MAY 23 
MOORE’S RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
SSI 
<§mnjstu[ (Bcouomt). 
ECONOMICAL HINTS FROM A FARMERS’ 
WIFE. 
SOLDERING. 
Every housekeeper may not know of what 
they are capable in the line of keeping their 
tinware in order. For the benefit of such, I 
will say that it is easier u> solder such things 
than to pay a traveling tinker two prices for 
mending them. Take a sharp knife and 
scrape the tin around the leak until it is 
bright, so that the solder will stick. Then 
sprinkle on a little powdered resin; (they 
have liquid solder to sell, but resin will do 
just as well;) lay your solder on the hole and 
with your soldering iron melt it on. Do not 
have the iron too hot or the solder will ad¬ 
here to that. After two or three trials you 
can do a job that you will be proud of. If 
you do not own a soldering iron, procure one 
by all means ; but when hard pressed, I have 
used the knob on the end of the Are shovel 
or a smooth piece of iron, or held a caudle 
under the spot to be mended. Anything is 
better than stopping leaking pans wit h bees¬ 
wax or rags. Try it, young housekeepers, 
and see how independent you will feel. Your 
pans should be dry when you take them in 
hand. 
PAINTED FLOORS. 
Spring is the season when those who be¬ 
lieve in painted floors generally repaint. An 
enterprising housekeeper who depends on 
herself to accomplish a great many things 
which she cannot wait for the head of the 
house to get around to, can buy the mate¬ 
rials and mix her own paint, and give herself 
better satisfaction both in price and quality, 
than if she buys the paint already mixed at 
a shop. Boiled oil, Japan for drying, and 
French yellow, are the ingredients common¬ 
ly used. The addition of a smull quantity of 
white lead improves the color, and makes 
the paint hard and durable. The paint should 
be well mixed and not too thick, and two 
coats are always better economy than one. 
Paint over one coat and the next day paint 
it again, and if possible keep off from it then 
until it is well dried, 
PAPERING. 
To make paper go on smoothly and not 
blister or wrinkle upon tho wall, use boiled 
starch instead of flour paste. The starch is 
made the usual way and put on the paper 
cold. If possible, Via ve a board a little longer 
than your lengths of paper, hut no wider. 
You will see the reason when you put on the 
starch. Measure your paper the proper 
lengths, and cut them by a carpenter's square 
so that they may bo even. Prepare five or 
six at once, and lay them all on the board 
and apply the starch to the top one. Then 
lap the bottom back on, a foot or so for con 
venience ; then take hold of the top end of 
your paper and fit it to the wall. Use a little 
brush broom ; brush first a little way, lightly 
through the middle, then sidewise alternate¬ 
ly. After you get it half way down satisfac¬ 
torily, pull down the piece that was lapped 
up from the bottom and brush it all on 
through the middle first. In this way you 
will have to be to some trouble to make 
wrinkles, and when your room is finished 
every one who sees it will wonder what pro¬ 
fessional paper hanger did it. 
Farmer’s Wife. 
-- 
TO CLEAN BLANKETS. 
The Boston Journal of Chemistry gives 
the following method of cleansing blankets ; 
Put two large teaspoonfuls of borax and a 
pint bowl ol' soft soap into a tub of cold 
water; when dissolved, put in a pair of 
blankets, and let them remain over night. 
Next day rub out, and rinse thoroughly in 
two waters, and haug them to dry. Do not 
wring them. But this is not the only domes¬ 
tic use to which borax may be put. Borax 
is the best cockroach exterminator yet dis¬ 
covered. This insect has a peculiar aversion 
to it. As the salt is perfectly harmless to 
human beings, it is much preferred for this 
purpose to the poisonous substances com¬ 
monly used. Borax is valuable for the laun¬ 
dry ; use one pound to about ten gallons of 
boiling water, and you need only about one- 
half the ordinary allowance of soap. For 
laces, cambrics, &c., use an extra quantity 
of this powder. It will not injure the tex¬ 
ture of the cloth in the least. For cleansing 
the hair, nothing is better than a solution of 
borax water. Wash afterwards with pure 
water, if it leaves the hair too stiff. Borax 
dissolved in water is an excellent dentifrice 
or tooth wash. 
DOMESTIC BREVITIES. 
A very pood Family Soup is made by IX 
lbs. lean beef. 2 lbs. potatoes sliced thin, 1 
large caJTot, 1 large onion, a few shalots, 1 
turnip, 1 stick celery, 4 quarts water. Let 
it simmer 4 horn’s ; flavor with hot sauce to 
suit the taste, salt, pepper, &e. It is a great 
improvement to fry all the vegetables when 
cut in small pieces, together witli the meat 
also cut in pieces conveniently small, taking 
care that t here is fat enough added to pre¬ 
vent the raw vegetables from burning. A 
dessert, spoonful of coarse brown sugar may 
be thrown into the pan while the meat, veg¬ 
etables, &c„ are frying. After it has sim¬ 
mered 1 hours, it should be set to cool for 
the fat to lie taken from the top of the soup 
before being served up for use. The meat 
should be sent to table in the soup, not 
strained, as is usually done. 
Alcohol Pickles .— I see in the. Rural of 
May Si that a recipe is wanted for alcohol 
pickles. Get the best alcohol (none other 
•will do); put three quarts of water to one of 
alcohol; let them set near the stove where it 
is warm; stir them every day; fill up the 
dish os fast as wanted, so as to keep the 
cucumbers covered, and make them in a 
large stone jar. Keep a cloth laid on the 
cucumbers and aboard on the top, not air¬ 
tight. No spices are used. They will keep 
for two years and longer and are ready at 
all times, and tho very best. — E. P., Rome, 
N. Y. 
How to Boil Clothes.— ' Daisy Eyebright” 
says clothes which are put into boiling water 
when washed will certainly become yellow. 
They should he put into cold water and be 
allowed to come to a boil slowly and boil 20 
minutes. She furthermore says when your 
clothes stick to the linos, instead of pulling 
at them, bend or lift them right where the 
clothespin was stuck and they’ll come off 
easy and won’t tear at all. 
Recipes for Making Beer Wanted .—Will 
some of your many readers give us through 
the Rural, a good recipe for malting root 
beer ? also for making good hop beer ?—A 
Subscriber. 
odes and Manncus. 
HINTS ABORT DRESSES. 
It is impossible to conceive of prettier and 
fresher toilettei for the spring than the per¬ 
cales and various kinds of wash goods will 
furnish. Of course the first thing to he con¬ 
sidered in the making is ihat they are to be 
done up. There are two styles, either of 
which it will be best. t.o adopt. First, there 
is the loose, belted polonaise, with the French 
back; that is, one seam down the back and 
no side pieces. The front should be in one 
piece, with no darts, or blit one. The drap¬ 
ing of the lower part should be very simple, 
arranged with tape3 to tie, so they can he 
let out in ironing. The trimming should 
be flat. We would advise borders stitched 
on, or stamped galloon. Sleeves eoat, witli 
deep cuff, the outer point reaching quite to 
the elbow. 
The. skirt should clear the ground, and he 
as plain as possible in front. Kilt plaitings 
will be worn in plain goods; they must be- 
flistened so as to iron well. Striped goods it 
is better to make with a straight, slightly 
gathered flounce, and stitch a bias fold on 
the bottom. Two straight flounces made in 
this way, cut a quarter of a yard deep, are 
very suitable for percales. White, tlliu mus¬ 
lins, dotted or striped, are pretty made with 
a deep Spanish flounce, w f ith a standing 
ruffle edged with Italian lace. With the 
Spanish flounce the skirt should be cut to 
meet the llouuce; and it may be said, in 
passing, that summer silks may be made in 
the same way; the flounce, cut bias, has a 
facing of foundation and a short flounce of 
foundation is sewed on under the flounce to 
hold it out.. Several yards of silk can be 
economized in this way. 
In making wash dresses with a tunic, the 
waist should be a short, loose basque, slashed 
in the back, trimmed with flat plaitings or 
the most slightly gathered ruffle, which cau 
be fluted. Double-breasted front, with 
revere and sailor collar and small buttons, is 
the prettiest style; this is to be worn also 
with a belt. The tunic should be deep in 
front and tied in the back like a regular 
apron front. The back can consist of two 
plain widths, perfectly straight and draped, 
or of simply wide sashes, under which the 
apron front is tied. 
Plain white muslins are made with em¬ 
broidery. Embroidered flounces, either in 
Hamburg or Freuch embroidery, may be 
bought, with smaller trimmings to match. 
Very simple and pretty flounces are in deep 
scallop®, with plain dots in satin stitch. 
Sleeves puffed with embroidered bands run¬ 
ning around or the length of tho arm, are 
very pretty. Flounces are even made with 
box plaitings, separated by embroidery, and 
polonaises are finished with flounces made 
in this way. 
The most fanciful varieties of tunics are in 
vogue, denominated in general terms, “the 
Greek.” Their peculiarity consists in being 
alike on no two sides. It is not advisable to 
attempt these unless one has an experienced 
dress-maker; for their effect depends upon 
their artistic arrangement; and this requires 
a practiced hand and familiar eye. 
The trimming, above all, worn tfhis season 
on silks and grenadines, is deep bias ruffles, 
finished Avith a French hem on each side, 
and three or four shirrs dividing it into a 
small standing and deeper falling ruffle. 
Grenadine polonaises trimmed with silk 
ruffles shirred on, are exceedingly stylish. 
Striped and barred bareges in slmdesof gray 
or brown, costing sixty-five cents a yard, 
make handsome polonaises trimmed in this 
way, to wear with old light silk skirts. 
Puffed sleeves, in thick goods, are not so 
fashionable as was anticipated. The coat 
sleeve with deep cuff is more worn. A 
pretty silk cuff is pointed toward the elbow, 
and flaring again at the wrist. The narrow 
part of the cuff is confined by a band or 
boAv. Double and triple cuffs, corded with 
a reversible piece over the wrist, are also 
very pretty. 
Dresses a Invevrgc, or, as ivo used to call, 
surplice, are generally worn. Tho waist 
should be cut high, but the trimming, which 
is of folds with the high ruff or standing flar¬ 
ing collar, simulates the surplice, and the 
dress is turned in and worn witli full crape 
lisse knife plaitings. For evening Avear, 
square necks are sometimes seen Avith plait¬ 
ing?, which stand up, sharply defining the 
corners. 
NOVELTIES. 
Beautiful scarfs for the neck are made of 
gros grain ribbon, about an inch and a half 
wide, witli Italian inserting, the ends point¬ 
ed and finished with a deep fall of lace. 
They arc about two yards long. Smaller 
ties made in the same Avay are used for the 
neck. 
White neck ties of soft china silk, with 
brocaded figures and fringed ends, are pre 
ferred to those in colocs. NarroAv, bias ties 
of China crape, with inserting set in of 
Mechlin or Valenciennes lace, are exceeding¬ 
ly pretty in pale shades of piuk and blue. 
Belts of steel and oxydized silver, in layers 
like the scales of armor, are fashionable; 
also plain and fluted belts of silver and giljt, 
and combinations of leather and silver. 
Every caprice is seen in handkerchiefs. A 
square of cambric, the corners rounded, 
have colored cambric ruffles, slightly fluted. 
Others have inserting of Italian lace next 
the cambric, and borders of colored China 
silk. These wash and are very beautiful. 
Ecru nets oeme similar to Brussels net 
and Spanish laee, and are used like them for 
long scarfs and sacks. 
Boots for evening wear are ornamented 
with jet up the front. Blue slippers are 
trimmed with bows of pale pink velvet; 
pink slippers with bows of pale blue velvet 
and pearl buckles; straw-colored slippers 
have bows of black lace; black slippers have 
bows of black ribbon, dotted with small 
steel-colored stars. 
Pearl, steel-blue and jet buckles are worn 
on dresses and bonnets with good effect 
when not too large. Jet ornaments of all 
kinds are very much used. Buttons are 
worn only of medium size. Crocheted but¬ 
tons are used on silk dresses. 
Embroidery and lace are attached to col¬ 
larettes for the necks of dresses. They do 
up handsomely and are very durable, 
ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS. 
Grenadine Polonaises.—! May Lillian.)— 
A white grenadine nolonaia5, Avith Avhite 
satin stripe, or blue, wall bb very suitable to 
wear with a silk skirt. It. should be made 
tight-titting; by that wa mean it should not 
be a belted polonaise. It will be very pretty 
trimmed with a wide ruffle of plain blue 
silk, with a French hern, or bo unci on either 
side, and four shirrs through tho center, 
dividing it into a standing ana falling ruffle. 
If the polonaise is all wince, it may be 
trimmed, with black velvet. The uuder- 
waist should bo high and of the color of the 
skirt, if it is to be worn on the street. 
Au organdy muslin yon will find more 
dressy than Victory lawn. Make it with 
puffs and i.ounce, a tunic and basque; and 
wear it with colored sashes of light shades— 
faded bines and pinks. Tarletau sashes are 
not worn at all. Sashes are wide, of soft, 
twilled silk and fringed. They are loosely 
knotted and tied on the sides. The pockets 
made of embroidery, ribbon, and lace, and 
the anmon lures are the same. They will be 
exceedingly pretty with your light summer 
dresses. 
Mm .Information. 
HYGIENIC NOTES. 
Catarrh—Liver Complaint .—In Rural of 
April 18, Boston Myrks asks for remedies 
lor above named troubles. For the first, 
make asnnff—1 part gum myrrh, 1 part bil¬ 
berry, 1 part, slippery elm, 3 parts coltsfoot 
snake root—all finely powdered, and scented 
with 3drops each of Oil Rosemary and lieu.- 
lock to tlie ounce ; keep in a large-mouthed 
vial and use several times a dav as snuff. 
For liver complaint, there i no better 
remedy than thi&bracing, vigorous mountain 
air. Should it be impracticable to make 
change of residence, let tie sufferer carefully 
diet, using such food ns - most digestible, 
avoiding lata supper? of rich food, abandon 
sedentary or sitting habits and employ men I, 
and adopt those requiring o. v. air uxerc.i e. 
With the hand opened or double , b. at :. o 
breast, abdomen, sides, '-boulders, back for 
quarter of an hour mornmgy ami nigh: . If 
this is not cure enough, lake . 3 grain . iff off 
equal parts of extract of Dandelion and 
Boneset every morning. - “Dixie,” Saint 
George, Utah, 
'The Air we Breathe. —In absorbing into 
our lungs the quantity of air netessury to 
sustain life, we inadvertently inhale win !e. 
hosts of microscopical animal?, v Meh nr'- in 
suspension in the atmospherical ti ki, and 
even portions of antediluvian ai.ffaids, mum¬ 
mies and skeletons of past yf . Every dry 
and hour, this absorption of animals and 
vegetable life proceeds. We inhale tlm living 
mlcrozoa, several species of which arc the 
fish of our blood, aiul the vibri lies, which 
attach themselves to our tec- h like barna¬ 
cles to u ship’s bottom ; and with these the 
dust of microscopieiil animalcules, to small 
that it- takes 75,000,000 woke a grain, and 
the no less minute grains of pollen which, 
germinating in our lungs, further the spit ad 
of paraefcio life to a degree far beyond ’.hat 
of the normal life visible to our eyes. 
A Novel Cure for Rheumatism.— An En¬ 
glishman with rheumatic gout found this 
singular remedy a cure for lu , ailment: Ho 
insulated his bedstead from the floor, by 
placing underneath each post x broken-off 
bottom of agios?bottle. lie says the effect 
was mag.cal, that he had not been free from 
rheumatic gout in 15 years, and that he be¬ 
gan to Improve immediately aider the appli¬ 
cation of the insulators, \V>. are reminded 
by this statement, says the Scientific Ameri¬ 
can, of a patent, obtained through this office 
for a physician some twelve or more year: 
ago, which created considerable interest at 
the time. The patent consisted in placing 
glass cups under the bedposts in a similar 
manner to the above, and the patentee 
claimed to have effected one remarkable 
cure by the use of his glass insulator . 
For Cold Fee! the best remedy is to clip 
them every night, and morning in a basin or 
Cold water, and ufievward rub them dry 
with it coarse towel. To harden the feet, 
tannic acid has been used with success, Em 
ploy it in the proportion of five grains to a 
fluid ounce of water. To correct offensive 
smell of the feet, bathe them in a weak so¬ 
lution of permanganate of potassa; one 
i scruple to eight ounces of a vffer. For ab¬ 
sorbing excessive perspiration of the feet, 
mix together seven ounces of the carbonate 
of magnesia, two ounces of powdered calci¬ 
nes! alum, seven ounces ol orris root, and 
half a dram of powdered clove?. 
Inflamed Eyelids are cured by bathing 
them night and morning with a wash com¬ 
posed of twelve grains sulphat' of zinc, two 
drams laudanum, and twelve ounces of salt 
water. Here is another remedy : Prepared, 
calomel, one scruple ; spermaceti ointment, 
half an ounce. Mix v eil iu % mortar, and 
anoint the eyelids " itU the preparation each 
night before re* iring, also placing a small 
quantity in the corners of each eye. In the 
morning wash Avith a linen rag dipped in 
warm water. While using either of the 
above remedies a cure nl be facilitated by 
keeping the Lut.els open with a mild pur¬ 
gative. 
Recipe for Sticking Salve. —Rosin, 12 oz, • 
beeswax, 4 oz.; tul'ovv, 2 oz ; burgundy 
pitch. 4 oz. Melt all together, then pour into 
cold water and woi k with rim ends of the 
fingers. When white enough to suit, make 
into rolls, and wrap a paper round it.—r. m. .al 
Kind Words. — We hnvr been readers of 
“Tho Good Old Rural” for twelve years, 
and when it does not amve ao the uiual 
time we feel as much disappointed as ween 
an expected friend fails to come- * May its 
shadow never grow less!” and may you, 
Mr. Moore, long Uvo to be its moving soirit. 
— D, J. P. 
