1872.] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
THE IHOTSEMm 
Eg 1 ” (For other Household items , see "Basket" pages.) 
Support for a Quilting-Frame. 
In February we gave a simple device for support¬ 
ing a quilting-frame, and this has reminded 
“A. K.,” of Tullahoma, Tenn., of another. The 
engraving shows one of the two supports required. 
It is made of any light wood, three feet wide and 
four feet high. The poles to which the quilt is 
attached are round, seven feet long, or the desired 
length. In the cross-bars of the support, holes (a, b) 
are bored to receive the ends of these poles, which 
are inserted iu them. Gimlet-holes are made at c, 
down through the support and into the poles. The 
quilt is fastened to the poles in the usual manner, 
and rolled up upon one of them, except so much as 
is required to allow the ends of the poles to go 
into their places in the supports. The quilt as the 
work progresses can be readily rolled from one pole 
upon the other, and by boring a few holes in the 
ends of the poles at a, b , it may be stretched and held 
in place by the insertion of wooden pegs or nails. 
Hints for the Household. 
BT MRS. N. W. 
Washing .—Housekeepers will find it a great con¬ 
venience to have two wash-boilers on washing day, 
one for re-heating the suds, while the other and 
larger one contains the boiled clothes. It is as 
handy as plenty of flat-irons on ironing day. Let 
the readers of the Agriculturist try it and see. 
Potatoes .—Always add salt to the water while po¬ 
tatoes are boiling ; boil moderately, not violently, 
and let them be only well covered with water. 
Buckwheat Cakes .—Never make buckwheat cakes 
of buckwheat alone ; make one part of corn-meal, 
two of wheat-flour, and three parts of buckwheat. 
They are then spongy, instead of being flabby. 
Bread-Making .—In making bread always use po¬ 
tatoes or nice corn-meal. I do not feel as though 
I were doing the correct thing if I use only flour. 
The corn-meal need not be made into mush; scald 
it first iu the mixing pan before adding the flour, 
then set in the usual manner. The most prejudiced 
person can not detect by the taste any corn in the 
bread, but there is an increased sweetness, and it 
keeps moist much longer. Of course, the best 
corn-meal must be used, not that rank chicken-feed 
kind. Besides the improvement in the bread, the 
flour-barrel holds out much longer, and health is 
promoted. I put about one part of corn to three 
parts of flour, when setting the sponge. 
Odds and Ends. 
We now and then look through the stock of our 
neighbor, W. H. Baldwin, No. 38 Murray st., to see 
what new devices are offered to facilitate household 
operations. There seem to be but few novelties 
this spring, but then there are scores of old things 
that are not generally known, but are most useful. 
In the time of spring cleaning and moving, carpets 
are to be taken up and put down again. The pro¬ 
per putting down is much facilitated by a carpet- 
stretcher. In cities, those who make a business of 
putting down carpets, would as soon think of going 
to a job without a hammer, as without a stretcher. 
A stretcher (fig. 1) is a 
blade of steel, about five 
inches long, with blunt 
teeth like saw-teeth. By 
means of a socket it is at¬ 
tached to a handle of con¬ 
venient length. In use 
the teeth are pushed into 
the carpet several inches 
from the edge, and the 
carpet is stretched by a 
pushing motion, and held 
in place until the edge is 
tacked. One person can 
stretch while another 
tacks, or the handle of the 
stretcher may have a broad end and be held against 
the shoulder of the one who tacks. An implement 
to answer equally well with the one here figured 
may be made from an old saw-plate, screwed to a 
properly-shaped wooden handle. A carpet looks 
better and wears longer when properly stretched. 
The Potato-Muddler, shown in fig. 2, is made of 
galvanized iron. Being heavier than the ordinary 
wooden one, it is claimed to do better execution. 
Back-saving Bust-Pan. Some one has got out a 
“Patent Back-Saver,” which consists of a dust-pan 
with high sides and a long handle, as shown in fig. 
3. By resting the handle against a table or other 
piece of furniture, the dust may be swept into it, 
without the sweeper being obliged to stoop. 
Fig. 1.— STRETCHER. 
Home Topics. 
BT FAITH ROCHESTER. 
What shall I Get for Dinner ? — This ques¬ 
tion sometimes haunts me all the forenoon, until 
the moment arrives when it must be answered 
without delay. So long as it is an unsettled ques¬ 
tion, it interferes with any permanent peace of mind. 
“ Why not settle it at once, and have done with 
it?” asks Paterfamilias. 
“ Sure enough ! ” I answer. “ Well, what would 
you like for dinner to-day ? ” 
“Oh! most anything good to eat,” he says. But 
when I press for more definite suggestions, I am 
asked,“ What have you got in the house ? ” 
A most sensible question. It is surprising to 
find how large the list is, even when we seem to be 
“ out ” of many things we like to keep on hand. 
I must write out a list again, as I have sometimes 
done before. A glance at this, once or twice a day, 
will help much toward that refreshing variety in 
our meals that I so much believe in. It jogs one’s 
memory about putting asoak over night mackerel 
and such things as are seldom cooked because 
we forget to prepare them until it is too late. 
One should always have on hand a variety of 
flour and meal —corn-meal, Graham, fine flour, 
cracked wheat (or wheaten grits), hominy, oat¬ 
meal, buckwheat flour. Then there are the various 
starch preparations. Two or 
three kinds should be kept in 
the house—rice, corn-starch, 
tapioca, sago, arrow-root, fari¬ 
na, Irish moss, etc. Of vege¬ 
tables there should be plenty, 
and a large variety, and this is 
the proper time of year to 
look after that matter. The 
kitchen or vegetable garden 
greatly concerns the house¬ 
keeper’s interests, and should 
be thought of in season. In 
May it ought to be yielding, 
as a result of last year’s fore¬ 
thought, spinach, early beet tops, asparagus, par¬ 
snips, salsify (these last two out of the ground and 
in the cellar before they begin to sprout, of course), 
lettuce, radishes, horseradish. If proper care has 
been taken, we have still on hand potatoes, turnips, 
onions, carrots, cabbage, beans, dried sweet corn. 
Fig. 2.— MUDDLER. 
185 
Fruit, of course , every day, and at nearly every meal, 
in some shape. Canned tomatoes should come in 
very often. With plenty of good milk and eggs, 
in addition to the above-named articles of diet, 
how bountifully we may live! 
Concerning meats I will say little, knowing how 
much depends upon one’s nearness to a good mar¬ 
ket, and not caring to say a single word in favor of 
the eternal and abominable pork that is such a 
staple in most farmers’ families. Fisb, poultry, 
and dried beef have their place, and may be pre¬ 
pared in various ways. 
It is well to make out a list, each season, of the 
kinds of food available and suitable for that season. 
A weekly programme for the season, in addition to 
this, would simplify matters • good deal some¬ 
times, especially where one has a good servant who 
likes to work without asking questions. It is not 
necessary to fill out the programme entirely, but 
there arc some things we could have regularly once 
or twice a week, on definite days, and we should be 
almost sure of a better variety in our meals, if we 
adopted the programme-system. Some persons 
have this method in regard to the dessert only. 
Help for Mothers.— Was I going to suggest 
some helps for mothers who have their “ hands and 
hearts full”? Oh! if mothers could only have a 
chance to be mothers to their children, iu a large 
human (as opposed to 
merely animal) sense ! So 
far in the world’s history 
extremely few women have 
had the proper culture and 
the requisite leisure for the 
highest duties of mother¬ 
hood. With most of us, 
the necessary care for our 
children’s physical needs 
consumes about all our 
time and strength. Look¬ 
ing at the matter iu a 
general way, it seems a 
very cruel thing that 
mothers should be so 
burdened, as most of them 
are, with housekeeping and 
social labors and duties, 
while their children are 
young and need a mother’s 
constant vigilance and lov¬ 
ing guidance. But when I 
look at specific cases—my 
own, for iustance—I see 
that it can not well be 
helped, in the present con¬ 
dition of human affairs, 
and we must just do the 
best we can in the midst of 
our common difficulties. 
Good household helpers 
are scarce in the labor market, and sometimes 
the family purse is too slender to pay for all 
the help that is realty needed. 
I suppose there are indolent women enough, 
sweeping* the city pavements with their costly 
garments, to justify a good deal of the talk we see 
iu the papers about the extravagance and indolence 
of fashionable women, but farmers’ wives generally 
need to lie exhorted to rest more, rather than to do 
more work. Especially is this true of mothers. 
Good health is a foundation for that which goes by 
the name of “good nature.” A half-sick woman 
will usually be irritable. When a loving and well- 
meauing mother finds herself “cross,” she needs 
to pray for grace and something else — to pray in 
the most practical manner for plenty of help and 
plenty’ of rest—and for good diet and pure air, too. 
When children are well the care of them is much 
easier and pleasanter than when they are nervous 
and peevish, because of physical disorder. A plain, 
wholesome diet, with plenty of pure air, bathing 
enough to keep their bodies clean, and a comfortable 
degree of warmth—these are the essentials for a 
child’s good health, and consequent good nature. 
AVe want to give our little children such advan¬ 
tages for mental cultivation as their tender years 
require. Very few of us are within reach of kin- 
Fig. 3.— DUST-FAN. 
