ONE HUNDRED THOUSAND FACTS FOR THE PEOPLE. 281 



mixing-bowl, cut it into gashes with the 

 butter ladle (don't touch it with the 

 hands), place a small portion of the col- 

 oring preparation in each of these gashes, 

 and mix until the color is evenly spread 

 and no streaks are to be seen. Then 

 gash it once more with the ladle, sprin- 

 kle one ounce of salt to the pound of 

 butter, and leave it twenty-four hours. 

 Then pour off any water collected on it, 

 and pack it in a new oak tub that has 

 been soaked with brine for a day and 

 night. Water should never be used for 

 working butter at any time. 



BIRDS, To Preserve.— Birds may be 

 preserved in a fresh state for some time 

 by removing the intestines, wiping the 

 inside out quite dry with a towel, and 

 then flouring them. A piece of blotting 

 paper, on which one. or two drops of 

 creosote have been placed, is now to be 

 put inside them, and a similarly prepared 

 piece of paper tied around them. They 

 should then be hung up in a cool dry 

 place, and will be found to keep much 

 longer than without undergoing this pro- 

 cess. 



CABBAGE, To Keep.— Gather them be- 

 fore the severe fall frosts. Let the coarse 

 outside leaves remain on them. Fix a 

 strong string around the stalk, and sus- 

 pend the cabbage from the timbers of the 

 ceiling, heads downward. The cellar 

 should be cool and dry. This will pre- 

 serve them with a certainty. 



Another good method is to cut the cab- 

 bage from the stump, pack close in a 

 cask, taking care to fill up all the va- 

 cancies with dry chaff, or bran, and keep 

 in a dry cellar. 



CAULIFLOWER, To Keep.- -They can 

 be kept in a cellar by covering the roots 

 and stalks with earth, till February. Or 

 they may be placed in a trench in the 

 garden, roots down, and covered with 

 earth, up close to the heads ; and then 

 cover with hay, or straw, four or five 

 inches thick, placing just enough soil on 

 the straw to keep it in its position. This 

 method does well in the latitude of New 

 York; but in colder climates a thicker 

 covering would be required. 



CELERY, To Keep.— This may be kept 

 in good condition through the winter in a 

 cool, dry cellar, by having it set in earth. 

 When a small quantity only is wanted, 

 take a box and stand the celery up 



in it, placing a little earth about the 

 roots. The farmers who raise quantities 

 of it often keep it in their old hot-beds, 

 standing it up, and protecting it from 

 frost. There is no vegetable more rel- 

 ished than this, and every person who 

 has a garden should raise enough for his 

 own use, if no more. 



CIDER, How to Keep Sweet. — Use on- 

 ly sound apples. Make the cider when 

 the weather is almost cold enough to 

 freeze the apples. Expose the cider 

 during freezing weather, and stir it till 

 the whole of it is reduced as near the 

 freezing point as possible without freez- 

 ing. Then barrel it, bung up tight, and 

 place it in a cellar kept nearly down to 

 the freezing point. As long as you can 

 keep it cold enough it will not ferment, 

 and as long as it does not ferment it will 

 remain sweet. 



CHERRIES, Dried.— Take the stems 

 and stones from ripe cherries ; spread 

 them on flat dishes, and dry them in the 

 hot sun or warm oven ; pour whatever 

 juice may have run from them, a little at 

 a time, over them ; stir them about, that 

 they may dry evenly. When they are 

 perfectly dry, line boxes or jars with 

 white paper, and pack them close in lay- 

 ers ; strew a little brown sugar, and fold 

 the paper over, and keep them in a dry 

 place ; or put them in muslin bags, and 

 hang them in an airy place. 



EGGS, Storing.— Wright's illustrated 

 Book of Poultry says that a systematic 

 trial for two seasons has shown that, for 

 purposes of long keeping for eating or 

 breeding, eggs should be packed with 

 the large end downward, instead of plac- 

 ing them on the small end, as is common- 

 ly done. The longer the eggs are kept 

 the greater difference will be found in the 

 results of the two methods. Experiment 

 has proved that eggs placed as recom- 

 mended may be set and successfully 

 hatched, with remarkable uniformity, at 

 ages which with the usual method of stor- 

 ing would render success almost hopeless. 

 The practical philosophy of the case is 

 alleged to consist in delaying the spread 

 of the air-bubble and its detachment 

 from the membranous lining of the egg, 

 thus retarding alterations destructive to 

 vitality. 



EGGS, to Dry. — The eggs are beaten to 

 uniform consistency, and spread out in 



