1867.] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
259 
f .s For other Household Items, see "Jlasket" pages.) 
Dashes at House-Keeping- with a Free 
Pencil. 
PRIZE ESSAY BT iII?S EVA M. COLLINS, KOCHESTEB. 
TIDIES. 
Untidy tidies are the occasion of all the animad- 
versions heaped upon these articles in general, by 
the generality of gentlemen. Tidies half fastened 
in their places with pins, or tidies not fastened at 
all, hanging by the eyelids, ready to fall upon our 
Fig. 1 
-DIAMO>"D-PATTERN TEOT. 
shoulders, or walk away upon our back, deserve 
everything that may be said of this failing in their 
mistress ; but, at the same time, a fresh, pretty tidy, 
either white or iii colors, agreeing with or harmon- 
izing the prevailing colors of the room, adorns both 
the room, and also, as was remarked of a different 
ornament, not long ago in the Agriculturist, the 
mistress of the apartment herself. The first requi- 
Fig. 2. — BLOCK-PATTERN TIDY. 
Bite is that the tidy should be appropriate to its 
place. A plain, substantial, white tidy, that evi- 
dently not only may be, but is, frequently changed 
and washed, is far prettier in. a common sitting 
room than the most elaborate article in colors 
which can not be subject- 
ed to the same renovating 
process. I would that all 
the rooms in a farmer's 
house were common sit- 
ting rooms ; at least, that 
there were fewer best 
rooms which scarcely ever 
see the beautiful sunlight 
— fewer parlors wrapped 
in covers, because too 
nice for use, and stowed 
away in the darkness and 
gloom of perpetual night. 
But this useless append- 
age, the dark parlor, is 
fast becoming obsolete. 
Cheerful, open, light parlors, are superseding it, 
and soon, even in the most conservative regions, 
this prison room, in which every comfort of the 
Kg. 3. 
Fig. 4. 
house is confined ; where the sofas and easy chairs 
are too nice for the tired father to rest upon at 
noon; where the senseless birds And flowers upon 
the carpets are too exquisite for little boots to 
crush ; where the elegant 
bindings of the books are 
their only merit, will be 
the exception, and not 
the rule. There is a great 
variety of patterns for 
tidies, so simple that any 
child can make them, and 
still pretty and service- 
able. Any little girl who 
can knit a garter can 
make, with a very little 
assistance from mamma, 
or sister, a charming little 
tidy of this description, 
fig. 1. All that is requir- 
ed is a skein of red woolen 
yarn, one of white cotton 
yarn, and two knitting needles. The red yarn should 
be of a bright scarlet color, and the white should be 
of the same size as the red. Set up the number of 
stitches desired in the width of the strip — eighteen 
stitches is a very good width — and knit until the 
square is perfect, which will be about twenty-nine 
times across the needle ; then exchange the red for 
the white ball, twist the threads together for a few 
stitches, and knit twenty-nine times across with 
the white. Knit the red and white blocks alter- 
nately until the strip will extend from corner to 
corner of the tidy in view, beginning and ending 
with the red. The strips upon each side of the 
central strip will contain two blocks less than that, 
and the next ones two less than those. If the lit- 
tle child does not knit very evenly, it is better to 
let the strips run directly across the tidy, fig. 2. A 
crocheted shell edge of either the white or red 
yarn, or both, forms a pretty finish, and will serve 
to give employment to many a dull afternoon. 
The strips should be neatly sewed together over 
and over, and pressed under a damp cloth. 
A more showy tidy is made by knitting thirteen 
red and six white 
r ^ZSZ2C ^ .» jU^7 * 
He 
blocks of the shape 
shown in fig. 3. In 
knitting the first 
point,set up one stitch 
and widen the second 
stitch in eaelr row ; 
make the last point by 
narrowing the same. 
The blocks are sewed 
together in the form 
of a honey-comb, fig. 4. A white initial letter em- 
broidered in the central block produces a happy 
effect, and a white crocheted plain border makes a 
nice finish, provided all the angles are accurately 
preserved ; if the border can not be neatly crochet- 
ed, the tidy looks better without it. These tidies, 
fi' T s. 4 and 5, may be made in triangular blocks, or 
diamonds, to accommodate different tastes, or dif- 
ferent chairs. The beauty or merit of these tidies 
consists in their being bright and cheerful in effect, 
where bright colors arc appropriate, and yet, unlike 
the usual worsted Afghan tidies, they will wash 
and look as well as new ones, when soiled. 
Sometimes a heavy tidy looks out of place. A 
very pretty and delicate one is made on a squaro 
frame, as in fig. 0, made of pine sticks nailed to- 
gether at tho cor- 
ners, with large-head- 
ed pins, or even 
common tacks driv- 
en in almost to their 
heads at intervals of 
half an inch, all 
around. Fasten one 
end of a spool of while cotton thread, number 
eight, to a corner tack, and wind the thread upon 
the tacks, three times in a place, both diagonally 
and horizontally over the frame, each way, which 
will make such a net-work as this, fig. ", held in its 
place by the tacks or pins. Then, begin again with 
Fig. 0. 
a corner tack, fasten the thread to it, and with a 
needle weave the thread three or four times at the 
first intersection, fast- 
en the thread in the 
center, and slip the 
needle through to the 
next crossing of the 
threads. When every 
crossing has been fast- 
ened in this manner, 
cnt the tidy from the 
tacks, leaving the ends * 1 £ - '• 
of the thread to form a fringed edge. When 
this tidy becomes soiled, it should be basted 
between two pieces of old and thin cloth, and, 
protected in this way, it can be washed, boiled, 
and starched, as easily as a more substantial one. 
Any pattern may he formed in crochet, by draw- 
ing the designs upon paper, and copying them as 
nearly as possible upon checkered paper, fig. 8. 
Paper properly ruled is sold for this purpose, but 
this is probably only to be had in large cities, and 
we country people must rule it ourselves, which is 
Fig. S. — DESIGN FOR CKOCnEI. 
not a very difficult job. A little practice will ren- 
der one expert in making designs for working. 
Leaves from the Diary of a Young House- 
keeper. — No. VII. 
PRIZE ESSAT BT 3IKS. LALTiA E. LV3IAX, STAFFORD, CT. 
July 2d. — I have been occupied for several days 
in protecting my house from flics. There came a 
rainy day when Edward could not work out doors, 
and he and the hired men fitted some light pine 
frames for my windows, and two or three of the 
doors, which I have covered with fly netting; and 
now I can have all the ventilatiou I wish, without 
the annoyance and discomfort of these household 
pests. A finer netting will keep out mosquitos as 
well. The door frames are on hinges, so we can 
go in and out with ease. This is so much better 
than fly traps and fly poisons, and now that they 
are made, they will, with care, last several seasons. 
In some houses that I have visited, I have noticed 
that the parlors are kept darkened all the time — 
but for my part, I believe in sunlight and free ven- 
tilatiou, both for health and enjoyment. 
What was my auuoyance iu going to my closet 
yesterday, where I keep my preserves and cake, to 
find it infested with great black ants. I employed 
the speediest and most certain way of killing them 
that I could think of. Taking a large sponge, I 
saturated it with molasses mixed with a little water, 
and laid it. on a plate in the closet, after removing 
every other Bweel thing. They took the bait greed- 
ily, and when there were about a thousand of theui 
reveling upon tho sweets, and penetrating every 
pore of the sponge, I plunged it into a bucket of 
hot water. Their scalded carcasses floated on tho 
surface, reminding one of the destruction of Pha- 
raoh's host in the Red Sea. A few successive 
massacres of that kind have, I believe, nearly exter- 
minated the tribe. This mode of destroying them 
is certainly harmless to everybody but the ants 
themselves, and I prefer it to using red precipitate. 
July Wi.— Living on an old place has a good many 
advantages as well as some disadvantages. Our 
predecessors were certainly fond of fruit, for wo 
have cherries, currants, apples, pears, and plums, 
in abundance, a few quince bushes, and two or 
three grape vines that, promise very well. So we 
shall, in all probability, have plenty of fruit. 
The currants have occupied me lately. As soon 
