957 
Feathers and Their Use in Bedding 
The old and new methods for curing 
duck and goose feathers for use in pil¬ 
lows are not alike. In the olden times 
the feathers were picked from the birds, 
put into sacks and hung up. and if the 
feathers were taken from the live birds 
and fully ripened when the picking was 
done, as is the case where the birds are 
kept for the feathers and picked period¬ 
ically, nothing further was needed. In 
the cases where the birds were first killed, 
then scalded, of course the feathers had to 
'be driei before putting into sacks for 
storage, or ticks and cases for use. The 
modern method is to place the feathers, 
after removal from the birds, into a 
loose sack and boil in soapsuds for five 
minutes, which removes the oil from the 
•feathers, making them much fluffier and 
removing the strong odor of the birds 
which otherwise the feathers will have if 
not boiled, as the oil contains the odor. 
After boiling for five minutes, drain from 
suds and rinse in clear warm water until 
the water remains clear or free from any 
sudsy look. Then dry in the wind, but 
not the sun, if possible drying quickly, so 
the feathers will not sour. When once 
soured it is next to impossible to remove 
the tainted odor from them. If there are 
many feathers and one has a clean vacant 
room one can put the feathers directly on 
the clean floor after rinsing, and dry them 
quicker than in sacks. The windows 
should be opened about an inch to admit 
circulation of air to hasten the drying 
process. 
The rank, oily odor noticeable in many 
old feather beds and pillows was and is 
due to the non-removal of the oil from 
the feathers of these two kinds of birds. 
The removal of this oil by steaming is 
what constitutes the renovation of 
feathers and makes them so fluffy after 
being treated. Never place feather beds 
or pillows in the sun to air, as this draws 
oil from the feathers and causes a bad 
odor, but place them in a draft or a 
shady place. An old family friend who 
renovated feathers, and who was the 
originator of the fluff or feather mattress, 
told me these, then secrets, of the feath¬ 
ers, and added : “If folks knew enough 
to keep their feathers out of the sun they 
wouldn’t have to be renovated, but I 
would have to hunt another job for my 
living.” The feather mattresses of which 
lie was the originator were invented many 
years ago when many housekeepers were 
smitten with a fad not to sleep on feather 
beds, as they were unhealthy, and this 
man’s wife was one of them. After pass¬ 
ing several sleepless nights trying to 
sleep on the mattress minus the feather 
bed, he took the bed of feathers to his 
workroom, and placing it on the frame 
or table he carefully evened the feathers 
in the tick, then with a threaded mat¬ 
tress needle proceeded to tack the bed, 
mattress style, 4 in. apart in squares, 
then took the mattress from the bed, re¬ 
moved the binding from the top edge 
seam, and laying the feather mattress on 
top resewed the binding onto the seam, 
securing both feather and other mattress 
edges by the same binding, and lie had 
a mattress which delighted even his fad¬ 
dish wife. As the fame of his invention 
spread he was overwhelmed with orders, 
and of course those made for customers 
were more elaborate. For customers the 
ticks for the feathers was made with the 
side strip set in to form the box style of 
mattress, and after being tacked through 
tine feathers and bound to the edge of 
the mattress was tacked through the mat¬ 
tress also in the center for additional 
ease in handling. I have .made my own 
following this method, as the friend has 
gone out of business, and I never knew 
of another who did this work, though of 
course flhere must have been some besides 
who did it. When making the box or 
mattress style of tick I do not “set” a 
strip in the side, but using the edge same 
as a center I measure 2 in. from it on 
one side of the tick, baste it all around 
both sides and ends, stitch on the ma¬ 
chine, then turn the tick over, measure 
and repeat on the other side, and have 
my “box” complete. The corners must 
be cut off or turned in and sewn separate 
to form the square. As I am not much 
of a hand to hack things to pieces I turn 
mine in ; then if I want to use the tick 
for another purpose it is all there. 
Last year I was fortunate in securing 
two large goose feather beds for a very 
small sum. as they were not needed by 
the seller. I renovated them both myself 
to make sure of cleanliness. As they 
looked clean it did not require any great 
amount of work to wash them, but, oh, 
the drying process of 30 lbs. of wet, 
fluffy goose feathers! I took two syrup 
can crates, placed them side by side out 
in the shade, and laid my bags of feathers 
on them to dry. Of course a shower 
came up every night, which made it 
necessary to bring them into the house 
and carry them back in the morning. 
Hen or turkey feathers can be used for 
the “fluff” tops for mattresses, as also 
can cattail and milkweed down. Many 
years ago I purchased a “curled hair” 
mattress, and the ticking having become 
worn out 1 took it to pieces recently and 
discovered that the "curled hair” was a 
fine black or very dark root, like the root 
of certain kinds of ferns which grow in 
bogs and are of a boggy nature. 1 also 
reupholstered some furniture and found 
the padding underneath the cover and on 
top of the excelsior to be of the same 
material. Needless to say in remaking 
the mattress some soft fuzzy hay took 
the place Of curled hair, and the furniture 
The RURAL NEW-YORKER 
has a top-dressing of fine soft excelsior. 
A wool mattress was found to be com¬ 
posed of old woolen rags cut into small 
pieces, nothing more, excepting the lint 
accumulated by usage. And a lamb’s 
wool comfort was found, when ripped up 
for washing, to be filled with the same 
material, some of the pieces of wool even 
being sections of seams of an old coat 
apparently. I think this must be the 
shoddy of which one of your correspond¬ 
ents complains. I am afraid of any bed¬ 
ding of the so-called wool variety since 
the war, fearing it may be made from 
some of the “reclaimed” material sal¬ 
vaged from the war, and of which I have 
the greatest horror, though perhaps it is 
unreasonable. For filling for a comfort¬ 
able made from old wool clothing, and 
which would naturally make a heavy piece 
of bedding, I took a sack of hen feathers 
and put them into an old cotton sack 
made from any old cotton material which 
will keep feathers in place, placed be¬ 
tween lining and outside and tied 3 in. 
apart in squares, and have a good, warm, 
serviceable article, and not so very heavy. 
In this time of readjustment one feels it 
necessary to economize, conserve and 
utilize every available scrap for use in 
every and all places possible. I devoutly 
hope the time is nearing when there will 
be a lessening of the strain somewhere. 
JESSIE. 
A Long List of Recipes 
Please help me. I want to make the 
following articles to sell to particular 
people who can pay for the best—light 
and dark fruit cake, sponge cake, mince¬ 
meat, Dutch apple cake, plum pudding, 
mustard pickles, blood pudding from cow’s 
blood, same as cooked in Ireland, and 
cold cream. mbs. m. 
Fruit Cake.—The following is a de¬ 
licious fruit cake, and the method of 
cooking is especially desirable, as it is 
always fully cooked without being hard 
and dry : One lb. flour, 1 lb. granulated 
sugar, 1 lb. butter, 12 eggs, *4 pt. mo¬ 
lasses, with one teaspoon soda stirred 
to a foam, 2*4 lbs. raisins, 2 1 /. lbs. cur¬ 
rants, 1 lb. citron peel, 1 lb. figs, three 
wineglasses grape juice, one tablespoon 
ground mace, one tablespoon cloves, two 
tablespoons cinnamon. Stone the raisins, 
slice the citron thin, and chop the figs 
in a meat chopper. Cream the butter and 
sugar, beat the eggs, and proceed with 
the mixing as with any other cake. Put 
in loaf cake tins and steam for three 
hours; then bake for one hour in a steady 
oven. While steaming cover the top of 
the tins with cheesecloth, to prevent 
water from falling into the cake. Some 
of our friends do the steaming in the oven 
in a covered roaster containing a little 
water. This is a very dark, rich-looking 
cake. 
Imperial Cake.—Perhaps this is the 
light fruit cake desired. It is rich and 
delicious, and will keep well. One pound 
of sugar, rubbed to a cream, with three 
quarters of a pound of butter. Add first 
the beaten yolks of eight large or 10 
small eggs, then 1 lb. of sifted Hour, the 
beaten whites of the eggs, and lastly l 1 /! 
lbs. of finely sliced citron peel dredged 
with flour, and % lb. chopped English 
walnut meats. Bake in loaf 1*4 or two 
hours. 
Never-Fail Sponge Cake.—This can be 
made and baked in 35 minutes. A good 
sponge should be yellow as gold, of vel¬ 
vety softness and tender as a marshmal¬ 
low. If the rule here given is strictly 
followed, such a cake will be the sure re¬ 
sult: Separate the whites and yolks of 
four eggs. Beat the whites until stiff 
enough to remain in bowl if it is in¬ 
verted, then beat them into one-half cup 
of sugar, which must be fine granuated 
(powdered sugar makes tough cake and 
proper beating does away entirely with 
the grains). Beat the yolks, add to them 
one-half cup of sugar, beating for five 
minutes by the clock—this latter being 
important, as the delicate texture of the 
cake depends upon it; add to the yolks 
the grated rind and juice of one lemon. 
Now beat well together the yolks and 
white. At this stage beating is in order, 
but must be absolutely avoided after add¬ 
ing the flour, of which take one cupful. 
The mixture should now look like a puff 
ball, and the flour is to be tossed or stirred 
into it with a light turn of the wooden 
spoon. Stirring is quite different from 
beating. The cupful of sugar must be 
generous, the flour scanty. Bake for 25 
minutes in a moderate oven. Just before 
putting in the oven sprinkle on top 
through a sifter about a tablespoon of 
granulated sugar. This gives the “crackly” 
top crust so desirable. 
Dutch Apple Cake.—Measure a pint 
of sifted flour, add half a level teaspoonful 
salt, quarter of a cup of sugar, and a 
scant teaspoon of soda. Sift three times. 
Beat up one egg with a cup of sour milk. 
Rub a third of a cupful of butter into 
the flour thoroughly, then mix in the 
liquid, making a soft dough. Spread this 
half an inch thick in a well-greased bis¬ 
cuit pan. Pare and core five juicy, well- 
flavored apples, and cut them into 
eighths; arrange them in parallel rows, 
sharp edges down, on top of the dough, 
pressing down so that they are partially 
imbedded in the dough. Sprinkle over 
thickly with sugar and a little cinnamon 
and dot with bits of butter. Bake in a 
quick oven for 25 minutes. Serve hot as 
a dessert or tea cake. Made with fresh, 
ripe peaches, quartered, it is delicious. 
Omit the cinnamon when peaches are 
used. 
English Plum Pudding. — Recipes for 
for this are variable; many excellent Eng¬ 
lish cooks have an old family recipe that 
i<s treasured as an heirloom, and is never 
given to persons outside the family. Most 
of these old recipes call for wine or 
brandy. The following is a standard 
recipe: One pound stoned raisins, 1 lb. 
hard beef suet, free from skin or strings, 
and chopped to a powder; % lb. of grated 
bread crumbs from a stale loaf, *4 lb. 
brown sugar, grated rind of one lemon, 
14 lb. cleaned currants, % nutmeg, grat¬ 
ed, *4 lb- of candied peel, shaved tine, 
five eggs, one cup milk. Mix all the 
dry ingredients; then beat the eggs, add 
the milk to them, pour over the other 
materials, and mix well ; it will' require 
hard stirring, as it is stiff. Put in 
greased molds holding one quart, cover 
with well-floured cloth, and boil for six 
hours; cool and store away. When used 
boil for four hours more. If desired cin¬ 
namon, allspice and cloves may be used as 
well • as nutmeg, but excess of cloves 
should be avoided. Some cooks use a few 
almonds, sliced, not chopped, or a gill of 
sweet cider or grape juice, lessening the 
milk a little. The boiled pudding will 
keep indefinitely in a cool, di*y place. 
Maryland Mincemeat.—Two pounds of 
lean beef; cook, cool, then chop with meat 
grinder; one pint of finely chopped beef 
suet, free from skin or strings; two 
quarts chopped apples, one pint of stoned 
raisins; a scant pint of sugar, one-half 
pint of currants, one-third pound of cit¬ 
ron. shaved fine; a cup of molasses (if 
preferred omit this and substitute 
sugar) ; tablespoon each of ground mace, 
allspice and cinnamon, one teaspoon of 
cloves, one grated nutmeg, one tablespoon 
salt, juice and rind of two small lemons 
and one orange, one-lialf cup each of can¬ 
died lemon and orange peel. Moisten 
with grape juice, sweet cider, peach or 
plum syrup. Syrup from sweet pickles 
may be used. Pack solid in air-tight 
jars. Personally, we prefer mincemeat 
without the meat, and use suet only. The 
spice should be tested or varied to suit 
personal taste, for everyone does not like 
the same amount, and some prefer to les¬ 
sen the amount of chopped apple. 
Mustard Pickle.—This is an especially 
good recipe. As it came to us originally 
no white pepper was used, but we think it 
an improvement. One quart little cu¬ 
cumbers, one quart small onions, one 
quart green tomatoes, cut in pieces, or 
green cherry tomatoes left whole, one 
quart cauliflower broken up into florets, 
one quart small, tender string beans, four 
green peppers. Wash the cucumbers, 
peel the onions, wash the cauliflower in 
strong salt water to draw out any con¬ 
cealed insects, remove the stems from 
tomatoes. Cut the peepers, removing 
stems and seeds. Soak all the vegetables 
over night in brine. In the morning put 
the kettle containing vegetables and 
brine on the stove and bring to the scald¬ 
ing point. Then drain off the brine and 
cover the pickles with sauce made as fol¬ 
lows: Mix together one cup sugar, one 
cup flour, one teaspoon ground white pep¬ 
per, one-half pound ground mustard. 
Moisten gradually with two quarts vine¬ 
gar, first stirring the dry materials to a 
paste, then thinning with remainder 
of the vinegar. Pour over the pickles in 
the kettle, and scald until the flour thick¬ 
ens; then put in jars. While this will 
keep in large jars without sealing, we 
prefer to put in smaller jars, as there 
seems to be less waste in using. 
Blood Pudding.—The only recipe we 
have for blood pudding is made from pig’s 
blood. Perhaps someone can give direc¬ 
tions for the use of beef blood. The fol¬ 
lowing is the recipe: Catch the blood of 
a pig; to each quart add a large tea¬ 
spoon of salt, and stir without ceasing 
until the blood is cold. Simmer half a 
pint of crushed oats or oat flakes in 
just enough water to make them tender, 
but not thin. For each quart of blood 
prepare 1 lb. of fresh pork fat, chopped 
fine, one-half cup bread crumbs, one 
tablespoon chopped sage, one teaspoon 
chopped thyme, three drams each allspice, 
salt and pepper and one teacup cream. 
When the blood is cold strain through a 
sieve, add the chopped fat and bread 
crumbs, and last the cream and season¬ 
ing. Put in large sausage skins, tie in 
links 9 in. long, boil gently; then take 
out of the water and prick; store in a 
cold place. 
Cold Cream.—The following is a simple 
cold cream that is easily made and very 
soothing to the skin: White wax and 
spermaceti, of each one ounce; oil of al¬ 
monds, one-fourth pint. Put in an earthen 
jar, stand in a pan of water near the back 
of the stove until the wax and spermaceti, 
which should be shaved fine before putting 
in the oil, are completely melted. Then 
remove from the stove, keeping the jar or 
bowl standing in the warm water, and add 
gradually four fluid ounces of rose water, 
stirring until an emulsion is formed, and 
keeping on stirring until near cold. Put 
in little glass or crockery jars. It may 
be perfumed with bergamot or lavender 
oil, or elder-flower water may be used in¬ 
stead of rose water. 
Molasses Cookies 
Two eggs, one cup sugar, one cup mo¬ 
lasses, one tablespoon ginger, one table- 
Bpoon baking soda, one tablespoon vine¬ 
gar. Salt. Flour to make a soft dough 
to handle nicely. Cut about 3 4 in. thick. 
Bake in a moderately hot oven. 
MBS. E. A. T. 
ALE 
( 700 /) 
HOES 
Send now Tor Special 
Sale book, just 
bursting with wonder¬ 
ful shoe values—di¬ 
rect from the maker's 
last to your foot. Not a 
penny of middlemen's 
profits to pay. Send 
name and address 
now to 
Quickstep Shoe Co. 
Dept. X21 
Rnelnn Mste. 
Don’t let fruits, vegetables, 
spoil. Make money. Can 400 
qts. daily in home-size NA¬ 
TIONAL Steel Caancr. "U.S. Cold- 
Pack" way. Easy, quick, sure. 
Easy Meals 
Meat, vegetables, dessert, cook at _ 
once in 30 minutes, tender, nutri- 
ttious, in NATIONAL Pressure 
Aluminum Cooker. Saves time 
and work. No odors. Kitchen cool • 
Northwestern Steel & Iron Works 
Dept. J Esu Claire, Wis. 
%A/iatTonal 
rrmny canners and cookers I 
SPECI A L 
Combination Offer 
oo 
5 Gillies’ A-RE-CO. a * 
lbs. COFFEE 1 $ 
Bean or Ground 
3 Sample Mixed 
lbs. TEA 
Buy direct from wholesaler and save 10c on every pound 
2 
SENT PARCEL POST PREPAID ON RECEIIT OF YOTJR 
CHECK, MONEY ORDER OR CASH 
Satisfaction Guaranteed or Money Back 
GILLIES COFFEE COMPANY, 233-239 Washington St. 
Established 81 Years New York City 
Rats " ew 
Way 
In France the World’s greatest lab¬ 
oratory has discovered a germ that 
kills rats and miee by science. Ab¬ 
solutely safe. Cannot harm human 
beings, dogs, cats, birds, chickens or 
clears dwellings and outbuildings, with no 
It is called Panysz Virus. 
Free Book 
Get our free book on rats and 
mice, telling about VIRUS 
and how to get some. 
0. A. Virus, Ltd., 121 West 15th Street, New York 
Henley’s Twentieth Century 
Book of Recipes and Formulas 
This 800-page 
book gives 
thousands of 
RECIPES 
covering all 
branches of 
The USEFUL 
ARTS 
PAINTS, GLUES, CEMENTS, TANNING, 
DYEING, SOAP MAKING, ELECTRICAL 
AND CHEMICAL WORK, ETC. 
Valuable for reference. Price postpaid $4 
For Sale by RURAL NEW-YORKER 
333 WEST 30th STREET. NEW YORK CITY 
When you write advertisers mention 
The Rural New-Yorker and you’ll get 
a quick reply and a “square deal.” See 
guarantee editorial page. : : : 
