'3: 



POPULAR GARDENING. 



August, 



^e Household 



Living to get the Most Good. 



No one can enjoy a happy, cheerful life who 

 habitually overworks; sooner or later such a 

 course must lead to a broken-ilown conrtition 

 and to distress. And yet we believe that as a 

 rule Amei'ican women in moderate eirium- 

 stances try to do too much. The worst feature 

 of the case is that much of overwork comes 

 from a disregard of good judgment in laying 

 out and performing the work of housekeeping. 



If to live well signifies neither luxuriant nor 

 expensive living, in what then lies the secret, 

 and how may it be taken advantage of ? We 

 believe the answer to this question may in good 

 part be put in the shape of a few short rules:— 



1. Buy with judgment, selei-ting those 

 things which will be available for use with the 

 least work, other things being about equal. 



2. Use common sense. If you do your own 

 work do not think there must be as many 

 rutttes and pleats in your chlldrens' or your 

 own clothing as there are in those of your 

 wealthy nei:ihbor who puts out her sewing. 

 Flain ckjfhes lead to even a greater saving of 

 work in the washing and ironing than in the 

 making. 



3. Ask yourself often, " Will it pay to do 

 it; " In making fancy work aim rather to the 

 adorning of the useful than to the making of 

 the useless. We have been in houses where 

 the rooms were filled with many strange speci- 

 mens of fancy work that were without real 

 utility or beauty, while they caused much labor 

 to keep them clean of du.st and otherwise. 



t. In the cooking department buy the best, 

 for the best is always the cheapest. Let your 

 economy regulate the quantity not the quality. 



5. Study simplicity in the number of the 

 dishes served at each meal and then variety in 

 character of the meals. Even when visitors 

 are present avoid a nudtitude of dishes. Save 

 u.s, too, from the woman who puts labor on mak- 

 ing a dozen pies once and sometimes twice a 

 week for a moderate sized family. 



li. Let the woman of the house he indeed 

 the head of her own household and of her 

 kitchen. Let her by teaching and practice see 

 that no waste be allowed in any department of 

 the housekeeping. 



Uy observing these and other rules and follow- 

 ing them out to their details there may be such 

 a saving of time and strength as should yield to 

 tho.se who otherwise are unduly busy and over- 

 worked more leisure for the good things of 

 recreation, health or social life. 



Brieflets. 



Essence of Quassia will drive awa.v Hies. 



Cucumber peel is iletested by cockroaches. 



In cleaning brass use some vinegar anil salt. 



Close stove cracks with a cement of wood ashes 

 ami salt. 



Exposure to the sun, it is saiil, will remove light 

 scurcli marks. 



A bit of charcoal in the vegetalile kettle will di- 

 minish the odor. 



Fruit or rust stains yield quickly to a weak soln- 

 tltin ot oxalic acid. 



In boiling eggs the larger ones should go in 

 first and come out last. 



For burns no remedy is more potent or easily 

 aiiphcd than tlour wet with cold water. 



Better save your hands from odor when peel- 

 ing onions Uy liolding the latter with a fork. 



There is no use l>eing tronbled with i"eil ants in a 

 closet or drawer when a little bag of snlphnr kept 

 in it will disperse them. 



A grease spot on wall-paper looks very had; it 

 Tnaj lie absorlied by a hot iron with several thick- 

 nesses of hint ting paper between paper and iron. 



The person who cannot afford to cross the ocean 

 thissuinmer can always get up a kind of sea-sick 

 feeling b^^■ having the painters in his house. — -l/oni- 

 ing Journal. 



Soft-boiled Eggs. "I place them in boiling 

 water, enough in cpiantity to amply cover, standing 

 the vessel on the liack of the stove for five minutes 

 or a trifle more, and the eggs turn out in a well-done 

 jelly-like consistency."— Sue. 



Potato balls made from remnants as follows are 

 relished at onr table: Chop some cold meat, pota- 

 toes and a little bread, then warm and thoroughly 

 mix, adding an egg for six jiersous and seasoning; 

 mould into balls and fry lightly in a warm pan. 



Berry Custard. From Harrison Co., Texas, an 

 esteemed contributor, who signs herself "Evange- 

 line," sends the following to onr columns: To one 

 quart of canned Black or Dewberries add the well 

 beaten yolks of three eggs, three taVilespoonfuls of 

 sugar and half a pint of sweet milk. Stir these in- 

 gredients well and pour on pastry the same as for 

 other custard. Put in a hot oven until well set, and 

 take the whites of the eggs, to which add three 

 tablespoonfuls of sugar and heat to a stiff froth, 

 which spread on top of the custard and bake until 

 brown. Or, if preferable, put the whites and sugar 

 in the custard. 



Care of the Teeth. Brush twice a day. The 

 proper time is on rising in the morning and on re- 

 tiring at night. In the morning a wash may be 

 used. Brush gently over the crowns of the teeth. 

 This removes any mucus that has collected during 

 the night, and leaves the mouth in a refreshed con- 

 dition. Just before retiring a tooth powder should 

 be employed, and particles of food that have lodged 

 between the teeth removed, which, when left for 

 several hours, result in the fermentation of an acid, 

 which causes softening of the tooth-structure, and 

 thus promotes decay. After eating a quill tooth- 

 pick and rtoss-silk should be used for removing the 

 debris.— /*r. GiUiert. 



Boys Doing Housework. A writer in the Fann 

 foil/ WoiHc has well said that there is nothing de- 

 grading for a man or boy to don a big apron and 

 assist the tired wife or mother in the heavier work 

 of the household. "My mother's girls 'were all 

 Ijoys,' and I, the youngest, was often called to help 

 her with the housework. I have lived to bless her 

 for the instruction she gave me in tli.at line, and I 

 know my wife is of the same mind. I remember 

 one day when I was helping at the washtub our 

 pastor called and took occasion to ridicule me for 

 the work I was doing. I was a boy, but my estima- 

 tion of him fell several degrees at that time. I 

 know a man who, when his wife was sick, and no 

 help could lie had for love or money, took the whole 

 care of the household as nurse, cook, washerwoman 

 and maid of all work for several weeks, unaided, 

 except for the daily visits of the physician, caring 

 tor his wife as she went almost to the gates of death, 

 until at last a good nurse was obtained and the tired 

 husband was permitted to rest. So. boys, don't be 

 ashamed to help your mother and sisters in the 

 house if your help is needed. The knowledge you 

 will get may serve you a good turn some day, and 

 you can feel that you have done what you could to 

 lighten the cares of a self-denying mother. 



in their iuclosures if it has not been done. 

 Fit up the houses before the winter to be proof 

 against drafts, wetness and bad ventilation. 



Poviltr/ 



The Chicken 'Yard Now. 



The spring broods should be so far ailvanced 

 by this month as to allow the good to be dis- 

 tinguished from the bad, and all that have not 

 the appearance of turning out well should be 

 weeded out. 



There is always danger to be feared from 

 that bane to successful chicken rearing, over- 

 crowding. By closely culling out the inferior 

 birds the good effect to the remaining ones in 

 better size and stamina is oft<"n sofin api)arent. 



A connuon error is the allowing of too many 

 cockerels to remain in the run. They are un- 

 easy tormentors, depriving the promising pul- 

 lets of their proper rest, as well as of food and 

 accommodation. Kill or sell these off as 

 quickly as possible. Old hens also want look- 

 ing over. It should be remembered that after 

 two years of age they will not pay as layers. 



Where it is possible at this season to give 

 them the range of stubble fields do so by all 

 means. By seeing that fowls have plenty of 

 food, green and other, and exercise, the molt- 

 ing sea.son may be shortetied, to their advan- 

 tage. Make liberal provisions for a dust-bath 



Poultry in Large Flocks. 



A correspondent who characterizes the poul- 

 try department of Popui>ar (tAHDENING as 

 "a store of condensed wisdom " wants to know 

 whether we could advise the keeping of a flock 

 of five hundred or more fowls on a six-acre lot 

 of dry stony groimd not worth ])lanting. We 

 find in a recent issue of the I'dullri/ 17/rrf an 

 article on this subject that in a few words so 

 well covers the matter that we iirint it: 



A large number, say up in the hundreds, of 

 domestic fowls in one flock cannot be kept to 

 advantage at all upon any one place, be it large 

 or small. And this is why : 



It is unnatural and uncongenial to the race 

 thus to be herded in hundreds. They poison 

 each other by contact; they will give you no 

 eggs; they are liable to sickness continually 

 from this over-crowding. 



Five hundi'ed or five thousand fowls can be 

 kept upon one estate or farm if it be large 

 enough to accommodate them. But they must 

 invariably be colonized in small groups of not 

 overforty or fifty under one roof or in onespot. 

 Each colony is then to be kept separate from 

 the other, to be teniled and cared for precisely 

 as so many fifties may be in .a village with 

 different owners loi-atwl in diffei'ent domiciles. 

 Thus one may succeed; but in the other way 

 only failures will result, a-s scoies of liien have 

 found to their loss, and as other scores will 

 doubtless yet learn from hard experience. 



CONDENSED POULTRY NOTES. 



Confined geese do not jiay. 



Fowls are the best gleaners. 



Meal should be mixed dry and crumbly. 



Poultry now without shade cannot do its best. 



Eggs, like meat, from a grain diet are better 

 flavored 



Confined fowls can hai'dlj" get along well during 

 hot weather, unless given fresh watei' three or four 

 times daiiy. 



" Are your hens good hens, Mrs, Featherly?" in- 

 quired neighbor Fowlspnr of that lady. " Oh 

 yes," she answered with delight, " Ihey have never 

 laid a bad egg y et. " 



■When applying insect powder to fowls do so 

 over a spread newspaper, as then much of the 

 powder may be used over again The eJTect of the 

 ]>owder will also be shown by the vermin gathered. 



Sulphur is a chief constituent of feather-making 

 food. It also acts when taken into the system, 

 against insects on fowls. So don't hesitate to dust 

 a little of it over the food twice a week. It will tell 

 favorably on the fowls in their molting season. 



Barley is perhaps the best staple grain for hens, 

 especially if mixed alternately with wheat, buck- 

 wheat or corn. Corn, while it is excellent as a 

 change, is not a good regular diet. Rice, well boiled 

 and mixed with barley or corn-meal, will be useful 

 as a change once in a while. Brewers' grains, if 

 fresh, are greatly relished, and the same is true of 

 malt sprouts or dust, if there is a malting estab- 

 lishment near from which these can be obtained. 



To convert your early pullets into early layers 

 feed them liberally and with a variety of nourish- 

 ing feed. Sometimes it is forgotten that young 

 growing creatures need food both for sustenance 

 and for growth, where old ones need it mainly for 

 the former. To give old and young but an equal 

 chance to the feed is to do the pullets an injustice. 

 They should have one good extra feeding daily, 

 even if they have a fine run in grain stubble besides. 



A foolish prejudice is what the Afin-Di- tiiitl 

 Fui-Ditr calls the claim that incubator-hatched 

 chicks are inferior to those hatched and raised in 

 the natural manner, and that they are not suitable 

 for breeding purposes. Such supposition arises 

 from ignorance. There cannot jiossibly be any dif- 

 ference. If a chick is hatched it comes into the 

 world fully endowed by nature to maintain its exist- 

 ence, no matter what the method of hatching may 

 Iw. But after it is hatched everything depends 

 upon the care. VVe have seen incubator chicks 

 superior to those hatched under hens, as also the 

 reverse. They are. when matured, equal as breed- 

 ers in every important respect. 



