150 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
tuyjly worn through. If from any cause the boots 
become very dry and stiff,a little tanner’s or neat’s- 
fooi. oil is applied only to soften them. When 
necessary to wade through much water, a thin 
coat of oil is applied to the upper leather to make 
the water “ slip off,” but not enough to saturate 
the pores. When rubbers are needed, they are 
removed as soon as circumstances will admit, to 
allow the leather to dry speedily. Nothing adds 
more to comfort, health, and durability of leather, 
than a frequent char..ge. of socks—two or three 
limes a day when the feet are continually exposed 
io much water, or when health is poor. The 
dry socks absorb the moisture, to the benefit of 
both feet and leather. 
The best protection for the feet is a pair of 
leather shoes or boots with thick uppers and es¬ 
pecially thick soles—so thick as not to allow the 
entrance of water, or the free passage of heat or 
cold, but the pores so open as to allow moisture 
to escape. Coarse cow-hid s boots or shoes are 
not only cheap, but are philosophical. 
Females, and men or children who are exposed 
to the wet ground only part of the day, should 
keep thick shoes to put on when going out; or 
have a pair of India rubber sandals (shoes with 
straps and openings over the top of the foot,) and 
put these on only when going upon wet, damp, or 
cold ground. 
Recipes, 
Caoliing' Salt Codfish. 
Late one evening we called unexpectedly upon 
a farmer in Western New-Jersey. Before re¬ 
tiring, we overheard, in another room, the good 
housewife anxiously inquiring of her husband : 
“ What in the world shall I get for breakfast 1 
Our visitor, I believe, don’t eat ‘ salt pork or junk,’ 
and I have nothing else in the house but suit cod¬ 
fish.'" We 'wanted to tell her that die could pro¬ 
vide nothing more acceptable. This idea, that 
salt codfish is a last and worst resort, is shared by 
others as well as by West Jersey people, especial¬ 
ly those along the sea-board, where the article 
lias always been abundant. Not so at the West. 
U'e remember when a boy, before canul naviga¬ 
tion opened easy access to eastern markets, 
that salt codfish, like rice, w r as kept as a choice 
resort, when visiters came ; and we have never 
lost our respect for this article of diet, which we 
have heard so much abused in latter yeais. But 
to be good, it must be rightly prepared. Like 
coffee and many other kinds of food, its relish 
depends a good deal upon the ‘‘fixings ” and fix¬ 
ing. Of itself, it is healthful and nourishing, if 
it can be made to slip down easily. With proper 
preparation, we relish it about eight times a week ! 
We like it thus : First, buy a good fish—one with 
little or no odor, and of uniform color throughout. 
Any spots darker than the rest indicate poor 
curing, and will perhaps spoil the flavor of the 
whole fish. Look lor these blemishes even around 
the edges. The light-colored flesh is usually best. 
The fish is to be picked pretty fine, and placed 
m cold water over night. (If this be not done be¬ 
forehand, it should be picked very fine, put in cold 
water, and slowly heated, and then boiled briskly 
to get out the salt.) In the morning pour off 
the soaking water, and rinse with more cold wa¬ 
ter, which will remove any disagreeable flavor re¬ 
maining from the soaking water. Next, pick it in¬ 
to very fine bits, put in cold water, heat and scald. 
Pour off the water, and put in some milk, and 
heat. To this add a good supply of flour stirred 
in water, and cook it thoroughly. Here is the 
most common failure—the flour is not cooked 
enough, but is left with a raw taste. Just before 
removing from the fire, stir in one, two or three 
beaten eggs, and a little butter, with more milk, 
if necessary, to leave it just thick enough to dip 
out with a spoon. It may need a little salt. You 
thus have a dish that tastes well, digests well, 
nourishes well, and is more economical than most 
meat dishes—just the thing for breakfast. 
Codfish Cutlets.— M. 0. Tanner, Rockland 
Co., N. Y., sends us this recipe. Soak pieces of 
salted codfish in water until it is quite soft, and 
sufficiently freshened to be palatable. Remove 
the skin and large bones, and dry it with a nap¬ 
kin. Make a batter of eggs and flour, coat the 
fish with it, and fry brown in butter. 
Mock Mince Pies. 
Said by “ an itinerant's wife ” who sends it, to 
be an improvement on the genuine article. Mix 
1 cup of sugar, 1 of molasses, 1£ of bread crumbs, 
w’ith 1 cup of good cider vinegar, 4 of water and 
3 eggs ; add 1 cup raisins (seeded), 1 ounce cloves, 
and 1 ounce soda. This quantity will be suffi¬ 
cient for three pies. 
White Iienion Cakes. 
Contributed for the Agriculturist, and highly re¬ 
commended by G. Nichols, of Madison Co., N. 
Y.: Rub well together 6 ounces of butter, 1^ 
pounds of flour; add i pint of (well beaten) eggs, 
1 pound pulverized sugar, 12 drops essence of 
lemon, and 2 drachms carbonate of ammonia. 
The ingredients should be mixed into a paste, 
with as little handling as possible, rolled out about 
as thick as a silver dollar, cut into cakes, and 
baked on buttered tins, with a gentle heat. 
Shrewsbury (lake. 
By the same correspondent: To 1 pound of 
flour add 10 ounces pulverized sugar, 10 ounces 
butter, 2 eggs, half a nutmeg (grated), and an 
equal quantity of ground cinnamon, or mace and 
cinnamon, mixed. 
[The following six recipes are contributed to the Ame¬ 
rican Agriculturist by “ A Farmer’s Wife,” of Dutchess 
Co., N. ¥.] 
Graham Btiscuits or Bread (no yeast or soda ) 
Take 2 quarts of good Graham flour, put it in 
a kneading pan, make a hole in the middle of the 
flour and pour in boiling water (stirring it all the 
time) until nearly half the flour is scalded and 
made as stiff as it can well be stirred with a 
spoon; then pour in cold water, mixing with the 
hand at the same time, until the mass is cool. 
Then mix in the flour around the edge, and mold 
up in the same manner, as soft as ordinary bis¬ 
cuit. Bake in rather a quick oven. Some think 
them better to pierce each one with a fork before 
baking, and not to let them touch each other in 
the pan. They can be eaten while fresh with im¬ 
punity [in proper quantity] ; they are not good 
when stale. 
Indiu.ii Biscuits. 
Take 1 quart of cold Indian Mush, or Hasty 
pudding ; put it into a pan containing about the 
same quantity of either coarse or fine wheat flour, 
add milk or sweet cream sufficient to make the 
mush thin, say £ pint; then mix in the flour and 
make up into biscuits as soft as you can well 
handle them and bake in a quick oven 20 minutes. 
Cold boiled hominy with flour alone, mixed 
and made into biscuits, makes nice breakfast 
cakes. 
Rice Bread. 
Take one teacupfull of rice boiled in water 
until soft—if for breakfast it should be boiled over 
night—or use cold rice left from a previous din¬ 
ner ; mix with it 2 beaten eggs, a little more than 
a pint of milk, as much less than a pint of Indian 
meal, as you have over the pint of milk, and 2 
tablespoonfuls of flour: This will fill 2 middle 
sized square tins, and requires to be baked nearly 
an hour. I think every one who appreciates good 
wholesome bread, will acknowledge this to be 
worth recommending. 
To make plain Pie-crust. 
Take light bread dough sufficient to cover yom 
pie-plates and mix in butter, say a piece rather 
larger than a walnut to each pie. If sweet cream 
is at hand, 2 tablespoonfuls added will be an im¬ 
provement. Roll the crust out thin, and if you 
wish, spread on a little more butter and sprinkle 
with a little flour ; then fold over and roll again; 
if rolled and folded several times it will be the 
better. Mashed potatoes mixed in the dough to 
make it seem short, are also an improvement. 
Indeed a most excellent crust can be made in 
this way, one which will not cause Dyspepsia 
and one which Dyspeptics can eat without injury. 
Bread Pudding;. 
Take stale bread and pour on milk sufficient 
to soak it soft, but not to make it very thin ; add 
any kind of fruit either fresh or dried, previously 
soaked until your pudding is pretty well filled with 
it. Put in a pudding cloth and boil it one hour 
and then with good cream and sugar, or a rich 
sauce if preferred, you have a pudding that will 
vie with any Christmas affair, and be far more 
wholesome, as it is without suet, wine, or spices. 
A Plain Cuke. 
To be made with either fine or coarse flour, 
and sugar or molasses. One teacupfull of mo¬ 
lasses ; 1 of sour cream ; 1 of water; and 1 tea¬ 
spoonful of soda, with flour enough to make it as 
stiff as common stirred cake. The soda is to be 
dissolved in 2 or 3 tablespoonfuls of water, and 
added the last thing just as it is to be set into the 
oven. 
A Blood Plain Cuke. 
Contributed to the Agriculturist by a lady read¬ 
er, in Worcester Co., Mass. To 2-3 of a cup of 
butter, add 1$- cups of sugar, rolled fine, 2 eggs, 
1 cup sweet or sour milk, f teaspoonful soda, 
spice to suit the taste, and add flour to make it 
about as thick as batter for pancakes. 
Plain Ginger Bread. 
By the same ; To a cup of molasses add a 
piece of butter the size of a large walnut, the 
butter being melted, put in 1 cup sour milk, and 
a teaspoonful of soda. Spice with cloves or 
ginger; rnix in enough flour to make a thick 
batter, and bake slowly. 
Liquid Glue. 
M. Kelly, Fayette Co., Ind., prepares this arti¬ 
cle by dissolving glue in boiling water, using only 
water enough to reduce the glue to liquid form. 
It is then removed from the fire, and sufficient 
alcohol poured in to bring it to the right consist¬ 
ence, stirring it briskly. It is kept in a bottle with 
a piece of India rubber or bladder tied over the 
mouth, and will, he says, preserve its properties 
for years. It is thus always ready for use with¬ 
out the trouble of preparing, when wanted. In 
very cold weather it may need to be warmed a 
little. 
An interesting scene must be such a one as is 
reported to have been witnessed at an agricultur¬ 
al fair, held at Hopkinsville, Tenn. The account 
says that ten brothers, named Brown, all mounted 
on fine eray horses, rode into the amphitheatre, 
and displayed their horsemanship, all being good 
riders. The eldest was aged forty, the youngest 
twenty. They had not all been together for fif 
teen years. Their mother was present, and they 
reined up in front of the matron,and saluted her, 
while she shed tears of joy and pride. 
