California Agriculturist akd Live Stock Journal. 



GGS bear a relp.tion to other animal food 

 similar to that which seeds bear to other 

 vegetable food. They are the deposi- 

 tories of vitality, stored up to forai a 

 new link in the continuation of the 

 species. They are probably the purest form 

 of animal food, though they compare unfavor- 

 ably with seeds in many respects. They lose 

 their vitality sooner, and they partake more 

 or less of whatever impurities may have be- 

 longed to the animal that produced them. 

 They are not so nutritious as some of the 

 seeds, and they require more care in cooking. 

 Like seeds, one of their principal ingi'edi- 

 ents is albumen, which is nearly pure in the 

 white; but, unlike vegetable albumen, it coag- 

 ulates with heat; if the heat is great, becomes 

 so hard as to be extremely diflficult of diges- 

 tion. Hence eggs are more easily digested 

 raw than cooked, and hence also the objection 

 to hard boiling. Dr. Beaumont found bits of 

 harh-boiled egg-white, no larger than a pea, 

 sometimes remained in the stomach after 

 everything else had yielded to the action of 

 the gastric juice. Such logic is unanswerable. 

 He deduced from it the importance of careful 

 mastication. We women can go a step fur- 

 ther, and find in it an intelligent reason for 

 so cooking the eggs that they will not require 

 this extra care. Fried eggs are still worse 

 than those which are boiled, both because 

 subjected to a greater degree of heat, and be- 

 cause of cooking fat into them. 



Even in the common method of boiling 

 them rapidly in "three and a half minutes" 

 the albumen next the shell is quite too hard. 

 It should be uniform and custard-hke, and 

 this is secured by the method, now becoming 

 quite common, of merely letting the eggs 

 stand from seven to ten minutes in hot water. 

 This should be boiling hot at first, but the 

 cool eggs reduce its temperature somewhat. 

 The exact time required will vary with the 

 relative proportions of eggs, with the heat 

 and thickness of the utensil used, with the 

 warmth of the place where it stands, and 

 with the weather also, a little more time be- 

 ing required in dull weather. The cook will 

 soon learn what allowance to make for her 

 utensils; and for the rest she must use her 

 judgment every time. They are not so easily 

 spoiled, however, as in boiling. If left in a 

 little too long they can be plunged into cold 

 water for a minute or two. If kept hot until 

 the whites stiffen, the yolks will not be hard. 

 The yolk should be cooked just enough not 

 to break rapidly when turned out. These 

 are properly speaking not "boiled eggs, " but 

 "curdled eggs." 



These ciirdled eggs make an admirable 

 dressing for many breakfast dishes — boiled 

 samp, oatmeal mush, cracked wheat, and es- 

 pecially small hominy. The gentle method 

 of cooking eggs may also be observed in mak- 

 ing egg-toast. Have the milk almost boiling, 

 in a tlut dish, and break in the eggs one by 

 one, cooking a few at a time, and being care- 

 ful not to let them run together. Sprinkle in 

 a little salt, and let them stand hot and cov- 

 crc^d until firm enough to take up without 

 breaking. Then have ready some spht batter 

 biscuit (gems;, softened in hot milk and laid 

 on a platter, and when the eggs are done dish 

 them one on each half of a biscuit and serve 

 warm. This is a handsome dish, and though 

 not (piite so digestable as homiuy dressed 

 with eggs curdled in the shell, it is still far 

 bettor than fried potatoes and griddle cakes 

 that form the staple of so many breakfasts, — 

 licicnce of llmlth. 



"Only Fifi'y Cknts a "Week." — A few 

 evenings ago n young man said in my lu^aring 

 "I am getting to be more economical in to- 

 bacco using. Now I ouly \ise fifty ci'uts' worth 

 (?) a week. 1 used to use nearly double 



,?»~ 



that amount, but have quit using so much, 

 but mast have fifty cents' worth." 



Only fifty cents a week ; which is only 

 twenty-six dollars a year; which is only -tix 

 humlrcd and fifly dollars in twenty-five years, 

 saying nothing about the interest—and all for 

 tobacco. And then said gentleman would be 

 only forty-five, and proljably would not quit 

 using it. It is quite safe to say that he will 

 chew up and spit out at least one thousand 

 dollars before he dies. 



This same fellow frequently talks about the 

 oxtravapauce of women, and says "a man had 

 better be murdered than married." I have 

 always noticed that the men who have the 

 most to say about woman's extravagance and 

 expensive families, used tobacco themselves, 

 and that it was quite a large item in the fam- 

 ily account. I suppose their consciences 

 smite them, and, Adam-like, they must say it 

 was Eve. It is rather strange that all of 

 Adam's sons take after their father. And 

 money is not all it costs. Just think of the 

 delightful work of cleaning up alter these to- 

 bacco-chewers. One cannot help exclaiming: 

 Oh, for 



A spot yet undcfiled by those who nse the weed. 



And where mankind the rules of neatness heed. 



Then, if the one that has caused all this 

 loathsome work chances to come in and does 

 not find the woman " WTeathed in smiles," he 

 goes out cursing women for being so cross, 

 and sighing for a land where women are un- 

 known. 



Alas! how much money and happiness is 

 annually spent for tobacco. — Kate Meuel, in 

 Fanners' Union. 



CoLOEED Inks. — The following recipes have 

 been well tested and are commended by good 

 authorities as preferable to the solutions of 

 aniline dyes which are now so extensively 

 used as colored inks: 



Green. — Two parts acetate of copper, one 

 part carbonate of potash, and eight parts 

 water. Boil till half is evaporated, and filter. 



Blue. — Three parts Prussian blue, one pait 

 oxalic acid, and thirty parts of water. When 

 dissolved, r Id one part of gum arable. 



Yellmo. — One part fine orpiment, well rub- 

 bed up with four parts thick gum water. 



linl. — With the aid of a gentle heat, dis- 

 solve four gi-ains of carmine in one ounce of 

 aqua ammonia, and add six grains of gum 

 arable. 



Gold. — Kub gold leaf, such as is used by 

 book-bineers, with honey till it forms a uni- 

 form mixture. When the honey has been 

 washed out with water, the gold powder will 

 settle at the bottom, and must be mixed with 

 gum-water in sufficient quantity. 



iSUver. — Silver-leaf treated in precisely the 

 same manner gives a silver ink. Both these 

 inks may, when di-y, be pohshed with ivory. 



Black. — Three ounces crushed gall -nuts, two 

 ounces crystallized sulphate of iron, two 

 ounces gum-arabic, and twenty-four ounces of 

 water. 



White. — Fine French zinc-white, or white- 

 lead, rubbed up with gum-water to the proper 

 consistency. — Boston Jouriml of Chemistry. 



Fried Potatoes. — Who will say after read- 

 ing this that a poetic mind will not invest 

 anything with interest. Just think of fried 

 ])otatoes melting away "like a kiss on the 

 sweet hps, with a dying crackle," etc.: 



Select eight large potatoes, pare and slice 

 thin, soak in cold water for two hours, and 

 stir common table salt into the water, one tea- 

 spoonful to a quart, and allow them to remain 

 in the brina half an hour longer. Pour them 

 upon a screen to drain, and put on a spider 

 with a pound of clear lard over a brisk fire. 

 Wipe the sliced potatoes dry on a towel ; wait 

 until the lard is smoking hot and jiour a large 

 plateful into the spider. The result is like a 

 small se:i in a white squall, and now the cook 

 shows the artistic soul, which every votary 

 of that noblest of the arts must possess to be 

 worthy of the name. Patient and cahu, with 



steady and incessant motion of the skimmer 

 she prevents adhesion of any too affectionate 

 slices, and watches carefully for the tender 

 blush of lirownness to appear. Slowly it 

 creeps, and deepens until it rivals the hue of 

 the fragrant Havana. Haste then takes the 

 place of caution, lest any martyrs bum for 

 the perfection of the others, and they must be 

 quickly spread upon another srieve to drain 

 until dry, and greaseless enough for the fairest 

 fingers, then served hot, to melt away like a 

 kiss on the sweet lips, with a dying crackle 

 Uke the fallen leaves of Auttmin. 



Old Potatoes. — An Eastern exchange gives 

 this advice: Potatoes, to be good, should 

 never be exposed to the light, but be kept in 

 as dark a place as possible. After they begin 

 to sprout in the Spring they should be taken 

 up from the bins or heaps and kept in boxes 

 or banels saved out for family use, instead of 

 picking them over and spreading them every 

 few weeks, put them into enough barrels so 

 that you can easily turn them from one to 

 another. Have one extra barrel, and once 

 every week turn them all out from one barrel 

 to another; this keeps them moving so often 

 that the sprouts cannot grow enough to do 

 much harm. The sprouts which come out 

 from the potato nse up the nourishment it 

 contains, and leave it soft, watery and insipid. 

 By treating them as proposed above, they 

 may be kept in comhtion for the tiible several 

 weeks longer than by sprouting them, and at 

 the Siime time save a good deal of work. 



Keep it from Them. — ^Don't give liquor to 

 children. Possibly you can do it with safety 

 but the chances are against it. One of the 

 first Uterary men in the United States said to 

 a writer: "There is one thing which, as yon 

 visit different places, I wish you to do every- 

 where, that is, entreat every mother never to 

 give a drop of strong drink to a child. I have 

 had a fight, as for my hf e, aU my days to keep 

 from dying a drunkard, because I was fed on 

 spirits when a child, and acquired a taste for 

 it. My brother, poor fellow, died a drunk- 

 ard. I would not have a child of mine take 

 a nrop of Uquor for anything. Warn every 

 mother, wherever you go, never to give a drop 

 to a child, as she valuesits future happiness. " 



Making Good Paste. — Mix two tablespoon- 

 fuls of wheat floor with cold water to a 

 smooth paste by putting in but Uttle of the 

 water at a time; its consistency must be a 

 little thinner than ths thickening for stews. 

 Place it upon the fire to heat thiough without 

 boiUng; apply it with a small brush. It is 

 best to make it as needed, though a small 

 piece of alum wiU keep it from turning sour- 



An Economical Wat of Making Books for 

 THE Little Ones. — Cut pieces of cotton or 

 muslin the size of the book -panted; six leaves 

 will do; bind them together with a jjiece of 

 ribbon, and on them paste pictures of almost 

 any description. Get tne little ones inter- 

 ested; they will soon make a collection. Cut- 

 ting them out of old books and papers will 

 often keep the little chatter-boxes quiet when 

 mamma is puzzling her brains for something 

 to amuse them. On the first leaf can be 

 pasted letters to spell Picture Book. 



Artesian Wells in Titlake Cofntt. — We 

 have recently had our attention called to the 

 artesian well bored by Mr. W. S. Chapman on 

 his ranch near the town of Merced. A large 

 streiuu is discharged from it, which courses 

 its way across the plains ten or twelve miles 

 and finally enters the San Joaquin. Some 

 four or five thousand head of cattle, and as 

 ninuy sheep, depend upon this stream for 

 water. Mr. W. W. Wright informs us that 

 during the past Summer he has met an arte- 

 sian force of two feet hydrostatic in wells 

 of twenty -five feet which he has bored. There 

 evidently is no difHculty about obtidning arte- 

 sian water in Tulare Valley.— l'iA'«ii« Ihlla. 



