646 DR. CHASE'S RECIPES. 



"The cultivation of onions must be chiefly performed by means of YbxA 

 tools. [See No. 2.] The shuffle hoe is the best implement for doing most of 

 the work. It should be of the best quality, and great pains should be taken to 

 keep it clean and sharp. After the plants are about four inches high they must 

 be thinned so that each has a space of about three inches in which to grow. 

 Some growers who seek to raise very large crops allow three onions to grow in 

 the space of six inches. Of course, they crowd each other after they have 

 become of nearly full size, but this thick setting is necessary to secure the maxi- 

 mum yield. After they are thinned to the proper distance nothing is required 

 byway of cultivation except to keep the soil light and free from weeds." 



Remarks. — I hardly suppose it would "pay big" if every person in the 

 land should engage in raising onions, or even to put out and properly cultivate 

 "an acre;" but of this there is no probable danger. But if those who do go 

 into it from what has been here said upon the subject do not do it well, it will 

 not be the fault of the author. [See, also, " Cucumbers, a Paying Crop."] 



CEMENTS.— Dr. Clioris' Magic Mender, or "Boss" Cement. 

 —Acetic acid, 4 Fs — the strongest — 2 lbs. ; French isinglass, 1 lb. Boil in a 

 porcelain kettle. 



Remarks. — I paid $5 for this recipe, and the above is all there was of it. 

 The man, however, was selling it upon the street corners of this city (Toledo), 

 and seeing what it would do, I paid the money, but was allowed to go with him 

 and see it made. He bought the isinglass in a 1 lb. package for $1.25, and the 

 acid, 2 lbs. for 50 cents, including the bottle, and he had a 1 gal. porcelain 

 kettle with him, and first put the acid in and placed it on the stove in the hotel, 

 kitchen where he was stopping, and when it was about boiling hot he took the 

 package of isinglass by the end and stirring the acid with it it soon dissolved down 

 near his fingers; then he dropped all in, and with a sliver from the wood, stirred 

 it around a little all the time till it was dissolved; then commenced bottling it 

 directly, by pouring some into a milk pitcher and then into the bottles, keeping 

 the rest hot until all was poured in. He charged not to allow it to burn; and I 

 afterwards found it would burn easily, hence he was careful of this, as it black- 

 ens and destroys it. He said the isinglass generally cost him $1.25 per lb.; the 

 acid, 15 to 25 cents per lb.; i^ oz., square, flint glass bottles, $1.25 per gross, in 

 6 gross lots, in Pittsburgh; and the corks, 12 cents per gross, in Cleveland, in 

 5 gross lots. I have made it in those quantities and placed it on sale in the 

 stores and know its value. It was first shown at the Centennial in Philadelphia, 

 under the name of " English Stratena," and the following rhyming, as given 

 on some of the hand-bills wrapped around the bottles, will show 

 What it is Good for.— 



For the carpenter putting his frame together. 



For the shoemaker working on fancy leather. 



For putting patches on boots so nice, 



And it holds them on as tight as a vice; 



For splicing belts and mending harness. 



Lamps, chimneys, or looking-glasses; 



For the clerk at his desk pronounces it safer 



Than any description of wax or wafer; 



