bad, but for sedentary people the experiment 
is dangerous. Scalded milk, custards, cheese, 
and milk baked into various culinary pre¬ 
parations arc still more hurtful. Cream is 
supposed to be the least hurtful of any of the 
products of milk. 
I know there will be quoted any number 
of cases where families, remarkably healthy, 
have been brought up on milk, and their 
health is, of course, attributed to that fact. 
But on examination it will probably appear 
that these families were very simple in their 
diet in other reBpecta, perhaps abjuring tea 
and coffee, and eating much corn and other 
coarse bread, and mushes and fruit. I recall 
one such family now, not sedentary in their 
habits, considered very healthy; but when 1 
Came to know them intimately, I found them 
nearly all afflicted with constipation, and 
some even with piles; hut this cause of the 
difficulty was not suspected until one of the 
number went away t.o school, where, in spite 
of very sedentary habits, the difficulty was 
greatly lessened. A few vacation experi¬ 
ences showed that the relief was due to the 
absence of milk from the diet; the result was 
communicated to the others, experiments 
were tried, and milk was finally dismissed, 
to the benefit of all concerned. 
We have thus far been speaking or milk in 
U» best condition, but there arc many con¬ 
siderations affecting the wholesomoness of 
milk, which ary largely overlooked. In the 
first place, it is very questionable whether 
the flow of milk from any cow is perfectly 
healthy after the period when t he calf would 
naturally have been weaned,-—say three or 
four months. This period may be difficult 
to decide, precisely, but the fact of a differ¬ 
ence is very noticeable in the case where it 
is fed to a young child. Jts delicate organs 
cannot throw off impurities like older stom¬ 
achs; bunco the importance often insisted 
upon of obtaining milk for such a child from 
Thera can be no doubt 
kin pies be baked hi custard cups, to avoid 
the solid, indigestible crust we always have 
with a pie that has a liquid filling. House 
try the following rule, and 1 think you will 
not want a squash or custard pie minus the 
crust: 
Take equal parts of Graham and flue 
flour; rub the shortening in as usual,hut do 
not make It very rich; to the water which 
is used for mixing, add a little molasses, say 
two or three tablespoouftils, Into which is 
thoroughly stirred one-fourth of a teaspoon 
of soda; knead a little softer than ordinary 
crust. 
Graham Pudding .—And now, shall I tell 
you what to coolc for breakfast, when you 
do not know what to get, and want some¬ 
thing simple nud healthful? Graham pud¬ 
ding, (or mush,) with maple sirup; or, in 
absence of the maple, use a sirup made of 
light brown sugar. Wc make the pudding 
same as corn meal pudding. It is more 
easily made free from lumps by stirring a part 
of the flour in cold water. Be sure that it boils 
before adding the remainder of flour, also, 
that it bolls while stirring in the latter; 
and I let it boil several minutes after this.— 
Mrs. F. G. Fisk, New Haven, Gown. 
too eager in search of eggs, and not finding 
any, he is induced to tell his friends, and 
thus injure the keeping of fowls in his sec¬ 
tion of the country. This is no supposed 
case, but is the case with many fanners all 
over the land. It is no wonder fowls do not 
pay under such circumstances. 
How to Make Them Pay. 
By proper care chickens may become a 
great success, no matter what breed is kept, 
though, of course, there are some preferable 
to others. I keep the Brahma, Black Span¬ 
ish, Dominique, Bolton Gray, and dung-hills, 
and from these (some thirty in number,) I 
obtained in eight months of 1809, from Feb¬ 
ruary to September, inclusive, 1,874 eggs. 
When young, fowls should be placed with 
the mother in some inclosme with a shelter 
for them at night. They should never be 
permitted to leave the house till the dew is 
well off the grass, as more young fowls perish 
For sitting 
omtsixt §c0n0mu 
CONDUCTED BY MAHY A. E. WAGER. 
EAELY SITTING HENS, ETC. 
COUNTRY BREAD, 
It has often proved a great error in sitting 
hens, in early spring, to place under them 
too many eggs. Thirteen eggs are a great 
plenty to sit a hen upon. We name thir¬ 
teen, not that “ there is luck in odd num¬ 
bers,” but that if more are placed under her, 
they are liable to become chilled, aud as all 
the eggs, iu turn, are liable to be more or less 
exposed to the cold, the whole brood fre¬ 
quently suffers from the .over-onxlousness of 
the breeder to get an extra chick or two. 
When too late, he will learn that by over¬ 
crowding, instead of a strong and healthy, 
he will have a weak aud sickly brood, liable 
to all manner of disease, and hardly worth 
the rearing. 
In early spring the best of care should be 
taken to place the nests in a warm, dry po¬ 
sition. Make them of short straw, and let 
them be so situated that the hen will not bo 
disturbed in her maternal occupation. The 
least chill received by tbe eggs may result in 
the loss of the whole brood. A pan or box 
of ashes or dry sand should be put in a con¬ 
venient place, so that the hen may be al¬ 
lowed to dust herself on leaving her nest 
to feed. 
We have heard of breeders removing the 
hen from the nest at stated periods to ieed 
It is much 
Another Fnrnieriuo Mildly ludism&nt. 
A lady writing to us from Hornellsville, 
N. Y, prefaces her letter with some pleas¬ 
ant sentences about our school-day years, 
and continues as follows: 
Now you know what farm life is, and I 
wish you would vindicate the rights ol us, 
much abused class of country people. 
Why is it that Fanny Fern and Horace 
Greeley, and a number more should mis¬ 
represent farm life as they do? They talk 
as if nothing wholesome, or even fit to be 
eaten, were ever cooked iu thu country. 
Fanny Fern says, in one article, that our 
bread is so vile that, were it not for the pure 
air of the country, wo sliould all die. Bini 
»ho dors not tell liow good, wholesome bread 
should be made, while Jui.lv Colmar de¬ 
clares that fermented bread is unlit to be 
eaten. Now I can make good bread, and 1 
know a great many others who can, outside 
of New York city. Still, lor the benefit of a 
large class, 1 wish you would cause to he 
published a good, orthodox recipe for mak¬ 
ing bread. Why is ii that a person living in 
the country, and baking for a large family, 
would not be just as likely to know how to 
make good bread, as a person living in the 
city V 
i know many farmers who go beyond 
their means for the sake of appearance, who 
really mean all right, but are afraid of being- 
outdone by some wealthier acquaintance in 
town. Please stute your views, for you can 
say things so much better than I can. I 
sometimes think if tno writers o p some of 
these articles could know of the tired and 
armors’ wives lay upon 
from this than any other cause, 
hens, I choose two-year old Brahmas. They 
are more steady sitters, and should another 
hen desert her charge, the Brahma will foster 
the youug with her own, and not peck them, 
as other breeds are accustomed to. A hen 
for laying should be kept alone the first 
year, but, for sitting they improve by ago. 
When hens are confined they should he sup¬ 
plied with ashes, lime, and, above all, fresh 
water should be constantly within reach. 
One word contains the whole secret ot 
auccess and profit with all fowls, and that is, 
warmth. Their houses should lie as warm 
as they can be made. A gentleman once 
said, with regard to his own fowls, that he 
never did a wiser thing than when he in¬ 
serted a “ Morning Glory” Btove in his hen¬ 
house. I have found in my own caso that 
success depends on warmth externally and 
internally. I give my fowls boiled potatoes 
aud milk, mixed with red pepper, in the pro¬ 
portion of a quarter of an ounce to a pailful 
of food, aud keep their house warm. 
f. w. B. 
To Color Carpet Uns» Oration,— JOITN SMITH 
nsks sonic one to price him a recipe lor adoring 
carpet rags orange. 
To Make Muallnse.—Will you or some of your 
subscribers be so kind as to inform mo bow thu 
mucilage, with which envelopes are prepared 
(as self-scalers,) is iiuideV—S amuel Guam am. 
them. This we do not believe in 
the better plan to have feed and water near 
at hand, so that the hen can help herself to 
them whenever she desires. If during incuba¬ 
tion an egg should be broken, remove it, and 
take out the remainder and cleanse them in 
luke-warm water, or it Is probable the sticky 
nature of the contents of the broken egg will 
make the others cling to the hen’s feathers; 
and they, too, may be fractured. 
Sometimes the chick within the shell Is 
unable to break away from Us prison; for 
the white of the egg will occasionally harden 
in the air to the consistency of glue, and the 
poor chick is iu a terrible fix. The method 
of assistance to be rendered in this case is to 
take the egg in the hand, and dipping the 
finger or a piece of linen mg in warm water, 
apply it to the fastened parts until they are 
loosened by the gluey substance becoming 
dissolved and separated from the feathers. 
The chick theu being returned to thu nest 
will extricate itself—a mode generally to be 
observed, since if violence were used, it 
would prove fatal. 
The chicks that are first hatched should 
be taken from the hen, or she may think her 
task at an end, and leave the remaining eggs 
to spoil. As soon as the chicks aro taken 
from the hen, they must be placed in a bas¬ 
ket lined with any warm, thick cloth, and 
put under or near the stovo. Do not cram 
the young birds with food as soon as they 
are bom, as is too commonly practiced. They 
will, so long as they arc kept warm, come to 
no harm if they lake no food during the 
twenty - four hours following their birth. 
Bread soaked in milk, and the yolk of a 
hard-boiled egg, make a good food for chicks 
when first hatched. This food should be 
given them in small quantities five or six 
times a day for the first week or so after be¬ 
ing put with the mother hen; theu give 
boiled mush and potatoes. Chickens reared 
in this way will prove hardy, if they are 
kept warm and in a dry locatiou. 
J. Brace. 
To Color Ornn^p,- Will somo Rural reader 
give a recipe tor coloring woolen a substantial 
orange, or eorn color V—M. n. C. 
weary heads that ii 
their qilloWfl late at night, they would not 
say such things as they do. Your articles 
or women’s labor used to do my soul good 
last summer, and did I not take especial 
pains to read them to Hiram? —Mas. IIi- 
ram Cline. 
It is a pretty safe rule to rely upon, that 
people who find most fault with things away 
from home, could criticise affairs at home 
equally severely. Perhaps Horace and Fan¬ 
ny have had unpleasant country experiences, 
or take more delight in picturing the ugly side 
of rural life than the might side. Every¬ 
body who knows anything about farm life, hi the time “ 
worth speaking of, knows it is hedged about the world was new 
and permeated through aud through with 
hard work. A moment’s consideration must 
convince one that, in farm houses women 
know wlnil tired means altogether more 
than is good for them. It is not kind, nor 
ygumc c |uf0rimrti0it 
a new milch cow 
that the diversion of some portion of the nu¬ 
trition to the production of further progeny 
affects the cow’s milk; but. where this is not 
the case, the continuance of the secretion for 
an unnatural period affords a kind of sluice¬ 
way for carrying off much of the waste mat¬ 
ter from the body of the animal, which ac¬ 
counts for the difference in the health fill ness 
of milk from a new milch and from a farrow 
cow. Very few of iu», I fancy, even if we 
suppose our digestives strong enough to 
master it, would yet quite relish the idea of 
such seasoning. We, the best of ns, have 
impurities enough of our own to dispose ot 
without adding those of other animals. 
Besides this, at any time the influence of 
any unhealthy condition or hurtful food on 
the animal is naturally thrown into the milk 
as the readiest method of self-preservation. 
This has been repeatedly exemplified in tbe 
cases of sown fed on distillery slops to the de¬ 
struction of their young, and very remarka¬ 
bly iti the milk-sickness of the West, where 
the milk, butter and cream prove fatal to 
those wlio partake of them while the animal 
is yet iu an apparently liealt.liftil condition. 
These arc very suggestive facta; and the 
thoughtful, those who regard it worth their 
while > put their bodies into the best possi¬ 
ble condition, will hardly let them passwitli- 
Vkiuty. 
HINTS ON MILK. 
While the subject of milk is so emphati¬ 
cally before the public, perhaps we may do 
well to scrutinize its qualities a little more 
closely than usual. We have so long heard 
milk quoted as the model food, wc have 
such charming individual recollections ot 
flowing pails and odorous cups, away back 
when tbe hoart was young and 
and everything tasted 
good to our youthful appetites, that we are 
very apt to think that if wo could now go 
back to the same food, wo should enjoy the 
same results. But when sucli fancies come, 
we, like JIoj.meh, forget the difficulties that lie 
in the way of our being “ boys again.” We 
ceased to be babes a long while ago. Our 
teeth came, and they demanded solid food. 
By the time the mouth was full we ought to 
have considered the demand quite emphatic. 
Perhaps this was the time when nature 
would have had us weaned if our mothers 
had been as strong as—as the antediluvians. 
But in the interval between weaning and 
full dentition, we drank cow's milk, and na¬ 
ture kept on speaking; for milk when drank 
does not digest so readily as when drawn 
and mingled with the saliva thrown out 
from the glands by the motion of the mouth. 
Then nature changed the character of the 
gastric juice, a fact well exemplified in the 
rennet with which we make cheese. The 
action of the rennet depends on the gastric 
juice it may contain, which curdles the milk; 
the first operation performed in natural di¬ 
gestion iu the stomach. But all cheese 
makers know that the rennet of a calf pro¬ 
duces this effect far more readily than that 
of a grown bovine. Bo, if “ milk is good for 
babies,” and easily digested by them, it does 
NOTES, EXTRACTS AND QUERIES. 
Roup nml its Causes. 
“ An Experienced Breeder" writes us : 
“Roup, the disease among ‘Bloomfield’s’ 
fowls, is a sure sign of neglect, and la caused 
by having a wet or damp and cold house for 
the fowls to roost in. Many persons keep 
fowls in a house with a leaky toof, large 
cracks opeu, which admit cold winds, their 
droppings arc not taken away until the place 
can hold no more; therefore the fowls be¬ 
come lousy, diseased, and do not lay. Is 
there any wonder they do not ? Then they 
say ‘fowls are good-for-nothing things,’ 
* don’t pay,’ &c. It is the fault of the owner 
if they do not pay; give them a warm and 
dry house to roost in, free from drafts and 
well ventilated; feed them regularly, and 
properly, and you will find they will pay.” 
natcliiuK Chicken* Under Turkey*. 
S. L., Windsor, Out., writesMany of 
the breeds of domestic fowls at the present 
time in favor with the public rarely, if ever, 
hatch their young, and others again (the 
Asiatics) are so clumsy over the business of 
Incubation that they produce little beyond 
vexation and disappointment. I last season 
determined to try turkey hens for the pur¬ 
pose, and my success was so marked that I 
am pursuaded to advise others, through the 
Rural New-Yorker, to give the plan a 
trial. Of several sittings of eggs placed 
under turkeys not one was injured, while a 
greater proportion than usual of chickens 
made their appearance. The eggs referred 
to had been brought a long distance by rail; 
yet one dozen yielded ten flue chicks, and 
the others something leas. Eggs put under 
ordinary heus tell far behind these. 
“ Another advantage made itself apparent. 
Ere the young had attained a month’s exis¬ 
tence they far outgrew those having lien 
mothers—in fact made a rapid growth from 
their first appearance. This was no doubt 
owing to the increased size and greater 
warmth of the turkeys. With the turkeys 
inclosed in a three-feet square lattice coop, 
covered at top with tarpaulin, to shed rain 
and to screen the chicks from excessive 
heat at mid-day, no trouble was found in 
keeping all contented, healthy and comfort¬ 
able. I shall never employ other than tur¬ 
keys in future if I can help it, and I am 
sanguine that this will be the resolution of 
all who experiment with them.” 
Ilondan* VH. Bi-aluuas. 
Daniel Bennett, Puiuesville, O., writes 
that in comparing the laying qualities of 
, fowls, two or three months alone is not a fair 
’ test. No person can properly test the laying 
, qualities of uny fowl ffi less than one year. 
Some fowls will lay more in winter, and 
, others more in summer, &e. Mr. B. hopes 
a fair test may be given the new breeds; 
but his experience thus far has been in favor 
\ of the Brahmas. He says, “ Do not set 
[ their eggs under black hens.” 
r Gout tn Fowl*. 
t E. Ferry, Burdctt, N. Y., says to our cor- 
• respondent at Athens, Ga.:—“Rubbing the 
leg of the fowl so affected with flesh grease 
) of any kind once a day, for a week, has nl- 
: ways effected cure of my fowls when troubled 
t with this disease.” 
out careful consideration 
itnncrs 
IN ANSWER TO INQUIRIES, 
MANAGING FOWLS 
ON COOKING GRAHAM. 
•I have seen in the Rural 
Graham Bread. 
various recipes for graham bread, and as I 
make no other kind, have watched them 
closely to see if I might improve upon my 
rule, but haye tried none that I like as well 
as mine. Here it is: 
Stir a sponge of fine flour at night, using 
a teacup of warm water for sponge. In the 
morning, take a pint or more of wetting, 
part milk; to this add half or two-thirds tea¬ 
cup molasses, into which is beaten to a foam 
half teaspoon soda. Into this stir the sponge 
and graham flour enough to make as still' as 
can be mixed with a large Iron spoon. Put 
into the tins and set in a warm place to rise 
for the oven. Let it get pretty light, if it 
takes two hours, which it often docs. This 
makes two loaves. I like it well baked,—an 
hour or more. 
Pie Croat .—Let me give you my kind of 
pie crust. I noticed in a recent number of 
the Rural a suggestion that squash or pump¬ 
eating all manner of things that their tancy 
may crave; but that does not prove that it 
is the best food they could have. 
A great many people have found out, in 
various ways, that milk was not good for 
them; but they have been commonly re¬ 
garded as exceptions to a natural rule. Still 
many others do not. eat it either from choice 
or necessity, aud thus the experiment is nar¬ 
rowed. But one of the most generally re¬ 
cognized tendencies of the use of milk i9 to 
produce constipation, and this causes so 
thorough a defilement of the blood that no 
person can remain long iu health while 
afflicted therewith. If he is not sick at once, 
he is doing worse, he is laying the founda¬ 
tions of chronic disease that will almost cer¬ 
tainly cause serious trouble in the future. 
With active habits the results may net be so 
Child'# Suit. —This dross Is of brown merino 
trimmed with bias bands of Scotch plaid poplin, 
or worsted goods. Bolt, bow, collar, shoulder 
and wrist-bands of the plaid troods. The front is 
laid in plaits like the back. Shiny sailor hat, 
with bluo ribbon, and Polish boots. 
Mild rod.- The silk you mention will make a 
pretty suit trlminod with tho same. Wraps of 
the same as dress will probably oontinuo to be 
worn. It is too early us yet for me to give you 
reliable advice about tho sprint styles. Will In 
a few weeks, however.—M lntwood. 
