244 
AMERICAS' AGRICULTURIST. 
[May, 
sects ” could not enable us to name the creature in 
its larva state, but when the moth comes out, per¬ 
haps it will. 
Have you heard of the Agassiz clubs forming all 
over the country among children? I suppose the 
study of Natural History has now taken an impetus 
never felt before, and that the legitimate use of 
eyes and ears is coming into fashion. I have only 
lately heard about the Agassiz Association, but it 
is good news and full of promise. 
Faith Rochester. 
A Water Tank for the Kitchen. 
Thousands of those who reside in hilly or moun¬ 
tainous sections could, at a small outlay, convey 
water from some spring, pond, or rivulet, by under¬ 
ground pipes direct to the kitchen, and thus have 
within reach an ample supply of water. 
A water tank is here shown for the kitchen and 
work-room. It is three feet iu length, fourteen 
inches in liight, and eighteen inches wide at the 
top, with ends sloping inward. It is made from 
two-inch pine plank well seasoned, and put together 
at the joints with white lead, and the whole firmly 
nailed. One half is in the kitchen and the remainder 
in the wash-room, as indicated by the dotted lines. 
The top is provided with a hinged cover. The tank 
is supported by brackets, 6, 6, one foot in hight. 
At each end and within three inches of the bottom, 
is placed a faucet, a, for drawing the water. The 
water may be obtained through the opening at the 
top if desired. If the water flows with considerable 
force, place the end of the inlet pipe near the center 
of the tank and within three inches of the bottom, 
thereby keeping the whole body of water well 
stirred and of a uniform temperature. Locate the 
outlet pipe within one inch of the top ; it should 
be twice the capacity of the inlet pipe. A wooden 
tank will last many years, but its durability is in¬ 
creased by lining it with zinc. 
A tank of this kind is convenient, even if no 
running water can be obtained. It can be filled 
each morning—a consideration that thousands of 
overworked housewives would truly appreciate. 
L. D. S. 
Something about Carpets. 
A well-made " hit-or-miss” rag carpet is both 
durable and pretty, and more wholesome to live 
upon, as it makes less lint than the common wool 
carpets. Of course I speak of “ every-day” or sit¬ 
ting room carpets, not advising the “ hit-or-miss” 
for drawing rooms. It is more work to stripe a rag 
carpet, and more expensive, and the result is not so 
harmonious and really tasteful as the even mixture 
of good rags of various colors in a “ hit-or-miss” 
carpet. These are now quite fashionable. The 
rags should be evenly cut and sewed with as little 
bunching as possible. It saves a deal of time and 
labor to sew the rags on a machine, but this is more 
easily done when the rags sewed are all of one 
color as in a striped carpet. To expedite matters 
in sewing “hit-or-miss” rags, have the rags all cut 
before beginning to sew. At least have the general 
tones of the carpet decided. Try to have the gay 
colors distributed somewhat evenly, and the light 
and dark rags well-balanced through the whole. 
Having decided what proportion of each to use 
(not of each separate color), it is well to parcel 
them out into a few divisions and then pull rags 
from each in turn. For instance, put the black and 
very dark rags together, the white and light neutral 
tints (all the medium grays and browns) in one 
class, including the various small checks. Place 
all of the gay colors—yellow, red, light green, and 
blue—in one division, mixing them up well so that 
one color will not be all drawn out long before the 
rest. It is best not to have too many very gay 
rags (for instance there may be too much red 
flannel), but to distribute the bright rags in rather 
short lengths evenly through the whole carpet. 
When you sew the rags, have a quantity from 
each of the four or five grand divisions placed in 
regular order. Lap the ends and sew straight 
across with a firm lock-stieh, sew another rag in the 
same way to the end of one of the rags just sewed, 
and so on, not cutting or breaking the thread until a 
long line of rags has been sewed together in one 
seam. It is but a moment’s work to cut these 
short seams apart and wind the ball. 
Be sure and have good strong warp. My first 
carpet had good warp doubled and twisted at home, 
and is not yet entirely out of service, after sixteen 
years of wear. The next one went to pieces very 
rapidly ; its warp was furnished by the weaver. 
In bed-rooms the whole floor should not be 
carpeted. Short pieces of carpeting, or handsome 
rugs of suitable sizes, are much to be preferred— 
one before the bed, one at the bureau, ward¬ 
robe, or toilet-table, one at the wash-stand, and 
others before easy chairs, desks, or other places 
especially used for standing or sitting. These 
rugs can be shaken out of doors, and the floor can 
be washed as needed. 
No kitchen should be completely carpeted, but 
a few breadths tacked down lightly so as to be 
easily and frequently pulled up and shaken, allow¬ 
ing the whole floor to be cleaned, add to the com¬ 
fort of a much-used kitchen. F. R. 
A Stocking Bag. 
The materials required are one yard of cretonne, 
one stick of dress braid, six small brass rings, one- 
quarter of a yard of elastic, and some bits of flan¬ 
nel. Cut six pieces of pasteboard five inches by 
six, rounding the two lower corners. These are to 
be covered with cretonne, and each pair overhanded 
together. From the remainder of this half yard of 
cretonne cut the pocket for the mending yarn, etc., 
in the same shape, but of the full size of material 
left. The remaining half yard is for the large bag 
for the unmended stockings. The elastic gathers 
the top of the pocket. 
To put together, sew one inch of the ends, of 
both large bag and pocket, to the top of the sides 
of one pasteboard, and full the rest on around. 
Join the opposite end of large bag to another paste¬ 
board ; the selvedges now form the top of the bag. 
Join the remaining pasteboard to the last one used 
and tie at bottom with braid; this is the needle- 
book which may be filled with leaves of flannel. 
The rings are now sewn, one at each end of the 
pasteboards, and one on each middle of top of 
bag, the braid being run through around the circle 
so that the bag may be set down and opened to the 
full extent. The accompanying engraving will 
make the shape clearer. A. S. D. 
A Household Convenience. 
The ironed clothes are generally kept in a closet 
or bureau in some room adjoining the kitchen. A 
good many steps might be saved by adopting a plan 
I have tested satisfactorily. It consists of a frame 
very much like that of a window, let into the parti¬ 
tion between the kitchen and bedroom. There is 
a space of ten inches between the doors which close 
it. These doors are of light pine, hung on hinges 
at each side; double doors, in fact, swinging to¬ 
gether, and fastening by a spring lock. In this 
A CLOSET FOR CLOTHES. 
frame there are two clothes-bars or racks, on which 
the clothes are hung as fast as they come from the 
ironing-table. These racks are on hinges, and swing 
either way, thus being convenient for use in both 
rooms. The ironing-table can be placed near the 
closet, so that few steps will be needed in disposing 
of the clothes as fast as ironed. They are more 
easily reached from the bed-room side, than they 
would be if packed away in drawers or on closet 
shelves, and are equally as available from the 
kitchen. E. E. R. 
Oatmeal and Barley, 
BY NELLIE BURNS. 
I have heard many 6ay that they soon tire of oat¬ 
meal. This is owing to the common mode of pre¬ 
paring it. There is a better way. Get the best of 
the coarsest oatmeal. After it is free from any 
impurities it may contain, it is ground through a 
small hand-mill. When ground, the meal is a little 
coarser than the common ground corn meal (not 
the bolted.) Take of this meal one pint, and one 
pint of cold water, and mix in the kettle in which 
it is to be cooked. It must be thoroughly mixed, 
with no lumps left in it. Pour three pints of boil¬ 
ing water over the mixture. Salt to suit the taste. 
Then place it on the top of a moderately hot stove, 
and boil from one to two hours. When cooked it 
is poured into an earthen dish and allowed to cool 
before using. Either a porcelain or granite iron 
kettle is better for the purpose than iron. As such 
starchy food burns easily, it is well to elevate the 
kettle a little. I usually prepare such food in the 
forenoon, while other cooking is in process, and 
have it ready for breakfast the following morning. 
In using pearl barley I grind and prepare it iu the 
same way. As a diet for children it cannot be sur¬ 
passed. Finely ground oatmeal, or at least some¬ 
thing that bears that name, can be had at almost 
any grocery store, but it is often adulterated. 
When the coarse meal is obtained and ground at 
home, it is known to be pure. 
