54: 



THE ILLINOIS F^mSIEH. 



For the IlUnoii Farmer. 



Blackberry Wine. 



AsHLET, March 12, 19C0. 



Editor Illinois Farmek: — The way 

 "we made our wines is as follows: 3 ber; 

 ries and 5 waters; that is, 3 gallons of 

 good ripe berries well washed, and then 

 add water to the berries enough to strain 

 out 8 gallons of liquid, and then add 3 

 lbs. of brown sugar to every gallon of 

 liquid, and mix well and let it stand 24 

 hours and scum, and then put in cask, 

 fill full, leave the bung out for six 

 weeks ; fill up the cask every day as it 

 works out. I think it would be better 

 to put half and half berries and water ; 

 that is, have one gallon of berries make 

 two gallons of liquid. 



Yours respectfully, 



Cheney Post tfe Co. 



We have a sample of the blackberry 

 wine of Messrs. Cheney Post & Co., and 

 pronounce it superior to any samples ex- 

 hibited at the State Fair, and with one 

 exception, the best that w^e have met 

 with, and that was made with loaf sagar 

 which gave it a clear, light color, and a 

 blackberry taste. These gentlemen 

 made some forty casks of wine last sea- 

 son, and sold it at the low price- of one 

 dollar per gallon. It has very little in- 

 toxicating properties, not more than 

 good cider, and for medicinal purposes 

 must be valuable. It is certainly a very 

 pleasant drink. By the recipe, it will 

 be seen that it is very cheaply made. 



With abundant annual crops of black- 

 berries in the south part of the State, 

 this wine may soon become very popu- 

 lar in our markets, from the very large 

 quantities that will be made. French 

 wines made in Chicago and New York 

 will be at a discount beside this pure na- 

 tive production. — Ed. 



••> 



For the Illiaois Fanuer. 



nousekeepins. 



Chicaoo, March IC, 1860. 



Editor Illinois Farmer ; — The 

 March number of the Illinois Farmer, 

 came to hand just in time te relieve the 

 tedium of convalescence from sickness. 

 I have read it carefully, and recognize 

 but one deficiency in its conduct, viz : 

 not telling the wives and sisters how to 

 cook those fine varieties of squashes, 

 beans, etc., etc. 



I am not a very old or experienced 

 housekeeper — only an average one — but 

 if you have a corner for a few good reci- 

 pes, I will cheerfully furnish them. 



The old-fashioned method of putting 

 up " apple sauce '' for the winter, out of 

 " down apples " when cider is sweet and 

 cheap, is familiar to every one who has 

 had access to a bounteous farmer's ta- 

 ble. 



But with those farmers, who put up a 

 large quantity of fruit in the Fall, there 

 will always be much that will rapidly de- 

 cay on the approach of warm weather. 

 My method has been to sort them over 

 weekly, and carefully*peeling and cor- 

 ing the decaying ones, speedily convert 

 the fruit into " Spring apple butter." 



Three pints of molasses with the same 

 of water to each half bushel of prepared 

 fruit ; twelve hours boiling and stirring 

 in a porcelain kettle will reduce the mass 

 to a fine red jam equal to the best pre- 

 serve. 



Dried pumpkin, or those " Hubbard 

 squashes,*' with the addition of some 

 agreeable spices or lemon peel, will 

 be equally nice. 



"Housekeeper." 



We thank " Housekeeper " for the 

 suggestion of a housekeeper's corner. 

 Yes, we shall always have a corner for 

 just such practical recipes as the above. 

 But we cannot fill valuable space with a 

 long string of stereotyped formulas for 

 this and that nondescript cake, etc., 

 usually found under the head of "House- 

 keeping," "Domestic Matters," or "The 

 Kitchen." We intend that the pages of 

 the Farmer shall contain facts which 

 can be of use to its readers. The prac- 

 tice BO common of using "windEalla'' 



for "apple butter'' and "apple sauce," 

 is not a good one. It is seldom that 

 any two apples cook alike, and for this, 

 if no other reason, they should not be 

 mixed. In putting up apples for winter 

 use, each variety should be kept separate 

 as their season of maturity, or the time 

 when they begin to decay, are not alike. 

 If Lumber twigs and Komanites are put 

 in the same bin, the latter will decay 

 and injure the others, if not sorted over 

 often ; but in keeping each variety sep- 

 arate, a large amount of sorting will b& 

 saved. We prefer the apple sauce to 

 the apple butter, and think there is less 

 trouble in making it. The suggestion of 

 using molasses in place of sweet cider, 

 is new to us. We like the idea of ma- 

 king it during winter or spring, as sug- 

 gested. That made in the fall is, as 

 "Housekeeper" states, liable to sour on 

 the approach of warm weather, and 

 must of course, "be made strong to 

 keep," and requires scalding. Better 

 make it from good, fresh, sound apples 

 as wanted. Ladies, we have room for 

 you in which you shall be heard, but ex- 

 cuse us from putting scissors into prin- 

 ted matter that we do not understand. 



—Ed. 



F&rm Houies. 



A New York merchant of wealth pur- 

 chased a farm out west for a promising 

 son; within a year he became unwell. 

 Inquiries were made as to his sleeping 

 room; the answer was, that he had for 

 his chamber a large upper room, well 

 lighted. His sister paid him a visit, 

 and soon observed that his clothing in 

 his wardrobe was damp, while that in 

 the drawers were actually moulded; 

 when the fact presented itself, that the 

 room was on the north side of the 

 house, overlooking an immense prairie, 

 and that no ray of sunshine ever en- 

 tered fiom one year's end to another. 

 He returned to New York ana died of 

 tuberculous disease, which, with great 

 certainty was hastened, if not origin- 

 ated, by the unfortunate position ot his 

 chamber. The lesson is, that the family 

 room, the sleeping apartment, the study, 

 in short, any apartment which is oc- 

 cupied for the greater part of each 

 twenty-four hours, should have its 

 windows facing the south, as nearly as 

 possible, BO that the glad sunshine may 

 lighten it up, and keep it warm, and dry 

 and pure. — Mall's Joarual of Health. 



That damp rooms have much to do 

 with ague and other western diseases, 

 is a fact too potent for denial. Sleeping 



rooms are generally too small, and 

 when not exposed to the direct rays of 

 the sun should have either a stove, 

 fire-place or pipe by which to wram up 

 and to dry the room. Dry, airy sleep- 

 ing rooms are great labor saving institu- 

 tions, for they keep the laborer in good 

 health and vigor, and he is able to do 

 full justice to his work. 



In summer, a room on the second 

 floor is to be preferred to one on the 

 ground floor, as it is generally above the 

 miasma that seldom rises a half dozen 

 feet above the surface of the earth, and 

 which has a free circulation through the 

 lower rooms. 



Farm houses on the prairie should in 

 all cases be two stories high, with most, 

 if not all the sleeping apartments above. 

 In winter, these rooms to no small ex- 

 tent, can be warmed with the stove 

 pipes passing up through from the rooms 

 below, which will keep them dry., and 

 healthy. Too little attention is paid to 

 a proper form of architecture; farmers 

 of no experience in building, young 

 wives, just from boarding school, and 

 ignorant carpenters, have too much to 

 do with the plans of our farm houses. 

 We have thought seriously of making 

 drawings of a few farm houses as they 



