304: 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
[August, 
men would add greatly to the farmer’s prosperity 
and to liis social advantages. Enterprising men 
have founded colouies here and there, with more or 
less wise forethought for the good of the colonists, 
as well as for the building up of their own private 
fortunes. But why should not homesteaders them¬ 
selves unite, getting their lands at homestead rates, 
and by associated effort in every way open to them, 
avoiding the worst evils of isolated pioneer life, and 
securing for themselves and families intelligent, in¬ 
dustrious, and order-loving neighbors ? This talk 
does not seem to me inappropriate for the house¬ 
hold columns, since women and children are the 
worst sufferers from the loneliness and the dis¬ 
comforts of the usual pioneer life. 
Maternity Alleviated. 
“For lack of knowledge” not only do people 
die, but a very unnecessary amount of suffering is 
endured, and especially by the mothers of the hu¬ 
man race. I have long wished to do something 
toward the prevention of this suffering, by telling 
other women a part of that whicli I know upon this 
subject. It falls to my lot to give private advice to 
a young wife, who suffered so severely at her first 
experience as a mother, that she looks forward with 
dread to its repetition. I think she need feel no 
physical dread whatever, if she is so situated as to 
carry out the latest approved methods. I confess 
I felt some prejudice against the new rules, fearing 
that what might contribute to the mother’s ease 
and comfort, would prove detrimental to her child ; 
but experience and observation have removed these 
prejudices. The experience was only partial, and 
was gained by following no rules but natural in¬ 
stinct. The very common desire for a change of 
diet, especially for acid fruits, is Nature’s own 
voice, and should be obeyed. Apples were scarce 
and dear four years ago last spring, and I was 
ashamed to tell how many I sometimes ate at a 
meal (from five to ten small ones), but no other 
food was so delicious, and no meal gave me subse¬ 
quent comfort without at least a single raw apple. 
A few months previous, I could hardly eat raw ap¬ 
ples at all. Then grapes seemed the only food the 
stomach craved and accepted without nausea. As 
soon as the great event was over, and a little 
stranger looked to me for nourishment, the wish 
for fruit disappeared, and my oatmeal and graham 
gruel, seasoned with cream, became for a while the 
sweetest of delicacies. This experience was, for 
its ease and safety, a marvel to myself and to all 
who knew of it, and we were soon convinced that 
fruit diet and out-door exercise had caused the 
wonder. Since then we have heard of, and person¬ 
ally known, much more remarkable cases—equally 
beneficial to mother and child. A diet wholly of 
fruit is not recommended, but fruit should be very 
liberally used, and such food as contains much 
mineral matter, and tends to solidify the bones, 
should be avoided. The unseen growth goes on all 
the same, except that the bones remain in the car¬ 
tilaginous state. It is easy to understand that this 
condition of the offspring saves the mother much 
pain, and a change to the ordinary diets immedi¬ 
ately after promotes the child’s full and healthy 
development. The graham and oatmeal, so useful 
to growing children, especially because they build 
up the bones, should be very sparingly used pre¬ 
vious to confinement, and cream should be pre¬ 
ferred to milk. The fruit diet has a tendency to 
keep the whole system in excellent condition. 
Yegetables are better than grain food at this time, 
beans being most objectionable, and peas and pota¬ 
toes next. Rice, sago, and tapioca are recommend¬ 
ed, and when meats are used, the flesh of young 
animals is preferred. Stimulants and spices should 
not be used. A good deal of gentle exercise is ad¬ 
visable, but severe labor and fatigue should be 
avoided. Household exercise, when not very con¬ 
fining, is excellent, but all the pure out-door air it 
possible to get, should be taken day and night. 
Walking is decidedly useful, and no false modesty 
should prevent a woman from going out freely for 
the exercise she so much needs. If she respects 
herself, she will have the respect of all decent peo¬ 
ple ; but enlightened persons will only pity her ig¬ 
norance, or silliness, if she shuts herself indoors 
for fear of observation. Of course, a modest 
woman does not needlessly publish her sacred se¬ 
cret. The general rules of health, cleanliness, com¬ 
fortable clothing, plenty of sleep, freedom from fa¬ 
tigue and excitement, regular meals, and none late 
in the afternoon, are all especially applicable at 
this time. 
High Art and Woman’s Dress. 
Chief among artists in devising costumes, is the 
celebrated Worth, of Paris. But it seems that even 
he cannot do as he pleases, and is not responsible 
for all the absurdities of feminine attire. A number 
of American ladies, who were deeply interested in 
the subject, sent to Worth this question, “What 
costume can be devised that will be perfectly health¬ 
ful, and at the same time beautiful ? ”—This is his 
astonishing reply : “I have to make the same an¬ 
swer to you that I have made to the women of Eu¬ 
rope. The costume of the Persian women is the 
handsomest upon the face of the earth. It consists 
of a loose waist, short skirt and trousers, not too 
loose. I have made this costume beautifully, and 
hung it up in Paris, but the women will not wear 
it. I can do nothing more. They must suffer until 
they are willing to adopt it.” 
Now, who will dare to say that short skirts and 
trousers are absolutely and forever uubeautiful ? 
That they are unbecoming to isolated women in pub¬ 
lic, at the present day, I am willing to admit, but I 
am quite positive that a dress that gives freedom to 
a woman’s limbs will be entirely becoming when the 
mass of women are neither slaves nor pets, but 
mutual friends and helpers of men. 
Who leads the fashions ? We may say a word on 
that subject at another time. But there is a band 
of artists, poets, and others of their set over in 
Loudon, a constantly increasing number, lam told, 
who refuse tq be led about in costume by every 
fantastic whim that seizes upon the so-called lead¬ 
ers of fashion in Paris. So now' we hear about the 
“ Pre-Raphaelite style of dress.” The aim is to 
have a thick waist—“ thick like the Venus de 
Medici, thick like that far nobler Venus of Milo.” 
The artists declare that the 
small, tight-laced waists 
are decidedly unartistic 
and vulgar, and that the 
natural beauty of the fe¬ 
male figure is lost by 
destroying its proper 
healthy proportions. The 
sleeves are very high on 
the shoulder, sometimes a 
little fulled, to fit the 
shoulders easily, for they 
insist that a woman should 
be able to move her arms, 
when dressed, as freely as 
when undressed. Isn’tthat 
a modern idea though ? 
I remember well when it 
was common for women 
to unfasten their dress- 
waists if they had to re¬ 
arrange their hair, their 
arms were so bound down 
by the arm-holes cut low 
on the shoulder, all for 
the sake of beauty, w’hich 
must be regarded, however 
uncomfortable its vic-tim. 
But of the freedom of 
the lower limbs, I hear 
nothing yet from the Pre-Raphaelites, except that 
the skirts must never be tied about the legs. We 
can wait, however, since the world does move ; ouly 
let us quietly bear witness to the truth when it is 
proper to give our opinion, for public opinion is 
made up little by little. 
Oat-meal Mush. Improved. 
Much better than the old way of stirring the oat¬ 
meal into boiling water, is the new way of cooking 
it in a farina kettle. If no farina kettle or steam- 
cooker is at hand, one may always be improvised 
in this way : Set a stone-jar or a tin-pail containing 
the food to be cooked, into a kettle of water (put¬ 
ting a couple of sticks under the jar, to keep it 
from direct contact with the bottom of the kettle), 
over the fire, and keep the water boiling until the 
food is cooked. This method is best for cooking 
cracked wheat and hominy, and now I find it best 
for oat-meal also. [It is surprising to find one so 
generally well versed in the best methods of prepar¬ 
ing farinaceous foods, proposing as new a method 
of preparing oat-meal and cracked wheat that we 
have practised almost daily', fer years.—We add ou: 
commendation toilers.— Ed.] Probably all of these 
materials are best cooked with part milk. Oat-meal 
is excellent when one cup of oatmeal is put into 
two cups of milk and two cups of water, and 
steamed for an hour and a half. Rice cooked by 
the same rule is very nice. No stirring is neces¬ 
sary, the salt being put in at discretion iu the be¬ 
ginning of the cooking. 
Spong-e-Cake Cream-Pie. 
One teacup of sugar, one teacup of flour well 
mixed with a level teaspoonful of baking-powder, 
three beaten eggs. Bake in a flat, square tin, and 
when cold, split open and spread with cream, pre¬ 
pared as follows : Whip a pint of sweet cream, until 
very smooth and stiff, sweeten and flavor to taste 
(those who- like vanilla will prefer it in this case), 
and spread it stiff and cold upon the split sides of 
the cake, placing these two sides together again so 
that the cream does not appear, and the cake-pie 
looks like an ordinary cake. One can hardly find 
a more delicate and delicious dessert dish than this. 
The Clothes-Moth. 
Some housekeepers seem to have as much anxiety 
about moths as David Copperfield’s aunt had about 
donkeys. Aunt Betsy was quite sure of her pet 
aversion, while many housekeepers accuse nearly 
everything that flies toward the lamp in the even¬ 
ing of being a “ moth miller.” Being on the look¬ 
out for some large creature, they accuse the inno¬ 
cent insects, and generally quite overlook the mis¬ 
chievous one, from its insignificant size. We every 
CLOTHES MOTH—MILLER AND LARVAE. 
now and then get letters from those who have put 
away their store of woollens and furs for the season, 
which indicate a fear that something more should 
he done to insure their safety, or inquire about this 
or that moth preventive compound. Much of this 
anxiety would be removed, and much trouble in 
chasing and killing of insects which are quite 
harmless, so far as clothing goes, be saved, if house¬ 
keepers understood the appearance and the habits 
of their enemy. With this view we give an en¬ 
graving of the common clothes-moth in its various 
stages of natural size and magnified. The form 
in which the insect is most popularly known as 
“moth,” is seen enlarged at A, and of about the 
natural size on the cloth ; it is really a caterpillar, 
shown naked and magnified at B, but it is rarely 
