1875. J 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST, 
103 
the Eucalypti, at least these may be made to do 
duty as stately ornamental-leaved plants, and thus 
become useful. Our California friends are reaping 
good results from the introduction of these trees, 
but it is an unfortunate oversight in those who said 
so much in favor of this tree, not to have stated 
that it was not intended for New Jersey or New 
York, or even the Southern States above the Florida 
line, as great expectations have been ruthlessly 
destroyed, as well as the trees by our first fall frosts, 
We should add-'that seeds of Eucalyptus are now 
easily procured from dealers in New York and 
California. An ounce of seed of Eucalyptus globu¬ 
lus , if fresh, will produce thousands of plants. 
[The above bit of experience from Mr. Berck- 
mans is very welcome, as it answers decisively a 
number who have made inquiries in regard to the 
Blue-gum. There has been much nonsense pub¬ 
lished about this tree, not only have the daily 
papers given the most absurd statements, but the 
agricultural and horticultural journals have done 
their share in keeping up the excitement. As to 
its alleged power of destroying malaria, we have 
not seen any evidence worthy of consideration. 
A tincture of its leaves, and other preparations from 
it, are said to be useful remedies in fever and ague, 
and that is probably all that there is about it. No 
fever destroying property is attributed to the tree 
in its native country. That the tree is of the 
greatest value in California is a well known fact, 
and it is likely to be the leading timber tree of that 
State, and the fact of its worthlessness on the 
Atlantic Coast is as well established as that of its 
value upon the Pacific. Mr. Berckmans’ experi¬ 
ments, which we saw in progress, are corroborated 
by others in the Southern States, and the tree has 
utterly failed even in some parts of Florida. The 
suggestion to use the young trees for ornamental 
purposes is a good one ; they have been so employ¬ 
ed in Europe, and we give on page 101 an engraving 
from Alphand’s work, to show the general ap¬ 
pearance of a young and vigorous Blue-gum.— Ed.] 
(For other Household Items , see “Basket ” pages). 
H<me Topics. 
BY FA ITU ROCHESTER. 
Purifying the Blood. 
Some persons actually read and believe the medi¬ 
cal almanacs and advertisements of nostrums that 
flood the newspapers. How wisely they talk, these 
advertisements, about the necessity of purifying 
the blood; but they would lead the ignorant and 
credulous to suppose that the only way to get pure 
blood is to take doses of the particular kind of 
patent medicine advertised. Many respectable fam¬ 
ilies take it for granted that some kind of spring 
medicine is necessary to set the human system in 
working order, as winter’s cold gives way before 
the approach of warm weather : whereas it is only 
necessary for them to “ cease to do evil and learn 
to do well ” in their daily eating, drinking, breath¬ 
ing, working, and playing. 
Persons who have learned and pay heed to the 
laws of health, find no necessity for spring medi¬ 
cines. They are all of the time purifying the blood 
by their simple daily habits. They aim to make 
their blood of good nourishing materials, and to 
“ cleanse ” it by pure air breathed into the lungs. 
It seems to me more and more astonishing that 
the human body can stand so much abuse, especi¬ 
ally in the way of bad air. People shut themselves 
into such close rooms in winter, especially at night, 
that it is no wonder that they are driven to all sorts 
of stimulants to whip up their flagging energies, 
and no wonder that they are “ all run down ” at the 
end of winter. One of the most common mistakes 
is the supposition that air is pure in proportion to 
its coldness, so that you have only to open a door 
into an unheated room, which is itself a reservoir 
of foul air perhaps, in order to ventilate sufficiently 
the living room or sleeping room. But the mistakes 
in diet alone are enough to account for the bili- J 
ousness that prevails in early spring. A winter 
diet made largely of fat pork or of hot pancakes 
saturated with butter or fat, will pretty surely 
bring some sort of sickness in its wake. 
The Need of Acids. 
When much fat pork is eaten there will always be 
a demand for pickles or vinegar, says the report of 
the Massachusetts Board of Health. The demand 
for acid is a genuine call of the system, but there 
is no especial call for the strong acids, such as raw 
lemons and pickles, if one has from day to day the 
proper supply of moderately sour fruit. Half of 
the doctors would find their occupation gone if ap¬ 
ples were freely used as an article of food. Fruit 
has never done us the good it might have done, 
because it has been eaten at improper hours, be¬ 
tween meals, or in the evening. It has actually 
been turned into a foe to good digestion by the 
processes of pickling and preserving. The old- 
fashioned “ pound for pound ” preserves are too 
sweet to serve the purpose of acid fruit, and too 
rich to have the nourishing effect of juicy, sweet 
fruit. They are simply sweetmeats, to be eaten 
with caution. Canned fruit is excellent, but fresh 
fruit is best whenever it can be obtained. The 
good effect of fresh fruit is often spoiled by the 
excess of sugar used with it. 
When there is a craving for sour food, for pickles 
or for lemons, it is generally a strong indication 
that the system has a real need of acids, and lemons 
or vinegar are sometimes the best medicine to cure 
biliousness and restore a failing appetite. A year 
ago I saw a child pass through one of these poor 
spells. He lost his appetite, and could not bear the 
sight or smell of food, until he caught sight of a 
dish of dried apple sauce, and then he was pos¬ 
sessed with a desire for some of the juice. This 
seemed to refresh him, and he ate, for his next 
meal, bread soaked in the juice of stewed dried 
apples. After that canned tomato, cooked with 
bread, helped forward the cure. Before this ill 
turn, he had, for a few weeks, lived almost entirely 
without fruit, contrary to his usual habit. 
It is a common mistake to use fruit at the table 
only in the form of sauce at the evening meal, or 
encased in rich crusts as pie for dinner. In the lat¬ 
ter case the ill effect of the pie-crust is often greater 
than the good effect of the fruit inside the pie. As 
for the fruit sauce on the tea-table, it is better than 
a heavy supper of meat, but there is some sense in 
the old saying that “ Fruit is golden in the morn¬ 
ing, silver at noon, and lead at night.” 
Perhaps any kind of fruit or vegetable may be 
used to excess, or in too large a proportion as com¬ 
pared with the rest of the diet. Certainly acids 
should be used in moderation, especially the strong 
kinds. Because the juice of a lemon may be an 
excellent cure for biliousness or flatulence or other 
disease, it by no means follows that school girls can 
thrive upon their daily use. In former days, when 
pale and slender maidens were in fashion, it was 
not very uncommon for silly girls to try to reduce 
their weight and ruddy hue by frequent sips of 
vinegar, and many a feeble woman, and many an 
early death has been the result of such tampering. 
A variety of vegetables and fruit, well-cooked, and 
eaten as appetite calls for them, will satisfy the 
natural demand for both sour and sweet food. 
Discouraged Mothers. 
One of this numerous class writes me a letter. 
She can not get any time to devote to her children. 
Her little girls are almost entirely without a moth¬ 
er’s care, she says, and her boy of nine is already 
almost lost to her. Society—which means the peo¬ 
ple congregated at the village store, if not the 
crowd in the bar-room, as well as the Sunday and 
the day school teachers and pupils—society has 
pretty much taken the education of her boy off 
from her hands, while she has been “ slaving ” at 
the dish-pan and wash-tub and sewing-machine in 
order to supply the most material wants of her 
family. She imagines that the case is quite differ¬ 
ent with me, and wishes to know how it is that I 
am able to keep house, educate my children, and 
write for the papers. I can not tell her “ all about 
it,” and I do not propose to invite the public to 
take a survey of my household, certainly not, while 
my hired girl, who has been away on a mission to 
the sick ones of her father’s family, still delays her 
return beyond the fourth week of absence. I only 
aim to live along from day today, while everything 
has a tendency to “gig back” to original chaos. 
While I am trying to bring one end up even, several 
others are falling behind. Every morning I have 
to begin with a determination to try above all things 
to be cheerful and contented with the little that I 
can accomplish. Nature alone is not equal to the 
task, and I often fail sadly. My correspondent 
writes she imagines that I read a good deal. This is 
not the case. I read very few books, but by keeping 
reading matter lying all around the house, I fill in 
some odd minutes ; here a little of one thing, and 
there a little of another. I dare not begin a novel 
or long story, much as I desire to read “ Middle- 
march,” and to finish “The Newcombs,” begun 
ten years ago. Let us be thankful for the serial 
stories in the papers and magazines, for we may 
surely take time to read the few chapters that come 
to us each week or each month. Reading them in 
this way, by regular installments, we are not likely 
to make novel-reading a dissipation, and in such 
reading we may find not only rest for a wearied 
mind, but help for our manners and general con¬ 
duct of life, provided, of course, that the stories 
we read are such representations of life as win us 
to seek noble living. I bless the good writers of 
good fiction, and I know that my present life is 
made pleasant in part by the companionship of the 
heroes and heroines who act their parts before me 
from week to week, as I follow the fictions (often 
the truest truth in a higher sense) of the best 
story writers in our papers. Sometimes there 
comes a sort of lull in our busy lives when a seri¬ 
ous book gets a chance to be read through ; and 
books that are in the line of our daily study and 
work will somehow get read, simply by consulta¬ 
tion on different points, perhaps. A mind eager 
for knowledge will manage to pick up supplies 
somehow, if there is any nutriment of this kind 
near at hand. I write all this because my corre¬ 
spondent mourns that mothers, ,jho arc also house¬ 
keepers and hard workers, cannot get time to read. 
Besides, let me tell her, a change must come some 
time. These babies will not be babies always. 
Then, let us hope, there will be some opportunity 
for us to indulge our literary and artistic tastes. In 
the meantime, let us enjoy these babies who will 
not always be babies. There is nothing in art so 
wonderful and so beautiful as a living child. Your 
own boy is as funny as William Henry, if you use 
your eyes and ears and heart to discover it, as 
Mrs. Diaz uses her’s. 
So all the advice I can give to weary and dis¬ 
heartened mothers is, hold on as best you can. Be 
sure that it is best as it is, till something better 
comes. Make the best of it anyhow. Go to bed 
early whether the clothes are all mended or not. 
For your children’s 6ake as well as for your own, 
get plenty of sleep. And pray the prayer of faith. 
More about Milk for Babes. 
In experimenting with young babes, who are de¬ 
prived of mother’s milk, or who are weaned early, 
it may be best to run the risk of having the mix¬ 
ture of milk and water a little too rich rather than 
too much diluted at first. If the milk is too rich 
it will be thrown up from the stomach, which will 
serve as a hint for more water in the mixture ; but 
if it is too poor and thin, there may be no clear 
sign (to unpractised eyes) of the fact, until the in¬ 
fant has been considerably injured by gradual 
starvation, or until obscure and troublesome dis¬ 
eases have been induced. It is further said that if 
the milk is too strong, indigestion will follow and 
the child will be injured in health. When particles 
of curd pass unaltered through the bowels, a 
milder or lower grade of food should be given. ’ If 
there is constipation, put in more cream or increase 
the richness of the milk. Cow’s milk has a larger 
proportion of casein, or cheese, than mother’s milk, 
and to make the proportions of cow’s milk right 
for a young babe, in this respect, the milk should 
be diluted until it is eighteen parts water to ten 
parts milk. This would not nourish the babe 
properly, however, as there would be too little bub 
