AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
[January, 
2T 
also. In talking of renewing fine skirts, quite an item 
in these days, Mrs. Thorn says when the edge of a bosom 
begins to wear, she makes a delicate button-hole stitch 
the length of the bosom, works over the button-holes 
carefully as soon as they give way, patches the cuffs which 
never show it, and in this way she makes a shirt last one- 
third longer than she once did. Mrs. May, who owns a 
sewing-machine, and seems to think there is sport in 
making button-holes, stitches a strip of linen to match 
the middle fold, cuts out the old one with its worn but¬ 
ton-holes and (having allowed for it in cutting) sets the 
new one in under the first plait. Mrs. Jones says that 
just as soon as this is all done, the bosom will give way 
in other places. She long ago discarded her practice of 
lining the bosoms throughout. Now she makes but one 
fine shirt at a time—-so that she never has new ones 
altogether—allows an extra bosom and pair of wrist¬ 
bands to every two shirts, sets them into shirt No. 1, as 
that needs it, and then into shirt No. 2. Now hear old 
Mrs. Simpkins: “What’s the use of a farmer’s having 
fine shirts, anyhow ? The land ! what is the world com¬ 
ing to ? My husband never had a fine shirt in all his life. 
He puts on his standing collar and stock, and one of those 
false bosoms {‘■hypocrites,' some call them), over his every¬ 
day shirt, when he goes to meeting, or takes a load to 
town, and then he is dressed fit for a king. At any rate, 
that old Alfred the Great, my Jeems used to read about, 
would have thought it fit for Mm. I suppose Kings how- 
a-days would not think so, they’ve all got so grand—kings, 
parsons and their wives, farmer folks, and all.’_ I” 
[Pkom No. 30.]—“—A good housekeeper makes a 
good servant—a good housekeeper, you understand, not a 
good woman. Look at Aunt Debby, one of the best women 
in the world, and was there ever such an abominable 
muddle as her homekeeping ? Sometimes Aunt Debby does 
a certain piece of'work, sometimes it is left for Sarah 
Jane—trimming the lamps for instance. Sarah Jane 
leaves them for Aunt Debby, and Aunt Debby leaves them 
for Sarah Jane ; if Aunt Debby sets out to do them, she 
must, in the first place, find her scissors. Accordingly, 
she runs up stairs and down to rummage the pockets of 
her dresses, ^en she pokes over the little heaps of strings 
and dried orange peel lying promiscuous in the cupboard ; 
possibly her search is uninterrupted, but generally the 
butcher comes, or a neighbor drops in; the scissors are dis¬ 
covered after a time, but then the lamps are forgotten.’’ 
[Pbom No. 17.]—“—I will give my rule for bread¬ 
making—a certain one for me. Of course, the flour must 
be good; it should always be sifted just before using. 
We use baker’s yeast, and get it fresh every week, as it is 
more convenient. For three loaves of bread, take 3 pints 
of milk or luke warm water (according to taste). Boil 
and mash 5 good sized potatoes, add 1 cup of yeast and a 
little salt. Stir all together at night with as much flour 
as you can stir in with a spoon. Leave it in a warm place 
to rise, and in the morning, when light, knead it well, 
adding sufficient flour. Let it rise until light and full of 
air-holes, and mould it out into loaves; then let it rise 
again to the point from which it was last worked down, 
and bake.-If I can not, through the medium of this 
Essay, teach a novice to make bread, I wish I could im¬ 
press it upon those who do know how, to give more at¬ 
tention to it. If you know when bread is light, attend to 
it immediately, and not put it off, because you are doing 
something else, as the fermentation passes so rapidly 
into the acetous stage, from which no saleratus or leger¬ 
demain of that kind, can redeem it into good bread. 
Bread should be baked about an hour, and as cook stoves 
are so very different, every one should know best how to 
temper her ovyn oven. The heat should be directed to 
the bottom as much as possible, for if the top crust forms 
too rapidly, it will press down the bread and prevent the 
expansion of the loaf, and so make a heavy streak. Or if 
not so bad as that, there will be great ugly cracks in the 
crust. When it is cut, if there are large air-holes in it, 
you may conclude it was not kneaded enough, and 
try to have it better next time.A tin of raised bis¬ 
cuit may be easily made by taking enough of the bread 
dough when ready for moulding into loaves, and 
working in nearly a cup of butter. But to make capital 
raised biscuits, try the following rule, for it is certain : 
Six cups of milk, 1 of yeast, and a little flour stirred in at 
night. In the morning add 1 cup of butter, and let it rise 
the same as bread. For rusks, add 1 cup of sugar and 2 
eggs, and varnish the tops, when done, with the white of 
egg.With regard to pic-making, probably it would 
have been much better for us, if no pies had ever come 
into existence ; but since they have, and since people will 
eat them, we had better make them as nicely as possible. 
Every body knows that it takes equal parts of lard and 
water mixed in flour, to make crust, but every body does 
not know Iww to mix it. It requii’cs a deftness that can 
be ‘feained only by practice. Put the lard into the flour 
cold, and rub it in smoothly, adding the water by degrees 
and roli out neatly and quickly as possible. If you want 
the upper crust particularly flaky, roll it Out partially and 
dot here and there with lard. Then make it in a lump 
and roll out again for the pie. All pies are better baked 
in earthen dishes. There must always be an opening in 
the upper crust. Apple pies are especially nice, when 
made in these dishes, the apples sliced in without a bot¬ 
tom crust, sweetened, and a nice top crust, but you may 
sigh in Vain at hotels, and at the many private tables, for 
anything so simple and so delicious... .What we call 
‘ Toad Pie,’ (though I’m sure I don’t know why) is deli¬ 
cious. The apples are stewed and then placed in a crust 
and baked. The top crust and some of the apple is then 
taken off. Sweeten and put on sweet cream or butter. 
Replace the top crust and put the apple over it, and sea¬ 
son the same as the lower part; to be eaten warm....” 
[From No. 11.]—(Afeiracfe from Vine Leroy's Experience:} 
“....‘Come to supper. Mother, Aunt Peggy, Eva, and 
fill.’—‘In a minute, dear.’—‘Five o’clock precisely.’ Josey 
is always very punctual, I can trust her to get meals for 
us, with no fear of her not having them ready in season. 
Shall I take your work Peggy? Come Eva, we will go 
and see what Josey has got good for supper.-‘Has 
she been getting supper all alone. Aunt Vine ? ’-Yes, 
dear; she does it often.-1 had become so interested 
in the story of ‘A Summer,’ in Leslie Goldthwaite’s Life, 
I had not missed her. ‘I wish you would take a maga¬ 
zine for me,’ said Eva to her mother. Aunt Peggy. ‘Do 
you laiow that that magazine costs two dollars a year ? I 
will tell you sometime how the children pay for their mag¬ 
azines.’ ‘ You have got a very nice supper, daughter, and 
have set the table very nicely.’-‘You don’t mean to say 
Vine, that Josey has made them short-cakes,’ said Aunt 
Reggy.-‘ Oh, yes, she has made a good many.’—‘ Why 
don’t you never let me help you so, Ma,’ said Eva.—‘You 
will never let me bake any, and I am as old as Josey.’-- 
Well, I never could bear to see girls of your age mussing 
in dough,’ said Aunt Peggy.-‘My! how short and good 
these biscuits are.’-‘ Yes, I often tell Vine, that Josey 
can beat her making short-cakes.’-‘Now, Papa, I don’t 
like you to praise my cooking so in company.’-‘But 
it must be you don’t have such good one’s as these very 
often, or you could not make so much butter,’ said Aunt 
-‘ We only have them about twice a week.’-- 
‘ Twice a week, and short as this! You must milk all 
cream from your cows.’-‘ Let me tell her, Ma, how I 
made them,’ said Josey. ‘In the first place, mother al¬ 
ways strains her buttermilk; and I take a bowlful of the 
dried cream we get from it, and a quart of buttermilk, in 
which I put two teaspoonfuls of soda, and a little salt. 
And here is a berry short-cake I have made; father likes 
them so well.’-‘ A berry short-cake in January! I never 
heard of such a thing,’ said Aunt Peggy.-‘ Yes, when 
rolling ny biscuit I roll a strip about two inches thick, 
and put it in a long tin and bake it with them. When it 
is done, I take it out on a platter, split it open and 
butter it, then put my stewed berries in it while hot. I 
had the berries hot, too, and sweetened well, with a good 
deal of juice. I think strawberries are better, but they 
were not plentiful last season, and red raspberries were, 
so we use them. Black raspberries are excellent to make 
them of, too, and any of them are better still, if kept by 
canning.’-‘ I wish Eva could cook like this,’ said Aunt 
Reggy.——‘ And I wish my Ma would sometimes make 
such a short-cake as this, or let me learn how,’ responded 
* = 1 = * ‘ Heigho I there goes seven 
o’clock, and I must be off, it is the evening for the 
‘ Parmer’s Club,’ so you must excuse me. There’s a kiss 
for you Vine, now let me kiss you Peggy,’ said Mr. Le¬ 
roy, in a playful manner.-‘ Well! I declare! I don’t be¬ 
lieve you ever will leave off your boyish capers. Now 
you have been married fifteen years, and you kiss your 
Mufe like a boy, just because you are to leave her for a 
couple of hours. My husband hasn’t kissed me since I 
married him.’-‘I hope my husband will never be too 
dignified to kiss me.’-‘ And I guess I never will. Even 
the name of Joshua has never made a prophet of me. 
Good evening to you.’_’’ 
43-0©^ Blreatl.—Mrs. M. W., writes, that 
after keeping house 12 years, and trying all sorts of bread 
recipes, and finding them all to fail some times, she 
adopted the directions published in the Agriculturist two 
years ago, (Feb. 1865), and she has never since failed to 
have good bread. Several others have written similarly, 
and we repeat the substance of the directions for the 
benefit of at least a hundred thousand present readers 
who did not have that nirmber of the paper; Requis¬ 
ites, good flour, good potatoes, and good hops.—For stock 
yeast, good for 4 to 0 weeks, boil 2 or 3 handfuls of hops, 
1(4 hours, in 2 quarts water; strain the liquor on to 2 
tablespoonfuls of flour, previously wet with cold water ; 
stir well and leave until lukewarm ; add % cup yeast, let 
it stand 15 to 20 hours, then bottle for use—to be shaken 
every time any is to be taken out.-^Make a ferment 
thus: Wash clean and boil soft 2 quarts of potatoes, and 
mash fine while hot, with 1 quart of flour; reduce with 
cold water, and add half a cup of the stock yeast from 
the bottle ; let it ferment 8 or 10 hours, or until it begins 
to fall at the top, then strain. This will keep two weeks 
in cold weather, but must not freeze or heat.-For bak¬ 
ing, in the evening lay the sponge with ferment, wa¬ 
ter, and y milk if you have it, otherwise use yds water; 
add a little salt; cover with a cloth in a warm place until 
morning, then knead in flour until it works free from the 
hands and board. Let it rise again in pans, then bake.— 
The sponge should be a little too soft to knead, but the 
more flour you add in kneading, the longer will it be in 
rising in summer it should be quite stiff. It should al¬ 
ways rise until it has a delicate, silky touch to the hand, 
or until it begins to fall at the top, which is a sure test. 
If worked too soon, it will be tough and dark colored; if 
not kneaded enough, it will be coarse-grained, while that 
properly kneaded will be fine-grained, light, and showy. 
When cold keep bread in a stone jar; it will thus remain 
moist much longer. 
About the Winter Eashions. 
By Madame Dbmoeest. 
If women are not healthy, and do not dress sensibly, it 
certainly is not the fault of fashion. This much abused 
goddess is, at least just now, doing every thing possible 
to render the clothing of both women and children 
healthy, convenient, and economical.—The trailed dresses 
which are so generally worn in the drawing-room, are 
hereafter to be confined to such privileged localities, and 
dresses looped up or shortened, so as to form a mere up¬ 
per skirt to the petticoat, worn in the street. 
These short dresses are the novelty of the season ; they 
are always cut gored, and are vandyked out, or shaped in 
battlements, or square teeth, over a petticoat, ornamented 
with a plaiting: a flat, single plaiting, called “Marie 
Antoinette," is the most in vogue. A striped Balmoral 
petticoat is very good wear, the plaiting edged v'ith a 
contrasting color, and put on with a narrow braid also of 
the contrasting color. This may be worn with all kinds 
of dresses, long or short, and with all dark or neutral 
colors. With a short dress cut out square, and bound, or 
edged with a flat silk, or jet braid, a short sac, or loose 
paletot is worn, also cut out square, and edged to match. 
If the dress is vandyked, a peplum basquine, or “Ristori” 
paletot is worn, both describing points to match with dress. 
Ladies should be careful in changing the style of a 
walking dress, to change also the size and shape of their 
hooped skirts to agree with it. A short dress is of course 
narrow, and requires a vei-y narrow hoop, of the proper 
gored shape. If one can not be purchased, it is better-to 
cut a short gored skirt (six gores) in cotton cloth, and in¬ 
sert in casings, five or six springs. A flounce made to 
button on and take off, will transform this into a hand¬ 
some “ dress” hooped skirt, the whole at a less cost than 
a good skeleton hoop, besides which, the indelicacy of 
skeleton hoops is avoided. 
Ladies who do not like the short dresses, br who con¬ 
sider them unsuited to their age, will find the “ Benoi- 
ton ” Dress Looper, a very graceful, convenient, and orna¬ 
mental adjunct, extremely simple, and efficient in raising 
dresses without injury out of contact with the dirt of 
the streets. This useful novelty is made in all styles, 
and contributes a sufficient trimming to any dress'.- 
An inexpensive, and very lady-like accessory to a hand¬ 
some gored dress, consists of a dress peplum, which is 
attached to a waist-band, and forms a sort of pointed 
basque to the skirt, relieving it entirely of the look of 
plainness, which is to many so objectionable. The 
dress peplum opens on the sides, in front, and at the 
back, and may be trimmed with fringe, with braid, with 
gimp, with Cluny lace, or Math anything adapted to the 
material, and-in harmony with the other parts of the dress. 
There is a simple and excellent Shoulder Brace, and 
skirt supporter, Mffiich ladies should always wear, in con¬ 
junction with a heavy hoop, or Balmoral skirt. It is com¬ 
posed only of bands of elastic, arranged so as to support 
the back and relieve the hips of the weight upon them, 
and this it does effectually, at the same time greatly pro¬ 
moting a fine walking pose, and symmetry of form. 
Bonnets are still worn very small, [ridiculously so— Ed.] 
although the last Parisian advices indicate a considerable 
enlargement. A decided change, however, will not take 
place until spring. In the meantime, ladies may be thank¬ 
ful, that M'ith little skill, trouble or expense, they can 
make their omui bonnets. 
A novel little invention has been introduced recently, 
which has such direct bearing upon the health of M'omen', 
and children, that I can not forbear an allusion to it. 
This is a new Stocking Suspender, superseding the old 
elastics, which form a tight ligature around the limbs, 
causing congestion, rush of blood to the head, cold feeti 
and various evils. The imvf Suspender has no “ ma¬ 
chinery,” requires no sevdng on of buttons, is cheap, 
and keeps the stocking neat, and accurately in place! 
