228 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
[June. 
I said, but my friend protested that her husband 
never had any cause for complaint about her car¬ 
pet on account of the litter, and if the work took 
her five years, it was chiefly because she did so lit¬ 
tle at a time. 
Some women are even ten years making a rag 
carpet, but they seem to do it very easily after all, 
and perhaps tlieir’s is the best way for women who 
have settled homes and the power to take things by 
the easiest handle. Whenever a garment is con¬ 
demned as past wearing, and fit only for a carpet, 
it is at once cleansed, cut up nicely, and put away 
with the carpet rags of the same color. If the car¬ 
pet is to be striped, the rags are sewed and wound 
before putting away. Then, when enough rags have 
accumulated, how easy it is to get them out and 
pack them ofT to (he weaver, stopping, perhaps, to 
color and strip up some old sheets. This saves 
much which would otherwise be lost to the carpet. 
Many suppose that a striped carpet is, of course, 
prettier than one that is made “hit-and-miss.” I 
saw one of the latter kind upon a floor in Connec¬ 
ticut, several years ago, which pleased me so much 
that I thought I would never make another striped 
carpet. I told my friend I had no idea that a hit- 
and-miss carpet could look so lively. She said it 
looked bright because there were bright rags in it. 
Then I observed that, though the prevailing tint 
of the carpet was brown or grey, there were all col¬ 
ors in it, and I found that there was a considerable 
quantity of bright rags, clear scarlet, blue, green, 
yellow, and orange. These bright rags were in short 
lengths and evenly distributed. Their part in the 
carpet was to give it a cheerful, sunshiny look. 
There was an evenness of tone about the whole, 
which can only be obtained by sewing the different 
colors according to some definite system, not spot¬ 
ting them in at random. 
A Rag-tyins Machine. 
I had hoped for considerable assistance from a 
home-made, rag-tying machine, but it did not meet 
my expectations. I think, however, that strong 
cotton rags might be joined in that way more rap¬ 
idly than by a thread and needle. My own rags are 
so promiscuous in character that we could not 
make it work satisfactorily. Woolen rags cut bias 
or thick cloth ones cut very narrow, could not be 
tied so as to hold. It seems to me that the knot 
does not lie so smooth as the place joined by sew¬ 
ing, yet I have seen carpet-rags sewed so that the 
work was even more bungling than this knot. 
The machine is easily and quickly made, and I 
describe it, as it may prove a help to somebody. 
My boy was quite charmed with the work of tying 
if he could pick the best rags to use on the machine, 
which would hardly do. 
A sharp knife-blade, (a), and a blunt spindle, (6), 
are the necessary parts of the machine, and these 
are inserted in a short board, (c), about a foot long, 
one on each side of the board. We used a jack¬ 
knife blade, and the spindle was made of red cedar. 
The knife blade was driven up through the board, 
and the spindle was made fast in a gimlet hole. 
Io use the machine, (see fig. 2), take a rag in 
each hand, lap the one, (a), in the right hand, an 
inch over the one in the left hand, (6), press them 
down upon the knife-point, cutting a button-hole 
slit as seen at a, turn the other end, (c), of the rag 
that was in the right hand under the slit that is 
through both rags, and press it upon the spindle, 
punching the end through the hole ; draw the noose 
snug, aud the result is a knot. 
Vines at the Windows. 
It is a common mistake to train the morning 
glories and other climbers in such a way as to 
darken the windows too much. On bright days, 
when the doors stand open, and when shade is ne¬ 
cessary to comfort, it seems all right to have a 
thick screen of vines at the window. But there are 
some dark, damp days—whole weeks of them in the 
fall, while the vines arc still too beautiful to pull 
down, when the rooms so shaded are made gloomy 
and unwholesome by the mass of vines at the 
window. It is not yet too late to fasten the supports 
in such a way as to frame the window, rather than 
to hide it. If a screen is desirable it is best to sow 
the vine seeds at a little distance, and use stout 
poles with the strings for the vines to run upon, 
keeping the whole away from the wall of the house. 
But it is too bad to make any permanent defence 
against the bright sunshine, which is far more 
friendly than mischievous in its visits to our rooms. 
When it grows too ardent, a thick curtain may be 
dropped at a window where there are no blinds. 
-_»». - 
Ice-Boxes and Refrigerators. 
It seems hardly possible, now that ice is looked 
upon as a necessity, that less than 50 years ago it 
was a rare luxury to be enjoyed only by the wealthy. 
It is not our present purpose to say anything about 
the procuring of ice, but to give some hints about 
the use of it, whether it be drawn from one’s own 
ice-house or bought of the ice dealers. In either 
case a receptacle of some kind is required for 
utilizing it. To those who can afford it, one of the 
modern style of refrigerators will be the handiest. 
In these there is a receptacle for the ice, and se¬ 
parate compartments to receive the articles to be 
kept cool. In buying a refrigerator—at least a 
large one—see that there are two or more distinct 
cool-chambers, in one of which milk, butter and 
other things which readily absorb odors, can be 
kept separate from meats and other articles which 
give off odors. In all refrigerators constructed 
upon scientific principles, the place for the ice 
should be at the top, as the cool air is heavier than 
warm, a proper circulation will be induced. 
Lesley’s Zero Refrigerator, which we satisfactorily 
used for several years, is constructed on this prin¬ 
ciple. Those who do not wish to go to the expense 
of a refrigerator, or need to store ice in larger 
quantities than an ordinary refrigerator will admit, 
can make an ice-box which will answer the pur¬ 
pose, and will serve all the uses of a refrigera¬ 
tor, though less economical in the expenditure of 
ice. Of course ice only cools the atmosphere 
around it, and the articles placed near or in contact 
with it, by melting. To melt, it must have a certain 
amount of heat, and this it gets by robbing what¬ 
HOME-MADE ICE BOX. 
ever may be near it. An arrangement, which pre¬ 
vented ice from melting at all, would be a very 
good ice preserver, but a poor refrigerator. The 
object is to prevent all melting except so much 
as is useful, hence all refrigerators and ice-boxes 
are so constructed that the ice will receive no heat 
from the outside atmosphere, but all that it gets 
must be taken from the articles confined with it, 
As to exercise any useful effect, ice must melt; all 
such contrivances must have a provision for carry¬ 
ing off the drip. The points to be regarded in a 
home-made ice-box are—a non-conducting exterior, 
and a drainage-pipe. The box must be made with 
double walls; i. e., one box within another, and 
the space between the two filled by some n»n-con- 
ducting material. The inner box should be water¬ 
tight, and this is best secured by lining it with zinc. 
It will be seen that there are no difficulties in the 
way of constructing a cool box, as it may be made 
for the purpose, or two dry goods or other boxes 
may be found, one a few inches smaller than the 
other, which will answer. The engraving shows 
such a box in section. The kind of non conducting 
material is not important, so that it be light and 
dry; some of the refrigerator makers use felt; 
light and dry sawdust, charcoal dust, cotton, waste 
wool, or any similar substance that will enclose 
plenty of air—for that is the real object of it—will 
answer. The zinc lining of the inner box must be 
perfectly tight, as no water shall get to the filling, 
for it would then be a poor non-conductor, besides 
it would become musty. Some blocks should be 
placed under this box to prevent its weight from 
resting upon the filling, and a pipe is to be arranged 
to lead from it through the filling and the outer 
box, to allow the water from the melting of the ice 
to run off ; if this pipe can connect with a drain or 
some outlet, it will save frequent emptying of the 
receptacle which otherwise it is necessary to place 
under it; a bit of 6ponge in the upper opening of 
this pipe will prevent the entrance of warm air and 
not obstruct the flow. The lid of the box may be 
made double, and filled with the non-conducting 
material, or, if the box is a nicely made one, an in¬ 
ner lid may shut upon the inner box, and another 
close fitting lid upon the outer one, the few inches 
of air between the two, if they fit tightly, serving 
as a sufficient non-conductor. A movable shelf of 
slats resting upon cleats above the ice completes 
the arrangement. The melting of the ice may be 
materially retarded by covering it with a blanket 
or other woolen material, and still make the box 
sufficiently cool. Great care is necessary to not 
spill milk or other liquids, or otherwise soil the in¬ 
terior, and in any case all refrigerators or ice-boxes 
should be occasionally thoroughly washed and 
aired. In this article a number of inquiries by 
different parties have been answered. Our cor¬ 
respondent E. L., of Wilmington, Del., finds a still 
cheaper arrangement very useful ; he takes two 
boxes, has lids to both, fills in between with saw¬ 
dust, makes a hole through both atone end for the 
escape of water, covers his ice with a blanket, and 
finds it very satisfactory. 
Itlinced. Meat may be regarded as a recent 
article of commerce.—We mean meat and its ad¬ 
juncts ready prepared for making mince pies. The 
trade in the article must have increased very much 
within a few years, for now we see stacks of cov¬ 
ered pails standing at the doors of the wholesale 
grocers, bearing on sliowy and highly colored la¬ 
bels, So & So’s “warranted,” or “original,” or 
“home-made” mince meat. Then quite often a 
letter comes asking how this “mince” is made— 
“ fearfully and wonderfully ” we doubt not, but of 
the precise “ order of its going” we know not. We 
have a fair share of confidence in human nature, 
but it has never been so strong as to induce us 
to order hash or bread-pudding at a hotel or 
restaurant, nor has it extended to the purchase 
of promiscuous sausage. But miscellaneous mince 
meat! That is a little too much. Perhaps our 
early education prejudiced us; near the school 
house where we received our early impressions, 
was a pie-bakery, the owner of which allowed us 
the run of it. The bullocks’ hearts and sheep’s 
and other haslets that came into that bakery, and 
went out as mince pies, have perhaps given us a 
bias. It is a case of Sam Weller and the veal-pie 
“ Werry good wen you knows the woman wot made 
it.” For ourselves, we should as soon think of 
buying a second-hand tooth-brush, as mince meat 
put up by a person we did not know. That an ar¬ 
ticle of this kind can be made of as good materials, 
