FEBRUARY 199 



I will translate one receipt for the destruction of flies 

 that seems to me good, and I wish I had known of it 

 when travelling abroad in hot weather and staying in small 

 hotels : ' Half fill a tumbler with soapy water. Cut a slice 

 of bread half an inch thick ; cover the under side with 

 honey, sugar, jam anything that attracts flies. Cut a 

 small hole in the middle, larger at the top than the bottom ; 

 fix the piece of bread in the top of the tumbler. The flies 

 crawl in after the sweet jam, and are quietly suffocated.' 

 The book abounds in useful hints of all kinds. 



In my youth tea-leaves were always used for sweeping 

 carpets. Then came the idea that they stained and in- 

 jured the colour of light carpets. This is to be rectified 

 by rinsing the tea-leaves well in cold water and wringing 

 them out before they are used. There is no magic in the 

 tea it is the damp substance of the leaves that gathers 

 the dust. There is an excellent thing now sold, called 

 ' Carpet Soap,' which really revives the colour of dirty rugs 

 and carpets. To sweep without using something moist 

 merely diffuses dirt. Covering a broom with a wet cloth 

 is the best way of cleaning under beds, wardrobes, etc. 

 anything to prevent the dust flying. 



If every room is taken in turn and extra cleaned once 

 a week, the necessity for the complete ' turning-out ' is 

 obviated. Most people will say, ' Everyone knows that ' ; 

 and yet it is astonishing how one has to remember to tell 

 the same things, over and over again, to each fresh young 

 servant that comes. And one often lives a long life 

 without knowing most commonplace things oneself. I 

 never knew till the other day that black-leading firebrick 

 destroyed all its qualities for radiating heat and made it 

 like iron. It ought never to be black-leaded at all. 



Tin jugs are excellent for hot water, but they must 



be cleaned inside with sand-paper, or they rust and spoil 



It is almost despairing how even excellent and 



