1884.] 
ameeioa:n' ag-rioultueist. 
16T 
as bitter-sweet, burning-busb, mountain ash ber¬ 
ries, and sweet berries, the blue berries of the Vir¬ 
ginia creeper, all work in effectively and form very 
pretty ornaments.—A growing plant, particularly 
if in bloom, looks very well on a dining table, if 
planted in a decorated China or Japanese flower¬ 
pot.—Small bouquets of choice flowers are fre¬ 
quently provided for the guests, either placed in 
tiny bouquet-holders, or laid beside each plate. 
For ladies, the button-hole bouquet is perfect, com¬ 
posed of several flowers tastefully arranged, while 
each gentleman has a button-hole flower, which 
differs from the bouquet in being simply a single 
blossom, like a rose-bud, or tuberose, with a sweet 
scented leaf for a background. The stems of the 
flowers should be covered with damp cotton and 
wrapped in tin foil. Two or three violets and a 
rose geranium leaf are dropped in the finger-bowls 
to perfume the water, and be rubbed gently 
through the fingers. S. A. C. 
Dead-Fall for Mice and Rats. 
Mr. W. H. Banks, Durham, Iowa, sends us a 
sketch of a very simple contrivance, which he has 
found quite effective. The board p, or plank if for 
rats, is held up at one end by two sticks arranged 
A UEAD-EALL TEAP. 
as in the engraving. A thread s, tied to v runs 
loosely through a little staple at ?•; at 6 it is tied into 
a bit of pork rind or other bait, and another bit of 
thread tied to the other end of the bait is held fast 
at f by a carpet tack. On nibbling through the 
bait the string is released, letting the plank fall 
upon the victim. The same thread will answer for 
setting the trap several times. Use common linen 
shoe thread, or a little stronger thread for rats. 
There is so little apparatus seen, and the whole so 
open, that the wily rat seldom suspects danger. 
Box Clothes-Hamper. 
Large covered willow baskets, called hampers, 
for holding soiled clothes can be bought, but a box 
for the same purpose can be made at home at a 
very trifling expense. Any box of light wood, 
sixteen by twenty inches, three feet high, is a good 
size. Paint it a light gray or white inside, and care¬ 
fully remove any projecting splinters that might 
catch the clothes. Stain the outside in any desired 
patterns, varnish afterward. The light portions 
are the original wood, and the dark stained brown. 
For a good staining fluid mix burnt umber with 
boiling vinegar, a small quantity at first, so that 
more vinegar or umber can be added until a desired 
shade is obtained, to be ascertained by testing the 
fluid on a small piece of wood.—The patteriis can 
be drawn on the wood and the staining fluid ap¬ 
plied with a brush like paint; or, an easier way is 
to paste, over all the wood to remain its natural 
color, strips of paper cut with exact edges, and 
then brush the staining fluid over the spaces left. 
The paper is easily removed by moistening it with 
a little water. After the stain is dry varnish the 
whole box. Fasten a strip of plain or figured 
chintz around the top with brass-headed tacks; 
finish it with a string to draw it close.—Another 
method is to cover any box of suitable frame and 
size with chintz or calico, tacked on, or even past¬ 
ed. In all cases attach a couple of handles on op¬ 
posite sides, a fourth of the way or so below the 
top. These may be cheap, metal drop handles, ob¬ 
tainable at any hardware store ; or of strong tick¬ 
ing or other cloth covered with the same material 
as the box ; or be cut out of wood and stained, 
projecting only enough from the hamper to admit 
j,he fingers behind them. Westekn Housekeepek. 
Hints About Making Rag Carpets. 
Mrs. May Stuart Smith, of the University of Vir¬ 
ginia, sends us the following : Making rag carpets 
is one of the things that should not be, and doubt¬ 
less will n.ot be relegated to a place among the lost 
arts. Such carpets supply to many families com¬ 
fort that would be unattainable otherwise. If the 
housewife is too busy to make them herself, there 
are always poor unhandy women without capacity 
for higher service, who are very glad to rip, cut 
and tack pieces together for the smallest remunera¬ 
tion, and at ten cents a pound they can earn some 
part of their scanty livelihood and are glad to do it, 
and we are pleased to give them the work. Such 
carpets turn to useful account many a fragment 
which would otherwise be thrown away, old furni¬ 
ture covers, garments, etc., without strength 
enough for any other good purpose. Cotton, 
woollen or silk, come into play equally well, if they 
are barely strong enough to be cut and wound into 
balls. Half an inch wide i§ the general rule, a little 
wider if rotten or very thin, and narrower for thick 
woollen stuff. The narrower they are cut, the 
further they will go in making length, of course at 
the expense of thickness. A pound of rags to the 
yard is the general calculation, though one of the 
nicest carpets I have seen, was a yard and three- 
quarters to the pound. For warp, bale cotton No. 
6, containing thirty hanks to the bunch, is best, 
though No. 7 will answer and goes further. The 
weaver’s allowance is two hanks to the yard for 
nearly yard wide carpet, but two hanks should 
be allowed for cross threads. Two bunches of No. 
6 will therefore make twenty-eight yards of woven 
carpet, and of No. 7, forty-four yards. Warp doub¬ 
led and not twisted, will be found to wear best. 
Here is an important point for the inexperienced. 
In weaving, have a shuttle filled with the warp cot¬ 
ton and weave in two threads between the strip 
of rags. It will greatly strengthen the carpet, and 
if the warp is of fresh strong cotton, the carpet 
will wear until you are perhaps tired of it, or rich 
enough to buy a more costly one. I doubt, how¬ 
ever, whether any other carpet ever gives you so 
much real pleasure as the rag one which was the 
result of your own contrivance and patience. 
To color the warp, divide it into two equal por¬ 
tions, and with a twenty-five cent package of log¬ 
wood, dye half black, using as a mordant a little 
copperas and bluestone. Dye the other half with 
copperas, afterwards washed out with weak lye. 
Have it put on the loom in stripes not over four 
inches wide ; check it with the filling as tastefully 
and systematically as possible to form exact squares 
with the warp stripes. All the old flannel and white 
pieces may be put together and dyed to make the 
carpet brighter. A simple way of dyeing beautiful 
red colors is to get fifteen cents worth of red ani¬ 
line from the drug store, tie it in a thin muslin bag, 
soak it in cold water to be afterwards added to a 
a large kettle of hot boiling water in which a ta¬ 
blespoonful of alum is dissolved. Wet the pieces 
well and dye as much as your kettle will conven¬ 
iently hold. This dye will keep and may be used 
more than once. Green and blue aniline are first 
dissolved in a little alcohol, and then used the same 
as the red. In the country, walnut bark and the 
nut shells, red oak, pine and walnut hark, or su¬ 
mac berries, are used, in each case dipping the 
fabrics in lye afterwards to set the coloring matter. 
Another style of carpet is said to look very well, 
and is certainly easier to manage, viz. ; have no 
design or stripe or cheek, but with the warp dyed 
any good serviceable color, weave in the pieces of 
all colors sewed together in such a way as to diver¬ 
sify them as much as possible. This has an effect 
somewhat similar to what is seen in chene goods. 
To Catch Window Drip 
As long as it is colder outside than inside the 
house, moisture will condense on the glass, and 
frequently run down, staining paper etc. Mr. Benj. 
F. Gore, Dewitt, Iowa, sends us a sketch of a device 
which has been effective with him. A strip of gal¬ 
vanized iron or pf zinc, three inches wide, as long as 
the window-sill, has one edge turned at a right- 
angle to set under the front edge of the sill, to 
which it is clamped firmly at each end, by a semi¬ 
circular loop of oval half-inch iron. The outer 
edge of the metal strip is bent downward and 
round as a small gutter, one end a little lower than 
the other, to cause the water to run off, when it is 
caught in an oyster can, suspended on a screw. 
Care of the Teeth, 
While it is a fact that good and bad teeth are 
largely inherited,yet good ones may soon be injured 
by neglect. Not only as a matter of health should 
the teeth be preserved as far as possible, but for 
appearances. Nothing more detracts from the come¬ 
liness of a young man or woman, tlian the display 
of teeth yellow and black from neglect; the better 
looking the person, the more glaring is this blem¬ 
ish. Parents are often greatly to blame in this re¬ 
spect. As soon as a child gets its permanent teeth 
he or she should be taught to use a tooth brush, 
with water, at least once a day. This would often 
save the child from much mortification and per¬ 
haps misery in after life. The use of a tooth brush 
not too stiff, with water simply, morning and night, 
is all that most teeth require. If tartar collects in 
spite of this, the use of Castile soap (the white is 
preferable) upon the brush will generally answer. 
If something more is needed to keep the teeth 
clean, prepared chalk is one of the safest tooth 
powders. Avoid all tooth powders that are at all 
gritty. Some contain powdered pumice stone, 
which will remove botli the tartar and enamel. In 
using the brush, it is equally as important to apply 
It to the back-side of the teeth as to the front, 
and instead of only moving it across the teeth, a 
part of the brushing should be from the gums up¬ 
ward and downward, to remove any particles that 
have lodged between them. Never use a metallic 
tooth-pick ; a sliver of wood is preferable even to 
the quill so commonly used. Whenever decay is 
noticed in the teeth, go to the dentist at once. 
Toe and Heel Boot-Jack. 
Mr. Wilbur S. Sparks sends us a sketch of a Boot- 
Jack to hold the toe as well as the heel, and de¬ 
scribes it essentially thus : Material, inch boards 
AN IMPEOVED BOOT-JACK. 
of hard-wood; end blocks thicker. Top, ten by 
twenty inches. Right end block, two inches deep ; 
left end, four inches ; side pieces sloping to fit. 
Six inches and eleven inches from left or toe end 
cut square in seven inches deep. Split out the 
five by seven inch pieces, and cut heel triangle four 
inches deep and four inches wide at widest end. 
Smooth off all sharp edges. If you have a scroll 
or other narrow saw the cutting may be made with 
round corners.—To the above we have indicated 
by dotted lines where a little shelf, a, may be placed 
for a blacking brush, not high enough to obstruct 
the boot toe; and at 6 a place may be made for 
holding a small blacking-box. 
