1871.] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
225 
TOE BOKCTSIEMILB. 
t3^~ (For other Household Items, see "Basket" pages.) 
A Revolving Grater. 
We have seen the pickle-venders in the market 
prepare horse-radish by means of a large revolving 
grater, moved by a treadle, and have wondered why 
no one had invented a small revolving grater for 
family use. Some one has done it. We were a 
few days ago looking through the house-furnishing 
stock of our neighbor, J. H. Baldwin, in Murray- 
street, in search of new household appliances, and 
there stood the very thing we had been long look- 
ing for— a revolving grater. The grater itself is of 
REVOLTING GRATER. 
tin, with the teeth made of a triangular form, and 
well adapted for cutting. It is fixed upon a stand, 
which may be readily screwed to the kitchen table, 
and is moved by multiplying cog-wheels. This 
grater will be found handy not only for horse- 
radish, but for grating cheese, carrots, crackers, 
or any similar thing that it is desired to reduce 
to the form of coarse powder. 
Home Topics. 
BT FAITH ROCHESTER. 
The Baby's " Second Summer." — The little one 
Is teethiug; and unless it has a strong constitution, 
and proper food, clothing, and attention, It is often 
very peevish, and shows symptoms of illness that 
call for careful nursing. 
Its bowels will probably be " loose," and that is 
all right, provided this looseness does not become 
downright diarrhoea, or take on a dysenteric ap- 
pearance. Constipation is more dangerous than 
simple looseness — more likely to be accompanied 
by convulsions or diseases of the head. To check 
a diarrhoea suddenly, may throw the disturbance to 
the head, and cause a malady more dangerous and 
difficult to reach. I have invariably found that an 
injection of cool (not shockingly cold) water, im- 
mediately following every passage of the bowels 
that had a slimy appearance, mitigated this symptom 
of dysentery. It simply washes and cools the lin- 
ing of the intestine which the slime shows to be 
morbidly irritated. If farther treatment seems 
necessary to prevent dysentery, wrap a bandage of 
double coarse linen (a folded towel will do,) wrung 
out of cool water, around the little one's abdomen, 
and over this secure a doubled dry towel. Wet 
this compress again before it becomes dry, unless 
the child is sleeping. If you would prevent bowel 
diseases in children, be careful to keep their lower 
limbs warm. Of course nothing is more important 
than the diet, which should be plain and nutritious, 
and given as regularly as possible. Nature calls 
for bone-making material, and (he nursing mother's 
food or the food of the weaned baby should not be 
laekiug in this element. Any food that requires 
much chewing is clearly improper for it. 
If mothers are healthy, and are surrounded by 
intelligent friends who will guard them from over- 
work and excitement, it seems most safe for teeth- 
ing babies to depend mainly upon their mother's 
milk for nourishment; but many a case of cholera 
infantum has resulted from some severe physical 
strain or mental agitation of the mother; and be- 
cause of this intimate connection between mother 
aud child, it is, perhaps, best, that a teething child 
should not be too dependent upon the breast. A 
watchful mother can refuse to nurse her babe for 
several hours after any unavoidable excitement, 
drawing off the milk by artificial means and giving 
her child more wholesome food. My heart aches 
as I write this, because our race is still in such ig- 
norance and wickedness as to make it almost im- 
possible for mothers to give their babes a fair start 
in life, in respect to healthand happy temperament. 
It is not uncommon for teething children to suf- 
fer great distress just before a passage of urine, and 
mothers are sometimes in entire ignorance of the 
cause of their cries. If the writhing and crying 
ceases after this discharge, there is little doubt in 
respect to the seat of pain. For this I know no- 
thing better (and in all this matter I speak from 
experience as well as inquiry) than warm sitz-baths. 
If the child is accustomed to wake in the night 
with this distress, try the warm bath before putting 
it to bed. Simply to immerse the feet in warm 
water and hold them there a few minutes, afterward 
drying them and guarding them from cold, is often 
sufficient to prevent this trouble returning. Water 
that feels only warm to your hand may be very hot 
for tender little feet. As children go, in these de- 
generate days, the mother of a teething child has 
almost constant work and anxiety night and day, 
in the simple care of her child, and should be re- 
lieved from other labors, and encouraged to take 
needed rest and out-door exercise. If people were 
wise just here— in the case of youug children and 
the mothers of young children — statistics would show 
a much smaller proportion of deaths of infants un- 
der three years of age. At present not half the 
human race lives beyond the age of five. 
Two Books for Parents and Teachers. — I 
thought when I read the essay at the back of Miss 
Youmans' "First Book of Botany," that I should 
like to put it into the hands of every thinking 
parent and teacher of children. Her views of the 
education of children seem sound and sensible. 
She justly remarks in speaking of the importance 
of cultivating the observing faculties, "To post- 
pone this, is to defeat it." For after the intellect 
once gets started in the way of " learning by rote" 
and accepting the "say so" of the books or teach- 
er, its free developmeut becomes almost impossible. 
My own late experience makes me strong in the 
belief that Botany is one of the best things possi- 
ble for cultivating the awakening faculties of a 
child, if taught very gradually and always as a 
pleasure to the child, never as a task, or when its 
heart is set on something else. But I think it has 
already been too long postponed — this early cultiva- 
tion — if delayed until a child is old enough to make 
schedules such as Miss Youmans advises. This 
seems an excellent method for children who are old 
enough to read and write, but I wish Miss You- 
mans' book might be in every family as a guide for 
the older members in their chat6 with the three- 
year-old members. There is no hint in this excel- 
lent essay that its author was acquainted with the 
Kindergarten at the time of writing, but evidently 
her own observation and reflection had led her 
to many of the same conclusions that influenced 
Froebel, the inventor of the Kindergarten system. 
Mrs. Horace Mann's "Moral Culture of Infancy" 
— a series of letters written to a friend more than 
twenty years ago, and published in the same vol- 
ume with Miss Peabody's "Kindergarten Guide," 
shows how her experience as a teacher led her to 
the same conclusions. She speaks of it as a grop- 
ing attempt on her part after the Kindergarten. 
As a mother, I could not afford to be without this 
book, aud I think we should have more careful and 
conscientious teachers, if it was circulated among 
them. Miss Peabody's " Kindergarten Guide" 
will give any one curious upon the subject, the 
best information of any work I know of (Weibe's 
"Paradise of Childhood" excepted) in respect to 
the Kindergarten. Her "Guide" costs a dollar. 
Weibe's book costs three dollars. 
What will the Kindergarten Do for Us ? 
—It is a "garden" for little children, between 
three and seven years old, to grow in. Instead of 
a teacher or instructor to repress the natural ac- 
tivities of childhood while endeavoring to pour 
knowledge into the youthful mind, the little ones 
have a "Gartner" (gardener) to keep the soil of 
this world's influences loose and genial about them, 
to see that all have a fair chance to be happy in the 
sunshine of love and congenial employment, to 
sprinkle and nourish with words fitly spoken the 
tender germs of the intellect and affection. The 
great principle of the Kindergarten is "to educate 
by directing the natural activities." Ignorant and 
heedless persons cannot do this, and carefully 
trained " Gartners " are absolutely necessary to 
conduct Kindergarten. 
I would describe here the different occupations 
of the Kindergarten, if sure that I had not already 
done so iu the previous article. The paper which 
will contain it (editors and publishers permitting) 
has not yet come to hand. At present I will only 
try to answer briefly the question proposed above. 
The Kindergarten is the only safe and reasonable 
substitute for constant wise parental care, that we 
can see at present. No mother can give her child 
constant care if she has more than one child, or 
any other duties beyond its care. Even then the 
Kindergarten is better for the child, during the 
three hours of its daily session, than a mother's 
continual presence. Children over three years of 
age absolutely need, for their most healthy develop- 
ment, companions of their own age. But we can- 
not turn them loose into the street. The ordinary 
primary school will not do for children so young, 
and no book-lessons can take the place of Kinder- 
garten culture. In the Kindergarten no books are 
used, except for the pictures. All the employments 
are actual "plays" to the child, but so well order- 
ed, that they afford just the gradual and genial dis- 
cipline best adapted for the early culture of the 
physical, mental, and moral powers. 
The children "play" with blocks, or weave slats 
together, or cut paper into various forms, but in- 
stead of an aimless play, and useless, except in the 
way of diversion, they are gently led to build and 
cut and mark and mold with method and exact- 
ness. Unconsciously they learn to use correct 
terms and good language. Their eyes grow observ- 
aut and their fingers skillful. When once we get 
free Kindergartens well started, we shall begin to 
see how we are to be supplied with good and faith- 
ful workers in every department of labor and art. 
More than this will the Kindergarten do for ns, 
but we cannot say more on the subject at present. 
Portable Clothes-Drying Posts. 
A correspondent of the American Agriculturist 
iu this city, who has a small place in the country, 
is annoyed at seeing posts, for 
tying the clothes-lines to, standing 
permanently on the lawn. He asks 
if there is any invention of a mov- 
able character that will obviate the 
difficulty ? — There are several pa- 
tented contrivances of this kind 
manufactured. We have had one 
in use for some years that answers 
a good purpose, but do not recol- 
lect the name of the manufacturer. 
The difficulty, however, cau be 
easily overcome by having movable 
posts, that can be placed in posi- 
tion for a few hours, when needed, and then taken 
down and laid away till next washing day. We 
give a description of such a plan that has been used 
for some years, and found to answer the purpose. 
