226 



THE GENESEE FARMER. 



have read aloud to them biography, travels or his 

 tory, when they have been too weary to read them- 

 selves, or, by the sweet strains of music, have softened, 

 refined and animated their feelings. Oh, let there be 

 as much emulation shown by American mothers and 

 sistera to solace and amuse their partners and sons, 

 to mental actions, as the Spartan matrons showed to 

 stimulate their sons to the highest execution at the 

 Olympic ga'iies. There will not then be so many 

 sous wandering to the Far fVest for employment, 

 and leaving the family homestead to be managed by 

 the hands of strangers; all that roughness and un- 

 couth behaviour, so often attributed to the farmer, 

 •will be done away, and in its place will be the utmost 

 genial courtesy, and refinement of mind and manners. 

 The longer I live, the more I see how much depends 

 upon wives and daughters — their domestic kindness 

 promoting intelligence, as well as virtuous actions 

 and mdustry. A Mother. 



Ogden, JY. Y. 



"Thb Homestead." — How many associations clus- 

 ter around this word, yet how few of the farms are 

 owned by the sons or grandsons of those who cleared 

 them of their forests. I wish not for the laws of 

 some countries to entail the landed estate to the old- 

 est son, but there should be enough veneration in 

 every child to desire the possession of the homestead. 

 But as only one can have it, it should be the one 

 who means sacredly to keep it, because it was the 

 home of his forefathers. I am in favor of small 

 farms — and many of the old homesteads are much 

 too large ; divide them, and thereby render them 

 doubly valuable with improvements. Never be afraid 

 to plant a tree, for fear you cannot eat all the fruit 

 yourself. Make permanent fixtures, and bring up 

 your children, by example, to so love the homestead 

 that nothing would be thought a worse calamity than 

 to have it pass out of the family. 



A Farmfr's "Wife. 



OEIGINAL DOMESTIC RECEIPTS. 



Strawberry Jelly. — Take of the juice of straw- 

 berries, four pounds. Add two pounds sugar, and 

 boil down. 



Apple Jelly. — Take of strained apple juice, four 

 pounds; sugar, two pounds. Boil down. 



Currant Jelly. — Mash, and strain the currants 

 through a cloth. To one pint of the juice, add one 

 pound of sugar, and boil. The time for boiling will 

 depend upon the quality of sugar used. If loat^ two 

 minutes is sufficient; if an inferior quality, containing 

 moisture, is used, from two to twenty minutes. Jelly 

 will not always seem hard on first cooling; but if it 

 forms over the top and around the sides of the dish, 

 it will be hard enough in a day or two. 



Currant Jam. — Take of the quantity of fruit re- 

 quired, one-half, from which squeeze the juice. Add 

 the remainder of the fruit to the juice, and, with an 

 equal weight of sugar, boil twenty minutes. 



To Preserve Currants. — To a pound of fruit, 

 add a pound of sugar (cold). When sufficient juice 

 is extracted to prevent them from burning, put them 

 over the fire, and stew until they are cooked through. 

 Put them away in tumblers, with paper pasted over 

 theffi. 



Currant Wine. — To each quart of juice, (pressed 

 out cold,) add three pounds fine loaf sugar, and as 

 much water as will make a gallon. Fill the cask 

 with this mixture, and permit it to woik. Draw it 

 oft" the same as cider, and bottle. Put in no spirits. 

 Wine made in this way cannot be beaten for mildness 

 and agreeableness. We have some five years old. 



Black Currant Wine. — Pick the currants when 

 fully ripe, and squeeze the juice from them. To one 

 gallon of juice, add six quarts of water; and to each 

 gallon of this mixture, add nine ounces of sugar. 

 Then strain, and put into a ventilated cask until the 

 fermentation is passed, when it may be corked tight, 

 and, as it improves by age, it may stand upon the 

 lees for years, unless sooner called for. 



Pickled Tomatoes. — Take small, smooth tomatoes, 

 not very ripe; scald them until the skin will slip off 

 easily, and sprinkle salt over them. After they have 

 stood twenty-four hours, drain oft" the juice, and pour 

 on a boiling hot pickle, composed of one pound of 

 sugar to every quart of vinegar, and two tea-spoons- 

 ful, each, of cinnamon and cloves. Drain off the 

 liquid, scald it, and p';ur it on them again, every two 

 days for a week, and they will require no further cara 



Tomato Catsup. — Take one-half bushel of to- 

 matoes, scald them, and press them through a common 

 seive. Boil them down one-half; then add two table- 

 spoonsful of salt, one of black pepper, one tea-spoon- 

 ful of cayenne pepper, one-half of cloves, one-half 

 of cinnamon, and one-half of mace. Mix well, and 

 add one tea-cupful of vinegar. Bottle and seal, and set 

 in a cool place. Preserved in this way, they retain 

 their natural flavor. 



To Preserve Cherries. — Add to the cherries an 

 equal weight of nice loaf sugar. Melt the sugar 

 with the fruit, taking care not to boil. After the 

 sugar is melted, let them stand in a hot place for three 

 hours; then pour out in soup plates, cover them with 

 a thin cloth, and set in the sun for several days. By 

 preserving this way, the fruit retains its natural flavor 

 and color, and will keep the year round. 



To Preserve Strawberries. — To one'pound of 

 strawberries, add one pound of sagar. Put them 

 into a preserving kettle, and let them remain until 

 warm, so that the sugar will dissolve. Then seal 

 them in glass jar.', and bury them in sand. By this 

 method, their flavor is entirely preserved. 



To Seal Preserves. — Beat the white of an egg; 

 take good white paper, (tissue is best,) cut it the size 

 you require, and dip it in the egg, wetting both sidea 

 Cover your jars or tumblers, carefully pressing down 

 the edges of the paper. When dry, it will be as 

 tight as a drum-head. 



To Remove Fruit Stains. — ^Let the stained part 

 of the cloth imbibe a little water, without dipping. 

 Hold the part over a lighted common brimstone 

 match, at a proper distance. The sulphurous gas 

 which is discharged by burning the match soon causea 

 the spots to disappear. 



Indian Bread. — Two quarts sweet milk, eight cups 

 Indian meal, four cups flour, one cup molasses, one 

 tea-spoonful saleratus, and one of salt. Bake three 

 hours in a slow oven. 



Johnny Cake. — One pint buttermilk, one eup of 

 cream, one egg, a little flour and soda; thicken with 

 Indian meaL Add a little salt, and bake. 



I 



