1873.] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
THE HOTSEHtM) 
(For other Household Items , see 
What Shall we have for Breakfast? 
425 
The question given above is one of daily occur¬ 
rence. In most families there is a great tendency 
to fall into monotony and run the changes on a 
few articles. Those of us who live in the country 
must have an early breakfast, and this precludes 
any elaborate preparation, and the tendency is to 
select that which can be most readily prepared. 
We would like a bill of fare for breakfasts for a 
week, to be made as varied as possible, to in¬ 
clude only one dish of meat at each breakfast, and 
to be easily and quickly prepared. To the lady 
who will send us the best bill of fare of this kind 
we will send the Agriculturist for 1874. Should 
there be more than one list of particular excellence 
we will send the same acknowledgment to the 
others. All bills of fare to reach us before Decem¬ 
ber 1st, marked “ Household ” upon the envelope. 
Some windows have sills broad enough to hold the 
box, but where this is not the case it may rest 
Basket " pages.) ° u P on a couple of brackets screwed to the wall. 
Wooden brackets may be used, or cast-iron ones, 
which may be had at a cheap rate at the large hard¬ 
ware stores. The box should be thoroughly 
nailed, and strong i n its make. Then it is to be 
covered, and our engravings show three styles of 
doing it. In figure 1 cedar sticks, straight and of 
Rustic Window-Boxes. 
Tig. 2.. 
-BOX COWERED WITH BARK 
Some of the readers of the Household Depart¬ 
ment may think that window-boxes should be 
treated of in that portion of the paper devoted to 
horticulture. We have a very decided notion that 
any such household adornments are usually insti¬ 
gated by the lady of the house, if they arc not made 
by her, and if we enforced the value of window- 
boxes elsewhere the matter might escape the eyes 
of those for whom it was especially intended. 
Many of our readers would have flowers in their 
rooms if it were not for the trouble entailed by a 
number of pots. The earth in pots soon dries out 
and separates, and frequent watering, with its at¬ 
tendant drip and “muss,” makes the care of them 
a task. When a cold snap comes on it is often 
necessary, especially in country houses, to remove 
the plants to some warmer, quarter, and the carry¬ 
ing about of a dozen or two pots is no light task. 
Then pots of themselves are undeniably unsightly, 
mless one buys very expensive ones ; and if they 
ire not filled with plants that are particularly at- 
■ractive, the collection as a whole, pots and plants, 
s not altogether satisfactory as an ornament to. the 
Iwelling. All of these objections may be overcome 
>y the use of window-boxes. The earth does not 
Iry out rapidly; if the plants must be moved they 
an all be lifted at once ; the box can be made of a 
leasing appearance and an ornament in itself 
hould the plants not be especially attractive,or even 
E it contained no plants at all. We have in former 
ears given designs for finely finished window- 
oxes, but we have recently seen at the store of 
'. K. Bliss & Sons some on sale to city customers 
aat we think would suit our rural readers ex- 
etly, as they can be made by almost any one. 
the same size, are split in halvfs, the bark left on, 
and firmly nailed to the box. In figure 2 is shown 
what is to our taste an exceedingly beautiful box. 
It is covered with some well-marked bark ; in the 
case of the one figured that of the White-wood or 
Tulip-tree, common throughout all the Western 
States, is used. The engraving shows the manner 
of laying it on. Figure 3 shows a more elaborate 
style, which in reality is more effective than can 
be shown iu the engraving. The ornamentation 
here is done with halved sticks, those shown light 
being of-white birch, the silvery bark of which 
showed in strong contrast with the darker pieces, 
which are apparently laurel or some dark-barked 
wood. In this last case the wood was varnished, 
which wc do not consider an improvement. Either 
of these boxes is of a most pleasing exterior, and 
drainage. The reason for this preparation is : if the 
earth should happen to receive too much water the 
excess will pass down into this bottom layer and 
the roots of the plants receive no injury. For the 
earth the object must be to have it moderately 
rich and so porous that it will not bake hard 
Good garden soil may do without addition; if 
heavy, mix some sand. Earth from the woods 
garden soil, and sand mixed in proportions to make 
a light porous soil will be 
capital. The plants we shall 
not try to enumerate. Suffice 
it to say that any of the plant* 
usually grown in the house in 
pots will do well in such a box, 
and each one will have her own 
preference. If one has no 
house plants, and can not 
readily procure them, a box of 
this kind may be made an ob¬ 
ject of beauty and interest 
without expense. Go to the 
woods and take up sods of 
moss that have Partridge-ber¬ 
ry, Princess-pine, and such plants, or get cran¬ 
berry plants from the bogs, or even strawberry 
plants from the garden. With green moss, 
such ferns as appear to be evergreen, and low- 
growing plants from the woods, a fine cheery bit 
of green may be kept up all winter, only a box 
filled in this way should not be kept in a very warm 
room. Our object was to describe the box and not 
its filling, that being a matter that few of our read¬ 
ers will find any trouble with. 
Boa* 
Home Topics. 
BY FAITH ROCHESTER. 
Fig. 3.— BOX WITH MOSAIC WORK. 
Fig. 1- 
-BOX COVERED WITH CEDAR STICKS. 
are so thoroughly rustic that we have had 
|gravmgs made of them as a guide to those who 
“ t0 , ^ their hands—or to direct somebody else 
1 try his hands—at making them. The founda- 
“ a11 cases is a b °x of sound pine, which need 
>t of necessity be planed. The size of the box 
iould have reference to that of the window 
while it would not seem out of place in the most 
elegant parlor, would grace and add an air of re¬ 
finement to the humblest kitchen. So much for 
the outside of the box, which any one who really 
sets herself about it can accomplish without diffi¬ 
culty. As to the inside: If you wish to do the 
best thiug, get a pan of sheet zinc or galvanized 
iron made to exactly fit it. If 
this expense should not be 
warranted use the box with¬ 
out it, but in case of over¬ 
watering it may drip, and if 
not thoroughly and carefully 
nailed the sides may warp; 
but a little foresight will avoid 
these difficulties. A good 
mechanic can make a box quite 
water-tight by putting thick 
White-lead or a strip of paper 
dipped in tar between the 
joints before nailing. Now, 
to fill it, put in the bottom— 
whether it has a pan or 
two in depth, according to 
Boarding One’s Self at School.— The expense 
of boarding keeps many farmers’ sons and daugh¬ 
ters from the high schools, 
academies, and colleges of th« 
towns. At many of the West¬ 
ern State universities the tui¬ 
tion is free, but money goes 
fast for board bills. Mery few 
families take boarders from 
motives of pure philanthropy. 
They do it to make money, 
and they do make money un¬ 
less there is great waste in 
their management. Boarding 
clubs are sometimes establish¬ 
ed by young men. They ob¬ 
tain cheap lodgings and take 
their meals together at some 
place where a woman (or a man) is employed 
not—an inch or ___ 
size, of broken flower-pots if you have them, if 
not, bricks broken to the size of walnuts, or if 
neither of these be available use small stones or 
hard coal. This is what gardeners call drainage. 
Then over this a layer of moss, of any kind, sufficient 
to keep the earth from working down among the 
to cook for them, the expense of the provisions 
and of the cook’s wages being divided equally 
among the members. 
A cheaper way of getting along is to keep house 
for one’s self, having one or two or more compan¬ 
ions to lessen the expense and to make a cheerful 
company. If I had not tried this way I should 
probably have had a year’s schooling less than I 
was able to obtain by the aid of such management. 
Iiemember that my pride rebelled when such a 
thing was first suggested tome—it looked so poor! 
But when my ambition to learn was fairly aroused 
I came to a different mind. 
One can get along amazingly cheap so, if rents 
are at all reasonable, especially if the folks at home 
co-operate by sending provisions atintervals. There 
is pleasure in it too, if properly managed. 
But such a course has its perils. Young people 
who know something about the laws of health can 
sometimes supply themselves with more wholesome 
food than the boarding-houses usually furnish. If 
they have the use of a good oven they can bake a 
big batch of bread on Saturday and bake graham 
gems and johnny cakes between times. They 
might make griddle cakes, but if their clothing and 
books are in the same room with their cooking, the 
frying of any kind of food—anything which pro¬ 
duces burned fat—will cause the cooks to carry an 
unpleasant and too suggestive perfume about. 
<r- 
