“We-emu

  

 

 
  

 

 

 

 

 

 

DETROIT, JUNE 18, 1888.

 

THE HOUSEHOLD-"Supplement.

 

 

A WA NDERING THO UGH T.
0ft times a Waking Thought
Through misty dreams .wiil stray,
And then when Reason sleeps,
And Fancy holds full sway,

 

Expmd before our gaze,
With brightest tints bestrown,
To worth and power which ne‘er
But in our wish was known.

Such fate but now was mine,
When, waking Fancy vain
Was dulled and lost in sleep;
I slept, and dreamed again.

The Thought so idly formed
Within my waking hour,

By Fancy’s magic touch
Was clothed with mighty power.

With form symmetric now,
And dress of beauty rare,

And fleetest wings, it sped
So lightly through the air.

To feel this Thought was mine I
Such pride came to me then,
I gaily bade it go
Among the world of men.

But once again I looked,
And saw an angel fair
Bear on a fleecy cloud,
A book, with anxious air;

And knew that not alone
My Thought could ever go,
An angel hand would write
What deeds for weal or woe

It moved the heart to do
Where’er its seed was sown;

What thought and passion roused
That else had been unknown.

And in the final day
Before the judgment seat,
This record, faithful kept,
Most surely I mu at me :t.

A fear unknown before,
With keenest pang. did seem
To pierce me through; I woke
And knew ‘twas but a dream.

But not in vain are dreams;
If by them we discern

Some light before unseen;
And kindlier living learn.

Ohl may the lesson sink
Full deep within my heart;

That tongue or pen no more
Shall play a careless p irtl

PAW Paw. MERTIE.

———.¢....—.—

MYOPIA.

 

I have the misfortune to be somewhat
short-sighted. And yet, after all, I am not
qu.te so sure that it really is a misfortune.
To be sure, I do not see so very clearly;
where others behold sharp outlines and
strong contrasts, I see them mellowed and
toned down by the imperfecticns of my
vision. Through the persuasions of my
friends I was finally induced to purchase a

 

pair of eyeglasses, thoughI regret to say
that I find my nose not at all adapted to the
use of this aid to an intellectual appear-
ance. I put on my new acquisition and went
down town. What a difference! I could
see much more clearly; the letters on. the
signs stood out sharp and clear; the build-
ings looked larger and nearer me; I recog-
nized an acquaintance on the platform of a
passing horse-car whom I should not have
known from Adam but for my new glasses;
in the semi-twilight of the storesI could dis-
cern fabrics and colors—oh, I was delighted;
it was almost like having a new sense. As
I became accustomed to my new eyes, and
began to look around me more critically, I
saw much which had heretofore passed un-
observed. I had never noticed how weather-
beaten and shabby that row of big brick
houses were, nor how much a coat of paint
was needed. And the streets! 'how dirty!
positively it was disgraceful they should be
in such a condition. There went a carriage
Ihad often admired; nowI see that what
looked to be beautiful plush is nothing but
Utrecht velvet, after all. The goods so
attractively labeled at very low prices, and
which hitherto I had considered rather
over-value for the money, I now discovered
to be coarse and cottony—more confirma-
tion of my theory that one never gets
“something for nothing,” in a dry goods
store, at least.

But the greatest change I found to be in
the people. Faces I had known before
looked so much Elder and more careworn;
I could see the lines traced by age and
worry and frett'ulness so plainly 1 half be-
lieved I had taken a Rip Van Winkle sleep
of ten years or so. Without these search-
ing, revealing glasses, I should have called
this a fair, matronly face; now I see the
haughty, supercilious droop to the mouth,
and the uplifted eyebrows which betoken
arrogance. I should have thought that
young lady had a beautiful complexion and
lovely golden hair; but I can distinguish
now that the bloom comes from a box and
the yellow hair is dyed; it is a well made
up face, but its owner is “ no chicken.” I

~might have thought this lady well dressed

but for the frayed seam, the creases, and a
darn partly concealed by the folds drawn
over it;that lace is an imitation, that jet is
not “ cut.”

In a thoughtful mood I take off my prince
me and nib the glasses with my handker-
chief, after the approved fashion of old
ladies. Behold, though I see much less
clearly, how many ugly things I don’t see!

As good a student of the world as Sidney
Smith advised us to " Take short views.” I

    

 

 

think it wise counsel. It may be a misfor-
tune, after all, to be near-sighted, physi-
cally; but I regard it as an excellent thing
to be spiritually near-sighted, in at least
some ways. When we look into the faces
of others, it is good we do not read their
weakness, their failings, perhaps their base-
ness; we can thus think the best of them.
When we investigate the motives of our
friends’ acts, let us “take short views;" we
shall be less likely to do them injustice‘by
imputing unworthy motives. As the world
is more beautiful if we have not sharp eyes
for its blemishes, so, when we look into the
characters of our friends, it is well that we
see not so clearly their faults, least these
make us somewhat blind to their virtues. I
believe short-sightedness, in some respects ,
especially where it enables us to look with
charity upon the frailties or “ poor hu-
manity,” is to be accounted unto us for a
virtue. And we would all be more con-
tented, more peaceful, more truly filled
with Christian forbearance, if we would not
look our relatives’ and our friends’ char-
acters through and through, seeking so
earnestly what it would pain us to find——
the evidence of duplicity, selfishness, false-g
hood. “To ruminate upon evils, to make
critical notes upon injuries, and to be acute
in their apprehension, is to feather the
arrows of. our enemies; for injuries long
dwelt on take away all rest, and he sleeps
but like Regulus who busieth his head about
them.” BEATRIX.
._.__...__

CLOTHES FOR THE BABIES.

In the opinion of the young mother,
clothes for her first born are of greater
importance even than her own wardrobe.‘
She loves to have the little atom of humani-
ty daintily clad in softest of cambrié and
finest of linen, and the amount of washing
made by a “ bran new baby” is something
appalling to the unfortunate person who
presides over the washtub and must “do
up” those delicate dresses and skirts. But
“everything goes,” for the household
treasure (and tyrant) must be always sweet
and fresh and kissable, and not until
“custom has staled its infinite variety”
does the mother realize her baby is better
off to be plainly clad, and less petted and
coddled. The fond parents of Number One
have been known to awaken the “ sweetest
baby in the world” to see it smile, or see
if the little tooth that was there last night
is still in place in the morning, but it is safe
to say the experiment is never repeated
with Number Two.

The most necessary and important dresses


2 ‘ TI—IE HOUSEHOLD.

 

 

for the very young babe are the simple slips
made of two breadths of soft cambric with-
out dressing, each breadth a yard long,
sloped a little toward the top, and the full-
ness laid in tucks instead of being gathered
into a yoke. The tucks are laid in clusters,
with feather-stitching between the clusters;
the neck has a narrow lace edge turned
down round it in a flat frill, and the
straight sleeves are turned back in little cuffs,
which are feather-stitched and edged with
the lace. Valenciennes is excellent for
this purpose, as it washes and wears well.
A few tucks may be added above the hem
around the bottom, with feather-stitching be-
tween them, but a great many are made
perfectly plain. Cambric without dressing
is also used for skirts; the bottom being
hemmed and tucked, or finished with a
frill of embroidery; some ladies who like to
do needlework, buttonhole the edge in
scalIOps. Flannel skirts have the seams
opened and cross-stitched to keep them
flat, and a vine or pattern of interlaced rings
worked in white silk or linen fl‘)SS above
the hem. The bottom is sometimes but-
tonholed in small squares, instead of being
hemmed. -
Nicer dresses are of French nainsook, 40
inches long, with a yoke made of clusters
of fine hand run tucks separated by drawn
work, slight vines of embroidery or narrow
lace insertion. The bottom of the skirt is
trimmed with clusters of tucks with the
trimming used in the yoke; the sleeves have
the fullness gathered to a lace edged band.
A sash of the nainsook is often added, with
ends trimmed to match the skirt.

The dresses with tablier fronts are not so
much worn, unless for christening robes.
The preference, even for the very nicest
dresses, is for a waist which is a mass of
embroidery and lace to the belt, and very
deeply bordered about the skirt with the
same trimming.

The square of white flannel used as a
shawl has a binding of inch wide satin
ribbon, held down by feather-stitching,
and daisies or other small flowers are em-
broidered at intervals over the shawl, in-
stead of the elaborate vine and scalloped
edge once fashionable. Sometimes one corner
of the shawl is shaped and gathered to form
a hood. Little cashmere sacques are bound
with ribbon ornamented with feather-
stitching, or have a little vine of embroidery
. running around them. A pretty way to
trim the little cashmere wrappers or
“ doublegowns ” is to edge them with a row
of pink or blue satin ribbon, three-quarters
of an inch wide, held by feather-stitching
on each edge; this borders the collar and
sleeves, and is put down each side of the
front and around the bottom.

Pique is used for summer cloaks, and the
trimming is always embroidery. One
model has a short, plain waist to which two
breadths of pique are gathered; there is a
deep collar edged with embroidery, and long
sleeves; and a few loops and ends of white
satin ribbon are arranged at the back of
the waist. Cashmere cloaks are made by
the same model. Another fashion consists
of two large capes, but the first described is
prettier and of longer service.

Baby’s first caps are of muslin and lace
insertion, in rows from the crown to the

front, with a full lace ruche bordering them,

and muslin ties. These are sold at very
moderate prices, so cheap in fact—at least
in this city—that it costs less to buy them
out and out than to get the materials and
make them. Some very neat looking plain
ones were marked twenty-five cents; and
for seventy-five cents a really handsome one
can be bought.

Not long since a lady asked how to make
a “baby basket,” saying it must be of in-
expensive materials. The basket is the
principal item of cost; having secured this,
line it throughout with plain cotton satteen
in blue or pink, and over this shir sheer
muslin, ornamenting it with rows of
feather-stitching, and bows of ribbon
“ where they will do the most good.” The
best baskets have covers, which are lined
with the muslin over satteen, and ornament-
ed on the outside with a big bow of ribbon.

——-QoQ-——— ~—~

HOUSEHOLD TALK.

“We never miss the water till the well
runs dry,” is a very apt saying; how true it
is in many things! Blessings and privileges
we enjoy daily come to us so naturally we
scarcely appreciate them. Did you ever
think how long the week seems when the
FARMER and HOUSEHOLD misses its weekly
visit? We look for its coming and welcome
its arrival with j )yous faces. We scan the
pages of the little sheet and devour its con-
tents with avidity, only regretting it were
not as large again. May 14th we missed
the bright and attractive pages of the
FARMER and HOUSEHOLD. We have been
accustomed to greet it every week for so
many years, we miss even one number, al-
though it may be the busy time of year.

For one I sincerely thank Evangeline for
her “Home Talks” in the HOUSEHOLD. I
believe all must have enjoyed, as well as
found them profitable. I thought at one
time 1 would come to her defence, but it’s
very plain she needs no champion to defend
her cause; she is equal to the contest. Her
agreeable manner of receiving opposition
was delightful. “A soft answer turneth
away wrath, but grievdus words stir up
anger.” Could we always practice the old
proverb how much bitterness would be
taken out of this life!

I make no objections to the excellent
advice given Hetty. Could every household
have the ability. the backbone, to adopt and
carry out these rules, what model and happy
homes would there be throughout the land.
Where is the man who does not love a well
ordered and nicely cooked meal? It is cer-
tainly the surest way to reach the heart by
way of the stomach. The wife must learn
this to succeed in making home happy, and
the earlier she learns it the better for the
happiness of all concerned.

We find many good hints and helps in
our little paper, the experience of the old
housekeepers is especially helpful to those
just beginning; even the older find many
useful suggestions. “ We are never too old
to learn.” I adopted the idea some one
gave of sewing a piece of calico on the head
of the bedquilt, it is especially fine for com-
forters. Take awidth of calico, double it
in the middle, baste across; when soiled

 

take off and wash; spread the quilt or com-

fort on the grass, it will smell as sweet and
fresh as if washed, and the cotton is not
matted down and spoiled.

We tried the recipe for salting beef and
find it excellent, thanks to the HOUSEHOLD.

Has any one tried canning pumpkin, if
so will will they please give us their ex-
perience. Last summer we tried canning
our fruit by filling the cans with fresh fruit
pressed in, set the cans in a boiler, be sure
to not let the cans touch each other, fill the
boiler with warm water, as it will not take
so long to get boiling (cold will do if you are
in no hurry) put in as much water as you
can and not have it boil up and fill the
cans. I lay the covers on the cans but do
not screw on, lay a weight to keep the
cans from floating as the water boils.
Some fruit shrinks more than others-
I have my agate kettle with some frui
cooked and fill up; or use a syrup of
the best white sugar with which I fill the
cans after they are taken out of the boiler.
Some one said let the cans remain in the
boiler twenty minutes after the water be-
gins to boil. I use myjudgment, till the
fruit is cooked sufficiently, some requires
more cooking than other kinds. This is a
success for strawberries. 1 never could can
them and have them keep till I tried this
way. One is not so apt to break or crack
cans if careful not to have them touch and
have a cloth or thin board under them. The
fruit is not mashed. Try this Way of can-
ning and you will say “Eureka.”
LESLIE. M. E. II.

-——-ooo——-———

AN OLD SUBJECT REVIVL‘D.

Let me see, it is a long, long time since
I have made mention of that whilom hobby
of mine, the training school, but none the
less I note with gratified feelings the steady
growth and practical development of the
idea, and 1 see in the future the day
when my idea of it will become not only
practical, but commonly practicable. De‘
troit has made appropriation for such a
school. The Saginaws were agitating and
urging the question in a most liberal and
democratic fashion last winter; and other
cities here and there all over the country are
taking up the idea. Boys and girls in their
commencemant essays urge and elaborite
the growing demand for such a department
in connection with the high schools, a de-
partment where the hand may become
skilled in the use of tools, and in the various
branches of domestic and mechanical labor
while the brain is mastering the mysteries
of scientific theories, and reasoning its way
through the rambling ways of mathematics
and language. Yes, it is surely coming.
It will also be a success. “The Training
School,” as I used to plan and place it.
part and parcel of our common school
system!

The world moves. It moves with a
majesty, power, beneficence and wisdom
that in the still small voice say to us:
“ God is the father of our spirits. In Him
we have eternal kinship and brotherhood
with all the peoples of the earth.” And
all those conditions, laws and institutions
that have for their issue the greatest good
to the greatest number, bring with them
their blessed reward.

 

FLINT. E. L. NYE.

 

 
  

 

 

  

    

  


 

 

 

l
i
:4
.

   
  
 

‘ NONSENSE TALK.

 

In looking over the great piles of papers
which come into the FARMER office, and
which I go through dutifully each week with
scissors in hand to extract the wise, the
witty, the poetic and the sentimental, I
sometimes find things which have been
thought worthy of the “ baptism of print,”
which make me ejaculate “What non-
sense!” with decided emphasis and feeling.
And I made that remark the other day on
reading the advice of a man who writes
“Dr.” before his name, to introduce the
practice of carrying vessels of water upon
the head into our boarding-schools, to
supersede the light calisthenics employed
to acquire an erect, graceful carriage. Put
a small pail of water on your head, and try
walking about with it there. Your car-
riage is “graceful,” isn’t it? As rigid as
if you had been strapped to a ram-rod. 1f
stiffness and rigidity are a means of grace,
perhaps this copying the custon of certain
semi-civilized nations might be advisory.
Fancy a procession of boarding-house
pupils marching round the gymnasium, each
carrying a pail of water on her head! And
I have not the least doubt in the world but
that this same “Dr.” would be the first to
declaim against the weight and bad effects
of wearing an ordinary jet bonnet. which is
somewhat heavier than a thought, but by
no means equal to the pressure of a. vessel of
water upon the head. If women attempted
to live up to half the advice given them by
men, what lunatics they would make of
themselves!

Nearly every man who don’t know any-
thing about it will insist upon the un-
healthfulness of fastening the clothing about
the waist, and advocate the'wearing of
shoulder-straps to support it from the
shoulders. It is a grievous error, my sisters.
1 have tried it. and Speak from personal ex-
perience; I have converted several of my
shoulder-strapped friends to my way of
thinking, and now they tell me of the re-
lief they experience. With the straps, or
suspenders, the weight of the clothing is
lifted at every movement of the arms and
felt at many movements of the upper part
of the body, independent of the arms.
Moreover, the straps, if they really support
the weight of the clothes, press upon the
chest and produce a feeling of oppression.
I have a friend, of a very slight, straight
physique, who complained this spring of
lassitude; her shoulders were tired, she said,
and she experienced an unpleasant sensa-
tion she declared to be indefinable, but very
disagreeable. I asked if she wore “skirt
supporters,” “0h, mercy yes,” she said,
“l’ve worn them this ten years.” “ Well,”
I said, “just lay them aside for ten days,
and tell me how you feel.” But I couldn’t!
I’m so accustomed to them!” “ Just try it
ten days,” linsisted, “then resume them
if you like.” But she never has resumed
them, and complains no more of tired
shoulders or oppressed chest. I am a be-
liever in the healthfulness of corsets, prop~
erly worn. And as small waists are out of
fashion, and just ideas of the harmony of
proportion necessary to a fine figure are so
universal that a woman who is evidently
“ laced ” is looked upon with disapproval,
the corset is put to its legitimate use and

 

  

worn merely to support and stay the figure
without compressing it. I do not hesitate
to say that women often wear their clothes
tighter in the effort to secure a good fit
without a corset, than do women who wear
corsets. The modern corset is not the in-
strument of torture, the cloth and steel
straight-jacket, which our grandmothers
and mothers knew, and which it seems to
me our modern writers on hygiene must
have in mind when they pen these screeds
about it. It is as pliable and flexible as the
waists quilted with cords which they say
ought to take its place; it gives to every
movement of the figure; and you put on a
new one and in an hour it has so shaped
itself to your form that you forget its new-
ness. And the good of acorset, aside from
its being really a stay and support, lies
in the. fact that the bands of the cloth-

ing fastened about the waist are prevented

from pressing upon the internal organs, as
they often do, even painfully, without it;
the pressure is equally distributed. Put on
your corset and take adeep, full inepira-
tion; fill your lungs to their utmost capacity,
letting the laces give way to your deep
draught of oxygen; then fasten the laces at
that size. You will never complain a corset
is unhealthful if you will do this. I should
have no hesitancy in putting corsets on a
growing girl, but I should superintend the
lacing up, and make an occasional examina-
tion to see they had not been unduly
tightened. I have heard it very confidently
asserted that the Creator never intended us
to wear corsets—I do not know how these
persons became so conversant with His in-
tentions—but the same argument applies
with as much force and logic to the wearing

of shoes, seems to me.
BEATEIX.

+

APPLES.

“ Begorra,” said Pat, with a head which his hat
Would never go in ’till made wider,
“ Wid an apple the divil played smash wid the
world,
And be 'jabers, he’s now in the cider.”

 

It needs an Irishman’s wit to find the
direct line to the “ root of the matter” in
many cases, and here is a case in point.
The woman was only an agent, the man of
course only her tool; but the devil foresaw
the smash and ruin sure to follow, and lost
no time in putting his craft in use. I some
time ago heard an eloquent temperance
lecturer describe cider as the “devil’s
kindling wood,” but Pat, as above, finds the
fire, the evil element itself, in the cider.

This being the case there can be no
wonder that the apple was the fruit for-
bidden by a beneficent Providence, whose
foreknowledge of the woes to follow its
use would stay the hand of his newly
created happy beings. There is no doubt of
the fruit of the tree being pleasant to the
eye and good for food; it is when its pur-
pose is perverted, and “drink” is manu-
factured, that the spirit of evil can ensconce
himself therein, and the one who partakes
thereof most surely dies. It seems that
the curse of drink, the deadliest, the most
wide spread, the most alluring, the most
ignored, the most excused, the most blight-
ing, the most degrading and debasing, the

easiest to acquire, the hardest to escape
from, that which is in various forms the

 

 

 
  

 

THE HOUSEHOLD. 3

a
.—

source and wellspring of all vices and
crimes, was in embryo coeval with the birth
of the race.

Yes, he who partakes thereof most surely
dies. The drunkard dies to all that is good,
to his manhood, to his honor, to his family
and friends, to his home, to his good name,
to his natural abilities, to himself, his
country and his God.

With a maudlin laugh he turns his back
on all that would lead him on and upward,
and invites shame, debauchery, filth, rags,
poverty, crime and death to become his in-
separable companions.

So the battle wages; daring, defiant is the
drink element, bummers, loafers. ward
heelers, gamblers and political tricksters,
run the municipal legislation in many of
our fair cities, and reach out their hands to
grasp the helm of State and national legis-
lation. Where they cannot shape the law,

many are their plans to evade its enforce-
ment. Candidates for office and elected
officials are coaxed, threatened, coerced or
bribed to wink at violations, and defiance
is bre athed wherever possible. And many
of our best, ablest, most prominent moral-
ists, yes, our Christian citizens, stand aloof,
or pass by on the other side, shaking
heads sadly. “Alas! there always were
apples, and there always will be. It can’t
be stopped.” When one invokes the aid
of legislation, the wise ones aforesaid
patronizingly inform you that “men can’t
nor won’t be legislated into morality,” and
some affirm that to attempt to do so will
increase drunkenness; that it is natural for
man to covet that which is forbidden. Such
logic would repeal the decalogue in the in-
terest of morality.

A brave army courageously fight the
good fight against King Alcohol. May
many come up to the battle against the
mighty. There are goodly thousands that
have not bowed the knee to Bacchus or
Gambrinus; nor carry the danger signal in
the forefront of their faces.

Is this the great battle foreseen by the
Revelator, which is to usher in the millen-
nium? Are Gog and Magog personified by
the great armies of the trafficers in drink,
their customers and sympathizers?

Friends of temperance, who because no
one of your own household has suffered are
supinely indifferent, awake!

The saloon power is becoming arrogant,
defiant and aggressive. Temperance or in-
temperance must prevail. The battle is set
in order as never before. Many who have
been blind to the danger before them are
awakening. The times are propitious, are
full of promise. Close up the ranks and
battle for the right. Let all who eschew
evil, who reverence law and order, have
the cause of progress and elevation of
humanity at heart, enlist at once under the
banner of reform; take as a watchword
“Dare to do right,” and laying aside all
differences of opinion as to the best way,
unite all forces in working every way to
destroy this monster evil.

INGLESIDE. ____..._._.

Now is the accepted time for our readers
to furnish us tested recipes for pickles,
preserves, sauces and catsups, that others
may be benefited by them during the present
fruit season. A good recipe is doubled in
value if it is timely.

A. L. L.

    


  

4:

 

THE HOUSEHOLD.

     

 

MORAL TENDENCY OF COUNTRY

LIFE .

 

[Paper read at the May meeting of the Grass
Lake Farmers’ Club, by Mrs. C. B. Raymond]

Man is to a great extent the creature of
circumstances, and more, perhaps, than any
of us dream. Our characters are molded
by early surroundings. We are asked to
consider today what effect a life in the
country has upon the minds and morals of
those who make it their home, and in this
connection we are reminded of the old
saying, “God made the country, but man
made the town.” There can be no ques-
tion, then, as to which has the better in-
fluence.

The city is indeed the work of man’s
hands. Its stones laid one upon another
are his pride, and its lofty towers are but
emblems of his ambition. Its luxury and
magnificence, its glare and glitter, its
squalor and filth, its vice and crime, form a
picture from which we gladly turn to the
peace and quiet of the country. True, the
town has intellectual advantages to offer,
which may not be obtained elsewhere, but
these are available only to the few. Of
what use are academies of art and science
to the toiling masses crowded into factories
by day, and tenement houses at night?
Neither sound minds no: sound bodies can
be expected of those who breathe such a
polluted atmosphere.

To say nothing of its freedom from temp-
tation, the country offers to all clear air,
pure water, and healthful exercise, and
these alone go a great way towards pro-
ducing a healthy moral condition.

But there is another influence, which
none of us heed or prize as we ought.

The country is God’s great schoolhouse,
but His teachers speak with a still small
voice only to be heard by those who listen.
All created things have a message for us, if
we will but hear. Great minds in all ages
have been sensible of this, and have been
led through Nature, up to Nature’s God.
Even Charles Darwin, who, in the mate-
rialism of his latter years lost all sense of
the spiritual, was at one time alive to bet-
ter influences and wrote in his journal, that
“while standing in the midst of the
grandeur of a Brazilian forest, it was not
possible to give an adequate idea of the
higher feelings of wonder, admiration and
devotion, which filled and elevated the
mind.”

What lessons we may learn of the wis-
dom and goodness of the Almighty Care-
taker, as we watch the sun, warming the
earth, and clothing it with verdure, color-
ing the fruit and ripening the harvest, and
returning every morning with light and
healing in his wings. If the glad carol of
the bird wakes no answering song of praise
in our hearts, we may be sure we have not
learned the first lesson in the primary de-
partment of this great school.

What farmer on his way to the field gives
even a passing thought to the wild rose by
the wayside? He thinks his wife’s love of
flowers a pardonable weakness. perhaps,
but as for himself, he has a mind above
such triflesl Potatoes and corn are what he
is after, not posies in a fence corner. We

sits upon the great throne, who holds the
world in the hollow of His hand, gave

thought and care to that little plant. He
burnished its green leaves, and tinted its
satiny petals, for what? Merely to please
the eye of His ungrateful child and to
whisper in his ear, “I love you.” The
Master bids us not only to admire the glory
of the lily, but to consider, mark the word,
consider how they grow. The bulb which
we bury in the earth has in its heart a prin-
ciple akin to faith in ours, which causes it
to push up and up, towards a world it has
never seen, till on some glad Easter morn-
ing it bursts from its grave into the light
and glory of a new life.
If we would not become worldly and
sordid, we must train ourselves to consider
the stars above our heads and the daisies
under our feet, the songs of the birds and
the music of the streams, the colors of the
sunset and the beauties of the landscape.
Only he that hath ears to hear, can learn of
these heavenly teachers. The blind man
walks always in a dark world, the deaf in
a silent one. If. we would get the full
benefit of a life in the country, we must
cultivate not only sight but insight.
‘- The words of God are fair in vain,
Unless our eyes in seeing,

See hidden in the thing. the thought
That animates its being."

———-...——————

HINTS AND COMMENTS.

I think Evangeline has used us down-
right mean to get us all so interested in
Harry and Hetty, then not invite us to the
wedding, or even let us know how they
acted or what they wore. It might be as
much help to be told all the particulars
about such a critical time as to know all
about housekeeping. I am afraid Evangeline
does not get along very well with her son-in-
law, or it might have been him I read
about not long ago. The groom went to
sleep as soon as they were seated in the car
on their wedding trip. It never was known
whether it was from lack of attention or
because she did not like her husband’s look
when asleep, but the bride wrote on a slip
of paper, “Tired of matrimony; gone home
to my ma,” pinned it to his coat and left
the car at the first stop.

I have tried Tab B’s recipe for park
cake; it is good, only I think a little more
soda should be put. in when dried apples are
used.

I want to say just a word about flowers.
I think every farmer’s wife would enjoy
having anice flower garden, but few have
the time or strength to spare from their
other duties to cultivate many. Don’t try;
if you can’t have everything just have a
geranium bed; if you can’t do that have a
few on the porch, take good care of them
and you will be doubly repaid; there is
nothing that gives so much satisfaction as
geraniums. You can get nice rooted plants
all ready to bloom for ten cents at any
greenhouse, then you have something to cut
from all summer; you might have a feverfew
for white flowers. I havea small bouquet on

the table all the time; if I have a very plain
meal I try to have a clean cloth and an
extra fresh bouquet; you do not know how
much it adds to the flavor.

 
 

and find it full of ants, and think you could
never pick them out? Just put a few
cloves, ground or whole, in a little dish in
the box and leave them; the ants will pick
themselves out quicker than you can.

A little corn starch in the salt makes the
salt shaker give down beautifully.

Grease the top crust of your bread with
butter when you take it out of the oven, and
see how much nicer it makes it.
BATTLE CREEK. POPPY.

HOUSEHOLD HINTS.

 

IF you wish to sun your feather beds and
pillows, put them out in the early morning,
before the heat of the sun is so great as to
start the oil in the feathers, and take them
in after an hour or two hours’ exposure.
They will be sweeter than it put out in hot
sunshine.

 

YOU can make a footstool for your bed-
room or the kitchen by getting three of the
iron hooks used to hang harness upon, and
fastening them to a board a foot square,
cutting off the sharp corners a little,
cushion, cover with any material you prefer,
and finish the edge with furniture fringe
fastened on with large brass-headed tacks.

 

A VERY little of the white part of the
rind of a. lemon will cause milk or cream to
curdle, and ruin the flavor of a custard or a
pudding. It contains no lemon flavor
whatever, that being given by the yellow
outside part which holds the essential oil
and fragrance of the fruit. Therefore, be
cautious in the use of your grater.
_____Q.._———

Contributed Recipes.

 

PICKLED CUCIIMBERS.—On6 gallon vinegar;
one cup salt; one tablespoonful alum. Put
into a three gallon jar; when full of cucum-
bers drain off vinegar and scald it three
mornings in succession; the fourth morning
put on fresh vinegar. Youzmay sweeten and
spice it if you like. Cover with horseradish
leaves, put on a weight; they will be ready
at any time, and will keep well. It is best if
the jar can be filled with cucumbers at one or
two pickings, but they will not spoil even if it
takes some time to gather them.

PICKLETTE.—F0ur large crisp cabbages,
out fine; one quart onions, sliced thin; two
quarts vinegar; two pounds brown sugar; two
table-spoonfuls (each of ground mustrad, black
pepper, cinnamon, tumeric and celery seed;
one tablespoonful cues of allspice, mace and
pulverized alum. Pack the cabbage and
onions in alternate layers with a little salt
between them. Let them stand until next
day; drain 011’ the juice; then scald the vine-
gar, sugar and spice together and pour over.
Do this three mornings in succession; pack
in jars, cover with a plate, and a weight on
it. This pickle is fit for use as soon as done,
and will keep a long time. You may leave
out any of the spice that is not liked.

GREEN TOMATOES FOR Pins—Three pounds
green tomatoes; one and a half pounds sugar;
half pint vinegar. Cut the tomatoes in small
pieces; boil all together until clear. Tastes
similar to gooseberries.

GREEN TOMATO Carson—Eight pounds to-
matoes; eight ounces green peppers; four
small onions, all chopped fine: four cups
sugar; four tablespoonfuis salt; two quarts of
vinegar. Boil until quite thick.

 

 

acknowledge the necessity of the former but
the latter should not be ignored. He who

    

 

Did any of you ever go‘ to the sugar box

BATTLE CREEK. POPPY.