1871.] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
265 
TOE MtEJSEMLIIL 
t3?" (For other Household Items, see "Basket" pages.) 
An Unpatented Trap. 
■ 
A friend, who has a great fancy for making traps, 
says that the one here figured is very effective in 
taking rats and mice. He uses a bucket fitted with 
a circular board or false cover, which is so nicely 
suspended, that a slight weight upon either side 
of the center will cause it to tilt. The bait is sus- 
pended by a wire in such a manner, that it can 
A HOISE OH KAT-TliAP. 
only be reached from this treacherous platform. 
The bucket contains water for the reception of the 
rat or mouse. Where rats are shy, as they will be 
where traps have been frequently set, it is well to 
fix the platform so that it cannot move, and allow 
them to take away the bait for a few times. When 
they have become accustomed to the affair, they 
may then be easily trapped. 
« l »♦ ! ■ I » 
An Ironing-Board. 
Maggie Martin, Sussex Co., Del., after reading 
"Ironing Made Easy" in the May Agriculturist, 
sends us au account of her ironing-board. This 
simple contrivance, though much used, may not be 
known to all our readers, aud we give it with the 
suggestion that those who have never made use of 
a similar help in ironing should try it at once. Our 
correspondent says : "My 
method is to take a board 
five or six feet long, one 
foot wide and an inch and 
a half thick. The board 
is covered with two or 
three folds of woolen 
material, aud over this is 
put a piece of linen or 
flannel, which is lightly 
tacked on, in order that 
it may be taken off and 
washed when necessary. 
In use, the ends of the 
board rest upon the 
backs of two chairs, or 
th-ey may be supported at 
the proper hight in any 
other convenient manner, 
this kind almost indispensable in ironing dresses 
or skirts, as no part gets rumpled while the rest is 
being ironed — a thing which always happens when 
the ironing is done upon a table. The board is to 
be put into the skirt in the manner shown in the 
engraving. Shirts can be ironed by the aid of this 
board, and it will be found to greatly reduce the 
trouble of ironing the bosoms. Every man that 
has any taste for dress (and the most of them have), 
especially prides himself upon a perfectly smooth 
shirt-bosom. I think if a board of this kind were 
in general use, there would be less frowning over 
badly ironed shirt-bosoms than there is at present." 
m i ■ ♦ — .-» 
Home Topics. 
BY FAITH ROCHESTER. 
ClTT GUESTS IN THE COUNTRY. — It is folly 
for country people of moderate means to at- 
tempt to give their city guests the style to 
which they have been accustomed at home. The 
effort to do so only makes all parties ill at ease, 
and can never be quite successful. The luxuries 
of city life are by no means to be despised — soft 
couches, bath-rooms, gas-light, early fruits in the 
markets, attendance of servants, etc. But city people 
are often glad to turn their backs upon all their 
home luxuries as warm weather approaches, and 
go in search of simple comfort. Let country people 
who take such truants into their families for a 
season remember that comfort is the essential thing 
to give their city guests. 
Comfort means so much to some of the pamper- 
ed children of wealth, that it is no easy matter to 
satisfy them ; but when you are sure that you have 
done all that it is reasonable for you to do, be as 
deaf and blind as possible to any unreasonable dis- 
contentdi the part of your guests. They ought 
to kuow, before they take up their quarters with 
you, whether your rooms, and beds, and table fur- 
nishings are such as they can put up with, and of 
course you will take all reasonable pains to accom- 
modate their habits and tastes. They should con- 
sider beforehand how much attendance they will 
require, so that they may not call for more assist- 
ance from the families where they board than can 
be conveniently and willingly rendered. If they 
do not inow.that silver forks and napkins will be 
furnished them, they should take such small things, 
uecessary to their comfort, with them. To some 
excellent people the preference for silver forks 
still seems a mere whim, dependent upon fashion's 
changes. People who must have luxurious carpets 
and curtains, and several courses at dinner, should 
go to the fashionable summer resorts where these 
things are to be had and roundly paid for. 
On the other hand, country families who "cannot 
afford " to keep clean rooms and clean grounds, 
who are not willing to swerve in the least from 
their habitual manners to accommodate people of 
different tastes, who have no charity for the ig- 
norance of city children in respect to farm life, 
ought never to attempt to take city boarders. 
What is that comfort which sensible city peorjle 
are in search of? Pure air, coolness, natural 
scenery, good milk for the little ones, quiet. They 
should have rooms which can be well ventilated by 
I consider a board of 
AN IRONING-BOARD. 
fresh breezes from out-doors, protected by netting 
in the windows from danger of filling them with 
mosquitoes and moths. There should be low, 
wide, easy benches of some sort, under shade trees 
in the yard, in the orchard, down by the brook, 
aud wherever there is a shady spot to sit and sec 
the changing landscape, or listen to the running 
water. In the house there should be as many com- 
fortable lounges and easy chairs as the hosts can 
afford. I say "benches" and "lounges," because 
these can be made so as to be comfortable, easily 
and cheaply ; while sofas and pretty " rustic " 
seats cost more, either in time or money. No sen- 
sible person reckons fineness of fabric and beauty 
of form of no account, but coarse lounge-covers 
and table-cloths, kept clean by frequent changing 
and washing, give more real comfort than soiled 
ones of finer texture. 
City people who go into the country for comfort 
should have the good sense to wear plain, strong 
clothing, loosely made. No climate in the world 
can give a woman, fashionably dressed, all the pure 
air she needs. Especially should the children be 
dressed in simple clothes, that they may — little 
girls as well as little boys — climb the hill-sides, 
wade in the brooks, visit the cow-yard aud stables, 
and have a genuine good time in the country. 
The hearty food that suits working farmers will 
seldom satisfy the daintier palates of city boarders. 
The latter are not likely to be contented without a 
variety, and aplenty of fresh vegetables and fresh 
fruits. With these, and with light, sweet bread, 
fresh dairy butter, sweet cream and rich milk, they 
ought not to complain if porter-house steaks are 
not on the bill of fare. 
City people who put on airs of superiority 
when among country people, show their own in- 
feriority, and persons of good sense can only pity 
them. But sometimes the daily intercourse be- 
tween country hosts and city guests is very pleas- 
ant, and socially profitable to both parties. 
Washing Dishes. — I know their tricks and man- 
ners — those little girls who " hate to wash dishes !" 
I know how they find some long errand out of 
doors while they leave the table standing uncleared 
of the soiled dishes ; how they dawdle about the 
table, handling the cups and saucers daintily, as 
though afraid of contact with them; how they dis- 
cover at the last minute that they have not heated 
any dish-water, and must wait for it; how they 
leave everything they dare to "asoak" until the 
next dish-washing, and feel that the most dis- 
agreeable drudgery of their household is washing 
dishes. 
Little girls, how do you suppose I found this 
out ? Must I confess that I learned it by my own 
childish experience ? But I have learned by ob- 
servation that the state of things described above 
is very common to girlhood. My little sisters, let 
me talk with you about it, though we are not in 
the "children's column" at present. Indeed, I 
had rather have my say on this subject in this de- 
partment, hoping that some older girls may pos- 
sibly get a helping hint from my remarks. 
You sometimes hear grown-up persons say that 
they like to wash dishes, but you doubt their sin- 
cerity. I think that every one of you may learn to 
like it too, if you set about it in the right way. Iu 
the first place, look at the matter reasonably, and 
you will see that a great deal of work, which is not 
very agreeable in itself, must be done in every 
family. Comparatively few families can, even if 
they prefer, have all this labor performed by paid 
servants. Shall we not each bear a part — each ac- 
cording to our ability? You would prefer to do a 
part of the cooking, perhaps, but that requires a 
degree of judgment which your experience has not 
been long enough to develop; and you can help 
mother best by doing such work as demands least of 
her oversight. By being faithful in the least things, 
you will prove yourselves worthy of trust in more 
responsible situations. You will never like to 
wash dishes until you learn to do the work well. 
A large tin dish-pan is a great convenience. You 
can work more rapidly with such a pan than with 
one that is small and shallow, spattering your 
clothing and slopping your sink or table with its 
contents. Have a large dish-apron, with a bib, or 
a " high apron," and roll up your sleeves, or wear 
oil-silk over-sleeves. In clearing the table, scrape 
off the crumbs, and especially the grease, from your 
dishes, gently, so as not to injure the glazing, and 
pile them neatly on one side of your pan. Gather 
the spoons aud forks (if silver) by themselves. 
Contact with the knives is liable to mar them. 
