104 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Feb. 



color as the wings ; whole lower parts pure white, 

 legs short, feet large, claws strong and sharp. In 

 every respect the female resembles the male except 

 that her plumage is less brilliant. A. F. 



Danversport, 1857. 



Substitute for Leather. — A -writer in the 

 Scientific American suggests that some preparatiou 

 of hemp, made up like paj^ier mache, might be 

 made effectual as a substitute for sole leather ; a 

 cement of India rubber, mixed with other adhesive 

 substances, may be employed to unite the fibres to- 

 gether. Sole leather is fibrous, as can be witnessed 

 by tearing a piece of it lengthwise. Its appearance, 

 ■when thus riven, is like that of oakum felted. 



BOYS' DEPARTMENT. 



BOYS WHO WISH TO BE MEN. 



Bad habits appear, sometimes, to be more easily 

 formed than good ones, and that man is a "bundle 

 of habits" seems to admit of little doubt. How of- 

 ten we see boys, who are naturally straight and 

 well-formed, sitting curled up in such a manner as 

 to cramp the lungs, the heart, liver and stomach, 

 to the utter ruin of health. Boys do not think how 

 much evil they are doing to their health and con- 

 stitutions by thus sitting. It will not only make 

 them round-shouldered, ill-formed and awkward in 

 appearance, but undermine health and shorten life. 



Writing-desks at school are often too low, which 

 compels ihe pupil to bend to his work. Care should 

 be taken by teachers and parents that the height 

 of the desks be properly graduated to the size of 

 pupils. Carelessness on this subject, quite as fre- 

 quently as ignorance of its evil tendency, induces 

 the parties interested to neglect this matter. 



We call attention to this subject, now that the 

 •winter schools are about commencing, with a view 

 to save not a few rapidly-growing boys, whose plas- 

 tic bodies are so easily deformed by sitting crooked, 

 at school and elsewhere. 



Many children are allowed to sit on broad sofas, 

 or deep chairs, which induces them to sit crooked, 

 because they have nothing to support their shoul- 

 ders without leaning far back, resting upon their 

 shoulders, and thus bending their backs. Every 

 family should have chairs adapted to the size of 

 each person. Only think of having a chair for a 

 man with a seat a yard or more deep, and so high 

 that he could not touch his feet to the floor, or get 

 into it without climbing up ! But we have just 

 such chairs and sofas for children and small young 

 folks, who are rapidly growing and easily deformed. 

 We would say to parents, provide your little folks 

 with proper seats, and drive them out of big rock- 

 ing-chairs and sofas every time they attempt to oc- 

 cupy them. 



But boys, and girls too, when their seats are right, 

 are apt to fit crooked, to the lasting detriment of 

 their health and symmetry of their forms. 



Boys ! you who wish to be MEN — healthy, useful, 

 and happy — and would therefore avoid these evils, 

 reform at once all habits of erroneous postures ; for 

 remember, the evils will fall on yourselves, and be 

 felt most keenly after the mischief shall have been 

 done, and it is too late to apply the remedy. — Phre 

 nalogical Journal. 



LADIES' DEPARTMENT. 



DOMESTIC RECIPES. 



To take Stains out of Linen. — Stains caused 

 by acids can be removed by wetting the part and 

 laying on it some salt of wormwood ; then rub with- 

 out diluting it with more water. Or, tie up in the 

 stained part some pearlash, then scrape some soap 

 into cold soft water to make a lather, and boil the 

 linen till the stain disappears. 



Recent stains of fruit may be removed by hold- 

 ing the linen tightly stretched over a tub and pour- 

 ing hot water over the part. This may be done be- 

 fore any soap has been applied to it. As soon as 

 the stain is made on table linen, &c., rub on it com- 

 mon table salt, before it has had time to dry. The 

 salt will keep it damp till the cloth is washed, when 

 the stain will disappear ; or, wash the stain light- 

 ly when the cloth is removed. 



To TAKE Wrinkles out of Silk Scarfs. — The 

 way to take wrinkles out of silk scarfs and hand- 

 kerchiefs is to moisten the surface evenly with a 

 sponge and some weak glue, and then pin the silk 

 with some toilet pins around the selvedges, on a 

 mattress or feather bed, taking pains to draw out 

 the silk as tight as possible ; when dry, all the wrin- 

 kles have disappeared. It is a nice matter to dress 

 light colored silk, and few should try it. Some silk 

 articles should be moistened with weak glue or gum 

 water, and the wrinkles ironed out by a hot flat-iron 

 on the wrong side. 



Ripe Bread. — Bread made of wheat flour, when 

 taken out of the oven, is imprepared for the stom- 

 ach. It should go through a change, or ripen be- 

 fore it is eaten. Young persons, or persons in the 

 enjoyment of vigorous health, may eat bread im- 

 mediately after being baked, without any sensible 

 injury from it ; but weakly and aged persons can- 

 not ; and none can eat such, without doing harm 

 to their digestive organs. Bread after being baked 

 goes through a change similar to the change in new- 

 ly brewed beer, or newly churned buttermilk, nei- 

 ther being healthy until after the change. During 

 the change in bread, it sends off a large portion of 

 caihon, or unhealthy gas, and imbibes a large por- 

 tion of oxygen, or healthy gas. Bread has, accor- 

 ding to the computation of physicians, one-fifth 

 more nutriment when ripe, than when just out_ of 

 the oven. It not only has more nutriment, but im- 

 parts a much greater degree of cheerfulness. He 

 that eats old ri])e bread will have a much greater 

 flow of animal spirits, than he would were he to eat 

 unripe bread. Bread, as before observed, discharg- 

 es carbon and imbibes oxygen. One thing, in con- 

 nection with this fact, should be particularly no- 

 ticed by all housewives : it is to let the bread ripen 

 where it can inhale the oxygen in a pure state. 

 Bread will always taste of the air that surrounds it 

 while ripening ; hence it should be placed where the 

 air is pure. It sh(>uld never ripen in a cellar, nor 

 in a bedroom. 



^r The teachers of the public schools of New 

 Haven have presented a salver and six pieces of 

 richly embossed silver plate to Hon. J. F. Babcock, 

 editor of the Falladium, for his efforts in the cause 

 of common schools. 



