342 



NEW ENGLAND FARMEH. 



July 



the ground, always discovers it while perched on 

 a tree or a fence, and darts down upon it from his 

 perch." In my manuscript, this remark was made 

 of the bluebird, and is entirely incorrect as applied 

 to the blackbird. 



Yours, truly, Wilson Flagg. 



LADIES' DEPARTMENT. 



EUGENIE'S PETTICOAT. 



The Empress has just adopted a new style of 

 petticoat, which is the despair of nearly all the 

 women of moderate fortune who are ambitious of 

 bearing on their persons the latest novelty that is 

 to be found at the celebrated modistes^ of Paris. 

 Her imperial majesty is not ambitious to popular- 

 ize the agrements of the toilette. She detests 

 everything that is common, and lately begged of 

 her tirewoman to invent something in the shape 

 of a petticoat that could not be worn by every 

 bourgeois. That marvellous garment has at last 

 been brought out. It does not altogether super- 

 sede crinoline, but greatly circumscribes it, and 

 its peculiar virtue is, that, get it up in the cheap- 

 est manner, it must be as dear as seven or eight 

 ordinary petticoats, and cannot possibly be washed 

 and smoothed for less than as many francs. 

 Petticoats ai'e a very sacred subject, and in any 

 case difficult things to treat of ; but the jupon 

 Eugenie — -that is a subject of serious disquietude 

 to so many Avomen — is particularly so. Neverthe- 

 less, as it is destined to limit that terrible bore — 

 crinoline— to try and make public its peculiarities 

 is a task that should be attempted. Beneath a 

 ball dress, it produces an effect so charming as to 

 call forth a torrent of the most flattering adjec- 

 tives of which the French are capable. It certain- 

 ly forms a graceful contrast, when its wearer 

 dances, to the light skirts of some other lady, 

 coming in contact with the stifl" steel bars of the 

 cage she carries about hei*. This W'onderful petti- 

 coat is said in most instances to be made of cam- 

 bric muslin, so that washer-women cannot stifi'en 

 it too much. Its circumference is six yards at the 

 widest point, and it is covered by nine flounces of 

 still greater circumference. The lowest of these 

 flounces is by all accounts a mere frill ; the sec- 

 ond, a few* inches longer, and considerably wider, 

 completely covers the first; the third does the 

 same to the second, and so on, till one great 

 flounce falls completely over the other eight, each 

 one of which, to arrive at the standard of imperi- 

 al elegance, must be hem-stitched like a lady's 

 pocket-handkerchief, and the outer one in addi- 

 tion be nearly covered with the embroidery done 

 by the women of the Vosges. This invention also 

 sets its face against the sewing-machine, as nearly 

 every part of it must be hand-work. It was pur- 

 posely so designed to prevent an immense num- 

 ber of seamstresses being suddenly thrown out of 

 work by the increased demand for machine-sew- 

 ing, which is not yet capable of effecting hem- 

 stitching, or embroidery. The Empress's new pet- 

 ticoat is thus calculated to be at the same time a 

 very exclusive institution, and one that will give 

 as much employment to the poor needle-women 

 as the new streets and boulevards do to the 

 blouses. — London Herald. 



ABOUT ST RAW BERRIES. 



TO TRESERVE STRAWBERRIES. 



To two pounds of fine large strawberries, add 

 two pounds of ])owdered sugar, and put them in a 

 preserving kettle, over a slow fire, till the sugar is 

 melted ; then boil them precisely twenty minutes, 

 as fast as possible ; have ready a number of small 

 jars, and put the fruit in boiling hot. Cork and 

 seal the jars immediately, and keep them through 

 the summer in a cold, dry cellar. The jars must 

 be heated before the hot fruit is poured in, other- 

 wise they will break. 



TO PRESERVE STRAWBERRIES OR RASPBERRIES, 

 FOR CREAMS OR ICES, WITHOUT BOILING. 



Let the fruit be gathered in the middle of a 

 warm day, in very dry weather ; strip it from the 

 stalks directly, weigh it, turn it into a bowl or 

 deep pan, and bruise it gently ; mix with an equal 

 weight of fine, dry sifted sugar, and put it imme- 

 diately into small wide-necked bottles ; cork these 

 firmly without delay, and tie bladders over the 

 tops. Keep them, in a cool place, or the fruit will 

 ferment. The mixture should be stirred softly, 

 and only just sufficiently to blend the sugar and 

 the fruit. The bottles must be perfectly dry, and 

 the bladders, after having been cleaned in the 

 usual way, and allowed to become nearly so, 

 should be moistened with a little spirit on the side 

 which is to be next the cork. 



STRAWBERRIES STEWED FOR TARTS. 



Make a sjTup of one pound of sugar and a tea- 

 cup of water ; add a little white of eggs ; let it 

 boil, and skim it until only a foam rises ; then put 

 in a quart of Ijerries free from stems and hulls ; 

 let them boil till they look clear, and the syrup is 

 quite thick. Finish with fine puff paste. 



STRAWBERRY JELLY. 



Express the juice from the fruit through a cloth, 

 strain it clear, Aveigh and stir to it an equal pro- 

 portion of the finest sugar dried and reduced to 

 powder ; Avhen this is dissolved, place the preserv- 

 ing pan over a very clear fire, and stir the jelly 

 often until it boils ; clear it carefully from scum, 

 and boil it quickly from fifteen to twenty-five min- 

 utes. This receipt is for a moderate quantity of 

 the preserve ; a very small portion Avill require 

 much less time. 



HOME COURTESIES. 



In the home intercourse it should be remembered 

 that each one has his place and his part. A hap- 

 py and pleasant home is an impossibility -where 

 any one slights his duty. Home is not a place 

 where you are to cosset your own fancies, or be 

 entertained by the rest. You have no right to sit 

 down, listless and dull, and say, "Come, amuse 

 me and see how pleasant you can make home." 

 You have no right to complain that home is un- 

 genial, till you are sure that you have tried your 

 best to make it genial. The men Avho complain 

 of homes are mostly those of whom the homes 

 complain, men whose dignity is offended at the 

 bare suggestion that they have something to do 

 toward making it pleasant. Home is not a mere 

 place of entertainment, a sort of tavern, and he 

 who turns to it for enteitainment merely deserves 



