1877.] 
AMERICAN AG-RIGULTURIST. 
305 
before breakfast. This brings the baking late in 
the day, and most of ns do not like it. At night, 
or in the evening, "we make a soft batter of warm 
■water and flour and yeast, the quantity of each de- 
pending upon the number of loaves desired. The 
proportions are generally the same, though no pre- 
cise rule can be given, as flour and yeast differ in 
their properties. 
Miss Beecher says that it takes about a quart of 
flour to make each loaf, and for four loaves a quart 
of wetting. But loaves vary in size. For a baking 
of this size, you need about three-fourths of a cake 
of good dry yeast in summer, in winter a whole 
cake. This yeast must be soaked in warm water 
half an hour or less before using. The yeast wUl 
not work if scalded. A giU of lively, soft, or bak- 
er's yeast, answers for the same sized baking. Take 
a portion of your flour, (say two quarts), and (if 
you do as 1 do) pour half of your wetting into it 
boiling hot, only scalding about half of the flour 
you use in the sponge. Use the other half of the 
wetting lukewarm, and see that the batter is below 
the scalding point when you add the yeast. In 
summer you may make the sponge at a lower tem- 
perature than in winter, but it should never be cold. 
Make it of such thickness that it will not separate 
or become watery over the top, but thin enough to 
stir and pour easUy. Set in a warm place, covered 
loosely — wrapped up warm in winter. 
In a warm kitchen this sponge rises in from three 
to Ave hours ; it the materials are good, it seldom 
sours during the night, but must be looked after 
very early, and if light, must be kneaded without 
delay. Some housekeepers stir dissolved soda into 
it, always, at this point, whether it is sour or not, but 
this is sheer folly. If the flour and yeast are good, 
it Is very seldom that a good housekeeper has oc- 
casion to put any soda into her bread. If the bread 
smells sour, (not simply yeasty), or tastes sour, put 
in dissolved soda in the proportion of a teaspoonful 
to a quart of wetting used in the sponge. Dissolve 
the soda in warm water or sweet milk, (and I add 
to it two heaping teaspoonfuls of sugar), and stir it 
into the sponge before kneading. Stir in flour un- 
til your batter is too stiff for your strong spoon, 
then begin to work with your hands, keeping flour 
between your hands and the soft dough, and always 
between the dough and board. As soon as the 
bread is stiff enough to knead without sticking, 
cease to work in flour, but knead with as little flour 
as possible upon the board, and work it hard with 
the hands for at least half an hour. The " Parker 
House " baker says he kneads two hours, but of 
course he makes larger " batches." Put the dough 
back into the pan or tray, and keep it warm. 
The dough should now rise until it doubles In 
size. It must rise enough, or it will not be light 
and elastic in texture. It must not rise too much, 
or it will lose the natural sweetness of the wheat, 
and about all that one can say here is, " cultivate 
judgment."' If, at this stage the bread turns sour 
in any degree, it is still possible to neutralize the 
acidity by the use of soda, and this is the best way 
to do it : mix soda and dry flour together, and 
knead them into your loaves very thoroughly. The 
dough requires a very thorough kneading, without 
more flour, when made into loaves, in order to se- 
cure a uniform texture. If you plan four loaves, 
you may kuoad half of it for a few minutes, then 
work the other half as long, and then divide into 
separate loaves, and knead each one well before 
putting it into the well-buttered tins. If tlie dough 
is sour, half a teaspoonful of soda for each loaf 
should be mixed with a little flour and kneaded in. 
Though the bread may be nice, I never feel that 
I have been very successful when I have had to use 
soda. The loaves should be set In a warm place, 
and allowed to rise light, or double in size, before 
they go into the oven — not too light, as they are 
pretty sure to rise a little more after .they go into 
the oven, unless the oven is too hot for bread. 
Prick the loaves on the top with a fork or knife, 
when light, before baking, to prevent a loose upper 
crust. Bake steadily for an hour or a little longer, 
according to the size of the loaves. 
Rcpairliic; Bril Comforters. 
Complaint Is made of our " heavy " cotton com- 
forters. Wherefore "heavy"? They are not so 
when new, but the cotton becomes packed by pres- 
sure, and especially by washing. Comforters, which 
are used as coverings in winter, should not be used 
as mattresses over straw-beds in summer. This, of 
course, makes them hard and heavy. Before put- 
ting them away for the summer, they need some 
cleansing, but, unless the covering is really soiled, 
the sunshine and fresh air will freshen and sweeten 
them properly. Hang them out during the whole 
of at least one sunny day, then put them away, not 
packing them too closely. If they must be washed, 
untack them and wash only the covering, laying the 
XUe Doctor's Correspondeiice. 
I do not like to begin ihe answers to my youn;^ friends 
with a lecture — perhaps you will think it is a scolding — 
but we had better have the disagreeable part first, and 
there is such frequent cause for it, that I would put it 
where every one of jo« will see it. I wish that 
EVERT EOT ANTI GIRL, 
of the whole Avieiiam Agricidturi?t family would recol- 
lect, that it is regarded as decidedly improper to send 
what is called an anonymous, {that is, nameless), letter 
to any one. It is often done through thoughtlessness — 
No. 461 Pnzzle Picture — B F nl — Th s is a pat ot c puz7le p cture and wa-* ent 1 v \nnt s i to 
appear ill July, so tluit you could, very properly, li't the making of it ont come m as a part of your 4th of July 
celebration. While it would have been more nppropriate for July -ith. it is not out of place on August 4th, or any 
other day of that or any other month, as you are to flud in the picture the names of 53 men, and men too, whose 
memory should be honored by all Americans for all time. The answers, mind, are to go to Auut Sue. 
cotton out in the hot sunshine for a day or more, 
then tacking the whole together as before. 
Old Betl Q,iiilts. 
These must be washed when much soiled, and a 
washing machine and wringer seem almost indis- 
pensable. Plenty of suds should be used, and a 
thorough rinsing be given. If they happen to hang 
through a good pouring rain, it will do no harm. 
They can be patched up, when very badly worn 
out, more easily than some imagine. If pieced in 
large blocks, they can be patched with dr.rk or 
light, according to the shade of the worn portions, 
so as to look almost as good as new. Of course 
they need not be ironed. 
To 'Wash Blankets Nicely. 
I have seen various directions for tLIs work, but 
a few things seem essential in every case : to avoid 
hard water and resinous soaps, to wring -nithout 
twisting (i. c, with a wringer), or not to wring at 
all, to use water of the same temperature all 
through, or to increase in heat during the changes, 
not to rub the soap upon the flannel, but mix it 
with the water. Flannel is ot so porous texture, 
that it is easily cleansed in good suds without much 
rubbing. Hard rubbing tends to '■ full " the cloth, 
and to rinse in cold water flannel that has been 
washed in warm water, is a sure way to shrink and 
harden It. From cold to warm, bnt itever from 
warm to cold. I have seen the direction to rinse 
flannels in soapy water, but I am sure there is no 
value in this. The clean, warm rinsing water is 
sure to be soapy enough, if good suds have been 
used in the washing. One suds or two may be used, 
according to the degree to which the flannels have 
been soiled. When they have been rinsed, two 
should take them, one at each end, and shake and 
snap them well, to make them more soft and fuzzy. 
as in the case of "Boy of 12," hut Is nevertheless very 
impolite. If you have anything to say, to which you are 
ashamed to put your name — don't write it. But when- 
ever you do write a letter to any one — always be careful 
to pat yonr address in full, and your name in full. I 
wish every one of my young friends to begin now, and 
make it a rule through life, to always sign your name to 
every letter, and be equally careful to give your address. 
Post OIHcc, County, and State. ■ One thing he sure ot— 
never wri te anything to any one that you will be ashamed 
to see again, with your name to it. * ♦ * You will recol- 
lect that in last June's "Correspondence" I loldyouabout 
AN IKSECT THAT BtTLDS A STOXE HOUSE, 
a Ctddis-worm, the larva of one of the Ciddis-flies. that 
makes a neat little case of pebbles, and gave an engrav- 
ing of the animal and its case. As the insects were all 
dead when they reached me, having dried in the box. I 
asked for some nn»ix-, to be sent packed in moss, in a tin 
box. In due time, the box with a nice lot of Caddi:?- 
worms cante ; the insects were all alive, but every one 
had left its stone house, and was crawling among the 
moss, I put them in w.ater, hoping that some of them 
would go back to their homes, but not one would do so, 
nor would they make new ones, tliough I gave them 
building materials, I suppose that the constant Jarring 
they had on the r,nilroad frighleneil them "out of house 
and home " ; at any rate, I was quite s<irry, as I wi.^hed 
to watch their ways and learn more about them, that I 
might tell yon. It was very kind of Mr .\lbert B, Ciialle, 
of Frederick, Mil,, to be at the trouble of getting this 
second lot. and it was no fault of his that they did not 
behave themselves properly . . Here is a letter from " W. 
I. N.," Ilightstown, N. J,, wh-< wishes to know about 
" ,v rnEsn-WATEu lobsteh," 
which lie finds in the streams in his neighborhood. He 
h.'is one that it* 3"^' inches long in his aquarium, and 
thinks thill, except in size, it is quite like the common 
lobster, ns it moves in the same manner, and snaps at ob- 
jecti* with its claws just as a lobstiT does. The common 
name for our friend's "Fresh-water Lobster" is the 
Crawfish, and while it much resembles the Lobster, 
naturalists find abundant differences between the two, so 
