32 



THE LANCASTER FARMER. 



piece appears ; insert the knife between that and the 

 bone, and separate them ; then turn over the 

 bird a little, and just below the breast you will find 

 the "oyster," which you separate as you did the inner 

 breast. Proceed the same way with the other side. 

 The fork need not be removed during the whole pro- 

 cess. A sharp knife is indispensalile. The platter 

 should be drawn i»ar enough to the carver for him to 

 reach each part of the bird with perfect ease." 



Soup Making. 



In the first place, observe always to lay your meat 

 in the bottom of the pan or pot, cutting the meat up, 

 or, if a bone, cracking it well. A lump of butter adds 

 richness, but it is not necessary. Select such herbs 

 and vegetables as you prefer; cut them up very small 

 and lay over the meat, with a very little water, and a 

 cautiously small piece of salt. Cover the vessel with 

 a close fitting lid and set it by a slow fire. This will 

 draw out all the herbs and roots, giving the soup a 

 difl'erent flavor from what is imparted by putting the 

 full quantity of water in at first. Turn the meat fre- 

 quently. When the gravy produced is almost dried 

 up, fill your pot with a sufficient quantity of water to 

 make soup enough for your family. To a large shank 

 bone of beef three quarts, or even one gallon is not too 

 much to allow. When your soup is done take it olT 

 the fire to cool, and skim thoroughly. Put it on again, 

 and be sure not to dish it up unless boiling hot. Be 

 careful to add salt and other high flavored condi- 

 ments sparingly; every table is provided with salt- 

 cellar and casters, so that a deflciency in these re- 

 spects may be easily rectified; not .^io an over quantity. 

 If other thickening "than the vegetables used is deemed 

 advisable use browned flour for all soups save chicken, 

 veal and oyster soup." 



Charcoal for Poultry. 



Fowls of all kinds are very fond of charcoal, and 

 will eat it with great relish if properly prepared. 

 Pounded charcoal is not in the shape in which fowls 

 usually find their food, and consequently is not very 

 enticing to them. To please their palate, the char- 

 coal should be in pieces of about the size of grains of 

 corn, and if these are strewed around their quarters 

 they will readily eat thereof. Corn burnt on the cotj, 

 and the refuse (which consists almost entirely of the 

 grains reduced to charcoal, and still retaining their 

 perfect shape,) placed before them, makes a marked 

 improvement in their health, as is shown by the 

 brighter color of their combs, and their sooner pro- 

 ducing a greater average of eggs to the flock than 

 before. 



^ 



The Curative Potato. 



Dr. Streeter, of Santa Barbara, tells the A!ta that 

 the worst case of gravel may be cured, the deposit 

 dissolved and passed away, by using the water in 

 which potatoes have been boiled to pieces ; strain the 

 water, sweeten to taste, and drink for two or three 

 weeks. This is a painless cure. The same authority 

 states that furring or coating deposited on the inside 

 of steam boilers may be easily removed, making the 

 surface appear like new iron, by placing a quantity 

 of raw potatoes in the boiler and letting them boil to 

 pieces. After two or three days o])cn the manholes 

 and a sandy deposit will be found; brush it out and 

 the boiler will be as good as new. 



Glycerine for Preserving Fruit. 



We learn through a German journal, says the 

 Journal of Applied Chemistry, that in order to pre- 

 serve fresh fruits it is necessary to only heat them, if 

 not perfectly ripe, in water almost to boiling, drain 

 nearly dry, and cover with warm concentrated glyce- 

 rine. If the fruit is perfectly ripe, heating in water is un- 

 neccssai-y. It is also ad\ised to pour oft' the glycerine 

 after standing for some time and add Iresh concen- 

 trated glycerine. The glycerine poured off may be 

 concentrated on a water bath and used a second time. 

 Ordinary glycerine is often inqjure, but only that 

 whicli is perfectly pure and colorless, with a clean, 

 Bweet taste and a specific gravity of 125 should be 

 employed, 



^ 



A Happy Home. 



In a happy home there will be no fault-finding, 

 overbearing spirit; there'will be no peevishness or 

 fretfulness. Unkindness will not dwell in the heart 

 or be found in the tongue. Oh, the tears, the sighs, 

 the wasting of life and health and strength, and of 

 all that ie most to be desired in a happy home, occa- 

 sioned merely by unkind words. A celebrated writer 

 remarks to this effect, namely, that fretting and 

 scolding seem like tearing the flesh from the bones ; 

 tliat we have no more right to be guilty of this sin 

 than we have to curse and swear and steal. In a per- 

 fectly happy home all selfishness will be removed. Its 

 members will always seek first to please each other. 

 Cheerfulness is another ingredient in a happy home. 

 How much does a sweet smile, emanating from a 



heart fraught with love and kindness, contribute to 

 make a happy home ? At evening how soothing is that 

 sweet cheerfulness that is borne on the countenance 

 of a wife and mother! How do parent and child, 

 brother and sister, the mistress and servant, dwell 

 with delight upon those confiding smiles that beam 

 from the eye and burst from the inmost soul of those 

 who are dear and near. How it hastens the return 

 of the father, lightens the cares of the mother, renders 

 it more easy for youth to resist temptation, and, drawn 

 by the chords of aftection, how it induces them, with 

 lowly hearts, to return to the paternal roof. Seek 

 then to make home happy. 



Unaired Rooms. 



A writer in the Country Gentleman says: "I pass 

 some houses in every town whose windows might as 

 well be sealed in with the walls, as for any purpose 

 they have but to let in the light. They are never 

 opened, summer or winter. In winter it is cold ; in 

 the summer the flies stray in, or, if they are netted, 

 the dust sifts through the nets. Now, I can tell a 

 person who inhabits such chambers when I pass him 

 in the street — there is such a smell about his clothing 

 I always wish for a sniff of cologne or hartshorn, or 

 burnt feathers, or something of the sort, ' to take the 

 taste out.' A house that is never aired has every 

 nook and corner filled with stale odors of cooked 

 meats, boiled vegetables, especially cabbage and 

 onions, which, as the weeks go by, literally reek in 

 their hiding places. The very garments of the child- 

 ren tell the same story of uncleanliness. It is bad to 

 have unwashed 'clothes, but there may be an excuse 

 for it. But what excuse can there be for unaired 

 ones, when air is so cheap and free ? There is death 

 in such unaired chambers. Better a swarm of flies 

 or a cloud of dust ; butter frost and snow in a room 

 than these intolerable smells. The first thing in the 

 morning, when you are reatTy to go down stairs, 

 throw open your windows, take apart the clothing of 

 your beds and let the air blow through it as hard as 

 it will. There is health in such a policy." 



Keep the Birthdays. 



Keep the birthdays religiously. They belong ex- 

 clusively to, and are treasured among the sweetest 

 memories of home. Do not let anything prevent some 

 token, be it ever so slight, to show that it is remem- 

 bered. Birthdays are great events to children. For 

 one day they feel they are heroes. The special pud- 

 dings are made expressly for them ; a new jacket, 

 trowsers with pockets, or the first pair of boots, are 

 donned, and big brothers and sisters sink into insig- 

 nificance beside " little Charley," who is " six to-day,'' 

 and is soon " going to be a man." Fathers who have 

 half a dozen little ones to care for are apt to forget 

 birthdays — they come too often. Sometimes they 

 are too busy and sometimes they are bothered, 

 but if they only knew how much such souvenirs are 

 cherished by their children, years afterward, when, 

 away from the hearthstone, they have none to remind 

 them that they have added one more year to the per- 

 haps weary round of life, or to wish them, in the 

 good old-fashioned phrase, "many happy returns of 

 their birthday," they would never permit any cause 

 to step in between them and a parent's privilege. 



A Fruit-Can Opener. 



This is sometliing that has been long needed in the 

 domestic circle. "The Sprague Can OPENEft"is 

 is a little instrument that can be very conveniently 

 carried in the pocket — a small lever with a steel blade 

 at theend,workingona pivoted fulcrum and through 

 a slat in a small piece of iron, which forms the plane 

 of purchase or leverage, and constitutes a sort of 

 shears ; used for cutting off the lids of soldered tin 

 fruit cans, sardine cases, oyster cans, or any other 

 vessel made of tin, copper, zinc, brass or iron, of the 

 same thickness as common tin. It is a small aflair, 

 costing from .50 cents to $1 each, according to style 

 and finish. We have tried this little instrument, and 

 find it admirably a<lapted to the use intended — far 

 more essential in a household using fruit, vegetables, 

 and other viands put in tin cans, than many other 

 domestic implements that have come into general 

 use. 



To Prevent Rusting. 



Boiled linseed oil will keep polished tools from rust- 

 ing, if it is allowed to dry on them. It is very dilli- 

 cult to get oflT and should never be put near a joint, 

 as it candies. Turpentine or soft soap will destroy it 

 when |it is necessary to brighten the surface oiled. 

 Common sperm oil will prevent from rusting a short 

 period. A coat of copal is frequently applied to 

 polished tools exposed to the weather. Woolen 

 materials are the best for wrappers for metals. Iron 

 and steel goods of all descrijitions are kept free from 

 the rust by the following : Dissolve one-half ounce of 

 camphor in one pound of hog's lard, take off the scum 

 and mix as much black lead as will give the mixture 

 an iron color. Iron and steel, and machinery of all 

 kinds, rubbed over with this mixture and left with it 

 on for twenty-four hours, and then rubbed with a 

 linen cloth, will keep clean for months. 



LITERARY AND PERSONAL. 



The Grape Culturist: This is the title of a 

 treatise on the cultivation of the native grape by 

 Andrew S. Fuller, the eminent practical horticulturist, 

 of Ridgewood, New Jersey, a new and enlarged edi- 

 tion of which is published by Orange Judd & Company, 

 the enterprising publishers of the American Agricul- 

 turist. In our article on the Culture of the Grape, in 

 this issue of The Farmer, we have followed Mr. 

 Fuller's system as the best, in our judgment, of the 

 many plans of trellising and pruning which have been 

 discussed pro and con, and we cannot too strongly 

 recommend his excellent manual to all who desire to 

 be thoroughly posted in all the details of the subject. 

 Mr. Fuller's treatise is comprehensive and exhaustive 

 of everything worth knowing in relation to grape grow- 

 ing, and his illustrations are so full and clear that the 

 most inexperienced amateur can have no difficulty in 

 understanding all directions given, so as to follow 

 them in practice. It contains 3^6 pages, and will be" 

 sent by mail on receipt of the price, $1..50. 



"The American Farmer vs Colorado Potato- 

 Beetle" — "The Pest and Its Remedy." This is a 

 14 page octavo pamphlet, issued by C. T. Raynold's 

 & Co., 108 and 108 Fulton street, New York, and 

 secured by a copyright. 



Although this pamphlet contains nothing new to 

 «s, yet it is a condensed history of the above named 

 insect, and the only reliable artificial remedy — Paris 

 Green — in which the publishers are dealers; its uses 

 and its dangers; the mode of judging it and applying 

 it; and the antidote in cases of poisoning from it. In 

 its essential points it is adapted to any locality where 

 this insect exists, and is written in language plain 

 enough for any one to understand. We presume it is 

 published for gratuitous circulation; but, in any event, 

 every farmer ought to possess a copy; and but for the 

 congressional restriction we believe we should have 

 transferred the entire treatise to our columns at the 

 proper season, although the task would be a trifle to 

 write one of our own. 



R. H. Allen's "Annual Descriptive Catalogue of 

 Garden, Flower and Field seeds and Grains," and 

 Field and Garden implements, for 187.5, has been re- 

 ceived, and is by far the best yet published by that 

 house, giving not only the common local English 

 names of the different vegetable productions, but also 

 the foreign and the scientific names. Agricultural 

 warehouse 189 and 191 Water street. New York. 



Attention is directed to the advertisement of 

 Ellwanger & Bakry, Nurserymen, Rochester, N. 

 Y. As is well known, they are the largest and most 

 successful growers of Fruit and Ornamental Trees, 

 Shrubs and Plants in the United States. Parties 

 wanting anything in their line will do well to send 

 for their Illustrated and Descriptive Catalogue. 



Coleman's Rural World, published weekly at 

 St. Louis, Mo., is one of the oldest and best Agricul- 

 tural weeklies we have seen. The eminent Prof. C. 

 V. Riley is the entomological editor. It is a large 

 quarto, and is conducted with ability and taste by 

 N. J. Coleman and his associates. Terms S3 a year. 



The " Gallinocclture Institute" is an enter- 

 prising establishment at Hicksville, New York, em- 

 bracing the "latest discovery" in artificial chicken 

 production, by " Corbett's Ilatching Apparatus," 

 operated without fire, steam, lampsor hens, the neces- 

 sary heat being generated by beds of horse manure. 



The American Farmer — an octavo magazine of 

 40 pages — for February, 187.5, is on our table. This 

 ie a beautiful and compact journal, published by 

 Sands & Son, Baltimore, at $1.50 a year, embracing 

 all sorts of subjects on rural and domestic affairs. 



The Massachusetts Plouuhman, a large folio, 

 has been received. The Pknighman. is largely devoted 

 to Agriculture, Horticulture, the Garden and the 

 Farm, as well as general literature. Published by 

 Geo. Noyes, Boston, Mass., at S2..5U a year, weekly. 



Our Readers, who maybe" prospecting" fortheir 

 supply of Spring Plants and Flowers, should by all 

 means visit Schroter's Floral Headquarters, where 

 they will find a great variety of good stock to select 

 from. 



Seeds of all kinds are advertised by William D. 

 Sprecher, of the old established and extensive Agri- 

 culture Implement and Seed Wareliouse of this city. 

 Attention is invited to his specialties. 



The TuoROUGiinRED Stock, advertised for sale at 

 the "Clifton Farms," Kennett Square, Chester-co., 

 is worthy the attention of purchasers. The proprie- 

 tors guarantee it to be as represented. 



Spooneh's Descriptive Price Catalogue, published 

 by W. H. Spooner, Boston, has been received. It 

 contains over 150 illustrations, and is mailed free to 

 applicants. 



Miscellaneous: The "Printers Circular" — "State 

 Hospital for the insane, Danville, Pa., 1874" — 

 "Forty-second Annual Report of the Managers of the 

 Pennsylvania Institute for the instruction of the 

 blind'"' — "New York city council for Political Re- 

 form " — American Journalist " — " Newspaper Re- 

 porter " — " Pennsylvania School Journal " — " The 

 Proof Sheet " — all duly received, all useful within 

 their several spheres, and all creditable to their pub- 

 lishers. 



