1884.] 
AMEEIOAIN^ AGEIOULTUEIST. 
215 
flush with the top of the outside box, and lies 
closely upon the top of the inner box to exclude 
air, an important point. The whole affair can be 
put together in a few hours by any skillful man on 
a farm. It is best to have cleats nailed to the sides 
of the ice chamber to support a shelf made with 
wooden sides and galvanized iron rods or large wire 
Fig. 1.—THE EEFRIGEEATOB. 
in the center, and handles or holes on two sides to 
lift it by. Large blocks of ice, the larger the bet¬ 
ter, are laid in the bottom, which should slightly 
incline so as to run off all drip water, a few sticks 
being placed in the bottom for the ice to rest on. 
I have the drain pipe constantly open, and find the 
ice keeps longer if not in its drip. This is an ex¬ 
cellent refrigerator if ice in good-sized blocks is 
supplied liberally, say every two or three days in 
very hot weather. On the tray with two large 
blocks of ice below I have kept delicate fish quite 
fresh for ten days in the hottest weather. The 
constant good circulation of air in the box leaves 
Fig. 2.— THE TEAT. 
no close, musty smell as is common in ordinary re¬ 
frigerators. At first I covered the sawdust all 
around flush with the top of the inside box with 
tarred felt, but found this did not answer well, so 
I subsequently placed a board cover over the felt. 
St. John's, Newfoundland. D. W. P. 
A Chapter on Potatoes. 
MART WINCHESTER. 
Plain Boiled. —Wash and clip a bit from each 
end and drop into boiling water. Add a little salt, 
and cook until done. If poor and watery, peel 
and let them lie in cold water an hour or more be¬ 
fore boiling. When done pour off all water, re¬ 
move the cover and shake and toss them in the 
kettle before an open window or door, which will 
make them mealy. 
Baked. —Wash and boil until nearly done, then 
bake. They are much whiter and mealier than if 
simply baked, and it is quicker and takes less fire. 
Mashed. —Peel, cut out all imperfections and 
boil in water a little salted. When done pour off 
the water and set the kettle off the fire, but where 
it will keep warm and mash thoroughly. Add suf¬ 
ficient hot milk to moisten, also a small piece of 
butter, and continue working until white and 
creamy. Serve while hot. Cold mashed potatoes 
may be cut in slices, dipped in beaten egg and 
fried in nice fat or dripping. 
Potato and Onion Stew. —Slice raw potatoes 
and onions to one’s liking, and place them in a stew 
pan. Cover with boiling water and cook tender. 
Season with salt and pepper and a little butter. 
Saratoga Potatoes. —Peel and slice very thin, 
and drop into cold water a few minutes. Drain and 
dry them in a tow.el. Have ready a saucepan of 
boiling lard, drop in the slices and fry a light 
brown. Lift them out with a wire spoon, drain in 
a colander, sprinkle a little fine salt over them 
evenly, and serve very hot. 
Ddohesse Potatoes. —Rub one quart of hot 
boiled potatoes through a colander. Mix well with 
them one ounce butter, a scant teaspoonful of 
salt, a pinch each of white pepper and grated nut¬ 
meg and the yolks of two raw eggs. Pour the po¬ 
tato on a plate, and, with a knife form it into 
small oblong cakes; lay them on a buttered tin, 
and brush them over with beaten egg and color a 
golden brown in a moderate oven. 
New Potatoes. —Wash, scrape, boil ten min¬ 
utes ; turn off the water and add enough more 
boiling hot to cover, with a little salt. Cook a few 
moments, drain and set on the stove again. Add 
butter, salt, pepper, and a gravy made of about 
two tablespoonfuls of fiour to a pint of milk. Or, 
when cooked and drained place in a skillet with 
hot drippings, cover and shake until nice brow'n. 
Potato Salad. —Boil one egg very hard, rub the 
yolk fine, add one raw yolk ; one teaspoonful each 
of corn-starch or fine flour, vinegar, sweet oil and 
salt, half teaspoonful of mixed mustard, a little 
cayenne pepper, and two teaspoonfuls of butter. 
Beat all very thoroughly together to a smooth 
paste. Slice cold potatoes thin, arrange in pyra¬ 
mid or mound-shape, and pour the mixture over; 
ornament with slices of boiled eggs, parsley, rad¬ 
ishes and lemons as you fancy. Serve cold. 
Potato Soup. —Boil one quart of milk with a 
little mace ; boil and mash finely four good-sized 
potatoes, add a little butter and salt; pour the 
milk over the potatoes and strain. Beat three 
eggs well In a soup tureen. When ready to serve 
pour the soup over the eggs, beating them while 
doing so, and send to the table at once very hot. 
Season with celery or onion, or both. 
Potato Souffle. —Boil six ordinary-sized pota¬ 
toes, rub them through a sieve. Scald a teacupful 
of milk and a tablespoonful of good butter, add 
to the potatoes with a little salt and pepper and 
beat them to a cream. Add the yolks of four eggs, 
one at a time, beating them thoroughly. Drop a 
small pinch of salt into the whites and beat them 
to a stiff froth, adding them to the mixture, beat¬ 
ing as little as possible. Have ready a well-buttered 
baking dish large enough to permit the souffle to 
rise without running over. Bake twenty minutes. 
Serve as soon as taken from the oven, and in the 
same dish in which it was baked. 
Make the Kitchen Pleasant. 
EBEN E. REXFORD. 
In most country homes, the kitchen is the most 
important room of the house, where more than 
anywhere else the family gathers, and the most 
time is spent by the house-keeper. First of all, let 
it be arranged as convenient as possible for work 
done there, and to save steps. Next let it be pleas¬ 
ant and home-like. Even if the family do not fre¬ 
quent it, it ought to be cheerful and bright for the 
sake of those who pass their chief time there. A 
picture on the wall will rest a weary eye, and be 
educating to those busy at work. Too often the 
kitchen is a cheerless place, associated only with 
hard, tread-mill work; no brightness on the walls, 
no easy chair inviting rest in its broad arms at 
spare moments ; no paper to read in the little “ be¬ 
tween whiles.”—Keep its walls sweet and clean 
with white-wash. I do not like paper on kitchen 
walls. If white is objected to, get alabastine for 
tinting them any color desired. A buff tone makes 
the room bright and sunshiny. Have the lower 
part darker, if not finished in w'ood, which is al¬ 
ways preferable for many reasons. Beautify the 
windows in summer by training vines about them 
outside, and in winter with simple pretty lambre¬ 
quins. If you want the room to have a shut-in 
cosy look at night, use Holland shades, to be drawn 
up or down as required. The kitchen cannot be 
too light. Hang pretty pictures on the walls. 
They need not be expensive; really good ones can 
be cut from some of the illustrated papers of the 
day. The father or sons can frame them cheaply. 
Have a lounge, and a rocker with soft cushion, a 
broad back, and wide, comfortable arms. A hang¬ 
ing lamp, that can be lowered or raised at pleasure, 
is a convenience for any room, the kitchen includ¬ 
ed. With everything clean and neat, as every 
house-keeper taking pride in her work will be sure 
to desire it, she will not be ashamed to receive un¬ 
expected visitors there. 
A Stand for a Night Lamp. 
Where a light is needed during the night for a 
sick person, especially if warm water or medicine 
be needed, and for an infant requiring warmed 
food, a stand something like the one here sketched 
will be found quite convenient. The ends may be 
of half or three-quarter inch clear pine, cut to any 
A night lamp stand. 
form desired, and with one or two shelves, accord¬ 
ing to whether the lamp used be a tall or low one. 
The hight needs to be such that when the lamp is 
on the shelf, the end of the stand will hide the di¬ 
rect rays of light from the sleepers. Two stout 
wires or small iron rods, placed lengthwise 
across the top, support a tin or other vessel con¬ 
taining water or food. The lamp can be turned 
down so that a very small flame, two inches or so 
below the vessel, will keep the contents at the de¬ 
sired heat. If for continuous use, the stand can 
be stained to imitate the furniture, and varnished ; 
for temporary night use, it may be left plain, to bo 
set away out of sight during the day. 
Out-Door Seats. 
There is an infinite variety of simple, cheap, con¬ 
venient, home-made seats, that may be provided 
for a shady spot on the lawn, in the door-yard, in 
the garden, fruit orchard, etc. Figure 1 is a frame 
of saw-horse pattern, with two strong pieces in the 
upper corners, over which is stretched a canvas or 
heavy sacking having ejclets worked along its two 
ends. A cord through these can be drawn to any 
desired tautness. This may be of any size, from 
Fig. 1.— A SAW-HOESE SEAT, 
a camp-stool to a cot or lounge, and be of colored 
or striped material, with stained or painted frame. 
Figure 2 may be a natural stump, with a board or 
Fig. 2.— A STUMP SEAT. 
plank spiked to its top sawed off level. A stump 
may be brought from the woods, its larger roots 
cut off for feet, and its top for the seat board. 
