188 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
[Mat, 
“ I suppose every scientist has a theory con¬ 
nected with his science. My theory connected with 
my science is this : that a mother’s chief duty is the 
taking care of her children.”—“ If ‘ the three meals 
take about all day,’ and making and mending the 
evening, where is the children’s time coming from ?” 
“ The palate craves enjoyment, and that craving, 
being a natural one, must be recognized as such. 
But what I insist upon is this ; namely, that grati¬ 
fying the palate shall not rank among the chief 
occupations or the chief enjoyments of life, for it 
has usurped those positions long enough.” 
“ The profusion of viands now heaped upon the 
table, betrays poverty of the worst sort. Having 
nothing better to offer, (to company), we offer vic¬ 
tuals.” “ The dishes that make the work and cost 
the money, are usually eaten after hunger is satis¬ 
fied, and do harm rather than good.”—“ Simplify 
cooking, thus reducing the cost of living, and how 
many longing individuals, now forbidden, would 
thereby be enabled to afford themselves the pleas¬ 
ures of culture, of travel, of social intercourse, of 
tasteful dwellings ! And it might be added, at the 
risk of raising a smile, how many pairs of waiting 
lovers, now forbidden, would thereby be enabled 
to marry, and go to—paradise, which is to say 
housekeeping! ” 
Patterns for tile New Under-Garments. 
I have been notified that the Dress Reform Com¬ 
mittee of Boston, have removed from their former 
rooms, to No. 4 Hamilton Place, where patterns and 
garments can be obtained. Any lady can obtain ready 
made garments fitted to her size, by sending her 
measure, taken according to directions given in 
the Committee’s circular. The under suits are 
made either with waist and drawers in one piece, or 
buttoned together at the waist. I think, from some 
experience, that most ladies would prefer the latter. 
A Cover for I lie Bread Pan. 
The old table-cloth will dip down into the light 
sponge, you know, unless carefully guarded each 
time, and the tin pan when covered over the fer¬ 
menting dough, gets jarred off frequently. But if 
you suffer such annoyances as these, you can get 
relief as I have done, by making yourself a regular 
cover for the bread-pan. I took four or five sheets 
of coarse brown wrapping paper, ironed them 
smooth, and cut them round, the size of the top of 
my bread-pan. Then I basted them together, and 
covered them on both sides with clean, old calico. 
Two strips of the same calico, cut twice the depth 
of the pan, and doubled up so that the strip was 
then of four thicknesses, were sewed around the 
edge of the stiff circular top of the cover. I left 
this plain ungatliered frill open on one side, so that 
I could turn it back when setting it close to the 
6tove-pipe. But last week my bread sponge got the 
start of me, and was sticking fast to the inside of 
my new bread-pan cover, before I suspected it of 
being so light. Of course it was a difficult matter 
to clean it off properly, and the idea was suggested 
that an old napkin or any clean cloth, pinned 
inside the cover, and easily removed when soiled, 
would save trouble in case of another such accident. 
Shirt Bosoms and Collars. 
Mrs. M. Erickson says that shirt bosoms and 
collars, when new, have a smoothness and gloss, 
which she can not impart to them afterwards. She 
has tried spermaceti, gum, and other things, in the 
starch, and yet fails to get the gloss “as good as 
new.” Spermaceti and other forms of grease may 
help, but she has not yet tried the right kind of 
grease, which is—elbow-grease, and it is not put 
into the starch either, but applied directly to the 
linen. A long while ago we wished to know how 
this polish was placed on the “boughten” shirts, 
and, having an acquaintance with an owner of a 
laundry, we asked if he had any objections to tell 
us the secret of his addition to the starch.—“ No,” 
said he, “it’s done entirely by elbow-grease.”— 
This led to an explanation, in which we were in¬ 
formed that they added spermaceti, or whatever 
the women at the laundry had a fancy for, but that 
he doubted if these did much towards it; the whole 
secret laid in the kind of iron and in the woman who 
uses it. The iron must be one with a brightly 
polished face, and the woman must be one with 
sufficient strength of arm to make it do its work. 
An iron of the described kind was procured, the 
ironer told what was expected, and ever since the 
shirts have been as good as new. These irons are 
sold at the furnishing and probably hardware stores ; 
they differ from ordinary flat-irons, or sad-irons, in 
having no sharp comers, the edges being rounded 
all around, front, sides, and rear, and moreover, the 
surface is polished smooth and bright. The linen 
is first ironed in the ordinary way, and allowed to 
become quite dry; the surface is then slightly 
dampened by passing a wet cloth over it, and 
then rubbed, and rubbed hard, with this polish¬ 
ing iron, until the surface of the linen itself be¬ 
comes polished. Of course one requires a little 
practice to get the knack of it, but after a while 
any strong ironer can make very handsome 
work. Aside from the finer appearance of linen 
thus treated, there is the great advantage that it 
keeps clean much longer ; the surface being made 
thus close and smooth, dust does not adhere to it, 
but instead of settling into the meshes of the linen, 
falls off from the surface. The engraving shows 
the form of the iron, which is perhaps a little 
smaller than those of the ordinary kind. 
-—a mm . - 
Stoves—Taking Down and Blacking. 
One amusing thing about our correspondence in 
the household, as well as other departments of the 
paper, is the fact that several questions will come 
to us from widely separated points, all bearing on 
the same subject; now we have within a few days 
of one another, inquiries from a housekeeper in 
Spain and another in New Jersey, as to the best 
blacking for stoves, and how to apply it. As this 
is a season when many stoves are unfortunately 
taken down and put away for the summer, their 
proper treatment becomes a matter of general in¬ 
terest. “Unfortunately,” we say, stoves are taken 
down the present month, but we might have used 
a stronger word, and had we said recklessly, it 
would not have expressed our meaning quite so 
well as culpably. There are those housekeepers to 
whom the necessity for house-cleaning on a certain 
day in May has all the force of a commandment— 
and what house-cleaning under these conditions 
means, many a reader too well knows, and many a 
grave-stone stands as a silent witness. We will not 
enumerate the ills it brings—but among the good it 
sends away are the stoves—often from every room 
except the kitchen. A clear cold January day with 
the mercury at 15 to 20 degrees below zero, is ab¬ 
solute comfort in comparison with a damp day in 
May, with the thermometer between 32° and 40°. 
But this is not what we started upon, let us dispose 
of this almost vital point by saying that in none of 
the northern states should the stoves be removed 
from the living rooms, if the health, let alone the 
comfort, of the family is regarded, before the mid¬ 
dle of June. We have pleasant days, and warm, in 
May, but we cannot remember a year since we have 
given attention to the matter in which there has 
not been a cold spell in the first half of June in 
which a fire was absolutely necessary to the com¬ 
fort of the well, and the well-being of the ill. “ Then 
why take stoves down at all ? ” will be asked by 
some inveterate May house-cleaner. Exactly so— 
why ? Not only can we not see the slightest use in 
taking down the stoves, if that be the way of heat¬ 
ing, but we hold that in country houses there 
should never be a day in the whole year in which a 
fire cannot be built at a moment’s notice. In sum¬ 
mer an open fireplace is preferable to a stove, but if 
there is no fireplace, leave the stove, for there will 
be but few weeks in the whole summer in which a 
little fire in the morning or evening will not be 
needed to ventilate the room or to dry it, if not to 
remove the chill. In malarious districts this is of 
special importance ; a few sticks will prevent what 
much quinine may not cure, and be vastly cheaper. 
So we insist that in the family or living room of 
every country house there should always be a fire 
laid in fireplace, grate, or stove, ready to diffuse 
comfort when needed, even if it be in July or Au¬ 
gust. But in houses heated by stoves there'are 
several which may come down without detriment, 
and those which remain in place should be properly 
cared for, which brings us at last to 
Taking Down the Stoves. 
If the stove connects by a short, straight piece of 
pipe directly with the chimney, there will be lit¬ 
tle trouble in replacing it next fall; if instead of 
this there are, as is more commonly the case, sev¬ 
eral lengths of pipe and more or less elbows, then 
too much precaution cannot be taken. Some hold 
the theory that a stove-pipe once taken down can 
never be put up as it was before without calling in 
a fitter. Stove-pipes make great havoc with do¬ 
mestic patience, but a proper foresight at the tak¬ 
ing down will help greatly to a felicitous putting 
up. Wherever two ends of pipe, whether sec¬ 
tions or elbows, come together, they should be 
marked, whether intentionally separated in taking 
down or not. If a large pipe is taken down in the 
fewest possible pieces, some others will separate, 
and all be in confusion, hence the only safety is to 
Number Each Joint. 
that is, whenever two lengths or sections, including 
elbows, come together, with two numbers, as 1-1, 
2r- 2, etc. Do this before disturbing the pipe y chalk 
will answer, but the marks must be renewed if 
blurred by handling, before the pipe is put away 
for the season. Where anthracite coal is burned, a 
simple fhumping of the pipe will remove the gath¬ 
ered ashes and dust; a pipe to a bituminous coal- 
stove will show more deposit, and will need a more 
thorough cleaning, but in those of wood-stoves, the 
deposit is often very heavy, and, if the pipe is a long 
MANNER OF CONCEALING A STOVE. 
one, of a highly acid and corrosive nature If this be 
not removed when the pipe is taken down now. the 
work of destruction will go on all summer, and 
when it is to be put up in the fall, it will often 
be found completely honey-eombed and useless. 
Hence a pipe of this kind should have every in¬ 
crustation upon its interior removed by thorough 
thumping and a brush of twigs. To arrest the cor¬ 
rosion of what deposit remains, the interior may 
be coated with ordinary lime-wash or whitewash. 
Both stove and pipe should be thoroughly blacken¬ 
ed before they are put away for the summer. 
The Object of Blacking 
a stove is not solely to improve its looks, but it is to 
cover the surface of the iron with a coating that 
will prevent rusting. Sometimes a kind of black 
varnish is used, which makes the stove look very 
