1877-1 
AiVIERICAlSr AG-RICULTURIST. 
438 
because they add to labor and look "aeby." 
Aprons, cut like apron over-skirts, or meeting be- 
hind at the belt, and rounding down toward the 
front at the bottom, look well with sacks. To hard- 
working women, who feel the need of saving labor 
in every reasonable way, the fashionable over-skirt 
and polonaise are seriously objectionable, because 
they give a mass of cloth behind, where it is of no 
use, all of which must be washed, ironed, and 
draped, whenever the bady's sticky fingers make a 
muss upon the front breadth. Whatever we may 
feel it necessary to wear abroad, in order to look 
"like folks," and avoid dowdyism, we can wear 
plain and simple clothing at home, and read in 
the time which we can save by avoiding laborious 
decoration of our own and children's clothing. 
A Simple Ash-Sifter. 
In no well managed family is a waste of coal 
allowed, but the ashes are separated from tlie 
cinders, and all of these that can be burned are 
utilized. Sifting coal ashes is generally a disagree- 
able job, and it is not to be wondered at that serv- 
ants shirk it, when allowed to, yet by proper ar- 
rangements the labor can be greatly reduced, and 
the work done rapidly and neatly. We have on 
tonner occa.sions figured various ash-sifters, and 
we now give one devised by J. H. Ten Eyek, one of 
the firm of Ten Eyck & Co., of Auburn, N. T., 
whose business of reproducing enlarged plaiu or 
colored portraits from photographs anddaguerreo- 
types, brings them in relation with people aU over 
the Union. The engraving, reproduced from an 
exceedingly neat drawing, shows the ash-sifter with 
one side removed, to expose the interior arrange- 
ME. TEN EYCK S ASH SIFTER. 
ment. No measm-ements are given, because as Mr. 
T. E. suggests, it may be built in a wood-shed or 
other outbuilding, and will be of a size to suit the 
pla^e, or the amount of work required of it. The 
sifter consists of an inclined sieve — the wire-cloth 
for which may be had of the desired fineness at the 
hardware stores — placed at such an angle, that the 
cinders will roU down of their o^vn weight, while 
the ashes will fall throu.gh the meshes of the sieve. 
This sieve (C) is enclosed on all sides, and is pro- 
vided with a receptacle (B) for the ashes, as they 
come from the grate, one (1)) for the sifted aslies, 
and another (B) for the cinders freed from the 
ashes. Its working is automatic ; the iniiterial to 
be sifted being put in at B, will slide dnwm the 
sieve, until stopped by an nccuniulation of cinders 
at E, but on removing these, the sifting will go on 
again. The ashes must be removed, as they accu- 
mulate at D, or the sifter may be placed where the 
ashes will pass down through the floor, or out at 
one side of their own weight. Those who, like the 
writer, use the ashes in earth-closets, will prefer 
the construction shown in the engraving, in which 
they are kept dry and ready for use, when needed. 
A Window Transparency. 
Mrs. M. E. B. The window transparency refer- 
red to is made up of ferns, and other plants of 
pleasing foliage, and grasses. Autumn leaves are 
also introduced with good effect. All should be 
thoroughly pressed and dried beforehand, and in 
selecting the materials, choose those of light and 
graceful outline. If autumn leaves are used, they 
should not be varnished, but may be oiled, with 
linseed oil, or treated with paraffine or spermaceti ; 
either of these may be rubbed on a flat-iron— not 
too hot, and the leaves ironed until they have taken 
up what they will of the material. This will 
strength^ the colors without giving an unnatural 
gloss. Two pieces of thin clear glass, of equal 
size, are made perfectly clean, and the ferns, leaves, 
etc., laid upon one of them according to fancy. If 
none of the stems cross, there is no need of fasten- 
ing them, as they may be held in place by pi'essure : 
but if an uneven surface is presented, some will 
need a touch of gum to hold them in place. Hav- 
ing arranged them properly, put on the other glass, 
and fasten them by narrow strips of paper put upon 
the edges, using gum, tragacanth, or flour paste. 
Gum Arabic will not hold well to glass. Colored 
paper may be put on over the strips, or if strong 
enough, may be used at first. The engranng will 
show how the afl'air appears when finished. We 
have seen the side lights to a front door thus dec- 
orated with very pleasing effect. Care should be 
taken to have the materials perfectly diy when 
made up, and tlie paper around the edges carefully 
put on. If any inoistui'e is present, or should enter 
afterwards, mould will bo apt to spoil the whole. 
Scroll or Bracket Saws and their Work. 
Probably no kind of fancy work has so rapidly 
increased in popularity, as that made from thin 
wood sawed in various pleasing fonns. Indeed, it 
seems hardly proper to call it "fancy" work, as 
many of the articles thus made are really useful. 
We wiU not undertake to enumerate the many arti- 
cles of use and ornament that may be made by one 
having a moderate share of ingenuity, for the de- 
signs are so numerous, that those already published 
form a class of literature— if it can be so called — by 
themselves. Sawing is a pleasing occupation for 
young or old of both sexes, and the articles may be 
used for home decoration or u.se, or may be dis- 
posed of as presents to friends. Every sensible per- 
son puts a higher value upon a presentwhich repre- 
sents the painstaking work of the giver, than upon 
one that is purchased, even if that be many times 
more costly. Now that Christmas is approaching, 
and the annual problem, "what shall I give," pre- 
sents itself, it is well to think of the many pleasing 
things that may be made with little saws. Some 
persons have found it profitable to make sawed arti- 
cles for sale, but they have now become regular 
articles of trade, and are sold so cheaply that, in 
large towns at least, mere hand work can not com- 
pete with that produced at the factories. Still there 
is one way in which such articles may be turned to 
account. Almost every one is now and then called 
upon to contribute articles to a fair in aid of some 
church or charity, and being tired of the usual ar- 
ticles of needle-work, crochetting, etc., will find a 
welcome variety in the products of the saw. As to 
the materials and tools, there is a variety of both to 
choose from. In cities there are dealers in fancy 
lumber, where black-w.ilnut, rosewood, holly, satin- 
wood, and various other kinds may be purchased in 
desired quantities. In small places the cabinet maker 
must be consulted as to available material. There 
is one resource everywhere in cigar boxes ; there 
is much difference in the quality of the wood 
of which these are made, but by a little care that 
may be selected which may be worked to a verj' 
fine surface with sand-paper, and when the work 
is finished and varainhed, no one would guess its 
former use. As to saws, the simplest is merely a 
saw in a suitable frame, wLich may be worked by 
hand. Some of the finest work we have seen was 
done by a lady of groat skill, who preferred the 
hand-saw to any other. The best tool of this kind 
is figured on page 4(M!, last month, where will be 
found information as to how it can be obtained. 
Then there arc saws to which the motion is impart- 
ed by a treadle, the power being giveu by the foot, 
both hands are free to guide the work. Of these 
there are styles which may be fastened to a table or 
bench, and others have their own table or stand, 
and are complete in themselves. For a long time 
the Messrs. Trump Bros., of Wilmington, Del., 
have been engaged in manufacturing scroll saws, 
and they make a large number of different patterns. 
Their latest style is called "The Dexter," a very 
serviceable and workmanlike machine, in which the 
vibrating parts are of ash, and the clamps which 
hold the ends of the saw can be easily and quickly 
adjusted. This is mode of a form to be attached to 
a table, and be worked by an ingenious detached 
treadle, or it is mounted on a stand, where it is al- 
ways ready for use. This form mounted of " The 
Dexter " is shown in the engraving ; it takes up 
but little room, is sufficiently light to be readily 
moved, and has sufficient power to do any work 
that may be required of it in fancy sawing. 
Geeen Coks and Pickles. — This season has 
been no exception to former ones in the numl>er of 
questions concerning canning green corn and mak- 
ing pickles that will look Bke those sold in bottles. 
Though we have replied to these many Uraes, we 
do so again for the benefit of those who have not 
ba;k volumes. Green com can not be preserved 
in fruit jars, but will keep only when put up in 
tin cans. The necessity for soldering, emd for 
many hours boiling at a temperature higher than 
that of boiling water, makes yie process too diffi- 
cult and troublesome to be undertaken in the 
family. It is not always successful with the regular 
packers. . . .The store pickles are greened by soak- 
ing the salt from them in copper kettles or vats ; 
they are put up in colorless vinegar, made from 
whiskey or other form of alcohol, which is sold as 
"white-wine vinegar." While these pickles look 
very handsome, they have not so pleasant a flavor 
as those made from cider vinegar. The whiskey 
vinegar is just as wholesome as the other, but it 
has merely a pure acid taste, without the aromatic 
quality which makes real cider vinegar superior 
to all other kinds, not excepting that from wine. 
]|]©YS 4 (SmiLS' iBOIC'CTMIISc 
No. 462. Pnzzle Picture,— There was tronble 
in the noijjliborhood. First fanner Joues missed his 
best Brahma cock — then his best hen. Then farmer 
Nelson found that his trio of Plymouth Rocks— price 
birds at that— had only one. Complaints came from 
farmer Green, and the neighborhood was much excited 
over the matter. At flret it was laid to '* tramps,'' bnt no 
^ 
'-._:>* 
tramps had been ecen for a week, and etlH fowls wero 
taken. After a rain, iho trucks showed plainly that the 
thief was a fox. That fox was a very iniechicvoiLS one, 
as you can see by hiu portrait— which is* not from a pUo- 
toj;raph. It was of no use to try to keep ponllry, unless 
thai fox could be pot rid of. The neighborhood eaid he 
muet be shot. It was agreed that the mnu who shot the 
