120 



POPULAJl SCIENCE NEWS. 



[August, 1888. 



the soil is drawn up, it will not easily roll or wash 

 down. After three days, loose ground should be 

 taken from tlie sides of the rows, and gently 

 pressed against the celery to the height of two 

 inches. In doing this, great care should be taken, 

 if the weather is warm, not to get it too tight, or.it 

 will rust. This finishes the process of banking 

 withground. It will blanch in from ten to fifteen 

 days from the first hilling for the good Golden 

 Dwarf variety, but others take longer. 



Board- Blanching. — This method, it is claimed, 

 originated in Kalamazoo a number of years ago, 

 and has been in use continuously since. It re- 

 quires two men to blanch with boards. The 

 boards should be from ten to twelve inches wide, — 

 according to the height of the celery, — one inch 

 thick, twelve to sixteen feet long, and free from 

 knotrhotes, which would admit the air. On the 

 ends of the rows the space between the boards 

 should be filled out with grass or soil; otherwise, 

 the first few stalks would not be blanched. 



The boards are first distributed along the row, 

 and laid flat on the ground on both sides, the 

 edges against the bottom of the plants. The men 

 straddle a row at each end of aboard. The boards 

 are raised by the outer edges, and both feet 

 planted against them; the leaves are straightened 

 up, without breaking, and the boards pressed 

 against them. They are then fastened at the top 

 with a small piece of wood which is eight inches 

 long and two wide. In this two notches are sawed 

 to the depth of one and a quarter inches and two 

 and a half inches apart, which will leave the 

 boards two and a half inches apart, which is the 

 rigjit distance on fair-sized celery. About four 

 of these pieces should be used on a sixteen-foot 

 board. If the celery is small, the boards should 

 be somewhat closer. Heavy pieces of wire may 

 be used instead of wooden pieces. When the row 

 is completed, the earth should be drawn against 

 the bottom of the boards, to keep them firm 

 against the celery. This completes the work, and 

 the crop will now take ten to fifteen days in blanch- 

 ing. — J. R. Van Bochove, in Popular Gardening. 



THE LUXURY OF A ROSE-JAR. 



A DELIGHTFUL perfume for halls and parlors in 

 dwelling-houses or hotels can be easily procured 

 at this season of the year, and it is such a pure yet 

 delicious odor that it charms every one. It is sim- 

 ply a rose- jar, which should be opened for about 

 one hour every morning, and then carefully closed. 

 A writer in one of our English contemporaries 

 describes the best method for stocking the jar, and, 

 in doing it, suggests that the prejjaration of the rose- 

 stock should be detailed to the care-taking member 

 of the family, who never forgets anything. Gather 

 the rose-petals in the morning; let them stand in a 

 cool place; toss them up lightly for one hour to dry, 

 then put them in layers, with salt sprinkled over 

 each layer, in a large covered dish, — a glass butter- 

 dish is a convenient receptacle. You can add to 

 this for several mornings, till you have enough 

 stock, — ^from one pint to a quart, according to the 

 size of the jar; stir every morning, and let the 

 whole stand for ten days. Then transfer it to a 

 glass fruit-jar in the bottom of which you have 

 placed two ounces of allspice coarsely ground, and as 

 much stick cinnamon broken coarsely. This may 

 now stand for six weeks, closely covered, when it 

 is ready for the permanent jar, which may be as 

 pretty as your ingenuity can devise or your means 

 purchase. Those with double covers are the best; 

 and very pretty ones in the blue-and-white Japan- 

 ese ware, holding over a quart, can be bought for a 

 few shillings. 



Have ready one ounce each of cloves, allspice, 



cinnamon, and mace, all ground (not fine) ; one 

 ounce of orris-root, bruised and shredded; two 

 ounces of lavender-flowers; and a small quantity 

 of any other sweet-scented dried flowers or herbs. 

 !Mix together, and put into the jar in alternate 

 layers with the rose-stock and a few drops of oil 

 of rose, geranium, or violet, and pour over the 

 whole one-quarter pint of good cologne. This will 

 last for years, though from time to time you may 

 add a little lavender or orange-flower water, or 

 any nice perfume, and some seasons a few fresh 

 rose-petals. You will derive a satisfaction from 

 the labor only to be estimated by the happy owners 

 of similar jars. — Sciendjic American. 



HOW TO CLEANSE CHAMOIS. 



The Jewellers^ Circular gives the following pro- 

 cess for cleaning soiled chamois: Make a weak 

 solution of soda and warm water; rub plenty of 

 soft soap into the leather, and allow it to remain 

 in soak for two hours, then rub it well until quite 

 clean. Afterward rinse it well in a weak solution 

 composed of warm water, soda, and yellow soap. 

 It must not be rinsed in water finally, for then it 

 would be so hard, when dry, as to be unfit for use. 

 It is the small quantity of soap left in the leather 

 that allows the finer particles of the leather to sep- 

 arate, and become soft like silk. After rinsing, 

 wring well in a rough towel, and dry quickly then 

 pull it about and brush it well, and it will become 

 softer and better than most new leather. In using 

 a rough leather to touch up too highly polished 

 surfaces, it is frequently observed to scratch the 

 work. This is caused by particles of dust, and 

 even Irnrd rouge, that are left in the leather; and, 

 if removed by a clean brush containing rouge, it 

 will give the brightest and best finish. 



TO KEEP A ROOM COOL. 



A CORRESPONDENT of the London Carpenter and 

 Builder gives a very useful hint as to how to make 

 a room tolerably cool during hot weather. The 

 great cause of heat in a room is, of coui'se, the 

 glass, which, under the sun's rays, will become too 

 hot to bear pressing with the fingers. It is shown 

 that those who cannot enjoy the luxury of an out- 

 side sun-blind can extemporize a very good substi- 

 tute by simply lowering the upper half of the win- 

 dow-frame, and turning the curtain outside. This 

 not only screens the window, but creates a strong 

 draught between the panes and the linen, and 

 thus absolutely makes the glass cold. If there is 

 any wind, the blind can be kept steady by drawing 

 in the cord and tassel, and shutting the lower half 

 of the window-frame tight down upon it. 



• HOUSEHOLD HINTS. 



Whiting, dry or wet, gives glass a rich polish. 



Use bits of wet paper on the carpet when sweep- 

 ing. 



A Handy Furniture Pollsh. — Make a mix- 

 ture of olive oil one part, and vinegar two parts. 

 Apply it to the furniture with a Canton-flannel 

 cloth. Rub dry with another cloth of the same 

 material. A housekeeper who uses this polish on 

 the finest varnished furniture says it has no equal. 



Watering Plants. — Persons whose plants 

 mysteriously sicken and die are warned by Dr. 

 J. W. L. Thudicum, in a communication to the 

 London Society of Arts, that only pure water must 

 be used in watering them. Impure water breeds 

 a sort of fungus at the roots, which soon destroys 

 them. 



Filling Perfume-Jars. — A jar which holds 

 a pound needs one grain of musk in it, no matter 



what else it may contain. Spices which have been 

 passed once through a mill are better than those 

 finely ground, and the ground orris-root is better 

 than the powdered. English damask-rose petals 

 are better than any others, and cheaper also, if you 

 know the right place to buy them. When you 

 have apparently filled your jar, remember that you 

 can sift in about half as much salt as it would hold 

 when empty, and that the salt is essential if you 

 mean ever to moisten the fragiant compound. 



Cleaning Brass — It is a great mistake to 

 clean brass with acid. It very soon becomes dull 

 after such treatment. Sweet oil and putty pow- 

 der, followed by soap and water, is one of the best 

 mediums for brightening brass or copper. 



Window Plants. — Let us suppose you have 

 but one windov/ for plants, and that one of ordi- 

 nary size. You cannot accommodate more than 

 six average-sized plants without crowding them, 

 and plants should never be massed together in such 

 a way that each one loses its individuality. Have 

 fewer plants, and give those you have a chance to 

 develop themselves on all sides, by allowing them 

 sufficient room. You can have a bracket on each 

 side of the window for ivies, or some other climb- 

 ing plant, and in the window you can hang a bas- 

 ket. In this way you can have nine plants in one 

 window, and there will be ample room for all of 

 them. Of course, if your plants be small, you can 

 accommodate more. 



GLEANINGS. 



The Largest Flower. — The largest known 

 flower is the Rafflesia, a native of Sumatra. It 

 measures three feet in diameter, weighs fifteen 

 pounds, and has a calyx holding six quarts. The 

 odor is offensive. 



Distillery-Fed Cattle. — The Mayor of Chi- 

 cago has ordered all the cattle removed from the 

 distilleries. The owners of two distilleries have 

 complied, nearly three thousand head of cattle 

 having been removed ; the others refuse, and pro- 

 pose to fight the question in the courts. Mean- 

 while the milk is sold regularly. 



The Time to Prune Vines. — Professor II. 

 Muller, an eminent botanist, says that the best 

 time to prune vines is while the grapes ai-e ripen- 

 ing, and that the young shoots should be selected 

 for this purpose, as they require for their develop- 

 ment a large quantity of sugar, to the detriment of 

 the ripening fruit. 



Imported Weeds. — Of eighty-six species of 

 weeds described by Mr. L. H. Pammel of St. Louis 

 as growing in South-western Wisconsin and South- 

 eastern Missouri, forty-six are of European and 

 thirty of American origin. One-third of the latter 

 class, and nearly one-fourth of the entire list, are 

 composites. 



Green Food in Winter. — Many poultry- 

 keepers rely largely upon cabbage for green food 

 for their fowls during the winter season, but of 

 late years some have practised laying in a supply 

 of green frozen rye with excellent success. The 

 ground should be made very rich, so as to insure a 

 rank, rapid growth; and the rye should be sown 

 much thicker and earlier than where a crop of 

 grain is desired. When the soil is rich, and the 

 giain sown in August, it will reach a growth of 

 from sixteen to twenty inches before the ground 

 freezes. It should remain in the field until just 

 before snow comes. 



Soil for Pot-Plants should be carefully pre- 

 pared always. For this there is no better founda- 

 tion than well-decayed turf that is full of root fibres. 

 Many plants would need nothing more; strong 

 feeders should have manure added. Perhaps the 

 soil that will best suit the majority is two parts de- 

 cayed turf to one part of well-rotted manure. 



