a 
breed, by this cross, that will prove as beau¬ 
tiful and have all the characteristics said to 
be possessed by that breed of birds in their 
native country. 
Poland* nnd Light Brahmas, 
I last year also experimented, making 
another new cross, with a view to forming a 
new and distinct breed of fowls—such as 1 
have never before seen. I crossed a Silver 
CONTRIBUTED RECIPES, 
t JJcruItrii'Wiirir 
omtsht 
unxtttB 
tommy) 
To Make Rhubarb Sauce. 
Prepare the rhubarb and put on to stew; 
while cooking, take one-half teacup cream 
or milk, stir a tablespoouful of flour in it 
until smooth ; beat an egg and put with it; 
when the rhubarb is done sweeten it and put 
some nutmeg in it; then stir in the egg and 
CONDUCTED BY MARY A. E. WAGER, 
EMBDEN OR BREMEN GEESE. 
J. C. Quincy of Kalamazoo, Mich., asks 
us to give through the Rural New- Yorker, 
the nativity and characteristics of Lho Bre- 
HAIR DRESSING LONG AGO 
HOT WEATHER COMFORTS, 
From time immemorial ladies have given 
much attention to the hair. It would seem, 
judging by various revelations, that in early 
days the capillary ornament was the subject 
of much thought, as it now is. Some writer, 
having investigated the matter, thus toelifies: 
“ Ovid, in I he third book of Ars Amntarm , 
says that 1 Even old women stain their gray 
hairs yellow with German herbs, and those 
whom time 1ms made bald, walk along thick¬ 
ly covered with purchased hair.’ The modes 
of dressing it were various. Each succes¬ 
sive day brings with it a new fashion, says 
the same poet; and some, he adds, cultivate 
an extreme and elaborate ntgtige in their 
locks; often you would suppose they had 
been neglected since yesterday, when in re¬ 
ality they have just been combed afresh. 
Sometimes the head-dress was raised to a 
great height by rows of false curls. Young 
girls wore their hair in nets of gold thread, 
interwoven with pearls and precious stones, 
or they encircled it with a jeweled band 
across the forehead, nnd let it fall loosely 
over their necks and shoulders. Exquisites 
of both sexes were also fond of frizzing it 
around the temples and across the forehead. 
“Another favorite mode of wearing tlm 
hair was to plait it ami fasten it in a coil be¬ 
hind, with a long gold pin or dagger. This 
fashion still prevails in Italy, and in some 
parts of Germany. The hair-pins discovered 
at Pompeii are exceedingly elegant. One, 
which was found at Herculaneum, was sur¬ 
mounted by a Venus in the act of twisting 
her hair; another is ornamented with a 
Cupid holding a mirror. The beauty and 
fitness of such designs are at once apparent; 
for what could be more appropriate than t he 
god and goddess of love assisting at the 
toilet of their fair votaries! These pins are 
made of ivory, bronze or gold, and are fre¬ 
quently set with jewels. 
“ Sometimes the hair was combed up into 
an enormous knob on the top of the head; 
but as this coiffure has been recently ren¬ 
dered painfully familiar to the eyes of us all, 
we need not describe it further. Roman men 
usually went, bareheaded, and it was thought 
to be a mark ol effeminacy to wear a hat. 
As a protection against had weather, they 
covered themselves with the upper folds of 
tbs toga. But the Roman women indulged 
in very costly head-dresses, among which 
we find one that proves there is nothing new 
under the sun, not even in the present style 
of bonnets. The world certainly moves in 
a circle, so far as fashions arc concerned; 
and in the little hats no bigger than a man’s 
hand that have adorned the heads of ladies 
during the past fmv years, we have simply 
returned to a Roman fashion plate of eight¬ 
een centuries ago. The same style of hair¬ 
dressing which we call chignon the Romans 
called tutuluH. Tt was considered a great 
art to construct this properly, and female 
slaves served a fixed time as apprentices in 
order to become expert in it.” 
We assume at the outset, that every farm¬ 
er of “parts” has a well-filled ice bin. 
Haven’t you ? No ? Well, who is to blame ? 
Not, the woman part of the family, for they 
reminded you of it at. least ten times during 
tin; past winter, when the ice was so thick 
and firm on the lake, river or pond,and kept 
saying that it cost nothing, and yon had 
plenty of time to get it, and could so easily 
make a place for it, and that the Rural 
New-Yorker had furnished capital models 
for real ice-houses, etc. Of course you could 
never withstand So much influence, if you 
were what you ought to be; but, alas! the 
ways of men are beyond all understanding. 
You can have your lukewarm water, your 
tainted meats, your greasy, slippery butter, 
and if you have a fever, send to your neigh¬ 
bor for ice to cool your forehead. 
But keeping the house cool has nothing to 
do with ice. We simply used it as a cooling 
exordium, and then, only last, Sunday, the 
minister said the simplest little words we 
use will have an influence, rolling on and on 
through generation after generation, until 
the. whole world shall fed their power. So, 
accordingly, this short ice sermon will he the 
means of making ice-houses as essential as 
springs, or wells of water to even the stupid¬ 
est and fogiest, of fogies, somewhere in the 
year of our Lord, 8840. How very en¬ 
couraging ! 
In the winter, one never can have too 
much sunshine. But in the summer, there 
is sucli a thing as getting too much to stand 
up under. The coolest farm-house we now 
remember ever to have enjoyed, was the 
warmest in winter and coolest, in summer. 
The living-room faced the south, and was 
but very little shaded, but was invariably 
cool, even in the hottest weather. The only 
blinds to the two south windows were lead- 
colored, oil-cloth shades on the inside. Dur¬ 
ing the day the windows were kept closed, 
and the shades down. The adjoining room, 
fronting the north, was less rigidly guarded. 
Thu ent ire secret lies in keeping the beat out. 
Trees and foliage should never be so abun¬ 
dant about a house as to seriously interfere 
with a free circulation of air about the build¬ 
ing. At. night the windows can be opened, 
and should remain so until morning. But 
open windows invite the depredations of all 
sorts of flying hugs, and especially 
ItlosHiutiAt'a, 
These burglars of human blood destroy 
more happiness than the fortune of a score 
of Rothschilds could make good again. 
\Ve were discussing these leeches on flesh 
and blood the other evening, when Prof. 
R-stilted that a tWend of his was entire¬ 
ly incapacitated for work for the term of six 
weeks, from the. effect of a single mosquito 
bite. Upon hearing this another gentleman 
said he was unable to wear a boot for a 
month last summer from the effect of a single 
bite on his foot. And then a lady mentioned 
an occurrence of au acquaintance being so 
terribly poisoned by a fly bite (fly poison 
was used in the house) as to linger for days 
on the verge of death, and only barely es¬ 
caped dying after the most, intense suffering. 
Of course these are exceptional cases. But 
if nothing ever more serious resulted from 
mosquitoes, flies or spiders than the tantaliz¬ 
ing noise of their music, and a moderate, 
temporary discomfort from their bites, it 
would well ho worth the time and expense 
to modify even these. We know of no way 
in which this can he done so wisely and so 
well, as by the use of mosquito bars or net¬ 
ting at the windows. A light frame of wood 
is made to fit in the window—half the size 
of the window being sufficient,, over which 
is stretched and fastened the net ting. Enough 
of the net can be purchased for a couple of 
dollars to furnish nil the windows that need 
it, and if taken care of, will last along time. 
They pay for themselves twice over, in keep¬ 
ing out t he flies, alone. Frames can lie made 
for outside doors also. Any suggestions or 
information that our readers can furnish in 
regard to warm weather comforts, we shall 
be very glad to receive. 
Another thing occurs at this moment. 
Count upon out-of-door enjoyment. Sit 
under the trees, preparing the ground, seats, 
<Scc., for comfort. There is no prettier sight 
in the world than a group of happy people 
laughing, chatting, and busy out in the 
shade, to say nothing of the healthfulness of 
it. If country people could make an annual 
pilgrimage to Central Park in the hot 
months, on a Wednesday, they would begin 
to appreciate what a life out-of-doors com¬ 
prehends. A day in that “ blest retreat,” 
lounging under the trees, is most delicious. 
It is love and lemonade, strawberries and 
cream, opera and Beecher’s church, com¬ 
pounded, condensed, distilled and breathed 
into your senses to the tune of the “ music 
of the Spheres.” Try it. 
flour; let it cook a few minutes until the 
flour is cooked. Eat with cream or without. 
This will be sufficient for a small family.— 
Mary C. Poole. 
ENGLISH HABITS. 
We find the following in “ Guesses and 
Queries” of Lippincott’s Magazine : 
“ Among the many absurd, there are some 
sensible customs in England that, might be 
profitably introduced into our American life. 
An English servant never slams a door, hut 
puts it. to with the hand upon it.; never 
throws the window’ up or down, hut raises 
or lets it fall deliberately; never addresses 
you without a bow or curtsy; and never, or 
very rarely, becomes rude, no matter how 
great, the provocation. Again, no English¬ 
man ever eats or drinks in a hurry. The 
tossing off the glass of spirits or pint of 
ale is an American innovation, as much as 
the boiling half-masticated food. The plow¬ 
man in his hodden frock and iron-shod bro- 
gans, requires his time to sip his ale; lho 
wretches who flaunt their charms in the 
gaslight glare of the gin-palace, and drown 
their sorrows in its poisons, linger over the 
glass; and the cabman, no mutter how great 
your hurry, whoa© good-will you bribe by a 
pot of 1 half-and-half,’ stares as you hasten 
him to drink it at a gulp, and wonders at 
* the manners of them furriners.’ ” 
POULTRY NOTES, 
Gan<'» in Chickens. 
A correspondent of the Cincinnati Ga¬ 
zette gives the following as a cure for gapes 
in chickens. The remedy seems so simple 
that we give it, for the benefit ol' Rural 
New-Yorker readers:—“ To cure the gapes, 
put one tahlespoonful of wheat into a vial, 
and pour on spirits turpentine sufficient to 
cover the wheat, and keep the vial well 
corked. Whenever you find symptoms ol 
gapes inachiek, open its mouth and compel 
it to swallow one or two grains of the satu¬ 
rated wheat. Repeat the operation morning 
and evening as long as may be needed, and 
if commenced in time, it will cure nine times 
out of ten. The above line been a success in 
my hands and that of my neighbors.” 
We have seen it stated that fowls affected 
with gapes could he cured by forcing down 
the wind-pipe a little sweet oil through a 
small glass syringe. The oil kills the worm 
and relieves the bird at, once. A trial of 
either of the above simple remedies cannot 
prove hurtful to the fowl, if it does not efl'eot 
a cure. 
CROSSING FOWLS-RESULTS. 
Gray Dorkings ami Unbind*. 
Having been in the habit, for years past, 
of rearing and experimenting with fowls— 
as an amateur—for my own diversion, and 
seeing what would come of it, I am led to 
report to the Rural New-Yorker my suc¬ 
cess as far us ascertained. My flock is com¬ 
posed of tin! Gray Dorking and Silver and 
Golden Poland breed. I find by thus ex¬ 
perimenting, there is a good deal to be 
learned even by a man who thinks that he 
knows it all, and that when he dies the rear¬ 
ing or breeding of fancy fowls will cease to 
exist in this country. This is not my case, 
however, for I know—old ns I am in the 
business—I have much yet to learn about 
the rearing and successful management 
thereof. Having last, year succeeded admi¬ 
rably in crossing the Polands with Dork¬ 
ings, and making a good imitation of the 
Iloudan variety of French fowls, 1 hope by 
perseverance the present summer, to breed 
in this way the Simon-pure Iloudans, nnd 
make a proper report of my experiments 
this fall through the columns of the Rural 
New-Yorker. As the late Secretary of the 
N. Y. Stale Poultry Society, in his official 
report, avered that the imported French 
breed proved a failure in this country, I am 
more than ever stimulated to try and rear a 
Answer# lo Correspondent*,—A drian, Mich., 
** Is very much annoyed by a short, thick growth 
of hair In the Hack, which is too Bliort to curl, 
and too short to manage otherwise, and wants 
to know what to do with it,” Easily enough 
managed, we should say, now that the hack 
hnir, chignon or whatever perelies on the buck 
of the head, is worn so low as lo cover the base 
of the hair. Tie n half Inch, or inch wide ribbon, 
snugly around the head, passing over the top, 
which will keep it in place bettor than when tied 
simply around the coil or chignon. Emma M a'y, 
Mich.: A “Spwnieli flounce” is sewed on the 
half-length skirt and forms a part of the skirt. 
Yen. pay a sixpence more per yard und get an 
organdy. Make the sleeves of the lawn dress, 
coat, with ndeen frill, placed just above the elbow 
and falling belowit, to simulate allowing sleeve. 
Linen suits, saeque and overdress, are being 
worn over silk suits for protection. A width on 
the bias to a width of the strait gives the right 
fullness to a moderately wide flounce. 
Fowls Laying Small Eggs. 
J. M. NrxoN, Madison, N. J., lias a full 
grown, healthy‘Light Bramah hen which 
lays eggs from three and a quarter to three 
and fifteen-sixteenth inches in circumfer¬ 
ence longitudinally, and from two and seven- 
eighths to three and three-sixteenth inches 
in circumference at right angles. The only 
reason we can give for this freak of nature 
is, that, generally speaking, the first clutch 
of eggs laid by a fowl are the smallest she 
ever produces. It. is evident in this case the 
secretions are at fault. It may last through¬ 
out the first laying, hut there is no reason to 
suppose it will continue afterwards. 
