1879.] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST, 
191 
at least a part of it—is scalded by boiling -water be¬ 
fore the yeast is added. Of course the mixture 
must be below scalding heat before the yeast is put 
in. But bread loses its natural sweetness by being 
allowed to rise too long. Sweetness is sacrificed to 
lightness. We should do our best to secure both. 
In common baker’s bread we have “ a stone,” or at 
least chips, when we ask for bread. Much nour¬ 
ishment of the wheaten flour has been fermented 
away during the rising of the bread. The only 
thing you can taste, iu many cases, is the salt. In¬ 
deed, the natural delicious flavor of many grains 
and vegetables is almost wholly concealed by the too 
free use of salt in our food. Lately, while having 
my food brought to my room, I grew very tired of 
the salted white bread, and the yeast graham bread 
sweetened artificially, and I told my little daughter 
about anew kind of bread described in a late journal. 
Her little hands fol lowed my directions with success. 
Graham Sticks. 
Mix together, and knead very thoroughly, not 
making the dough too hard, graham flour, sifted or 
not, as you choose, and cold water. Boll into pipe 
stems, and bake in a hot oven. That is all. The 
presiding genius of the kitchen looked on in won¬ 
dering amusement. She said they could not be 
light without yeast, or soda, or baking powder, or 
something to make them light; and they could not 
be good without salt or sugar, or something to 
flavor them. But they were light, and they were 
good, and every one was eaten with pleasure by 
the members of the family. They needed good 
chewing, but that gave us a chance to discover 
their full sweetness. No doubt they would be im¬ 
proved by the use of sweet milk as “mixing,” in¬ 
stead of water, like the graham crackers we make. 
After feasting on these “ sticks ”—I know how ab¬ 
surd this sounds to people who dote on “ good liv¬ 
ing,” concerning which “ more anon ”—I could 
not go back contentedly to yeast bread ; so I called 
for graham gems, and gave the girl directions for 
mixing them with water—nothing but the graham 
flour and cold or lukewarm water. I told her to mix 
the batter a little thicker than for pancakes, so 
that it would pour out thick and chunky from the 
spoon, thick enough to pile up a little on the pans, 
but thin enough to level itself down directly. I 
was afraid her skepticism would affect the gems, 
but when she brought me some for my breakfast, 
they seemed the sweetest bread that I had tasted 
for some time. So long as we kept a cow, I used 
either sweet or sour milk for mixing gems, and it 
has never seemed easy to go back to water gems. 
But now I eat them with gladness, and hear them 
called for by the children when they are hungry, 
and see them eaten without butter or dressing of 
any kind, with evident relish, as other children eat 
their cookies. The gem batter must be beaten or 
stirred very thoroughly, put into hot gem pans, 
and baked quickly in a hot oven—hot when the 
gems go into it. Those who have not tried these 
gems, or perhaps have never heard of them, may 
need to be told that they are best when fresh and 
warm, but old gems may be made about as good as 
new by dipping them into cold water, laying them 
on a plate or tin, and heating them through in the 
oven. Never cut open hot gems, but break apart. 
Soreness of the Feet. 
About a year ago, I wished to make Inquiry 
somewhere how to cure soreness of the larger joint 
of the big toe. Help came in the way of a hired 
girl, and this gave a chance for more rest, or only 
a moderate use of the feet. I thought the case was 
so bad that some outward application must be 
made, but mere rest was the only thing needed. 
Since then, care has been taken that no seams of 
the shoe come over that joint. 
A Pretty Rug. 
A correspondent tells me of a rug she has lately 
made of carpet and old pantaloons. She says : 
“ Take an old sack, three feet long and two feet 
wide ; then a piece of narrow striped stair carpet, 
eighteen inches long and ten inches wide, fastened 
in the center. Fill out the sack with pieces of the 
old pantaloons; cut two inches long, inch and a 
half wide, and rounded at two of the corners, sewed 
on to imitate fish scales. For a finish, at the edge 
of the carpet make a double fold of some bright 
cloth.” This fold is put on where the scales join 
the carpet, I suppose. 
Showy Tarts. 
The same correspondent tells me how she puts 
her tarts together. Roll the crust thin, cut with a 
cake or biscuit cutter, making three thimble holes 
in half of the crusts. When preparing them for 
the table, put the jelly on the plain crusts, and lay 
one of the perforated crusts on top of each. The 
jelly fills the holes. 
The Fire-Place in Summer. 
A fire-place, large or small, may not only have its 
unsightliness covered, but it may be made an at¬ 
tractive and beautiful feature of the room by convert¬ 
ing it into a fernery. It is well, to prevent all injury 
from water, to have a shallow pan or tray made of 
galvanized iron ; this should fit the floor of the 
fire-place, extending as far forward upon the hearth 
as may be desirable, with its edges turned up all 
around for about two inches. This is the only 
expense attending it; all the rest is to be furnished 
by the woods and fields, and is vastly more easy to 
those who live in the country than to dwellers in 
towns—though these, if they have a taste for 
rambling, will find a way to accomplish it. Moss- 
covered rocks are preferable ; these are to be dis¬ 
posed in a natural manner; woods-earth is to fill 
every crevice between and under the stones, and fill 
the pan. Bring home ferns of all kinds as soon 
as they show themselves, taking up good clumps 
of earth with them. Place the kinds known to be 
tall-growing at the rear, the smaller in front, dis¬ 
posing them in an informal manner. Then cover all 
of the earth with sheets and tufts of moss to make 
a complete carpet of green. If in getting the moss 
some of the low plants, such as Partridge-berry and 
the like, are taken up, all the better. If the fire¬ 
place admits of it, arrange some kind of shelf or 
support within the chimney and above the opening, 
upon which may be set pots or fruit cans of Ivy 
and other vines, which may hang down naturally, or 
be trained along the mantle-piece. The engraving 
of an old-fashioned fire-place thus treated will give 
an idea of the plan. Most ferns love shade, and if 
supplied with water, will flourish; when any are 
found not to like it, replace them by others. The 
sole care will be watering ; let the soil be moist at 
all times ; but never wet and muddy; water by 
sprinkling, as this will keep the plants free of dust 
and add to their beauty. Those who are fond of 
such things may not only hide the fire-place, but de¬ 
rive much pleasure from the care of such a fernery. 
Household Notes and Queries. 
Motiis. —Recollect that it is the larvae—the cater¬ 
pillars—that do the mischief. These can only come 
from eggs laid among the clothes, furs, etc., by the 
winged moth. This moth begins to fly this month, 
and keeps around pretty much all summer. Put 
up the articles in something so tight that the 
winged moth can not get in, and they are safe. The 
moth is small and can get through a narrow crack, 
a nail-hole, or other small opening. The case, or 
box, or wrapping must be tight. If a box is used, 
carefully paper every joint—that is not entirely 
closed. Articles can be so closely wrapped in paper that 
they will be safe. If the paper covering, box, case, 
cask, or whatever, is thoroughly moth-proof no pre¬ 
ventive is needed. If in doubt about the security, 
camphor or other strong-smelling thing may be used. 
Cleaning Paint. —Paint is sometimes cleaned 
with wonderful thoroughness—indeed, mostly 
cleaned off. After a course of soft soap and sand 
vigorously applied, the paint—what there is left of 
it—looks very clean. Sand should never be used, 
and some of the soaps sold for scouring which con¬ 
tain either very fine sand or powdered pumice- 
stone, are about as bad. Successive applications of 
strong soap greatly in¬ 
jure the paint, and 
should be rarely used. 
Fine whiting—to be 
had at the paint or 
drug stores, is the best 
scouring material. Use 
a flannel dipped in 
warm water, squeezed 
nearly dry ; dip this in 
the whiting,andrubthe 
paint with it; then wash 
off with warm water. 
Kalsomine is mere¬ 
ly Paris White, put on 
with a glue-size to pre¬ 
vent its rubbing off. 
The usual proportions 
are: a quarter of a 
pound of glue to six 
pounds of Paris White. 
Soak the glue in a quart 
of cold water until soft, 
put the vessel contain¬ 
ing it in a pan of water, 
set on the stove, and 
the glue will soon dis¬ 
solve. Put the Paris 
White into a pail, pour 
on boiling water gradu¬ 
ally, and stir thorough¬ 
ly to remove all lumps ; 
use water enough to make the mixture of the right 
consistence to apply ; then add the glue water, and 
stir again. The right thickness can be told by trial; 
if too thick it will not apply evenly. Use a new 
whitewash brush with long hairs—one that has not 
been used for lime wash. Stir the kalsomine fre¬ 
quently while using. Do not take up too much 
upon the brush, and apply evenly. The wall or 
ceiling will appear in'all kinds of streaks until dry. 
A little practice will make it easy ; the trouble 
with beginners is in having the wash too thick. 
Bokax and Cockroaches. —Several months ago 
it was stated that we had tried powdered borax, to 
drive away or destroy cockroaches without success 
and had found relief only by the use of “ Persian 
Insect Powder.” A lady in Quincy, Mass., kindly 
gives her experience, which was so different from 
ours, that we are inclined to think that we were not 
sufficiently thorough-or properly patient. She per¬ 
severed with the borax and exterminated the insects 
from her bureau-drawers, and elsewhere, by sim¬ 
ply sprinkling the powder along the cracks, etc. 
Whitening Piano Keys. —“E. S.,” Clinton, O. 
An English work of recipes, that we have found 
generally trustworthy, says: ivory fixed in place 
like that on piano keys can not be subjected to the 
usual processes for bleaching it, and that the best 
that can be done is to rub the keys with finely pow¬ 
dered pumice-stone on a damp cloth, and after¬ 
wards expose them for some time to direct sun-light. 
A FERNERY IN A FIRE-PLACE. 
