I 860 .] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST, 
279 
the cracks of the floor and the wall. “Try Cos¬ 
tar’s exterminator,” said my husband, when I re¬ 
ported the progress the bugs had made. We did 
try “ Costar’s ”—apparently a mixture of turpen¬ 
tine and some other ingredients. If we could 
get a drop upon them, the bugs were killed, other¬ 
wise, they still bade us defiance. Next a man 
invented a bellows that was to puff his prepara¬ 
tion into the cracks and upon the insects. We 
tried that, but they cared little for puffs. 
“ We’ll suffocate them,” said I. A roll of sul¬ 
phur was procured, placed in a secure vessel, set 
on fire in the room, and the doors and windows 
closed tightly. It took more than a week to get 
rid of the smell of sulphur, but the bugs were not 
to be smoked out. 
Finally, I have hit it. With sixpence worth of 
corrosive sublimate dissolved in rum or whisky, 
I went carefully over and into every lurking place 
of the pests, applying it pretty liberally with the 
feather end of a quill, and after repeating the 
dose a few times at intervals of two or three 
weeks, I have conquered a peace, and happiness 
has returned to our dwelling. 
Conclusion—Don’t buy second-hand bedsteads. 
If bugs trouble you, try my remedy. Martha. 
Are Potatoes Wholesome Pood ? 
A subscriber sends for this journal (the Agri¬ 
culturist.,) a long essay, in which he attempts to 
prove that potatoes are an unwholesome article 
of food. Many of the reasons given, would apply 
to most other kinds of food, and we do not see 
how the writer, if he believes all he writes, can 
avoid following the advice of the colored man at 
Charleston during the prevalence of the cholera. 
After condemning various articles of food as 
dangerous, to the direct question, “ What shall I 
eat then ?” he replied : “ Why de best way is to 
eat noffin’ at all, and den you no ’spose yer- 
self.” In regard to potatoes, there is no doubt 
that good, mealy potatoes, cooked through, are as 
healthful as any article of food consumed. They 
abound in starch, and do not, alone, furnish mus¬ 
cle-making material enough. They may be eaten 
more freely in cold weather when carbonaceous, 
or heat-producing food is most required; with 
a due quantity of lean meat, bread, cabbage, and 
other nitrogenous kinds of food, they are always 
good. But to be easily digested, they should al¬ 
ways be baked or boiled dry, and mashed. The 
mashing is not essential for adults who have good 
molar teeth or grinders, and who will take time 
in eating, to masticate them well. Children, and 
careless or rapid eaters, are likely to swallow un¬ 
mashed potatoes in small lumps. These lumps 
are dissolved slowly, and irritate the stomach, 
producing a dull heavy feeling, if not absolute 
pain. The fact that bits of potatoes are vomited 
whole, or passed off in the excrements, when 
there is any irritation of the stomach or bowels, 
is proof that such lumps should never go into the 
stomach. 
Potatoes should not be mixed with butter or 
gravies in mashing, as such a compound is not 
easily dissolved by the gastric juice. A better 
plan is to mash them dry, or with a little milk, 
and let whatever salt and butter, or gravy, is 
used, be put upon the outside of each mouthful. 
(This remark applies to all kinds of food.) The 
butter, gravies, spices, etc., applied to food, are 
designed to come in contact with the salivary 
glands, and promote a flow of saliva, and this end 
is better secured by putting these substances 
upon the outside of food. 
A dry, mealy potato, baked or boiled through, 
and mashed finely so that it would dissolve in 
water stirred up with it, is just as good a food, 
for a sick person even, as boiled rice. We repeal 
that sick or well persons, young or old, should 
never swallow a piece of potato larger than a 
small pea; and to ensure this, we advise, as a 
general rule, to mash potatoes before bringing 
them to the table. We agree with our corres¬ 
pondent, that every potato having a black spot or 
lump in it, is diseased, and the whole potato 
should be unceremoniously rejected. There is 
no saving in consuming any part of such a pota¬ 
to. Mere cracks or openings in large potatoes, if 
unsurrounded with dark-colored hard matter, are 
not indicative of disease. 
----- 
To Hestore Luster to Silk. 
Every lady knows that black silk often loses 
its luster and looks old, long before it is worn 
out. It is a pity to lay it aside, yet it is not 
pleasant to wear, for glossiness is one of the 
beauties that makes silk more desirable than 
other fabrics ; even bright new calico looks bet¬ 
ter than lusterless faded silk. We recently 
saw a silk dress which had been worn a 
long time, restored so as to look “almost as 
good as new,” by a very simple process, a de¬ 
scription of which we procured for the Agricultur¬ 
ist. Take two raw potatoes of ordinary size, 
pare them, and remove the core if they are hol¬ 
low. Slice them into a half pint of cold water, 
and leave them over night. The next morning, 
sponge the silk with the water, not wetting it too 
freely; then iron it, and its appearance will be 
greatly improved. 
Tlie Editor with liis Young' Renders. 
BE YOURSELF. 
How would this world appear if all the animals and 
plants of a species were exactly alike ? Suppose, for in¬ 
stance, the horses all to be bay, the cows and oxen red, 
the dogs black, the birds with feathers precisely similar ; 
all trees to be of equal size, and to have the same number 
of branches, and the flowers to be made after but one pat¬ 
tern. You can easily perceive there would be great regu¬ 
larity, but very little beauty. We should soon tire of see¬ 
ing the same forms day by day. Now,we continually 
find pleasure in the garden, the fields, or the woods, for 
each time w e visit them, the scene is changed. Flowers 
of different hues are coming out or fading away ; the 
grass springs up, ripens, and is cut down, giving continu¬ 
al variety; and in the woods, where no two trees are 
alike, we may sit for hours without being tired of observ¬ 
ing their different and beautiful forms. 
This endless diversity of appearance is one reason why 
the country is so much more pleasant than the town. 
Here, we have street after street of houses built on al¬ 
most the same plan. The staring red brick walls, and 
uniform level pavements, meet the eye day by day, until 
it is a relief to see a falling wall or a street torn up for re¬ 
pairs, and it gives a real treat to escape into the country 
for a change of objects. 
In the same manner the world is far happier because 
men are not alike. Each individual has his own peculiar 
nature and character, differing in some points from every 
other individual. Perhaps your brother is delighted with 
nothing so much as w hittling, making wind mills, weather 
vanes, and traps and notions of all sorts, while you are 
more amused with drawing pictures, or reading. He may 
be quick tempered, and you, very good natured. He may 
be very generous, while you are, perhaps, inclined to be 
selfish. And so you will find no two persons just alike in 
disposition, any more than in outward appearance. 
Now it is very certain the Creator intended this to be 
so, and for very good reasons which we will not now 
give, though they are very plain, but only remark that this 
arrangement shows His wonderful power—every man, as 
well as every animal and plant, is a separate and distinct 
invention, like its fellows in general character, but great¬ 
ly different in minor points. It is as if a man should make 
a countless number of clocks, all contrived to keep time 
correctly, all having the same number of wheels, yet no 
two containing the same arrangement of machinery. 
You see how much more skill this would require than to 
make any number after exactly the same pattern. But w e 
leave this part of the subject for you to think of. It will 
be a good theme for a school composition, to give the rea¬ 
sons w liy wo are made so to differ. 
The great object of this chat is to show you the absur¬ 
dity of always doing “as other folks do,” trying to be 
somebody else, instead of being yourself. If John Stokee 
swears, chews tobacco, or smokes, that is no good reason 
for your doing so. He may be like a poor neglected apple 
tree in the fence corner, that has never been cultivated 
and pruned, and taught to bear good fruit. You are 
grow ing up in the home garden, and should blossom with 
promise of correct habits. If Susan Tompkins wears two 
feathers in her bonnet, don’t be unhappy because you 
have none. Perhaps they become her, or her parents can 
afford it, or twenty reasons may exist that would not suit 
your case any more than a sun-flower would fit a morn¬ 
ing-glory vine. 
Here is the rule— Think, and act , as is right in your own 
circumstances, and follow no one's bad example. 
ANSWERS TO TROBLEMS. 
No. 21—Original Rebus. Tie man D tied weight four 
no man : or “ Time and tide wait for no man.” 
No. 22— Word Rebzis. The grate being empty, a man 
put coal on. 
No. 23— Enigma. All who have sent in an answer, 
agree that it is “ Something,” which we supposo is cor¬ 
rect. 
To save repetition of names, we annex to each the num¬ 
ber of the problem solved correctly. “ Nundao,” 18, 19 ; 
B. Heritage, 20: Charles L. Hampden, 21; Edward 
Tatnalljr., 21, 22, 23; A. A. Stevenson, 21; S. Henry 
Ward, 21, 22; Hannah E. Bartley, 21, 22, 23; H. II. 
Vaughan, 21 ; Harry Brackley, 22, 23 ; Ileith L. Dacre, 
22, 23; B. F. Wallis, 22; D. A. Wagner, 23; “White- 
stone,” 23 ; (says the enigma was written by Dr. .Byles 
of England.) 
NEW PROBLEMS. 
No. 24— Puzzle. Arrange the dots as seen in the figure, 
eight in the first row, 
seven in the second, 
etc., and enclose them 
with a line without tak¬ 
ing off the pencil, and 
without passing over 
the same space more 
than once. It can be 
done very easily if you 
are careful to turn at the right corners. 
No. 25 —String Puzzle. This is for the boys, and will 
be quite amusing to those w ho have 
never seen it performed. Take off 
the coat; tie the ends of a string to¬ 
gether and hang it upon the arm, and 
place the hand in the vest pocket, as 
shown in the figure. The puzzle is to 
remove the string without untying it; 
the hand to be kept in the vest pock¬ 
et, and the string not to be put around 
the hand in the pocket. It will re¬ 
quire some ingenuity for you to write 
out an intelligible description of the 
manner of performing this operation, 
as well as some contriving to find out 
how to do it. 
No. 26 —Enigma contributed by “ Whitestone.” 
“Before creating, Nature will’d 
That atoms into forms should jar, 
By me the boundless space was filled, 
On me was built the first-made star. 
“ For me the saint will break his word, 
By the proud atheist I’m rever’d ; 
At me the coward draws his sword , 
And by the hero I am fear’d. 
“ Scorn’d by the meek and humble mind, 
Yet often by the vain possess'd ; 
Heard by the deaf, seen by the blind, 
And to the troubled conscience rest. 
“ Than Wisdom’s sacred self I’m wiser, 
And yet by every blockhead known ; 
I’m freely given by the miser, 
Kept by the prodigal alone. 
“ As Vice deform’d, as Virtue fair, 
The courtier’s loss, the patriot’s gains ; 
The poet’s purse, the coxcomb’s care ; 
Guess—and you’ll have me for your pains. 
A Wisconsin paper says : “ There is not a single per¬ 
son in our county jail.” How many married ones are 
there ? 
You have a splendid ear , but a very poor voice, said tile 
organ grinder to the donkey. 
