W0¥. § 
MOORE’S RURAL NEW-fORKER 
§atruns of gitskitdrtf. 
THE G-RANGE FOR FARMERS’ WIVES. 
Several years ago an intelligent clergy¬ 
man in a rural town of Western New \ orlc 
sent an article to a religious journal in which 
he spoke of the dull, dreary aud uusooial 
live 9 led by farmers, and more especially 
farmers’ wives, whose multitudinous cares 
of growing families, of hired help, of large 
dairies, of chickens, and, alas ! too often, of 
. the pigs, made them more steadily “ keepers 
at home ” thaii ev-eii tile Apostle I’m l would 
have advised. Ho related one fact personally 
known to himself which made a deep im¬ 
pression on our mind et the time. Two 
ladieB in Ids congregation, the wives of well- 
to-do farmers and living within two miles of 
each other, had not visited each other in 
their homes for upward of fifteen years. It 
would in one sense be a relief to know that 
those ladies, members of the same church 
ahd partakers of the same communion, mor¬ 
tally hated each other. That would indeed 
be bad euohgh, thotigll Still a relief, but they 
did not. They wore v. arid, personal friends, 
met occasionally at church ou Sundays? 
grieved with each other over their inability 
to visit, and still, with four or five horses on 
each farm, they were too busy with tho 
cares of a family to find times to visit each 
other. 
The drift of the clergyman’s argument, 
and it is A good one, was evidently in favor 
of church services in rural neighborhoods, 
pecdiise of tHCir Bdclal advantages in bring¬ 
ing farmers and their families together at 
least once a week for social and religious 
improvement. Those advantages arc not to 
be decried ; but it must have occurred to our 
clerical friend that those opportunities for 
social Intercourse were very limited. More 
than half the time that his parishioners were 
together they were listening to his sermons 
or prayers, and it would have been the bight 
of impropriety for them to try to get a word 
in edgewise; The few minutes before and 
after service, while the pedpic word gather¬ 
ing or preparing to depart, gavo the only 
chance for really social conversation, and 
this even at these times was too often check¬ 
ed as almost ft desecration of the Sfbbnth. 
In tho olden times, when two sermons were 
common, there used to be a good, long “ in¬ 
termission ” between the sermons, which to 
very many was real I j cite most satisfactory, 
and possibly the most beneficial of the day’s 
services ; but of late years Bible-classes and 
Sunday-schools, both excellent in tlvolr place, 
have sadly encroiidhed on the people’s hour 
for Sunday recreation and conversation. 
The Grange was not invented in those 
days, albeit this clergyman wrote the article 
to which we have referred less than ten 
years ago. We do not doubt that he is to¬ 
day, with thousands of other country cler¬ 
gymen, one of the Grange’s most earnest 
and hearty supporters. Some means of 
bringing together farmers, with their wives 
and families, in a neighborhood has become, 
a social necessity, and the Grange supplies 
the only practicable and cifectual means 
thus far discovered. Farmers’ Clubs have 
done something to bring farmers together, 
but their failure lies in not providing for 
farmers’ wives. It is this which has made 
it so difficult to maintain efficient Farmers’ 
Clubs, The co-operation of wothan in the 
Grange seems like an inspiration. No other 
one fact has done so much to make it a suc¬ 
cess. It has for the first time made the 
social intercourse of the scattered farmers 
and their families in a town or neighborhood 
a possibility, not alone in church, where re¬ 
ligious instruction is the chief feature, but 
in meetings for social discussion by farmers 
and their families of subjects connected with 
their every day life on the farm or in the 
household. 
It. is not best to attempt to make the reli¬ 
gious element in the Grange too prominent. 
The Grange is not, and ought not to be, a 
rival of the church. Working for the im¬ 
provement of men and women, it appeals 
mainly' to their too - long-neglected social 
faculties, and thus works, with the churches 
rather than in rivalry to them. Agricultural 
newspapers and books have for years been 
brlghteninglhe intellectual side of tho farm¬ 
er’s life. Religious societies have stimulated 
his moral and spiritual faculties ; but all 
these have only made the dwarfing of his 
social nature more irksome. The increasing 
intelligence of farmers has been making them 
feel more keenly the lack of social advan¬ 
tages in their life aud driving them from 
the farm. The institution of the Grange 
came none too soon to reverse this process. 
It is a curious fact that the Grange pro¬ 
motes sOCHal progress in two ways. In its 
economic features it places labor-saving ma¬ 
chinery for the farm, the household, the 
kitchen and the dairy at such reduced rates 
that they are within the reach of all, and 
having thus made social intercourse possible 
among farmers, it provides in its numerous 
meetings, lectures and entertainments the 
occasions for enjoying it. No one of its 
features could have attained their present 
success without the co-operation of all others. 
-- 
GRANGE NOTES AND ITEMS. 
Canada now has twenty division and 23S 
subordinate Granges. 
The National Grange Will meet in Louis¬ 
ville on Wednesday, November 17. 
The total sales of State Grange agency at 
Indianapolis for two weeks were $24,237. 
The Patrons and Good Templars are build¬ 
ing a hall together in Saddlersville, Tenn. 
We hear of Patrons in Iowa going twenty- 
four miles to attend a neighboring Grange 
meeting. 
Bro. T, A. Thompson, Lecturer of the 
National Grange, may' be addressed at Louis¬ 
ville, Ky., it n til ftec. 1. 
Bro. O. H. Kelley. Sec'y-. announces 
that the Ni tional Grange is not concerned 
in the publication of any newspaper. 
Miss Julia Garretson, lecturer of tho 
Iowa State Grange, Is constantly on the 
move among the Grauges In that State. 
Bro. Carruth of the Vinclaud Indepen¬ 
dent, who was shot in the head some months 
since, died a few days ago from the effects of 
the wound. 
The Patrons of Sumner Co., Telin,, have 
successfully inaugurated monthly stock sales. 
At the first sale, last month,' sixty bead were 
sold at fair prices. 
Liberty Grange, Indiana, is determined 
to improva its stock, and as a commence¬ 
ment will purchase an Alderney bull. Let 
others follow the example. 
The State Master of Ohio reports that the 
members in his 5*tata are carrying out the 
fraternal teachings of the Order by helping 
the sick ones with their farm work. 
An Indiana Grange has adopted the plan 
of a five-minute speech from each member, 
which is said to get up much greater interest 
than could bo done by long speeches. 
The Secretary of tho Iowa State Grange 
reports a gain of 912 members for the quarter 
ending June 39. This proves incorrect the 
reports that the Order was losing ground in 
that BtatC. 
The Grange Council at Lexington, Ky., 
has decided to operate large rope factories 
hereafter, in their own interest. Hemp will 
be raised in largo quantities by them in 
all parts of the State. 
Bno. Thompson, Lecturer of the National 
Grange, having peremptorily declined being 
a candidate for Master at the meeting to bo 
held in Louisville on the 17th inst., it is said 
that Bro. D. Wyatt Aiken, Worthy Master 
ot the S. C. State Grange, will be proposed 
for the position. 
om?55tii[ ifiiitmamtJ. 
ORIGINAL RECIPES. 
The three following excellent Recipes are 
furnished the Rural by Mrs. Antoinette 
Killey of Allegan Co., Mich.: 
Baked Squash.— Hubbard.— Take squash ; 
cut in half ; clean inside nicely ; put into 
oven flesh side up, an hour before dinner. 
Serve hot, with butter, pepper and salt. 
Those squash not quite ripe are also good 
thus baked. 
Squash PU.— Take Hubbard squash ; treat 
in all respects as for pumpkin pies ; cut, 
stew, mash,—add milk, eggs, sugar and 
spice to taste. Bake nicely. They urc much 
superior to pu mpkln pie 3 . These pies can be 
made very wholesome to dyspeptics by the 
crust being made of Indian meal, thus : But¬ 
ter the pie dish nicely, and sprinko over it 
evenly the meal, say an % to ]4. inch thick. 
Will cut out nicely if just right. Are deli¬ 
cious. 
Indian Breakfast or Tea (Jake .—Those 
having plenty of milk will find this cake ex¬ 
cellent, It is made as follows: Take a 
quart of skim milk—if a little Sour all the 
better—stir in line meal to make a thin bat¬ 
ter. Add salt, and a little soda, as per 
qantity of cake. Grease a deep tin, pour in 
and bake an hour. Serve hot. Excellent. 
This cake can also be made of new milk with 
cream of tartar and soda, aud be better than 
the above. 
Farmer’s Wife, of Walworth Co., Wis., 
a valued contributor to this department of 
the Rural, sends us these two recipes : 
Duratltc Bedding .—A woman who has 
raised a large family recommends house¬ 
keepers to take a good quality of unbleached 
cotton, run up the breadths for top and lin¬ 
ing of quilt, and then color it with any cheap 
domestic dye, such as jiponiea, annatto, 
white oak bark or any such thing. Quilt 
them coarsely, and put more cotton batting 
in than would bo needed for ordinary bed 
quilts. They will wear years longer than or- 
dtnary new* calico, and are especially to be 
desired in large families of boys. If desired 
outside spreads may be made of more fanci¬ 
ful material?. 
Home-made Hair OH. —Take a sufficient 
quantity of fresh butter and filter it through 
tissue or fine letter paper, and then cut it 
with alcohol. It can be scented with any 
essence that is liked, makes a good, soft 
dressing for the hair, and is not at all ex¬ 
pensive. 
•-♦-*-*-- 
SELECTED RECIPES. 
Oyster Pie ,.—For this pie, puff paste may 
be used. Butter a deep tin two-quart basin, 
line tho bottom and sides with the paste, 
rolled to about half an inch thickness : take 
a quart or three pints of oysters from tlieir 
own liquor and put them into a pie; cut a 
quarter of a pound of sweet butter in bits 
the size of a hickory nut, strew these over 
tho oysters; sprinkle over a teaspoonful of 
ground pepper, and dredge them white with 
wheat flour, then strain tho oyster liquor 
over; add to It enough milk or water very 
nearly to reach tho tep of tho pusto; lay 
some skewers across; roll some of the pasto 
to nearly hall’ an inch thickness, make an 
aperture in the center to allow tho steam to 
escape, also several small incisions with a 
knife ou either side of tho center ; cover the 
pie ; dip your fingers >n flour, and pinch the 
top aud side paste neatly together. Bake 
nearly on hour in a quick oven ; draw out 
the skewers before sending to the table. 
Tomato Vinegar .—Take one bushel of ripe 
tomatoes, wash them in an open tub, and 
add one quart of molasses that weighs eleven 
pounds to the gallon, and thoroughly mix 
the whole together, in which condition let 
tho tub stand several days, not neglecting to 
frequently stir the mixture In It. When a 
decided vinegar odor is given off, tho juice 
should be strained from tho pomace and put 
into casks, and let stand until the process is 
completed. Vinegar thus made is equal to 
the best-, and to succeed in its manufacture 
only requires faithfully following out these 
directions 
Hop Yeast .—Boil half a pint of hops in two 
quarts of water till the strength is extracted. 
Rub half a pint of flour smooth with cold 
water, strain the tea aud mix it in ; let it 
cook slowly like musli from five to ten 
minutes. Let it cool, and then add a gill of 
yeast and two nicely mashed boiled potatoes, 
and put it in a stone jug or bottles to rise. 
A tin coffee pot should be kept to boil hops 
in, as the hitter taste is hard to remove from 
a kettle. 
Stewed Shoulder of Hutton.— The shoulder 
must not be too fat. Bone it, tie it up in a 
cloth, and boil it for two hours and a half. 
Take it up, put a little cold butter over it, 
and strew it thickly with bread crumbs, 
parsley and thyme, pepper and salt, all pro¬ 
perly mixed. Let it be in tho oven half-an- 
hour, so that it may be perfectly browned. 
Serve it with lumps of currant jelly on the 
top, and gravy or spinach round the dish. 
To Make Hard Soap.—The following is a 
recip for making hard soap, which is 6aid to 
be excellent and economical. Nearly every 
family accumulates through the winter 
drippings from beef and mutton. These can 
be utilized for the grease by boiling in water, 
allowing it to cool, then removing from tho 
water and boiling till all the water is ex¬ 
pelled. Of course tho whiter the grease the 
nicer the soap. Take 6 pounds of sal soda, 0 
pouuds of grease, 3>j' pounds new stone lime, 
4 gallons soft water, Vs pound of borax. 
Put soda, lime and water into an iron boiler ; 
boil till all is dissolved. When well settled 
pour off the clear lye, wash out the kettle, 
and put in tho clear lye, grease and borax ; 
boil tili it comes to soap,.pour into a tub to 
cool, and when sufficiently hard cut into 
bars and put on boards to dry. 
Indian Bread.—Beat 2 eggs very light, 
mix alternately with them 1 pint of sour 
milk or buttermilk and t pint of fine Indian 
meal ; melt 1 tablespoonful of butter and 
add to the mixture ; dissolve 1 tablespoonfui 
of soda or saleratus, etc., in a small portion 
of the milk and add to the mixture the last 
thing, beat very hard and bake in a pan in a 
quick oven. 
To Cook Beets .—The true way to cook a 
beet is to bake, not boil it. Thus treated, 
and sliced either in vinegar or in butter, it is 
exceedingly palatable and nutritions. Boil¬ 
ing extracts the most valuable part of this 
vegetable. 
Quick-baked Bailer Pudding .—One pint of 
milk, foqr tablespoonfuls flour, or better, two 
of flour and two of corns tarcli, two eggs, 
juice of lemon. Bake On tin pie-plate in a 
hot oven about, 20 minutes. 
Wedding Pudding .— One cup of molasses, 
1 cup of chopped raisins, 1-cup of milk, % 
cvp of butt er, l teaspoon l ul of soda, 1 dessert 
spoonful of mixed spices, 1 egg, 4 cups of 
flour. Steam 3 hours. 
Indian Husk. — 1 Two light cups of Indian 
meal, 1 cup of white flour, 1 teaspoonful of 
Saleratus, enough sour or buttermilk to dis¬ 
solve, 1 cup sweet; stir in % of a cup of 
molasses. 
Jaiuunmcc geprtment. 
INSURANCE NOTES AND NEWS. 
The Death Rate .—The returns of the In¬ 
surance Departments of this State for the 
last four years shows a considerable varia¬ 
tion in the rate of mortality experienced by 
the insurance companies. In 1871 there were 
7,41 G out of 785,300 policies that became pay¬ 
able, or about one in one hundred and six. 
In 1S72, 8,798 out of 8 f .’4,444, or one in ninety- 
one. In 1873, 9,724 out of 817,081, or one in 
eighty-four, and last year, 8,555 out of 799,- 
534, or about one in ninety-four. The whole 
of these claims were not by reason of the 
death of the insured. Perhaps 10 per cent, 
or something more, especially in 1873 and 
1873, were endowment policies. Neither do 
these ratios indicate the proportion of deaths 
to total population, wlrch is usually about 
one in forty each year, though it was in the 
principal cities somewhat greater in 1872 
and 1874. The chances that a person healthy 
enough to be insured will die within a year 
are not for from one per cent. 
Corn Cob Kindlings .—Kindling a fire on 
a outer morning in winter, when tho alter¬ 
native lies between dressing in the cold or 
creeping back to bed until the room is 
warmed, is a thing that wants to be done 
with expedition and certainty. There is 
neither time nor inclination to scurry around 
after kindlings, and the oil-con means invol¬ 
untary suicide. The best things are corn 
cobs. Take ten bushels of them, soak them 
a few minutes in liob water, in which salt¬ 
peter has been dissolved in the proportion of 
one pound to six gallons, dry them well and 
have them handy. Chuck half-a dozen un¬ 
derneath, pile on tho wood, touch them with 
a match - and hustle back to the grateful 
partner of your joys. It, w ill lie all right. 
Increased Longevity .—People live longer 
than they did when the Psalmist set the. 
limit at “three score and ten.” A hundred 
years ago tho average duration of human 
life was about twenty eight years. In 1817 
it hud increased to thirty-one years, and is 
now, as we learn from recent compilations 
of mortality statistics, nearly forty years. 
This may be ascribed to improvements in 
habits of life, better houses, food, clothing 
and medical attention, to the diminution of 
pestilence, and to a very marked diminution 
of the mortality of infants. 
A Rich Heritage.—The pamphlets and 
other publications of life companies fre¬ 
quently contain long lists of the names of 
eminent people who are in jured for very, 
large amounts, varying from $80,000 to $300,- 
000 II ntil very recently we had never heard 
of the death of any of these heavily-insured 
parties, but have now to chronicle the de¬ 
mise of Mr. Blackington of North Adams, 
Mass., who held at the time of his death 
$100,000 of insurance upon his life—$70,000 in 
Niw York and the remainder in Connecticut 
companies. 
Those Milk-Pans Again .—We had occa¬ 
sion, some months since, to note as a very 
odd occurrence, that a milk - pan set out 
against the side of a shed had acted as a 
concave mirror to concent rate the sun’s rays 
upon some dry boards aud set them on fire. 
11 appears from an exchange that the same 
tning lias happened at South Hamilton, N. 
Y., but was providentially discovered in time 
to prevent serious consequences. Would it 
not be best in all cases to set the pans so that 
they will not reflect upon inflammable sub 
stances ? 
