394. 
AMERICAN AG-RICULTURIST, 
[August, 
pose. The victim of this perpetual change silent¬ 
ly acquiesces in the inevitable arrangement; and 
what is better, he has learned to do the thing him¬ 
self. There is a shirt hanging over a chair in his 
chamber at this moment. I have had the curiosity 
to go in and examine it, as I have been writing. I 
lind it is the pinning over week. —Hours at-Home. 
- - — — --- 
Information Given. 
(In June, page 228, under “Information Wanted,” 28 
questions were given. We begin with some of the an¬ 
swers received, asking otliers to respond. No one writes 
about questions I, 2, 4, 8, 13, 14, 17, 19, 22, 23,2fi. 27.—En.l 
Original Contributions to the American Agriculturist, 
No. 3.—To CoLOit Kid Gloves—Cleaning tiiem. 
(a) Put 14 ounce extract of logwood into a 3 oz. 
phial, and fill up with good brandy. This dye will 
keep for years if well corked. Put the gloves on 
the hand, and with a small swab (a piece of sponge 
tied to a stick is best,) apply the dye evenly all over 
them. Then rub one hand with the other, smooth¬ 
ly and firmly, until the gloves are dry—a few min¬ 
utes only, as the spirit soon evaporates. More log¬ 
wood gives a nearly black color ; less produces a 
delicate lilac.— Mrs. S. J. Wood, North 3Iadison, Ind. 
... .(b) Dissolve India ink in water and apply with 
a camel’s hair brush.—A fine brown may be obtain¬ 
ed by rubbing lightly with a strong decoction of 
tea.-(f) Gloves may be cleaned thus: Wrap a fine 
cloth around your finger, dip it in new milk, then 
rub on fine soap, and rub the glove lightly. In all 
the above operations, the glove must be on the 
hand.—“ E. M. H.'\ Grand Rapids, 3Iic?ngan. 
No. 6.—To Get Rid or Flies. —When the flies 
settle on the ceiling, as they usually do at night, re¬ 
duce the light in the room so you can just see them, 
and take a tumbler, or wider vessel, two-thirds full 
of wai m soap-suds, and place it quickly over each 
group of the flies, when they will fall into the suds. 
With a chair or form to stand upon, you can soon 
clear a whole room, entirely destroying the pests. 
I have caught a pint of them thus in a very few 
minutes.— E. J). Gibson, Ashburnham, Mass. 
No. 6.—Cement fok Knife Handles.— (a) Lay 
a piece of alum on the stove, and when melted 
roll the knife shank in it and immediately thrust it 
firmly into the handle. It will soon be ready for 
use. — S. M. Rarker, Wilton, N. H. . (6) Fine 
brick dust stirred into melted rosin and used hot 
will fix knife and fork handles firmly.— Farmer's 
Daughter, Richmond, Indiana... .(<:) Mix equ.al parts 
of wood ashes and common salt, Avith Avater 
enough to make a mortar. Fill the handles Avith 
this, and then drive in tlie shank, and let it dry. I 
also fixed a stove spud in this Avay, and it is A'ery 
tight .—Joel H. Suttenton, Orleans Co., N. 3'. 
No. 7.— Pork Brine. — (a) The “ best pork I ever 
ate” Avas the unsolicited compliment paid by many 
Avho ate of the pork I put up as folloAVS: For 200 
lbs. pork, )4 gallon of sorghum syrup in the bot¬ 
tom of barrel, and a good layer of salt sprinkled 
into it. Pork packed as usual, Avell salted Avith 
rock salt, and covered Avith strong brine containing 
an ounce of saltpetre and SAveetened Avith sorghum. 
— L. A. Gildcrsleeve, Wilmington, III . (b) To 
have good SAveet pork, first, have the cask SAVect 
and clean ; second, the mc.at must not be frozen ; 
third, use plenty of salt, rock salt is best. Put in 
a layer of salt, then one of meat packed in as close¬ 
ly as it can be; then alternate layers of salt and 
meat, until the cask is nearly full. Cover Avith 
about 3 inches of strong cold brine, always keeping 
the meat under brine.—“JV,” Shelter Island, N. F. 
No. ft.—G ood Home-made Ink.—( a) Take 1)4 
I'linees nutgalls, fine ground; 1 oz. gum arable; 
1 oz. copperas (sulpliatc of iron); 3 gills rain Av.ater; 
'.f gill cider vinegar. Put the nutgalls, Avatcr, and 
vinegar in a quart bottle; let it stand 3 or 3 days, 
shaking it avcU several times each day. Strain the 
mixture, rinse the bottle, return the strained liquid, 
and add the gum and copperas. Two or three 
pieces of crushed sugar, the size of a hickory nut, 
will give the ink a gloss. [Much sugar will make 
it sticky.—E d.] This letter is Avritten with ink 
made by the above recipe. [It is beautiful.—E d.] 
The ink is not jet black at first, but becomes so on 
exposing the bottle to the sun a few days.—“ N.,” 
Shelter Island, N. F.(6) Take 6 ozs. finely 
poAvdered nutgalls, 4 ozs. gum arable, 4 ozs. cop¬ 
peras, and 3 pints rain Avater. Put all into a bottle 
and shake often for a Aveek. This letter is written 
Avith ink, made by the recipe, 8 years ago, and it is 
as good as the day it Avas made.-, Erie Co., 
N. Y. [The ink shoAVS very clear, but is not quite 
! so brilliant as (a)Avhich is the same except the vin¬ 
egar added.—E d.]_ (c) To make a good black 
ink, that floAvs well, that will not corrode a steel 
pen, Avill not cast a iirecipitate, or groAV gummy; 
is not injured by freezing; To one gallon of hot 
rain water add one ounce extract of logwood; }4 
ounce gum arable, and }4 ounce of bichromate of 
potash, and heat in an iron kettle. The first part 
of this letter is Avritten Avith some of the ink thus 
made, which Avas frozen half a dozen times last 
winter. The second part is Avritten with some new 
made. [Both are good; avc see no difference.— 
Ed.]— Americus, Ferry Centre, N. Y. 
No. 10. — Extracting Wheel-Grease from 
Unwashable Garments.— (a) Use kerosene Avith 
a sponge or flannel, putting a clean cloth under the 
greased spot. It is necessary to change sponge and 
nuder cloth several times. “-, Shelter Island, 
N. Y." _“(b) Coal oil, similar to the aboA'e.— 
Farmer's Daughter, Richmond, Ind." ... .(c) Rub the 
grease spot faithfully Avith a cloth Avet with Benzine, 
if neeessary wetting the spot with Benzine also. 
This is good for other grease and paint, for coat 
collars, etc.—<S. M. ParJeer, Wilton, N. H _[Ben¬ 
zine is very good for extracting grease of any kind. 
Wheel grease varies, but the chief difliculty is the 
iron Avorn off into it from the Avheel boxes, which 
is troublesome to remove, though the abov’e direc¬ 
tions Avill usually take most of it out.—E d.] 
No. 13 .—Preserving Bacon or Ham in Sum-: 
mer.—(«) Cut in slices, half fry it, pack in stone 
jars, coA'cr Avith the fat fried out, or if that is not 
enough, add sweet lard. I hai'e tried it for3 years. 
A fcAV have fiiiled from not putting it down 
early enough, and especially from not completely 
covering every- piece remaining after removing a 
portion for a meal.— Mrs. S. J. Wood, North 3Iadi- 
so?i, Ind . (b) Similar to (a) above.— E. M. H., 
Grand Rapids, 3Iich .(<•) On a fine dry day in 
April or May, Avrap each piece in paper ; then put 
in bags, 2 or 3 pieces in each, tie them tightly, and 
hang in an airy place.-, Shelter Island, N. F. 
... .((I) Sprinkle the flesh side Avith black pepper 
from a box ; hang in the smoke house, and flies will 
not trouble the bacon.— IF. A. Harold, 3Ioline, Ills. 
_ (e) Salt and smoke early, before flies appear; 
coat Avell with black pepper; pack in tight boxes, 
filling in around, and 3 or 4 inches on top, Avith 
clean, fine ashes .—Samvel C. IFiIso», Fairmount, 
Ind .(/) I have seen hams kept successfully 
through the summer, in Alabama, by rubbing them 
thoroughly with ground black pepper, Avhen taken 
out of the brine, after draining, previous to smok¬ 
ing. The brine Avas sweetened Avith broAvn sugar, 
and cleansed by boiling and skimraiug. No flies 
or bugs ever troubled them. Never ate better hams 
or ])ork than the above. When smoked, the hams 
Averc hung upAvithout canvas or further treatment. 
— L. I. Gilderslceve, Wilmington, III . (g) Some 
one (name lost) suggests packing the half salted 
hams in a heap or box of dry salt. (h) Having 
hams that appeared hardly salt enough to keep 
through summer, I cut them in slices and cooked 
them through thoroughly in a dripping pan in the 
oven ; then packed the pieces in a stone crock, and 
poured over the fried-out fat, and they kept in ex¬ 
cellent order. There is the convenience also, that 
you always have cooked ham ready for an emer¬ 
gency.—J//-s. E. Ferin, McLean. Co., Id. 
No. 13 .—Soap, .and Washing Fluid.—CJ iemical 
Noa/x—Pour 3 gallons of boiling Avater over 3 lbs. 
s.il soda and 1>^ lbs. unslakcd lime; stir up care- 
fullyand let it settle some little lime. When clear 
drain off the lye into a brass or copper kettle, and 
add 3 lbs. clear grease, and boil 2)4 hours, stirring 
it most of the time. Try some with a little Avater, 
and when done enough fill up the kettle as full as 
Avhen you commenced boiling, Avith a weaker lye 
made by adding another gallon of boiling Avater to 
the dregs after turning off the first lye. It should 
turn thick and soapy, when a tablcspoonful of salt 
is to be stirred into it, and then turn it into moulds 
—drippers ansAver nicely. When cold, cut up into 
bars and lay them in a place to keep when they 
Avill dry sloAvly. It improves Avith age. When dry 
it is superior to the “ German Chemical soap,” I 
think, and costs only about 4 cents a bar.— E. 31. 
H, Grand Rapids, 3Iich....... Washing Fluid.— 
Put into a kettle 1 lb. sal soda, )4 unslaked 
lime, and pour over them 1 gallon boiling Avater. 
Let it settle and pour off into a stone jug.-Soak 
dirty clothes over night in just enougli strong suds 
to thoroughly Avet them, and in the morning put 
your boiler over % full for boiling suds, and heat 
to boiling point. Wring out your clothes, sorting 
them, and add to the boiling Avater 1 teacupful 
fluid and soap enough to make a good suds ; throw 
in the clothes and boil from ten to tAventy minutes 
according to grade, drain Avell so as to save boiling 
water; rub out of the sudsing water, and rinse 
thoroughly.— E. 31. H., Grand Rapids, Mich. 
No. 16. —To Color Cotton and Flax Carpet 
AVarp, Green.—T he folloAviug has been often tried 
with success ; will not color woolen : Put in a bag 
1 lb. Fustic, Avith }.4 chip logwood, and soak 
OA’er night in 6 gallons rain Avater. Then boil one 
hour, and add 1 ounce of blue vitriol (sulphate of 
copper), skimming carefully. The clothes or carpet 
AA’arp are to remain in this a short time, constant¬ 
ly stirred.— Farmer's Daughter, Richmond, Ind. 
ISiitter iyia.l£iup,'.—To “ Novice,” Mont¬ 
gomery Co., Pa. Most people making butter from 
one coAv have, .at sometime, found the same difficul¬ 
ty in getting good butter, and even in getting it all, 
especially in summer. The mixture of cream gath¬ 
ered in each-of six or seven successive days, and of 
different degrees of sourness, does not Avork Avell. 
The only remedy Ave can suggest, is to keep the 
daily cream as cool and SAveet as possible to pre¬ 
vent the first gathered from too great souring; then 
mix it all Avell and raise the temper.ature to .about 
65°, Avhen beginning to churn.—Lo not churu too 
fast. Churning twice or thrice a Aveek Avill help 
matters. The trouble Avill probably cease Avheu 
cool Aveather arrives. “Novice” Avrites so jileas- 
autly, and is so observant Avithal, that Ave doubt not 
she Avill find many things in her ncAV country life 
experience, that we shall be glad to hear about. 
- t-o. - - 
“Pain Pertln.” — Which for an English 
name Ave may call bread secrets, (’the French name 
means lost or hidden bread.) It is an exceedingly 
delicate dish for tea, .and served hot Avitli hot Avine 
sauce Avith Zantc currants, m.akes a most delicious 
desert dish. Take half a common loaf of stale 
bread and cut off .all the crust. This crust is put 
into'a sloAv oven and dried, and then crushed and 
rolled to fine crums Avith a rolling pin. Cut the i 
bread into slices 1 inch thick, and these into 3-inch j 
square pieces. Take 3 cups of milk, and add to it | 
2 teaspoonfuls of sugar, and 1 Avell beaten egg. In j 
this, dip the bread and allowing it to moisten 
through uniformly, dip it into the crumbs of the 
crust, then drop into boiling lard and broAvn like 
douglmuts ; Avliilc hot, dust with rolled white sugar 
and a little ground cinnamon, and cat at once. 
Safe from tl»e Seeois«l C'omiusmd- 
inoist. —Tiie ladies, and those of the otlicr 
sex Avho arc accustomed to go into extasics 
over a “ love of a bonnet,” are often in danger of 
breaking that clause of tlic second of tlic Ten Com¬ 
mandments, Avhieh prohibits “ bowingdow.n to any- 
thing made in the likeness of .anything in tlie heav¬ 
en .above, in the cartli beneatli, or in tlie water 
under the earth.” Those Avho adore the present 
latest style of bonnets, may rest assured that they 
do not thus infringe upon this commandment. 
For otiier Household Items, sec “ Basket.” 
