222 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
OCT. 6 
gomtstit <£roitomij. 
CONDUCTED BY EMILY MAPLE 
THE AET OF MAKING GOOD BREAD. 
Eveiiy domestic scribbler bag bad bis or her 
say upon bread-making, and to many the subject 
is thread-bare, but to those housekeepers who 
have not secured the coveted name of “ an ex¬ 
cellent break-maker ” a few hints may not come 
amiss. Wo do not propose to advance a new 
method, or tell how sweet, spongy bread can be 
made from poor flour, poor yeast, or inattention 
on the part of the maker; on the contrary the 
three things essential to any kind of success ore 
good flour, yeast and watchful care. While 
well-defined methods in detail are inestimable 
aids, nothing short of accurate observation and 
experience will secure the desired result. Good 
bread covers a multitude of culinary blunders ; 
it renders the plainest meal acceptable and the 
table groaning beneath meats, vegetables and 
pastry is incomplete without it. No house¬ 
keeper, to our way of thinking, need fear unex¬ 
pected company with plenty of white, spongy 
bread and butter in the larder, and our advice 
to Rural sisters is to excel in this branch of 
domestic economy evon at tho expense of the 
much-esteemed cakes and pastry, and we doubt 
not that tho bealtb and comfort of their families 
will be thereby promoted. 
Yeast. —Boil a teacupful of hops in three 
pints of water until tho water is reduced to one 
quart. Grate six medium-sized potatoes, add 
four tablespoousfuls of flour, three of sugar, two 
of salt, and work to a paste. Pour the strained 
hop-water boiling hot over tho paste, stirring all 
the time. Dissolve a good yeast-cake in a tea¬ 
cupful of warm water, thicken with flour, place 
where it is warm, and when very light stir into 
the cool batter; stand in a warm place until 
light, it is then ready for use and may be kept in 
a jar in the cellar. It retains its vitality for 
eight or ten days in the summer, and for five or 
six weeks in winter. 
SroNGE.—At night mash three potatoes very 
fine, add one piut of tepid potato water and stir 
n enough sifted flour to make rather a stilt 
batter; then add a teacupful of the above yeast 
and beat thoroughly; cover closely with a clean 
blanket and place in a warm and even tempera- 
time over night. This makes sponge enough 
for four good-sized loaves. 
The “Cookery’* says:—“To make good 
bread always be up in the morning early, just at 
the peep of day in summer time to prevent 
the sponge becoming sour by too long standing, 
and in winter to he getting materials warmed 
and in readiness for use." Sift as much flour as 
is required into the bread-pan ; rub well through 
the flour two tablespoousfuls of nice lard, two 
tablespoonfuls or more of salt, and half a tea- 
cupful of white sugar. Make a well in the flour 
and pom- in the sponge and one quart of warm— 
not hot—water. Little by little knead in the 
flour, which will take one-half hour at least. 
There is quite a naek in the kneading of bread ; 
many chop or cut with a knife after working it 
sometime and think the bread finer grained for 
it. Bread must not be mixed too still or it will 
be hard and dry. After it is worked enough, 
form into one large loaf, sprinkle (lour lightly on 
the top, cover and sot to rise in a warm place. 
If possible let (he heat come over the top of the 
pan—under the stove-pipe is a good place to set 
it—but do not place tho pan over warm water or 
so that the bread is first heated at ihe bottom. 
Bread will rise iu from one to two hours, if 
longer in rising there is something wrong. 
When kneading into loaves, use as little flour as 
possible; many grease tho hands instead of 
flouriDg them when molding tho last time. Tho 
loaves will rise in the pans generally in half an 
hour—twenty minutes is tho usual time in a 
warm, eveu temperature. Tho oven must be 
just right—nothing less will answer. Perfect 
bread may be spoiled in the baking. Mauy test 
the oven by sprinkling a little flour on the 
bottom, if it browns slowly, it is hot enough, if 
quickly, too hot. The heat must be steady, and 
from one-half to three-quarters of an hour iu 
such an oven is long enough. When baked, 
wrap in a clean towel and place each loaf on its 
edge until cool. 
- +++ - 
DOMESTIC RECIPES. 
We are indebted to Mrs. S. 0., Savannah, N 
Y., for the following : 
POUND FRUIT CAKE. 
One pound of sugar; oue pound of butter; 
two pounds of currants ; two pounds of raisins ; 
one-half pound of citron; nine eggs—the 
whites and yelks beaten separately; one wine¬ 
glass of brandy ; one nutmeg j one teaspoonful 
of cloves; one tablespoon ful of cinnamon; six 
teaspoonfuls of baking powder in one pound of 
flour. 
PLAIN FRUIT CAKE. 
Three eggs ; two and one-half cups of sugar; 
one cup of butter ; one cup of milk ; one cup of 
raisins ; one cup of currants ; one tablespoonful 
cinnamon; one teaspoonful of soda in the 
milk; two teaspoonfuls of cream-of-tartar in 
four cups of flour. 
COFFEE CAKE. 
Two cupB of sugar ; one-half cup of butter; 
one cup of molasses; one cup of cold coffee; 
four cups of flour ; three eggs ; one teaBpoon- 
ful of cinnamon and one of clover; four tea¬ 
spoonfuls of baking powder. 
GINOER SNAPS. 
One cup of molasses ; one-half cup of sugar; 
one-half cup of hot water; one-half cup of 
butter ; one teaspoonful of Boda and one table¬ 
spoonful of ginger. 
SOFT GINGER CAKE. 
Two cups of molasses; one and one-half cup 
of hot water; one-half cup of butter; two eggs ; 
one and oDe-balf teaspoonful of saleratus ; one 
tablespoonful of ginger; one-half teaspoonful 
of ground cloves ; stir in the least quantity of 
flour that will enable it to rise. 
COOKIES. 
One egg; one-half cup of butter ; one cup of 
sugar; one-third cup of sweet milk; one-half 
teaspoonful of soda, and one of cream-of-tartar. 
RAILROAD YEAST. 
One pint of coarse floor; one teaspoonful of 
soda; one teaspoonful of ginger and one tea- 
spoonful of sugar. Pour boiling water on it, 
and stir until it is thin euough for rising; set in 
a warm place until light, then place where it is 
cool. In making bread take four spoonfuls of 
new milk, a little pinch of soda, and add one 
cup of hot water; when cool enough not to 
Bcald, stir iu flour and one spoonful of the above 
yeast. 
JOHNNY-CAKE. 
Two eggs; one-half cup of sugar; one-half 
cup of butter ; one quart of sour milk ; one tea- 
Bpoonful of soda; one teaspoonful of salt and 
enough corn meal to make a thin batter. 
SODA BISCUITS. 
Six cups of flour; two cups of sweet milk; 
two tablespoonfuls of butter; one-fourth tea- 
spoonful of salt.; oue teaspoonfui of soda and 
three of cream-of-tartar. Dissolve the soda in the 
milk and rub the cream-of-tartar iu the flour. 
CREAM PUFFS. 
Two cups of flour; one cup of butter; one- 
half pint of water ; boil the water and butter to¬ 
gether, and stir in the flour, a little at a time 
while boiling; when cold add five well-boaten 
eggs and one-fourth teaspoonful of soda; make 
into cakes one-half inch thick, and put at once 
into a rather hot oven, not disturbing them un¬ 
til they are of a light-brown. 
CREAM. 
Beat together two eggs; one cup of white 
sugar and one-half cup of flour or corn-starch : 
stir in one pint of boiling milk and flavor with 
lemon or vanilla. When the cakes are cold 
split them partly open and put in the cream. 
ICE-GREAM 
Four quarts of new milk; one and one-half 
pounds of sugar and ten eggs. Dissolve the 
sugar in the milk and beat the eggs to a froth ; 
then add to the milk and sugar; bring to a 
scald in a water-bath and flavor. Freeze with 
ice and salt—proportion, one quart of salt to one 
pailful of ice. 
LEMON PIE. 
Yelks of three eggs and the white of one ; one 
cup of sugar; one cup of water ; one and one- 
haJf spoonful of flour; juice and grated peel of 
one lemon; stir all together and bake as a 
custard pie. Beat the whites of two eggs to a 
froth ; then add four spoonfuls of sugar ; flavor 
with lemon, and when the pie is done spread 
this over the top; return to the oven to brown. 
A CORRECTIUN. 
In my recipe for Mrs. M-’s Cake in the 
Rural of August 18 by some mistake the sugar 
was omitted. Two oups of sugar should be 
used. 
ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS. 
A. B. 0.— Please tell me where I can get a 
Poultry Book. 
Ans. “ Burnham’s Secrets iu Fowl Breeding,” 
50o.; “Bement’s Poulterer’s Companion," $2; 
The O. Judd Co., N. Y. 
M. D. D.—The bulb of Amaryllis forwosis- 
sima should be taken up before the ground 
freezes aud kept in a cool, dry place. After hav¬ 
ing been allowed to rest two or three months, 
this may be potted for winter blooming if desir¬ 
ed ; or it may be kept dry for planting out in 
the spring. 
Tuberoses that have thrown up flower-stalks 
this season, are of no further use. The little 
offsets can be saved for planting, if desired, but 
it usually takes three yoarB for them to grow of 
sufficient size to blossom. 
The vine you have known as Fumitory, belongs 
to that family, but is properly, Adlumia, being 
named for John Adlum, Washington, D. C., 
who was among the first to cultivate it. It grows 
wild in Western New York and elsewhere, and is 
there known as Mountain Fringe. 
Jam-ex Stillwell. It is said that the fresh bark 
of the Witch Hazel steeped in water, and applied 
hot will, by a few applications, cure persons who 
have been poisoned by Ivy or Bumac. Why some 
persons are affected by these plants and others 
can handle them freely without harm, is one of 
the unexplained things. 
IP. IP Fisher. —What is the best thing to 
paint a water-pail with inside, so that the water 
shall not be affected after standing in it ? 
Ass.—Wby not use cedar, oak, hemlock, or 
other tasteless wood for pails ? We do not know 
of any paint that will not, after awhile, dissolve 
in water. 
JR. Jl. M. -How is smoking tobacco manufac¬ 
tured, and how cutup? Are there any small 
machines for the purpose, and if so, wfiore can 
they be obtained ? 
Ass. Binall machines for cutting up plug to¬ 
bacco for smoking purposes, are sold by A. Hen 
<t Co., 43 Liberty 8t. r N. Y., price $11. f.urge 
machines driven by power, are used in factories 
both for granulating and shaviiig into smokiug 
aud chewing flue-cut. The flavoring is a matter 
of taste, and varies with each manufacturer 
Plug tobacco is steamed to soften it, stemmed, 
bundled, salted, dipped in a hot solution of li¬ 
quorice and molasses, sunned, dried, flavored, 
and then made up into bundles of the required 
weight, wrapped in a leaf, pressed in sheet-iron 
molds, tnrned and again pressed, and then pack¬ 
ed in boxes aud tubes in which the bundles are 
finally pressed. The stems are ground up with 
tho leavoB in the poorer qualities of granulated 
tobacco, but they are usually made into snuff. 
Oiiflon. —1. Do potatoes succeed well after 
buckwheat? 2. What can bo the matter with 
my Lima beans ?—if Lima they are. I planted 
them around poles, as is my custom with pole 
beans, and expected to got a crop iu due time. 
Well, some came up and some did not. What 
came up grew woll and sent out runners, but 
they would not run up tho poles: we tied up 
some and then thoy would not climb; 60 wo gave 
up in despair; and here it is late in the season, 
and not a single blossom has as yet appeared, 
and no signs of any, while the vines cover the 
ground. 
Ans. —1. There is an impression on the minds 
of some farmers, that buckwheat is generally 
damaging to the fo,lowing crop. It is supposed 
to be (in some way not clearly understood) dele¬ 
terious to the soil. But as this opinion is uot 
supported by facts, it may safely be dismissed as 
a prejudice. It is true that oats are sometimes 
injurious to the crop that follows; but this arises 
from the fact that the roots of tliiH cereal tend 
to form the earth into hard lumps that are after¬ 
wards found difficult to pulverize. But it has 
uevor been proved that buckwheat has any such 
tendency, and the only way in which the latter 
can injure succeeding crops is by impoverishing 
the soil, just as all other crops do, iu proportion 
to tho amount of nutriment they take out of it 
by their own growth. To meet this case and pre¬ 
vent the exhaustion of soil, it is always safe, 
after the buckwheat Is taken off, to add for the 
next crop (whatever it may be) the following 
formulaSulphate of ammonia, 150 lbs., equiv¬ 
alent to 30 lbs. nitrogen ; muriate of potash, 80 
do. do. to 40 lbs. actual potash ; superphosphate, 
85 lbs. do. do. 12 lbs. phosphoric acid. 2. In 
regard to Lima beans, if they did not come up, 
it may have been the fault either of defective 
seed or of planting too early. The Lima is a 
very tender plant, and always thrives best in a 
warm soil. If they do not twine on the poles, it 
may be the result of a cold season, or of a sud¬ 
den spell of cold weather. If the failure to climb 
the poles is not produced by this cause, then you 
have very possibly been deceived or mistaken, 
and planted a different bean from the one you 
intended 
A. C. IF.—When is the best time to transplant 
Raspberry sets or roots, which were rooted last 
month by covering tips. I was successful in 
taking very long canes aud burying them (latter 
part of July) in such a manner as to leave two 
or three feet of the tips out, thus securing a 
cane on my young plants that will bear next 
year; had to make the old hard wood throw out 
roots which every one said it would not do, but 
I succeeded with difficulty. Tho hard wood 
throws out roots very reluctantly. Now whether 
to let them grow where they are, rooting all they 
will, till late next fall, or even not risk trans¬ 
planting till next spring, or move at once, so that 
they will get well established in their new quart¬ 
ers, is the question. Each mode has its advan¬ 
tages, and I don’t know how to decide, and have 
too many to lose. 
Ans. —We should transplant as soon as possi¬ 
ble this fall. 
A Subscriber. —There is a man here collecting 
royalty on the panel board fence. How are we to 
tell whether he is a humbug or not ? What is 
the patent ou—the panel or the hook ? 
Ans. —We refer Subscriber to our answer to 
tbe same question in our issue of Kept. 15. 
E. P. L .—I would like a little advice, if you 
ploase. Two of us have been talking about buy¬ 
ing five or six acres of land out of the city two or 
three miloB aud trying gardening. We have talked 
of putting in about one acre each of Black and 
Red Raspberries, one of Strawberries, about an 
acre of Asparagus, the other two or three acres 
to Potatoes, Cabbage, Corn, Tomatoes, do. (1.) 
How long will it be before we realize anything 
from our berries if they are set out in the fall; 
also (2) if onr Asparagus roots are about two 
years old when transplanted, how long before 
that will pay with just average production ? Can 
you (8) give any estimate whatever of what 
would be a good season’s receipts ? We neither 
of us know much about this sort of work, but 
think we can learn it by careful observation of 
what we see and from what we can hear. (4). 
About how muoh capital would it require for 
this, laud and tools excepted ? 
Ans.— 1. Three years. 2. From three to four 
years. 3. Much depends upon tho adaptation of 
the soil to Asparagus culture. Under favorable 
oircnmBtances, we should say two hundred and 
fifty dollars, per year, profit per acre. 4. Seventy- 
five dollars without manure and labor, which wo, 
of course, cannot estimate. 
A. 1). Blair, N. V. —Which is the largest 
Strawberry ? I have heard that the Great Amer¬ 
ican and Lincoln are the largest.. Some papers 
say one, some another. In the Rubal New- 
Yorker, dated Sept. 22, it was stated that the 
Lincoln was so large that it was too much for 
one mouthful. The same has been stated re¬ 
specting the Great American. I do not care for 
tastes but want to know which is the largest? 
Ans. —As to whether cither is too large for a 
mouthful, something would depend upon the size 
of the mouth. The Lincoln looks more like 
half-a-dozen Strawberries joined together ut the 
base than a single fruit. Disregarding this, 
larger specimens of this variety have been grown 
than of the American, or. indeed, than of any 
other variety of which we have any knowledge. 
J. B. M.— We have not the address of Grace 
Manning. 
JD. S. Jacobi. —It is the same as that named 
for Mr. C. H. Seymour, in last Rural, viz., 
Elater (Alaus), oculatus. 
Communications for Publication Received 
During the Week Ending September 29 . 
Mrs. W. H. S. (thank you).—Dr. A. C. W. 
“bug” not received.—A. D. Blair, (your first 
communication was rec’d and will he answered in 
its turn. We regret that it is impossible to 
answer it sooner. The Supplement is a part of 
the paper.)—Mrs. Nettie Skeels. — Eva Edgek- 
ton.— M. B. P.— G. G.— L. A. Specimen of Eu¬ 
calyptus not received.—Mrs. M. E. E. thanks.— 
L. A. R.—W. S. H.—8. P.—“ Amelia,” please 
send your address.—F. D. C.—R. II. 0.—A. E. 
B.—W. J. B.—Mrs. W. W. B.-G. W. C.—W. 
F. —G. M. D.—A. L. T.— Lisa Leaftbee, please 
send full address.—G eraldine Germane. —Mrs. 
J. J.—Mrs. M. F. HcC.—G. G.—Mrs. 8. H. R.— 
D. M. J., with pleasure.—J. W. 8 . Cwindllr, — 
G. G. (No. 2.—Addie Carpenter. 
I)airg Ijusknirg. 
PRESERVING BUTTER. 
Having read several articles in your valuable 
paper, upon making and preserving butter, some 
of which describe methods that I do not alto¬ 
gether agree with, I will give my experience in 
the same line. In the first place I will state 
that I was raised iu old Chenango, N. Y., which 
is one of the best butter counties in the State, 
and nearly all of the butteT there made is 
firkined and kept from the time it becomes yel¬ 
low in spring, until the next fall or winter, fre¬ 
quently standing a whole year before sale. You 
see, therefore, that interest, during the last 
thirty years, has made it a constant study with 
the people there how to make the best butter 
that would keep the best, and make tho best ap¬ 
pearance on the market, as well as bring the 
best price. I fully agree with the writer of the 
article in the Rural of July 28lb, that the 
butter must be good when made. I aho take 
the position that it must be freed from all impu¬ 
rities so as to render it a perfect oil. Then keep 
it in air-tight vessels in a cool place and It will 
keep as long as desired. Not being aide, how¬ 
ever, to do this here, we are obliged to salt it to 
