LADIES** DEPARTMEN T. 
162 
o attract their attention. The wrens and sparrows 
vie with each other in the destruction of worms 
and other insects, while the blue bird will eat more 
weed seeds in a day than, if suffered to grow, a gar¬ 
dener could pull up in a week. The swallow 
makes war upon flies of all kinds, and will be 
found most useful in ridding us of the common 
house fly ( Musca domestica ), those nasty pests that 
destroy our cleanliness and comfort during the sum¬ 
mer months. The natural food of the larva or 
young of the house fly is horse manure, in which 
the eggs are deposited early in the spring. The 
maggot soon hatches out, and feeds voraciously for 
a few weeks, when they pass into the chrysalis 
state, and in a few days swarm out in countless 
numbers to feast on our greatest delicacies, and be¬ 
come our household pests. Swallow boxes should 
therefore be on every stable in the country, and the 
chimney birds never molested, though they do make 
a sad dirt on our nicely painted hearths, unless we 
are careful to put a board up to catch the litter. 
The cat-birds will be our familiar friends, if the 
boys will only be persuaded not to throw stones at 
them or rob their nests; and, as they live a great 
many years, the same bird will return and build in 
the same bush while she feels you are kind to her. 
The foolish story that cat-birds bring snakes, arises 
from the fact that snakes are fond of cat-birds’ eggs, 
which they are constantly on the look out for; 
therefore, when a boy hears the screaming of a 
cat-bird, he may be sure she is in distress, and, in¬ 
stead of killing the poor bird, had better look for 
the snake and kill that, which will be a real service; 
as all the cat-birds which can be persuaded to live 
with us are wanted to eat the cut worms, vine 
worms, and other insects which do our gardens and 
farms so much injury. If they do eat a few ripe 
cherries now and then, surely we may well afford 
to spare a little fruit in consideration of the good 
they do us—besides, if it were only for their sweet 
song, I would be willing to share my ripest cherries 
with them. My cat-bird is so tame that one day I 
found her in the kitchen quietly feeding on a loaf 
of bread. She has her nest in a grape vine under 
my window, and comes to be fed when I call her. 
There are a few directions I wish to be observed 
in putting up the bird boxes—those for the wrens 
should have very small holes, or the blue and cat¬ 
birds will be apt to get in and tear up the nests; 
while those for the blue birds should be at a re¬ 
spectful distance from the wrens, perhaps on the 
other side of the house, or they will watch their 
opportunity and return the compliment, as they 
have a great dislike to each other. The wren 
boxes should not be very close, and if possible out 
of sight of each other, as they object to too many 
near neighbors; but you may place them as near 
your own window as you wish, and provided you 
do not trouble the young the day they leave the 
nest, they will care little about you. 
To prevent Brass Vessels from contracting 
Verdigris, after being used. —Instead of wiping 
them dry, it has been found, that by constantly 
immersing them in water, they are kept perfectly 
innoxious, and will remain for years fully as clean 
and nearly as bright as when they first came out of 
tne hands of the workmen. 
KNITTING. 
Though at present, Mr. Editor, a lonely and 
comfortless old bachelor, I still live in hopes one 
of these days of getting married ; and if I do, I 
trust it will be to a woman who is a great knitter. 
Of all the many accomplishments which adorn the 
gentler sex, I do assure them, from the very bottom 
of my heart, that I esteem knitting among the 
greatest. 
This subject has been forcibly brought to my 
mind by the reception, a moment ago, of a pair of 
the most comfortable kind of woollen socks, from a 
good old aunt of mine, famous for knitting. The 
yarn is of the very best kind, hard twisted, and the 
stitches drawn so tight on the needles during the 
progress of the work, that the socks are as com¬ 
pact as apiece of buckskin; and then the heels are 
so substantially run, that although famous for 
kicking half a dozen holes per day through such 
hose as I purchase at the stores, I am sure these 
will wear me weeks without needing to be touched 
by the darning needle of my complaining washer¬ 
woman. I must confess, Mr. Editor, I was so 
overjoyed at the sight of these socks, that the tears 
absolutely came into my eyes on beholding them ; 
and I could not resist the pleasure of immediately 
trying them on, and when on, they felt so com¬ 
fortable that they at once revived all my youthful 
feelings, and before I was aware of it,I began incon¬ 
tinently taking the almost forgotten steps of the 
double-shuffle, greatly to the annoyance of my 
sedate landlady in the lower story of the house. 
Ah, yes! commend me to a knitter—that is com¬ 
fortable. 
When I get married, I intend my wife, with 
knitting needles in hand, shall be seated in her 
easy chair by my side, every evening that she is 
not otherwise engaged; I will then take up some 
book for her edification, and read aloud. Thus 
work and instruction will go hand in hand. Ah, 
how the anticipation of the thing delights me ! 
Would that I were to be married to an accomplished 
knitter to-morrow ! 
The German ladies carry their knitting-work to 
all places of amusement, whether public or pri¬ 
vate, and why should not ours do the same ? In a 
time of great pecuniary national trouble, an emi¬ 
nent writer on political economy made the calcula¬ 
tion, that if our women would knit as much stock¬ 
ing yarn as they foolishly misspend in street yarn, 
the national and private debt of the United States 
would be paid off within a twelvemonth. How 
true this may be I cannot say, as I care little for po¬ 
litical economy—but much, very much for knit¬ 
ting. I hope the ladies will not think me enthusi¬ 
astic, as it is in their behalf I am pleading; for I 
verily know that knitting is not only a highly use¬ 
ful, but a most agreeable occupation. Else why 
should some of our ladies have recently carried 
their knitting-work to the Senate chamber, to pass 
the whole day, to listen to the burning eloquence 
of Mr. Webster; and why else do we find them 
knitting on board steamboats, and canal boats, 
on railroads, and even in stage-coaches, except as 
an amusement to pass away the heavy time. Com¬ 
mend me, then, to a knitting wife—a gentle being 
whom I hope it will yet be my happiness to pos¬ 
sess ! Solus. 
