336 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
[July, 
Hide and Horn Furniture. 
In the Spanish sections of North and South 
America, the first thing which strikes the stranger 
about the household is the picturesque and unique 
furniture of native manufacture. There are some 
objects of factory make, imported, but these are 
more for show than use. The staple furniture of a 
Spanish-American house is a part of the country 
itself. You suspend your 
sombrero (broad brimmed 
hat) at the door on a hat 
rack made of the straight 
stem of a mimosa or some 
other rough barked tree, 
with polished horns for 
pegs. You rest your saddle 
bags on a stool made 
of bamboo or unbarked 
branches, with a seat of 
rawhide,the hairy side out. 
Your host receives you, 
rising from an arm-chair 
constructed of three splen¬ 
did bull’s horns fastened to 
a rough cylinder of wood, 
with rawhide stretched 
between the horns to form 
the seat and arms. The 
abundance of cattle in 
these countries has 
brought the ingenuity of 
the natives into exercising 
itself to utilize the prod¬ 
ucts of the herds, and the 
result is the various forms 
of domestic furniture, 
which the engravings 
faithfully represent. A 
peculiarity of all Spanish- 
American furniture is the absence of metal 
in its construction. Wooden pegs are used 
instead of nails to fasten the horns to the wood, 
but the manufacturer appears to have a rooted ob¬ 
jection even to the use of these. He relies prin¬ 
cipally on the leathern thongs with which he sews 
and ties everything together. And even his knots 
are peculiar. They are never the hard knots we 
commonly use, but an intertwisting of the thong 
or cord, such as is popular with sailors. These 
knots or twists vary with the countries in which 
they are found. Knots used in Southern California, 
Arizona and New Mexico are different from those 
of Old Mexico, while in Central or South America 
nearly every State has a different method of making 
them. But wherever or however the furniture is 
made, it is very durable. The writer brought the 
chairs, stools and settees, from which the accom¬ 
panying engravings, [figs. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7,] 
Fig. 1. HOllN HAT-RACK. 
Fig. 2.— HORN BRACKET. 
were made, from Venezuela. They were not new 
when he bought them, and they have been in con¬ 
stant use 6ince, needing only an occasional bit of 
cord or a nail, to keep them sound. Our farmers 
may find suggestions here for the use of the horns 
and other waste products of slaughtered animals. 
Children’s Diet. 
Whatever we may think of pastry, tea and cof¬ 
fee for men and women, it is certain that they 
are not the most unobjectionable forms of food for 
children, who depend so much on proper nourish¬ 
ment for health and growth. A child should have 
plenty of pure, fresh milk, either warm or cold, 
and with it wheat bread. Good oat-cake is made 
by saturating oat-meal with water, pouring it into a 
tin, and baking twenty minutes. Wholesome corn- 
cakes are made by mixing corn-meal with boiling 
water, just stiff enough to make into cakes with 
the hands, and baking in a moderate oven. These, 
with cracked wheat, oat-meal or corn-meal por¬ 
ridge, and syrup made of pure maple-sugar, and 
all the ripe or stewed fruit they care for, should 
change delicate,complaining juveniles into healthy, 
handsome, and happy little children. A. E. W. 
Flies and Mosquitoes. 
There are few places in which it will not pay to 
provide all of the windows, at least of rooms that 
are used, and the outer doors, with screens of wire 
cloth. Those who cannot afford the outlay for 
wire screens, will find a cheap but not durable sub¬ 
stitute in mosquito netting. The frames maybe 
placed just inside of the window sash, and so ar- 
Fig. 5.— A BAMBOO STOOL. 
ranged as to answer for either the upper or lower 
half of the window. In spite of all the nettings, 
some flies will make their way in. These may be 
easily driven out by closing the blinds of all the 
windows but one, which should be left partly open 
at the top. Two persons, each with a folded newspa¬ 
per, can readily drive every fly out at the open win¬ 
dow. Booms used only at night should be put in 
order and aired very early in the morning, and kept 
closed during the day. To clear a sleeping room 
of mosquitoes, take a piece of paper rolled around 
a lead-pencil to form a case, and fill this with very 
dry Pyrethrum powder (Persian Insect Powder), 
putting in a little at a time, and pressing it down 
with the pencil. This cartridge, (Tr cigarette, may 
be set in a cup of sand to hold it erect. An hour be¬ 
fore going to bed the room is to be closed, and one 
of these cartridges burned. A single cartridge will 
answer for a small room, but for a large one, two 
are required. Those who have tried this find that 
it effectually disposes of the mosquitoes. Where 
rain-water is caught in casks or tanks, these afford 
breeding-places for myriads of mosquitoes. All 
such water receptacles should have tight covers. 
No matter how troublesome the flies, do not be 
tempted to use the so-called fly-powder or “ Co¬ 
balt.” This is not cobalt at all, but crude arsenic, 
and is exceedingly dangerous—all the more so 
as it is sold under a wrong name. The fatal pois¬ 
onings of children within our knowledge, lead us 
Fig. 6.— A HORN ARM CHAIR. 
to warn against its use. Some of the fly-papers 
contain arsenic, and should be avoided. Quassia 
is poisonous to flies, but harmless. Make a strong 
tea of the chips (sold by druggists), sweeten, and 
expose in plates where the flies can get it. 
Easy Washing of Clothes. 
There is not much difference in the various kinds 
of good soap now in the market. A little common 
sense or scientific understanding is better than a 
“magic” quality in the soap, dreading the di¬ 
rections on the wrappers, one sees that the manu¬ 
facturers mean to make us use plenty of this soap. 
They unite in advising that the clothes be soaked 
in strong, warm suds a little while—from twenty 
minutes to an hour—before rubbing. This process, 
with any good, clean soap, will make the clothes 
free from dirt with very slight nibbing. It is well 
to have a small quantity of water, only moderately 
warm, not hot, as clear hot water will set dirt and 
stains, and make them much harder to cleanse. 
Put some of the clothes in this, and when wet, rub 
the soap on one garment at a time, especially upon 
the parts most soiled. Then roll up the garment 
tightly, and put it under water, and soap and roll 
the next piece. Put the dirtiest clothes by them¬ 
selves, using several tubs, pails, and other uten¬ 
sils, if more convenient. Leave them all tightly 
rolled and soaped, under lukewarm water, for 
about half an hour—longer if you choose, but not 
over night, as some advise. I like to warm up the 
water by the addition of more hot water—the hot¬ 
ter the better, now that the clothes are well 
soaked. A warm, strong suds makes the rubbing 
easy, even when the W'ashboard is used. 
In employing a common, cheap, but clean soap, I 
often put less than a level teaspoonful of powdered 
borax into the bottom of my tub, pouring hot 
water on it, and then cooling to the proper de¬ 
gree. This borax makes the washing more easy, 
and is good for the hands, healing them when 
chapped, and leaving them in good condition after 
washing. Whatever good soap you use, it is not 
necessary to boil the clothes, but this process 
helps in most cases, especially if the clothes are 
Fig. 7.— A BAMBOO SETTEE. 
well stirred about in the boiler. It is not best 
to leave them actually boiling many minutes, as ji 
this will turn them yellow. The whole washing 
may be done without warm water, if desired, hut 
