1867.] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
23 
<tW For oilier Household Items, see " Basket " pages.) 
The Housekeeping " Prize Articles." 
Wc are in trouble about these, as the reader will 
see. — Every other department ot human labor has 
been freely ■written about, in books and periodicals ; 
a few recipe cook books, and occasional newspaper 
items, embrace most that has been printed about 
Household work and cares. After a dozen years 
of oft-repeated invitations, we began to fear our 
good Marthas either could not do it, or that they 
■mould not be induced to pen down their own expe- 
riences for the benefit of others. So, in November, 
we threw out a positive challenge in the form of a 
S100 Greenback, hoping somebody would accept 
the banter. "Well, it has been done, 
and by nearly four-score of onr 
fair readers — and to onr utter over- 
whelmed ! Seventy-six fair compet- 
itors! and from almost every State 
iu the Union, we are told, though 
we ar3 in utter ignorance of the 
name or residence of any one of 
the writers, and have our curiosity 
tantalized to the highest pitch, for 
one of the Publishers took the Es- 
says in charge as they came in, 1 
numbered them in the order of re- 
ception, privately recorded the ad- 
dress of the writers, and only hand- 
ed the Essays themselves to us 
Editors ("the Bachelor" included). 
We look over the beautifully writ- 
ten manuscripts, one after another, 
and wonder who wrote this one aud 
that one, but the only response is 
" No. 1," " No. 5," " No. 14," " No. 
26," " No. 34," " No. 43," " No. 56," 
"No. 71," as the ease may be. AVc 
beg Mr. Chase to just tell ns who 
wrote this very beautiful one. But 
he answers " No : decide upon 
the merits of the Essays themselves, 
aud not of the writer. They are 
all supposed to be written by mar- 
ried housekeepers" — which of 
course we (especially " the Bach- 
elor,") don't like to believe. As 
we look on this vast collection of 
more than two thousand pages of 
manuscript, and think of the labor 
and toil and time and thought, 
they have cost, we would regret 
having thrown out the challenge, 
were we not sure that great general 
good will come of it. Our own 
appreciation of the amount of 
thought, skill, aud patience, and 
the degree of domestic talent to be 
found among Housekeepers, is 
greatly hightened, and we shall 
strive anew to secure a higher ap- = 
preciation on the part of others. TVe are carefully 
considering how this mass of information eau be 
turned to good account for others, and in some de- 
gree to the benefit of, at least, a part of the writers. 
But what about the selection of the Prize Essay '! 
Of course, we men-folks can not do that. Well, 
Dec. 1st these numbered Essaj-s were handed over 
to a Committee of intelligent Housekeepers, in 
good repute for their practical acquaintance with 
every day work. They have been busy reading for 
nearly two weelcs ! aud have only got to No. 65. 
They read each Essay carefully through, make notes 
upon it, and mark it "A,-' "B" or " C." They 
report that nearly one-third are marked " A," and 
that to go over and over these, and reduce the 
choice to one, will require the work and considera- 
tion of many days, if not weeks, yet. It is there- 
fore impossible to announce the award, this month, 
or begin the publication of the Prize Article, or 
articles if more than one is selected. — While wait- 
ing, we will give a few extracts, taken at random, 
from some of the Essays. As so small a portion of 
each is taken, these extracts will not at all affect 
the value of any one for future use in this paper, 
or elsewhere. The numbers merely indicate the 
order iu which the Essays came in. We have not 
the slightest idea of the name of any writer. — Eds.] 
Extracts from Prize Essays. 
[From No. 44.]— "....We had always two wells, one 
in the yard, the other in the cellar, and used either at 
pleasure. It was long after the house was rebuilt, that 
a pleasant innovation came in the shape of a pump. 
The relief from carrying water up stairs is very great. 
We are not a demonstrative family, but we felt thai our 
water-pail had faUc-n in more pleasant places, if we did 
not tell of it. From an over-sight at the first, in the loca- 
tion of onr kitchen, we had compelled upon ourselves 
720 miles tracel in the fifteen years, for the one item of 
water. Without a cent more expense at first, we might 
have so arranged that we conld have pnmped water and 
poured it into the kettle on the stove, the dish-pan in the 
sink beneath, or the hand-basin in an adjoining sink, 
[Copyright Secured.] 
STUDY IN PHYSIOGNOMY. 
in every thing else, very clever with me. He built a box, 
just large enough for the pail to set in, and covered it with 
a lid on leather hinges, and set this box in one corner of 
the wood-house, j list by the kitchen door ... John brought 
home fifty pounds of beef last week, and I concluded to 
' com ' it. My way is this : I have it cut into pieces of 
five or six pounds, and rub each piece with sugar, two 
pounds will do for 100 lbs. of meat ; then pack tightly in 
the barrel : take sufficient rain water to corn well. To 
every 100 lbs. of meat, take 10 pounds salt, 4 oance3 salt- 
petre, aud 2 gallons molasses ; put these in about half the 
water, and heat until the scum rises, skim, stirring mean- 
while to dissolve the ingredients, then mix with the 
rest of the water, and when cold, pour over the beer. 
This is the base of an Eastern 'Boiled Dinner.'...." 
[From No. 15.] — " — A house in the country is not a 
Aottse merely, ' to keep and to dress.' It is agarden, afarni 
—a little realm complete in itself— and a woman's presence 
should he felt throughout— especially in the arranging 
and ornamenting the grounds adjoining the house, should 
her taste he apparent. And first of all, 
it is desirable to produce a hannonious 
effect, so that regarding the home from 
without or from within, each object 
shall appear to be a part of a beautiful 
whole. Then, be the design simple or 
elaborate, it matters not, provided the 
home be an exponent of the owner's 
tastes and means We chose our 
home because of its proximity to Insti- 
tutions we love, and not, as may fairly 
be presumed, for the beauty of its lo- 
cation. — We built our house in an open 
field, on a rise of ground made by grad- 
ing, but which now often elicits the 
remark, 'How fortunate you were in 
finding such a pretty building spot,' — 
the observer little dreaming that our 
cellar bottom is a part of the original 
surface. There being no previous im- 
provements to modify our plans, we 
gave the public road a wide berth, and 
immediately set about shutting it from 
view, by setting forest trees along our 
whole front, and on either side of the 
carriage way. An amusiug conversa- 
tion occurred between the original 
owner of onr fields, aud my husband, 
Mr. Max, while thus engaged. To give 
the story point, it must be premised 
that this stickler for ' fruit, 1 had scarce- 
ly managed in the course of twenty 
years to cover his house lot with enough 
trees to supply his family with apples. 
' See here, neighbor,' said he, 
' What kind o' fruit do you expect them 
are trees to bear.' ' They would have 
home dollars for you, had you set them 
here twenty years since,' was the rather 
tart reply, for the bare and desolate-ap- 
pearance of our fields was a serious 
drawback to our happiness that first 
year. Well ! the trees have already 
Our Artist has been amusing himself, as children sometimes do, by "making up faces," borne— not dollars nor apples— but the 
aud has succeeded so well, we thiuk our readers will be pleased to examine Ills produc- pleasant assurance to us, that our home 
tiou. An interesting part of the performauce is, that one feature is in many instances, 
made to do double duty, presenting the singular fact of several persons having but one 
nose, one pair of eyes, etc., among them. The picture was iuteuded for the Boys and 
Girls' Department, but other matters fully occupied that space, and probably their 
mothers will not object to a little "spice" in their own part of the paper. 
without taking a single step Our table arrangements 
are equally incomplete. A dish-closet adjoining the dish- 
sink, and in convenient proximity to the table, would 
leave the circuit from closet to table, from table to sink, 
and from sink to closet again, a matter of less steps in a 
week than we uow find necessary for one meal. As it is. 
we traverse an average of 100 feet in simply bringing the 
dishes for each meal. Returning them to their places in- 
volves a distance of 240 more. This foots up iu the little 
annual journey to our commissary, 108 miles ! Counting 
our fifteen years' blunder, it amounts to 1,668 miles! aud 
this not for the meals only — the 720 miles for water, and 
L.ViS for dishes, giving a total of 2.'2?S miles ! and the 
time absorbed in this long pedestrian journey might have 
been absdhUe leisure, and the work have been as well per- 
formed. A review of all our mistakes might not prove in- 
teresting. We made a dozen or so. each having an unfor- 
tunate effect on our domestic enjoyment . . . ." [Howmany 
thousands of families are doing the same to-day ?-*Bd.] 
[From No. 8.]— "....It is the Uttlo things of this life 
that anuoya body ; my annoyance is I'm ashamed to con- 
fers.! no larger than Hie ' swill pail.' It is a • necessary nui- 
sance,' always needed, yet always in the way— an unsight- 
ly object to man or woman-kind. John acted in this as 
is growing iu beauty every year. Next , 
grass was desirable, thick, soft aud vel- 
vety. Thanks to our peculiar soil, we 
soon had this to our liking; and it is 
not weedy and rough, if it is sometimes 
high enough for meadow. A few ever- 
' greens scattered here and there was 
all we attempted further, that spring, for showy par- 
terres and graveled walks were not to be thought of. 
Trees will grow while we are at work or asleep, or enjoj - 
ing our noonday rest. Many hardy climbers, roses, and 
ornamental shrubs, will do the same, and thank us un- 
tile privilege. We will put out a few iff these each spring 
and autumn— no more than we can take good care of— 
and in time we shall be satisfied. ...Sueii was onr conclu- 
sion, aud steadily we have worked upon it. The care of 
the grounds ha- been our recreation Our winter sit ting- 
room opens to the south; the smoothly shorn lawn, and 
a variety of Bhapoful evergreens are in view Irom here, bo 
that no sense of desolation wars the prospect. The 
rooms that open to the north and east, are our principal 
summer resort. Opposite these 1 .-row my showy annuals 
and tied my petted exotics. The breath of the Sweet 
Briar. Lilac, Missouri Currant, and innumerable roses in 
their season. Iloats in at onr open window. There are al- 
ways flowers tor as many hontraets as 1 like, from early 
spring until the Chrysanthemums arc frozen, and vet we 
spend but very little time among them! Uow can wc 
when we do not have it to spend* " 
[From No. 49.]—" I am fully convinced that there 
arc not only many men of many minds, but many iromm 
