1870.] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
145 
THE EWttJSMMLID). 
(ZW~ For other Household Items, see “ Basket” pages.) 
A Shaded Garden Seat. 
The engraving of a garden seat ■with a tent-like 
roof is from an article of English manufacture, that 
attracted much attention at the Paris Exposition. 
We do not know that it is sold in this country, but 
we introduce it here as a suggestion to the ingeni¬ 
ous. A shaded seat of some kind would be found 
very useful by those who have croquet grounds, as 
well as by those who wish to enjoy sewing or read¬ 
ing in the open air, and cannot avail themselves of 
the shade of trees. The top of the one figured is 
made to incline backwards or forwards, as may be 
required. It would not take much contrivance to 
fit up a light awning that would be quite as useful 
if not so elegant as this. Where the seat is to re¬ 
main stationary, the awning may be supported by 
poles driven into the ground. 
---a«B----- 
Sconrisjg Knives, etc.—Mrs. “0. A. 
II.,” writes that for five years she has used water- 
lime for scouring knives, forks, tins, and the like. 
She says: “I have a box with a partition and keep 
the lime in one part and the cloths in the other. 
I wet a small cloth a little and dip it in the lime, 
and after the articles are well washed and wiped, I 
rub them until the spots are removed. Then I take 
a larger, dry cloth; dip it in the lime, and rub the 
articles until polished to suit me. Wipe off the 
dust from the knives and forks with a dry cloth, and 
they are ready to put away.” 
“Sun-light Oil”—A Household Humbug. 
Most of the “Humbugs” exposed in the column 
especially devoted to rascality, affect only the pock¬ 
et. Here is one which, worse than the highway¬ 
man, demands both your money and your life; and 
we notice it in the Household Department, as in 
this case mothers need especial warning. We have 
several times seen circulars proposing to sell recipes 
for preparing “ Sun-light Oil,” which should give a 
better light and be cheaper than any other illumin¬ 
ating oil. Now we have, from one in Wisconsin, 
who has invested S3 in the thing, the recipe itself, 
which reads as follows: “To make one gallon, 
take 3 quarts of Benzine, 1 oz. Pulverized Alum, 
IX oz. Alcohol, 3 oz. Cream of Tartar, 3 oz. Sal- 
soda, 1 pint of Potatoes (cut fine), 2 tablespoonfuls 
of fine Salt, 2 drachms Oil of Sassafras, 4 drachms 
Gum Camphor. Dissolve the Alum in the Alcohol 
as much as possible; then add the Gum Camphor, 
stir for a few minutes; then add to one pint of the 
Benzine, stir it well for ten minutes; then add all 
the other ingredients, except the Benzine, stir well 
until it foams, then add the remainder of the Ben¬ 
zine ; leave it open and exposed to the air; shake 
it occasionally, and in ten hours time it will be fit 
for use, although it should stand, if convenient, for 
48 hours before using.” 
If this thing were not so wicked, we should 
ridicule its absurdity. It is an evident attempt to 
induce people to believe that, with the various ad¬ 
ditions and the prescribed mixings, the Benzine 
can be converted into something safe to be used for 
illuminating purposes. The Oil of Sassafras and 
Camphor are added to make the compound smell 
differently'from pure Benzine, they are combustible 
andsofar are not foolish ; but the other ingredients, 
Alum, Soda, Cream of Tartar, Salt, and Potatoes! 
are all sheer nonsense. They have not the slight¬ 
est effect in making the Benzine other than Ben¬ 
zine, and the person who proposed to add them is 
a fool if he did not know it, and a rascal if he did. 
These recipes are hawked about the country by 
agents, who by pleading the cheapness of the light 
doubtless sell a large number. We do not know of 
any law that exactly meets the case, though by any 
sensible justice an agent of this kind would be 
punished as a common nuisance. Recollect that 
this Sun-liglit Oil is Benzine, and as far as danger is 
concerned, nothing but Benzine—unsafe, explosive, 
deadly. Better that your children should have no 
other light than tallow dips, or go to bed at dark, 
than run the risk of sudden death, or what is 
worse, being maimed for life by this “Sun-liglit 
Oil.” If you will use it, make your will, insure your 
life, and ask your minister to get ready a sermon 
on the “Mysterious Dispensations of Providence.” 
How to Cook Dried Beef. 
BY MRS. “W. A. B.,” WINDHAM CO., CONN. 
The good qualities of dried beef as an article of 
food for the family, are not fully appreciated. In 
point of excellence, it is one of the nicest articles, 
when properly prepared, that we have in our store¬ 
room. It is also one of the most economical arti¬ 
cles of food; quite a small quantity of dried beef, 
shaved very fine, and cooked with a nice gravy', 
will serve for meat for a family at very small ex¬ 
pense. Then it is so convenient to have; always 
ready; always acceptable. To people who live 
convenient to market, it is not of so much import¬ 
ance; but to us, who live at a distance from towns, 
dried beef is one of the necessary articles in our 
bill of fare. We frequently entertain guests at our 
table who never have seen dried beef served other 
than as a relish for bread and butter; shaved and 
eaten without cooking. There are several methods 
of cooking it. Some prefer it cooked with a gravy 
of water, seasoned with butter, thickened with 
flour, and, perhaps, eggs broken in while cooking. 
Others cook it with crumbs of sausage, frying the 
sausage first, then adding the beef with water and 
thickening with flour. It is also very good cooked 
with a little sweet milk and sweet cream, the 
gravy being thickened with flour; allow it to boil 
once; that is all the cooking it requires. A 
dish of dried beef, properly cooked, served with 
toast, baked potatoes, and boiled eggs, is a very nice 
provision for breakfast or a dinner prepared in 
haste. We prefer to cure our own beef, as that 
bought is apt to be too salt. I finefthat if too salt, 
it can be remedied by soaking after cutting and be¬ 
fore cooking, and adding a little white sugar while 
cooking, to restore the sweetness lost by soaking. 
Sugar-cured beef is much nicer than that cured 
with salt alone. I put mine into a sweet brine, 
such as is used for pork hams. 
-- 4 -—«r ^ -— 
A Letter on Washing-day Matters. 
BY FAITH ROCHESTER. 
Dear Mary ! I send you a sketch (fig, 1) of my new 
clothes pin bag. It is worn fastened about the 
waist, like an apron, when hanging clothes on the 
line. The material of mine is slightly worn blue 
denim, with a binding of light brown calico. When 
filled with clothes-pins, it is too heavy an apron for 
tying, so I sewed a buckle on the band, that per¬ 
sons of all sizes might wear it. The same strap 
serves to hang it up by, when not in use. The back 
of the pocket, cut like a small rounded apron, is 
narrower than the front by a few inches. It is four¬ 
teen inches deep, and holds, in winter time, besides 
the clothes-pins, a pair of clean flannel mittens, 
for use in putting out clothes. My mittens are 
made of old gray flannel, lined and bound with red. 
It is easy to cut your own pattern. Measure around 
your hand just above the thumb. Get the length 
of the whole hand, and the length from the base of 
the thumb to the end of the longest finger, also 
the length of the thumb. Then by the aid of the 
accompanying diagram (tig. 2), you can cut out a 
pattern. Be careful and not get the thumb hole 
too large for the thumb you have made. This is a 
good way to make mittens 
for children, and you can 
make very pretty ones for 
yourself of line cloth lined 
with nice flannel and bound 
with fur.—-Is it possible that 
you are still doing your 
washing in the old-fashion¬ 
ed way, without machinery 
or fluid ? A good wringer 
is a great help. No woman, 
who can afford even one silk dress, ought to bo 
without a wringer. The clothes and the woman 
who washes, will both wear longer with a wringer 
than without it. The price of all washing machines 
seems very high, and you can hardly induce a hired 
washerwoman to use one. I think people fail in 
the use of them, chiefly, from not having the suds 
strong and hot. A good suds, boiling hot, lias a 
wonderful effect in loosening dirt, especially if 
mixed with good washing fluid. Then you must 
have sufficient motion to raise or squeeze out the 
loosened dirt. The especial object of rubbing on 
the board, I suppose, is, to force the suds be¬ 
tween the fibres of the cloth and bring out the 
dirt. The chief advantage of a machine is that it 
allows you to use suds too hot for your hands. 
My recipe for washing fluid is as follows: oue- 
lialf pound of sal-soda and a quarter of a pound of 
borax, dissolved in one gallon of hot, soft water. 
Allow it to settle, and pour off into a jug for use. 
A gill of this, mixed with a pint of soft soap, or 
half a pound of bar soap, jireviously dissolved in 
hot water, is sufficient for a moderate washing. 
Many housekeepers use unslacked lime instead 
of borax. This is cheaper, 
and as good for cleansing, 
perhaps, but the borax has 
an excellent effect upon the 
hands, softening and heal¬ 
ing where there is a tenden¬ 
cy to chap. It bleaches with¬ 
out injuring the clothes. 
Those who use the un¬ 
slacked lime, generally boil 
the clothes before rubbing. 
They soak the clothes over 
night or wet them thor¬ 
oughly, and soap the spots, 
before putting them in 
l'ig. 2. mitten fat- the boiler, then cover 
with soft water, add a gill 
of fluid, heat and boil twenty minutes, the fine 
clothes first and the coarser ones afterward in the 
same water. The clothes need very little rubbing 
after this, and are ready to be rinsed and dried. 
With my soda and borax fluid, I do the rubbing 
before boiling, but there is little or no rubbing to 
be done by hand if I am careful to have the suds in 
my machine strong and hot. I use two-thirds of 
the mixed soap and fluid in the rubbing, and save 
the remainder to put in the boiling. For the ordi¬ 
nary light washing of a family, I value the help of 
the fluid more than that of the machine ; but for 
heavy woolen garments, bed quilts, etc., a macliino 
seems almost indispensable. If you try my wash¬ 
ing fluid without a machine, mix it with water as 
hot as the hands can bear, and let the clothes stand 
in it half an hour before rubbing. They will wash 
easily and be ready to boil. In using a machine, 
do not put in too many clothes at once. 
You never tried to wash with hard water, I sup¬ 
pose. It is dreadful , unless the water is first soften¬ 
ed with ley or soda. The usual way is to make 
white ley, by boiling ashes and water together. It 
Is best to add this to the hard water when cold, 
and boil all together, skimming it while hot. Too 
Fig. 1.— CLOTIIES-FIN 
BAG. 
