1868 .] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
14r7 
TIM fflOTEFSBEBUm- 
(J W~ For other Household. Items, see “ Basket" pages.) 
The Game of Croquet. 
These sunny days and the springing grass remind 
us pleasantly of the mallets and hoops that were 
laid aside only with the late frosts. The popularity 
of croquet (pronounced cro-kay) is not difficult to 
account for. It is one of the few outdoor games 
which both sexes can 
share. The implements 
used in the pastime are 
simple and cheap, the 
field for its enjoyment is 
the yard or lawn adjoin¬ 
ing the home, the exer¬ 
cise is gentle, and facili¬ 
tates rather than hinders 
conversation. It is always 
at hand—a pleasant relax¬ 
ation for young and old. 
It is best known in pities 
and villages. Many think 
it deserves a wider range 
in the country, where the 
people work quite as hard, 
and need quite as much 
a cheerful recreation. All 
the materials of the game 
can be got up by any skill- s 
ful boy who can use a 
lathe and handle a brush. 
Fig. 1.— THE MALLET. 
The Mallet seen in the hands of the player, fig. 1, 
requires a thin, round handle about three feet in 
length; the head say 5 inches long, and 2 )4. inches in 
diameter—smaller in the middle than at the ends. 
The bottom of the handles should be painted with 
different colors to correspond with one of the balls. 
It takes eight of these mallets to play a full game. 
The Balls are also eight in number, and should be 
painted with a single stripe, or all over, of the follow¬ 
ing colors : blue, pink, black, yellow, brown, orange, 
green, red. They should be about eight inches in 
circumference, perfectly round, and should be made 
of hard wood, maple, cherry, oak, ash, or walnut. 
The Hoops , ten in number, are made of iron, 
about 1C inches high and twelve wide, and painted 
white, for convenience in seeing, if the game should 
be prolonged into the twilight, as sometimes hap¬ 
pens. Wire % of an inch in diameter will answer 
a good purpose. Rods of wood might be used, but 
they are not as durable and are not recommended. 
The Posts , two in number, should be about 24 
inches high, and sharpened 1'or driving into the 
ground. The upper end is marked with 8 divisions, 
as seen in fig. 2, by 
painting in colors to 
correspond with the 
balls. This arrange¬ 
ment of colors is to 
distinguish the two 
sides in playing, the 
alternate colors being 
matched against one 
another. This arrange¬ 
ment brings the light 
colored balls on one 
side, and the dark up¬ 
on the other. The 
arena, or spot for play¬ 
ing, is a matter of 
some importance. 
Any smooth turf will 
answer, but it is bet¬ 
ter to have it graded 
perfectly level for the 
purpose, as it gives a much better chance for skill¬ 
ful playing. Make the turf thick by top-dressing 
and frequent mowing, and it will last much longer. 
The game begins by choosing sides, the captain of 
one side taking the blue ball and mallet, and the 
captain of the other side the pink, and so on in due 
order. Eight can play, or any smaller number down 
to two. If only two play they can use two balls 
. each, playing them alternately. The hoops maybe 
arranged in either of three orders, shown in figs. 2, 
3, or 4. The playing begins at the spot or foot of 
the arena, and the object is to drive the balls 
through all the hoops in 
the direction indicated by 
the dotted lines and ar¬ 
rows, and to strike the 
two posts. The side all of 
whose members do tins 
first wins the game. To 
“ croquet ” is to put your 
own ball against the one 
you have hit, and holding 
it firmly with the foot, 
strike it with the mallet 
and send off the ball it 
touches by the communi¬ 
cated force. As you can 
“croquet” friend or foe 
and help or hinder the ob¬ 
ject in view, this croquet- Fig. 3. croquet ground. 
ing becomes a very important part of the game. 
The captain holding the blue ball places it in any 
direction, twelve inches from the starting stake, 
and with a blow tries to drive it through the first 
hoop. It is his stroke as long as he drives the ball 
through a hoop. When he fails, the captain on the 
other side plays, and it is his stroke if he drive his 
ball through a hoop, or hit his enemy’s ball. The 
hitting is called “ roqueting,” and gives him the 
privilege of croqueting, which he does by sending 
his enemy’s ball as far off the track as possible. 
When he has missed, the other players follow in 
the order in which the colors are marked upon the 
post. Until a player has gone through the first 
hoop, he is not allowed to have an extra turn, if his 
ball hit that of another. The player who reaches 
the turning post first has great advantage for a time, 
for as soon as he touch¬ 
es it he commences his 
return journey, and 
meeting the other play¬ 
ers on their road to the 
farthest part of their 
journey, he is able to 
croquet them and con¬ 
siderably impede their 
progress. When a play¬ 
er has passed through 
all the hoops he be¬ 
comes “a rover,” and 
is privileged to rove 
about all the ground, 
croqueting his friends 
and foes. A good player, when thus situated, 
can prove of immense advantage to his side, 
and should on no account hit the starting or win¬ 
ning post until all on his side have passed through 
the last hoop. The game grows most exciting as 
the last pair approach the winning post, when one 
by a dexterous stroke hits it and wins the game. 
Parlor Croquet is played upon a board made for 
the purpose, with the same arrangement of hoops 
and posts as shown in the diagrams. The mallets, 
balls, and hoops, of course, have to be much small¬ 
er, and the croqueting must be done by placing the 
forefinger, instead of the foot, upon the ball. The 
best boards have a rim to them with a steel wire 
stretched parallel to the sides and ends, against 
which the balls strike and rebound. This gives 
opportunity for much more skill in the game. 
The rules of the game are quite numerous, and 
differ somewhat in different localities. We have 
indicated the essential principles and course of the 
game, and any rules may be adopted that the play¬ 
ers can agree upon. They are soon learned from 
a skillful player, or from little manuals that are sold 
with the materials of the game—often separately. 
--» .— « i fc - •—i—- 
A Convenient Cooking 1 Table. 
Mrs. M. S. W. sends the following account of a 
contrivance which she has found very convenient 
in the kitchen of an old-fashioned house, where pan- 
tries and closets were omitted by the builder: 
“Having for several years walked miles each day 
while doing my cooking and dairy work, and now 
having the comfort of a cooking table established 
within eight steps of my cooking stove, I will de¬ 
scribe it, hoping some woman of many steps may 
be induced to supply the need for herself. My cook¬ 
ing table is eight feet long (it should be nine), and 
is placed in a recess between the chimney and a 
window, the size of which decided its length. It is 
two feet seven inches high, and should be two feet 
three inches wide on top. Below, it is enclosed at the 
back and ends, and has doors in front. It has no 
floor, but stands directly upon the floor of the room, 
and is movable. The enclosed space below is divided 
into three compartments. The right hand closet 
contains the flour, barrel; a door coming down to 
the floor opens to admit it, and closes tightly again 
until the next barrel is needed. Inside, there is 
space to hang baking pans by their rings on the 
partitions ; over the flour barrel is a lid that is raised 
whenever flour is to be taken out; the sieve and 
scoop remain in the barrel. The lid is a part of the 
surface of the table, and opens over the whole 
width of the flour compartment. Above the door 
of the middle closet there is a drawer without back 
or sides, which is the bread board. When drawn 
out and turned around, the front becomes a back, 
and is very useful in preventing the scattering of 
flour in rolling pastry, etc.; when returned to its 
place the roller can remain upon the board. Below 
this drawer is a closet with a door, and a shelf large 
enough for a pan of milk, or bowls and pudding 
dishes; below the shelf is space for a bucket of 
sugar, jar of lard or cream, and molasses jug. 
The left hand closet has at top a drawer divided 
into two compartments, one for eggs, the other for 
spices, yeast powders, nutmeg grater, cake cutter, 
etc.; a shelf below holds boxes of saleratus, a bag 
of salt, boxes of rice or tapioca, jug of syrup, jars 
of preserves while in use, etc., or is an excellent 
place to keep pies. I can assure any woman who 
has not better conveniences that it is a great saving 
of time in cooking to have all these within reach of 
her hand, without stepping from her place. The 
table, including its surface, being about an inch and 
a half higher than a flour barrel, a short woman 
cannot roll pastry or mould bread easily without 
something to stand upon. I have a narrow piece 
of board about two feet long, with two pieces of 
inch board nailed across its under side. This is one 
of the best conveniences of all, for on a cold morn¬ 
ing when I have biscuit to bake, I warm my wood¬ 
en cricket by the fire, and it saves me from any 
uncomfortable chilliness, and as the closet door 
swings over it, is not in the way. The table may 
be of pine, and stained or not in front, or of black 
walnut. There should be a narrow strip of wood 
nailed upon the back of the surface of the table, 
and one across between the principal part of the 
table and the flour division, to keep water from 
flowing over the back or into the division containing 
flour, when washing the table after cooking.” 
Household Ornaments—Pen Wiper. 
Miss Lizzie Holmes, of Des Moines Co., Iowa, 
sends us the following sketch and description. (The 
engraver has magnified the leaf-veius to an unnat¬ 
ural size, in order to show the stitches. The en¬ 
graving is a little more than onc-third the size of 
the article itself.) “ A very pretty Pen Wiper may 
be made as follows: Cut two pieces of black, gray, 
or brown cloth, the shape of the above pattern. 
Work the veins on one leaf with green silk or 
worsted, in chain or herring-bone stitch, and on the 
