YHE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
and getting them ready for use. Among my 
“finds” was an old silk hat, and as it seemed 
to be of no use, I raised the griddle to put it 
in the fire; but I didn’t; instead, I ripped the 
fur off carefully, and on the crowu painted a 
picture with my needle—a spray of wild roses 
—and with the aid of an old pink sush ribbon, 
some pasteboard and—ingenuity, soon had a 
lovely handkerchief box. An old flannel 
dress has been dyed, and now good as new, 
will soon be made it to a dressing gown for 
Ernest, and with its embroidered collar and 
cuffs, will be “just nobby.” You would like 
it yourself, I know. So much for some of my 
gifts. What a long, rambling letter it is. 
Good-by, with best wishes tor yourself and 
Kate. From mary mann. 
ANOTHER FARMER’S DAUGHTER 
HEARD FROM. 
I can be silent no longer. The article from 
Perse Vere in the Woman's Department calls 
forth every thing in me to words of praise. 
She does manage splendidly. Of course we 
all appreciate the axiom, that “Cleanliness i« 
next to Godliuess,” but- that don’t meun that a 
house must have the upstair rooms swept 
every Friday morning, whether you have 
opened the doors between times or not. 
Neither does it mean that the pretty bright 
furniture that uow gives to the houses their 
bright cheerful appearance, should be covered 
up with some dull linen stuff to shut out the 
dust. Nor does it mean that ell the pictures 
on the walls should be encased in ugly colored 
tarletans to keep off tbe flies. And farther, 
it does not mean that after the house has 
been swept from top to bottom, and all dust 
thoroughly wiped away, and things made 
generally attractive, that the family is to re¬ 
tire to a little hack room to live, hardly real¬ 
izing that they possess anything else in the 
world. 
An acquaintance of mine keeps a most mar¬ 
velously clean house, and it is her sole joy 
and pride. When you call to see her, her 
conversation rims in only one channel—her 
house and her work. A favorite anecdote is 
this—“One of our workmen once mashed his 
thumb, and come to me, saying that cobwebs 
were good to stop the flow of blood, and 
asked me to find him some. We searched 
from garret to cellar, and then went to the 
smoke house, but failed to find any at all.” 
To keep her house in this perfect order, a 
grown daughter, two servants, and herself, 
are kept constantly employed with mop, 
broom aud dust brush. Bho has certainly a 
model bouse, but not a comfortable home. 
Wbal has become of Charity, that, wo have 
not heard from her for a while# She amuses 
me. I think she is about right in regard to 
armor's sons as suitors for her hand and heart; 
Mrs. J, F. R. to the contrary, notwithstanding. 
The average furmer’s son around here is not 
one that J would he willing to sit opposite to at 
the table three times a day, three hundred and 
sixty five times a year, say for thirty years, 
and then die first, having been worked to 
death. I am sure I don’t see why Charity is 
regarded as an object of pity. She eujoys 
her work. I can ituugine her now, after the 
comforting sense that all is well done for that 
day, taking up the Rural that bo* just come 
and reading with interne interest tbe lines 
that she penned with so much pleasure. And 
now that she is attracting such universal at¬ 
tention, she must be doubly interested 
l’eople find enjoyment in different things, 
and employment in various ways, therefore 1, 
unlike Charity, do not have to milk; but 
there is one thing that we can all agree on, 
and that is this, our admiration for the 
Rural. kay. 
--■ - 
American travelers, it is said, have so often 
handled the leaf in the marriage register, in 
Haworth Church on which the name of Char¬ 
lotte Bronte is inscribed that it is falling to 
pieces. 
Domestic (Ccortomi) 
CONDUCTED BY EMIJ Y MAPLE. 
PITHS. 
Label every bottle of medicine that comes 
into your house, and put poisonous drugs, like 
paregoric, laudanum, carbolic acid, etc,, out 
of the reach of children—and be sure that 
they are out of their reach. 
Velvet will be worn more than ever this 
Winter. 
Haug a thermometer in your living-room, 
aud see to it that the temperature does not go 
above ~:i degrees. 
Never be guilty of giving a child paregoric 
or soothiug sirup for the purpose of putting 
it to sleep 
The hair is now arranged high on the head. 
An excellent practice in cold weather, is to 
rub yourself all over with a crash towel before 
dressing. 
To be greedy of praise proves that we are 
not deserving of it. 
There is nothing more disagreeable for a 
wife than to hear from her husband how his 
mother cooked so and so. 
It is not economy to go without flannel 
and thick clothing in Winter. 
Nevcrseold or punish a child if, upon ques¬ 
tioning, be tells you the truth. 
Young ladies, give your gentlemen friends 
to understand that your doors are closed at 
half-past ten or eleven o’clock. If that of¬ 
fends them, ’tis well that you are rid of their 
company— yentlethen will think the more of 
you for it. 
Don’t compel a child to wear an article 
of clothing for which he has an especial dis 
like. 
Young married people will find that there 
will be more happiness for them it they go to 
housekeeping independent of relatives on both 
sides. 
Don’t crowd your rooms with cheap brio a - 
brae. 
It is not “airs” that make oue object to a 
person puttiug his knife into the batter or 
serving himself and others with food from his 
own knife and fork. Such disregard of other 
people’s feelings is mean and selfish. 
■ »»♦ ■ — .1 
SERVANTS. 
The more fully we enlist the confidence and 
affection of our domestics, the more faith¬ 
fully will they serve us, i, e„ it Christian 
character is the basis of their good qualities. 
Teach a young girl to love the beautiful, aud 
she will in time, take pride in keeping the 
rooms of her mistress neat aud tidy. Ser¬ 
vant* are human beings, and treated as such, 
and by love and kindness, will be far more liable 
to prove efficient help. Kind words impel 
towards improvement—nothiug is gained by 
harshness. mrs. j. e. e. 
--»♦« 
LITTLE THINGS. 
Little Jennie aud her mother had come to 
take tea with me. As they came in, Jennie 
handed me a bunch or wild flowers, that she 
had gathered on the road side. “How very 
beautiful!” 1 exclaimed as l held them up for 
close inspection. Bridget brought a vase 
filled with water, and the bouquet of wild 
flowers stood in the middle of the iittiug-room 
table. “Jennie is very fond of flowers, and 
she will ueverforgot your enthusiasm,” said 
her mother. Are not all children alike iu 
their love for natural ob jects# Any young 
child will stoop to pick a flower the most in- 
siguificaut on the wayside, and ask you, in 
lisping accent, if It is uot “pitey.” God seems 
to have implanted the love of nature in 
children's miuds, and the love of the beautiful 
will grow in proportion to the encouragement 
given by older personshaving them iu charge. 
But parents do not realize this. Mothers are 
engrossed with family cares, and have no 
time for such things. Iu fact, it is uot so 
. much the waut of time, as the lack of interest 
with most persons. The time is never want¬ 
ing for idle, frivolous talk, and children 
are uot slow to find this out. 
When tea was ready, the bouquet wus traus 
fered from the sitting-room to the tea table, 
to Jennie’s delight; while mamma murmured 
that it was hardly worth the while to make 
so much fuss over a few weeds! “Hardly 
worth the while.” Ah! There is the rub. 
Why not make the child happy, if so simple 
an act on my part could make her so# The 
weeds were a few yellow buttercups, the very 
ones we used to hold under our chins to see 
who loved butter, a dear little cluster of white- 
daisies, relatives of the lovely marguerites, a 
long sprig of grass resembling Quake Grass, 
the Fot-tail Grass aud the wild carrot, which 
the child says is poisonous. Will somebody 
tell me if this is so? 
[It is very acrid, but not poisonous, unless 
eaten in quantity, e. m.J 
Mrs. Smith, my next neighbor, comes in 
every Sunday noon after returning from 
church, aud expects to carry home the Rural 
New-Yorker. “It, can't be beat”, said she 
last Sunday. “ Hand it round to your next 
neighbor,” said I, “its too good to lie on the 
shelf. The recipes are well worth trying. 
“I thinkthe woman who wrote that ?'—and she 
placed her finger at the heading “A Word to 
Those Who Can Understand' —“understands 
my rase exactly. It fits me to a T.” Mrs. 
Smith is one of the seven wonders to me, do¬ 
ing all her own house work, her washing, 
ironing and mondiug and, withal, is ever 
ready to oxtend a helping hand to her friends 
and neighbors Last Monday morning she 
left her washing and came into my house wip¬ 
ing her hands on heraprou. “Did you know,” 
said she, “that a baby died a few days ago 
near us. They are strangers- have been here 
but four weeks. I will give them some white 
flowers aud will you send them some of your 
Tuberoses# I know just how that poor mother 
feels,” and the tears were in her eyes. I cer¬ 
tainly felt self-condemned when l was thank¬ 
ed that afternoon for the flowers, which lay 
around the dead child. 1 should not have 
thought of sending them but for Mrs. Smith. 
Walking home from the funeral, she com¬ 
mented on the long and harrowing address of 
the minister, and its effect upon the mother, 
while I wondered if he had ever lost a child 
of his own. 
REMEMBER THE CHILDREN. 
In our passage through life, how frequently 
do we hear the aged, and middle-aged also, 
regret the absence of children in their homes. 
And I have been thinking that we, who aie 
blessed in having those treasures, do not 
realize as wo should the dreariness of life 
without them. Let us then, dear Rural 
mothers, enter more fully into their joys, and 
sorrows,—seek their confidence, romp with 
them a short time ouch day, and try not to for¬ 
get in the hurry and bustle of life that a por 
tiou of our time does rightfully belong to 
them, Iu their innocent companionship we 
shall roceivea blessing also, and m their warm 
and tender affections our hearts will melt in 
loving sympathy mrh, j e. katon. 
--» » »- 
PRESERVING GRAPES. 
While putting up grapes a year ago, I used 
my last cuu, and was at a loss to know what 
to do with the remainder, of which I bad 
quite a large quantity. My sister from Michi¬ 
gan, who was visitiug me, said, “Why, l 
never can grapes;” aud then she told me how 
she kept them, simply by putting in jars, a 
layer of sugar and then one of grapes, and so 
on until the jar was full, plucing a light 
weight, such as a saucer, on top, aud tying a 
paper over the jar. I was delighted with such 
an easy way of disposing of them, and put 
down three gallons according to directions. 
They will settle down considerably, aud the 
juice is clear, sparkling wine. They are ex¬ 
cellent for mince plea, used in the place of 
raisins, putting iu the juice also instead of 
cider or vinegar. Now grape-time has come 
again, uud 1 have been busy the past week 
caring for them. Besides the above method 
and canning 1 have made preserves, grape 
butter, and jelly. I removed the seeds from 
the grapes for preserving, which is done as 
follows:—Squeeze the pulp from the skin aud 
put them in different receptacles; when you 
have euough for the quantity you wish to 
make, boll the pulps in a preserving pau uutil 
the seeds separate; thou sift through a coarse 
sieve. Return the pulp to the pun, and add 
the skins; let boil a few minutes to make 
them tender, before adding the sugar. 1 used 
three quarters of a pound of sugar to one 
pound of Concord Grapes. Sour grapes will 
require pound for pound. Weigh the grapes 
before separating the pulps from the skins. 
After puttiug in the sugar boil half an hour, 
then ski n out the skins and boil the sirup 
some time longer and seal up hot, or, use 
open jars, letting the preserves cool before 
tying writing paper, wet with the white of an 
over the top. I canned a large quantity 
tor pies simply by boiling whole grapes and 
sugar together. Though they will keep just 
as well without sugar, if air-tight, grapes arc 
cauued to look nicely by making a sirup of 
sugar and water, and, when boiled down 
pretty thick, dropping in the whole grapes. 
They will keep tlieir shupe and color very 
nicely. Boil just euough to heat them 
through. I always take the surplus juice 
when canning to make jelly, as there is 
euough from every four quarts of canned 
grapes to make a tumblerful. Common stone 
jugs are nice for grapes, tomatoes, and elder¬ 
berries, and I must mid here that grapes and 
elderberries are excellent canned together, for 
pies. 
I made a small quantity of grape butter. I 
boiled the grapes until tender, without sugar, 
rubbed them through the sieve, returned to 
the pan and added sugar—three-fourths of a 
pound to one of grapes—aud boiled down 
thick. It is very nice. 
Perhaps all who read the Rural know 
about laying dowu grupes in bunches for 
table use in Winter, though it may be new to 
some young housekeepers:—Select the nicest 
clusters and dip the steins in melted wax. Lay 
on shelves in a cool place, with paper between 
the layers. They will keep a long time. 
FANNY FLETCHER. 
DOMESTIC RECIPES. 
, TO WASH A RAO CARPET. 
Free from dust and lay on the grass. With 
u stiff broom scrub it well with hot soapsuds. 
I hen scrub it with clean, hot water, after 
which rinse itoff with clean, cold water, hang 
up and dry, If Very dirty, scrub it with the 
suds on both sides. After it is dry. lay it ou 
the grass and sweep off. mbs. b. k. 
EGGS AND TOAST. 
Put a quart of milk (more if your family is 
large) on the back of the stove to heat. When 
boiling-hot, drop iu eggs, the same as you 
would poach them in water. Use care uot to 
burn the milk. Toast some thin slices of 
bread; butter and place on a platter. When 
the eggs are done, place oue on each piece of 
toast, season the milk and pour over. Good 
for a change. COUNTRY cook. 
GREEN TOMATO SOY. 
Two gallons of green tomatoes sliced with¬ 
out peeling; V> good-sized onions peeled and 
sliced; two quarts of viuogur, one quart of 
sugar, four tablespoonfuls of salt, two table¬ 
spoon fills each of ground mustard and black 
pepper, one each of ground allspice aud 
cloves. Put the vinegar, sugar, salt and 
spice on to heat. When boiling, put in the 
onions and cook slowly ”0 minutes; then add 
the si iced tomato; cover with cabbage leaves: 
draw to the back of the stove and let stand 
one hour. Tlio quantity of sugar given may 
make it too sweet for some, iu which case a 
half or two thirds would answer. 
LEMON CAKE. 
Two cups of sugar, one-half cup of water, 
five eggs, the white of one being left out for 
icing, two cups of flour, the rind and juice of 
a lemon and two small teaspoonfuls of baking 
powder. Bake in jelly tins. For icing: beat 
the white stiff, add powdered sugar and the 
juice and riml of a lemon. It should be Quite 
stiff. 
FANNIE’S PUDDING. 
One quart of milk, the yelks of four eggs, 
one-half Cup of sugar, two tablespoon fuls of 
corn starch dissolved in a very little of the 
milk,and a pinch of salt. Scald the milk, add 
the corn-starch, sugar, and beaten yelks. Cook 
a few moments, being careful not to burn. 
Flavor uud pour intoa deep dish. Cover w ith 
the whites beaten stiff and mixed with four 
table-spoonfuls of sugar. Brown lightly in 
the oven. Eat cold. 
COTTAGE PUDDING. 
One cup of sugar, one-half cup of butter, 
one egg, one cup of sweet milk, three cups of 
prepared dour, or three cups of flour and two 
teaspoonfulsof baking powder. Eat hot with 
the following sauce; three cups of boiling 
water, one cup of sugar, three tablespoon l ulu 
of corn sturcli dissolved iu a little water, but¬ 
ter the size of an egg, juice uud grated rind of 
one lemon. The saucb should cook until clear. 
MRB JOHN VOORHIS. 
RICE MERINGUE PUDDING. 
One quart of new milk, a small cup of rice 
well washed, a cup of sugar, four eggs beaten 
light, two tablespoonfuls of butter, a small 
quantity of grated lemon peel. Souk the rice 
iu a part of the milk for two hours, turn into 
a l'arina kettle (u tin pail in a kettle of boiling 
water answers well), add the rest of the milk, 
and simmer until the rice is tender. Rub the 
butter and sugar to a cream, to it add the 
beaten eggs. Let the rice bo partly cold when 
you add the butter,sugar and eggs. Stir all to 
gether, put into a buttered dish and bake in a 
moderate oven one half hour. Then draw to 
the door of the oven and cover with a mix¬ 
ture mude as follows: whites of four eggs 
beaten stiff, two spoonfuls of powdered sugar, 
juice of one lemon. Spread over evenly. 
Close the door and brown delicately. 
mhh. c. 
■ ■ ■ 1 — O 
CHINCH BUGS. 
I would like some one to tell me, through 
the Rural, the best way to make papered 
walls chinch proof. Is it a good way to put 
corrosive sublimate In the paste? I have no 
experience in such tilings, and will be very 
thankful for advice. M. h. s. 
[The chinch bug is not a house-infesting 
pest: its depredations are confined exclusively 
to out door vegetation. Some other bug must, 
therefore, be indicated here.—E d. J 
-- 
II or* lord's Acl<l l*lioxpliatc. 
Valuable iu ludiuenfion. 
Dr. Daniel f. Nelson, Chicago, says: “I 
find it a pleasant and valuable remedy in in 
digestion, particularly iu overworked men ” 
Adr. 
