cellar are adorned with rugs of all shapes and 
sizes. I once called with a friend at a farm¬ 
house where the parlor floor was carpeted with 
what appeared to be a respectable ingrain, so 
far as one might judge with a multitude of 
rag-rugs placed on it. They were all oval¬ 
shaped or round, and as many of them as 
could be accommodated without lapping were 
doiug their best to hide that precious carpet. 
There wasn't, a bright color in them all, and I 
wondered if a real rag-carpet would not 
have caused less trouble to make aud care for 
it. besides looking better. I felt a wicked, 
frantic desire to count those vugs; but they 
were iu front of me, behind me, and every¬ 
where, and I feared the effort would be too 
apparent so I estimated as nearly as possible 
by the number within a certain area, and cal¬ 
culated that there could be no less than 14 in 
that one room. What the rest of the house 
contained could only be imagined, but it is 
safe to suppose that such a mania for rugs did 
not stop at the parlor door. Braided rugs are 
useful at back doors to wipe muddy or dusty 
shoes on, but, generally speaking, I think life 
is too short to be spent iu making numberless, 
dull, meaningless rugs or even iu sewing rags 
for carpets. In these days when carpets of 
all kinds can be purchased so cheaply, rag 
carpets for but little more than the cost of 
warp aud weaving it, seems folly to spend so 
much precious time in constructing such 
goods at home. If there happens to be an 
invalid or old person in the family, whose 
fancy lies in that direction and who feels that 
time can be as profitably spent iu this way as 
any other, that is a different matter; but for 
the busy housewife whose every moment is 
valuable, it is certainly a false economy that 
prompts such a waste of time, ke.va ross. 
TO “A PERPLEXED READER.” 
Having a room of similar size, for which I 
am going to make rag-carpet, I will tell you 
how I have plauned that it shall be. I intend 
to have it woven so that five breadths will 
cover the room. Fur two of these I will have 
the filling prepared of dark goods, such as 
mens’ clothing, pieced “hit and miss,” and 
will have at each end of the three remaining 
breadths (woven the same os the other twoj a 
square which will make the border of these 
three a little more than one yard deep. I 
have a horror of a striped rag-carpet; it 
a I ways looks to me like trying to make some¬ 
thing out of uotbiug. I am a firm believer in 
the economy of rag-carpets if properly made; 
but to spend enough money for dyes to make 
a carpet all of one color, simply to let. the light 
ami simsbiue $[ioil it, I do not think economy; 
besides, I think a sober-hued tilling with a 
bright woolen warp is far prettier. To have 
a thread of wurp thrown in every alternate 
thread of the filling, makes a carpet much 
lighter; hut of its durability I cannot speak 
as I have never tried it myself, but I see no 
reason why it should not last. Will not some 
of the ladies who have tried this.report? Will 
some one also tell me the proportion of woolen 
warp needed to the yard, and the price iu her 
locality? There are no woolen factories nearer 
to me than St. Louis—60 miles distant. Is a 
different warp needed from that which is used 
in manufacturing woo leu carpets, and has 
any one tried it long enough to report as to 
its durability over the cotton warp? 
JUSTICE. 
VALUE OF FOODS. 
The simplest the best, aud the best the 
cheapest. 
One of the best arguments in favor of plain 
living is that, the simplest articles of diet are 
the safest. The soouer we come to realize that 
fact as well as another important truth—that 
the best of its kind is the safest as well as the 
cheapest, we shall be iu a fair way to bid 
adieu to the fiend, dyspepsia. It is almost 
enough to make oue dispute man’s exeeptiouul 
superiority to auimals, when we consider how 
much better the latter protect themselves in 
this respect in selecting such uutriniejit as 
will most readily assimilate, thau does man 
with all the light of his boasted reason. This 
is an unpleasant truth—indeed l have noticed 
that truths are apt to be unpleasant,—and 
logically we are led to believe either that man 
does not use his reason where his stomach is 
concerned, or else that instinct is better thau 
reason. 
I have often heard housekeepers say, when 
eggs were dear, that limed eggs were good 
enough for frying or cooking. This is a dan¬ 
gerous mistake. An egg that has a suspicion 
of staleuess about it is unhealthful whether 
the taste bo disguised in an omelet uux fines 
herbes or iu the deceitful sweets of a cake. 
Another exploded fallacy is that meat and 
game should bo hung until it is “high” m order 
to please the truly epicurean taste. All such 
food requires an unhealthy amount of spices 
and seasoning to render it palatable. The 
bare fact that these piquant sauces aud coudi- 
THE RURAL HEW-YORKER 
ments are needed, proves their harmfulness. It 
is said that the only other animals besides 
man, that like their food high and tender, are 
the crocodile and the dog, and it is a well- 
known fact that the digestive powers of these 
animals are only equaled by that of the 
ostrich. “What iB one man’s food is another 
man’s poison,” isa wise old proverb.aud uo'gen- 
eral rules can be laid down as to what is 
proper and healthful. The greatest authority 
on small fruits iu America, is uuable to eat a 
strawberry. Anoiher person dare noteat an 
egg, and still another is made ill by a glass of 
milk. The wise man is he who after having 
found out what is bad for him has sense 
enough to abstain from it. mrs. g. 
* * ♦- 
COUSIN ELLA’S COTTAGE PUDDING, 
MUSTARD PICKLES, AND OTHER 
VALUABLE RECIPES. 
“I’M. afraid the dessert will be minus to¬ 
day,” said Cousin Ella, as we came up the 
drive-way after having spent a long morning 
in riding about town seeing all points of in¬ 
terest. “fought to have prepared somethiug 
before we started away, but thought there 
would be time enough after our return, and 
hero it is almost 12 o’clock. 
“Oh, well!” said I. “we’ve had the dessert 
first this time, which has proved a whole feast 
to at least one soul.” But the dinner was 
not without its “top off,” and this time it 
was a “Cottage Pudding,” quickly made;— 
One cup of sugar, one tablespoonful of butter, 
two eggs, one cup of sweet milk, three cups of 
flour, or enough to make a tolerably stiff bat¬ 
ter, half a teaspoonful of soda and one of 
cream-of-tartar, or two teaspoonfulsof baking 
powder, and a small teaspoonful of salt. 
Cream the butter and sugar, beat in the yelks 
of the eggs, then the milk, soda, salt aud beat¬ 
en whites, aud flour. Bake in a buttered 
mould, turn out upon a dish, to be eaten with 
liquid sauce or sugar and cream. 
I thought her mustard pickles very appetiz¬ 
ing, and so wrote out the directions:— 
MUSTARD PICKLES. 
Six green peppers, six quarts of small on¬ 
ions, six quarts of pickled cauliflower, four 
quarts of sliced cucumbers; scald each, except 
the cucumbers, till tender, and put together 
for the dressing. 
Dressing:—To each quart of vinegar add six 
tablespoonfuls of the best ground mustard, 
one and one half cup of brown sugar, half an 
ounce of turmeric, and the same of curry 
powder, and half acupof flour. Boil all togeth¬ 
er for five minutes, and pour over the pickles. 
The dressing, when cold, should be of the con¬ 
sistency of thick, sour cream, and if it is not, 
add a little more flour and boil agaiu. Oue 
gallon of vinegar will make dressing enough for 
eight or nine quarts of pickles. Put in jars, 
and cover with thick paper. It eau be made 
auy time through the winter, if one puts 
down cucumbers and cauliflower iu the fall. 
I found in Aunty’s scrap-book the following 
valuable recipes:—For sprains, bruises, rheu¬ 
matism, etc.: Take aqua ammonia, spirits of 
turpentine aud laudanum, each oue ounce, raw 
linseed oil and tincture of arnica, each two 
ounces. Mix and apply externally. 
For cholera morbus aud summer complaint: 
Tincture of capsicum, ginger, camphor, tinc¬ 
ture of rhubarb, essence of peppermint, laud- 
auurn, each one ounce; dose 20 to 30drops once 
iu two hours, iu severe cases every half hour 
till relieved. 
COUSIN EMMA’S CHOCOLATE CAKE FOR WED¬ 
DING ANNIVERSARY, 
One cup of butter, two of sugar, three- 
fourths of a cup of sweet milk, three and one- 
half cups of flour, two teaspooufuls of baking 
powder mixed in the dry flour, five eggs, leav- 
iug out the whites of two. Bake in a large 
sheet-iron pan. 
FROSTING. 
Whites of two eggs, one and one-half cup of 
powdered sugar, six tablespoonfuls of grated 
chocolate, two teaspooufuls of vanilla. Spread 
on bottom side of the cake. 
COUSIN HATTIE’S LILY-CAKE. 
I think this was the bride’s loaf: Two cups 
of white sugar, oue cup of butter, mixed to¬ 
gether; oue cup of sweet milk, oue-half tea- 
spoonful of soda, dissolved iu the milk, one 
cup of corn-starch, two cups of flour, oue tea- 
spoout'ul of cream-of-tartar, and the whites of 
five eggs. Fluvor and frost with chocolate 
frosting. 
COUSIN HESTER’S RIBBON CAKE. 
Two and one-half cups of sugar, one cup of 
butter, one of sweet milk, oue teaspoonful of 
cream-of-tartar, one-half teaspoonful of soda, 
four eggs and four cups of flour. Reserve 
one-third of the mixture, aud hake the rest iu 
two loaves of the same size. Add to the part 
reserved one cup of chopped raisius, oue-fourth 
of a pouud of citron, a cup of currants, two 
tablespoon fuls of molasses aud a teaspoonful 
each of all kinds of spices. Bake iu a tiu the 
same size as the others; put the three together 
with a little icing or jelly, the fruit loaf in the 
middle; frost the top and sides. 
COUSIN ELLA’S HICKORY-NUT LAYER CAKE. 
The yelks of three eggs and the white of 
one, and one cup of granulated sugar, not 
quite half a cup of butter, half a cup of sweet 
milk, two teaspooufuls of baking powder, flour 
to make a reasonably thick batter. Filling: 
One cun of granulated sugar with a little wa¬ 
ter,boil till it ropes. The whiteof one egg beat¬ 
en to a froth, and the hot sirup poured upon 
it, stir continually till it cools enough to spread 
upon the cake without flowing. Take out 
enough of this frosting to spread over the top 
layer; into the remainder stir one teacupful 
of walnut meats that have been chopped very 
fine, to spread between the layers; ornameut 
the outside frosting with the half meats. This 
was a very delicious cake. may maple. 
BOTTLED STRAWBERRIES. 
If you are -not afraid of trouble you will be 
repaid for laying in a stock of these. Drop 
firm, ripe berries into wide-mouthed bottles 
until as full as you can pack them without 
pressing, aud fill up with a sirup made by 
simmering for ten minutes sugar and water 
in the proportion of one pound of the former 
to a cup of the latter. Place the bottles up¬ 
right aud uucorked in a flat-bottomed wash- 
boiler. Pack loosely with hay or cloths; fill 
the boiler with cold water two-thirds the way 
up the sides of the bottles which will need to 
be of an even bight. Set over the file, and 
after the water boils allow it to simmer for 
five minutes; remove from the fire, and assoon 
as the bottles have partially cooled, to allow 
you to handle them, pour the sirup gently off 
into a clean copper or granite preserving pan. 
Fill up the bottles of fruit, which will have 
settled greatly by transferring the fruit from 
some of the bottles into others until they are 
full again. Place the sirup with one-fourth of 
its quantity of red currant juice over tie fire. 
Remove the scum as it heats, aud at the first 
boil take from the fire, fill up the bottles, put 
on covers and screw down tightly. Replace 
them in the kettle as at first,boil gently for 15 
minutes, remove from the fire and allow the 
bottles to remain in the boiler until the water 
is cold. Put them in a cool, dry place, laying 
them sidewise. 
STRAWBERRY SHORTCAKE. 
Sift one teaspoonful of salt through one 
quart of flour; rub into this a large tahlespoon- 
ful of butter, and wet with a sufficient quan¬ 
tity of buttermilk to form a soft dough, hav¬ 
ing first dissolved in the buttermilk a scant 
teaspoonful of soda. Mix lightly, pat out to 
about the size of a dinner plate, and half an 
inch thick, and bake on a griddle Pull apart 
while hot; dot both sections liberally with 
butter ; cover the lower half thickly with fine 
ripe berries, sprinkle with white sugar, put on 
the upper half, dust with sugar, and when you 
cut it pour over each piece sweeteued cream. 
Breathe a special form of thanksgiving that 
you reserve for galu days when you partake 
of this delicacy. 
STRAWBERRY PIE. 
For those who do not consider it a desecra 
lion to cook strawberries, a strawberry pie is 
something not to be despised. As all fruit 
pies should be “fat,” take a deep dish, line it 
with paste, and fill with successive layers of 
berries and sugar. A little flour, about a table¬ 
spoonful in all, should Vie dredged over the 
different layers to thicken the juice that will 
form under the cooking process. Cover with 
a crust, prick with a fork to let out the hot 
air, and bake iu a moderate oven. A nice fill¬ 
ing for strawberry torts is made by mashing 
a pint of berries with four tablespoonfuls of 
sugar, and adding two well-beaten eggs. Fill 
little patty-pans lined with paste, and bake. 
ETTA BERRY. 
2Ui,$ceUancou0 
You May Remove 
Those unsightly Blotches, Pimples, and 
Sores by a faithful and persistent use of 
Ayer’s Sarsaparilla, the best and most 
reliable Alterative aud Blood-purifier 
ever discovered. **I was troubled, 
for a long time, with a humor, which 
appeared on my face iu 
UGLY PIMPLES 
and blotches. Ayer’s Sarsaparilla cured 
me. — Charles II. Smith, North Crafts- 
bury, Vt. 
“Until recently,” writes Alice E. 
Charles, of Bath, Me., “ my face has 
been covered with pimples ever since l 
was fifteen years old. I took four 
bottles of Ayer's Sarsaparilla, aud my 
skin Jjeeume as fair as could he desired *’ 
Ayer’s Sarsaparilla, 
Prepared by Dr. J.C. Ayer & Co., I.owell, Mass. 
Price $t; six bottles, $5. Worth $.'> a bottle. 
THE AMERIC AN 
BEAUTIFULLY ILLUSTRATED. 
This Magazine portrays Ameri¬ 
can thought and life from ocean to 
ocean, is filled with pare high-class 
literature, and can be safely wel¬ 
comed in any family circle. 
PRICE 23c. OR >3 A YE AR »Y MAIL. 
Sample Copy of current number mailed upon re¬ 
ceipt of 25 cte.; bach numbere, 16 ete. 
Premium List with either. 
Address: 
S. T. BUSH k SON, Publishers, 
130 & 132 Pearl St., If. Y. 
BKOWN’S FRENCH DRESSING. 
The Original. Beware ol Imitations. 
AWARDED HIGHEST PRIZE AND ONLY 
MEDAL, PARiS EXPOSITION, 1878. 
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Adapted for the Delh i rj 
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at last suppi ::d. 
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Manic Photographs.- -Surprisingdevelopments. 
A package of 10 assorted, with instructions, to any ad¬ 
dress, ter 25c. J. c. Sunderland. Hartford, Wis. 
BOLD MEDAL, PARIS, 1378. 
BAKER’S 
Warranted absolutely pure 
Cocoa, from which the excess of 
Oil has been removed. It has f’-•**« 
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with Starch, Arrowroot or 3u gar, 
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well as for persons in health. 
Sold by Grocers everywhere. 
f. BAER & CO., Dorchester, Mass. 
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fl*r to SS a day. Samples worth si.sn, FREE. 
Lilies not under the horse’s feet. Write 
Brewster Safety Kein Holder C’o.. Holly.Midi. 
lOOO 
ELEGANT LA1UIE 
TUUIUHII HUGH 
Given to the LADIES of purchasers of Sample 
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we have no agent. Send for fuU particulars. 
iiUEKWmil) HA KMiNS CO.. Syracuse, N. Y. 
BERRA' C R A TES of oil kinds: made of the best 
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* Type Writing 
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set selr teach¬ 
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No sSsinps accepted. Send silver >-r postal note. 
These lessons ire complete, end are the same from 
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either of Haven's Colleges: New York, N. Y.; Philadelphia, 
Va. -, Chicago, Ill.; Cincinnati, O.; San Francisco, CaL 
