268 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



domestic SDepartment. 



Boiling Rice. — Many persons nearly spoil rice by 

 boiling it too much, as it becomes gluey or clammy, 

 sticking together like paste. Rice may be well 

 cooked, and yet the grains remain entire, so that the 

 same or any liquid will run through them ; and thus 

 cooked, it is far superior to that which is over- 

 done, as is often, or we may say usually, the case ; 

 for not one in four are skilful in preparing this arti- 

 cle. The following directions are worthy the atten- 

 tion of those not skilled in this piece of culinary 

 art : — 



Take one pint of rice, wash it, and put it in soak for 

 two hours. Have ready two quarts of boiling water, 

 with a little salt in it, in a stcwpan. Half an hour 

 before you wish to use it, pour the water, in which 

 the rice is soaked, from it, and, with a tablespoon, 

 shake the rice into the stewpan, without stirring it, 

 and let it boil ton minutes ; then strain the liquid 

 from the rice. Return the rice to the stewpan, and 

 let it steam for fifteen or twenty minutes, when it 

 will be done, and the grains will be separate. Add 

 a little butter, and send it to the table. 



A Mother's Voice. — The editor of the Cincin- 

 nati Atlas concludes a notice of a visit to the Asj'lum 

 for the Deaf and Dumb at Columbus, Ohio, by re- 

 lating the following : — 



Of one, an intelligent and modest young lady, who 

 had become deaf from sickness when two years and 

 a half old, we inquired whether she could recollect 

 any thing of sounds or words. She answered that 

 she could not. It occurred to us that there might 

 have been at least one sound which might be remem- 

 bered even from that tender age, and we ventured 

 to inquire whether she had no recollection of her 

 mother's voice. It will be long before we forget the 

 sweet, peculiar smile which shone upon her features, 

 as, by a quick inclination of her head, she answered, 

 yes. What a world of thought and feeling clusters 

 around such a fact ! In all her memory there is but 

 one sound, and that is her mother's voice. For 

 years she has dwelt in a silence unbroken from with- 

 out, but those gentle tones of love still linger in her 

 heart. There they can never die ; and if her life 

 should be prolonged to threescore years and ten, 

 o'er the long silent track of her life the memory of 

 that voice will come, in loveliness and beauty, reviv- 

 ing the soul of weary old age with the fresh, lovely 

 sounds of her cradle hours. — Michigan Farmer. 



Cottage Potato Pudding. — Parboil and mash 

 two pounds of potatoes ; beat them up into a smooth 

 batter, with about three quarters of a pint of milk, 

 two ounces of moist sugar, and three beaten eggs. 

 Bake it about three quarters of an hour. Three 

 ounces of currants or raisins may be added. Leave 

 out the milk, and add three ounces of butter. 

 Bake in pattypans, with tart paste at the bottom, 

 or add a little flour, and it will make a nice cake. — 

 Selected. 



Bkead and Butter. — Perhaps it is not generally 

 known that boiled potatoes, peeled while hot, and 

 well mashed with a little new milk and fine salt, 

 make a very good substitute for bread and butter. 



Bojis' llJrpartment. 



Vulgarity. — We would guard the young against 

 the use of every word that is not perfectly proper. 

 Use no profane expressions — allude to no sentence 

 that will put to blush the most sensitive. You know 

 not the tendency of habitually using indecent and 

 profane language. It may never be obliterated from 

 your hearts. When you grow up, you will find at 

 your tongue's end some expression that you would 

 not use for any money. It was one you learned 

 when you was quite young. By being careful, you 

 will save yourself a deal of mortification and sorrow. 

 Good men have been taken sick and become delir- 

 ious. In these moments, they have used the most 

 vile and indecent language imaginable. When in- 

 formed of it, after a restoration to health, they had 

 no idea of the pain they had given their friends, and 

 stated that they had learned and repeated the ex- 

 pressions in childhood ; and though years had passed 

 since they had spoken a bad word, the early im- 

 pressions had been indelibly stamped upon the heart. 

 Think of this, ye who are tempted to use improper 

 language, and never disgrace yourselves. 



" It chills my blood to hear the blest Supreme 

 Rudely appealed to on each trifling theme : 

 Maintain your rank, vulgarity despise ; 

 To swear is neither brave, polite, nor wise : 

 You would not swear upon a bed of death ; 

 Reflect, your Maker, now may stop your breath." 

 — Literary Union. 



Learning not Education. — There is a great 

 mistake about what is called edxtcation Some sup- 

 pose a learned man is an educated man. No such 

 thing. That man is educated who knows himself, 

 and who takes accurate common-sense views of men 

 and things around him. Some very learned men 

 are the greatest fools in the world : the reason is, 

 that they are not educated men. Learning is only 

 the means, not the end : its value consists in giving 

 the means of acquiring knowledge ; the discipline 

 Avhich, when properly managed, it gives the mind. 

 Some of the greatest men in the world were not over- 

 stocked with learning, but their actions proved that 

 they were thoroughly educated. 



Washington, Franklin, Sherman, were of this 

 class ; and similar, though less striking instances, 

 may be found in all countries. To be educated, a 

 man must learn to think, reason, compare, and de- 

 cide accurately. He may study metaphysics till he 

 is gray, and languages till he is a walking polyglot, 

 and if he is nothing more, he is an uneducated man. 

 There is no class in the country who have a stronger 

 interest in the education of their children than 

 fanners ; and the subject should receive from them 

 the attention it deserves. — Literary Union. 



Books. — Books may be likened to a vast reservoir, 

 and the reading of them to a conduit, which leads 

 out a stream of knowledge to refresh and invigorate 

 the mind. Reading, to him who is in search of 

 knowledge, is a cloud by day and a pillar of fire by 

 night, to guide him along an uncertain, dark, and 

 rugged way. It gives a constant and vigorous im- 

 pulse to the mind, and is as necessary to its health- 

 ful action as food is to the body. By moans of read- 

 ing, the treasures of history, the wonders of astron- 

 omy and chemistry, the beauties of poetry and 

 eloquence, are opened to our view, to enrich our 

 minds, to exalt and purify our hearts. The experi- 

 ence of ages is placed within our reach, and we have 

 only to cultivate our memories to retain its treas- 



