weather also ; a little more time being re¬ 
quired in dull weather. The cook will soon 
learn what allowance to make for her uten¬ 
sils ; and for the rest, she must use her judg¬ 
ment evei’y time. They are not so easily 
spoiled, however, as in boiling. If left in a 
little too long, they can he plunged into cold 
water for a minute or two. If even kept hot 
until the yolks stiffen, the whites will not he 
hard. The yolk should be cooked just enough 
not t,o break rapidly when turned out. These 
are, properly speaking, not “boiled eggs,” 
but “curdled eggs.” 
These curdled eggs make an admirable 
dressing for many breakfast dishes—boiled 
samp, oatmeal mush, cracked wheat, and 
especially for small hominy. The gentle 
method of eookiug eggs may also he observed 
in making egg-toast. Have the milk almost 
boiling in a flat dish, and break in the eggs 
one by one, cooking a few at a time, and 
being careful not to Let them run together. 
Sprinkle in a. little salt, and let them stand 
hot and covered, until firm enough to take 
up without breaking. Then have ready some 
split batter biscuit (gems), softened in hot 
milk and laid on a platter, and when the eggs 
are done, dish them one on each half of a 
biscuit, and serve warm. This is a handsome 
dish, and though not quite so digestible a* 
hominy dressed with eggs curdled in the 
shell, it is still tar better than the fried potu- 
toes and griddle-cakes that form the staple 
of so many breakfast ®.—Setenoe of Health. 
usual, lay between elaborateness and sim¬ 
plicity ; and, as usual, simplicity gained the 
day. We suppose, after a time, the lesson 
will be learned by competitors at exhibitions 
and private decorators, that overloading is 
vulgar, and that in regard to such matters, 
enough is better than a feast. The prize 
table was dressed with a light hand. Three 
tall March glasses, with slend r stems, were 
dressed with a few drooping fuchsias and 
maidenhair. There was little color, and no 
excess of green. Four simple glasses were 
also placed on the table, with a single small 
iris and fern leaf in each. The top portion of 
the center glasses was furnished with tall 
grasses, sprays of Schizanthus and Rodanthe 
Manglesii, which contrasted admirably with 
the fuchsias in the branches of the glasses. 
The napkins wero slightly raised, aud a tiny 
bouquet-like “button-hole” was placed on 
each. The fruit was rattier commonplace, a 
small melon and pine at top and bottom, and 
six dishes of other fruits. Assuredly, neither 
the quality of the dessert nor of the flowers 
had anything to do with the gaining of the 
prize—but. taste, pure and simple, only. But. 
it is possible to carry simplicity into poverty 
or barrenness. This is what Miss Blair al¬ 
most seemed to rlo on this occasion. Two 
tiny palms were let through the table at the 
ends, and one March glass, nicely dressed, 
formed the center. A dozen or more tiny 
glasses were placed around. The napkins 
were nicely folded, and the dessert was 
good.” 
We copy the foregoing because of the sug¬ 
gestions it contains as to floral decoration of 
tables, and in order to suggest that prizes of 
this character might he profitably and prop¬ 
erly offered by agricultural and horticultural 
societies in this country—certainly as profit¬ 
ably as for fat babied and pet cats. 
SALT AND CHICKENS 
SEASONABLE RECIPES 
In Rural New-Yorker of July 5, some 
person says salt is fatal to fowls ; and some 
months since, a lady, l think, recommended 
its use Where hens lost their feathers on their 
head from some unknown eauso ; that cause 
though, l think, to be the secondary effects of 
roup. The fowl’s head seems feverish, and 
soon all the feathers come off. Mine were 
so and i said 1 would kill or cure ; so I mixed 
up a. half pail of soft feed and put in a large 
handful of salt, 1 went out next, morning to 
see what the result was, and all my hens 
were—what! Dead i No, but awful thirsty. 
Ho 1 gave them some water, and the next 
evening more salt. My hens all feathered 
out on their heads, and (hey stopped eating 
each other’s feathers, a habit, hard to break. 
Salt, is a simple remedy for many things. It 
will cure sick-headaehe, make cream freeze, 
make the butter come, take ink stains out of 
cloth of any kind, kill weeds, kill worms, 
make the ground cool so it is more congenial 
to celery, cabbage, &c,, ease the itching pain 
caused by irritable skin diseases like hives, 
itch, <&c., produce vomiting or stop it, as you 
like ; and many other tilings too numerous 
to mention. Still, I once fed some potatoes 
to young cliicks and turkeys that had been 
boiled with salt corned beef, and killed every 
one of them. O’ Brink. 
Greenville, Pa. 
I have tried the following, and know them 
to be good : 
To Pickle Green Cucumbers. —Take small 
ones of a uniform size, wash, put in a porce¬ 
lain kettle, cover with cold water, add a little 
salt; set it on the stove, let it heat, gradually 
and boil five minutes ; then drain off all the 
water ; add good vinegar ; to one gallon of 
vinegar add one cup molasses, 0119 table- 
spoonful cloves, do. cinnamon ; let boil five 
minutes ; remove to an earthen or stone dish ; 
pour over them the hot vinegar ; cover tight; 
when cold, they are ready for use. i never 
use any acids, nor cook in brass to make, them 
look green, considering both injurious to the 
health. When we prepare t hem for winter, 
I wash and seald my barrel to make it per¬ 
fectly clean , cover the bottom with salt, wash 
the cucumbers in plenty of cold water, lay in 
a layer of cucumbers, sprinkle over with salt, 
and so continue, putting in alternate layers 
of cucumbers iiud salt each time of putting 
into the barrel ; cover with cold water, lay¬ 
ing on a flat stone to keep them all under 
water ; if any are allowed to come to the top 
of the brine, thereby being exposed to the 
air, they will rot. These will keep perfectly 
sound one, two, or three years il’ desired. 
When wanted for use, soak in cold water, 
changing every six hours ; keep covered 
while freshening, as the light has a tendency 
to fade them; when .the salt is all drawn 
out. prepare as green cucumbers, except to 
cook them longer. 
Drying and Cooking Siccet Corn.—I gather 
the corn when it is large enough to eat, and 
cook about fifteen minutes ; then, with a 
sharp knife, cut the top of the kernel, scrape 
off the. rest, leaving the hull on the. cob ; 
spread thin on plates and dry in a warm 
place near the stove ; it will dry in six hours ; 
when thoroughly dry place in a tight sack 
(a paper flour sack is good,) hang in a dry, 
cool place ; this needs no airing to keep it 
from getting musty. When wanted for use, 
take a sufficient quant ity, place in upon with 
plenty of water, cold or warm, not hot; let 
it soak over night; set on the stove with the 
same water it soaked in ; lot it cook slowJy 
for l”, hours ; when nearly done, add a piece 
of butter, salt and pepper and sweet cream, 
if you like. If you want succotash, add to 
the corn about halt' as much well cooked 
beans. Beans are better soaked over night 
in cold water, then parboiled, and cooked 
slowly in fresh water ; when nearly done add 
salt, and season to taste. 
For Cunning Cruft, —I use mostly glass 
cans, knowing they are the cheapest and 
best—cheapest because the cost, at first is but 
little more than for tin ones, and they can he 
used for a succession of years just as good as 
at first, while tin cans can be used with safety 
but oue year. The glass cans are better, be¬ 
cause we can see every'day just how the fruit 
is keeping ; and if any show signs of not 
keeping good we can nse them first. We 
often heai’ people say if the top of the fruit 
in the cans molds, it is a sign the fruit is 
keeping good. It is true that after the fruit 
molds, and forms a thick, solid coating over 
the fruit, the fruit will not ferment or work, 
as it is often called, but the flavor of the fruit 
is injured very mucin Two years ago I read 
in the Rural New-Yorker how to can 
peaches in cold water. I thought it would 
be a very nice way if the peaches would keep 
good ; but being a little fearful, I only filled 
one can that way and did it exactly as di¬ 
rected. My peaches did not go up; they 
looked all right; but when I opened the can, 
the juice or water was as thick as jelly and 
tasted very' bad ; the rest of my fruit kept 
good, and I think it a better way to cook the 
fruit just enough to heat it boiling hot all 
through ; put in the cans while hot and sea'. 
We think fruit of all kinds retains its natural 
flavor better without adding sugar till ready 
for tna table. 
Very pretty picture frames may be made 
by covering rough frames with sealing wax, 
such as is used for sealing letters ; then cover 
with rice, and apply with a brush another 
coat of wax. The wax is prepared by dis¬ 
solving it in alcohol. Try it. 
Huntington, West Va. A. E. Rogers. 
ABOUT FRIED FOOD 
We copy the following from a foreign 
paper because we believe there i3 a good deal 
of sense in it! We Should be glad if the 
housewives who read the Rural New- 
Yorker, would tell us how much the con¬ 
sideration of health anti strength enters into 
their mode of cooking : 
One of the first scraps 1 light upon is one 1 
picked up somewhere, evidently from an 
American newspaper, from the dishes men. 
tinned, is about the health of farmers. What 
singular combinations of edibles ihey make 
use of in the United States. This jotting, 
after assuring us that farmers out in tin. 
Wert are not So long-lived as other classes, 
although under proper dietetic condition 
they ought to be more so, proceeds to say : 
Fried dishes several times a day, with several 
fried articles at each of the t hree meals, i; 
one of their common dietetic abominations ; 
dried beef, old cheese and pickles are among 
the common relishes, while lard andsaloratuf 
make their richer dainties infectious and 
caustic. We have seen on a farmer's table 
fried pork, fried eggs, fried potatoes and 
fried grid die-cakes for breakfast; fried ham, 
fried hominy and fried parsnips for dinner, 
and fried sausages and fried doughnuts foi 
supper—all the frying done in lard, 
No class is so troubled with canker, erysip 
elas, tumors, cancers and humors, as farm 
era ; and the excessive nse of pork, lard, line 
flour, rich cakes .and greasy pastry, arc 
enough to account for it. In dietetic habits 
our farmers are sadly misled by the agricul¬ 
tural journals, nearly all of which pander t< 
their prejudices and flatter their morbid 
appetites by recommending and commending 
swine breeding and pork eating, while they 
fill their Kitchen Column with recipes for 
making “rich and palatable” puddings, pies, 
cakes and other complicated dishes, whicl 
no stomach ever carried inside of a humai 
body could king tolerate without death o. 
dyspepsia. The essential need of our farmer* 
is plain, wholesome food, properly cooked. 
This would give them much more available 
power for work, relieve them of many of the 
distresses and expenses of sickness, add many 
years to their life, and render old age “ green” 
and normal instead of dry and decrepit], a* 
it is in most cases under existing habits. 
BREEDING FOWLS, 
A. B. W., contributes the following to the 
Poultry World :—W. B. S. wants to know 
how long a hen must be mated with a cock 
to breed true to his kind, As T have studied 
this matter, I will give W. B. 8. iuy experi¬ 
ence. A heti luus never more than two un¬ 
laid eggs impregnated at any time,—so the 
third egg she lays will be OS true to the last 
eo"k mated witli her as the fiftieth. But I 
will say to YV. B. 8., if he wauls to breed 
"owls true to their kind, there is but one way 
to do it, especially to have them true to 
feather as well as form. For instance, if he 
wants White Leghorns, 1 would advise him 
to take five young pullets that have never 
been mated with any cock, and these I would 
mate with a Leghorn cock of another strain, 
and not breed from them until the second 
year. If he does this, he will have fine, 
healthy chickens, true to form and feather. 
Chickens cannot be bred true to feather if 
from hens that, have previously been mated 
with a cock of a different, breed. If poultry 
raisers doubt this, let them try it, and bo 
convinced. A good way to try it, is to take 
t few White Leghorn pullets true, to color, 
and mate, them with a Dominique cock the 
first, season,—the second season with a trim 
White .Leghorn cock. If you raise thirty 
chickens from them, about fifteen of th?m 
will be entirely white, from three to six w ill 
be Dominique, and the remainder will be 
white, with a few colored feathers,—just 
enough to spoil them. The same rule holds 
good with any other breed. 
Neglige Basket.— We give, on page 61, an 
illustration of a Neglige Basket —a useful 
article for a bedroom as a receptacle for 
ladies’ and children’s night-clothes. The 
frame can be made of rustic work if desir¬ 
able, lined with any colored material; it 
should have two half-covers or lids at the 
top, which may be embroidered to suit the 
taste or fancy. The sides may be festooned 
with silk, ornamented with fringe or ot her 
material, with tassels at the corners. It is 
given as a suggestion to those who enjoy the 
making of such fancy conveniences. 
COOKING EGGS. 
CRIPPLED HENS 
In perusing the Rural New-Yorker of 
June-21, 1 find an article, “ Crippled Hens,” 
asking information for a cure. Always be¬ 
ing on the look out for information myself, I 
am always willing to impart, what little I 
know for the benefit of others, I have at 
present a young Game chicken, four months 
old (out of stock that I imported from Dr. J. 
W. Cooper, Westchester, Fa.), that was the 
same as your correspondent states. I gave 
him every morning about four grains of 
citrate of iron, i mixed it up with a piece of 
fat, and it is now the filth day since I com¬ 
menced with him and he walks as good as 
ever. I take good care to keep him worm 
nights. I should like your correspondent to 
try the. same ; he will find a. difference in a 
short time. J. I. DO CO ART. 
San Francisco, Cal. 
of digestion. Hence eggs are more easily di¬ 
gested raw than cooked, and hence also the 
objection to hard boiling. Dr. Beaumont 
found bits of hard-boiled egg-white, no larg¬ 
er than a pea, sometimes remained in the 
stomach after everything else had yielded to 
the action of the gastric juice. Such logic is 
unanswerable. lie deduced from it the im¬ 
portance of careful mastication. We women 
can go a step further, and find in it On intel¬ 
ligent reason for so cooking the eggs tliat 
they will not require this extra care. Fried 
eggs are still worse than those which are 
boiled, both because subjected to a greater 
degree of heat, and because of cooking fat 
into them. 
Even in the common method of boiling 
them rapidly, “three and a-half minutes,” 
the albumen next the shell is quite too hard. 
It should be uniform and custard-like, and 
this is secured by the method, now becoming 
quite common, of merely letting the eggs 
stand from seven to ten minutes in hot water. 
This should be boiling hot at first, but the 
At the Royal Horticultural Show at Bath, cool eggs reduce its temperature somewhat. 
Eng., four prizes were offered for dinner The exact time required will vary with the 
table decorations, and two Judies—Mrs. E, relative proportions of eggs and water, with 
Harris and Miss Edith Blair —took the first the size of the eggs, with the heat and thick- 
and second prizes. An English paper, speak- ness of the utensil used, with the warmth of 
ing of this contest, says“ The contest, as the place where it stands, and with the 
NURSING BABIES, 
Dr. P. H. Van Per WYDEin Manufacturer 
says :—“A child must absolutely not be given 
anything before it is laid at its own mother’* 
breast within one. hour after birth, unless 
the mother is positively unable to bear it: 
ii must then have the breast every two hour- 
till six weeks old, then every thr oe hours till 
several teeth commence to appear ; then give 
addit ional food every four hours. The best 
additional food Is good bread or biscuit boiled 
in water and sweetened with sugar. Never 
nurse after IIP. M. or before 5 A. M., and 
lengthen this nocturnal intermission gradual¬ 
ly till the time of weaning, which must de 
pend upon circumstances. Mind that a child, 
before it has teeth, can not posit ively digest 
any starchy or vegetable food, like iloui, ar¬ 
rowroot, sago, etc., and may bo starved to 
death on this when it has noinilk or beef-tea. 
Milk must be the main reliance ; it is what 
nature intends for the child and it must have 
it, as experience has conclusively shown that 
without human milk it is difficult to rear a. 
child ; and without any milk at all, it is next 
to impossible to keep it alive.” 
POULTRY NOTES, 
Lame Turkeys .—I write to ask information 
concerning a lameness that has appeared 
among my young turkeys. It begins with a 
swelling of the joint and continues until they 
lose the use of the leg entirely—the foot being 
almost turned round. Have had seven so af¬ 
fected, but Live discovered neither cause nor 
cure. As it is a new disease litre, an curly 
answer from some of your poultry growers 
will greatly oblige— A Constant Reader. 
We know nothing of such a trouble. Do 
our readers ? 
DINNER TABLE FLORAL DECORATIONS, 
