
 

   
  

   
 

&\
WM.

 

mDETROITjJAULY 8, 1884.

 

 

 

THE HOU§EHOLD=w§uppllememm

 

 

SOMEBODY’S IDEAL.

Wanted—A wife who can handle a broom,

To brush down the cobwebs and sweep up the
room;

To make decent bread that a fellow can eat—

Not the horrible compound you everywhere meet;

Who knows how to broil, to fry and to roast—

Make a cup of good tea and a platter of toast;

A common-sense creature, and still with a mind

To teach and to guide—exalted, reﬁned;

A sort of an angel and housemaid combined.

 

COOKING VEGETABLES.

 

 

One of our Household correspondents
asks what shall she cook “for greens”
and how to cook them as “John’s mother
did.” Unless “John’s Wife’ Wishes to
scour the ﬁelds with blood in her eye and
armed with a murderous case-knife in
search of dock and dandelion, she will
sow alittle bed of spinachin a cold_frame,
or in a sheltered spot in the garden in
August or September, and for a later
supply depend upon thinning out the
rows of beets, the young plants of which,
when the roots are yet small, make de-
licious “ greens,” according to those who
eat them. Whittier’s opinion of a boiled
dinner is exactly my belief concerning
greens, but as there is no law to compel
me to eat them, I am magnanimous
enough not to care who else devours them.

I do not know of any one who can tell
our friend how to cook greens as “John’s
mother” does except that lady herself.
There may be danger of infringing a pat-
ent. AndI am always a triﬂe sorry for
those wives who are expected to cook “as
mother did,” since their husbands have
lost the keen. vigorous appetites of boy-
hood days, when they were always hungry
and could eat anything and call it good.
Some “Johns,” too, have so dulled the
nerves of taste by smoking or chewing
tobacco that even “mother” herself
would be considered as “a little off” in her
cookery if she still ministered to their
wants. Ithink were comparisons insti-
tuted between my cooking and that of a
mother in-law, I should calmly ignore
those dishes thus discriminated against,
even if it reduced the family diet to an
extremely limited bill of fare. But my
landlady serves “greens,” (spinach and
beet tops) after a fashion which seems to
ﬁnd favor with her other boarders. The
greens are ﬁrst picked over and blades of
grass and brown or tough leaves rejected;
then washed in several waters to free
from sand. Put into boiling, salted wa-
ter, and cook for an hour, or until tender.

it is slightly salted, peppered, and a very
little butter stirred in; this is served on a
hot platter, au natural, so to speak, to be
eaten with vinegar, pepper, or Worcester-
shire sauce, as preferred. The remainder
is chopped, and a dressing made of a
piece of butter the size of an egg, a salt-
spoonful of pepper, half a teaspoonful of
salt, a tablespoonful of vinegar; this is
thoroughly stirred into the chopped
spinach anda small teacupful of sweet
cream turned over it. Dandelions are
cooked after the same fashion, except
that they will boil tender in less time.

Asparagus comes into market tied in
bundles of a dozen stalks each. These
bundles are untied. the asparagus wash-
ed and nearly all the white or tough part
cut off. The stalks are again tied up and
boiled for half an hour in salted water
which should boil when the asparagus is
put in. Have ready several slices of toast,
buttered; lip in the water in which the
asparagus was cooked, laying the latter
on the slices. (The “twisht” is to re-
member to take off the strings.) A little
melted butter is turned over it. Others
cut the asparagus in dice, cook till tender,
stir in butter, pepper and salt, and a
tablespoonful or two of cream, and turn
over the toast. It is “ not bad to take,”
either way.

Green peas and shelled beans are to be
cooked in boiling, salted water till done.
Peas will generally cook in half an hour,
beans must boil longer. Turn into a
colander to drain. Return to the dish in
which they were cooked, and add a large
lump of butter, pepper and salt to taste,
and a cupful of sweet cream. Let come
to almost the boiling point and serve.
String beans are cooked in the same way,
after removing the strings. People who
are not fond of cream sometimes stir a
teaspoonful of ﬂour into the butter used
for seasoning, leaving alittle of the water
in which the vegetables are cooked, with
them.

Baked and fried tomatoes are appreciat-
ed asa change from the everlasting to-
mato stew. Remove the skins by turning
boiling water upon the fruit. For baked
tomatoes put them into a buttered pud-
ding dish with a bit of butter on each.
Take a cupful of stale bread crumbs, or
rolled crackers, season with salt and pep~
per, add a small piece of butter and mois-
ten the crumbs with a little milk; spread
over the tomatoes and bake an hour.
Choose large, fair tomatoes, remove the
skin with hot water, out in thick slices,

 

Take up in a colander to drain. Half f

 

red salt and pepper for seasoning and

then into beaten egg. Fry till brown in

hot butter.

Boiled onions are generally served with

a little melted butter turned over them,

but are excellent if boiled till almost ten-

der—change the water at least once while

boiling—then put them in a pudding dish

and bake half an hour. Leave the cover

off if you prefer them browned. When

done turn melted butter over them and

give a sprinkle of pepper. But remember

that pudding dish is sacred to the mem-
ory of " onions forever after.

Vegetables should never be prepared
for the table and then left to soak in wa-
ter three or four hours till it is time to
cook them. Shell the peas and beans
when you are ready to cook them if you
wish them to be at their best estate. It
is often more convenient to gather vege-
tibles in the evening of the day before
they are ready to be cooked, or early in
the morning, but do not be in a hurry to
remove their overcoats. Leave the corn
in its jacket till you use it. The only
exceptions to this rule are cabbage and
cauliﬂower, which should be plunged in
cold salted water to draw out any slugs,
etc., which may have taken refuge in the
leaves. Boil cauliﬂower in a bag made of
very coarse muslin or mosquito net to
prevent it from cooking apart and spoil—
ing its dainty appearance. Beets should
be washed clean, but the skin left intact,
and when boiled tender the skin will slip
off in the hands. and the beets can be
sliced to order. If the skin is broken the
sweetness is lost in cooking.

A word about the butter to be used in
seasoning vegetables: I do not believe
in what is called “cooking butter,” that
is, that which is off ﬂavor and considered
not ﬁt for the table but ﬁt to cook with.
In nine cases out of ten the cooking is
spoiled by its use. I would as soon taste
bad butter on bread as in green peas or
beans, indeed I am not sure but the bad-
ness is intensiﬁed in the latter case. I
have never been able to discover ause for
poor butter in domestic economy, unless
for soap—grease. BEATRIX,

———..‘——.

MAYBELLE’S METHODS.

 

I once more attempt to express my ad-
miration of our delightful little House-
hold. We have had athorough discus-
sion of the bread question, and now we
begin agitating the butter question, t0«
gether with others concerning cooking.
John’s Wife asks how to cook greens as

 

and dip in flour into which has been stir-

John’s mother did. That would be im-

 
 
  
 
 
   
  
 
  
  
  
 
  
  
  
 
 
 
 
 
   
 
    
  
 
   
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
  
 
 
  
 
  
  
 
 
  
   
 
  
 
 
  
 
 
  
  
   
 
  
 
 
 
  
   
 
 
 
  
  
  
 
  
 
  
   
  
   
  
  
 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

   

 

 


  

 

2

 

THE HOUSEHOLD.

     

 

possible to those who have never seen or
heard of J ohn’s mother, but my mother's
way, which I always considered excellent,
was as follows: She used beets, tops and
all, when small, dandelion, mustard and
yellow dock; either will do alone, but
mustard and beets make a better dish.
Wash clean and drop into a kettle half
full of boiling water, in which one large
slice of salt pork has been boiled ten
minutes. Boil pork and greens until
tender; dip out or ﬁlter with skimmer,
press out the r->ater, add atablespoonful of
butter, pepper and more salt if the pork
has not salted sufﬁcient, stir well, and if
preferred add vinegar. or let John add
what he wishes. I think he Will like
them this way; but right here letme tell
him that if he is at all like the most of us,
to prepare any dish as “mother used to,"
that is, have it taste to us as the {victuals
that our mothers prepared when we were
in our youth, is impossible. Hearty,
healthy, hungry children, without a care,
relish any kind of food much better than
when grown up; with the hard work and
cares of life our appetites change a great
deal, at least I think that the main reason
that men cannot ﬁnd anything equal to
“ mother's ” cooking.

To prepare lettuce I ﬁnd it palatable
to prepare with one-half cup sour cream,
four tablespoonfuls vinegar, one tea-
spoonful salt; put three tablespoonfuls
of fried meat gravy in the spider, when
melted add cream and vinegar; sprinkle
salt on the lettuce, and when the cream
boils pour over it, cover over a few
minutes, then serve; we ﬁnd it splendid.

Have any of the Householders; ever
tried hulling corn? It is some trouble,
but when done “my mother’s way” it is ex-
cellent. Take two quarts of large kernels,
wash and drop into a kettle two~thirds
full of weak lye; let boil slowly three
hours or until the bulls will“ remove
easily; then dip out into ,- a “dislm
wash in four waters, rubbing hard. Put
back into the kettle, salt to taste,v cook
till tender. Pour off the water, add‘lﬁt-
ter, pepper and one pint rich sweet cream.
We think it worth the trouble.

A nice pudding is made after the blanc
mange recipe on the box of corn starch,
by adding one-quarter of a lemon, rind
and all. It has a better ﬂavor, as it gives
it a tart taste. I do not know as there is a
“ twisht” to it, as John’s Wife speaks of,
unless it is, be very careful not to scorch
it as it spoils the taste. Will some one
please tell me how to cook vegetable
oysters? I will not attempt to tell how to
cook asparagus, as the season for it is
over, and I never had much experience
with it.

Welcome, Aunt Nell; you say you have
pictures in your mind of some of the
members. I wonder how you imagine
they look. Perhaps you imagine May-
belle a grim, middle-aged spinster, with-
out a smile for any one, but you would
ﬁnd (were you to call) only a plain young
farmer’s wife, aged twenty-two, with a
sweet little blue-eyed daughter, and a pleas-
ant little home. Please Evangeline, write
again and tell us more of the beautiful
yard and home you are so contentedlin;

 

surely a contented mind is a great bless-
ing. A little voice calls “Mamma,
rockoh,” two little arms reach up, and
the little sleepy eyes of our two-year-old
Gracie beg for mamma to stop writing.

MAYBELLE.
ancnwsrnn, June 30th.

———..._____

“ENGLISH AS SHE IS SPOKE.”

 

Does Beatrix think that a conspiracy to
confound the captain’s English is hatching
on board her good ship “Household?”
And oh, ye gods of the Jingo lingo! does
she deem me a dynamiter? If so I dis-
claim the honor.

Beatrix proclaims “I shall stand by
my guns!” “ Barkis is willin’,” but since
I never manned a battery, and handle
“ﬁre arms” about as dextrously as aduck
might a dish-cloth, I will content myself
to hit where I missed with my little bow
and arrow.

In Beatrix’s Possibilities, April 22nd,
1884, “English is spoke” thus—verbatim
et lite'ra'tim:

“But really, are we Women so incon-
ceivably s upid that we must make bread
for years before we can learn to do it
properly? Cannot we make pie-crust as
well after ﬁve times trying as after ﬁve
hundred? Is the preparation of any arti-
cle of food so mysterious a proceeding
that a woman of average intelligence can-
not master it in a few painstaking trials?
Certainly any woman who has respect
enough for the work to ‘do it with her
brains,’ can learn to cook in six months.
No respectable reason can be brought for-
ward Why she should not; there is no
eighth sense whose presence or absence
makes or mars the cook; ‘genius’ here
lies in accuracy and intelligent cempre
hension.”

N OW by a candid comparison of this quo-
tation with the second paragraph in my
article, published June 10th—bnt which,
because of its length I did not quote at
that time—the fact will appear that instead
of seeking to defraud the “English”
stock of our head, I watered it liberally
andplaced it in market again at an ad'-
vanced valuation; for while she here al-
lows only six months as ample time for
Mrs. Brains to become mistress of the
prime principles and processes of cookery
and of the uncounted host of changes that
the changing seasons ring upon their suc-
cessful application to the manufacture of
wholesome, palatable and seasonable
food for human beings for the round
year; and as an example of the number
of lessons necessary to a guarantee of
skill equal to emergencies, quotes “pie
crust ”—bete noz‘r of the press and the dys—
peptic—“as well after ﬁve times trying
as after ﬁve hundred.”

To ﬁnd the XY Z of this problem: Let
us place the number of “ cues” or lessons
to be taken at 999—the lowest possible
estimate—school term, six months; school
hours, 720. Now, if Mrs. Brains, or any
other woman, can get six, or even ﬁve
times 999 lessons in cookery into those
720 lesson hours, without watering the
stock up to apoint unexcelled by Wall
Street bears, then my name is not E. L.
Nye.

Furthermore, a woman’s bangs and

 

 

back hair may constitute a crown of glory
for a complement of brains not at all in-

  

ferior to those carried about in the era—

nial dep )sitory of Jim Blaine, of Maine,

or Ben Butler, of Massachusetts, or even

by the great Chimpanzee in Barnum’s
biggest show on earth; but if she at the
same time lack muscular development and
therewith certain it estimable valuable
powers of physicalendurance, it is utterly
impossible for her to be a competent, re-
liable cock. For brawn as well as brain
is here a sine qua non. And happy indeed
is that woman whose “schooling” has
developed with equal care and forethought
these two best servants that this world
knows. Let her have these and an elas-
tic temperament, and she laughs at “im-
possibilities.” Failure and defeat are
never synonymous terms in her vocabu-
lary, and she passes through this vale of
tears having a good time, and dispensing
good bread and meat in due season.

But though she have a bushel basket
full, or a pint cup one-twentieth full of
brains of the let or 50th “water,” and
have not the necessary muscle to back
them, the fatigues of “baking day ” and
of all other days of special work in the
Household, are contemplated with a
“dread” as deﬁnite and not much less
well founded than that with which Sam.
Tilden contemplates another campaign
crusade, h mself astride one of the polit-
ical donkeys. Now, I know of but one
course that‘steers clear of this dreaded
reef on which so much of “ happiness and
home” are wrecked. It is to see that a
practical knowledge of the tricks and
manners of house-work and house-keep-
ing and home-making grow with the
girls’ growth, and to see to it that they
understand that this is in every way hon-
orable and desirable in and for them, 'for
if they never have a house to keep, it
will not be because they have not wanted
one. From these conditions speciﬁc genius
is exempt.

As touching my second offence: It may
berank, but I vow, it never reached the
nose of Heaven until Beatrix poured into
it her rattling fusillade of “Correction.”
Luckily for us, I and my little bow and
arrow were completely out of range of
her guns. A friend told me of the event,
and as soon as convenient I went over the
scene of carnage with an ambulance, and
confess that I was not a little surprised to
ﬁnd only a couple of Beatrix’s “Gray”
“bleeding at every vein” while my
“ Blue” were off shooting wood~chucks as
unconcernedly as though nothing great
had happened. Iordered “tattoo,” gath-
ered the bleeding veins into my cart, and
now propose by our good Captain’s leave
to tie them and leave it to the spectators
to say whetherI have any skill in that
sort of thing.

May 20th Beatrix said, “One of a
mother’s manifest duties is to teach her
sons respect for all other women.” These
words Iquoted, verbatim, June 10th, add~
ing by way of “hit and miss ” comment:
“Now I would as soon say ‘One of a
father’s manifest duties is to teach his
daughters respect for all other men!’ The
statement fairly guaged measures exactly
the same." In her “ Correction,” June 17,
she says: “ I stand by my guns and reit-

 

erate. teach the boys respect to all wo

    

 

 

 

 


  

 

 

 

THE HOUSEHOLD.

  

3

 

 

  

men, if for no other reason than that
they are women,” and then proceeds with
a very pretty and spirited little homily,
in the course of which her exact meaning
is made to appear, and it appears in per-
fect harmony with the prepositional cor-
rection which her “ reiteration ” carries in
its eye.

And now that Beatrix's own good guns
have so clariﬁed and corrected this phase
of maternal duty, I accept the conditions
and the olive branch—and offer the pipe
of peace—by piping to you the sentiment
which Beatrix and I hold in common, and
which her “correction” clearly conveys,
though the English is not spoke exactly
thusly. It is: “One of a mother’s mani-
fest duties is to teach her sons to treat
all women with respectful courtesy.” It
would be a good motto to hang in the
sitting—room, and right beside it I would
place: “One of a father’s manifest duties
is to teach his daughters to treat all men
with respectful courtesy.”

But “ respect ” in the abstract is a some-
thing deeper, higher than this. Wisdom
is its one trusty guide. Knowledge is its
safe foundation. And thus it is, that
while I gladly admit that it is always
wisest and safest to treat with “ respect-
ful courtesy” people, plans and ideas to
which we are strangers; and as a general
thing, equally prudent to extend like
“courtesy ” to those that are to us, indi
vidually, obnoxious, I as candidly deny
our capability to “respect” a person or
thing of whom or of which we know noth-
ing. E. L. NYE.

HOME-IN—THE--HILLS, June 23.

___«..__.
THE POETRY 0F BUTTER
MAKING.

 

As butter making is being discussed
and X. Y. Z has given her ideas I will
fall into rank and tell my little story. My
husband and I conceived the idea two
years ago that an ice-house and milk-
room combined would be quite a feature
in the butter business, so accordingly one
was built at a cost of a hundred dollars,
We added a Jewett refrigerator at $25.
making the sum total $125, and we feel
that the money was well expended. We
have eleven cows, Shorthorn grades. In
the ﬁrst place we must have perfect
cleanliness in the milk pails, pans, etc.
In order to do this we must have a differ-
ent dish cloth and towels for washing and
wiping than those used for dishes; wash
the pans thoroughly, ﬁrst in clear water,
then in soap suds, then scald in boiling
water; wipe and put out in the sun. I
would advise all to use the pans for no

other purpose than milk. I skim the milk,

while it is sweet, and never allow it to
stand more than twenty—four hours; after
skimming I put it in a stone jar and place
in the refrigerator directly under the ice-
box; in this manner the cream is kept
sweet. We usually churn before break-
fast, and no matter how hot the weather
the butter comes out as hard as any J an-
uary butter; we use a barrel churn. We

:set the wind-mill in motion when we cem-

mence churning, to insure cold water for
washing the butter. I wash until the

 

 

water is clear, usually three times; then
salt, using Ashton salt, three—fourths of
an ounce to a pound of butter. It is then
set away until the next morning, when I
workit, weigh and pack, and it nets me
twenty-ﬁve cents per pound this summer.
Last winter I sold none for less than
thirty cents. We have thought that an-
other summer we would add a cabinet
creamery; it might lighten labor, but I do
not think the quality of the butter could
be improved.

I have proven by actual experience that
a cellar is not a good place for milk; by
using an out door milk room all running
up and down stairs with milk, carrying
pans, washing shelves, is dispensed with.
The air can circulate freely about the
pans; by setting on slat shelves and being
careful about spilling milk once a week
is often enough to wash them, while the
milk is taken from the door for calves and
pigs by the men. There is another item.
too, worthy of consideration. About ﬁve
o’clock in the morning I go out to the
milk room to attend to skimming and
straining the milk. I get the fresh air,
and drink in all the beauties of a “ morn-
ing in the country;” the sun is fast peep-
ing up in the east, almost hid by a clump
of trees, the dew is sparkling on every
blade of grass and leaf; the birds are revel"
ing in a perfect ﬂood of melody; the cat-
tle are lowing, lambs are bleating, chanti-
cleer is telling shrilly that morning has
come, the little chickens and turkeys are
peeping for their breakfast, and as I feel
the blood coursing through my veins with
quickening pulsations, sending a glow to
my cheek and adding strength and
health, I know it is better than if I slept
the morning away, or stood in a damp
cellar skimming milk. Let us hear from
others about it. EVANGALINE.

BATTLE CREEK, July 2.

.....___...___

THE PORK BARREL.

 

Salt pork is a staple in the farm econo-
my, many people considering it more dis-
graceful to be out of pork than to be
caught without a pie in the pantry. The
spoiling of the meat by souring, tainting
or turning “ rusty” is viewed as a great
misfortune. Without alluding to the
expediency of making the salted ﬂesh of
the abomination of Israel so constant an
article of diet, or mentioning its effects
in the way of producing indigestion,
scrofula and biliousncss, a brief notice
of the reasons why the meat sometimes
spoils may be of value to some. The top
layers in the pork barrel ma“ become
slightly “ 01f ﬂavor” if the brine is left un-
disturbed, so that the salt settles to the
bottom. Another reason is sometimes
found in want of care to keep the meat
well under the brine. A more frequent
cause of spoiling is found in the blood,
juice of the meat and atoms of grease,
which are drawn out by the brine and
the small bits which are left ﬂoating in it
as the meat is being used up; when these
come in contact with the atmosphere pu-
trefaction sets in to a greater or less ex-
tent. When warm weather comes the
brine not infrequently becomes tainted
and communicates the taint to the meat.

 

 

   

It is an excellent plan to take up the meat
at the approach of warm weather, and
thoroughly scald the brine and skim off
all impurities. Repack the meat, after
scalding and Wiping the barrel, and return
the brine when cold. No further anxiety
need then be felt regarding it, if care is
taken to keep it properly weighted down.

A ham which is being used from daily
can be kept from the troublesome “ green
ﬂies” by slipping it into acanvas or heavy
manilla paper sack, and tying tightly.
For still greater security it can be bid in
a box of dry oats, still in its paper over-
coat. There is danger of the meat be-
coming musty if left there too long.

Not abad plan to keep ham through
the summer months is to cut in slices
ready for the table, fry slightly and pack
in stone jars. When the jar is full turn
on the fat which has fried out, and ﬁll up
with sufﬁcient melted lard to cover. It is
thus kept from the a1r and will keep
sweet a long time. Do not fry quite
enough for the table; when wanted it is
easily cooked.

__...___
A SECRET REVEALED.

 

Many times I have been asked to tell
my secret for making hens lay in the
winter, and when I tell people to give
their fowls plenty to eat and drink, and
not use all one kind of grain, they usually
sniff up their noses and say, “My
chicks have enough to eat; I think they
are too fat to lay good,” and walk off in
high dudgeon. They call to mind an
anecdote my father used to tell, that hap-
pened when he was teaching school in
New York. A family in the district had
been troubled with a terrible break-
ing out between the ﬁngers, and,
in fact, all over their bodies, for several
years. The father very conﬁdentially told
the teacher he would give anything he
possessed to have them cured of the
“mysterious disease.” “Well,” says the
teacher, “I do not care for your money,
but I will cure you if you will follow my
advice to the letter, for I have a valuable
recipe for just this disease. This is the
cure: Take warm water, four gallons,
one third bar soap and one quart bran;
bathe every night and put on clean clothes,
and keep the bed clean; I will give you
an ointment to use, and you will get
well.” They followed his instructions
with success. In the spring an old
deacon wanted to know what good the
bran did; well, at least it gave it an air
of mystery and did no harm. It would
not have answered to tell them to keep
clean and they would get over the ﬁsh.
The old deacon shook his head, “ Well,
just as I teld my wife, the bran was for
the mind and soap and water for the
body.”

I would say to all who want a secret to
get plenty of eggs summer and winter:

Take equal parts of corn, oats, wheat and
buckwheat; mix and give all the fowls
can eat. This for the fowls. And if you
must have something more to ease your
mind, take cayenne pepper, ginger, and
sulphur, mix and give just as little to your
fowls as you can. I am sure you will have
plenty of eggs if you have a wariEEcoop.
LL.

PORTLAND, June 26th.

 

   
  

  


.4:

THE HOUSEHOLD.

 

 

GENERAL DEBILITY IN YOUNG
TURKEYS.

The Household E‘ditor handed to Dr.
Jennings F. C. C.’s letter, which appeared
in last week’s Household, with the re-
quest that he would give our correspon-
dent the ‘seneﬁt of his veterinary knowl-
edge. His reply was received too late
for insertion in the Household of last
week, but here is the prescription:

The secret of raising poultry, more par-
ticularly the turkey. is the almost con-
stant care and attention they receive.
Some years are much more favorable to
their propagation than others, however
careless we may be regarding their wel
fare, but, as a rule, success depends upon
the care and attention they receive. The
feathered tribe are -equally subject to
epizootic diseases as well as all other of our
domestic stock. We are inclined to be-
lieve that the character of the disease af-
fecting a large number in one neighbor-
hood is due rather to endemic (local causes)
than epizootic inﬂuences, which in a great
measure may be controlled by proper san-
itary regulations. The symptoms describ-
ed are similar to those given by W. R. J.,
publishedin the FARMER of the 17th inst.
Your diagnosis, general debility, no doubt
is correct. That there are no lice upon the
young birds is the exception; thorough
and careful examination is sometimes
necessary to detect their presence, more
particularly when in large numbers
about the head, where they are most des-
tructive to the health and life of the'
young bird. Treatment. In this case we
would recommend the following: Tinc-
ture of iron; gentian; Jamaica ginger; and
capsicum, equal quantities, mix all to
gether; give a few drops of the mixture
in the water, or in the feed, regulating
the quantity to suit the taste of the birds.

Will the writer of this inquiry do
us a favor b reporting to us the success
or failure 0 the above prescription?

V ——-OOO—-———

FANCY WORK.

I wish some of the ladies would tell me
how ,to make a handsome shelf lambre-
quine. Ido not wish for applique work or
seine twine crochet. I have seen crazy
patchwork which was intended for a
shelf, butIdo not know how to ﬁnish
off such a piece of work. I am not par-
ticular about its being like that, but any
thing that is pretty. I wish the ladies
would oftener send directions for fancy
work. I was once a member of a society
composed of the ladies in a country
neighborhood, who met once in two
weeks for the purpose of doing fancy
work. We met at different private
houses, and the lady who entertained
us was restricted to getting a very plain
supper, so that it did not become a bur-
den to any one. Each brought her own
work, and with visiting and helping one
another we spent very pleasant after-
noons. This society was kept up for several
years.

I wish some of the members would
give directions for Kensington painting,
if it is possible to do so in a letter to the
Household.

 

Ladies, when you dust your furniture
dampen your dusting cloth with a little
kerosene oil; you don’t know how nice it
will make everything look, almost equal

to a coat of paint. PRUDENCE.
ALBION, June 26th.
-—-——-—-oeo——-—-—-

“ GREENS.” '

As I have been a reader of the MICHI-
GAN FARMER some years, I can say I was
much pleased with the Household by
itself; but have never contributed to it,
thinking to gain more knowledge by
reading the experience of others who are
better qualiﬁed to write than myself; but
it is hard to keep still and let others keep
talking; that is not woman’s nature.

Seeing John’s Wife is anxious to know
how to cook greens. I thought I might
help her out. I was not acquainted with
John’s mother, but while teaching and
boarding ’round, was treated to greens
boiled, then chopped ﬁne and fried in
grease. Possibly that might be the way
John’s mother cooked them. I parboil
them, then cook in clear water with a lit-
tle salt until done. Take up, drain and
butter. Young beets make good greens.
Cook asparagus as you would peas. Will
some one please tell me how to can peas?
Shall I come again? )1. L. H.

FOWLERVILLE, June 30th.

[Nothing pleases the Household Editor
better than to have our correspondents
“ come again.”]

___...____

A CHICKEN . PARK.

I will tell the ladies how I feed my
chickens. I kept wishing for a park but
I couldn’t get one; my old hens run over
the small chicks until I got discouraged
and thought I would see what I could do,
so I took some laths and sharpened one
end, and drove them down and tied the
tops with a cord; when my husband saw
my park he laughed and made fun, but
it is just nice, I can feed my chicks and
they seem so happy. I think I have over
70. I feed them cracked wheat, have al
ways fed meal after it was swelled, but
we have none this season, have had good
luck raising chickens, had 184 last year. I
have the Plymouth Rock.

If you see ﬁt to print this I may write

more about chickens.
MRS. R. D. M. E.
HORTON, June 25th.

“4..—
HAPPINESS AT HOME.

I have several good reasons for not
writing on the butter question before. I
have been very busy, and I was in hope
some one would write who could express
their thoughts better than I could. As I
was reading the little paper to-day I dis-
covered that X. Y. Z. makes butter very
much as I do. I agree with her that all
the dishes we use in making butter should
be clean and sweet if we would make
good butter. I think very much depends
on pressing the buttermilk out instead of
rIibbing it out. I use a tin churn, it saves
so much lifting.

[like our little Household very much
indeed. I agree with Evangaline that

 

a farm life is a pleasant one. How good
it seems. after a visit to the city, to get
home where we can have a large door-
yard and ﬂowers, with plenty of cool
shade, feed our chickens and busy. our.
selves with every-day work! I enjoy
farm life and I enjoy the privilege
of being a FARMER’s WIFE.
NAPOLEON, June 30.
______...__

Contributed Recipes.

THAT Soar RECIPE—The recipe for hard
soap asked for some weeks ago, I will now
send, hoping the ladies will try and ieport suc-
cess: Six pounds salsoda; three pounds stone
lime, or unslaked lime; six pounds clean
grease; four gallons fresh soft water. Dis-
solve the lime and soda in the water by boiling ;.
let stand till next morning; pour off into ket.
tle; add the grease; boil until it is hard soap;
perfume with ten cents worth of sassafras. I
made 151/2 pounds for 30 cents this spring. It
is white, pure and cleansing. MAYBELLE.

POT PIE—Mix the crust with buttermilk,
using suﬂicient soda to sweeten; a little salt,

, no shortening. Roll one-half inch thick; just

large enough to ﬁt the kettle; cut a slit in the
center for the steam to escape. Put the meat
in the kettle; if there are any bones lay them
up so they will keep the crust out of the water.
Fit the crust over the meat; do not have too
much water, (upon this your success depends)
just enough not to cook dry; boil slowly one.
half hour without raising the cover.

- M. L. H.
FOWLERV'ILLE.

MOLASSES CAKE—One cup molasses, one-
half cup sugar, one cup coffee, two-thirds cup
lard, or meat drippings; three cups ﬂour; one
teaspoonful soda dissolved in coffee; one tea-
spoonful ground cinnamon, and the same of
cloves. A cup of chopped raisins added makes
a nice fruit cake.

CUP Oman—Five eggs; two cups sugar; one
cup butter; one cup sweet milk; one cup seed-
ed raisins; two teaspoonfuls cream of tartar;
one teaspoonful of soda; nutmeg or lemon.
This makes two loaves.

CREAM CAKE—One egg; one cup sugar ; two
thirds cup sweet milk; one and two-thirds cup
ﬂour; one heaping tablespoonful butter; two
teaspoonfuls baking powder. This is nice for
layer or jelly cake. F. C. C.

MANCHESTER.

 

 

The on! team made that can be returned bi};

its pureh t weeks wear. it not toun
PER (3ng ATISFAETO Y
in every respect,an tsp ce refunds b se or.
in a. variety of styles and prices. by
dealers everywhere. Beware of worthless imitations.
one nuine unless it has Ball’s name on the box.
crﬁecmo consa'r co., cmoago, m.

aser after hree
FE

 

