183 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
[J TJM3) 
appearance of being injured and bleeding. Soon 
the whole under part of his body from lip to 
dorsal fin, that now is like burnished silver, 
glowed with the most brilliant vermillion con¬ 
ceivable, while his back was gorgeous with em¬ 
erald and gold and ultra-marine blue, and his 
eyes were radiant as sapphire. Simultaneously 
he became so pugnacious, that no other fish had 
any peace in the tank with him. His nest was 
formed with immense labor and case, with an 
opening through it, and took him a fortnight to 
build. After the female had deposited her 
spawn, he kept watch and ward over it, in his 
brilliant livery, for eighteen days,when the young 
ones appeared. I could not count them, but es¬ 
timated them at upwards of a hundred. During 
the first two or three days, if they strayed an 
inch or two from the nest, he took them in his 
mouth and returned them to it. After eight days, 
apprehensive that he would then devour them, 
I removed him from the tank, as I had previous¬ 
ly the female. I did wrong. A number of 
shrimps, which his pugnacious vigilance had 
kept in their hiding places, soon came forth, and 
the young sticklebacks became their prey. 
However, I acquired knowledge for my next 
trial. R. A. West. 
Staten Island, N. Y. 
For the American Agriculturist. 
Hints on Choosing and Preparing Coffee. 
BY MRS. E. F. HASKELL. 
The principal kinds of coffee in market are: 
the Mocha from Arabia, the Java from the East 
Indies, and the Rio from the tropical regions of 
America. The first named sort is the best in 
use. The bean of Mocha coffee is of a dark yel¬ 
lowish color, and smaller and rounder than any 
other. Old Government Java stands next in 
excellence, and is good enough. The seeds are 
larger than the Mocha, of a pale yellowish col¬ 
or. The seeds of the Rio variety are large, and 
have a decided greenish tint. 
The older the coffee is, before browning, the 
better the flavor, provided it has been properly 
Kept. It should be stored in a dry place, not in 
the vicinity of substances having a strong odor. 
Brown sugar, spices, etc., ruin coffee if kept in 
the same room, unless in air-tight receptacles. 
Coffee ready browned and ground, on sale at 
the stores, is seldom pure, and has always part¬ 
ed with some of the volatile oil, which in great 
Dart constitutes its value. The more recently the 
''offee has been browned, the better will be the 
beverage. In some families it is done daily, 
but this is hardly necessary. My method of pre¬ 
paring it is as follows: Wash, say five to ten 
pounds of coffee perfectly clean, rubbing the 
beans often, through several waters. This is es¬ 
sential, as the process of extracting the berry 
from the pulp in which it grew, is conducted 
with little regard to cleanliness. Shake it in 
coarse towels, until free from surface moisture, 
and spread it thinly to dry, without heat. When 
quite dry, spread it on bake tins, and dry it in a 
cool oven, until the color is a very little turned; 
it is then prepared for browning. Keep it in 
dry clean bottles, or tin canisters tightly closed, 
and brown small quantities as needed. The 
color of well browned coffee is a dark chestnut; 
a few burned kernels will spoil the whole. 
Grind the kernels about as fine as Indian meal. 
My rule for quantity is to allow one tablespoon¬ 
ful for each person, and one for the pot, with 
one cup of water for each individual. For an 
extra cup for 15 persons allow one pound, be¬ 
fore browning, of Mochv, or Java, to five quarts 
of water. To have it clear, with each cup of 
ground coffee mix one-third of an egg, and suf¬ 
ficient water to make it into a paste. Beat the 
whole briskly, to a foam. Have ready the cof¬ 
fee pot well scalded, put in the mixed coffee, 
and pour on water nearly boiling hot. Let it 
come to a boil slowly, and as soon as the grounds 
rise, stir them down. Boil gently five minutes, 
then drain off the clear liquor, and add water 
for the second filling of the coffee pot. Soft 
water is preferable for coffee; if the water be 
very hard, a little soda is an improvement—do 
not use enough to be perceived by the taste. It 
would perhaps be economical to dry the whites 
of eggs for winter use. For this purpose, spread 
them as thin as varnish on white paper, and use 
bits of paper with the coffee; or spread the 
eggs upon plates, and scrape off when dry. 
The following substitute for cream is preferred 
by some to the genuine article: Boil one quart 
of morning’s milk, beating it constantly while 
heating, to keep the cream from rising. Stir a 
teaspoonful of flour into a little cold milk, and 
add it to the milk before it is boiling hot, with a 
large teaspoonful of sweet butter, and continue 
to beat it. When well boiled, take it from the 
fire, and when cold, thoroughly mix a well beat¬ 
en egg with it, and strain it through a sieve. 
Beat the mixture to a foam before filling the 
creamer. Stir it in the cup with the coffee as 
the latter is poured upon it. The cream and 
sugar should always be placed in the cup before 
filling with coffee. My family always reduce 
every cup of coffee with two-thirds boiled milk 
and cream—using coffee of more than or¬ 
dinary strength, which I think more pleasant 
and healthful than a weak cup of ordinary coffee. 
About Oil Cloths. 
Oil cloths make an admirable summer cover¬ 
ing for kitchen floors, and for rooms of general 
household use. They are cool, neat, easily 
cleaned, and if of good quality very durable. 
In selecting a cloth, give preference to those of 
plain pattern. Highly wrought figures in glar¬ 
ing colors, not only give a tawdry effect, but are 
more quickly defaced by wear. Slight defects, 
which would scarcely be noticed in a plain pat¬ 
tern are brought out by contrast with high col¬ 
ors, and the cloth looks shabby before it is half 
worn out. Before purchasing, see that the paint 
on the cloth is well “ ripenedthat is, has 
been on long enough to harden well. If laid on 
the floor when fresh from the factory, the upper 
surface will wear away rapidly, and the under 
side will be apt to adhere to the floor and peel 
off when the cloth is removed. It should have 
been kept in store six months or a year before 
being laid, and if longer, all the better. 
Before laying a cloth, spread three or four 
thicknesses of newspaper evenly over the floor. 
Lay them side by side, with the edges meeting: 
if they lap, the inequalities of surface though 
very slight, will cause ridges in the cloth, which 
will wear sooner than the surrounding parts. 
The papers will aid in the durability of the cloth, 
and keep it from sticking to the floor, if it be 
not perfectly “ ripened.” It is better to let the 
edges lap in laying the cloth. A plain strip is 
left on one side, on which the other edge with 
the pattern carried to the outside, is to be laid to 
match with the next piece. If this plain strip 
be cut off, and the two pieces be laid with the 
edges meeting, dust will work into and under 
the crack, and look unsightly, and wear the 
cloth more rapidly. Always pass the tacks 
through a small bit of leather before driving 
them; otherwise the edges will be badly tom 
by the tacks being pulled through when the 
cloth is'taken up. A coat of white copal var¬ 
nish applied when the cloth is first laid, and re¬ 
newed every Spring will add many years to the 
wear. 
It is not necessary to take up the cloth when 
carpets are put on for the Winter. Spread 
three or four thicknesses of paper, lapping the 
edges, to keep dust from working through, lay 
the carpet on these, and the oil cloth after a good 
washing in Spring, will come out as bright as 
ever. 
A few Home Questions. 
A “Farmer’s wife” puts the following home 
questions to the readers of the American Agri¬ 
culturist. They may appear unimportant, yet if 
heeded, they would save much weariness of 
body and vexation of spirit in the household. 
But she pleads the housekeeper’s cause better 
than a man could do—hear her: “ Do you, after 
having kindled the fire, sweep away the shav¬ 
ings and ashes neatly, or leave them on and 
around the stove ? When you bring in a pail 
of water, are you careful not to spill it, or must 
some one use the mop after you every time ? 
When you [men and boys] leave the barn yard, 
do you scrape the dirt from your boots, or bring 
it to the clean door steps, or, what is worse, in¬ 
to the house, and scrape it on the nicely polished 
cooking stove, that has cost an hour’s hard rub¬ 
bing to make bright ? Do you ever spit on the 
stove, floors, or carpets ? Do you leave hats and 
overcoats in the hall ?—or do you wear them in 
and lay them on the table with books, papers, 
etc., scattering hay seed and dust over the cloth, 
and its contents, making it necessaiy to remove 
and replace them much oftener than would be 
required, if tbe rules of order were observed ? 
Do you put your own clothes in their places, or 
leave them for some female member of the fam¬ 
ily to take care of? 
I could ask many more questions of similar 
import, about door yards, gates, garden walks, 
fences, tool houses, etc., but I will not intrude. 
I insist that farmers’ homes ought to, and might 
be, as neat and beautiful, as any others if all 
would do their work in the best manner, or at 
the earliest opportunity, and not leave for an¬ 
other what they ought to do themselves. I 
know that long indulged habits are hard to over¬ 
come, but may I not hope that young men will 
heed advice. You would not like to have a 
slatternly wife; but if you are slovenly in your 
habits, you could not be happy with a neat one, 
for she would be dissatisfied and unhappy, and 
unless she were uncommonly heroic, you would 
be likely to hear of it. Perhaps you may think 
these things of very small moment, but I know 
of but few things that grieve and fret a woman 
more, when she is weary and dispirited, than 
to have all her efforts at order and neatness un¬ 
appreciated ; and I know too, “ that more offend 
from want of thought, than from want of feel¬ 
ing.” So let me say to farmers’ boys, and girls 
too, if you wish to have pleasant, happy homes, 
be not only virtuous, but orderly, industrious, 
and neat. 
Lamp Ltshters. —A subscriber to the Ameri¬ 
can Agriculturist says: Uninjured straws of rye, 
oats, and wheat, cut in lengths of about 6 inch¬ 
es, are valuable for lighting candles or lamps. 
Placed in a glass or other small vessel, on the 
mantel or shelf they are quite ornamental. The 
above may be valuable in districts where waste 
paper is scarce. 
