58 



THE LANCASTER FARMER. 



for bathing piu'poses. Traversing as they do 

 the country in all directions, they are spanned 

 by innumerable rude bridges, whose repair is 

 a part of the duty of the supervisor and his 

 assistants. All in all, the system is simple 

 enough, but the innumerable annoyances which 

 arisefrom floods, from beavers and musk-rats 

 who dig holes through the banks and cause 

 leaks, and from cattle which, in crossing them, 

 break down the borders and send the water in 

 all directions, and from many other causes, 

 are enough to disturb the eqanimity of any one 

 who is not, like the Mexicans, a confirmed 

 optimist. — F. R. D., Lancaster, Pa. 



SOAP. 



To live in a clean house, to wear clean 

 clothes, and to have a cleaq skin, are privi- 

 leges hot to be lightly esteemed. A free use 

 of the compound which bears the honorable 

 name, Soap, aids very materially in attaining 

 these. All of us who labor on the farm, in the 

 shop, factory, kitchen or elsewhere, know- 

 that the material among which we work very 

 often gets out of place, becomes dirt, sticks 

 where it should not, and though water alone 

 be applied ever so freely, the " spot will not 

 out," and our only chance of preventin.i; an 

 immaculate appearance after oiu: work is done, 

 is by the application of soap. 



The quantity of soap used by the people of 

 a country, it has been said, is a measure of 

 their civilization. A proper use, of course, is 

 meant ; and there is truth in this. Habitual 

 personal cleanliness is as sure a sign as one 

 can be named by which to recognize the man 

 or woman living under the influences of civ- 

 ilization. 



Chemically, soap is the union of fat or oil 

 with an alkaline base, either potash or soda 

 The alkali on which its cleansing action de- 

 pends, used alone, would tend to destroy the 

 substance to be cleansed ; this is why wash- 

 ing powders are injurious to the textm^e of the 

 clothing on which "they are used, and the use 

 of the fat or oil in making soap is to neutral- 

 ize this tendency, and to act as a lubricant. 



There are many extensive soap factories in 

 the country, and those housekeepers who wish 

 can be supplied with €very kind and quality 

 by the soap, grocery and country stores ; 

 but many — the majority in the country— yet 

 prefer that made by themselves. They have 

 the fat necessary in the shape of refuse lard, 

 tallow, bacon skins, etc., and the potash or 

 soda can now easily be obtained for use with 

 much less labor than was formerly required, 

 when the potash had to be extracted from the 

 pile of wood ashes at home. Where wood is 

 used for fuel this is yet done ; but we flunk 

 nothing is gained by it ; the unleached ashes 

 can be profitably used on the farm and gaixlen, 

 and there is always so nuicli to be done, es- 

 pecially about a farm-house, that no extra la- 

 bor should be engaged in where it can be 

 avoided without loss. 



We would then say, if you want to make 

 soap (and tliis is generally one of the first jolis 

 in order on the approach of spring) go and liuy 

 caustic soda — you can get it at an apothecary 

 if nowhere else — and use it in this way. For 

 hard .soap, take to one pound of caustic soda 

 three pounds of fat, or five or six pounds of 

 ordinary soap fat, and three gallons of water ; 

 put all together in a kettle over the fire and 

 boil, adding three or four handsful of salt be- 

 fore the boiling is (pnte finished ; from two to 

 three hours boiling will l)e necessary. The ex- 

 perienced soap boiler will know by its appear- 

 ance when it has boiled sufficiently. The no- 

 vice will soon learn. 



Where caustic soda can not be obtained, get 

 common washing or sal-soda, and by the ad- 

 dition of lime make it cai(.st/c, after the Pjllow- 

 ing plan, wliich is the one generally in use at 

 present, and wliich makes an excellent soap : 

 Take six pounds of washing soda and tlu'ec 

 pounds of fresh, unslacked lime ; place to- 

 gether in any water-tight vessel — an iron ket- 

 tle is best — and pour on two gallons of boiling 

 water ; stir occasionally until tb.e lime is 

 slacked and the soda is dissolved ; then allow 



it to settle. Take the clean lye from the top 

 and pour it on the fat — of which three pounds 

 common scrapings are to be taken, and com- 

 mence boiluig ; then add another gallon of 

 water to the settlings of the soda and lime, 

 stirring as before. This lye is then to be added 

 to the other while boiling', also thi'iiw in about 

 six single handsful of salt about half an hour 

 before it is done boiling. Boil two hours 



Without the salt either of these methods 

 will make a semi-soft soap ; but for a real 

 soft soap potash must be used. This you can 

 buy for the purpose ; or if you prefer, extract 

 from vfood ashes by simply mixing a little fresh 

 lime with them and pouring on water. An 

 old barrel or tub will do to hold them, if there 

 is a hole in the bottom for the liquid to drain 

 out. The ash hoppers fonnerly used for tliis 

 purpose are yet standing alongside of some 

 outhouse on many farms, but seldom used 

 now. 



For toilet pui-poses a soap made with a 

 vegetable oil is to be preferred — castile, jialm 

 or cocoa, rather than those highly perfumed, 

 but which are sometimes made from the most 

 impure materials. If perfumed soap is wanted, 

 the common soap above can be melted, and per- 

 fume of any desired kind can be added ; but it 

 will be rather strong for delicate skins, and 

 castile is much to be preferred. 



Soap-making need no longer be dreaded by 

 the woman to whose lot it falls, as by the 

 methods we have given, as well as other simi- 

 lar ones, all the soap needed in a family for 

 six months can be easily made in a single day. 



It is sometimes said that home-made soap 

 costs more than it could be bought for. Per- 

 haps it does ; but then you have the satisfac- 

 tion of knowing from what it is made. 



We would specially recommend the first 

 method we have given on account of its great 

 convenience ; but if there are any readers of 

 this who know of a "better way," we are 

 sure they cannot do better than to make it pub- 

 lic througli The Farmeb. JEi. 



MOUNTAIN TEA. 



The Beading Times, some time ago, pub- 

 lished an article on "Mountain Tea," and 

 spoke of a Mr. Hearsing as a veteran Tea 

 merchant, selling his tea in Berks and Lan- 

 caster counties. Mr. H., I believe, was never 

 known to visit old Warwick township, in 

 Lancaster County. 



But the tea was well-known in this part of 

 the county for upwards of forty years or more. 

 Between the j'ears 1815 and 1820, a man by 

 the name of Jacob Mauss, a German, lived in 

 IMillport and ]5runcrsville, but left abruptly, 

 without paying all his liabilities. The neigh- 

 bors never knew what had become of him un- 

 til about 1830, when he "turned up," with a 

 large cargo of tea, contained in a muslin bag, 

 holding al)out fifty pounds, transporting it on a 

 wheelbarrow. Thus he would travel from 

 five to ten miles, occasionally taking out a quan- 

 tity and putting it into a smaller bag. He had a 

 light-weighing steelyards, almost worn as 

 white as silver from constant use, in weighing 

 out his tea in small quantities — from an eightli 

 to a pound. He represented himself as own- 

 ing large tea farms in the vicinity of Cold 

 Siirings, Lebanon county, and also in Dauphin 

 and Schuylkill counties. He gathered tea and 

 sold it, for many years, and, after his deatli, 

 his sons followed the same business for some 

 time. 



After they quit the business, a man in Ra- 

 pho township took it up, and journeyed north- 

 westward, as far as Northumlierland county, 

 to gather tea. He carried it in packages of 

 difi'ercnt weights to suit customers, "it is 

 called tlie "Fragrant Goldenrod," (Solidago) 

 of which genus there are over thirty species in 

 the United States. "Goldenrod" comes from 

 an old Latin word which me<ins, to vutki: rolioU, 

 or, uirite, from the supposed healing qualities 

 of tlie tea. They llower from August to Oc- 

 tober, and have a rich, golden yellow color. 

 The loaves are lanreolnte, or willow shaped. 

 Tlie fall, or "Bitter Goldenrod" is very a- 

 bvndant throughout Lancaster county. Some 



of it, in the leaves and flowers, looks like the 

 genuine Goldenrod, and can only be distin- 

 guished by tasting. The " Fragrant Golden- 

 rod " has been reported as existing on the hills 

 between Neftsville and the little Conestogo. 

 I noticed it in several counties west of Elmira, 

 in Kew York, and through Bradford and Ly- 

 coming counties, Pennsylvania. In passing 

 along the railroad, I could not ascertain whe- 

 ther it was the fragrant or the commoner 

 kinds. 



I have examined the localities where it is 

 supposed to exist in our county, but I found 

 nothing but a kind of mint, and tlierefore it 

 has probably become extinct in Lancaster. It 

 makes a very pleasant tea, and if we could 

 habituate ourselves to it, we would like it as 

 well as Black or Green Tea, and would save 

 the vast amount of money we send annually 

 to China for tea. L. S. R. 



P. S. — Dr. Wood gives 48 species of Soli- 

 dago for North America, but neither he, nor 

 Dr. Gray, makes any allusion to a fragrant 

 species, or that it is ever used for tea. Surely, 

 a plant used for this purpose these fifty years, 

 or more, must have been specifically identified 

 by Botanists long before this time. Can my 

 friend S. give the species, from its history a- 

 lone,and without having a specimen before him? 



THE GREAT LILIUM AURATUM. 



One of the most magnificent specimens of 

 this gorgeous flower ever seen, was exhibited 

 at the show of the Barnstable Agricultural 

 Society in September last. When the fact 

 that it bore no less than 61 perfect blossoms 

 at the time of the fair, and that three or four 

 others li.ad dropped off' in transjiorting it to 

 the show, was brought to the notice of the 

 State Board of Agriculture by Hon. J. F. C. 

 Hyde, who reported upon the exhibition as a 

 delegate from the board. Col. Wilder thouglit 

 it must be a mistake, so large a number of 

 blossoms never having been known. Major 

 Phinney, of Barnstable, amemljerof the board, 

 therefore addressed a note of enquii-y to Col. 

 Perkins, and received the following reply, 

 which we find in the 3Iassackusetts Plough- 

 man: 



My Dear Sir : In accordance with my promise to 

 you, I herewith give you the statement regardiuff the 

 growth of the Lilium Auratura at Cotuit, 187i, aud 

 other circumstances wliich seem to bear upon the 

 case. 



Mrs. Augustus D. Perkins began to cultivate the 

 Lilium Auriitum in her garden at Sandanwood, so 

 early as 1871. The position of the garden is on a bluff 

 fifty-five feet high, overlooking Cotuit Bay to tlie 

 southwest, and distant from the edge of the bank 

 about forty feet. The garden is surrounded with yel- 

 low pine trees. The original soil is merely sand, pro- 

 ducing nothing but pine and dwarf oak. After the 

 garden was laid out the sand was removed from the 

 beds to the depth of two feet, leaving the spaces round 

 them for paths. The beds were filled with a compost 

 made of black mud dug from a pond, mixed with the 

 sand taken from the beds, and enriched with manure 

 from stables near at hand. All the bulbs did well, 

 some reaching three and four feet in height, and hav- 

 ing from fifteen to twenty-five flowers on the beet 

 plants. 



The lily which has caused some attention owing to 

 the size it attained in the autumn of 1874, and whicli 

 was exhibited at the fair at Barnstable, threw up 

 those shoots which still stand (February 17th, 187.5) 

 and by careful measurement now reach the extraor- 

 dinary size of seven feet eleven inches. When in ex- 

 hibition it had sixty-one flowers, and Capt. William 

 Childs, who prepared it for the fair, says that it has 

 already lost three, and that it bore sixty-four flowers 

 in all. 



The well at Sandanwood, which is near the garden, 

 is dug through fifty-five feet of clear sand, free of 

 stones, but with faint traces of iron in it. This shows 

 the character of the soil to its whole depth. > 

 Yours very truly, 



A. T. Perkins. 



The above is not only interesting as an in- 

 stance of floral proliflcation of an unusual oc- 

 cin-ronee in the lily family, but also as involv- 

 ing tlie suliject of soil, and as such we com- 

 mend it to the notice of our correspond ent in 

 anotlier part of this paper, and especially since 

 tlie extraordinary result seems to have lieen 

 cftectcd through "the intelligent culture prac- 

 ticed by a lady. 



