574 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
[December, 
Home-Made Clothes Bars. 
A simple contrivance for holding freshly-ironed 
clothes is made of strips of wood about three feet 
long, an inch wide, and half an inch thick. A hole 
is bored near the end of each strip, through which 
runs strong twine, with a large knot on the under¬ 
side of each strip, to keep them equal distances 
apart. The twine passes over the top loosely 
enough not to interfere with hanging articles on 
the upper bar. A wire loop is fastened to the 
twine, by which the bars when in use are suspend¬ 
ed from a hook in the ceiling. The bars are con¬ 
venient on washing-day for holding such small arti¬ 
cles as napkins, collars, cuffs, and handkerchiefs, 
when hung out on the porch or a limb of a tree. 
The bars take up little room, are easily moved 
from place to place, and may be rolled up into 
small compass when not in use. The material 
costs but a trifle, even if new is bought. However, 
a purchase is seldom necessary, for old shade- 
rollers or broom handles answer the purpose as 
well as strips made to order, and pieces of twine 
are to be found in almost every “ string box.” A 
loop of twine could be used in place of the wire. 
What shall we Wear? 
Ladies winter outside garments are long, closely- 
fitting ulsters, or of dolman shape, with loose 
sleeves. Those of beaver cloth are of new shades 
of brown and gray, or black. Many very useful 
short sacks as well as long ones are made from a 
new fabric called “ Jersey Cloth.” Some of these, 
for house wear, are handsomely braided, and cost 
five to six dollars. Long ulsters are from twelve 
to twenty-five dollars. Many liave a deep plush 
border. Velveteen is now of fine quality, choice 
shades, and is very popular. It costs a dol¬ 
lar and a half a yard, and can be found in all colors. 
For a young lady a very handsome suit would be 
dark maroon velveteen, with a small collar and 
cuffs of some light gray fur, and a small bonnet of 
shirred maroon velvet, having a bunch of flowers 
at the left side, of light orange color shaded to 
deep red, and double strings of narrow satin or 
velvet ribbon tied in long loops. For an older 
lady, a suit of black velveteen, with a black velvet 
bonnet trimmed with plaited gray lace all around 
the edge, and a bunch of three small gray feathers, 
is very quiet and lady like. For richer cloaks and 
suits, there are heavy brocade velvets and cloths, 
and the ever substantial seal-skin sacks. Fur is 
always worn as trimming, but braid, broad or nar¬ 
row, in rows or as embroidery, is inexpensive and 
stylish this winter, both for cloaks and dresses. 
Little girls’ suits are usually of two kinds of 
goods^—either plain and plaid combined, or two 
contrasting colors in plain goods. The skirt is 
made with box plaits, a broad sash of the same 
materia], and a plain princesse bodice, of different 
color or material, or a blouse waist, which is much 
worn by ladies as well as children. Small poke 
bonnets, shirred inside as well as outside, trimmed 
with rosettes and strings of narrow ribbon, will be 
worn this winter by little girls. Worsted caps of 
various styles, instead of hoods, are used for 
school. They are made at home, and have two or 
three large pompons of different shades, of same 
color as the hood. These pompons are made on 
cards like the round ball tassels, which almost 
every one knows how to prepare. 
Little boys wear plaid suits of the dull colors, 
which are brought out this fall, instead of the old 
gay ones. They have three plaits before and be¬ 
hind, are belted at the waist, and have velvet collar 
and cuffs. A plain ulster and cap to match, with 
a broad collar of linen or embroidery, complete 
the street suit. If nice embroideries cannot be 
afforded, plain linen with a simple edge should be 
woni. Do not make them of cheap lace. A pro¬ 
fusion of this, like very cheap jewelry, is vulgar. 
One of fashion’s freaks this fall is to have little 
or no white about the neck, and many ladies are 
wearing a ruching of black lace, but this is unbe¬ 
coming to most persons, and will not be generally 
adopted. Standing collars fastened with a gold 
button are very neat. Broad white ties and lace 
handkerchiefs are laid aside. One can hardly be 
odd in dress, if good taste in harmonizing colors is 
observed, and if the rule is adopted of having but 
very few dresses and wearing them while in style. 
Many of the large stores, on application, will 
send to any address illustrated catalogues of their 
stock of goods, with samples and the prices, 
from which persons living at a distance may with 
safety make a selection. Ethel Stone. 
A Cellar Closet. 
The engraving below shows how a cellar closet 
may be cheaply and easily made. Trvo wide boards, 
forming the sides of the closet, are nailed to joists 
by their ends. A board is nailed to the bottom of 
the side pieces, and extends a foot or more upon 
each side. These end, f ;, when bordered with a lath, 
make very convenient shelves. The top board of 
A HANGING CLOSET. 
the closet also furnishes a place for holding many 
articles. The number of shelves within the closet 
is determined by the length of the side boards and 
the size of the articles to be kept in the closet. A 
lock may be easily fitted upon one of the doors, 
the other being fastened by hooks inside at the 
top and bottom. A hanging closet of this sort 
may be convenient in the wood shed, farm shop, 
or other out-building, and is easily constructed. 
Did 13,180 anA 11,690 Pay? 
At one of the Agricultural Fairs of this year, a 
large building was filled with woman’s handiwork, 
of which the separate specimens numbered well 
into the thousands. Aside from some useful rugs, 
cover-lids, bed-quilts, and stockings, nine-tenths 
of all other articles were “ fancy work.” (We 
confess to having been more interested in the nu¬ 
merous loaves of home-made ■ bread in the corner 
of a small tent near by.) In all this fancy work, 
the attention of the crowd of visitors seemed to 
be most drawn to two quilts, not on account of 
their superior utility or beauty, but because the 
cards on them stated that one contained thirteen 
thousand one hundred and eighty separate pieces, 
and the other eleven thousand six hundred and 
ninety-six ! We think the ladies present called it 
the “ saw-tooth pattern an appropriate name, as 
each piece was triangular in form, like a tooth cut 
off from a coarse saw. As we looked at them, and 
have since thought of them again and again, and 
of the hours and days and weeks and months spent 
upon these two quilts, having no special advantage 
for use, and no particular beauty except an end¬ 
less succession of small bits of calico, all alike in 
size and form, the question has constantly come up, 
did it pay to make them, merely to have it said, 
they number so mdny thousand pieces ? The two 
contained twenty-four thousand eight hundred and 
seventy bits of cloth of various shades and patterns, 
all neatly and regularly sewn together. If only 
five minutes’ time were given to each piece, over 
two thousand hours of careful work were required ! 
If made by an iuvalid who had nothing more use¬ 
ful to do, perhaps they may have served as a pas¬ 
time ; but we leave to the reader to judge whether 
such work is to be encouraged among tbe growing 
young misses, who can better employ their time. 
Always Break the Skins. 
Many persons cannot safely eat so delicious and 
nourishing food as green com, or even green peas ; 
and those who do so often suffer, unconscious of 
the cause. Currants, green or ripe, raisins or dried 
currants in cake, are as bad for some people as 
gravel stones. Children suffer diarrhoea from eat¬ 
ing small fruits. Beans, which are among the 
most nutritious foods, cause severe indigestion 
with some, unless they are boiled to a soft mass or 
porridge. There is a good reason for all this. One 
of the beneficent provisions of nature is to secure 
the widest possible diffusion of seeds. Some are 
supplied with wings, as in the thistle, and maple, 
etc., so that the winds float them to distant points. 
But by far the larger number of seeds are carried 
and scattered by birds or other animals, mainly in 
their excrements. To prevent their being digested 
within the body, most of them are covered with a 
thin, hard skin, called the cuticle, which is so 
formed that the gastric juice of the stomach does 
not act upon it. If this cuticle or outer skin of 
corn, peas, beans, and the like, and of most fruits, 
passes into the stomach unbroken, they are not 
digested, but go through the alimentary canal as 
solid bodies, producing irritation and pain to those 
having weak digestion — or at least an extra strain 
is put upon the alimentary organs. The teeth are 
provided to crush and break this cuticle ; but few 
persons masticate their food so thoroughly that a 
considerable quantity of it does not get into the 
stomach unbroken.—Attention to the simple fact 
stated above will be of great advantage to multi¬ 
tudes. As children do not understand and cannot 
appreciate these facts, care should be taken to pre¬ 
pare their food, fruits, etc., so that it cannot be 
swallowed unmashed. For green corn eaten by 
young or old, an excellent method is, to always run 
a sharp kuife down each row of kernels, cutting 
well through every one of them. There are con¬ 
venient implements made for this, and sold by 
most house-furnishing dealers. Then, if scraped 
off, or eaten from the cob, no whole kernel will 
be swallowed. Green peas and beans, dry beans 
boiled or baked, raisins, etc., should always have 
every skin cut or broken, by mashing or otherwise. 
