1877 .] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
25 
it, and boil it slowly until quite soft, adding hot 
water when necessary, and stirring frequently. 
When quite soft salt it—a large table-spoonful for 
six quarts of soft com. To be eaten with milk 
or cream, or sweetened cream, or sugar, or butter. 
Some Household Conveniences. 
BY I>. 33. SNOOK, YATES CO., N. Y., 
Wherever wood is burned, something to hold it is 
necessary, as a matter of neatness as well as to pro¬ 
tect the floor and wall where the wood is placed. 
In former volumes we have given designs for rus¬ 
tic and other wood-boxes, suitable for a sitting- 
room, and here give one from our ingenious corre¬ 
spondent, Mr. Snook, which, though intended for 
the kitchen, with a little care in finishing, may be 
made to serve for other rooms. This box, which is 
shown in figure 1, should be of stuff not less than 
4-inch thich, and all the better if of inch boards. 
The large compartment, for holding wood, is 22 
inches high, 14 in. wide, and 22 in. long, inside 
measurement. The side portion, B, with sloping 
lid, is 10 inches deep, the same wide, and of course 
as long as the other portion. Below this is the 
drawer, i?, shown partly open. For the kitchen 
the box may be painted, to conform to the general 
woodwork, but for other rooms a pleasing finish 
may he given by papering the exterior with wall¬ 
paper. Very clever imitations of oak, walnut, and 
other woods, are now made in wall-paper, some of 
which would be appropriate for such a use as this. 
Of course the large division is for wood, and it 
should be recollected that the durability of the box 
will depend much upon the care taken by the per¬ 
son who keeps it supplied. If the wood is dumped 
by the armful into the box with a crash, it will last 
but a short time. There is a right and a wrong 
way in so simple an operation as dropping an arm¬ 
ful of wood. The drawer may be used for kind¬ 
lings, and the compartment above as a receptacle 
for dust-pan and brush, stove-blacking, etc.; or 
these may go below and the kindlings above. 
An Improved Qnilting Frame. 
On rare occasions a quilting frame is in demand 
in a family, but when not in use it is very much in 
the way, especially if people are so short-sighted 
as to build a country bouse without a garret. The 
old style of quilting frame, in which the sides and 
ends are tied together, or insecurely held by pins, 
and the whole set upon the backs of four chairs, is 
still in use. It is a bungling affair, with nothing 
hut cheapness to recommend it. The frame pro¬ 
posed by Mr. Snook, and represented in figures 2 
and 3, is a great improvement over the common 
2 .— GAME WITH SWINGING STRIKES, 
one, especially as it can “ stand alone,”, it being 
provided with legs of its own. Figure 2 shows the 
frame as set up ; the side pieces, M, M, are 20 ft. 
long, 2i in. wide, and 1 inch thick; several slots, 
an inch wide, and 20 in. long, are cut in these, as 
seen in the engraving. The end pieces, B, B , are 
about 8 feet long, the other dimensions being the 
same as for the sides. The legs, P, P, are 2 ft. 4 or 
6 in. long, of square 2-inch stuff, and are worked 
down to one inch square at the bottom. In the 
top of each leg is firmly driven or screwed a half¬ 
inch iron bolt, which projects three inches, and up¬ 
on the upper half of which is a thread, upon which 
a winged nut, L, easily turns. Figure 3 gives one 
comer of the frame, and shows the manner in which 
the parts are held together by the screw and winged 
nut; the slots in the side and end pieces allow the 
frame to be quickly adjusted to a small or large 
quilt. Strips of list, or thick woolen cloth, are 
tacked upon the inner edges of the frame, to which 
the edges of the quilt are attached by basting, or, 
if preferred, small screw-eyes may be inserted every 
five inches, to which the edge of the quilt may be 
fastened by a few stitches. 
Indoor Games of Marbles. 
BY L. D. SNOOK, YATBS CO., N. Y. 
[Girls do not often play at out-door games of marbles, 
hut here are some games at which girls as well as hoys 
mayplay. These are given by our friend Mr. 
Snook, who invents so many useful things 
for older people, hut does not forget the 
young folks.— Bd.] 
A Marble-Board with Mallet Striker. 
—This hoard (fig. 1) is made of pine or other 
light wood, an inch and a half thick, thirty 
inches long, and about fifteen inches wide, 
with strips one-quarter inch thick, nailed 
around the edge, to project an iuch and a half 
above the surface of the hoard. Near the 
center of the hoard is placed one end of the 
guard-strip, B, which is one-quarter of an 
inch thick, one inch wide, and six inches 
long, nailed or glued at the angle shown in 
the engraving. With a compass strike six 
circles, each six inches in diameter, marking 
them with a pencil, or paint, and number 
from 10 to 100, in the manner shown at figure 
1. The game is to place the marble or small 
ball at A, aud with a little mallet strike it a 
light blow, so that it will take a course simi¬ 
lar to the dotted lines. Each player is allow¬ 
ed five shots, or the use of five marbles. A 
marble stopping within a circle, is counted 
the number of the circle, but if it rests upon 
the line, or outside of a circle, the stroke 
is lost, and no number counted. It will require con¬ 
siderable skill to strike the marble just hard enough to 
stop within the circle numbered 80 or 100, which all will 
play for. A game requiring more skill on the part of 
the players to gain the highest number, is shown in the 
Portable Marble-Board with Swinging Striker.— 
In this, (fig. 2) the di¬ 
mensions of the hoard ~ 
are as in figure 1. 
Within five inches of 
one end there is placed 
an arch of wood or wire, 
one foot in bight, and 
should he so arranged 
as to he readily re¬ 
moved, or fold down 
upon the hoard when 
not in use. A leaden 
ball half-inch in diame¬ 
ter, is suspended by a 
string from the top of 
the arch; the lower 
part of the ball should 
just miss the hoard 
when swinging. Circles 
and a triangle are drawn 
upon the board and 
numbered as in figure 
2. A common - sized 
marble is placed one 
inch toward the center 
from the hall. The 
game is played by tak¬ 
ing the swinging ball in 
one hand, and holding it out over the end of the board, 
and, when the proper position is thought to be reached, 
to let it swing inward; it will he quite likely to strike 
the marble, and that will come at rest perhaps near the 
opposite end of the hoard. Five strokes are allowed 
each player; a stroke is the first swinging movement of 
the ball after leaving the hand, and two strokes in suc¬ 
cession missing the marble, is called one stroke, and is to 
he so counted, also should the marble be moved just to 
or a little beyond the dotted lines, E, it is counted as a 
stroke. The point is to so strike the marble that it will 
stop within one of the circles or triangles, of course the 
player having the greatest number of counts wins the 
game. A game much simpler, yet requiring skill to win 
repeatedly, we call the 
Set Marble Game, in which all the marbles are placed 
in position before a stroke is made. The hoard is of the 
same size as in the other games, only the strip is left off 
at one end. Three inches from the end, and at equal 
distances apart, are placed four marbles; two inches 
from this row, and equally distant from one another, is 
placed another row, containing five marbles; five inches 
from the open end is placed a row containing four mar¬ 
bles. After measuring off the distances here given, a 
small indentation is made at each point, which is easily 
done by striking a marble'Or bullet with a hammer at the 
point desired, and should he iust deep enough to keep 
the marble from rolling about. With the mallet each 
player strikes in succession the four marbles near the 
open end of the hoard, which, when rolling, should dis¬ 
place as many as possible at the opposite end ; after the 
four marbles have been knocked to the opposite end of 
the board, the vacant numbered places are counted up, if 
all are vacant, a count of 190 will he made, hut there will 
usually be less, unless the players are skillful. After one 
has taken his four shots, the marbles are set for the next. 
These games may be played by two or several persons ; 
Fig. 1.—GAME OF MARBLES WITH MALLET. 
each playing in turn, which may be decided by drawing 
lots, or by agreement among themselves. 
Tlie Doctor’s Correspondence. 
As usual, I have a budget of letters asking questions, 
—SET GAME OF MARBLES. 
and as usual, I fear that I shall disappoint some of my 
young friends, who will eagerly look for answers, and 
not find them. A bright boy or girl will in a few minutes 
ask more questions than the wisest man can answer in a 
long while. Indeed, a great many of the questions that 
come to me are unanswerable. Every year people are 
