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g: . / i 94
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DETROIT, FEBRUARY 2, 1886.
TJHUE HOUSEHQLDa=§uppIemenm
IOBTAL, IF THOU ART BELOVED necessary that you should avoid unkind-

 

Mortal, if thou art beloved,

Life’s offences are removed;

And the fateful things that checked thee,

Hallow. hearten and protect thee.

Grow’stthou mellow! What is age!

Tint on life’s illnmined page,

Where the purple letters glow

Deeper, painted. long ago.

What is sorrow? Comfort’s prime,

LOVe’s choice Indian Summer clime.

Sickness l—thou will pray it worse

For so blessed balmy nurse.

And for death l—whon thou art dying

’Twill he love beside thee lying.

Death is 10: esome? Oh. how brave

Shows the foot—frequented gravel

Heaven itself is but the casket

For Love’s treasure, ere hie ask it—

Ere with burning heart he follow,

Piercing through chruption’s hollow

If thou art beloved; oh, then,

Fear no grief of mortal men.
Michael Field.

MO—

TO HOLD A HUSBAND’S
LOVE.

HOW

 

The question is asked from Kalamazoo,
“ Is there true love in man ”7 I say yes;
but if there is not who is, to blame? This
question comes back to us mothers, how
have we educated our boys? In infancy
the boy is just as lovely as the girl. We
are very careful to teach our little girls
that they must be amiable, submissive
and virtuous; ought we not in the same
way to teach our boys that to be manly
they too should be amiable and virtuous,
and teach them principles of abstinence ?
What kind of men would you expect boys
who are allowed full liberty in the street
would make. But I fOr one know that
there are boys who are carefully trained
and educated, who make honorable,
amiable husbands. all that awife could
ask them to be. And I expect this world
has many of these honorable men.

As for the next question, “ What must
woman do to obtain and retain that love it”
First. she must be sure that the man re-
spects and trusts her, and she the same
with him, before she marries him, remem-
bering that love is a thing of deeds, not
merely words; and that if he is such a
man as a woman can trust her happiness
with, then there will be no trouble in
retaining his love. But you must not
look for perfection in this life, nor ex—
pect more of the husband than you can
give in return. Show him by your acts
that you have perfect conﬁdence in him;
and above all things avoid giving the
ﬁrst angry word. If the husband by

nature is hard and unkind, all the more

 

ness in your own person, and you may
win him by your amiability.

Ican tell you how to solve the stepmother
question. Love is the key that will unlock
all those troubles. By deeds of kindness
the stepmother should bring that boy
under obligation to her, and then it will
not be hard work to reach his heart. She
should avoid telling the boy’s little mis—
deedsto his father, but correct him in a
kind, motherly way, with love. I ﬁnd
boys more easily managed than girls, as
most girls expect to be petted, but I am
often pained to see how boys are neglected.
Make home pleasant for them. Fix up
their sleeping room so that it is attrac—
tive, with plenty of good books, and ac-
commodations for writing. Let them
help in the beautifying of the best room
in the house, and give them the privilege
of sitting there; ask their advice about
some of its arrangements, encourage them
to make or buy some little keepsake, and
show that you appreciate it, and they
will feel an interest in helping to make
home pleasant, and the question will not
come up as to which must be sent away.

BROOKLYN. MRS. R. D. P.

————ooo——

CATCHING UP .

 

The arrival of Vick’s gem of a Floral
Guide for 1886 reminds me that spring is
coming, and that I have not written a
word to our HOUSEHOLD since last Sep—
tember. Time’s old Whirligig must be
lubricated and propelled by electricity.
But never mind, here I am again, ladle s,
faithful as the equinoctiai, andjust about
as sure to “ pour ” when I do come as is
my good prototype. I have been an
interested digit in the audience, and have
frequently pointed out signiﬁcant points
in your discussions, always finding that
other observing ones in the audience
were looking at the same. Notably—the
“Sparking Sunday Night ” episode. The
wonder to me, in this case is, that people
of average intelligence and with even a
moiety of what we call common sense—-
either in the relation of parents, guar—
dians or “young persons ” can be such
slaves to custom—such cowards in the
presence of a conventionalism at once so
unbecoming, belittling and dangerous.

By the way, I often feel the need of a
HOUSEHOLD index. Many of my friends
have spoken of their wish for one also.
Can we have one? I often wish to refer
to some article or recipe, and for want of
an index must spend more time than Icau

 

afford in looking it up, and so must
forego it. For instance, I now wish to
referto the lady’s article on “ soft soap”
in which she thought I rated its value too
highly, etc. But as I don’t know exactly
where to ﬁnd it, will simply say I never
have anything to do with the “ making”
of the soap. Masculine muscle is the
basis of all soap-making operations on
this ranche. But all the same I do insist
on having a prime article of soft soap to
use. Ihave tried many kinds of “no
labor” soaps, but they don’t do the busi—
ness up in the neat, sweet, wholesome,
expeditious manner of the good old re-
liable home-made article above named.
And I will still further strengthen my
statement by saying if I could have but

in .
one, adiamond necklace or some good

soft soap as an aid in housekeeping, I
would take the soap.

I too have made a “book case,” or
rather book shelves. I have often
thought I would tell the HOUSEHOLD
about them, but they cost so little—only
ten cents, that I was almost ashamed to
But I’ll tell: First, I had abouta peck of
spools that I had been saving up for the
last twelve years. Next, four quarter
inch iron rods ﬁve feet in length. and
ﬂattened at one end to keep the spools
from slipping off. Next, ﬁve shelves,
each twenty-nine inches long, the length
of the space in the corner assigned to the
shelves, and one foot wide; these the
carpenter dressed neatly and made, with
aquartereinch bit, a hole in each corner
of each shelf for the rod to pass through.
Next I sorted my spools, putting the
largest at the bottom, grading them and
the space between the shelves from bot-
tom to top. Then the painter (we built a
barn last summer, that’s why the painter
and carpenter were so handy,) gave me
the proper paints, brushes, varnishes,
etc., and I ﬁnished up my book shelves
in good cherry style, and they are full of
books, and a very handy thing to have
around. I have spools enough to make

another set, which I shall do the ﬁrst

time the carpenter and painter come to
live with us again. The ten cents ex—
pense was for the iron rods. My shelves
are neat and an ornament to the sitting
room, to say nothing of having a place
for the books. E. L. NYE.

Mansions.

[We comment the suggestion in refer-
ence to an index in the HOUSEHOLD of
Jan. 19111, to our correspondent as the
best we can do at present toward supply—
ing her want.-ED.]

    


 

2

THE HOUSEHOLD.

 

PEOPLE WE MEET.

 

Paper read by Mrs. Alice Olsaver, of Webster,
alt the1 $5112s)titute of the Webster Farmers’ Club,
an. - .

It takes all sorts of people to make this
world of ours; and all sorts of business to
keep these people busy, or at least all who
wish for something to do. Occasionally
we meet with one who is a drone in the
hive, who Will sit down, do as near noth-
ing as possible, live on the substance of
the workers, and seem to feel just as if it
all belonged to him.

Here is a person who is up with the
lark, rushes from one thing to another,
not seeming to know what piece of work
to attack ﬁrst; takes forty steps where a
dozen would do as well. One would
think by appearance there must be some
great issue at stake, and all future success
depended upon that day’s work. When
night overtakes him, what has he accom—
plished? No more than the one who
takes time to think, and has the labor he
wishes to perform planned before he be-
gins. He may be somewhat deliberate in
his movements, but it all counts.

Another goes about his work, especially
if it be farming, in a hep-hazard way,
plows and sows as usual, and expects a
good crap; but if he gets a poor one, he
can not think what is the matter. He
will try one kind of fertilizer, then some-
thing eise, and at last he hits the right
thing, it. seems. But if he was asked why
he did so, he would be entirely at sea,
and something like the woman who be-
came possessor of a sewing machine for
the ﬁrst time, and. it failed to perform the
work satisfactorily. On being asked
what was the cause of the failure, she said
she did not know, for she had “turned
every screw in it, still it would not
work.”

With a little study in either case, they
might have overcome the difﬁculties. But
that would never do; it would take a little
time, and time is money; and money is
the one thing needful with them. They
are the ones who, if they ever thought of
attending an entertainment of any kind,
would ask ﬁrst, “What is the admittance
fee?" If more than ten cents, they guess
they will not go, it will hardly pay. They
have never learned “ that a dollar‘s worth
of pure pleasure is worth more than a
dollar’s worth of any thing else under the
sun.” That man is always forty years or
more behind the ttmes and always will
be. He usually takes one newspaper, and
that one generally printed in his own
. county; if by chance he takes two, he
has subscribed with one of his neighbors,
each paying ﬁfty cents, and so gets a. dol-
lar sheet. If asked if he will not subs
scribe for one for his children, why, he
“ cannot afford it, for times are hard ”
and he must be economical. He will buy
his tobacco by the pail, for that is econo-
my also. It you should ask him a few
questions pertaining to civil government,
he would think you expected him to re—
cite the multiplication table.

Then there are the milk and water, or
dead and alive inhabitants; no ambition,
nor go ahead about them. If you should
try to raise any enthusiasm in them, they

would be upset entirely. They will do
just as little work as they can, and get
any kind of a living. They are too lazy
to sit up or lie down, so their attitude is
usually a mixture of the two; they will take
more time in studying how to get rid of
work than it will take to do it. I have in
my mind a piece of land that I have the
pleasure of seeing once in a while, which
consists of ﬁve or six acres enclosed by a
fence nearly as odd as Dick’s hat-band,
(which I believe is said to have gone half
way round and tied) and in that small en«
closure there are at least eleven piles of
stones, and the owner has plowed round
these obstructions for years, instead of
removing them. It seems to me he must
have exercised a great deal of patience
and practiced considerable ingenuity in
seeing how near to them he could plow
and not hit them. Ido not know what
would induce such people to get out of
the old ruts, except a small earthquake.

There is one who is ever building cas-
tles in air, and always has some large
scheme on hand, and if it comes out all
right he will be a millionaire or some—-
thing. He tries to ﬁre the brain of his
neighbors with his plans, but the ﬁre will
not blaze, and his visions soon end in
smoke.

We suppose there is a right place for
each of us in the world, but some fail to
ﬁnd it. We often meet those who, we
say, have missed their calling; some
farmers who might make better me-
chanics; some mechanics who might have
made good preachers; preachers who
might better be holding the plow or
handling the shovel, for all the good they
will ever do to the souls of men. Then
there are women who might better be
washing dishes and making beds than at—
tempting literary work. But they heard
a voice from headquarters saying “ Write!
Blessed is she who writes essays for
Farmers’ Institutes from henceforth.”

People would rather do the work which
brings the best pay. “ Nearly all are
capable of earning three meals a day, but
that would be mere existence. We need
alittle more than our daily bread. We
have minds and higher faculties which
need consideration. arid we need an ce-
cupation which will furnish us means for
improvement.”

We sometimes encounter people who
are never used just right; who are always
discontented, always grumbling; if they
have anything ever so good, it is not
quite right, it should have been better.
They are confronted with a cold shoulder
here, and a slight there, (imaginary ones).
No one seems to be friendly to them.
They always see through blue glass; they
seem born to sing in a minor key all
through life, from the ﬁrst faint wail till
they are laid where no one can possibly
step on their toes. But I think if we do
not have plenty of friends it is because
we do not deserve them. We have only
one life to live, that is, where we furnish
our'own board and clothes, and that is
too short to be always looking on the dark
side. it does no harm to be jelly and
have a good, hearty laugh. “ If we would
laugh at some of our aches and ills, it would

 

prove a better panacea, or elixir, than
all the stomach bitters and liver pads
combined.” It must have been quite an
expense to Peggotty, in “ David Copper-
ﬁeld,” for buttons; still she laughed and
was happy.

The lot of many of us may not have
been cast in pleasant places, but let us
try to “ make the best of it,” and we will
undoubtedly succeed. It is said a con—
tented mind is a continual feast. “If we
have evils surrounding us to contend
with, there are not many so great that the
force of a determined will will not reduce
them, to say the least. Resolution and
resistance are certain principles to rely
upon for success.”

We can not always judge the merit of a
person by the cut of the coat, or the num-
ber of feathers worn on the bonnet;
though I think a person’s general appear-
ance is in a degree an index to the char-
acter. A man with a coat two sizes too
large for him, out at both elbows; an old
hat with a number of holes in it for ven—
tilation; a pair of old faded overalls worn

, from time immemorial, without washing;
or a woman with a head like a small
brush-heap; a dress ornamented with
numberless grease spots; here and there
a rent mended with a pin; a pair of old
slippers down at the heel and holes in the
stockings; these are notwhat we would
take for srecimens of cleanliness, which
is said to be akin to godliness. Such
people will go through the world in this
slipshod fashion; will have no respect for
themselves, nor win respect from others.
Their homes and they themselves are de-
scribed more particularly in the following
pen picture:

A slovenl y dress, a shabby pate,

The fences down, a broken gate;

Pigs in the garden, weeds Very high,
Children unwashed. no meat to fry;
Lots of great dogs and yawuing old cats,
Windows repaired with a dczen old hats;
An empty barn not a spear of hay,
Cows in the clover, horse run away,
Things sold by guess without being weighed;
Bills coming in , taxes unpa d.

Pipes and tobacco, whiskey, neglect,
Drag in their train, as all might expect,
All sorts of trouble. to fret away life,
But worst of all, an unhappy w.fe.

If that is one extreme, here is another;
people who are “ more nice than wise.’
Think of a woman so neat (or foolish)
that she takes up a piece of carpet on a
hall ﬂoor four or ﬁve feet square every
morning, gets down on her knees, and
with Soap. water and cloth, scrubs and
scours those boards with all the strength
that lies in her elbows, then puts the
piece of carpet back in its place, only
waiting for the next morning to come,
when she does the same thing again. As
she does in this case, so she does with
everythingfelse. I have seen her kitchen
ﬂoor so white I would prefer to eat off
it rather than some tablecloths I have
met with. She will follow you around,
and if you chance to leave your chair, it
is brushed and set back at its proper angle
near the wall; and if you lay a paper or
book out of its place for a moment, when
you go where you left it, it is not there,
but put up properly on its own shelf in
the library. In such a case, I think neat-
ness ceases to be a virtue. Now this wo—
man, and all who resemble her, will go

 

the way of all living; will die and be

 


 

THE HOUSEHOLD

3

 

 

buried in dirt at last, unless they leave
special word to be cremated,and have their
ashes gathered up in a clean dish. It
seems to me that with all the patent churnsv
washing machines, soaps, and patent
everything we have to work with, we
might get a little more time to enjoy our
patent rockers. But if we will persist in
using the old washboard, the dash-churn,
and working our butter with the ladle,
making and using soft soap, just because
our grandmothers did, then complain of
lame backs and shoulders, why, we must,
that’s all. It is quite probable that if our
mothers had done less hard work, their
children would have been able to have
done more.

I would not advise a person to shirk a
duty by any means; but we have different
ideas of duty. The saying, “Do with a
will that which your hands ﬁnd to do,”
has considerable nonsense in it; if we
followed the advice, we never would ﬁnd
a resting place this side the grave. Some
are not contented to do that which lies
near, and needs to be done, but, like
“ Mrs. Jellaby,” must use their ambition
in some far off country, Africa or some
other place; or in other words, they pre-
fer attending to other people’s business
rather than their own. We need to su-
perintend our own business, paying heed
to the advice: “If you have anything to
do, go, not send,” which is forcibly illus-
trated in the poem “ Miles Standish,”
where John won the prize, and Miles “got
left.”

“There was another, large of under-
standing, of memory inﬁnite. of judg-
ment deep; who knew all learning, all
science knew; and all phenomena in
heaven and earth traced to their causes.”
We have such people in this the nine-
teenth century, who know still more than
the one described by Pollok, who are
“ wise in their own conceit.” They will
advise you what to do and when to do it;
will point out all your mistakes, and give
a remedy for each; in short, they know it
all. They mind everything but their own
business. You get their advice free, but
you give all it is worth.

There is yet another type of the genus
homo. The business of its representative
may be harmless, in a measure, just as
long as his conversation runs in a newsy
channel, but when it attacks the charac-
ter of a person, we cannot denounce it in
terms strong enough. It is said: “Char-
acter grows; it can not be put on ready
made, but day by day, here a little, there
a little; it grows with our growth,
strengthens with our strength,until, good
or bad, it becomes almost a coat of mail.”
And as that is all we have we can take
with us to the next world that has a
smattering of this world about it, we
would rather it would be undisturbed by
that malicious biped we politely term a
gossip.

We are all peculiar creatures. If we could
but “ see ourselves as others see us,” we
would, I think, try to make ourselves over
some what; trim off some of the rough
edges here and there, and make ourselves
a little more companionable. The only
way that I can see to do so, is to be more

 

social beings than we are. “A person
was never meant by his Maker to be a re—
cluse or a hermit; if he is such, he is a
creature of misfortune or perversion. No
one lives alone from choice, except he is
warped or in an abnormal condition.”
David and Jonathan did not believe in
that way of living. We are told alsothat
two are better than one, for if they fall,
the one will lift up his fellow. If one
prevail against him, two shall withstand
him, and a three fold cord is not quickly
broken.

The few people I have attempted here
to describe, you all are as well acquainted
with as I am. We meet them at every
turn, in every locality. the world over.
And if I have touched some tender cord
in any hearts that beat in sympathy with
the characters delineated, I stand read y
and willing to accept their forgiveness.

,-. —- —- m-ve ,.._._ —«—~

A NOVEL BED-SPREAD.

 

Beatrix is evidently running short of
“copy,” for she inquires if I am “never
going to write for the HOUSEHOLD again.”
The last and only new thing developed
by me is an etched bed spread. I use
bleached cotton. My blocks are ten
inches square, and mostly worked in red
embroidery cotton. I invite my friends
to contribute a block worked in any
design they like, with a quotation in one
corner, and initials of worker in another
corner.

I work some blocks ahead sometimes,
and let my gentlemen friends afﬁx their
signature, and the way the average man
sweats over the stitches is ample recom-
pense for any irregularity.

Some of them are very funny—most of
them are little Kate Greenaway ﬁgures;
the most of them were drawn with a
pencil, and represent something. One
of my girl friends who can sketch has
drawn a number of patterns for me. One
is a tree with two owls sitting close
together, with unmistakable symptoms
of “spoons,” while another sits in the
background taking them in; overhead is
the moon and the words “Two’s com-
pany—three’s a crowd.”

Another block hasalarge horse shoe
with “Beware of desperate steps”
worked inside the horseshoe lines; an—
other has adiscouraged looking urchin
and dug gazing out to sea trying to solve
the old, old problem of “What Are
the Wild Waves Saying.” Earnestness
seems stamped in the droop of the
boy’s trowsers and the wag of the
animal’s tail. It would take a long
time to tell of them all. Any one
with any quickness of thought
will readily originate ideas. They are
done in outline stitch, and can be worked
in several colors; red, blue, green, black.
and tan will boil, in washing. The spread
is joined and ornamented on the seams
in some fancy stitch, and one layer of
wadding put in and then quilted at wide
intervals. The spread is wonderfully
quaint and refreshing, and the more un—
real and grotesque the sketches are the
better they are liked. I split my ﬂoss for
most of the work, and use it coarse for

 

the emphatic points. If any of Beatrix’s
ﬂock yearn for such a work of art, and
fail to understand this, let them address
me and I will cheerfully aid them, even
sketch some blocks for them, and will
carefully label them, as my likenesses are
not startling. The only return I would
ask is the “honner” it may bring me,
and the privilege of copyrighting my en—
deavors. Every one is gettinginterested
in the scheme, and it bids fair to rival

crazy work in its intellectual capacities.

HOWELL. ONE OF THE GIRLS.
----—-—~-~‘OO*'

CHANGES.

 

 

“ They grew in beauty side by side,

They tilled our homes with glee,

Their graves are severed tar and wide
By niwunt and stream and sea.

The same vond mother bent at night
O‘er each fair sleeper’s brow,

She had each folded ﬂower in sight;
Where are those dreamers now?”

It is such a comforting and encourag-
ing thought to me, while caring for my
little ones, soothing childish sorrows,
joining in childish merriment, listening
to the softly lisped prayer, rocking the
little tired bodies to sleep, tucking them
carefully in bed, that just so my mother
did for her little ﬂock. It seems to me
such a little while since I was a child in
my old home. I can see mother as she
bent over me in the trundle bed, with
her sweet patient face close to mine; lots
of time I feigned sleep, but I could feel
her kiss on my cheek; and sometimes I
could feel a tear-drop, and Ithought it
was so strange that she should cry, and
once I asked her about it. How well I
remember her answer: “Dear child, you
will know perhaps, if you ever have little
ones, how anxious a mother feels." Her
words come to me today with strange
earnestness. It does not seem so very
long since she told me so, but it is a long
time.

“ Many a summer the grass lia4 grown green,

Biossomed and faded, our fans between."

She always made such a Christmas for

us; it was on that day

“ From cast or from west,
From north air! from south,
Crime stranger or guest;
When we saw round the board,
Old broken links of atfection restored."

All the relatives and friends, ’till the
house seemed full. We children saw
only the bright side of life, we thought
that the sunshine ani blue sky, the rose
and purple clouds shone on everybody
as on us. Since then I have found that
this is a strange world. While some
have all frosted cake and plums, others
get only dry crumbs, and there are lots of
little hearts hungering for love. I feel a
great pity for those children who have a
hard, cold childhood—no poetry—all
prose—no dreams, all a terrible reality.
Lots of lives might have shaped them-
selves so differently, if some one could
have started the child aright. My own
childhood was very happy, it all came
back to me so vividly this Christmas, but
the merry band is broken, we shall never
again meet, and with the pleasant mem—
ories come sad ones. There is no life but
has its sorrows as well as joys, they serve
as a background to throw into stronger
relief the sunny spots; and as I hug my
little ones close to me, I feel that [can

 


 

4:

n

    

THE HOUSEHOLD.

 

never do too much to make their child
hood bright and pleasant. I shall keep
all the cares and sadness from them as
long as I can, for it is a cold, rough
world. We have to generate a great
deal of the sunshine we bask in. But it
is good discipline, this gaining strength
to push away the briars and thorns from
our path, and making the way smooth;
the life is more beautiful, the character
more perfect. Oh! this dear home life!
Though the duties are homely and so irk-
some sometimes, and we think we are
sick and tired of doing the same thing
over and over, and wish something new
would turn up, why not be contented?
There comes to us all a time when we sit
alone, the family circle is broken, the
dear ones scattered no matter how large
the family, and in our heart is the
lonesome feeling, and we are so sorry
that we ever tired of toiling “for Love’s
sake.” Evmenmm.

BAmn Caulk.

..—_._..._—
THOSE KNITTED SHOES.

I regret exceedingly that my directions
forknitting should get any one in trouble;
for I know by experience how vexatious
it is to try picking out patterns that
we cannot see through; besides it is a
real disappointment when we try to help
any one, and our effort proves a failure.
Hoping to set M. J. H. right, and perhaps
save others worlds of bother, I will say
the shoes are to be knit on two needles,
then sewed together, down the back of
the leg, and along the length of the foot.
One row means once across. I have
compared my pattern with the one in the
HousErIOLn, and the only place I think
one could make a mistake is in knitting
for the front of the foot; 3rd row, there
is a period between 11, and 12 times,
but as there are only 25 stitches on the
needle, it means knit one stitch and nar-
row 12 times.

If M. J. H. cares enough about it to
send yarn to me I will knit one shoe for
her. You see I wish to prove my pattern
a good one. I think they are the prettiest

of the kind I ever saw.
HIDLAXD. MRS. E. FORESTER.

 

A FARMER’S DAUGHTER 0N
POULTRY RAISING.

 

I have always enjoyed reading the
HOUIEHOLD, and have often thought I
would send something for publication,
but ﬁnd that thinking is not doing. I
am a farmer’s daughter, and last winter I
read so much in tue HOUSEHOLD about
the proﬁts of poultry raising that I con—
cluded I would try it, and see how much
I could. make. Mother and I made a bar-
gain to the eﬂect that if I would take
care of the hens, I could have half the
egg money, and all the chickens I could
raise. I had good success; my mother
said she could never raise chickens so
easy as I did. Heretofore the hawks
have troubled us a good deal, but they
never took evenmne chicken from me.

I had about 35 hens to commence with;

From the eggs sold we received $34 36.
We raised about 50 chickens; the pullets
we kept for this year, but sold the
cockerels for $16, which makes in all
$50.36 that we received from hens this
year. With the money received I have
clothed myself nicely, and also bought
my this year’s set of Chautauqua books.
I think I was well repaid.

We think turkeys are more proﬁtable
than chickens, and generally raise about
75 every year. This year they brought
us $1. 43 apiece. The coming year we
intend to raise the thoroughbred bronze
turkeys, as we think they will be still
more proﬁtable. A Pansy OF ’87.

Human .
———ooo————-
FROM A N EW-OOMEB.

 

Is there room for one more? If there is
I want to say I endorse all our Editor
says on the question of sweeping. It is
my plan so to do, except using the
ammonia in the water with which the
carpet is wiped up, but if I have never
tried it, I doubt not the eﬂicacy, for
ammonia is a powerful agent of cleanli-
ness.

There is one point however, which
Beatrix overlooked, thatis to open all the
outside doors, (perhaps she has none) and
sweep with the breeze if there is any.
You will ﬁnd a large portion of the dust
will blow out, which saves changing the
position of it again. I have seen sweep-
ing done when it seemed that every door
was opened except the outside ones, and
have also seen the eiIects of such sweep—
ing.

Let me tell the HOUSEHOLD readers of
a nice bluing that will not spot nor
streak the clothes, providing soft water
is used, as it always should be with any
bluing. Procure ten cents’ worth of
Chinese blue, and put it in the largest
bottle you can ﬁnd, then ﬁll up with soft
water. It is ready for use in half an
hour. Add a very little to your soft
rinsing water, and you will have one of
the clearest blues you ever saw, which
may be used constantly without making
clothes grimy, as so many of the patent
blues we get. This amount will last a
good sized family a year, by ﬁlling up the
bottle as it is lowered. Don’t let your
druggist give you Prussian blue in lieu of
Chinese blue. Manx.

CHARLOTTE.
.__.___..9—————

SOOI‘ FOB HOUSE-PLANTS.

 

Our FARMER came to our house this
morning, and with it the HOUSEHOLD,
which we were glad to see, and if ever
our HOUSEHOLD is missed again, Beatrix
may know that something is wrong some-
where, for I do not want the FARMER
without the HOUSEHOLD.

In the little paper I see 8 J. B. asks if
it was one of the HOUSEHOLD members
who said that soot tea was good for the
little white worms that feed on the roots
of plants. S. J. B. says she has given
her plants soot tea quite often all summer
and she never saw them thrive so well,
but if Ihad her plants I would have no

use anything only soot. Iuse it twice
every week and never have any in my
ﬂower jars. I have eighty-six jars of
plants at the present time, all looking
healthy and nice. If the soot tea would
not destroy the worms, I would use one
tablespoonful of dry soot to each jar; stir
it up with the soil on the top, then
sprinkle your plants as usual. I never
used tobacco, but have known those who
have used it, but did not like it. I have
used lime water, also ammonia, and like
them.

Our Editor wishes to hear from Mrs.
Fuller. I also would like to hear from
one more experienced than myself, and
hope Mrs. Fuller will answer.

I would suggest to the ladies of the
HOUSEHOLD that we all try and ﬁll the
place of “Mercy,” of Metamora, in the
HOUSEHOLD. She has lost loved ones, let
us try and gladden her heart with cheer-
ful words, and let her know that we are
ready to rejoice with those who rejoice,
and weep with those who weep. A cheer-
ful word, that costs us nothing, is like
apples of gold in pictures of silver.

A FARMER’S WIFE.

—_—....__—_

FOR THE HOUSE PLANTS—Noticing an
inquiry as to what will kill the small white
worms that injure the roots of plants, I
think I can give a remedy that will not
fail: Take a teaspoonful of pyrethrum
and put in a gallon ;of rain water, and
thoroughly water your plants. The
worms will wriggle to the top, then give
them a liberal dressing of the dry
powder, and there will none be left. I
have tried it with never failing success.
BIRMINGHAM. MRS. SA'I‘TERLEE.
____...___

Contributed Recipes.

Lmsme .

 

STEAMED BROWN BREAD.-—I always make
the bread myself. It saves doctor’s bills, and
is so wholesome and keeps the system in good
running order. Made this way: Two cups of
Graham ﬂour, one cup white ﬂour, one of sour
milk, half a cup of molasses, and one tea-
spoonful soda. Stir thoroughly, pour into a
buttered basin or cake pan, and steam nearly
two hours without letting the steam stop a
minute. Then stand it in the oven to dry off,
and you Will be pleased with the good, food-y
loaf, so satisfying that “my old man” calls it
“ Vittals an’ drink and lodgin’.”

DELICIOUS GINGERBREAD.—I smell it now!
Mary Jane has just taken it out of the oven,
and she hails up to me, “ Missus, its just
Splendid 1” I’ve been telling my neighbors,
and cousins, and friends, and the women who
“read the papers,” about Mary Jane’s ﬁne gin-
gerbread; but I guess I never told the MICHI-
GAN FARMER HOUSEHOLD yet. So cheap, too.
1 think Mary Jane says this whole card is only
six cents’ cost—that means so much outlay of
money; for our ﬂour and milk cost nothing.
Here is the recipe, and 1 don’t want it used in
the paper for “ filling,” but for real honest,
helpful good: One and a half cups of sorghum
or New Orleans molasses; half a cup each of
brown sugar, butter and sweet milk; half a
teaspoonful of ginger, and one teaspoonful of
soda; mix all together thoroughly; add three
cups of sifted ﬂour, and bake in shallow pans.
Do not let the ﬁre be too hot. You will ﬁnd
this excellent, cheap, delicious, and—no thanks,

ladies; no thanks! BONNY DOON.

 

 

they were of the Plymouth Rock variety.

white worms in them, and I would not

Pnanrsvrua, Ohio.

  

 

