1869 .] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
TEE EOTSSEIOm 
(t For other Household Items, see “ Basket" pages.) 
Feather Fashions. 
What fashion is, or who decides -what the fashions 
shall be, we do not pretend to discuss. A thing is 
“the fashion,” and that is the end of it. The mat¬ 
ter is alluded to now to show oue particular phase 
of the prevailing- taste. Stuffed birds, and wings and 
breasts with feathers on them, have long been used 
for decorating the things ladies call hat's. This 
I Fig. 1.— ORNAMENT OP CEDAR-BIRD, ETC. 
season the style has broken out in a new quarter, 
and the most curious combinations are seen. Some 
college boys, wishing to play a trick on the pro¬ 
fessor of Natural History, took the body of a bee¬ 
tle, fastened some grasshoppers’ legs and butter¬ 
flies’ wings to it, and placed it on his desk. When 
the professor came in, he gravely took it up and 
said : “ Gentlemen, I have here a remarkable speci¬ 
Fig. 2 .— PEATIIER ORNAMENT. 
men of a humbug.” The ornaments to which we 
refer as being at present popular are of some such 
construction as this “humbug.” The head of one 
bird, the wings of another, and the tail of a third, 
is no unusual combination, provided marked aud 
brilliant contrasts can be secured. Fig. 1 shows the 
stuffed body of a Cedar-bird, its wing-feathers be¬ 
ing tipped with bright scarlet, and finished off with 
Fig. 3.—ORNAMENT OF BLUE JAT, ETC. 
the long, sickle feathers of a Black Spanish cock. 
These tail-feathers are not drawn of their proper 
length, to save room. The desire seems to be to 
get strong colors, and it is said that a great many 
of the parrots kept by the bird-dealers have been 
bought up and slaughtered by these makers of 
feather ornaments. Birds of brilliant plumage, 
such as the Scarlet Tanager and the Oriole, which 
formerly sold to the bira-stuffers at 20 cents, now 
sell to the feather workers for $1.00. Individual 
feathers are worked up in the form shown in fig. 2. 
A pasteboard form is made, aud feathers of differ¬ 
ent kinds aud strongly contrasting colors are sewed 
on in successive layers. Feathers of fowls and 
geese are worked in, and we doubt not some of the 
brilliant plumage of the pigeon and turkey may 
come in play. What may be called the tail of this 
artificial bird is furnished with some long feathers, 
and what should be the head is finished off with a 
velvet bow. The outre' ornament in fig. 3 is made 
of a Yellow-bird with expanded wings, and furnish¬ 
ed with a tail made up of cock’s feathers, from 
which the plume lias been stripped, except at 
the tips. This is worn upon the hat directly in 
front. We do not approve of shooting useful 
birds for such purposes ; but if any of our readers 
have showy feathers, we give them this hint for 
making them up according to the prevailing fashion. 
The Table—Order and Ornament. 
It was Dickens, we think, who said he could al¬ 
ways judge of the character of a hotel by the con¬ 
dition of the Caster.—Now, do not quarrel about 
the spelling of the word, for we have looked into 
both the W’s, and are sure that er is right and not 
or. We should like to write Castor, but both W’s 
forbid.—If Dickens was right in his estimation of 
public houses by this standard, it is, we think, a 
good one to apply to private tables, and it is fair 
to judge a housekeeper by her caster—to which we 
may add the salt-cellar. Salt, pepper, and vinegar, 
arc needed at most meals, and besides these oil, 
mustard, catsup, and other sauces, are more or less 
used. Let us take up these things as a matter of 
order. In the first place the salt-cellars and the 
caster should never be put away until they have 
been properly replenished for the next meal. We 
say never with an emphasis, for nothing is more an- 
nojfing than to find that there is no pepper or vin¬ 
egar in the cruets, and it is in just these little 
things that the housekeeper shows her tact. Let 
us discuss these condiments. In the first pla,ce 
there is salt. Good salt should have no smell, and 
it should not become moist, no matter how “ mug¬ 
gy” the weather. If salt shows either of these 
defects, try some other brand, or some other store, 
and insist upon good salt, not only for butter but 
for table use. It is to be had. Pepper is the next 
article of importance. Outrageous adulterations 
are practiced in the grinding of pepper and other 
spices, yet it is very inconvenient to do it one’s 
self. Demand of the retailer that he shall furnish 
you a good article, and he will soon find out where 
to get it. Most of us who live near cities use white 
pepper. The black pepper is soaked in water until 
it loses its useless black skin, and then the grain is 
ground. It costs a little more, but it is neater in the 
caster, and does not blacken the food. Of course 
this is a refinement which only those near large 
cities can practice; but good, straight-ahead black 
pepper, if it be pure, is good enough. Vinegar is 
the condiment next most in use. Get good cider 
vinegar, and it will be the better the longer it is 
kept. Cider vinegar has an aroma, a fragrance, 
about it that belongs not to wine, whiskey, or any 
other vinegar. It is very true that the name vine¬ 
gar means sour wine, but give us sour cider in 
preference. Sugar, or molasses and water, and 
many other things, will make a sour liquid which 
may be called vinegar, but nothing can equal that 
made from apple juice. Oil. Many people do not 
use oil. Do not put it in the caster unless it is 
good—emphatically good. To those who use oil 
there is nothing more annoying than that of a poor 
quality. Better omit it altogether, than to present 
an indifferent article. Mustard. There are two 
kinds of mustard, so distinct that they should be 
called by two different names. The strong, biting 
English or American mustard is best known. The 
381 
powdered mustard is mixed with cold water, and 
sometimes a little salt is added. This is the com¬ 
mon mustard upon our tables. The Germans and 
French have a way of preparing mustard in which 
much of its pungency is modified by spices. If 
any of our German readers can give us a recipe for 
this manner of preparing mustard, wo should be 
glad, as we believe that no one who has once tried 
it would willingly take the other kind. Catsup and 
Sauces. These are not considered as necessary in the 
caster. Catsup, if properly made of tomatoes, is too 
thick and unmanageable to get through the narrow 
neck of a cruet, and it is better to put it upon tho 
table iu a separate bottle. The same with Worces¬ 
tershire and other sauces that may be fancied. It 
is a great deal better to have a common, black bot¬ 
tle for catsup, from which those who desire it can 
get some, than to have an elegant cut-glass cruet 
into which the catsup has been introduced with a 
difficulty only to be equaled by that experienced by 
those who attempt to get it out. 
An Overworked Farmer’s Wife. 
There comes from Columbia Co., Oregon, the 
following, which seems to be so truthful a setting 
forth of the condition of many a farmer’s wife that 
we give it place, not only in the hope it may call out 
some help for the writer, but also that unthinking 
“men folks ” may see how the daily life of a hard- 
worked woman reads in print. The writer says : 
“ There is an article in the April No. of your pa¬ 
per by Mrs. II. M. K., Columbia Co., Pa., in which 
she tells how the house aud dairy-work should be 
done, and I must say her plan is a very good one; 
but will she, or any one else, tell me how to have 
things go on smoothly; keep one’s self, children, 
house, and dairy, in good order where there are not 
two women to do the work, and where hired help 
expect large wages and but little work ? Where the 
churning is not done by machinery and there are 
no children large enough to be of any service, but 
where all the house and dairy-work, skimming 
milk, churning and working butter, washing milk- 
pans, house-cleaning, washing, ironing, dish-wash¬ 
ing, making, mending, baking, etc. (to say nothing 
of three little ones and three men with an occasion¬ 
al hired man to wait upon), must be done by one 
pair of weary hands, and one weary heart must 
bear all the complaints when it is not all done? I 
say if any one can tell me how all this can be done 
by one woman, and she in very poor health, I shall 
be glad to hear from him or her. But if it cannot 
b'o done (and I am inclined to think it cannot, for 
I have tried for the last three years), then please tell 
me what part to leave undone, for I cannot decide. 
If I neglect myself, I am liable to be considered 
slovenly; if I neglect my children, I am thought 
an unfeeling mother and that the children are 
taught slovenly habits; if I neglect the buttons on 
the men folks’ clothes they are sure to break one of 
the commandments; if I neglect the washing or 
ironing, there is a general hubbub when clean 
clothes are wanted; if I neglect the house-work I 
am called a poor housekeeper; if I neglect the 
dairy-work I cannot get the extra price for my but¬ 
ter that I am accustomed to (and I tell you, it is 
very flattering to receive five cents abovefflie com¬ 
mon market price for your butter); or, if I have 
visitors, which shall I neglect—my work or my com¬ 
pany? If tired nature gives way (as is the case 
pretty often of late), aud I am obliged to give up 
for a time, how am I ever to overtake my work 
again ? Now, if any one will tell me all these 
things, I shall be very thankful.” 
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Bills of Fare for Autumn, 
[A year or more ago we gave a series of bills of 
fare for each day in the week for spring and sum¬ 
mer. The manuscript for the other seasons had 
been mislaid, and as it now turns up we give a bill 
of fare for a week in autumn. The lady who fur¬ 
nished these does not of course expect that any 
one will strictly follow them, but offers them as 
