60 
[February, 
AMERICAN AG-RICtJLTURIST. 
which was built iu the old stylo, and without any 
reference to economy of labor, or ralue of time. 
In that, the pantry was in one corner of the room 
and the sink and pump in the opposite corner, with 
the stove half-way between; evciy stick of wood 
had to be brought up half a dozen stairs, and when 
the table was set there was no part of the room 
where one who was sewing or reading could be out 
of the way. I like the fipish of the wood work, too; 
it is chestnut cut on the place, rubbed with oil and 
varnished. The gr.ain is handsome, does not show 
dirt, and can be easily cleaned. The hard-fluished 
walls are painted of a light chestnut color and var¬ 
nished, so that I shall never need to whitewash 
them, but only to wipe them down in spring and 
fall with a wet cloth. 
Just outside of the kitchen, in the wood-house, is 
a large cauldron set in masonry, where I can have 
my washing done, and where a large quantity of 
water can be heated for butchering, and other farm 
purposes. Only last night Edward Wiis talking 
with me about a girl, and said I should liavc one if 
I wanted. I told him he had prevented the neces¬ 
sity of any such help by his plan for the kitchen. 
What do I want of a Biddy, when, in an hour after 
each meal, my work is all done up, and the kitchen 
is as quiet and neat as a parlor ? 
Dec. 28. I picked up a volume of Hall's Journal 
of Health last evening, and was so deejDly impressed 
by a well-written article which it contains on the 
subject of ventilation that I have determined to 
make a change in one feature of my household 
economy. Mother used to have us make up our 
beds the first thing in the morning, but I am satis¬ 
fied that if I want to keep my bedding, which is 
now very nice and new, perfectly sweet and whole¬ 
some, I must atr it every day. So this morning, 
notwithstanding the cold, wliile Edward was light¬ 
ing the fire, I opened the window, which, fortu¬ 
nately, has a southern exposure, laid the blankets 
and pillows where the air and the sun will fall upon 
them, and there I mean to let them stay until I 
have done all my other work. 
Dec. 80.—-My washerwoman has just gone. This 
is Monday, and I always did like the plan of having 
the washing and ironing done up in the early part 
of the week. She has been at work all da}^ con¬ 
sumed a good deal of wood, and now her last clothes 
are frozen on the line, where they must stay all 
night. If she had had two hours' of midday sun 
upon them, they would have been dry. There must 
be some improvement on this. I will talk to Edward 
about it, whether it is not best to buy a wringer 
and perhaps a Doty washer, so she can do the wash¬ 
ing in the forenoon, and part of the ironing at least 
in the afternoon. I have hoard that washerwomen 
don’t generally like these inventions. 'Very well; 
I’ll learn to use them and do the washing myself’ 
or, what may bo better still, I will pay her a whole 
day’s wages for half a day’s work. I am sure that 
poor women ought not to be made to suffer for want 
of employment by the multiplication of labor- 
saving machines. 
J/eni.—Find out about the different kinds of soap ; 
which is the best, and what soaps are injurious to 
fabrics. I presume I can learn something on the 
subject by looking over Edward’s Agriculturists. 
Jan. 28.—The weather has moderated very much, 
and I asked Edward if the hams did not require 
attention. He thought they did, and I went to my 
cook-book for instructions. This is the first time 
1 ever had anything to do with the curing of hams. 
Following a suggestion I found in Mrs. Child’s 
“FrugalHousewife,” I rubbed over them a mix- 
tuie of saltpetre and molasses, using an ounce 
of saltpetre and a quart of molasses to eight hams. 
Jan. 30.—I have just been looking over Edward’s 
wardrobe to sec if I cannot fix him up a suit of 
plain but warm clothing that he can wear in the 
woods, so as to save the business suit he bought 
last fall. I find I can get him out a good substan¬ 
tial vest, buttoning up to the chin, from the skirts 
of an old pilot-cloth coat that he has worn thread¬ 
bare and thrown aside. He was talking yesterday 
about a new every-daj’ vest, and this will surprise 
him. 1 can get a pattern bj’’ ripping up an old vest, 
and the coat linings will do for the back of the 
vest; and as to how to make it, Mrs. Wilson will tell 
me, and I will go over and see her about it as soon 
as Edward goes away after dinner. 
Bucaves from My Jonrnal. 
PRIZE ESSAY BY MRS. MCLELLAN, OP OHIO. 
January.! 1867.—A shade of sadness steals over 
me, as for the first time I write the new year. How 
many memories gather around the past, tender and 
sad as well as joyous. How many questionings 
and anxieties about the future. But when shairi 
learn that truest happiness is found in the right im¬ 
provement of the jjresent. “ In the morning sow 
thy seed, and in the evening withhold not thy hand.” 
Hannah has gone home for a few weeks. She 
needs some time for fitting up her wardrobe, as 
well as a change from the unceasing treadmill of 
housework. I c.an spare her better now than at 
any other time, but must be busy to accomplish all 
I have in hand. 
I have become so interested in making little 
frames for pictures. I make them of pasteboard, 
of any shape I fancy, and cover them with cones, 
acorns, seeds and shells, putting them on with glue, 
and finishing with a coat of varnish. Some choice 
engraving or photograph can in this way be provided 
with a pretty frame at trifling expense. My husband 
said to a young friend to-day, that I had got so 
taken up with fancy work, he supposed I should 
want to do nothing else now! I knew he didn’t 
mean it, by the roguish twinkle of his eye. Besides 
he is just as much interested as I, giving me a hint 
here and there about the frames, and insisting upon 
A’arnishing them, though I really wanted to do it 
myself. I intend next to make some lamp brackets, 
like one described so pleasantly in the August 
Agriculturist last year.—I know I should like them, 
for hav’nt I so often had to run up-stairs and hold 
the lamp for Nellie, while she dressed her hair? 
I had poor bread to-day. I have no patience with 
myself Avhen that happens. The provoking part of 
it is, that I can always tell exactly svhat Avas the 
trouljle, Avhen too late to remedy it. To-day I let 
it rise too long. A neighbqr came in fora Jittle 
Avhile. Being without help, I should have asked 
L her to sit a few minutes in the kitchen, Avhile I 
molded it; but I foolishly Avaited until she went 
awaJ^ If bread rises until it passes from the 
saccharine to the vinous fermentation, it is past help. 
It has lost its Avholesome and nutritious quality. 
No art can restore it. Bread must not be neglected 
or forgotten. It must have a chief place in the 
mind until safely out of the oven. Two things are 
absolutely essential to good bread—flour No. 1 and 
light SAvect yeast. With these no housekeeper 
should be satisfied with bread of only medium 
quality. It is fiir better, after testing a rule and 
finding it good, to abide by it than to experiment 
with ncAV recipes. Here, literally, “ practice makes 
perfect.” This is my recipe : Boil twelve peeled 
potatoes, and mash them Avell. Add a quart of the 
Avater they Avere boiled in, while hot, and a cup of 
sugar. When cool, add a quart of cold Avater, and 
a half pint of fresh yeast. Let it stand in a Avarm 
place tAvelve hours, after that shut it up tightljq and 
keep it in a cool place. It will rise quickly and 
make delightful bread. 
I called round upon my young friend Lizzie Mason 
to-day. Her mother Avas a dear mate of mine in 
our girlhood days. I should' Ioa'c Lizzie for her 
mother’s sake, but I love her for her OAvn as -well. 
It more than repays me for any little advice or en¬ 
couragement I may give her, to enjoy the freshness 
.and heartiness of her first year at housekeeping, 
and to haA'e a good laugh over some of her failures 
and mishaps. They caj-ry me back to days of 
“ auld lang syne.” No medicine is so good for a 
care Avorn housekeeper as a merry laugh. But to- 
• day Lizzie Avore a troubled broAV. Baby Avas fret¬ 
ful, and such piles of Avork stared her in the face, 
Avhile really she could do none of it. Mr. Mason 
and baby both needed Avarmer clothing at once, and 
the houscAvork Avas getting sadly behind. “Why, 
Lizzie,” I said, “ what a heavy burden you are carry¬ 
ing about. Do throw it off at once. The Avrinkles 
are on j’our face already!” “That is just what 
Henry told me at dinner,” she replied. “He said 
he Avould rather hire all the scAving done than have 
me so troubled about it. But you knoAV he is just 
beginning for himself, and I want to help him all I 
can. It seems shiftless for me to hire sewing with 
only my little family to care for.” Well, Lizzie, I 
used to say just the same, but I look at it different¬ 
ly noAV. Young wives and mothers are too proud, 
and too ambitious. They Avant to do every thing 
themselves, and be esteemed model housekeepers, 
AAhen in fact they are not yet through with the 
alphabet. You are not strong. Your'“little one is 
Avorrisome. The care of that as Avell as of your 
house is new care. You make hard work of it. By 
degrees you will get along easier. You will learn 
Avhere to take the advantage of your work, and how 
to favor yourself some, Avhile at the same time you 
Avill accomplish more. It is a new thing for you to 
have the long night of refreshing sleep, parcelled 
up into naps so broken and unquiet, that the morn¬ 
ing finds you even more Aveary than bed-time. It 
is just here that so many young Avives break down; 
and becoming discouraged at the prospect before 
them, indulge in a complaining spirit, and an in¬ 
efficiency, fiital alike to their oAvn happiness, and to 
all with Avhom they are associated. Settle some 
points in your mind, the sooner the better. First, 
take proper care of your own health. This is the 
greatest kindness to your husband in a pecuniary 
as well as domestic sense. You cannot violate 
nature’s laws with impunity. Exercise in the fresh 
air every day; if nothing more than a brisk walk 
on your piazza, throwing your arms backward and 
forward, receiving into the lungs that which shall 
change the torpid and impure blood to a life giv’- 
ing current, imparting energy and strength to the 
system. Take good care of your child. Make it 
comfortable and happy as far as in your power. 
Prepare wholesome and nutritious food for your 
table. If Mr. Mason provides abundant material, 
he has a right to expect that on your part it shall 
be turned to good aeeount. Next in order is sew¬ 
ing. Have one or two garments ready, and sew 
Avhen you can. Don't think of others, until these 
arc done. Select that which is most difficult and 
irksome, and hire some one to do it for you. You 
Avill not, by and by, Avith half a dozen little ones 
around you, carry such a load as you are sinking 
under to-d.ay. I think mj^ long lecture did her 
good, for she told me iu iiartingthat she should not 
forget it, though the “half dozen little ones ” she 
should banish from her memory, Avith the piles of 
sewing I had said must have such a fate. From 
the brow of the hill, as I looked back, I saw her on 
the porch, going through Avith such evolutions and 
attitudes, that a stranger would at once have pro¬ 
nounced her crazy! 
February.—A place for every thing; and every 
thing in its place.” Hoav invaluable this rule to 
the housekeeper. ForcAmry article in common use 
about a house, a place should bo assigned^ and each 
member of the family distinctly understand it 
must be found there. Any one in the dark should 
be able to put hands uiion it. How much time 
and patience is thus saved. Hannah, thougli a good 
girl in many respects, cannot haA'e the bump of 
order Avell developed, at least, if there is any truth 
in phrenology. How annoying to be questioned as 
to the Avhereabouts of missing articles, and then 
find them in some out of the AV'ay place, Avhere she 
has carelessly left them. To-day, after she had 
commenced washing, the floor was covered Avith 
Avater. I found she had left the tubs in the wood¬ 
shed all the Aveek, instead of taking them to tlieir 
true place in the cellar. Then she had a long hunt 
for the indigo bag. Had I not taken it froHl the 
pantry? She Avas so sure she put it there last 
Monday. She Avould have been just as sure the 
tubs were in the cellar before commencing Avashing. 
Finality oit Kats.— -The only effectual 
remedy is cement on the bottom and sides of the 
cellar. They canpot get through this, and so c.an- 
not find enterance to the house. Now is a vood 
time to invest in sand, Avater and lime. 
