126 



tHE LANCASTER FARMER. 



[ August, 



West who unite in speaking in the moat decided 

 terms of praise. We should be pleased to hear of 

 some of our agricultural friends trying it, as we have 

 reason to believe that its culture would be both suc- 

 cessful and profitable. 



Domestic Economy. 



Advantages of Staying in Bed. 



Taking an occasional day in bed, simply on 



account of indisposition, is, however, a very simple 



and rudimentary notion of this glorious institution. 



Bed is the natural domicile of every man : 



"lu bed we laugh, in bed we cry : 



And born in bed, in bed we die." 



Bavard the French physiologist, maintained that 

 man as an animal who exercised the thinking faculty 

 best In a horizontal position. Thus, there are high 

 artistic, social, and intellectual uses connected with 

 an occasional day in bed which imperatively claim 

 discussion. Brinley, the great engineer, when he 

 was fairly bothered and puzzled by some tough 

 problem, always betook himself to bed until he had 

 solved it. Most people have a great kindness for 

 Lord Melbourne, who, under the affectation of 

 frivolity, used to get up»Hebrew and the Fathers and 

 imperturbable good humor to bear with his wife, 

 Lady Caroline, while the pretty Byron-struck terma- 

 gant used to smash the drawing-room furniture. 

 His intimate friends would find the premier calmly 

 taking breakfast in bed, with letters and dispatches 

 strewed all over the counterpane. The poets have 

 been terrible fellows to get out of bed. I suppose it 

 is because the visions of the day and of the night 

 sweetly intermingle. The poet Thomson cultivated 

 laziness as a fine art, and thought out his poems in 

 bed. Pope was a still worse fellow. When he had 

 a fit of inspiration on him, he would keep the 

 servants running about for him all through the 

 night. He makes amends to them by the plenteous- 

 ness of his "veils." 



Have a Fish Pond if You Can. 

 It is not every farm that can have a fish pond on 

 it, but there are many farms that could have them 

 as well as not. Wherever there is a good strong 

 spring to feed it there a profitable fish pond can be 

 made. Hundreds of farms have swamps or marshes, 

 too low to drain without great expense and fed by 

 springs, and these could be turned to profitable ac- 

 count by turning them into fish ponds. We don't 

 mean profitable in the way of making money, but in 

 saving it. The flesh of fish is a wholesome diet, bet- 

 ter every way than so much fat or measly pork. We 

 know plenty of farmers who scarcely taste fish from 

 one year to another. Not because they are not fond 

 of fish, but because they can't get them without 

 going some distance after them and paying a good 

 price in the bargain. A pond of an acre or so in ex- 

 tent, stocked with varieties adapted to the place, 

 would furnish abundance of the very best meat, 

 costing nothing to produce it either. As to catching, 

 it is only sport, and that part can be safely delegated 

 to the boys or girls. We are sure, also, that such 

 an institution on the farm would prove one of its 

 chief attractions, if your boys are inclined to leave 

 the farm . We write from knowledge in this matter, 

 having in earlier days caught many a "nice string" 

 of fish in a pond that was formerly a swamp. During 

 one dry August the owner, with two of his boys, 

 went into it with a plow, scraper and shovel, and in 

 a short time had a pond of nearly an acre in extent. 

 This he stocked with fish common to the sluggish 

 streams of the neighborhood, and some procured at 

 a distance, and for years thereafter it proved to be 

 the best acre on the place. 



Blackberry Wine. 



The following is my mode of making this wine or 

 cordial, after trying several other modes : 



Take a five orten gallon keg,cleanse it thoroughly. 

 Take only ripe berries, crush them in a wine or cider 

 press, or if not at hand, in cloths. After expressing 

 the wine strain carefully, and to each quart of juice 

 add three pounds of the best yellow sugar and as 

 much water as will make a gallon, and in this pro- 

 portion for any quantity. Put the entire mixture in 

 a kettle and bring it to boil, skim and when cool fill 

 the keg three-fourths full and let it ferment for one 

 week ; then fill Bp the cask with freshly made 

 liquor, and when done fermenting bung up tight, 

 set away in the cellar, where it should be racked off, 

 the keg scalded out, and the liquor either returned 

 to the keg to remain permanently or bottled for use. 

 We prefer putting it in five-gallon demijohns Instead 

 of bottles. — Oermantoimi Telegraph. 



How to Deal with Rats. 



A writer in the Scientific Americaii says : We 

 clean our premises of these detestable vermin by 

 making whitewash yellow with copperas and cover- 

 ing the stones and rafters in the cellar with a thick 

 coat of It. In every crevice where a rat might 

 tread, we put the crystals of the copperas and 



scatter the same in the corners of the floor. The 

 result was a perfect stampede of rats and mice. 

 Since that time no* a footfall of either rats or mice 

 has been heard about the house. Every spring a 

 coat of the yellow wash is given the cellar, as a 

 purifier as well as a rat exterminator, and no 

 typhoid, dysentery or fever attacks the family. 

 Many persons deliberately attract all rats in the 

 neighborhood by leaving fruits and vegetables un- 

 covered in the cellar, and sometimes even the soap 

 is left open for their regalement. Cover up every- 

 thing eatable in the cellar and pantry and you will 

 soon starve them out. These prpcautions joined to 

 the service of a good cat will prove as good a rat 

 exterminator as the chemist can provide. We never 

 allow rata to be poisoned in our dwelling, they are 

 so liable to die between the walls and produce much 

 annoyance. 



Fruit Jams. 

 It is generally known that boiling fruit for a long 

 time and skimming it well without the sugar and with- 

 out a cover to the preserving pan, is a very economi- 

 cal and excellent way — economical because the bulk 

 of the scum rises from the fruit and not from the 

 sugar, if the latter is good ; and boiling it without a 

 cover allows the evaporation of all the watery parti- 

 cles therefrom ; the preserves keep firm and well- 

 flavored. The proportions are three quarters of a 

 pound of sugar to a pound of fruit. Jam made in 

 this way of currants, strawberries, raspberries or 

 gooseberries is excellent. — Oermantown Telegraph. 



Duchesse Potatoes. 



Mash one quart of hot boiled potatoes through a 

 fine colander with the potato-masher ; mix with 

 them one ounce butter, one small teaspoonful of salt, 

 half a salt-spoonful of white pepper, a pinch of 

 grated nutmeg, and the yolks of two raw eggs ; pour 

 the potatoes out on a plate, and then form it with a 

 knife into small cakes two inches long and one wide; 

 lay them on a buttered tin, brush them over the top 

 with an egg beaten up with a teaspoonful of cold 

 water, and color them golden brown in a moderate 

 oven. — Oermantown Telegraph. 



A Delicious Vegetable Soup. 



Fry two turnips, two carrots and two onions in a 

 little butter ; well wash a pint of lentils, and boil 

 them with the turnips, carrots and onions in a quart 

 of water till perfectly tender, then add a pint of 

 water and rub through a sieve ; add pepper, salt and 

 a spoonful of mushroom ketchup, also a small lump 

 of sugar, about half the size of a walnut. Boil a 

 quarter of an hour, and serve with or without rice. — 

 Oermantown Telegraph. 



Elderberry Wine. 

 Two quarts of juice, two quarts of water, four 

 pounds of white sugar ; put into a jar, cover with a 

 thin cloth to protect from the flies, and skim every 

 day until well fermented. Then turn into cask, and 

 cork tightly. 



Household Recipes. 



Green sage put in a closet, will clear it of red ants. 



Potatoes can be kept from rotting by dusting 

 them with lime, using about one bushel of lime to 

 forty bushels of potatoes. 



As MUCH nitrate of soda as can be taken up be- 

 tween the forefinger and thumb in the glass every 

 time the water is changed will preserve cut flowers 

 in all their beauty for above a fortnight. 



To Expel Foul Air from a Well. — The quick- 

 est way to expel foul air from a well is to heat a bar 

 of iron red hot, and lower it down into the water ; 

 the sudden formation of steam is effectual. 



This is said to be a good recipe for staining wood : 

 For black walnut6tainsim(iy use sulphatum varnish, 

 thinned with spirits of turpentine, and apply with a 

 brush. It can be made light or dark, as desired. 



Do NOT work butter too much nor too fast. Work 

 slowly, and until all the salt is thoroughly and even- 

 ly absorbed, otherwise the butter will not be of uni- 

 form color. Working It too fast will destroy the 

 grain. 



To KEEP seeds from the depredations of mice mix 

 pieces of camphor gum in with the seeds. Camphor 

 placed in drawers or trunks will prevent mice from 

 doing them injury. The mouse objects to the odor, 

 and keeps at a distance. 



Tomato Stew. — Scald and skin the desired num- 

 ber and place in a stew-pan without water; let them 

 simmer for half an hour. Add pepper and salt, a 

 good sized piece of butter, and a spoonful or two of 

 white sugar. Grate a few bits of stale bread overall; 

 boil up once, and serve very hot. 



Stewed Cabbage. — Shred a small cabbage as for 

 cold slaw ; boil it in water for twenty minutes, then 

 drain thoroughly and cover with sweet milk. Cook 

 until tender, season to taste with butter, pepper and 



salt, and just before serving add the yolk of a 

 beaten egg, mixed with a little sweet cream. 



Here is a recipe for meat cheese: Boil an ox's 

 liver, heart and tongue; remove all the hard and 

 sinewy parts, and chop the remainder fine; add lo 

 this a pound of boiled pork, also chopped fine; sea- 

 son it well ; then tie it in a cloth or put it into a pan 

 and press it hard. After standing a few hours it will 

 come out in a solid cake, and is very nice to slice 

 from, for eating at breakfast or supper. — Ex. 



Butter should be kneaded with fresh milk and 

 then with pure water. By this treatment the butter 

 is rendered as fresh and pure in flavor as when re- 

 cently made. This result is ascribed to the fact that 

 butyric acid, to which the rancid taste and odor are 

 owing, is readily soluble in fresh milk, and is then 

 removed. 



To cleanse a rubber piano cover lay the cover on 

 a long, clean table, and sponge it all over with clean 

 warm water, containing a Utile powdered borax ; use 

 no soap ; with a clean soft cloth rub it dry. If it 

 looks dull or does not give satisfaction take another 

 soft cloth and drop on it not more than two or three 

 drops of sweet oil, and rub gently all over the cover. 



Now that colors are so largely used in stockings, 

 alid so many are ruined in the laundry, a good plan 

 in washing them is to roll them, after being rinsed, 

 into a piece of white linen and squeeze it, to remove 

 all the moisture possible, then dry, and the stockings 

 will look new again. It is also a good plan to put a 

 small spoonful of spirts of salts into the water lu 

 which stockings are washed in order to keep in the 

 colors. 



In baking buckwheat and other griddle cakes, a 

 piece of fat bacon as a "greaser" is by many thought 

 to be almost indispensable. Those who are of this 

 opinion will, on trial, soon learn that a turnip 

 divided in two answers the same or a better purpose, 

 as the odor — the most unpleasant part of cake 

 baking — comes from the greaser in contact with the 

 hot iron, whereas with the turnip very little of this 

 is perceptible. 



To Bake Eggs.— Butter a clean, smooth saucepan, 

 break as many eggs as will be needed into a saucer, 

 one by one. If found good slip it into the dish. No 

 broken yolk allowed, nor must they crowd so as to 

 risk breaking the yolk after putting in. Put a small 

 piece of butter on each, and sprinkle with pepper 

 and salt, set into a well heated oven, and bake till 

 the whites are set. If the oven is rightly heated it 

 will take but a few minutes, and is far more delicate 

 than fried eggs. 



Cranberry Jellt. — Put one quart of cranber- 

 ries, which have been carefully picked over, to boil 

 in one pint cold water ; have ready in a bowl one 

 pint white sugar ; when the cranberries are perfectly 

 soft mash them while hot through a colander into 

 the bowl which contains the sugar, and stir until the 

 sugar is dissolved ; then pour into moulds and set in 

 a cold place for at least twenty-four hours. If the 

 cranberries are good and no more water is used than 

 the recipe calls for, this way of cooking them makes 

 beautiful molds for the table. 



Baked Indian Pudding.— Pour enough boiling 

 water on two cups of meal to wet it thoroughly; 

 then add one-half cup of butter, well beaten with 

 one cup of sugar, till like a cream ; two well beaten 

 eggs, a little salt, two cups of milk, two tablespoon- 

 fuls molasses, nutmeg and cinnamon to suit the 

 taste ; one tea-cup ef stoned raised, slightly chopped; 

 bake slowly three hours. If preferred, use two- 

 thirds of a cup of finely chopped suet instead of 

 butter; instead of raisins a cup and a half of dried 

 whortleberries are very nice, or two cups of finely 

 chopped sweet apples instead of any other fruit is 

 excellent. 



To Preserve Flowers.— 1. Mix a tablespoonful 

 of carbonate of soda in a pint of water, and in this 

 place yonr bouquet. It will preserve the flowers for a 

 fortnight. 2. Sprinkle the bouquet lightly with 

 fresh water, and then put it in a vessel containing 

 soap suds. This will keep the flowers as fresh as if 

 just gathered. Then every morning take the bouquet 

 out of the suds, and lay it sideways— the stock en- 

 tering first — into clean water, keep it there a minute 

 or two, then take it out and sprinkle the flowers 

 lightly by the hand with water, replace it in the soap 

 suds, and it will bloom as fresh as when first gath- 

 ered. The soap suds needs changing every three or 

 four days. By observing these rules (says a lady 

 who has tested them), a bouquet may be kept bright 

 and beautiful for at least a month, and will last still 

 longer in a passable state. 3. We have heard that 

 the natural color of flowers may be preserved 

 for any length of time by dipping them for a mo- 

 ment in clear glycerine. When the glycerine dries, 

 the various tints are seen almost as bright as before 

 the flowers were plucked. 



Waffles. — One quart milk, half cup melted but- 

 ter, yolks of threa eggs well beaten, one heaped tea- 

 spoonful of baking powder. Beat in flour enough to 

 make a thin batter, and add the well-beaten whites 

 of thethreeeggs the last thing. Maple syrup, golden 

 syrup, sugar and thick cream is usually considered 

 best to eat with waffles. But if sauce is preferred, 

 anj that is fancied on puddings is allowable on waffles. 



