycerine, by means of a feather, then apply cotton wadding; lastly, cover with oil-silk. This treatment has been very successful in cases of recent occurrence. (10) The true physiological way of treating burns and scalds is at -ince to exclude the air, with cotton batting, flour, scraped potato or anything that is handiest. Headache. — (1) All ships sailing in hot climates carry a supply of limes, whose acid juice is a remedy for biliousness. Dr. Haire says he has cured many victims of sick headache with the following simple prescription: When the first symptoms of a headache appear, take a teaspoonful of lemon juice, clear, fifteen minutes before each meal, and the same dose at bedtime. Fol- low this up until all symptoms are past, taking no other medicines, and you will soon be freed fi-om your periodical nuisance. Sick headache is the sig- nal of distress which the stomach puts up to inform us that there is an over alkaUne condition of its fluids — that it needs a natural acid to restore the battery to its normal working condition. Lemonade without sugar, plain lemon juice and water, is a grateful aud medicinal beverage for a person of bilious habit, allaying feverishness and promoting sleep and appetite. Some who oannot aflford to be sick may be willing to make a conscientious trial of the above remedy, which is neither patented nor costly. To make it a sov- ereign remedy it will in most cases need the help of a reform in diet, or a let-up from work and care — one or both. In other words, the same causes will be apt to reproduce the efi'ect — as the pinching boot will recreate corns where they have been removed. (2) A new remedy for headache has been found by Dr. Haley, an Aus- tralian physician, who says that for some years past he has found minimum doses of iodide of potassium of great service in frontal headache; that is, a heavy, dull headache, situated over the brow, and accompanied by lau- gour, chilliness and a feeling of general discomfort, with distaste for food, which sometimes approaches to nausea, can be completely lemoved by a two grain dose dissolved in half a wineglassful of water, and this quietly sipped, the whole quantity being taken in about ten minutes. In many cases, he adds, the effect of these small doses has been simply wonderful, as, for instance, a person, who a quarter of an hour ago was feeling most miserable, and refused all food, wishing only for quietness, would now take a good meal and resume his wonted cheerfulness. If this cure of Dr. Haley's is in reaUty a practical one, he will merit, for the discovery, the gratitude of suffering millions. (3) Dr. Lauder Brunton says: " The administration of a brisk purgative, or small doses of Epsom salts, thrice a day, is a most effectual remedy for 426 TEE HOUSEHOLD. frontal headache when combined with constipation; but if the bowels be regular, the morbid processes on which it depends seem to be checked, and the headache removed even more efl'ectually by nitro-hydrochloric acid, or by alkaUes, given before meals. If the headache is immediately above the eyebrows, the acid is best; but if it be a little higher up, just where the hair begins, the alkaUes appear to me to be the more effectual. At the same time that the headache is removed, the feelings of sleepiness and weariness, which frequently lead the patients to complain that they rise up more tired than they lie down, generally disappear." (4r) Dr. Hall states that sick headache is the result of eating too much and exercising too little. Nine times in ten the cause is in the fact that the stomach was not able to digest the food last introduced into it, either from its having been unsuitable, or excessive in quantity. A diet of bread and butter with ripe Iruits or berries, with moderate, continuous exercise in the open air, suflicient to keep up a gentle perspiration, would cure almost every case in a short time. Two teaspoonluls of powdered charcoal in a half glass of water, and drank, generally gives instant relief. (5) Put a handful of salt into a quart of water, add one ounce of spMts of hartshorn, and half an ounce of camphorated spirits of wine. Put them quickly into a bottle, and cork tightly to prevent the escape of the spirits. Soak a piece of rag with the mixture, and apply it to the head; wet the rag afresh as soon as it gets heated. (6) A mixture of ice and salt, in proportion of one to one-half, apphed to the head, frequently gives instant relief from acute headache. It should be tied up in a small linen cloth, like a pad, and held as near as possible to the seat of the pain. (7) For sick headache, induced by bilious derangement, steep five cents' worth of senna and camomile flowers in a little water, to make strong decoction, and take. It has been tried successfully in various cases. (8) Coarse brown paper soaked in vinegar and placed on the forehead is good for a sick headache. If the eyelids are gently bathed in cool water the pain in the head is generally allayed. (9) Nervous headache is said to be instantly relieved by shampooing the head with a quart of cold water in which a dessertspoonful of soda has been dissolved. OfTeiisive Breath. — (1) From six to ten drops of the concentrated solu- tion of chloride of soda, in a wineglassful of pure spring water, taken imme- diately after the ablutions of the morning are completed, will sweeten the breath, by disinfecting the stomach, which far from being injured will be benefitted by the medicine. If necessary, this may be i-epeated in the mid- dle of the day. In some cases the odor arising from carious teeth is com- bined with that of the stomach. If the mouth is well rinsed with a teaspoon- ful of the solution of the chloride in a tumbler of water, the bad odor of the teeth will be removed. (2) To correct the odor of decayed teeth, two or three drops of a solution of permanganate of potassa may be used in a glass of water as a wash, or a few drops of the solution may be put into the cavity of the tooth on a small piece of cotton. A good remedy for a bad breath, arising from a foul stomach, is charcoal powder in teaspoonful doses — a dose every other morn- ing before breakfast for two or three weeks, if necessary. (3) Bad breath from catarrh, foul stomach, or bad teeth, may be tem- porarily relieved by diluting a little bromo chloralum with eight or ten parts THE HOME PHYHIGIAN. 427 of water, and using it as a gargle, and swallowing a few drops before going out. A pint of bromo chloralum costs fifty cents, but a small vial full will last a long time. (4) Take eight drops of muriatic acid, in half a tumbler of spring water, and add a little lemon peel or juice to suit the palate. Let this mixture be taken three times a day for some weeks, and, if found beneficial, tlien use it occasionally. (5) The best treatment in regard to offensive breath is the use of pow- dered charcoal, two or three tablespoonfuls per week, taken in a glass of water before retiring for the night. To Stop Bleeding. — (1) If a man is wounded so that the blood flows, that flow is either regular, or by jets or spurts. If it flows regularly, a vein has been wounded, and a stiing should be bound tightly around below the wounded part, that is, beyond it from the heart. If the blood comes out by leaps or jets, an artery has been severed, and the person may bleed to death in a lew minutes; to prevent which apply the cord above the wound, that is, between the wound and the heart. In case a string or cord is not at hand, tie the two opposite corners of a handkerchief around the limb, put a stick between and turn it round until the handkerchief is twisted sufliciently tight to stop the bleeding, and keep it so until a physician can be had. (2) It is said that bleeding from a wound, on man or beast, may be stopped by a mixture of wheat flour and common salt, in equal parts, bound on with a cloth. If the bleeding be profuse, use a large quantity, say from one to three pints. It may be left on for hours or even days, it' necessary. The person who gave us this receipt says: " In tliis manner I saved the life of a horse which was bleeding from a wounded artery; the bleeding ceased in five minutes after the application." (3) Blood may be made to cease to flow as follows: Take fine dust of tea and bind it close to the wound; at all times accessible and easily to be obtained. After the blood has ceased to flow, laudanum may be advantage- ously applied to the wound. Due regard to these instructions would save agitation of mind, and running for the surgeon, who would, probably, make no better prescription if he were present. (4) Powdered rosin is the best thing to stop bleeding from cuts. After the powder is sprinkled on, wrap the wound with a soft cotton cloth. As soon as the wound begins to feel feverish, keep the cloth wet with cold water. (5) For internal bleeding put the patient in bed with the head slightly raised, keep the room cool, and give frequently a swallow of the coldest water or a pellet of ice. (6) For bleeding, take linen or other rags, burn to charcoal and put it in the wound, and no more blood will come. (7) For bleeding at the cavity of an extracted tooth, pack the alveolus fully and firmly with cotton wet with alum water. Ckildren'si Falls — A child rolls down the stairs, or falls from a height, and in either case strikes its head with force. What shall be done till the doctor comes ? We would give the following directions, as nearly as possible in the order in which they should be adopted. Raise the child gently in the arms, and carrying to the nearest sofa or bed, place him on it^unless crying loudly, when he can be Boothed quickest in his mother's arms. All the clothing should be loosened, especially about the neck, to afford the freest 428 THE HOUSEHOLD. cireulatiou of the blood to and from the head. To eqitalize the circulation and prevent hitlammations the head should be kept cool and the extremities warm. Cooling lotions of arnica or witch hazel and water or simply water should be applied to the head on thin cloths, well wrung out so as not to wet the pillows and bed-clothes. Not more than two or four thicknesses of linen should be used, because thick cloths prevent evaporation, and what was intended to cool the head acts as a poultice and makes the head hotter. Ice and cold water should not be used unless the head be very hot, as it is believed children have been killed by the application of pounded ice to the head. Bottles of hot water or hot irons are all that is necessary, besides the bed- clothing, to heat the extremities. All applications of mustard and other irritants possess no advantage over these, and have the disadvantage of dis- turbing the sufferer. Should the patient's face be very pale, and signs of fainting appear, camphor or ammonia should be applied to the nostrils, and a little brandy or wine be given. Then the room should be made as quiet as possible and every means used to invite " Nature's sweet restorer," sleep. We know the popular idea is that patients suffering from any injury to the head shoiild be kept awake by all means; and it is mainly to combat this erroneous notion that we are prompted to write out these directions. No injury— or degree of injury— of the head contraindicates the sufferer's sleeping. In fact jjositive harm may be done in trying to prevent sleep. Rest is what the brain and blood vessels want more than any other thing; and, if not allowed, what would have passed off in a few hours or days may be prolonged into mflammation, with all its dangerous consequences. Of course the air of the room should be kept pui'e — windows and doors open if the weather permit— and the presence of persons not absolutely necessary forbidden. Cancer. — (1) The following is said to be a sui-e cure for cancer: A piece of sticking plaster is put over the cancer, with a circular piece cut out of the center, a little larger than the cancer, so that the cancer and a small circular rim of healthy skin next to it is exposed. Then a plaster, made of chloride of zinc, blood root and wheat flour, is spread on a piece of muslin, the size of this circular opening, and applied to the cancer for twenty-four hours. On removing it, the cancer will be found burned into, and appear of the color and hardness of an old shoe sole, and the circular rim outside of it will appear white and parboiled, as if scalded by hot steam. The wound is now dressed, and the outside rim soon separates, and the cancer comes out in a hard lump, and the place heals up. The plaster kills the cancer, so that it sloughs like dead flesh, and never grows again. The remedy was discovered by Dr. King, of London, and has been used by him for several years with unfailing success, and not a case has been known of the reappearance of the cancer when this remedy has been applied. (2) An old Indian cancer doctor in Oregon pronounces this a sure cure: Take common wood sorrel, bruise it on brass, spread it in the form of a poultice, and apply as long as the patient can bear; then apply bread and milk poultice until the patient can bear the wood sorrel again. Continue this until the cancer is drawn out by the roots. (3) Take the blossoms of red clover and make tea of them, and drink freely. It will cure cancer in the stomach as well as on the surface. THE HOME PHYSICIAN. 429 Consumption. — (1) A correspondent in Canada writes this interesting and, jDerhaps, useful letter to Chambers' Journal: " Noticing an extract from the World of Science, in y/hieh a physician strongly recommends hot water in place of tea or coffee as a stimulant for the use of those requiring to study late at night, I would like to give my experience of it as a beneficial agent in consumiition: Mrs. , one of a family a number of whose members had died of consumjition, was, after severe exposure to a snow storm, seized with a scrioiis cough and expectoration, accompanied with a loss of flesh. Ex- amination by a physician showed that one lung was seriously affected. She was wholly confined to her room, and everything that medical attendance and loving care could do to mitigate her suffering was done, but ineffectu- ally. The depressing night sweats continued, together with loss of rest from repeated fits of coughing. Losing all faith in medicine some six months ago, its use was wholly abandoned and the use of noiirishing diet only continued. About ten weeks ago the patient's attention was directed to a newspaper paragraph recommending hot water as a remedy for consumption. Feeling that little harm could ensue fi'om its use, she determined to test it. At the moment of retiring a large tumbler of hot water, in which the juice of a lemon had been mixed to free it from nausea, was taken. In a few mo- ments a glow of warmth would pervade the lungs, chest, etc., quickly fol- lowed by the most refreshing sleep, which would he unbroken by any cough, and the patient woiild awake in the morning rested and strengthened. A few days ago she was seized with a fit of coughing, dui-ing which was coughed up into her mouth a small stone about the size of a pea — formed of sulphate of lime, I believe, and usually considered a symptom of the healing of a cavity in the lung." (2) A correspondent writes as follows about the flower of a well-known plant: " I have discovered a remedy for consumption. It has cured a num- ber of cases after they had commenced bleeding at the lungs and the hectic flush was already on the cheek. After trying tliis remedy to my own satis- faction, I have thought that philanthropy reqiiired that I should let it be known to the world. It is common mullen, steeped strongly and sweetened with coffee sugar, and drank freely. Young or old plants are good, dried in the shade and kept in clean bags. The medicine must be continued from three to six months, according to the nature of the disease. It is very good for the blood vessels also. It strengthens and builds up the system instead of taking away the strength. It makes good blood and takes inflammation away from the lungs." (3) English physicians recommend the free use of lemons for consump- tion. It has long been known that they are excellent in the cure of rheuma- tism, and, fortunately, they ai-e both cheap and grateful to the jialate. A little sugar only should be used with them, and a dozen a day are none too many. Felons. — (1) Felons, which are usually termed "Whitlow" by physi- cians, we believe, are a very painful and often very serious affection of the fingers, generally of the last joints, and often near or involving the nails. As the fingers are much exposed to bruises, felons are quite common among those who constantly use their hands at hard work. If allowed to continue until matter (pus) forms, and the periosteum or bone sheathing is affected, lancing is necessary; hut if taken in time, a simple application of copal var- nish, covering it with a bandage, is highly recommended. If the varnish becomes dry and unpleasantly hard, a little fresh varnish may be applied 430 THE nOUSEnOLB. fiomtime to time. When a cure is effected, the varnish is easily removed bj' rubbing into it a little lard and washing with soap and water. Dr. A. B. Isham details, in Medical JS^ews, a number of cases of its application with uniform success, where formations of pus had not previously occurred. In two cases there were apparently a combination of the " run-around" with a felon, and in all of them there was swelling, redness, heat, and great pain. He suggests the use of copal vai'nish for felons, run arounds, boils, and any local acute inflammations of external parts. (2) Take the root of the plant known as dragon root, Jack-in-the-pulpit, or Indian turnip, either green or dry; grate about one-half a teaspoonful into four tablespoonfuls of sweet milk; simmer gently a few minutes, then thicken with bread crumbs, and apply as hot as possible. This can be heated again two or three times, adding a little milk each time. If the felon is just starting, this will drive it back; if somewhat advanced will draw it out quickly and gently. It is well to put a little tallow on the poultice, especially after opening, to prevent sticking. This same poultice is good for a car- buncle or anything rising. (3) Many persons are liable to extreme suffering from felons on the fin- ger. The following prescription is recommended as a cure for the distress- ing ailment: Take common rock salt, such as is used for salting down pork or beef, dry it in an oven, then poiind it fine and mix with spirits of turpen- tine in equal parts. Put it on a rag and wrap it around the part affected, and as it gets dry put on more, and in twenty-four hours you are cured — the felon is dead. (4) The following directions carefully observed, will prevent those cir- cular and osseous abominations, known as felons. As soon as the disease is felt, put directly over the spot, a fly blister, about the size of your thiimb nail, and let it remain for six hours, at the expiration of which time, directly iinder the surface of the bUster, may be seen the felon, which can instantly be taken out with the point of a needle or lancet. (5) At first great relief is obtained by soaking the part in half a gill of strong vinegar, in which has been dissolved one tablespoonful of saleratus. Use it as hot as it can be borne, and repeat as often as the pain returns. A thimbleful of unslacked lime and soft soap has cured some cases in a few hours. If matter forms, it had better be poulticed and lanced, or it will be painful from two to six weeks. (6) As soon as it makes its appearance apply a poultice, of equal parts of saltpeter and brimstone, mix with suflicient lard to make a paste, and renew as soon as it gets dry. A few applications will effect a cure. Dyspepsia. — (1) We have seen dyspeptics who suffered untold torments with almost every kind of food; no liquid could be taken without suffering; bread became a burning acid; meat and milk were solid liquid tires; and we have seen their torments pass away, and their hunger relieved by living on the white of eggs which have been boiled in bubbling water for thirty min- utes. At the end of a week we have given the half yelk of the egg with the white, and upon this diet alone, mthout food of any kind, we have seen them begin to gain flesh and strength, and quiet, refreshing sleep. After weeks of this treatment they have been able, with care, to begin upon other food. And ail this without taking medicine. Hard-boiled eggs are not half so bad as half-boiled ones, and ten times as easy to digest as raw eggs, even in egg-nog. (2) Milk and lime water is said to prove beneficial in dyspepsia and THE HOME PHYSICIAN. 431 weakness of the stomach. The way to make the Ume water is simply to procure a few lumps of uuslaked lime, put the lime in a fruit can, add water until it is slaked and of the consistency of thin cream; the lime settles, and leaves the pure and clear lime water at the top. A goblet of cow'a milk may have six or eight teaspoonfuls of lime water added with good effect. Great care should be taken not to get the lime water too strong; pour oif without disturbing the precipitated lime. Sickness of the stomach is promptly re- lieved by a teacupful of Avarm water with a teaspoonful of soda dissolved m it. If it brings the offending matter up, all the better. (3) Dr. Nichols, who has made a series of dietetic experiments on him- self, has arrived at the conclusion that, if the stomach is allowed to rest, any case of dyspepsia may be cured; that the diet question was at the root of all diseases; that pure blood can only be made from pure food, and that, if the drink of a nation were pure and free from stimulating qualities, and the food was also pure, the result would be pure health. (4l) In mild cases take one teaspoonful sweet oil, after eating, three times a day. In severe forms take a dessertspoonful. This followed up has cured cases where doctors have given them up. Ye who suffer from this dread disease, don't fail to try it; surely it can't hurt you. (5) Bum alum nntil the moisture in it is evaporated, then take as much as you can put on a dime, about half an hour before eating. Three or four days probably will answer; but take it until cured. Dysentery. — (1) Dysentery, or inflammation of the great intestine, pre- vails in the autumnal season more particularly, and in low-lying and marshy districts. It occasionally occurs also as an epidemic in overcrowded insti- tutions and unhealthy localities. Treatment: Dysentery attacks those soon- est whose blood is impoverished and whose vital powers are generally de- pressed from some cause — a fact which suggests a building-up plan of treat- ment. Although dysentery commences in the great intestine, the liver soon becomes secondarily affected, and it, therefore, behooves the patient to be very cautious as to the amount of stimulation he subjects himself to; malt liquors and spirits are not permissable. His food, too, must be of the light- est kind. The following medicines will bo found most useful: Castor-oil mixture: Take of castor-oil, six drachms; compound powder of tragacanth, one ounce; cinnamon water, six ounces. Take a sixth part three times a, day. The nitric acid mixture: Take of dilute nitric acid, two drachms; spirit of chloroform, two drachms; tincture of opium, half a drachm; pepper- mint water, six ounces. Take two tablespoonfuls every four hours. With either of the above mixtures a powder containing three grains of ipecacuanha and six grains of sugar may be taken every night and morning. Ipecacuanha becomes an invaluable medicine in dysentery, by virtue of the specific power it exerts on all mucous membranes in causing increased action of their mu- cous follicles; and thus it is that it gives so much relief to the dysenteric patient, in whom the dry and, perhaps, ulcerated surface of the intestine is soothed and lubricated by an increased flow of mucus. (2) The egg is considered one of the best of remedies for dysentery. Beaten up slightly, with or without sugar, and swallowed at a gulp, it tends, by its emollient qualities, to lessen the inflammation of the stomach and in- testine, and, by forming a transient coating on these organs, to enable nature to resume her healthful sway over a diseased bodj'. Two, or at most three eggs per day, would be all that is required in ordinary cases, and since egg is not merely medicine but food as well, the lighter the diet otherwise 432 THE HOUSEHOLD. and the quieter the patient id kept the more certain and rapid is the recovery. (3) Take one pint of best wine vinegar, and add half a pound of best loaf sugar. Simmer them together in a pewter vessel, with a pewter top. Let the patient drink this during the day — a small quantity at a time — either clear, or diluted with water. I>iplitUeria.--(l) Dr. Cheuery, of Boston, has lately discovered that hyposulphite of soda is the specific remedy against diphtheria, that so much di-eaded ailment, which of late years has carried off many valuable lives. He reports a very large number of cases saved by the rse of this remedy. The dose of the hyposulphite is from five to fifteen grains or more in syrup, every two to four hours, according to age and circumstances. It can do no harm, but if too much is given it will purge; as much as the patient can bear without purging is a good rule in the severer cases. The solution or mixture can be used in doses of five drops to half a drachm in milk. The amount for thorough stimulation is greater than can be taken in water. The doctor usually gives it in such doses as can be easily taken in milk, using milk besides as a food for small children. One fact, however, needs to be borne in mind, namely, the hyposulphite prevents the digestion of milk, and it should not be given in less than an hour after taking the medicine. They may be used alternately, however, without interference, in sufficiently fre- quent doses. (2) The treatment consists in thoroughly swabbing the back of the mouth aud throat with a wash made thus: Table salt, two drachms; black l^epper, golden seal, nitrate of potash, alum, one drachm each. Mix and pulverize, piit into a teacup half full of water, stir well, and then fill up with good vinegar. Use every half hour, one, two, and four hours, as recovery progresses. The patient may swallow a little each time. Apply one ounce each of spirits of turpentine, sweet oil, and aqua ammonia, mixed, every hour, to the whole of the throat, and to the breast bone every four hours, keeping flannel to the part. (3) A correspondent writes that ho has used the following remedy for diphtheria in a great many hard cases, and in not one has it failed to effect a cure. It is as follows: Procure some pitch tar — not gas tar — put a little on a hot iron, invert funnel over the smoke, and let the patient inhale as much as he can for a few minutes five or six times a day. During the intervals let the patient have small pieces of ice to keep as near the root of the tongue as possible. (4:) In Franco lemon juice is in high repute as a remedy for diphtheria. As a local application it is preferred to chlorate of pstash, nitrate of silver, perchloride of iron, alum or lime water. It is used by dipping a little plug of cotton wool twisted around a wire in the juice, and pressing it against the diseased surface four or five times daily. (5) A gargle of sulphur and water has been used with much success in cases of diphtheria. Let the patient swallow a little of the mixture. Or, when you discover that your throat is a little sore, bind a strip of flannel around the throat, wet in camphor, and gargle salt and vinegar occa- sionally. (6) Take a common tobacco pipe, place a live coal within the bowl, drop a little tar upon the coal, and let the patient draw smoke into the mouth, and discharge it through the nostrils. The remedy is safe and simple, and should be tried whenever occasion may require. THE HOME PHYSICIAN, 433 Croup. ^There are various remedies for this enemy iu the nursery. As in other diseases, prevention is better than cure. Children liable to croup should not play out of doors after three o'clock in the afternoon. If a woolen shawl is closely pinned around the neck of the patient when the first symp- toms of croup appear the attack may be diminished in power. The child struggling for breath naturally throws its arms out of bed to breathe through its pores, and thus takes more cold and increases its trouble. Bi-chromate of potassa iu minute doses — as much as will rest on the point of a penknife — given every half hour till relief is obtained, is the best remedy we have ever tried. Mustard plasters on the ankles, wrist and chest will draw the blood from the throat and relieve it, cloths wrung from hot water and placed about the chest and throat and wrapped with flannel, give I'elief. A teaspoonful of alum pulverized aud mixed with twice its ipiantity of sugar, to make it palatable, will give almost instant help. Another remedy is the following: Take equal parts of soda or saleratus and syrup or molasses; mix aud give a teaspoonful for a child two years, larger doses for older children, smaller for nursing babies. Repeat the doses at short intervals until the phlegm is all thrown up, and upon each recurrence of the symptoms. Oi", grate a raw onion, strain out the juice, and to two parts of the juice put one part of castor oil; keep it well corked in a bottle, shake well, give one teaspoonful once in two or three hours. Or, take two parts sweet lard and six parts pulverized sugar, mix thoroughly, and give a teaspoonful every fifteen minutes uutil relief is obtained. Among the many remedies given we hope that one or moi-e may be available to every mother who needs aid in this matter. Diarrhoea. — (1) It is said the small plant commonly known by the name rupturewort, made into tea, and drank frequently, is a sure cure for diar- rhoea. Rupturewort grows in nearly every open lot, and along the roads. It is a small j^lant, throwing out a number of shoots in a horizontal direction, and lying close to the ground, something similar to the manner of the piis- leyweed, and bears a small, dark gi'een leaf, with an oblong, purple spot in the center. When the stem is broken, a white milky substance will ooze from the wound. It is very palatable, aud infants take it as readily as any drink. This is an old Indian cure, and may be relied on. The botanical name of this plant is Enphrohia Maciln/n. (2) Blackberry cordial is said to be almost a specific for summer com- plaint or diarrhoea. From a teaspoonful to a wineglass is to be taken, ac- cording to the age of the patient, until relieved. Following is a recipe for making blackberry cordial: To two quarts of juice add one poi;nd of white sugar; half ounce nutmeg, half ounce cinnamon, pulverized; half ounce cloves, pulvei-ized. Boil all together for a short time, and when cold add a pint of brandy. (3) Take Indian corn, roasted and gi'ovmd in the manner of coffee, or coarse meal browned, and boil in a sufficient quantity of water to produce a strong liquid, like coffee, aud drink a teacupful warm, two or three times a day. One day's practice, it is said, will ordinarily effect a cure. (4) The ingredients are: Sulphate of morphia, one grain; Glauber salts, quarter of an ounce; water, two ounces. Dose: A teaspoonful twice a day. If attended with much pain and looseness, administer this medicine every two hours. (5) A strong solution of bicarbonate of soda (baking soda) taken fre- quently is a reliable remedy for diarrhoea troubles, particularly those aris- ing from acidity of the stomacli. 454 THE HOUSEHOLD. Corns. — (1) For soft corns soak the feet well in hot water before go- ing to bed, then pare down the corn, and, after having just moistened it, rub a little lunar caustic ou the corn and just around the edge, till it turns light gray. By the next morning it will be black, and when the burnt skin peels off it will leave no vestige of the corn underneath. Of coui'se, the corn is liable to return, but not for some length of time. Or, scrape a bit of com- mon chalk, and put a pinch of the powder on the corn at night, binding a 23iece of linen round. Repeat this for a few days, when the corn will come off in little scales. (2) Take quarter cup of strong vinegar, crumb finely into it some bread. Let stand half an hour, or until it softens into a good poultice. Then apply, on retiring at night. In the morning the soreness will be gone and the corn can be picked out. If the corn is a very obstinate one, it may require two or more applications to effect a cure. (3) To cure corns, take a lemon, cut a piece ot it off, then nick it so as to let in the toe with the corn. Tie this on at niglit so that it cannot move, and you will find the next morning that, with a blunt knife, the com will come away to a great extent. Two or three applications mil effect a thor- ough cure. (4) For soft corns dip a piece of linen cloth in turpentine and wrap it around the toe on which the corn is situated, night and morning. The relief will be immediate, and, after a few days, the corn will dis- appear. (5) Soft coi'ns can be cured by this corn salve: Boil tobacco down to an extract, then mix with it a quantity of white pitch pine, and apply it to the corn, renewing it once a week until the corn disappears. (6) Boil a potato in its skin, and after it is boiled take the skin and put the inside of it to the corn, and leave it on for about twelve hours; at the end of that period the corn will be nearly cured. (7) Macerate the tender leaves of ivy in strong vinegar for eight or ten days, then apply to the corns by means of cloths or lint saturated with the liquor. In a few days the corns will drop off. Ijiquor Appetite. — (1) Dr. Unger insists that the following remedy will cure the cravings of the worst drunkard in the laud: Take one pound of best, fresh, quill red Peruvian bark, powder it, and soak it in one pint of diluted alcohol. Afterward strain and evaporate it down to half a pint. Directions for its use: Dose — a teaspoonful every three hours the first and second day, and occasionally moisten the tongue between the doses. It acts like quinine, and the patient can tell by a headache if he is getting too much. The third day take as previous, but reduce the dose to one-half teaspoonful. Afterward reduce the dose to fifteen di'ops, and then down to ten, then down to five drops. To make a cure it takes from five to fifteen days, and in ex- treme cases thirty days. Seven days are about the average in which a cure can be effected. (2) At a festival of one of our reformatory institutions, a gentleman is re- ported to have said: "I overcame the appetite for liquor by a recipe given to me by old Dr. Hatfield, one of those good old physicians who do not have a percentage from a neighboring druggist. The prescription is simply an orange every morning half an hour before breakfast. ' Take that,' said the doctor, ' and you will want neither liquor nor medicine.' I have done so regularly, and find that liquor has become repulsive. The taste of the orange is in the saliva of my tongue; and it would be as well to mix water TEE HOME FHYSICIAN. 435 and oil as mm with my taste." The recipe is simple, and has the recom- mendation that it can do no harm if it does no good. (3) The following recipe has been found efficacious in a gi-eat many cases: Sulphate of iron, five grains; peppermint water, eleven drachms; spirits of nutmeg, one drachm. This preparation acts as a tonic and stimu- lant, and so partially supplies the place of the accustomed liquor, and pre- vents the absolute physical and moral prostration that often follows a sudden breaking off from the use of stimulating drinks. It is to be taken in quanti- ties equal to an ordinary drachm, and as often as the desire for a drachm returns. Coughs awd Colds. — (1) An old-fiishioned remedy for a cold: A warm " stew," getting into bed with covering well tucked in, hot bricks to feet, and drinking abundantly of hot teas until there is a dripping perspiration, to be kept up an hour or two or more xmtil the system is relieved, and then to cool off very gradually in the course of another hour, is derisively styled " an old woman's remedy "; but for all that it will break iip any cold taken within thirty-six hours; it will i^romptly relieve many of the most painful forms of sudden disease, with the advantage of being without danger, gives no shock to the system, nor wastes its strength. (2) Borax has proved a must effective remedy in certain forms of colds. In sudden hoarseness or loss of voice in public speakers or singers, from colds, relief for an hour or so may be obtained by slowly dissolving, and partially swallowing, a lump of borax the size of a garden pea, or about three or four grains held in the mouth for ten or fifteen minutes before speakiug or singing. This produces a profuse secretion of saliva, or " water- ing " of the mouth and throat, just as wetting brings back the missing notes to a flute when it is too dry. (3) The following remedy, communicated by a Eussian, as the usual mode of getting rid of those complaints in that part of Russia from whence he came, is simple, and we can, from experience, also vouch for its efficacy. It is no other than a sti-ong tea of elder flowers, sweetened with honey, either fresh or dried. A basin of this tea is to be drank as hot as possible, after the person is warm in bed; it produces a strong perspiration, and a slight cold or cough yields to it immediately, but the most stubborn requires two or three repetitions. (4) To a pint and a half of water, add two large poppy-heads, and two large lemons. Boil them till they are soft, press the lemons into the water, strain the liquor, and add half a drachm of saffron, and half a pound of brown sugar-candy, pounded. Boil all together till the sugar-candy is dis- solved; stir the whole till you perceive it will jelly; strain it a second time, and take the seeds from the pojjpies. (5) Put five cents' worth of pine pitch into a pint of water. Let it sim- mer until the water is well impregnated with the flavor. Dip out the gum which remains undissolved and add honey enough to sweeten and make a thick syrup. Sti-ain this and bottle. Dose, a teaspoonful four or five times a day, according to the severity of the cough. It will afford speedy relief. (6) Take two ounces of balm of gilead buds, the freshest you can procure, and boil them very slowly in a quart of water. Let it simmer down to one pint, then strain it, and then add one pound of honey in comb, with the juice of three lemons. Let them all boil together until the wax in the honey is dissolved. This has been known to cure a cough of long standing. (7) Melt some resin at night on 'going to bed, and let the smoke from it ^6 THE HOUSEHOLD. fill the room. Inhaling the smoke heals the inflammation, and sleep is often produced when one could not sleep before for much coughing. Presevere until a cure is effected. A change for the better should be felt within a week. (8) For colds, coughs, croup, or lung fever, take lard or sweet oil, two pai-ts; coal oil, two parts; spirits of camphor, one part; spirits of turpentine, one part; saturate flannel and apply to the throat and chest warm. Cold in the Head. — (1) This may sometimes be cui-ed by inhaling through the nose the emanations of ammonia contained in a smelling bottle. If the sense of the smell is completely obliterated, the bottle should be kept under the nose until the pungency of the volatile alkali is felt. The bottle is then removed, but only to be reapplied after a minute; the second appli- cation, however, should not be long, that the patient may bear it. This easy operation being repeated seven or eight times in the course of five minutes, but always very rapidly, except the first time, the nostrils become free, the sense of smell is restored, and the secretion of the irritating mucous is stopped. This remedy is said to be peculiarly advantageous to singers. (2) A cold in the head can be cured at once, if taken care of at the very beginning. Dissolve a tablespoouful of borax in a pint of hot water; let it stand until it becomes tepid; snuff some up the nostrils two or three times during the day, or use the xlry, powdered borax like snuff, taking a pinch as often as required. At night have a handkerchief saturated with spirits of camphor, place it near the nostrils so as to inhale the fumes while sleeping. (3) A hot lemonade is one of the best remedies in the world for a cold. It acts promptly and efiectually, and has no unpleasant after effects. One lemon properly scpieezed, cot in slices, put with sugar, and covered with half a pint of boiling water. Drink just before going to bed, and do not expose yourself on the following day. This remedy will ward off an attack of chills and fever if used properly. (4) Wlien one has a bad cold and the nose is closed up so that he cannot breathe through it, relief may be found instantly by putting a Httle camphor and water in the center of the hand and suuftiug it up the nose. It is a great relief. CataiTli— (1) Ordinary cases of catarrh can be cured by snuffing up the nose a little table salt three or four times a day; but many cases of this troublesome complaint are caused by inability of the liver to perform its function properly. In such cases there is often a too alkaline condition of the blood. If persons thus afflicted will scpieeze the juice of a good-sized lemon into a half-tumbler of water, and drink it without sugar just before dinner, they will, if they live abstemiously, be surprised to see how soon the catarrhal difficulty will diminish. Wicn it fails to do so, it may be con- sidered as due to other causes. (2) The catarrh, writes a correspondent, can be cured by a daily use of raw onions as an article of food; at the same time use a snufl"made of white sugar, laundry starch, and burned alum, pulverized and mixed in equal quantities — to be used the same as other snuff. (3) A most unfailing remedy for catarrh is to smoke crushed cubeb ber- ries in a clay pipe and swallow the smoke. They can be procured at any drug store, at a moderate cost. Try it. THE HOME PHYSICIAN. 437 (4) Put one tablespoonful of iode-bromide of calcium comp. into a tea- cupful of warm water. Snuff it up the nose night and morning. It is very cleansing and healing. (5) Burn a piece oi alum on the stove until it becomes a white powder, and use it as a snuff, and it will cure catarrh and is a good remedy for cold in the head. (6) Take one i>int of whiskey, and add two ounces of sulphur; shake it up and take a tablespoonful three mornings, then miss three; so proceed until taken up. Scarlet Fever. — (1) Mr. Robert Christie, a San Francisco journalist, suggests a remedy for the scarlet fever which he avers has invariably proved successful. It is very simple, and lies within the reach of those whose limited means preclude them from employing the services of a physician. It is this: Take an onion, and cut it in hal\>es; cut out a portion of the center, and into the cavity put a spoonful of saffron; put the pieces together, then wrap in cloth and bake in an oven until the onion is cooked so that the juice will run freely, then squeeze out all the juice, and give the patient a tea- spoonful, at the same time rubbing the chest and throat with goose grease or rancid bacon, if there is any cough or soreness in the throat. In a short time the fever will break out in an eruption all over the body. All that is then necessary is to keep the patient M'ariu, and protected from draught, and recovery is certain. Mr. Christie says he has been employing tliis remedy for many years, and pever knew it to fail, when proper care was taken of the patient alter its application. One family, in which there were five children down with the disease at one time, recently, used this simple remedy upon his telling them of it, and every one of the little ones recovered in a short time. (2) An eminent physician says ho cures ninety-nine out of every hundred cases of scarlet fever, by giving the patient warm lemonade with gum arable dissolved in it. A cloth wrung out in hot water and laid upon the stomach, should be removed as rapidly as it becomes cool. Ivy Poisoning. _ (1) Dr. Benjamin Edson, of Brooklyn, has had much experience with cases of poisoning by poison ivy, Rhus Toxicndenilron. He is familiar with alkali and other washes usually employed in their treat- ment and considers them of little, if any, value. He has treated some severe cases, he states in the Medical Record, with fluid extract of gelsemium with uniformly the best results. As most of our readers know, gelsemium is the yellow jessamine of the South. The extract was employed in a wash made by mixing together a half drachm of carbolic acid, two drachms of the fluid extract of gelsemium, one-half ounce of glycerine and four ounces of water. With this cloths were kept moistened and applied to the parts aftected. Two drops of the fluid extract of gelsemium was also given internally every three hours. Some cases were also treated with the same mixture with the carbolic acid omitted, and these ;s-ielded no less promptly than the others. (2) Bathe the parts affected with sweet spirits of niter. If the blisters are broken so that the niter be allowed to penetrate the cuticle, more than a single application is rarely necessary, and even where it is only applied to the surface of the skin three or four times a day, there is rarely a trace of the poison left next morning. (3) A wash made from the spotted alder is recommended for ivy poiaou- 438 THE HOUSEHOLD. ing. Also the shop water of a blackamitb'8 trough as a sure cure for poison ivy, and dogwood and strong salt and water as an antidote for the poisoning of sumach. Nose Bleed. — (1) Snuffing up powdered alum will generally control troublesome bleeding from the nose. It will also almost always stop excessive hemorrhage from a cavity caused bj' the extraction of a tooth, by being placed in it. (2) The best remedy for bleeding at the nose, as given by Dr. Gleason in one of his lectures, is in the vigoi'ous motion of the jaws, as if in the act of mastication. In the case of a child, a wad of paper should be placed in its mouth, and the child should be instructed to chew it hard. It is the motion of the jaws that stops the flow of blood. This remedy is so very simple that many will feel inclined to laugh at it, but it has never been known to fail in a smgle instance, even in very severe cases. (3) Lint, dipped in the nettle juice and put up the nostril, has been known to stay the bleeding of the nose when all other remedies have failed; fourteen or fifteen of the seeds, ground into powder and taken daily, will cure the swelling of the neck, known by the name of goitre, without in any way injuring the general health. (4) Bleeding from the nose may be stopj^ed by pressing the nostrils to- gether for some minutes. Ice ai^plied to the bridge of the nose or nape of the neck; suuffing \i^ into the nostrils ice-water, vinegar, or gum-arabic powder, are all of them available means to check the effusion. Baldnes.s. — (1) A gentleman who had lost nearly all his hair after a very severe attack of fever, consulted a French physician of great reputed suc- cess as a hair restorer. The prescription given him was a drachm of homeo- pathic tincture of phosphorus to one ounce of castor oil; the bare spot he rubbed two times weekly, for half an hour each time, after the skin of the head had been thoroughly cleansed with warm water without soap. The treatment was faithfully carried oiit about six months; the hair soon began to grow, and, in a year from the time of follo^Wng the doctor's advice, his head was as thoroughly covered as ever, the new hair being about two shades darker than the old. (2) In two ounces of spirits of wine steep two drachms of cantharides (pulverized) for a fortnight or three weeks, shaking it repeatedly during that time. Then filter it, and rub up one-tenth of the tincture so procured, with nine-tenths of cold hog's lard. Scent it with a few drops of any kind of perfume, and rub it well into the head every morning and evening. (3) Hair, removed by fevers and other sickness, is made to grow by washing the scalp with a strong decoction of sage leaves once or twice a day. Small Pox— (1) The following remedy for this loathsome disease is very simple, and on the authority of a surgeon of the British army of China, it is said to be a thorough cure, even in extreme cases: When the preceding fever is at its height, and just before the eruption appears, the chest is rubbed with croton oil and tartaric ointment. This causes the whole erup- tion to appear on that part of the body, to the relief of the rest. It also se- cures a full and complete eruption, and thus prevents the disease from attacking the internal organs. (2) The following will cure not only small pox, but also scarlet fever. It is harmless when taken by a person in health: Sulphate of zinc, one grain; foxglove (digitalis), one grain; half a teaspoonful of sugar; mix with two THE HOME PHYSICIAN. 439 tablespoonfuls of water. When thoroughly mixed add four ounces of water. Take a spoonful eveiy hour. Either disease will disappear in twelve hours. For a child, smaller doses, according to the age. If countries would compel their phjsicians to use this there would te no need of a pest house. (3j " I am willing to risk my reputation aa a public man," wrote Edward Hine to the Literp'Hil Mercury, " if the worst case of small jdox cannot be cured in three days, simply by the use of cream of tartar. One ounce of cream of tartar, dissolved iu a pint of water, drank at intervals when cold, is a certain never-failing remedy. It has cured thousands, never leaves a mark, never causes blindness, and avoids tedious lingering." Sleeplessness. — (1) Nervous persons, who are troubled with wakeful- ness and excitability, usually have a strong tendency of blood to the brain, with cold extremities. The pressure of the blood on the brain keeps it in a stimulated, or wakeful state, and the pulsations in the head are often pain- ful. Let such rise and chafe the body and extremities with a brush or towel, or rub smartly with the hands, to promote circulation, and withdraw the excessive amount of blood from the brain, and they will fall asleep in a lew moments. A cold bath, or a sponge bath and rubl)ing, or a good run, or rapid walk in the open air, or going up or down stairs a few times just beiore retiring, will aid iu equalizing circulation and promoting sleep. These rules are simple and easy of application, iu castle or cabin. (2) A little English work, " Sleeji and How to obtain it," says that in- somnia is not so dangerous as is commonly supposed, for the author knows an eminent man of letters who has suffered from it for many years without injury. When a man begins to dream of his work he may know that he is under too great a mental strain. The author's plan of inducing sleep is to reckon up friends and acquaintances whose name begins with a certain letter. (3) If troubled with wakefulness on retiring to bed, eat three or four small onions; they will act as a gentle and soothing narcotic. Onions are also excellent to eat when one is much exposed to cold. Ring>voi-ni. — (1) Oil of paper made by burning a sheet of ordinary writing paper upon a plate, will cure a ringworm, which is caused by con- tagion or some impurity iu the lilood; the oil will be seen after the paper is burned in the form of a yellow spot; this applied with the finger twice a day will in a very short time cure the worst of ringworms. (2) Tincture of iodine, painted over a ringworm, for three or four days in succession, will entirely cure it in a few days. It stains the skin considerably whenever it is applied, and this is the only objection to it. Those who object to this need not use it; they may keep the ringworm. The stain goes off in a few days. (3) Heat a shovel to a bright red, cover it with grains of Indian corn, press them with a cold flat iron. They will burn to a coal and exude an oil on the surface of the Hat iron, with which rub the I'ing, and after one or two applications it will gradually disappear. (4) Make a curd by mixing alum and the white of an egg over a nre until it is the consistency of pomatum; spread over the ringworm. One or two applications should effect a cure. (5) Simple cerate, one pound; diluted sulphuric acid, one-quarter of a pouud. Mix and apply. • MO THE HOUSEHOLD. (6) To one part of sulphuric acid add sixteen parts of water. Use a brush or feather, and apply it to the parts night and morning. If the solu- tion prove too strong, add a little more water. If the irritation is excessive, apply a little glycerine. Avoid the use of soap. Cliil1>laiii!!i. — (1) Slice raw potatoes, with the skins on, and sprinkle over them a little salt, and as soon as the liquid therefrom settles in the bottom ef the dish, wash with it the chilblains; one application is all that is necessary. (2) An unfailing remedy for chilblains: A solution of thirty grains of per- manganate of potassa in an ounce of pure water, to be applied thoroughly with brush or swab, or in the form of a poultice. (3) Rub the part affected with brandy and salt, which hardens the feet at the same time that it removes the inflammation. Sometimes a third ap- plication cures the most obstinate chilblains. (4) To relieve the intense itcliing of frosted feet, dissolve a lump of alum in a little water, and bathe the part with it, wai'ming it before the fire. One or two applications is sure to give relief. (5) Put the hands and feet once a week into hot watei-, in which two or three handfuls of common salt have been thrown. This is a certain pre- ventive as well as a ciire. (6) In the evening, before retiring, take salt and vinegar made as hot as can be borne on the parts affected ; bathe ^^^th a small cloth, and do so until cured. (7) Mix together one ounce of turpentine and three-eighths of an ounce of -oil of sassafras. Apply the solution morning and evening. Costiveiiess. — (1) Bread and milk, though excellent for children in gen- eral, is not as good food for a costive child as bread made of corn-meal or graham flour. Wheat bread is not good for a very costive cliild. When medicine becomes necessary, a teaspoonful of magnesia dissolved in sweet- ened milk or water, and given morning and night, xintil the bowels become regular, is usually sufficient. Purgatives should be carefully avoided, ex- cept for a disordered stomach, and then they become necessary. Well-ven- tilated sleeping-rooms, and frequent bathing, go further than most people suppose, toward keeping the body in a healthy condition. To mothers who nurse their infants, we say, if the mother is regular, the child will be, and the reverse. Therefore, instead of dosing a child with medicine, let her d'et lor the evil, and save her httle oue much suffering. A lady correspondent some time since wrote us: "I have used, with much benefit, the herb known as thoroughwort, prepared by putting the dried herb in water and letting it stand until it becomes bitter. A portion drank before each meal, has i^roved the best remedy for costiveness I ever iised." (2) Common charcoal is highly recommended for costiveness. It may be taken either in tea or tablespoonful, or even larger doses, according to the exigencies of the case, mixed with molasses, repeating it as often as necessary. Bathe the bowels with pepper and vinegar. Or take two ounces of rhubarb, add one ounce of rust of iron, infuse in one quart of wine. Half a wineglassfnl every morning. Or take pulverized blood-root, one drachm; pulverized rhubarb, one drachm; Castile soap, two scruples. Mix and roll into thii'ty-two pills. Take one morning and night. By following these di- rections it may perhaps save you from a severe attack of piles, or some other kindred disease. THE HOME rUYf^ICIAJSr. 441 Cholera 3Iorbus._(l) The following is the recipe for the celebrated "Sun Cholera Mixture": Take equal parts of tincture of opium, tincture of capsicum, rhubarb, peppermint, and camphor, and mix. Dose from fifteen to twenty drops in four tablespoonfuls of water. Eepeat the dose every half hour till relieved. This is also an excellent remedy for any ordinary laxity of the bowels, or summer complaint. In that case one dose, as above pre- scribed, twice in every 2-1 hours, will suffice for a cure, if taken in time. (2) For cholera morbus, take black pepper and grind it tolerably fine. Then put in a glass a tablospoouful of this and a tablespoonful of salt, and fill about half full with warai water, then fill up the glass with good cider vinegar, and stir it up. Now take one tablespoonful, and then wait a little and take another, and keep on stirring and using it while the vomiting lasts. If one glass does not cure, try another. (3) (Said to be a certain cure). — The ingredients are: One glassful of West India rum, one glassful of molasses, one glassful of spring water, and three tablespoonfuls of ginger. Mix them altogether and take it. It is said to afford immediate relief. To Restore tlie Dro-wniiig.^The rules that ought to be observed in treating a person rescued from the water are few and simple. Dr. H. 11. Silvester's methods of restoring the apparently dead or drowned — which have been approved by the royal medical and chirurgical society — are prac- tical, easilj' understood, and are in accordance with common sense. The one important point to be aimed at is, of course, the restoration of breathing, and the efforts to accomplish this should be persevered in until the arrival of medical assistance, or until the pulse and breath have ceased for at least an hour. Cleanse the mouth and nostrils; open the mouth; draw forward the patient's tongue with a handkerchief, and keep it forward; remove all tight clothing from about the neck and chest. As to the patient's position, place him on his back on a flat surface, inclined a little from the feet up- ward; raise and support the head and shoulders on a small, firm cushion or folded article of dress placed under the shoulder blades. Then gi-asp the arms jiist above the elbows, and draw the arms gently and steadily upward, until they meet above the head (this is for the purpose of drawing air into the lungs); and keep the arms in that position for two seconds. Then turn _ down the patient's arms, and press them gently and firmly for two seconds against the sides of the chest (with the object of pressing air out of the lungs; pressure on the breast bone will aid this). Repeat these measures alter- nately, deliberately and perseveringly, fifteen times in a minute, until a spontaneous effort to reapire is perceived, upon which cease to imitate the movements of breathing, and proceed to induce circulation and warmth. This may be done by wrapping the patient in dry blankets and rubbing the limbs upward, firmly and energetically. Promote the warmth of the body by the application of hot flannels, bottles of hot water, etc., to the pit of the stomach, the arm-pits, and to the soles of the feet. Warm clothing may generally be obtained from a bystander. On the restoration of life, stimu- lants should be given, and a disposition to sleep encouraged. Bright's Disease — Dr. Alex^ De Borra, of Crystal Spiings, N. Y., writes that, after years of practical test of the milk diet for Bright's disease, he has a long list of cases in which he has made perfect cures. Great care is taken to get absolutely pure skimmed milk, from healthy and well-fed cows, and no other food of any kind is given after the patient can bear five pints of milk 442 THE HOUSEHOLD. a day. Up to this point, and until the stomach is able to take care of so much, is found to be the most trying period in this treatment, but no other medicine is given, and hand and hair-glove rubbing is daily administered. Another correspondent takes exception to the claim made that no drug of any therapeutic value in that disease has yet been discovered. In sup- port of his assertion he sends us a recipe ■which he claims has effected a cure in Bright's disease, as well as in dropsy, in every case in which it has been tried during the last fifteen years. He recommends the drinking of an infusion of the dry i^ods of the common white soup bean or corn bean. When the latter cannot be readily obtained, the pods of the "snap short" bean will answer, and even the Lima bean, though the latter is of inferior strength. The recipe is as follows: "Take a double handful of the pods to three quarts of water; boil slowly for three hours until it is reduced to three pints. Use no drink of any kind but this, the patient drinking as much as he conveniently can; it may be taken either hot or cold." Hot Water us a Remedy. — There is no remedy of such general appli- cation and none so easily attainable as water, and yet nine persons in ten will pass by it in an emergency to seek for something of far less efficacy. There are but few cases of illness where water should not occupy the highest place as a remedial agent. A strip of flannel or a napkm folded lengthwise and dipped in hot water and wrung out and then applied around the neck of a child that has the croup will usually bring relief in ten minutes. A towel folded several times and dipped in hot water and quickly wrung and applied over the seat of the pain in toothache or neuralgia will generally afford prompt relief. This treatment in colic works like magic. I have seen cases that have resisted other treatment for hours yield to this in ten min- utes. There is nothing that will so promptly cut short a congestion of the lungs, sore throat or rheumatism as hot water when applied promptly and thoroughly. Pieces of cotton batting dipped in hot water and kept applied to old sores or new cuts, bruises and sprains, is the treatment now generally adopted in hospitals. I have seen a sprained ankle cured in an hour by showering it with hot water, poiired from a height of three feet. Tepid water acts promptly as an emetic, and hot water taken freely half an hour before bedtime is the best of cathartics in the case of constipation, while it has a most soothing effect on the stomach and bowels. This treat- ment continued for a few months, with proper attention to diet, will cure any curable case of dyspepsia. To Remove Superfluous Hairs. — Some few hairs will frequently grow where they are not wanted, and are often difficult to get rid of. Close shav- ing and cutting strengthens them and increases their number; the only plan is to pull them out individually with a pair of tweezers, and afterward to dress the part two or three times a day in the following manner: Wash it first with warm, soft water, but do not use soap; then apply with a piece of soft rag, immediately after the washing, a lotion of milk of roses, made ac- cording to the following directions, and rub the skin gently till it is dry with a warm, soft cloth: Beat four ounces of sweet almonds in a mortar to a paste with half an ounce of white sugar; then work in, in small quantities, eight ounces of rosewater; strain the emulsion through muslin, put the liquid into a bottle, return the residuum to the mortar, pound it again, and add half an THE HOME PHYSICIAN. 443 ounce of sugar aud eight ounces of rosewater; then strain again, and repeat the process a third time. This will give thirty-two ounces of fluid, to which add twenty grains of bichloride of mercury dissolved in two ounces of alcohol. Shake the whole for five minutes, aud the lotion will be ready for use. Convulsions. — Dr. Williamson reports an interesting and remarkable case in which he saved the life of an infant in convulsions by the use of chloroform. He commenced the use of it at nine o'clock one evening, at which period the child was rapidly sinking, numerous remedies having been already tried without eifect. He dropped half a drachm of chloroform into a thin muslin handkerchief, and held it about an inch from the infant's face. In about two minutes the convulsions gave way, and the child fell into a sleep. By slightly releasing the child from the influence of the chloroform, he was able to administer food by which the child was nourished and strengthened. The chloroform was continually administered in the manner described, from Friday evening at nine o'clock until Monday morning at nine. This treatment lasted sixty hours, and sixteen ounces of chloroform were used. Dr. Williamson says he has no doubt that the chloroform was instrumental in saving the infant's life; and that no injurious effects, how- ever trivial, from the treatment adopted, have subsequently appeared. Muuips. — This disease, most common among children, begins with sore- ness and stiffness in the side of the neck. Soon a swelling of the parotid gland takes place, which is painful and continues to increase for four or fivo days, sometimes making it difficult to swallow, or open the mouth. The swelling sometimes conies on one side at a time, but commonly upon both. There is often heat and sometimes fever, with a dry skin, quick pulse, furred tongue, constipated bowels, aud scanty and high-colored urine. The disease is contagious. Treatiiient. — Keep the face and neck warm, and avoid taking cold. Drink warm herb teas, and if the symptoms are severe, four to six grains of Dover's powder; or if there is costiveness, a slight physic, and observe a very simple diet. If the disease is aggravated liy taking cold, aud is very severe, or is translated to other glands, physic must be used freely, leeches applied to the swelling, or cooling poultices. Sweating must be resorted to in this case. To Ascertain tiie State of tiie Lungs. — Draw in as much breath as you conveniently can, then count as long as possible in a slow and audible voice without drawing in more breath. The number of seconds must be carefully noted. In a consumptive the time does not exceed ten, and is fre- quently less than six seconds; in pleurisy and pneumonia it ranges from nine to four seconds. When the lungs arc souud the time will range as high as from twenty to thii'ty-fivo seconds. To expand the lungs, go into the air, stand erect, throw back the head and shoulders, aud draw in the air through the nostrils as much as possible. After having then filled the lungs, raise your arms, still extended, and suck in the air. When you have thus forced the arms backward, with the chest open, change the process by which you draw in your breath, till the lungs are emptied. Go through the process several times a day and it will enlarge the chest, give the lungs better play, and serve very much to ward off consumption. Hysterics — This complaint is confined chiefly to females. A fit of hysterics is generally the result of some natural and immediate cause, and 444 THE HOUSEHOLD. until this is discovered and I'emoved, the patient will always be subject to these fits. When a person is seized with a fit the dress should be loosened, fresh air admitted, cold water dashed in the face, and salts or singed feathers applied to the nostrils. It consciousness does not then return, a draught of sal- volatile and water should be given, and if the patient be still insensible, the temples and the nape of the neck should be rubbed with brandy. AVhen hysterics can be traced to impaired natural action, equal por- tions of pennyroyal and wormwood should be steeped in boiling water, and suffered to simmer by the fire until the Airtue of the herbs is extracted. It should then be allowed to cool, and half a pmt be taken twice or thrice a day, succeeded on each occasion by a compound asafoetida pill, until the desired relief is afforded. Colic. — (1) For the violent internal agony termed colic, take a teaspoon- ful of salt in a pint of water; drink and go to bed. It is one of the speediest remedies known. It will revive a j)erson who seems almost dead from a heavy fall. (2) Phares's method of treating colic consists in inversion — simply in turn- ing the patient upside down. Colic of several days' duration has been relieved by this means in a few minutes. (3) Dr. Tejiliashin has recommended a thin stream of cold water from a teapot lifted from one to one and a half feet from the abdomen, in cases of coUc. Ho has seen it relieve pain when oinum and morphia had failed. (4) A loaf of bread, hot from the oven, broken in two, and half of it placed iipon the bowels, and the other half opposite it upon the back, will relieve colic from whatever cause almost immediately. Tlie Earliest Sign of Consumption. — A quick pulse and a short breath, continuing for weeks together, is the great alarm bell of forming consumption; if these symptoms are attended with a gradual falling off in flesh, in the course of months, there is no rational ground for doubt, although the hack of a cough may never have been heard. Under such cir- cumstances, there ought not to be an hoxxr's delay in taking competent medical advice. The vast mass of consumptives die, not far from the ages of twenty-five; and this, in connection with another fact, that consumption is several years in running its course, suggests one of the most important practical conclu- sions yet announced, to wit: In the large majority of cases, the seeds of consumption are sown between the ages of sixteen and twenty-one years, when the steadily excited pulse and the easily accelerated breathing, may readily be detected by an intelli- gent and observant parent, and should be regarded as the knell of death, if not arrested, and yet it is easily, and uniformly done, for the spirometer will demonstrate the early danger, and the educated phj'sician will be at no loss to mark out the remedy. The quick j^ulse and short breath go together; rather " easily put out of breath," is the more common and appropriate expression. Sciatica. — An English officer, who served with distinction in the war with Napoleon, was once laid up in a small village in France, with a severe attack of sciatica. It so happened that at that time, a tinman was being employed at the hotel where he lodged, and that this tinman, having been himself a soldier, took an interest in the officer's case, and gave him the cure which in this instance succeeded immediately and forever, and which THE HOME PHYSIVIAN. 445 I am about to set dowu. It is at any rate so simple as to be worth a trial: Take a moderate size potato, rather large than email, and boil it in one quart of water. Foment the part affected with the water in which the potato has been boiled as hot as it can be borne at night before going to bed ; then crush the potato and put it on the affected part as a poultice. Wear this all night and in the morning heat the water, which should have been preserved, over again, and again foment the part with it as hot as can be borne. This treatment must be persevered with for several days. It occasionally re- quires to be continiied for as much as two or three weeks, but in the shorter or longer time it has never yet failed to be successful. Biliousness— If the victims of this diseased condition will exercise due care, they need not ransack creation for •' anti-bilious pills." The bile does not belong in the stomach, but reaches there in consequence of improper food, too much of the oily, as butter, pork, lard, etc. The bile is nature's grand cathartic medicine, jmssing from the liver in a direction to indicate that it is to pass on into the bowels, there to perform its important mission. When the liver is overtaxed by too much labor, or by the presence of too much gi'easy food, digestion is impaired and the whole system becomes out of order. If one would avoid biliousness, let him fast, passing over one or more meals. As soon as the " mouth tastes bad," the tongue is coated, the appe- tite flags- the best possible evidence that too much food has been taken — thus allowing nature to rally, the accumulated food to pass oft", and the sys- tem be relieved. In nine cases out often, this fasting will remove the diffi- culty, save a fit of sickness, and cheat the doctor. Any quack nostrum that will do as much as fasting, would yield a fortune to the inventor. Many of them, however, if not most, increase disease, rather than improve health. Hints About Glasses. — Persons finding their eyes becoming dry and itching on reading, as well as those who find it necessary to place an object nearer than fourteen inches from their laces to read, need spectacles. Per- sons under forty years of age should not wear glasses until the accommo- dating power of the eyes has been suspended and the exact state of refrac- tion determined by a competent ophthalmic surgeon. The spectacle glasses sold by peddlers and by jewelers generally are hurtful to the eyes of those who read much, aa the lenses are made of inferior sheet glass and not sym- metrically ground. No matter how perfectly the lenses may be made, un- less they are mounted in a suitable frame and properly placed before the eye, discomfort will arise from their prolonged use. Persons holding objects too near the face endanger the safety of their eyes, and incur the risk of becoming near sighted. The near sighted eye is an unsound eye, and should be fully corrected with a glass, notwithstanding the fact it may need no aid for reading. The proper time to begin wearing glasses is just as soon as the eyes tire on being subjected to prolonged use. Nettle Rash— This disease takes its name from its being attended by an eruption similar to what is produced by the stinging of nettles. The causes of this complaint are by no means obvious; but it seems to proceed either from the perspiration being checked, or from some irritating matter in the stomach. In all cases there prevails considerable itching and some heat in the parts affected; and in some constitutions a slight degree of fever 446 THE HOUSEHOLD. either precedes or attends the eruption. Its duration seldom exceeds three or four days. In some cases nettle rash is accompanied with large wheals or bumps, which appear of a solid nature, without any cavity or head, containing either water or other fluid. Half a teaspoonful of magnesia, and the same quantity of cream of tartar mixed in half a teacupful of milk, an hour before breakfast, and repeated as required, will be found very efficacious. Coffee and Typhoid Pever._Dr. Guillasse, of the French navy, in a recent paper on typhoid fever, speaks of the great benefit which has been derived from the iise of coffee. He haa found that no sooner have the pa- tients taken a few tablespoonfuls of it than their features become relaxed and they come to their senses; next day the improvement is such as to leave no doubt that the article is just the specific needed. Under its in- fluence the stupor is dispelled and the patient rouses from the state of som- nolency in which he has been since the invasion of the disease; soon, all the functions take their natural course, and he enters upon convalescence. Dr. Guillasse gives to an adult two or three tablespoonfuls of strong black cofi"ee every two or three hoiirs, alternated with one or two teaspoonfuls of claret or Burgundy wine— a httle lemonade or citrate of magnesia to be taken daily; after a while quinine. Ingrowing Toe IVails— As this is a very painful malady, it may be worth a great deal to some of our readers to know that the trouble is not with the nail, but \vith the flesh, which gets pushed upon it, thereby becoming inflamed, and the inflammation and swelling are kept up by the presence of the nail, which then acts as a foreign body. To cure it, take the neighboring toe — which, by the way, is really the oflender — and with it press the swollen flesh down and away from the nail, then bind the two firmly to- gether with adhesive strips, which may be had at any drug store. If the strips get loose, and the flesh slips up on the nail again, readjust the toes and put on fresh plaster until the flesh rehabituates itself to its fonner place. Abscess. — In some particulars an abscess resembles a large boil. There is an inflammatory condition, with heat, pain, and swelling. The result of this inflammation is the discharge of degenerated matter or pus. They may be opened as soon as pulsation is detected, the same as boils, or the opera- tion may be delayed until by using hot water compresses, flax seed poultice, bread and hot milk poultice, they come to a point or head. The matter or pus should be completely discharged by gentle pressure, and the cavity freely washed out by injecting a mixture of one part carbolic acid and twenty of warm water, and pressure exerted by a bandage, when healing will rap- idly take place. Blistered Hands or Feet— When the hands are blistered from rowing or the feet from walking or other causes, be careful not to allow the blisters to break, if possible. Some persons are in the habit, by means of a needle and piece of worsted, of placing a seton into blisters to draw off the water; but in our opinion this is a great mistake and retards the healing. Bathe the blisters frequently in warm water, or if they are very severe, make a salve of tallow, dropped from a lighted candle into a little gin and worked up to a proper consistence, and on going to bed cover the blisters with this Halve and place a piece of clean soft rag over them. THE HOME PHYSICIAN. 447 Stammering. — No stamnieriug person ever foimd any difficulty in sing- ing. Tlie reason of this is, that by observing the measure of the music — by keeping time — the organs of speech are kept in such position that enuncia- tion is easy. Apply the same rule to reading or speech, and the same result will follow. Let the stammerer take a sentence, say this one — " Leander swam the Hellespont," and pronounce it by syllables, scan it, keeping time with his finger if necessary, letting each syllable occupy the same time, thus, Le-an-der-swam-the-Hel-les-pont, and he will not stammer. Pro- nounce slowly at first, then faster, but still keeping time; keeping time with words instead of syllables. Practice this in reading and conversation until the habit is broken iip. Perseverance and attention is all that is necessary to perform a perfect cure. Hemowliage. — (1) Hemorrhage of the lungs can be instantly cured by throwing into the mouth of the patient, from a vial, one or two teaspoonfuls of chloroform, according to the severeness of the attack. It will give instant relief to the gi'eatesi suffering, and stop the most severe case of bleeding of the lungs. (2) To stop hemorrhage of the lungs, cord the thighs, and arms above the elbow, with small, strong cords tightly drawn and tied. It will stop the flow of blood almost instantly, as it has done for the writer many times. It was recommended by a physician of experience. (3) Spitting or vomiting of blood may be stopped by sage juice mixed with a little honey. Take three teaspoonfuls, and repeat, if necessary, in about fifteen minutes. (4) Hemorrhages of the lungs or stomach are promptly checked by small doses of salt. The patient should be kept as quiet as possible. Asthma. — (1) The asthma, writes a correspondent, may be relieved, if not cured, by the following treatment: "Buy of the druggist five cents' worth of saltpeter, and get also a sheet or two of grayish paper, which drug- gists have, thick like the common brown jDaper. Dissolve the saltpeter in half a pint of rain water, and saturate strips of the paper in the water, and dry it in pans or on plates. Now roll them up like lamp lighters. When a paroxysm comes on, light one tind inhale the fiames. If necessary throw a cloth or shawl over the head. If the saltpeter is very strong it may fuse a little. If the paper described cannot be got, brown paper may be used in- stead, but the smoke of the former is purer." (2) The following mixture is recommended as a relief for the asthmatic: Two ounces of the best honey, and one ounce of castor oil mixed. A tea- spoonful to be taken night and morning. I have tried the foregoing with the best effect. Hydrophobia. — (1) Elecampane is a plant well known to most persons, and is to be foiind in many of our gardens. Immediately after being bitten, take one ounce of the root of the plant, the green root is perhaps preferable but the dried will answer, and may be found in our drug stores, slice or bruise, piit in a pint of fresh milk, boil down to half a pint, strain, and when cold drink it, fasting at least six hours afterward. The next morning repeat the dose prepared as the last, and this will be sufficient. It is recommended that after each dose nothing be eaten for at least six hours. (2) The following is said to be a cure for hydrophobia: Take two table- spoonfuls of fresh chloride of lime, mix it with one-half pint of water, and with this wash keep the wound constantly bathed and frequently renewed. 448 TEE HOUSEHOLD. The chloride gaa possesses the power of decomposing the tremendons poisoD, and renders mild and hai-mless that venom against whose resistless attack the artillery of medical science has been so long directed in vain. It is uecessaiy to add that this wash must be applied as soon as possible. Scrofula. — (1) Yellow dock root has proved very useful in scrofula. It is given in powder or decoction. Two ounces of the fi-esh root bruised, or one ounce of the dried, may be boiled in a pint of water, of which two fluid ounces may be given at a dose, and repeated as the stomach will bear. The root has also been applied externally in the shape of ointment, cataplasm, and decoction, to the cutaneous eruptions and ulcerations for which it has been used internally. The powdered root is also recommended as a denti- frice, especially when the gums are spongj'. There is no doubt that in a gi-eat many cases the disease is inherited; some contend that it is so in all cases. It shows itself in various forms — as hip-disease, white swelling, rickets, salt rheum, etc. Persons affected by it are subject to swelling of the glands, particularly those of the neck. (2) A tea made of ripe, dried whortleberries, and drank in place of water, is a sure and speedy cure for scrofula difficulties, however bad. Sickness of Stomacli._(l) The following drink for relieving sickness of the stomach was introduced by Dr. Halahan, and is said to be very palatable and agreeable: " Beat up one egg very well, say for twenty min- utes; then add fresh milk, one pint; water, one pint; sugar, to make it palatable; boil, and let it cool; drink when cold. If it becomes curds and whey it is useless. (2) Salts of tartar, thirty grains; oil of mint, six drops; powdered gum arable, eighth of an ounce: powdered loaf sugar, eighth of an ounce; water, six ounces. A tablespoonful of this mixture Ls a dose. (3} Sickness of the stomach is most promptly relieved by drinking a tea- cupful of liot soda and water. If it brings all the offending matter up all the better. Broncliitig. — (1) Get from the druggist's a little good wood creosote. Put two drops of it into a bottle holding a pint or so. Pour in a little more than half a pint of clear water, and shake it well; shake well always before using it. Take a mouthful of this, throw the head back, gargle it some time in the throat, and then swallow it. Repeat this every two hours, more or less, so as te use up the liquid within twenty-four hours. For each subse- quent twenty-four hours, use three di'ops of the creosote in three to four gills of water. This three drops a day may be continued as long as any bronchitis appears. Two to four days is usually enough, though it may be continued indefinitely without harm. (2) A simple, but oftentimes efficacious remedy, is this. It may afford rehef: Syrup of tolu, one ounce; syrup of squills, half an ounce; wine of ipecac, two drachms; paregoric, three drachms; mucilage of gum arable, one and a half ounces. Mix. Take a teasDOonful three times a day. (3) A simple recipe, which affords relief in ordinary cases of bronchitis, is to occasionally suck a small piece of common saltpetre as you would candy, and swallow the juice. If the case be severe, medical advice should be had without delay. Lockja^v. — (1) If any person is threatened or taken with lockjaw from injuries of the arms, legs or feet, do not wait for a doctor, but put the part THE HOME rnVSICIAX. 4^9 injnred in the foUowiug preparation: Put hot wood ashes into water as warm as can be borne; if the injured part cannot be put into water, then wet thick folded cloths in the water and apply them to the part as soon aa possi- ble, and at the same time bathe the backbone from the neck down with some laxative srimulant — say cayenne pepper and water, or mustard and water (good vinegar is better tlian water); it should be as hot as the patient can bear it. Don't hesitate; go to work and do it, and don't stop until the jaws will come oi>en. No person need die of lockjaw if these directions are followed. (2) The following is said to be a positive cure: Let any one who has an attack of the kx^kjaw take a small qtiantity of spirits of turpentine, warm it and pour it on the wound, no matter where the woimd is or what is its nature. Relief will follow in less than one minute. Turpentine is also a sovereign remedy for croup. Saturate a piece of flannel with it and place on to the throat, chest, and, in severe cases, three to five drops, on a lump of sugar may be taken internally. JBrysipelas. — (1) We have found sour milk, buttermilk, or whey there- from, an excellent remedy to apply for the erysipelas as a wash. Also to apply glycerine twice or three times a day; it has a soothing effect. We have many times applied the milk hot, and found it allayed the inflamma- tion better than cold appUcations, and far less troublesome than poultices. (2) Erysipi'las is of two kinds — one affecting principally the skin, the other the whole system. In mild cases, affecting the skin only, lemonade made from the fresh fruit helps the patient very much, being, in addition, very grateful to the palate. (3) As a local apphcation, slippery elm has been found efficacious. Make a mucilage of it, and apply it warm on cloths to the face. Sometimes com- mon flour, dusted on the inflamed parts, will afford relief. (4) One pint of sweet milk and a handful of pokeberry roots. This is a sure cure. (5) Make a poultice of cranberries, and apply to the face. Hoarsene^ts. — (1) Horseradish ^vill afford iustantaneotis relief in most obstiuat-e cases of hoarseness. The root, of course, possesses the most virtue, though the leaves are good till they dry, when they lose their strength. The root is best when it is green. The person who will iise it freely just before beginning to speak, will not be tiMuliled with hoarseness. Boiled down and sweetened into a thick syrup, will give relief in the severest cases. (2) Take a small quantity of dry, powdered borax, place it on the tongue, let it slowly dissolve and run down the throat. It is also good to keep the throat moist at night and prevent coughing. (3) Hoarseness and tickUng in the throat are best relieved by the gargle of the white of an egg beaten to a froth in half a glass of warmed, sweetened water. ChillK and Fever. — (1) One-half ounce spirits nitre, one-half ounce tincture pepper, thirty-five grains quinine, one pint of brandy. Take a wine- glassful three times aday, one-half hour befire meals. If for a child, give only half the quantity. (2) If you have chills and fever, express the juice of three large lemons and drink it dowTi. C!ontinue so to do every other day until the disease is broken. We have known this treatment to cure when quinine had no effect. 450 THE HOUSEHOLD. (3; The following is said to be a remedy for fever and ague: Twenty-four grains of quinine, two drachms of elixir of vitriol, twenty-two large tablespoontuls of rain water. Dose, take each half hour through the day until taken up. (4) Dissolve fifteen grains of citric acid in a cup of hot coffee, and drink it just before the chill attacks you. It has been known to cure the worst cases of this disease. Dropsy. — (1) Take one pint of bruised mustard seed, two handfuls of bruised horseradish root, eight ounces of lignumvitse chips, and four ounces of bruised Indian hemp root. Put all the ingredients in seven quarts of cider, and let it simmer over a slow tire until it is reduced to four quarts. Strain the decoction, and take a wiueglassful four times a day for a few days, increasing the dose to a small teacupful three times a day. After which use tonic medicines. This remedy has cured cases ol dropsy in one week's time which has baffled the skill of many eminent physicians. For children the dose should be smaller. (2) The ingredients are: Acetate of squills, one ounce; nitrate of potash, sixty grains; water, five ounces. Dose: A tablespoonful every two hours. (3) It is said that a tea made of chestnut leaves, and drank in the place of water, will cure the most obstinate case of di'opsy in a few days. Bonions. — (1) Let fall a stream of very warm water from a teakettle, at the highest elevation from which the patient can bear the water to fall di- rectly on the apex of the swelUng; continue this once a day for a short time and a cure will bo effected, providing you desist from wearing short shoes. The greater the elevation of the kettle, the more effectual the remedy. (2) It is said that the following is a good bunion remedy: Use pulverized saltpetre and sweet oil; obtain at the druggist's five or six cents' worth of saltpetre, put into a bottle with sufficient olive oil to nearly dissolve it; shake up well, and rub the inflamed joints night and morning, and more frequently if painful. This is a well-tried remedy. (3) When the bunion is painful, put three or four leeches on the joint of the toe, and do not distiirb them till they drop off; then bathe the bunions twice a day in fi-esh cream, and afterward renounce tight boots. Of course this remedy will not remove the swelling of the bone. Fits. — (1) When these are brought on by indigestion, place the child in a warm bath immediately, give warm water, or a lobelia emetic, rub the skin briskly, etc., to get up an action. In brain disease the warm water is equally useful. In fact, unless the fit is constitutional, the warm bath will relieve the patient by drawing the blood to the surface. (2) Fits can be instantly cured by throwing a spoonful of fine salt as far back into the mouth of the patient as possible, just as the fit comes on. DandrufT. — (1) A preparation of one ounce of sulphur and one quart of water, repeatedly agitated during intervals of a few hours, and the head saturated every morning with the clear liquid, will, in a few weeks, remove every trace of dandruff from the scalp, and the hair will soon become soft and glossy. (2) There is no simpler or better remedy for this legetatious appearance (caused by dryness of the skin) than a wash of camphor and borax — an ounce of each put into a pint and a half of cold water; and afterward rub a little pure oil into the scalp. THE HOME PHYSICIAN. 451 Scurf. — A lump of fresh quicklimn the size of a walnut, dropped into a pint of water and allowed to stand all night, the water being then poured off from the sediment and mixed with a quarter of a pint of the best vinegar, forms the best wash for scurf in the head. It is to be applied to the roots of the hair. (2) Half a pint of rose-water, and one ounce of spirits of wine mixed to- gether. Part the hair as much as possible, and apply the mixture with a piece of flannel. ^uin^y. — (1) Our cure is tar spread on the throat and quite up under the ears. Cover with a cloth and go to sleep and wake up well. Only a brown stain will remain; it is easily washed off with castile soap. It is a stire reUef. It is our opinion that in cases of incipient scarlet fever or diph- theria this is the remedy. It looks reasonable if it brings sure relief in quinsy, which it does. (2) A teacupful of red sage leaves to one quart of water, boil ten min- utes, add four tablespoonfuls of vinegar, and sweeten with honey. In the first stage of the disease, it might be used as a gargle, and then to rinse the mouth; it should be iised warm. It will be found invaluable. To Prevent Hydropliobia._(l) The bites of mad dogs have been ren- dered harmless by immediately cauterizing the wound with a saturated so- lution of carbolic acid, and ];eepingit constantly wet with a weaker solution of the same, at the same time giving the patient, according to age, from two to six drops of the spirits of ammonia in water, every two hours for twelve or fourteen hours. The wound is not allowed to dry for an instant for three or four days. (2) Take immediately warm vinegar, or tepid water, and wash the wound very clean; then dry it, and pour upon the wound a few drops of muriatic acid. ]VIineral acids destroy the poison of the saliva, and its evil efifcct is neutralized. Heartburn— (1) Relief will be obtained by using the following mixture, which has been much recommended: Juice of one orange, water, and lump sugar to flavor; and in proportion to the acidity of the orange, about half a teaspoonful of bi-carbonate of soda. Dissolve the sugar in the water, add the orange-juice, then put in the soda. Stir, and drink while effervescing. (2) A small piece of chalk put in a iiitcher of water, without imparting any taste whatever to the same, will exercise a corrective effect upon the stomachs of those who are troubled with acidity or heartburn, as it is called. Inflammatory Rheumatism — (1) Sulphur and saltpeter, of each one ounce; gum guaiacum, one-fourth ounce; colchicum root, or seed, and nut- megs, of each one-fourth ounce; all to be pulverized and mixed with sim- ple syrup, or molasses, two ounces. Dose: One teaspoonful every two hours until it moves the bowels rather freely; then three 6r four times daily until cured. (2) Half an ounce of pulverized saltpetre put in a half a pint of sweet oil; bathe the parts affected, and a sound cure will speedily be effected. Stye on the Eyelid._{l) Put a teaspoonful of tea in a small bag; pour on it just enough boihng water to moisten it; then put it on the eye pretty warm. Keep it on all night, and in the morning the stye will most likely be gone; if not, a second application is sure to remove it. 452 THE HOUSEHOLD. (2) Ice will check at first; if they do not suppurate quickly, apply warm poultices of bread aud milk; prick them aud apply citriue ointment. (3) Dip a feather in the white of an egg, and pass it along the edge of the eyelids. To Purify the Blood. — (1) A well-known physician says that he con- siders the following prescription for purifying the blood as the best he has ever used: One ounce yellow dock, one-half ounce horseradish, one quart hard cider. Dose, one wineglassful four times a day. (2) Mix half an ounce sulphate of magnesia with one pint water. Dose, a wineglassful three times a day. This can be used in the jilace of iron tonic, or in connection with it. For Liver Complaint. — (1) Twenty graius of extract of dandelion, di- vided into four pills, and to be taken four times a day; it acts on the liver, and is also a tonic for debilitated persons. (2) A cup of fresh buttermilk every day is said to be a cure for liver complaint. Crainp-s. — A correspondent gives the following du'ections for the relief of cramps: When the cramp is in the calf of the leg, draw up the foot strongly toward the shin bone, aud in a few seconds the cramp will disap- pear. When they are in the thighs or arms, tie a towel, cord, or handker- chief around the limb, just above the cramped part, and then rub this part with the naked hand alone, or using some stimulating liniment like spirits of camphor or red-peppered whiskey. The preparation may also be rubbed upon the neck when cramps attack this part. Cramps in the stomach may be checked by first strongly rubbing and kneading over the stomach, and then rubbing upon and around the pit of the stomach a mixture of equal parts of sweet oil or linseed oil, essence of i>eppermiut, laudanum, and spirits of camphor. Petroleum iii Pulmonary Diseases. — A partial investigation has been made of the alleged utility of this article in affections of the chest. The pe- troleum of Pennsylvania and Virginia was first experimented upon — a very safe substance, for even considerable quantities, when swallowed by error, have caiised only a little nausea. It is found that in chronic bronchitis, with abundant expectoration, it rapidly diminishes the amount of secretion and the paroxysms of coughing, and in simple bronchitis rapid amelioration has been obtained. Its employment in phthisis has been continued for too short a time, as yet, to allow of any judgment being formed as to its efficiency, beyond that it diminishes the expectoration, which also loses its pui-ulent character. The petroleum is customarily taken in doses of a tea- spoonful before each meal, aud, after the first day, any nausea Avhich it may excite in some persons disappears. Corpulence. — For those people whose fleshiness is a matter of solicitude, whether because it is uncomfortable or unfashionable, the following diet is proposed by Dr. George Johnson: May eat — Lean mutton and beef, veal and lamb, soups not thickened, beef tea and broth; poultiy, game, fish, and eggs; bread in moderation, gi-eens, cresses, lettuce, etc., green peas, cab- bage, cauliflower, onions; fresh fruit without sugar. May not eat — Fat meat, bacon or ham, butter, cream, sugar, potatoes, carrots, parsnips, rice, eago, tapioca, macaroni, custard, pastry aud puddings, sweet cakes. May THE HOME PHTSIGIAN. 453 drink — Tea, coffee, cocoa from nibs, with milk, but no sugar; dry wines in moderation without sugar; light bitter beer, soda and seltzer water. May not drink — Milk, except si^ariugly; porter and stout, sweet ales, sweet wines. As a rule, alcoholic liquors should be taken sparingly, and never without food. Salt ill Iiiterinitteiit Fever. — Take a handful of table salt and roast in a clean oven with moderate heat till it is brown- the color of roasted cof- fee. Dose for an adult, a soupspoouful dissolved in a glass of warm water; take at once. When the fever appears at intervals of two, three, or four days, the remedy should be taken lusting on the morning ©f the day follow- ing the fever. To overcome the thirst, a very little water should be taken through a straw. Durmg the forty-eight hours which follow the taking of the salt, the api^etite should be satisfied with chicken and beef broth only; it is especially necessary to observe a severe diet and avoid taking cold. The remedy is very simple and harmless, and has never been known to fail where it has been given trial. Colic in Infants— lufants are very subject to colic from overfeeding, too early feeding, constipation, and many other causes. They often suffer terribly from these pains, tossing about, drawing up their legs, and scream- ing vehemently. Treatment. — When it arises from costiveuess, a teaspoon- ful or tablespoonful of castor oil will often i-emove the defect, and at or about the same time give three di-ops of essence of peppermint or spearmint, in a little sweetened water. A very little saleratus often gives relief, and paregoric in two to five-drop doses every hoi;r, will give relief. Hot flannels applied over the bowels and stomach are useful, and often the infant can be greatly relieved hy laying it upon the belly on the knee, trotting it and gen- tly tapi>ing its back; this must be done cautiously, for if unsuccessful it might increase the pains. How People Get l^ick. — Eating too much and too fast; swallowing im- perfectly masticated food; using too much fiiiid at meals; drinking poison- ous whiskey and other intoxicating drinks; repeatedly using poison as medicines; keeping late hours at night, and sleeping late in the morning; wearing clothing too tight; wearing thin shoes; neglecting to wash the body sufficiently to keep the pores open; exchanging the warm clothes worn in a Avarm room during the day for costumes and exposure incident to evening parties; compressing the stomach to gratify a vain and foolish passion for dress; keeping up constant excitement; fretting the mind with borrowed troubles; swallowing quack nostrums for every imaginary ill; taking meala at irregular intervals, etc. Taking Cold.— When a person begins to shiver, the blood is receding from the surface; congestion, to a greater or less extent has taken place, and the patient has already taken cold, to be followed by fever, inflamma- tion of the lungs, neuralgia, rheumatism, etc. All these evils can be avoid- ed and the cold expelled by walking, or in some exercise that will produce a prompt and decided reaction in the sj-stem. The exercise should be suffi- cient to produce perspiration. If you are so situated that yoii can get a glass of hot water to drink, it will materially aid the perspiration, and in every way assist nature in her efforts to remove the cold. This course fol- lowed, your cold is at an end, and whatever disease it would ultimate in ia avoided, your sufferings are prevented and your doctor's bills saved. 454 THE HOUSEHOLD. Relief for tlie Feet— Every woman who is obliged to stand at the iron- ing table for hours during July and August, finds that her ieet are prolific sources of suffering. Even if she is wise enough to wear thick soled shoes, she will find her lot a hard one. One little thing can be done to relieve her sowewhat. Take an old comforter, or part of one, fold it in just as many thicknesses as is possible to make it soft, and yet perfectly easy to stand on. Her feet will be cooler, and when she is through with her work she will not have the stinging and burning sensation which is as hard to bear as pain is. It is a good plan to have a good supply of holders, so that elie can change them often. Sunstroke— As soon as you reach your patient take hold of him or her and cairy or drag him or her into the shade. Place the body in a sitting posture, the back against a wall, with the feet and legs resting upon the sidewalk and extending in front of the body. Get ice water and a bottle of some strong essence of ginger. Pour the ice water over the head, copiously; never mind the clothes. Then pour two or three tablespoonfuls of ginger in about half a tumbler of water, and make the patient swallow it quickly. Keep the head cool by using a little of the ice water, and in case there is not much of a glow on the body give more ginger. If this recipe is promptly used and fully carried out in every case the Board of Health will never have a death to record from this cause. It is no experiment or quack remedy. It >'oats but a few cents and a half-hour or an hour's time. Ginger is by far the best to use, and where it cannot be had quickly two or three good drinks of brandy will answer. Kinock-Kiiees. — A correspondent says: " I commenced the practice of placing a small book between my knees, and tying a handkerchief tight round my ankles. This I did two or three times a day, increasing the sub- stance at every fresh trial, until I could hold a brick with ease breadth- ways. When I first commenced this pi-actiee I was as badly knock-kneed aa possible; but now I am as straight as any one. I likewise made it a practice of lying on my back in bed, with my legs croased and my knees fixed tightly together. This, I believe, did me a great deal of good." Indigestion. — I have been troubled for years with indigestion, sick headache, and constipation, writes a lady, and have been greatly helped by dropping all remedies and drinking a coffeecupful of as warm water as can be drank comfortably, the first thing on rising and just before retiring, al- ways on an empty stomach. It will cause an unpleasant feeling at first, but persevere and you will be surprised at the benefit received. If the kidneya are at fault, drink water blood warm. Jaundice. — Red iodide of mercury, seven grains; iodide of potassium, nine grains; distilled water, one ounce; mix. Commence by giving six drops three or four times a day, increasing one drop a day until twelve or fifteen drops are given at a dose. Give in a little water, immediately after meals. If it causes a griping sensation in the bowels, and fullness in the head, when you get up to twelve or fifteen drops, go back to six drops, and up again as before. Gout.—Take hot vinegar, and put into it all the table salt which it will dissolve, and bathe the parts aflected with a soft piece of flannel. Rub in with the hand and dry the foot, etc., by the fire. Repeat this operation four THE HOME PHYSICIAN. 455 times in tweuty-four hours, fifteen minutes each time, for four days; then twice a day for the same period; then once, and follow this rule whenever the symptoms show themselves at any fixture time. Sore Nipples. —Pour boiling water on mitgalls (oak bark if galls cannot be obtained), and when cold, strain it off, and bathe the parts with it, or dip the cloth in the tea, and apply it; or twenty grains of tannin may be dis- solved in an ounce of water, and appUed. The application of a few drops of collodion to the raw surface is highly recommended. It forms, when dry, a perfect coating over the diseased surface. Preventive of Seasiclcitess. — The following remedy, preventive of sea- sickness, is recommended by Prof. E. Toui-gee, of Boston, manager of tourist excursions. It was tried by himself and family, five in all, who had suffered fi'om sea-sickness on every former voyage across the Atlantic, and in each case it proved entirely successful, and produced no \infavorable results. Dissolve one ounce of bromide of sodiiim in four ounces of water. Take one teaspoonful three times a day before eating. Begin taking the above three days before starting on the ocean voyage. Pricltly Heat. — Prickly heat is a very common and troublesome disease. The most effectual treatment for it that we know of is a powder composed of one part of oxide of zinc, three parts of oxide of magnesia, and sixteen parts of sublimate of sulphur. Place the powder on a plate and press a damp sponge on it. Rub the body with the sponge, to which the particles of pow- der have adhered, and continue the application for fifteen minutes, then wash the parts clean of the adhering particles. Repeat twice or three times every twenty-four hours. Ulcei-s. — Here is a receipt that will cure any sore on man or beast that has ulcerated. Take two and one-half drachms blue stoue, four drachms alum, six drachms loaf sugar, one drachm sugar of lead, one tablespoonful honey. Put all into a bottle, put in one pint of vinegar, shake it three or four times a day, until they are dissolved, and it is ready for use. Pour some of it out and add water when you first apply to any sore, as it makes it smart at the first application; apply three times a day. Nursing CUtldren. — Mothers Avho nurse their children should bear in mind that what tliey eat at such a time is of great importance, both to them- selves and to the children. The very best article of food that they can avail themselves of is oatmeal nuish or gruel, which is always delicious when properly cooked. The oatmeal furnishes the earthy phosphates and ma- terials out of which good milk is made, so that the mother's own structures are not drawn upon, and her teeth are saved from decay. Anodyne for Puiiiful Menstrnatioii— Extract of stramonium and sulphate of quinine, each sixteen grains; macrotin, eight grains; morcrotin, eight grains; morphine, one grain; make into eight pills. Dose, one pill, repeating once or twice only, forty or fifty minutes apart, if the pain does not subside before this time. Pain must subside imder the use of this pill, and costiveness is not increased. To Prevent Contagion.— Impregnation of the atmosphere of a sick chamber when the patient is ill of diphtheria, measles, scarlet fever, or of any allied disease, with the odor of a mixture of equal parts of turpentine 456 THE HOUSEHOLD. and carbolic acid, is recommended by a celebrated physician. Half a tea- spoouful of mixture will bo enough at a time, if it ia put into a kettle of water kept near the boiling point. The odor gives some relief to the sufferer, and and tends to prevent the spread of the malady. Salt Rlieuni. — Take half a pound of swamp sassafras-bark and boil it, in enough fresh water to cover it, for the space of half an hour. Take off the water, and thoroughly wash the part affected. Add hoK's lard to some of the water, and simmer it over a moderate fire until the water is evapo- rated; anoint the part affected, continuing the washing and anointing four days. A cure is generally certain. » Simple Disinfectant. — The following ia a refreshing disinfectant for a sick-room, or any room that has an unpleasant aroma pervading it: Put some fresh ground coffee in a saucer, and in the center place a small piece of camphor gum, which light with a match. As the gum biirns allow suffi- cient coffee to consume with it. The perfume is very pleasant and healthful — being far superior to pastiles and very much cheaper. To Protect the Lungs from Dust. — lu farm labor one has often to en- counter a hurtful amount of dust. A simple and cheap protection from such an annoyance is to get a piece of sponge large enough to cover the nostrils and mouth, hollow it out on one side with a pair of scissors, to fit the face, attach a string to each side and tie it on. First wet it well, and squeeze out most of the water. Repeat this whenever the sponge becomes dry. All the dust will be caught in the damp cavities, and it is easily washed out. Fainting. — Fainting ia caused by the blood leaving the brain. Place the patient flat and allow the head to be lower than the body. Sprinkle cold water on the face. Hartshorn may bo held near the nose, not to it. A half teaspoonful of aromatic spirits of ammonia, in a wineglassful of water, will tend to revive the patient. If the symptoms recur, send for a physician. Bee Stings. — Take a pinch in the fingers of common salt, put on the place stiing and dissolve with water, rub with the finger. If not relieved in one minute wet the place with aqua ammonia. Care should be taken not to get the ammonia into the eye. I have used this remedy for several years and it has never failed with me. It has always arrested the poison and pre- vented swelling. Cramp in the Leg. — A garter applied tightly round the limb affected will, in most cases, speedily remove the complaint. When it is more obsti- nate, a brick should be heated, wrapped in a flannel bag, and placed at the foot of the bed, against which the person troubled may place his feet. No remedy, however, is equal to that of diligent and long-continued friction. Boils. — These should be brought to a head by warm poiiltices of camo- mile flowers, or boiled white lily root, or onion root by fermentation with hot water, or by stimulating plasters. When ripe they should be destroyed by a needle or lancet; but this should not be attempted until they are fully proved. Pulmonary Complaints— -When an effusion of blood from the lungs takes place, a prompt and infallible resource might readily be provided, so as to meet the occasion with a safe and decided effect. From twenty to thirty-five drops of the spirits of turpentine in a glass of water will produce THE HOME PHYSICIAN. 457 an instantaneous collapse of the mouth of the bloodvessel. It is also asserted that, in the above case, a tumblerful of strong gin-toddy, or gin and water, will have the same efteet. Toiijicco Antidote. — Buy two ouuccs or more of gentian root, coarsely ground. Take as miich of it after each meal, or oftener, as amounts to a common t^uid of " fine-cut." Chew it slowly and swallow the juice. Con- tinue this a few weeks, and you will conquer the insatiable appetite for to- bacco, which injures both mind and body, and from which thousands strug- gle to be free, but give up in despair. Ice for TeetSiing Cliildren. — The pain of teething may be almost done away, and the health of the child benefited by giving it line splinters of ice, picked off with a pm, to melt in its mouth. The instant quiet which suc- ceeds hours of fretfulness is the best witness to this magic remedy. Odor from Perspiraiion. — The unpleasant odor produced by perspira- tion is frequently the source of vexation to persons who are subject to it. Nothing is simpler than to remove this odor. Put two tablespoonfuls of spirits of ammonia (hartshorn) in a basin of water, and wash. This leaves the skin clean and fresh. The wash is perfectly harmless and very cheap. Swelled Feet and Ankles. — Take plantain leaves ( which can be found in almost any grass-plot, and in our public parks); wilt them by putting separately between the hands; cover the swollen parts with them, and keep in place by wrapping the limb with rags or a towel on going to bed at night, or keep them on during the day if not obliged to be upon the feet. A cure will be speedily effected. Acid Stomach. — A little magnesia and water will sometimes correct the acidity of a child's stomach, and render unnecessary any stronger medicine. Powder a teaspoonful of magnesia, and put it in half a glass of water; it will not dissolve, of course, but will mix with the water so that an infant can swallow it. Give a teaspoonful of this three times a day until indications warrant you in discontinuing it. Diet During Diaii-lioea. — Tea without milk, and very little sugar; mutton and chicken bi'oths, or beef tea, thickened with a little flour or arrowroot; boiled rice, tapioca, sago; rice-water or toast-water to drink. If the attack is severe, or of long continuance, the patient must be kept in bed. The feet must be kept wami, and the covering to suit the feelings of the pa- tient. To Prevent Sunstroke.— Sunstroke is prevented by wearing a silk handkerchief in the crown of the hat, or green leaves, or a wet cloth of any kind; but, during an attack, warm water should be instantly poured on the head, or rags dipped in the water and renewed eveiy minute. The reason is two-fold— the scalp is dry and hot, and the warm water not only removes the dryness but carries off the extra heat with great rapidity by evaporation. To Ascertain Fractures. — Fractures of the ribs may be ascertained by placing the tips of two or three fingers on the spot where the pain is, and desiring the patient to cough. If a rib be l)roken, a grating sensation will be felt. All that is necessary is to pass a broad bandage round the chest so tight as to prevent the motion of the ribs in breathing, and to obsei've a low diet. 458 THE HOUSEHOLD. Removing Substances from tlie Ear—Take a horse-hair about six inches long, and double it so as to make a loop at one end. Introduce this loop as deejjly as possible into the auditory canal, and twist it gently around- After one or two tui-ns, according to the originator of the plan, the foreign body is drawn out with the loop. The method is ingenious, and at all events causes little pain, and can do no harm. Deficiency of AVax in tlie Ear. — Deafness is sometimes the conse- quence of a morbidly dry state of the inner passages of the ear. In such cases, introduce a bit of cotton wool dipped in an equal mixture of oil of turpentine and oil of almonds, or in the liniment of carbonate of am- monia. Snake Bites. — Turpentine is said to be a sure cure for a bite of a snake. It should be put tu a bottle, and the mouth being placed over the spot, the liquid brought directly in contact with the wound by inverting the bottle, which should be held there until relief is obtained. A complete alleviation of pain has been known to ensue in less than a quarter of an hour. An im- portant discovery. .Sore Eyes. — Get the roots of linwood (some call it bass-wood), wash and scrape the outer bark clean, then scrape the inner bark very fine, tilling a tumbler about one-third full. Then fill the tumbler nearly full of rain-water. It will, in a little while, thicken like jelly. Now take a thin, soft cloth, the thinner the better, put some of the mucilage between two pieces and place it upon the eyes. It is very soothing. Laxatives — Infusions of Epsom salts and senna are often taken as laxa- tives, or opening medicines. It is a well known fact that a teaspoonful of salts in a tumbler of cold water, if drunk before breakfast, is as effectual a dose as the usual oiince. Senna, too, if steeped in cold water, is equally efficacious, and free from the nauseous bitter taste which it has when in- fused in boiling water. To Prevent Gray Hair. — To check premature grayness, the head should be well brushed moi-ning and night, with a brush hard enough to irritate the skin somewhat. The bristles should be far enough apart to brush through the hair, as it were, rather than over it. Oil, rather than pomade, should be used. Common sweet oil, scented with bergamot, can be recommended. Cholera Infantum. — For cholera infantum, the whites of two egga, well beaten; then mix with water; add one teaspoonful of orange flower water and a little sugar; a tablespoonful every hour. It will, says an authority, cure the worst case of cholera infantum, the egg coating the bowels. Treatment for Fever. — If the patient has a burning fever, take an earthen wash-bowl, fill two-thirds full of tepid water, in which put one tablespoonful of common baking soda; then bathe the face, body, and limbs freely with it and wipe dry. This treatment for fever was learned from one of our best physicians. Blooil Blister. — When a finger is bruised so as to cause a blood-bhster under the nail, it should immediately be drilled with a knife or other sharp- pointed instrument, and the blood allowed to escape. This affords instant relief to an injury which may otherwise become exceedingly painful. THE irOME PHYSICIAN. 459 A Vapor BatU. — A vapor bath may easily be prepared at home. Place a pail of hot water under a cane-bottomed chair, or if you have not one, put a narrow piece of board across the pail; on this the patient should sit for half an hour, covered by a blanket reaching to the floor, so as to keep in the steam. Veiitiliitioii. — The best way to admit pure air in the night (where win- dows are the only mode of ventilation) is to open the sleeping-room into a hall where there is an open window in order to avoid the draught. A win- dow with a small opening at the top and bottom ventilates more than one with one opening only. A Cheap and Simple "Way to Disinfect a Room. — Heat a common iron fire-shovel hot, but not quite red hot, and pour an ounce of carbolic acid fluid on it. The fumes will penetrate the room everywhere and cleanse the air of its impurities. This should be repeated daily so long as it is necessary. Deafness. — Put a tablespoonful of bay-salt into nearly half a pint of cold spring water; and after it has steeped therein for twenty-four hours, now and then shaking the phial, pour a small teaspoonful in the ear most affected, nightly, when in bed, for seven or eight successive nights. Tetter. — Procure some strawberry leaves, and lay the outside, or woolly side of the leaf on the parts affected. They must be laid on very thick, and be changed occasionally. They will draw out inflammation, and cure the disease. Stiff Neck. — Apply over the place affected a piece of black oil-cloth with the right side to the skin, then tie up the neck with a thick handkerchief. In a short time the part will grow moist, and, by leaving thus twelve hours, the pain will be removed. Food for a Young Cliild — If a very young child has to be fed, take the top crust of good, sweet home-made bread; soak it in cold water half an hour, and then boil twenty minutes; cover tight; then beat with a fork until smooth and sweet. This will agree with the stomach better than anytliing else. Plleg. — The ingredients are: Two tablespoonfuls of tar, eight tablespoon- luls of lard, not heaped. First wash the parts effected with castile soap and water, and then apply the ointment. The ointment should be used once or twice each day. Cramp, in Bathing. — For the cure of the cramp when swimming. Dr. Franklin recommends a vigorous and violent shock to the part affected, by suddenly and forcibly stretching out the leg, which should be darted out of the water into the air if possible. Spasms. — To cure this distressing form of malady, take two pennyworth of camphor, and infuse it iu one pint of brandy. Let it stand forty-eight hours, and then it is fit for use. When the attack comes on, take one tea- spoonful iu a wineglass of water. Guni-Boil, or "Weakness of tlie Gums. — Take of acetate of morphia, two grains; tincture of myrrh, six drachms; tincture of krameria, one ounce; spirits of lavender, three ounces and a half. Let a lotion be made. 460 THE HOUSEHOLD. Choking. — To prevent choking, break an egg into a cup and give it to the person choking, to swallow. The white of the egg seems to catch around the obstacle and remove it. If one ugg does not answer the purpose, try an- other. The white is all that is necessary. Scrofulous Sore Eyes. — Take blue violets, which are growing wild in most places, dig them up, top and root, wash clean, dry them and make a tea; drink several times a day, wetting the eyes each time, and it will soon cure. ■Weak Ankles. — Bathing them in wine-lees will strengthen them; fre- quent bathing in salt and water — four ounces of salt to oue quart of water- is also beuelicial. Skating moderately indulged in, will be attended by good results. Hot Milk as a .Stimulant. — If any one is fatigued, the best restorative is hot milk, a tumbler of the beverage as hot as can be sipped. This is far more of a restorative than any alcoholic drink. Cold Feet. — Cold feet are the preciirsors of consumption. To escape them, warm your feet well in the moj-ning, and covering the sole with a piece of common paper, carefully draw on the sock, and then the boot or shoe. Drink in Cases of Fever. — There is no more refreshing drink in cases of fever than weak green tea, with lemon juice added instead of milk. It may be taken either cold or hot, but the latter is preferable. Frozen Limits. — Dissolve from one quarter to half a pound of alum in a gallon of warm water, and immerse the feet or hands in it when frozen, for ten or fifteeu minutes, and a euro will be effected. Foreign Bodies in theTIirout. — " Foreign bodies lodged in the throat can be removed," says Dr. Beveridge, a British naval surgeon, " by forcibly blowing into the ear." The plan is so easily tried and so harmless that we suggest its use. Hiccough. — Hiccough effects some persons very persistently, and where a simpler remedy does not check it, a half teaspoouful of nitre in a half tumbler of water is recommended as an instantaneous remedy. Cankers — Those whitish-looking specks which appear on the inside of the cheeks and lips, may be easily removed by touching them with burnt alum. Enlarged Neck. — To cure enlarged neck, take two tablespoonfuls of salt, two of borax and two of alum, dissolve in two of water and apply three times a day for three weeks. A Prompt Emetic. — The ingredients are: Tartar emetic, one grain; powdered ipecac, twenty grains. Take the above in a wiueglassful of sweetened water. Swelled Feet. — For swelled feet a good remedy will be found in bathing them in vinegar and water. THE TOILET. Tooth Po-wder. — (1) Dissolve two ounces of borax in three pints of boiling water, and before it is cold, add one teaspoonful of the spirits of camphor, and bottle for use. A tablespoonful of tliis mixture, mixed with an equal quantity of tepid water, and applied daily with a soft brush, pre- serves and beautifies the teeth, extirpates all tartarous adhesion, arrests decay, induces healthy action of the gums, and makes the teeth pearly white. (2) The dark colored substance which collects on neglected teeth cannot be removed \vitli a brush and water. Pulverized charcoal will take it off, but this scratches the enamel and loads to decay of the tooth. A better sub- stance is pumice stone in powder. Dip a pine stick into it, and scour the teeth. After this treatment the daily use of the tooth brush and tepid water will be sufficient. (3) A good way to clean teeth is to dip the brush in water, rub it over genuine white castile soap, then dip it in prepared chalk. A lady says: " I have been complimented upon the whiteness of my teeth, wMch were origi- nally anything but white. I have used the soap constantly for two or three years, and the chalk for the last year. There is no danger of scratching the teeth, as the chalk is prepared, but with a good stiff brush and the soap, is as effectual as soap and sand on a floor. (4) Mix SIX ounces of the tincture of Peruvian bark with half an ounce of sal-ammoniac. Shake it well before using. Take a spoonful and hold it near the teeth; then -with a finger dipped into it, rub the gums and teeth, which must afterward be washed with warm water. This tincture cures the tooth- ache, preserves the teeth and gums, and makes them adhere to each other. (5) Prepared chalk, one pound; camphor, one or two drachms. The camphor must be finely powdered, by moistening it with a little spirits of wine, and then intimately mixed with the chalk. (6) Ingredients: Powdered charcoal, four ounces; powdered yellow bark, two ounces; powdered myrrh, one ounce; orris root, half an ounce. (7) Ten cents' worth ground chalk, five cents' worth orris root, five cents' worth myrrh, one teaspoonful powdered castile soap, Mix all well together. (8) A mixture of honey with the purest charcoal will prove an admirable cleanser. Freclfcle8.--(l) Freckles are easily removed by the following treatment, but the directions must bo followed regularly: Five grains corrosive sub ■ limate, two ounces alcohol, four ounces water. Apply two or three times during the day. At night use the following ointment: One ounce of white wax, one teacupful of nice white lard, lump of camphor the size of a chest- nut, one teaspoouful glycerine. Put the wax and camphor in a tin to melt, crumbling the camphor; when melted, add the other ingredients. Stir thoroughly, and pour into molds which have been dipped in water. 462 THE nOUSJEHOLI). This recipe will bo found to remove pimples as well as tan and freckles. (2) A good freckle lotiou for the cure of freckles, tan, or sun-burned face or hands is made thus: Take half a pound of clear ox-gall, half a drachm each of camphor and burned alum, one drachm of borax, two ounces of rock salt, and the same of rock candy. This should be mixed and shaken well several times a day for three weeks, until the gall becomes trans- parent; then stram it very carefully through filtering paper, which may be had of the druggist. Apply to the lace during the day, and wash off at night. (3) Wash in fresh buttermilk every morning, and rinse the face in tepid water; then wse a soft towel. Freckles may also be removed by applying to the face a solution of nitre and water. Another good wash for freckles is made by dissolving three grains of borax in five drachms each of rose water and orange flower water. There are many remedies for freckles, but there is none that will banish them entirely. (4) Take one oixuce of lemon juice, a quarter of a drachm of powdered borax, and half a drachm of sugar. Mix and let them stand in a glass bottle for a few days, then rub it on the face and hands night and morning. Two tablespoonfuls of lemon juice would equal an ounce. (5) Rectified spirits of wine, one oiince; water, eight ounces; half an ounce of orange flower water, or one ounce of rose water; diluted muriatic acid, a teaspoonful. Mix. To be used after washing. (6) Take grated horseradish and put in very sour milk. Let it stand four hours; then wash the face night and morning. To Prevent the Hair Falling Off— (1) When the hair, after being naturally luxuriant, begins to grow thin, without actually coming out in par- ticles, use the following receipt: Take of extract of yellow Peruvian bark, fifteen grains; extract of rhatany root, eight grains; extract of burdock root a and oil of nutmegs (mixed), of each, two drachms; camphor dissolved with spirits of ■\vine, fifteen grains; beef marrow, two ounces; best olive oil, one ounce; citron juice, half a drachm; aromatic essential oil, as much as is suf- ficient to render it fragrant; mix, and make into an ointment. Two drachms of bergamot and a few drops of attar of roses would sufi&ce. This is to be used every morning. (2) Onions must be rubbed frequently on the part. The stimulating powers of this vegetable are of essential service in restoring the tone of the skin, and assisting the capillary vessels in sending forth new hair; but it is not hifalUhle. Should it succeed, however, the growth of these new hau-s may be assisted by the oil of myrtleberries, the repute of which, perhaps, is greater than its real cfliciency. These applications are cheap and harmless, even where they do no good; a character which cannot be said of the numer- ous quack remedies that meet the eye in every direction. (3) To prevent hair from falling out or turning gray, take a teacupful of dried sage, and boil it in a quart of soft water for twenty mimites. Strain it off and add a piece of borax the size of an English walnut; pulverize the borax. Put the sage tea, M'hen cool, into a quart bottle; add the borax; shake well together, and keep in a cool place. Brush the hair thoroughly and rub the wash well on the head with the hand. Then, after a good hard rubbing, brush the hair well before the fire so it will become dry. (4) Put equal quantities of rum and sweet oil into a bottle, and, before using, shake them well together. This mixture should be applied with a THE TOILET. 463 soft hrnsh to the roots of the hair every night; it should be tried for a month at the least, before any improvement can bo expected. (5) Put one pound of unadulterated honey into a still, with three hand- fula of the tendrils of vine and the same quantity of rosemary tops. Distill as cool and as slowly as possible. The liquor may be allowed to drop till it tastes sour. (6) To prevent the hair from falling out apply once a week a wash made of one quart of boiling water, one ounce of pulverized borax and half an ounce of powdered camphor. Rub on with a sponge or a piece of flannel. (7) Take a piece of saltpetre the size of a hickory nut, and put in a quart of water, and wet the head daily. To Soften tlie Hands. — (1) To soften the hands, fill a wash-basin half full of fine, white sand and soai) suds as hot as can be borne. Wash the hands in this live minutes at the time, washing and rubbing them in the sand. The best is the flint sand, or the white, powdered quartz sold for filters. It may be used repeatedly by poui'ing the water away after each washing, and adding fresh to keep it from blowing about. Einse in warm lather of fine soap, and, attcr drj'ing, rub them with dry bran or cornmeal. Dust them, and finish with rubbing cold cream well into the skin. This effectually removes the roughness caused by housework, and should be used every day, first removing ink or vegetable stains with acid. (2) Soap is an indispensable article for cleansing hands, but it often leaves the skin rough; cracks on the hands come, and soap is often unpleas- ant. Use honey, rub it on when the skin is dry; moisten a little, rub harder, use a little more water; finally wash thoroughly and your hands will be as clean as though the strongest soap were used, and no cracks or roughness will annoy you. (3) Keep a dish of Indian meal on the toilet stand near the soap, and rub ^hc meal freely on the hands after soaping them for washing. It will sur- prise you, if you have not tried it, to find how it will cleanse and soften the skin, and prevent chapping. (4) Before retiring take a large pair of gloves and spread mutton tallow inside, also all over the hands. Wear the gloves all night, and wash the hands with olive oil and white castile soap the next morning. (5) After cleansing the hands with soap, rub them well with oatmeal while still wet. Honey is also very good, used in the same way as lemon- juice, well rubbed in at night. To "Wliiten the Hands— (1) Keep some oatmeal on tl\o washstand, and, as often as the hands are washed, rub a little oatmeal over them; then rinse it off, and, when dry, put on a little bit of pomade, made as follows: Take about five cents' worth each of white wax, spermaceti, and powdered camphor, and olive oil enough to make it the thickness of soap; put it in a gallipot, and let it stand in an oven to melt; mix it up, and, when cold, it will be found very good for the hands. Gloves, worn either in the day or night, will help to keep the hands white. (2) A cake of bi-own Windsor soap scraped into thin flakes, and then mixed with a tablespoonful of eau de cologne, and a tablespoonful of lemon jiiice, is said to make a useful preparation for this purpose. There is nothing injurious to the skin in the composition. When the soap has been thoroughly blended with the lemon juice and eaii de cologne, it should be pressed into a mold— one made of cardboard in the form of a small 464 THE HOUSEHOLD. box, the size of a cake of soap, will answer the purpose — and allowed to dry before it is itsed. (3) Half an ounce of white wax, half an ounce of spermaceti, quarter of an ounce of powdered camphor. Mix them with as much ohve oil as will form them into a very stiff paste, and vise as often as you wash your hands. (4) Mixtures of two parts of glycerine, one part ammonia, and a Uttle rose water whiten and soften the hands. Pimples. — (I) It requires self-denial to got rid of pimples, for persons troubled with them will persist in eating fat meats and other articles of food calculated to produce them. Avoid the use of rich gravies, or jiastry, or anything of the kind in excess. Take all the out-door exercise you can and never indulge in a late supper. Retire at a reasonable hour, and rise early in the morning. Sulphur to purify the blood may be taken three times a week — a thimbleful in a glass of milk before breakfast. It takes some time for the sulphur to do its work, therefore persevere in its use till the hu- mors, or pimples, or blotches, disappear. Avoid getting wet while taking the sulphur. (2) Try this recipe: Wash the face twice a day in warm water, and rub dry with a coarse towel. Then with a soft towel rub in a lotion made of two ounces of white brandy, one ounce of cologne, and one half ounce of liquor potassa. Persons subject to skin eruptions should avoid very salt or fat food. A dose of Epsom salts occasionally might prove beneficial. (3) Wash the face in a dilution of cai-bolic acid, allowing one teaspoonful to a pint of water. This is an excellent and puiifying lotiou, and may be used on the most delicate skins. Bs careful about letting this wash get into the eyes. (4) Oil of sweet almonds, one ounce; fluid potash, one drachm. Shake well together, and then add rose water, one ounce; pure water, »ix ounces. Mix. Rub the pimples or blotches for some minutes with a rough towel, and then dab them with the lotion. (5) Dissolve one ounce of borax, and sponge the face with it every night. When there are insects, rub on flour of sulphur, dry, after washing, rub well and wipe dry; use plenty of castile soap. (6) Dilute corrosive sublimate with oil of almonds. A few days' applica- tion will remove them. Cosmetics— (1) Oatmeal may be used for beautifying the complexion in this way: Take a small quantity of meal and pour sufficient cold water over it to make a thin paste; then strain through a fine sieve and bathe the face with the Uquid, leaving it to dry upon the skin. This preparation renders the complexion very soft and white. (2) Take an ordinary milk pan, and fill it with the white flowers of the elderberry bush. The flowers should be covered with boiling water, placed out-of-doors in the sun for about three days, strained off, and bottled. The liquid should be of a dark mahogany color. It is an excellent lotion to re- move sunburn and freckles. (3) Squeeze a Uttle lemon juice on a soft, wet rag, and pass the rag over the face a number of times before retiring at night. Repeat the operation as often during the following day as you find it convenient, allowing the juice of the lemon to dry on the face. In a week or so you will experience great benefit. (4) Glycerine and lemon juice make a very good toilet article for improv- THE TOILET. 465 ing the complexion. Mix before applying it. A convenient way of using these articles is to poiir a little of the glycerine into the palm of the Land, then squeeze out a few drops of lemon, rub together, and apply to tlie face. (5) Take half a cup of water, and add to it a tablespoonful of glycerine. Add to this a tablespoonful of alcohol and a teaspoouful of colongo. Apply with a sponge or a soft cotton cloth. (6) An iutusiou of horseradish and milk, as a correspondent informs lis, will make a most excellent, harmless, and effective cosmetic. It is certainly very easily tried. (7) Melt one pound of soft soap over a slow fire, with half a pint of sweet oil, and add a teacupful of fine sand. Stir the mixture together until cold. (8) Use a teaspoonful of pondered borax every morning in the basin of water, when washing the face or hands; also use it when taking a bath. Sunburn. — (1) Take two drachms of borax, one drachm of Roman alum, one drachm of camphor, half an ounce of sugar-candy, one pound of ox-gall; mix and stir well for ten minutes or so, and repeat this stirring three or four times a day for a fortnight, till it appears clear and transparent. Strain through blotting paper, and bottle up for use. It is said that strawberries rubbed over the face at night will remove freckles and sunburn. (2) Wash the face at night with either sour milk or buttermilk, and in the morning with weak bran tea and a little eau-de cologne. This will soften the skm and remove the redness, and will also make it less Uable to burn again with exposure to the sun. Bathing the face several times in the day with elder flower water and a few drops of eau-de-cologne is very efficacious. (3) Put two spoonfuls of sweet cream into half a pint of new milk; squeeze into it the juice of a lemon, add half a glass of genuine French brandy, a little alum and loaf sugar; boil the whole, skim it well, and, when cold, it is fit for use. Pomade for the Hair— (1) Ingredients: one quarter pound of lard; two pennyworth of castor oil; scent. Mode: Let the lard be unsalted; beat it up well; then add the castor oil, and mix thoroughly together with a knife, adding a few drops of any scent that may be preferred. Put the pomatum into pots, which keep well covered to prevent it turning rancid. (2) A flask of salad oil, one and a half ounces of spermaceti, half ounce of white wax; scent as desired. Cut up the white wax and spermaceti into small pieces, and put them into the oven to melt with a small quantity of the oil. When the lumps have disappeared, and all the ingredients are thoroughly amalgamated, pour in the remainder of the oil and the scent, and stir with a spoon until cold. (3) Three ounces of olive oil, three quarters of a drachm of oil of al- monds, two drachms of palm oil, half an ounce of white wax, a quainter of a pound of lard, and three quarters of a drachm of essence of bergamot. This pomade is excellent for strengthening the hair, promoting the growth of whiskers and moustaches, and preventing baldness. (4) Take one ounce of spermaceti, one ounce of castor oil, four ounces of olive oil, and two pennyworth of bergamot, and melt them together in a pot placed in boiling water, stirring the mixture all the while; when thoroughly mixed, pour the mixture into pots while hot. TUe Teeth — The teeth need brusliiug at least before going to bed eveiy night, and are better for being cleansed after each meal. Tartar can be re- 466 THE HOUSEHOLD. moved by using *^iimice stone reduced to powder, rubbing it on the teeth with a bit of soft wood made into a brush. Where the gums are sensitive, there is nothing better than the chalk and myrrh dentifrice. Where the top of a tooth is very sensitive, wet a bit of chalk and lay it on under the lip. Where the breath is oftensive the mouth should be rinsed with water in which an atom of permanganate of potash has been dissolved; just enough should be used to make the water pink. Take care not to swallow any, as it is a poison. Crooked teeth in children can often be straightened, without ap- plying to a dentist, if the parents watch the teeth when coming through, and several times a day press the crooked one into position. Of course where the arch of the mouth is defective, the upjDer teeth protruding over the under lip, or the under jaw projects, the services of a skillful dentist will be re- quired. It is only after the permanent teeth arrive that such operations are performed. Toilet Powder. — Just think of it, one of the most deadly poisons known —used because of its cheapness, to add weight to an article applied solely to the delicate skins of women and children. Fearful and incurable skin dis- eases upon children to whom it has been applied to prevent chaflng, led to the discovery. It is safe to discard all Freuck toilet powder. Safe prepara- tions are put up in this couatry, but each mother can make her own, be- cause the best are only perfumed starch. Starch, made perfectly dry, and sifted through the finest sieve, may be used, or a few drops of any desired perfume may be mixed with it. Those who have lavender or other aromatic flowers can fold them in thin paper, and place these with layers of starch, in a box, renewing the flowers every few days, until the starch has absorbed suflicient perfume. The starch will take up a little moisture from the flow- ers, and it is best to let it be exposed to the sun, until quite dry, and then if at all lumpy, be sifted again . Rose Bantloline fortlie Hair. — Of gum tragacauth, six ounces, or one and one-half ounces: of rose water, one gallon, or two pints; of attar of roses, one-half ounce, or one di-achm; steep the gum in the water for a day or so; as it swells or forms a gelatinous mass, it must from time to time be well agitated. After about forty-eight hours' maceration, it is then to be squeezed through a coarse, clean linen cloth, and again left to stand for a few days; then pass it throiigh the cloth a second time, to insure uniformity of consis- tency; when this is the case, the attar of roses is to be thoroughly incor- porated. Almond bandoline is made precisely as the above, scenting with a quarter of an ounce of attar of almonds in place of the roses. Eruptions on tlie Face. — Dissolve an ounce of borax in a quart of water, and apply this with a fine sponge every evening before going to bed. This will smooth the skin when the eruptions do not proceed from an insect working under the cuticle. Many persons' faces are disfigiired by red erup- tions caused by a small creature working under the skin. A veiy excellent remedy is to take the flour of sulphur and rub it on the face dry, after wash- ing it in the morning. Rub it well with the fingers, and then wipe it off with a dry towel. There are many who are not a little ashamed of their faces, who can be cured if they follow these directions. Chapped Hands. — (1) To cure chapped hands, take common starch and rub it into a fine, smooth powder, put it in a clean tin box, and every time the hands are removed from dish water or hot suds, liuse them carefully in THE TOILET. 467 clean water, and while they are damp, rub a pinch of starch over them, coveriug the whole surface. (2) Melt spermaceti, one drachm, with almond oil, one ounce; and add powdered camphor, one drachm. It will be improved by adding a couple of drachms of glycerine, using as much less of the almond oil. (3) One-half ounce of glycerine with same amount of alcohel. Mix, and add four ounces of rose water. Bottle, and shake well. An excellent remedy for rough or chapped hands. To S-iveeten tlie Breatli— From six to ten drops of the concentrated solution of chloride of soda in a wineglassful of spring water, taken imme- diately after the ablutions of the morning are completed, will sweeten the breath by disinfecting the stomach, which, far from being injured, will bo benefitted by the medicine. If necessary, this may be repeated in the mid- dle of the day. In some cases the odor from carious teeth is combined with that of the stomach. If the mouth is well rinsed with a teaspoonful of the chloride in a tumbler of water, the bad odor of the teeth will be removed. Bay Ruiii. — Saturate one-quarter pound of carbonate of magnesia with oil of bay; pulverize the magnesia, place it in a filter, and pour water through it lantil the desired quantity is obtained, then add alcohol. The quantity of water and alcohol employed depends on the desired strength and quantity of the bay rum. Another: Oil of bay, ten fluid drachms; oil of pimento, one fluid drachm; acetic ether, two fluid drachms; alcohol, three gallons; water, two and a half gallons. Mix, and alter two weeks' repose, filter. Otto of Roses. — Fill a large glazed earthen jar with rose leaves, care- fully separated from the cups; pour upon them spring water, just sufficient to cover them, and set the jar with its contents in the sun for two or three days, taking it under cover at night. At the end of the third or fourth day, small particles of yellow oil will be seen floating on the surface of the water, and which, in the course of a week, will have increased to a thin scum. The 8cum is the otto of roses; take it up with a little cotton tied to the end of a stick, and squeeze it into a phial. Essence from Flowers — Procure a quantity of the petals of any flow- ers which have an agreeable fragrance; card thin layers of cotton, which dip into the finest Florence or Lucca oil; sprinkle a small quantity of fine salt on the flowers alternately until an earthen vessel or wide-mouthed glass bottle is full. Tie the top close with a bladder, then lay the vessel in a south aspect to the heat of the sun, and in fifteen days, when uncovered, a fragrant oil may bo squeezed away, leaving a whole mass quite equal to the high-priced essences. To Curl file Hair — There is no preparation which will make naturally straight hair assume a permanent curl. The following will keep the hair in curl for a short time: Take l)orax, two ounces; gum arable, one drachm; and hot water, not boiling, one quart; stir, and, as soon as the ingredients are dissolved, add three tablespooufuls of strong spirits of camphor. On retir- ing to rest, wet the hair with the above liquid, and roll in twists of paper as usual. Do not disturb the hjiir until iporning, when untwist and form into ringlets. 468 THE HOUSEHOLD. Black Spots on tlie Face — The black spots on the face are not always what are called flesh worms. What are mistaken for them are produced in this waj': The skin may be coarse, and the ducts, being large, collect the perspiration, which hardens and blackens, and hence the common supposi- tion of there being grubs or maggots in the skin. The remedy is simple. Clean the part affected by squeezing out the substance that is lodged, and then use a lotion of ililuted spirits of wine several times a day, until the blotches have disappeai'ed. If they are really tlesh worms take something to purify yoiir blood — sulphur or sarsaparilla Moth Patches. — (1) It is said that the drinking of hard cider — two or three glasses per day — will remove moth spots. At least, so writes a cor- respondent who has ti'ied it with success. While drinking the cider let tea and coflee alone. (2) Moth patches may be removed from the face by the following remedy: Into a pint bottle of rum put a tablespoonful of flour of siilphur. Apply this to the patches once a day, and they will disappear in two or three weeks. (3) Bathe the face two or three times a day in borax water; a teaspoon- ful of powdered borax in a basin of warm water. Cold Cream. — This is a simple and cooling ointment, exceedingly ser- viceable for i-ough or chapped hands, or for keeping the skin soft. It is very easily made. Take half an ounce of white wax, and put it into a small basin, witli two ounces of almond oil. When quite melted add two ounces of rose water. This must be d-me very slowly, little by little, and, as you pour it in, beat the mixture smartly with a fork to make the water incorporate. When all is incorporated, the cold cream is complete, and you may pour it into jars for future use. Scent Pow^der.—A good receipt for scent powder to be used for ward- robes, boxes, etc., far finer than any mixture sold at the shops, is the follow- ing: Coriander, orris root, rose leaves, and aromatic calamus, each one ounce; lavender flowers, ten ounces; rhodium, one-fourth of a drachm; musk, five grains. These are to be mixed and reduced to a coarse powder. This scents clothes as if fragrant flowers had been pressed in their folds. AValnnt Hair Dye. — The simplest form is the expressed juice of the bark or shell of green walnuts. To preserve this juice, a little rectified spirits may be added to it, with a few bruised cloves, and the whole digested together, with occasional agitation for a week or fortnight, when the clear portion is decanted, and, if necessary, filtered. Sometimes, only a little common salt is added to preserve the juice. It should be kept in a cool place. Lavender Water. — Best English lavender, four drachms; oil of cloves, half a drachm; musk, five grains; best spirits of wine, six ounces; water, one ounce. Mix the oil of lavender with a little spirit first, then add the other ingredients, and let it stand, being kept well corked for at least two months before it is used, shaking it frequently. To Increase the Gro^vth of Hair. — Take of mutton suet, one pound; best white wax, four ounces; essences of bergamot and lemon, of each, three draclims; oils of lavender and thyme, of each, one drachm. Mix the suet and wax over a gentle fire and then add the perfumes. THE TOILET. i69 To Thicken the Hair — One quart of white wine, one handful of rose- mary flowers, one-half pound of honey, one-quarter pint of oil of sweet almonds. Mix the rosemary and honey with the wine, distill them together, then add the oil of sweet almonds and shake well. When using it, pour a little into a cup, warm it, and rub it into the roots of the hair. Crimping Hair. — To make the hair stay in crimp, take five cents' worth of gum arable and add to it just enough boiling water to dissolve it. When dissolved, add enough alcohol to make it rather thin. Let this stand all night and then bottle it to prevent the alcohol from evaporating. This put on the hair at night, after it is done up in papers or pius. will make it stay in crimp the hottest day, and is perfectly harmless. The Xalls. — Great attention should be paid to keeping the nails in good order. They should be brushed at least twice a day, and the skin round the lower part should be kept down by rubbing with a soft towel. The sides of the nails need clipping about once in a week. If they become stained, wash them well with soap, and after rinsing oft" the soap well, brush them with lemon juice. Toilet Soap.- Take two pounds of pure beef tallow, two pounds of sal soda, one pound of salt, one ounce of gum camphor, one ounce of oil of ber- gamot, one ounce of borax; boil slowly an hour; stir often, let it stand till cold, then warm it over, so it will run easily, and turn into cups or molds, dipped in cold water. This is very nice for all toilet purposes, and is greatly improved by age. Almond Paste— Take of bleached almonds four ounces, and the white of one egg; beat the almonds to a smooth paste in a mortar, then add the white of egg, and enough rose water, mixed with one-half its weight of spirits of wine, to give the proper consistence. This paste is used as a cosmetic, to beautify the complexion, and is also a remedy for chapped hands, etc. Hair 'Wa.'^li. — Take one ounce of borax, half an ounce of camphor pow- der — these ingredients fine— and dissolve them in one quart of boiling water. When cool, the solution will be ready for use. Damp the hair frequently. This wash is said not only to cleanse and beautify, but to strengthen the hair, preserve the color and prevent baldness. To Make Ean de Cologne. -Rectified spirits of wine, four pints; oil of bergamot, one ounce; oil of lemon, half an ounce; oil of rosemary, half a drachm; oil of neroli, three-quarters of a drachm; oil of English lavender, one drachm; oil of oranges, one drachm. Mix well, and then filter. If these proportions are too large, smaller ones may be used. Careof the Halr._To keep the hair healthy, keep the head clean. Brush the scalp well with a stiff bru.ih while dry. Then wash with castile soap, and rub into the roots, bay rum, brandy, or cam]>hor water. This done twice a month will prove beucficial. Brush the scalp thoroughly twice a week. Dampen the hair with soft water at the toilet, and do not use oil. Pearl Water for the Complexion—Take castile soap, one pound; water, one gallon. Dissolve; then add alcohol, one quart; oil of rosemary and oil of lavender, of each two drachms. Mix well. 470 THE HOUSEHOLD. Fi-eiii-Ii Milk of Roses. — Two and one-half pints of rose water, one-half pint of rosemary water, two ounces of tmcture of storan, two onnces of tincture of benzoin, one-half ounce of esprit de rose. First mix the rose water and rosemary water, and then add the other ingredients. This ia a useful wash for the complexion. Violet Powtler—Wheat starch, six parts by weight; orris root powder, two. Having reduced the starch to an impalpable powder, mix thoroughly with the on-is root, and thou perfume with otto of lemon, otto of bergamot, and otto of cloves, using twice as much of the lemon as either of the other ottoa. Pei-funie for HandUercliiefs.— Oil of lavender, three fluid drachma; oil of bergamot, three fluid drachms; extract of ambergris, six minims; camphor, one grain; spirits of wine, one pint. To be Avell shaken every day for a fortnight, and then filtered. Bouquet de la Reine. — Take one ounce of essence of bergamot, three drachms of English oil of lavender, half a drachm of oil of cloves, half a drachm of aromatic vinegar, six grains of musk, and one pint and a half of rectified spirits of wine. Distill. Oil of Roses for tlie Hair._01ivo oil, one quart; otto of roses, one drachm; oil of rosemary, one drachm; mix. It may be colored by steeping a little alkanct root in the oil (with heat) before scenting it. It strengthens and beautifies the hair. Sliampooing Liquid — An excellent shampoo is made of salts of tartar, white castile soap, bay rum and lukewarm water. The salts will remove all dandruft', the soap will soften the hair and clean it thoroughly, and the bay rum will prevent taking cold. Hair Restorative. — A good hair restorative may be made of boxwood leaves, of which take a handful and put into one pint of boiling water; digest for an hour, simmer ten minutes, and then strain. In applying it to the hair rub it well into the roots. Liip Salve. — Melt a lump of sugar in one and a half tablespoonfnls of rose water; mix it with two tablespoonfuls of sweet oil, a piece of spermaceti half as largo as an English walnut; simmer the whole, and turn it into boxes. Wash for the Hair. — The best wash we know for cleansing and soften- ing the hair is an egg beaten up, and rubbed well into the hair- and after- ward washed out with several washes of warm water. Cure for Chapped Lips— Dissolve a lump of beeswax in a small quan- tity of sweet oil— over a candle— let it cool, and it will be ready for use. Rub bing it warm on the lips two or three times will effect a cure. THE LAUNDRY. A Washing Machine. — The opinion is now becoming general that the proper way to wash clothes is to alternately fill them with water and press it out, avoiding fiiction as much as possible. Wo herewith present a de- scription of a machine for this purpose. The figure is a sectional view. A is a cylinder two feet in diameter, made of any suitable material. In the middle of the cylinder will be seen a stationary cylinder head, B, which is perforated with holes. C are two movable pistons, working watertight in the cylinder— both of them fastened rigidly to the rod D. Oh the top part of the rod is a rack, which gears into the pinion E, worked by the crank F. The operation is as follows: The upper piston is raised above the top of the cylinder, and the clothes to be washed are placed therein, with a sufficient quantity of soap and water. On depressing the piston by means of the crank, the upper piston presses all the water out of the clothes, passing through the cylinder head B, thence following the lower piston to the bottom of the cylin- der. Thus all the water is squeezed out of the clothes. On reversing the direction of the crank the pistons rise, and the lower one forces the water through the etationaiy head again into the clothes. It is thus depressed and i-aised alternately, soaking and squeezing the water out of the clothes. A stop-cock should be placed in the side of the cylin- der to let off the water when not required. Waghing Lace Curtains. — There are many ways of doing this work; those which are bleached by the use of many of the bleaching powders make the lace beautifully clear and white, but usually in- jure the fabric; and when possible it is much safer to have them done up at home. The prevailing impression has been that there was some peculiar mystery in bleaching lace of any kind; that the process was tedious and very intricate, and if not done by a professional cleaner the lace was in imminent danger of destruction. It is not so at all. Once understood, the work is as simple as any wash- ing. Shake all the dust out of the lace curtains when taken down, but be gentle about it to avoid tearing. The shaking will remove the greater part of the loose dirt. Then spread them across two Hues near together in the clothes yard, and brush them softly with a clean feather duster. When all has been brushed off, put them, one at a time, into a tub half full of milk- warm water and add two tablcspoonfuls of liquid ammonia. Let it remain ten or fifteen minutes, turning it over carefully every minute or two, and squeezing with the hands. This through the ammonia will loosen all the dirt, after which squeeze out gently but as dry as can be done without breaking the meshes. Have ready another tub of tepid water with some 472 THE HOUSEHOLD. more ammonia, and pnt the curtain into that immediately. Let it soak ■while the next curtain is taken through the same process as the first, and so on until all the cirrtains have been taken through at least three waters, or till the water looks clear, squeezing and washing the curtains with the hands as the work goes on. Ammonia in the two first waters is sufficient, and il' not very gray and smoky, it will only be needed in the first. After taking the curtains through the three waters many starch and blue them, and, withoirt any soap or scalding, prepare to stretch them and pin in shape. But we prefer to put them into a bag, or coarse pillow-case, and scald in clean soapsuds (not very strong) for a few minutes. The suds should be made of very pure soap, and the water, when they are first put in only tepid; then just bring to a boiling heat. While the curtains are scald- ing prepare two tubs of clean water — one to rinse the curtains when they are taken from the boiler, and the other for the last rinsing. This should be blued; and the starch requires to be blued quite deeply, as, when hung up against the light, lace does not appear blue. The blued water and starch should be sftained, that no mote of bluing may escape to settle on the curtains. Take the curtains from the boiler when slightly scalded, rinse thoroughly, but with a gentle hand, till all the suds are out, then wring or squeeze out, and put through the bluing-water, wiing out from that, and prepare to stretch, and pin out smoothly to the original length and width. This must be done when just taken from the water, as lace cannot be stretched when dry. The whole process of washing, scalding, rinsing and stretching should be done as expeditiously as consistent with thorough work, for no other cot- ton material shrinks so easily. Many pin a clean sheet on to a carpet, in an unoccupied airy room, and pin the curtains on to the sheet. Every point and scallop should be pulled out and i3inned on to the sheet evenly. But that is a very hard way for any one who finds stooping and bending over painful; and we don't think the lace looks as clear, because when pinned on to a carpet there can be no free circulation of air from underneath. It is easier, and in every way better, to keep on hand foirr strips of thin boards, about three inches wide, made very similar to quilting-frames, with holes at suitable distances, to increase or diminish the length and breadth to suit the size of the curtains, and strong wooden pins put through the holes to fasten the frames strongly together. Tack, closely, strips of cloth, sel- vedge edge out, or wide tape, the whole length of the bars. Then place them on chairs so that they will stand firm and steady— out-doors, on a still, bright, sunny day— and pin or baste the curtains to the tape, pulling out and fastening every point in the lace. Before wetting the curtains do not forget to measure them in length and breath, and mark the measure on the frame they are to be dried on. When washed they must be fastened at both ends first, and then stretched to match this measure. It takes but a little time to dry curtains thus stretched in the sun, and if Avell rinsed, free from soap, several ciirtains may be stretched out at the same time. This is a great saving of time; but we always fear the lace will not look as clear as if dried separately. But we have never tried that way. We, however, hear it approved by those who have. Instead of nailing tape or strips of cloth to the " frame," small-sized gal- vanized tenter hooks are often driven into the frame on all four sides, and the lace or muslin curtains are caught on to these hooks and thus stretched THE LAUNDRY. 473 out to dry. We do not like this so well as basting the curtains to the tape. We fancy the lace will be more injured on the hooks than it could be if sewed on. Lace should never be ironed. It costs but very little to make these bars, and they will last a life-time if carefully put away when not m use; and the curtains can be made to look quite as well as if done up in a French laundry, and will last much longer. It costs every year twice the expense of this frame to hire curtains done up. Convenient clotUes Bara.^The bars are two inches wide by one inch thick. Four bars are three feet eleven inches long, and four are one foot eleven inches. The rods are dressed out one inch square, and of the follow- ing lengths: Four rods four feet long; two rods four feet two inches long; two rods three feet ten inches long; one rod four feet three inches long for the center, to project three inches at one end; another rod for the top four feet four inches long and to project two inches in order to receive the i^iece shown in the engraving to regulate the height. It can be shut so as to not occupy more than a foot in width, or spread so as to hang a washing on. A three-fourth inch auger should be used in making. Any one who can use a plane or auger can make them. CONVENIENT CLOTHES BAIIS. To Wasli Blank, ets— Take half a cake of soap, cut it into small pieces and dis- solve it thoroughly in hot water. Pour this into enough cold water to cover the blankets; add two ounces of bo- rax, (pulverized dis- solves most readily), and put your blankets to soak all night. In the morn- ing take them out and squeeze most of the water out of them and rinse thor- oughly in cold water, in which a little borax has been dissolved; put them through a second rinsing water and then through the bluing water. Do not wring or squeeze them this time, but hang them up to drain and dry. The easiest way is to take them, while iu the last water, out under the clothes line, as it is not convenient to carry them when full of water. It is best not to double them over the line, but hang by one end or side. Of course you want a sunny day for drjang them nicely, and if you put in to Boak at night and the next day is stormy, it will not hurt them to soak longer. If the wool is very greasy, use more soap and borax. Fine flannels and baby's crocheted skirts and sacques are nice when washed in this way, and if you use cold water they will not shrink. Vary the proportions of soap and borax to suit the quantity of water. I would not advise you to wash colored goods in this way, as they might fade. "Washing Fluid._(l) Take one pound of sal soda and half a pound of unslacked lime, and put them in a gallon of water; boil twenty minutes, let it stand till cool, then drain off and put in a small jug or jar; soak your dirty 474 THE HOUSEIIO l.D. clothes over night, or until they are wet through, then wring them and rub on plenty of soap, and in one boiler of clothes well covered with water, add a teacupful of the washing iiuid; boil half an hour briskly, then wash them thoroughly with suds; rinse, and your clothes will look better than by the old way of washing twice before boiling. This is an invaluable receipt, and it should be tried by every woman who would save time and labor. (2) For washing alpaca, camel's hair, and other woolen goods, and for removing marks made on furniture, carpets, rugs, etc.: Four ounces am- monia, four ounces white castile soap, two ounces alcohol, two ounces glycerine, two ounces ether. Cut the soap fine, dissolve in one quart of water over the fire; add four quarts of water. When nearly cold, add the other ingi-edients. This will make nearly eight quarts. It must be put in a bottle and stoppered tight. It will keep good any length of time. (3) An excellent washing fluid and one that will not injure the finest fab- ric is made of one bar of Russian soap cat up fine, one tablespoonful of kero- sene oil, a half cupful of washing soda and one gallon of water. The night before washday, put your clothes to soak in warm water. In the morning boil the fluid twenty minutes, add whatever cold water is required, for washing the clothes, put in the clothes and boil one-half hoiir; they are then ready to rinse and stai'ch. (4) Any one who will take a tablespoonful of kerosene to a gallon of water, along with a small quantity of common yellow soap, brought to a boilmg heat, will find a chemical compound which makes clothes as white as snow with very little labor. They are first soaked in warm water as long as convenient, and then boiled in the mixture half an hour, when the dirt wrings out readily. No odor of the oil remains, and the clothes are perfectly clean. (5) Add one pound of unslacked lime to three gallons of soft, boiling water. Let it settle and pour off. Then add three peunds of washing-soda, and mix with the lime-water. When dissolved, use a large wineglassful to each pailful of water. Add one gill of soft-soap to a pailful of water. (6) To make washing fluid, take half a poiind of sal soda, quarter of a pound of borax, dissolved in one gallon of hot water; let it settle; pour ofl' in bottles. One gill of this mixture with a pint of soft soap, or half a bar of soap dissolved in hot water, is enoxigh for a washing. (7) Put one pound of saltpeter into a gallon of water, and keep it in a corked jug; two tablespoonfuls for a pint of soap. Soak, wash, and boil as usual. This bleaches the clothes beautifully without injuring the fabric. To WasU Flaiinel—Cut up what soap may be needed and dissolve in a skillet of boiling water. Let it stand on the stove and simmer till every particle is dissolved. Never rub soap on the flannel, or allow a bit to settle on them. Nothing " fulls " flannel so badly as rubbing soap on it, or letting bits of it settle on the cloth. A place on which a bit of soap has lodged or been rubbed will have a different shade from the rest when dried, making the whole garment look spotted. Take a small tub not quite half full of scalding hot or boiling water. Into this pour enough of the dissolved soap to make a rich suds, also some am- monia, a teaspoonful and a half to ten or twelve quarts of suds is a fair pro- portion. Stir this and the soap into the hot water till it is all thoroughly in- corporated. Then put in the flannels. Two or three articles are enough to Boak at one time. Press them well under the water, but turn them over in the suds occasionally while soaking. Let them remain in the water till it la T 11 E LAUNBR r. 475 cool enough to put the hauda in without discomfort. While washing keep a good quantity of water at boiling lieat on the range for rinsing purposes, and to keep the suda as hot aa it can he used. Before one piece is washed and ready to be wrung out fill a small tub half full of clear hot water. Into this stir a little more " bluing " than would be used for cotton or linen. Shake out each piece aa aoon aa waahed, quickly, and throw at once into the hot rinsing water. Bub the flannel aa little aa possible, but draw it repeatedly through the hands, squeezing rather than rubbing. Harsh rubbing thickens and injures the fabric. Never wring with a wringer, aa the pressure mats the nap down 80 closely as to destroy all the soft, fleecy look of good flannel. Wring with the hands as dry aa possible, then rinse and wring out again; and when as dry aa it can be made by hand, snap out, stretch and pull out into the true shape; dry in the open air, if possible. Bring in when not quite dry, roll up a short time, and iron while still a little damp, so that each part can be more readily brought into shape. Pressing, when ironing, is Vjetter lor the flannel than rubbing. It does not make the fabric feel ao hard and wiry. 8carlot flannel is poiaonoua to some skins if used before waahing, and as one is not always sure how one may.be affected by it, it is safer to give it a scald in hot water with a Uttle soap — not enough to make a strong suds. Let it stand and soak a few minutes, then wring out and treat like other flannels. Clothes Sprinkler. — Sprinkling clothes previous to ironing by dipping our hand in a vessel of water and flirting it over the out- spread garment is, to say the least, per- formed in a very inefiicient manner, for the clothes sprinkler, clothes are unequally dampened. Conse- quently, in ironing, some portions of the cloth are quite dry, while other parts are quite too damp. A sprinkler made of tin in the form shown, with its lower part perforated with minute holes, is, when desired for use, placed in a vessel of water; by its own gravity it tills with water; after the sprink- ling of each garment it is placed in the vessel to again fill. Old dipper handles properly perforated serve an excellent purpose. This arrangement can alao be used in watering delicate plants, sprinkling the carpet, etc. To Wash Lace— Washing valuable lace should be a labor of love; time and patience are important requisites to do it well, and it comes especially within the province of the gentlewoman who possesses it. A long wooden board, say two yarda by one, will be neceaaary for deep flounces. For smaller pieces, one yard by half a yard will do, but the larger aize is prefer- able, aa several pieces can be done on it at the same time. The board must be covered with thick flannel, and slightly stufl'od to form a thick cushion. A good supply of fine, long lace pins, with small round heads, will be re- quired, aa well as an ivory punch or an ivory knitting-needle, with a round point, a lobster's claw or a dog's tooth. Before waahing, the yellow stains sometimes observable in old lace should be removed by placing the discol- ored portion on a hot iron, covered with linen moistened with a solution of oxalic acid; the lace should afterward be steeped in luke-warm water. Tepid water expels the starch or stiffening, hot water shrinks the thread, while cold water sets the dirt. Having well soaked the lace, wash it in a lather of 476 THE HOUSEHOLD. purest white soap and luke-warm water. This must be done with great delicacy of touch, and rubbing must not be attempted; it must be merely dabbed or patted, and pressed between the hands gently to and fro in the water. When the dirt is well out rinse it several times in lukewarm water, and if any stiffness is required pass it through water just sweetened with the finest white sugar candy. In drying, the moisture must be expelled by gen- tle pressure; hand wringing must never be resorted to for any of the finer kinds of lace. Doing up Men' s L.ineii._Many a husband easy to please in all other rp.spcets, has had his weekly grumble over " the way this collar sets," or " how this bosom bulges out!" And many a housewife has tried again and again to remedy these faults. A lady explains the difficulty in the following language: Some time ago my husband used to complain that his linen collars did not set nicely in front. There was always a fullness, which in the case of standing collars was particularly trying to a man who felt a good deal of pride in the dressing of his neck, as it spoiled the effect of his cravat, and often left a gap for the display of either the collar band of the shirt or a half inch of bare skin. While talking witlh a practical shirtmaker one day, he mentioned his annoyance, and inquired if there was any means of reliev- ing it. " Yes," answered the man, " the fault lies with your laundress. While doing up your collars she stretches them the wrong way. Damp linen is very pliable, and a good pull will alter a foiirteen-inch collar in the twink- ling of an eye. She ought to stretch them crosswise, and not lengthwise. Then, in straightening out your shirt bosom, she makes another mistake of the same sort. They also ought to be polished crosswise instead of length- wise, particularly in the neighborhood of the neck. A lengthwise pull draws the front of the neckband up somewhere directly under your chin, where it was never meant to go, and of course that spoils the set of your collars. With the front of your neckband an inch too high, and your collar an inch too long, you have a most undesirable combination." The speaker was right. As soon as my husband ordered the necessary changes to be made in the methods of our laundry, a wonderful difference ■manifested itself in the appearance of that most important part of his clad anatomy, the neck. Let me commend the shirtmaker's hmt to other dis- tressed women. How to Gloss Linen—Inquiry is frequently made respecting the mode of putting a gloss on linen collars and shirt fronts, like that of new linen. This gloss, or enamel, as it is sometimes called, is produced mainly by fric- tion with a warm iron, and may be put on linen by almost any person. The linen to be glazed receives as much strong starch as it is possible to charge it with, then it is dried. To each pound of starch a piece of sperm or white wax, about the size of a walnut, is usually added. When ready to be ironed, the linen is laid upon the table and moistened very lightly on the surface with a clean wet cloth. It is then ironed in the iTsual way with a flat-iron, and is ready for the glossing operation. For this purpose a peculiar heavy flat-iron, rounded at tlie bottom, as bright as a mirror, is used. It is pressed firmly upon the linen and rubbed with much force, and this frictional action puts on the gloss. " Elbow grease " is the principal secret connected with the art of glossing linen. THE LAUNDRY. 477 Washing Made Easy. — To save your linen and yoiii' labor pour on half a pound of soda two quarts of boiling water, in an earthenware pan; take half a pound of soap, shred line, put it into a saucepan with two quarts of cold water, stand it on a tire till .it boils, and when perfectly dissolved add it to the former. Mix it well, and then let it stand till cold, when it has the appearance of a strong jelly. Let your linen be soaked in water, the seams and any other dirty part rubbed in the usual way, and remain till the following morning. Get your wash boiler ready, and add to the water about a pint basin full. When lukewarm put in your linen and allow it to boil twenty minutes. Rinse it in the usual way, and that is all which is necessary to get it clean and keep it in good color. The above recipe is invaluable to housekeepers. Give it a trial. Washing Clotlies AVitliout Fading. — Wash and peel Irish potatoes, and then grate them into cold water. Saturate the articles to be washed in this potato water, and they can then be washed with soap without any run- ning of the color. I have takeu oil out of carpets saturated with this potato water, when simple cold water would make the color run ruinously; have set the color in figured black muslins, in colored merinos, in ribbons and other silk goods. Often the potato water cleanses sufficiently without the use of soap, but the latter is necessary where there is any grease. In such cases (without soap) I take the grated potato itself and nib the goods with a flannel rag. In woolen goods it is necessary to strain the water, else the particles will adhere, but this is not necessaiy on goods from which they can be well shaken. A Frencli "Way of Washing Clothes. — A system of washing clothes has been introduced in some French towns which is worthy of special men- tion. Its economy is so great as to greatly reduce the cost. This is the process: Two pounds of soap are reduced with a little water to a pulp, which having been slightly heated, is cooled in ten gallons of water, to which is added one spoonful of turpentine oil and two of ammonia; then the mixture is agitated. The water is kept at a temperature which may be borne by the hand. In this solution the white clothes are put and left there for two hours before washing them with soap, taking care, in the meantime, to cover the tub. The solution may be warmed again and used once more, but it will be necessary to add a half a spoonful of turpentine oil and another spoonful of ammonia. Once washed with soap, the clothes are put in hot water, and the blue is apphed. This process, it is obvious, saves much labor, much time and fuel, while it gives the clothes a whiteness much superior to that obtained by any other process, and the destriictive use of the wash-board is not necessary to clean the clothes from impurities. Bluing. — Bluing made from the following recipe has been in constant use in many families for several years. It does not injure even the finest clothes, and the cost is trifling compared with any other bluing. The quan- tity here noted has been known to last a family of six persons a year: Get one ounce of oxalic acid, one ounce of Chinese or Prussian blue (either >vill do), one quart of soft water. Put in a bottle and shake it well for two or three days after mixing it; after this do not shake it at all. If any of it set- tles to the bottom you can fill the bottle after using the first water. If when you buy it, it is not powdered, ask the druggist to powder it in a mortar for you. Unless the Chinese or Prussian blue is pure it will not be a success; 478 THE nous EH OLD. it will precipitate and make the clotlies spotted. Ask the druggist to war- raut it, for if it is all right it is uueqiialed by any bluing in the market, and it is a matter of great economy to use it; the quantity mentioned costing only about twenty cents. To Wasli Slietlancl SUawls.-Make a thin lather of boiled soap and water; plunge the shawl in this, and gently strip it through the hand. It must never be rubbed or wrung. When clean, rinse through water without any soap, hang it up for about a minute, shake it gently by each side alter- nately, pin it out ou a sheet exactly square, and if the shawl be of a fine texture it should be lightly sewed down to the sheet by the top of the fringe toiDrevent it running up; theu go over the whole fringe, drawing each thread separate, and laying it straight out. If these directions are carefully at- tended to the shawls may be washed many times, and each time appear as well as when new. They should never be put into the hands of any biit those who are accustomed to wash lace. ■Wasliing Hosiery— Stockings that are stained or troublesome to clean are improved by being stretched out on a board and scrubbed with a hand- brush. Colored stockings ought to be rinsed quickly and well, and opened by pulling them ou the hands on each side, and holding them thus until the toe is reached, then letting them fall, and pinning them by the top and side to the line. Woolen stockings are kept from shrinking if dried on a wooden shape of the right size. These are easily made from shingles of thin boards. To "Wash Colored Cottons. — Boil two quarts of bran in water for half an hour, let it cool, then strain it, and mix the liquor with the water in which the things are to be washed. They will only require rinsing, as the bran will stiffen them sufficiently. For colored muslins, rice-water is ve)-y good, as it helps to pi-eserve the color: but, although it makes white muslins clear, it sometimes gives them a yellow tinge. When tised it should previously be boiled in the proportion of one pound of rice to one gallon of water. No soap is required. Ne^v Mixture Used in Washing Clothes. — In Berlin, Pi'ussia, the washerwomen use a mixture of two ounces of spirits of turpentine and one quarter ounce of spirits of sal-ammoniac, well mixed together. This mix- ture is put into a bucket of warm water, in which half a pound of soap has dissolved. Into this mixture the clothes are immersed during the night and the next day washed. The most dirty cloth is perfectly freed from all dirt, and after two rinsings in pure water, the cloth has not the least smell of the turpentine. The cloth does not require so much rubbing, and fine linen is much longer preserved by it. Whitening Yellow Flannels. — Flannel that has become yellow from being badly washed can be whitened by soaking it for two or three hours in a lather made of one quarter of a pound of curd soap, two tablespoonfuls powdered borax and two tablespoonfuls of carbonate of ammonia, dissolved in five or six gallons of water. Boil the soap in small shavings in water till dissolved, then add to it the other ingredients. Let the flannel lie in it until it looks whiter, then squeeze and press it, and rinse in bluing water, and hang in the hot sun to dry. Iron while it is still damp. Hints for the rjaundry.— -If you wish your white clothes to look clear and pure white, always have ready a kettle of boiling water and scald them THE LA UN BUY. 479 thorougLly before putting them in the last liuse-watcr. Clothes washed ever so clean will look diugy if soapy water is allowed to dry into them. Scalding removes the suds. Prints should be washed out a piece at a time in warm water, rinsed, and hung to dry immediately. But very few colors will boar soaking in hot soapsuds. If you want your liaunels to lull, wash them in hot water, rub well upon a board, using plenty of soap, and rinse in cold water. This rule never fails. To Take Mildew^ from Clothes— Mix soft soap with i^owdered starch, half as much salt, and the juice of a lemon; lay it on the part with a brush; let it lay on the grass, day and night, till the stain comes out. Iron molds may be removed by the salt of lemons. Many stains may be removed by dipping the linen in sour buttermilk, and then 4rying it in a hot sun; wash it in cold water; repeat this three or four times. Stains, caused by acids, may be removed by tying some pearlash up in the stained part; scrape some soap iu cold, soft water, and boil the linen till the stain is gone. Gum Arabic starcli. — Take two ounces fine white gum arable and pound it to a powder; next put it into a pitcher and i)our on it a pint or more ol boiling water, according to the degree ot strength you require, and then having covered it, let it stand all night. In the morning pour it carefully from the dregs into a clean bottle; cork and keep it for use. A tablospof)U- ful of gum water stirred into a pint of starch that has been made in the usual manner will give to lawns (either white or printed) a look of newness to which nothing else can restore them after washing. For "Washing Black or Navy Blue liineus, Percales, Etc. — Take two potatoes grated into tepid soft water (first having peeled and washed them), into which put a teaspoouful of ammonia. Wash the goods in tliis and rinse in cold blue water. Starch will not be needed, and if at all prac- ticable, they should be dried and ironed on the wrong side. It is said that an infusion of hay will preserve the colors of but}" linens; an infusion of brun will do the same for brown linens and prints. To Bleach liinen. — Mix common bleaching powder in the proportionof one pound to a gallon of water; stir it occasionally for three days, let it settle, and pour it off clear'. Then make a lye of one pound of soda to one gallon of boiling soft water, in which soak the linen for twelve hours, and boil it half an hour; next soak in the bleaching liquor, made as above; and lastly, wash it in the usual manner. Discolored linen or muslin may be restored by putting a portion of bleaching liquor into the tub wherein the articles are soaking. To AVash Lawns— Boil two quarts of wheat In-an in six quarts or more of water half an hour. Strain through a coarse towel, and mix in the water in which the muslin is to be washed. Use no soap, if you can help it, and no starch. Rinse lightly in clean water. This preparation both cleanses and stiffens the lawn. If you can, conveniently, take ovxt all the gathers. The skirt should always be ripped from the waist. According to Marion Harland these are best directions. Hints to Iroiiers— Garments to be ii'oned in cold starch should be im- mediately dipped in boiling water, and ironed as soon as star-ched. You will, in this way, have no trouble with flats sticking to the cloth. Another good way is to wet the starch with weak cold suds made from white soap. 480 THE HOUSEHOLD. Washing Woolens— If you do not wish to have white woolens shrink when washed, make a good suds of hard soap, and wash the flannels in it. Do not rub woolens like cotton cloth, but simply squeeze them between the hands, or slightly pound them with a clothes pounder. The suds used should be strong, and the woolens should be rinsed in warm water. By rubbing flannels on a board, and rinsing them in cold water, they soon become very thick. Scoi-clied Linen. — Peel and slice two onions; extract the juice by pound- ing and squeezing; add to the juice half an ounce ol cut fine white soap, two ounces of fuller's earth, and half a pint of vinegar; boil all together. When cool, spread it over the scorched hnen and let it dry on; then wash and boil out the linen, and the spots will disappear, unless burned so badly as to break the thread. To WTiiten Linen. — Stains occasioned by fruit, iron rust, and other similar causes, may be removed by applying to the parts injured a weak solution of the chloride of lime — the cloth having been well washed — or of soda, oxalic acid, or salts of lemon, in warm water. The parts subjected to tliis opei-ation should be subsequently well rinsed in soft clear warm water, without soap, and bo immediately dried in the sun. To Prevent Strealiing. — Do not let your laundress or washerwoman put clothes into the bluing water until they have been well shaken; if tossed in while folded, as they come through the wringer they are almost certain to be streaked with bluing, and although after repeated washings these streaks will come out, every one knows how aggravating it is to use napkins or handkerchiefs that show traces of careless washing. AVasIiing Merinos and Sillc. — The following directions for washing meiinos, lambs wool and silk under-clothing may be useful: Use one pound of dissolved soap in four gallons of warm watei-, in which well rinse the articles to be washed, drawing them repeatedly through the hand, wring them as dry as possible to remove the soap; rinse them again briskly in Clean, lukewarm water; wring and stretch them to their proper shape, and dry in open air if possible. To Wash a Muslin Dress. — Make a good lather, and wash the muslin in cold water, never putting it into warm water, even to linse it. If the muslin is green, add a wineglassful of vinegar to the water in which it is rinsed; if lilac, the same quantity of ammonia. For black and white muslins, use a small quantity of sugar of lead. To Reuiove Rust from Linen. — Dissolve an ounce of oxalic acid in a pint of water, apply liberally to the spots of iron rust, then expose them to the sun's rays for hah" a day. The same will remove ink stains, but in either case it must have the first chance— that is, before soap suds or any other application. Label the bottle poison! To "Wash a Cambric Handkerchief. — To wash a fine cambric hand- kerchief, embroidered in colored silks, so that the colors do not run, the secret is to wash in a soap lather very quickly, wring thoroughly and then iron, so that it dries at once. There should be no soaking, and the em- broidered corner should be kept out of the water as much as possible. A little alum m the water will make the process more sure. THE LAUNDRY. 481 To Prev«nt Spotting— A teaspoonful of black pepper will prevent gray or buff linens from spotting, if stirred into the first water in which they are washed. It will also prevent the colors running, when washing black or colored cambrics or muslins, and the water is not injured by it, but just as soft as before the pepper was put in. To Prevent Lumps in Starch. — To keep flour starch from lumping, mix the flour \vith water first, then remove the boiling water from the fire for a minute before stii-ring in the mixture, or it will cook into lumps before it reaches the bottom. It is well to| remember this in making gruel, corn- starch, etc. Iron Rust. — Iron rust, it is said, may be removed by tying a little cream of tartar in the stained spot before putting the cloth to boil. If this does not succeed, thicken lemon juice with equal parts of salt and starch, add some soft soap, apply the mixture to the cloth, and lay it in the hot sun. Renew the appUcation several times. To Alake Potato Starch. — Grate six medium-sized potatoes and mix thoroughly with one gallon of water; strain thi'ough a coarse towel, let settle, drain off the water, and turn on another gallon of clear water, and let settle again; drain again, put in an earthen dish, and set in a warm place (not too warm) to dry. Use same as corn-starch for starching clothes. Towels Should be Thoroughly Dried. — Many persons iron towels, fold them and put them away before they are thoroughly dry. This is an error, and sometimes leads to results not expected. In their damp condi- tion there is a mold which forms on them called oidium, one variety of which causes numerous skin diseases. To Save Soap. — The addition of three-quarters of an ounce of borax to a pound of soap, melted in without boiling, makes a saving of one-half in the cost of soap, and three-fourths the labor of washing, and improves the whiteness of the fabrics; besides, the usual caustic effect is removed, and the hands are left with a peculiar soft and silky feeling, leaving nothing more to be desired by the most ambitious washerwoman. To "Whiten Yellow Linen. Linen garments which have become yel- low from time, may be whitened by being boiled in a lather made of milk and pure white soap, a pound of the latter to a gallon of the former. After the boiling process the linen should be twice rinsed, a little blue being added to the last water used. Alnm in Starch. — For starching muslins, ginghams, and calicoes, dis- solve a piece of alum the size of a shellbark, for every pint of starch, and add to it. By so doing the colors will keep bright for a long time, which is very desirable when dresses must be often washed, and the cost is but a trifle. To Prevent Calico from Fading. — To render the colors of cotton fabric permanent, dissolve three gUls of salt in four quarts of water; put the calico in while hot, and leave it till cold; it will not fade by subsequent washing. To Prevent the Iron from Sticking.— A spoonful of kerosene oil put into cold starch ^\ill prevent the iron from sticking. 482 THE HOUSEHOLD. To Restore Faded Blue Stockingg. — Pale blue stockings which have faded can have the color restored by dipping into hot water in which com- mon bluing has been poured and some lumps of alum are dissolved. Old white stockings can be colored in this way and do a good deal of service. To 'WasH Colored Table liineii. — To wash colored table linen use tepid water, with a little powdered borax; wash quickly, using but Uttle soap, and rinse in tepid water containing boiled starch; dry in the shade, and when almost dry, iron. To Cleanse Black Cashmere. — To clean black cashmere, wash in hot suds in which a little borax has been placed. Einse in bluing water — very blue — and iron while damp. If carefully done the material will look equal to new. To Clean Rusty Plat-Irons.— Beeswax and salt will make your rusty flat-irons as clean and as smooth as glass. Tie a lump of wax in a rag and keep it for that purpose. When the irons are hot, rub them first with the wax rag, then scour them with a paper or cloth sprinkled with salt. To Clean "Wliite Worsted Goods. — For cleansing white worsted hoods, and clouds, or nubias, rub them thoroughly with wheat flour, then shake well, to remove the flour, and they will have all the clear, airy appearance of new. To Iron a Calico Dress. — Never iron a calico dress on the right side; if ironed smoothly on the wrong side there will be no danger of white spots and gloss, which gives a new dress " done up " for the first time the appear- ance of a time- worn garment. For Taking Out Scorch. _If a shirt bosom or any other article has been scorched in ironing, lay it where bright sun ^vill fall directly on it. It will take it entirely out. HINTS AND HELPS. For the Removal ofStains and Spofs._The following methods of re- moving spots and stains from clothing are given on the authority of high chemical and textile authorities. They are believed to be trustworthy: Mattel- Adhering MechanicaRy. — Beating, brushing and currents of water, either on the upper or under side. Gum, Sugar, Jelly, ele for House-vvives — Flour — One pound is one quart. Meal — One pound and two ounces are one quart. Butter — One pound is one quart. Powdered white sugar — one pound and one ounce is a quart. Ten eggs are a pound. A common tumbler holds half a pint. A teacup is a gill. Crystalliied C'liiiiiney Ornaments. — Select a crooked twig of white or black thorn; wrap some loose wool or cotton around the branches, and tie it on with worsted. Suspend this in a basin or deep jar. Dissolve two pounds of alum in a quart of boiling water, and pour it over the twig. Allow it to stand twelve hours. Wire baskets may be covered in the same way. To Restore Color. — When color on a fabric has been accidentally or otherwise destroyed by acid, ammonia is applied to neutralize the same, after which an application of chloroform will, in almost all cases, restore the original color. The application of ammonia is common, but that of chloro- form is but little known. Cleaning AVooclen Floors. — The dirtiest of floors may be rendered beautifully clean by the following process: First scrub with sand, then rub with a lye of caustic soda, using a stiff brush, and rinse off with warm water. Just before the floor is dry, moisten with dilute hydrochloric acid, and then with a thin paste of bleaching powder (hypochlorite of lime). Let this remain over night, and wash m the morning. To Remove Stains fron» Broadcloth. — Take one ounce of pipe-clay that has been ground fine, and mix it with twelve drops of alcohol, and the same quantity of spirits of turpentine. Moisten a little of this mixture with alcohol, and rub it on the spots. Let it remain till dry, then rub it off with a woolen cloth, and the spots will disappear. To Dye Furs. — Any dye that will color wool will color furs. In buying furs, examine the density and length of the down next the skin: this can easily be done by blowing briskly against the set of the fur; if it is very close and dense, it is all right, but if it opens easy and exposes much of the skin, reject it. How to Presei-ve SHoe Soles. — Melt together tallow and common resin, in the proportion of two parts of the former to one of the latter, and apply the preparation, hot, to the soles of the boots or shoes— as much of it as the latter will absorb. One farmer declares that this recipe alone has been worth more than five dollars. To Take Stains from Marble. — Make a mixture of one ounce of soda, a piece of stone lime the size of a walnut, quarter of a pound of whiting and the same amount of soft soap; boil these together ten minutes, and then put the mixture on the marble while hot; leave this on twenty-four hours, then wash off with clean, warm water. Polish first with soft flannel and then with chamois skin. niJ^TS AND HELPS. 5l7 To Clean Ma.rblo._Mix powdered chalk with pumice stono, each one part with two parts of conimou soda, into a paste with water, and rub it thoroiighly ou the marble; or mix quicklime and strong soap lye to con- sistency of milk, and lay it on the marble for twenty-four hours; in both casts wash off thoroughly with soap and water. To Purify Butter. — The French purify their butter by melting it in pofs plunged into water heated to nearly boiling point; and sometimes they mix a pure brine with the melting butter, whereby they flavor the subsidence of the coagulated caseine and other impurities. The supernatant clear butter should be drawn or poured off, and rapidly cooled. To Mount Cliromos — Take unbleached muslin and stretch it over a wooden strainer; next dampen the back of the picture with paste, and lay it on the canvas; then with a dry rag rub well the back of the canvas to pre- vent blistering. If you use card or pasteboard, simply dampen the back of the picture with paste and lay it on the board, taking care that it is smoothly laid on. How to Keep Cider Sweet — The cider after it comes from the press is allowed to stand until the pomace settles. It is then put into a clean vessel over a fire, and brought to a boil — in the meantime skimming off the scum as it rises. It is then put into small kegs or bottles, and tightly coi-ked or sealed. By this process cider may be kept sweet for years. ExceUent Paste Blaclting.—Half a pound of ivory black, half a pound of molasses, half an ounce of powdered alum, one drachm of turpentine, one ounce of sulphuric acid, two ounces of raw linseed oil. The ivory black and molasses must first be mixed together until thoroughly incorporated; then add the rest of the ingredients. It keeps best in a bladder. To Color Floors "Walnut Tint.— Apply with paint brush or rag raw linseed oil, mixed with burnt umber. When dry, apply a coat of boiled linseed oil without color. The quantity of umber depends upon the wood, some requiring much more color to make a given tint. A small quantity of the mixture well rubbed in, has the best effect and dries sooner. To Improve Pens. — When a pen has been used until it appears to be spoiled, place it over a flame (a gaslight for instance) for, say, a quarter of a minute, then dip it into water, and it will be again fit for use. A new pen, which is found too hard to write with, will become softer by being thus heated. Vinegar. — A cheap and wholesome article of vinegar may be made of water, molasses and yeast, say twenty-five gallons of water, four of molasses, and one of yeast. This, when it ferments, will yield very good vinegar. A fair imitation of white wine vinegar may be made of mashed raisins and water kept in a warm place for a month. Sponges. — After long use sponges are liable to smell very badly unless carefully cleaned every day. By rubbing a fresh lemon thoroughly into the sponge and then rinsing it several times in lukewarm water it will become as sweet as when new. To Renovate tlie Tops of Kid Boots. — Defaced kid boots will be greatly impi-oved by being rubbed ipeU with a mixture of cream and ink. 618 TBE notrsEiroLD. To Preserve Briglif Grates or Fire Irons from Rust. — Make strong paste of fresh lime and water, and with a fine brusli smear it as thickly as possible over all the polished surface requiring preservation. By this sim- ple means, all the grates and fire irons in an empty house may be kept for mouths free from harm, without further care or attention. Simple Disinfectant. —Cut two or three good-sized onions in halves, and place them on a plate on the floor; they absorb noxious effluvia, etc., in the sick room, in an incredibly short space of time, and are greatly to be preferred to perfumery for the same purpose. They should be changed every six hours. To "Wliiten PoiHselain Saucepans. — Have the pans half filled with hot water; throw in a tablespoonful of pulverized borax, and let it boil. If this does not remove all the stains, soap a cloth and sprinkle on plenty of pul- verized borax. Scour them well. To TaUe Grease ft-om Paper. — Gently warm the part containing the grease, and apply blotting-paper so as to extract as much as possible. Boil some clear essential oil of turpentine, and apply it to the warm paper with a soft, clean brush. A little rectified spirits of wine should be put on after- ward. To Set Colors. — Salt or beefs gall in the water helps to set black. A tablespoonful of spirits of turpentine to a gallon of water sets most blues, and alum is very efficacious in setting green. Black or very dark calicoes should be stiffened with gum arabic — five cents' worth is enough for a dress. If, however, starch is used, the garment should be turned wrong side out. To Clean Ribbons. — Take one tablespoonful of brandy, one of soft soap, and one of molasses. Mix thoroughly together; place the ribbon upon a smooth board, and apply the mixture with a soft brush; after which rinse in cold water, and roll up in a cloth until nearly dry. Iron with a flat-iron, not too hot. Copying-Ink. — Take two gallons of rain water and put into it one-quar- ter pound of gum arabic, one-quarter pound clean copperas, three-quarters pound nutgalls pulverized. Mix and shake occasionally for ten days, and strain. If needed sooner, let it steep in an iron kettle until the required strength is obtained. To Cleanse Gilt Frames. — Take sufficient flour of sulphur to give a golden tinge to one and one-half pints of water; boil in this water four or five onions, strain, and when cold wash with soft brush any part that requires restoring; when dry it will come out as good as new. Paste for Removing Grease fi*Dm Silk. — ^Eub together fine French chalk and lavender to the consistence of a thin paste, and apply thoroughly to the spots with the fingers; place a sheet of brown or blotting-paper above and below the silk, and smooth it with a moderately-heated iron. The French chalk may then be removed by brushing. To Purify Vessels.— All sorts of vessels .ind utensils may be purified from long retained smells of evei-y kind in the easiest and most perfect man- ner, by rinsing them out well with charcoal powder after the grosser impuri- ties have been scoured off with sand and water. HINTS ANT) Iff: LPS. 519 Glycerine Cement. — A comont, said to be capable of use where resis- tance to the action of both water and heat is required, is composed by mix- ing ordinary glycerine with drj' litharge, so as to constitute a tough paste. For uniting the joints of steam-pipes, and other similar applications, this preparation is said to be very satisfactory. A Candle to Burn all Niglit. — When, as in a case of sickness, a dull light is wished, or when matches are mislaid, put powdered salt on the can- dle till it reaches the black part of the wick. In this way a mild and steady light may be kept throughout the night by a small piece of candle. To Clean "White Kid Slioes. — ^White kid shoos can be cleaned by dip- ping a perfectly clean white flannel cloth in a little ammonia, and then rub- bing the cloth over a cake of white soap; after doing this, rub the kid gently, and the soiled places will be white again. As the flannel becomes soiled, change for a clean one. To Clean Wliite Goods. — The following volatile soap will remove paint, grease spots, etc., and restore the purity of color of white goods: Four table- spoonfuls of spirits of hartshorn; four tablespoonfuls of alcohol, and a table- spoonful of salt. Shake the whole well together in a bottle and apply with a sponge. To Restore Kid Gloves. — To restore old kid gloves, make a thick mu- cilage by boiling a handful of flaxseed; add a little dissolved soap; then when the mixture cools, with a piece of white flannel wipe the gloves, pro>'i- ously fitted to the hand. Use only enough of the cleaner to take ofi' the dirt, without wetting through the glove. Taking Up a Carpet.—On taking up a carpet, remove it carefully, then apply wet (not too wet) sawdust plentifully again and again. The floor will scarcely need washing, and you will be surprised at the absence of smother- ing dirt, and I am sure will use no other method in future. To Pi-event Rust in Tinware._An easy and effectual plan to keep tinware from rusting consists in rubbing the new vessel inside and out with fresh lard or butter; then placing in the oven and keeping hot for several hours. The heat must not be so great as to melt the solder; still it is essen- tial that the tin be kept very warm. To Render Fruit Jars Air Tight — When canning fruit have a cup of flour paste ready; if your rubbers are old, or the zinc rings or covers are bent a little, you may still make them air tight with the paste. If you are at all doubtful about the condition of your can it is a good notion to use the paste. To Preserve Green Peas for "Winter Use.—Gather the peas when plen- tiful, shell them; then wash and scald them in hot water. When thoroughly drained, put them into bottles, and fill up each bottle with a strong brine; at the top of the bottle pour a thin layer of salad oil. Cork and seal the bot- tles, which must be quite full and kept upright. Liquid Glue. — Liquid glue may be made by dissolving glue in strong, hot vinegar, and adding one-fourth as much alcohol and a little alum. This will keep any length of time when placed in a closely stopped bottle, and will mend horn, wood and mother-of-pearl. 520 THE nOUSEHOLD. To Crystallize 'W^inclo'vvs. — Windows are crystallized, or made to imi- tate ground glass, by dissolving epsom salts in liot beer or a weak solution of gum arable. You can make any pattern or border you please by cutting out a design on a sheet of pasteboard, and rubbing the design with a damp cloth. To Talte Grease out of Velvet—Get some turpentine from the oil- shop, and pour it over the place that ia greasy; rub it till quite dry with a piece of clean flannel. If the grease be not removed, repeat the application, and when done brush the place well, and hang the garment up in the open air to take away the smell. To Freshen Black L.ace._Lay it on a clean table, sponge it all over with a weak solution of borax, about an even teaspoonful, or less, to a pint of warm water. Use a piece of old blaek silk, or black kid glove is better, to sponge with. While damp cover with a piece of black silk or cloth, and iron. To Remove Grease from a Stove Heartli. — When oil or any other grease has been dropped on a stove hearth, immediately cover the place with very hot ashes. After a while clear away the ashes, and if the grease has not quite disappeared, repeat the process. Waterproof Coating for Cotton or Linen. — BoDed linseed oil, con- taining about an ounce of the oxide of manganese, or litharge, to the quart, wOl make an excellent waterproof coating for cotton or linen cloth. Piit on several coats with a bmsh, and allow each to dry perfectly. Indelible Marking Ink — Nitrate of silver, two drachms; distilled water three ounces. Dissolve. Moisten the spot to be marked with a con- centrated solution of carbonate of potassa, to which a little gum water must be added. When the spot has become dry, write upon it with the solution of nitrate of silver. Canaries. — The parasites which affect these pretty feathered pets may be got rid of by merely placing a clean white cloth over the cage at night. In the morning it will be covered mth very minute red spots, almost invisi- ble without a microscope. These are the vexiuin so annoying and so fatal to the birds. To Improve Stove Polish. — Stove luster, when mixed with turpentine, and applied in the usual manner, is blacker, more glossy, and more durable than when mixed with any other liquid. The turpentine prevents rust, and when put on an old rusty stove will make it look as well as new. To Remove Paint from a Wall. — If you intend papering a painted wall, you must first get oif the paint, othermse the paper will not stick. To do this, mix in a bucket with warm water a sufficient quantity of pearlash, or potash, so as to make a strong solution. Dip a brush into this, and with it scour off all the pamt, finishing with cold water and a flannel. To Brighten Jewelry — It is possible, if not probable, that you do not know how to brighten gold or silver jewelry, if tarnished. Very well, then, brush it with an old tooth brush wet with soap suds, and place in sawdust to diy. Some ladies keep their jewelry in sawdust. The jewelers use this method. HINTS ANT) IIKLPS. 521 To Prevent Rtist — A composition that will effectually prevent iron, Bteel, etc., from rusting. Mix witli fat oil variiisli four-til'tlis of well rectilied spirits of turpentine. Apply this vnrnish with a sponge, and the articles will retain their metallic briUiaucy, and not be liable to rust. To Clean Black Veils. — Pass them through a warm liquor of bullock's gall and water; rinse in cold water; then take a small piece of glue, pour boiling water on it, and pass the veil through it; clap it. and frame to dry. Instead of framing, it may be fastened with drawiug-pius closely fixed upon a very clean paste, or drawing-board. To Sliarpeii Scissors. — Take a coarse sewing needle and hold it firmly between the thumb and forefinger of the left hand; then take the scissors in your right hand, and cut them smoothly and quickly from hand to point. The dullest scissors, unless they are entirely worn out, can soon be sharpened in this way. InU. Stnins on. Furniture. — Ink stains on mahogany cr black walnut furniture may be removed by touching the stains with a feather wet in a solution of nitre and water, eight drops to a spoonful of water. As soon as the spots disappear rub the place at once with a cloth M'et in cold water. If the ink stains then remain, repeat, making the solution stronger. Kerosene Fires. — It ought to be more generally known that wheat flour is probably the best possible article to throw over a lire caused by the spilling and igniting of kerosene. It ought to be known, because flour is always within convenient reach. Use of Lemon Leaves. — Lemon seeds, if planted and treated as house plants, will make pretty little shrubs. The leaves can then bo used for flavoring. Tie a few in a cloth and drop in apple sauce when boiling and nearly done. It is a cheap essence. Unpleasant Odor ft-om Cabbage. — The reason why cabbage emits such a disagreeable smell when boiling is because the process dissolves the essential oil. The water should be changed when the cabbage is half-boiled, and it will thus acquire a greater sweetness. Glazed "WUite-wash. — Take two gallons of water, one pound and a half of rice, and one pound of moist sugar. Let the mixture l)oil until the rice is quite dissolved, and then thicken it to the consistence of whitewash with finely-powdered lime. This whitewash has a pretty satiny look, and does nicely for the inside of bird cages, as well as for commoner purposes. Mold on Jelly._If the paper which is put over jelly be dipped in the white of an egg, it will when dry be tight and firm, and keep the fruit from molding with much more certainty than if it is dipped in alcohol or brandy. The paper which is laid next the fruit is meant, not that which is tied or pasted over the glass. Positive Cure for Water Bugs — To a kettleful of water add a cupful of wasliing soda. Let it come to a boil; after which pour it down the water pipes, commencing at the top of the house. Repeat the operation once or twice and you will have destroyed 99 per cent, of the bugs, which breed in- side the joipes during the month of September. The few remaining iu the room can be reached with insect powder. r>22 THE IIOUSEHOLB. To Remove Tar from U\e Hands — We recommend rubbing the hands with the outside of fresh orange or lemon peel, and wiping dry imme- diately. It is astonishing what a small piece will clean. The volatile oils in the skins dissolve the tar, so that it can be wiped off. Drying Fruits. — Families of farmers engaged in drying fruits are reminded that the solar heat is not sufficiently intense to destroy insect eggs that may have been deposited in the fruit when green, or in the process of drying. If put in a moderately warm oven for ten minutes all parasites and their eggs would be destroyed. In countries where fruits are extensively dried the treatment is pi-acticed generally. Cement for Glass, Crockery, Etc. — Four pounds of white glue, one and a half pounds of dry white lead, half a pound of isinglass, one gallon of soft water, one quart of alcohol, one-half pint of white varnish. Dissolve the glue and isinglass in the water by gentle heat if preferred, stir in the lead, put the alcohol in the varnish, and mix the whole together. Care of Lamp Chimneys. — After the lamps are filled and the chim- neys washed and put on the shelf, take pieces of newspaper and roll in the form of a chimney and slip over chimney and lamp. It will protect from dust and flies, and when the lamps are lighted one will be rewarded by finding them as clear and bright as when first put in order. Care of Flour. — Flour is like butter; it absorbs smells readily. It should not be kept in a place where there are onions, fish, vegetables decaying, or other odorous substances, nor in a damp room or cellar. Keep it in a cool, dry, airy room, where not exposed to a fi-eezing temperatui-e, nor to one above 70 degrees, and always sift before using. Mites in Clieese. — Cheese kept in a cool larder or cellar, with a cloth rung out of clean cold water constantly upon it will never have mites in it, or if it has, this will soon destroy them, and also greatly improve the cheese, keeping it always moist. To Clean Olass. — For cleaning glass a newspaper is one of the best articles to use. The chemical operation of some of the ingredients of print- ing ink gives a boaiitiful polish. Slightly moisten a piece of paper, roll it up and rub the glass; then take a dry, soft piece and repeat the process. No lint will remain, as is the case when cloth is iised. Cleaning Hats. — White fur or light beaver hats can be nicely cleaned with salt and Indian meal. Take about equal proportions of each, place it m a i^an and heat it in the oven until it is as hot as can be handled. Lay the fur on a clean cloth and rub gently with the salt and meal until the dirt is removed, then shake it thoroughly. To Improve Pickles. —Grape leaves are recommended to put on top of pickles to keep them sharp and free from mold. Fresh green grape leaves are better than flannel cloths. They should be rinsed in pure water and then drained quite dry, and laid over every piece in the jar. They should be changed once a week. To Clean Smoky Ceilings. — Ceilings that have been smoked by a kerosene lamp should be washed off with soda water. Grained wood should be washed with cold tea. HINTS AND HELPS. 523 To Remove MarUs from Tables—Hot diahes aometimes leave -whiiish marks on vaniished tables, when set, as they should not be, carelessly upon them. For removing them, pour some lamp-oil on the spot, and rub it hard with a soft cloth. Pour on a little spirits, and rub it dry with another cloth, and the whole mark will disappear, leaving the table as bi'ight as before. To Soften Water. — Hard waters are rendered very soft and pure, rival- ing distilled water, by merely boiling a two-ounce vial, say, in a kettleful of water. The carbonate of lime and any impurities will be found adhering to the vial. The water boils very much quicker at the same time. To Remove Bruises from Furniture. — Wet the bruised spots with warm weather. Soak a piece of brown paper of several thickncaaes in warm water, and lay over the place. Then apply a warm flat-iron until the moist- ure is gone. Repeat the process if needful, and the bruises will disappear. Celebrated Recipe for Silver IVasIi. — One ounce of nitric acid, one ten cent piece, and one ounce of quicksilver. Put in an open glass vessel, and let it stand until dissolved; then add one pint of water, and it is ready for use. Make it into a powder by adding whiting, and it may be used on brass, copper, German silver, etc. To Blacken Stoves.—Those who are troubled to blacken their kitchen ■ stoves in winter, on account of keeping a constant fire, try my plan of adding about a teaspoonful of sugar to a teacupful of mixed blacking. You can use this when the stove is quite hot, and the sugar causes the blacking to ad- here to the stove. Damp Closets. — Por a damp closet or cupboai'd, which is liable to cause mildew, place in it a saucer full of quicklime, and it will not only absorb all apparent dampness, but sweeten and disinfect the place. Renew the lime once a fortnight, or as often as it becomes slaked. New Kettles. — The best way to pi-epare a new iron kettle for nee is to fill it with clean potato paringa; boil them for an hour or more, then wash the kettle with hot water, wipe it dry, and rub it with a little lard; repeat the rubbing for half a dozen times after using. In this way you will pre- vent rust and all the annoyances liable to occur in the use of a new kettle. To Clean AV^hite Knitted Garments. — Take those not needing wash- ing, being only slightly soiled, place them in a pillow-case one at a time, sprinkle flour through it, and shake well, until it looks as bright as new. Borax is excellent to wash flannels with, dissolved in luke warm water. To Improve and Preser^'e Butter. - Take two parts good salt, one part sugar, one-half part saltpetre; mix well together, and use one ounce for every pound of butter, thoroughly worked into it. It makes the butter rich, good color, and prevents bitterness. It will keep good for two or three years. Let it stand a month before it is used, and keep it closely covered. To Keep Cranlierries all Winter — Put them in a cool room, where there is no danger of freezing, and either spread out on a cloth or so as to give each berry light and air; or, which is a sure way, put them in a barrel under water. For Oiling AValnut Furniture. -Raw linseed oil rubbed with a flannel cloth, then polish with dry flannel; be careful not to put too much on. 524 THE IIOVSEHOLD. To "Wliiteii Liiiieii Garments. — Lineu garments which have become yellow from time, maj' be whitened by being boiled iu a lather made of milk and pure white soap, a pound of the latter to a gallon of the former. After the boiling process the linen should be twice rinsed, a little bluing being added to the last water used. To Eradicate Veriisiii. — It is said that common sulphiir will kill or drive away the little fi8h-shai:)ed, silvery pest which infests our pantry. Sprinkle the sulphur freely about, and the place will soon be cleared of the vermin. How to Sinootli Ribbons. — Take a moderately hot flat-iron on the ironiug-board, then place the ribbon on the left side of the iron, and pull it carefully through undei'neath the iron. If the ribbon is not pulled too fast, and the iron is the right warmth, this will be found to be a much better way than simply rubbing the iron over the ribbon. To Get Rid of Flies. — The following is better than fly paper: Take half a teaspoonful of black pepper in powder, one teaspoonful of brown sugar, and one teaspoonful of cream; mix them well together and place them in a i-oom, ou a plate, where the flies are troublesome, and they will soon disappear. To Talce tlie ^Voody Taste Out of a Wootleu Pail. — Fill the pail with boihng hot water; let it remain until cold, then empty it, and dissolve some soda in lukewarm water, adding a little lime to it, and wash the inside well with the solution; after that scald with hot water and rinse well. To Prevent Ii-on from Rusting. — Warm the iron until you cannot boar your hand on it without burning yourself. Then rub it with new and cleau white wax. Put it again to the flre till it has soaked in the wax. When doie rulj it over with a piece of serge. This prevents the iron from rusting aiii-'rwards. To Revive "Witliered Flowers. — Plunge the Btems into boiling water, and by the time the water is cold, the flowers will revive. The ends of the stalks should then bo cut off, and the flowers should be put to stand iu cold water, and they will keep fresh for several days. To Remove I*utty fj-om Glass. —Dip a small brush in nitric or muriatic acid, aud with it paint over the dry putty that adheres to the broken glasses and frames of the windows. After an hour's interval the putty will have become so soft as to be easily removed. To Clean Fine Toothed Combs. — Clean a fine-toothed comb by put- ting a piece of rather coarse sewing silk through the arm of a chair, or fasten- ing it in some way at a convenient height. Hold the two ends of the thread and press the comb upon it, rubbing briskly, letting the silk penetrate all the spaces. Baking Griddle Cakes W^ithout Grease._If you wish to do away with the use of grease on the griddle for baking cakes, have the ordinary iron griddle grouud smooth on a grindstone aud rubbed off with a piece of fine sand paper wrapped round a block of wood. This is much better than a soapstone griddle. HINTS AND HELPS. 525 Preserving Fruit— Dr. Kedzie says: In cooking acid fruits house- keepers unwittingly waste a good part of the sugar. Anxious to get the fullest effect of the sugar upon the small fruits, they boil the two together, and thus convert most of the cane sugar into grape sugar. Several years ago my assistant in chemistry tested this matter by placing one hundred parts of npe gooseberries in a stewpan with water to cover them, added twenty-five parts of sugar and cooked the fruit. A second portion of the same berries was cooked without sugar, and after the fruit was partially cooked the twenty-five parts of sugar added, and when this sugar had dis- solved both samples of cooked fruit were analyzed, when one-half the sugar in the first batch was converted into glucose, and only one-tenth of the cane sugar in the second batch was thus changed. If the gooseberries had been green the results would have been more striking. If very acid fruits, like currants and cranberries, are rapidly cooked by boiling and then set to cool for a few minutes and the sugar added, a fine jelly-like mass Avill be found when the sauce is cold, very different from the watery mess so often seen. In making preserves the same principles hold good for the most part, though preserves are more apt to work or ferment if sugar is not cooked with the fruit. In this case it is better to steam the fruit till it is so tender that a straw may penetrate it, then put the fruit into cans, add the sugar, and seal up at once. Three pounds of sugar for four pounds of fruit will be ample. How to Presei-ve Feathers. — The disposal and management of the feathers is a thing that calls for attention. As soon as a fowl is killed, and while yet warm, let it be carefully plucked. Separate the largo wing- feathers; put the others into small paper bags previously prepared. Put these bags into an oven and let them remain about half an hour; take them out, repeat the process two or three times, then keep the feathers m a dry place till required. The oven must not be too hot. Care must be taken to free the feathers of any skin or flesh that may adhere to them while being plucked, or they will be tainted. The hard quilly portion of the larger feathers must be cut off with a pair of scissors. The wing and tail feathers may be stripped and added to the others. Previous to putting them in the oven, some recommend that the feathers should be put loosely into a dry tub or basket and shaken up daily, so that all may in turn be exposed to the air. Others recommend, as an easier plan, merely to suspend the bag from the ceiling of a warm kitchen, or on the wall behind a fire-place, where it IS practicable. In this case they will take longer to dry. Feathers can be quickly and effectually dried and cleaned by the agency of steam; but it is rather an expensive method, and the thrifty henwife will doubtless prefer having the produce of her own yard prepared under her own eye and by her own directions. Putting Away AVinter Clothing— Housewives when about to put away their heavy wmter clothing should select one closet in the house in which to hang the dresses, overcoats, and heavy jackets. The clothes should be hung on a line in the yard on a sunny day and well aired and beaten. The closet should bo thoroughly washed and sprinkled with good black pepper and insect powder. Then hang the garments up and close the door. They will keep all summer, but more pepper should be put in every month. Furs should have the same treatmeut, and after being thoroughl}' si^rinkled with black pepper, should be put in newspapers so that no air may get at them. Every opening in. the paper must be sealed. This process of wrap- 526 THE HOUSEHOLD. ping in newspapers is said to insure safety against moths, as they cannot cut through the printer's ink without dying; but it is wise to sprinkle the garment with pepper unless one intends to take it out during the warm weather. To Keep Lamp Chimneys from Cracking. — The following recipe for keeping lamp chimneys from cracking is taken from a Leipzig journal devoted to the glass interest. Place your tumblers, chimneys or vessels which you desire to keep from cracking, in a pot filled with cold water, add a little cooking salt, allow the mixture to boil well over a fire, and then cool slowly. Glass treated in this way is said not to crack even if exposed to very sudden changes of temperature. Chimneys are said to become very durable by this process, which may also bo extended to crockery, stone- ware, porcelain, etc. The process is simply one of annealing, and the slower the process, especially the cooling portion of it, the more efifective will be the work. Care of Velvet. — How to brush velvet is a thing, easy as it seems, not known to everybody. The whole secret lies in the management of the brush. Take a hat brush that is not too soft, but has the bristles elastic, and that will return at once to their original state after being pressed aside. Hold this firmly under the palm of the hand, in the direction of the arm, and with the bristles downward; and pressing them first gently into the substance of the velvet, then twist around the arm, hand, and brush alto- gether as on an axis, without moving them forward or backward. The foreign matters will be drawn up and flirted out of the flock without injury to the substance of the velvet; and the brush must be lifted up and placed in a similar manner over every part required to be brushed. By this means velvet will be improved instead of deteriorated; and will last for years. Housekeeper's Weiglits and Measures. — Two gills make half a pint. Two pints make one quart. Four quarts make one gallon. Half a gallon is a quarter of a peck. Two gallons make one peck. Four gallons make half a bushel. Eight gallons make one bushel. About sixty drops of any thin liquid will fill a common-sized teaspoon. Four tablespoons, or one-half a gill, will fill a common-sized wine-glass. Four wine-glasses will fill a half- pint measure, a common tumbler, or a large coffee-cup. Ten eggs usually weigh one pound before they are broken. A tablespoonful of salt weighs one ounce. Cleaning Matting. — To clean and freshen old matting, rub it with a cloth wet in salt water, being careful not to allow any drops of water to dry in the matting, as they will leave spots difficult to remove. Heavy, var- nished furniture should never rest directly upon the matting, for even good vai'nish, becoming soft in warm weather, will stain the straw. Matting may be turned if the loose ends of the cords are threaded in a large needle and drawn through to the other side. To Remove Coffee or Milk Stains. — The use of glycerine is recom- mended for this purpose. The silk, woolen, or other fabric is painted over with glycerine, then washed with a clean linen rag dipped in lukewarm rain water, until clean. It is afterwards pressed on the wrong side with a mod- erately warm iron as long as it seems damp. The most delicate colors are unaffected by this treatment. HINTS AND HELPS. 527 To Mend Cracks in a Wall—Mend cracke in a wall with plaster of Paris mixed with cold water to a very soft paste. Wet but little at a time, as it hardens rapidly, and cannot be used again. Apply with a knife blade. If the plaster is not convenient, Ull cracks with stiff flour paste, cover with a strip of white muslin, and whitewash over. Old, cracked closets look wonderfully well after this treatment. To Keep Bllllt.— If milk is brought just to the boiling point, then poured immediately into cans and sealed air tight, it will keep indefinitely. As the air is expelled by boiling, the milk keeps just as canned goods do. If glass jars are used they must be heated so that the boiling milk will not break them. Many families keep but one cow, and this plan will enable them to have milk during the weeks that she is dry. To Preserve Steel Pens— A simple mode of preventing ink from dam- aging metallic pens, is to throw either into the inkstand or the bottle in which the ink is kept, a few nails, broken bits of steel pens (not tarnished) or any other pieces of iron not rusted. The corrosive action of the acid con- tained in the ink ia expended on the iron introduced. To Destroy Clinkers in a Stove— Clinkers will accumulate on fire brick. Empty the stove or grate of coals and ashes; while hot, throw in two or three quarts of oyster shells, or a less quantity of salt, then cleave oflf the clinkers. To Clean Damask Curtains— If crimson, wash well with ordinary soap and water, then rinse in clean cold water, wring through a wringing- machine, and hang in the open air to dry. If the curtains are green, use gall instead of soap. Silk trimmings must be removed, as they cannot be cleaned. Hard Soap. — Six pounds eal-soda, four pounds unslacked lime, twenty- four quarts rain-water. Put all on the fire, and boil, then set off and let settle. Drain oflf and put over the fire with six pounds clear grease, and one-half pound rosin. Boil until it begins to thicken, throw in a couple handfuls of salt. Let cool and cut. To Clean Tea and Coffee Pots— Discolored tea and coffee pots may be cleaned by filling them with water in which two or three tablespoonfuls of wood ashes have been placed, and letting it boil up, then wash thoroughly with hot soapsuds, and rinse. Ink on. Clothing. — To extract ink from cotton, silk, or woolen goods, dip the spots in spirits of turpentine, and let it remain for several hours; then rub thoroughly between the hands, and it will all disappear without changing either the color or texture of the fabric. Volatile Soap, for Removing Paint, Etc— Four tablespoonfuls of spirits of hartshorn, four tablespoonfuls of alcohol, and a tablespoonlul of salt. Shake the whole well together in a bottle, and apply with a sponge or brush. To Clean Lamps. — Oil lamps sometimes bum dimly because of their becoming incrusted inside with the settling from the oil. Take soapsuds and fill the lamp about one-third full; then put in a little coarse sand and shake vigorously. Every, particle of the settling will soon be removed. 528 TEE HOUSEHOLD. To Clean Tintvare. — An experienced housekeeper says the best thing for cleaning tinware is common soda. She gives the following directions: Dampen a cloth and dip in soda and rub the ware briskly, after which wipe dry. Any blackened ware can be made to look as well as new. To Revive a Mattress. — When mattresses get hard and bunchy, rip them, take the hair out, pull it thoroughly by hand, let it lie a day or two to air, wash the tick, lay it in as lightly and evenly as possible, and catch it down as before. Thus prepared they will be as good as new. Removing Iodine Stains.— To remove iodine stains from linen, dip the stained portion in cold water, and then hold over the fire until dry, re- peating the operation until the stain is removed. How to Give Finisli to AVooIen Articles. — Hold the article over boil- ing water. When it is thoroughly dampened, fold in good shape and put under a linen press. This process gives them a flat, even and smooth appearance. To Perfume Liinen— Rose leaves, dried in the shade, or at about four feet from a stove, one pound; cloves, caraway seeds, and allspice, of each one ounce — pound in a mortar, or grind in a mill; dried salt, a quarter of a pound; mix all together, and put into muslin bags. To Clean Gold. — Powder some whiting, and make it into a moist paste with some sal-volatile. Cover over the gold ornaments and surface with a soft brush; let it dry, and then brush it off with a moderately hard brush. To Restore the Color of Silks — When the color of silks has been de- stroyed by any strong acid, it may be restored by carefully wetting the spot with a strong soap lather, to which a little saleratus has been added. When the color has been taken out by fruit stains ammonia will restore it. To Exterminate Coclcroaclies.—Borax is a very good cockroach exter- minator. Take some pieces of board, spread them over with molasses, only BuflScient to make the borax when sprinkled upon it stick, and place the boards in their haunts. To Clean Carpets — Carpets may be cleaned without taking up by sprinkling them over with moist tea leaves and sweeping well. Then sprin- kle Fuller's earth very thickly over the grease spots, cover them with a sheet of brown paper and iron with a warm smoothing iron until the spots disappear. To Prevent "Wooden Boivls from Cracking. — Either pour sweet, hot lard in them, or immerse in cold water, bring to the boiling point, boil an hour longer, then let the water cool gradually, when the bowl may be taken out. To Perfnme Clotkes. — Cloves, in coarse powder, one ounce; cassia, one ounce; lavender flowers, one ounce; lemon peel, one ounce. Mix and put them into little bags, and place them where the clothes are kept, or wrap the clothes around them. They will keep off insects. To Re-color Hair. — Get one yard of seal brown or black common cam- bric. Put in cold water and boil till the color is well out, then add the switch and boil slowly two hours. Dry, and if not dajrk enough, repeat. HINTS AND HELPS. 529 To Clean a Chimney. — To clean a chimney, place a piece of zinc on the live coals in the stove. The vapor produced by the zinc will carry oflf the soot by chemical decomposition. Those who have tiied the process claim that it will work every time. To Remove a Screw Rusted in tlie 'Wootl. — Heat a poker in the fire red-hot, and put it on the top of a screw for a minute or two; then take the Bcrew-driver, and yoii will easily get it out, if you do it whilst it is warm. To Clean Articles Made ofWliite Zepliyi-. — Put in flour of magnesia, changing often, shake off the flour and hang in the open air a short time. Improvement in Cliandeliers. — To renew a dusty and discolored chandelier, apply a mixture of bronze powder and copal varnish. The druggist where they are pui-chased will tell you in what proportion they should be mixed. Crust in Kettles. — This is formed by every sort of water except rain water. A simple mode of prevention is to place a large marble in the kettle, which, by attracting the mineral particles in the water, will keep the inside free. Jelly molds. — Jelly molds should be greased with cold butter. When you wish to remove the jelly or pudding, plunge the mold into hot water, remove quickly, and the contents will come out in perfect form and without any trouble. To Clean Old Lamp-Burners. — Wash them in ashes and water, and they will come out bright as new. Many times a burner is condemned be- cjnise the light is poor, when, having clogged up with sediment, the wick is at fault. To Give a Stove a Fine Brilliant Appearance. — A teaspoonful of pulverized alum mixed with stove polish will give the stove a fine lustre, which will be quite permanent. To Improve Beefsteak. — A tablespoonful of strong coff"ee put in the gravy of melted butter, pepper and salt to be poured over beefsteak, im- parts a delicious flavor to gravy and meat. It makes the gravy a rich brown. Care of a Coffee Pot. — A carelessly kept coffee pot will impart a rank flavor to the strongest infusion of the best Java. Wash the coflee pot thor- oughly every day, and t\vice a week boil borax water in it lor fifteen minutes. To Remove Stains from Tablew^are. — A little saleratus rubbed on with the finger or a bit or linen, will remove stains from cups and other articles of tableware. It will also remove spots from marbleized oilcloths, and many stains from tin ware. To Beat Eggs Q,uickly.— To beat the whites of eggs quickly put in a pinch of salt. The cooler the eggs the quicker they will froth. Salt cools and also freshens them. Airing Feather Beds. —Never sun feather beds. Air them thoroughly on a windy day in a cool place. The sun draws the oil, and gives the feathers a I'ancid smell. 530 THE HOUSE'HOLB. To Clean Diamonds. — To clean diamonds nicely, wash in soap-suds, rinse in alcohol, and dry in sawdust; then brush with a soft brush, and polish with fine tissue paper. Sstra-w Matting —A thin coat of varnish applied to straw matting will make it much more durable and keep the matting looking fresh and new. White varnish should be used on white matting. To stop Mouse-Holes. — Stop mouse-holes with plugs of common hard Boap, and you will do it effectually. Rats, roaches and ants will not disre- gard it. To Talte Rnst Out of Steel— Cover the steel with sweet oil, well rubbed in. In forty-eight hours rub with finely powdered, unslaked lime until the rust disappears. To Restore tlie Color of Black Kid Boots. — Take a small quantity of good black ink, mix it with the white of an egg, and apply it to the boots with a soft sponge. Finger Marks on Mirrors. — For washing finger marks from looking- glasses or windows, put a few drops of spirits of ammonia on a moist rag, and make quick work of removing them. To Keep Seeds From the Depredations of Mice. — Mix some pieces of camphor with them. Camphor placed in trunks or drawers will prevent mice from doing them injury. To Clean Zinc. — A good way to clean zinc is to rub it with a piece ol cotton cloth dipped in kerosene; afterward rub it with a dry cotton cloth, and it will be as bright as when new. To Imitate Ground Glass. — A ready way of imitating ground glass is by dissolving Epsom salts in ale (don't use this as a beverage) and apply- ing with a brush; as it dries it crystallizes. For Rusty Stove Pipe. — Eub with linseed oil, a Uttle goes a good way; build a slow fire at first till it dries. Oil in the spring to prevent it fi-om rusting. Finger Marks on a Piano. — To remove finger-marks on a highly pol- ished piano, wipe with a cloth wet in pure cold water. It does not injure in the slightest if wiped dry, and restores the new look at once. To Svreeten Rancid Lard. — Heat the lard, and when melted slice three or four pared potatoes; continue heating until the slices (which should be quite thin) are well browned. To Improve Tin Kettles. — Kerosene will make tin kettles as bright as new. Saturate a woolen rag and rub with it. It will also remove stains from clean varnished furniture. To "Whiten Ivory. — Discolored ivory may be whitened by rubbing it with a paste composed of burnt pumice stone and water, and then place it under glass in the sun. To Pack Canned Goods. — Pack canned fruits in saw-dust. This ma- terial will certainly help to keep the cans cool in summer and prevent freez- ing in winter. INDEX. Abscess, 446. Acorn, the, 410. Airy nothings, 331. Amaryllis, the, 411. Ambrosia, 332. Animals, sick, charcoal for, 165. Ankles, weak, 460. Ants, several ways to destroy, 486. Apiary, mice in the, 240, Apples, thawing frozen, 276; spiced, 305; pickled, 315; ' rice and, 325; steamed, 325; stewed, 326; to keep. 491. Apple, the coddling moth and other enemies of the, 116; charlotte, 316, 333; souffle, 316; dumplings, 317; snow, 334. Apple trees, gi-afting, 107; suggestion regarding, 118; bark lice on, l23. Ashes, an experiment with, 77; bones and combining, 80. Asparagus, 86; as a lawn plant, loO; culture, new ideas in, 102; to cook, 294; with eggs, 294; pickled, 303. Asthma, 447. Autumn leaves, preserving, 396. Axle grease, 272. Bachelor's buttons, 338. Uag for knitting work, 374. Bag holders, 253. Baking powder, home made, 512. Baldness, 438. Bananas, fried, 317. Barn, an octagonal, construction of, 15; plan for a, lO; a complete stock, 19; a convenient, 20; cellar, cheap, 21; an old, how improved, 22; doors, hanging on rollers, 24. Barometer, a haudy and cheap, 496. Baskets, hanging, imitation coral, 319; hanging, cheap and pretty, 383; moss, how to make, 408; Basket, work, 352, 376; hanging, 355; ornamental scrap bag or, 356; for fruit, 358; lancy card, 339; Basket, toilet or work, 364; baby, 378; rustic hanging, 390. Bath, a vapor, 459. Bay rum, 467. Bean poles, substitute for, 102. Beans and other climbers, poles for, 95; haricot, 298; Lima, with cream, 300. Bedbugs, to exterminate, 495. Bed covering, a very cheap, 490. Bedding, leaves for, 168. Beds, the best; kind of, 491; airing feather, 529. Bee farming in Australia, 234; will keeping pay, 237; hive, an unpatented; 238; keepers, young, advice to, 239. Beef, potted, 283; rolls, 284; boiled corn, 285; frizzled, 290; spiced, 290; the best known receipt for corning, 498; tough, to make tender, 511. Beefsteak, French, 283; a delicious, 287; to improve, 529. Beer, ginger, 345; white spruce, 345; table, 346; root, 346; nice lemon, 346. Bees, wintering, 232; the culture of buckwheat for, 237. Beets, 95; sugar, soil for, 99; sugar, culture of, 102; baked, 297. Biliousness, 445. Birds, what accomplish, 267. Biscuits, German cream, 309; graham, 309; rice, 310; block, 310; ginger, 310; tea, 311. Biscuit, squash, 308; oatmeal, 309; glaze, 344. Blackberry and whortleberry, the, 134. Blacking, waterproof, 609; excellent paste, 517. Black leg, 169. Black walnut, to polish, 501. Blanc mange, 333; corn starch, 332. 532 INDEX. Blankets, to wash, 473. Bleeding, to stop, 427. Blindness, how produced, 150. Blister, blood, 458. Blood, the, to purify, 452. Blueflsh, baked, 292. Blue grass and timothy, 57. Bluing, 477. Boils, 456. Bonnet, a straw, to bleach, 507. Boots, rubber, mending, 494; and shoes, polish for, 511; kid, to renovate the top of, 517; black kid, to restore the color of, 530. Bots, 147. Bouquet, a, to keep fresh, 410; de la Reine. 470. Bouquets, arranging, 405. Bow, the Hungarian, 377. Bowls, wooden, to prevent from crack- ing, 528. Box, handkerchief, 366; glove, and cover, 370. Braid trimming, feather edged, 379. Bran, straw and, 173; feeding with meal, 173. Brass or copper, several ways to clean and polish, 485. Bread, gi aham, to make, 307 ; to keep moist, 307; rice, 307; Southern batter or egg, 307; Indian, 307, 310; brown, 308; cheese cakes, 308; dyspepsia, 309; good brown, 309; steamed brown, 310; old maid, 310; improving, 310; cottage, 311. Bread making, 514; eight points in, 306. Breakfast, a nice dish for, 280; dish, 280; potato cakes for, 280; dish, a cheap, 280. Breath, offensive, 426; the, to sweeten, 467. Breeding males, selecting, 164. Bright's disease, 441. Britauuis metal, to clean, 501. Brittle feet, 151. Bronchitis, 448. Broom, a, the use of, 498. Brown Betty, 317. Bug-catcher, a handy, 47. Bugs, gas tar as a remedy for, 97. on vines, to destroy, 98; water, positive cure for, 521. Bulbs, manure for, 407. Bull, ringing a, 155. Bunions, 450. Burdocks, remedy for, 275. Burns and scalds, 424. Butter, how to make good, 223; to keep, 226; wrappers, waterproof, 226; rancid, to restore, 226; making, French, 227; Butter, preparing for market, 228; keeping for winter use; 228; making, first principles in, 229; borax for salting, 230; don't flavor too much, 230; to color, 230; Arm without ice, 231; orange, 332; peach, 313, 333; Havana, 333; scotch, 347; to purify, 517; to improve and preserve, 523; Butter-worker, an Improved, 227. Cabbage, fertilizer for 94; club root in, 99; lille, 297; baked, 297; unpleasant odor from, 521. Cabbages, early, how to grow, 93; novel method of growing, 94; red, to pickle, 305. caked udder, 170. Cake johnny, 310; bon-ton wedding, 334; snow jelly, 334; rich coffee, 335; marble, 335; lemon, 335; watermelon, 335; frosting for, 336; cocoanut, 336; apple, 336; angel, 336; a useful, 336; Dolly Varden, 336; almond, 337; raised raisin, 337; strawberry or red, 337; farmer's fruit, 337; ice cream, 337; rice, 337; pineapple, 337; banana, 338; bread, 338; block, 338; layer, filling for, 338; huckleberry, 339; Boston, 339; queen's, 339; cream, 339; Mrs. Crabtree's, 339; loaf seed, 340; Adelaide, 340; fruit cream, 340; tea, 340; Christmas, 340; molasses sponge, 340; corn, 341; fruit, 341, 342; jelly, to roll, 341; mother's t«a, 341; choice fig, 341; currant, 341; layer, 341 ; hickory nut, 341; molasses, 342; sponge, 342; clove, 342; feather, 342; INDEX. 533 Cake, Snowden, 342; chocolate, new way to prepare, 342; to flavor, 343; White Mountain, 343; railroad sponge, 343; plum, 343; Virginia snow, 343; water pound, 343; no egg, 343; cup, 343; gold, 343; baking, hints on, 493. Cakes, bread griddle, 277; buckwheat, 277; corn griddle, 278; wheat griddle, 278; breakfast corn, 278; fried meat, 286; clam, 293; green corn, 299; buttermilk, 338; coffee, 338; honey, 339; cream tea, 339; Boston tea, 340; fried, without eggs, 341. Oalf weaner, 167. Calico, to prevent from fading, 481. Callas, treatment of, 409. Calves, raising, 165; scours In, 173. Canada thistles, killing, 57. Canaries, 520. Cancer, 428. Candle, a, to burn all night, 519. Candy, walnut, 347; almond, 347; chocolate, 347; cocoanut, 348; vanilla, 348. Cane chair bottom, to restore, 608. Cankers, 460. Canned goods, to pack, 630. Caponizing, 196. Card receiver and watch case, hanging, 361. Carnations from cuttings, 408. Carpet, a, taking up, 519. Carpets, cleaning, 493; to remove grease from, 600; to renovate, 502; to restore the color of, 608; to clean, 528. Carriage, a, to preventfrom spotting, 274. Carriage-house and stable, model, 24. Carrots, stewed, 298. Cases, handkerchief, 370. Case, slipper, 360; toilet bottle, 362; scissor and needle cushion, 372. Cashmere, black, to cleanse, 482. Catarrh, 436. Catch-all, 363. Catsup, tomato, 303; cucumber, 306; currant, 306; grape, 306. Cattle, in cornstalks, 166; relieving choked, 157; rack, 159; Cattle, economy in feetling, 169; to prevent from hooking fences, 161; black tongue in, 162; lice on, 163; how practical farmers manage their, 167; sores on, 170; cornstalks for, 171; jumping, 172, the best feed for, 172; phosphates for, 172. Cauliflower, 89; water necessary to, 102; fried, 296; baked, 299; pickled, 302. Ceilings, SFnoky, to clean, 622. Celery, 87; an easy method of blanching, 88. Cellars, mold in, 276. Cement, a good, 498; for fastening instruments in handles, 504; a, withstanding heat and moisture, 505; to mend china, 510; for kerosene oil lamps, 611; glycerine, 619; for glass, crockery, etc., 522. Chair cover, embroidered, 379. Chairs, old cane, upholstering, 494. Chandeliers, improvement in," 629. Charlotte Kusse, 330. Cheese, to keep from mold, 603; mites in, 622. Cherries, preserved, 312. Cherry trees, diseased, 116. Chicken and duck enclosure, 196; coop, a, 210; coop, an inexpensive, 216; cholera, 216; fountain, a cheap, 217; lice, 217; Viennese style, 283; patties, 284; Virginia fried, 284; a la mode, 284; boned, 286; fried, 287; fritters, 287; croquette, 287; pressed, 289. Chickens, artificially hatched, how to raise, 198; raising by artificial mothers, 203; late, 219; smothered, 284; new way of cooking, 287. Chilblains, 440. Child a young, food for, 459. Childhood, dangers of, 414. Cbildren, nursing, 455; teething, ice for, 457. Children's falls, 427. Chimney, a burning, 613; ornaments, crystallized, 616; to clean a, 529. Chimneys, smoky, 612; liimp, care of, 522; lamp, to keep from cracking, 626. 6S4 INDEX. Chocolate, Iceland moss, 345, Choking, 460, Cholera morbus, 441; Infantum, 458. Chowder, fish, 291. Chromos, to mount, 517. Churning, power for, 224; hard, and iJlue cream, 225. Cider, how to preserve, 266; how to keep sweet, 517. Cisterns, 263; to purify, 263. Citron, preserved, 314. Clams with cream, 292; panned, 292; how to cook, 293. Clod crusher, a, 251; a good, 245. Closets, damp, 523. Cloth, black, to renovate, 509. Clothes brush holder, 354; washing without fading, 477; a French way of washing, 477; new mixture used in washing, 478; to take mildew from, 479; bars, convenient, 473; sprinkler, 475; care of, 501 ; grease spots on, 506; to perfume, 528. Clothing, winter, putting away, 525; Ink on, 527. Cockroaches, to exterminate, 528. Codfish with cream, 291; balls, 292. Coflfee, good, to make, 277; cream, 330; and tea pots, to clean, 527; pot care of a, 529. Cold in the head, 436; taking, 453. Colic, 444; in infants, 453. Coloring recipes, 484. Colors, to set, 518. Color, to restore, 516. Colt, raising a, 138; to bit a, 139. Colts, ringbones on, 149. Combs, fine toothed, to clean, 524. Complexion, the, pearl water for, 469, Compost, ashes in the, 75; materials for, 79. Cones, cocoanut, 332. Conserve, lemon, 333. Consumption, 429; the earliest sign of, 444. Contagion, to prevent, 455. Conveniences, household, 494. Convulsions, 443, Cookies, 342; good plain, 335; currant, 336; molasses, 337; soft, 340; hickory nut, 342; ginger, 342; cocoanut, 343. Copying-ink, 518. Corn, hilling Injurious to, 40; Corn crib, an Ohio, 40; seed, 41, 56; crib, a convenient, 41; cribs, cheap, 42; the enemies of, 43; seed saving, 44; fodder, cui'ing, 44; culture, 44; points on, 44; raising good in a dry season, 45; cabbages with, 45; with tomatoes, 300; beans, etc., to can, 489; sweet, canning, 500. Corn-marker, a good, 245. Corns, 434. Corn-sheller, a home-made, 249. Corpulence, 452. Corsets, to clean, 613. Cosmetics, 464. Costiveness, 440. Cottage, an inexpensive, 11; an ornamental country, 12. Cottons, colored, to wash, 478. Coughs and colds, 435. Cow, marks of a good, 158; horse or, to test the health of a, 169; how to milk a, 170; foul foot in a, 171. Cows, milch, bone disease in, 158; good, how ruined, 160; milch, currying, 161; to prevent kicking, 162; the soiling system with, 164; winter themselves, 171; kicking, 171; warm water for, 171; celery tops for, 172; garget in, 173. Crabs, deviled, 292. Crackers, home made, 307; oatmeal, 308. Cracks in a wall, to remove, 627, Cramp in the leg, 456; in bathing, 459. Cramps, 452. Cranberries, to keep all winter, 523. Cranberry culture, 130. Cream and cold, 226; whipped, 331; Dorcas American, 332; velvet, 332; apple, 334; chocolate, 334; Caledonian 334; pineapple Bavarian, 329; cold, 468. Creams, walnut, 346. Cribbing, 151. Cribs, hemlock, 152. Croup, 433. Crow's nest, 319. Crows, to banish from a field, 56. Crullers, 343. Cucumbers on trellises, 93; melons and, boxes for, 93: melons and, early, 101; stewed, 295. Curbing, a good well, 273. Curculio, plum, destroying the, 114; INDEX. 535 Curculio, tomato leaves a remedy for the, 116; plum, protection against the, IIT. Currants, spiced, SOP* frosted, 311. Currant worm, the, easy method of dis- posing of, 136. Curry, 285. Curtains, damask, to clean, 627. Cushion, needle, 367. Custard, apple, 317; coffee, 318; cream, 319; noating island, 320; lemon, 322; raspberry, 325; sweet apple, 326; tapioca, 326; snow, 331. Custards, chocolate cream, 318. Dandruff, 450. Deafness, 459. Decorating, a lesson In, 359. Dessert, 332; salad, 305; simple, 326; orange, cream pie and, 331. Diamonds, to clean, 530. Diarrhoea, 433; diet during, 457. Diphtheria, 432. Discovery, a valuable, 609. Dish, an excellent, 283; a nice supper, 288; excellent tea, 289; a good breakfast, 289; a delicious, 298; wiping, 506. Disinfectant, simple, 456, 518. Doughnuts, 342. Drainage, value of, 267; a suggestion for, 270. Draining wet land, 271. Dress, a muslin, to wash, 480; a calico, to iron, 482. Drink, cherry effervescing, 345; cool summer, 346. Drops, peppermint, 347; lemon, 348. Dropsy, 450. Drowning, to restore the, 441. Ducks, how to raise, 218. Duck, to cook a, 280^ imitation, 298. Dysentery, 431. Dyspepsia, 430. Earache, 422. Ear, the, removing substances from, 458; the, deficiency of wax In, 458. Eau de cologne, to make, 469. Edging, wheat ear, 367. Egg nogg, 344. Egg plant, stuffed, 295; fried, .300. Egg production, winter, 209. Eggs, packing for market, 201; and pullets, 212; preserving— several practiced meth- ods, 214; infertile, 217; Eggs, how increased, 219; scrambled, 279; a la creme, 279; Newport style, 279; stuffed 279; cupped, 280; a la mode, 280; a good way to cook, 280; snow, 330; to beat quickly, 529. Embroidery designs, 350; ffower patterns, for, 368; Mosaic, 380. Emetic, a prompt, 460. Ensilage, 258; silos and, 264. Entree, an appetizing, 296. Erysipelas, 449. Eye, dust in the, 419. Eyes, weak and inflamed, 418; sore, 458; scrofulous sore, 460. Face, the, eruptions on, 466; the, black spots on, 468. Fainting, 456. Farm, a, what goes with, 259. Farmer, signs of a prosperous, 274. Feathers, to dye, 492; to wash and curl, 492; ostrich, to clean, 511; how to preserve, 525, Feeding, how to save oats In, 160; and laying, 210. Feet, the, relief for, 454; swelled, and ankles, 457; cold, 460; swelled, 460; hands or, blistered, 446. Felons, 429. Fences, farm, 27. Fence, straight rail, 29; posts, durable, 30; posts, to preserve, 32; a good, 33; post and rail, 33; for marsh or soft soil, 36. Fern paradise at home, a, 405; case, gypsy, 408. Ferns in the house, 403. Fertilizer, refuse salt as a, 65; a patent, which anybody may use, 74; clover as a, 76; bran as a, 80. Fertilizers, home made, for the com- mon farmer, 69; something in regard to, 60; formulas for commercial, 66; versus plant food, 67; making our own, 68; application of, 74; Peter Henderson on, 77; saving, 78; facts regarding, 79; a good investment, 80. Fever, scarlet, 437; coffee and typhoid, 446; chills and, 449; intermittent, salt in, 453* treatment for, 458; drink in cases of, 460. 536 INDEX. Figs, tomato, to make, 346. Fires, kerosene, 521. Fish culture for the farm, 269; croquettes, 293. Fits, 450. Flannels, whitening yellow, 478. Flannel, to wash, 474. Flapjacks, lemon, 278, 323. Flat-irons, rusty, to clean, 482. Fleas, to exterminate, 512. Flies, remedy for, 505; to get rid of, 524. Floors, stain for, 506; filling for cracks in, 510; wooden, cleaning, 516; to color walnut tint, 517. Flour, care of, 522. Flowers, fresh-blown, in winter, 404; essence from, 467; cut, to preserve, 513; withered, to revive, 524. Fodder, will it pay to steam, 174. Food, proportions of, 172. Founder, 147. Fowl, cure for scaly legs in, 219; hashed, 287; to dress cold, 288; a, how to dress properly, 497. Fowls, feeding hoppers for, 208; a grain-chest for, 213; gapes in, 218. Fractures, to ascertain, 457. Frames, shell, to make, 614; gilt, to cleanse, 518. Freckles, 461. Fritters, hominy, 279; apple, 315; delicious, 318; cream, 319; orange, 320; lemon, 323; pineapple, 324; raspberry, 325; rice, 325. Frosting, gelatine, 337. Fruit gatherer, a Belgian, 112; cellars, 113; thinning, 113, growers, maxims for, 115; growers, suggestions to, 118; growing jottings, 119; preserving, 123, 525; pests, 125; canning, 495; stains, 496; jars, to prevent breaking, 499; extracts, etc., to make, 502; bottling, 509; cans, to determine if air tight, 609; jars, fastening, 515; jars, to render air tight, 619. Fruits, drying, 622. Fruit tree culture, 113; errors in, 112. Fruit trees, the best time to prune, 104; roots of, 111; how to fertilize, 111; manure for, 114; insects injurious to, 116; girdling, 121; Fruit trees, iron for, 126. Fuchsias, 395; among roses, 409. Furniture, marble top, how to clean, 497; to remove bruises from, 523; walnut, for oiling, 523. Furs, to clean, 492; to keep in winter, 511; to dye, 516. Game, to remove fishy taste from, 287. Garden, a good, how to make, 83; hot water on the, 97; coal ash walks for the, 99; crops, rotation of, 82; house, rustic, 268. Gardens, small, seeds for, 100. Garments, white knitted, to clean, 623; linen, to whiten, 624. Gate, always ready, 30; a good farm, 31; a cheap, 32. Gates, some fancy, 32. Geese, to fatten, 220. Gems, graham, 308; oatmeal, 309; corn, 310. Geranium, golden-leaved horseshoe, 393. Geraniums, to keep through the winter, 403; scarlet, to preserve through the win- ter, 407; steam baths for, 411; cut back the, 411. Gilding without a battery, 503. Gingerbread, muster, old-fashioned, 338. Glasses, hints about, 445. Glass, frosting, 507; to bore holes in, 608; how to cut, 610; mending, 515; to clean, 522; to remove putty from, 524; ground, to imitate, 630. Glassware, preserving, 497. Gloves, to clean, -503; kid, to clean, 505; kid, to restore, 519. Glue which will unite even polished steel, 604; marine, 510; liquid, 519. Gold, artificial, 491; to clean, 528. Gooseberries and currants, 134. Gout, 454. Grafting wax, 108. Grain chest, mice in the, 276. Graining, to wash, 499. Grapes, keeping, 127; keeping in cellars, 127; keeping in winter, 128; hardy, culture of, 129. Grape, the, how to prune, 128. Grape vines, winter care of, 127; bleeding, 129. Grasses, crystallizing, 410. Gravel walks, weeds on, 102. INDEX. 637 Gravy, thick, 286. Grease, to remove, 514; to take out of velvet, 520; to remove from a stove hearth, 520; baking griddle cakes without, 524. Gi'een fly, the remedy for, 98. Green house, a miniature, 397. Ground moles, trapping, 262. Grubs, to get rid of, 98. Guano, home made, 79. Gum-boil or weakness of the gums, 459. Hair, gray, to prevent, 458; the, to prevent falling off, 462; the, pomade for, 465; the, rose bandoline for, 466; the, to curl, 467; dye, walnut, 468; to increase the growth of, 468; the, to thicken, 469; crimping, 469; wash, 469; the, care of, 469; the, oil of roses for, 470; restorative, 470; the, wash for, 470; brushes and combs, to clean, 505; to re-color, 528. Hairs, superfluous, to remove, 442. Halibut, smoked, to broil, 293. Ham, baked, 285; broiled, 290. Hammock, a, how to make, 496. Hams, how to cure, 272; plan for keeping, 275; to preserve from flieSj 502. Handkerchief, a cambric, to wash, 480. Handkerchiefs, perfume for, 470. Hands, the, to soften, 463; the, to whiten, 463; chapped, 466; the, to remove tar from, 622. Harness, washing, 276; a good suggestion about, 276. Harp, an seolian, to make, 487. Hash, vegetable, 297. Hassock, a home made, 353. Hatching period, the, 204. Hats, cleaning, 522. Hay, clover, cutting, 55; making— a good suggestion, 55; elevating apparatus, 242. Headache, 425. Health, dieting for, 420. Heartburn, 451. Heaves, 148. Heifer or a vicious cow, a, how to break to milk, 166. Hemorrhage, 447. Hennery, a model. 190; road-dust for the, 220. Hens, milk for, 202; eating eggs, 220. Hen's nest, 332. Hiccough, 460. Hides, to tan, 259. Hint, a useful, 80. Hoarseness, 449. Hoeing, the philosophy of, 53; benefits of, 101; small crop, implement for, 2(7. Hog cholera, 178; raising, economy in, 183. Hogs, charcoal for, 180; as producers of manure, isi; bone meal for strengthening, 182; keeping clean, 182; hay for, 183; roots for, 183; water for, 183; squash for fattening, 183. Honey, artificial, 510. Honeysuckle, Dutch, in the house, 398. Horn, hollow, 168; brittleness, treatment of, 170. Horns, training, 167; cows', rings on, 173. Horse, how to judge a, 137 ; feed for the, 137; balky, cure for, 142; a hide-bound, to recruit, 152. Horse's age, how to tell a, 150. Horses, feeding, 138; to break from pulling at the halter, 141 ; warts on, 141 ; stumbling, 142; kicking, 143; vicious, training, 143; galls and sores on, 144; reining, 145; colic in, 146; epizootic in, 148; shying, 148; scratches, on, 149; sick, treatment of, 149; biting, a muzzle for, 150; the watering of, 151; linseed oil for, 151 ; avoiding indigestion in, 152; flies and, 152; to cool when hot, 1,52; sprains and bruises in, 152; worms in, 153; best method of cleaning, 153. Horseshoe, a convenient, 140. Horse's legs, care of, 150. Hot slaw, 306. Housekeeper, what an old has learned, 490. Husking, 45. Hydrophobia, 447; to prevent, 451. Hysterics, 443. Ice Cream, French vanilla, 343; crushed strawberry, 343; coffee, 344; lemon, 344; Italian orange, 344. Ice, making and keeping, 255; orange, 344; lemon-water, 344; red currant fruit, 344; raspberry water, 344. Icing, chocolate, 342. Implements, farm, care of, 244. Incubators, good and cheap, 197. Indigestion, 454. Ink on books, 508; from carpets, 515; black, 515; indelible marking, 520; 538 INDEX. Ink stains on furniture, 521. Insect destroyer, potato juice aa an, 102; kerosene an, 117. Insecticide, a simple, 514. Insertions, knitted, 366. Ironers, hints to, 479; Iron, tlie, to prevent from sticking, 481; to prevent from rusting, 524. Irrigation, an easy metliod of, 136. Ivory, to whiten, 530. Ivy, English, treatment of, 408. Jam, raspberry, 313; white currant, 313; blackberry, 314; apple, 315; gooseberry, 315. Jaundice, 454. Jaws, sensitive, 153. Jellies without fruit, 314. Jelly, Russian, for invalids, 311; chicken, 311; mock champagne, 312; apple, 312; orange, 312; uncooked currant, 313; calf s foot, 313; coflfee, 313; gooseberry, 314; blackberry, 314; crab apple, 314; lemon, 314; currant 315; tapioca, 315; Isinglass, 315; gooseberry, 315; cranberry, 315; mold on, 521; molds, 529. Jewelry, gilt, to clean, 513; to brighten, 520. Jumbles, chocolate, 339. Kettles, new, 523; crust in, 529; tin, to improve, 530. Keys, how to fit into locks, 505. Kisses, 340. Kitchen floors, grease on, 503. Knock-knees, 454. Labor-saving invention, a, 511. Lace, antique, 359; spread, a handsome, 361; curtains, wasliing, 471; to wash, 475; black, to clean, 504; black, to freshen, 520. Lady fingers, 339. Lamb, mint sauce for, 288; delicious flavor to, 289. Lambs, early, 187. Lamp shade, 369; explosions, 506; chimneys, cleaning, 510; burners, old, to clean, 529. Lamps, to clean, 527. Langshans, the, 220. Lard, rancid, to sweeten, 530. Laundry, the, hints for, 478 Lavender water, 468. Lawn, rustic seats for the, 265. Lawns, salt and plaster on, 80; Lawns, improving, 275. to wash, 479. Laxatives, 458. Layers, how to produce, 213. Leather, to render waterproof, 498. Lemonade, ginger, 345; orangeade or, 345; efl"ervescing, 346; milk, 346. Lemon float, 330; peel, candied, 348; leaves, use of, 521. Lemons, medical qualities of, 421. Limbs, frozen, 460; Lime, a few words about, 58. Linen, men's, doing up, 476; how to gloss, 476; to bleach, 479; scorched, 480; to whiten, 480; to remove rust from, 480; yellow, to whiten, 481; colored table, to wash, 482; cotton or, waterproof coating for, 520; to perfume, 528. Linens, black or navy blue, percales, etc., for washing, 479. Lip salve, 470. Lips, chapped, cure for, 470. Liquor appetite, 434. Liver, stewed, 288; fried as cutlets, 290; a good way to cook, 290; complaint, for, 452. Lockjaw, 448. Looking glasses, to clean, 513. Lungs, to ascertain the state of the, 443; the, to protect from dust, 456. Macaroni, 295; cheese, 297. Macaroons, 342; hickorynut, 340. Mackerel, broiled, 293. Malaria, preventives of, 412. Manure, composting, 63; salt as a, 64; what a pint did, 70; how to double the usual quantity of on the farm, 71 ; advantages of sheltering, 71; liquid, for gardening, 73; value of home-made, 75; for almost nothing, 77; poultry, 77; liquid, 78; how to apply, 78; spreading, 78; mixing In winter, 78; alternating, 79; hen, how to use. 79; a good garden, 80. Manures, variation in, 61; home-made vs. commercial, 69; green, 72; how to keep and spread, 75. Marble, to clean, 517. Mares, working in foal, 145. Marmalade, orange, 313; plum, 314; quince, 314. INDEX. 639 Marmalade, peach, 315. Maitiu boxes, 263. Matches, fliscolorations from, 49V. Mats, table, 372; star, 377; neat, 378. Matting, cleaning, 526; straw, 530. Mattress, a, to revive, 528. Measles, 415. Meat, recipe for curing, 267; how to make tender, 288; fresh, how to keep, 508. Meats, to cure, 503. Melon culture, hints on, 92; andsquashculture,experimenlsin,92; worm, the, 95. Menstruation, painful, anodyne for, 455. Milking, apparatus for, 221. Milk-setting, suggestions in, 229. Milk, taste of turnips in, 168; the first, 169; cooler, 223; bitter, 230; hot, as a stimulant, 460; to keep, 527. Mink, skunk, etc., trapping the, 260. Mirrors, finger marks on, 530. Mixture, a valuable, 98. Mosquito remedy, 499. MoMi patches, 468. Moths, protection against, 485; in carpets, 515. Mouse-holes to stop, 530. Mucilage, 507. Muck, experience with, 70. Mullins, hominy, 277; corn, 277; breakfast, 277; buttermilk, 277. Mulching, advantages of, 135. Mumps, 443. Mushroom culture, 83. Mushrooms, stewed, 297. Mustard, French, 305. Mutton cutlets in the Portuguese way, 286; scrambled, 289. Nails, the, 469; driving into hard wood, 273. Neck, stiir, 459; enlarged, 460. Nervousness, 415. Nests, how should be made, 220; of sawdust, 220. Nettle rash, 445. Neuralgia, 422. Nipples, sore, 455. Nose bleed, 438. Oil cloths how to clean, 511. Oil, coal, important use of, 270. Oleomargarine, how to detect, 231. Omelet, 279; a veal, 288; oyster, 290; tomato and onion, 299; cauliflower, 301. Onion growing, 90. Onions, a new method of raising, 91; Onions, bending down, 101; baked, 296; scalloped, 299; pickled, 304. Orange peel, candied, 348. Oranges, compote of, 331; cold, 344. Orchard, management, 111; how to renew an, 112; ants in the, 124; cultivating the, 125. Ornament, parlor, 362, 405. Ottoman, 364. Over-reaching, 153. Oxen, care of, 173. Oyster patty, 292; toast, 293; macaroni, 293; loaf, 294. Oysters, spiced, 291; fried, 291; broiled, 291; pickled, 293, 305. Pail, a wooden, to take the woody taste out of, 524. Paint, for farmers, 274; for one cent a pound, 275; to remove from a wall, 520; volatile soap for removing, 527. Pancakes, French, 278; egg, 278 ; cream, 278; to make batt«r, 278. Pansy, how to grow the, 407. Paper, uses of, 506; to take grease from, 518. Parsley, 94. Partridge, roast, 288. Partridges, bread sauce for, 288. Paste, almond, 469; a good, 499; for cleaning knives, 513; for removing grease from silk, 518. Pastry, magic, 322; to ice, 323. Pasture lands, improving, 56. Peaches, spiced, 314; and plums, pickled, 315; with rice, 330. Peach trees, pruning, 106; diseased, 118; borer, the, 118. Pear culture, points on, 109; blight and peach yellows, 115; blight, protection against, 117; trees, to preserve from blight, 125. Pears, what shall I grow, 120; hints on marketing, 124; apples and, hints on gathering, 125. Peas, green, to preserve for winter use, 519. Pens, to improve, 517; steel, to preserve, 527. Pen wiper, 357. Perspiration, odor from, 457. Pests, insect, to destroy, 506. Piano, finger marks oii a, 530. Pickle, egg, 301. Pickles, fine cucumber, 301; sweet cucumber, 304; 540 INDEX. Pickles, sweet, 306; to improve, 522. Picture frames, ivy for, 381. Pie-crust without lard, 328; oat-meal, 328. Pie, pigeon, 286; French chicken, 287; mutton, 289; Cornish fish, 293; tomato, 296; potato, 298; apple meringue, 327; cherry, 327; cream, 327; custard, 327; mock lemon, 328; Beverly, 328; corn-starch custard, 328; lemon, 328; lemon meringue, 328; apple custard, 328; rhubarb cream, 329; orange, 329; buttermilk, 329; rice, 329; pumpkin, 329; Marlborough, 329; Washington, 329; cocoauut, 329; peach, 329; prune, 329; banana, 334. Pies, spring mince, 327. Piggery, a winter, 174. Pig raising, 175; sty, a good, 178; the, as a plowman, 179; scraping table, 181; a, how to give medicine, 182. Pigs, phosphates essential to, 181; paralysis in, 183; scurvy, 183. Piles, 459. Pillow sham, 353. Pimples, 464. Pincushion, 374; toilet, 357. Pineapples, to preserve in slices, 311. Pine work, to improve, 515. Pip, to cure, 212. Plant, basket, a beautiful, 398; stand, a cheap, 405; a novel house, 409; fertilizers, 411. Plants, protecting young, 98; starting early, 100; room, diseases of, 381; how to kill insects on, 387; ammonia for, 388; to prepare for winter, 391; house, selection of, 392; sou for, 392; sickly, hot- water cure for, 393; the mud system of slipping, 394; novel method of enriching, 397; house, growing in moss, 398; some new, otfered by Germau florists, 399; house, 406; trellis for, 407; Plants, to re-pot, 408; frozen, 409; potting and watering, 409; tender, covering for, 409; moving, 410; watering, 410; starting, 411. Plaster and ashes, use of, 69. Plow attachment, coulter cleaning, 248; hand, 253. Plowing, experiments in, 51; early or late fall, 52. Plums, a suggestion to growers of, 114; Plush mosaic, 365; thermometer frame, 373; to clean, 509. Pneumoniaj 412. Poisoning, ivy, 437. Poisons, antidotes for, 413. Polish, furniture, 489; French, 496; glycerine leather, 504; dressing, for leather, French, 504; stove, to improve, 520. Pop-corn, to sugar or crystallize, 347; balls, 347. Pop-overs, 324. Portfolio, music, and stand, 358; hanging, 373. Post driver, spile or, 246. Posts, easy method of taking up, 33. Potash, the work of, 74. Potato culture, 45; disease, the, 48; bugs, new remedy for, 61; dumplings, 296; croquettes, 298; snow, 300; putrs, 300; fritters, 300; balls, 301. Potatoes, phosphate for, 46; methods of raising, 48; points about, 50; getting early, 50; raising, 50; in winter, 51; C(5mbining different varieties of, 57; nitrogen for, 79; boiling, 294; snap beans and, 294; Saratoga, 295; a la Duchesse, 297; fried whole, 298; fried with butter, 299; fried, 299; scalloped, 300; browned, 300; to prepare for breakfast, 301. Potpie, peach, 324. Poultry house for chickens, a, 190; house, movable, 193; house, model, 194; keeping for profit, 203; house, a rustic, 204; packing for market, 205; raising as a business, 206; on a large scale, 207; raising, successful, 211; flsh for, 212; INDEX. 641 Poultry houses, cheap, 215; manure, 220. Powder, tooth, 401 ; toilet, 466; sceut, 468; violet, 470. Preserves, grape, 311; hints about making, 312; citron or watermelon, 313; plum, 315. Prickly heat, 455. Pruning— making the cut, 103; aeciduous trees, 103; versus mutilation, 105; for fruit, 105; necessary precautions after, 106. Pudding, green corn, 301; amber, 316; apple, 316; all the year round, 316; an excellent, 316; a la elegante, 316; bread, 317; baked lemon, 317; bird's nest, 317; cup plum, 317; chocolate, 318; cranberry, 318; cake, 319; cocoanut, 319; custard, 319; cream batter, 319; egg, 319; cracker, 319; citron, 319; cottage, 319; cracked wheat, 319; date or prune, 320; a delicious, 320; dandy, 320; English plum, 320; economical family, 320; flg, 321: farmer's, 321; fruit, 321; ginger, 321; golden, 321; graham, 321; hard times, 321; home, 322; Indian, 322; Indian apple, 322; kiss, 322; Kent, 322; lemon meringue, 322; lemon, 323; mountain dew, 323; orange, 323; peach, 323; pan, 324; pineapple, 324; plum, 324; puir, 324; quick, 324; sweet potato, 324; steamed, 324; new rice, 325; raisiu, 325; Swiss, 325; suet, 325; • Pudding, snow ball, 326; tip top, 326; tapioca, 326; Yorkshire, 327. Puddings, queen of, 324. PuflS, Indian meal, 310; tea, 310; Albany, 317; Spanish, 333. Pulmonary diseases, petroleum in, 452; complaints, 456. Purse, ladies' fancy bag, 371. Queen's wing, clipping the, 237. quilt lining, 369. Quince snow, 334. Quinces, secret of raising, 125. Quinsy, 451. Rabbit, to cook a, 285. Radishes, to force, 102. Rain gauge, a cheap, 273. Raspberries, about, 133; blackberries and, trellises for, 136; Raspberry, red, 135. Rats and mice, 276; to exterminate, 173, 507; how to get rid of, 273. Razor, sharpening a. 507. Rectum, worms in the, 153. Refrigerator, an home made, 493; Rheumatism, 416; inflammatory, 451. Ribbons, to clean, 518; how to smooth, 524. Ringworm, 439. Roll, cranberry, 318; fruit, 321. Roller and vibrating harrow, combined, 241. Rolls, French, 308; tea, 308; iireakfast, without soda, 309; light, 309. Roly Poly, orange, 323. Roofs, how to thatch, 269; leaky, to repair, 273. Roof, to clean an old, 274. Room, a cheap and simple way to dis- infect a, 459; a, to purify, 513. Roots, raising, 54; storing, 55. Rose culture, 390. Roses, otto of, 467; French milk of, 470. Rosette, a, 363. Rosettes, 308. Roup, 219. Rugs, Persian, made at home, 351. Rusks, tea, 310. Rust, iron. 481; to preserve bright grates or fire Irons from, 518; to prevent In tinware, 619; to prevent, 621; to take out of steel, 630. Sachet, 370. Salad, delicious beet, 302; celery, 302; potato, 302; chicken, 302; 542 INDEX. Salad, liow to dress, 303; lobster, 303; cauliflower, 303; fomato, 303; herring, 304; cabbage, 304; German, 304; carrot, 304; winter, 304; ham, 306; dressing, 305; fruit, 306; cucumber, 306; orange, 334. Sallie Lunn, 326. Salmon, In-oiled, 291; croquettes, 292. Salt rheum, 456. Sand hearts, 335. Sandwiches, egg, 310. Sauce pans, porcelain, to whiten, 518. Sauce, piquante, 285; a brown, 286; crab, 292; piquante for fish, 294; flsh, 294; celery, 299; Robert, 299; tomato, 300; horse-radish, 300; Chill, 306; delicious apple, 317; cranberry, 318; egg, 320; for ginger pudding, 321; hard, for puddings, 322; molasses, 323, maple sugar, 323; pudding, .326; a fine pudding, 326; wine, lor pudding, 327. Scald head, 420. Scarf, a table, 378. Sciatica, 444. Scissors, to sharpen, 521. Scorch, for taking out, 482. Scraper, Thomas' no-patent, 250; a good, 251. Screen, how to make a, 369; an ivy, 401. Scrofula, 448. Scurf, 451. SeasicknesSj preventive of, 465. Seed, quantity of, to an acre, 53. Seeds, soaking, 53; saving, 81; flower, autumn sowing of, 407; to keep from the depredations of mice, 530. Shade, extempore, for reading lamps, 502. Sham champagne, 345. Shampooing liquid, 470. Shawl, crocheted, 371. Shawls, Shetland, to wash, 478; white worsted, to clean, 482. Sheep, hurdling, 184; raising feed for, 185; to tell the age of, 185; ticks— how to get rid of them, 186; how to make pay, 187; Sheep, feed rack for, 188; why profitable, 188; tar the noses of, 189; poisoned, to cure, 189; crossing Merino on common, 18fc Sherbet, berry, 345. Shoeing, ignorance in, 152. Shoe soles, how to preseiTC, 516. Shoes, white kid, to clean, 519. Shortbread, Scotch, 308. Shortcake, strawberry, 325. Shorthorns, hints to breeders of, 153. Sick, how people get, 453. Silks, to restore the color of, 528. Silk, to determine the quality of, 495; cleaning black, 501. Silo, a, new way with, 264. Silver plate, to clean, 500; wash, celebrated recipe for, 523. Silverware, to prevent from tarnishing, 495. Skeleton leaves, to prepare, 361. Skunks, to get rid of, 219. Sleeplessness, 439. Slipper, knitted dressing, 376. Small fruits, fall setting of, 135; easy method of cultivating, 135. Small pox, 438. Smilax for a curtain, 393; how to grow, 403. Smoke houses, 256. Snake bites, 458. Snaps, ginger, 340; coflTee, 341. Snow balls, 333. Snowflake, 333. Snow plow, a, 252. Soap suds, 76; toilet, 469; to save, 481; hard, 527. Sofa pillow, 365; coverings, cleansing, 512. Soils, the fertility of, 72. Soil, the, how to enrich, 62; improving light, 78. Soldering and tinning, fluid for, 503. Something nice, 304. Soup, asparagus, 280; potato, 280; green pea, 281; cream-of-rice, 281; chicken cream, 281; Saturday, 281; cauliflower, 281; minute, 281; veal cream, 281; macaroni, 282, beef, 282; one day, 282; mutton, 282; poultry, 282; bean, 282; julienne, 282; codfish, 282; vegetable, 282; tomato, 283; summer, 283; plain, 283; okra, 283; INDEX. 6i3 Soup, clam, 293. Spasms, 459. Spavin and ringbone, cure for, 149. Spiuacli, 95; to coolc, 296. Spirals, 332. Sponge drops, 341; garden, a, 400. Sponges, 517. Spotting, to prevent, 481. Sprains and bruises, 418. Squash culture, 92. stuffed, 295; scalloped, 298. Squashes, keeping winter, 91. Stable floors, best material for, 148. Stables, sawdust for, 151; horse, flies in, 152. Staining woods, 487. Stains and spots, for the removal of, 483; to remove from the hands, etc., 509; to remove from broadcloth, 516; to take from marble, 516; coffee or milk, to remove, 526; iodine, removing, 528; to remove from tableware, 529. Stall, kicking in the, 145. Stammering, 447. Stand, visiting card, 374; for cigar ashes, 377; rustic flower, 395; a home made flower, 410. Starch, gum arable, 479; to prevent lumps in, 481; potato, to make, 481; alum in, 481. Steak, the right way to cook, 290. Sieel articles, to clean, 516. Stew, Irish, 296. Stings, bee, 456. Stitch, star, 379. Stock, an inexpensive relish for, 155; cheap shelter for, 164; feed rack for, 166; feeding, science applied to, 166; roots for, 171 ; mixing hay for, 172; carrots for, 172; overfeeding, 176. Stockings, faded blue, to restore, 482; to color blue, 515. Stomach, sickness of, 448; acid, 457. Stove, clinkers in a, to destroy, 527; a, to give a flne, brilliant appearance, 529; pipe, for rusty, 530; Stoves, to blacken, 523. Strawberries, preparing soil for, 131; when to plant, 131; covering, 132; cultivation of, 133. Strawberry vines, winter protection of, 136; bed, setting a, 136. Straw, how to stack, 39; .Streaking, to prevent, 480. Stumps, ridding the land of, 262; blasting, 269; « Stumps, burning, 273. Stye on the eyelid, 451. Succotash, 297. Sugar, save your, 514. Suggestions, general, to those intending to build, 12. Sunburn, 465. Sunstroke, 454; to prevent, 457. Superphosphate, home made, 76. Swallow, protect the, 275. Swarms, how to catch, 240. Sweeping, 512. i-'weet potatoes, how to keep, 49. Swill, poisonous, 183. Swine, sanitary management of, 177; preparing food for, 181 ; raising, 182. Syllabub, Staffordshire, 345. Syrup, lemon, 312. Table covers, etc., 354; etiquette, 488; for housewives, a useful. 516. Tables, to remove marks from, 523. Taffy, sugar, 347. Tart, orange, 333. Teats, obstructed, 169. Teeth, the, 465. Telephone, a cheap, to make, 499. Tetter, 459. Throat, sore, 419; foreign bodies in the, 460. Tidy, a pretty, 350; crochet macrame, 352. Tinware, to clean, 528. Toads, a good word for, 275. Toast, tomato, 301; French, 309. Tobacco growing, about, 56; sulphur and, 99; cultivation of, loO; antidote, 457. Toe nails, ingrowing, 446. Tomato culture, 89; plants, training, 90; butter, 306. Tomatoes, late, 90; training, 101; excellent way to cook, 296; scalloped, 299; onions and, 299; baked, for breakfast, 300; fried, 301; preserved, 306. Tongue, pickled, 287; cold on toast, 289; boiled, 290; roasted, 290. Tongues, how to pickle, 288. Tool, a convenient, 247; house, a farm, 248. Tools, home made, 243; farm, keep sharp, 254. Toothache, 417. Top-dressing, 78; bone dust for, 73; in winter, 80; Towels, should be thoroughly dried, 481 ; the care of, 507. Transparency, floral, 367. 644 INDEX. Transplanting, 83. Traps, weasel, rat and vermin, 260. Tread power, improved, 244. Trees, large, transplanting, 108; care of after transplanting, 109; vines and, waste bones for, 110; protection of, 113; injuries to, 117; young, ants on, 118; covering for wounds of, 122; top grafting, 124. Trellis, a cheap, 129. Trifle, gooseberry, 331; German, 333. Tripe a la Lyonaise with tomatoes, 285. Trough, convenient, 175; a convenient feeding, 177. Troughs, iron hog, 180. Tuberose, the, 396. Turkeys, how to fatten, 213; raising, 218. Turnips, stuflfed, 295. Ulcers, 455. Umbrellas, care of, 508. Varnish, jet black, 505. Vase, a living, 402. Veal cutlets, 284; minced and eggs, 285; scollop, 286; spiced, 288; fillet of, boiled, 289; sausages, 289. Vegetables, the best garden, 81; insects on garden, 96. Vegetable substances, value of, 79. Veils, black, to clean, 521. Velvet, to clean, 500; to restore the pile of, 514; care of, 526. Ventilation, 459. Verbena, the, 395. Vermin, to eradicate, 524. Vessel, an oily, to clean, 512. Vessels, to purify, 618. Vinegar, 617; sorgo, how to make, 268; clover, 305. Vineyard, in the, 126. Wafers, oatmeal, 309; graham, 309. Waifles, 327; • delicious, 278, Wagon wheels, gas tar for, 276. Waiters, japanned, to clean, 515 Wall papei, hanging, 488; liow to clean, 502. Wall pocket, 367. Walls, painting and kalsomining, 510. Wardian case, ornamental, 389. Wardian cases, 404. Warts, 423. Washing machine, a, 471; fluid, 473; made easy, 477; hosiery, 478; merinos and silk, 480; woolens, 480. Water, hot, as a remedy, 442; to purify, 514; to soften, 523. Watermelon culture, a new method of, 93; tea dish, 331. Weeding implement, a good, 249. Weeds, 56; late, 57. Weights and measures, 334; housekeeper's, 526. Wells, removing carbonic acid gas or foul air from, 275. Wheat, harvesting, 37; shocks, 37; fields, draining, 39; weevil in, 39; maxims in small compass, 40; nitrate of soda for, 79. White goods, to clean, 519. Whitewash for buildings and fences, 266; that will stick, 273; glazed, 521. Whooping cough, 421. Wild cherry, grafting the, 108. Windgalls or pull's, 151. Window gardening, 384. Windows, to crystallize, 520. Woodenware, to prevent from crack- ing, 512. Wood, to render uninflammable, 275; the, to remove a screw rusted in, 529. Woodwork, to cleanse, 500. Woolen articles, how to give a finish to, 528. Wool, increasing the grort^th of, 189. Work stand, ladies, 380. Work table cover, 349. Worms, 423. Wounds, 417. Yeast, railroad, 309. Zephyr, white, te clean articles made of, 529. Zinc, to clean, 530. ^H pri p H