as some of our neighbors, but shall get a heap 
more satisfaction out of our work. We know 
some very excellent women who do their 
cleaning upon the principle pursued by the 
redoubtable Mrs. Ma eStinger, when she left 
Captain Cuttle cast away upon an islaud of 
dry floor in the midst of an ocean of soap and 
water. They leave no rest for the sole of one’s 
foot, from garret to cellar, and make life 
seem a howling waste to every other member 
of the family. 
In the haste to get this work over stoves are 
often removed too early, and an epidemic of 
colds aud infinity of discomfort are the result. 
In our uncertain climate it is a very bold step 
to remove stoves before the end of May at any 
rate. Two or three years ago we recollect a 
week of easterly storms in June tbat rendered 
stoves eminently desirable, aud many were 
the ailments caused by cold rooms, whence 
stoves were removed at cleauing time. 
It is the general idea that at tliis seasou 
one’s system needs cleansing, as well as one’s 
household, a nd tbe result is a flood of nostrums 
for this purpose. Well, we should imagine 
that people who have been living ou salt meats, 
hot cakes, and few esculents all winter would 
need some physical repairs, though simpler 
living and an increase in the vegetable part o r 
the diet are the most sensible remedies. But 
if additional medicine were required we would 
rather pin our faith on honest, old fashioned 
sulphur and molasses, than on all tbe drugs in 
the materia rnedica. A matutinal dose of 
English brimstone and treacle is one of our 
most hallowed childish memories, and we view 
this medicine with sympathetic respect. 
Springtime means something besides blue¬ 
birds ami violets to the house-mother aud her 
brood, but we can afford to take a little en¬ 
joyment as we go along, in spite of house¬ 
cleaning or brimstone aud treacle. 
CARE OF CLOTHING. 
ECONOMIST. 
Did you ever notice how much longer one 
woman will wear a dress than her sister or 
neighbor, and how much better dressed she 
will appear, although you remember quite 
well that their uew suits were purchased and 
made up at the same time, and at about the 
same cost ? A peep at their respective closets, 
wardrobes and bureau drawers would prove 
a solution of the apparent mystery. In one 
case you will find dresses unbrushed, jumbled 
together, and hung up in the most slovenly 
maimer. In the other, carefully brushed and 
aired garments, neatly hung aud protected 
from dust. A habit of taking care of clothes 
should be inculcated in children while they 
are young. A child of six may be taught to 
brush his or her own dresses and shoes, and 
they soon will acquire a pleasure in sncli du¬ 
ties, aud a pride in the ueatuess of their per¬ 
sonal appearance that is a very desirable trait 
in old and young. It is a somewhat popular 
fallacy that a slovenly attire is a sign of gen¬ 
ius If a want of neatness aud cleanliness is 
your only claim to genius you will scarcely 
set the Rhine on fire. 
The proper care of clothing not only makes 
it last much longer but makes it look much 
better while it does last. A soft manilla brush 
should be kept for hats, bonnets and silk 
dresses. Whisks are so still aud harsh that 
they would injure delicate fabrics.. 
Coats aud cloaks should always be huug ou 
the little wooden frames that come for the 
purpose. The wire ones are cheaper, but they 
need covering with some soft material to keep 
garments from creasing over their edges. I 
have seen very estimable people hang up cloaks 
without even a loop of braid, by tbe neck or 
by the armhole and even their good qualities 
did not blind one to the untidy appearance of 
their clothes in consequence of this carelessness. 
Woolen dresses, in fact dresses of any mater¬ 
ial except wash goods, are better hung than 
folded, but if the latter is ucocssary ou account 
of lack of closet room, then they should be 
folded right side out. This is also the proper 
way to hang them as they crease much less 
than those which are hung wrong side out. 
They should be protected from dust, even if 
kept in a closet (the door of which through the 
carelessness of children or servants is aptto be 
left open) by a curtain made from an old sheet 
or soft, old calico. It would lie well to label 
your clothes closet as your physieiau does his 
medicine phials, “when taken to be well 
shaken.” A woolen dress or cloak should be 
brushed every time it has been worn, anduired 
at least once a week. Dress skirts should be 
hung by two loops of braid sewn ou the belt 
at either side. Your stitch in time will never 
save nine more surely than if employed in re¬ 
placing a dress braid as soon as it begins to 
wear, as in this case the facing will be saved 
while if allowed to go too long, the latter be¬ 
comes fringed und worn and must also be re¬ 
placed. Damp dresses should bu removed us 
soon as possible, and huug to dry j.n spefia po¬ 
sition that they will not creftge, 
Wash dresses will stay clean much longer if 
they are folded smoothly when taken off, in¬ 
stead of hanging them, when unless they have 
a whole closet to themselves, they get badly 
rumpled from the pressure a ud contact of other 
dresses. 
The neat appearance of the feet have much 
to do with giving a person a well-dressed air. 
Dainty gloves and boots will carry off credit¬ 
ably an otherwise shabby attire, while the 
richest garments will pass unnoticed if the 
wearer has dirty, torn gloves, or buttonless, 
unblacked boots. Nothing looks more untidy 
than a run-over heel, and if you eanuot afford 
to have the heels of your boots built up as of¬ 
ten as they run over, then resign yourself to a 
sensible, flat. English heel. To my mind there 
is nothing more uugraceful than an extreme¬ 
ly high French hcel.unloss it bo the gait 
of the wearer. You need not feel shabby even 
if your boots and gloves are old, so long as the 
latter are nicely mended, aud the former has 
straight heels, buttons sewed on snugly, aud 
the pa tches are hidden by a nice coat of black¬ 
ing. Old slippers can be made to look very 
nice by placing a bow of ribboo, satin, silk or 
velvet over the toe. It will cover a multitude 
of sins in the way of old age, and the wear 
and tear of long use. 
- •» * » 
REMINISCENCES OF AN OLD HOUSE¬ 
KEEPER.—NO. 4. 
MRS. S. H. ROWELL. 
One evening when baby was almost a year 
old, my husband received a letter from his 
mother, saying, that, if it would be convenient 
and agreeable, she would come and stay a few 
weeks with us, she wanted to see the little 
grandchild, aud get more acquainted with 
her daughter-in-law. Well we were very 
glad to have her come, and I arranged my 
guest chamber with great care, to ha ve every¬ 
thing in order to make her happy and com¬ 
fortable. I must confess, however, that I had 
a trembling under my basque, for my husband 
hail such an exalted idea of his mother’s cook¬ 
ing and housekeeping, that I was afraid that I 
should be found lacking in some essential de¬ 
partment. I had never met her but twice 
since my marriage?, and only once previous; 
so my acquaintance was rather limited, but 1 
was resolved that she should like me, and I 
would spare no pains to produce such a re¬ 
sult. The day we expected her, 1 dressed the 
little one in its best attire, and seated her in 
the baby wagon on the porch, while I donned 
a span new dress in her honor. I do not 
think there was a speck of dust to be found in 
oue of my rooms, the windows were as bright 
aud clean as crystal; how I did work to have 
everything just right. 
My husbaud looked so gratified that I was 
well paid for my labors. “I reckon mother 
will find things a little different from what 
they are at home,” he quietly remarked; “have 
a good lively cup of tea, she likes a good cup.” 
Just then the wagon drove to the door. We 
both rushed out to meet her, aud I took a 
chair along, to assist her to alight. 
She was a bright^] opk i ug aeti ve old lady about 
08 years of age. She had raised a large family 
of children and my husbaud was the youngest 
sou. The oldest boy had the homestead and 
took care of the old people. Father had died 
two years before and the mother took a fancy 
to spend a few weeks with her married 
children, at their respective homes. We wore 
very glad to have her come to see us. As she 
went up the steps to the porch she spied baby. 
“Oh, there is the wonderful child! She is 
pretty, but she will catch her death cold, with 
nothing over her head; you should always tie 
her handkerchief over her head.” 
“She has never had a bit of cold, mother, 
aud she has been out all summer! She is as 
healthy as can be,” said baby’s papa. “Well, 
the first you know she will have the croup or 
something else; have you weaned her yet?” 
she asked next. 
“No, it is too warm weather yet;” she 
stooped over to kiss the baby cheek, but wheth¬ 
er it was the spectacles, or the black poke bon¬ 
net. baby set up a scream, as though .she was 
half killed. Its Grandmother was quite dis¬ 
gusted with the darliug. 
“Susan’s babies were never seartet me!” 
she said. 
“Of course not; they have known you ever 
since they were born; but come in, mother 1 
You are very welcome to our home,” said my 
husband, while I caught up the little one to 
quiet it. We soon hud the tea ready, and Will 
came in. 
“I did not kuiiw but you were so grand that 
you did not let your hired man eat at the same 
table with you,” said she, peering across the 
table at WilL 
“What on earth made you think so, Mother? 
William is one of our family” said my hus¬ 
band lmighiug, as he saw the youug niuu was 
l ather disconcerted by the remark. 
As true as I live, mother smelt of everything 
that was passed to J ter at the table. Bhe pro* 
uounced'tbe tea good, but quite too strong 
for every-day use; the cake was too rich, the 
bread was raised too loug before going into 
the oven. The pastry of tbe tarts was too 
rich, and the berries were not sweetened I 
passed the sugar-bowl to her and requested 
her to sweeten them to her own taste and set 
the cream jug before her. 
“I never oat cream ou berries, it is extrava¬ 
gant! Do you?” 
“Yes. I like them better.” said her sou as he 
passed his saucer, full. Will followed his ex¬ 
ample then passed it over to me. 
“As it is the fashion, T will try some, I 
guess,” she said. 
I glauced at my husband; his face was flushed 
and his mouth was just full of smiles. Af¬ 
ter tea her son that had come with her said he 
must lie off, aud kissing her kindly in fare¬ 
well followed me to the kitchen. 
“Mother is getting a little childish, but we 
must not mind it. She has been a good moth¬ 
er, aud we shall not have her with us very long 
—you will uot. mind it.” 
How I respected him! No, I would not 
mind it! She remained with us two months, 
and I do not remember tbat I did the first tiling 
that was quite right in her eyes,all the time she 
was there. I ought to do it some other way; but 
I did not get out of patience with her, only' 
once; that was when I saw her smell of my 
churn to see if it was clean. She wanted to 
make some brown bread, just as her children 
loved it. So I was delighted to have her do 
it, but alas, it was a failure; aud some apple 
dumplings, that the boys always loved, proved 
the same disappointment; so she gave up try¬ 
ing to eook, aud darned stockings and set 
patches till there was not a rent or darn to be 
mended in the house. When she came to 
leave, she said she bad enjoyed her visit ever 
so much, and I really believe she did, and I 
was so glad that I did not get out of patience 
with her. When my husband returned from 
conveying her home he came in. “Little wo¬ 
man, Mother says I have got the best wife of 
any of the boys; that you are neat, smart, a 
splendid cook and housekeeper, and that she 
never passed so pleasant a two mouths in her 
lifeasshedid with us, If she lives she shall 
come next, year again.” 
“I hope she will, but I really thought she 
did not like me very well; I was afraid I did 
uot please her,” I replied. 
“She could uot help likiug you; why, you 
did everything you could for her; she was so 
proud of the cap you made her aud the knit¬ 
ted shawl you gave her. 
My heart wormed to the old mother, and I 
never felt the fluttering of my heart again 
when she came to visit us; and it was a sad 
ending to her last visit when she passed away 
from us, after a short illness. The day before 
she died she kissed me aud said: “I am glad I 
am here, but I did not think I was coming to 
die with you. You have made me very hap¬ 
py, and I love you as if you were my very 
own child.” 1 bad my recompense; it was a 
sore trial, but some things are good for a per¬ 
son, and a mother in-law is not the worst evil 
that one may have to endure in the journey 
of life. 
GOLDEN GRAINS. 
“What a man can show as a result of his ad¬ 
vantages and opportunities is worth a groat 
deal more to him than a loug list ot advanta¬ 
ges aurl opportunities which might huve 
shown him that which he now has not . 
Unless a man has something to show for 
his advantages and opportunities, the less he 
says about them as his possession, the better. 
If a man’s ancestors were noble and eminent, 
an added responsibility rests on him to evi¬ 
dence his worthiness in the line of that an¬ 
cestry ..... 
The purest and sweetest aud tendorest thing 
that is known upon earth is the over-hanging 
heart of a mother upon the cradle that has in 
it that little nothing which we call a babe, 
that receives everything and returns nothing. 
Yet the love of the mother is but, one drop of 
the ocean as compared with the love of the 
great Father of mankind—infinite, infinite!... 
The men who step into the breach; who at¬ 
tempt to stay the tide of selfishness und greed, 
which if left unhindered would give to poverty 
u deeper plunge, these are the heroes of the 
age and of the hour. Their charity is not in 
word, but iu deed; their’a a thankless task, 
but of sure aud fiual reward. 
CONDUCTED BY MRS. AGNES E. SI. CARMAN. 
Kindness and justice should prompt a man 
to supply his wife with every labor-saving 
device that he can honestly afford, for light¬ 
ening her housework. 
We don’t believe in the domestic economy 
that interferes with the health and reasonable 
enjoyment of one’s family, 
Tea drinking induces nervousness and mel¬ 
ancholy. 
CONCERNING FARMERS’ WIVES. 
MRS. C. D. B. COLBY'. 
(Read at the Woman’s Congress.) 
(Concluded.) 
Idleness and carelessness, on the other 
hand, are often causes of much of the unat¬ 
tractiveness of life on the farm. The efforts 
at jiersonal cleanli ness cease with t he wedding, 
or soon after. Anything is good enough foi a 
farmer’s wife, aurl people who do not respect 
their calling soou cease to be themselves re¬ 
spectable. For lack of appreciation the wife 
is apt, even if iu her girlhood she was neat, to 
become slovenly and careless as to her appear - 
auee. This untidiness iu herself reacts in her 
home, until selfishness aud disorder prevail. 
Under such influences the bright and spark 
ling girls roach au uninteresting maturity ami 
then a repulsive age. They become possessed 
of the idea, more pernicious than any other 
that ever entered the heart of woman, that 
auything will do at home, or is good enough 
for the family. They live, as they tell you. 
“a dog's life,” but without a thought that 
they are in auy way responsible for their 
wretchedness. 
Another ill grows out of the financial rela 
tions of the farmer’s wife. As a rule, the 
husband makes the purchases, even to procur¬ 
ing his wife's dresses, while she rarely or 
never has the control of a dollar. Sometimes 
she frets and worries about things which her 
husbaud eanuot afford, and which she would 
gladly do without if she understood that it 
was circumstances, anti uot the arbitrary die • 
turn of her husband, which made the economy 
necessary. By t his system there is developed 
in the husband, even of the nobler type a 
narrow-minded tyranny and a petty peuuri- 
ousness. The wife remains a child in finance, 
aud if she is intrusted with the shopping she 
does it awkwardly and unwisely. At times 
she feels keenly the deprivation, and again 
she learns to thieve on a small scale in order 
to attain the desired object. It may be said 
that she cannot steal from her husband. She 
could uot if she thought so, but she regards 
the money as his—feels that she is stealing, and 
having the intent, is really guilty, and her 
children are born liars and thieves. 
Isolation is another detrimental element in 
the life of the farmer’s wife. In thinly set¬ 
tled communities this is one of the worst 
t roubles she has to contend with. The nearest 
neighbor may be miles away, and the daily 
routine of farm-house work so healthful us 
the background of the picture, becomes 
gloomy ami monotonous when not touched 
with the colors of interest, or brightened with 
the light of intercourse with friends. In 
families living ten miles distant the man will 
go to town about a hundred times a year, to 
sell his gram, get the mail, and (though he 
would uot like to own it) to learn tbe news 
aud to talk politics on the street corners. The 
wife goes, perhaps twice a year, takes the 
children with her to give them a treat, and is 
too tired and busy to enjoy the change or 
derive auy social benefit therefrom. “Man is 
a social animal,” and George Waring adds, 
“more especially so are his wife and daugh¬ 
ters;” aud there is no doubt that t he loueliuess 
of farm life drives the daughters to town to 
work, or worse, ami leaves the mother to still 
greater loneliness, in which, perhaps, the 
spirit chafes uutil it breaks the bounds of 
reason. 
Again, the iguoruuce of farmers’ wives is 
often a serious ill. Their early marriages aud 
their secluded lives prevent them from gain¬ 
ing that varied experience which is the best 
of knowledge. Ignorant of books, they lose 
n comfort and companionship which would 
alleviate many' of their troubles. Ignorant 
of the world, they take no interest iu the 
march of events. Ignorant of hygiene, they 
allow their families to breathe impure air at 
night, to neglect personal cleanliness, and to 
consume the most indigestible kinds of foods. 
Ignorant of domestic science, they’ perform 
many of their duties in the most arduous and 
unsatisfactory ways. Ignorant of their own 
physical structure, farmers' wives allow them¬ 
selves too little time for recovery from their 
frequent child births, und in various ways vio¬ 
late the laws of nature. Nor is the body f 
ftlono defrauded by their lack of knowledge. 
Unconsciously they ignore their spiritual re¬ 
lationships, and lose the sweet attractiveness 
of hoiuo-life, which, despite every want, might 
still be theirs, if they knew how to secure it. 
The question is as Iasi, Are there any reme¬ 
dies for these ills which aaddou the lives iu so 
many homes in our land? The most obvious 
answer is, education; first of a practical 
kind, and then, as opportunity offers, more 
general culture ns an economic measure of 
