THE PARMER'S MONTHLY VISITOR. 



THE FKUGAL KOUSFWIFH. 



O.ld Scraps for the Economical. 



If you would avoid waste in your family, attend 

 to the following rules, and do not despise them 

 because they appear so unimportant: "many a lit- 

 tle makes a mickle." 



Look frequently to the pails, to see that nothing 

 is thrown to the pigs, winch should have been in 

 the grease-pot. 



Look to the grease-pot, and see that nothing is 

 there which might have served to nourish your 

 own family, or a poorer one. 



Sec that the beef and pork are always under brine; 

 and that the brine is sweet and clean. 



Count towels, theets, spoons, &c., occasionally; 

 that those who use them may not become careless. 



See that the vegetables are neither sprouting-, 

 nor decaying ; if they are so, remove them to a dri- 

 er place and spread them. 



Examine preserves, to see that they are not con- 

 tracting mould ; and your pickles, to see that they 

 arc not growing soft and tasteless. 



As far as it is possible, have bits of bread eaten 

 up bef ire they become hard. Spread those that are 

 not ea'.en, and let them dry to be pounded for pud- 

 dings, or soaked for brewis. Brewis is made of 

 crus'B, and dry pieces of bread, soaked a good 

 while in hot milk, mashed up, and salted and but- 

 tered like toast. Above all, do not let them accu- 

 mulate in such quantities that they cannot be used. 

 With pioper care, there is no need of losing a parti- 

 cle of bread, even in the hottest weather. 



Attend to all the mending in the house, once a 

 week, if possible. Never put out sewing. If it 

 be impossible to do it in your ov/n family, hire some 

 one into the house, and work with them. 



M ike your own bread and cake. Some people 

 think it is just as cheap to buy of the baker and 

 confectioner : but it is not half as cheap. True, it 

 is more convenient; and therefore the rich are jus- 

 tifiable in employing them ; but those who are un- 

 der the necessity of be.ngoconomical, should make 

 conven'ence a secondary object. In the first place, 

 confectioners make their cake richer than people 

 of moderate income can afford to make it ; iu the 

 next place, your domestic, or yourself, may just 

 as well employ your own time, as to pay them for 

 theirs. 



When ivory-handled knives turn yellow, rub 

 them with nice sand paper, or emery ; it will take 

 off the sp jts and restore their whiteness. 



When a carpet is faded, I have been told that it 

 may ]ie restored, in a great measure, (provided there 

 be no g:e"ise in it) by being dipped into strong salt 

 and wat-r. 1 never tried th's ; but I know tliat 

 silk pocket-handkerchiefs, and deep blue factory 

 cotton, will not fade, if dipped in salt and water, 

 while n''vr. 



An ox's gall will set any color — silk, cotton, or 

 woolen. T have seen the colors of calico, which 

 faded at one washing, fi.xed by it. Where one 

 lives neir a slaughter-house, it is worth while to 

 buy cheap fading goods and set them in this way. 

 The gall can be bought for a few cents. Get out 

 all the liquid and cork it up in a large phial. One 

 !ar)Te spoon.*ul of this in a gallon of warm water is 

 suffic'ent. This is likewise e.xcellent for taking 

 out spots from bombazine, bombazet, &c. After 

 being washed in this, they look about as well as 

 when new. It must be thoroughly stirred into the 

 water, and not put upon the cloth. — It is used with- 

 out soap. After being washed in tliis, cloth which 

 you want to clean should be wasiied in warm suds, 

 without using soap. 



Tortoise shell and horn combs last much longer 

 for having oil rubbed into them once in a while. 



Indian-meal and rye-meal arc in danger of fer- 

 menting in summer; particularly Indian. They 

 should be kept in a cool place, and stirred open to 

 the air, once in a while. A large stone put in tlie 

 middle of a barrel of meal is a good thing to keep 

 it cool. 



The covering of oil-flasks sev/od together with 

 strong thread, and lined and bound neatly, makes 

 useful table-mats. 



A warming-pan full of coals, or a shovel of coals 

 held o\'er varnished furniture, will take out white 

 spots. Care should he taken, not to hold the coals 

 near enougli to scorch ; and the place should be 

 tubbed with flannel while warm. 



Spots in furniture may usually be cleansed by 

 rubbing them qu ck and hard, %vith a flannel wet 

 with the same th'mg which took out the color; if 

 rum, wet the cloth with ru.'n, cVc. The very best 

 restorative, f r defnced varnished furniture, is rrit- 

 ten-stone pu'.vjrised, and rubbed on with linseed 

 oil. 



Sal-volatile, or hartshorn, wiU restore colors tak- 

 en out by acid. It may bo dropped upon any gar- 

 ment without doing harm. 



Spirits of turpentine is good to take grease spots I should be kept in pickle twelve or fifteen days ; if 



out of woolen clothes ; to take spots of paint, &c 

 from mahogany furniture ; and to cleanse white kid 

 gloves. Cockroaches, and all vermin, have an 

 aversion to spirits of turpentine. 



An ounce of quicksilver, beat up with the white 

 of two eggs, and put on withafrathcr, is the clean- 

 est and surest bed-bug poison. ^Vhatis left should 

 be thrown away : it is dangerous to have it about 

 the house. If the vermin are in your walls, fill 

 up the cracks with verdigris-grcen paint. 



Lamps will have a less disagreable smell, if you 

 dip vour wick-yarn in strong hot vinegar, and dry 

 it. 



Those who make candles will find it a great im- 

 provement to steep the wicks in lime-water and 

 salt-petre, and dry them. The flame is clearer, and 

 the tallow will not "run." 



Brittania ware shold be first rubbed gently with 

 a woolen cloth and sweet oil ; tiien washed in 

 warm suds, and rubbed with soft leather and whit- 

 ing. Thus treated, it will retain its beauty to tlie 

 last. 



Eggs will keep almost any length of time in 

 lime-water properly prepared. One pint of coarse 

 salt, and one pint of unslacked lime to a pailful of 

 water. If there be too much lime it will eat the 

 shells from the eggs ; and if there he a single egg 

 cracked, it will spoil the whole. They should be 

 covered with lime-water, and kept in a cold place. 

 The yolk becomes slightly red ; but I have seen 

 eggs, thus kept, perfectly sweet and fresh at the 

 end of three years. The cheapest time to lay down 

 eggs, is early in spring and the middle and last of 

 September. It is bad economy to buy eggs by the 

 dozen, as you want them. 



New iron should be very gradually heated at 

 first. After it has become inured to the heat it is 

 not as likely to crack. 



It is a good plan to put new earthen ware into 

 cold water, and let it heat gradually, until it boils, 

 — then cool again. Brown earthen ware in par- 

 ticular, may be toughened in this way. A handful 



large, four or five weeks are not too much. They 

 should be hung up a day or two to dry, before they 

 are smoked. Lay them in an oven, on crossed 

 sticks, and make a fire at the entrance. Cobs, wal- 

 nut-b;irk, or walnut-chips, are the best to use for 

 smoking, on account of the sweet taste they give 

 the meat. The smallest pieces should be smoked 

 forty-eight hours, and the large legs four or five 

 days. Some people prefer the mutton boiled as 

 soon as it is taken from the pickle, before it is 

 smoked ; others hang it up till it gets dry thorough- 

 ly, and eat it in thin slices, like hung beef. When 

 legs of meat arc put in pickle, the thickest part of 

 the leg should he placed uppermost — that, is, stand- 

 ing upright, the same as the creature stood when 

 living. The same rule should be observed when 

 they are hung up to dr^' ; it is essentia! in order 

 to keep in the juices of the meat. Meat should be 

 turned over once or twice during the process of 

 smoliing. 



The old fashioned way for curing hams is to rub 

 them with salt very thoroughly, and let them lay 

 twenty-four hours. To each ham allow two ounces 

 of salt-petre ; one quart of common salt, and one 

 quart of molasses. First baste them with molasses ; 

 ne.\t rub in the salt-petre ; and, last of all, the com- 

 mon salt. They must be carefully turned and rub- 

 bed every day for six weeks, then hang them iu a 

 chimney, or smoke-house, four weeks. 



They should be well covered up in paper-bags, 

 and put in a chest, or barrel, with layers of ashes, 

 or charcoal, between. When you take out a ham 

 to cut tor use, be sure and put it away in a dark 

 place, well covered up ; especially in summer. 



Some very experienced epicures and cooks, think 

 the old fashioned way of preparing bacon is troub- 

 lesome and useless. They say tliat legs of pork 

 placed upright in pickle, for four or five weeks, are 

 ]ust as nice as those rubbed with so much care. 

 The pickle for pork and hung-beef, should be 

 stronger than for legs of mutton. Eight pounds of 

 salt, ten ounces of salt-petre, and five pints of mo- 



of rye, or wheat bran, thrown in while it is boiling, lasses is enough for one hundred weight of meat ; 



will preserve the glazing, so that it will not be de 

 !■ troyed by acid or salt. 



Clean a brass kettle, before using it for cooking, 

 with salt and vinegar. 



Skim milk and water, with a bit of glue in it, 

 heated scalding hot, is excellent to restore old, rus- 

 ty, black Italian crape. If clapped and pulled dry 

 like nice muslin, it will look as well, or better, than 

 when new. 



Wash-leather gloves should be v.-ashcd in clean 

 suds, scarcely warm. — Mrs. Cliild. 



Meat corned, or salted, Hams, &c. 



When you merely want to corn meal, you have 

 nothing to do but to rub in salt plentifully, and let 

 it set in the cellar a day or two. If you have pro- 

 vided more meat than you can use while it is good, 

 it is well to corn it in season to saye it. In sum- 

 mer it will not keep well more than a day and a 

 half; if you are compelled to keep it longer, be 

 sure and rub in more salt, and keep it carefully 

 covered from cellar-flics. In winter, there is no 

 difiiculty in keeping a piece of corucd beef a fort- 

 night or more. Some people corn meat by throw- 

 ing it into their beef barrel for a few days ; but 

 this method does not make it so sweet. A little 

 salt-petre rubbed in before you apply the common 

 salt, makes tlie meat tender; but in summer it is 

 not well to use it, because it prevents the other salt 

 from impregnating; and the meat does not keep as 

 well. 



If you wish to salt fat pork, scald coarse salt in 

 water and skim it, till the salt will no longer melt 

 in the water. Pack your pork down in tight lay- 

 ers, salt every layer ; when the brine is cool, cover 

 the pork with it, and keep a heavy stone on the top 

 to keep the pork under brine. Look to it once in 

 a"-ivhile, for the first few weeks, and if the salt has 

 all melted, throw in more. This brine, scalded and 

 skimmed every time it is used, will continue good 

 twenty years. The rind of the pork should be 

 packed towards the edge of the barrel. 



It is good economy to salt your own beef as well 

 as pork. Six pounds of corrse salt, eight ounces 

 of brown sugar, a pint of molasses, and eight oun- 

 ces of salt-petre are enough to boil in four gallons 

 of water. Skim it clean while boiling. Put it to 

 the beef cold ; ha^-e enough to cover it, and bo 

 careful vour beef never floats on the top. If it does 

 not smell perfectly sweet, throw in more salt ; if a 

 scum rises upon it, scald and skim it again, and 

 pour it on the beef when cold. 



Legs of mutton are very good, cured in the same 

 way as ham. Six pounds of salt, eight ounces of 

 salt-petre, and five pints of molasses, will make 

 pickle enough for one hundred weight. Small legs 



water enough to cover the meat well — probably, 

 four or five gallons. Any one can prepare bacon, 

 or dried beef very easily, in a common oven, accor- 

 ding to the above directions. The same pickle that 

 answers for bacon is proper for neat's tongues. 

 Pigs' tongues are very nice, prepared in the same 

 way as neat's tongues ; an abundance of them are 

 sold for rein-deer's tongues, and, under that name, 

 considered a wonderful luxury. 



Neat's tongues should he boiled full three hours. 

 IC it has been m salt long, it is well to soak it over 

 night in cold water. Put it in to boil when the wa- 

 ter is cold. If you boil it in a small pot, it is well 

 to change the water, when it has boiled an hour 

 and a half; the fresh water should boil, before the 

 half-cooked tongue is put in again. It is nicer for 

 being kept in a cool place a day or two after being 

 boiled. Nearly the same rules apply to salt beef. 

 A six pound piece of corned beef should boil full 

 three hours ; and salt beef should be boiled four 

 hours. The suiter meat is the longer it should be 

 boiled. If very salt it is well to put it in soak over 

 night; change the water while cooking ; and ob- 

 serve the same rules as in boiling tongue. If it is 

 intended to be eaten wJien cold, it is a good plan to 

 put it between clean boards, and press it down 

 with heavy weights for a day or two. A small leg 

 of bacon should be boiled three hours ; ten pounds 

 four hours ; twelve pounds five hours. All meat 

 sliould boil moderately ; furious boiling injures the 

 flavor. 



Burt'alo's tongue should soak a day and a night, 

 and boil as much as six hours.~^/?-5. Childs. 



Broom Corn. 



The manuficture of Corn Brooms appears to be 

 introducing itself into the middle and southern 

 States. By " introducing itself," we mean to say, 

 that some Yarikecs have established the culture of 

 this crop at Georgetown, near Washington, and al- 

 ready have shipped ten thousand to New York. It 

 is a lucrative business, and like every thing else, if 

 diligently pursued, will yield a good compensation. 

 Some ol' our young men from old Hadley, where 

 they turn out two or three hundred thousand a 

 year, without winking at it, — have been on to 

 Georgetown to show them how the Yankees do it. 

 They say southern broom brush is longer than the 

 northern, but it is coarser and does not command so 

 good a price. Perhaps in no place in the Union, 

 within the same extent of territory, is broom corn 

 grown so extensively as in the neighborhood of this 

 town. The extensive meadows in Kaitield, Had- 

 ley and Northampton, in the season of it, contains 

 vast fields of this crop. Hundreds of thousands 

 of brooms are annually sent to all parts of the Un- 



