1873.] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
65 
IMS MTOMim 
IT" (For other Household Items, see "Basket" pages.) 
Coal and Wood Boxes. 
A coal-scuttle, or hod, as it is differently called, 
while it is a most useful household convenience, 
is not a very sightly thing to have in the 
sitting-room or parlor. Of late years, the fur- 
nishing stores have kept coal-boxes made of 
heavy sheet-iron, and variously ornamented. True 
taste demands that a coal-box should be hon- 
est, and that its ap- 
pearance should not be 
such as to lead any 
one to suppose that it 
is anything but a 
reeeptaclc for coal. 
Some of the coal- 
boxes offered for sale 
are especially absurd. 
We noticed one iu the 
form of a classic vase. 
It is bad enough to see 
these specimens of an- 
cient art converted into 
flower-pots, but to have 
them used for coal- 
boxes, made iu iron, 
high]; enameled, and 
ornamented with flow- 
ers, and furnished with 
a cover, is an outrage 
upon propriety. A vase 
with a cover! Another style nearly as bad is a short 
fluted column with a cover. Unless a column is 
solid it is worthless. Yet here we have one made 
hollow, and to hold coal ! The most sensible form 
of coal-box offered for sale is shown in fig. 1. It is 
made of heavy sh oot iron , and has a handle at front 
and rear to allow of its being readily carried. Some 
manufacturers ornament them profusely with flow- 
ers aud other colored designs, which, as a matter of 
taste, had better be left off. There are many who 
would like to have a coal-box who are beyond the 
reach of furnishing stores, and of workers in iron 
who could make one for them. These must con- 
tent themselves with a box of wood. One, made iu 
rustic work may be at hand. Its appearance may 
be improved by a coating of shellac varnish. 
ltUSTIC WOOD-BOX. 
the shape of fig. 1, of wood, and lined if possible 
witli galvanized or sheet-iron or heavy tin, will an- 
swer. It is better to have the box liucd, as a 
wooden one iu a warm room will shrink so that 
the joints will allow dust to sift out. The wood 
may be varnished with shellac or other varnish. 
Wood-boxes are a necessity where there are wood 
fires, as, however carefully it may be managed, 
wood will make, that dread of all good housekeep- 
ers, " a litter." In figure 3 we give a design for a 
wood-box which may be of a size for one or two 
persons to carry, aud which is susceptible of any 
desired amount of ornament. The essentials of a 
wood-box are that it shall keep the wood from 
contact with the carpet, and prevent the sticks 
from rolling off. The one we have figured may be 
made in a rustic style, with saplings and any thin 
boarding, aud may be ornamented with whatever 
Shellac Varnish.— Staining Woods. 
Some folks keep house without shellac varnish. 
I do not know how they get along. I should as 
soou think of doing without a tea-kettle as without 
my bottle of shellac. This is the way I make it. 
I take a fruit-jar, as being handiest, put in a half 
or quarter of a pound of shellac, as may be, and 
take a piece of tin for a cover. A hole through the 
tin allows the handle of a brush to pass, and the 
whole, as you will fee in the sketch, is complete 
and ready at a moment's notice. Oh! I forgot 
After you have put in your shellac, you must cover 
it with strong alcohol, and set it iu a warm place. 
If in a hurry, put the bottle in a saucepan of cold 
water, with a couple of sticks to prevent its touch- 
ing the bottom of the pan; put the saucepan on 
the stove, and in a short time the shellac will be 
dissolved. It will he too thick for use, but wheu 
dissolved you can thin with alcohol, so that it will 
cover well with the brush. If 
a black- walnut table gets dis- 
colored, give the spot a daub 
with the shellac, aud before it 
eels dry rub it, with a woolen 
cloth upon which there is a 
little sweet-oil, and the spot 
will look so much better than 
the rest of the table that you 
will have to go over the whole. 
In fact, this is the whole se- 
cret of French polish— shellac 
varnish rubbed off with sweet- 
oil. If anything needs sliek- 
ing up, you can generally do 
it with the shellac, and for 
sfaiued work it is beyond 
compare. As to staining, it is the easiest thing 
imaginable. People would make many more con- 
venient tilings if it were not for the trouble of 
painting them wheu done. Stain, and you will not 
bother with paint. It can all be done iu an hour. 
I use two stains; for mahogany, burnt sienna, 
and for black-walnut, burnt umber. These can be 
had iu the dry stale at any paint-shop. They may 
he mixed — simply stirred up thoroughly— with 
water or witli ale. Ale does not dry so quickly, and 
allows of more thorough rubbing in. Suppose you 
have a wardrobe or case of any kind made of com- 
mon pine. Select which color you please. Make it 
into a mud with water or ale, and then take a rag 
and rub the color well into the wood, which must 
of course be dry. Mind, it is what goes into the 
pores of the wood that does the business, and it 
must be rubbed in, and not painted on. Let the 
work dry, aud then give a coat of shellac varnish. 
Ton will find that, while the wood is stained, the 
"grain" is preserved, and will be brought out by 
the varnish hi a manner that will surprise those who 
have never done such work. If you wish the job to be 
extra nice, put on a second coat of varnish, a little 
at a time, rub it dry with an oiled woolen rag, and 
you will have a hard, smooth finish. Thoeson. 
A Seattle for Base-burning Stoves. 
Mr. John Furbish, Brunswick, Me., whose "Pot 
aud Kettle Scraper" we published last year, sends 
us photographs of an invention which he describes 
as follows : 
"I send you a cut of my 'base-burner' scuttle or 
hod, because its use, both at home and by my cus- 
tomers, has rendered it valuable to us, as it seems 
to complete our ' home comfort,' so far as the 
stove department goes. 
" If you use magazine stoves, you have no occasion 
to be told that the only real trouble with them is 
gas and dust in filling with the supply of coal, 
which I attempted to overcome when I contrived 
for my own use this hod. From the two cuts you 
will readily see the idea. Figure 1 shows the lid 
partly open for filling; figure 2 shows the opera- 
tion of the curved lever, or arc, by which the lid 
is opened and closed, which is also shown project- 
ing through the side on fig. 1. This handle is 
notched, and fastens the lid down when the hod is 
reversed after filling, preparatory to its being 
placed in the top opening of the stove, and is dis- 
charged by raising 
the lever. The eoal 
by its own weight 
is delivered, and all 
gas and dust kept 
in, since the hod 
takes the place of 
the cover of the 
stove orurn. Next, 
by drawing up the 
lever, the valve is 
shut, and the hod 
can be removed at 
will. 
"You will notice 
in fig.l a rim which 
rests upon the top of the stove, and can be made 
of any diameter to suit the openings in different 
sizes and kiuds of stoves. The one represented 
was made for Nos. 23 and 21 ' Morning Glory.' 
The bail being attached at the center allows th" 
hod to revolve readily for filling aud discharging. 
" These we make of metal, but any person of fail 
mechanical ability can make one of a small keg (a 
25-lb. powder-keg is about right size). Saw a hole 
in one end, and attach some kind of gear to open 
and shut the valve. Next fasten a rim on, which 
6erves to keep the scuttle in place, and a very sir- 
vieeable article is provided. Our ladies think ttea 
is as good as my 'pot, pan, and kettle scraper.'" 
Fig. 1. — EASE-BURNER HOD. 
Home Topics. 
BT FAITII P.OCUESTER. 
MrLK for B.vbes. — An old friend writes to me 
about her wonderful first baby. Among other 
things, she says : " I nursed him until he wa6 four 
week6 old, and he grew poor all of the time, and 
cried almost constantly. Then we found that my 
milk was good for nothing, and the little fellow 
was starving. We gave him cow's milk with oue 
third water and sweetened a trifle, but that did not 
satisfy him, and he had a a uir storaaeh andindigei- 
Fig. 3.— IIOD, SHOWING LEVER. 
Hon all of the time. Finally, we fed him with clear 
milk, without sugar or water, and since that he 
has gained every minute, and is getting to be a 
good baby." 
I have heard other people of late tell of expe- 
riences somewhat similar, cases of babies who did 
thrive well on watered aud sweeteued milk, but 
who begau to improve when clear new milk was 
fed to them. It all goes to show me how impossi- 
ble it is to make any rule to fit all cases. For what 
was my own experience with my baby last summer ? 
I have never "brought up a baby by hand," but 
after weaning the last one, and beginning to give 
her cow's milk freely, she began to have sores on 
her head, and kept it up in quite disagreeable 
fashion for several weeks. Her diet was graham 
gruel, sifted graham gems and milk, some plain 
fruit, and unseasoned mashed potatoes. At length 
it occurred to us that the milk might be too rich. 
About that time I read in an old Agricidturist the 
opinion of an English physician of large experience, 
that the milk for babes should be diluted one half 
