- 1881 .] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
A Handy Side Table. 
The convenience of a side or wall-table 
that can be spread easily and quickly, as de¬ 
sired, is appreciated by every housewife. 
The accompanying engraving shows two 
such shelves or tables, one folded down and 
the other raised ready for use. The “leaf” 
or top is first hung by hinges to a back strip 
fastened upon the wall with large screws. 
The front of the leaf, when raised, is sup¬ 
ported by brackets which are fastened to the 
wall by hinges or butts. When swung in 
A FOLDING SIDE TABLE. 
against the wall as indicated by dotted lines, 
<1) the leaf falls down and is out of the way, 
as shown at 2 in the engraving. There are 
but few dining-rooms or kitchens where one 
or more such folding side tables would not 
be useful, while their cost is but trifling. 
Dressing Poultry. — The New England 
Method. 
While poultry for the New York and some 
other markets is rarely if ever drawn, that 
for the Boston and other New England mar¬ 
kets—at least that of the better class—always 
has the entrails drawn when the birds are 
killed. There is something in favor of both 
methods. In the former, no air being ad¬ 
mitted into the cavity of the body, it keeps 
in good condition much longer than it would 
if opened. On the other hand, if the poultry 
is kept too long, there is danger that any food 
which may be in the crop, etc., may ferment 
even if nothing worse takes place, and im¬ 
pregnate the flesh unpleasantly. “ H. M. H.,” 
Ayer, Mass, gives the following directions: 
“ First catch the chick, if in the day time, 
not by running, but by grain thrown at your 
feet, when the fowls are very hungry. Slide 
your hands carefully among their legs until 
you can grasp the desired one, hold quite still 
until the neck is grasped. Cut the throat near 
the under side of the bill, quite deeply ; then 
■with the right hand upon the legs, hold the 
wings over the back, to avoid fluttering. 
Always drain the blood into the chicken’s 
pail. If for immediate use, scald the fowl 
for about half a minute, being careful to get 
the tail and wings under. Take out and strip 
the legs quickly from the feet toward the 
head. Hold a handful of feathers in the 
hand, pushing the feathers from tail to head. 
Scald three minutes in three quarts of water. 
Make a small slit behind and on the side of 
the crop, one chick after the other. Then 
take out entrails and crop and wind pipe. 
Carefully removing the liver from the gall. 
Give the gizzard to the pail or open and skip 
with another knife. Cut off the head and 
67 
legs, putting these in a pile. When cold cut 
them up and put them into the pail for your 
hens, also cut up the gizzard. This refuse, 
thus disposed of, is worth at least one cent per 
fowl. By scalding one can dress about six in 
an hour, while dry picking is much slower.” 
How to Cook Salsify. 
Some of our correspondents say that they 
have followed our advice to grow Salsify—or 
Oyster Plant, as it is often called—and that 
we should now tell them what to do with it. 
To those unacquainted with the plant we 
may say that it is perfectly hardy, and if any 
has been left in the ground, it will be just as 
good in the spring, or if dug during a thaw. 
The roots, whether of Salsify, or of Scorzo- 
nera, often called Black Salsify—have a milky 
juice, which, when exposed to the air, soon 
becomes brown. In preparing them they 
should be quickly scraped, to remove the skin, 
and at once dropped into water to prevent dis¬ 
coloration. In the following recipes it is pre¬ 
sumed that the root has been thus prepared. 
Stewed Salsify .—Cut the root into con¬ 
venient bits and throw them at once into 
water enough to cover them. Add salt and 
stew gently until quite tender, pour off the 
water, add sufficient milk to cover, a good 
lump of butter, into which enough flour to 
thicken has been rubbed, season with pepper. 
When the butter has melted, and the milk 
boils, and is sufficiently thickened, serve. 
Salsify Soup, is essentially the same as the 
foregoing, only adding a large quantity of 
milk to form a soup, and omitting the thick¬ 
ening. To increase the resemblance to oyster 
soup some add a little salt codfish picked fine. 
in parenthesis, that this report is full of 
useful things to every one who lives in 
the country, and may be had according to 
binding at 50c. or $1.00 of Harvey Ed¬ 
ward Fisk (of the widely known 
firm of Fisk, Hatch & Co.), 
P. O. Box 235, New York City.] 
All the preparation required is 
to get some strips of half-inch 
boards as long as the width of 
the window sashes, and from 
two to six inches in width. If 
the lower sash be .raised, and 
one of these strips placed under 
it, as shown in figure 1, there 
will be a space left between the 
lower and upper sash, by which 
the air may enter. The action 
is seen in the section shown in 
figure 2, which gives the edges 
of the sashes with the board 
in its place ; the arrow shows 
where the outer air enters, and 
is directed towards the ceiling in such a 
manner that it can not form a draft to inter¬ 
fere with the comfort of those in the room. 
A Milk Cupboard. 
“R. G., Jr.,” Salem Co., N. J., sends a sketch 
and description of a Milk Cupboard, and 
writes : “We use it to keep milk in during the 
winter; it sets in one corner of the kitchen, 
where we have fire all winter. The Cupboard 
is put together with screws, so as to be easily 
taken down and packed away in summer, or 
when not in use, thus occupying very little 
room.” The side pieces, A, A, are inch boards 
six feet long and one foot wide. The top 
piece is 3 2 / 3 feet long, and projects over an 
Fried Salsify .—The root cut crosswise in 
halves or shorter, is boiled until quite tender ; 
remove from the water and allow to drain. 
Dip each piece in batter and fry quickly in 
plenty of hot lard, to an even light brown. 
Salsify Fritters .—Boil tender and mash 
fine. Mix with beaten eggs and flour, thin 
enough to drop from a spoon and fry as other 
fritters. Some prefer to mix hard enough to 
make into balls, and fiy on a griddle, with 
very little fat, browning one side at a time. 
Admitting Fresh Air. 
If called upon to choose between the two 
evils of breathing impure air and enduring a 
direct draft of cold 
air, most persons 
would, and per¬ 
haps wisely, prefer 
the former. But 
to have a supply 
of fresh outer air 
in the sleeping- 
room or sitting- 
room, it is not nec¬ 
essary to have a di¬ 
rect current pass¬ 
ing in upon the in¬ 
mates. A very 
simple method, 
where there are 
no provisions for ventilation by the builder 
of the house, is to arrange the windows, 
as shown in the engravings, which are taken 
from the Report of the Anniversary Meet¬ 
ing of the West Ewing (N. J.) Improve¬ 
ment Association for 1880. [Let us say here 
Fig. 1 .— window raised. 
A home-made milk cupboard. 
inch on each side. There are screws at D, D, 
upon which to hang the curtain to keep out 
dust and excess of heat. The slats, B, B, 
upon which the milk pans rest, are 2*/-» inches 
wide, and each two are placed 4‘/ 2 inches 
apart, to make a shelf. The cleats, O, upon 
which the slats rest, have small pieces, nail¬ 
ed upon them, which fit into notches made 
in the ends of the slats, to keep the latter from 
moving. The brace for the back, C, is let 
into the sides flush, as shown at J. The bot¬ 
tom shelf is solid and let into the sides, as 
shown. The whole Cupboard, thus con¬ 
structed, should be whitewashed so as to keep 
the odor of the wood from affecting the milk. 
