1883.] 
AMEBIC AN AG BICfJLT UBI ST. 
rapid-growing climber. If boxes were not prepar¬ 
ed beforehand, one may find means even now to 
bring in a bit of green ; seedling evergreens from 
the woods may be taken up, or, in the absence of 
these, a few carrots planted in the soil will give a 
mass of foliage, which for beauty is equal to that 
of many costly exotics. Morning-glory seeds, if 
sown at the ends of the box, will soon give vines 
for a trellis. But in mentioning window boxes, 
we had a practical end in view. Such a box, three 
or four inches deep, will supply a garden of mod¬ 
erate size, with plants of early cabbages, tomatoes, 
lettuce, etc., and allow such vegetables to be en¬ 
joyed at least a month earlier than those from 
seeds sown in the open ground. It will be well to 
have at least two such boxes, one in which to sow 
the seeds, and the other to hold the plants, or a part 
of them, when large enough to transplant. If 
soil was not laid in before cold weather, it may be 
difficult to find a supply for the boxes. If properly 
treated, the soil beneath the manure pile should 
not be frozen, and will answer the purpose. 
Useful Motes for the Household. 
Save The Bread Crumbs. —The waste of bits of 
bread in some families is unpardonable. Every 
fragrant of clean bread, if no bigger than a pea, 
should be saved and used. If attention be given 
to this, the quantity of crumbs that would other¬ 
wise be wasted, will astonish one who tries it. Do 
notallow the crumbs to mould; place them in a 
plate in the stove oven with the door open, until 
they are quite dry. Then roll the crumbs, until 
they are as fine as meal, and keep in a carefully 
closed vessel; a fruit can is excellent. Crumbs 
prepared in this way, are useful to bread chops 
or cutlets, oysters for broiling, egg-plant for frying; 
they make the most perfect of bread puddings, and 
are unequalled for stuffings. 
Keeping the Room Warm. — The closing 
of the cracks of the windows, by the use of rubber 
weather strips, keeps out currents of cold air. In 
the absence of these strips, paste strips of paper in 
the cracks. Pieces of board or of scantling, cov¬ 
ered with carpet, placed at the bottoms of the 
doors, will keep draughts of cold air from the feet. 
But we need not only to keep out the cold, but to 
keep in the heat. In homes where there are no in¬ 
side shutters, and there is only the glass, with per¬ 
haps an outer blind, between the room and “all out 
doors,” a great deal of heat passes oil. The hang¬ 
ing of a curtain at the window will prevent this in a 
great measure. In the absence of anything else, a 
newspaper put up at the window may be used, and 
will answer the purpose of throwing the heat back 
into the room as well as a heavy blanket. In this, 
as in other matters, the little leaks are constant 
sources of loss, and need looking after. 
Scouring Board. —“G. H. D.,” Rensselaer Co., 
N. Y., writes u^: I notice from time to time, sundry 
hints and helps for farmers and their wives, and 
thinking that I have improved the old untidy way 
of scouring knives and forks, I herewith send you 
a sketch of a scouring box. It consists of a board 
6a in. wide by 15 in. long, rounded at one end, with 
a boz 2i in. deep, closed at the back, forming a re¬ 
ceptacle for the brick, brush, or cloth, etc. When 
not in use, the box can be hung up in any conven¬ 
ient place. The main board or bottom is provided 
with a block 3 in. long, by any convenient desired 
width, placed near the hole, upon which the arti¬ 
cle is held while being scoured. The sides of 
the board are raised i inch, by which the fine brick, 
etc., is kept upon the board, thereby preventing any 
dirt from falling upon the table. It is easily made, 
and any man at all expert, can produce one in a very 
6hort time. The bottom and top may be moulded, 
which adds a very neat appearance to the box. 
Corner Cupboard and Line for Drying 
Dish Towels. 
Two very convenient things in our kitchen are, a 
cupboard in the chimney corner, and the wire line 
around the stove pipe, on which the dish tow els are 
dried. The line, which is of copper wire, is put up 
by screwing hooks in each side of the chimney, and 
stretching the wire from one to the other. The line 
will bear considerable weight without sagging. 
The cupboard is built in the corner made by the 
chimney, which extends down into the wash-room 
in the cellar below, and is fitted up with shelves 
for holding such things as are in constant use about 
the stove when cooking is in progress. 
Unless, as is the case in our kitchen, there is a 
CUPBOARD AND LINE. 
door in the way, another cupboard on the other side 
of the chimney will make a good place for putting 
away seeds, and things generally which should 
be kept dry. Mrs. Busyhand. 
Colds, and Diet Treatment. 
Many people think diseases are mysterious and 
intangible things that go about this mundane 
sphere seeking whom they may devour. It is more 
reasonable to believe, however, that sickness is a 
natural punishment for a violation of Divine laws 
for heathful living. In many families a cold is 
always supposed to become something more than 
a mere cold, unless there is active doctoring. But 
the sequel depends very much upon the state of 
the blood. If this is in an impure condition, made 
so by poor food and bad air, a simple cold is almost 
sure to produce some more formidable disease, as 
croup, diphtheretic sore throat, rheumatism, neu¬ 
ralgia, or pneumonia. It has been found that 
colds may be made light by judicious care in the 
beginning, even when a hard cold seems to have 
been provoked by great exposure. A child goes 
out to play, or remains in a cold room for a long 
time, without sufficient clothing, and becomes 
thoroughly chilled. To prevent a hard cold, warm 
the child as soon as possible and keep it warm, 
feeding it lightly during several hours following. 
Indigestion has a great deal to do with our colds, 
Let the food be simple and nourishing, and not in 
excess of nature’s demand, and there will be little 
trouble with sickness. Thanksgiving and Christ¬ 
mas dinners are responsible for a great many after 
ailments. 
I notice how common it is to take physic as a 
cure for various minor troubles. It would be de¬ 
cidedly better to reject the medicine and adopt the 
regimen of more moderate and judicious food. 
Watch your neuralgias and rheumatisms and see 
if they have not some direct relation to big dinners 
or particular dishes of “ conglomerate indiges¬ 
tion.” I have noticed that pickles, chow-chow, 
and the like live in the same houses with rheuma¬ 
tism, and that the connection is often close be¬ 
tween neuralgia, and the excessive use of meat or 
other stimulating nourishment; and that candy, 
and sugar, and sweet cakes and puddings are used 
most freely in those families where there is 
much trouble with croup, and sore throats. Pie is 
also a great offender whose most active and insid¬ 
ious aily is in the greasy compounds let loose by 
the frying pan. F. E. R. 
The Uses of Celery. 
Celery should no longer be considered one of 
those luxuries that can be enjoyed only by the 
wealthy. Its culture has of late years been so- 
simplified that it is now scarcely more difficult 
than that of any other garden vegetable. There is 
now no reason why every farmer and every other 
person, who lias the land, and wishes celery, should 
not have it. Those who use celery only in its raw 
state, or dressed as a salad, know only a part of 
the excellence of the vegetable. 
Stewed Celery is a favorite dish at our table. 
Celery is washed and cut up in pieces of an inch or 
less. For this, stalks that are not thoroughly 
blanched, and which would be rejected by those 
who eat it raw, may be used. That which is im¬ 
perfectly blanched is stronger than that which is 
white throughout, but any unpleasant flavor is- 
driven off in the cooking. The celery is covered 
with water, and allowed to stew gently until thor¬ 
oughly soft. If there is too much water for the 
sauce, pour off the excess, add a generous lump 
of butter, and flour, stirred first in a little cold 
water, enough to make a sauce-about as thick as- 
cream, add salt, if needed, and pepper, if desired. 
Those who try this, will be quite sure to repeat it. 
Celery Soup, or Puree of Celery'.— Cut celery- 
small, and stew it until it is very soft. It is then, 
to be rubbed through a sieve, or a colander, 
to separate the fibres. This celery pulp is added 
to a good stock—a plain soup made from meat, 
with only salt as a seasoning, slightly thickened, 
and seasoned with pepper, etc. This is the usual 
celery soup as met with at restaurants. It is bet¬ 
ter if made with milk. We are not aware of any 
definite proportion; the celery pulp is thinned 
with milk ; flour stirred up with butter is added to- 
slightly thicken it, and salt and pepper are used 
as seasoning. A small lump of sugar will greatly 
improve it. Serve very hot. 
A Guitar Needle-Book and. Pin-Case. 
To make this form of a needle-book and pin- 
case, cut four pieces of rather light pasteboard of 
the shape of a common guitar, and four pieces of 
silk the same shape, but half an inch larger. The 
silk may be of any color, but a light-brown for the 
two outside pieces, and a bright color for the inner 
ones, looks best. Cover the pasteboard with the 
silk by taking long stitches from edge to edge. 
All the markings on the front, excepting the 
strings, should be embroidered before the silk is- 
put over the pasteboard. For the strings, use yel¬ 
low silk, but for the rest a dark brown. After the 
silk is drawn smoothly over the pasteboard, put on 
the strings, taking each stitch through the paste¬ 
board and drawing it very tight, then bind the front 
all around, except the handle, with narrow dark- 
brown ribbon. Sew the front and one of the inside 
pieces neatly together over and over at the edge, 
then the back and the other inside pieces. 
Cut leaves of flannel or white cashmere. Work 
each leaf around in button-hole stitch and fasten to 
the top of the back piece. Put pins around the 
front, and tie the front and back together by a 
ribbon bow around the handle. 
Varnish for Fancy Work.— An excellent 
varnish for hanging baskets, or for leather work, 
is made of half a pound of aspbaltum in one pint 
of turpentine. Let it stand over night before using. 
Card-receivers, and watch cases can be made of 
butternut shells, and varnished with this prepara¬ 
tion. It is useful also for cones and acorns. 
