1878.] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
223 
has a peculiar crape-like texture that is most pleas¬ 
ing. The low stature of the foliage, not over 6 
inches, with the enormous size of the flower, make 
it an admirable plant, whether for the early spring 
border, or for forcing.Was there ever such 
A Show of Fruit XSloasoms 
as now ? Whatever may have happened to the 
peach tree6 just south of us, about here—12 miles 
from New York—the country is all a gay garden. 
Old orchards, fit only for fire-wood and breeding- 
grounds for the Tent-caterpillar, are “things of 
beauty and a joy for ”—a week. Apples, pears, 
plums, cherries, and the few peaches, all, like Sophy 
Squeer’s sensibilities, are in “full blow.” The 
abundant blooming is not confined to fruit-trees, 
but the ornamental flowering shrubs appear to par¬ 
ticipate in the profuse inflorescence. The only ex¬ 
ception to this, so far as I have noticed, is the For- 
sythias—sometimes called “ Golden-bell,” usually 
one of the most free as well as one of our earliest 
spring 6hrubs; this made the poorest show I can 
recollect. For an early shrub, of rather low growth, 
Tlianberg’s Spiraea, Spircea Thunbergii, 
is to be especially commended; it grows 3 or 4 feet 
high, and has a most graceful form ; its flowers are 
like very minute roses, of the purest white ; these 
are produced in clusters of three, all over the bush, 
and make each slender, curving branch a garland 
of itself. When out of flower, the foliage is pleas¬ 
ing, the leaves being small and of a light green. It 
flowers in April, and earlier than any other Spiraea 
with which I am acquainted. All these qualities 
combine to make this Spiraea one of the best.... 
What a pity that the bloom of the 
Double-Flowering Fruit Trees, 
such as the double peaches, cherries, etc., is of such 
short duration. They are of great beauty while 
they last, but one does not care to give room, for a 
whole year, to a tree that gives returns for only a 
week, or less. I have a scarlet, double peach, the 
finest thing of the kind I have seen, that makes a 
grand show for a few days, but it already takes up 
too much room. 
The Fruiting ot Wistaria. 
I notice thatan English journal quotes our friend 
Thomas Meehan, of the “ Gardeners’ Monthly,” as 
authority for the statement that the Chinese Wis¬ 
taria fruits only when trained as a pillar, and that 
when allowed to ramble at will, this vine is always 
barren. This is such a strange statement, that I 
think Mr. Meehan must have been misquoted. In 
recalling the fruiting Wistarias that I have known, 
I find that they have been among the most neg¬ 
lected. I pass one almost daily, which rambles 
over a veranda, and up to a roof, which probably 
never felt the touch of a knife, much less was 
trained to a pillar, or to anything else, yet it hung 
so full of pods that I called the attention of a seed- 
dealer to it, and he obtained the stock. 
Garden Thieves.— No kind of robbery is more 
annoying than that of plants and fruit. In most 
parts of this country, the taking of flowers and 
fruit is not looked upon as actual robbery, and un¬ 
less there is a special law, as there is in some States, 
the depredator can only be prosecuted for “ tres¬ 
pass,” and the prosecutor has to establish the fact 
that a certain amount of damage in money, has 
been sustained. One may have a flower which is to 
him of a value that can not be expressed in money, 
or his tree may for the first time bear a single pear, 
worth to the owner more than a bushel of similar 
fruit in the market, yet the matter-of-fact judge, 
will charge the matter-of-fact jury to find damages 
to the market value of the articles “trespassed” 
upon. In a recent suit in England, two scamps, 
who had stolen Snowdrops and other bulbs from a 
garden, were sentenced to seven years of penal ser¬ 
vitude each. A most sensible judge was on the 
bench, who, finding that the thieves had before 
served three and eighteen months for similar of¬ 
fences, and were not cured, concluded that it was 
of no use to be lenient with them, but gave them 
seven years each ! “Most worthy judge ! ” 
T1H0S MHJ8EH0ILJH). 
JCgT" For other Household Items see “ Basket ” pages. 
Home Topics. 
BY FAITH ROCHESTER. 
Combinations of Flavors. 
A friend who has availed herself of unusual facili¬ 
ties for studying French cookery, has given me 
6ome of the results of her inquiries and experi¬ 
ments. In Professor Blot’s book we were told to 
use a “ sprig ” of this and a “pinch ” of that, with 
an indefiniteness quite puzzling to the inex¬ 
perienced. I have seen recipes for flavoring, which 
were poor guides for beginners, or indeed for most 
housekeepers, because the proportions were all 
given in ounces and fractions of an ounce. One 
wishing to follow them, and having no scales, might 
possibly buy the exact quantities separately and 
mix them afterwards. But my friend has it ail re¬ 
duced to teaspoonfuls and tablespoonfuls, of the 
medium size, and made just level full. She says her 
preparations are those recommended by the most 
celebrated French cooks, only they give them by 
weight, and she has made them easier for our use 
by reducing them to level spoonfuls. A larger or 
smaller amount may be made at one time by doub¬ 
ling or halving the proportions. Perhaps it is best 
to begin with a small quantity. 
The American Agriculturist gave, a while ago, di¬ 
rections for drying and preserving various sweet 
herbs, as powders, kept covered in bottles or cans. 
Powdered herbs and ground spices are those used 
in these flavoring combinations, and after mixing, 
they should be kept from the air in the same man¬ 
ner. They are used in soups, stews, hashes, etc. 
Flavoring Mixture for Soups. 
Four tablespoonfuls each of Parsley, Sweet Mar¬ 
joram, Winter Savory, Lemon Thyme, Sweet Basil; 
all dried and rubbed to a coarse powder ; also one 
tablespoonful each of Thyme, and Bay Leaf; one 
teaspoonful, each, of Marjoram and Rosemary. 
Flavoring for Meat Hash and Force-incat. 
One tablespoonful each of Black Pepper, Cayenne 
Pepper ; two tablespoonfuls each of Cloves, and 
of Nutmeg. Keep this mixture dry and closed 
from the air. In using it, take about the propor¬ 
tion of one part of this flavoring mixture to four 
parts of Salt—a tablespoonful of the spiced salt for 
each pound of chopped meat. 
Keeping Meat in Mot Weather, 
Great is the convenience of a good refrigerator! 
But many of us, who live in the country, have to 
get along without such a convenience. Farmers’ 
families, who often depend upon the butcher’s 
meat-cart for supplies of fresh meat, are annoyed 
by the bother and the waste that comes of getting 
more beef or mutton on hand than they can con¬ 
veniently use up before it becomes tainted. The 
most foolish waste, is to eat more of it than you 
need, with the idea of “saving it;” the doctor's 
bill that may result from over-loading the digestive 
organs is not so good a show of economy, as the 
fresh eggs you might coax from the hens by feeding 
them any excess of meat. The meat, should first 
be wiped clean and dry. Some sprinkle it well in 
all parts with salt. Others use black pepper plen¬ 
tifully (washing and wiping it well before using it 
to remove the pepper or salt), and then hang it in 
the coolest place possible—some in the well, others 
in a cellar. Perhaps the best precaution is to wrap 
it in a dry cloth, and cover it with charcoal-dust. 
Some say that wood ashes will answer about as well 
as charcoal, but I only know the virtues of char¬ 
coal by experience. I have found that charcoal 
will even remove a slight degree of taint. I am 
told that mutton is improved, as well as preserved, 
for a short time, by wrapping it in a cloth wet with 
vinegar, and laying it on the bottom of a dry cellar. 
Al l kinds of meat, including fish and fowl, may be 
preserved in brine for a longer or shorter time. 
Drawing Lessons at Monte. 
A lady in Washington Territory writes me, asking 
some advice about teaching her children to draw. 
She says they live in the midst of beautiful scenery, 
and they want to hang pictures of it somewhere be- 
sidesou “Memory’s walls.” Prof. Huxley thinks that 
every child who is to be good for anything in art or 
science, or in anything, except the merest drudgery, 
ought to learn to draw ; not to make fine pictures, 
perhaps, but to be able to sketch with some degree 
of exactness and quickness. He says that this re¬ 
quires no especial talent, for anybody who can learn 
to write can learn to draw. I think he is right. I 
think, too, that a knowledge of drawing adds much 
to one’s happiness through life, even if the art is 
seldom practised, in enabling us better to appreciate 
the beauties of Nature in all her forms. But I must 
be practical. The Kindergarten method is, to 
practise straight lines for a considerable time, be¬ 
ginning with half-inch lines, and making them 
gradually longer, first vertical lines, then horizontal, 
then oblique. This is intended for young children 
between three and seven years of age. It is good 
practice at any age, but 1 should never confine a 
child to it if it is found to be dull or tiresome. All 
careful practice with pen or pencil helps toward 
drawing. Train the fingers to careful copying, 
and the eye to exact measurements and comparisons. 
But if a child wants to make pictures, let it begin at 
once to copy them. It is well to use the common 
drawing-cards if one can get them conveniently, 
but any simple, well-printed pictures will do. There 
are plenty of them in the Little Readers, and other 
school books ; and in such papers as the American 
Agriculturist , the cuts are very clear and beautiful. 
But little should be attempted at first—just a dog’s 
head, or a small bird, or a tree. Only one pencil is 
necessary at first, and of course the best is the best, 
but use whatever you can get, if Faber’s drawing 
pencils are not within reach. The best number for 
a siugle pencil is Faber’s 3. If the scenery is so 
charming that the children want to attempt copy¬ 
ing it at once, let them try. They will probably 
see too much, or too great a diversity of detail, 
covering too large a picture. Teach them to cut 
out little pictures from the large landscape before 
them—a single rock with the weeds growing about 
it, or a solitary tree, or clump of trees. If they try 
this before they have copied considerable, they 
should often examine good engravings to 6ee how 
the strong points are brought out, how different 
kinds of foliage are reproduced, and to learn what 
there is unsatisfactory in their own attempts. 
An Improvement in Family Circulars. 
A year or two ago I described the latest and best 
invention then known, for promoting sociability 
among scattered members of a family—the family 
circular, regular in its rounds, and without apparent 
beginning or end. One member sends it to another, 
and that one to the next in order, this one to the 
next, and so on. As it goes around in regular 
order, each one adds a fresh letter of his own, and 
taking out the letter of the one to whom he 6ends 
the budget; so that no one gets his own letters 
back again, but each one gets fresh news from all 
of the others at each round. In the Yankee family 
where this idea originated, they now have a new 
wrinkle. It is this : Each one is supplied with the 
same kind of paper, having a margin next to the 
fold; this margin is left blank. Then the letters 
taken out are preserved and bound in volumes to 
be handed down in the family. As Thomas always 
sends the budget to Richard, and Richard to Henry, 
of course Thomas keeps all of Richard’s letters, and 
Richard keeps Henry’s. This was proposed for 
adoption in our family, but one member protests 
that her letters are so flat, stale, and unprofitable, 
that she does not want them preserved. 1 fancy 
that the bright-eyed boy, whose baby antics are so 
lovingly chronicled iu those letters, might, some 
years hence, differ with her opinion of the letters 
which drop out into my desk month after month. 
When I was in my teens, I spent many afternoons 
in my father’s garret, rummaging an old barrel of 
family letters, written half a century before, which 
seemed to me the most interesting reading I could 
find. A member of our “ family circle ” sends me 
in the last circular the following recipe. 
Scalloped Veal. 
The rule is the same as for scalloped oysters, and 
