Some of our readers have added some 
of the little known vegetables to their 
gardens, as we have frequently advised, 
and are in a quandary as to how to pre¬ 
pare them for the table. Some time ago, 
we had a question about okra. Now 
some one asks how to prepare eardoon. 
Who can tell us ? Why do not the seeds¬ 
men have printed directions how to pre¬ 
pare these novelties for the table ? 
* 
Don’t retail guess-work as facts. If 
your memory doesn’t serve you well, 
apologize for it, and let your friends 
know that your statements are not 
always reliable. Often the intentional 
liar does less harm than a more honest 
person who lacks the faculty of “telling 
things straight.” However well-mean¬ 
ing a person may be, his misstatements 
will make trouble sooner or later, and it 
is best not to speak positively of a mat¬ 
ter where there is the least possibility 
of being mistaken. Yet the people with 
poor memories are frequently those who 
make the most positive assertions. 
* 
We are to consider, later on, the sub¬ 
ject of social intercourse between farm¬ 
ers’ families. Our contributors seem to 
think that there is less visiting between 
country people than in the good old 
times. Is this so ? Some say that there 
is more intellectual recreation to take 
the place of visiting, etc. There must 
be less harmful gossip then, which is a 
most desirable state of things. 
* 
Has it ever occurred to those who 
deprecate the independence of woman, 
that the working woman in entering the 
business world, leaves behind her many 
petty faults which do not fit into the 
conditions of business life, and must be 
dropped? It is usually the case that a 
person’s behavior is better abroad than 
at home. The behavior in the work¬ 
shop must come up to the standard of 
one’s company conduct. Petty fault¬ 
finding, disagreeable criticism, etc., must 
be repressed, and by and by, the good 
habit becomes confirmed, and self-re¬ 
spect becomes strong enough to be the 
restraining factor when one feels like 
grumbling at home. 
TEACHING THE CHILDREN. 
IIE responsibilities of motherhood 
are not properly understood by 
nine-tenths of the mothers. T h e 
thought, with many of them, is to avoid 
being “ bothered” by the troublesome 
little ones, and they send them to school 
as early as possible, allow them to inflict 
themselves on neighbors, or even to play 
in the street, in what company they 
know not. If they find that the children 
have been associating with one very 
objectionable, they will say, “ Now, 
don’t you play with that one any more !” 
This done, they go on their way with an 
easy conscience. Have they not for¬ 
bidden their children to go in bad com¬ 
pany ? What more can any one expect 
of them? They are well-meaning women, 
in the majority of cases, and strain every 
nerve to have their children as well 
clothed and fed as those of their neigh¬ 
bors. The trouble is that they do not 
think, except in a very superficial way, 
if at all, on the subject. 
The true mother thinks. She feels an 
anxiety so intense that it is almost a 
pain, concerning the treatment of her 
children. She trembles lest, in avoiding 
the Scylla of over-indulgence, she strike 
the Charybdis of too strict discipline. 
She knows that a certain freedom is 
essential to the wholesome moral and 
mental growth of her darlings. She 
knows, also, that too much freedom is 
license. What is she to do ? The answer 
is, think. As each case comes up, she 
should search out all the bearings. She 
must listen to what the children have tc 
say, and withhold any decision until she 
has learned more of the subject from 
others. 
As an instance, it is right that children 
of the same locality should meet together 
socially sometimes, but not too often. 
It is natural for them to enjoy these 
meetings, and the probability is that 
they will ask permission to attend them 
oftener than advisable. The wise mother 
will listen sympathetically to their 
petitions. She will ask who will be 
there, and the character of the exercises 
that will take place. She will tell them 
that she will think about it. When she 
has thoroughly canvassed the subject, 
she will, sometimes, find a refusal neces¬ 
sary. In this case, it is better to point 
out the reason for it; but from the 
decision, there is no appeal. The hand 
that governs wisely, must be of iron, 
but by all means, clothe it in velvet. 
Another point that cannot be empha¬ 
sized too strongly is in regard to threats. 
I heard a lady say to her little daughter, 
“ Mabel, if you don’t stop, mamma will 
cut your ears off.” The child knew that 
her mother spoke untruthfully, and the 
silly threat passed by her “as the idle 
wind.” 
But first, last and all the time, the 
mother must watch herself, lest she set 
her children a bad example. Should 
she find herself convicted of having done 
so, it is much wiser to own her fault. 
Not long since, a lady was heard to re¬ 
quest her little girl not to use the word 
“fool,” as it was not “nice” to do so. 
“ You said it,” was the child’s answer. 
“ Did I, darling ? When ? ” “ The other 
night you said that you never saw such 
a fool cat as Tom was,” said the little 
one triumphantly. “ Well, dear, maybe 
I did ; but it wasn't very nice of mamma, 
and she will not do it any more. Neither 
will you, I am sure ; will you ? ” was 
the mother’s persuasive answer. “No, 
mamma,” said the little girl, her respect 
for her mother not a jot lessened by the 
frank confession of a fault, may june. 
ONLY A LITTLE THING. 
H, I wish you wouldn’t talk to me! 
I don’t feel like talking or being 
interrupted ! ” This remark was made 
by a girl of 14, as she got up from her 
comfortable chair and left the room 
that her brother had just entered. He 
had begun an enthusiastic description of 
a football contest that the boys had had 
at school. But meeting with this rebuff 
from his sister he said, “ Very well, Miss 
Pouty, you may want to hear about the 
next one, and I’ll tell you, over the left! 
It’s a pity if a fellow can’t talk to his sis¬ 
ter without her cutting him off as though 
he wasn’t worth hearing. I’m sure that 
she talks enough to me when she gets 
started, about her old parties and dresses; 
and what do I care for them ? ” 
But just then he heard a familiar whis¬ 
tle, and bounded out of the house to his 
particular friend, Tom Mason. Then he 
could talk to his heart’s delight, for they 
both talked at once, and neither heard 
what the other said. And you think 
Thad (for that was his name) forgot all 
about his sister and her remark ! May¬ 
be he did for the time, but there was 
still a little sore spot that would not 
heal up at once. Boys are no more hard¬ 
hearted by nature than girls, and very 
often we think that they have forgotten 
when they have not. “ Oh, he is only a 
boy ! ” is too often said in a slighting 
manner, that hurts the boy quite as much 
as though he were a g'irl. 
As Ruth May saw her brother walk 
down street with his chum, she thought, 
“ I wish that I hadn’t spoken so quickly, 
but I was busy thinking, and he inter¬ 
rupted me so. I suppose that it wouldn’t 
have hurt me to listen to him ; but he 
has forgotten it by this time, and so I’ll 
let it go and try not to be so hasty next 
time.” 
It didn’t occur to her that it was her 
duty to go and apologize to him. When 
supper time came, they were both at 
supper. But she acted as though she 
had forgotten, and he seemed to think 
that she had never thought about it. 
And neither could feel at ease with the 
other, although both talked indirectly. 
Now, you may say, “ What is the use of 
parleying over such a thing as a heedless 
remark ? ” There is just this much use : 
that boy was not on such intimate terms 
with his sister that she was the confi¬ 
dante he needed. The sister had dropped 
from his ideal of her, and she was not 
entirely unconscious of the descent, be¬ 
cause she felt it. She felt that her duty 
had not been done. 
But after a day or two had passed, and 
she said nothing, her courage failed, 
and then she thought that she couldn’t 
own up. So it went on and on. How 
much better it is to acknowledge the 
wrong and set things straight, for it will 
never live itself out. may shepherd. 
A JAR OF JELLY. 
HOW IT IS MADE AND SOLD. 
Part IV. 
Pickles and Peaches. 
FTER small fruits are finished, there 
is a degree of rest for a time, till 
the coming of peaches, usually in Sep¬ 
tember, though the small cucumbers and 
plum tomatoes come during this time. 
The cucumbers are carefully washed and 
put into a large jar. A large handful of 
salt is placed on top, then they are cov¬ 
ered with boiling water. This is done 
five times in succession, leaving them in 
the water until cold. They are then 
drained, covered with vinegar, and spices 
added as desired. We let them come to 
a boil, put into the jars in as fanciful a 
manner as we wish, cover with the boil¬ 
ing vinegar, and put away. They are 
very pretty in the jars, and make a pleas¬ 
ing contrast in color to the preserves on 
the sweetmeat shelves. 
Then the plum tomatoes, which we 
grow ourselves. We remove their jack¬ 
ets by giving them a bath in boiling 
water, drop in weak vinegar overnight, 
then drain and boil in a spiced vinegar 
syrup. We put the spices in a bag and 
cook slowly. If one is fond of sour 
pickles, these are nice put in the jar 
whole, without cooking. Put in bits of 
red pepper and strips of horseradish, some 
spices if liked, put a teaspoonful of salt 
on top of each jar, cover with cold vine¬ 
gar, and put away for use. 
A little later on, the large cucumbers 
and peppers, and the little melons for 
mangoes, must be put down in salt, to 
be used the last thing in the season for 
stuffing for mangoes. The okra and 
tomatoes for soup come in any time when 
one can procure the okra. It may be 
grown here, but it is much cheaper to 
buy it. Philadelphia and New York, I 
think, are the best markets. If the green 
pods cannot be procured, I have found 
the plain canned okra equally good to 
use with tomatoes. 
The second season of hurry is ushered 
in with the advent of peaches, usually 
in September. The never-failing cry 
that the peach crop is a failure has 
reached our ears, but we are so accus¬ 
tomed to the annual alarm that now we 
give it no heed. We usually find our 
supply in the large peach orchards along 
Cayuga Lake. If they fail, Delaware or 
Maryland usually can furnish us ; if not 
there, perhaps Michigan. But a supply 
can almost always be depended on from 
some direction, only we must look out 
for them in time. If possible, we get 
assorted peaches, those of a uniform, 
medium size ; sometimes this cannot be 
done, then we carefully sort them, 
making three grades. The very large 
ones for preserves, the medium for 
pickles, and the bruised ones for jam. 
For mangoes we buy very large ones. 
Those for preserves are peeled, cut in 
halves, the pits removed, and laid in 
sugar over night—a layer of sugar, then 
a layer of peaches. In the morning, the 
sugar will be dissolved by the juice from 
the fruit, and they are ready for cook¬ 
ing. 
For pickles, we remove the down by 
brushing with a soft brush ; it is more 
quickly done than by rubbing with a 
cloth. Each peach has to be handled 
five times before it is in the jar. We 
then thrust two cloves and two cassia 
buds into each one. We make a heavy 
vinegar syrup, and when boiling, put in 
enough peaches to cover the top of the 
syrup, forcing them under occasionally 
with a long-handled skimmer ; cook till 
tender, then put into a colander to 
drain, and piace them in the jars care¬ 
fully. When the syrup has boiled clear, 
we skim it closely, pour it over the 
fruit, seal up the jars, and turn them on 
their sides to cool. We do not use any 
of the syrup that had drained off, but 
this is very nice boiled down and bottled 
to use in mince meat; it gives a most 
delicious flavor. 
For jam, we slice the peaches very 
thin lengthwise toward the pit, boil till 
tender, add sugar, pound for pound, and 
cook till transparent. For mangoes, we 
do not peel them, only brush carefully, 
split them enough to remove the pit, 
which is replaced with a filling, tie them 
together with a string, and cook as 
pickles. They are very delicious. 
Peach chutney is considered, by some, 
an excellent relish for fish, but I find it 
too expensive to put up in quantities, as 
there is so little call for it. One can 
make a greater variety of dainties from 
peaches than from any other fruit. 
Occasionally, we have small homegrown 
peaches which we can for the home 
table. We make a medium strong lye of 
wood ashes, let it come to a boil, and 
put in some of the peaches ; they will 
need to remain in it but a short time. 
Take one in the hand and by rubbing a 
little, the skin will all slip off, leaving a 
beautiful, clean, smooth surface. Drop 
immediately into cold water, and leave 
them until enough for a cooking are pre¬ 
pared ; then boil in as rich a syrup as 
desired. MRS. o. p. howland. 
FRAGRANT CUSHIONS. 
HEN the clover is in full bloom, 
quantities of the heads should 
be gathered, put loosely into paper bags, 
and dried in a cool, dark room, to be 
used in filling head rests, or for cushions. 
Although these will make acceptable 
presents at any season, they seem espe¬ 
cially appropriate for holidays or for 
winter birthday gifts. The cover for 
such a cushion should be of white or 
gray linen, and should be embroidered 
with sprays and single heads of the 
clover, dotted here and there in natural 
colors done with Asiatic outline wash 
embroidery silks, and should be made 
removable so as to be readily laundered. 
Other fragrant flowers or plants may 
be used for the same purpose, such as 
sweet violets, rose geranium leaves, etc. 
If the latter two be used, the cushion 
would better be filled with some other 
material, and enough of the blossoms or 
leaves added to give the odor. The 
cushion covers would, of course, be em¬ 
broidered in violets, or in the geranium 
leaves. 
What more acceptable present could 
be given to a semi-invalid, or one troub- 
