180 



Disappointment- 



Secret ivorth Knawing. 



Vol. IV. 



From tlie Yankee Farmer. 



disappointment; 



OR, THE SALTED PUDDING. 



Versified by its original author. (N. B. First published 



ill prose in the Amaranth, ISfi.) 

 A jolly old wight, ('twas a farmer of yore. 

 Who ne'er turu'd the needy away from his door,) 

 Was fond of good pudding, and order'd the same, 

 As often as Saturday evening came. 

 I mean hasty-pudding, an excellent food, 

 And Oralcamites call it both wholesome and good ; 

 But Gaffer he cared not for Graham a straw. 

 For he butter'd his pudding to pleasure his maw. 

 In condiments too, he was never a slouch. 

 As all his domestics might very well vouch ; 

 Of salt, or of pepper, of mustard, or mace. 

 If there was a lacking, he'd show a wry face. 

 One Saturday night, when their labour was done, 

 A stranger called in there, the tempest to shun ; 

 They bid him a v,relcome, and gave him a chair. 

 So he tarried all night, and partook of their fare. 

 The pudding, from meal of the rich yellow maize. 

 Was boiling and muttering over the blaze. 

 The worthy good house-wife was tewing about. 

 With Dolly, the maid, up and down, in and out. 

 " I'll bet now," cries Gaffer, "the salt is forgot," 

 So he took out a handful and threw in the pot ; 

 Then stept out of doors, when his wife, in a trice. 

 Came along and put in as much more of the spice. 

 Next Dolly, the maiden, and Moses, the son. 

 Both salted the pudding, not knowing 'twas done ; 

 The stranger, with Romans, like Romans must do, 

 So, following the fashion, he salted it too. 



The old oaken table by Dolly was set. 

 Around which the farmer's good family met; 

 The broad pewter platter, an heir-loom of fame, 

 Brim full of hot pudding, was placed on the same. 



" Come, come, friend," quoth Gaffer, " fall to and spare 



not : — 

 When this we have finish'd, there's more in the pot." 

 Tlien, taking a mouthful, cried, —" thunder ! what's 



here ? 

 Who salted the pudding, wife ?"— " I did, my dear." 



♦' Did you ?— so did I ;"— " so did I too," said Moses : 

 " The gallows !" cried Gaffer, " we've put in tliree 



doses 1" 

 •'I salted it also," said Dolly, " that's four ;" 

 " For me," said the guest, " you may reckon one more." 



"What, five ?— by Lot's wife," cried the honest old 



wight, 

 •'Then sure we've no pudding for sirjippr to-night. 

 Can you something provide, spouse? you'd better go 



look ; 

 If not, it is plain, we must all kiss the cook." 



What they supped on, no matter ; the house had enough 

 For the farmer an army of gourmands might stull'. 

 The moral is common, — in palace or cottoge, 

 Willi two many cooks, you will ruin your pott'igc. 



Secret Wortli linowtng. 



How to make three pair of boots last as 

 long as six, and longer. 



The following extract from Colonel Ma- 

 carone's " Seasonable Hints," appeared in 

 the Mechanics' Magazine, dated February 

 8th, 1838. After stating the utility of sheep- 

 skin clothing for persons whose employment 

 renders it necessary that they should be much 

 out doors, &c. he says — " I w-ill not conclude 

 without inviting the attention of your.readers 

 to a cheap and easy method of preserving 

 their feet from wet, and their boots from 

 wearing. I have liad only three pair of boots 

 for the last six years, (no shoes,") and I think 

 that I shall not require any others for the 

 next six years to come. The reason is that 

 I treat them in the following manner : — I put 

 a pound of tallow and half a pound of rosin 

 into a pot on the fire; when melted and 

 mixed, I warm the boots, and apply the hot 

 stuff with a painter's brush, until neither the 

 sole nor upper leather will suck in any more. 

 If it is desired that the boots should imme- 

 diately take a polish, dissolve an ounce of 

 beeswax in an ounce of spirits of turpentine, 

 to which add a tea-spoonful of lamp-black. 

 A day or two after the boots have been treat- 

 ed with tallow and rosin, rub over them the 

 wax and turpentine, but not before the fire. 

 Thus the exterior will have a coat of wax 

 alone, and shine like a mirror. Tallow, or 

 any other grease, becomes rancid, and rots 

 the stitching as well as the leather ; but the 

 rosin gives it an antiseptic quality, which 

 preserves the whole. Boots or shoes should 

 be large so as to admit of wearing cork soles. 

 Cork is such a bad conductor of heat, that 

 with it in the boot, the feet are always warm 

 on the coldest stone floor. 



How to prevent Oxen Hauling Apart. 



Some oxen have a very vexatious trick of 

 hauling apart, when in yoke. Mr. Francis 

 Wingate, an experienced farmer at Hallow- 

 ell, informs us that he prevented this in a 

 yoke of oxen, by placing a small rope or line, 

 a codline for instance, across from the horn 

 of one ox to the horn of the other, thus bring- 

 ing tiieir heads in some degree together. 

 The line should be tied around the tips, which, 

 if they have balls on, may be kept there very 

 easily, and should be ])roportioned in length 

 to tlie length of the yoke. 



If this simple remedy will obviate the trou- 

 ble in all oxen addicted to this trick, it is 

 worth knowing. If tlie rope"13e tied around 

 the tips instead of around tlie roots of the 

 horns, they will have less purchase upon it, 

 and a sinallcr cord will answer the purpose. 

 — Maine Farmer. 



