34 = 4 = 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
[September, 
sew, slie must knit. She may possibly read a little 
in the newspaper in the evening, but she would be 
ashamed to be caught with a book in her hand ex¬ 
cept on Sunday—as if she had no work to do ! A 
woman who is pressed with necessary work, who is 
really tired when evening comes, ought to let knit¬ 
ting work alone and buy the stockings for her 
family. But home-knit socks are usually the most 
satisfactory as regards warmth and durability, and 
besides, knitting is a very pleasant occupation. 
COAL-SHED WITH ASH-BIN. 
Babies interfere with it. They pull out the needles, 
and would like no better fun than to ravel the 
work. They oblige one to lay aside the knitting so 
often that it grows slowly when they are about. 
Besides, babies themselves are knitting work 
enough for a mother while babyhood lasts. 
I suppose that most of the knitting is done dur¬ 
ing the long winter evenings, but if a woman who 
has much other work to do, accomplishes much 
knitting, she has to do here a little and there a lit¬ 
tle, through all parts of the year. Knitting work 
of coarse warm yarn, suitable for men and boys 
upon the farm, seems too warm for summer work, 
but the finer stockings and soft baby socks can be 
knit then. No yarn is fit to knit that smells and 
feels greasy. It may be good yarn, and its disa¬ 
greeable qualities can be overcome by soap and 
water. Tie the skein in several places to prevent 
tangling, and wash it in a strong suds, rinsing it 
well in warm water. 
One who has become an adept at plain knitting, 
can accomplish considerable reading while the 
fingers are busy, but only light reading can be done 
in this way. It is folly to try to knit or to do any¬ 
thing else when reading anything that deserves 
close attention aud serious thought. One can be 
very much interested, emotionally, and keep the 
hands as busy as ever, but when the mind begins 
to study earnestly, the work will drop. For this 
reason it is not the proper thing for ladies to take 
their knitting work or tatting or other light work 
when going to hear a lecture, as is sometimes the 
custom, especially to afternoon meetings on week 
days. It suggests the idea that they do not con¬ 
sider the speaker’s thoughts of sufficient import¬ 
ance to claim their whole attention, that they fear 
their time would be wasted if some work of the 
hands were not accomplished while the mind is 
fed. By trying to accomplish something else while 
also attempting to listen to a good lecture, the 
time is worse than wasted. 
But when one feels obliged to knit or sew upon 
something that is so plain as to require no effort 
of the mind, it is a pleasure to have something not 
very obstruse, some good story or simple narrative 
or easy discourse read aloud. If the mind is in a 
vigorous or unwearied condition, it seems clear 
gain to skim a newspaper or read a good short 
story, or the last chapter of a serial, while a stock¬ 
ing for some dear one grows apace. 
To Correspondents. 
Many sweet, good, earnest women write to me, 
and I love to get their letters, and wish to answer 
them, but I wait in vain for a convenient season. 
Perhaps it will come to me yet, but too late to meet 
the necessities of some who write. Most of those 
who have written to me about undergarments for 
women and children, will find their questions 
already answered in previous Home Topics. I 
learn, however, that patterns of the Emancipation 
suit are no longer for sale, as it is now a patented 
garment. It is sold ready made in the large cities. 
Those who sell them 
ought to advertise in the 
American Agriculturist ,but 
it is hardly proper for me 
to give them a free adver¬ 
tisement here. This suit 
is made with laced sides, 
(to accommodate persons 
who cannot be quite fitted 
by ready made garments), 
or without laced sides. 
A mother inquires what 
part of the new suit is 
worn as night dress. All 
of the garments worn 
during the day, should be 
exchanged at night for 
fresh clothing, one gar¬ 
ment or more, according 
to the weather or choice. 
If flannel is worn during 
the day, it ought to be 
used at night also. 
In describing a little 
girl’s costume, I quite 
forgot to mention a 
chemise, because perhaps it is so long since I 
have seen one. I never put them on my little 
girls, but used instead, the united, (or but¬ 
toned together), waist and drawers, as my elder 
sisters did before me. A flannel under-suit, open¬ 
ing behind, with a drilling or gingham rvaist, to 
which outer drawers and skirt are attached, a lined 
flannel dress, and a sleeved apron, all opening 
behind, can be taken off all together, hung so as to 
let the air reach the inner flannel all night, and 
put on to a child with “ one motion ” in the morn¬ 
ing. Flannel night drawers, (or night gowns with 
legs), naturally take their place during the night. 
-«»-4 -,0-— 
Preserving Small Quantities of Ice. 
Ice-houses are now so common that those who 
have them, and well filled, can hardly appreciate 
the condition of those to whom ice is a rarity. 
While it seems to be a matter of necessity in mod¬ 
em house-keeping, there are still many families 
which manage to get along without it. In sickness, 
ice is often one of the most important remedies, 
and it must often be sent for from a long distance, 
and in such cases it is a matter of importance that 
none should be needlessly melted. To keep ice, it 
must be covered with some non-conducting mate¬ 
rial that will prevent heat from reaching it. Wrap¬ 
ping the lump in flannel or other woolen cloth, 
answers a good purpose until the covering becomes 
wet, when the ice melts very rapidly. The more 
perfect a non-conductor the material that surrounds 
Fig. 1.— SECTION OF PRESERVER. 
the ice, and more completely warm air is excluded, 
the better it will keep. Ice has been kept an as¬ 
tonishing length of time by placing it between two 
feather pillows, a plan that may do in an emer¬ 
gency, but neither convenient or desirable. We 
give here illustrations of a preserver contrived by a 
lady of our acquaintance, which can be readily 
made, and which does good service. Figure 1 
shows the affair in sections ; it consists of an outer 
Fig. 2.— PRESERVER FOR ICE. 
box of pasteboard 18 inches in diameter, and the 
same in hight; within this stands a cylinder of paste¬ 
board, 5, 5, 10 inches in diameter; the space be¬ 
tween the two is filled with cotton batting, d, d; 
the batting is also placed in the bottom of the cyl¬ 
inder to the depth of three inches, and a pasteboard 
cover, c, crowded tightly down upon it. The ice 
is placed in a stone jar,/, which stands in a saucer 
Fig. 3.— SECTION OF COVER. 
to catch the drip. A circular rim of pasteboard, 
c, c, figure 2, which shows the exterior of the affair, 
is sewed to the outer box and inner cylinder. The 
cover, which is made on the same principle, is 
shown in section in figure 3 ; it is of pasteboard, 
like the box, and has three inches of its upper part 
filled with batting, which is held in place by a circle 
of pasteboard, c. When the cover is placed upon 
the box, the ice is surrounded on all sides by about 
three inches in thickness of cotton-batting, which 
is such a complete non-conductor that ice may be 
preserved in this manner for 24 to 36 hours. A 
strong darning-needle with a cork for a handle, 
makes a convenient pick for breaking off small 
pieces of ice as they are required. The same con¬ 
trivance will be found useful for keeping drinks 
and other matters warm ; these if set in the cylin¬ 
der in place of the ice-jar, will retain their heat 
without much loss for several hours. • 
A Safe Ash Bin. 
In disposing of ashes, both safety and cleanliness 
are to be considered. When coal is used, proper 
economy requires that the ashes should be sifted, 
the unburned pieces of coal picked out and saved. 
An arrangement for the cleanly and safe disposal 
of ashes, is shown in the engraving, which repre¬ 
sents a section of a shed with a coal bin having an 
outside outlet, as has been previously described in 
the American Agriculturist, (March No.), and an 
ash-bin at the rear, with an opening into the bin at 
the outside, for the occasional removal of the ashes, 
and the deposit of other waste that may be mixed 
with them. In the shed there is a lid which, by 
the dotted lines, is shown as lifted. Beneath the 
lid is the sifter, which is made to slide back and 
forth upon cleats, for the purpose of shaking out 
the ashes, and which may be lifted out by the handle 
in front, when the cinders and coal are to be 
emptied into the coal-bin in front of it. The ash¬ 
pit or bin is sunk in the ground, and should be 
