I20 



POPULAR GARDENING. 



July, 



^e Household 



Visitors and Visiting. 



It is one of the real accomplisbments to 

 know how to visit, and how to entertain 

 visitors with genuine delight all around. 

 During the summer, man_y cit_y people are 

 so glad to get away from the dust and heat 

 of their surroundings, that their friends in 

 the country are sure to not want for a chance 

 to entertain them. A few words on both 

 sides of these subjects may be in order here. 



Sensible visitors will endeavor, above all 

 else, to adapt themselves harmoniously to 

 the customs of their entertainers; to make 

 their kind friends feel uncomfortable by 

 seeming to e.xpect that of which their cir- 

 cumstances do not readily allow, is a poor 

 way of making a visit generally jileasant. 

 A striving to have the household machinery 

 of the home visited go on as usual, and no 

 one specially inconvenienced by the presence 

 of the visitor, is one of the first secrets of 

 agreeable visiting. 



Considerate visitors will also be careful 

 how they impose any extra work that they 

 could do themselves upon the hostess, per- 

 haps already overworked. 



This would especially apply to things in 

 the line of adding to the laundry work; 

 rather than do this, in case there is much 

 fine washing and ironing, the visitor had 

 better hire a laundress. 



Likewise, it must be remembered that the 

 children of visitors, even if well-bred, re- 

 (piire more watchful, anxious care when in 

 the country, than when at home. 



The sensible hostess will be conscious of 

 the fact that the pleasure of a visit to others 

 depends more upon the spirit which is per- 

 vading in the home, than upon its location 

 and surroundings. Instead of making a 

 forced effort to elaborate entertainment, 

 the country housewife should bear in mind 

 that her friends are with her largely to se- 

 cure rest, Cjuiet, and pure air. The table 

 can hardly fail to please, if plenty of fresh 

 vegetables, ripe fruit, milk, cream, fresh 

 eggs, and good bread and butter are upon 

 it. These articles in their excellence are 

 none too well known in city homes, and of- 

 ten make up for many other short-comings. 



The English mode of entertaining visitors 

 might oftener be advantageously adopted by 

 us. Their guests are usually invited for 

 a specified time, and rarely for more than 

 a week. They are welcomed to all the facil- 

 ities for comfort and diversion the house af- 

 fords, but the hostess is not expected to de- 

 vote anj' of the morning, and only what .she 

 can spare of the afternoon to their entertain- 

 ment. This course provides for both parties 

 a kind of freedom that is very acceptable; 

 while the private apartments of the hostess 

 are considered sacred to her use, and affords 

 a retreat safe from all intrusion, at any time. 



We are pleased to note that in many places 

 Americans are profiting by England's ex- 

 ample in these matters. 



Brieflets. 



Never slam the doors. 



Roll-call— the baker's cry. 



Slightly rancid lard may be freshened by boiling 

 a raw apple or potato in it. 



Flavoring extracts are volatile; the bottles 

 should lie kept well corked. 



Oh, yea ! thirteen persons is really an unlucky 

 number at the table— when the dinner is short. 



The girls can now add a vase of flowei's to the 

 ilinner table to make the meal more delightful. 



How a few drops of oil sometimes applied does 

 help in running the carpet sweeper and clothes 

 wringer. 



Have you tried the agreeable change to lemon- 

 ade as a dinner or supper drink ■? It is wholesome 

 and not costly. 



The brass and copper kettles need to be bright 

 before using for fruit They are easily cleaned 

 with salt and vinegar. 



By setting layer cakes in their pans on a wet 

 cloth for a few minutes, when taken from the oven, 

 they will readily turn out of the tins. 



Who has not been annoyed by an ironing blanket 

 shoving al)0uf? It can be prevented by sprinkling 

 the table with water before spreading it on. 



White Willow furniture, so cool and comfort- 

 able, is nfit pleasant to see when once soiled. Paint 

 is the best remedy, but a wash of salt and water 

 may help some. 



A correspondent furnishes her mother's well- 

 tried receipt for a baked custard, as follows: To 

 each pint of milk, take 3 eggs and 2 tablespoonfuls 

 of sugar; bake slowly; it will be improved by first 

 boiling the milk. 



Colanders fiud a wider use in some households 

 than in others. They are convenient for draining 

 the dishes, as hot rinsing water can be poured over 

 them without being handled; while those who try 

 them for washing dried or fresh fi-uit, are apt to 

 like them as well as we do. So writes " Reader " 



Napkins. We agree with Household Worda, 

 that the proper way for a guest to dispose of the 

 napkin after dinner, is to fold it, not too carefully, 

 and lay it at the side of the plate without conmient. 

 At public houses we, ourselves, feel disposed to 

 rumple them up just enough to unfit them for 

 being used again. 



Care in washing promotes the wear of garments. 

 Dark or bright colors can often be set by using salt 

 or alum in the water; put plenty of bluing in the 

 starch and have it well strained for the former, 

 drying in the shade; avoid changing flannels from 

 cold to hot water, and add borax for white fiannels 

 or blankets, also in washing red bordered linen. 

 Boiling water will remove fresh fruit stains. Oxalic 

 acid should be rubbed on rust spots while washing, 

 then thoroughly rinsed out. Ammonia or salsoda 

 is useful to remove blood stains. 



povjitry. 



Eggs by Weight— A Much Needed 

 Reform, 



It is not credital)]e to the vast egg produc- 

 ing and cousuuiing interests of our country, 

 that eggs are still sold by co\uit. Why a 

 dozen eggs that turn the balance at two 

 pounds and over, as those of Brahanis usually 

 do, should command no higher price than 

 others (they are plenty enough in the mark- 

 ets) which weigh no more than a pound and 

 a half per dozen is not easily seen. To sell 

 the former amounts to giving customers one- 

 half pound or more of rich food outrightly; 

 to raise the latter is to take advantage of a 

 premium offered for inferior products. 



The selling of eggs by weight, is as prac- 

 ticable as the selling of any other commodity 

 in the same way. It is done at the present 

 time in manj^ parts of Europe and in Cali- 

 fornia in this country. It would only re- 

 quire that producers would insist upon the 

 sj'stem being adopted. It is a matter for 

 our poultry associations to take a hold of in 

 seeing introduced. Once the plan of weighing 

 of eggs inaugurated and it would rapidly be 

 adopted. Soon we would no more think of 

 returning to the count plan of making sales 

 than we now would think of buying nails 

 by covuit, as was formerly done. The system 

 belongs to a barbaric age, and must go. 



A writer in Our Country Home calls atten- 

 tion to the fact that Bantam eggs weigh fif- 

 teen to the pound. They are over one hun- 



dred per cent larger, according to the weight 

 of the producer, than the average. 



Brahmas of 7A pounds (average weight) 

 produce two pounds two ounces per dozen; 

 common fowlsof 44 pounds (average weight) 

 produce one pound two ounces per dozen; 

 Bantams of 33 ounces (average weight) pro- 

 duce twelve ounces per dozen. 



Were eggs sold by the pound, it would be 

 an easy question to settle that Brahmas and 

 Bantams would become the most profitable 

 of all fowls as ^gg producers. Brahmas pro 

 dnce their eggs in winter in greater propor- 

 tion, which would more than balance the great- 

 er number from Leghorns in the summer. 



CONDENSED POULTRY NOTES. 



Place Hie poles all on the same level. 

 Milk belongs to the class of best feeds 

 Egg flavor depends much on the food. 

 Nests should be in a darkened part of the house. 

 Because meat fed moderately is good for layei-s, 

 do not nixike the mistake that a good deal is better. 



To invest in fine breeds is a course to be com- 

 mended, but t^ dabble in too many varieties, is 

 quite another thing. Don't do the latter. 



Kerosene is a useful insectcide, but it must be 

 rightly used If applied to the roosts, the parasites 

 will die, but if to the head or body of the bird, the 

 latter will be killed. 



Always feed growing fowls on good grain and 

 meal; it is the cheapest in the end, and the low- 

 priced grains and poultr}-^ mixtures advertised, often 

 are dear at any price, where plump, well-grown 

 birds are desired at an early age. 



If fowls must be prevented from flying, instead 

 of shortening the feathers close to the wing, open 

 one of the latter and pull out the fii'st or flight 

 feathers, usuallj' ten in number, and the matter is 

 accomplished with no detriment to appearances. 



If you want to stop your light Brahmas from 

 laying, feed them all they want. We have found 

 that the egg production of this breed, more than 

 of any other, is lessened by over-feeding. Feed twice 

 a day, giving no more than they will eat up clean 

 before resting. 



Check the Guineas. A Virginia correspondent 

 who always raises some Ouineas, says they must be 

 eaten as soon as grown to be at their best. Besides, 

 when they are older they chase and pick any timid 

 hens tliey may be confined with, and at a year old 

 will kill little chickens. 



Gardening Illustrated talks sensibly when it says 

 that nmch may be done by gradually building up a 

 laying strain in any breed of fowls This, by breed- 

 ing only from hens which have proved themselves 

 to be capital layers It is astonishing what can be 

 done by following this plan for some seasons. 



What causes eggs to have blood spots sometimes, 

 may be difficult to answer, Init we are of the opin- 

 ion that it comes from being fed on too stimulating 

 food, as an abundance of animal food. Of course 

 in some cases it would have to be laid to some 

 disorder of the egg organ, but we think not always. 



Young Turkeys are very destructive to insects if 

 allowed to run iu the garden. They w-ill run among 

 the plants and snap up every bug or worm with 

 great rapidity. Even insects that are on the under 

 side of the leaves, will not escape them, for they 

 turn their heads to inspect the lower sides of leaves. 

 Young chicks will not begin to compare with young 

 turkeys for this business 



Don't try to break up an untimely setting hen 

 by the cruel, yet ineffectual, plan of half drowning 

 her. Take, instead, a headless cask, invert it over 

 her, allowing it to rest on three bricks, and bore a 

 hole in the top for ventilation. Water and scanty 

 food should be provided just outside the rim. A 

 week or two of such treatment will usually convert 

 biddy into a more sensible hen. 



Some fowls that will resort to eating the feathers 

 of otliers are found in all collections, at some time 

 or other. The cause of this habit is not satisfac- 

 torily understood, and the safest way to deal with 

 it is to kill the offenders. The habit is catching, 

 and one feather-eater tolerated may make many 

 others. If the addicted fowl is too valuable to kill 

 for any cause, we would attempt a cure by com- 

 plete isolation, change of food, and induce em- 

 ployment by providing a rubbish heap or newly 

 turned up soil for scratching. 



