FROM DAY TO DAY. 
A San aid to the family ironing, fold 
kitchen towels and similar pieces 
flat when dry, then run them through 
the wringer, the rollers being screwed 
rather closer together than when wring¬ 
ing. It makes a material saving in labor. 
* 
To give a clear polish to mirrors, wipe 
off after washing with warm water con¬ 
taining a little ammonia, then rub 
whiting all over the glass. Let it dry a 
little, rub it off and give a final polish 
with soft paper. The process gives a 
cut-glass polish to windows. It is wise 
to save all the soft paper for just such 
purposes ; by using it, we obviate the 
possibility of linty glass, so often the 
result of rubbing with old cloth. 
*- 
Housewives who pride themselves on 
making strong, clear soup, sometimes 
wonder why they do not get the rich 
brown color seen in the productions of 
professional cooks. This color is pro¬ 
duced by caramel, as it is called ; it is 
made as follows : Put one cup of granu¬ 
lated sugar in an iron or granite sauce¬ 
pan, and stir it over the fire until it 
melts and burns. As soon as it begins 
to smoke and boil, pour in one cupful of 
boiling water ; allow it to boil one 
minute, then bottle, and cork it up 
tightly. It is used to color soups, sauce, 
gravy, puddings, or anything requiring 
a deep, rich brown tint. 
* 
A large manufacturer of silver plate 
advises us never to use any of the silver¬ 
polishing compounds put upon the mar¬ 
ket, all possessing, according to his judg¬ 
ment, some objectionable materials. We 
were advised to use plain whiting in 
preference, giving the final polishing 
with chamois. The chamois is easily 
washed with lukewarm water and good 
soap. It does not become hard if rubbed 
and pulled in the hands while drying. 
There is a soap made for the purpose of 
washing chamois gloves, which experi¬ 
ence shows us to be perfectly satisfac¬ 
tory; a pair of chamois gloves for summer 
wear were washed half a dozen times 
without hardening in the least. No am¬ 
monia should be used in this washing. 
* 
If a little medicine closet, provided 
with lock and key, has been omitted in 
the plan of the house, a desirable substi¬ 
tute is a small hanging cabinet, prefer¬ 
ably kept in the mother’s room. It 
should be provided with shelves, and 
have a door that may be securely locked. 
Here should be sticking plaster, old 
linen bandages and absorbent cotton ; 
liniments, and all the simple remedies 
for every-day household use. If any 
poisons are used, their antidotes should 
be near by. Some little guide book for 
emergencies should find its place here, 
too ; in so many instances, when accident 
or sudden illness occui-s, no one knows 
just where to look for advice or remedy. 
THREE PLUM PUDDINGS. 
I NQUIRY is made by C. A. W. for “a 
good, practical recipe for a plain 
English plum pudding, whose ingredi¬ 
ents shall be commensurate with the 
farmer’s purse, and whose quality will 
not be too rich for a farmer’s stomach.” 
We give three recipes of varying rich¬ 
ness. The first has been the Christmas 
pudding in one English family for nearly 
a century ; the others have been tested 
repeatedly during a period of 40 years. 
Plum Pudding : One pound finely 
chopped suet, one pound raisins, stoned, 
1% pound currants, one pound flour, one 
pound bread crumbs, one-half pound 
sliced candied citron peel, one pound 
sugar, six eggs. Season with one nut¬ 
meg, grated, one saltspoonful each of 
ground cinnamon, allspice and cloves. It 
must be stirred very thoroughly, so that 
all the materials are well incorporated, 
otherwise there is the risk of dry flour, 
which will form into tasteless lumps 
when cooked. It must be extremely 
stiff, but if a little more moisture be 
needed, sweet cider will be very desir¬ 
able. When made, pack the pudding 
mixture into a stone crock and keep in 
a cold place for several days ; this blends 
and ripens the flavor. It must be boiled 
for eight hours, being packed tightly 
into a well-buttered mold; the cloth 
tied over it must be well floured, but a 
little loose, that the pudding may swell. 
This long boiling is a point often over¬ 
looked, but it is a necessity. We usually 
boil the pudding for four hours some 
time before the day it is needed, and 
then give it another four hours before 
serving. Many English housewives 
make several puddings at a time, give 
them all the preliminary boiling, and 
then store them away until needed. 
They will keep for several weeks in cold 
weather, and continue to improve in 
flavor. 
Vegetable Plum Pudding: One-half 
pound flour, one-half pound suet, one- 
half pound bread crumbs, one-half 
pound grated potato, one-half pound 
grated carrot, one-half pound raisins, 
one-half pound currants, one-quarter 
pound candied citron peel, one-half 
pound molasses, four eggs. Spices as in 
the preceding recipe. Boil eight hours. 
This is a very rich, deeply-colored pud¬ 
ding ; the vegetables seem to aid in giv¬ 
ing color and flavor, though their pres¬ 
ence would never be suspected in the 
finished product. 
Half-Pay Plum Pudding: Four ounces 
chopped suet, four ounces flour, four 
ounces bread crumbs, four ounces cur¬ 
rants, four ounces raisins, one-half cup¬ 
ful sugar, two tablespoonfuls molasses, 
one-half pint milk, spices to taste. Pack 
tightly into a buttered mold, and boil 
for four hours. This is a very nice, light 
pudding, though not so rich as the pre¬ 
ceding recipes. 
USE AND RENOVA TION OFFEA THERS 
EVER use feathers without first 
washing them in hot water, with 
a liberal amount of good soap and am¬ 
monia. Do not try to wash them in a 
bag ; put loose in the tub of water, and 
wash with the hands as clothes are 
washed; if care be taken, very few 
feathers will be lost while getting into 
the water. When they are clean, and all 
odor has disappeared, squeeze the water 
from them with the hands, put in a 
cheese cloth bag, and hang in the hottest 
sun to be had, to dry. I have tried many 
ways to renovate feathers, but find this 
by far the most effectual, and in the 
long run, the quickest way. 
A “comfort,” made of the feathers 
from an old pillow, is much lighter and 
warmer than the cotton or wool ones, 
and can be made with very little more 
trouble. First make a cheese cloth 
bag, measured a foot larger all around 
than the bed to be covered, and put the 
feathers into it; then stretch this very 
taut, on an old-fashioned quilting frame, 
which can be made by setting four posts 
in a square, and tacking a plank all 
around them near the top. If no posts 
or planks are convenient, borrow a few 
slats from the bed for a little while, and 
construct the frame of them, nailing two 
together if one is not long enough for 
the sides; a few nail holes will not hurt 
the slats. Having stretched the cheese 
cloth, leave one end open to admit a long 
stick—a broom handle will do—and with 
this, gently spread the feathers in the 
bag until there is an even layer over 
every part: the layer should be one or 
two inches deep. Now sew up the open 
end, and with a long needle and coarse 
thread, tack through cloth and feathers 
to keep them in place, making the 
“ tacks” at intervals about four inches 
apart all over the cheese cloth. When 
this is done, remove any long quills that 
stick through, and cover both sides of 
cheese cloth with a good quality of 
sateen of any color; red and tan are 
pretty. The comfort should then be 
quilted in some fancy pattern, as the 
“tacks” will not be sufficient to keep 
the feathers in place. Circles, just touch¬ 
ing or over-lapping, make a good pat¬ 
tern, and may be traced with a slender 
point of chalk, using a plate as a guide 
for the circle. Bind the four edges of 
the comfort with colored tape. These 
comforts may be beaten up like a pillow, 
and it is impossible for dust to accumu¬ 
late in them, as feathers do not mat like 
cotton and wool; two or three good slaps 
and shakes every morning, will keep 
them light and fluffy, m. lane griffin. 
NEW GOWNS FROM OLD. 
FTER cashmeres and soft wools are 
washed and pressed, they will— 
as some of us know—sometimes relapse 
into a wrinkled and tell-tale rough-dry 
look, sure to make us wish that we had 
given them to the ragman. The rough 
serges lately in vogue, though less pleas¬ 
ant to the touch, do give wonderfully 
long terms of use—use beyond hope of 
usefulness, even. Though roughed up 
on one side, the reverse will, probably, 
be found smooth, and even rents and 
thin spots can be neatly renewed, either 
by darning with threads raveled from 
the cloth, or by using strips of some 
“ gum-tissue ” mender and pieces of the 
cloth underneath. 
Dust and soil sift through the coarser 
weaves, or are repelled by the rough 
surface, and when the wash tub is the 
only thing that will do, the old cloth 
comes forth a surprise and joy almost 
forever. Drained dry without wringing 
and pressed while still a little damp, it 
can be made to look very like new. 
While hanging on the line, it is well to 
turn the pieces that the moisture may 
drip in the opposite direction, else the 
edge next the line will be perfectly dry 
while yet the lower part is dripping wet. 
Folding and rolling smoothly, the damp¬ 
est parts next the dryest, and letting 
lie an hour or two before pressing, help 
to equalize the dampness. No wrinkles 
return to recall the past history of the 
homemade serge gown, and the wear to 
be had from one will surprise the inex¬ 
perienced. 
They tell us that cashmeres are return¬ 
ing to favor, at least that “ a double- 
faced cashmere much like the fabric 
that used to be known as drap d’ 6t6, is 
much used,” the soft, light colors pre¬ 
vailing. Ah, well! Let us be thankful 
for all good luck ! With new cashmeres, 
soft, graceful and pleasant to wear, and 
old serges now come to the making-over 
state, we shall, for a season or two, have 
nothing to complain of in the line of 
woolen dress fabrics, p. t. primrose. 
FROM THE KITCHEN WINDOW. 
HRISTMAS is over, with its varied 
pleasures and reunions, and the 
extra time spent in baking and prepar¬ 
ing the well-filled larder, and extra 
clearing up for the holidays, leaves the 
housewife with breathing time from ex¬ 
tra duties, and gives the New Year part 
of its pleasantest aspect. The preserves 
and pickles are now having their day, 
and there is even time to have a pleas¬ 
ant little neighborly tea-giving, to go 
to a club meeting, or to the city to re¬ 
fresh one’s weary, hungry soul. For it 
is the heart and soul of farmers’ wives 
that are so often starved, while their 
table is loaded down with delicacies, 
and there is food of the very choicest to 
spare. Yet amid it all they are often 
famished. We meet at table in our 
homes, and if there is no new phase of 
the weather or topic of neignborly 
news, we have nothing to say. Seldom 
do we read alike, or discuss books and 
authors, music or art. Natural history, 
that should form part of every farm 
child’s study, is not often thought of, 
though it might be a source of great 
pleasure in a family isolated and self- 
contained. But as we eat, and nourish 
our bodies, we know that mentally, and 
too often spiritually, we are dying of 
starvation. Now and then one will 
come among us who brings us food that 
we crave, and, alas, how often are we 
surprised to find how little we can 
digest. Too often farmers are careless 
as to their sons’ and daughters’ food, 
and the mental and moral tone becomes 
lowered by association. But I did not 
sit here staring at the bare garden and 
trees simply to moralize, though it is so 
still—so peaceful and inactive, that it 
turns one’s thoughts inward, and the 
silence becomes oppressive. 
Lately I was in Montreal and listened 
to Abby Morton Diaz as she talked of an 
ideal education and ideal training for 
children, and I thought, looking ’round 
at the varied faces of the women of the 
club, how different they would be if, in 
their youth, the ideal training had been 
real in their case. How much of suffer¬ 
ing, following as it does the violation of 
certain laws, would be spared the human 
race if purity, honor and justice had 
ruled the spirits of their ancestors. 
ANNIE L. JACK. 
Washing Flannels. —C. A. W. asks 
for a mode of washing flannels without 
shrinking. The following plan has 
proved highly satisfactory with us ; we 
use it successfully with Jaeger woolen 
underwear, ordinary natural wool, and 
flannel. But we believe that some flan¬ 
nels will shrink, no matter how carefully 
they are washed, and it is almost im¬ 
possible to avoid shrinkage if they are 
extremely soiled, necessitating very 
hard rubbing. We use extremely hot 
water, containing ammonia, one table¬ 
spoonful to a gallon. Rub a little Ivory 
soap on the much soiled places, which 
may be rubbed between the hand, but 
never use the board- Dash the garments 
up and down through the water until 
cleansed. Rinse in equally hot water, 
and wring very dry. Never hang flan¬ 
nels out in -frosty weather. There is a 
special soap made for the purpose of 
washing woolens, and we hear excellent 
accounts of it, but we have not had any 
personal experience with it. 
DUSTLESS, ODORLESS, 
BRILLIANT, LABOR SAVING 
Try it on your Cycle Chain. 
J. L. PRESCOTT & CO., New York. 
