JAN. 20 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
and they produced large yellow cocoons, pro¬ 
nounced to be very superior by Mr. Crozier and 
a manufacturer at the East, to whom some were 
sent. But the worms were not free from disease, 
although there were not many, probably not more 
than two per cent., that died after they had 
grown, or about the last molt. Some died at 
each molting; but when they were small, the 
number was not so easily noticed, and after ex¬ 
perimenting several years, circumstances pre¬ 
venting the further prosecution, I sent what 
eggs and cocoons I had to Mr. Crozier. When I 
met. him, some time afterward, he informed me 
that the eggs I sent him were too much diseased 
to be of use, and he had buried them; he ad¬ 
vised me to try again with some healthy eggs, 
and said he would send me some, and did so. 
These eggs came out well, and advanced 
through the first and second molt in good or¬ 
der ; after that there were worms of all sizes, 
aud about the last molt they died at wkolosalo, 
and made auch a stench that I had to remove 
them to the barn, and not a perfect cocoon was 
formed; a few attempted the job but would 
never finish, so that I did not have a single com¬ 
plete cocoon from about 150,000 worms. 
Thoso eggs were, as he stated, from his best 
and healthiest breed; afterward Mr, Crozier 
called on in? again to learn of my succosb. and 
after hearing it, remarked, that it would not do 
to publish, and he advised me to try again, and 
said he would send mo some more eggs free of 
charge, which, however, he failed to do. 
Now, I don’t say that I am sure that silk cul¬ 
ture is a failure and a humbug, but I will tell 
you that when you hear a man say that a thou¬ 
sand pounds of leaves can be picked in one day 
by one hand ; that a skilled girl can reel from 14 
to 18 ounces per day, and that one hand oau tend 
silk-worms enough during tho season, in the 
space of about 40 days, to make from 81,000 to 
$1,400, believe it to bo an exaggeration, and you 
may safely calculate that ho has got silk-worm 
eggs and mulberry trees for sale. Yos, there is 
money in silk culture, if you can find a ready 
market for eggs at $8,00 per ounoe, and for 
mulberry trees at from 4 to 10 cents each. But if 
there aro any that think they can make money at 
silk oulturo, wo would like to let them have mul¬ 
berry trees for what it will cost to dig them up. 
Wo would like to see silk culture a success, and 
it would be a great thing for tho country, and 
we hope no one will be deterred from experi¬ 
menting by what we have said. M. de Bro- 
siere deserves credit and patronage, too, for 
establishing a silk factory in this State, and we 
hope that if any one can, they will furnish him 
oocoonB if they don’t make more than 25 cents 
per day. 
£)omrsttt t&conomj). 
ORNAMENTAL GRASSES FOR HOUSE DEC¬ 
ORATION IN WINTER. 
For many years our seedsmen have done a 
very thriving business in the Bale of imported 
preserved flowers and grasses, which are exten¬ 
sively employed for house decorations in winter. 
Very lovely bouquets are made up of what are 
termed “Immortelles” or everlasting flowers, 
arid, with the addition of the ornamental grasses, 
a room can bo made to look very “summer- 
like," which is no undesirable thing when the 
earth is covered with snow and the mercury is 
lingering about zero. 
During the present winter, our dealers in such 
artioles are showing some extra fine goods in 
this line, and especially in the way of plumes of 
the Pampas Grass from California. Single 
Bpikes of this elegant grass retail at from fifty to 
seventy-five cents oach, which is the price at 
which our florists have been selling good clumps 
of the plants for a number of years past. But 
the Pampas is rather tender in the Northern 
States, requiring good protection to insure its 
living over our winter, and then it starts so late 
in spring that the plumes scarcely get fully de¬ 
veloped before the frosts come on in the fall, 
consequently it has not been very extensively 
planted. 
But in California no Buch difficulties are in the 
way, and the few cultivators of this grass in that 
State must have reaped quite a rich harvest the 
present season, judging from the large quantities 
brought from there, and the price it commands 
in our city. The co&t of freight on such a light 
article is but a trifle, and we hope our California 
friendB will extend the culture of this and other 
species until they oome within the reach of the 
poor as well as the rich, which cannot be said of 
such ornaments at the present time. Five dol¬ 
lars per hundred spikes would certainly pay the 
cultivator well, for when the roots are once well 
established in a climate adapted to their growth, 
no further trouble in the way of culture is 
necessary, and the plumes have only to be cut 
at the proper time and boxed for shipping. 
These ornamental grasses are also very popu¬ 
lar abroad, and we find an article in a late num- 
| ber of the London Garden, on the subject, 
. which gives us an idea of the sale of such orna¬ 
ments in England. Tne writer of the article 
referred to, sayB: 
There has been a considerable increase in the 
use of Grasses for house decoration, of late, and 
with good reason, as few things are more beau¬ 
tiful, and no plants retain their beauty so long 
and so perfeotly. Cut at the right time, many 
of them retain theif beauty and grace for 
months, and indeed for years. We have seen 
them quite fresh-looking after ten years in a 
glazed case where preserved from dust. At 
present few Grasses are grown for ornament, 
that is, 60 far as the markets and shops are con¬ 
cerned; too few, also, aro grown in private gar¬ 
dens. The culture of ornamental Grasses has 
never been well done in any garden wo havo 
seen. Many beautiful kinds aro not introduced; 
therefore it is probable that when a greater va¬ 
riety of choice kinds is obtainable, beautiful 
Grasses will be ofterier seen than is now the case. 
At present the most extensive supply comes 
from the South of Europe, and Messrs. Hooper, 
of Covont Garden, are the great wholesale deal¬ 
ers in them in this country. This house has of 
late distributed great quantities of tho more pop¬ 
ular Grasses throughout the country. The 
light and elegant Feather Grass, which few per¬ 
sons have considered in relation to weight, al¬ 
most loses a ohaim when we learn that tons of it 
are imported and sold every winter. Great num¬ 
bers of ornamental Grasses aro sold in mixed 
bunches or bouquets, sometimes combined with 
Everlastings. In the formation of these bou¬ 
quets, over forty young girls arc employed by 
Messrs. Hooper, some of whom earn as much ns 
25s. a week. The result of the packing of the I 
Grasses is to denrive them of much of their 
gracefnl, open opposition. Thus such airy | 
kinds aB Agrostis nebulosa, aud such grace- I 
fuliy-pendulous ones as Bronius brizseformis 
aro by no means so attractive when both 1 
airiness and grace aro crushed out of them in I 
the packing. Their old form, however, may be 
restored by a simple process -steeping them in 
water for a night, hanging them up by the atom 
In the morning to dry. and, when half dried, 
gently shaking them out. They will in this way 
resume their origiual open disposition. The 
Pampas Grass is often gathered young before 
the plants aro matured, and sometimes from 
packing or other causes tho plumes do not as¬ 
sume their most graceful and open form. By 
holding them carefully near a fire and gently 
waving the plume to and fro they gradually 
spread open and assume a more graceful form. 
The noble Now Zealand Aruudo (A conflpicua) 
is, when well-grown in the Southern Counties, 
quite as valuable as the Pampas Grass, and it is J 
to be hoped that its fine inflorescence may soon 
be generally obtainable for winter decoration. 
It is, perhaps, needless to Bpeak of various other 
exotic Grasses of great beauty, when our own 
wild Grasses are not collected for use as winter 
ornaments. Some of these are very beautiful, 
and if collected carefully before they aro too 
ripe, they would form valuable ornaments for 
fllliDg vases and like uses in winter. 
crumbs, one quart of sweet milk, one cup of 
sugar, yelks of four eggs, grated rind of one 
lemon; beat the yelks well; add the other in¬ 
gredients, with a little salt; pour into a welte 
buttered pudding-dish and bake until done. 
hen the pudding ib cold, beat tho whites of 
the eggs to a stiff froth; add one teacup of pul¬ 
verized sugar and the juice of cme lemon; 
spread this on the pudding; put it in the oven, 
until it is a delicate brown. To bo eaten with 
cream. 
ORIGINAL RECIPES. 
Answer <o Inquiry — Marble Cake. — Light 
part—white sugar, IX cups; butter, X cup; 
sweet milk, X cup; soda, X teaspoon; cream of 
tartar, 1 teaspoon ; whites of four eggs; flour, 
23 ^ cups; beat the eggs and sugar together; 
mix the cream of tartar with the flour, and dis¬ 
solve the soda in the milk. 
Dark part—Brown sugar, 1 cup; molasses, X 
cup; butter, X cup ; sour milk, X cup; soda, 
X teaspoou; flour, browned, 2X cups ; yelks of 
4 eggs ; cloves and cinnamon, ground, each X 
teaspoon; ingredients mixed the same aB light 
part. When both are prepared, putin Ihe cake- 
pan alternate layers of each, or put them in spots 
on each other, making what is called leopard 
cake, until all is used, then bake as usual. 
Mrs. Snell's Loaf Cake. —Three cup3 of light 
dough, 1 eup of butter, 1 cup of sugar, 2 eggs, 
1 teaspoon soda; mix well together, and let it 
get quite light before baking. 
Jelly Cake. —Break two eggs in a teacup; fill 
it with sour cream; 1 cup of sugar, a little soda; 
don’t mix hard; bake in 3 round tins. Put frost¬ 
ing between and on the top. 
Farmer’s Wife. 
■-»+♦ 
SELECTED RECIPES. 
Batter Pudding.— One pint of sweet milk, 
four eggs, four tablespoonfuls of flour; beat 
the yelks of the eggs well and stir into the milk; 
mix tho eggs and milk gradually with tho flour; 
add a little salt; whisk tho whiteH of the eggs i 
very stiff and stir lightly through the mixture .• 
butter a pudding-dish ; pour in the batter and 
bake in a quick oven, or bake in cups; when 
done, send to the table hot. and eat with wine- 
sauce, lemon-sauce, or whipped cream. 
Lemon Pudding.— One pint of fine bread | 
Potato ruddmg.— Beat well together fourteen 
ounces of mashed potatoes (free from lumps), 
j four ounces of butter, four of sugar, five eggs, 
tho grated rind of a small lemon, a pinch of salt; 
add a small teacup of sweet milk; pour the mix- 
turo into a well-buttered pudding-dish; pour 
a little clarified butter on the top, and then sift 
plenty of white sugar over it. Bake in a mod¬ 
erate oven three-quarters of an hour. 
Vermicelli Pudding.— Intott pint and a half of 
boiling milk, drop four ounces of fresh vermi¬ 
celli, and keep it simmering, and stirred gently 
ten minutes; when it will have become very 
I thick, then mix with it three ounces and a half 
of sugar, two ounces of butter and a littlo salt. 
When tho whole is well blended, pour it out; 
boat it for a few minutes to cool it; then add by 
degrees four well-beaton eggs, the grated rind of 
a lemon, and, just before it goes into tho oven, a 
small glass of brandy; pour a littlo clarified 
butter over tho top ; bake it from half to three- 
quarters of an hour. 
To Dress a Loin of Mutton like Venison —Skin 
and bone a loin of mutton and lay it into a stew- 
pan, with a pint of water, a large onion, stuck 
with a dozen cloves, half a pint of port wine, 
and a spoonful of vinegar; add, when it boils, a 
few sprigs of thy mo and parsley, and some salt 
and pepper; let it stow gently three hours, and 
turn it often. Make somo gravy of the bones, 
and add it at intervals to tho mutton when re¬ 
quired. 
Spir.ccl, Shoulder of Mutton.—B ono the joint, 
and rub it, if large, with four ounceB of gran¬ 
ulated sugar, well mixed with a dessert-spoon¬ 
ful of ground cloven, half that- quantity of 
pepper and mace, and a fourth part as much 
ginger. Tho following day, add four ouuces of 
salt; keep the mutton turned, and rubbed occa¬ 
sionally with the picklo, from eight to ten days; 
then roll it up tight, bind it with twine, and 
stew it gently for four hours in a pint and a half 
of broth, or put into the stew-pan with it, a 
pound and a half of neck of beef, a quart of 
water, one largo onion, two carrots, two turnips, 
and a largo faggot of horbB. When the mutton 
is perfectly tender, sorvo it with some of its own 
gravy. 
. Beef or Mutton Cake..— Chop two pounds of 
lean and very tender hoof or mutton, with three- 
quarters of a pound of beef suet; mix them 
well; season them with salt, pepper, a teaapoou- 
ful of ground cloves and mace; lino a round 
baking-dish with thin slices of bacon; press the 
moat closely into it; smooth tho top, and cover 
it with bacon; set a plate on it with a weight, 
and bake two hours. Take off the bacon, and 
serve with brown gravy and eat it cold. 
Brown Sauce. -Put over tho fire, in a sauce¬ 
pan, half a pint of stock and a half pint of wa¬ 
ter ; season with salt, pepper, and thicken with a 
tablespoonful of butter and the Hame quantity 
of browned flour; stir constantly until it boils. 
Mrs. Rustic. 
tjinunuc 
SKATING. 
Thk following suggestions on skating, given by 
the late Dr. Hall years since, are timely, and 
applicable at the present skating season, and if 
acted upon by (hose who Indulge in thja pleasant 
and exhilarating pastime, will save much suffer¬ 
ing. Avoid skates which are strapped on the 
feet, as they prevent the circulation, and the 
foot becomes frozen before the skater is aware 
of it, because the tight strapping benumbs the 
foot and deprives it of feeling. The safest kind 
are those which receive the fore-part of the foot 
in a kind of toe, and have stout leather around th6 
heel, buckling in front of the ankle only, thus 
keeping the heel in place without spikes or 
screws, and aiding greatly in supporting the 
ankle. 
It is not the object so much to skate fast, as 
to 6kato gracefully; and this is sooner and more 
easily learned by Bkating with deliberation; 
while it prevents over-heating, and diminishes 
the chances of taking cold by cooling off too soon 
afterwards. 
If the wind is blowing, a veil should be worn 
over the face, at least of ladies and children; 
otherwise, fatal inflammation of the lungs, 
“pneumonia" may take place. 
Do not sit down to rest a single half-minute; 
nor stand still, if there is any wind; nor stop a 
moment alter the skates are taken off; but walk 
af about, so as to rCBtor'o the circulation about the 
le feet and toes, and to prevent being chilled, 
i- It is safer to walk homo than to ride; the lat¬ 
te ter is almost certain to give a cold, 
o. Never cany anything in tho month while skat- 
if mg, nor any hard substance in tho hand, nor 
1- throw any hard substance on the ice ; none but 
l; a cureless, reckless ignoramus would thus en- 
h danger a fellow-skater a fall, 
h If the thermometer is below thirty, and the 
wind is blowing, no lady or child should be skat- 
n iu &- 
), Always keep your eyes about you, looking 
», allGa<1 an( l upward, not on the iee, that you may 
. not run aguinst somo lady, child, or learner. 
Arrange to have an extra garment, thick and 
r heavy, to throw over your shoulders the moment 
t you cease skating, and then walk homo, or at 
lt,ft8t half a milo, with your mouth closed, so that 
the lungs may not bo quickly chilled by the cold 
f air dashing upon them through the open mouth; 
if it passes through tho nose and head, it is 
warmed boforo it gets to tbo lungs. 
* It would be a safe rule for no lady or ohild to 
he on skates longer than an horn- at a time. 
—--♦-*-♦- 
DIPHTHERIA AND ITS CURE. 
P During the prevalence of Diphtheria every 
icmeily howoversimplo or likely to bo efficacious, 
j 80u b'ht with eagerness by tho masses, and we 
cannot blume them so long aH many of our phy¬ 
sicians of good standing iu tho community seem to 
ha utterly powerless in staying this fearful dia- 
i orbo, consequently wo give the following reme¬ 
dies which lately appeared in tho Western Farm 
Journal, boiling that, they may prove to bo of 
value, should uny of onr readers bo so unfor¬ 
tunate as to havo occasion to nso them, 
A small quantity of either sulphate of iron, 
tannin, or chlorate of potash, put dry upon the 
tongue, and allowed to dissolve there, once in 
every hour, havo all been found to be most effi¬ 
cient remedies in tho early stages of diptberia. 
This terrible disease appears under three varie¬ 
ties or forms: First, there is a fever, severe 
pains jn tho back, bones and limbs, and a very 
great prostration. There may bo no soreness of 
tho throat, but on examining it, pmall white 
specks Y(iH bo noticed on tho tonsils, but few or 
none on tho rest of the throat. These cases will 
recover under any and overy variety of treatment 
in from four to six dayB. Tho great, but false, 
reputation of many remedies and physicians is 
based upon tho necessarily favorable results of 
these cases. Second. Largo patches of false 
membrane will be observed both or; tho tonsils 
and back of tile throat; but the glands of the 
neck do not become swollen. 
Tho majority of these cases will also reoover, 
under very simple treatment, unless tho disease 
extends down to tho windpipe, which it rarely 
does. Third. True malignant diphtheria, with 
swelling of tho glands of the nock and under the 
jaw; profuse and often offensive exudations in 
the mouth and throat; more or less discharge 
from the nostrils. Chlorate of potash is a disin¬ 
fectant as well as a curative remedy, and if given 
pure aud dry upon the tongue every hour, night 
and day, will rarely disappoint the’ practitioner. 
A small doso every night may act as a preventive 
remedy. Sometime* tannin may bo given more 
readily than the chlorate of potash. Tho sul¬ 
phate of iron is rather more irritant, and must 
bo given in smaller quant il ies. The main points 
in the use of these remedies are to give thorn 
dry upon tho tongue, and frequently and regu¬ 
larly both by night and day. 
-■ ■ 
HOW TO LIVE AND HOW TO DIE. 
The Journal of Health savs: “ If a man wills 
not to die he can live in Bpite of disease; and id 
he has little or no attachment to life, he will 
slip away as easily as a child falls asleep." 
Let those of our readers who wish to live “ for¬ 
ever and a day” read tbo first part of the above 
paragraph and take comfort. AH they havo to 
do is to hunt up a “will” and to use it—the 
thing is done—they will live on, on, without any 
end. What a glorious opportunity is thus af¬ 
forded for horticultural and agricultural pursuits 
—for the working out of the problems of “chem¬ 
istry as applied to agriculture,”—that require 
years of observation and experiment. 
Let those who meditate suicide, road the last 
part of the above paragraph and also take comfort 
and not dream of taking poison. All they have 
to do is to ascertain that they have no attach¬ 
ment to life. Then they will “ slip away.” Eotk 
are aB easy as “rolling off a log” and, when 
generally known, will doubtless be regarded as 
among the moat beautiful discoveries of modern 
times. They are at once the realization of the 
Elixer of Life and of Death. To live or not to 
livens no longer a question of any moment! 
A. O. G. 
. -— - - — 
Shoes. —Thick-soled slices or rubbers—which, 
for snowy, sloppy weather? The “Arctics” 
confine the perspiration of the feet, but keep 
i out water. The thick-soled shoes are dampened 
through, and they hold this dampness, though 
they do not coufine the moisture of the foot. 
