34 , 4 : 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST, 
[September, 
they have to deal with, and be prepared to 
judge wisely in practical affairs. William’s father 
would not let him go to the menagerie for $100. 
Alien’s father lets Allen go to every one that 
comes along. Indeed he quits work and goes him¬ 
self every time. Neither father seems to know 
how to make the best use of that institution called 
“ the menagerie.” I suppose every boy who sees 
the gorgeous pictures on the walls about town, and 
sees and hears the triumphant procession of the 
incoming show, has a strong desire to go'inside 
the big tent, and see the wonderful performances 
there. Why shouldn’t he go? I suppose such 
shows have some objectionable features, but not so 
many or so striking, I am told, as they had ten or 
twenty years ago. There are certainly some educa¬ 
tional features, not easily obtained in all parts of 
the country, as there is always an exhibit, more or 
less complete, of strange and foreign animals. I 
can imagine a wise father sympathizing with his 
children’s pleasure over the glowing pictures, en¬ 
couraging their curiosity about the animals by bits 
of zoological information, and explaining how 
horses are trained, and what use or what foolish¬ 
ness there may be in the skill of the circus rider 
and his horse. I can imagine him promising the 
little ones that he will take them to a menagerie 
w’hen they are old enough, and explaining to them 
how wearisome and comparatively unprofitable it 
would be for them to go before they are old enough 
to see the show without undue fatigue, or to re¬ 
member the different animals distinctly after seeing 
them. The children of such a father wait patiently 
for their time to come, as they see their father 
quietly going about his business in spite of the ex¬ 
citement, and in the meantime they have more ra¬ 
tional amusements. 
How to Gain Strength. 
I am deeply interested in the efforts of some of 
my acquaintances to gain strength, and become 
healthy women—all the more interested because I 
have lately had to make some particular effort in 
that direction myself, being unusually wearied by 
a hard winter’s work. How we shall all come out 
I cau not say yet, but I am firm in the belief that 
my way is the best way. They all have doctors, 
aud I have none. I confess I wanted one very 
much indeed to give me good advice, but I couldn’t 
afford to put myself under a doctor’s care; and I 
knew very well, too, what a good doctor ought to 
say to me, and I couldn’t afford to follow his en¬ 
tire prescription, which would be largely of rest and 
freedom from care. One of my friends pays her doc¬ 
tor by the month for treating her. He Ms never 
seen her , but she has told him by letter her symp¬ 
toms, and he sends her medicines, and gives her 
advice by letter. The disease which he tells her 
that she has is supposed to be the result of im¬ 
proper medicine in the first place, but the dear 
woman takes the medicines of the new, strange 
doctor, in undoubting confidence, and thinks 
she could not live without them. There is too 
much of this “blind leading the blind.” My sick 
friends who are troubled with so much general 
weakness and “ all-gone’’-ness, are obliged to add 
to their tea and coffee stimulants, beer and wine, 
one or both, as invigorators; and yet they don’t 
get strong. I seemed to be breaking down, too— 
have been walking along close on the brink of it, 
with what caution I could, for a long time past. I 
was afraid any common sort of doctor would want 
to go to toniug me up with medicine, and I never 
would take his stuff, for nothing was the matter 
with any part of me except tired-outness. A doc¬ 
tor of good sense ought to tell me to rest, and I 
have gone into that business as well as I am able. 
As little hard work and care as possible, all the 
quiet out-door life 1 can get, plain, nourishing 
food, with a good proportion of ripe fruit—that 
is my own prescription, and with the help of a 
good, kind girl, and the kind consideration of 
friends, I expect to pull through. No doubt some 
things are more strengthening than others when 
put into the human stomach as food or as medi¬ 
cine, but I have no faith in anything which pro¬ 
fesses and really appears to give strength without 
imparting any real nourishment to the system, 
which simply makes a person feel strong as a re¬ 
sult of taking it, with a reaction of weakness after 
the effect of the stimulant is spent, until the dose 
is repeated and gradually increased as the system 
grows accustomed to the artificial stimulation. No 
doubt medicine may act as a corrective of a bad 
state of the system, impure blood, or a clogged 
liver. But you can get your blood purified, and 
your liver unclogged, without resorting to medi¬ 
cine, if you choose, simply by ceasing to do evil, 
and learning to do well physically. Make your 
blood of wholesome, nourishing, well-prepared 
food—the most healthful meats, the best of 
grains, the freshest vegetables; and for drink de¬ 
pend as much as possible upon juicy, ripe, un¬ 
spoiled fruit, with pure water when needed. Purify 
the blood so made by full breaths of clean, fresh 
air, taken into the lungs where the blood is con¬ 
stantly passing for such purification. Keep the 
blood in healthy activity of circulation by judicious 
exercise, both in the way of useful work and in 
jelly games, and give yourself plenty of sleep in 
the purest air you can obtain. Living in this way, 
you can afford to “ throw physic to the dogs,” and 
you will find it the cheapest way in the end, as all 
good doctors will tell you. 
Cleansing: Laces. 
Just what kind and degree of culture is neces¬ 
sary to make one scorn the use of any lace ex¬ 
cept that which is known as “real,” I can not ex¬ 
actly say, nor have I any wish to reach that high 
degree of social culture: The finest hand-made 
lace is a rare product of human skill aud patience, 
but I have read that the very rarest and richest in 
fineness aud delicacy, and fullness of design, is 
made in damp unwholesome cellars, by women 
who wear out their lives in the sickening business. 
It can not be made iu dry, fresh air, moisture be¬ 
ing a necessary factor iu its production. Slowly, 
painfully, the beautiful pattern is wrought, stitch 
by stitch, of the finest material, and of the bodies 
and souls of our sister women. You and I can do 
without it, and let fewer life drops fail in conse¬ 
quence. Indeed we must do without it, most of us, 
it is so exceedingly costly, and I hope we neither 
envy those who are able to wear it, nor feel like 
crying “ sour grapes ” about it. 
But real Valencieunes and thread lace sometimes 
come within the purse range of people who can 
afford to read the papers. It is poor economy 
and poor taste to wash and iron these like common 
rags. A much better method seems coming into 
common use, and nearly all laces good enough to 
wear at all, should be washed in this way. This 
includes lace and tatting collars, pieces of footing, 
and also the better kinds of machine-made lace 
Take a large-sized bottle—a common junk bottle 
will do—and wind it smoothly with several thick¬ 
nesses of white cotton, or at least two thicknesses 
of clean white flannel. Fasten this smoothly. Be¬ 
gin at the lower end of the bottle and wind the lace 
around it, the scalloped edge down, bringing it 
around so that the edge of each row just overlaps 
the straight edge of the preceding row. With a 
fine thread baste the lace in position, pulling 
it out evenly, and snug, but not stretched, 
over the flannel. Over this wind carefully two 
thicknesses more of white flannel or stout cotton 
cloth, sewing it snug. Put this into a kettle 
and cover it with soft water, in which sufficient 
soap of the best quality—White Castile, if you can 
get it—has been shaved to make a good suds. To 
this add a small half teaspoonful of borax, or a few 
drops of aqua ammonia. Let it come to a boil, and 
continue boiling only a few minutes. Set off the 
kettle, and remove the bottle when the water is 
cool enough to allow pressing out the suds gently 
with the hands. To rinse and starch the lace—put 
the bottle into a kettle of clean water, stirring in a 
few drops of bluing and stiffening of some kind. 
Rice flour starch is said to be the best, but well 
made common laundry starch is used, and simple 
gum-arabic water is recommended. When this 
water boils, take the kettle again from the fire and 
partially cool the water by standing. Press out all 
the moisture possible, then hang the bottle in the 
sunshine until its wrappings are dry. Rip off the 
outer flannel and remove the lace. If the edge does 
not look even and new, pick out the pearling with 
a pin. Of course the lace should not be ironed. 
This involves some trouble, but if one wears nice 
laces, it is worth while to take care of them. If 
they are laid away after every wearing iu a mixture 
of powdered pearl starch and magnesia, they will 
seldom need washing. For common use and chil¬ 
dren’s wear, thin muslin ruffles and pleated footing 
are serviceable. I buy the footing, all pleated and 
doubled so as to make a double ruffle, at ten cents 
a yard. Washed and starched with the fine clothes, 
and ironed without unpleating, it makes a full 
double ruffle with a straight edge, and is as little 
trouble and as cheap and pretty as anything for 
children’s common use. 
House Decorations. 
A sister who inclines to help me bear my burdens, 
says in a late letter : “ Do you ever write of house 
decorations ? ” Very little indeed, I might reply. 
I have no time to make the pretty little ornaments, 
and not much taste for many that I see in other 
people’s houses. 
I shook hands with Thoreau (in spirit), many 
years ago, when I read his “Walden.” He won¬ 
dered how people could clutter up their houses 
with so many things which must be dusted and 
taken care of daily or become a nuisance—with col¬ 
lections of things which are beautiful in their place- 
—but mere rubbish in our houses. 
Still, Ido know that little touches here and there, 
brighten up a room and make it cheerful and home¬ 
like, instead of bare and barny, and each home¬ 
maker must judge for herself what she can afford, 
and what best use of her time she can make. 
Sister, writes : “I have seen some very pretty and 
inexpensive lambrequins for brackets or shelves, 
made of scarlet or navy-blue opera flannel, or ladies’ 
cloth, on which are sewed figures cut from lace 
curtain material. A yard of curtain material con¬ 
tains enough to go a great ways, and some of it has 
very pretty figures of ferns, etc., which can be ar¬ 
ranged to suit the taste. Across the room, this 
looks like bead-work, and it requires very little time 
and labor. The edge may be pinked or bound with 
thin, white muslin.” 
“ Persian rugs are quite in fashion, and very 
pretty. The ladies use remnants of Brussels’ car¬ 
peting, cut in strips about a finger and a half wide, 
and then ravelled. Then they knit strips about a 
finger wide, garter-stitch, with strong twine, knit¬ 
ting in, in loops, the ravelled Brussels’ yam, shading 
it to suit themselves. These rugs are very durable 
but at the same time they are slow to make.” 
The Management of the Washing. 
BY “CEKES,” HOWARD 00., SED 
I confess to a little surprise that “ Faith Roches¬ 
ter,” who evidently brings so much thought to 
bear upon everything connected with domestic 
economy, has not yet, as indicated by her article in 
May last, come to repudiate all washing fluids, 
chemical soaps, and the like. In this respect, at 
least, I am in advance of her, having tried many of 
them, and being in turn an advocate for most of 
them, until disgusted with each. I have come back 
to first principles: pure soap and good management 
in the use of it. I am satisfied that when chemical 
preparations are used, in soaps or otherwise, the 
clothing will not last nearly so long, and will not 
retain a good color or smell without special care. 
I have, until lately, allowed my wash-women to 
take their accustomed course, which usually is very 
similar to that described in the article above re¬ 
ferred to, not, however, forgetting my own early 
lessons, which often led me to put my nose into 
the middle of a basket of clothes just from the 
clothes line, to ascertain whether they smelled as 
sweetly as they used to “ at my mother’s.” The 
verdict was invariably against them, however nicely 
they looked. A new wash-woman, and one not 
past the teachable age, led me to try whether my 
mother’s practice would work as well in these 
days, and the result is so satisfactory I am tempted 
to give it to the “ American Agriculturist family.” 
The clothing for the week’s washing being duly 
