ladies’ department. 
321 
have ready a quantity of boiling rain or spring water, 
lay the straw smoothly, with the root ends all one 
way, in the horse-trough, and pour the boiling water 
upon it by buckets full. Keep it under for ten min¬ 
utes that every part may be thoroughly scalded ; then 
spread it on boards where the sun will shine upon it 
for the greater part of the day. The grass will do 
to spread it on, if the weather is very dry and hot. 
Turn it twice or thrice, and bring it in before the dew 
falls. If any of it remains green after the first day’s 
bleaching, it must be scalded again. Two or three 
days’ exposure will be sufficient. Each straw must 
then be cut with a sharp knife above and below each 
joint, which will strip off the leaves, and tied up in 
little bundles. These are now soaked for a few 
minutes in very strong soap suds, and laid on a cloth 
in a sieve to drain. Take an old barrel without a 
top, and place an earthen or iron pan full of burning 
charcoal at the bottom, and when the water has drain¬ 
ed from the straw, sprinkle pounded brimstone on the 
coals, put the sieve on the top of the barrel, cover 
the whole closely with a wet blanket doubled, to keep 
in the smoke, and leave it thus until it is quite cold. 
This process is to be repeated when the braid is fin¬ 
ished, before it is made into bonnets, and renders it 
beautifully white and pliant. When it is quite dry 
it must be nicely assorted. Put all the small straws 
by themselves, to be braided whole for the men’s 
hats. Tie each parcel up neatly and put them, closely 
covered from the air, in a dry place, where they will 
keep well for years. When you wish to begin your 
braid, dip as much straw as you are likely to use, in 
pure cold water, split each one by running your scis¬ 
sors through it from end to end, and cut off as much 
as appears discolored and harsh ; throw this away, 
and reserve for use only the pliant, white part which 
was covered by the sheath of the leaf. 
Straw-splitters may be bought at almost any hard¬ 
ware store in our principal northern and eastern cities, 
and an intelligent girl will readily learn the use of 
one, without other direction than to soak the straw in 
pure cold water for a few minutes before she splits 
it. For braiding she must have a teacher, but 1 be¬ 
lieve there are few neighborhoods in which there is 
not at least one person who understands the art. 
E. S. 
TRANSPLANTING. 
For the Girls. —My young friends must remem¬ 
ber that October is the last month for planting shrub¬ 
bery, seedlings, and such as have been grown from cut¬ 
tings and layers : if put off much longer they may lose 
their pets, though for large shrubs and hardy trees, 
any time will do while the earth is mellow enough to 
dig. 
Planting is a much more delicate operation than 
people generally think. They thrust a tree into a 
hole with as little care for its life as if it were a post, 
ram the earth about the roots, and wonder it does not 
grow ! The greater wonder would be if it did. 
In digging up a plant great care should be taken 
not to injure the tender fibres, nor the collar , as it is 
called—that is, the point from -whence spring the as¬ 
cending stem, and the descending roots. It is easily 
distinguished, even by an unpractised eye. If any of 
the roots are torn by the spade, or incautious moving, 
or are in an unhealthy state, cut them off carefully 
with a sharp knife. Make a hole larger and deeper 
than the plant occupied before it was taken up; put 
some well rotted manure, mixed with garden earth 
and sand, at the bottom, place the roots upon it, and 
spread them out as naturally as possible; then sprin¬ 
kle on some pulverised soil, and when the hole is half 
full move the plant gently a few times, and fill up with 
water. When this has sunk away throw in lightly 
the remaining earth, press it gently but firmly over the 
roots, and hill it up around the stem. Too much care 
cannot be taken to have the collar above ground, for 
the plant will sink as the earth settles, and if it do not 
die, it will never be as healthy as if properly planted, 
and is almost always short lived. If the weather be 
warm and dry, throw 7 some hay or straw loosely over 
the roots to prevent evaporation ; but water only when 
absolutely necessary. 
In planting a tree, one should hold it upright in its 
place, whilst another sprinkles in the earth andw 7 ater. 
If it requires support, drive a stake firmly into the 
ground before you fill up the hole, as near the stem as 
possible, and tie it with a hay rope or woollen string, 
and put some moss or tow behind, to prevent injury to 
the tender bark ; and when all is done trim away any 
straggling branches to make the plant of a handsome 
shape. Trimming is best done in the autumn, for as 
the sap runs during the greatest part of the winter, all 
the wood that is cut offin the spring takes away so 
much strength which would have remained in the low¬ 
er part, had the ends of the branches been cut away in 
the autumn. E. S. 
Eutawah. 
To Destroy Cockroaches. —Take about a pint ol 
treacle, and put it in a basin, mixing it with about the 
same quantity of hot water ; set the basin on the floor 
in some part where they frequent; get about twenty 
1 cuttings of lath, about fifteen inches long, and set them 
round the basin, sloping from the floor to the basin’s 
edge, and projecting over the edge about an inch ; the 
beetles, attracted by the smell of the treacle, will come 
out so soon as the apartment is dark and quiet, and 
will crawl up these pieces of lath to the point and 
drop over, and cannot of course get out, the edge of 
the basin being so smooth. 1 have known so many 
as seventy killed in one night by this mode. The 
beetles being thrown out, the same basin of treacle 
and w r ater will do until they are all destroyed.— Cor¬ 
respondent. 
To Preserve Eggs. —A pint of lime and a pint of 
salt, mixed with a pail of water, will preserve eggs for 
any reasonable time. My wife read it in an old alma¬ 
nac, and tried it last year; the eggs were as fresh at 
the end of six months as if right from the nest .—lb 
To Clean Windows.—A very simple but excellent 
method of cleaning windows is now coming into ge¬ 
neral use, possessing many advantages over the old 
system of using whiting, etc. The window is first 
dusted with a bunch of feathers, or a dusting brush, 
and when all the dust is thoroughly removed, place a 
bowl of boiling water at the base of the window, the 
steam immediately covers the glass, which is removed 
by a wash-leather, and finished off with another one 
clean and dry. This saves time—prevents that 
cloudy appearance left by whiting, and produces a 
move brilliant and durable polish than any other pro¬ 
cess now in use.— Ex. Paper. 
