56 



NEW ENGLAND FARIVIER. 



Jan. 



lahus' Ocpitrtmcnt. 



From Once a Week. 

 THE INITIALS. 



Tct stands the tree I There eeema no change 



Come o'er its mosey trunk or leaflets fair, 

 Sturdy its branches spread. To me, how strange 

 To see it there I 



The years have passed, the happy hours have fled. 



The burning love has now forever gone, 

 The bright hopes, like the fallien leaves, are dead— 

 T am alone I 



And ye;, upon that tiee her much-loved name. 

 Unscathed by time, with mine is intertwiced. 

 Can it be years since to this f^pot we came, 

 One heart, one mind ? 



Her arm was round me, her breath fanned my cheek. 



As I the letters carved with no small art. 

 Together, ever! though we did not speak. 

 Was in each heart 1 



Then, once again, I will her name repeat. 



And try forever to forget the words ; 

 And pray that time, wiih gentle hand, may beat 

 O'er memory's chords. 



I will just place my lips upon that tree. 



And seal the feeling.i of the past forever. 

 And will depart. Where'er my path may he, 

 My heart is there. 



And no w I cull, and fast my pulaes belt ; 



A dainty sound the fallen leaves comes o'er — 

 Is it the brushing of her fairy fec-t ? 

 Ah, nevermore I 



Some other now with her elsew here may trace. 



In letters fading, their names to intertwine, 

 Which time mav blot, but he dares not efface 

 Such love as mine! 



DOMESTIC ECONOMY; 



OR, 



HOW TO MAIC3 HOME PLEASANT. 



BT ANNE G. HALE . 



[Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 

 1866, by R. P. Eaton & Co., in the Clerk's Office of the 

 District Couit for the District of Massachusetts.! 



CHAPTER XIX. 

 CARE AND COOKINa OF VEGETABLES. 



Vegetables do not indeed rank so high in the 

 dietetic scale as fruits and meats; even though 

 some philosophers have succeeded (according to 

 their own statements) in extracting sunbeams from 

 cucumbers, and have attained aldermanic corpu- 

 lency upon turnips fried in water. Yet in their 

 subordinate position they are desirable, not only 

 because they furnish us with a large variety of 

 cheap and healthy dithes, but for the stimulus 

 they often give the appetite towards the proper en- 

 joyment of animal food, while they sometimes 

 render good service in palliating or correcting the 

 injurious effects of a too carnivorous diet. They 

 are generally considered the least important arti- 

 cles of our food, and consequently receive slight 

 attention. The reverse should be the case. As 



much thought and care must be bestowed upon 

 the management of vegetables as upon that of the 

 choicest fruits, or there will be great waste of their 

 nutritive qualities, and their highest uses fail of 

 development. 



At the harvesting of vegetables pains should be 

 taken to keep all half-ripened and sound produc- 

 tions free from contact with the unsound or. dis- 

 eased, — a decaying turnip or onion, a blighted po- 

 tato, a "lousy" cabbage — may infect and ruin a 

 whole winter's stock. 



Most roots give signs of their maturity in the 

 changed color or dryness of their foliage. They 

 should then be dug or pulled from the soil, left in 

 the sun till dry, and then kept from heat and 

 moisture till they are cooked. 



All roots should be taken within doors before 

 the chilly nights of autumn ; for if frost-bitten 

 they are sure to decay quickly. But they must 

 be kept as cold as possible short of freezing. 



Potatoes and onions are less liable to rot when 

 kept perfectly dry and cool. All other roots need 

 the slight moisture of sand or gravel about and 

 upon them to prevent them from shrivelling; tur- 

 nips and beets, especially, require this. 



Carrots should be covered with sand or ashes ; 

 parsnips the same. These last if not needed dur- 

 ing the winter, may remain till spring in the soil 

 where they grow, as the frost has less effect upon 

 them than upon other roots. Cabbages also tan 

 remain where they will freeze if they are kept in 

 that condition till they are used. Freezing mel- 

 lows and sweetens them ; hut they decay soon 

 after thawing. They retain their freshness longest 

 if transplanted from the field b.fore the frost 

 comes, to a trench, about afoot deep, in the cellar. 

 Their roots should be watered occasionally. Cau- 

 liflowers need the same management. Set celery 

 in deeper trenches in the darkest part of the cellar. 



Sweet potatoes keep best packed in saw-dust in 

 a cool, dark and dry closet. Pumpkins and 

 squashes should be kept dry and moderatelj' 

 warm. If squashes get touched by the frost, to 

 prevent their entire waste, pare them immediately 

 and remove their seeds ; then cut them into pieces 

 of a convenient size. Slice these to half an inch 

 thickness, and spread them on dishes or cloths in 

 the sunshine, or string them and hang them in a 

 sunny window or about the kitchen chimnej' to 

 dry. Soak them in warm water till scft before 

 stewing. 



Green corn may be dried for winter use, retain- 

 ing its excellence unimpaired if well cared for 

 during the process of drying. None but the real 

 sweet corn should be dried. Remove the husk 

 and scald the corn just enough to set or coagulate 

 its milk ; then with a knife clear the kernels from 

 the cob and spread them thinly on a cloth in the 

 sunshine where there is plenty of air. Stir the 

 kernels about, or shake them to another cloth 

 every morning till they are dry ; a week of good 

 weather will dry them. Keep this dried corn ia 



