236 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
[June 
plants get large enough to shade the soil, when the 
pulling up of any large weed that may appear in 
the ground will be all the care the crop required. 
Provide the Sweet Merits. 
There are many things that are not food in them¬ 
selves that help give a pleasing variety to foods ; 
these are classed under the general term of condi¬ 
ments. These may be mere flavorings, or may be 
added to help the digestion. Thus the Mexican 
lives largely upon frigoles (pronounced free-ho-lees), 
th^common bean of the country, which is present 
at every meal of the. richest, as well as forming 
often the sole food of the poorest. These are made 
to form a great variety by the seasoning ; they are 
dressed with green pepper or red, with cheese or 
with garlic, and in other ways. With us the use 
of condiments is not a necessity ; they are employed 
to give a pleasant flavor to articles of food. The 
plants called Sweet Herbs, comprise Sage, Thyme, 
Summer Savory, and Sweet Marjorams—sometimes 
Sweet Basil is added to the list, and Parsley, used 
mostly in the green state, may be classed here. A 
bed or corner of the garden may be used to raise 
the young plants, which can be set out after early 
vegetables are off. They are best treated as annu¬ 
als, though Sage and Thyme will live longer than 
one year. They grow most luxuriantly in late 
summer. The plants should be cut when in 
bloom, tied in small bunches, and hung up to dry ; 
they may be preserved in this state, or when quite 
dry be rubbed with the hands into a coarse pow¬ 
der, to be preserved in bottles in a convenient form. 
Plants for I'ichles. 
A correspondent asks us to give a list of the 
plants used for pickles. To do this, we should be 
obliged to enumerate almost every vegetable that 
is grown, for nearly every one that will serve as a 
vehicle for vinegar, lias been used for the purpose. 
The universal pickle is the Cucumber, and is used 
when the size of the little finger, up to nearly 
table size. Our favorite pickle is the Martynia, 
which should be sown this month, the pods of 
which, taken early enough, make one of the best 
pickles. Nasturtiums, or Indian Cress, are grown 
for the purpose. These may be sown now, and if 
given some brush to run upon, will give an abund¬ 
ance of their peppery, unripe fruits. Peppers may 
be set out this month; the Squash-peppers, with 
thick flesh, being pickled by themselves, and the 
large Sweet Mountain kind, used for stuffing. Be¬ 
sides those plants grown especially for pickles,' 
many others are used, such as String-Beans, Cauli¬ 
flowers, Melons, when unripe, Onions, Cabbages, 
and Green Tomatoes. Over-ripe Cucumbers are 
much used for sweet pickles. An excellent pickle 
may be made with cabbage, onions, cucumbers, 
and green tomatoes, about equal parts, a smaller 
proportion of green peppers, and after chopping 
and mixing all together, treating as sweet pickle. 
We hope to say something in season about the 
manner of preparing the pickles, and of the 
method of pickling Martynias. 
Inexpensive Home-Made Mats. 
A firm, durable mat, of any size desired, more or 
less ornamental, and quite inexpensive, may be 
made as follows : In a capacious bag placed out of 
sight in a closet, deposit all good remnants from 
the family sewing, bits of gay colored flannels, 
cashmeres, pieces of old woollen coats, pants, etc. 
From time to time, when too weary for other work, 
and the eyes are too tired to read, cut these materi¬ 
als into strips, as for rag carpet, and sew them to¬ 
gether, and wind in balls. When enough material 
lias accumulated, with large wooden needles, such 
as are used for knitting shawls, knit these rag strips 
back and forth into mats of any desired length and 
width. A variety of effects can be produced by 
sewing together and winding on separate balls the 
strips of the same color and knitting them in color 
bands; or they may be so thoroughly mixed as to 
give a mottled surface. If the cutting and sewing 
be done somewhat evenly, the surface of the knitted 
mat will be quite smooth, and the mat itself firm 
and lasting. It can be finished with a border of 
home-made fringe ; or with a strip of two shades of 
cloth cut into scollops, one strip extending a little 
beyond the other, as seen in the engraving. This 
is made from a photograph of a mat 15 by 32 
inches, which we obtained for this purpose from a 
lady in whose house we saw quite a variety of them, 
A HOME-MADE FLOOR MAT. 
in front of wash-stands, commodes, etc., of differ¬ 
ent sizes and shadings. We learned that she adds 
one or two each year, without any real loss of valu¬ 
able time, or any expense. Some of these mats, 
after being long used, appeared as good as new. 
Ah Economical Table Cover. 
By the following method a simple, cheap, and yet 
very pretty cover for a table or stand may be 
quickly made. The engraving herewith is pho¬ 
tographed from one of these covers that we 
borrowed from a lady who has several of them 
of her own make, which attracted onr atten¬ 
tion. A heavy double-faced canton flannel is 
now manufactured, in a variety of colors, hav- 
iug the nap on both sides, and it is on sale 
generally. Either this or the single-faced can be 
used, but the double-faced is preferable on account 
A CHEAP AND PRETTY TABLE COVER. 
of its extra thickness. The shade can be selected 
to match the furniture. When cut to a suitable 
size, it is bordered with a contrasting shade of the 
same material of any desired width. But this is 
best made of the single nap flannel, as the double 
would be a little clumsy. The border is cut of 
double width and folded so as to leave the fold for 
the outside edge, and stitched on. To cover the 
seam, sew on a strip of velvet or velveteen with 
cross or feather stitch of tiloneelle, of contrasting 
shade ; gold is preferable. This comes in all colors 
and costs but little, and each thread can be split 
into two or three threads. 
Drinking in the Hay-Field. 
Men in health perspire freely when vigorously 
at work on warm days. Very heavy sweating may 
sometimes arise from weakness ; a dry skin may 
indicate disorder. Evaporation from the surface 
carries off heat and keeps the body cool. A larger 
supply of drinking water is required for the warm 
haying and harvest days, but much less than is 
commonly supposed. Half a pint of water, sipped 
slowly, will assuage thirst much more effectively 
than a quart gulped down. As fully explained in 
the chapter on “ Catching Cold ” (in December 
No.), a different temperature in two adjacent por¬ 
tions of the body produces congestion. A pint of 
cold fluid of any kind, thrown into the stomach, 
may result in more or less congestion ; serious iH- 
ness, and not unfrequently deaths, arise from this 
cause. If ice-water is taken at any time, it should 
always be swallowed so slowly that the stomach 
can warm each gill before another is received. 
As to the kinds of drink, the positive teachings 
of medical science, and experience, indicate that 
pure water is by far the best fluid for assuaging 
thirst, and supplying the wants of the system. 
Beers, ales, sweetened drinks, or any fluid that 
contains material that must be digested, are a tax 
upon the stomach, and tend to disorder the sys¬ 
tem. If takeu at all, it should be only with other 
food. Pure water is absorbed at once into the 
blood, and is carried directly to those parts of the 
body where it is needed. If the water is bad, it 
may usually be corrected by the addition of a little 
ginger, or ginger extract; too much of this pro¬ 
duces constipation; but on this account it may be 
used more freely in looseness of the bowels. All 
alcoholic drinks are unhealtkful for one in active 
exercise. They stimulate increased effort—effort 
beyond one’s natural strength—and unnatural ex¬ 
haustion inevitably follows. Just so far as any one 
raises himself above a normal condition by alco¬ 
holic stimulants, just so far below this condition 
will he surely sink a few hours after, and the 
elevating and depressing'operation wears upon and 
disorganizes the machinery of the body. 
The Late Planting of Corn. 
There is quite a difference in the practice of 
farmers in the time of planting their field corn. In 
the Eastern States some begin to plant the last of 
April or early in May. Of course the corn is a long 
time in coming up, some of it rots and has to be 
planted over, is more liable to be pulled by crows 
and other birds, and the ground requires more cul¬ 
tivation to keep down the grass that gets a good 
start in May. With the varieties of corn tliqt ma¬ 
ture in a hundred days or less, there is no need of 
this early planting, but a possible gain in waiting 
for summer to grow this tropical crop. One of the 
best farmers of our acquaintance plants corn on 
the 6th day of June, or as near that date as possi¬ 
ble, and has followed the practice with uniform 
success for many years. His ground of course is 
heavily manured, and thoroughly worked before¬ 
hand. The corn is up in about a week, and is cul¬ 
tivated soon after. The ground is warm, well 
drained, and the plant pushes along rapidly to ma¬ 
turity. He claims for his practice that he gets as 
good corn, and corn fodder, as the early planting 
would give him, while he saves labor, and avoids 
the danger of the seed rotting in cold wet soil. 
Feeding Experiments With Hay. 
Our readers will be greatly obliged to Prof. Jor¬ 
dan for his interesting statement (p. 249) of the 
results of his own and other experiments on the 
amounts, composition, and respective values of hay 
cut at different periods of growth. As Prof. Jordau 
says, however, in addition to weighings and analy¬ 
ses of the produce, more feeding trials are needed 
to settle the question. Mr. J. W. Sanborn, Farm 
Superintendent of the New Hampshire Agricultural 
College, to whom Prof. Jordau refers, has recently 
been engaged in feeding experiments with hay cut 
at different periods of growth. His first results 
(not yet published), which we understand have been 
supported by further trials, favor a somewhat later 
cutting of grass than the experiments referred to 
by Prof. Jordan would lead us to think most profit¬ 
able. In short, to cut hay during blossom, but at 
the full blossom, or a little later, seems to be the 
best period according to Mr.Sanborn’s experiments. 
