THE GENESEE FAR^fER. 



257 



faMcs' Ilcpr 



MENDIKG AND DARNING. 



)ST of our fair readers have a decided aTersion td that 

 of their duty which falls under the "patching and 

 ing" denomination. They are cf opinion that "a 

 may be the incident of a day; a darn, premeditated 

 rty." But if they only knew how pretty a well- 

 ated piece of repair looks, when you see in its warp 

 voof the bright threads of economy, and independ- 

 and womanly thrift, crossing and recrossing one 

 ler, they would lay aside embroideries and crochet 

 and take up, instead, the mending-basket, 

 rode down town the other da3', when the only other 

 lants of the stage were a young gentleman and a 

 y girl of, we should think, about eighteen. She was 

 pettiest, freshest-looking girl one would want to see- 

 were no tell-tale traces of midnight parties and 

 achy mornings in those peach-biossom cheeks and 

 , bright eyes; and all the numberless little items of 

 Iress were as fresh and trim as herself— from the 

 bonnet-strings down to the neatly-fitting gloves and 

 ite gaiter-boots. If we had been an old bachelor, or 

 ing one either, we would certainly have fallen in love 

 that girl, particularly after we had discovered that 

 ras as industrious as pretty. And how do you sup- 

 we found it out? The handkerchief that lay in her 

 jld us so. The neat little darn, elaborately executed, 

 s corner, with the small white stitches and skilful 

 iwork, had a tongue quite audible to our ears. Time, 

 patience, and wise economy had been there. The 

 eman sitting opposite saw the little token also; we 

 ed his eye turning from the handkerchief to the 

 niug face, and back to the handkerchief again, and 

 .new perfectly well what he was thinking of— the 

 wife that young lady would make, and how neat 

 lusbaiid's cravats and stockings would be ! Poor 

 r, the edges of his shirt-bosom were a little frayed, 

 ine or two buttons were missing, whose detection 

 lost skilful urrauEement of his cravat ends could not 

 sal. Perhaps he had a wife who didn't believe in 

 ling and darning — perhaps he had none at all. How- 

 that may have been, his admiring eyes appreciated 

 larn on the handkerchief more than if it had been 

 ichest and most sight-destroying embroidery — not 

 hat it was, but what it betokened. 

 ■Is ! don't shrink from a mended place as if it was a 

 je-spot; the longer your old things last, the better 

 you will be to have new ones by-and-by. Sensible 

 le read your character iu little things; and nobody 

 think the worse of you, whatever may be your sta- 

 tu life, for the exercise of economy and thrift. "A 

 1 in time saves nine," and sometimes it saves a great 

 more than'that. — English Paper. 



Good Hint —Send your little child to bed happy, 

 tever cares press, give it a warm good-night kiss as 

 68 to its pillow. The memory of this, in the stormy 

 i which fate may have in store for the little one, will 

 ke Bethlehem's star to the bewildered shepherds. 



WANT OF CHEERY KITCHENS, 



A farmer's wife writes as follows on this subject in the 

 Xiw England Farmer. She utters some truths that may 

 be applicable to more than one housekeeper who reads 

 the Genesee Fanner : 



Very much is written and said about pleasant and 

 tastefully-furnished parlors, but the kitchen is left quite 

 in the background, except as it is described in stories of 

 the olden time, "with ponderous beams ovtrhead, licm 

 which hung festoons of dried pumpkin, apple," &c. It 

 is too important a part of home to be neglected, yet it 

 surely is neglected. The parlor must be cool, and airy, 

 and sunshiny; but the kitchen may be wherever there is 

 lOom fbr it, with a view from curtainless windows of 

 barnyard or wood-pile — no paint or carpet on the floor, 

 no paper on the walls, furnished with chairs and tables, 

 and also with clothes-frames and wash-tubs, a lice of 

 dish-towels over the stove, and a row of old hats, coats 

 and frocks for ornaments. This is a picture of too many 

 of our farmers' kitchens — of the place where we house- 

 keepers expect to spend a considerable portion of our 

 time. No wonder that mothers look careworn, and that 

 farmers' wives and daughters complain of their field of 

 labor. No wonder that soiled morning-dresses are seen, 

 for clean calico, white collars and smooth hair, could 

 never feel at home in a dingy, cheerless kitchen, and a 

 man who will not provide a pleasant one, deserves to take 

 his breakfast every morning opposite a slovenly-looking 

 wife. 



I think now of one cheerful kitchen, a simple one, to 

 be sure — but the morning sun looks in through woodbine 

 and roses, and never goes behind the western hills with- 

 out giving us a good-night glance — and morning glories 

 love to peep in and throw their dancing shadows on the 

 shining floor. The distant view of hills and woodlands 

 makes many a weary burden light by its silent teachings. 

 We sing in such a kitchen just because we can not help 

 singing, and a sad heart has no place there. 



And now as we, shivering, wrap our shawls about us, 

 vainly endeavoring to convince ourselves that winter is 

 not almost here, yet gladly bring our books and knitting 

 work around the big cook-stove for the evening, do, hus- 

 bands and fathers, hear my humble plea iu behalf of the 

 "suffering sisterhood," and give us a cheery kitchen. 



How TO Select Flour. — First — Look at the color; if it 

 is white, with a slightly yellowish, or straw colored tint, 

 buy it. If it is very white, with a bluish cast, or with 

 white specks in it, refuse it. Second — Examine its ad- 

 hesiveness ; wet and knead a little of it between your 

 fingers; if it works soft and sticky, it is poor. Third- 

 Throw a little lump of dry flour against a dry, smooth, 

 perpendicular surface; if it falls like powder, it is bad. 

 Fourth— Squeese some of the flour in your hand ; if it 

 retains the shape given by the pressure, that, too, is a 

 n-ood sign. Flour that will stand all these tests, it is safe 

 to buy. These modes are given by old flour dealers, and 

 they pertain to a matter that concerns every body, 

 namely, the staff" of life. 



To Preserve Apples from Rotting, — Put them into a 

 dry cellar, of easy access to a large family of childien. 



