36i 



DOMESTIC ECONOMY. 



[Chap. IV. 



acted upon. It is to coat the inside with silver or platinum, which could lie 

 done I)y the galvanic I)attery, so that the expense would not be too gvcat for 

 ordinary use in the Iiouses of those who are aljle lo live in a way suited to a 

 high order of civilization. This would be a particularly desirable improve- 

 ment in kettles for Iicating water for tea. So it would for such cookery 

 as requires porcelain-lined kettles. From the greatly increased supply of 

 bilver IVoin Washoe, Arizona, and other silver mines, we may yet be able 

 t(i improve our domestic utensils. Iron, cojiper, brass, zinc, are all objec- 

 tionable for many purposes, and porcelain lining is soon destroyed by care- 

 less cooks. 



387. Flonr — How to Select Goodi — Farmers of all the Eastern States buy 

 flour, and some of them are not ver\' good judges of wliat they buy. There 

 are a few plain rules to observe in buying flour by which you can tell its 

 ([uality, and select that which is good. Tiio best flour is not snowy wliite, 

 liut has a yellowisli tint when a handful is squeezed together and then 

 broken open. Lay a little in tlie palm of your hand and smooth it; with a 

 knife or your finger, and see that it is free from s]iceks, and of even finencs^, 

 but not an inqialpable powder. To prove this, tlirow a little lump against a 

 perpendicular board or smooth wall, upon which the most of it, if good, 

 should stick. Good flour, squeezed in the hand, will retain its shape. If 

 you wet a little in your hand, see that it does not work soft and sticky, or 

 you may get spring-wheat instead of winter-wheat flour. Flour that works 

 sticky is not good. If it has a bluish tint it is not good. _If it falls in dry 

 ]iowder when thrown, or if it falls apart, dry and powdery, when squeezed, 

 it is not good. We commend to all families who buy flonr the trial of these 

 tests Avith the flour now on hand, the quality of which is known. 



3SS. Adulterations of Toodi — The first object of a housekeeper should be 

 to procure unadulterated articles. This is very diflicult for city people to 

 do, owing to the adulteration of almost every article of food prepared for 

 sale. But this is not the case with most of the food used by farmers, because 

 it is made of home products. 



Many of the adulterations of such articles as are usually purchased may 

 be detected by simple tests. The microscope reveals the adulterations of 

 flour, sugar, farina, arrow-root, starch, salt, etc. 



Bread, that most important article of food, is always more healthful in a 

 farmer's family, because it is free from adulterations, or at least much more 

 free than liaker's bread. 



3S9. How Eating Aflfccts the Health.— To meet 'at the breakfast-table, father, 

 mother, children, all well, ought to l^e a happiness to any heart ; it should 

 be a source of humble gratitude, and should wake up the warmest feelings 

 of our nature. Make it a rule never to come to the table in a churlish mood. 

 Let joy pervade your meals. 



"The tables of the rich and the nobles of England are centers of mirth, 

 wit, and Iion/iomic; and they live long. It takes hours to get through a 

 repast. The negroes of a well-to-do family in Kentucky, wliile at their 



