18G6." 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
105 
Home Attractions. — Tea, Coffee, Smiles 
and Baby Prattle. 
Tlic greatest safeguard a man can possess, the 
■n-ell nigU irresistible eharui against ale-liousc al- 
lureiueuts and otlier evil, is au attraclive, liappy 
home of his owu. Tlio 
contented and loYing y-r^ 
■wife has sundry valuable 
auxiliaries at band, which 
judiciously employed will 
add not a little to the 
potency of her owu - 
smiles and cheerful tem- 
per. Among these we 
give good tea and coffee 
a high place. But these 
beverages must be good, 
full of aroma, aud hot; not 
necessarily strong,though 
sometimes strength is a 
very good thing. There 
is a vast deal of very 
poor tea consumed, and 
a great deal that is good 
spoiled in mailing ; and 
ifthisistrue of tea, it is 
ten times more of coITeo, 
if indeed the decoctions 
of roasted seeds, grains, 
roots, etc., which are so 
much drank, may be 
called at all by that name 
of so aromatic memory 
There is no evidence, 
60 far as we can judge, 
that pure tea, or coflfee 
used in moderation, pro 
duces any but pleasant 
effects upon aduUs. They 
each contain a highly vo 
latile oil, which gives the 
pleasant flavor and is dissi 
patcd entirely by boiling 
So the more either tea or 
coffee are boiled, the 
poorer they are. The 
.alkaloids, ihein in tea, 
and cafciii in coffee, aie 
dissolved only by boilin^ 
hot water. So the "draw 
iug " of tea for about five 
minutes for green, and 10 
minutes for black, as i=, 
well known, extracts 
both of the desirable in 
gredients ; and the perco 
lation of hot watei 
through freshly burned 
aud ground coffee attains 
the same result for this 
beverage. Theteamustbe 
good and the coffee must 
be pure, if the wife would 
be sure of spending a '--' 
pleasant evening with her 
refreshed and reinvigor- 
ated husband. — See in our picture, the baby boy has 
caught sight of " papa " as ho is coming home 
across the fields from his day's work, and in his 
joy has well nigh wrought a catastrophe. 
it has been done is still hot, some powdered white 
or brown sugar. (Half an ounce to one pound of 
coffee is sufficient.) The sugar melts immediately, 
aud ljy well shaking or turning the roaster quickly, 
it spreads all over the berries, and gives each one a 
fine glaze, impervious to the atmosphere. They 
have then a sliiuing appearance, as though covered 
with a varnish, and they in conscciucuee lose their 
smell entirely, which, however, returns in a high 
degree as soon as they are ground. After this 
To Retain t3«e Aroma, of Coffbc— 
Baron Liebig gives the following simple directious : 
" The berries of coffee, once ro.asted, lose every 
hour somewhat of their aroma, in consequence of 
the influeuce of the oxygen of the air, which, owing 
to the porosity of the roasted berries, can easily 
jienetrate. This pernicious change may best be 
avoided by strewiug over the berries, when the 
roasting is completed, and while the vessel in which 
sugar-coating, they are to be taken fjuickly from 
the roaster and spread on a cold plate of iron, so 
that they m.ay cool as soon as ijos.sible. If the 
hot berries are allowed to remain heaped together, 
they begin to sweat, and when the quantity is 
large, the heating process, by the influence of air, 
increases to such a degree that at last they take fire 
spontaneously. The roasted and glazed berries 
should be kept in a dry place, because the covering 
of sugar attracts moisture." — Devices have been 
patented for preserving the .aroma in ground coffee. 
They depend upon mingling small quantities of 
gum or mucilage with the coffee, or pressing it 
into cakes aud coatiug them with the same. 
Household Items for " Men Folks." 
. — • — • 
The following hints, much needed by some men, 
aud especially by many liaIf-gro\vn boys, we find 
going the rounds unaccredited. The style is rather 
too much of the "slang" order, but we p.ass this 
by, for the sentiment. No one whom they do 
not hit, will take any offence : " Do men folks ever 
tliink how much work they make a woman by 
going into a house with muddy boots? It would 
.^ t.ake but a moment for 
them to use the serajier 
aud leave outside the dirt 
which they track over 
the floor, oil-cloth and 
carpet, aud which they 
leave on the stove-hearth 
or feuder— all of which 
must bo mopped, scraped 
and wiped off. If your 
■wife, mother or sister fail 
to clean up the muss, you 
great big boy or man have 
made, what a howl you 
raise because ' the things 
about the house look so !' 
And when you go home at 
noon or night, do you 
ever notice how you act.? 
Of course not, or you 
would not do such care- 
less tricks. You enter the 
door — with a slam it 
half closes, and some wo- 
man must shut it after 
you. Tour overco.at is 
thrown on a chair in one 
corner of the room — your 
hat s.ails aw.ny in .another 
corner to light upon a 
stand or under it, gloves 
are thrown on a table, 
neck-wrapper hung on 
the first handy chair, aud 
down you sit in the center 
of the room where every 
one must go aroimd you. 
After you h.ave been two 
hours in a house, the 
place resembles the 
ground of a cat squabble. 
Hat, boots, coat, news- 
papers, overcoat, gloves, 
books, jack-knife, hair 
brush, and all articles you 
may h.ave in your hands 
are scattered .as though a 
hurricaue had swept 
through the room; books, 
papers, magazines, alma- 
nac and memorandum 
book, are routed from 
their place. Aud ■\vhcu- 
you have to leave, what 
a time is there ! No one 
knows Avhcre your things 
are. ' Where is my hat ?' 
' Where is my overcoat ?' 
' Who had my gloves ?' 
Every one in the house 
is put upon the witness 
stand, and it is more 
trouble to get you started 
down town than to launch a steamer or to start a 
new stage coach. Then after you are gone, the 
women must spend a quarter of a day, more or less, 
iu picking up things which you have scattered. 
The trouble is, you 'don't think.' It would take but 
a moment to hang up your coat aud hat, to put 
your gloves iu your coat pocket, to draw your neck- 
wrapper through the sleeve of your overcoat, and 
to cultivate your bump of order. It takes but a 
moment to put an article in its jilace and then you 
know where it can be found. The woman who 
takes care of the house has enough to do, without 
I'horing after large boys or waiting on a lot of 
men all day. A -(vomau's work is never finished. 
