118 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
[April, 
sticks on the back margin of the paper and make 
the holes by that, so that they will all agree ; then 
run the awl through the paper, draw the string into 
the slot in the awl, pull the awl back out of the pa- 
per and yon have the string drawn through. Then 
put on cover and stick, draw the strings up tightly 
and tie them, and you have the whole thing com¬ 
plete. The awl, P, can easily be made out of a 
wire, such as is used for hails of pails, with the aid 
of a sharp cold chisel and good file. 
The Bread Question. 
The communication of a “ Crusty Bachelor ” in 
the January Agriculturist (page 22) has called out 
many responses, most of which give the reasons 
why good bread can not always be had. The fol¬ 
lowing extract from the letter of “ An Old House¬ 
keeper,” at Fremont, O., contains the substance of 
most of these replies: “ The difficulty in the way 
of always having good bread is not that ‘ the pro¬ 
cess is so varied or uncertain,’ or ‘ requires such a 
degree of acquired mechanical skill,’ but that bread 
making though simple, is a long process. Could it 
be made in an hour or two, like pies or cake, it 
surely should be always good. But in winter, it 
must be commenced by six in the evening, and is 
not completed often until noon of the next day; in 
summer, by nine in the evening, and (every wind 
being propitious) it is out of the oven by ten next 
morning. Now, from the time of setting the sponge 
until it is safely baked, it requires no small amount 
of care and watching. It must be placed in exactly 
the right temperature for the night. The first thing 
in the morning it must be molded. After that ‘ one 
eye ’ must continually be upon it. It must neither 
be too cold or too hot, and when it has reached the 
exact point of lightness, it must be remoulded with¬ 
out delay. Next, the oven requires attention. 
That must be at the proper heat, and after the 
bread is in, it must not be forgotten until it is safely 
out.”-Comparatively few housekeepers have so 
few other matters to look after that they can al¬ 
ways take the requisite time to “see to the bread,” 
hence, occasionally, a heavy, or sour, or burned 
loaf appears upon the table. 
The above suggestions meet the case of many, 
and should lead the good man of the house either 
to provide more help, so that, as “Farmer’s Daugh¬ 
ter ” suggests, one person may have time to give 
especial attention to the bread while in process of 
manufacture; or, if he can not,afford this, should 
make him at least charitable enough to spare his 
wife’s feelings when she is just ready to cry over 
her “ bad luck.” 
There are, however, many inexperienced house¬ 
keepers who have never learned the process by 
which good bread can be made ; and we presume it 
was for their benefit that our “ Crusty Bachelor ” 
started his question. Another correspondent, 
“ Aunt Betsy” takes the same view of the case, and 
accordingly gives her method as follows: “ I take 
S tablespoonfuls of flour and scald it with one pint 
of boiling water; let it remain until blood warm, 
and then stir into it one cup of good lively home¬ 
brewed yeast; cover it and set it in a warm place 
until it rises very light—from 3 to 5 hours. Then 
stir in flour enough to make a stiff dough, and 
knead thoroughly; cover, and let it stand until it 
rises. It must not be put in too warm a place— 
too much heat injures the bread—it needs about 
65° Fahr. I make my sponge at noon and after tea 
make up the bread. Let it remain in a warm room 
over night, and in the morning it is risen sufficient¬ 
ly. I divide this dough into as many loaves as I 
wish to make, mould them into shape without 
kneading, set them in a warm place to rise and 
then bake.” 
A Maine “Farmer’s Wife,” gives the following 
directions for making yeast which she says she 
found in some newspaper, and which has proved to 
be excellent. Boil, say on Monday, 2 ounces of 
the best hops in 4 quarts of water for % an 
hour, strain it and let the liquid cool down to about 
90°. Then put in a handful of salt and half a pound 
of sugar, beat up one pound of the best flour with 
some of the liquid, then mix well together. Two 
days after, add three pounds of potatoes boiled 
and well mashed. Let them stand together until 
next day, then strain, put into bottles and it is 
ready for use. It must be stirred frequently while 
it is making, and kept near the fire. Before using, 
shake the hottle well. It will keep in a cool place 
two months, and is best the latter part of the time. 
It ferments spontaneously, not requiring the aid 
of any other yeast, and if care be taken to let it 
ferment well in the earthen bowl in which it is 
made, it may be corked tight when first bottled. 
Salt Emptyings.—Contributed to the Am¬ 
erican Agriculturist by Sarah D. Curtiss, Columbia 
Co., N. Y. To one pint of warm water add a tea¬ 
spoonful of sugar, teaspoonful of salt, and 
butter the size of a walnut. Thicken them with 
flour—rye is the best. Set the dish containing the 
mixture in warm water. Stir the contents often 
during first three hours. Let it stand until light. 
Economical Brcnd.—Contributed to the 
American Agriculturist hy M. B. Stanley, near West- 
field, Ind. Take scraps of flour bread, break in a 
pan or deep dish, cover it with milk, let it stand 
until soft, then mash. If very sour add half the 
amount of sweet milk, if not add sour milk; add 
y teaspoonful of soda to the quart, two eggs and 
a little salt; stir in com meal enough to make a 
batter; bake in a quick oven. 
Bargains in Furniture—A Caution. 
Many young housekeepers, and others who at 
this season are looking out for furniture, will nat¬ 
urally desire to “buy at a bargain.” Opportunities 
for this are sometimes, but not often, found at auc¬ 
tion sales. Second-hand articles usually bring their 
full value when eager purchasers are plenty; and 
when they are not, under-bidders (that is, persons 
employed by the owner to bid) are very frequently 
employed to keep the articles up to the mark. 
This latter practice is almost universal at the furni¬ 
ture auctions in this, and we presume, in other 
cities. The writer has seen the same articles sold 
day after day at auction rooms in New-York City. 
A stranger in this city, or one not a stranger, but 
not of a suspicious nature, many easily be deceived 
by the auction sales of household furniture, which 
take place “ on the premises.” A house is hired 
by some party for a few weeks, furnished through¬ 
out with articles most likely to meet with a ready 
sale, and to comport with the general style 
of the house. Some houses are quite richly fur¬ 
nished, carpeted elegantly, the windows hung 
with rich appearing damask and lace curtains. Pier 
glasses, luxurious furniture, and well-framed pic¬ 
tures adorn the parlors. In the dining-room the 
extension-table displays upon immaculate linen a 
handsome dinner service, with full sets for each 
course; the side-board contains its furniture, and 
exhibits besides, breakfast and tea sets of china, 
with silver(?) urns and tea-pots, sugar-bowls, etc. 
The kitchen is completly furnished, too. So in the 
nursery; so in the chambers and the hall, every 
thing seems complete. Sometimes the nursery is 
half closed and, to make the deception the more 
perfect, a nice looking nurse with a child in her 
arms, or in a cradle, and with mere or less child’s 
fixins scattered about, may be seen doing the 
best she can to look quite at home. Let thevisitor 
look about carefully at all and it will be observed 
that almost every thing is “ bran new.” The table- 
linen is of poor quality and not hemmed; the cur¬ 
tains are put up in the most temporary manner; 
the china has the appearance of elegance, but will not 
bear close inspection, for it is in reality of cheap 
quality; so with the showy, sham-substantial fur¬ 
niture ; so with carpets (parlor, dining-room, and 
stair all of one pattern). So with every thing. 
Watch the sale when it begins—nothing sells 
really cheap. The bona fide bidders stop, and then 
if there is likely to be a sacrifice on the article, per¬ 
sons employed by the auctioneer run it up or give 
it a closing bid, and it will be put up again as soon 
as the audience has changed a little. 
It may be safely said that, on the whole, the best 
way to procure furniture, as well as other articles, 
is to go to some reliable dealer, pay a fair price and 
be content. The time and worry involved in hunt¬ 
ing up cheap bargains, together with the probabili¬ 
ty of being humbugged first or last, are seldom 
offset by any real gain. 
About Whitewashing. 
The time for cleaning, and fixing up, has come, 
and one of the most important items is white¬ 
washing. We often wonder that people do not do 
more at this. How much neater and more cheer¬ 
ful a whole place looks, if a few hours are spent in 
whitening the fences, the out-houses, the cellars, 
etc. It changes the whole appearance of-the home- 
sted. One day’s work thus expended will often 
make a place twice as attractive and add hundreds 
of dollars to its salable valuation. Whitewashing 
a cellar with lime not only makes it lighter and 
neater, but more healthful also. For Cellars , a sim¬ 
ple mixture of fresh-slacked lime is best. For 
House Booms, the common “ Paris White,” to be 
bought cheaply, is very good. We take for each 
2 lbs. of whiting, an ounce of the best white or 
transparent glue, cover it with cold water over 
night, and in the morning simmer it carefully with¬ 
out scorching, until dissolved. The Paris White is 
then put in hot water, and the dissolved glue stir¬ 
red in, with hot water enough to fit it for applying 
to the walls and ceilings. This makes a very fine 
white, so firm that it will not rub off at all.—When 
common fresh-slacked lime is used, some recom¬ 
mend adding to each 2% gallons (a pailful), 2 table¬ 
spoonfuls of salt and % pint of boiled linseed oil, 
stirred in well while the mixture is hot. This is 
recommended for out-door and in-door work. 
For an Out-Door Whitewash, we have used the 
following with much satisfaction: Take a tub, put 
in a peck of lime and plenty of water to slack it. 
When hot with slacking, stir in thoroughly about 
y pound of tallow or other grease, aud mix it well 
in. Then add hot water enough for use. The 
compound will withstand rain for years. 
What Makes Provisions Spoil? 
As warm weather returns, the perplexities of the 
housekeeper are greatly increased by the difficulty 
of “ keeping things sweet,” as it is termed. Meat, 
bread, milk, preserves, in short, provisions of all 
kinds must be carefully looked after, or there will 
be sourness, taint, mould and other unpleasant phe¬ 
nomena in the cellar and pantry, and “ these things 
are so provoking,” that few housekeepers can al¬ 
ways keep even their temper sweet under such dif¬ 
ficulties. An understanding of the way in which 
these changes occur, the causes which produce 
them, and the circumstances wich favor them, will 
aid in their prevention. Those who by long, 
practical experience have learned to avoid the dif¬ 
ficulty, may be interested to know why their meth¬ 
ods are successful. 
The staple articles of food most liable to be 
spoiled—meat, eggs, flour, milk, and their com¬ 
pounds—each contain a substance called albumen. 
The white of an egg is almost pure albumen. It 
forms about seven per cent, of the blood, and- 
makes a part of all flesh and many of the juices or 
secretions of the body. A similar compound is 
found in vegetables and seeds. Albumen is made 
up of the elements carbon, oxygen, hydrogen and’ 
nitrogen, with a little sulphur and phosphorus. 
The muscular parts of fleshy fiber, called fibrin, 
and the albumen in the blood consist of the same 
elements as the albumen of the egg, except that 
they contain less of sulphur. Wheat flour contains 
a large portion of the substance called gluten , made 
up of the same constituents as fibrin. In milk 
there exists a compound named casein (the cheesy 
part) which is made of the 6ame elements that con¬ 
stitute albumen, fibrin and gluten, though they are 
not present in exactly the same proportion. The 
different substances have a strong family resem- 
