FEH7 
At a party, the hostess said hastily to a 
guest, “ I want you to entertain Mr. Blank a 
little. He looks bored to death. I will intro¬ 
duce him, and you must try to amuse him. 
You know his strong point is Buddha, on which 
he has written a bock. I wouldn’t for the 
world have him remain a moment here un¬ 
amused. He becomes so sarcastic when out 
of temper.” The lady • guest graciously under¬ 
took the task of entertaining the man, in¬ 
wardly wondering that he should be so much 
interested in butter—of which she knew very 
little—when his face indicated a mind given 
to much profound thinking. However, with 
butter in view, she began on the weather, 
gradually got to the country, then on to a 
farm, from that to cows, and at last to batter. 
The man looked more bored than ever, the 
magic word producing not the slightest effect, 
and he left her somewhat abruptly, and soon 
withdrew from the house. “ 1 did my best,” 
she explained to the hostess. ' ‘ I went through 
agonies to prove that I was deeply interested 
in butter, but it was all vain.” “Butter I” 
exclaimed the hostess. “ What possessed you 
to talk to that man, of all men, of butter ? 
I told you he had just written a book on 
Buddha, and I knew how deeply you, too^ 
were interested in the same subject.” And 
they said in chorus, “ Gracious !” 
♦ ♦ »- - 
A MUSCULAR and energetic negro revivalist 
is at work in Little Rock. “I sees a good many 
ole tuffs in dis house,” he said, in one of his 
meetings, “an’ I wauts ’em to come up to de 
mourner’s bench right now, Bey’s got ter 
com*. De Loard doan say I wish you would 
do anything, but says yon’s got do it. Firm¬ 
ness is religion. De Rock of Ages is made 
outen flint. Mr. Johnson,” said the preacher, 
addressing a sinner, “come up an’ put yer 
head on dis bench. I’se played kyards wid 
yer, but you’s got ter reform. Come on, I 
tells you. Is yer com ini” “No, I isn’t,” said 
Mr. Johnson. “Den I’ll fetch yer. Vote's* 
been standin’ off de preachers long ’nongh. ” 
The preacher left the pulpit, advanced to 
where Mr. Johnson was standing, and caught 
him by the collar. The two men began 
struggling, and confusion prevailed; but Mr. 
Johnson was dragged to the bench. 
Domestic Certotmj 
CONDUCTED BY EMILY M.. >LF. 
HOUSEKEEPING EXPERIENCE OF A 
CITY GIRL WHO MARRIED 
A FARMER. 
ANNIE L. JACK. 
In many respects my home was above the 
average of farm houses in the vicinity, and 
the first Bummer of my life there I did not 
feel at liberty to criticise or change my sur¬ 
rounding. It is true I did suggest to Richard, 
on my first arrival, that “1 should be glad if 
the men would chop down all the burdocks;” 
but he only said, “Very well, if you will 
superintend the work I. shall be glad to have 
it done.” But the time did not come, and I 
suppose never will for us 10 have the ideal 
greensward that I should rejoice iu; for 
every season it seems to be the clover and 
lawn grasses that get killed in Winter and the 
weeds survive. But at this time I was young 
and zealous and hopeful, though there was all 
round a strong growth of thistle and wild 
parsnip, burdock and numberless lesser weeds. 
I ventured to suggest that tne wood pile be 
removed a little further from the kitchen 
door, for the decay ing wood and moldy chips 
were unpleasant to sight and smell in Sum¬ 
mer, aub ou these slight hints Richard hired a 
carpenter and had a new woodshed built, the 
ground thoroughly raked, and the chips given 
away to a poor neighbor who gathered up the 
accumulation of many years and left me bare 
ground on which to sow a little short white 
clover and other grasses. There were two 
o'd corn houses that were an eyesore to me, 
for they did not hold corn only, but were a 
leaning place for all the disabled cart wheels 
and farm implements, pieces of old iron, last 
year’s scythes, or anything else that rtquired 
a resting place. The hens crept iu to feast on 
the corn in Autumn, and it was also a hiding 
place for other animals. To these buildings 
I had a decided antipathy, especially as they 
hid a view of the orchard and of the L.r-off 
fields, and a distant woodland. So, when 
Richard proposed they should be removed to 
the back of the buildings, as handier for 
carrying the corn, I was very grateful, and 
the removal of the adjoining feuce left ns a 
clear view and caused the house to appear as if 
set right in the middle of an apple wood. 
The house being of rough stone, had a 
strong and comfortable appearance—its dor¬ 
mer windows, green blinds, and gray shading 
made it very pleasaut and restful to look 
Upon. “Cool in Summer and warm in Win¬ 
ter” was its true character, and nothing could 
or need be done to it. But close up to the 
doors grew wheat, oats or barley, with a 
patch of potatoes among the apple trees, and 
there seemed no thought of fresh, crisp vege¬ 
tables, or an extent of flowers. Two round 
beds cut out of the Bward were all the floral 
ornamentation, one being filled with pansies 
and the other with geraniums and fuschias, 
that were well cared for by the master. I 
have often wondered at the lack of interest 
farmers in general take in a garden. Of late 
years I have observed that many come to see 
our fruit, and are interested in new varieties, 
but seem to consider the garden hardly worthy 
of notice unices some choice grape vine hap¬ 
pens to flourish there. 
There was a beautiful slope cn the south 
side of the house, that bad been planted ten 
years previous in apple trees, tender sorts 
that did not thrive very well in our ungenial 
climate. They were in rows 28 feet apart one 
way and a little less the other, and after the 
ground was plowed and harrowed, a path 
about three feet wide was made along each 
row of trees, and the ground laid off into beds 
for onions, beets, carrots, etc., the ridge near¬ 
est the house being reserved for flowers, and 
the one furthest away being devoted to cur¬ 
rant and gooseberry bushes, set in straight 
rows so as to be cultivated with a horse. I 
remember what pleasure I took in my seed 
sowing, and how well the plants grew that 
season so that I found I had to thin gener¬ 
ously. My flowers were chiefly annual; 
only a few old damask roses that bloomed 
without any care, and such shrubs as the lilac 
and snowball being perennial. And for a 
long time we were afraid to try any others, 
not knowing what novelties would survive 
our Winter. The Rural had not then done 
its valuable work of experimenting, and our 
latitude was very dubious for auy but the 
hardiest plants. What a step in advance it 
will be when our large cities establish their 
arboretnras or Jardins d’ Acclimatization, to 
educate the young horticulturists. Tneu we 
shall be encouraged to plant what has been 
tested and proved suitable for our climate; 
our children will be studying botany while 
learning the names and habits of auy new 
favorites, and those who commence life, as 1 
did, without practical knowledge, will be 
guided in making selections. But though not 
wealth, it brought me health, aud I took a 
pride in my choice vegetables and fruits and 
flowers. The dear, tranquilizing garden! X 
used to carry baby out and put him under an 
apple tree in the wicker clothes-basket 
while I worked among my plants, and in that 
labor through many failures I learned lessons 
of patience and faith and courage to look be¬ 
yond disappointments, and my lullaby song 
was many times: 
“ O Painter of the fruits and flowers, 
We ttiauk Thee for Tny wise design, 
Whereby these iiumaa hands of ours 
In Nature's garden work with Thine. 
And thanks that from our dally need 
Tho joy of simple taith is born. 
That he who smites t he bummer weed 
May trust Thee for the Autumn corn;" 
Yet bow hard the Summer weeds are to keep 
“ smitten.” If only one smiting would do!— 
but then they come again after every Summer 
shower, like evil deeds that will crop up 
again. But baby lived a happy existeuee 
and soon began to geek for himself the untried 
paths around the homestead. He was wilful 
and self-asserting, with an obstinacy that was 
part of his nature, aud it required some Arm 
ness to bring him out of the center of my 
flower plots, where he trampled in/pete and 
pulled off the blossoms recklessly. But a lit¬ 
tle sternness, and he soon learned to Keep the 
pathways, a discipline that, sooner or later, 
every child must undergo, and how much 
better in the loved old garden than to wait 
till he begins to trespass on the walks of ev¬ 
ery- day life! 
RUTH KENT’S DINNER. 
M\' husband was in the parlor talking with 
a gentleman friend while 1 was sewing in the 
dining-room, anxiously fearing he « ould come 
out and say something about dinner. 1 was 
very busy and had planned to have only a 
bowl of bread and milk at noon aud a warm 
meal ut night, for it was one of November’s 
short, gloomy days. Yes, at last it came: 
“Mr. Foote will soay to dinner with me if you 
can have it in an hour. He must leave on the 
next train. Haven’t you got some oysters or 
something you can get easily )” 
• * Oh, if l only hadl” X sighed, as the parlor 
door closed again, but what have 1 t Nothing 
—the bread is stale, uo pie or pudding, aud no 
meat, nothing but a cau of fresh Balmou. 
Again came Che thought of oysters and then 
the inspiration of scalloped salmon. Quickly 
I opened the can and, pouring off the oil, filled 
it with hot water and set it back on the stove. 
Then put ou a sauce pan with a piut of milk, 
a good sized piece of butter, salt and pepper. 
When it boiled I thickened it with a little 
corn-starch (flour would answer but is not 
quite as nice). I took out my fish on a plate 
and nlashed it fine, then covered the bottom 
of a pudding-dish with bread crumbs, sprin¬ 
kled on a layer of fish, then some gravy; again 
the bread, fish, gravy, ending with crumbs. I 
put it In the oven to bake half an hour. That 
done, quickly I went to the milk-room and got 
some sour cream and soon had some biscuits 
in the oven; put on my potatoes, which I had 
already prepared for supper, made a cup of 
coffee, opened a can of peaches, and by the 
time my table was set everything was ready 
and the hour just up. I trembled when my 
husband said ' What- have we here I” as he 
tasted the salmon which he had called oysters 
when he dished it, but was reassured when 
our guest answered for me, “we will call it 
very nice, whatever it is; tell me how you 
made it so I can tell my wife.” 
Since then, for a warm supper, I have often 
varied the dish by stirring the fish and bread 
crumbs into the thickened milk and cooking 
it like codfish, with or without potatoes. 
Picked and freshened codfish is very nice pie- 
pared like scalloped oysters, and makes a nicer 
looking dish than the ordinary way of pre¬ 
paring it. MRS. M. R B. 
SNAPS. 
ADELINE E. STORY'. 
Wuen the turning of sheets has been neg¬ 
lected till the center is too much worn to al¬ 
low of it, pillow-cases may be made of the 
outer portions if one does not mind having a 
seam along each side of the case. They will 
wear a long time. 
We dried our sweet corn last Summer with¬ 
out the five-minutes’ boiling we used to give it 
“ to set the milk.” It was cut from the cob 
raw, then put into a pan over a kettle of boil¬ 
ing wattr and stirred occasionally till scalded 
through, and then dried. We find it so good 
that we regret not having dried more of it, 
where as heretofore dried corn was something 
not much cared for in our family. 
Ladies’ merino hose, when past wear, make 
nice stockiDgs for the little ones by being cut 
down and made over. Of course there will 
be a seam from top to heel, but they are none 
the worse for that, even in looks. 
I have lately eaten tomatoes put up by a 
friend in tin, that were so much superior to 
mine in glass—even to those that kept best— 
that I shall be tempted to use tin cans in the 
future, though 1 confess to having had a pre¬ 
judice against them. That tomatoes can be 
kept in glass, I know, though my own efforts 
to save them are often a failure. A neighbor 
assures me that she finds it no more difficult 
to keep tomatoes than other fruit. She uses 
the Mason jars, cooks thoroughly and adds a 
little salt, just what will be wanted when 
eaten. That her tomatoes come out sweet and 
good I can testify, though they certainly lack 
the flavor of those kept in tin. 
The practice, so common with some, of al¬ 
lowing children to play about the room or to 
be tossed from the arms of one member of the 
family to another after they are undressed for 
the night, is one so fraught with danger that 
it is a wonder any sensible person will allow 
it. The child, it it enjoys the frolto in its 
night-dress—and loose-fitting and affording 
perfect freedom of limb, as these dresses inva¬ 
riably are, what child does noti—will be likely 
to keep it up for a long time without showing 
a sign of being chilled. Children will seem¬ 
ingly take no notice of the cold if there is auy 
fun going on iu which they can join, but the 
midnight croup or the sore throat which often 
follows indulgences of this sort, shows that 
even a child may feel more than it shows. 
When a little one is made ready for bed it 
should be put there at once, and in the morn¬ 
ing it should be dressed as soon as up, even 
though all the work iu the house must come 
to a stand-still to allow of it. 
If a woman is a farmer why not call her 
simply that aud nothing else, just as we are 
dropping the word authoress fur author with¬ 
out regard to sex? But, if she does not carry 
ou a farm herself, as comparatively few 
women do, aud if we must have a word by 
which to designate the person whose business 
it is to play second fiddle upon the farm, the 
wife, mother or sister of the uias who thrives 
by the plow, need we take one the very sound 
of which is so suggestive of littleness as is the 
word farmerine t It is enough to make a 
high-minded woman throw up her chicken 
dough aud pack off to the nearest village to 
become an independent member of society by 
right of the proprietorship of a peanut stand. 
I enjoy' reading Mary Wager-Fisher’s 
articles. Besides being well written, they are 
sensible and contain many helpful suggestions. 
But I could not repress a smile at her idea of 
staying at home, though 1 know it was given 
by way of comparison. Who among our 
many care-worn wives of farmers would not 
find it delightful to stay at home after that 
fashion. “ A merry {drive of a few miles 
over superb roads in the cool of the evening.” 
Why, I will venture to say that the majority 
of farmers’ wives in these United States of 
America do not see the outside of their own 
gates oftener than once a fortnight (to put it 
mildly) unless it is to go to church, and even 
there they are beckoned away from the little 
chat they naturally would like to indulge in 
with neighbors and friends, by the “ men 
folks,” who have plenty of better opportuni¬ 
ties for talk with neighbors and who when 
church iB *‘ out ” think of nothing so much as 
of getting home to a good dinner. Of course, 
it would be a grand thing for farmers and 
their “dves to have an outing such as mo9t 
people nowadays—and many of them with far 
less need—think they must have in order to 
live; but what by far the greater portion of 
the women iu the rural districts need first of 
all is a chance to get head and shoulders far 
enough above the scum of the dish-water to 
feel at liberty to go out if they like, to read, 
to think of something besides what is to be 
got for the next meal. 
DOMESTIC RECIPES. 
COUGH MIXTURE. 
One half pint molasses, one gill of cider 
vinegar and 20 drops of oil of tar. Put into a 
bottle and shake well before using. Dose: A 
teaspoonful several times during the day. 
EXCELLENT LINIMENT. 
Take equal parts each of sweet oil, ammo¬ 
nia and turpentine, addiDg double the quan¬ 
tity of alcohol as of any other ingredient used. 
Put together and shake each time before using. 
Miss L. Voorhis. 
RAISED DOUGHNUTS. 
Make at night a sponge same as one would 
for bread, using a quart of water, half a tea¬ 
cupful of home-made yeast or two-thirds of a 
yeast cake with flour to make quite stiff. In 
the morning mix in two beaten eggs, half a 
cup of melted butter, half a cup of sugar, a 
little salt and cinnamon or nutmeg to flavor. 
Add flour enough to be able to handle. 
Roll out about half an inch thick, cut into 
squares, put on a floured plate in a warm 
place for 20 minutes. Drop into very hot 
lard aud cook carefully. Take out, drain and 
roll in powdered sugar. Mary B. 
QUESTIONS ANSWERED. 
PHILADELPHIA ICE-CREAM. 
How is the above cream made ? I am told 
that ice-cream can be made without eggs and 
without heating. If so, how is it done! 
Frank Philip. 
Ans.—W e cannot do better in answering 
your questions than to republish a recipe for 
ice cream which was contributed by “ Chief 
Cook” in Rural of May 28, 1881. page 859: 
The ingredients for iee-cream of the finest 
quality are as simple as those for pound cuke 
—only cream (not milk), sugar and flavor. 
Notice that there are no eggs, no corn-staich, 
no boiling, no nonsense. Take fresh cream. 
To every quart add a half-pound of pulver¬ 
ized sugar; mix these well in the freezer; do 
not add the flavor till the cream is partly 
frozen. The freezer of (such size as will hold 
twice as much cream as you put in it) must 
be placed in a wooden tub three inches larger 
all around, and six inches higher when cov¬ 
ered. Break up some ice t« the size of wal¬ 
nuts; set the freezer in and throw in some 
salt—about one quarter the bulk of the ice. 
Coarse salt is best, but any kind will do. Fill 
up around tbe freezer w ithin three inches of 
its top when uncovered, with alternate layers 
of ice and salt in the same proportion as be¬ 
fore. Let the cream and sugar stand until 
they begin to freeze around the sides of the 
freezer; then begin to beat with an ice-cream 
beater, the only tool which will make superior 
iee-cream. This is a tin paddle something in 
the shape of a spoon, with a stout wooden 
handle about as thick as a broom-bandle. 
Tho beater may be six inches long by' four 
inches wide. Any tinman who makes freezers 
cau make one. Bet the freezer in its tub 
where you cau walk around it, and beat the 
cream by a peculiar stroke down tbe sides of 
tho freezer, so as to scrape at every stroke the 
frozen creaui from its sides; continue this 
until the w'hole mass is perfectly line, aud 
until the cream has risen till the freezer is 
nearly full. This is the perfection of ice¬ 
cream making. W hen so far done cover it 
up, fill up to the top of the tub with ice and 
salt as before; lay a blanket or piece of carpet 
overall; set away in a cool place for three 
hours to ripen. Then serve gencrou&lv, as 
very few people, except in Philadelphia (where 
this mode is universal), ever get such a dish. 
Servo two flavors ou the same plate, like 
lemon and strawberry, etc. Flavors of all 
kinds cau be purchased at grocers’ and drug¬ 
gists’ stores, and may' be added to suit the 
taste; a flavor may be too rich, but never let 
it be poor. If lemon or orange juice, or the 
