ORIGINAL RECIPES, &o 
Cracked Wheat .—Cracked Wheat is a very 
healthful as well as palatable dish, and I 
send my way of preparing it. If the wheat 
has not been thoroughly cleaned through a 
fanning mill it may be cleansed of foul stuff 
by covering it with salt and water, this 
causes the impurities to rise to the surface 
when they can be easily poured off and the 
brine rinsed off with fresh water. It may 
then be dried in a gentle oven so that it will 
grind more readily. When dry, take the 
quantity needed, bearing in mind that cook¬ 
ing swells the grain to twice its size, Run 
this through the coffee mil) if nothing better 
is at hand, grindiug it rather coarse. Take 
a flour sieve and sift out the finer part of it. 
Then grease an iron kettle, to keep the wheat 
from burning on. and put it over the fire w ith 
considerable water—more than enough to 
cover the wheat. Hot water must he added 
from time to time while cooking it. or it will 
become too thick. As soon as it boils set it 
where it will boil slowly two hours and a 
half or so. About twenty minutes before it 
is done stir in the finer portion of the wheat,, 
that was sifted out, as this would cook too 
quickly if put in at first. After twenty 
minutes pour the wheat into any deep dish. 
When cold it may be turned out whole and 
looks nicely. It.should have enough water in 
when doue to pour out easily, as it thickens 
up when ft cools. This rnay be eaten with 
cream and sugar, or with jelly of any kind, 
and prepared this way is an excellent dish for 
sick or well, and is not much trouble to pre¬ 
pare.— Farmer's Wife. 
To Make and Keep S<insane. —For one 
hundred lbs. of meat, two and one quarter 
lbs. of salt, one half a lb. of pepper, one half 
a lb. of sage. Some vary this hy putting in a 
little more sage and a little less pepper, but 
the above rule is a very good one. When 
ehopped and seasoned pack the meat firmly 
in tin puns or small stone jars ; take lard 
incite') just enough to spread with a knife 
and cover the top with lard an inch thick, t,o 
keep out the air. This will keep nicely all 
winter, unless it, freezes and thaws too often. 
Some make balls and fry sausage, packing 
them and covering with melted lard, but it is 
some labor to prepare a large quantit y that 
way—more than most people would relish.— 
Farmers Wife. 
Apple Pie.—Pare and quarter enough tart 
apples to lay loosely in the prepared paste ; 
the quarters should not touch one another. 
Fill the paste two-thirds full of thin, sweet 
cream, then sprinkle over one spoonful of 
flour; butter as large as a walnut ; cut in 
bits. Sugar (if a common pie tin is used) 
two-thirds teacup full. Grate nutmeg over 
the whole, as no other flavoring gives the 
peculiarly excellent taste. Bake slow if a 
brown crust forms over the top before the 
apples cook, stir it under with a knife. If it 
is not pronounced splendid the fault will be 
with the apples or not following the direc¬ 
tions.— A. n. 
Sausage.— Good sausage can be made better 
by mixing, thoroughly, one teacup Indian 
meal to four pounds sausage. Mix only 
enough to last four or five days at a time, as 
it might sour.— a. h. 
Waffles (very nice.) —Beat well the yolks of 
3 or 4 eggs ; add pints of sweet milk, % a 
teaspoon of salt. Mix through a pa ft of the 
flour one heaping teaspoon of baking powder, 
then add enough more sifted flour to the 
milk and yolks to make rather a stiff batter. 
Beat the whites of the eggs to a stiff froth 
and stir in carefully at the last. Bake in 
waffle irons. Eat while hot, with butter 
and sugar, or powdered cinnamon.—c. 
To Cure Warts. —Bind on freshly powdered 
blood root, moistened with vinegar ; ohange 
frequently. Will sometimes cure in two 
days. I think I have heard of Spirits of 
Ammonia being used for the same purpose 
—the warts to be wet with it twice a day for 
three weeks, if they had not all disappeared 
before that time.—c. 
Gilding Picture Frames—Inquiry.—Will 
you, or some Rural readers, please give a 
good recipe for gilding picture frames? 
Please give the name of materials and direc¬ 
tions minutely. Also, any kind of rustic 
frames. By so doing you will oblige a new 
subscriber and lover of the Rural New- 
Yorker.—l. t. 
Baked Indian Pudding. —Four eggs ; one 
quart of sweet milk ; five large teaspoonfuls 
of Indian meal; nutmeg and sugar to the 
taste. Boil the milk and scald the Indian 
meal in it, then let it cool before adding the 
Bggs. Bake three-quarters of an hour. Eat 
with butter or sweet sauce. 
domestic (fconomn. patrons of gjusknilrg. Jading for tfy fJomtg. 
TIMELY WORK FOR THE GRANGE. 
Among the most beneficial features of the 
Grange are the social and educational in¬ 
fluences and advantages which may be de¬ 
veloped by the proper action of Patrons. 
At this season of the year, especially, when 
most members have considerable leisure, 
meetings ought, to be held weekly or fort¬ 
nightly for the purpose of social pastime 
and recreation, and mental improvement. 
As many young people of both sexes belong 
to the Order, special meetings might be held 
during the Winter wilh a view of developing 
and improving their social and intellectual 
(lowers and abilities. These gatherings could 
very properly lie held every other week, thus 
alternating with the regular business meet¬ 
ings in cases where the latter occur fort¬ 
nightly, as is often the ease. 
We believe dancing and other innocent 
recreations have been introduced at Grange 
meetings, usually after the transaction of 
regular business ; but, we would go further, 
and have debates, reading clubs, and a 
library for the benefit, of members. Cer¬ 
tainly dancing in the Grange (which has 
been condemned by some) must, be far less 
objectionable than in a public ball room, 
where the youngaro unaccompanied by their 
parents and therefore liable to make the 
acquaintance of disreputable characters. In 
the Grange the young men and women are 
usually with their parents or frieuds of age 
and discretion, while no person of bud repu- 
tion is present, so that no harm can ensue 
from that evil association which corrupts 
good manners or morals. 
But, we urge these meetings more for intel¬ 
lectual development and improvement, by 
debating, reciting, reading, etc. Every 
Grange should have its library and reading 
room, containing the best hooks and periodi¬ 
cals,—and those that do have them will find 
their members less liable to resort to saloons, 
groceries, etc., during the leisure afternoons 
and evenings of the hibernating season. Of 
course Patrons should have books and periodi¬ 
cals at home also ,—we know that hosts of 
them take the Run At. New Yorker and 
other useful journals adapted to the family 
circle Ini' the Grange room should be sup¬ 
plied with a quantity and variety, and the 
library of books might be made a circulating 
one with advantage. 
Patrons, t hough hastily penned and crude, 
are not these suggestions timely and worthy 
of both consideration and action ! 
GRANGE NOTES AND ITEMS. 
Good Advice to Patrons, is the following 
from an address by Mr. Geo. E. Bryant 
before the Blooming Grove (Wis.) Grange : 
“ Lift up ; elevate yourselves, your brothers 
and sisters, instead of pulling them to a lower 
level. Harbor no malice or spite one toward 
another, but in unity and peace, with kind¬ 
ness and love, live, as good women and men 
should. If you live up to the obligation you 
have taken, you will have accomplished much 
towards making society better and purer,” 
In the ceremony of initiation a good deal of 
ease and satisfaction, both to the candidates 
and to the members of the Grange, may be 
gaiaed if the officers, both male and female, 
have committed to memory their various 
parts, so that there need be no occasion for 
reference to the manuals. Thu is done in 
some Granges with marked beneficial effect. 
At the beginning of the coming year let this 
plan be tried by the incoming officers.— 
Hoosier Patron. 
Silver Grange, No. 41, Los Angeles, Cal., 
has three male members whose ages are 76, 
74,73 respectively. There are nineteen mem 
bers whose ages average »>4. Belonging to 
the same Grange are eight 3isters whose 
combined weight is 1,651 pounds. Of these 
the heaviest weighs 315 and the lightest 175 
pounds. The weight of the sisters is explained 
by the fact that the land produces 100 bushels 
of corn to the acre, pumpkins that weigh 160 
pounds, and beets that weigh 135 pounds. 
The business agent of the Kansas State 
Grange has been ordered by the executive 
committee to meet the Granges of the 
different counties of the State, to talk up the 
business interests of the Order, and to aid in 
their co-operative effort. 
N. D. Whitmore, agent of the Louisiana 
Graiige, is endeavoring to prornete direct 
trade with the Northwest. 
The Indiana State Grange has appropriat¬ 
ed $ 1, non to the relief of the sufferers by the 
grasshoppers. 
GOOD-BY, OLD YEAR! 
BY Mas. HATTIE P. BELL. 
Good-by. now, Old Year, good-by! 
We told you you’d have to go.— 
Don’t scowl up your face 
With such n hud grace, 
Because you’re turned out. tn the snow. 
You remember wo gave you due warning of all 
That would hnppeo wheu you should grow old. 
Anil you boo now, nlas ! 
It bus all come to pass. 
And you’ll have to stop out In the cold. 
You’ve been a good friend to ns all, Old Year, 
You have given more sunshine than rain. 
And tho’ all thro’ the way, 
Night follows the (lily. 
There hug been far more pleasure than pain. 
And we thank yon and bless you for this, Old Year, 
For the good you have laid ut our feet. 
You’vo caressed our dear land 
With a bountiful hand, 
And crowned It with plenty complete. 
I wonder what record you carry, Old Year, 
Of hII wc have thought and done. 
Have we been good nnd true. 
The whole time thro’. 
Since your pilgrimage first begun ? 
Or do you go ladon with memories gad 
Of the good deeds that might have been ?— 
Of duties unheeded, of moments misspent 
In idleness, folly and sin? 
Ah,-'' Well, good-by " wc can only sigh, 
And wish wo were better by far. 
May the good angels guide, 
And walk close by our side. 
Till we get where tho blessed are 
May they keep uh from sinful and dungerous ways, 
Where pleasures nnsanctiflod lie. 
With this prayer on our ltps. 
While oneh sweet moment slips, 
Good-by, dear Old Year, good-hy. 
TO OUR YOUNG CORRESPONDENTS. 
nuFORB closing our labors for 1874 wo have 
somewhat to say to the host of Boya and Girls, 
Young Men ami Maidens, who havo written 
letters for this Department nr the Old (but wo 
trust ever Young) Rural during the past, year. 
First, wo mus'. explain, then ofTor an apology. 
Tho truth Is, that we could not publish half no, 
not h fourth—of the letters received, for lack of 
space. Wc therefore adopted a rule to publish 
short letters, in order to give os ninny as possible 
and a greater variety than wc could otherwise. 
This resulted In deferring (not rejecting, mind 
you,! many excellent letters which we still have 
on Ivuid, or In pigeon-holes; In fact one pigeon¬ 
hole is "chock foil ” of capital letters worthy 
of publication. But we have many brief ones, 
also, unpublished. Why? Simply because 
whenever we attempted to select short letters 
we found so many that, in desperation, wo 
often made choice of those from different, sec¬ 
tions of the Union, Canada, &e. The trouble 
has been that we have had too many smart 
letters f rom young f riends, and In consequence 
scores possessing merit equal to those published 
still remain pigeon-holed. Thus much in hoth 
explanation and apology. 
Now, good young friends, what shall we do? 
Shall we wipe out, or Ignore, the host of letters 
remaining, and ask for new and brief ones, or 
shall we keep them and use the shortest In the 
futuie as we have In the past? Our idea is to 
keep all the short ones those which are brief 
and pithy—for future n.-a, and Indefinitely defer 
the long eplsttes, or lay them aside until wo cun 
enlarge the Rural so as to devot.e a whole page 
of space to this Department, Meantime our 
advice to those who wish to be heard, is to “ be 
Bhort.” Don’t tell long stories, but. condense 
as much as possible, remembering that “brevity 
la the soul of wit." The trouble with too many 
writers, both old and young, Is that they “ say 
too much before they begin 1" The best way Is 
to have something to say, and then say it in the 
most direct manner, without superfluous pre¬ 
face or circumlocution. 
A friend at our elbow, to whom we have Just 
read the above (suggests that we publish the 
letters of young people who form olubs for the 
Rural In preference to those of others! He 
says all who do that must he capable of writing 
good letters, and that It will help us out of our 
dilemma. Perhaps so, but we must think of It 
before adopting such an arbitrary rule. 
— But, bless ns! the printer says we must 
stop and thus practice wuat we preach 1 Well, 
we will— after wishing all our Young Friends 
“ A Merry Christmas ” and “ Happy New Year,” 
and many joyous returns of the same, 
-♦ ♦ ♦ 
TO BOYS AND YOUNG MEN. 
You are the architects of your own fortunes. 
Rely upon your own strength of body aud soul. 
Take for your motto self reliance, honesty aud 
Industry, for your star faith, perseverance and 
pluck, and inscribe in your banner, “Be Just 
and fear not." Don’t take too much advice; 
keep at the helm, steer your ship. Stike out. 
Think well of yourself. Fire above the mark 
you iutend to hit. Assume your position. 
Don’t, practice excessive humility; you can’t 
get above your level—wsiter don’t run up hill- 
put potatoes in a cart over a rough road and the 
small potatoes will go to the bottom. Energy, 
Invincible determination, with a right motive, 
are the levers that rule the world. 'Die great 
art of commanding is to take a fair share of the 
work. Civility costs nothing and buys every¬ 
thing. Don’tdriuk ; don’tsmoke; don’tswear; 
don tgamble: don’tsteal; don’tdeoelve; don’t 
tattle. Be polite; be generous; t>o kind. Study 
hard, play hard. Bo In earnest. Be self-reliant. 
Read good hooks. Love your fellow men as 
your God; love your country and obey the 
laws; love truth; love virtue. Always do what 
your co'science tolls you to tie a duty, and 
leave the consequence with God. 
— -- 
Sermon »y a Child.-NU ie was four years old. 
Ho had been my favorite playfellow all summer. 
But, one day he sat by my side for a long time, 
unusually thoughtful. At last ho turned and 
said : “ A-, do you love me? ’’ 
" Why, Nllie,” said I, “of course I love you. 
What made you think I did not ? ’’ 
He answered ; “ Well, I didn’t know ; I never 
heard you say much about It.” 
What is the use of repining? 
Where there’s a will there’s a way: 
To-morrow the nun may be shining, 
Although It Is olnudy to-day. 
PUZZLER ANSWERS.-Dec. 12 and 19. 
Anagram No. 5.—Tim heavens declare the 
glory of Ood, and the firmament, showeth His 
handiwork. 
Problem No. 18.— Tho sum of the areas of 
the Infinite series of circles will be exactly 2 2-T 
times the area of the greatest circle. 
CnoRs-WoHn Enigma No. 18.—House. 
Hidden Animals No. 1.—1. Andes. 2. Loa. 
3. Hecla. t, Coast. f>. Alps. 0. Olives. 
Illustrated Rebus No. 3.— Cornwall on the 
Hudson. 
Grammatical Enigma No. 1. — Webster's 
Unabridged Dictionary. 
<fitei[;ii!3) l^lit. 
BOOKS RECEIVED. 
The following books have been received by 
us, but, Owing to tho pressure upon our col¬ 
umns of practical rural matters, extended no¬ 
tices of them cannot he given. As we all know, 
therecan he no mure appropriate keepsake than 
a good book, and many of those named below 
are suitable for Holiday Presents : 
From James R. Osgood & Oo. of Boston, 
“ Ten Days in Spain, " by Kate Field; " Homes 
nnd Howto Make Them," by E. C. Gardner; 
“Childhood Snugs,” by Lucy LaRCOM ; “The 
Schoolmaster's Trunk,” by Mrs. A. M. Diaz; 
“Fast Friends," by J. T. TrowBHIGE; and 
“ Hazel Blossoms," by John Greeni.eae Whit¬ 
tier. 
From Lee & Shepard of Boston, “The Ex¬ 
hibition Drama," by George M. Baker; “The 
Paddleford Papers," by II. H. Riley; “The 
Child of tho Tide,” by Mrs. Edna D. Cheney; 
“The Dorcas Club." hyOuvnii Optic; “Our 
Holen," by Sophie May; “For Better or 
Worse," hy Jennie June; “The Coming 
Wave,” by Oliver Optic ; ” Young America 
Ahread," hy Oliver Optic. 
From Sheldon & Co., of Now York, "Es¬ 
telle," by Mrs. Annie Edwards; “Llnley 
Rochford," hy Justin McCarthy; “Life on 
the Plains," by Gen. G. A. Custer, U. 8 . A. 
From Roberts Brothers of Boston, “Life 
and Labors of Mr. Brassey," hy Sir Arthur 
Helps, K. C. B.; “My Sister .Jennie,” by 
George Sand; “ Mischief's Thanksgiving,” by 
Susan Coolidge ; “ More Bedtime Stories," by 
Louise Chandler Moulton; “Quiet Hours,” 
selected poems. 
From Porter & Coates of Philadelphia, “ En¬ 
cyclopedia of Rural Sports," by J. H. Walsh 
(Stonehenge). “ Chaste ns Ice,” by Mrs. M. C. 
Dkspakd. 
From Scribner, Armstrong & Co. cif New 
York, “The MlstresR or the Manse.” by J. G. 
Holland; “ The Mysterious Island,” by Jules 
Verne; “Rhymes and Jingles," by Mary 
Mapes Dodge. 
From A. S. Barnes & Co. of New York and 
Chicago, “ Manual of Arithmetic,” by William 
G. PECK, LL. D. ; “ Elementary Geography,” by 
J .Ames Monteith ; “ The International Review 
for January and February, 18?5.” 
From T. B. Peterson & Brother of Phila¬ 
delphia, “ Love at First Sight,” by Capt. Hen¬ 
ry Curling; “Ivanboe," by Sir Walter 
Scott; “Miriam, The Avenger," by Mrs. 
Southworth ; and the following by Mrs. Hen¬ 
ry Wood: "Five Thousand a Year," “The 
Smuggler s Ghost," “Tho Nobleman’s Wife,” 
“Martyn Ware’s Temptation," “The Lost Bank 
Note," “The Diamond Bracelet," and “The 
Mystery." 
From Harper & Brother*; of New York, 
“The King of No-Land,” by B. L. Far.ieon. 
From D. M. Bennett of New York, “The 
Heathens of the Hoatb,” by Wm. McDonnell. 
From D. E. Fisk of Springfield Mass., “ What 
of the Church and Clergy,” author’s name sup¬ 
pressed. 
From J. B. Ford & Co. of New York, “The 
man In the Moon and Other People," by R. W. 
Raymond. 
From Albert Mason of New York, “A Free 
Lance In the Field of Life and Letters," by 
William C. Wilkinson. 
From Wood & Holbrook of New York, 
“Eating for Strength,” by Dr. M. H. Hol¬ 
brook. 
From the American Publishing Co. of 
Hartford, Conn., “Unwritten History: Life 
among the Modocs,” by Jo iot’in Miller. 
