RECIPES. 
31 
coal dust around each plant. As this dissolves and 
becomes carbonic acid, it is taken up by the rootlets, 
and assists in forming stalk, leaf, and flower. Char¬ 
coal adds greatly to the bright, fresh, green appear¬ 
ance of the plants, and should be kept in the pots at 
all seasons of the year: some plants will flourish in 
that alone without earth or other substances. Be 
careful to keep up the heat during the night, for there 
is more loss from want of this precaution than any 
other cause. Keep a thermometer in the parlor, and 
do not let it sink below 40 degrees; if you do, there 
will be danger of the frost injuring the plants. If it 
is likely to be so cold that the heat cannot be kept 
up to this point in the parlor through the night, then 
remove the plants to the cellar for protection. 
Among bulbous flowers, the crocus, polyanthus, 
jonquil and hyacinth, are the most beautiful, and 
easily cultivated in January. The crocus will ex¬ 
pand its petals exposed to lamp or candle light; for 
this reason it is particularly desirable to adofn the 
parlor at night. All bulbous plants should be exposed 
to the sun shining through the windows as much as 
possible, and be turned two or three times during the 
day, otherwise the foliage will become yellow. 
When they have done growing, cease to give them 
water almost entirely, or they will not flower. For 
a curious method of growing flowers in the winter, 
see our last volume page 373. 
It was on the 10th of this month, ladies, that he 
who did so much for flowers, the celebrated Linnaeus, 
died at Upsal, in the 71st year of his age. So far as 
it may be your province, copy his good works, and 
revere his memory. 
To keep Bouquets fresh.— These may be kept 
a long time in full bloom, by inserting their stems 
plump up to the flowers in water, renewed fresh 
every day, with a little charcoal in it; and occasion¬ 
ally substituting sea or salt water for the fresh. We 
thus kept in unfaded bloom, a superb bouquet of 
flowers given us by a Danish lady, to the end of an 
eight days’ voyage from Copenhagen to St. Peters- 
burgh. A glass put over a bouquet will sometimes 
recover it when prematurely faded. Bouquets should 
be made of flowers just bursting their petals, and not 
from those full blown. They then keep much longer. 
To secure handsome Balsams.— Carefully pick 
out from the seed bed all plants with red stems, and 
leave those with white stems. 
Novel way of Churning. —We cut the following 
from an exchange paper: 
“ Sarah, dear,” said a waggish husband to his 
wife, “ if I were in your place, I wouldn't keep that 
babe so full of butter as you do.” 
“ Butter, my dear ! I never give it any butter.” 
" No, but you poured about a quart of milk down 
it this afternoon, and then trotted it on the knee for 
nearly two hours. If it doesn’t contain a quantity 
of butter by this time, it isn’t for want of churning.” 
To make Hard Water Soft. —All who have 
ever tried it know how difficult it is to wash in hard 
water, and that it takes much more soap to do so 
than with soft water. Dr. Clark calculated that by 
being able to soften the water in London by precipi¬ 
tating its limes, two-thirds of the soap used there 
would be saved. This would be equivalent to 
£200,000 ($1,000,000) a year. Pot or pearl ashes, or 
ley made from common ashes, is generally used tc 
soften water; but these substances are so strong that 
they skin the hand. From two to four ounces of 
sal soda dissolved in a barrel of water is usually suf¬ 
ficient to soften it. From one to two quarts of wheat 
bran put into a kettle of water and brought to a boil, 
and then scummed off, will also render it soft. Some 
tie the bran up in a bag and boil it; but we are not 
certain that this is as effectual as putting it in loose. 
Simple Cure for Croup. —The Journal of Health 
says, when a child is taken with croup, instantly ap¬ 
ply cold water (ice water, if possible), suddenly and 
freely to the neck and chest with a sponge. The 
breathing will almost instantly be relieved. So soon 
as possible, let the sufferer drink as much as it can; 
then wipe it dry, cover it up warm, and soon a quiet 
slumber will relieve the parent’s anxiety, and lead the 
heart in thankfulness to the Power which has given 
to the pure gushing fountain such medicinal qualities. 
Buckwheat Cakes.— To three pints of buckwheat 
flour, mixed into a batter, add one tea-spoonful of 
carbonate of soda, dissolved in water, and one ditto 
of tartaric acid, dissolved in like manner; first apply 
the carbonate, stir the batter well, and then put in 
the acid ; thus the use of yeast is entirely superseded, 
and light cakes are insured. One great advantage is, 
that the batter is ready for baking as soon as made. 
Another (considered superior to anything of the 
kind). —Dissolve a tea-spoonful of super-carbonate of 
soda, in a sufficient quantity of sweet unskimmed 
milk; three tea-spoonfuls of cream of tartar with a 
heaping quart of flour, mixed dry and well rubbed 
together; then mix up the whole and bake immedi¬ 
ately. If milk is not at hand, water will answer, 
slightly sweetened with sugar, and a little shortening 
added to it. The flour and all other materials must 
be of a first-rate quality. 
Nutritive Qualities of Tea. — M. Peligot states 
that tea contains essential principles of nutrition far 
exceeding in importance its stimulating properties; 
and shows that, as a stimulant, tea is in every re¬ 
spect the most desirable object of habitual use. One 
of his experiments upon the nutritive qualities of tea, 
as compared with those of soup, was by no means 
in favor of the latter. The most remarkable products 
of tea are: 1st, the tannin or astringent property; 
2 d, an essential oil to which it owes its aroma, and 
which has a great influence on its price in commerce; 
and 3d, a substance rich in azote, and crystallizable, 
called theine, which is also met in coffee, and is fre¬ 
quently called cafeine. Independently of these three 
substances, there are eleven others of less importance, 
which enter more or less into the compositions of 
tea of all the kinds imported into Europe. What 
was more essential, as regards the chemical and hy¬ 
gienic character of the plant, was to ascertain the 
exact proportion of the azoted (nitrogenized) principle 
it contains. M. Peligot began by determining the 
total amount of azote in tea, and finished by finding 
that it was from 20 to 30 per cent, greater than in 
any other kind of vegetable. M. Peligot states that 
by reason of this quantity of azote, and the existenq* 
of cafeine in the tea leaf, it is a true aliment. 
