mv. 22 
MQOBE’S BUBAL WEW-YORKER 
it 
Jomfstin (B^nomir. 
DRESS FOR FARMERS’ WIVES. 
I am glad you printed Mrs. Bruce s ad¬ 
dress in the Rural New-Yorker of Nov. 15. 
She says sensible things which have been 
said before.. But I started to say that there 
is no dress worn by women which exactly 
fills my ideal as to comfort. Especially do 
American farmers' wives, as a rule, dress ab¬ 
surdly. I don’t mean that all are not sensi¬ 
ble ; buj. too many are. I adopted some 
time ago a modification of the Bloomer Cos¬ 
tume, when doing my daily work in the 
kitchen and about the house. But do you 
know, Mr. Editor, that I have thereby ac¬ 
quired the apparent opprobrious distinction 
of being “ strong-minded ’’ among my neigh¬ 
bors. 1 say “ opprobrious "—for the majori¬ 
ty of people associate with the term “ strong- 
minded” as applied to women, a sort of 
masculine or semi-masculine nature, which 
would be a man if it were not, physically, 
a woman ! 
Now you know me too well to suspect that 
1 have any desire to be a man, or to assume j 
any of the prerogatives that legitimately be¬ 
long to the other sex. I am content to be a ‘ 
wife and mother and to enjoy all that grows 
out of such relations and discharge faithfully ( 
and lovingly the duties which such relations 
involve. I love my husband and our children. 
I find ample compensation in looking after 
and laboring early and late to promote the ' 
welfare and happiness of both. I have no J 
other ambition ; for 1' know if 1 discharge ' 
the duties these sacred relations involve, 1 ( 
shall find ample field for the exercise of all 
the powers I possess, and ample compensa¬ 
tion for all the work l wisely do. Neverthe¬ 
less, I believe I have the right and it is my 
duty to be comfortable—to dims comfortably ! 
and adapt my costume to the work 1 am 
doing. Hence. T am often found in most 
unfashionable attire, 1 wear short skirts 
when doing house work or wandering over 
the farm. I wear thick and warm shoes 
in wet and cold weather. In winter I do 
not disdain to wear bool a—with high tops, 
such as men wear 1 Indeed, when it is wet 
and I am compelled to walk, as 1 often am, 
I wear high-topped rubber boots that protect 
not only my feet, but my limbs from wet, 
and my white stockings from mud or filth. 
Is this sensible? if not, why not? if it 
is, why do not American women adapt their 
costumo to their vocation. Ami modest? 
I hope so ! Am I sensitive ? Yes ! Am I 
proud l Yes ! And yet, my modesty, love 
of cleanliness, pride and sensitiveness to 
whatever is uncomfortable, unhealthful and 
unclean, lead me to do what so few of my 
good sisters do ; and yet I do nothing but 
wliat my good husband and my offspring 
approve. “Mother is right” say tbo chil¬ 
dren ; and 0 ! I do love them for it! What 
I wanted to say is that I wish some of the 
lady readers of the Rural New-Yorker 
would give in detail their mode of dressing I 
when at their daily household work. It is 
by talking with and to each other that we 
learn. We may help and encourage each 
other. We may learn to be sensible. Let 
us try. I do not find that those who know 
me, love me less for looking after my health 
in my dressing. 1 knom iny husband loves 
me more ; so what need I care for the “ they 
say ” of other people'? Esther Allen. 
-♦♦♦- 
“CAN WE AFFORD IT!” 
pease their hunger and have them take them¬ 
selves and their belongings speedily out of 
the way. 
On the contrary, if the farmer and his 
retinue should come into the house, smiling 
and good-natured, with not a frown on their 
brows if the roast should chance to be a few 
seconds behind time, the decorative art 
might claim some attention. If they should 
hang tlicir hats on the hooks duly provided, 
make themselves os tidy and respectable as 
working men could be, and take- time to rest 
a few moments before eating a hearty meal, 
then, you could see how easy it would be for 
the housewife to quietly slip t he l'rosh bou¬ 
quets, made in the early morning, by tne side 
of the bread plate, and pudding, while the 
vase of tiny ferns or feathery sprays should 
stand like an airy sentinel close to the butter 
dish. In such a case, one could hardly fail 
t.o receive ample reward for the time and 
taste expended in arranging their table 
decorations. Good influences are not always 
to be measured by outward expressions ; 
and, not being able to divine human thoughts 
and impulses, T could not sny just how much 
John, his hired men, or children would be 
refined and ennobled by the daily presence 
of (lowers on the table ; but their graceful 
■ngicim .Information. 
REGULAR EATING. 
Half of all ordinary diseases, says Dr. Hall 
in his Journal of Health, would be banished 
from civilized life, and dyspepsia become 
almost unknown, if everybody would eat but 
thrice a day at regular times, and not an 
atom between meals, the intervals being not 
less than five hours, that being the time re¬ 
quired to digest a full meal and pass it out of 
the stomach. 
If a, person eats between meals, the process 
of digestion of the food already in 'the atom 
acli is arrested, until the last which has been 
eaten is brought into the condition of the 
former meal ; just as, if water is boiling and 
ice is put in, the whole ceases to boil until 
the ice has been melted and brought to the 
boiling point', and then the whole boils to¬ 
gether. 
But it is a law of nature that all food be¬ 
gins to deea^. after exposure to heat, and 
moisture for a certain time. If a meal is 
your paper a, cure for asthma and also ca¬ 
tarrh. I have been affected with it for six¬ 
teen years ; consulted the best physicians; 
been humbugged by patent medicines, and 
by Reverend Drs., changed climates, &e., 
but without relief. This is all the hope I 
have—that some of your numerous readers 
can tell me of something that will cure.—A 
Subscriber, Covington, Tioga Go., Pa. 
Lotion for the Hair as Recommended by 
Dr. Locock .—Aqua Ammonia, Oil Sweet 
Almonds, of each two drams ; Spirits Rose¬ 
mary one ounce; Oil Of Mace (essential) one- 
half dram ; rose water, two and one-half 
ounces. 
First, mix the almond oil with the ammo¬ 
nia ; then, having added the oil of mace to 
the rosemary, shake them up with'.the oil 
and ammonia ; and finally add the rosewater 
by degrees and mix well. To be used as a 
lotion, applied once a day with a soft hair¬ 
brush. 
and ennobled by the daily presence ea((! ,^ an j j n two hours another, the whole 
ere on the tabic ; but their graceful remains undigested for seven hours, before 
would surely delight the eyes and time the rottening process commences, 
beauty would surely delight tne eyes ana 
cheer the drooping spirits of the weary wife 
and mother. 
We have been repeatedly urged t hrough 
these columns to devote more time to rest 
a.nd pleasant recreation, to make home at¬ 
tractive and beautiful by every means at 
our command, and what could be more ap¬ 
propriate than to adorn our living rooms 
and tables with these mute, yet eloquent 
witnesses of God s love to ns ? Very few 
farmers an< 1 their sons have a natural taste 
for flowers, and at our Annual Fairs, if they 
even enter Floral Halls, they march straight 
by all the rarest collections of florists ns fast 
as the crowd will permit, and the sweetest 
buds and blossoms elicit no genuine admira¬ 
tion. but are, in their eyes, simply “ft lot of 
posies.” 
Those obstinate adherents to “good old- 
fashioned ways,” who are forever extolling 
the thrift and industry of our grandmothers, 
to the disparagement of their descendants, 
arc incorrigible, and no force of feminine 
logic could convince them of the wisdom of 
combining beauty with utility; but. by 
proper culture, their sons may acquire a 
taste for all things fair and lovely. 
E. A. did not call for theories but lor ac¬ 
tual experiences, which she rightly considers 
the only reliable test; but, just now, 1 can 
only glance at t he probable aspect of both 
sides ol' the quest ion. Now, who will be the 
pioneers of reform in this flower innovation { 
Among the thousands of fail*gardeners who 
weekly peruse these pages, who will second 
my motion to try, another summer, the ex¬ 
periment of daily arranging flowers for the 
table, and report the apparent results at the 
close of the season '? Ruth Lee. 
--♦♦♦- 
DOMESTIC BREVITIES. 
One lmly correspondent of the Rural 
New-Yorker, comes very near the truth 
when she hints that not more than one 
American farmer’s wife in a thousand daily 
adorns her table with flowers and fruit, and 
it may be well to confess my own short¬ 
comings in this direction, but when she asks 
if we can afford to do it as a habit, 1 venture 
to reply that this depends very much on 
circumstances. The healthful ness of fruit, as 
a dessert is generally acknowledged, aud 
doubtless a pretty dish filled with luscious 
fruits in their season would be appreciated 
by all at the humblest table ; but just try 
placing the loveliest flowers by the plate of 
every surly, old-fashioned farmer, and see 
what a breeze you would raise ! 
If John and his troop of hungry, dirty men 
were to come in from the lmy-field, drop 
hats and jackets on the kitchen floor, and be 
in such haste to dine that they could scarcely 
make a decent toilet, it is quite likely that 
the dinner would be hurried onto the table 
with the greatest possible dispatch, with 
never a thought of bringing any floral gems 
before such unappreciative eyes. For the 
time being, the chief object would be to ap- 
fc'o// Soap and Vinegar for flu Hands. ( 
A correspondent of the Scientific American . 
sayH Qur men in the shop use soft soap to 1 
remove the grease and dirt from their hauds 
when they quit work. This, they find, 
causes cracks to come; but it'they dip them 
in vinegar just after washing with soft soap, 
their hands will remain soft and smooth, and 
any crocks on the hands will immediately 
heal up.” The editor says com meriting on 
the above statement “ In the ordinary 
careless manufacture of soft soap, there is 
apt to be sometimes an excess of alkali or 
lye, above that necessary for complete sapon¬ 
ification. This has a caustic action on the 
skin, making it rough, and otherwise injur¬ 
ing it. After using soap of this kind, wash¬ 
ing in vinegar removes the excess of alkali 
from the hands. Vinegar, being an acid, 
combines with the alkali, forming a neutral 
.and soluble salt. 
To make good Rusk. — One pint warm 
milk ; half a pint yeast and flour to make a 
thick batter ; when light, add % ol’ a pound 
sugar, y. a pound butter ; add cinnamon or 
nutmeg, according to the taste, and flour to 
muke them stiff as biscuit dough ; let them 
remain till of a spongy lightness ; then mold 
them into cakes of the size y«m mold bis¬ 
cuits ; lay them on buttered tins ; let them 
remain half an hour in a warm place before 
setting them in the oven ; they should be 
baked qniek . mix a half cup <>t sweet milk 
with a large teaspoon sugar and rub over the 
' tops as soon as baked, with ft cloth tied on 
' the end of a stick.—Hits. II. S. Browne. 
1 , Delicate Cake— One cup white sugar; 5 
1 tablespoons butter ; whites of 6eggs ; I ten- 
• cup sweet milk ; 2 teaspoons cream tartar ; 
- 1 of soda, and lemon extract.—M rs. H. S. B. 
which t ime the rottening process commences, 
and the man has his stomach full of carrion 
—tho very idea of which is horribly dis¬ 
gusting. 
As, then, all t he food in the stomach is in a 
state of fermentive decay, it becomes unlit 
for the purposes of nutrition and lor making 
good pure blood. Small wonder is it that 
dyspeptics have such a variety of symptoms, 
and aches, and complaints in every part of 
tho system, for there is not one drop of pure 
blood in the whole body; lienee, the nerves, 
which feed on this impure and imperfect 
blood, are not properly nourished and, as a 
consequence, become diseased. They “com¬ 
plain. they are hungry and like a hungry 
man-are peevish, fretful, restless. Wo call 
it nervousness, and no one ever knew a dy r s- 
poptic who was not restless, fitful, fidgety, 
and essentially disagreeable, fitful anil un¬ 
certain. 
The stomach is made up of a number of 
muscles, all of which are brought into requi¬ 
sition in the process of digestion. But no 
| muscle can work always. Tho busy heart is 
in a stage of perfect repose for one-third of 
its time. The eye can work twice in a sec¬ 
ond, but tliis could not be continued five 
minutes. The hands and feet must have rest, 
and so with Hie muscles of the stomach; I 
they only can rest when there is no work for 
them t.o do—no food in the stomach to digest. 
Even at live hours’ interval, and eating thrice 
a day, they are kept constantly at work from 
break tost until the last, meal is disposed of, 
usually ten o’clock at night. But multitudes 
eat heartily within an hour of bed time ; 
thus, w hile the other portions are at rest, the 
stomach is kept laboring until almost day¬ 
light, and made to begin again at breakfast 
time No wonder is it that the stomach 
is worn cut-has lost its power of action. 
Many girls become dyspeptic before t hey are 
out of their teens, in consequence of being 
about the house and nibbling at everything 
1 they lay their eyes on that is good to eat. 
FROM RIPLEY, LAUDERDALE CO., TENN. 
Some of your correspondents have been 
telling us of their count ry. With your per¬ 
mission ! will toll them of mine. Lauderdale 
county borders on the Mississippi River. It 
is a rich, alluvial soil; one fourth is too roll¬ 
ing for the plow, but good for fruit and grass. 
One other fourth is swamp and overflowed ; 
the remaining half is splendid for all farm 
purposes, producing corn from 20 to tiO bush, 
per acre ; cotton, 100 to 500 lbs.; but 5 to 25 
bush, wheat,; l to 2 tons hay ; other crops 
in proportion. Corii is now worth 80e.; 
wheat, $1,50 ; hay, $25 per ton—none in 
market of home production. The land nearly 
all has a stiff, porous clay subsoil, is easily 
cultivated and capable of indefinite improve¬ 
ment. There, is no rock or gravel m the soil 
and but little sand ; timber is lino and varied. 
It is not adapted to a general dairying busi¬ 
ness, but there is a fine opening and a good 
location for <>no or two good cheese dairies in 
t he county, cheese usually retailing at, 25c. 
per lb, 
Land is worth from $5 to $30 per acre, as 
to location or improvement,. 1 think some 
of your New York or Pennsylvania fanners 
would do well to take a look this way before 
facing the bleak winds of the Northwest. 
The thermometer ranges here from 10'' to 50° 
in winter, and from 80° t,o 1)5’ in summer. 
It touched zero once last winter. j. w. d. 
--» « » - — 1 
TIMBER TREE GROWING. 
HYGIENIC NOTES. 
Remedy for Sore. Throat .—Take one large, 
red pepper, such as are grown for family use ; 
steep it in half a pint of water, after which 
strain in a quart of molasses, adding a little 
vinegar; boil all together to a thin sirup ; 
use this whenever the throat feels dry or 
disagreeable ; if it be in the dead of night, it 
will soothe the throat (and not irritate) and 
warm it Up well. If sharper than can be 
borne in the mouth, put it back near the pal¬ 
ate with a Spoon and swallow ; apply out¬ 
wardly a thin slice of salt pork, warming it 
up well in a little vinegar and pepper ; apply 
as hot as cau be borne on the throat; fasten 
the bandage that holds the pork over the 
head to draw the cold and Inflammation up, 
and not, about the neck, as most people do,— 
Mrs. H. S. B. 
Treatment ol Chilblains. — The Canada 
Medical Journal recommends sulphurous 
acid in this affection. It should be applied 
with a camel-hair brush, or by means of a 
spray-producer. One application of this 
usually effects a cure. Th? acid should be 
used pure. A good wash for hands or feet 
affected with chilblains, is sulphurous acid, 
three parts ; glycerine, one part; water, one 
part. Tne acid will be found particularly 
useful in the irritating, tormenting state of 
chilblains. 
Asthma and Catarrh Remedy Wanted.— 
I Will you please ask through the columns of 
A late Kansas Farmer has the following : 
It will be remembered that we copied from 
the Atchison Globe, in our last issue, to the 
effect, that the Commissioner of the General 
Land Office had decided that the law permit¬ 
ting persons to occupy and acquire a title to 
public land, under the “Timber Culture 
Act,” that the plant ing of tree seeds did not 
fulfill the letter of the law. We are glad to 
know that the Globe was wrong, as the fol¬ 
lowing letter, kindly furnished us by Frank 
W. Marshall of this city, will show : 
Washington, l). July 5th, 1873. 
Frank VV. Marshall Esq., Leavenworth, 
Kan.—Sir: lam in receipt, of your letter of 
the 22d ult., and in answer have to state, 
first, that parties desiring to make entry 
j under the Timber Culture Act of 1873, are 
required to make application and accompa¬ 
nying affidavit in person. Second, under 
said act, parties may use seeds, slips, cuttings, 
or may transplant young trees as they may 
think best. The careful culture of the trees 
so as to keep them thrifty, is indispensably 
necessary. Third, the fact that a party is 
living on a homestead on which he lias not 
yet, made final proof, does not necessarily 
debar him from making entry of 100 acres 
under the Timber Culture law. 
Respectfully, Willis Dhu.mmo.no, Cotn’r. 
FROM PARKERSBURG, WEST VA. 
In the “ Land Department” of the Rural 
New-Yorker, page £>2, Oct. 18, “B. K. S.” 
asks for information about Maryland and 
Virginia. The undersigned will, upon re¬ 
ceipt of name and post-office address, send 
“ B, K. S.,” or “ any other man,” a pamphlet 
of 20 pages, (published by municipal author¬ 
ity) partially descriptive of the natural re¬ 
sources of several counties in West Virginia ; 
climate and situation remarkable for health 
and particularly well adapted to fruit rais¬ 
ing, wine making and wool growing. 
w. H. McKinney. 
Parkersburg, Wood (Jo., West Va. 
