1869 .] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST, 
4r59 
THE MOUSISMim 
(t®“ For other Household Items, see “ Basket ” pages.) 
Home-made Fancy Baskets. 
Wc have already given several illustrations of 
simple articles of use or ornament which could 
readily be made by boys and others, who are fond 
of using the knife. Recently we saw in the store 
Fig. 1.— RUSTIC BASKET. 
of Messrs. B. K. Bliss & Son, a rustic basket which 
struck us as being very pretty for one made of such 
rude materials, and we have had an engraving made 
of it—figure 1. The round bottom of the basket 
Fig. 2.—CARD BASKET. 
and its cross-shaped base are made of common soft 
pine; the sides of the basket are thin pieces cut 
from small branches, witli the bark upon them; 
these, which are all of the same size and thickness, 
Fig. 3.— BOTTOM OF BASKET. 
are tacked to the bottom, and a hoop made of some 
flexible twig is put upon the outside at the bottom, 
and another on the inside near the top, and fastened 
by tacks. The ornamental work around the foot, 
Fig. 4. sides. Fig. 5. 
as well as the feet, is of bent twigs tacked in place 
while green, and allowed to dry there. A basket 
of this kind would serve for growing a few bulbs 
in moss, or it may be filled with the plants usually 
grown in hanging baskets, first lining it with moss. 
It would not make an inelegant fruit dish. In fig¬ 
ure 2 is given one of the imported card-baskets, of 
a very simple pattern, and easily imitated. They 
are made of a very white wood, and each piece has 
a small, gaily-colored bird or flower in its center. 
Another and more elaborate one is given in figure 
3, which represents the bottom, and in 4 and 5, 
which show the side pieces of two different pat¬ 
terns. The side pieces are joined to the bottom 
and to one another by means of small ribbons. 
Work of this kind, if made of white wood, like the 
holly, should be left untouched, but if colored 
woods are used, they may have a coating of boiled 
linseed oil to bring out the color and markings. 
The Management of Servants. 
BY MRS. H. C. B. 
In these days of trouble with servants, a little 
advice from one who is seldom obliged to make 
any change of domestics, may be of interest and ad¬ 
vantage, especially to young housekeepers.—Be 
dignified, with that true dignity, which it seems to 
me, should be a part of every Christian woman’s 
character. Sham dignity is of no use; a servant 
sees right through it if she knows anything.— 
Define your girl’s duties plainly. When she first 
comes to you, tell her what you wish her to do. If 
her work is to be heavy, let her understand it; do 
not represent it as very light, letting her think, in 
order to secure her, that she will have a great deal 
of time to herself.—Be just in your demands. Do 
not think that a girl must work all the time, be¬ 
cause you are paying her good wages and giving 
her her board. She will do better work aud more 
of it, if she feels that you are willing that she shall 
have some time for herself.—Encourage her to 
employ her spare time usefully; but at the same 
time do not frown upon her going out some times. 
If a girl knows that you are willing she should 
visit her friends, she is not nearly so apt to get into 
the habit of running all the time, as if you were 
impatient with her and tried to prevent her going 
at all.—Help her by doing something for her which 
she cannot do herself, when you have the time to 
spare, or by teaching her something which she 
would like to know, as reading, writing, sewing, etc. 
—But do not help her in her ordinary work, if you 
wish to keep her a good servant. This may sound 
unfeeling, but it is not meant to be so. If your 
girl is sick, help her, but if she is simply in the 
habit of getting behind-liand, do not assist her in 
any way. If you have been just in the amount of 
work assigned to her, insist upon its being done at 
the right time and entirely by herself. I have seen 
many a good girl spoiled by being continually 
helped. I have now a most estimable lady in my 
mind, whose servants invariably become lazy and 
shiftless, although she herself is an excellent house¬ 
keeper. The difficulty is that she never leaves a 
girl to do a piece of work all by herself. 
For example : instead of telling her girl that set¬ 
ting the table is a part of her work, and expecting 
her always to do it, she puts on a few dishes her¬ 
self, then the girl a few more, as it happens ; aud, 
when the meal is ready, there is almost always the 
necessity of calling for several things that have 
been forgotten. If the girl were taught to be care¬ 
ful, and to feel that she would have no one to help 
her, the work would be done better. If there is 
anything about your girl that you do not like, tell 
her of it kindly, but plainly. Never hesitate for fear 
of offending—have your girl understand that you 
are not in the least dependent upon her, but that 
you would not keep her, if she did not endeavor to 
please you. The Irish, as a race, like plain speak¬ 
ing.—Talk to your girl moderately of her own af¬ 
fairs, or of anything that will interest her, at the 
same time be instructive ; but do not condescend 
to gossip with her, by talking of your own private 
affairs, or those of your neighbors. Check any 
tendency in her to comment upon the faults and 
failings in others.—Pay her wages at regular inter¬ 
vals; advise her as to the use of her money, and to 
invest what she does not need in some safe way. 
I do not pretend to affirm that all servants would 
be made good, by their employers acting upon 
these suggestions ; but I do think that the mistress 
is often very much in fault, sometimes in one of the 
particulars I have mentioned, sometimes in an¬ 
other, aud often in all, and more; and I feel con¬ 
fident that, if there were more women, who made 
it a Christian duty to be good mistresses, there 
would be more good servants. 
—■-» —- 
CTsicllcem Croquettes.—Mr. A. W. Harri¬ 
son, the efficient Secretary of the Penn. Horticul¬ 
tural Society, is a manufacturer of flavoring ex¬ 
tracts, and in the Catalogue of his productions, 
gives several recipes for preparing delicacies. 
Among these is one for Chicken Croquettes, which, 
in Philadelphia, are highly prized for evening par¬ 
ties and other entertainments ; that they are most 
excellent we can testify from experience. “Boil 
one medium-sized chicken in as little water as possi¬ 
ble until tender; remove, and reduce the broth 
down to a cupful, which will be a jelly when cold. 
Chop the meat,—rejecting the skin,—as fine as 
possible. Chop fine half a shallot, fry it with two 
ounces of butter, add a. tablespoonful of flour, stir 
half a minute, add the meat aud broth, a half tea¬ 
spoonful of finely chopped parsley, half a sweet¬ 
bread, or as much calves’ brain, previously boiled 
tender, salt, j>epper, and a few drops of Extract of 
Nutmeg, stir two minutes, take from the fire, add 
the yolks of two raw eggs, mix well until it is a 
gelatinous mass. Spread on a dish, and when en¬ 
tirely cold, mould into forms, of one heaping table¬ 
spoonful each, shaped like a sausage, a biscuit, or 
a small sugar loaf; dip into beaten egg, and roll in 
bread crumbs twice, fry gently in boiling lard, and 
serve on a napkin, with sprigs of parsley. Care 
should be used in frying to prevent falling to pieces.” 
As shallots are not always obtainable, a piece of 
onion the size of a hickory nut may be substituted. 
Our own notions would lead us to omit the sweet¬ 
bread aud its substitute. 
-o- » -a O w -*-•»- 
A Few Words to the “Men Folks.” 
BY MRS. H. M. ROBINSON, COLUMBIA CO., PA. 
The article in the Household Department for 
October, under the head “ An Overworked Farm¬ 
er’s Wife,” is far too true a picture of many farm¬ 
ers’ wives’ daily lives. I wish every man who has 
a wife, and reads the “ Agriculturist," would take 
that piece and sit down and carefully read it over, 
and see how much it differs from the history of the 
labors his wife has to perform. I think nine out 
of every ten, will find that all the things mentioned 
there have to be done in their homes, and yet they 
never thought their wives had so very much to do. 
No matter how busy their wives may be, until 9 or 
10 o’clock at night—running first this way, then that, 
to do something to make them and their families 
more comfortable, and then being broken of their 
rest night after night for months, perhaps years, 
with cross children—they think it is n’t like men’s 
work! “ If women had to hold the plow, and swing 
the scythe, in the hot sun, they’d see a difference 
between it and sitting in the house in the shade.” 
But, husbands, allow me to ask you a few ques¬ 
tions and you may answer them when you have had 
enough experience in “women’s work” to be able 
to give just answers. Which would you prefer— 
holding the plow all day, or doing the many chores 
you know have to be done every day in every house, 
many times with a child in your arms, and then to 
bo kept up and down with the child all night, with 
no hope of rest until it is large enough to know 
better than to cry ? Which do you think requires 
the most steps, patience, and labor—to raise twenty- 
five bushels of potatoes, or, to bring them from the 
cellar, a few quarts at a time, and pare, wash, cook, 
and serve them ? To raise an acre of wheat—or 
bake it into bread, a few loaves at a time, when 
every loaf requires at least six or eight hours’ care¬ 
ful watching and tending to fit it for the table ? 
Which requires the most skill—to get the milk into 
the milk-pail, or to go through the several process¬ 
es required to make the peculiar “ rosy ” flavored 
