4,23 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
[November, 
loaded with more than can possibly be eaten, and 
some must be left, as the human stomach lias a 
limited capacity. Those who carve should serve 
judiciously, and if more is wanted, the guest should 
not hesitate to express his wishes. It is a matter 
of great astonishment to Europeans, to see the 
quantity of food left uneonsumed upon the plates. 
They say, and truly, that an American family wastes 
as much as will support a French family of the same 
size. A large part of this waste comes from over- 
loading the plates, and another from the foolish no- 
tion that it i* "polite" to leave some uneonsumed 
food upon the plate. On the other hand, it is not 
well to be over-scrupulous about leaving the plate 
perfectly clean. We have seen persons scrape 
away at the plate until it was in the condition of 
Mr. and Mrs. Jack Spratt's platter. In this, as in 
other matters, it is well to avoid extremes. 
Baby Clothes. 
BY FAITH ROCHESTER. 
There is no tyrant more oppressive in his exac- 
tions than Fashion. The time must surely come 
when women will rise in general rebellion against 
this shameful tyranny, but at present not one 
woman in a hundred is aware of her bondage. In 
the meantime, let me offer a pleading word for the 
innocent babes who are claimed by Fashion as her 
victims. One might suppose that common sense 
and maternal love combined would protect the 
helpless infants from all abuses, but they do not. 
When a young mother sets to work to prepare the 
precious " fig-leaves " that are to clothe her ex- 
pected darling, she ought seriously to consider and 
aim to supply the real needs of the tender little 
animal, — for divine as is the soul of each human 
infant, we must own that at birth there is only the 
animal part of it which we can deal with directly. 
There maybe no lack of love on the mother's part, 
but there is often great lack of knowledge and fore- 
thought. She does as her friends do, or consults 
the fashions for baby garments. These arc not so 
changing as the fashions for women and misses, 
and are not so freely published, but baby clothes 
arc pretty much all alike in general style of making 
up. It would seem reasonable that the little body 
should be dressed so as to afford as equal warmth 
and circulation as possible, but usually the lower 
limbs arc warmly wrapped in flannel while the 
arms and shoulders are left bare, except as a loose 
blanket is folded about them, restraining motion 
and constantly liable to disarrangement. In cold 
weather more seusible mothers put a long-sleeved 
flannel sack over the short-sleeved dress, but the 
sleeves of this added garment are often so short 
and loose as to afford little warmth below the el- 
bow. Of late, the bands worn during the first few 
months of infancy are usually made of flannel, — a 
great improvement on the old-fisbioned double- 
linen bands. Ordinarily these bands are worse 
than useless after the first mouth, but in cases of 
weakness, when they seem to be necessary on older 
infants, great care should be taken to have them fit 
easily, yet be so securely fastened as to retain their 
proper position. These bands never fit the body 
wnless there arc two small gores, from two to three 
inches apart, at the lower edge of each where it 
comes down below the bowels. If worn after the 
babe is six weeks old, when it begins to move 
about some, a bit of tape should be s*ewed between 
these gores to reach down and be held firmly in 
place by the diaper pin. This prevents slipping 
up. Shoulder-straps of inch- wide tape will prevent 
; slipping down. Made thus, and pinned very care- 
fully, that there may bo no suffering from sticking 
pins, the band may be fastened so loosely as not to 
impede respiration or freedom of motion, and yet 
form a safe protection from injury by severe 
crying or straining. Instead of the ordinary short- 
sleeved linen shirt and the flannel petticoat with its 
straight waist of cotton or linen, let us put next 
over the properly constructed band, a long flannel 
sack, made with gores under the arms and in the 
back, fitting the waist quite loosely, and going out 
bolew into esnvenient dimensions for a skirt. This 
sack, made of soft flannel, and with long, straight 
sleeves, and fastened in front with small, thin but- 
tons, is surely a much more comfortable garment 
for the helpless baby than the close waists and 
folds and gathers of its ordinary underclothes. 
Every invalid knows the luxury of loose wrappers 
for lying down, and this poor baby is fit for no oth- 
er position during the first four or six weeks of its 
life. Over this, a dress or simple slip may be worn, 
long-sleeved, of course, and reasonably high in the 
neck. A soft, thin blanket is useful, especially to 
protect the hands and head when the little one is 
carried about "But their little bare arms and 
shoulders look so cunning!" one mother tells me. 
Oh, mother! I know not how to answer you. 
Nothing can be more cunning than their dear little 
feet. Shall we dress them so as to leave these ex- 
posed ? You let your three-year-old Freddie go 
with bare knees and thinly clad aukles in cold 
autumn and spring weather, because you think that 
fashion for dressing little boys "so cunning!" 
Tour eyes find pleasure in the exposed shoul- 
ders and arms of your grown-up daughter in even- 
ing dress, at all seasons of the year. I see Freddie 
shiver, and observe the growing pallor of his com- 
plexion, and I hear the cough of your daughter, 
and a vision of coffins and churchyards comes be- 
tween me and them. Farmers understand that the 
health and growth of their little pigs and calves de- 
pend much on their being kept warm. The same 
law applies to all young animals, including human 
babies. But infants, like grown people, should be 
clothed in accordance with the weather. In a 
sweltering summer day, why need the little thing 
wear clothes at all, if not exposed to society ? Let 
it lie, for a little while at least, entirely naked, and 
kick to its heart's content, and when dressed let its 
garments be light and thin ; but as the weather 
changes, be quick to add more clothing. To wear 
more and warmer clothing than the body needs, is 
weakening. There are children who go barefooted 
and half-clad all winter, and live in dirty, unventi- 
lated garrets or cabins, and yet grow up to be as 
healthy as .the average of men and women. So 
there are apple trees that live and grow and bear 
fruit under the most unfavorable circumstances, 
but no man of Eeuse concludes that therefore it 
makes no difference whether fruit trees are culti- 
vated and cared for or not. The fussiness of igno- 
rance lias destroyed many little babes, but this fact 
is no argument against intelligent care and judi- 
cious cultivation. 
How to Cook Dried Beef. 
BY CARRIE CARTER. 
I usually prepare at night what I am going to 
cook for breakfast. When I lived at home before 
I was married, I used to think when we had dried 
beef cooked, that it was the least inviting of any- 
thing; since then I have changed my mind, and 1 
attribute the change to the different manner iu 
which it is cooked. Instead of boiling it in water, 
as many do, I cook it as follows: Place the beef, 
nicely shaved off, in a frying-pan, with butter 
enough to fry it, let it fry until a little browned, 
then sprinkle in dry flour, as much as you would 
take were you going to mix it with water; let it 
brown, but take great care not to burn it. When 
browned sufficiently, add cream or milk enough to 
make a gravy ; let it boil a few moments, add a lit- 
tle butter and pepper, and it is done. I very fre- 
quently boil eggs and cut them up lengthwise, and 
lay them around on the meat after it is poured into 
the platter. This makes a very pretty and very 
palatable dish, and with some nice mashed potato, 
and sweet potatoes, and tomatoes with sugar, and 
just a trifle of vinegar poured over them, I think we 
have a very good breakfast ; sometimes I make a 
dish of toast, too, but I find when we have sweet 
potatoes that we do not use so much flour as with- 
out. I think as we cannot procure the variety 
which cities afford, we 6hould take as much pains 
as we can conveniently with our food. Another 
way I cook dried beef is to cut up a sausage in 
slicas and fry until there is enough fat tried oat to 
fry the meat ; theu put in the beef and proceed just 
as for frying in butter, using water instead of milk 
or cream for the gravy. This gives an excellent 
flavor unless sausage is disliked. 
Various Ways of Preparing Cabbage. 
BY STBS. M. L. GAGE, ROSS CO., O. 
In this part of the country there is a great deal 
of cabbage used, but it is very seldom boiled whole. 
It is cut as for cole-slaw and cooked iu various 
ways, and is more delicate, and the odor of 
boiled cabbage is wholly avoided. In cooking, use 
a very little water and salt, cook a few minutes, add 
butter or meat fryings, or, better still, a cup of 
cream added just before it is done. Some add 
vinegar, and let it boil up once. 
The nicest way I ever saw cabbage cooked is as 
follows : The cabbage is cut as for cole-slaw, an egg 
is beaten up with a little sweet cream and a littlo 
6ugar in a separate dish ; the amount of vinegar 
you wish to use is at hand in another dish. Every 
thing being ready, drop a little piece of butter into 
the pot over a good fire; do not let it fry, or it will 
discolor the cabbage, but add immediately the 
cream preparation and the vinegar, and stir until just 
ready to boil, and then empty in the cabbage and 
6tir on, letting it boil one minute or five minutes 
according to taste. This is to eat warm, but is 
good cold, though not so nice as the followiug. 
Cut the cabbage aud lay in a dish as before. Take 
the amount of vinegar necessary, a little sugar, and 
a little butter; as soon as this boils pour it over 
the cabbage, and 6et it away to cool. It is im- 
possible to give a precise rule, as cabbages 
differ so much in compactness, and vinegar varies 
in sourness. These preparations are all good 
for lettuce ;"and the one with cream, egg, and vine- 
gar, leaving out the sugar, is excellent for mashed 
potatoes in the spring, when that vegetable is not 
always of good quality and the appetite craves 
something decided. 
Hints on Cooking', etc. 
Potato Fritters. — Take five or six large, 
mealy potatoes (peacbblows are the best), and slice 
them lengthwise, about one-fifth of an inch in 
thickness, throwing the slices into cold water as 
they are cut. Have ready a deep griddle on the tiro 
in which some lard or nice drippings have been melt- 
ed ; lay the slices in separately, and sprinkle them 
with salt. Fry them to a nice brown on one side ; 
then turn and brown the other. Try them 
with a fork, and as soon as one piece is thoroughly 
done, dip it iu batter and return it to the griddle. 
By the time the last piece is dipped, the first will 
need turning. As soon as the fritters are browned 
on both sides, lay them on a heated dish and put 
more, on the griddle. They need constant attention, 
to keep them from becoming too crisp or burned. 
Ilalf a teacupful of sweet mill;, one cirg, a little salt, 
and flour enough to make it of the consistency of 
pound-cake, is a good recipe for the batter. Apples 
sliced and cooked iu the same manner and eaten 
with sugar make a good dessert. — The above was 
communicated by Mrs. P. J. Van Winkle. 
Pudding; Sauce. — A. Lizzie Kuehn sends 
the following: One quart of boiling water, 4 largo 
tablespoonfuls of white or light brown sugar, 2 do. 
of flour, 1 do. of butler, 1 teaspoonful of salt, nut- 
meg or cinnamou to taste. Two tablespoonfuls of 
currant or blackberry wine arc a great improve- 
ment. Boil the whole together for 10 minutes. 
"A. II." sends a similar recipe. Though neither 
writer mentions it, it is necessary to mix the flaur 
with a portion of cold water before adding it to 
the boiling water. 
Ginger-snaps.— By "A. L. K." One pint 
of baking molasses, 1 lb. of sugar, }£ lb. of lard, J^ 
oz. ginger, and 1 tablespoonful of cinnamon. Work 
the lard, molasses, and sugar, together, aud add 
flour enough to make a stiff dough. Roll out thin, 
cut with a round cake-cutter, and bake quickly. 
