14 



THE LANCASTER FARMER. 



[ January, 



FLORICULTURE. 



Parlor Flowers. 



Who does not love flowers ? It is one of the most 

 delightful characteristics of flowers that they arc 

 attractive at all seasons of the year, and never more 

 so than when made the objects of household atten- 

 tion throughout the winter months. The presence 

 of flowers in a parlor, or small conservatory, is a 

 jievcr-ending source of gratification.;. The rarest and 

 most elaborately-carved furniture, pictures and 

 statuary, in which wealth indulges, cannot vie with 

 a few tastefully-arranged flowers in imparting to a 

 loom that natural look of elegance which springs 

 from the presence of some vivifying principle, how- 

 ever simple it may be. 



There are two things which give to an apartment 

 in winter a charm which nothing else can. These 

 are : a stand of flowers in bloom, and a clear burn- 

 ing fire in an open fire-place. Take away the flowers 

 and leave the fire-place blank ; heat the room with a 

 furnace, and however handsomely the room may be 

 furnished the sense of something wanting will imme- 

 diately m.akc itself felt. 



In Paris it is a common thing to cultivate a few 

 simple flowers in an oblong box for the pleasure 

 tlicir few buds and blossoms afford ; while in Ger- 

 many it is usual to grow ivy in pots and train it in 

 festoons over the windows. 



The dilliculty in attempting to grow flowers in the 

 %varm, diy air of an apartment has arisen from a 

 want of knowledge as to the best manner of treating 

 them. The greatest obstacle to success is the dry- 

 ness of the air, and the following manner is proposed 

 to obviate it : Let a table be constructed the length 

 of the window and two or three inches wide, with 

 boards fitted close, tongue and grooved, and around 

 the edge nail a strip three inches wide. Cover the 

 space thus enclosed with two inches of white sand. 

 Upon this sand place the plants in pots. With a 

 table of this kind the plants can be syringed or 

 sprinkled with water, which is absolutely essential 

 to preserve them in health. The drippings and sur- 

 plus water are caught and aljsorbed by the sand, 

 which should lie kipt wet, ami even watered for the 

 purpose of tciiipcrin<r tlie dry air surrounding the 

 plants, the ivaiinrMtioii of the moist sand thereby 

 jiromotinff tlieir gniwtli liy the production of artifi- 

 cial atnidspliorc. If the table is fitted with rollers it 

 will faciliali' the operation of watering, and moving 

 back from the windows during very cold nighta. 



As to the selection of plants, it is better to begin 

 with a few kinds that are easily grown, as experi- 

 ence ami skill are required. A few pots of alyssum, 

 mignonette, lobelia, geranium, primula, azalea, calla, 

 cacti, eoronilla, heliotrope, spiraea, orange, lemon, 

 petunia, and some bulbs, will render satisfaction. 



A common method, practiced about Paris and 

 London, of having a box, generally about ten inches 

 wide on the top and nine inches deep, filled with 

 good soil, and mignonette, sweet alyssum, lobelias, 

 lieliutidpe.^ and geraniums planted in it according to 

 their size :niil irniwtli, will flower and make a fine 

 display when pUieed in a window with a southern 

 exposure. While others have these boxes filled witli 

 plants in pots, and removed as they get out of bloom 

 by others to keep up a display the whole season. — 

 Jii/i.it If. Kinrj Washlnntoti. 1). C, in Germantovn 

 Tdnp-aph. _ 



Window Boxes. 



Procure a box about fourteen inches wide, six 

 inches deep, and of a length to fit your window ; if 

 jiossible have aiioilier box two inches smaller every 

 way, and |ilace ni>idc the larger one, filling the space 

 between tlieiii with sand or tan or straw; have 

 holes bured in the bottom of both boxes, and place 

 pieces of broken charcoal to insure drainage ; fill 

 with the best earth procurable, remembering that 

 good, rich soil will insure you the finest flowers; 

 )ilace in the end of your boxes German' ivy, morning 

 glories, madeira vine, and any other climbers that 

 you like, and along the sides maurandia, thunbergia, 

 othonna, nasturtion and kenilworth ivy, and just 

 inside of these oxalis of dificrent colors and varie- 

 ties ; in the centre j'ou must place j'our tallest plants 

 and the lower growing ones around it ; have some 

 cowslips, Chinese primroses, sweet alysium, migno- 

 nette and vinca myra ; a mountain of snow geranium 

 gives variety to the appearance, as will also the 

 canary bird flower, which will give masses of yellow 

 flowers if it has the sun, and the blue of the lobelia 

 will also heighten the efl"ect. 



Lemon Verbena. 



It is stated that the well-known, fragrant plaLt, 

 the lemon verbena, is used by the Spaniards for other 

 purposes than to delight the olfactories. It is re- 

 garded by them as a fine stomachic and cordial. 

 They use it either in the form of a cold decoction, 

 sweetened, or as a flavor to tea, the hot tea being 

 jioured over five or .six leaves in a teacup. The tea 

 thus prepared is said to be simply delicious ; and it 

 is added, as a further and very pratical inducement 

 to the use of it, that one who does so will "never 

 suffer from flatulence, never be made nervous or old- 

 maidish, never have cholera, diarrhiea, or loss of 

 appetite." 



DOMESTIC ECONOMY. 



Bedrooms— How They Should be Ventilated. 

 The London Lancet has some comments on this 

 topic which may be read with as much profit in this 

 country as in London. It says : "If a man were 

 deliberately to shut himself for some six or eight 

 hours daily in a stuffy room, with closed doors and 

 windows (the doors not being opened even to change 

 the air during the period of incarceration,) and were 

 then to complain of headache and debility, he would 

 be justly told that his own want of intelligent fore- 

 sight was the cause of his sufl'ering. Nevertheless, 

 this is what the great mass of people do every night 

 of their lives without no thought of their impru- 

 dence. There are few bedrooms in which it is per- 

 fectly safe to pass the night without something more 

 than ordinary precautions to secure an inflow of 

 fresh air. Every sleeping apartment should, of 

 course, have a fire-place with an open chimney, and 

 in cold weather it is well if the grate contains a 

 small fire, at least enough to create an upcast cur- 

 rent and carry oflT the vitiated air of the room. In 

 all such cases, however, when a fire is used, it is 

 necessary to see that the air drawn into the room 

 comes from the outside of the house. By an easy 

 mistake it is possible to place the occupant of a bed- 

 room with a fire in a closed house in a direct current 

 of foul air drawn from all parts of the establishment. 

 Summer and winter, with or without the useof fires, 

 it is well to have a free ingress for pure air. This 

 should be the ventilator's first concern. Foul air will 

 find an exit if pure air is admitted in sufficient quan- 

 ty, but it is not certain pure air will be drawn away. 

 So far as sleeping-rooms are concerned it is wise to 

 let in air from without. The aim must be to accom- 

 plish the object without cansinir a great fall of tern 

 pcrature or a draught. The windows may be drawn 

 down an inch or two at the top with advantage, and 

 a fold of muslin will form a "ventilator" to take off 

 the feeling of drauglit. This, with an open fire-place, 

 will generally suffice, aud produce no unpleasant 

 consequences even when the weather is cold. It is, 

 however, essential that the air outside should be 

 pure. Little is likely to be gained by letting in a fog 

 or even a town mist. 



Butter Making. 



Some years ago, when it was first proposed to in- 

 troduce cheese manufacturing est-ablishments into 

 the eastern counties of this State, our readers will 

 remember that we staled our objections to them, as 

 well as arguments in favor of the making of butter- 

 good butter— for the Pliiladelpliia market, where 

 there was always a ready demand at remunerating 

 prices. While the State of New York and others in 

 the Northwest and West might succeed in budding 

 up and maintaining profitable cheese making fac- 

 tories, the eastern part of this State at least was far 

 better adapted to butter making and held out far 

 greater gains. Where the advice was not heeded 

 failure and loss was the consequence. But who has 

 ever heard of the butter making business, where 

 conducted with the least degree of care and indus- 

 try, coming short of yielding a remunerating profit? 

 We now hear of one or two of these establishments 

 being started, and we have no manner of doubt but 

 that they will be successful. 



We know of an establishment in this city, to which 

 sutHcient cream is supplied, that yields nearly two 

 thosand pounds per day, the churning of which is 

 done by machinery.- '/fi-»i««/uw'« Telegraph. 



Burning Green Wood Greatly Wastefol. 



Water in passing into vapor absorbs and hides 

 nearly 1,000 degrees of heat. A cord of green wood 

 produces just as much heat as a cord of the same 

 wood dry. In burning the dry wood we get nearly 

 all the heat, but in burning the same wood green, 

 from one-half to three-fourths of the heat produced 

 goes off latent and useless in the evaporating sap or 

 water. Chemistry shows this, and why, very jdaiuly. 

 Therefore get the winter's wood lor fuel or IciLidlings, 

 and let it be seasoning as soon as possible, and put 

 it under cover in time to be dry when used. It will, 

 of course, season or dry much faster when split 

 fine. A solid foot of green elm wood weighs 60 to 

 6.5 lbs., of which 30 to 35 lbs. is sap or water. As 

 ordinarily piled up, if we allow half of a cord to be 

 lost in the spaces between the sticks, we still have a 

 weight of about two tons to the cord, of which nearly 

 one ton is water or sap. Such wood affords very 

 little useful heat ; it goes off in the ton of sap. The 

 great saving of hauling it home dry is evident— as 

 we get the same amount of real fuel for half the 

 team work. Beech wood loses one-eighth to one-fifth 

 its weight in drying; oak, one-quarter to two-fifths. 



Accepting Invitations. 



In accepting an invitation to fete or parly, the note 

 of response should be simply courteous- nothing 

 more. A too familiar and over-cordial note of le- 

 sponse is almost as offensive as one which expresses 

 no interest at all iu the parties who extend the invi- 

 tation. There is a happy medium in the formalities 

 of even kindly wishes . It is not unnatural to suspect 

 an acquaintance of insincerity when excesses of lan- 

 guage are used in society matters. 



Household Receipts. 



To Remove Marks of Rain from a Mantle.— 

 Take a damp cloth and damp the place marked with 

 the rain ; then take a hot iron and iron the mantle all 

 over, and the marks will be removed. 



A Gaugle for Sore Throat.— Half a pint of 

 rose-leaf tea, a wiueglassful of good vinegar, honey 

 enough to sweeten it, and a very little Cayenne 

 pepper, all well mixed together, and simmered in a 

 close vessel ; gargle the throat with a little of it at 

 bedtime, or oftener, if the throat is very sore. 



French Mustard.- One ounce of mustard and 

 two pinches of salt are mixed in a large wiueglass- 

 ful of boiling water, and allowed to stand twenty- 

 four hours. Then pound in a mortar one clove of 

 garlic, a small handful of tarragon, another of garden 

 cress, and add to the mustard, putting vinegar ac- 

 cording to taste. 



CouciH SYRnp.— Put five cent's worth of pine 

 pitch into a pint of water. Let it simmer until the 

 water is well impregnated with the flavor. Dip out 

 the gum which remains undissolved and add honey 

 enough to sweeten, and make a thick syrup. Strain 

 this and bottle. Dose, a teaspoonful four or five 

 times a day according to the severity of the cough. 

 It will afford speedy relief. 



To DvE Black Woolen Cloth Dark Green.— 

 Clean your goods well with beef gall and water, and 

 rinse in warm water ; then make a copper boiler full 

 of soft water boiling hot, and take from one pound 

 to a pound and a half of fustic, put it in and boil 

 twenty minutes; to which add a lump of alum as 

 big as a walnut ; when this is dissolved in your cop- 

 per boiler, put in your goods, and boil it twenty 

 minutes ; then take it out and add a small wineglass 

 three parts full of chemical blue, and boil again from 

 half an hour to an hour, and the cloth will be a 

 beautiful dark green ; then wash out and dry. 



JIus. Reed's Plumb Pudding.— One pound beef 

 suet, three-fourths pound loaf sugar, one pound 

 flour, six eggs, pint of milk, one pound of raisins, 

 one pound of currants, three-fourths pound of citron, 

 two nutmegs, niaee, cloves ; add at pleasure two 

 glasses brandy. Chop the suet tine, rub it to a cream, 

 add sugar aud flour, each time rubbing it w ell ; add 

 the spices fruit and brandy. Beat the egg, add them, 

 then the milk ; tie it moderately tight ; boil it eight 

 hours. This quantity makes one very large pud- 

 ding—two if boiled in quart bowls ; three if in pint 

 bow-Is ; when cold cover up tight with paper, and 

 put them awiiy until wanted. When one is wanted 

 boil an hour. — Germantown Telegraph. 

 < The Hunterdon Monitur says : " We feel it our 

 duty to give a recipe for the cure of diptheria, which 

 we know from jiersonal knowledge has cured several 

 severe cases. It is .^iniiily to put some pure tar on a 

 plate and apply hot coals to it, not hut enough, how- 

 ever, to create a blaze. Then place a funnel upside 

 down over the tar and let the patient inhale the 

 fumes arising from the burning tar through the 

 spout of the funnel. It will give instant relief, and 

 may be repeated as often as may be necessary. Tar 

 spread on a piece of cloth and applied to the thi-oat 

 in eoimectiou with the iiihailing process is also good, 

 much better than old lliti-h or liniments. It should 

 not be removed until the throat is relieved of all 

 soreness." 



Salt with Nuts.— One time, while enjoying a 

 visit from an Englishman, hickory nuts were served 

 in the evening, when my English friend called for 

 salt, stating that he knew of a case of a woman eat- 

 ing heartily of niits in the evening, who was taken 

 violently ill . The celebrated Dr. Abernethy was sent 

 fir, but it was after he had become too fond of his 

 cups, and he was not in a condition to go. He mut- 

 tered, "Salt ! salt !" of which no notice was taken. 

 Next morning he went to the place and she was a 

 corpse. He said that had they given her salt it would 

 have relieved her; and if they would allow him to 

 make an examination he would convince them. On 

 opening the stomach the nuts were found in a mass. 

 He sprinkled salt on this and it immediately dis- 

 solved. I have known of. a sudden death myself, 

 which appears to have been the effect of the same 

 cause. I generally eat salt with nuts and consider it 

 improves i\\en\.—(iermautoien Telegraph. 

 I^How TO Make "Whipped Cream."— A corre- 

 sjjondent desires to know the best process for making 

 'whipped cream, such as is used in the Vienna 

 coffee." The following is the process given l)y 

 "Aunt Addie" in the New York Times, but whether 

 it is the same used by the Vienna coffee people we 

 are not prepared to say : 



Beat tlie yolks of Ave fresh eggs and half a pound 

 of powdered sugar until very Tisht -tnd white ; put 

 one pint of milk aud oneounee of i.sin-lass in a sauce- 

 pan and boil 10 miimtcs, stirrin- .■onlinnally ; flavor 

 with vanilla and lemon mixed, or any other flavoring; 

 pour the milk on the eggs and sugar ; put on the fire, 

 stir well toget'.ier, but do not let boil ; pass through 

 a fine hair sieve into a round dish ; when cold set on 

 ice, add I wo liquor-glasses of JIarasehino; keep stir- 

 ring rapi^y all the'time ; when it begins to thicken 

 stir into i'l a pint of cream, whipped to a froth ; put 

 into a mold on the ice until you wish to use it. 



