r44 



POPULAR GARDENING. 



September, 



^e Household 



About Patching and Darning. 



The people in this world who get beyond the 

 use of patt'heson garments are few and exceed- 

 ingly foolish. We formerly knew the wife, 

 now deceased, of a millionaire who to her 

 dj'ing day took gi'eat pride in herability to patch 

 clothes neatly, not from parsimonious motives, 

 hut because she was a very sensible woman. 

 Our esteem for the lady was all the greater on 

 this account. 



But not everj' one is able to neatly lay a 

 patch or dai"n a rent who might desire to do so, 

 hence we advance a few helpful suggestions: 

 In patching, start by cutting a piece of material 

 of a size slightly larger than to completely 

 cover the worn i)lace. Cut it accui-ately by 

 the thread; nothing looks more untidy than a 

 crooked patch with unshapely coi'uers. 



Nest turn in a narrow fold on the four sides 

 of the patch, lay it in place outside the worn 

 pai't and tack fast. Sew it on all around, either 

 like a seam, or else fell it. If it lies close and 

 flat the tacking threads may then come away. 



Now the work must go on from the wrong 

 side, by first cutting away the worn piece, 

 leaving enough margin to turn in as for a hem. 

 Cut little nicks at the corners, to allow it to lie 

 flat, and fell it all round. The corners should 

 be as well shaped as are those of the patch. 

 To have the piece stjuare on the right side, and 

 then an illshaped circle of much smaller 

 dimensions on the wrong side, as one sometimes 

 sees, is to spoil the work so far as looks go. 



To neatly match the stripes or figure of the 

 garment by the new material is one-half in 

 doing fine patching. When a patch is com- 

 pleted lay an old handkerchief or other thin 

 cloth over it and press out with a hot iron. 



Flannel may be mended in the same way as 

 described, only that instead of the edges being 

 folded in, leave fiat, and instead of being felled 

 they should be herring-boned all round. 



Sheets and similar articles that are worn 

 thin by long use, and are too weak to patch 

 must be darned. For this, real darning cot- 

 ton — not that used for stockings — but a soft, 

 fine article made for the purpose should be used. 



When darning take quite half an inch extra 

 on either side, and not just the very thin place 

 itself and that only. If so done there is danger 

 of the mended part not getting through the 

 first wash without breaking out. By running 

 several lines of strong sewing cotton round 

 the thin part, before doing the darning it will 

 strengthen the foundation greatly, and will 

 not show afterwards. 



Use a long fine darner for fine fabrics; a 

 thicker one for coarser cloth. Take a thread 

 and miss two threads uniformly, going straight 

 across. Leave a moderate loop at the end to 

 allow for shrinking, turn and go back again, 

 getting your stitches on a line with each other. 



Brieflets. 



Gelatine is not nutritious. 



Oyster juice aids digestion. 



Soups must not stand long in iron. 



What patients crave for let theni have. 



Vinegar-saturated sugar will cure hiccough. 



Blow some Cayenne Pepper in the mice holes. 



To beat eggs quickly add a little salt or fine sugar. 



Iron can be kept fnun rustiufc by touching up 

 with mutton suet and dusting with powdered lime. 



Strong odors on the hands need not annoy one 

 long, as a bit of ground mustard mixed with water 

 and rubbed over them will make them sweet. 



Do the slats of your beil creak ? This is not pleas- 

 ant and may be prevented by yrapping the part of 

 each slat where it rests on the wire with paper. 



To Clean Mirrors. Wash well with a damp leather 

 or sponge; then dip a soft cloth in powder-bhie 

 and rub the glass well. Result, a beautiful ijolish. 



Refreshing as Well as Healthy. At this season 

 of the year, wheu the feet are likely tn get over- 

 heated and to be jjainfu!, they may be greatly 



relieveil by soaking tliem at night in .very hot 

 water from ten to twenty minutes. Pour cold water 

 over them just before drying them. 



To Cement China. Use shellac dissolved in alco- 

 hol Heat the pieces hot, and put the varnish on 

 the broken edges, press tightly together and set 

 away for a few days, when it will be very solid, and 

 if carefully done, will break in another place before 

 it will come apart.- I'hihutrlphia Record. 



''Popular Gardening's" prescription for im- 

 proving the happiness of American wives generally 

 is this: Less drudging for themselves, and more for 

 hired help: less fear of sunlight and air, and more 

 light work among flowers and gardening out-of- 

 dooi-s : less meat and pastr-y, more fruit, vegetables, 

 milk and grain on the table. No charge for this. 



Now for a little simple household science and 

 cool firm butter in the hottest weather, all without 

 expense or ice. Cover the butter in lump or dish 

 closely with a clean cloth— there may be some wax 

 paper on the top— and over this place a handful 

 of woi*sted. with a lot of ends hanging over the but- 

 ter and touching the cloth. Above all suspend a 

 bucket of water with a small hole in it to allow of 

 a steady, slow dropjiing of water on the worsted. 

 This arrangement should he placed in a draught, 

 and here, by the process of evaporating the slowly 

 conducted water on the outside of the butter, there 

 will be drawn so nmch heat from the lump that it 

 will remain solid although the temperature of the 

 air be at lUO^. It will work. 



Sugar is high-priced in fruit-canning time, as 

 every one knows, i tui- correspondent, H. A. Green^ 

 of Chester Co., S. ('.. in a recent lettervery sensibly 

 brings this forward as a strong point in favor of 

 canning without sugar, as she now does almostalto- 

 gether. Then out of the fruit season, at the time 

 of using, sugar is materially cheaper. This is 

 what she saj-s of her method : Couk the fruit till 

 done— not using any sugar. Place glass cans on a 

 folded cloth, kept wet with cold water (to prevent 

 breaking), for filling. A short-necked, wide-mouthed 

 fumiel is handy for use. Put on the cover while 

 hot, using rubber that is soft and with the cover on 

 it all around. Sweeten when used. Some sour 

 fruits are better for scalding with the sugar. I 

 rarely lose a can; have never had one broken from 

 hot fruit by my method. 



Povjltry 



Fattening Poultry. 



After the laj'ing season comes the time for 

 I'educing on numbers by working off the old 

 hens. The sooner all surplus can be converted 

 into money the better, for no board bills will 

 be jjaid by* many fowls now for a long time. 

 Sometimes, too, early-fattened fowls bring as 

 good a price as those marketed at the holidays, 

 with the gain of the cost of keeping for some 

 months in the bargain. 



To fatten fowls I'apidly is the great secret of 

 doing so profitably. This necessitates that they 

 be kept closely confined during the pi'ocess. 

 Even the matter of profit aside, and the in- 

 creased excellence of the flesh of closely kept 

 fattening stock over that which is alloweil to 

 roam is remarkably great. 



For hens the coops should be airy, liut if so 

 small as to allow but one hen in each all the 

 bett*;r. Where individual coops are not had, 

 then several and up to halt a dozen fowls may 

 be confined together in a coop, but of such a 

 size as will leave them fairly uncrowded, 

 and with not much space to spai'e. If the bot- 

 tom is made of slats three inches wide, with an 

 inch space between, and then the coop is raised 

 from the ground somewhat, it will add to the 

 airing and cleanliness of the affair. Turkeys, 

 ducks aufl geese do better for being in coops 

 ojjeu to the ground. The two last named 

 should be allowed to run to the water once 

 daily for a wash. Fattening coops should be 

 located in a partly darkened place. 



At the start give no food for six or eight 

 horn's, anil then begin a course of regular feed- 

 ing three times a day. Do not imagine that 

 because fowls show a jireference for eating 

 whole grain, that this is the best, for it is not. 

 Let the ground-work be Corn meal well boiled 

 and crumbly. With this may be mixed a vari- 



ety of ai-ticles, such as boiled Potatoes, Oat- 

 meal or Barley porridge, and one should not 

 forget the helpful nature of stale bread crusts 

 and so on from the table. A little beef suet 

 added occasionally will be relished, and this 

 possesses high fattening properties. 



There nmst be pure anil fi-esh water in the 

 coop also. As soon as the birds are satisfied at 

 each eating all remaining food should be re- 

 moved. In two or three weeks they should be 

 very fat and salable. It now the high feeding 

 and close confinement was to be kept steadily 

 up they would be disposed to sicken. 



CONDENSED POULTRY NOTES. 



Lice signify neglect. 



Disease seeks out the crowded pens. 



For egg-eating apply the axe cure 



Weeds have i-eal value if carried fresh and young 

 to tile licn-coup. 



Queen Victoria's chicken house is a palatial .semi- 

 gotliic l]nil(lMiK, s.ays the Court Circular. 



When fowls are kept let it be done in a place not 

 too near the stable. Horses and cows may become 

 lousy from hens, causing great vexation. 



Birds are scarcer than they once were, to tlie 

 great loss of our fruit. But hens and turkeys aie 

 birds also; let them be kept in the orchard more. 



Dry Earth. The Farm .liiarnal would not under- 

 take to raise chickens, or to keep poultry through 

 tile winter and spring, without a free supply of dry 

 earth. The best time to store it is whenever it is dry. 



The exercise of summer ranging for fowls is of 

 great value, hut the damage done is often appalling. 

 To gain the former benefits and avoid the latter 

 disadvantages feed liberally at the beginning of the 

 day before roving is begun. 



The Guinea-fowl, remarks the National Stock- 

 ma ti As n ^ruat toraf^t^r and destroys many insects 

 that the hens will not touch. They do not scratch 

 in the garden, and, though not easily Kept near the 

 house, they make known the places where they lay 

 by a peculiar noise, which enables one accustomed 

 to them to find all the eggs they lay. They really 

 cost almost nothing to raise, and when roosting 

 near the house create an alarm should intruders 

 make their appearance 



Scratching for their food is a natural instinct of 

 fowls. Proof: They will scratch if feeding on a 

 heap of grain. Now one benefit that comes from 

 this instinct is that rapid swallowing is prevented, 

 for while they scratch they do not peck. But the 

 instinct may be overcome by feeding. We are dis- 

 posed to feed too much at a time, and especially of 

 soft food, with injury to fowls. If grain that is being 

 fed was always scattered among straw or chaff it 

 would make them scratch for a living. 



It is a good plan to treat the nests in the hen- 

 house about this time the same, and for the same 

 obvious reasons, as the berths and fi.xtures for 

 emigrants in ocean steamers are treated after each 

 voyage, namely, to burn them. But let this be done 

 outside of the house and not inside, as one man we 

 know of once did, burning the house down at the 

 same time. To make such an annual sacrifice of 

 nests without much cost the new nests should be 

 cheaply built as being done for temporary use. 



No Discounting of Nature. Mr. A. I. Root, of 

 Medina. < >hio, comes to the conclusion that in poul- 

 try raising, if we try hard enough, we can assist 

 Nature ; but if we don't look out we shall be only 

 stumbling blocks in her waj' The experience he 

 relates is not at all new, but it is interesting and to 

 the point. He says: Just now I am a good deal 

 puzzled. A hen that has the range of our whole 18 

 acres made a nest on the ground, under a lumber- 

 pile, and she hatched every egg but one ; and more 

 than that, she went off with her eight chickens, 

 without a bit of care from anybody. When they 

 were four or five days old she was discovered off by 

 herself, with every chick as bright and brisk as a 

 cricket. They didn't have any corn meal nor cracked 

 wheat, nor bread and milk, and yet they seemed to 

 be good for a half-mile tramp, chasing their mother. 

 Well, in my nice poultry yard, with all its modern 

 appliances, I get only two or three chickens from a 

 setting— sometimes not a chick. Last season I 

 feared my Brahma rooster was bad, and so I bought 

 a higher-priced one: but it does not make any dif- 

 ference OKI Dame Nature beats me all to pieces. 

 The fowls that have the run of our whole 18 acres 

 board themselves, lay eggs and raise chickens: ex- 

 pense, 0; income, a good lot of eggs every day. 

 j Your expression, "depth of ignorance and had 

 management," some way seems to fit me tiptop. 



