I 860 .] 
343 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
fashionable, while darker colors are safe to near¬ 
ly all. Again, good taste is greatly violated by 
a wrong assortment of colors in dress. Tlius^a 
violet bonnet may be entirely spoiled by blue 
flowers, or a yellow skirt by a pink sasli. Green 
associates well with violet; gold with dark 
crimson or lilac; pale blue with scarlet; pink 
with black and white; g"ay with scarlet or pink. 
The most objectionable and perhaps the most 
common fault to be avoided, is want of harmony 
in the richness of the several articles composing 
the dress. Thus we often see a costly mantilla 
thrown over a cheap delaine ; a gaudy bonnet 
accompanied by a cheap shawl; a splendid 
parasol shading a “lady” in calico. Such a 
contrast reminds one of the school boy who in¬ 
vested his first half dollar in a pair of silk gloves, 
and was saluted by his comrades with the cry, 
“ patch on both knees, and gloves on !” The 
delaine, the calico, the mantilla, the parasol 
may all be well enough by themselves, but 
they do not accord well together; for harmony 
is the very first essential in correct taste. 
-- ►-«*- 
Pudding and Pies—A Domestic Chat. 
“ How is it, wife, that we have had neither 
pies nor puddings of late ?” said my good man 
one evening, as he sat in his favorite corner, 
while I was washing the dishes. “ For the simple 
reason that I have done making their,” I replied. 
“ Of pies, you eat the inside only, leaving the crust 
to be thrown away because of its toughness, 
though I always use plenty of shortening and 
work it in well. And aS for puddings; I have 
tried nearly every recipe in the books, and found 
them troublesome, expensive things to make, 
and when done, fit only for the stomach of an 
ostrich!” “Yes Madam, that is just so. We 
too have often been obliged to swallow a queer 
mixture of fruit, and a leathery substance, (sup¬ 
posed to be dough) asking no questions for con¬ 
science’ sake, but wanting to ask a good many 
for the stomach’s sake.” 
Just then fortunately Aunt Keziah, as we all 
call her, came in, and I stated the case to her. 
“ Give up puddings and pies !” exclaimed she, 
“ not until you’ve tried my way, and then I 
warrant you’ll not give them up.” “ In your 
book recipes,” continued she, “ they almost al¬ 
ways spoil puddings by putting in too much fruit. 
Use only half the fruit mentioned, and you will 
nave a better pudding. I like a pudding made 
in this way: In a quart of milk stir three well 
beaten eggs. Toast and butter a large slice of 
bread, cut it in pieees an inch square, and stir 
into the milk; grate part of a nutmeg over it, 
sweeten to your taste, then let it bake. If you 
wish to add fruit, a handful (a quarter of a 
pound) is sufficient. 
For another good pudding, to One quart of 
milk add two table spoonfuls and a half of rice, 
sugar to your taste, a little nutmeg or cinna¬ 
mon, and a lump of butter half as large as a 
lien’s egg; this baked slowly for two or three 
hours, will be of the consistence of jelly, and 
very nice. An improved method of making 
custard is as follows. Scald a quart of milk and 
pour it over four well beaten eggs, stirring 
meanwhile; sweeten and flavor to your taste; 
then pour into your cups and bake. Custard 
made thus requires fewer eggs and is richer. 
You can make pie crust or pastry tender 
and flaky in the following manner. To a 
quart of flour add a third of a pound of lard, 
a fourth of a pound of butter, and a teaspoonful 
of salt. Mix lightly with a spoon —don’t think of 
kneading it, for the more you work it the tough¬ 
er it will be—then add enough cold water to 
moisten it. Take out what you require for one 
pie, and sprinkle enough flour over it to roll it, 
line and fill your dish; then for the top repeat 
the above process, spreading on a piece of but¬ 
ter as large as a hickory nut. Then dust on 
flour, and fold the dough together before rolling 
it. This recipe never fails to make excellent 
pie-crust. The secret lies in not kneading it. Pas¬ 
try should be manipulated as little as possible. 
I followed Aunt Keziah’s directions, and now 
my husband compliments my puddings and 
pies so much that I am vain enough to think 
them worth a place in the Agriculturist. 
Alice. 
Those Pickled Apples. 
A lady reader says: “ Don’t fail again to tell 
the housekeepers who read the Agriculturist how 
to pickle apples in the manner described by you 
some two or three years since, with any im¬ 
provements in the process. I have for two 
years put up pickled apples in the way describ¬ 
ed, and we all value them very highly.” 
We have found no improvement upon the 
plan referred to, which was this: 
Take a peck of sweet apples and pare them. 
Boil them until tender in a syrup made of 
4 lbs. of sugar and a quart of vinegar; then re¬ 
move them from this syrup, and make a new 
syrup of 5 lbs. of sugar and a quart of vinegar, 
to which add two teaspoonfuis each of cloves 
and cinnamon, tied in a bag; let this syrup boil 
15 or 20 minutes, and pour it, while hot, over 
fruit. The first may be used for other sauces. 
Tlse Editor WitSi liis Yontig Keatlcrs. 
THANKSGIVING. 
In most of the States, “ Thanksgiving - Day ” 
comes during this month. Soon the turkies and 
ducks and chickens will be selected and shut up 
to fatten, the golden pumpkins will be brought 
from the field to be melted down into rich pies , 
the cook books will be hunted through to find dish¬ 
es fit for American Sovereigns on their high feast 
day; the housekeepers will be filled with busy cares 
of preparation, and the boys and girls with antici¬ 
pations of the “good time coming.” 
This keeping of an annual feast is one of the best 
American customs. A few years ago it was con¬ 
fined to New-England where it originated, but it 
has now become national—every State, we believe 
observes it. Rare times we have enjoyed on such 
occasions, when all the family, young and old, were 
gathered at home, and the day was spent in review¬ 
ing the events of the year since last we met. 
Do you know how the custom originated? It 
was in one of the early colonies of New-Englaud. 
One year they had not raised enough to live upon, 
and unless help should come from the Mother coun¬ 
try, England, they must perish. It was a sorrow¬ 
ful time, and they appointed a day of lasting and 
prayer, that God might send them relief. The day 
before that so appointed; a ship laden with provis¬ 
ions arrived, and the fast day was changed to a feast, 
and a Thanksgiving Day, and it was thereafter 
commemorated yearly. 
Would you not have been truly thankful at such 
a time ? But is there not reason to be more thank¬ 
ful to the kind Providence that has given the sun¬ 
shine and rain, the favoring seedtime and the boun¬ 
tiful harvest, and thus prevented our being reduced 
to danger of starving ? When the day comes, sit 
down in the morning, and endeavor to write out 
how many kindnesses you have received during the 
jirevious year, and you will soon find that there is 
cause enough to be grateful to the Giver of all good. 
A SMALL MAN. 
He was six feet high and well proportioned, but 
that did not make him great, as you shall hear. It 
was near Thanksgiving Day, and he called on the 
Minifstci - at whose church he sometimes attended, 
to inform him that he need not buyaturkey, for lie 
himself laid selected the best one in his yard, a no¬ 
ble fellow, for the minister’s especial use. Sure 
enough, the evening before Thanksgiving, the man 
appeared with the turkey, which was indeed a mag¬ 
nificent bird. The minister thought he could do no 
less than invite So kind a friend to dine with him 
and the invitation was quickly accepted. About 
dinner time the man made his appearance, bringing 
■frith him his wife and three children, which were 
more than were expected, but nothing was said, as 
the turkey had made them welcome, The dinner 
was duly attended to, the boys, particularly, doing 
wonders in the eating line. As they were about 
leaving the table the minister remarked “ that was 
a noble turkey, he must have weighed at least 
eighteen pounds.” “ Just that, to a notch, replied 
the man, and lie comes to one dollar and eighty cents.'" 
The minister was too much taken aback to say a 
word ; lie paid the bill on the spot, and very prop¬ 
erly concluded that it does ‘ take all sorts of people 
to fill the world.’ 
NEW PROBLEM. 
We have space this month but for one puzzle, 
but must give our “ little folks ” more room here¬ 
after. No. 29.—An Illustrated Rebus, a very good 
motto don!5 up in the picture language. What does 
it read's 
ANSWERS TO PROBLEMS IN SEPT. AND OCT. 
No. 24. Dot Puzzle. —We have found by inspecting 
the various answers received; that there arc many 
.'\AAAA/VV\ wayB ofc “ s ' tho 
Ay-vA xA 
lines according to the 
directions given, and 
we have accordingly 
given credit to all who 
succeeded, though 
their method differed 
from that here shown. 
Commence at the upper left hand corner, follow 
the plain line, and finish by passing over the dotted 
line. 
No. 27. Enigma. —A daily morning newspaper. 
No. 28. Illustrated Rebus. 
Be not too wise, nor over nice, 
For if you be, you little see 
How like an idiot you be. 
Nearly all who sent answers to this, omitted the 
word “ little,” but as they were so nearly right, we 
have given them credit. 
Correct answers received up to Oct. 10, as follows : 
John E. Hardisty, 24; William Eollet, 25; E. E. 
Murphy, 24; Frank B. Ridgway, 25; Ermoh A. 
Hull, 24; A. M. Sigmund, 24, 25, 20; A. Gonnicr, 
25 ; Robert M. Hasbrouck, 25, 26 ; John A. Jolin- 
sori* 26; Joseph Clayton, 24, 25; Geo. L. Emery, 
24, 26 ; Wm. P. Kochenour, 20; Win. Maey, 25, 20; 
both answered in rhyme, which we have no space 
to print; J. Conway Slialer, 25; E. Cook, 24, 25, 
26 ; Helen M. Peck, 28 ; Jarvis IT. Arnold, 28 ; Mar¬ 
tha A. Campbell, 28; Joseph T. Mason, 28; Louis 
Andrew Jaeksou, 28; “ Glen Cove,” 24,28; U. B. 
Eshlman, 27; John Halifax, 28; T. M. Hcqucm- 
bourg, 24, 27, 2S ; Hiram Maine, 24, 25, 20 ; James 
MeKill, 26 ; Gilbert Spicer, 27; Willie J. Rice, 28 ; 
Clara A. Boyce, 28; II. II. Baylcy, 28; Mary F 
Emery, 28, 
