1SG7.] 
AMKRICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
14.5 
rm 
itW~ F^r otA^ ffouMhold M ^*Jkuket ” poffes.) 
Home-Made Household Ornaments. 
The Cone Bracket, flg. 1, may be made at a trifling 
expense, by any «nc of moderate skill and taste. 
Cut the bnicket of any desired shape from pine, or 
if It can bc.proeured walnut is better, as it needs 
no staining, and the glue adheres more firmly. If 
1.— CONE DnAt'KET. 
of pine, stain with jiowdcred umber mixed with a 
little water. After the two pieecs of the bracket 
arc nailed together, a piece of wood two inches 
square and one ineh thick, glued to the center of 
the lower piece close to the top, gives strength to 
the bracket, and raises the work in the center. 
Have a good assortment of cones, acorns, etc., at 
hand, and dispose them on the frame to suit the 
fancy •, this may be done in a great variety of ways. 
Tbo engraving shows one, the central figure of 
board. The board is cut square, of any desirable 
size; six or eight inches will do for lamp lighters 
or papers. It is worked with bright scarlet w’orst- 
cd, single thread, six holes square, -in alternate 
squares, as shown in figure 3. Beads of suitable 
size to m.atch are then sewed upon the vacant 
squares. The inside is lined with tissue paper and 
the edges bound with ribbon. It is then drawn to¬ 
gether in cornucopia shape, sewed up at the edges, 
and furnished with three bows. It will save labor 
to slip in an extra lining of tissue paper, which can 
be removed as often as soiled, and replaced. This 
is a convenient article for shaving paper, to have 
near the glass where “my lord” attends his morning 
toilet There is nothing like having these little 
conveniences h.vndy to keep him good natured. 
I..exavcM from tlie l»iary of a Voungf 
lIoiiHcliet'por.—I\o. III. 
rniZE ESSAY BY MRS. LAURA E. LYMAN, STAMFORD, CT. 
Which is a large open pine-cone; at the ““ 
bottom, smaller cones not open ; at the sides 
butternuts, spruce and hemlock cones, with larg 
and small acorns. The border is made of inverted 
acom-cups-a row on the edge of the frame and 
one on the surface: these must be of uniform size 
and shape. Now have good hot glue and f^ten 
each piece, beginning at the center. ^\ hen this is 
done, let the work dry thoroughly, after which var¬ 
nish with thin funiiture vaniish, and it U complete. 
Fig. 3 shows a bracket to be cut with 
a narrow saw and penknife. It can 
all be done with the knife, but the 
saw makes much more rapid work. 
It is finer work than that shown -in 
fonner illu-strations, but it requires 
little skill after the pattern is marked 
upon the board. This should be of 
thin stuff, about three-eighths of an 
Inch in thickness, after it is planed 
down. The shelf l-s fastened by glue, 
and by small brads or screws driven 
in at the liack. The support under¬ 
neath may be put on with glue or 
with a small brass hinge. A board 
seven or eight inches wide is siifil- 
ciently large for work of this i>attenL 
Fine, white wood, black walnut and ^ 
butternut are suitable woods for this 
kind of work. The latter, we think, is quite over¬ 
looked as an ornamcnUl wood. It is nearly as dark 
and handsome in the grain .as black walnut, and in 
many parts of the country much more accessible. 
Fig. 3 is a “ cornucopia” made of perforated card 
April 3.—When I was looking over Edward’s 
wardrobe I found a great deal of old flannel—some 
red, some blue, some gray—and a variety of worn 
otit clothing. It will make me just such a rug to 
lay before my kitchen stove as I have been wishing 
for all winter. I talked with Jennettc about it, 
and we determined to devote these rainy days, when 
we can not visit and are not likely to have com¬ 
pany, to making the rug. I explained what I w.antcd 
to Edward, and he made me some frames, and a 
hook to work it with out of an old fork. Our 
grocer gave us a coffee bag, saying that he never 
sold trifles like that to a regular customer. I rip¬ 
ped it open, hemmed around with strong linen 
thread and sewed it into the frame. It is about 
two yards long and one wide. Then Jennie and I 
displayed our taste in drawing a pattern. As our 
variety of colors was limited, black predominating, 
and I intended it only for the kitchen, I could not 
expatiate in a brilliant coniucopia, such as I made 
for a parlor rug before I was married. So we de¬ 
cided to make a wide, variegated border into which 
everything would work, and have the centre-piece 
three diamonds, filled around with black, (flg. 1.) 
We worked the diamonds first, using our most 
brilliant colors. The rags we cut into strips from 
a quarter to half an inch wide and pulled from 
the underside through the foundation, holding the 
strip in the left hand and the hook in our right. 
Edward made us some hooks out of two old-fi^h- 
ioned forks, by breaking off the tines and filing 
down the shank into the shape of an enormous 
crochet needle. Mrs. Wilson came in while we 
were at work .and was so delighted with the idea of 
a rug in this style, which she had never seen before, 
that she is going to have one. She has so many 
bright colors from the little girls’ woolen dresses 
they have worn and laid aside, that she can make a 
splendid thing of hers. I told her when she was 
ready I would bring over iny worsted patterns and 
help her draw the design for tiie centre. 
The hook is of this shape, fig. 3, with the 
handle on the upper end, of course. When the 
points of the hook got dull we sharpened them 
with the file. Jennie and I worked pretty stc.adily, 
and in less than a week our rug wa.s done, the sur¬ 
face trimmed off evenly, and laid liefore the stove. 
Mother has rugs of this sort that have bceu ,n use 
for ten years, and arc still serviceable It is an tx- 
c Jlct plan to m»kc mg c«pct. out of worn cloth- 
ing, but I need rugs also to save my carpets. 
io._l find I must have another bed for the 
summer, and have been casting aiiout in my mind 
trgot ouc up. I kuo'v •> 
acres more of land, and so I am unwilling to suggest 
any unavoidable outlay for family expenses 
asked him if he had any special use for that pi c of 
husks in tneeorn house. “ No,” he said, only o 
throw into the barn-yard for manure. I told 
,,i,„ I thought there were “f 
cclleiit mattress, and at an expense of ten j ards o 
ticking wc could manufacture an article that would 
cd “ ,cl tho next ntluy toy, wheu he chu not plow 
WC will all go out and make a frolic of picking over 
and splitting up the husks. Edward says he can 
make a mattress needle out of an old umbrella 
brace, and so our new bed will cost us a trifle over 
three dollars. 
April 15.—Jennette said she would stay a few 
days longer if I would undertake my house-cleaning. 
Edward didn’t have much done to the old part of 
the house before we were married, and I have been 
thinking all winter what a good cleaning that dingj' 
paint and browm ceiling would get as soon as tho 
weather became warm enough. So the other day 
we began, taking one room at a time, so as not to 
have any more disorder than we could possibly 
help. I could leave the dinner getting entirely to 
Sue, with some instruction, and she was very proud 
of the trust. Instead of using strong soap suds for 
cleaning paint, I tried a recipe that I found in an 
old number of the Genesee Fanner, I believe. Sue 
went down to the paint shop and got five pounds of 
Spanish whiting; I had a bucket of warm water, 
and, squeezing my flaunel wash cloth nearly dry, 
pressed it on to some whiting 1 had put on an 
old plate, and rubbed the paint with it; then 
washed my cloth out and wiped it dry. Jennettc 
followed me with a dry flannel cloth, rubbing tho 
clean paint, which by this process was very easily 
cleaned, and looked better than any old paint I ever 
saw cle.aned by the common method of soap suds. 
AprU 17.—Edward has been at work around tho 
door all day, and the yard is so much improved! 
The wood is all 
cut and piled in 
the woodhouse, 
for he says that, 
when seasoned 
under cover, it 
gives out moro 
Fig. 1.— KUO PATTERN. peat in burning 
than w'hen used green, and docs not consume so 
fast. The chips arc raked into a large pile, the 
sleigh and sled stored away for the season, the sap 
buckets piled away in the woodhouse loft, some of 
the gate posts that were heaved by the frost have 
been set upright, and three or four pickets that 
were off nailed on the front fence. In the garden 
a place has been spaded for early peas and for onions 
On the south shelf of our kitchen window some of 
my flow'crs have given way temporarily to boxes o 
rich dirt, in which we have cabbages just peeping 
out, and tomatoes an inch high. I mean to have at 
least fifty plants of grape tomatoes. Mother sent 
me the seed, and she has preserves 
made of them which are delicious. They 
arc very prolific, and when ripe have a 
delicate flavor not found in the other 
varieties. I brought with me from 
home some flower seeds, and a few 
choice cuttings of tea and bouquet roses. 
They are growing well in pots, but the 
■round on the north and Avest sides of 
the house, where I intend to plant 
them, is not quite warm enough yet. 
Ajyril 2.5.—House cleaning and white¬ 
washing all done! And my walls and 
ceilings look so well! I had a few pounds 
of Spanish whiting left, which I added 
to my slaked lime, and put in also a 
few handfuls of salt and a little dis- 
solved white glue. Edward helped us I ig. 3. 
bv doiiK' some of the whitewashing one rainy 
forenoon, and Jennie and I did the rest inside. I 
had considerable left, to which I added two hanch 
fuls of brown sugar, some more salt, 
enough to make a pale straw color, with which Su 
has covered the masonry around the caldron m the 
XI ff'tires und. outhouses, fehc 
woodhouse, the instruction 
looks upon brush, succeeded in 
in dipping anc jviay Avill find 
doing very good w oik. T ^ ^ condition 
Iftc cleSncBsl a sanitary inspector could wish. 
T not forget to ask Edward when he goes to 
a ^" e to set a little sulphuric acid, or some 
diio'wde of rme for disinfecting purposes. I asked 
^riitlolds for some, and he said there was no 
demand for such strange chemicals in this plain 
farming community. Theu, said I, Avith a laugh. 
