MOOBE’S BUBAL fiEW-YOBKEB. 
367 
Iftofe and |pnmtei['i. 
WINTER FASHIONS. 
THE POLONAISE. 
This is still the most fashionable garment. 
Its adaptability to all occasions and con¬ 
venience in making use of dresses out of style 
have won for it a favor it will retain for 
some time. From its shape it is not capable 
of much variat ion other than can be effected 
by modes of trimming, different garniture 
and draping. The prevailing style this sea¬ 
son is very long in front, open, or slightly 
open, as the taste may dictate, but double- 
breasted and trimmed with two rows of 
oxydized silver buttons, smoked pearl, or 
molds covered and embroidered. A piping 
often simulates revers; also outlined by the 
buttons. Many of the embroidered cash¬ 
meres are designed for a basque in the back. 
This basque, on a Blender person, is very be¬ 
coming, but by no means should be worn by 
any one inclined to be stout. These em¬ 
broidered cashmeres are very handsome but 
very expensive, coming to 650 and $75. An 
equally handsome and more economical 
polonaise is made of black cashmere with 
insertings of black llama, or guipure let in 
and flnisaed with lace a finger’s length in 
depth. Even these garments cannot be 
made for less t han 625. unless made at home, 
but then the material is good and afterward 
may servo many purposes. / 
Here let us remark, in passing, that one of 
the secrets of a well dressed lady, who yet 
dresses economically, is in buying trimmings 
that may be used a second time rather than 
extra material to he cut up in little l'l ills and 
folds which are useless afterward. 
Aside from cashmere, which is the stand¬ 
ard material for polonaises, all kinds of 
camels’ hair cloth, vigogne, water-proof, 
flannel, and stuff goeds are used. One of the 
very handsomest garments of the season 
is a polonaise made of gray worsted goods 
witli a black diagonal strip®, which cost 75 
cents a yard. It was made perfectly plain, 
well-fitting and trimmed with wide passe¬ 
menterie, one row on either side the but¬ 
tons down the front, aroaud the skirt and 
edged with worsted ball fringe. The drap¬ 
ing was in three separate puffs, uot very 
bouffant. The costume was completed by a 
skirt of the same trimmed with kilt plait¬ 
ing six inches deep, and two bias puffs, a lit¬ 
tle narrower, gathered inside of the hem. 
Here was n costume, not costing $20, as rich 
and lady-like us needed for a street costume. 
Many polonaises, particularly thoso of 
heavy goods, have no trimming around the 
bottom, The edge is turned up two inches 
and a half and fastened with three rows of 
stitching. 
A very beautiful blue cloth is mado in this 
way and trimmed with large steel buttons. 
More attention seems to be paid to buttons 
this winter than ever before. They are put 
every place it is possible to fasten a button. 
The preference is rather for small buttons of 
steel, oxydized silver and smoked pearl. 
COSTUMES. 
The material latest in uso for ladies’ cos¬ 
tumes is the mixed cloths — gray, brown, 
dark green and dark blue —used for gentle¬ 
men’s suits. No more stylish costumes are 
made. They consist of basque, overdress 
and skirt. The skirt is perfectly plain, clear¬ 
ing the ground ; the overdress is plain in 
front, with the slightest degree of fullness or 
drapery in the back. The basque has ravers 
of silk or velvet, with rolling collar, ravers 
in the back of the skirt, which is rather long ; 
coat-sleeves, with cull's; plain, substantial 
buttons, the only trimming otherwise being 
the rows of machine stitching before spoken 
of. A felt hat and wing completes the cos¬ 
tume, whose fitness to our severe winters 
gives it additional advantages. The only 
difficulty about these heavy costumes is, t hey 
are too warm for the house, and few ladies 
care to make an extra toilet for the house. 
Pockets are among the necessities of the 
winter. Two little jaunty pockets generally 
adorn the front of the basque, or larger 
ones are placed on the polonaise. 
Vigogne is an exceedingly popular ma¬ 
terial for costumes, rt is all wool—warm 
and light. The lighter shades will fade, es¬ 
pecially thoso peculiar shades of green now 
in vogue ; but if they meet one’s fancy, it is 
well enough to know that the goods will 
dye, and look as well as whon new. A very 
pretty costume of gray vigogne was made 
after this manner. A skirt with two kilt- 
plaited flounces, six inches in depth ; an 
over-dress moderately long, stitched and 
draped ; a basque piped with purple silk ; 
revers and collar of purple silk outside, fas¬ 
tening low down on the breast, from which 
purple silk revers simulate a cut-away 
jacket ; coat-sleeves with purple cuffs. 
Dark brown vigogne, made perfectly plain, 
trimmed with ball fringe, the same shade, 
worn over a brown silk or brown poplin 
skirt, makes a very pretty suit. 
SILKS. 
Black silk, in spite of all rumors, is the 
favorite silk. In black, however, it is neces¬ 
sary t.o buy a good quality ; otherwise it Is 
better to get a dark shade brown, green, ru¬ 
bble. For example, at {2 a yard, it is bet ter 
to get ft color than n black. In the cud, 
however, a good black silk is always the 
most economical. Unless a person is very 
large and can wear the most severe style of 
polonaise, it is better to have the costume 
in three pieces. 
Bilk basques arc very short, the poiuts cut 
away, the edge furnished with a double 
cord. A very pretty variety is to leave the 
side bodies in the back very long, loose from 
the waist, and trim them with a bow of the 
silk fringed, or the two pieces may be united 
below the back, which is made full by un¬ 
derlying plaits, and fastened with a how of 
silk. Almost altogether dresses are finished 
about, the neck with standing frills, plaited 
very full, and lined with silk. These fasten 
half way down the breast. Bioevcs are 
tight, with very plain or very elaborate 
cuffs, full plaiting^ of silk' caught with 
bands. 
Wo will describe two costumes made with¬ 
out overskirts, which many may find useful. 
The. basques are made very much as we have 
described. The skirt has a deep ruffle and 
two bias puffs gathered inside (he hem ; the 
front has two pieces, a half yard wide at the 
waist sloping almost to a point, and reaching 
a quarter of a yard from flic, bottom of the 
skirt ; these pieces meeting at the waist are 
arranged to leave the front en tabUcr. They 
are trimmed on the outside with bias ruffles 
and inside with hows of silk fringed out. 
The back of the skirt lias two widths of silk 
Caught up in two deep puffs, fastened with 
elaborate bows, and then hangs loose, having 
been gored for greater fulluess. Quo of these 
costumes, which is of dark blue silk, lias the 
ruffles faced with light blue and the bows on 
the side pieces of light, blue. 
BONNETS. 
Bonnets are decidedly larger this season, 
forming a most ample head covering. A 
fashion which was seen last winter prevails 
this season ; wo refer to the full front lined 
with a delicate color, which sets above the 
hair like a ruffle. 
To bo more explicit, we will describe a 
black velvet. The crown is made of two full 
puffs of velvet setting up high ; the brim, of 
velvet, is sheered to fit close to the head, the 
last gather leaving a frill an inch and a half 
deep, which is lined witli delicate pink tur¬ 
quoise silk ; inside of tho frill is a pink tulle 
ruche. The outside has only a band of black 
gros grain ribbon made In a stiff bow, with 
ends to the left of the front. The ribbon 
tied in a bow in the back hangs in long ends, 
to which are attached a fichu of blonde trim¬ 
med with thread lace, which is knotted 
on the breast with a pink bow. A black vel¬ 
vet bonnet of the same shape is lined witli 
pale blue ; a band of blue feather trimmings 
is placed outside, and two light blue ostrich 
tips. 
Variations of the Ratagas are very much 
worn ; they are of felt or velvet. The tiara 
is faced with velvet ; Ivmoath is a bandeau 
of light turquoise silk, or a garland of bright 
flowers, which are carried on the outside 
and hang down behind. Flowers are veiy 
much worn. Garlands made of yellow, red, 
green and blue roses as the most vivid or n- 
trasts, are especially fashionable. Autumn 
leavcR and berries are the favorite foliage. 
Very charming garlands of blue forget-me- 
nots and moss are used for young girls—as 
are sprays of convolvulus. 
Street hats are adapted to visiting and 
amusements by placing outside garlands of 
light flowers. 
ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS. 
Stockings. —L. C. B. asks if ladles wear 
striped stockings, and she has drawn her pen 
under the word “ ladies.” L. C. B. must re¬ 
member that times change, and we change 
with them. Ladies do wear striped stock¬ 
ings now, and they are beautiful enough 
to suit tho most fastidious taste. For sum¬ 
mer wear we had white stockings striped 
with crimson, blue and purple, from the 
coarsest cotton to the most delicate L : sle 
thread and fine spun silk. This winter we 
have all varieties of grey and black, lavender 
grounds with blue, black and brown, and 
green with red and blue. In wool we have 
scarlet and black, blue and black, Scotch 
plaids and the brightest of solid colors. 
domestic (Btfouomii. 
CURING AND PRESERVING MEATS. 
Mb, R. Guild read a paper before the 
Princeton, N. J. Farmers’Club of which the 
following is an abstract. He begins by ex¬ 
plaining and enforcing the superiority of 
well-matured meat over that of younger 
animals, and the necessity of cooling off the 
animal heat promptly and completely, before 
any further steps are taken. He then ex¬ 
plains the use of salt in the preservation of 
the meat, drawing an analogy between its 
action and that of heat in tho process of 
cooking, and showing that as little salt 
-hould be used as is consistent with the pre¬ 
servation of the meat, and that in the curing 
of dried meats brine should be altogether ex¬ 
cluded. He then continues as follows ; 
"What are known in commerce as “sugar 
cured hams ” are packed in bulk with ground 
salt at such times, or from time to time, as 
convenience may dictate ; the time they re¬ 
main in bulk j,s also governed by conveni¬ 
ence. They are at length packed in hogs¬ 
heads, filled with what is called sweet pickle 
-composed of sa.lt, saltpetre and molasses. 
Many of them are. shipped from the West 
in this condition, smoked here and sold for 
Jersey hams. Tho consequence is, there is 
little uniformity in their quality. Borne of 
them arc very good ; others over salted, hard 
and tasteless. 
The celebrated Burlington hams of the 
olden time (Nowbold, I think, was the name,) 
were cured in this wise : 
To twelve hams, S lbs. sugar, It,; lbs. salt¬ 
peter, 5 lbs. fine salt; rub the hams with this 
mixture, and let. them be one week in a cask 
with the skins downward ; then make a 
pickle of the strongest coarse salt, of suffi¬ 
cient strength to bear an egg ; add two or 
three quarts of hickory ley, refined by boil¬ 
ing ; when cold, cover them. 
The receipt of Abraham Hunt of Trenton 
was—For three dozen hams, 2 11 is. saltpeter, 
bush, line salt, and Jl^gala. molasses ; mix 
them well together, and rub the hams well ; 
let them lie twelve or fourteen days ; then 
make a pieldu that will bear ail egg, and 
cover the hams with it. After lying three or 
four weeks in pickle, mb them with bran 
and hang them up to smoke. 
The recipe I have adopted for my own use, 
is as follows For 12 hams, 1 lb. saltpeter, 
12 lbs. fine salt, ]/ t gallon molasses. These 
ingredients, when well mixed, will have 
about the consistency and appearance of 
damp, brown sugar. Rub them thoroughly 
with this mixture, lay them singly on a dry 
platform. At the end of one week rub them 
again ; at the end of the second week again 
mb them and hang them up to smoke; let 
them dry thoroughly, but do uot smoke 
them more than ten days. 
It will be perceived that all the foregoing 
recipes embody the same principles and 
differ only in the mode of compounding the 
ingredient* and their application ; and I am 
frequently amused to see some newly-fledged 
agricultural journal publishing a new recipe 
for curing baoou hams, whon, in principle il 
not in words, it is precisely the same that 
was used more than half a century ago. 
In regard to smoking meat, it has been 
practiced in this country since time imme¬ 
morial, but I do not deem it essential to its 
preservation. Many persons like a slight 
flavor of smoke, others do not. Meats cured 
for the English market are nwer smoked, 
and I have known persons to kiln-dry their 
meat as they would cure tobacco. It is nec¬ 
essary, however, to have (t thoroughly dried. 
I would not be understood as entirely dis¬ 
carding brine. In some eases it is not only 
valuable, but indispensable. The sides, or 
what is known as moss pork, being nearly all 
fat, possess neither fllirine nor albumen, and 
consequently cannot be injured either by salt 
or water, and can be kept sound and sweet 
an indefinite length of time by simply keep¬ 
ing it covered with pure brine, or, as the 
gentleman from Wheatland suggested ut our 
Inst, meeting, by keeping it covered with salt 
and taking it to the pump now and then and 
filling the cask with cold water. I would 
hefo, however, drop a caution, AU brine 
requires to bo assiduously watched and kept 
pure. It extracts the juices of the meat; 
they being lighter than the water saturated 
with salt, rise to the top, become exposed to 
tho air and soon decompose, thereby contam¬ 
inating the whole contents of the cask. The 
following recipe for xuaking brine, I think, is 
the best that has fallen within my observa¬ 
tion : 
Six lbs. salt, l pint molasses, 6 ozs. saltpeter; 
dissolve them by boiling in 4 gallons of water. 
In the pickle, when perfectly cold, keep any 
sr rt of fresh meat sunk and closely stopped. 
This pickle may bo kept pure, and its 
strength undiminished for almost any length 
of time, by occasionally re-boiling it and 
skimming off the impurities ; but as old brine 
is an excellent fertilizer, and salt is not ex¬ 
pensive, 1 would recommend that tho old 
brine be thrown on tho asparagus bed or 
compost heap, and freshly made brine lie 
substituted. 
Opinions iw relation to “the best mode of 
preserving meats after they are cured,” are 
as diversified ns they are in regard to the 
mode of curing. The hams of commerce are, 
1 believe, invariably covered with canvas 
and whitewashed. Many persons advocate 
packing them in chaff, bran, ashes, &<j. 
Others, after smoking, immerse them in 
brine ; others again pack them in air-tight 
barrels. Tho manner of keeping is not so 
essential a* the time at; which they aiy put 
up. And hence the necessity of uot consum¬ 
ing more time than is necessary in curing. 
If they are not secured before the fly deposits 
its eggs upon them, no means whatever will 
save them, excopt indeed, keeping them in a 
temperature so low that, the egg cannot 
hatch, or imn.eraiug them in brine. For any 
considerable quantity, I prefer tho tight bar¬ 
rel system. Bug for family use, I have found 
a rough, swinging shelf, the sides and ends of 
which ure covered with wire doth (in which 
tho pieces are hung) very convenient and 
secure against both flies and vermin of every 
description. 
Now, M r. President and gentlemen, if the 
foregoiug promises be correct, i am Jed to the 
following conclusions : 
1. To have cured moats in perfection, no 
animal should be slaughtered until it has in 
some degree at least attained its natural 
growth. 
2. All meats should be promptly and thor¬ 
oughly cooled before being suited. It m cold 
weather, by hanging in a cold plr.ee at least 
48 hours and as much longer as wifi bo con¬ 
sistent with its keeping sound, but under no 
circumstances let it freeze. 
3. No more sail should be used and no more 
time should he consumed in curing, than is 
necessary to its sole keeping, due regard be¬ 
ing had to the size of the pieces, the temper¬ 
ature of tho weather, &c., and as little water 
should be used as is consistent with clean¬ 
liness. 
4. They Should lie thoroughly dried before 
stowing away, but smoke is not essential to 
lheir preservation. 
5. To preserve them after being cured, they 
should lie stowed away in a cool and well 
ventilated apartment before tho fly eim pos¬ 
sibly reach them. In this elmiato, 1 should 
say not later than the middle of February. 
RECIPES FR3M MARY MESSICK. 
RECIPES fOR ROILS. 
BEEing so many recipes in the Rural, I 
will give a good recipe for rolls. Mix one 
pint Of milk, half a pint of fresh lard, one 
teaspoon of soda, the same of salt, m'x stiff 
and roll about tho size of your hand ; sprinkle 
with sugar and ground omnamon or cloves 
I call them “ Love Rolls.” 
CREAM CUP CAKE. 
hour cups flour ; two of sugar ; throe of 
sweet cream ; four eggs ; nix hard. Bake 
in a quick oven ; bake in square tins, and 
when cold cut in squares about two inches 
wide ; they are excellent. 
DOUGHNUTS OR FRIED CAKES. 
Two cups of sugar; three of milk ; one 
large teaspoon of soda; ;J .,„1 the same of salt . 
tHrC o tablespoons of melted lard ; mix stiff J 
roll about a quarter of an inch thick ; cut in 
small cakes ; cut in tho inside another small¬ 
er, and you can fry both in hot lard ; these 
are exccllerit, for I have tried them. 
Sunny Dale, Ohio. Mahy Messick. 
.-- 
DOMESTIC BREVITIES. 
Scent, Powder.—A good recipe for scent 
powder, to be used for wardrobes, boxes, 
far finer than any mixture sold at the 
shops, is the following Coriander, Orris 
root, Rose loaves, and aromatic Calamus, 
each one ounce; Lavender flowers, two 
ounces; Rhodium wood, one-fourth of a 
drachm ; Musk, five grains. These are to be 
mixed and reduced to a coarse powder. 
This scent on clothes is as if oil the fragrant 
flowers had been pressed in their folds. 
How They do Things .—The Rural lias 
always been a vehicle through which house¬ 
wives have told us how they do things. I 
hope the Rural’s readers will not forget it. 
There is nothing I like to read better than 
the experience of others. Don’t forget it, 
sisters!— d. h. 
