1870.] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
305 
TOE M«§JEM(0)lLBo 
t^- {For other Household Items, see " Basket " pages.) 
Bottling and Corking. 
Among household operations that of bottling, 
including the most important part, corking, is 
usnally carelessly done. 
With many liquids their 
preservation depends up- 
on the complete exclusion 
of the air. Good corks arc 
essential, and those should 
be selected which have the 
fewest holes or imperfec- 
tious in them. The com- 
pressibility and elasticity 
of cork arc remarkable ; 
and these qualities, which 
especially adapt it to its 
use are qualities which no 
substitute possesses. In 
thorough corking, a cork 
much larger than the neck 
of the bottle is used, and 
is driven in with considera- 
ble force. A bottle of cham- 
pagne is a remarkable ex- 
ample of skillful corking. In this the cork is 
about twice the diameter of the mouth of the bot- 
tle, and is compressed and forced in by a power- 
ful machine. In household practice, nothing so 
complete as this is required. "We have recently 
seen iu the House-famishing establishment of J. 
Fig. 3. — CORK PP.ESS. 
II. Baldwin, a German contrivance for compressing 
the corks in bottling. Its structure and operation 
will be understood by the inspection of fig. 1, and 
the section, fig. 2. It is essentially a conical tube 
with a plunger. The apparatus is set upon the 
neck of a bottle, the plunger lifted, and a cork in- 
troduced at the opening 
shown in the engraviug. 
— The cork drops into 
the cavity «, figure 2, 
which, it will be noticed, 
tapers downwards ; it is 
lined with metal. By 
striking upon the top of the plunger with a mal- 
let, the cork is driven downwards, and so much 
compressed in its passage, that it enters the ucck of 
the bottle with case. Good corks should be pro- 
cured and soaked in warm water, to render them 
pliant, and then be pressed and driven in Willi a 
wooden driver; a flat 
piece of heavy wood or a 
mallet will answer. Iu 
filling the bottle it 
should not be so full 
that the cork will touch 
the liquid, as the bot- 
tle will be broken in 
driving the cork. There should be a space of an 
inch or more between the surface of the liquid and 
the bottom of the cork ; this will prevent breaking. 
There are cork prcssers made of iron, but a sim- 
ple woodcu lever like that shown iu figure 3 will 
answer. If the corks are to he sealed the project- 
ing portion should be cut off even with the neck 
of the bottle before dipping them in the melted 
wax. Liquids such as ginger-pop, beer, etc., where 
there is a pressure from the inside of the bottle, 
need to have the corks tied down. In this case the 
projecting portion of the cork is not cut off. There 
Fig. 5. — TIE. 
are several kinds of knots used iu tying, one of 
the easiest of which we give. Form a loop as shown 
in figure 4, then turn up 
that part of the string a, 
which crosses the loop, 
as in fig. 5. This is to 
be placed over the neck 
of the bottle, and by pull- 
ing the ends may be 
made to fit beneath the 
lip, as in fig. 6. The two 
ends are then tied above 
the cork. Bottles con- 
taining liquids if intend- 
ed to remain a longtime, 
should be laid upon the side, as .this prevents 
the cork from becoming dry and admitting air. 
TIE APPLIED. 
About Keeping Cool. 
BY FAITH ROCHESTER. 
Amid the fierce beats of July and August,, it 
seems impossible to "keep cool" always, but with 
proper care much may be done to make life more 
tolerable than we usually find it. The whole bouse 
should be opened and well aired in the cool, fresh 
morning, letting in the sunshine for a little while. 
Everything thrives best with plenty of fresh air and 
sunshine ; but we have to choose between evils in 
some of the hottest days, and I think we shall 
prefer shaded rooms that are comfortably cool, to 
a brighter light and oppressive heat, during the 
hottest part of the day. Rooms may be kept com- 
paratively cool if they are shaded, beginuiug early iu 
the day, on the side where the sun's direct rays beat 
in. If there are no woodeu blinds at the wiudows, 
thick paper curtaius answer very well, and may be 
drawn down close, if light can be admitted from 
another side, or they may he raised only while the 
room is actually occupied. During the busy part 
of the day our sitting-rooms are often vacant a large 
part of the time, and they should be guarded from 
the heat of the kitchen stove. Our comfort de- 
pends a good deal upon the " looks " of things. 
Clean rooms seem warmer in winter and cooler in 
summer, than untidy ones. The sight of clean 
muslin or lace curtains refreshes one in summer; 
and so does the appearance of a fresh muslin or a 
calico frock, or a "spick-and-span " linen coat and 
trowsers. A room full of buzzing flies never seems 
comfortable, but it is not well to keep darkened 
rooms all summer for t'.ie purpose of keeping out 
flics. Better have netting iu the doors and win- 
dows, and set fresh fly-traps every day. With clean 
breezy rooms, netting is hardly necessary where 
mosquitoes are scarce, especially if there are no 
bad breeding places for flies iu drains, compost 
heaps and out-houses. I don't know much about 
fly-poisons. We have tried cobalt and fly-paper, 
but nothing serves us so well as traps, made thus : 
half fill a tumbler with strong soap suds, and cover 
it with a thin slice of bread, spread on the under side 
witli molasses ; cut a round hole in the middle, 
smearing its edge with molasses. Set a trap 
near each window, and knock upon its cover every 
little while, and down go dozens of victims to a 
soapy death. Don't let the glass stand long enough 
to become like the " ointment of the apothecary." 
Straw matting is more suitable than woolen car- 
peting for summer. Many prefer it all the year 
round, with large rugs to lay over it in winter. 
An instructed taste will prefer clean; bare floors to 
greasy carpets with untold horrors of dust beneath 
them. I think Art has not yet done its best for us 
in the way of floors— at least for dwelling-houses. 
Wheu it docs take hold of the matter, I suspect 
that iiailcd-down carpets will go out of fashion, to 
ibe great advantage of human lungs. It is com- 
mon in stores and offices, and country school- 
houses to sprinkle the bare floor frequently with 
cold water, which has a cooling effect on the tem- 
perature. A sheet rung out of cold water and bung 
iu a room has the same effect. I suppose the pitch- 
er of ice-water on the table comforts us not only 
by its cool suggestions to the imagination — as the 
reading of Kane's Arctic Explorations makes life. 
endurable to some imaginative people when the 
mercury touches 100' above zero, — and by its effect 
upon us as we drink, but it constantly produces a 
cooling effect upon the atmosphere of the room; as 
nature seeks to produce an equilibrium of heat. 
It is on account of this constant tendency to 
equalize the temperature of different things in the 
same neighborhood that we choose fabrics for sum- 
mer wear which will best conduct away the heat of 
our bodies. The human body, when healthy, varies 
little from a temperature of 9o°, the world over. 
The atmosphere is seldom so warm as this, so the 
body is almost constantly parting with its heat ; 
but the internal fires keep up the supply in pro- 
portion as they are fed by our diet, pure air, and 
exercise. When the atmosphere is almost or quite 
as warm as our bodies, we are uncomfortable, be- 
cause wc cannot part Cist enough with the extra 
warmth produced, and we seek the aid of rapid 
currents of air, using fans to create artificial breezes. 
Linen garments, being good conductors of heat, 
are the coolest when the atmosphere is not higher 
than blood-heat, or SS°. But for keeping out exter- 
nal heat when working iu very hot rooms, or in the, 
hottest days of summer, flannel serves best. Foi- 
this reason we wrap ice in flannel to keep it from 
melting. How people do sometimes burden them- 
selves with unnecessary clothing ! Are the demands 
of fashion so very imperative? or are the poor hu- 
man creatures who go loaded down witli broad- 
cloth, or heavy silks and rich shawls, so stupid that 
they don't know how to be comfortable? Thin 
lawns and muslins, white or of light tints, are the 
coolest ladies' fabrics — comfortable alike to wearer 
and beholder. A fresh calico frock is cooler than 
one of silk or worsted, and is always in good taste. 
Close bands at the neck and wrists add to the 
warmth of a garment. A lace collar, or bit of lace 
sewed in the neck of a dress, is more comfortable 
than a linen collar. Dressed in clean, airy gar- 
ments, and sitting at leisure in rooms from which 
the glaring sunshine is excluded, with cool lace or 
muslin curtains at the windows, aud with sprays of 
delicate flowers aud trailing vines iu vases on table 
aud mantels, with a dewy pitcher of ice-water, 
or iced-lemouade ready for any thirsty one, and 
with fans conveniently disposed, a reasonable per- 
son ought not to complain of the heat. 
But, in the kitchen, and iu the hay-field ? 
Our good old friend, the cook-stove, has the as- 
pect of a demon iu such weather. If possible, the 
cooking ought to be turned out of doors with the 
coming of summer. If the regular occupant of the 
kitchen, with its reservoir and roasting oven, is too 
heavy or too precious to be removed to the wood- 
shed or back "stoop," a cheap second-hand stove 
could be made to do most of the ordinary work, and 
a small charcoal furnace would boil the tea-kettle 
and heat the flat-irons. One summer, our cook- 
room was a rough shed, with a wall on only one side 
(the wall of the house) and we never enjoyed the 
necessary work over a cook-stove so well before 
nor since. There are few women that would n't like 
to hear the birds sing while getting breakfast. It, 
is bad enough to have a hot stove iu a room where 
the exercise of house-work is mainly taken; but it 
is quite too bad if those who have been busy in 
preparing the dinner, and those who have just come 
iu from the sweltering harvest-field, must sit down 
to their meal in proximity to a raging fire. Better 
diuc iu the parlor if that is the only alternative. 
If the poor people who can't get a comfortable 
breath of air while they cat, attempt to satisfy their 
hunger with the mor,t beating kinds of food— as fat, 
starch, and sugar, or their compounds, how can they 
reasonably pray for comfort? The experience of 
all observing people corroborates the testimony of 
Chemistry and Physiology with respect to the ef- 
fects of different kinds of food in heating or nour- 
ishing Ibe body. Iu animal food flic fat contributes 
little except heat; the lean part being that which 
builds up the body and gives strength. In the 
wheat kernel the inner portion which makes the 
fine, white flour, is largely carbon, in the form of 
starch; while the muscle-making, strength-produc- 
ing portion of darker color lies between this and 
the woody bran, and is nearly all sifted out iu the 
