FIFTY-FOUR AND THE NEW CELERY CULTURE. 
T 15 the girl welcomed the weekly visits of the 
youthful Rural in its simple dress of two leaves 
with a little knot of a story tucked in at the back. 
To-day the old lady of 54 still looks for the weekly 
comings of The Rural. Yes; older grown, both 
Rural and reader. Thk Rural now makes its appear¬ 
ance in a stronger suit of material, has taken on more 
elaborate trimmings, fits more perfectly the present 
wants of the present age, and with a thankful heart 
for its prosperity I peruse its columns seeking knowl¬ 
edge and am benefited. And speaking of modern 
helps, let me mention our experience with the New 
Celery Culture. After fitting the ground, which is a 
clay loam rather heavy, we sowed in drills seven 
inches apart. It was quite late in the season and the 
plants were late in coming up ; the weeds grew faster 
than the celery and our faith became faint. Time 
waits for no man and fall came pressing upon us. 
However, we began to weed and cleaned off part of 
the bed, about two rods long and one wide. The 
celery finally began to grow, and we commenced run¬ 
ning the wheel hoe, keeping the earth mellow, and 
watering nearly every day. As soon as the celery 
became large enough our chickens thought it nice eat¬ 
ing and ate it off several times. At last we wired 
them out and thinned out the bed, leaving two or three 
thousand plants and setting those that we pulled 
in trenches to be banked up. Then we began to use 
chemicals in solution on the bed, sprinkling it once 
in two weeks. The celery began to stretch up surpris¬ 
ingly and was blanching nicely when along came 
that hard weather and froze it stiff. Down went our 
hopes ! Sympathizing neighbors came in to see our 
frozen experiment. Rut in a day the weather changed 
and, reconnoitering, we made the discovery that the 
celery was not spoiled as we supposed, but was as 
crisp and nice as one would wish; the ground had 
drawn out the frost. With thankful hearts we pro¬ 
cured boxes and packed it away, roots and all, in the 
cellar to finish blanching. 
The conclusion of the whole matter is that we think 
the New Culture the best way to raise celery for 
profit. We shall try again this year, sowing earlier 
and transplanting ; as in transplanting one can keep 
the bed in better growing condition and there will be 
no tap-roots. f. a. c. 
MR. JONES’S OPINION OF MRS. SMITH. 
R. JONES “ had his opinion” of Mrs. Smith. He 
did not think it at all proper for Mrs. Smith to 
do her own work; he had even seen her hanging 
clothes upon the line ! Of course he could not say 
positively that she did all the family washing, but he 
was quite sure she did a part of it; she had told Mrs. 
Jones as much. He would put a veto on her doing 
such work if he were Smith. 
“ It does not matter, as far as the work is concerned. 
I suppose she is strong and able to do it, but people 
might construe it as a reflection upon Smith for not 
hiring such commonplace work done. Fudge, I say, 
on Mrs. Smith’s fastidious, foolish notions about not 
liking to send the washing out for fear, forsooth, of 
contagious diseases ! and her refined ideas that render 
a washwoman in the house ‘ so disagreeable that she 
prefers doing the work herself to the presence of such 
uncultured help’- 
“She is a good housekeeper, there is no mistake 
about it, and an excellent cook ; a more delicious tur¬ 
key, better cranberry sauce, flakier biscuits never 
graced a table than Mrs. Smith served at her Christ¬ 
mas dinner. And, besides doing all her work, she 
seems to have as much extra time as if she had a hired 
girl in the kitchen. I do not know how she does man¬ 
age to accomplish so much. It is pleasant, of course, 
not to be dependent upon hired help ; it saves expense, 
any amount of worry and vexation, and time, too, for 
that matter ; for who could compute the time that is 
spent in discussing the shortcomings of the ‘ hired 
girl?’ But the name, and the looks of the thing! 
What must people think of Smith when they know 
that his wife is the family cook, the chambermaid, in 
short, the household drudge ! 
“ I should think Mrs. Smith would feel out of her 
element when she meets with the other ladies at sew¬ 
ing circles snd the like, where the servant problem is 
sure to be discussed as much as the unfortunate 
heathen. She can relate no interesting experiences as 
to the defects of the last girl and the unheard of ways 
of the new one ! 
“ Indeed, I shall be at a loss to understand how the 
Smiths contrive to maintain their social standing if 
Mrs. Smith persists in her plebeian ways. She would 
far better command the respect of her husband and 
family and all her acquaintances, by stepping up a 
few rounds on the ladder, so to speak In other words, 
when people have been successful or ‘lucky,’one might 
almost say, as the Smiths have been, they ought to 
‘adapt’ themselves to their prosperity. If, instead 
of spending her time in the kitchen, frying and boil¬ 
ing, stewing and baking, Mrs. Smith would devote 
herself more to teaching her children refinement and 
culture, if she would bring a stronger influence to bear 
upon their daily conduct, and instruct them in the 
ways of polite society, it would, to my mind, be a 
blessing to them and to Smith. 
“ Why, those Smith children will always be ill at 
ease at a ‘ course dinner,’ if they are not accustomed 
to having them at home. I do not suppose they ever 
use finger bowls, and there are a thousand and one 
little things seemingly unimportant, which in the ag¬ 
gregate constitute polite society. The mother’s influ¬ 
ence tells upon her children; children’s manners are 
an index to the mother’s character 
“ No, I cannot say that I ever saw anything out of 
the way in the Smith children : they are quiet and 
well behaved, but it stands to reason that with little 
or no training in etiquette, they cannot fail to grow 
up ignorant of the commonest usages and requirements 
of refined society. 
“ How it does look, for instance, to see persons 
perched on a round too high for them. How ill at 
ease they are; how they watch every movement of 
those about them, and are almost afraid to breathe 
for fear breathing will not be considered the correct 
thing. Such persons are always awkward and self- 
conscious; and their efforts to conceal their embar¬ 
rassment render them all the more conspicuous, and 
in my opi-ion this is just what the Smith children will 
develop into: they can not do otherwise, with their 
present environment.” mrs. w. a. kellerman. 
THE WORK TABLE FOR MARCH. 
HIS is indeed an exacting, busy world ; and the 
housewife who would not only succeed in her 
onerous vocation but do it with the least possible 
friction and wear, and have the most leisure for rest 
and improvement, must be not only systematic but 
prompt and thorough. The time-honored rule of con¬ 
duct, “ a place for everything, and everything in 
its place,” is scarcely less essential to success than the 
more modern one, “ a time for everything, and every¬ 
thing on time.” During the comparative leisure of 
January and February the thrifty housewife should 
have repaired and replenished the supply of bedding, 
table linen and underwear, and then March will find 
her ready to attend to the summer clothing of her 
family. 
I know that on dairy farms the supply of milk that 
must be made into butter often makes this a busy 
month for the housewife. But if she is self-controlled 
and wise enough, not to chafe and fret when the 
bright sun penetrates to the farthest corners of the 
rooms and illuminates the inevitable wear and dust 
of winter; and to resist every temptation to commence 
house-cleaning until the chill of winter is well out of 
the air, and even then will “ make haste slowly,” 
very much sewing can be accomplished. 
Especially will this be so if she determines to make 
no more elaborate, over-trimmed garments for her 
children’s wear. Women, especially mothers, have 
more need of firm, decided opinions on matters per¬ 
taining to dress when purchasing and making summer 
clothing than at any other season of the year. Our 
manufacturers have made such rapid strides in dyeing 
and weaving cotton fabrics ‘that goods of beautiful 
designs and colorings can be had for a merely nominal 
price. The same is true of machine-made laces and 
embroideries, and this fact, together with the ease 
and rapidity with which tucks, puffs and ruffles can be 
made on a sewing machine, tempts many an already 
over-burdened mother to add an appalling burden of 
laundry work to her other tasks. For even if one has 
a maid-of-all-work, she often lacks time or is incom¬ 
petent to do this work nicely, and thus it devolves 
upon the over-worked mother. Cheap wash goods 
may indeed be a boon, but some of them are dear at 
any price ; for it costs just as much for trimmings for 
thin, sleazy goods as for that which is firm and 
durable. 
Select handsome as well as good materials, and make 
children’s garments tastefully and nicely fitting ; but 
other than some pretty neck finish, let them be made 
simply. 
Domestic seersucker and even Scotch ginghams are 
now so cheap and handsome in their various modifi¬ 
cations of checks, plaids and stripes that it is rarely ad¬ 
visable to buy prints in other than the indigo high 
grades for adults or children’s every-day wear. But 
in cutting washable ginghams do not fail to remember 
to make allowance for shrinkage. Light weight, un¬ 
bleached cotton cloth makes excellent linings for 
half-fitting gingham dresses and shrinks about as 
much as domestic gingham. 
In making children’s aprons and dresses do not fail 
to put an inter-lining in the hems for buttons and 
button holes, and to hold a small darning needle be¬ 
tween the garment and button when sewing the latter 
on. Enough material should always be purchased for 
new sleeves, and if not hurried when making the gar¬ 
ment, the extra pair can be made more easily then 
than afterwards ; and you will surely appreciate them 
when the hurried mending day comes. Much can also 
be done when making every-day cotton dresses to in¬ 
crease their wearing capacity, and to lighten the task 
of mending by inserting pieces (matching the design 
accurately) between the lining and outside at the 
elbows and under the arms. 
In making sateen, batiste and other nice cotton 
dresses no thought is taken of their being laundered ; 
but they are made as tightly fitting, and boned and 
trimmed as precisely as worsted or silk goods would 
be. But unless one has an extensive wardrobe it is 
best not to iudulge in expensive cotton gowns like the 
pale tinted silk stripes, temptations of the coming 
season. Light weight woolen goods are no warmer, 
and they have many points of superiority, and when 
once a cotton gown has become so crumpled that 
ironing has to be resorted to, its freshness, daintiness 
and beauty are gone, and one would wish it had been 
woolen. KATHERINE B. JOHNSON. 
Variation Puddings.— These, from Good Housekeep¬ 
ing are handy variations of that old familiar base, 
corn-starch : 
No. 1. To one-half pint of milk add the same of 
coffee ; sweeten a little. When boiling hot, add two 
tablespoonfuls of corn-starch, wet up in cold milk. 
Stir well and pour off, when it thickens, into shapes. 
Serve with cream. 
No. 2. One pint of milk, sweeten; one-half cupful 
of stoned raisins. When hot, add two tablespoonfuls 
of corn-starch. Flavor with lemon. Cook and serve 
as in No. 1. 
No. 3. One pint of milk, one-half cupful of blanched 
and pounded almonds, one-quarter cupful of sugar, 
almond to flavor. Heat and add two even tablespoon¬ 
fuls of corn-starch. When a little cool, add beaten 
whites of two eggs. Serve with whipped cream. 
Imprudent Convalescents.— There is, perhaps, no 
time at which people are more liable to catch cold than 
during convalescence. This is particularly to be borne 
in mind in the case of those diseases which are fol¬ 
lowed by scaling of the skin, such as scarlatina, ery¬ 
sipelas, measles, etc. A chill to the surface, after an 
attack of scarlet fever, may give rise to consequences 
worse than the original disease. The way in which 
the mischief arises is this : The skin is in a transition 
state, as it were, and is deprived of its natural cover¬ 
ing, the so-called scarf skin, so that all its numerous 
little glands and pores are exposed to the influence of 
cold. A chill occurs, the secretions from the skin 
(which are very large in quantity) are stopped, and 
thrown in upon other organs, such as the lungs or kid¬ 
neys, which endeavor, as it were, to take on for a time 
the function of the skin ; but this sometimes proves 
too much for them, and the overtaxed organs become 
inflamed. In this way, not only is there incurred great 
danger, but, in the case of the kidney especially, 
chronic disease may be left which the patient can 
never get rid of. The greatest care should be taken 
to prevent chills ; he should not leave his bed till per¬ 
mitted to do so ; he should be clothed in flannel from 
head to foot; and in cold, damp, windy weather he 
should not venture out of doors. 
One cent will carry this paper to your friend in 
any part of North America after you have written 
your name on the corner to show whom it is from. 
When Baby was sick, we gave her Castorla. 
When she was a Child, she cried for Castorla, 
When she became Miss, she clung to Castorla, 
When she had Children, she gave them Castorla. 
