1868.] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST 
189 
toe Musraom 
(J37 - For other Household Items, see “ Basket ” pages.) 
Moths, Moths, Moths. 
“How shall I preserve my furs?” “Ilow shall 
I keep my woolens ?” “ What must I do with our 
nice stuffed sleigh back ?” is the sum and substance 
of a considerable pile of letters from good house¬ 
keepers, who are anticipating trouble from that lit¬ 
tle household pest, the moth. Much of the trouble 
with moths arises from not knowing their ways, 
and the best thing we can do is to show up the ene¬ 
my. In these pleasant spring days a little insect 
will often be seen flitting about the room, an inno¬ 
cent looking thing, of an unobtrusive drab color, 
which, if it attracts our attention at all, does so 
only pleasantly, as it seems full of new life, aud iu- 
doue. Where moths are once in a fabric, an expo¬ 
sure to a heat of 150° will destroy them. We once 
had some valuable traveling blankets that became 
infested; these we placed in a tight box and sprinkled 
freely with benzine, which did forthe moths. Wool¬ 
en sleigh coverings should be brushed over with a 
solution of corrosive sublimate, so weak that when 
it dries it will not leave a white staiu upou the cloth. 
----- 
The Big Pickerel and How it was Cooked. 
A AH, LARVA IN AND OUT OP CASE, ENLARGED. C, 
tent only on its own pleasure. To use a vulgarism, 
“that’s what’s the matter;” this little miller or 
moth is great iu its possibilities of future troubles. 
He, or she, (for the inexperienced eye cannot tell the 
difference,) should be killed at sight. Its first ap¬ 
pearance should be taken as a warning of danger. 
The moths that trouble furs, woolen clothing, car¬ 
pets, stuffed sleigh backs and furniture, may prac¬ 
tically be considered as the same thing, for though 
the entomologist may find differences in them, their 
ways are alike. These winged moths deposit eggs 
on or in the furs or fabrics. These eggs hatch in 
about fifteen days, and the wool or fur serves the 
resulting worm, not only for food, but for clothing, 
for the grub makes itself a case out of the small 
fragments, and thus conceals itself while it works. 
It often happens that the presence of moths is not 
suspected until the mischief is done. After the 
grubs have made their growth, enlarging their cases 
to suit their needs, they go into the dormant state, 
and iu spring appear as the modest winged insects 
to which we have referred. An engraving from a 
recent French work on the Metamorphoses of In¬ 
sects, by Blanchard, gives the different stages of 
their existence. With moths, as with many other 
domestic troubles, prevention is the best “remedy.” 
Camphor wood and cedar trunks are good, as the 
mother insect does not like their odor, and will not 
enter them. Cedar shavings, tobacco stems, cam¬ 
phor, pepper, and other aromatics, have the repu¬ 
tation of being preservatives, but there is nothing 
better than paste. See that the furs or woolens are 
well beaten, and put them away in a box or chest 
that has every crack closed by a strip of stiff paper 
well pasted on. Furs put up iu perfectly tight pa¬ 
per bags, and pasted securely, will be preserved 
from the attacks of moths, but the paper must be 
without holes, and the pasting must be honestly 
The facts stated in the February Agriculturist in 
connection with the pictures of the pickerel, in¬ 
duced the friendly editor of the Jamestown (N. T.) 
Journal to send us some statements in regard to 
the great size of the pickerel caught in Chautau¬ 
qua Lake, aud to verify them by a magnificent 
sample of the fish themselves. The fish sent ex¬ 
ceeded the maximum length mentioned, being a 
little less than three and 
one half feet. Its head 
measured 10 inches, its 
girth was 27 inches, and 
its weight 16 pounds. Mr. 
Bishop writes : “I might 
have sent one a quarter 
larger, but feared the flesh 
would not be so good. I 
saw one the other day 
that measured four feet, 
two inches, and weighed 
32J£ lbs. Two have been 
brought in that weighed 
40 lbs. each, aud measured 
4 feet and 5 or 0 inches. 
Our Chautauqua Lake is 
fed by cold springs entire¬ 
ly, and the fish are much 
firmer and purer in taste 
than those taken in the 
streams around here. We 
stuff and bake large ones 
likeThanksgiving turkeys 
at our house. Small ones 
are nice fricaseed in 
cream, if you have cream. ’ ’ 
The fish came in ex- 
perfect motii, nat. size. ce n en t condition, and was 
certainly the finest and largest we ever saw. It was 
weighed, measured, and divided. The head and 
shoulders were baked as follows: Cleaned, wiped 
out and off, sprinkled well inside with thyme, salt, 
and pepper, (not stuffed), spread out a little, and 
pressed flat, in a bake pan, the sides being tucked 
under; the whole was then completely covered with 
very thiu slices of the best salt pork; a little wa¬ 
ter was put iu the pan, which was placed in the 
stove oven. At the end of- an hour and a half, it 
having been well basted, perhaps once iu ten min¬ 
utes, with the water in the pan, which was occa¬ 
sionally replenished with a very little more water 
at a time, the fish was ready for the table—brown 
and crispy on the surface, fiakey and white within ; 
solid and firm, yet tender and delicate as fresh fallen 
suow—but smoking hot. It was garnished with 
slices of lemon, and should have had a few parsley 
leaves, but the season has been unpropitious and 
our fine parsley is no longer thriving. The gravy, 
which was poured over it and surrounded it in the 
dish, was thymely and rich. The Fluke potatoes, 
simply boiled in their jackets, were the only accom¬ 
paniment, and all sufficient. The roast joint which 
followed was neglected,—we were more than satis¬ 
fied,—not too full for utterance, for the praises of 
the pickerel were the satisfactory theme of conver¬ 
sation then, and of agreeable memories now. And 
the Chautauqua pickerel were “marked up” far 
above common ones, aud close along side of our 
very best table fisli.^-Othcr portions of the “big 
fish” were taken home by other editors, broiled 
and fried, etc., and a “good report” came back 
from each—with thanks to friends C. E. Bishop 
and Prof. Love for the superb present. We should 
all enjoy “casting aline” in Chautauqua Lake. The 
theory that fish furnish good brain nourishment, 
may account for the excellent quality of the Journal. 
Keeping a Boarding House. 
We have all laughed at the story of a man in New 
York who got rich and lived in an elegant house 
on Fifth avenue. An old friend from the country 
went to see him, and was shown over the house 
when several colored servants were eating their 
dinner. Being asked on his return how their old 
acquaintance was getting along, and what he was do¬ 
ing, he replied : “ He seems to be doing well. He is 
keeping a negro boarding house.” Are there not 
farmers who keep a boarding house? Ask the 
women. It is almost impossible to get girls in the 
country, and many well-to-do farmers who would 
gladly see their wives and daughters engaged occa¬ 
sionally at something other than cooking, are at a 
loss how to accomplish it. We can tell them. Do 
not board any men in the house. Put up houses 
for all the regular men you want, and make arrange¬ 
ments with them to board an extra man occasional¬ 
ly, as you may need him. There is no trouble 
about this, and it is a good deal cheaper than board¬ 
ing men in the house. But in hiring the extra 
hands do not agree to board them iu the other 
houses. Let them make their own bargains. Say, 
“ I will give you $30 a month, but I cannot board 
you. You can get board, however, with such or 
such a man.” The object of this is to cut off all 
complaints in regard to the board. Pay good wages 
and try to make all the men, aud especially their 
wives, comfortable, and you will have no trouble. 
The money invested in a comfortable tenant 
house will pay a higher rate of interest than U. S. 
stocks. We know a man who pays a dollar a week 
for a house that did not cost $300, and besides this 
agrees to work for the owner whenever he wants 
him. Such a system, however, is not a good one. 
You do not want rented houses for the farm. The 
cow, the pig and the chickens often cause trouble. 
Get good, married men, and furnish them a 
home, but not too many perquisites. Pay them 
good wages and make it an object to stay with you. 
Home-made Photograph Frames. 
“Adelaide,” of Erie County, N. Y., sends us a 
very pretty frame, enclosing a Photograph, which 
is made by winding colored thread upon a piece of 
very thick pasteboard in the manner shown in the 
engraving. The star is 8 inches across from point 
to point. Rich brown thread, or other colors, the 
coarser the better, is selected, and ten rows of 
threads wound around two notches opposite to 
Fig. 1.— THREAD PHOTOGRAPH FRAME;. 
each other, say from 1 to 4: then ten threads 
from 2 to 5; then ten from 3 to 6; and so on 
round and round until the whole pasteboard is cov¬ 
ered. A pin thrust into each outer point, holds: 
the threads from slipping off, aud they are held se¬ 
curely in the inner augles by sewing a few times 
through the board, with a needle. The whole is 
simple, easily made, costs but a trifle for the thread, 
aud is quite pretty. The open space iu the center 
is an octagon just large enough for an ordinary 
photograph or carte de visite. They may be smaller. 
Frederick D. Parker, of Birmingham, Ohio, sends 
