estimated. Four feet oi dirt may be Jett in 
basements for composting, unless the subsoil 
is gravel. 
This is designed more especially lor city 
residents, and those farmers in villages and 
near large towns who can afford ample ac¬ 
commodations for man and beast. Many 
would object to the drive and fountain; 
and yet the small space- on a single floor 
that they occupy does not make them a 
costly luxury, while the air of elegance that 
they convoy could ill be dispensed with by 
one who has a generous regard for taste. 
Toledo, Ohio. W - H * B * 
miners 
its right to humanity ejected a part of its su- I 92 ^ < 
perfluous load. There were seventeen of us liUClt \ 
including visitors, and we were not afraid the 
good things would spoil without so much - 
help from him. SIDIN 
A lady who spent the early part of her life 
in the city married a farmer. W Idle on a In last volu 
visit at our house she was telling me what illustrations c 
she once thought of country people, selling of preparing i 
butter, eggs, &c., never thinking they might corresponded 
have more than they could possibly use, even the following 
if they did not want the money they would similar to, tttf 
bring. She now sells eggs, butter, &c. t and viously given 
thinks it no disgrace, laughs at. the absurd “ A master 
ideas she once entertained and is a good originated (and induced the proprie- 
former’s wife. tor of a planing mill to introduce/ j 
Give a man two hundred acres of cleared the machinery to dress the lumber) 
land with wood land enough to supply his a style of siding which pleases me || 
fires. Let him with a family of five settle on better and is more used here nowy 
it putting up a house, barn, fences, stock it, for good buildings than any l have | 
buy his form implements, Ac., and lie isan un- seen. The lumber is one inch pine, J 
commonly fortunate man if he gets out of ami by lying flat and firmly against j 
debt in ten years. A city guest once remark- the studding makes a more substall- j 
ed that it took a good salary to support a farm, tial wall, less liable to sway or 8uVgc,j| 
’Tis so. Mas. Farmer North. if properly nailed, than* the thin | 
rrihtfctnrr 
omrstic (L'cononm 
MASQUERADE COSTUMES 
CONDUCTED BY MART A. E. WAGER. 
[MiNTWOOD, in Rural Jan. 15, Uescvilwu sev¬ 
eral masquerade costumes. The following were 
omitted for want of room.] 
Tim Woman of Wlnunker in Mourning, 
was a very singular costume, consisting of 
shoes, stockings and short dress of black, a 
long straight, armless cloali 
scarlet and gathered at t 
wl—.—.. 
wide, two or three inches deep, and about 
twelve or fourteen inches long. A large 
bake tin may be divided into compartments 
by strips of tin running across. But do not 
mold bread into large, broad loaves that, are 
very awkward to cut, and when cut, yield 
ungainly looking slices. 
First, the bread plate should be of wood, 
perfectly round, and with a flat surface. 
They cost at the shops from seventy-five 
cents to six dollars, or more. The high- 
priced ones are beautifully carved. Next, a 
bread knife, which lms a wooden handle to 
match the plate. The blade should be thin 
and long, and the edge kept well sharpened. 
Bread dulls a knife very much. 
Place on the table the bread plate with a 
loaf of bread on it 
‘ k, lined with 
‘ t the neck, a broad, 
bite turned-down collar, tied with yellow 
cord and tassels, a large three-story white 
turban, striped with black; hands crossed 
in front holding a handkerchief. She wore 
no mask, and her mature face, with down¬ 
cast, eyes, looked actually very sad. I wo 
very darkly stained-faced ladies were in 
Spaniwli C'oKlumc, 
and quite alike, save one wore a yellow satin 
dress and the other red. They were short, 
flounced to the waist with black lace, with 
space between each flounce; black lace 
mantilla tailing from the hair, ornamented 
on one side with roses; slippers and tan to 
match the dresses. A gentleman with them 
rirntific antr 
USEFUL AND SCIENTIFIC ITEMS. 
Tartaric Acid and Bicarbonate of Soda.— 
In the Rural of October 23 L. A. 0. wished 
l,o know the object and use of tartaric acid, 
also bicarbonate of soda. Tartaric acid, 
mechanically combined with bicarbonate ol 
soda,constitutes the so-called soda powder, or 
t he ingredients of the effervescing draughts. 
Tartaric acid is chiefly employed in dye¬ 
ing.—F. A. Fikts. 
Artificial Bold. — Melt in a crucible in a 
furnace, 100 parts of metallic copper, and add 
by degrees 17 parts of zinc, 0 parts of mag¬ 
nesia, 3L< parts of sal-ammoniac, I 8-10 parts 
of quicklime, and 9 parts of sal-tartar. I he 
whole are then to be stirred for halt an hour, 
and the- zinc granulated is to tie added last, 
and the fusion continued for half an hour 
longer. When tin is employed instead of 
zinc, the product is still better, and will re- 
CONTRIBUTED RECIPES. 
Home Pudding or Cake ,—One cup butter, 
one cup sweet milk ; four eggs ; three cups 
sugar; five cups flour; two teaspoonfuls 
cream tartar, sprinkled in the flour; one tea- 
spoonful soda dissolved in a little milk ; one 
teaspoonful essence of lemon. 
Cream Pie (very nice.)—One tttblespoon- 
ful of syrup, a large tablespoouful of flour; 
one do! of butter; stir well together; one 
cup of rich cream and one do. of milk, 
sweetened with sugar and seasoned with 
nutmeer t.o your taste. This for one pie; 
two loaves are better, 
on<i of white bread, the other of brown 
and the knife. When it is time to serve the 
bread, the one nearest the bread plate asks 
each one what kind is preferred, and if thick 
or thin slices. Where the table is large, a 
small plate is used to pass it on. In this 
way every one at the table has the bread cut 
to his or her liking. The bread is cut only 
as wanted, and no more cut, than is used. 
The outside piece of either bread or meat 
should not be served, unless some one mani¬ 
fests a preference for it. Not much strength 
is required to cut meat and bread. The 
muscles of the wrist and hand should do the 
work, and not those of the arm, elbow, or 
shoulder. 
—.—-- 
FARMERS’ WOOD PILES. 
Aunt Jerusha Jones, who frankly avows 
she is an old maid “ on principle,” (I) writes 
the Rural : 
“I’ve'just been on my yearly round to | 
visit my nephews, neices, cousins and 
friends—have visited a number of villagers 
and farmers, and have passed the homes of 
a great many more, and, Editors Rural, if 
you cau record it without blushing for man¬ 
kind, on the average, every third house was 
minus a wood-room, wood-house, or even a 
wood-shed, just as they were twenty years 
ago, when, if it had not been for the sight of 
these shiftless, thoughtless, comfoVUess look¬ 
ing wood-piles, 1 might have been tempted - 
but I’m not going to write about myself, Je- 
rusiia Jones. 
“ I was going to tell you what I saw at 
these wood-piles,—wives and little children 
digging wood out of the snow. Enter the 
HORSE AND CARRIAGE HOUSE. 
I send herewith a plan of a horse barn 
and carriage house I propose to erect, on my 
farm near Toledo, O. It. is to be built of 
brick, with stone basement eight feet deep. 
It is therefore designed for a side hill, unless 
the basement is dispensed with, which would 
be poor economy. On my own place the 
basement is designed for breeding sows. 
ALPINE HAT. 
Tile jauntiest, darlingcst, most stylish hat 
worn bv young women is the soft, high- 
crowned, dimple-topped felt, called the Al¬ 
pine, and which costs from four dollars up. 
Gold and silver braids and fringes are 
very much in vogue for trimming on even¬ 
ing dresses, fancy wraps, neckties, etc. 
Very pretty curtains are made of plain 
white Swiss or any thin, clear muslin, by 
trimming one side, and the straps, with a 
two-inch ruflTe of the same, and timing it. 
They are particularly pleasing to the eye 
where lightness, airiness and daintiness are 
desirable. The windows of nearly all fash¬ 
ionable town houses now are ornamented 
with jardiniere (flower stands) and artificial 
plants and flowers of such marvelous beauty 
and likeness to nature as to convey a two¬ 
fold pleasure. There can be nothing brighter 
in a window than flowers—unless it be a 
happy face. 
----- 
ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS. 
How to Make ti Blue Silk. 
Crack Tk cm an— Select u French blue silk, 
which is a. medium shade. In large shops, goods 
for evening dresses arc selected by gaslight. 
cup butter, one cup ot cream, two table¬ 
spoonfuls of soda. 
Blackberry Wine.—To one gallon of ber¬ 
ries pour a quart of boiling water. Let it 
stand twenty-four hours, stirring it occasion¬ 
ally; strain it and add t wo and a half pounds 
of sugar to a gallon of juice. Bottle and 
seal; do not open before October. 
Mock Duck .—A steak of beef well beaten, 
a rich stuffing, such as is used for clucks; 
spread it over the beef and roll it in the form 
of a duck; then bake. Make a rich gravy 
with onions and pour over it. 
Breakfast Batter Cakes .— 1 Throe eggs, one 
i tablespoonful of lard, a teaspoont'ul of soda, 
one pint of com meal, one-half pint of flour, 
one pint of buttermilk, a little salt.—* * * 
Chopping Dough .—We think that it is not 
generally known that wheat bread, at least, 
is greatly improved by chopping it, at the 
end of the second kneading, and if you 
want good bread, let there always be a second 
kneading, putting in all the flour before 
that.—J. J. 
Keeping Beef in Summer. —W. II. C., Fair- 
view, Eric Co., Penn., sends the following 
recipe in answer to M. F. Benjamin, ot 
Clyde, N. Y., in regard to keeping of beef in 
summer:—“To three hundred pounds of 
beef take eight gallons of water; put in sal! 
until it holds up an egg; add one pound 
brown sugar, one-half pound saltpetre, one 
quart molasses; boil and skim. Let it stand 
nnt.il mid. then Dour on vour beef. This 
How to Obtain Thick Ter ,— Warren Le- 
i.and, Rye, N. Y-, sends us the following: 
The usual way of constructing outlet s of ice- 
ponds is by an overflow at the surface. In 
this way the top of the water is always in 
motion; and after ice has formed, the warm 
water from springs, and underdrain flowing 
' r surface, prevents its thicken¬ 
ing. To obviate these difficulties', the outlet 
should be from the bottom of the pond— 
leaving the surface undisturbed to cool and 
freeze more readily, by the cold air and ac¬ 
tion of the Ice. This style of outlet also 
tends to keep the water free from sediment. 
It is easily constructed, by having an iron 
I or wood tube leading directly from the bot¬ 
tom of the pond, or by an overflow, arranged 
S, is the stable part, with double stalls for 
six horses. C, is carriage-room for three or 
four light wagons or Carriages. D, is a cir¬ 
cular drive eight feet wide. F, is an octag¬ 
onal fountain eight feet in diameter. IT, II, 
are harness rooms. C L, C L, closets. L, 
is ladder to loft. water from springs, 
The hay is cut and fed from the second along Its under 
First Floor Plan of Carriage House and Horse Hahn. 
to draw from the bottom. Having in this 
way doubled the thickness of iee on my pond, 
I wish, through your columns, to give my 
brother farmers the benefit of my experience. 
The dimensions are: — Main part, 24x2(3; 
wings, 10x24; height of basements, 8 feet; 
firstTstory, 10 feet; second story, 8 feet to 
plates. A cupola with double windows and 
flat roof with a staff in the center will be an 
elegant feature. Eaves should project two 
and a half feet. Roof not more than quarter 
pitch. The following are the specifications 
of cost and material at Toledo prices, stone 
and laying varying: 
Brick, 42,000 at $5...$210 
I-InMi-ri iir for first story ..... ............. • ■ • ■ • • • ■ *> 
Lumber, fouroros#bciitu*, 10 by (2-24; 24 joists, 2 by 
10-10; ‘it joists. 8 by 10-111; 24 joists, 2 by 12-18; 12 
Joists. ‘2 by 12-21; B Joists. 2 by 14-84 ; 75 ratters, 2 
by 0-13 — 1,012 lent, at $10. ••••■•; • "• 
2 OlXl ft. roof boards, 1,400 ft. lioor boards, at $12,.. 2b 
2.800 rt. plank, at $10. L' 
Shingles, 15 M. ..... 
Basil, stone pressings, cupola. Ac... }•*{ 
Carpenter’s work. 
Total. 
Team work, excavating and stone are not 
Coloring Velvet.— r would he please'I If MARY 
A. E. Wag iiit,or some of your subscribers,could 
tell me how to color n silk velvet capo. I have a 
good one. but tt is getting nil her faded. I would 
like to color it black myself, but (lo not know 
how to raise the nap again. Auy information 
would be thankfully received.—A. Easterly, 
Kent Co., Michigan. 
Velvet colors black beautifully. Wo have 
seen velvet ribbons colored In the ordinary dye 
used for coloring woolen goods bliick, aud the 
nap raised by the process given in Mint wood's 
Cloak chapter of Rural, Nov. 20,1801). Tills la 
all we know about coloring velvet. Wo do not 
mean this as advising you to follow this recipe 
Would rather give the velvet to an experienced 
dyer, and make him responsible for doing it well. 
Water mid Gearing for ft Power Churn. I have 
used steam, sheep and dog power; I wish now to 
use water power. Please give the quantity of 
water, the number and size of buckets, and the 
requisite gearing for the most, effectual use of 
the water and desirable speed of a barrel-dash 
churn, two-thirds full, using a six-foot, over¬ 
shot wheel.—It., Verona, N. V., Jan. 13. 
Ta-ud Palsy tin* Effect of Vanity. — Dr. Lewis 
Sayre, of New York city, lias Issued a pamphlet 
describing three enses of lend palsy, resulting to 
ladles from the use of cosmetics containing a 
lend poison to give artificial whiteness or soil¬ 
ness to Mut complexion. l>r. Sayre thinks that 
some such deleterious substance forms an essen¬ 
tial Ingredient of nil nostru ms sold as “ bloom ol* 
youth,” “ beautifying lotions,” &c., arid warns 
ladies agnirnt using them, us the poison is sure 
to be absorbed by the skin and penetrates to tho 
nerves. 
Taxidermy.—Can you or any ot your readers 
inform rao of some cheap and reliable work on 
the art of preparing and stufling the skins of 
birds and beasts?— Geo. D. Smith, Frewsburgh, 
N. Y. 
Coloring Woolens Green and Scarlet.— Will 
gome of your readers contribute u recipe for 
coloring woolen a substantial green; also lor 
coloring woolen a turkey red or Bcarlet?— Nel¬ 
lie, Polo, Ogle Co., 111. 
Cheap Water Filter. — How shall I make n 
cheap filter for rain water ?—a. c. 
Butter Crackers, Will some one give a good 
recipe for making butter crackers?—M. a. c. 
