424 
AMEEIOA]^ AGRIOIJLTURIST, 
[October, 
Curtain for Stained Glass Window. 
The half curtain seen in the engraving, is used 
where the upper half of the window is stained glass, 
and the lower half plain. Embroider a piece of 
pongee for the front of the curtain, with some 
delicate pattern in bright shades of silk. Line it 
with the pongee, and finish at the bottom with 
fringe the color of the material used, and hang it 
on a small rod with rings. It will work nicely 
on a stout wire with small brass rings, and be 
much less expensive than the rod generally used. 
Table Etiquette. 
Manners at the table depend in a great measure 
upon one’s surroundings. The way in which food 
is served has an important influence upon children 
in the forming of their habits. A proper care 
in laying the table at each meal with neatness 
and order, with the same service when the family 
OTily are present, as when there are visitors, gives 
ease and manners to all, should unexpected com-' 
pany arrive at time of meals. A lady remarked to 
a friend a few days ago: “ Ton must be very 
much worn out, for it is noticed that you have had 
company almost all the time this summer.”—“ Oh, 
no,” was the reply, “ we enjoy it; we neverchange 
anything, and try to have our table ready for com¬ 
pany all the time.” The spotless table linen, 
clean glass, and bright silver, often seen in that 
lady’s dining room, prove her words to be true. 
Americans have long been held up to ridicule 
by foreigners, and .justly too, for their habits of 
“ cramming ” the food. This is true, not only of 
business men who rush into a restaurant, often 
standing about a counter like so many animals, 
waiting to be fed as quickly as possible, but also 
ladles and children do much the same thing at home. 
A true lady or gentleman presiding at the home 
table, will be known by the quiet, gentle manners, 
together with a constant care for others, suiting 
each one’s taste as far as possible, with few words 
about it. If there be a servant in waiting, she 
•should be controlled by looks rather than words, 
or better, she should be so trained to her duties 
before coming into the dining room that she will 
seldom need any directions there. When the 
bell calls her in, she will fill each one’s glass with 
water; then pass the butter on a small tray to the 
left of each one, that all may help themselves, 
then the bread—some cut bread in squares and 
place them on each one’s napkin. Soup, fish, and 
meat, if used iu courses, or alone, are served in 
the seme way. Vegetables are placed upon the 
tray in the vegetable dish, and every one helps 
himself. Before desert is brought in, the table is 
cleared and the cloth brushed free from crumbs. 
It is desirable that these rules should be carried 
out at the simplest table. If there is but one ser¬ 
vant for all the house work, she should understand 
that this is one of her most important duties, and 
she should be required to have her hair neatly 
brushed, and her calico dress, collar, and white 
apron always ready for this service. A constant 
jumping up from the table by any of the family for 
one thing and another, is a great annoyance to all. 
Breakfast being necessarily an informal meal, 
there is less ceremony than at dinner. Fruit, if 
used, stands upon the table ; as all the family can 
seldom be present at the same time, other things are 
kept hot in the kitchen and brought to the guests 
as they arrive. An English family that entertains 
with bountiful hospitality, serves breakfast to their 
guests at any hour of the morning, but in a private 
family guests should observe the rules of courtesy 
by adapting themselves to the breakfast hour, as 
also to all other customs of the family they are 
visiting, as delays of this kind often make a deal of 
trouble and extra work. 
Nothing is so suitable for a dinner table-cloth 
and napkins as pure white damask. For breakfast 
and lunch red damask looks well and washes 
admirably, but colored embroideries on white, or 
any elaborate work where changes for washing are 
so often made, seem altogether unsuitable. 
Flowers are a pretty adornment for the table, but 
they should not be profuse. A slender vase at 
each end of the table with flowers of a single kind, 
with their leaves, are much jirettier than bouquets 
of mixed colors. A very desirable addition to the 
table is a small tea-kettle of copper, bronze, or 
polished brass, with its alcohol lamp, to keep the 
water at boiling point all through the breakfast or 
tea. It costs from two to eight dollars. The hot 
water is used to heat the cups before pouring the 
tea or coilee, and to regulate its strength. 
Many rules for good table manners will occur to 
all who are observant, and the best way to inform 
one’s self is to watch carefully those who are 
considered as models of polite behavior, and copy 
their habits in this respect. Ethel Stone. 
A Table Jardiniere. 
The very pretty and novel jardiniere for the table 
shown in the engraving, is made of six pieces of 
thin wood neatly glued together, and a board fitted 
in for the bottom. When made of oak it can be left 
A JARDINIERE FOR THE TABLE. 
the natural color of tlic wood or gilded, but if of 
pine, paint it black or brown. Paint some objects 
on the sides in colors, which will harmonize with 
the plants that are to be held. After the flower¬ 
pot is placed in, lay moss over the top to conceal 
it from view. If largo brass-headed nails are 
used for feet, the jardiniere will be finished. 
A New Photograph Receiver. 
The hanging receiver for photographs seen in 
the engraving, is made of dark-brown plush, with 
forget-me-nots embroidered in light blue. First 
cut out the foundation or back, which should be of 
heavy paste-board, 
seven and a half 
inches wide, and as 
long as desired. It 
can be half as long 
again as the one 
here illustrated. 
The pieces for the 
outside are seven 
and a half inches 
wide, the top cut in 
squares measuring 
an inch and a half 
each way, and long 
enough to lap over 
one another. The 
forget-nje-not spray 
on the top of each 
piece should be em¬ 
broidered before it 
is covered. Baste 
the plusli neatly on 
the paste-board, and 
line it with light 
blue silk or Silesia. 
When all the flaps 
are finished in this 
manner, sew them 
firmly to the plush- 
covered back. If 
the sprays are paint- photograph RECEIVER, 
ed instead of em¬ 
broidered, it can be done better after it is all 
finished. Fasten the top to a brass banner-rod, 
and hang the receiver with a light blue silk cord. 
How to Make Good Pickles. 
It is the duty of every housekeeper to make, or 
see made, the pickles to be used in her family. To 
this end (if she does not know how), she should 
learn to make an eatable pickle — ^one she knows 
contains nothing injurious. There is a principle in 
everything; that of canning fruit is to expel the 
air by means of heat and expansion, and then keep 
the air out by means of rubber and glass, tin and 
solder. The principle of pickling is to reduce the 
fruit or vegetable by means of salt or boiling, and 
then supply the waste or displacement by vinegar. 
Experience has taught us, that fruit and vegetables 
of all kinds will keep perfectly in vinegar, if cer¬ 
tain principles are understood and intelligently fol¬ 
lowed. You must have good, strong vinegar ; take 
whatever trouble is necessary to secure it. Be wil¬ 
ling to follow a recipe in which you have confi¬ 
dence. Many fail, because they will not be exact. 
They guess at the measurements. Being short of 
sugar, they use less, but having plenty of spice, 
a double allowance is thrown iu. Instead of taking 
the kettle from the fire at the boiling point, the 
vinegar is allowed to boil until the strength is quite 
gone out of it. This inexactness is all wrong. 
Cucumber Pickle.— We will suppose you have 
five hundred small, green cucumbers. Wash them 
at once, rejecting any that are soft in spots. Place 
them in a jar, and pour over enough well salted 
water to cover them. The color is better if the 
brine is cool, about a pint of salt to a gallon of 
water is the rule, well dissolved and mixed. Let 
them stand twenty-four hours, but not longer; 
better only twelve hours than too long. If bubbles 
arise on the water it is time to take them out, as 
the flavor will spoil. Let them drain or wipe them 
dry. Take as much vinegar as you used of watei 
to cover them. Spice it well with mustard, capsi¬ 
cum, whole ginger, allspice, .and a little mace, but 
use no cloves or cinnamon, as these latter discolor 
and spoil the flavor to most tastes. To every gal¬ 
lon allow a piece of alum, the size of a hickory 
nut or a trifle larger. Let the vinegar and spice 
come to a boil, and pour it over Ihe cHCumbers in a 
