24 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
[January, 
cording to that of the brush, which should be so 
compressed as to occupy about half its former 
width. If preferred, the covering may be of 
embroidery or crochet-work, as the ornamenta¬ 
tion may be carried out in considerable variety. 
Cleaning Chimneys. 
that it does not become dry. After a while the car¬ 
rot will start into growth, and as the delicate, finely 
divided leaves appear, they will turn upward on all 
sides, and soon cover the little basket, with here 
and there the orange-color of the carrot showing 
through with good effect. Should the leaves need 
“training” to arrange them satisfactorily around 
the basket, it may be easily done by means of a 
Foul chimneys are at this season a source of 
great danger; soot is very inflammable, a mere 
spark will set it on fire. No one knows the con¬ 
dition of his chimneys, what cracks there may 
be in the brickwork, nor what timbers there may 
be near those openings through which fire may 
penetrate. Hence, it is an indispensable caution 
for every householder to see that the chimneys are 
swept down, or up, at this season. A chimney 
may be swept from the bottom by means of a brush 
made on the end of an elastic pole or rattan cane, 
as shown at figure 1. The brush may be made of a 
number of goose or turkey-quills, or splints of 
hickory or ash, or even small twigs of trees, fasten¬ 
ed tightly between two round pieces of thin board 
or sheet-iron. This brush is fixed to the end of a 
long, slender, limber pole, or rattan, and is thrust 
up the chimney from the fireplace. A very light 
brush and pole only are needed, as the least touch 
is sufficient to bring down all the soot and dust 
that may be adhering to the sides of the flue or 
resting on the slopes of it. When the chimney has 
been swept for the length of one pole, a second one 
is spliced to the first, and this is repeated until the 
whole of the flue is cleaned. To prevent the en¬ 
trance of the dust into the room, any more than 
can be avoided, a cloth of some kind should be 
fastened over the fireplace to confine it in the 
chimney. The sheet may be held upon the mantel¬ 
piece by placing sad-irons upon it, and the work¬ 
man—a small boy is the best for this purpose—may 
be covered by the sheet, having the nose and 
mouth protected by a wetted handkerchief tied 
over them. This method, however, should only 
be used when it is not possible to get at the chim¬ 
ney from the top of the house. When this can be 
done, the work .is much less disagreeable. It will 
be found best in this case to get the brush to the 
bottom before sweeping, and then work upwards, 
lest by beginning to sweep from the top the dust 
and soot may choke the flue part way down, and 
thereby cause much trouble to clear the obstruction. 
The Carrot-Basket. 
A very pretty hanging-basket can be made from 
four or five inches of the top, or crown part, of a 
large carrot. The inner portion of this upper end 
of the carrot is to be removed with a knife, leav¬ 
ing a shell about half an inch thick. Three or four 
cords are fastened to the rim, and the basket is 
ready to hang up at a window. The cavity of the 
basket is to be kept filled with water, and care taken 
A CARROT-BASKET. 
thread passed around them, or a bent pin stuck 
into the carrot, may be used to hold a leaf in place. 
Household Notes and Queries. 
Place for Flour.— Flour, like milk, though not 
so much so, is affected by bad odors of any kind, 
which it readily absorbs. Hence it should never be 
kept where vegetables, onions, etc., or fish, and 
such odorous things are stored. Flour should al¬ 
ways be kept in a sweet, dry, cool, and airy room. 
Paper and Straw under Carpets.— In putting 
down the carpet for the winter, do not forget that 
a layer of paper should be first spread over the 
whole floor. Thick, coarse, and porous paper is 
made for the purpose ; it is in a continuous sheet, 
and may be had at the carpet stores by the yard at 
a low price. Another material is made of two 
sheets of brown paper with a thin layer of cotton 
batting between them. In the absence of these, 
newspapers will answer about as well, and be much 
less expensive. Several layers of newspaper may 
be put down, or a single thickness of papers, over 
which is placed a thin layer of straw and other 
papers over this, putting in a tack here and there 
to keep all in place while putting down the carpet. 
Either of these will cover all holes and keep out 
the cold air, while the straw will give a soft surface 
to walk upon and greatly help to save the carpet. 
A Use for Fruit Cans.— Take round fruit, or 
vegetable, cans and melt off the top; bend a hickory 
withe for a handle, as shown in the engraving, and 
fasten it with wire or 
rivets. This makes a use¬ 
ful dipper, pitcher, meas¬ 
ure, or vessel for many 
purposes about the barn 
or house; one may be 
made for the flour barrel; 
another for the sugar bar¬ 
rel or box ; others for feed 
boxes,grain boxes,and for 
use in feeding poultry. In 
short, some 20 or more 
can be made useful on the can cut* 
every farm or in every 
house, and as many dangerous nuisances, when 
these are lying about, will be got rid of profitably. 
The Putting Together. —A Michigan lady, Mrs. 
C. P. F., some of whose recipes have been sent 
to us, very properly says : There is so much in the 
putting together the ingredients that I hesitate to 
send recipes—so much depends upon one’s own ex¬ 
perience. There are very few who can handle a 
mere recipe. It makes a great difference just when 
you add the butter, the sugar, and the flour, and 
how the mixture is worked. It is no mystery to 
me that there are so few good cooks. To a very 
few the right method comes by intuition, but to the 
most, only by many sad failures, and a life-long 
watching. I think I am just as anxious about the 
bread now as I was 15 years ago, and there are 
some things I cannot see the reason for even now. 
Orange Cake. —Miss J. Van I. sends the follow¬ 
ing: 5 Eggs, 3 cups Sugar, 1 cup Butter, 1 cup 
Milk, 1 quart Flour, 3 teaspoonfuls Baking Powder. 
Bake in round tins like thin Washington Cake. 
Take the grated rind and juice of 2 Oranges, the 
whites of 3 Eggs, and Sugar to taste—usually less 
than one cup. Mix well, and spread between each 
two surfaces of cake, and it will flavor the whole. 
White Mountain Cake.— Butter, 1 lb.; Sugar, 
1 lb.; Flour, 1 lb.; Milk, 1 cup; Yolk of 6 Eggs ; 
Whites of 3 Eggs ; Soda, half teaspoonful; Cream 
of Tartar, 1 teaspoonful. Put the soda into the 
milk, and cream of tartar into the flour. Put in a 
little milk, and then a little flour, and so on. Add 
the whites of the eggs the last thing. Flavor with 
Lemon. Bake in thin layers, every layer iced, and 
the top covered with icing. Make the frosting with 
the white of three eggs and i pound of sugar. 
Eight layers will be sufficient for ordinary cake. 
Tea Cakes. —“ Miss A. R.,” Grand View, Iowa, 
recommends the following as very nice. Two cups 
sour Milk, half a pint each of Shorts and Rye Flour, 
three Eggs, well beaten, one teaspoon each of Soda 
and Salt, Butter the size of a hen’s egg, mix and 
bake in gem-pans, those of iron being the best. 
A Long Handled Dust Pan.— The accompany¬ 
ing engraving shows a 
dust pan made of tin, with 
the sides and back higher 
than in the ordinary dust 
pan, and provided with a 
long, wooden handle, so 
that it can be used without 
stooping. The handle is 
fastened by a hinge at the 
bottom of the pan, and by a 
small hook at the upper 
edge, so that when not in 
use the pan can be easily 
let down and the article 
hung up out of the way, as 
readily as a pan of the ordi¬ 
nary kind. “It saves the 
back ” of the housewife, and this is enough to com¬ 
mend the dust pan to general use. 
Splitting Paper.— In selecting articles for a 
scrap-book, it sometimes occurs that one wishes to 
save the matter that is on both sides of the clip, 
ping. This may be done by splitting the paper, 
Place the paper under a piece of glass, so that U 
will be smooth, after which it is thoroughly soakeu 
with water, when, with a little care, the upper sui 
face of the paper can be entirely removed. The 
process is as much a matter of curiosity as utility. 
Ventilation of Rooms.— In winter it is one 
thing to keep dwelling rooms w^arm, and another to 
have them well supplied with pure air. There is 
nothing so abundant in the world as good, whole¬ 
some air, and nothing which we so seldom find in 
sufficient quantity in living rooms. We are apt to 
forget that air once breathed is not fit to breathe 
again, and only throw up the window or open the 
door when the air gets so bad as to cause a feeling 
of oppression. The air of a room should never get 
noticeably impure. Some rooms are “ by nature ” 
