1807 .] 
AMERICAN AGRIC^ULTURIST 
259 
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(Ur Ftir other tlouaehoUt Item*, see " Basket ” pages.) 
Dashes at House-Keeping with a Free 
Pencil. 
ritize t'SSAV uv miss ev.v m, coixlxs, kocuester. 
TIDIES. 
Untidy tidies arc the occasion of all the animad¬ 
versions beuped upon these articles in general, by 
the genendity of gcutlcineu. Tidies half fastened 
in their jilaces with pins, or tidies not fastened at 
all, banging by the eyelids, ready to fall upon our 
-^1 
Fig. 1.— DIAMOND-PATTERN TIDT. 
shoulders, or walk away ui>on our back, deserve 
everything that may be said of this failing in their 
mistress ; but, at the same time, a fresh, pretty tidy, 
cither white or in colors, agreeing with or harmon¬ 
izing the prevailing colors of tlic room, adonis both 
the room, and also, as was remarked of a different 
ornament, not long ago in the Affricultnrist, the 
mistress of the apartment herself. The first requi- 
Fig. 3.—BLOCK-PATTERN TIDT. 
ite is that the tidy should lie .appropriate to its 
ilnec. A plain, substantial, white tidy, th.at evi- 
iently not only may be, but is, frequently changed 
nd washed, is far prettier in a common sitting 
oom than the most elaborate article in colors 
which can not be subject¬ 
ed to the same renovating 
process. I would that all 
the rooms in a farmer’s 
house were common sit¬ 
ting rooms; at least, that 
there were fewer best 
rooms which scarcely ever 
sec the beautiful sunlight 
—fewer parlors wrapped 
In covers, because too 
nice for xuse, and stowed 
aw.ay in the darkness and 
gloom of iHjrpctual night 
But this useless append¬ 
age, the dark parlor, is 
fast becoming obsolete, 
hcerful, open, light parlors, arc superseding it, 
id soon, eveii iu the most conservative regions, 
lis prison room, in which every comfort of the 
Fig. U 
house is confined ; where the sofas and easy chairs 
are too nice for the tired father to rest upon at 
noon; where the senseless birds and flowers upon 
the carpets are too exquisite for little boots to 
crush ; where the elegant 
bindings of the books are 
their only merit, will bo 
the exception, and not 
the rule. There is a great 
variety of patterns for 
tidies, so simple that any 
child can make them, and 
still pretty and service¬ 
able. Any little girl who 
can knit a garter can 
make, with a very little 
assistance from mamma, 
or sister, a charming little 
tidy of this description, 
fig. 1. All that is requir¬ 
ed is a skein of red woolen 
yarn, one of white cotton 
yarn, and two knitting needles. The red yarn should 
be of a bright scarlet color, and the white should be 
of the same size as the red. Set up the number of 
stitches desired in the width of the strip—eighteen 
stitches is a very good width—and knit until the 
square is pertect, which will be about twenty-nine 
times across the needle ; then exchange the red for 
the white ball, twist the threads together for a few 
stitches, and knit twenty-nine times across with 
the white. Knit the red and white blocks alter¬ 
nately until the strip will extend from corner to 
comer of the tidy in view, beginning and ending 
with the red. The strips upon each side of the 
central strip will contain two blocks less than that, 
and the next ones two less than those. If the lit¬ 
tle child does not knit very evenly, it is better to 
let the strips run directly across the tidy, fig. 3. A 
crocheted shell edge of either the white or red 
yam, or both, forms a pretty finish, and will servo 
to give employment to many a dull afternoon. 
The strips should be neatly sewed together over 
and over, .and pressed under a damp doth. 
A more showy tidy is made by knitting thiitccn 
red aud six white 
blocks of the shaiio 
shown in fig. 3. In 
knitting the first 
point,set up one stitch 
and widen the second 
stitch in each row; 
make the last point by 
narrowing the same. 
The blocks arc sewed 
together in the form 
of a honey-comb, fig. 4. 
Fig. 5. 
A white initial letter em¬ 
broidered in the central block produces a happy 
effect, and a white crocheted plain border makes a 
nice finish, provided all the angles are accurately 
preserved; if the border can not be nctitly crochet¬ 
ed, the tidy looks better without it. These tidies, 
figs. 4 aud 5, may be made in triangular blocks, or 
di.amonds, to .accommodate different tastes, or dif¬ 
ferent chairs. The bciiuty or merit of these tidies 
consists in their being bright and cheerful in effect, 
where bright colors are appropriate, and yet, unlike 
the usual worsted Afghan tidies, they will wash 
and look as well as new ones, when soiled 
Sometimes a heavy tidy looks out of place. A 
very pretty and delicate one is made on a square 
frame, as in fig. 0, made of pine sticks nailed to¬ 
gether at the cor- 
ners,with large-head¬ 
ed pins, or even 
common tacks driv¬ 
en in almost to their 
heads at intervals of 
half an inch, all 
around. Fasten one 
end of a spool of white cotton thread, number 
eight, to a corner tack, and wind the thread upon 
the tacks, three times in a place, both diagonally 
and horizontally over the frame, each way, which 
will make such a net-work as this, fig. 7, held in its 
phicc by the tacks or pins. Then, begin again with 
Fig. 6. 
a corner tack, fasten the thread to it, and with a 
needle weave the thread three or four times at the 
first intersection, fast¬ 
en the thread in the 
center, aud slip the 
needle through to the 
next crossing of the 
threads. When every 
crossing has been fast¬ 
ened in this manner, 
cut the tidy from the 
tacks, leaving the cuds Fig. 7. 
of the thread to form a fringed edge. When 
this tidy becomes soiled, it sliould be basted 
between two pieces of old and thin cloth, and, 
protected in this way, it can be washed, boiled, 
and starched, as easily as a more substantial one. 
Any pattern may be formed in crochet, by draw¬ 
ing the designs upon paper, and copying them as 
nearly as possible upon checkered paper, fig. 8. 
Paper properly ruled is sold for this purpose, but 
this is probably only to be had in large cities, and 
we country people must rule it ourselves, whieh is 
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Fig. 8.—DESIGN FOR CROCHET. 
not a very difficult job. A little practice will ren¬ 
der one expert iu making designs for working. 
Leaves from the Diary of a Young House¬ 
keeper.—No. VII. 
rniZE ESSAY BY MBS. LAURA E. LYMAN, STAMFORU, CT. 
2d,—I have been occupied for several days 
in iirotectiug my house from flies. There came a 
rainy day when Edward eould not work out doors, 
and he and the hired men fitted some light pine 
frames for my windows, and two or three of the 
doors, which I have covered with fly netting, and 
now I c.an have all the ventilation I wish, without 
the anuoj’ance and discomfort of these household 
pests. A finer netting will keep out mosquitos as 
well. The door frames are on hiuges, so we can 
go in aud out with ease. This is so much better 
than fly tr.aps aud fly poisons, .and now that they 
are made, they will, with care, last several seasons. 
In some houses that I have visited, I have noticed 
that the p.arlors are kept darkened all the time— 
but for my part, I believe in sunlight and free ven¬ 
tilation, both for health and enjoyment. 
What was my annoyance in going to my closet 
yesterday, where I keep my preserves and cake, to 
find it infested with gre.at black ants. I employed 
the speediest aud most certain way of killing them 
that I could think of. Taking a large sponge, I 
sakirated it with molasses mixed with a little water, 
aud laid it on a plate in the eloset, after removing 
every other sweet thing. They took the bait greed¬ 
ily, and when there were about a thousand of them 
reveling upon the sweets, and penetrat^g eveiy 
pore of the sponge, I plunged it into a bucket of 
hot water. Their scalded c.arcasscs floated on the 
surface, reminding one of the destruction of Pha¬ 
raoh’s host in the Red Sea. A few successive 
massacres of that kind have, I believe, nearly exter¬ 
minated the tribe. This mode of destroying them 
is certainly harmless to every body but the ants 
themselves, and I prefer it to using red precipitate. 
./it?// 7??t.—Living on an old place has a good many 
advantages as well as some disadvantages. Our 
predecessors were certainly fond of fruit, for wo 
have cherries, currants, apples, pears, aud plums, 
in abundance, a few quince bushes, and two or 
three grape vines that promise very well. So we 
shall, in aU probability, have plenty of fruit. 
The currants have occupied me lately. As soon 
