286 



THE GARDEN AND FIELD. 



November 1913 



them into cold water as they are cut, 

 drain them and throw them into boiling 

 water to cook until they can be pierced 

 by a silver fork without breaking and 

 they must cook no longer. If they are 

 cooked too long at this stage they be- 

 come soft and mushy in the cans. Re- 

 move from fire, drain immediately, and 

 pour cold water through them in a col- 

 ander until they arc cool and firm. If 

 one has not a faucet or pump, three or 

 four changes of water will be sufficient. 

 Use plenty of water. This cooling is 

 called blanching by some writers. 



Half till the jars with tli« sterilized 

 water, then put in the beans which have 

 been thoroughly drained and pack them 

 in as firmly as one can without crushing, 

 add one-half teaspoon of salt. Finish as 

 directed for peas, cooking one and a 

 half hours. 



Young and tender beans require little 

 more than scalding in the preliminary or 

 first cooking, but old beans require 

 sometimes fifteen or twenty minutes ac- 

 cording to toughness and quantity. It 

 is advisable on this account not to cook 

 more than four or six quarts at a time 

 for the preliminary cooking. Shelled 

 Lima beans are done in the same way. 



— Beets. — 



Young beets may be canned either 

 whole or sliced, and with or without 

 vinegar. Select young fresh beets; 

 wash, put them into boiling water and 

 boil carefully for thirty minutes; then 

 remove the skins, and pack the beets 

 into quart jars. Add half a pint of 

 vinegar to a quart of water that has 

 been boiled and cooled; fill the jars with 

 this mixture. Finish as directed for 

 peas, cooking forty-five minutes. 



4 



Some Simple Home 

 Remedies. 



Salt and water, used as a g'ar- 

 gle for sore throat, is equal to 

 chlorate of potash, and is entirely 

 safe. It mav be used as oftfen as 

 desired, and if a little is swallow- 

 ed each time it will have a bene- 

 ficial eflect on the throat by" 

 cleansinjr it and allayinjr irritation. 

 In doses of one to four tea- 

 spoonfuls in half a pint to a pint 

 of tepid water it acts promptly as 

 an emetic, and in cases of poison- 

 ing is always on hand. iTt is an 

 excellent 'remedy for bites and 

 stinjrs of insects. It is a good 

 astringent in haemorrhages, parti- 

 cularlv for bleeding after the ex- 

 tracting of teeth. 



Mustard is another valuable re- 

 medv. No familv should be with- 

 out it. Two or three teaspoonfuls 

 of ground mustard stirred into half 

 a pint of water acts verv prompt- 

 ly as an emetic, and is milder and 

 easier to take than salt and water. 

 Kqual parts of ground mustard 



and flour or meal made into a paste 

 vath warm water, and spread on a 

 thin ]nece of muslin, with another 

 piece of mu.slin laid over it, forms 

 the indispensable " mustard plas- 

 ter." It is almost a specific for 

 colic when ajiidicd for a fevv min- 

 utes over the " pit of the 

 stomach." For all internal pains 

 and congestions there is no remedy 

 of such general utility. It acts as 

 a counter-irritant bv drawing the 

 blood to the surface ; hence in se- 

 vere cases of croup a small mus- 

 tard plaster should he applied to 

 the back of the child's neck. The 

 same treatment will relieve almost 

 anv case of headache. A mustard 

 plaster should be moved about 

 over the spot to be acted upon, 

 for if left in the place it is liable 

 to blister. A mustard plaster acts 

 as well when at a distance from 

 the affected part. An excellent 

 sulDstitute for mustard plasters is 

 that known as mustard leaves. 

 Thev come a dozen in a box, and 

 are about four or five inches. Thev 

 are perfectly drv, and will keep for 

 a long time. For use, it is onlv 

 necessarv to dip one in a dish of 

 water for a minute and then 

 applv it. 



Common baking soda is the best 

 of all remedies in cases of scalds 

 and burns. It mav be used on the 

 surface of the burned place either 

 drv or wet. When anplted prompt- 

 Iv, the sense of relief is mafncal. 

 It seems to withdraw th'e heat, 

 and with it the pain, and the heal- 

 ing process soon commences. 



People whose occupation keeps 

 them on their feet a great deal are 

 often troubled with chafed, sore, 

 and blistered feet, especiallv in ex- 

 extremelv hot weather, no matter 

 how comfortably their shoes may 

 fit. A powder is used in the Ger- 

 man arm\- for siftin>r into the shoes 

 and stockiuTs of the foot soldiers, 

 called " Frusstrau-pulver," and con- 

 sii^ts of three-parts salicylic acid, 

 TO Parts starch, and 87 parts pul- 

 verised soap'-stone. It keeps the 

 feet drv, prevents chafinf, and ra- 

 pidly heals sore .spots. Finely-pul- 

 verised soapstone alone is very 

 good . 



Another nlan is to soan the feet 

 well with tro'^d vellow soap before 

 putting on the socks. 



4 



A public school teacher savs 

 tha¥ she once required a Pupil to 

 compose a sentence with the word 

 " dogma " as the subject. The 

 pupil, a lad of ten, after some de. 

 liberation, submitted his effort. 

 It read as follows :— " The dog- 

 ma has five pups." 



Ounces of Prevention. 



Never begin a journey until 

 Ijreakfast has been eaten. 



Never take warm drinks and 

 then immediately go out in the 

 cold. 



Keep the back, especially be- 

 tween the shoulder blades, well 

 covered ; also the chest w^ell pro- 

 tected. 



In sleeping in a cold room estab- 

 lish the habit of breathing through 

 the nose, and never with the mouth 

 open. 



Never go to bed with cold or 

 damp feet. 



Never omit regular bathing, for 

 unless the skin is in an active con- 

 dition the cold will closie the pores 

 and favour congestion of other dis- 

 eases. 



After exercise of any kind never 

 ride in an open carriage or near 

 the window of a train for a mo- 

 ment ; it is dangerous to health, 

 and even to life. 



When hoarse, speak as little as 

 possible until the hoarseness is re 

 covered from, else the voice ma 

 be permanently lost or difficulties 

 of the throat be produced. 



WTien going from a warm at- 

 mos])here into a cooler owe keep 

 the mouth clo.sed, so that the air 

 may be warmed bv its passage 

 through the nose ere it reaches the 

 lungs. 



<$> 



Crystallised Fruits. 



The means of preserving fresh 

 fruits in a crystallized form is at- 

 tained by extracting the juices 

 from the fri'dts and replacing them 

 with sugar syrup, which upon 

 hardening, preserves the fruit 

 from decay, and at the 'same time 

 retains their natural shape and, 

 to some extent, flavour. The pro- 

 cess is as follows : — Fresh fruit, 

 nearlv ripe, whole, or cut into 

 ([uarters, in the case of citrus and 

 .such large sorts, shoujd be boiled 

 until thev are soft enough to be 

 handled without breaking. In the 

 ca.se of citrus fruit, the rind should 

 be lightlv pared off and the pith 

 removed, at lea.st 'a counle of hours 

 before boilinr. The softer kinds, 

 such as pleach, plum, apricot, etc., 

 would merelv be steeped in boiling 

 water for a very short time, care 

 beinT taken that thev are not 

 immersed sufficientlv long to be 

 cooked. The exact time can onlv 

 be determined bv actual experience. 

 .Afte'r this the water from the fruit 

 should be allowed to drain off 



