1867.] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
105 
TMB »OSrai(0)]LID o 
y^Z'" For other JlonsehoW Items, see "Basket" pages.') 
Home-Made Household Ornaments, 
"Wo present this mouth some ornaments a little 
more elaborate than those given in the last number : 
Fig. 1, is a rustic flower stand, made to hold two 
eight-inch riots, with Geraniums, Fuckias, or any 
other flowers suitable for the living-room or parlor. 
The foundation of the stand is a piece of board 
about 20 inches long, and % inch thick. Pine or 
some soft wood is the best. This is cut out on 
the front in the shape of a capital B, only the inden- 
ture is not quite so deep, and the edge upon which 
the slats are to be nailed, are left a little flaring, so 
lis to give the required shape to the stand, the top 
of which should incline outward, about an iuch from 
a perpendicular line. A strip of rattan or willow, 
throe-eighths of an inch diameter, is first nailed 
with small brads upon the lower edge of the board, 
against which the slats are to fit. The slats are 
made of light and dark colored wood, with the bark 
on, split from sticks 1 to 1% inches in diameter, and 
whittled down to a V inch in thickness. They are 
Fig. 3.— prsr cushion. 
Fig. 1.— RUSTIC FLOWER STA^. 
made a little narrower at the bottom than at the top, 
to provide for the flare of the stand, and are picketed 
at the top as shown in the sketch. These slats are 
fastened to the board at (lie bottom, with small 
brads about Jf inch long, and at the top, to a strip 
of rattan, willow, or any other lithe wood, about half 
an inch in diameter, whittled flat upon one side, to 
fit neatly to the slats. The nails or brads at the top 
should be much smaller than those at the bottom. 
The bottom of the stand is finished by nailing strips 
upon it in the same style as those at the side, fitting 
them neatly to the rattan or willow on the edge. If 
the slats have not been previously finished, rub 
slightly with flue sand paper to remove any rough- 
ness, but not to disturb the original bark color. 
You now want a pot of warm glue, and a good 
selection of acorus, in the cups and out of them. 
A row of these should be fastened around the bot- 
tom, next to the willow band, taking care to put 
them so that they will 
not hit the floor or 
window ledge, when 
the stand is in its 
place. The rosettes 
at the sides arc made 
of acorns, imd the 
cones of the Black 
Spruce, and those in 
front of single acorns, 
with the scales oftho 
Norway Spruce cone 
placed around them. 
The ornaments seen between the rosettes are 
made of sprigs of the oak, with acorns having 
cups on them, and small spruce cones at the bot- 
tom. In the arrangement of these there Is mom 
I'm' the home artist to display his taste. These arc 
[it tened <>n with glue, aud after they have dried :i 
few days, the whole should receive a cont oT var- 
nish. The inside bottom of the board should have 
paper pasted upon It, when it is ready for nse. This 
flower stand is open upon one. side as shown, and 
may stand in the window, or upon (lie mantle piece. 
Fig. 2, represents a rustic basket iu the same 
general style of work, varied by handles and legs. 
It is about eight mches across the top, and the 
same iu height. The handles, the edging at the 
bottom, and the band upon the inside, to which 
the slats are fastened, are made of rattan, but wil- 
low will answer. The slats are made of dogwood 
and hazlenut, about a JfMnch through, aud are 
fastened with brads or tacks. The legs are about 
flinch in diame- 
ter, and raise the 
basket about an 
inch from the 
stand or shelf. It 
may be a appro- 
priately used to 
hold a flower pot, 
a vase with a bou- 
quet, or for the 
work-table to hold knitting or sewing when laid 
aside. All wood that is used for this kind of 
work should be first thoroughly seasoned. We 
have several varieties well adapted to this work. 
The main thing in the selection is to have unifor- 
mity of size and a pretty contrast in the color. 
Fig. 3 represents a pin-cushion. The founda- 
tion is a bit of pine board, cut or turned in a lathe, 
round, about seven inches in diameter. It is fur- 
nished with legs Yi or % incl 1 
long, and the underside is cover- 
ed with morocco paper. The 
pin-cushion on top is any pretty 
pattern of worsted work, stuffed 
with wool. The border of rustic 
work, about 1}£ inches wide, is 
quite elaborate, presenting a 
dozen varieties or more of acorns, 
cones, seeds, and berries gather- 
ed from the woods. The top and 
bottom courses are made of the 
scales of 'the cone of the Norwa}' 
Spruce, turned inside out, and 
fastened to the paste board with 
thread and needle. There are 
three courses at the bottom, aud two at the top. 
The space between is filled in with acorns of sever- 
al varieties of oak, beech nuts, hard hack seeds, 
black spruce cones, dried berries, seeds of weeds, 
aud buds of evergreen trees stripped of their foliage. 
Almost any small shrub or weed, whose seeds hold 
on in the winter, will furnish appropriate material 
for this kind of work. They may be fastened on 
with needle or glue, as can be done to best advan- 
tage. When tastefully wrought up, they make 
beautiful pin-cushions. They not only ornament 
the toilet table at home, but command a ready sale 
at fairs, and are a source of profit to tho maker. 
Fig. 
-RUSTIC BASKET. 
Leaves li-oasi tUc ESiai-y ©1" a "VosiMg 
Housekeeper. — ^fo. II. 
riUZE ESSAY El' MRS LAURA E. LYMAJT, STAMFORD, CT. 
■Tan. 31. — For a few days past I have been sending 
broth aud other delicacies to a poor family about 
half a mile down the road ; two of whom are sick, a 
little girl and the father. He was a Union prisoner 
at Salisbury, N. C, and was released at the close of 
the war with a shattered constitution aud a gloomy 
future. 
There are three or four girls in the family, ouo 
about twelve years of age, and Edward has been 
talking about the. propriety of our taking her when 
the father dies, as, poor man, he must before many 
days. Edward says that next summer, when he has 
a number of farm laborers, I shall need some help, 
and it will be a great advantage to the girl if she 
can bo laken into a good family, where she can learn 
the best ways of doing work, and so become useful 
to me as long as she stays, aud able to command 
good wages in service. 
I should prefer to take a girl who has a more 
thrifty ami energetic mother than she sterns to 
have; for the family belongs in that great class of 
the shiftless and (lie improvident, who always were 
poor and always will be. But I really feel, dial all 
who can give such children a lift ought to do so, 
and perhaps I may put this girl in the way of be- 
coming an excellent housekeeper, aud eventually 
the mistress of a home of her own. 
Feb. 25. — The poor soldier died. Edward and I 
went to the funeral, and it made my heart ache to 
see those five little ill-clad orphans shivering on the 
heap of frozen dirt at their father's grave, their 
feet only half protected from the snows of rnidj 
winter, and their future appareutly as dark as tho 
lowering skies above them. 
The next day we went down hi a sleigh, aud got 
Sue with her little bundle of clothes, tied up in an 
old handkerchief. She has been here ten days, and 
I've been thinking a good deal as to how, both for 
her own sake as well as for mine, I can make tho 
most of her. She is cheerful and always willing, 
but has no ideas of thrift, economy, or neatness. 
To teach her these, and, at the same time, divert her 
mind from her grief and loneliness, I have devoted 
a good deal of time to her. I find I must not ex- 
pect very much, and must have great patience 
with her dull preception, and her weak memory. 
On one point I have been very successful , and this 
gives me encouragement that the same system 
in other departments will be equally effective. 
She seemed to have no idea as to how a tabic 
should be set. So, to assist her conception, I wrote 
out iu a very clear hand the following list, aud 
pasted it on the inside of the closet door : " Table- 
cloth, napkins, mats, plates, knives, forks, spoons, 
glasses, cups, saucers, sugar and milk, butter, salt, 
the castor, bread, water, the dishes from the stove, 
chairs." Just under this paper I drew a little out- 
line picture of the table, with all the dishes on it in 
their proper places. The effect was magical. She 
now looks upon table setting as pastime, and docs 
it as well as I could if I were expecting Miss Leslie 
herself to dine with us. 
Raised as she has been, iu an atmosphere of im- 
providence, it is not strange that I could not get 
her to remember to put on her dishwater at the 
right time. But she looked so mortified at being 
constantly reminded of it, that I changed my tac- 
tics, aud told her she should have a penny every 
time she remembered it, and forfeit one every time 
she forgot. For two days uow there has been 
pleuty of hot dishwater at the right time, at an ex- 
pense of three cents a day, but the value of that 
habit alone, when once fixed, cannot be estimated. 
It has always been a topic of conversation, aud a 
ground of complaint with my housekeeping ac- 
quaintances who employ help, that they have to 
work almost as hard to get the servant to do the 
work well, us if they did it all themselves, besides 
the greater waste aud trial of patience. But I think 
if servants were kindly and fully instructed in what 
is expected of them, they would certainly try to 
please. My success with Sue about the table makes 
me believe that similar painstaking will make her 
equally reliable and thorough iu all kinds of work. 
So I am writing out a catechism in questions aud 
answers, explaining exactly how and when every- 
thing she has to do must be done ; how, for in- 
stance, she can wash her dishes iu the quickest aud 
best way; what she must do first, and what next 
when she gets up iu the morning. This catechism 
she recites to mc every night after tea, and I have 
promisedhcr that as she learns what I have written, 
aud carries it out, I will instruct her as thoroughly 
in washing, ironing, and bread-making. 
March Zrd — Yesterday Ave returned from a visit 
to our relatives, which was very pleasant. We went 
to Edward's home first, where we stayed a week, 
aud then to mine, where Ave spent another week. 
Edward had prepared me somewhat to find things 
a littlo different from what they arc. in my home, 
but the contrast was far greater than I imagined. 
There never was a more amiable woman than his 
mother, and few men arc so thoroughly sensible as 
his father. But how such an order-loving, system- 
atic man as my husband, ever grew up in s; 
family, is past my power of conjecture. While hi' 
talking, one of the girls came mi to tell us 
breakfast was just ready, and ive went down. -\ 
savorj meal was smoking on the tablo, and the fra- 
grant coffee mosl gratefully greeted our olfactories, 
as we entered the dining room. Whatever defect 
my new mother possesses, she is ail excellent cook, 
