THE SOU THE 



without the expense of a copying press, as fol- 

 lows: "A strip of muslin attached to a wooden 

 roller, and costing certain]}' not more than twelve 

 cents, answers every purpose. The paper, after 

 being properly wetted, should be placed between 

 the muslin and the roller ; and by merely rolling 

 the roller up, consequently pressing the paper 

 against the letter, will take a perfect impression 

 from it. The time necessary for doing it is also 

 shortened. The old iron presses are very ex- 

 pensive and frequently break or otherwise get 

 out of order, and will not work, whereas, the 

 other method is so simple in its operation, and 

 so quick and effective, that we are persuaded 

 that it only requires to be generally known to 

 be brought into use by all, and by a great many 

 who have not felt themselves able to purchase 

 such a machine. It is a great saving for the 

 clerks, and a great many merchants who have 

 now their copying done by hand, will adopt this 

 method when once it becomes known. — Scientific 

 American. 



BISCUITS. 



French Rolls, or Twists. — One quart of luke- 

 warm milk; one tea-spoonful of salt; a large 

 tea-cup of home-brewed yeast, or half as much 

 distillery yeast ; flour enough to make a stiff 

 batter ; set it to rise, and when very light, work 

 in one egg and two spoonfuls of butter, and 

 knead in flour till stiff enough to roll ; let it rise 

 again, and when very light, roll out, cut in strips, 

 and braid it. Bake thirty minutes on buttered 

 tins. 



Raised Biscuit. — Rub half a pound of butter 

 into a pound of flour ; one beaten egg ; a tea- 

 spoonful of salt ; two great spoonfuls of distillery 

 yeast, or twice as much home-brewed ; wet it 

 up with enough warm milk to make a soft 

 dough, and then work in half a pound of butter ; 

 when light, mould it into round cakes, or roll it 

 out and cut it with a tumbler. 



Very Nice Rusk. — One pint of milk ; one 

 coffee-cup of yeast, potato is best ; four eggs ; 

 flour enough to make it as thick as you can stir 

 with a spoon; let it rise till very light, but be 

 sure it is not sour ; if it is, work in half a tea- 

 spoonful of saleratus, dissolved in a wine-glass 

 of warm water; when thus light, work together 

 three-quarters of a pound of sugar and nine 

 ounces of butter; add more flour, if needed, to 

 make it stiff enough to mould ; let it rise again, 

 and when very light, mould it into small cakes ; 

 bake fifteen minutes in a quick oven, and after 

 taking it out, mix a little milk and sugar, and 

 brush over the rusk, while hot, with a small 

 swab of linen tied to a stick, and dry it in the 

 oven. When you have weighed these propor- 

 tions once, then measure the quantity, so as to 

 save the trouble of weighing afterward. Write 

 the measures in your recipe book, lest you forget. 

 V6L. VI.— 35 



RN PLANTER. 273 



Potato Biscuit — Twelve pared potatoes boiled 

 soft and mashed fine, and two tea-spoonfuls of 

 salt ; mix the potatoes and milk, and half a tea- 

 cup of yeast, and flour enough to mould them 

 well ; then work in a cup of butter ; when risen, 

 mould them into small cakes, then let them stand 

 in buttered pans fifteen minutes before baking. 



Crackers. — One quart of flour, with two ounces 

 of butter rubbed in ; one tea-spoonful of salera- 

 tus in a wine-glass of warm water ; half a tea- 

 spoonful of salt, and milk enough to roll it out ; 

 beat it half an hour with a pestle, cut it in thin, 

 round cakes, prick them, and set them in the 

 oven when other things are taken out. Let 

 them bake till crisp. 



Hard Biscuit. — One quart of flour, and half a 

 tea-spoonful of salt ; four great spoonfuls of butter 

 rubbed into two-thirds of the flour ; wet it up 

 with milk till a dough ; roll it out again and 

 again, sprinkling on the reserved flour till all is 

 used ; cut into round cakes, and bake in a quick 

 oven on buttered tins. 



Sour Milk Biscuit. — A pint and a half of sour 

 milk, or buttermilk ; two tea-spoonfuls of salt ; 

 two tea-spoonfuls of saleratus, dissolved in four 

 great spoonfuls of hot water ; mix the milk in 

 flour till nearly stiff enough to roll, then put in 

 the saleratus, and add more flour; mould up 

 quickly, and bake immediately; shortening for 

 raised biscuit or cake should always be worked 

 in after it is wet up. 



A Good Way to Use Sour Bread. — When a 

 batch of bread is sour, let it stand till very light, 

 and use it to make biscuit for tea or breakfast, 

 thus : Work into a portion of it, saleratus dis- 

 solved in warm water, enough to sweeten it, and 

 a little shortening, and mould it into small bis- 

 cuits, bake it, and it is uncommonly good. It 

 is so much liked that some persons allow bread 

 to turn sour for the purpose. Bread can be kept 

 on band for this use any length of time. 



WONDERFUL INVENTIONS. 



A correspondent of the New York Tribune, 

 writing from Worcester, Massachusetts, gives 

 the following account of the fruits of Yankee 

 skill and ingenuity: 



"There are two machinists there, whose pre- 

 sence there might give some distinction to Nor- 

 wich, though their genius has been exercised on 

 very different objects : one is the inventor of that 

 most extraordinary piece of mechanism, em- 

 ployed with a wonderful saving of labor, not in 

 making but in papering pins ! Could you sup- 

 pose that it would ever have entered into the 

 imagination of the most dreamy enthusiast, that 

 he could contrive a machine, whereby he could 

 throw in any quantity of pins, in mass, all heads 

 and points, and have them come out, not only 

 perfectly straightened, but actually papered, three 

 widths of paper at a time, with nothing remain- 



