
   

 

 

 

 

THE HOU§EH©LD>==aSmpplememmo

 

A WOMAN’S THO UG’IIT.

 

“I am so weary of my home i” she cried,

“And of its endless tasks, so mean and small;
I love to mingle with the world outside,

To drink from life’s full cup; the drops that l'al1
From beakers others clasp, tho’ gladly quaﬁed,
Slake not my thirst, my hand must hold the

draught.”

She feels a little hand slip into hers,
And little ﬁngers clinging to her gown,
And in her heart atender memory stirs
Of violet lids by early death shut down;
And as she lifts the little hinderer up,
“ I drink,” she cried, “ at least from love’s full cup

“Forgive, dear Lord, forgive the foolish speech
For love is all; without it life is naught;
Let me but have the blessings in my reach,
And I will never more complain of aught;
Life’s cup may hold for woman what it will-
Without love’s wine she will be thirsty still.”

————oo.——-—

. THE DOORYARD.

 

I am glad to see Honor Glint is stirring
up the farming community about their
unsightly door-yards. The subject will
bear agitation. I do not care how hand-
some a house a man may live in, unless it
is surrounded by a neat lawn and shaded
by trees and shrubs, it is like abeautifu1
gem in a pinchbeck setting, it loses in in-
trinsic beauty. There can be no com-
parison, to my mind, between the ﬁn
mansion set in a wilderness of weeds,

e-treeless and bleak, and acottage-vineclad

and tree~embowered. One represents
money, and the other taste. And trees
and grass are the two things even the
poorest farmer can have for a little
trouble, and both will grow as thriftly for
him as for his millionaire neighbor. Far-
mers are too neglectful of such things,
they are always waiting to do the thing
en prince; when they build
the new house they will set out
the trees and beautify the place. It
seldom seems to occur to them
that they can plant the proposed site
with trees, which will be “ aye growin’.”
That was a wise and thoughtful man
who, several years before he was able to,
build a house to suit him, selected the
most sightly spot on the farm for its lo-
cation, graded it, decided how far from
the road the house should stand, and es
timated the size, then set his maples and
evergreens. When he was ready to build,
his house rose among well-established
trees. and he had only to clear away the
debris of building, and seed his lawn to
“get to living right away,” as he said.
Last summer I was visiting friends in an
nterior city, and was taken for a ride in

    

to the country one lovely August morning.
We drove about eight miles, through a
good farming district, where large barns,
trim fences and good roads indicated ag-
I‘iCllltlll‘ll prosperity, yet in that eight
miles we passed just three farm houses
which had ﬂowers and. shrubs and tidy
grass plot in front. There is no horticul—
tural society in that county, but there is
need of one, for the inﬂuence of such so-
cieties is not alone in the interest of fruit-
growing, but extends to the beautifying
of home. It is only by educating farmers
to appreciate the beautiful we can hope
to incite them to action. So long as a
man will only work for what will bring
him amoney return, so long the pigs will
root under the front windows and the
gate swing on one hinge. Yet there is
always this argument to appeal to the
money-making instinct: a trim, tidy, at-
tractive house and grounds give a higher
market value to a farm than the same
house, minus the beauty of grass and trees,
Beauty has amarket value. But always
there will be the men to whom ﬂowers are
but weeds, and who, if they get three
square meals per diem, do not care where
they are eaten. There is something pa-
thetic, to me, in a little bed of common
ﬂowers striving to grow in a neglected
yard, in the earth-ﬁlled box sowed with
portulacca, or the ﬂaunting marigolds
and poppies one sees as spots of color in a
desert of weeds and tangled grass. I am
sorry for the woman in that home, for I
am sure there is in her heart a love of
beauty and color, struggling to ﬁnd ex-
pression, starved almost into extinction,
yet kept alive by these humblest of Flora’s
children. I am sure that if she had her
way, that “ wilderness wsuld blossom as
the rose.”

I do not like to see the dooryard fenced
in just the width of the house, as if it
were a sort of apron worn by the dwell-
ing, but. I believe farmers are often deter-
red from improvements because of the
too liberal allowance made for a yard. If
the space is planted to trees and shrubs
only a lawn mower can be used on it, and
to a man accustomed to “cut a wide
swath ” it looks like fooling away time
and perspiration to shove a hand mower.
The grass may get cut a couple of times
in a season with a scythe, or he may turn
in the calves or the sheep to eat it off, but
this is fatal to ﬂowers and shrubs, for a
sheep will gnaw the bark off an orna'
mental tree, or browse on a choice shrub,
when it would not deign to touch the

 

tenderest grass dew ever sparkled upon;

 

it is the “total depravity of the critter.”
City lawns are well tended because they
are generally small; if farmers would be
less ambitious as to area. and more gen-
erous with care and labor, we should see
more beautiful yards in the country.

At the winter meeting of the State
Horticultural Society, held at Ann Arbor
the ﬁrst of the month, I was much inter-
ested in the talk about ﬂowering surubs
for the lawn. Messrs. Saunders and
Beadle, of Ontario, gave some brief hints
as to varieties. As one of the most beau-
tiful shrubs for lawn planting, Mr.
Saunders mentioned Fang/(Mam ﬁne yel-
low ﬂowering shrub; also sz’rea pruni-
folz’a,S. Thunbergia, S. Reedsii, Daphne
cneorum, whose lovely blossoms have a
spicy odor like that of the carnation. and
the Weigela, of which he said the 01d
rosea was as satisfactory as any. Mr.
Beadle mentioned the Japan Quince as
making a very pretty low hedge where it
was desirable to divide one par: of the
garden from another. The Mania is a
ﬁne shrub but rather a tender one; of D.
gracilta he said aplant muid be taken up
late in the fall, stored in the cellar till
about the holidays, tht :1 brought to light
and heat, when it would blossom abund-
antly. He also spoke of Prunes m’toba,
pink and pretty, resembling the double
ﬂowering almond. Mr. W. (L. Barry, of
Rochester, N. Y., also talked on this sub
ject, but as time and the cars wait for no
woman, I was obliged to leave before he
had fairly embarked upon his subject. I
did. however, hear him enrich: all that
had been said 117 favor of the f'trsgthz‘a.
And I am sure that in the discussion
which followed somebody must have said
a good word for Hydrangea paniculata
grandiﬁora, a hardy and showy shrub.
whose bloom, though coming later in the
seasonthan others named above, is very
persistent. Like the snowball, its blos-
some are at ﬁrst a pale green. whi :h grad-
ually changes to clear white. and then in-
to a deep dullpinkish red. Some of these
shrubs are very beau‘iful in their autumn
garb; Spirea pr'unz‘f‘oliu becomes a deep
crimson; Sperm Thv‘znzbergz‘a has very
graceful, fern—like foliage which turns a
delicate rose pink. The fruit of the Japan
Quince renews its beauty later, while the
smoke tree, Rhus comma, is very showy
because of its misty purplish gray, feath.
ery fruit stalks.

And about planting flow often we
see everything planted in straight lines,
arid every tree and shrub nodding at its
counterpart on the other side of the walk;

 


 

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2 THE HOUSEHOLD.

 

and it is quite as common to see alawn cu“
up by single shrubs dotted closely over its
surface. This is all wrong. Asweep of
level greensward has a dignity and beauty
peculiar to itself. Leave a clear space in
front and mass the shrubbery at the sides
if the lawn is- small: this increases the ap-
parent size. When shrubs are planted
singly and couspicubusly the temptation
is very great not to break the sod more
than is “absolutely necessary,” that is,
more than a circle a foot in diameter, to
which the roots of the plant are by a
pleasing ﬁction supposed to be kind
enough to conﬁne themselves. Actually.
the strong growing grass roots seek out
and appropriate the nutriment of the soil,
and we wonder why our half-starved
shrub does not thrive and blossom as we
desire. Alittle mound of “chip dirt,” or
stable litter heaped about the stem of a
plant is very like bandaging a crutch to
cure a sprain. If the lawn is large and
the house stands far back, of course a
different method of planting should be
employed. I would not plant anything
in straight lines, unless intended It! a
hedge. The Campus at the Ann Arbor
l'niversity is handsome, but the view
from the front and city side is far less im-
posing than it would be were the trees
less regularly planted. The Campus at
the Agricultural College is exceptionally
ﬁne by reason of its magniﬁcent forest
trees which have been most fortunately
preserved.

There is no excuse for the farmer who
neglects the beautifying of his home. The
days he goes to town on small occasion,
as Honor G‘rlint suggests, if applied to the
work of (mbellishing his grounds, would
be amply suﬂieient, and the result ought
to yield him a purer enjoyment than
whittlii g soft pine and spinning yarns at
that “school for scandal,” the village
grocery. BEATRIX.

MOO—

MAN’S MISSION IN THE HOME.

“Women should live at home, mind
the children. and make it comfortable
and pleasant for their husbands.” This
has been decided as being woman’s
sphere and woman’s mission. N ow I beg
leave to ask has any one found out what
man’s sphere and man’s mission is? Does
he owe no duty to home and family; has
he nothing to do in the home circle to
make it attractive, so that his wife and
children will like to stay at home, and
not be gadding about? Let us give im-
agination free scope and improvise acase.
The evenings are long now, we have to
light up at half past four, the men have
lots of chores to do, and so supper must
necessarily be at six or half past. After
that meal is over the women folks must
wash the dishes, if there is a baby that
must be undressed and rocked to sleep,
the work is hurried as much as possible,
.30 as to get set down and visit with hus-
band, who has possibly been working in
the woods, or hauling wood. After bolt-
ing down his supper, three mouthfuls at
once. too hungry to take avery active
part in the conversation, as soon as he

has ﬁlled up he pushes back from the

 

table, and it is an exceptional case if he

does not indulge in a smoke; he then lies

back in the big rocker and snoozes, grunts
out an answer once in awhile, and ﬁnally
starts for bed, where dozing merges into
such sound slumber that the merry laugh
and gay sallies of the rest of the family
fail to rouse him. What good does it
do for a wife to crimp her hair, wear
pretty dresses and post up on politics,
wheat market, the “corner” on corn in
Chicago, or lard in New York, debates in
Congress, or “Chinese Gordon?” If I
had such a husband I know I should resort
to fancy work; everything in the house
should be trimmed with table scarfs and
tidies in the composition of which I had
soothed my lacerated feelings.

Such a man never ﬁxes up. .He slouches
around in torn and dirty overalls, un-
shaven face and uncombed hair, thinking
no doubt that “Love throws such a halo
around the dear one’s name ” that these
shortcomings are completely lost in the
halo. Now do not labor under such a
delusion, for we expect more of our hus-
band than we did of our lover. While
we love, we can yet see our husband’s
failings. Now this man’s premises look
very ~much as he does, the fences are
down, cattle and sheep pasture in the
front yard and garden, and ﬁnally wander
out in the road, barn doors are off the
hinges, no pump in his cistern or swill
barrel at the back door. My word for it
he does not take the MICHIGAN FARJIER,
forin all the families where it is taken
the husband is neat and tidy in his per-
sonal appearance, has a well stocked
farm and good barn and fences, stays at
home evenings and helps entertain the
family, is as lover-like to his wife, as in
the days when he went courting, for he
knows that “Tis love that makes the
world go round.” The wife alone cannot
succeed without the aid and assrstance
of her husband. The heart must love; it
was made to love.

“ The heart, like the tendril accustomed to cling,
Let it grow where it will, cannot ﬂourish
But willllgzrtlgto the nearest and loveliest thing,
It can twins with itself, and make closely its
own.

Men must of necessity go out in the
world more than women; their business
brings them in contact with all classes
of society, and after the worry of the day
is over, we would naturally suppose that
they would turn toward home gladly.
How much is expressed in that word
home. John Howard Payne has im-
mortalized it. Home is where the heart
is; where the heart is there is the
treasure; in the home nest is man’s
treasure, and there methinks is man’s
mission as well as woman’s. When the
labor of the day is over, and the night
comes on, how pleasant to light the lamp,
replenish the ﬁre and draw the curtains, a
world of cares shut out, a world of love
shut in.the father and mother and children
all happy in each other.

Society has its charms, but I would not
break the home circle to enjoy it. One
writer tells us that we have three duties
that we owe, one to ourselves, one to the
public, and one to our God. I think we
could with propriety add, one to our

 

family. There is not a child but looks to
his father for an example. See the little
boy who has gotten his ﬁrst pants and
pockets, see the little hands thrust into
the pockets, and how he tries to walk
just like papa, puts on the same swing
and motion. Fathers, be on your guard,
there are sharp eyes watching you, sharp
ears listening.

“ Thou must be true thyself
If thou the world would teach.”

If you use profane language before
them do not be shocked if you hear the
same some day—it would never do to
punish him. for “papa said so.” The youth
of to-day are the children of yesterday;
let your example shine bright before
them, and do not Shirk your duty in the
home circle, remembering always that
your manners and conversation will go
out into the world with your children,

for good or for evil.

EVANGELINE.
BATTLE CREEK,

[The poetry which Evangeline sends
us with the above, and which is apropos
to the concluding paragraph, was pub-
lished in the FARMER several months ago.
--ED.]

———.0.-——-—-

TIME VS. INCLINA’I‘ION.

 

I have been wanting for a long time to
say something in reply to Bruneﬁlle, who
says “Marriage subordinates to itself
woman’s every talent, thought and pro—
ject,” and doubts “whether marriage
offers any prospect of development ck
cent in the qualities of wife and mother."
These are broad assertions.‘;j;There are
wives and mothers whose hands are busy
all day with household'cares, with “Leads
in the kitchen and hearts in the nursery "
—and so, also, are there wives and mothers
with the same number of cares and duties,
who have time to keep posted in the
literature of the day, and to beautify
home with ﬂowers and fancy work.
I think no woman with a mind will allow
herself to become a mere household
drudge. I have never met the woman
yet, whose mind was wholly absorbed in
household duties, who really when the
facts are known would care to be other-
wise situated. I do not mean they were
not intelligent and, in their way smart;
but a woman with a decided taste for
reading, or a talent for art . in any form,
will ﬁnd the time to improve it, more or
less.

Only a few days ago a. farmer’s wife
said to me, “Idon't have any time for
fancy work, or to cultivate ﬂowers, or to
keep my own dress in the present style.
I can’t get time to make over my dresses
and modernize them. This silk is just
as I made it ﬁve years ago. We only
take two papers, I can ﬁnd no time to read
them.” We had both been dressmakers
before marriage, and always made our
own dresses. Our cases are very similar,
each has a family of four, each does her
own work, sewing included. In our family
we have ﬁve weekly papers, and in winter
get abook every week from a circulating
library, which I manage to read, also
cultivate a few house plants in winter.
and some garden ﬂowers in summer, and

 

 


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‘THE' HOUSEHOLD. 3

 

 

do quite a little fancy work. She could
.ﬁnd time for nothing of the sort, and‘
looked dowdyish, almost slovenly, al-
together out of style; and could talk of
absolutely nothing but housekeeping af-
fairs. ,

Where is the difference? Has marriage
so completely changed her? No. I hap;
pen to know that before she was married
she did no more reading nor fancy work
than she does now. She thinks she
would like to, and seeing my home
decorations, and hearing me talk of what
I had read, really made her wish she
could if she had the time. It is not the
want of time, but want of real inclina-
tion. If she had the taste, she’d make
the time, and the will would make the
way. It is not that she is awife and
mother. The girl who loves reading or
music, or fancy work, or ﬂowers, will
love it just as much when a married
woman, and will ﬁnd or make the time to

improve and enjoy them. M. E. M. H.

LA'PEER.

CHRISTMAS IN THE CITY.

 

All the day before Christmas the snow
softly sifted down, making excellent
traveling for Santa Claus and his reindeer
team over the housetops. All day crowds
of people, busy, important, smiling,
bundle-laden, hurried through the streets
and thronged the stores, dodging each
other, running over the inevitable small
boy, and being in turn run over by the
delivery wagons driven with impetuous
haste by lads distributing Christmas din-
ners, while the merry jingle of myriad
sleighbells ﬁlled the air. All day myste—
rious packages were hurried to the post
and express oﬂices, or ﬂew by special
messenger across the town. In the mar—
kets the Christmas turkey, cords of him,
implored with outstretched claws “ come
buy me,” and Dives selected the fattest
and plumpest and had it “ sent up ” with
oysters and cranberries, while Lazarus
chose the skinniest of the store and car-
ried home his own dinner. Christmas
trees that were to be, swept through the
streets as if Birnam wood were on its
way to Dunsinane; now a stately, sym-
metrical evergreen, ﬁt to stand in lofty
parlors, now a tiny one to grace an
humble home, and be laden more heavily
with loving wishes than with gifts. Real
English holly, with its brilliant berries
and glossy leaves, and yards upon yards
of ground pine were to be bought “for a
consideration,” and prices reminded us
that “ Christmas comes but once a year.”
From the ﬂorists came baskets of rare
ﬂowers, costly indeed at this season;
creamy callas and great white-throated
lilies for church altars; white hyacinths,
violets, clove-scented carnations, pale
pink roses and trails of smilax, till one
wondered if indeed the time could be
December, in presence of all this tropical
luxuriance of beauty and fragrance.

Child faces were bright with delight at
the gorgeous shop Windows. Scantily
clad little ones gazed with wide eyes at
the great tree in the Bazar window,
laden with glittering baubles, a beauti
ful vision of joys beyond their reach. In

 

another shop-window Santa Claus him-
self, venerable as to ﬂowing heard, but
with avery youthful bloom as to com-
plexion, as if 1118 warm heart had kept
him young in spite of Time’s wantonness
with his whiskers, had opened his pack,
and stood bowing politely, if stitﬁy, to
the crowd outside. “What does he say
when he bows his head?” was asked a
little lassie whose blue eyes gravely re-
garded him. “ Says he’ll call round and
see us Christmas morning.” The child-
faith in the story of Santa Claus, his
wonderful sleigh that can carry toys for
all the children in all the world, and his
reindeer steeds that spring to the house-
tops and never tire. is beautiful and dear.

And as the day waned into Christmas
Eve, and the electric towers shone out
all over the city, the crowds increased
till it was a wonder how merchants could
serve their customers.
“ In happy homes we saw the light

Of household ﬁres gleam warm and bright,”
and through misty lace the passer-by
caught glimpses of trees all alight with
tiny candles, of ﬂower‘trimmed parlors,
and ladies in bright dresses and children
wild with delight, singing Christmas
carols. How many hungry, shivering,
friendless ones saw such glimpses of
plenty, and turned away to a ﬁreless
hearth and an empty cupboard, God
knoweth; how many others looked on-
viously in, coveting not what wealth
gave, but home happiness and love, and
all love’s tenderness, and went away
heavy-hearted even on Christmas Eve,
only He knoweth. BEATRIX.

___.__.”___._.

ABOUT BOYS .

 

My boys begin to ask if I am going to
have Christmas. They say they want to
come home and have a good time. They
always expect to come either Christmas or
New Year’s. One girl and four boys come
with happy hearts to help me eat my
Christmas dinner. What shall I get, and
how shalllI cook it, is my query. What
can I get that will taste as good as grand-
ma’s? for they think what she makes is
all right; she' is now eighty-two, and
makes lovely bread.

How I love to have my children come to
me! There is nothing in the house too
good for them. It makes me feel young
again to hear their merry voices, and to
see the chlld-like feeling existing between
them. I love boys; I wish I had four
more. Some say they are glad they have
no boys, they are so rough and noisy.
Why, bless you, they are no more noisy
than girls, if you educate them right.
Teach them when they come into the
house to clean their feet,and step on to the
carpet quietly. and to put their things into
the place for them, so there will be order
in the house. Let each one have his chores
to do from childhood up; never allow
them to contend or quarrel in your pres
ence, and they will grow up to love one
another, and help each other willingly and
cheerfully. If they play a little too hard
in the house, tell them pleasantly to stop,
or go out and run around the house. Fur-
nish them books and papers and play-

 

things, apples and nuts, and anything
that will tend to'develop their minds and
strengthen their bodies, and that will
make them feel that home is the best
place in the world. And when night
comes, gather them around the family
altar, and as they kneel, as): God to bless
them and to help you lead then: in the
right way, that they may grow at: eonest
and truthful in all things. It dim-3 me
good to visit where there is a family of
lively children. It seems as thmgh their
parents had something to live and work
for. I think those who have no boyc nor

irls to share their home and make things
ively ought to adopt some.

I have little to say about girl 3, as E i ave
ralsed but one, and she was our ﬁrst
welcome visitor. She wa< a g'r‘t: it . '2
keeping the boys quiet, a 3". WM, ant. .-
ways will be, a pet among them: Whth
she said and did was lavv to t.‘-. em. LLF‘d
they loved to please her. i have given her
up to make another home happy, httpl‘g’gj
she will ever prove faithful to her husband
and Christ.

Our children have all gmtc to lib. tr and
make homes for themselves except a bay
twelve years old. We are trying :1 to
spoil him by too much humming, and
hope he will be a joy and comfort tef us
in future days. He says he 11158115? be
farmer. thts. l‘.

Honrox.
.____...__...._.

, QUESTIONS ALS‘WERED.

 

I will enter the circle a few I .inutes this
evening to reply to some of the gue<tions
appearing in the last Househulal hoping
that many others will do the same there
by giving us all an oppurtunity to beneﬁt
by each other’s experience.

To Aunt Bessie I would say that if I
were the friend in ques1i..». whilcl would
not wish to visit her at any time which
would cause any inconvenience. I should
think far more of a quiet chat than a
groaning tea table. I believe we shall be
wiser when we spend more time in social
pleasures and less in the compounding of
the indigestible pie and dyspeptic cake.

Jelly and marmalade can be kept from
moulding by covering when cold with
about a quarter of an inch of granulated
sugar, or a little melted paraﬂine.

I would rccommerd to Angeline the
use of soft water, to which salt and ear—
bolic acid have been added in the propor-
tion of one even tablespoonful of salt and
one teaspoonful of acid to the quart, for
catarrh. It can be used by pouring it into
the hand and by a strong breath drawing
it into the nose; or procure any good
nasal syringe. The solution should be
used twice a day, and always warm. This
is a prescription of an eminent physician,
but nothing will affect a cure very rapidly
in this climate, one must have persever—
ence and be very carful about taking
cold.

A faded switch can be darkened by
steeping aspoonful of any kind of tea.
straining, and adding a small lump of
copperas. When this is dissolved place
the switch in the liquid for a very short
time, rinse in soap suds, then clear water.

 


V'=w-- mam. L‘s ‘ ’ ' ‘ '.

 

”we ‘f. a“,

swims-aw A

 

THE HOUSEHOLD.

 

If when dry it is not sufﬁciently dark, it
can be returned to the dye for a short
time, but the great danger usually is of
getting it too dark. The switch must be
perfectly free from oil, which can be as-
sured by ﬁrst'boiling in soap suds, then

place in the dye as directed. MERTIE.
PAW Paw.

_._

TO THE SUNNY SOUTH.

For the beneﬁt of those of our readers
who are intending to visit the New 0r-
leans Exposition, we give a few addition~
al items of information, gleaned from
various sources, which may prove of in—
terest or value. March and April are the
best months in which to visit New 0r-
leans; roses and orange blossoms, and
mocking birds, and soft airs and sunshine
are prevalent, and the city is seen at its
best. But in these months light overcoats
and wraps are needed for evenings. The
weather in December, January and Febru-
ary is variable, with rain and dampness.
The thermometer gets down to the forties
and, contrary to our ideas of a Southern
climate, furs are not infrequently worn
during portions of these months.

Mr. B. T. Walshe, of New Orleans, is
chief of a Bureau of Information, whose
business it is to answer all interrogatories
in respect to hotel or boarding house ac-
commodations. Lists of hotels, boarding
and lodginghouses, and private families
who will open their houses during the
Exposition are on ﬁle, with rates, so that
all information can be furnished quickly
and accurately. It might be well to ad-
dress Mr. Walshe, in care of the World’s
Exposition, for such information.

-—-—-_—.OO—-—
THE COUNTERPANE QUESTION

I regret to see so much interest mani-
fested in the knitted counterpane busi-
ness by the members of the Household.
Unless time hangs very heavily on one’s
hands, I do not believe in spending it in
manufacturing an article, which, when
ﬁnished, is not as good as one you
can buy out and out for the same money.
I have had some experience with knitted
counterpanes; I have never seen one yet
which did not cost as much as a Marseilles
spread before it was ﬁnished. They are
heavy and unwieldy, not particularly
handsome, and “ a terror” on wash days,
regular “ woman killers.” Unless care-
fully knitted, the squares kept exactlv of
the same size, the spread is “ on the bias ”
when ﬁnished. 1 echo Punch’s famous ad-
vice to those about to marry, “ Don’t,”
for the beneﬁt of those who are hesitating
about undertaking a counterpane..

BRUNEFILLE.

Dnrnorr. W

COFFEE MAKING.

Will some of the ladies who have good
success in making ﬁrst-best coffee, state
in the Household their process in making
it? What are the best brands to buy?
Should it be boiled for a considerable

time, or only allowed to reach a boiling

heat, and then simmer for a short or long
period of time? If the ground coffee is
put into the coffee-heater, and then cold

 

or hot water poured upon it, will it settle
it and secure excellent coﬁee in their
judgment, or is an egg indispensable?
Ihave fastidiouslovers of that drink to
please, and as yet have not given the
satisfaction I desire. MERCY.
Fxnmnn’s CRnnK.
--——¢oo————-
SCRAPS.

A. H. J. wants to know how I am going

to eliminate the ﬂies from my oxygen,'

when I take tea in my ideal vine-hung
piazza. My experience has proved that
ﬂies, at least a majority of them, are the
callers who come in the back way, at-
tracted thither by the slops thrown out,
the odors of cooking and the frequent pig-
pail. I did not particularize, but when
my “castle in Spain ” materializes, you
can wager a ginger cookie that the only
piazza on the premises will not open out
of the kitchen. If I cannot have but
one, that one will be far enough from the
cooking“ centre so that ﬂies won’t be
numerous enough to hurt, and where I
can forget the'existence of a kitchen
on occasion. There are a good many
country back yards that would not be
particularly appetizing scenery for a’tea-
table. I shall have stable on that piazza,
perhaps only a pine one, and when I
“take a notion ” to take tea there, I shall
load a tray with the necessary dishes and
eatables, and two or three trips will
“ set ” the table, and as many more clear
it. I often wonder why it is that so few
of our farmers’ houses are planned for
verandas and bay windows, and other
adjuncts that are so charming both in-
doors and out. It is not always want of
money, for many a wealthy farmer would
make his house beautiful if he only knew
how. But he plans it after somebody’s
“ﬁne house” in the next town perhaps,
and thinks the piazzas and pretty win-
dows “all nonsense,” till he sees how
bare the great rectangle really is. Then
he paints it a glaring white, with the
greenest of green blinds, and would be
mad as a March hare if he was told how
ugly, architecturally and artistically, it
really is: The soft greys, browns and
olive greens now so popular, are the
most beautiful of colors for a country
home, blending with the hues of the
landscape in the changing seasons with
charming effect.

OFTEN an enterprising woman wishes
to hang a lace curtain or a portiere, but
cannot ﬁnd either pole or bracket at the
local cabinet shop. In such a case there
are great possibilities in a broomstick, or
an old rake handle. Gilded with gold
paint, ebonized, or siniply varnished,
either may be made to answer the pur-
pose, and may be ornamented by nailing
a pine cone or a bunch of acorns on the
ends. For brackets, harness hooks can
be bought at a hardware store and gilded
with the convenient gold paint.

._.._...____

THE motto of the Household Editor
shall be “Nil desperandum,” while she
receives such evidence of interest in the
Household as is shown by a lady of Pul-
aski, who says that though she is sixty

 

years old, does all the work in the house
on a farm of two hundred‘acres, and has
never written for the papers before, she is
yet sufﬁciently interested to take up an
unaccustomed pen, and tell us what she
knows of butter-making. She says: “I
want to say just one word about that
premium butter. In my opinion the great

secret is in not using any water. I think
if our butter-makers would do as Mrs.

McCiary does, and use sweet milk to wash
the butter with and not use water about
it. at all, they would see a vast deal of"
difference in the keeping qualities.

There is nothing in butter that needs-
washing; the buttermilk can all be work-
ed out. There is not one in ﬁfty among-
our butter-makers who does not wash their
butter, and in my opinion this is one-
cause of the quantity of poor butter we

hear of. My husband takes the FARMER:
and we ﬁnd a great many good things in

1 .

Contributed Recipes.

GINGER CAKE—One cup molasses, one cup
of butter, two cups of sugar, four eggs, three
cups of ﬂour, one cup of milk. Soda and“
ginger. Mnnrm.

PAW Paw,

FRIED Cam's—One cup sugar, one c‘illlp.
sweet milk; two eggs; two tablepoonf s
melted butter; three level teaspoonfuls bakin
powder; spices to suit the taste. Farmer s
Daughter will ﬁnd this "the boss” recipe.
Roll almost as thin as cookies, and fry till done-
ou one side before turning.

FOR BLEACHING Corron.——One-qua1ter-
pound chloride of lime to twelve yards cotton
Boil the cotton in soa suds; then rinse in set ‘
water. Dissolve the ime and strain; then put
into enough warm, soft water to cover, and
put in the cotton, leaving it in thirty minutes ;.
then rinse again. I have used this for years,
and know it does not hurt the cloth.

M. E. M. A.

LAPEEB.

IF YOU WANT
Profitable Employment

SEND AT ONCE TO

THE NEW lAMB KNITTER, 00.,—

For Full Information.

An ordinary operator can earn from one to three
dollars per day in any community in the Northern
States on our New’ Lamb Kn tter.

100 Va» ietées of Fabric on Same Machine.

You can wholly ﬁnish twelve pairs ladies’ full-
shaped stockings or twenty pairs socks or mittens
in a. day! Skilled operators can double this to-
duction. Capacity and range of work double hat
of the old Lamb k titting machine. Address

The New Lamb Knitter 00.,
117 and 119 Main St.. west, Jscxsou, Mien,

 

 

 

1117? BEST TJIT,.V”¢;‘ KNOWN

FOP.

Washingaati itisaeiimg

In Hard or soft. Hw- ' :t‘. Water.

SAVES LABOR. syn" W2.

NGLY, an gives un Venn-m. uusfactton. NC
tam“: , rich or poor. should be Without it.

.ct b all 1‘ '4)I:'9I“. 15E“. ARE of imitationl

oil designedI t0 misused. PEARLINE is the

;:.L‘i' SAFE la.n.r-sav1ng compound, and ﬂ-
ways bears the above symbol. and name
JAMS PYLiL, NF‘V YORK.

 

