AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
1873.] 
Mush of various kinds—corn-meal, graham, oat- 
meal—is cheap and easily made, and is wholesome 
food if eaten with a very simple dressing. Milk 
alone is usually its best accompaniment. Beefsteak 
might be broiled once or twice a week—with a 
patent-covered broiler there need be no strong- 
odor in the room—but as the object of self-board¬ 
ing is chiefly to live cheaply, steak would rank 
among the luxuries. A soup bone with considera¬ 
ble lean meat to boil all of Saturday forenoon mak¬ 
ing a good dinner soup (with every bit of fat skim¬ 
med ofl) aud a nice meat-hash for one or two 
breakfasts would be cheaper. Dried beef from 
home would work iu well. With plenty of apples 
to bake and stew and to eat raw there would be no 
very expensive fruit needed. 
Now let me speak of the perils. Irregularity of 
meals is one of the greatest, and this is likely to 
produce dyspepsia, and dyspepsia and brain -work 
never go well together. There is danger of living 
too much on cold food—on “light victuals” sent 
in boxes from home—on cakes and cookies, and 
pies and doughnuts, and tarts aud preserves—all of 
which should be almost entirely omitted from the 
student’s bill of fare. It is better that two or 
more keep house in company, because one alone 
is more apt to neglect the needs of the stomach, is 
tempted to study while eating, and eats too hastily 
and too solemnly. 
The little student company who keep house to¬ 
gether should be unanimous in trying to beep up 
the good name of their firm for punctuality, good 
scholarship, and correct behavior. 
Plenty of Water for Washing. —There are va¬ 
rious labor-saving soaps and machines, but no way 
has ever been invented for making soiled clothing 
clean without plenty of water. This makes wash¬ 
ing a great task to those who have to bring their 
water from a distance, or who have not the strength 
to lift many pailfuls of water even when it is close 
at hand. I do not wonder in the least that girls in¬ 
quire of their mistress before taking places in fam¬ 
ilies whether the washiug is large, and whether 
there are stationary tubs with hot and cold water 
conveyed in pipes. When the water has to be 
brought several rods in pails, up a hill or up-stairs 
it may be, a foolish washerwoman will sometimes 
omit or sadly slight some very necessary processes 
iu the washing. I have 6een one try to rinse a 
whole large washing in only two pailfuls of water. 
I know one who will sometimes wring the clothes 
from the sudsing water (or the first water after the 
clothes come from the boiler), and hang them at 
once upon the line, if a supply of water is not easily 
obtained. 
A large frost-proof cistern of soft water seems 
to me one of the first necessities of a well-ordered 
household. I would rather live in the humblest 
cot and have that, than to live in a large fine house 
aud be stinted for water. 
Some Other Mistakes in Washing.— The di¬ 
rections for washing with the machines almost al¬ 
ways advise very hot or boiling suds. But remem¬ 
ber never to put dirty clothes into clear hot water. 
It “sets the dirt,” and you must work very hard 
to get the clothes clean after such a mistake. Some 
fruit stains are removed by pouring boiling water 
through the spot, but some other stains are hope¬ 
lessly “ 6et ” by such means. It seems to me the 
safest way either to have the water in which clothes 
are washed no hotter than the hands can bear or to 
have the soiled clothes wet in either cold or warm 
water before putting them into hot suds—at least 
to see that table linen and garments are not put 
into hot suds with dry stains upon them. 
Fine clothes are sometimes spoiled by boiling in 
hard water. Housekeepers may be obliged to wash 
with hard water, but it should be first made soft by 
alkali. The most common way is to add a little 
lye (white lye usually made by boiling ashes in 
water) to each boilerful of water, skimming it as it 
boils. Washing-soda is used for the same purpose. 
In any case skim the water, and boil the clothes in 
a bag. Clothes once made gray and spotted by 
boiling in hard water can never be made to look 
very well again. Another mistake is to boil the 
clothes too long. Fifteen minutes of good boiling 
will do. Half an hour is the very longest time that 
should be allowed. Too long boiling makes the 
clothes yellow and tender. Too strong a boiling 
suds may have the same effect. 
Washing Palnt after Fly-time. —No great 
amount of labor is requisite for cleaning the traces 
of flies from paint or wood-work. No soap is neces¬ 
sary. I wet the door or window-frame all over 
with a cloth that will not drip. Then I go back to 
the place where I began and wash the whole over 
very quickly and easily, then use a clean dry cloth. 
I should not think of mentioning this, but the other 
day I saw a hired girl of considerable experience 
rubbing hard and long upon a door, and sighing 
because fly-specs were so hard to wash off—simply 
because she did uotthink to put the work “ asoak.” 
Not long before I saw a man undertake to clean, 
and greatly injure, a painted piece ox furniture 
covered with the marks of last year’s fly-time, by 
rubbing a coat of soap all over it and then washing- 
off soap and paint and dirt together. Cold water 
alone would have cleaned it better. Soap always 
injures paint more or less. A little applied under 
the door-knobs and immediately washed away is 
sometimes admissible. Whiting on a flannel cloth 
is recommended as still better. Soap-suds yellows 
white paint and dulls the luster of all paint and 
varnish. Clear water, either cold or rather warm, 
is all that varnished graining needs. 
A Hired Girl’s Grievance.— “ Do you know¬ 
how to make good bread?” asked Annie’s new 
mistress. “ Xes, I can make good bread, said 
Annie, “ but I want to make my own yeast or else 
use the dry yeast-cakes.” “But I use baker’s 
yeast,” said the mistress. “ I hate to use it,” said 
Annie, “the dough is so apt to sour.” “That is 
very true,’’ was the reply, “ it will hardly do to 
mix the sponge at night in such hot weather.” 
“Letme run down to the grocery aud get some 
yeast-cakes. I used those at my last place and they 
made very nice bread—very light and always sweet.” 
So Annie begged and she was allowed to have 
her way. She went to work as though she knew 
what she was about, and the mistress would not 
interfere though she had her fears for the bread at 
two or three points during the process of making. 
But it came out “just beautiful.” Then Annie, 
who had seemed very anxious that her bread should 
be just right, told a bit of her experience. She 
went to work for one woman who would not let 
her make bread in her own way but directed her 
at every step, and between them both they always 
spoiled the bread, and Annie was blamed for it 
every time, especially as she had said, when hired, 
that she could make good bread. Her mistress 
made the bread alone one day, and Annie says it 
was very poor stuff compared with what she knew 
she could make if allowed to do it in her own way. 
She heard her mistress tell her husband and tell 
some of the neighbors that Annie “ could not make 
a loaf of bread,” and she was “ so ’shamed ” that 
she took the first pretext for leaving the place, and 
ever since has been praised as a bread-maker, as 
she often had been before. It is quite fair to let 
a hired girl, who really lias had some experience, 
try her own way the first time, and if it proves a 
poorer way than ours we can teach her better, aud 
she will perhaps appreciate the lesson. 
Pop-corn at Dessert.— I think I need not tell 
how to pop corn, need I ? It is the best way to 
have a corn-popper; then you can watch the pro¬ 
gress of the corn and vary the degree of heat as 
seems necessary. Many imagine that the pop-corn 
is more tender or brittle if taken from the hot fire 
and shaken about in the cold air as quickly as 
possible. Children are apt to stuff themselves with 
pop-corn when they are not in the least need of a 
meal. Pop-corn is food, and such a crowded con¬ 
dition of the stomach produces discomfort, aud so 
pop-corn is supposed to be unwholesome. It is 
quite the contrary if eaten as food with the regular 
meal and properly chewed. Try it with milk and 
apple-sauce or with any good fruit-sauce. 
Johnny-Cake Without Eggs.—I found out for 
myself, long ago, that delicious corn cakes could 
be made of sweet new meal without eggs; aud I 
didn’t know but everybody else knew tlJe same. I 
used to scald the meal mixed with a little salt with 
just as little boiling water as would wet all of the 
meal. This mixture I thinned a little with milk or 
cold water, sometimes adding half a teacup or more 
of wheat flour. . Then I baked it in gem pans in a 
hot oven. These corn gems are good too !—when 
the meal is fresh and 6weet. 
Lately I have been trying to use up some fine 
white corn-meal that seemed a trifle bitter. There 
was little sweetness in it to bring out by scalding, 
and I wanted to disguise the slight bitterness. So 
I went to the receipt-books. They all dictated eggs 
and butter or lard. It was impossible for me to 
get fresh eggs (I threw.away four of the last half- . 
dozen, and have lived for six weeks using only three 
eggs obtained from a neighbor), and “ shortening ” S 
is one of the things I'steer as clear of as possible. So 
this is the way we made good johnny-cake under 
the circumstances described above. 
Scald about a pint of meal at night with boiling f 
water. In the morning thin it with milk, add a 
tea-spoon of salt (only level full) a big table-spoon¬ 
ful of sugar, and, lastly, a teacupful of sifted white 
flour well mixed with a teaspoonful of baking 
powder. The batter should be rather thicker than 
for griddle cakes as the meal has swelled some du¬ 
ring the night, aud no allowance need be made for 
that. I can not see where the necessity for shorten¬ 
ing comes in as these johnny-cakes are certainly 
tender. A little cream spread over the crust im-/ 
proves it. The above recipe makes two thin cakesf 
if baked iu common “ square tins.” When the 
milk is sour, soda (in the proportion of a small tea¬ 
spoonful of soda to a large pint of milk) is used 
instead of baking-powder. 
Economy in Cooking.—I sometimes meet people 
who seem to think that all economy, especially in 
cooking, is meanness. People who have everything 
to buy soon learn if they are attentive that butter 
and eggs and sugar are very expensive items in the 
family. They are all good in their place, but they 
are often used so freely as to interfere greatly with 
the comfort and prosperity of the family. “Lucy 
Maria” observes that “housekeepers add grease 
and sweetening at the approach of company.” It 
does seem that some people imagine that good 
cooking consists in using a great proportion of 
shortening, sweetening, and lightening in the way 
of butter, lard, and eggs. They pile these into 
things that would be quite good enough and far 
more digestible without them. Are these the 
people who can not afford to buy nice fruit—to 
say nothing of books and newspapers? Are they 
the ones who think it extravagant to get good 
playthings for the children ? 
Cleaning Coat-Collars. —A correspon¬ 
dent, “H. T. B.,” in the far-off land of Tasmania 
sends what 6he considers the best method of 
cleaning coat-collars : “ Take a piece of ammonia- 
stone (carbonate of ammonia) the size of a walnut 
and put it iu a cup of warm water. When dis¬ 
solved, take a piece of clean flannel and dip it in 
the solution and rub the collar two or three times 
with it. It will also remove the glossy appearance 
along the seams and upon the elbows.” 
Feather Beds;— A. Cook, Wood Co., 0. 
Those who make it a business of renovating feath¬ 
ers put them into a cylinder of perforated sheet- 
iron large enough to hold the contents of a tick. 
This is revolved until all the dust is sifted out 
from the feathers, and is then revolved for a while 
over a slow charcoal fire. The hot air and the 
motion make the feathers very light. In the family 
this is not practicable. The nearest approach to it 
would be to sift the dust from the feathers, and 
then expose them in a tick thoroughly to the sun 
and let them air well, giving occasional thorough 
beatings. Can any of our readers suggest any 
| better treatment for an old feather bed? 
