502 THE nousEirohJ). 



How to Clean Wall Paper.—Tako off the dust with a soft cloth. With 

 a little flour and water make a lumj) of very stiff doiiyh, aud rub the wal) 

 gently downward, taking the length of the arm at each stroke, and in this 

 way go round the room. As the dough becomes dirty, cut the soiled part 

 off. In the second round commence the stroke a little above where the last 

 one ended, aiid be very careful not to cross the paper or to go up again. 

 Ordinary papers cleaned in this way will look fresh and bi-ight, aud almost 

 an good as new. Some papers, however — and these most expensive ones- 

 will not clean nicely; and, in order to ascertain whether a paper can be 

 cleaned, it is best to try it in some obscure comer, which will not be noticed 

 if tlio result is unsatisfactory. If there be any brokea places in the wall, fill 

 them up with a mixture of equal parts of plaster-of-paris and silver-sand, 

 made into a paste, with a little water; then cover the place with a little piece 

 of paper like the rest, if it can be had. 



To Make Fruit Extracts, Etc._Good alcohol, one quart; oil of lemon, 

 two ounces. ■ Break and bruise the peel of foiir lemons, and add to them 

 alGohol for a few days, then filter. For currants, peaches, raspberries, pine- 

 apples, strawberries, blackberries, etc., take alcohol aud water half and 

 half, and pour over the fruit, entirely covering it, and let it stand for a few 

 days. For essence of cinnamon, nutmeg, mace, vanilla, etc., pulverize 

 either article thoroughly, and put about two ounces of the resiilting powder 

 to each pint of reduced alcohol, agitate the mixture frequently for two 

 weeks, then filter and color as desired. 



To Renovate Carpets. — To one pail of warm water add one pint of ox- 

 gall; dip a soiped flannel into the mixture, and rub well the surface of the 

 carpet, piece by piece, rinshigit as you proceed with clean, cold water, tak- 

 ing care not to make the carpet tcjo wet, and finish off by rubbing with a dry 

 coarse cloth. The carpet, of course, must be well beaten before it is ope- 

 rated upon. This process is simply and surprisingly effective in renovating 

 the colors. The only drawback is the ertluvium given off by the gall; but 

 this is soon remedied by exposure to the air, or by opening the windows if 

 tiie carpet be laid down. 



Extempore Shade for Reading Ijamps. — An additiona. shade can 

 sometimes be used with comfort, and is made in a moment, as follows: Tako 

 a half sheet of letter paper, or any somewhat similar piece of stifdsh paper, 

 turn down about an inch aud a half of one side of it, and emphasize the turn 

 by a scrape with thumbnail or paper cutter. Then open the turned strip 

 part way and set the strip under the front edge of the shade of the lamp, 

 between the shade and the frame on which itxests. The rest of the sheet is 

 to stand up in front of the shade. The hold of the bent paper will keep the 

 sheet against the glass shade, and the paper agreeably modifies the effect of 

 the light on the eyes, without keeping any of it from the table. 



To Prc.ser\-o Hams from Flies. — The best way to preserve hams from 

 flies is, as soon as they are smoked, to wrap them in two old newspapers, 

 first with one end and again with another, and tie the ends of the paper or 

 paste them down. Let the string to hang them up by come through the 

 paper, being very careful that the hole shall only be largo enough to let the 

 string tln-ough. No insect can get through paper. Woolens and furs can 

 be kept perfectly in the same way, being careful that the egg of the moth i« 

 not previously deposited. 



