“Inactivity of intellect and of feeling is a very frequent predisposing

cause of every form of nervous disease. For demonstrative evidence

of this position, we have only to look at the numerous victims to be

found among persons who have no call to exertion in gaining the means

of subsistence, and no objects of interest on which to exercise their

mental faculties, and who consequently sink into a state of mental

sloth and nervous weakness.” “If we look abroad upon society, we shall

find innumerable examples of mental and nervous debility from this

cause. When a person of some mental capacity is confined for a long

time to an unvarying round of employment which affords neither scope

nor stimulus for one half of the faculties, and, from want of education

or society, has no external resources; the mental powers, for want of

exercise, become blunted, and the perceptions slow and dull.” “The

intellect and feelings, not being provided with interests external

to themselves, must either become inactive and weak, or work upon

themselves and become diseased.”

“The most frequent victims of this kind of predisposition are females

of the middle and higher ranks, especially those of a nervous

constitution and good natural abilities; but who, from an ill-directed

education, possess nothing more solid than mere accomplishments, and

have no materials for thought,” and no “occupation to excite interest

or demand attention.” “The liability of such persons to melancholy,

hysteria, hypochondriasis, and other varieties of mental distress,

really depends on a state of irritability of the brain, induced by its

imperfect exercise.”

These remarks of a medical man illustrate the principles before

indicated—namely, that the demand of Christianity, that we live to save

from eternal evils and promote the highest and eternal happiness of

our race, has for its aim not only the general good, but the highest

happiness of the individual in offering abundant exercise for all the

noblest faculties.

A person possessed of wealth, who has nothing more noble to engage

attention than seeking personal enjoyment, subjects the mental powers

and moral feelings to a degree of inactivity utterly at war with

health and mind. And the greater the capacities, the greater are the

sufferings which result from this cause. Any one who has read the

misanthropic wailings of Lord Byron has seen the necessary result of

great and noble powers bereft of their appropriate exercise, and, in

consequence, becoming sources of the keenest suffering.

It is this view of the subject which has often awakened feelings of

sorrow and anxiety in the mind of the writer, while aiding in the

development and education of superior feminine minds in the wealthier

circles. Not because there are not noble objects for interest

and effort abundant, and within reach of such minds, but because

long-established custom has made it seem so quixotic to the majority,

even of the professed followers of Christ, for a woman of wealth to

practice any great self-denial, that few have independence of mind

and Christian principle sufficient to overcome such an influence. The

more a mind has its powers developed, the more does it aspire and pine

after some object worthy of its energies and affections; and they are

commonplace and phlegmatic characters who are most free from such

deep-seated wants. Many a young woman, of fine genius and elevated

sentiment, finds a charm in Lord Byron’s writings, because they present

a glowing picture of what, to a certain extent, must be felt by every

well-developed mind which has no nobler object in life than the pursuit

of self-gratification.

If young ladies of wealth could pursue their education under the full

conviction that the increase of their powers and advantages increased

their obligations to use all for the great and sublime end for which

our Saviour toiled and suffered, and with some plan of benevolent

enterprise in view, what new motives of interest would be added to

their daily pursuits! And what blessed results would follow to our

beloved country if all well-educated women carried out the principles

of Christianity in the exercise of their developed powers!

The benevolent activities called forth in our late dreadful war

illustrate the blessed influence on character and happiness in having a

noble object for which to labor and suffer. In illustration of this may

be mentioned the experience of one of the noble women who, in a sickly

climate and fervid season, devoted herself to the ministries of a

military hospital. Separated from an adored husband, deprived of wonted

comforts and luxuries, and toiling in humble and unwonted labors,

she yet recalls this as one of the happiest periods of her life. And

it was not the mere exercise of benevolence and piety in ministering

comfort and relieving suffering. It was, still more, the elevated

enjoyment which only an enlarged and cultivated mind can attain, in

the inspirations of grand and far-reaching results purchased by such

sacrifice and suffering. It was in aiding to save her well-loved

country from impending ruin, and to preserve to coming generations the

blessings of true liberty, self-government, and the Christian life by

which toils and suffering became triumphant joys.

Every Christian woman who “walks by faith and not by sight,” who looks

forward to the results of self-sacrificing labor for the ignorant and

sinful as they will enlarge and expand through everlasting ages, may

rise to the same elevated sphere of experience and happiness.

On the contrary, the more highly cultivated the mind devoted to mere

selfish enjoyment, the more are the sources of true happiness closed,

and the soul left to helpless emptiness and unrest.

The indications of a diseased mind, owing to the want of the proper

exercise of its powers, are apathy, discontent, a restless longing for

excitement, a craving for unattainable good, a diseased and morbid

action of the imagination, dissatisfaction with the world, and

factitious interest in trifles which the mind feels to be unworthy

of its powers. Such minds sometimes seek alleviation in exciting

amusements; others resort to the grosser enjoyments of sense. Oppressed

with the extremes of languor, or over-excitement, or apathy, the body

fails under the wearing process, and adds new causes of suffering to

the mind. Such the compassionate Saviour calls to his service, in the

appropriate terms, “Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy

laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of

me,” “and ye shall find rest unto your souls.”

CHAPTER XVII.

CARE OF THE AGED.

One of the most interesting and instructive illustrations of the

design of our Creator, in the institution of the family state, is the

preservation of the aged after their faculties decay and usefulness

in ordinary modes seems to be ended. By most persons this period

of infirmities and uselessness is anticipated with apprehension,

especially in the case of those who have lived an active, useful life,

giving largely of service to others, and dependent for most resources

of enjoyment on their own energies.

To lose the resources of sight or hearing, to become feeble in body,

so as to depend on the ministries of others, and finally to gradually

decay in mental force and intelligence, to many seems far worse than

death. Multitudes have prayed to be taken from this life when their

usefulness is thus ended.

But a true view of the design of the family state, and of the ministry

of the aged and helpless in carrying out this design, would greatly

lessen such apprehensions, and might be made a source of pure and

elevated enjoyment.

The Christian virtues of patience with the unreasonable, of

self-denying labor for the weak, and of sympathy with the afflicted,

are dependent, to a great degree, on cultivation and habit, and these

can be gained only in circumstances demanding the daily exercise of

these graces. In this aspect, continued life in the aged and infirm

should be regarded as a blessing and privilege to a family, especially

to the young, and the cultivation of the graces that are demanded by

that relation should be made a definite and interesting part of their

education. A few of the methods to be attempted for this end will be

suggested.

In the first place, the object for which the aged are preserved

in life, when in many cases they would rejoice to depart, should

be definitely kept in recollection, and a sense of gratitude and

obligation be cultivated. They should be looked up to and treated as

ministers sustained by our Heavenly Father in a painful experience,

expressly for the good of those around them. This appreciation of their

ministry and usefulness will greatly lessen their trials, and impart

consolation. If, in hours of weariness and infirmity, they wonder why

they are kept in a useless and helpless state to burden others around,

they should be assured that they are not useless; and this not only by

word, but, better still, by the manifestation of those virtues which

such opportunities alone can secure.

Another mode of cheering the aged is to engage them in the domestic

games and sports which unite the old and the young in amusement. Many

a weary hour may thus be enlivened for the benefit of all concerned.

And here will often occur opportunities of self-denying benevolence in

relinquishing personal pursuits and gratification thus to promote the

enjoyment of the infirm and dependent. Reading aloud is often a great

source of enjoyment to those who by age are deprived of reading for

themselves. So the effort to gather news of the neighborhood and impart

it, is another mode of relieving those deprived of social gatherings.

There is no period in life when those courtesies of good-breeding

which recognize the relations of superior and inferior should be more

carefully cherished than when there is need of showing them toward

those of advancing age. To those who have controlled a household, and

still more to those who in public life have been honored and admired,

the decay of mental powers is peculiarly trying, and every effort

should be made to lessen the trial by courteous attention to their

opinions, and by avoiding all attempts to controvert them, or to make

evident any weakness or fallacy in their conversation.

In regard to the decay of bodily or mental faculties, much more can

be done to prevent or retard them than is generally supposed, and

some methods for this end which have been gained by observation or

experience will be presented.

As the exercise of all our faculties tends to increase their power,

unless it be carried to excess, it is very important that the aged

should be provided with useful employment suited to their strength and

capacity. Nothing hastens decay so fast as to remove the _stimulus_

of useful activity. It should become a study with those who have the

care of the aged to interest them in some useful pursuit, and to

convince them that they are in some measure actively contributing to

the general welfare. In the country and in families where the larger

part of the domestic labor is done without servants, it is very easy

to keep up an interest in domestic industrial employments. The tending

of a small garden in summer, the preparation of fuel and food, the

mending of household utensils—these and many other occupations of the

hands will keep alive activity and interest in a man; while for women

there are still more varied resources. There is nothing that so soon

hastens decay and lends acerbity to age as giving up all business and

responsibility, and every mode possible should be devised to prevent

this result.

As age advances, all the bodily functions move more slowly, and

consequently the generation of animal heat, by the union of oxygen and

carbon in the capillaries, is in smaller proportion than in the midday

of life. For this reason some practices, safe for the vigorous, must be

relinquished by the aged; and one of these is the use of the cold bath.

It has often been the case that rheumatism has been caused by neglect

of this caution. More than ordinary care should be taken to preserve

animal heat in the aged, especially in the hands and the feet.

In many families will be found an aged brother, or sister, or other

relative who has no home, and no claim to a refuge in the family circle

but that of kindred. Sometimes they are poor and homeless; for want

of a faculty for self-supporting business; and sometimes they have

peculiarities of person or disposition which render their society

undesirable. These are cases where the pitying tenderness of the

Saviour should be remembered, and for his sake patient kindness and

tender care be given, and he will graciously accept it as an offering

of love and duty to himself. “Inasmuch as ye have done it to the least

of these my brethren, ye have done it to me.”

It is sometimes the case that even parents in old age have had occasion

to say, with the forsaken King Lear, “How sharper than a serpent’s

tooth it is to have a thankless child!” It is right training in early

life alone that will save from this.

In the opening of China and the probable influx of its people, there is

one cause for congratulation to a nation that is failing in the virtue

of reverence. The Chinese are distinguished above all other nations

for their respect for the aged, and especially for their reverence for

aged parents and conformity to their authority, even to the last. This

virtue is cultivated to a degree that is remarkable, and has produced

singular and favorable results on the national character, which it is

hoped may be imparted to the land to which they are flocking in such

multitudes. For with all their peculiarities of pagan philosophy and

their Oriental eccentricities of custom and practical life, they are

everywhere renowned for their uniform and elegant courtesy—a most

commendable virtue, and one arising from habitual deference to the aged

more than from any other source.

But every person, in approaching the trials and helplessness of age,

needs to consider that the very performance of these duties toward

one’s self by all around may tend to induce a selfish and exacting

spirit, or querulous complaints at forgetfulness or neglect. And

constant service and petting may tempt to self-indulgent uselessness.

Approaching age sometimes leads to the relinquishment of active

life; and this tends to induce imbecility of body and mind, which,

like all instruments, are kept bright by use. The course of wisdom

is to redouble exertions in cultivating self-denying regard for

the convenience and comfort of others, and perpetuating, as far as

possible, useful labors.

One of the most lovely and beautiful features in a family circle is

the aged father or mother sympathizing in the joys and sorrows of the

young, and watching for occasions to please and serve all around.

CHAPTER XVIII.

THE CARE OF DOMESTIC ANIMALS.

One of the most interesting illustrations of the design of our

benevolent Creator in establishing the family state is the nature of

the domestic animals connected with it. At the very dawn of life, the

infant watches with delight the graceful gambols of the kitten, and

soon makes it a playmate. Meantime, its outcries when hurt appeal to

kindly sympathy, and its sharp claws to fear; while the child’s mother

has a constant opportunity to inculcate kindness and care for weak

and ignorant creatures. Then the dog becomes the outdoor playmate and

guardian of early childhood, and he also guards himself by cries of

pain, and protects himself by his teeth. At the same time, his faithful

loving nature and caresses awaken corresponding tenderness and care;

while the parent, again, has a daily opportunity to inculcate these

virtues toward the helpless and dependent. As the child increases in

knowledge and reason, the horse, cows, poultry, and other domestic

animals come under his notice. These do not ordinarily express their

hunger or other sufferings by cries of distress, but depend more on the

developed reason and humanity of man. And here the parent is called

upon to instruct a child in the nature and wants of each, that he may

intelligently provide for their sustenance and for their protection

from injury and disease.

To assist in this important duty of home life, which so often falls

to the supervision of woman, the following information is prepared

through the kindness of one of the editors of a prominent, widely known

agricultural paper.

Domestic animals are very apt to catch the spirit and temper of their

masters. A surly man will be very likely to have a cross dog and a

biting horse. A passionate man will keep all his animals in moral fear

of him, making them snappish, and liable to hurt those of whom they

are not afraid.

It is, therefore, most important that all animals should be treated

uniformly with kindness. They are all capable of returning affection,

and will show it very pleasantly if we manifest affection for them.

They also have intuitive perceptions of our emotions which we can not

conceal. A sharp, ugly dog will rarely bite a person who has no fear of

him. A horse knows, the moment a man mounts or takes the reins, whether

he is afraid or not; and so it is with other animals.

If live stock can not be well fed, they ought not to be kept. One

well-wintered horse is worth as much as two that drag through on

straw, and by browsing the hedgerows. The same is true of oxen, and

emphatically so of cows. The owner of a half-starved dog loses the use

of him almost altogether; for at the very time—the night—when he is

most needed as a guard, he must be off scouring the country for food.

_Shelter_ in winter is most important for cows. They should have good

tight stables or byres, well ventilated, and so warm that water in a

pail will only freeze a little on the top the severest nights. Oxen

should have the same stabling, though they bear cold better. Horses in

stables will bear almost any degree of cold, if they have all they can

eat. Sheep, except young lambs, are well enough sheltered in dry sheds,

with one end open. Cattle, sheep, and dogs do not sweat as horses do,

they “loll;” that is, water or slabber runs from their tongues; hence

they are not liable to take cold as the horse is. Hogs bear cold pretty

well; but they eat enough to convince any one that true economy lies in

giving them warm styes in winter, for the colder they are the more they

eat. Fowls will not lay in cold weather unless they have light and warm

quarters.

_Cleanliness_ is indispensable, if one would keep his animals healthy.

In their wild state all our domestic animals are very clean, and, at

the same time, very healthy. The hog is not naturally a dirty animal,

but quite the reverse. He enjoys currying as much as a horse or cow,

and would be as careful of his litter as a cat if he had a fair chance.

Horses ought to be groomed daily; cows and oxen as often as twice a

week; dogs should be washed with soap-suds frequently. Stables should

be cleaned out daily. Absorbents of liquid in stables should be removed

as often as they become wet. Dry earth is one of the best absorbents,

and is especially useful in the fowl-house. Hogs in pens should have

straw for their rests or lairs, and it should be often renewed.

_Parasitic Vermin._—These are lice, fleas, ticks, the scale insects,

and other pests which afflict our live stock. There are many ways of

destroying them; the best and safest is a free use of _carbolic acid

soap_. The larger animals, as well as hogs, dogs, and sheep, may be

washed in strong suds of this soap without fear, and the application

repeated after a week. This generally destroys both the creatures

and their eggs. Hen lice are best destroyed by greasing the fowls,

and dusting them with flower of sulphur. Sitting hens must never be

greased, but the sulphur may be dusted freely in their nests, and it is

well to put it in all hens’ nests.

_Salt and Water._—All animals except poultry require salt, and all free

supplies of fresh water.

_Light._—Stables, or places where any kind of animals are confined,

should have plenty of light. Windows are not more important in a house

than in a barn. The _sun_ should come in freely; and if it shines

directly upon the stock, all the better. When beeves and sheep are

fattening very rapidly, the exclusion of the light makes them more

quiet, and fatten faster; but their state is an unnatural and hardly a

healthy one.

_Exercise_ in the open air is important for breeding animals. It is

especially necessary for horses of all kinds. Cows need very little,

and swine none, unless kept for breeding.

_Breeding._—Always use thorough-bred males, and improvement is certain.

_Horses._—The care which horses require varies with the circumstances

in which the owner is placed, and the uses to which they are put. In

general, if kept stabled, they should be fed with good upland hay,

almost as much as they will eat; and if absent from the stable, and

at work most of the day, they should have all they will eat of hay,

together with four to eight quarts of oats or an equal weight of other

grain or meal. Barley is good for horses, and so is dry corn. Corn-meal

put upon cut hay, wet and well mixed, is good, steady feed, if not in

too large quantities. Four quarts a day may be fed unmixed with other

grain; but if the horse be hard worked and needs more, mix the meal

with wheat bran, or linseed-oil-cake meal, or use corn and oats ground

together; carrots are especially wholesome. A quart of linseed-oil-cake

meal, daily, is an excellent occasional addition to a horse’s feed,

when carrots can not be had. It gives lustre to his coat, and brings

the new coat of hair out in the spring. A stabled horse needs daily

exercise, as much as to trot three miles. Where a horse is traveling,

it is well to give him six quarts of oats in the morning, four at noon,

and six at night.

Thorough grooming is indispensable to the health of horses. Especial

care should be taken of the legs and fetlocks, that no dirt remain to

cause that distressing disease, _grease_ or _scratches_, which results

from filthy fetlocks and standing in dirty stables. When a horse comes

in from work on muddy roads with dirty legs, they should be immediately

cleaned, the dirt brushed off, then rubbed with straw; then, if very

dirty, washed clean and rubbed dry with a piece of sacking. A horse

should never stand in a draught of cold air, if he can not turn and put

his back to it. If sweaty or warm from work, he should be blanketed,

if he is to stand a minute in the winter air. If put at once into the

stable, he should be stripped and rubbed down with straw actively for

five minutes or more, and then blanketed. The blanket must be removed

in an hour, and the horse given water and feed, if it is the usual

time. It will not hurt him to eat hay when hot, unless he be thoroughly

exhausted, when all food should be withheld for a while.

It is very comforting to a tired horse, when he is too hot to drink,

to sponge out his mouth with cool water. A horse should never drink

when very hot, nor be turned into a yard to “cool off,” even in summer,

neither should he be turned out to pasture before he is quite cool.

_Cows._—Gentle but firm treatment will make a cow easy to milk and to

handle in every way. If stabled or yarded, cows should have access

to water at all times, or have it frequently offered to them. Clover

hay is probably the best steady food for milch cows. Cornstalks cut

up, thoroughly soaked with water for half a day, and then sprinkled

with corn or oil-cake meal, is perhaps unsurpassed as good winter food

for milch cows. The amount of meal may vary. With plenty of oil-meal,

there is little danger of feeding too much, as that is loosening to

the bowels, and a safe, nutritious article. Corn-meal alone, in large

quantities, is too heating. Roots should, if possible, form part of the

diet of a milch cow, especially before and soon after calving; feed

well before this period, yet not to make the cow very fat; but it is

better to err in that way than to have her “come in” thin. Take the

calf away from the mother as soon as it stands up, and the separation

will worry neither dam nor young. This is always best, unless the calf

is to be kept with the cow. The calf will soon learn to drink its food,

if two fingers be held in its mouth. Let it have all the first drawn

milk for three days as soon as milked; after this, skimmed milk warmed

to blood heat. Soon a little fine scalded meal may be mixed with the

milk; and it will, at three to five weeks old, nibble hay and grass. It

is well, also, to keep a box containing some dry wheat-bran and fine

corn-meal mixed in the calf-pen, so that calves may take as much as

they like.

In milking, put the fingers around the teat close to the bag; then

firmly close the forefingers of each hand alternately, immediately

squeezing with the other fingers. The forefingers prevent the milk

flowing back into the bag, while the others press it out. Sit with the

left knee close to the right hind leg of the cow, the head pressed

against her flank, the left hand always ready to ward off a blow from

her feet, which the gentlest cow may give almost without knowing it, if

her tender teats be cut by long nails, or if a wart be hurt, or her bag

be tender. She must be stripped _dry_ every time she is milked, or she

will dry up; and if she gives much milk, it pays to milk three times a

day, as nearly eight hours apart as possible. Never stop while milking

till done, as this will cause the cow to stop giving milk.

To tether a cow, tie her by one hind leg, making the rope fast above

the fetlock joint, and protecting the limb with a piece of an old

boot-leg or similar thing. The knot must be one that will not slip;

regular fetters of iron bound with leather are much better.

A cow should go unmilked two months before calving, and her milk should

not be used by the family till four days after that time.

_Swine._—The filthy state of hog-pens is allowed on account of the

amount of manure they will make by working over all sorts of vegetable

matter, spoiled hay, weeds, etc., etc. This is unhealthy for the

family near and also for the animal. The hog is, naturally, a cleanly

animal, and if given a chance he will keep himself very neat and

clean. Breeding sows should have the range of a small pasture, and be

regularly fed. They need fresh water constantly, and often suffer for

lack of it when they have liquid swill which they do not like to drink.

All hogs should have a warm, dry, well-littered pen to lie in, away

from flies and disturbance of any kind. They are fond of charcoal, and

it is worth while frequently to throw a few handfuls where they can

get at it. It has a very beneficial effect on the appetite, regulates

the tone of the stomach and digestive organs, and can not do any harm.

Pigs ought always to be well fed and kept growing fast; and when being

fattened, they should be penned always, the herd being sorted so that

all may have an equal chance. It is well to feed soft corn in the ear;

but hard corn should always be ground and cooked for pigs.

_Sheep._—In the winter, sheep need deep, well-littered, dry sheds,

dry yards, and hay, wheat, or oat straw, as much as they will eat.

They should be kept gaining by grain regularly fed to them, and so

distributed that each gets its share. Corn, either whole or ground,

or oil-cake meal, or both, are used for fattening sheep. They will

easily surfeit themselves on any grain except oil-meal, which is very

safe feed for them, and usually economical. Strong sheep will often

drive the weaker ones away, and so get more than their share of food

and make themselves sick. This must be guarded against, and the flock

sorted, keeping the weaker and stronger apart.

Sheep are very useful in clearing land of brush and certain weeds,

which they gnaw down and kill. To accomplish this, the land must be

overstocked, and it is best not to keep sheep on short pasturage more

than a few weeks at a time; but if they are returned after a few days,

it will serve as good a purpose as if they were to be kept on all the

time. Sheep at pasture must be restrained by good fences, or they will

be a great nuisance. Dog-proof hedge fences of Osage orange are to be

highly recommended, wherever this plant will grow. Mutton sheep will

generally pay better to raise than merinos, but they need more care.

_Poultry._—Few objects of labor are more remunerative than poultry,

raised on a moderate scale. _Turkeys_, when young, need great care;

some animal food, dry, warm quarters, and must be kept out of the wet

grass, and kept in when it rains. As soon as fledged they become very

hardy, and, with free range, will almost take care of themselves.

_Geese_ need water and good grass pasture. _Ducks_ do very well without

water to swim in, if they have all they need to drink. They will lay a

great many eggs if kept shut in a pen until say eight o’clock in the

morning. If let out earlier, they wander away, and will hide their

nests, and lay only about as many eggs as they can cover. It is best

to set ducks’ eggs under hens, and to keep young ducks shut up in a

dry roomy pen for four weeks, at least. _Fowls_ need light, warm, dry

quarters in winter, plenty of feed, but not too much. They relish

animal food, and ought to have some frequently to make them lay. Pork

or beef scrap-cake can be bought for two to three cents a pound, and is

very good for them. Any kind of grain is good for poultry. Nothing is

better than wheat screenings. Early-hatched chickens must be kept in a

warm, dry, sunny room, with plenty of gravel, and the hen should have

no more than eight or nine chickens to brood; though in summer one hen

will take good care of fifteen. Little chickens, turkeys, and ducks

need frequent feeding, and must have their water changed often. It is

well to grease the body of the hen and the heads of the chicks with

lard, in order to prevent their becoming lousy.

Hens set about twenty days, and should be well fed and watered. Cold or

damp weather is bad for young fowls, and when they have been chilled,

pepper-corns are a good remedy, in addition to the warmth of an

inclosed dry place.

* * * * *

The most absorbing part of the “Woman’s question” of the present time

is the remedy for the varied sufferings of women who are widows or

unmarried, and without means of support. As yet, few are aware how

many sources of lucrative enterprise and industry lie open to woman in

the employments directly connected with the family state. A woman can

invest capital in the dairy and qualify herself to superintend a dairy

farm as well as a man. And if she has no capital of her own, if well

trained for this business, she can find those who have capital ready to

furnish—an investment that, well managed, will become profitable. And,

too, the raising of poultry, of hogs, and of sheep are all within the

reach of a woman with proper abilities and training for this business.

So that, if a woman chooses, she can find employment both interesting

and profitable in studying the care of domestic animals.

_Bees._—But one of the most profitable as well as interesting kinds

of business for a woman is the care of bees. In a recent agricultural

report it is stated that one lady bought four hives for ten dollars,

and in five years she was offered one thousand five hundred dollars for

her stock, and refused it as not enough. In addition to this increase

of her capital, in one of these five years she sold twenty-two hives

and four hundred and twenty pounds of honey. It is also stated that in

five years one man, from six colonies of bees to start with, cleared

eight thousand pounds of honey and one hundred and fifty-four colonies

of bees.

It is hoped a time is at hand when every woman will be trained to some

employment by which she can secure to herself an independent home and

means to support a family, in case she does not marry, or is left a

widow, with herself and a family to maintain.

CHAPTER XIX.

CARE OF THE SICK.

It is interesting to notice in the histories of our Lord the prominent

place given to the care of the sick. When he first sent out the

apostles, it was to heal the sick as well as to preach. Again, when he

sent out the seventy, their first command was to “heal the sick,” and

next to say, “the kingdom of God has come nigh unto you.” The body was

to be healed first, in order to attend to the kingdom of God, even when

it was “brought nigh.”

Jesus Christ spent more time and labor in the cure of men’s bodies than

in preaching, even if we subtract those labors with his earthly father

by which family homes were provided. When he ascended to the heavens,

his last recorded words to his followers, as given by Mark, were, that

his disciples should “lay hands on the sick,” that they might recover.

Still more directly is the duty of care for the sick exhibited in

the solemn allegorical description of the last day. It was those who

visited the sick that were the blessed; it was those who did not visit

the sick who were told to “depart.” Thus are we abundantly taught that

one of the most sacred duties of the Christian family is the training

of its inmates to care and kind attention to the sick.

Every woman who has the care of young children, or of a large family,

is frequently called upon to advise what shall be done for some one who

is indisposed, and often in circumstances where she must trust solely

to her own judgment. In such cases, some err by neglecting to do any

thing at all till the patient is quite sick; but a still greater number

err from excessive and injurious dosing.

The two great causes of the ordinary slight attacks of illness in a

family are, sudden chills, which close the pores of the skin, and thus

affect the throat, lungs, or bowels; and the excessive or improper use

of food. In most cases of illness from the first cause, bathing the

feet, retiring to a warm bed, and some hot aperient drink to induce

perspiration, are suitable remedies.

In case of illness from improper food, or excess in eating, _fasting_

for one or two meals, to give the system time and chance to relieve

itself, is the safest remedy. Sometimes a gentle cathartic of

castor-oil may be needful; but it is best first to try fasting. A safe

relief from injurious articles in the stomach is an emetic of warm

water; but to be effective, several tumblerfuls must be given in quick

succession, and till the stomach can receive no more.

The following extract from a discourse of Dr. Burne, before the

London Medical Society, contains important information: “In civilized

life, the causes which are most generally and continually operating

in the production of diseases are, affections of the mind, improper

diet, and retention of the intestinal excretions. The undue retention

of excrementitious matter allows of the absorption of its more

liquid parts, which is a cause of great impurity to the blood,

and the excretions, thus rendered hard and knotty, act more or

less as extraneous substances, and, by their irritation, produce

a determination of blood to the intestines and to the neighboring

viscera, which ultimately ends in inflammation. It also has a great

effect on the whole system; causes a determination of blood to the

head, which oppresses the brain and dejects the mind; deranges the

functions of the stomach; causes flatulency; and produces a general

state of discomfort.”

Dr. Combe remarks on this subject: “In the natural and healthy state,

under a proper system of diet, and with sufficient exercise, the

bowels are relieved regularly once every day.” _Habit_ “is powerful

in modifying the result, and in sustaining healthy action when once

fairly established. Hence the obvious advantage of observing as much

regularity in relieving the system, as in taking our meals.” It is

often the case that soliciting nature at a regular period, once a

day, will remedy constipation without medicine, and induce a regular

and healthy state of the bowels. “When, however, as most frequently

happens, the constipation arises from the absence of all assistance

from the abdominal and respiratory muscles, the first step to be taken

is, again to solicit their aid; first, by removing all impediments to

free respiration, such as stays, waistbands, and belts; secondly, by

resorting to such active exercise as shall call the muscles into full

and regular action;[7] and lastly, by proportioning the quantity of

food to the wants of the system, and the condition of the digestive

organs.

[7] The most effective mode of exercising the abdominal and respiratory

muscles, in order to remedy constipation, is by a continuous alternate

contraction of the muscles of the abdomen and diaphragm. By contracting

the muscles of the abdomen, the intestines are pressed inward and

upward, and then the muscles of the diaphragm above contract and press

them downward and outward. Thus the blood is drawn to the torpid parts

to stimulate to the healthful action, while the agitation moves their

contents downward. An invalid can thus exercise the abdominal muscles

in bed. The proper time is just after a meal. This exercise, continued

ten minutes a day, including short intervals of rest, and persevered

in for a week or two, will cure most ordinary cases of constipation,

provided proper food is taken. Coarse bread and fruit are needed for

this purpose in most cases.

“If we employ these means systematically and perseveringly, we shall

rarely fail in at last restoring the healthy action of the bowels,

with little aid from medicine. But if we neglect these modes, we may

go on for years, adding pill to pill, and dose to dose, without ever

attaining the end at which we aim.

“There is no point in which a woman needs more knowledge and discretion

than in administering remedies for what seem slight attacks, which are

not supposed to require the attention of a physician. It is little

realized that purgative drugs are unnatural modes of stimulating the

internal organs, tending to exhaust them of their secretions, and to

debilitate and disturb the animal economy. For this reason, they should

be used as little as possible; and fasting, and perspiration, and the

other methods pointed out, should always be first resorted to.”

When medicine must be given, it should be borne in mind that there are

various classes of purgatives, which produce very diverse effects.

Some, like salts, operate to thin the blood, and reduce the system;

others are stimulating; and others have a peculiar operation on certain

organs. Of course, great discrimination and knowledge are needed, in

order to select the kind which is suitable to the particular disease,

or to the particular constitution of the invalid. This shows the folly

of using the many kinds of pills, and other quack medicines, where no

knowledge can be had of their composition. Pills which are good for one

kind of disease might operate as poison in another state of the system.

It is very common in cases of colds, which affect the lungs or throat,

to continue to try one dose after another for relief. It will be well

to bear in mind at such times, that all which goes into the stomach

must be first absorbed into the blood before it can reach the diseased

part; and that there is some danger of injuring the stomach, or other

parts of the system, by such a variety of doses, many of which, it is

probable, will be directly contradictory in their nature, and thus

neutralize any supposed benefit they might separately impart.

When a cold affects the head and eyes, and also impedes breathing

through the nose, great relief is gained by a wet napkin spread over

the upper part of the face, covering the nose except an opening for

breath. This is to be covered by folds of flannel fastened over the

napkin with a handkerchief. So also a wet towel over the throat and

whole chest, covered with folds of flannel, often relieves oppressed

lungs.

Ordinarily, a cold can be arrested on its first symptoms by coverings

in bed and a bottle of hot water, securing free perspiration. Often,

at its first appearance, it can be stopped by a spoonful or two of hot

whisky, or any alcoholic liquor, in hot water, taken on going to bed.

Warm covering to induce perspiration will assist the process. These

simple remedies are safest. Perspiration should always be followed by a

towel-bath of cool water in a warm room or by a fire.

It is very unwise to tempt the appetite of a person who is indisposed.

The cessation of appetite is the warning of nature that the system is

in such a state that food can not be easily digested. When food is to

be given to one who has no desire for it, beef-tea is the best in most

cases.

The following suggestions may be found useful in regard to nursing

the sick: As nothing contributes more to the restoration of health

than pure air, it should be a primary object to keep a sick-room well

ventilated. At least twice in the twenty-four hours, the patient should

be well covered, and fresh air freely admitted from out-of-doors. After

this, if need be, the room should be restored to a proper temperature

by the aid of an open fire. Bedding and clothing should also be well

aired, and frequently changed, as the exhalations from the body, in

sickness, are peculiarly deleterious. Frequent ablutions of the whole

body, if possible, are very useful; and for these warm water may be

employed, when cold water is disagreeable.

A sick-room should always be kept very neat and in perfect order; and

all haste, noise, and bustle should be avoided. In order to secure

neatness, order, and quiet, in case of long illness, the following

arrangements should be made: Keep a large box for fuel, which will need

to be filled only twice in twenty-four hours. Provide also and keep

in the room or an adjacent closet, a small tea-kettle, a saucepan, a

pail of water for drinks and ablutions, a pitcher, a covered porringer,

two pint bowls, two tumblers, two cups and saucers, two wine-glasses,

two large and two small spoons; also a dish in which to wash these

articles; a good supply of towels, and a broom. Keep a slop-bucket near

by to receive the wash of the room. Procuring all these articles at

once will save much noise and confusion.

Whenever medicine or food is given, spread a clean towel over the

person or bed-clothing, and get a clean handkerchief, as nothing

is more annoying to a weak stomach than the stickiness and soiling

produced by medicine and food.

Keep the fire-place neat, and always wash all articles and put them in

order as soon as they are out of use. A sick person has nothing to do

but look about the room; and when every thing is neat and in order, a

feeling of comfort is induced, while disorder, filth, and neglect are

constant objects of annoyance which, if not complained of, are yet felt.

One very important particular in the case of those who are delicate in

constitution, as well as in the case of the sick, is the preservation

of warmth, especially in the hands and the feet. The _equal_

circulation of the blood is an important element for good health, and

this is impossible when the extremities are habitually or frequently

cold. It is owing to this fact that the coldness caused by wetting the

feet is so injurious. In cases where disease or a weak constitution

causes a feeble or imperfect circulation, great pains should be taken

to dress the feet and hands warmly, especially around the wrists and

ankles, where the blood-vessels are nearest to the surface and thus

most exposed to cold. Warm elastic wristlets and anklets would save

many a feeble person from increasing decay or disease.

When the circulation is feeble from debility or disease, the union of

carbon and oxygen in the capillaries is slower than in health, and

therefore care should be taken to preserve the heat thus generated by

warm clothing and protection from cold draughts. In nervous debility it

is peculiarly important to preserve the animal heat, for its excessive

loss especially affects weak nerves. Many an invalid is carelessly and

habitually suffering cold feet, who would recover health by proper

care to preserve animal heat, especially in the extremities. Hot

fomentations in most cases will be as good as a blister, less painful,

and safer.

Always prepare food for the sick in the neatest and most careful

manner. It is in sickness that the senses of smell and taste are most

susceptible of annoyance; and often, little mistakes or negligences in

preparing food will take away all appetite.

Food for the sick should be cooked on coals, that no smoke may have

access to it; and great care must be taken to prevent, by stirring, any

adherence to the bottom of the cooking vessel, as this always gives a

disagreeable taste.

Keeping clean handkerchiefs and towels at hand, cooling the pillows,

sponging the hands with water, (with care to dry them thoroughly,)

swabbing the mouth with a clean linen rag on the end of a stick, are

modes of increasing the comfort of the sick. Always throw a shawl over

a sick person when raised up.

Be careful to understand a physician’s directions, and _to obey them

implicitly_. If it be supposed that any other person knows better about

the case than the physician, dismiss the physician, and employ that

person in his stead.

It is always best to consult the physician as to where medicines

shall be purchased, and to show the articles to him before using

them, as great impositions are practiced in selling old, useless, and

adulterated drugs. Always put labels on phials of medicine, and keep

them out of the reach of children.

Be careful to label all powders, and particularly all _white powders_,

as many poisonous medicines in this form are easily mistaken for others

which are harmless.

In nursing the sick, always speak gently and cheeringly; and, while

you express sympathy for their pain and trials, stimulate them to

bear all with fortitude, and with resignation to the Heavenly Father,

who “doth not willingly afflict,” and “who causeth all things to work

together for good to them that love him.” Offer to read the Bible or

other devotional books, whenever it is suitable, and will not be deemed

obtrusive.

Every woman should be trained for the office of nurse to the sick, and

some who have special traits that fit them for it should make it their

daily professional business. The indispensable qualities in a good

nurse are common sense, conscientiousness, and sympathetic benevolence.

Persons may be conscientious and benevolent, and possess good judgment

in many respects, and yet be miserable nurses of the sick for want of

training and right knowledge.

“_Knowledge_, the assurance that one knows what to do, always gives

_presence of mind_—and presence of mind is important not only in

a sick-room but in every home. Who has not known consternation in

a family when some one has fainted, or been burned, or cut, while

none were present who knew how to stop the flowing blood, or revive

the fainting, or apply the saving application to the burn? And yet

knowledge and efficiency in such cases would save many a life, and be a

most fitting and desirable accomplishment in every woman.”

“We are slow to learn the mighty influence of common agencies, and

the greatness of little things, in their bearing upon life and health.

The woman who believes it takes no strength to bear a little noise or

some disagreeable announcements, and loses patience with the weak,

nervous invalid who is agonized with creaking doors or shoes, or loud,

shrill voices, or rustling papers, or sharp, fidgety motions, or the

whispering so common in sick-rooms and often so acutely distressing

to the sufferer, will soon correct such misapprehensions by herself

experiencing a nervous fever.”

Here the writer would put in a plea for the increasing multitudes of

nervous sufferers not confined to a sick-room, and yet exposed to all

the varied sources of pain incident to an exhausted nervous system,

which often cause more intolerable and also more wearing pain than

other kinds of suffering.

“An exceeding acuteness of the senses is the result of many forms of

nervous disease. A heavy breath, an unwashed hand, a noise that would

not have been noticed in health, a crooked table-cover or bed-spread,

may disturb or oppress; and more than one invalid has spoken in my

hearing of the sickening effect produced by the nurse tasting her food,

or blowing in her drinks to make them cool. One woman, and a sensible

woman too, told me her nurse had turned a large cushion upon her bureau

with the back part in front. She determined not to be disturbed nor to

speak of such a trifle, but after struggling _three hours_ in vain to

banish the annoyance, she was forced to ask to have the cushion placed

right.”

In this place should be mentioned the suffering caused to persons of

reduced nervous power not only by the smoke of tobacco, but by the

fetid effluvium of it from the breath and clothing of persons who

smoke. Many such are sickened in society and in car-traveling, and to

a degree little imagined by those who gain a dangerous pleasure at the

frequent expense of the feeble and suffering.

“It is often exceedingly important to the very weak, who can take but

very little nutriment, to have that little whenever they want it. I

have known invalids sustain great injury and suffering; when exhausted

for want of food, they have had to wait and wait, feeling as if every

minute was an hour, while some well-fed nurse delayed its coming. Said

a lady, ‘It makes me hungry now to think of the meals she brought me

upon that little waiter when I was sick—such brown thin toast, such

good broiled beef, such fragrant tea, and every thing looking so

exquisitely nice! If at any time I did not think of any thing I wanted,

nor ask for food, she did not annoy me with questions, but brought some

little delicacy at the proper time, and when it came I could take it.’

“If there is one purpose of a personal kind for which it is especially

desirable to lay up means, it is for being well nursed in sickness; yet

in the present state of society this is absolutely impossible, even to

the wealthy, because of the scarcity of competent nurses. Families worn

down with the long and extreme illness of a member require relief from

one whose feelings will be less taxed, and who can better endure the

labor.

“But, alas! how often is it impossible, for love or money, to obtain

one capable of taking the burden from the exhausted sister or mother

or daughter, and how often in consequence they have died prematurely

or struggled through weary years with a broken constitution. Appeal

to those who have made the trial, and you will find that very seldom

have they been able to have those who by nature or by training were

competent for their duties. Ignorant, unscrupulous, inattentive—how

often they disturb and injure the patient! A physician told me that

one of his patients had died because the nurse, contrary to orders,

had at a critical period washed her with cold water. One is known

who, by stealth, quieted a fretful child with laudanum, and of others

who exhausted the sick by incessant talking. One lady said that when,

to escape this distressing garrulity, she closed her eyes, the nurse

exclaimed, aloud, ‘Why, she is going to sleep while I am talking to

her.’

“A few only of the sensible, quiet, and loving women, whose presence

everywhere is a blessing, have qualified themselves and followed

nursing as a business. Heaven bless that few! What a sense of relief

pervades a family when such an one has been procured; and what a

treasure seemed found!

“There is very commonly an extreme susceptibility in the sick to the

_moral atmosphere_ about them. They feel the healthful influence of

the presence of a true-hearted attendant and repose in it, though they

may not be able to define the cause; while dissimulation, falsehood,

recklessness, coarseness, jar terribly and injuriously on their

heightened sensibilities. ‘Are the Sisters of Charity really better

nurses than most other women?’ asked an intelligent lady who had

seen much of our military hospitals. ‘Yes, they are,’ was the reply.

‘Why should it be so?’ 'I think it is because with them it is a work

of self-abnegation, and of duty to God; and they are so quiet and

self-forgetful in its exercise that they do it better, while many other

women show such self-consciousness and are so fussy!”

Is there any reason why every Protestant woman should not be trained

for this self-denying office as _a duty owed to God_?

We can not better close this chapter than by one more quotation from an

intelligent and attractive writer: “The good nurse is an artist. Oh the

pillowy, soothing softness of her touch, the neatness of her simple,

unrustling dress, the music of her assured yet gentle voice and tread,

the sense of security and rest inspired by her kind and hopeful face,

the promptness and attention to every want, the repose that like an

atmosphere encircles her, the evidence of heavenly goodness and love

that she diffuses!” Is not such an art as this worth much to attain?

In training children to the Christian life, one very important

opportunity occurs whenever sickness appears in the family or

neighborhood. The repression of disturbing noises, the speaking in

tones of gentleness and sympathy, the small offices of service or

nursing in which children can aid, should be inculcated as ministering

to the Lord and Elder Brother of man, who has said, “Inasmuch as ye

have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done

it to me.”

One of the blessed opportunities for such ministries is given to

children in the cultivation of flowers. The entrance into a sick-room

of a smiling, healthful child, bringing an offering of flowers raised

by its own labor, is like an angel of comfort and love, “and alike it

blesseth him who gives and him who takes.”

A time is coming when the visitation of the sick, as a part of the

Christian life, will hold a higher consideration than is now generally

accorded, especially in the cases of uninteresting sufferers who have

nothing to attract kind attentions, except that they are suffering

children of our Father in heaven, and “one of the least” of the

brethren of Jesus Christ.

CHAPTER XX.

FIRES AND LIGHTS.

A shallow fire-place saves wood, and gives out more heat than a deeper

one. A false back of brick may be put up in a deep fire-place. Hooks

for holding up the shovel and tongs, a hearth-brush and bellows, and

brass knobs to hang them on, should be furnished to every fire-place.

An iron bar across the andirons aids in keeping the fire safe and in

good order. Steel furniture is neater, handsomer, and more easily kept

in order than that made of brass.

Use green wood for logs, and mix green and dry wood for the fire; and

then the wood-pile will last much longer. Walnut, maple, hickory, and

oak wood are best; chestnut or hemlock is bad, because it snaps. Do not

buy a load in which there are many crooked sticks. Learn how to measure

and calculate the solid contents of a load, so as not to be cheated. A

cord of wood should be equivalent to a pile eight feet long, four feet

wide and four feet high; that is, it contains (8 x 4 x 4 = 128) one

hundred and twenty-eight cubic or solid feet. A city “load” is usually

one third of a cord. Have all your wood split and piled under cover

for winter. Have the green-wood logs in one pile, dry-wood in another,

oven-wood in another, kindlings and chips in another, and a supply of

charcoal to use for broiling and ironing in another place. Have a brick

bin for ashes, and never allow them to be put in wood. When quitting

fires at night, never leave a burning stick across the andirons, nor on

its end, without quenching it. See that no fire adheres to the broom

or brush; remove all articles from the fire, and have two pails filled

with water in the kitchen where they will not freeze.

STOVES AND GRATES.

Rooms heated by stoves should always have some opening for the

admission of fresh air, or they will be injurious to health. The

dryness of the air which they occasion should be remedied by placing a

vessel filled with water on the stove, otherwise the lungs or eyes will

be injured. A large number of plants in a room prevents this dryness

of the air. Where stove-pipes pass through fire-boards, the hole in

the wood should be much larger than the pipe, so that there may be no

danger of the wood taking fire. The unsightly opening thus occasioned

should be covered with tin. When pipes are carried through floors or

partitions, they should always pass either through earthen crocks, or

what are known as tin stove-pipe thimbles, which may be found in any

stove store or tinsmith’s. Lengthening a pipe will increase its draught.

For those who use _anthracite coal_, that which is broken or screened

is best for grates, and the nut-coal for small stoves. Three tons are

sufficient in the Middle States, and four tons in the Northern, to keep

one fire through the winter. That which is bright, hard, and clean, is

best; and that which is soft, porous, and covered with damp dust, is

poor. It will be well to provide two barrels of charcoal for kindling

to every ton of anthracite coal. Grates for _bituminous coal_ should

have a flue nearly as deep as the grate; and the bars should be round

and not close together. The better draught there is, the less coal-dust

is made. Every grate should be furnished with a poker, shovel, tongs,

blower, coal-scuttle, and holder for the blower. The latter may be made

of woolen, covered with old silk, and hung near the fire.

Coal-stoves should be carefully put up, as cracks in the pipe,

especially in sleeping-rooms, are dangerous.

LIGHTS.

Professor Phin, of the _Manufacturer and Builder_, has kindly given

us some late information on this important topic, which will be found

valuable.

In choosing the source of our light, the great points to be considered

are, first, the influence on the eyes; and secondly, economy. It is

poor economy to use a bad light. Modern houses in cities, and even

in large villages, are furnished with gas; where gas is not used,

sperm-oil, kerosene or coaloil, and candles are employed. Gas is the

cheapest, (or ought to be;) and if properly used, is as good as any.

Good sperm-oil burned in an Argand lamp—that is, a lamp with a circular

wick, like the astral lamp and others—is perhaps the best; but it is

expensive and attended with many inconveniences. Good kerosene-oil

gives a light which leaves little to be desired. Candles are used only

on rare occasions, though many families prefer to manufacture into

candles the waste grease that accumulates in the household. The economy

of any source of light will depend so much upon local circumstances

that no absolute directions can be given.

The effect produced by light on the eyes depends upon the following

points: First, _Steadiness_. Nothing is more injurious to the eyes than

a flickering, unsteady flame. Hence, all flames used for light-giving

purposes ought to be surrounded with glass chimneys or small shades. No

naked flame can ever be steady. Second, _Color_. This depends greatly

upon the temperature of the flame. A hot flame gives a bright, white

light; a flame which has not a high temperature gives a dull, yellow

light, which is very injurious to the eyes. In the naked gas-jet a

large portion of the flame burns at a low temperature, and the same is

the case with the flame of the kerosene lamp when the height of the

chimney is not properly proportioned to the amount of oil consumed; a

high wick needs a high chimney. In the case of a well-trimmed Argand

oil-lamp, or an Argand burner for gas, the flame is in general most

intensely hot, and the light is of a clear white character.

The third point which demands attention is the _amount of heat_

transmitted from the flame to the eyes. It often happens that people,

in order to economize light, bring the lamp quite close to the face.

This is a very bad habit. The heat is more injurious than the light.

Better burn a larger flame, and keep it at a greater distance.

It is also well that various-sized lamps should be provided to serve

the varying necessities of the household in regard to quantity of

light. One of the very best forms of lamp is that known as the

“student’s reading-lamp,” which is, in the burner, an Argand. Provide

small lamps with handles for carrying about, and broad-bottomed lamps

for the kitchen, as these are not easily upset. Hand and kitchen lamps

are best made of metal, unless they are to be used by very careful

persons.

Sperm-oil, lard, tallow, etc., have been superseded to such an extent

by kerosene that it is scarcely worth while to give any special

directions in regard to them. In the choice of kerosene, attention

should be paid to two points: its _safety_, and its _light-giving

qualities_. Kerosene is not a simple fluid, like water; but is

a mixture of several liquids, all of which boil at different

temperatures. Good kerosene-oil should be purified from all that

portion which boils or evaporates at a low temperature; for it is the

production of this vapor, and its mixture with atmospheric air, that

gives rise to those terrible explosions which sometimes occur when

a light is brought near a can of poor oil. To test the oil in this

respect, pour a little into an iron spoon, and heat it over a lamp

until it is moderately warm to the touch. If the oil produces vapor

which can be set on fire by means of a flame held a short distance

above the surface of the liquid, it is bad. Good oil poured into a

tea-cup or on the floor does not easily take fire when a light is

brought in contact with it. Poor oil will instantly ignite under the

same circumstances, and hence the breaking of a lamp filled with poor

oil is always attended by great peril of a conflagration. Not only the

safety but also the light-giving qualities of kerosene are greatly

enhanced by the removal of these volatile and dangerous oils. Hence,

while good kerosene should be clear in color, and free from all matters

which can gum up the wick and thus interfere with free circulation and

combustion, it should also be perfectly safe. It ought to be kept in a

cool, dark place, and carefully excluded from the air.

The care of lamps requires so much attention and discretion, that many

ladies choose to do this work themselves, rather than trust it with

domestics. To do it properly, provide the following things: an old

waiter to hold all the articles used; a lamp-filler, with a spout,

small at the end, and turned up to prevent oil from dripping; proper

wicks, and a basket or box to hold them; a lamp-trimmer made for the

purpose, or a pair of _sharp_ scissors; a small soap-cup and soap; some

washing soda in a broad-mouthed bottle; and several soft cloths to wash

the articles and towels to wipe them. If every thing, after being used,

is cleansed from oil and then kept neatly, it will not be so unpleasant

a task as it usually is to take care of lamps.

The inside of lamps and oil-cans should be cleansed with soda dissolved

in water. Be careful to drain them well, and not to let any gilding

or bronze be injured by the soda coming in contact with it. Put one

table-spoonful of soda to one quart of water. Take the lamp to pieces

and clean it as often as necessary. Wipe the chimney at least once

a day, and wash it whenever mere wiping fails to cleanse it. Some

persons, owing to the dirty state of their chimneys, lose half the

light which is produced. Keep dry fingers in trimming lamps. Renew the

wicks before they get too short. They should never be allowed to burn

shorter than an inch and a half.

In regard to _shades_, which are always well to use on lamps or gas,

those made of glass or porcelain are now so cheap that we can recommend

them as the best without any reservation. Plain shades, making the

light soft and even, do not injure the eyes. Lamps should be lighted

with a strip of folded or rolled paper, of which a quantity should be

kept on the mantel-piece. Weak eyes should always be especially shaded

from the lights. Small screens, made for the purpose, should be kept at

hand. A person with weak eyes can use them safely much longer when they

are protected from the glare of the light. Fill the entry-lamp every

day, and cleanse and fill night-lanterns twice a week, if used often. A

good night-lamp is made with a small one-wicked lamp and a roll of tin

to set over it. Have some holes made in the bottom of this cover, and

it can then be used to heat articles. Very cheap floating tapers can be

bought to burn in a tea-cup of oil through the night.

TO MAKE CANDLES.

The nicest candles are those run in molds. For this purpose, melt

together one quarter of a pound of white wax, one quarter of an

ounce of camphor, two ounces of alum, and ten ounces of suet or

mutton-tallow. Soak the wicks in lime-water and saltpetre, and when

dry, fix them in the molds and pour in the melted tallow. Let them

remain one night to cool; then warm them a little to loosen them, draw

them out, and when they are hard, put them in a box in a dry and cool

place.

To make dipped candles, cut the wicks of the right length, double them

over rods, and twist them. They should first be dipped in lime-water

or vinegar, and dried. Melt the tallow in a large kettle, filling it

to the top with hot water, when the tallow is melted. Put in wax and

powdered alum, to harden them. Keep the tallow hot over a portable

furnace, and fill the kettle with hot water as fast as the tallow is

used up. Lay two long strips of narrow board on which to hang the

rods; and set flat pans under, on the floor, to catch the grease. Take

several rods at once, and wet the wicks in the tallow; straighten

and smooth them when cool. Then dip them as fast as they cool,

until they become of the proper size. Plunge them obliquely and not

perpendicularly; and when the bottoms are too large, hold them in the

hot grease till a part melts off. Let them remain one night to cool;

then cut off the bottoms, and keep them in a dry, cool place. Cheap

lights are made by dipping rushes in tallow, the rushes being first

stripped of nearly the whole of the hard outer covering, and the pith

alone being retained with just enough of the tough bark to keep it

stiff.

CHAPTER XXI.

ON THE CARE OF ROOMS.

In selecting the furniture of parlors, some reference should be had to

correspondence of shades and colors. Curtains should be darker than the

walls; and, if the walls and carpets be light, the chairs should be

dark, and _vicè versa_. Pictures always look best on light walls.

In selecting carpets for rooms much used, it is poor economy to buy

cheap ones. _Ingrain_ carpets, of close texture, and the _three-ply_

carpets, are best for common use. _Brussels_ carpets do not wear so

long as the three-ply ones, because they can not be turned. _Wilton_

carpets wear badly, and _Venetians_ are good only for halls and stairs.

In selecting colors, avoid those in which there are any black threads;

as they are usually rotten. The most tasteful carpets are those which

are made of various shades of the same color, or of all shades of only

two colors; such as brown and yellow, or blue and buff, or salmon and

green, or all shades of green, or of brown. All very dark shades should

be brown or green, but not black.

In laying down carpets, it is a bad practice to put straw under them,

as this makes them wear out in spots. Straw matting, laid under

carpets, makes them last much longer, as it is smooth and even, and the

dust sifts through it. In buying carpets, always get a few yards over,

to allow for waste in matching figures.

In cutting carpets, make them three or four inches shorter than the

room, to allow for stretching. Begin to cut _in the middle_ of a

figure, and it will usually match better. Many carpets match in two

different ways, and care must be taken to get the right one. Sew a

carpet on the wrong side, with double waxed thread, and with the

_ball-stitch_. This is done by taking a stitch on the breadth next you,

pointing the needle toward you; and then taking a stitch on the other

breadth, pointing the needle from you. Draw the thread tightly, but not

so as to pucker. In fitting a breadth to the hearth, cut slits in the

right place, and turn the piece under. Bind _the whole_ of the carpet

with carpet-binding, nail it with tacks, having bits of leather under

the heads. To stretch the carpet, use a carpet-fork, which is a long

stick, ending with notched tin, like saw-teeth. This is put in the edge

of the carpet, and pushed by one person, while the nail is driven by

another. Cover blocks or bricks with carpeting like that of the room,

and put them behind tables, doors, sofas, etc., to preserve the walls

from injury by knocking, or by the dusting-cloth.

Cheap footstools, made of a square plank, covered with tow-cloth,

stuffed, and then covered with carpeting, with worsted handles, look

very well. Sweep carpets as seldom as possible, as it wears them out.

To shake them often is good economy. In cleaning carpets, use damp tea

leaves, or wet Indian meal, throwing it about, and rubbing it over with

the broom. The latter is very good for cleansing carpets made dingy by

coal-dust. In brushing carpets in ordinary use, it will be found very

convenient to use a large flat dust-pan, with a perpendicular handle a

yard high, put on so that the pan will stand alone, This can be carried

about and used without stooping, brushing dust into it with a common or

small whisk broom. The pan must be very large, or it will be upset.

When carpets are taken up, they should be hung on a line, or laid on

long grass, and whipped, first on one side, and then on the other, with

pliant whips. If laid aside, they should be sewed up tight in linen,

having snuff or tobacco put along all the crevices where moths could

enter. Shaking pepper, from a pepper-box, round the edge of the floor,

under a carpet, prevents the access of moths.

Carpets can be best washed on the floor, thus: First shake them; and

then, after cleaning the floor, stretch and nail them upon it. Then

scrub them in cold soap-suds, having half a tea-cupful of ox-gall to

a bucket of water. Then wash off the suds with a cloth in fair water.

Set open the doors and windows for two days or more. Imperial Brussels,

Venetian, ingrain, and three-ply carpets can be washed thus; but

Wilton and other plush carpets can not. Before washing them, take out

grease with a paste made of potter’s clay, ox-gall, and water.

Straw matting is the best for chambers and summer parlors. The checked,

of two colors, is not so good to wear. The best is the cheapest in the

end. When washed, it should be done with salt water, wiping it dry;

but frequent washing injures it. Bind matting with cotton binding. Sew

breadths together like carpeting. In joining the ends of pieces, ravel

out a part, and tie the threads together, turning under a little of

each piece, and then, laying the ends close, nail them down, with nails

having kid under their heads.

In hanging pictures, put them so that the lower part shall be opposite

the eye. Cleanse the glass of pictures with whiting, as water endangers

the pictures. Gilt frames can be much better preserved by putting on

a coat of copal varnish, which, with proper brushes, can be bought of

carriage or cabinet makers. When dry, it can be washed with fair water.

Wash the brush in spirits of turpentine.

Curtains, ottomans, and sofas covered with worsted, can be cleansed by

wheat bran rubbed on with flannel. Dust Venetian blinds with feather

brushes. Buy light-colored ones, as the green are going of fashion.

Strips of linen or cotton, on rollers and pulleys, are much in use, to

shut out the sun from curtains and carpets. Paper curtains, pasted on

old cotton, are good for chambers. Put them on rollers having cords

nailed to them, so that when the curtain falls the cord will be wound

up. Then, by pulling the cord, the curtain will be rolled up.

_House-cleaning_ should be done in dry, warm weather. Several friends

of the writer maintain that cleaning paint, and windows, and floors in

_hard_, _cold_ water, without any soap, using a flannel wash-cloth,

is much better than using warm suds. It is worth trying. In cleaning

in the common way, sponges are best for windows, and clean water only

should be used. They should be first wiped with linen, and then with

old silk. The outside of windows should be washed with a long brush

made for the purpose; and they should be rinsed, by throwing upon them

water containing a little saltpetre.

When inviting company, mention in the note the day of the month and

week, and the hour for coming. Provide a place for ladies to dress

their hair, with a glass, pins, and combs. A pitcher of cold water and

a tumbler should be added. When the company is small, it is becoming

a common method for the table to be set at one end of the room, the

lady of the house to pour out tea, and the gentlemen of the party to

wait on the ladies and themselves. When tea is sent round, always send

a tea-pot of hot water to weaken it, and a slop-bowl, or else many

persons will drink their tea much stronger than they wish.

Let it ever be remembered that the burning of lights and the breath of

guests are constantly exhausting the air of its healthful principle;

therefore avoid crowding many guests into one room. Do not tempt the

palate by a great variety of unhealthful dainties. Have a warm room for

departing guests, that they may not become chilled before they go out.

A parlor should be furnished with candle and fire screens, for those

who have weak eyes; and if, at table, a person sits with the back near

the fire, a screen should be hung on the back of the chair, as it is

very injurious to the whole system to have the back heated.

Pretty baskets, for flowers or fruits, on centre-tables, can be made

thus: Knit, with coarse needles, all the various shades of green and

brown, into a square piece. Press it with a hot iron, and then ravel it

out. Buy a pretty-shaped wicker-basket, or make one of stiff millinet,

or thin pasteboard, cut the worsted into bunches, and sew them on, to

resemble moss. Then line the basket, and set a cup or dish of water in

it, to hold flowers, or use it for a fruit-basket. Handsome fire-boards

are made by nailing black foundation-muslin to a frame the size of the

fire-place, and then cutting out flowers from wall-paper and pasting

them on the muslin, according to the fancy.

Mahogany furniture should be made in the spring, and stand some

months before it is used, or it will shrink and warp. Varnished

furniture should be rubbed only with silk, except occasionally, when a

little sweet-oil should be rubbed over, and wiped off carefully. For

unvarnished furniture, use bees-wax, a little softened with sweet-oil;

rub it in with a hard brush, and polish with woolen and silk rags.

Some persons rub in linseed-oil; others mix bees-wax with a little

spirits of turpentine and rosin, making it so that it can be put on

with a sponge, and wiped off with a soft rag. Others keep in a bottle

the following mixture: two ounces of spirits of turpentine, four

table-spoonfuls of sweet-oil, and one quart of milk. This is applied

with a sponge, and wiped off with a linen rag.

Hearths and jambs, of brick, look best painted over with black-lead,

mixed with soft soap. Wash the bricks which are nearest the fire with

redding and milk, using a painter’s brush. A sheet of zinc, covering

the whole hearth, is cheap, saves work, and looks very well. A tinman

can fit it properly.

Stone hearths should be rubbed with a paste of powdered stone, (to be

procured of the stone-cutters,) and then brushed with a stiff brush.

Kitchen-hearths, of stone, are improved by rubbing in lamp-oil.

Stains can be removed from marble by oxalic acid and water, or oil of

vitriol and water, left on fifteen minutes, and then rubbed dry. Gray

marble is improved by linseed-oil. Grease can be taken from marble by

ox-gall and potter’s clay wet with soap-suds, (a gill of each). It is

better to add, also, a gill of spirits of turpentine. It improves the

looks of marble to cover it with this mixture, leaving it two days, and

then rubbing it off.

Unless a parlor is in constant use, it is best to sweep it only once a

week, and at other times use a whisk-broom and dust-pan. When a parlor

with handsome furniture is to be swept, cover the sofas, centre-table,

piano, books, and mantel-piece, with old cottons, kept for the purpose.

Remove the rugs, and shake them, and clean the jambs, hearth, and

fire-furniture. Then sweep the room, moving every article. Dust the

furniture with a dust-brush and a piece of old silk. A painter’s

brush should be kept to remove dust from ledges and crevices. The

dust-cloths should be often shaken and washed, or else they will soil

the walls and furniture when they are used. Dust ornaments, and fine

books, with feather brushes, kept for the purpose.

ON THE CARE OF BREAKFAST AND DINING ROOMS.

An eating-room should have in it a large closet, with drawers and

shelves, in which should be kept all the articles used at meals. This,

if possible, should communicate with the kitchen by a sliding window,

or by a door, and have in it a window, and also a small sink, made

of marble or lined with zinc, which will be a great convenience for

washing nice articles. If there be a dumb-waiter, it is best to have it

connected with such a closet. It may be so contrived, that, when it is

down, it shall form part of the closet floor.

A table-rug, or crumb-cloth, is useful to save carpets from injury.

Bocking, or baize, is best. Always spread the same side up, or the

carpet will be soiled by the rug. Table-mats are needful, to prevent

injury to the table from the warm dishes. Tea-cup-mats, or small

plates, are useful to save the table-cloths from dripping tea or

coffee. Butter-knives for the butter-plate, and salt-spoons for salt

dishes, are designed to prevent those disgusting marks which are made

when persons use their own knives to take salt or butter. A sugar-spoon

should be kept in or by the sugar-dish, for the same purpose.

Table-napkins, of diaper, are often laid by each person’s plate, for

use during the meal, to save the table-cloth and pocket-handkerchief.

To preserve the same napkin for the same person, each member of the

family has a given number, and the napkins are numbered to correspond,

or else are slipped into ivory rings, which are numbered. A stranger

has a clean one at each meal. Table-cloths should be well starched, and

ironed on the right side, and always, when taken off, folded in the

ironed creases. _Doilies_ are colored napkins, which, when fruit is

offered, should always be furnished, to prevent a person from staining

a nice handkerchief, or permitting the fruit-juice to dry on the

fingers.

Casters and salt-stands should be put in order, every morning, when

washing the breakfast things. Always, if possible, provide _fine_ and

_dry_ table-salt, as many persons are much disgusted with that which is

dark, damp, and coarse. Be careful to keep salad-oil closely corked, or

it will grow rancid. Never leave the salt-spoons in the salt, nor the

mustard-spoon in the mustard, as they are thereby injured. Wipe them

immediately after the meal.

For table-furniture, French china is deemed the nicest, but it is

liable to the objection of having plates so made that salt, butter,

and similar articles, will not lodge on the edge, but slip into the

centre. Select knives and forks which have weights in the handles, so

that, when laid down, they will not touch the table. Those with riveted

handles last longer than any others. Horn handles (except buck-horn)

are very poor. The best are cheapest in the end. Knives should be

sharpened once a month, unless they are kept sharp by the mode of

scouring.

ON SETTING TABLES.

Neat housekeepers observe the manner in which a table is set more than

any thing else; and, to a person of good taste, few things are more

annoying than to see the table placed askew; the table-cloth soiled,

rumpled, and put on awry; the plates, knives, and dishes thrown about

without any order; the pitchers soiled on the outside, and sometimes

within; the tumblers dim; the caster out of order; the butter pitched

on the plate, without any symmetry; the salt coarse, damp, and dark;

the bread cut in a mixture of junks and slices; the dishes of food

set on at random, and without mats; the knives dark or rusty, and

their handles greasy; the tea-furniture all out of order, and every

thing in similar style. And yet, many of these negligences will be met

with at the tables of persons who call themselves well bred, and who

have wealth enough to make much outside show. One reason for this is,

the great difficulty of finding domestics who will attend to these

things in a proper manner, and who, after they have been repeatedly

instructed, will not neglect nor forget what has been said to them.

The writer has known cases where much has been gained by placing the

following rules in plain sight, in the place where the articles for

setting tables are kept.

RULES FOR SETTING A TABLE.

1. Lay the rug square with the room, and also smooth and even; then set

the table also square with the room, and see that the _legs_ are in the

right position to support the leaves.

2. Lay the table-cloth square with the table, _right side up_, smooth

and even.

3. Put on the tea-tray (for breakfast or tea) square with the table;

set the cups and saucers at the front side of the tea-tray, and the

sugar, slop-bowls, and cream-cup at the back side. Lay the sugar-spoon

or tongs on the sugar-bowl.

4. Lay the plates around the table at equal intervals, and the knives

and forks at regular distances, each in the same particular manner,

with a cup-mat or cup-plate to each, and a napkin at the right side of

each person.

5. If meat be used, set the caster and salt-cellars in the centre of

the table; then lay mats for the dishes, and place the carving-knife,

and fork and steel by the master of the house. Set the butter on two

plates, one on either side, with a butter-knife by each.

6. Set the tea or coffee-pot on a mat, at the right hand of the

tea-tray, (if there be not room upon it.) Then place the chairs around

the table, and call the family.

FOR DINNER.

1. Place the rug, table, table-cloth, plates, knives and forks, and

napkins, as before directed, with a tumbler by each plate. In cold

weather, set the plates where they will be warmed.

2. Put the caster in the centre, and the salt-stands at two oblique

corners, of the table, the latter between two large spoons crossed. If

more spoons be needed, lay them on each side of the caster crossed.

Set the pitcher on a mat, either at a side-table, or, when there is no

waiter, on the dining-table. Water looks best in glass decanters.

3. Set the bread on the table, when there is no waiter. Some take a

fork and lay a piece on the napkin or tumbler by each plate. Others

keep it in a tray, covered with a white napkin to keep off flies. Bread

for dinner is often cut in small junks, and not in slices.

4. Set the principal dish before the master of the house, and the other

dishes in a regular manner. Put the carving-knife, fork, and steel by

the principal dish, and also a knife-rest, if one be used.

5. Put a small knife and fork by the pickles, and also by any other

dishes which need them. Then place the chairs.

ON WAITING AT TABLE.

A domestic who waits on the table should be required to keep the hair

and hands in neat order, and have on a clean apron. A small tea-tray

should be used to carry cups and plates. The waiter should announce

the meal (when ready) to the mistress of the family, then stand by

the eating-room door till all are in, then close the door, and step

to the left side of the lady of the house. When all are seated, the

waiter should remove the covers, taking care first to invert them, so

as not to drop the steam on the table-cloth or guests. In presenting

articles, go to the left side of the person. In pouring water, never

entirely fill the tumbler. The waiter should notice when bread or water

is wanting, and hand it without being called. When plates are changed,

be careful not to drop knives or forks. Brush off crumbs, with a

crumb-brush, into a small waiter.

When there is no domestic waiter, a light table should be set at the

left side of the mistress of the house, on which the bread, water, and

other articles not in immediate use can be placed.

ON CARVING AND HELPING AT TABLE.

It is considered an accomplishment for a lady to know how to carve

well at her own table. It is not proper to stand in carving. The

carving-knife should be sharp and thin. To carve fowls (which should

always be laid with the breast uppermost,) place the fork in the

breast, and take off the wings and legs without turning the fowl; then

cut out the merry-thought, cut slices from the breast, take out the

collar bone, cut off the side pieces, and then cut the carcass in two.

Divide the joints in the leg of a turkey.

In helping the guests, when no choice is expressed, give a piece of

both the white and dark meat, with some of the stuffing. Inquire

whether the guest will be helped to each kind of vegetable, and put the

gravy on the plate, and not on any article of food.

In carving a sirloin, cut thin slices from the side next to you, (it

must be put on the dish with the tenderloin underneath;) then turn it,

and cut from the tenderloin. Help the guest to both kinds.

In carving a leg of mutton or a ham, begin by cutting across the middle

to the bone. Cut a tongue across, and not lengthwise, and help from the

middle part.

Carve a fore-quarter of lamb by separating the shoulder from the ribs,

and then dividing the ribs. To carve a loin of veal, begin at the

smaller end and separate the ribs. Help each one to a piece of the

kidney and its fat. Carve pork and mutton in the same way.

To carve a fillet of veal, begin at the top, and help to the stuffing

with each slice. In a breast of veal, separate the breast and brisket,

and then cut them up, asking which part is preferred. In carving a pig,

it is customary to divide it, and take off the head, before it comes to

the table; as, to many persons, the head is very revolting. Cut off the

limbs, and divide the ribs. In carving venison, make a deep incision

down to the bone, to let out the juices; then turn the broad end of

the haunch toward you, cutting deep, in thin slices. For a saddle of

venison, cut from the tail toward the other end, on each side, in thin

slices. Warm plates are very necessary with venison and mutton, and in

winter are desirable for all meats.

ON THE CARE OF CHAMBERS AND BEDROOMS.

Every mistress of a family should see not only that all sleeping-rooms

in her house _can be_ well ventilated at night, but that they actually

are so. Where there is no open fire-place to admit the pure air from

the exterior, a door should be left open into an entry, or room where

fresh air is admitted; or else a small opening should be made in

the top and bottom of a window, taking care not to allow a draught

of air to cross the bed. The debility of childhood, the lassitude

of domestics, and the ill health of families, are often caused by

neglecting to provide a supply of pure air. Straw matting is best

for a chamber carpet, and strips of woolen carpeting may be laid by

the side of the bed. Where chambers have no closets, a _wardrobe_ is

indispensable. A low square box, set on casters, with a cushion on the

top, and a drawer on one side to put shoes in, is a great convenience

in dressing the feet. An old Champagne basket, fitted up with a cushion

on the lid, and a valance fastened to it to cover the sides, can be

used for the same purpose.

Another convenience, for a room where sewing is done in summer, is

a fancy jar, set in one corner, to receive clippings, and any other

rubbish. It can be covered with prints or paintings, and varnished, and

then looks very prettily.

The trunks in a chamber can be improved in looks and comfort by making

cushions of the same size and shape, stuffed with hay and covered with

chintz, with a frill reaching nearly to the floor.

Every bed-chamber should have a wash-stand, bowl, pitcher, and tumbler,

with a wash-bucket under the stand, to receive slops. A light screen,

made like a clothes-frame, and covered with paper or chintz, should

be furnished for bedrooms occupied by two persons, so that ablutions

can be performed in privacy. It can be ornamented, so as to look well

anywhere. A little frame, or towel-horse, by the wash-stand, on which

to dry towels, is a convenience. A wash-stand should be furnished with

a sponge or wash-cloth, and a small towel, for wiping the basin after

using it. This should be hung on the wash-stand or towel-horse, for

constant use. A soap-dish, and a dish for tooth-brushes, are neat and

convenient, and each person should be furnished with two towels; one

for the feet, and one for other purposes.

It is in good taste to have the curtains, bed-quilt, valance, and

window-curtains of similar materials. In making feather-beds,

side-pieces should be put in, like those of mattresses, and the

bed should be well filled, so that a person will not be buried in

a hollow, which is not healthful, save in extremely cold weather.

Feather-beds should never be used except in cold weather. At other

times, a thin mattress of hair, cotton and moss, or straw, should be

put over them. A simple strip of broad straw matting, spread over a

feather-bed, answers the same purpose. Nothing is more debilitating

than, in warm weather, to sleep with a feather-bed pressing round the

greater part of the body. Pillows stuffed with papers an inch square

are good for summer, especially for young children, whose heads should

be kept cool. The cheapest and best covering of a bed, for winter, is

a _cotton comforter_, made to contain three or four pounds of cotton,

laid in bats or sheets, between covers tacked together at regular

intervals. They should be three yards square, and less cotton should

be put at the sides that are tucked in. It is better to have two thin

comforters to each bed, than one thick one; as then the covering can be

regulated according to the weather.

Few domestics will make a bed properly without much attention from the

mistress of the family. The following directions should be given to

those who do this work:

Open the windows, and lay off the bed-covering, on two chairs, at the

foot of the bed. After the bed is well aired, shake the feathers, from

each corner to the middle; then take up the middle, and shake it well,

and turn the bed over. Then push the feathers in place, making the head

higher than the foot, and the sides even, and as high as the middle

part. Then put on the bolster and the under sheet, so that the wrong

side of the sheet shall go next the bed, and the _marking_ come at the

head, tucking in all around. Then put on the pillows, even, so that

the open ends shall come to the sides of the bed, and then spread on

the upper sheet, so that the wrong side shall be next the blankets and

the marked end at the head. This arrangement of sheets is to prevent

the part where the feet lie from being reversed, so as to come to the

face, and also to prevent the parts soiled by the body from coming

to the bed-tick and blankets. Then put on the other covering, except

the outer one, tucking in all around, and then turn over the upper

sheet, at the head, so as to show a part of the pillows. When the

pillow-cases are clean and smooth, they look best outside of the cover,

but not otherwise. Then draw the hand along the side of the pillows, to

make an even indentation, and then smooth and shape the whole outside.

A nice housekeeper always notices the manner in which a bed is made;

and in some parts of the country it is rare to see this work properly

performed.

The writer would here urge every mistress of a family who keeps more

than one domestic to provide them with single beds, that they may not

be obliged to sleep with all the changing domestics, who come and go so

often. Where the room is too small for two beds, a narrow truckle-bed

under another will answer. Domestics should be furnished with washing

conveniences in their chambers, and be encouraged to keep their persons

and rooms neat and in order.

ON PACKING AND STORING ARTICLES.

Fold a gentleman’s coat thus: Lay it on a table or bed, the inside

downward, and unroll the collar. Double each sleeve once, making the

crease at the elbow, and laying them so as to make the fewest wrinkles,

and parallel with the skirts. Turn the fronts over the back and

sleeves, and then turn up the skirts, making all as smooth as possible.

Fold a shirt thus: One that has a bosom-piece inserted, lay on a bed,

bosom downward. Fold each sleeve twice, and lay it parallel with the

sides of the shirt. Turn the two sides, with the sleeves, over the

middle part, and then turn up the bottom, with two folds. This makes

the collar and bosom lie, unpressed, on the outside.

Fold a frock thus: Lay its front downward, so as to make the first

creases in folding come in the side breadths. To do this, find the

middle of the side breadths by first putting the middle of the front

and back breadths together. Next, fold over the side creases so as

just to meet the slit behind. Then fold the skirt again, so as to make

the backs lie together within and the fronts without. Then arrange the

waist and sleeves, and fold the skirt around them.

In packing trunks for traveling, put all heavy articles at the bottom,

covered with paper, which should not be printed, as the ink rubs off.

Put coats and pantaloons into linen cases, made for the purpose, and

furnished with strings. Fill all crevices with small articles; as, if

a trunk is not full, nor tightly packed, its contents will be shaken

about and get injured. Under-clothing packs closer by being rolled

tightly, instead of being folded.

Bonnet-boxes, made of light wood, with a lock and key, are better

than the paper bandboxes so annoying to travelers. Carpet-bags are

very useful, to carry the articles to be used on a journey. The best

ones have sides inserted, iron rims, and a lock and key. A large silk

traveling-bag, with a double linen lining, in which are stitched

receptacles for tooth-brush, combs, and other small articles, is a very

convenient article for use when traveling.

A bonnet-cover, made of some thin material, like a large hood with a

cape, is useful to draw over the bonnet and neck, to keep off dust,

sun, and sparks from a steam-engine. Green veils are very apt to stain

bonnets when damp.

In packing household furniture for moving, have each box numbered, and

then have a book, in which, as each box is packed, note down the number

of the box, and the order in which its contents are packed, as this

will save much labor and perplexity when unpacking. In packing china

and glass, wrap each article separately in paper, and put soft hay or

straw at bottom and all around each. Put the heaviest articles at the

bottom, and on the top of the box write, “This side up.”

ON THE CARE OF THE KITCHEN, CELLAR, AND STORE-ROOM.

If parents wish their daughters to grow up with good domestic habits,

they should have, as one means of securing this result, a neat and

cheerful kitchen. A kitchen should always, if possible, be entirely

above-ground, and well lighted. It should have a large sink, with a

drain running under-ground, so that all the premises may be kept sweet

and clean. If flowers and shrubs be cultivated around the doors and

windows, and the yard near them be kept well turfed, it will add very

much to their agreeable appearance. The walls should often be cleaned

and whitewashed, to promote a neat look and pure air. The floor of

a kitchen should be painted, or, which is better, covered with an

oil-cloth. To procure a kitchen oil-cloth as cheaply as possible, buy

cheap tow cloth, and fit it to the size and shape of the kitchen. Then

have it stretched, and nailed to the south side of the barn, and with a

brush cover it with a coat of thin rye paste. When this is dry, put on

a coat of yellow paint, and let it dry for a fortnight. It is safest to

first try the paint, and see if it dries well, as some paint never will

dry. Then put on a second coat, and, at the end of another fortnight, a

third coat. Then let it hang two months, and it will last, uninjured,

for many years. The longer the paint is left to dry, the better. If

varnished, it will last much longer.

A sink should be scalded out every day, and occasionally with hot ley.

On nails, over the sink, should be hung three good dish-cloths, hemmed,

and furnished with loops—one for dishes not greasy, one for greasy

dishes, and one for washing pots and kettles. These should be put in

the wash every week. The lady who insists upon this will not be annoyed

by having her dishes washed with dark, musty, and greasy rags, as is

too frequently the case.

Under the sink should be kept a slop-pail; and, on a shelf by it, a

soap-dish and two water-pails. A large boiler, of warm soft water,

should always be kept over the fire, well covered, and a hearth-broom

and bellows be hung near the fire. A clock is a very important article

in the kitchen, in order to secure regularity at meals.

ON WASHING DISHES.

No item of domestic labor is so frequently done in a negligent manner

by domestics as this. A full supply of conveniences will do much toward

a remedy of this evil. A swab, made of strips of linen, tied to a

stick, is useful to wash nice dishes, especially small, deep articles.

Two or three towels, and three dish-cloths, should be used. Two large

tin tubs, painted on the outside, should be provided; one for washing,

and one for rinsing; also, a large old waiter, on which to drain the

dishes. A soap-dish, with hard soap, and a fork, with which to use

it, a slop-pail, and two pails for water, should also be furnished.

Then, if there be danger of neglect, the following rules for washing

dishes, legibly written, may be hung up by the sink, and it will aid in

promoting the desired care and neatness.

RULES FOR WASHING DISHES.

1. Scrape the dishes, putting away any food which may remain on them,

and which it may be proper to save for future use. Put grease into the

grease-pot, and whatever else may be on the plates, into the slop-pail.

Save tealeaves, for sweeping. Set all the dishes, when scraped, in

regular piles; the smallest at the top.

2. Put the nicest articles in the wash-dish, and wash them in hot suds,

with the swab or nicest dish-cloth. Wipe all metal articles as soon as

they are washed. Put all the rest into the rinsing-dish, which should

be filled with hot water. When they are taken out, lay them to drain on

the waiter. Then rinse the dish-cloth and hang it up, wipe the articles

washed, and put them in their places.

3. Pour in more hot water, wash the greasy dishes with the dish-cloth

made for them; rinse them, and set them to drain. Wipe them, and set

them away. Wash the knives and forks, _being careful that the handles

are never put in water_; wipe them, and then lay them in a knife-dish

to be scoured.

4. Take a fresh supply of clean suds, in which wash the milk-pans,

buckets, and tins. Then rinse and hang up this dish-cloth, and take the

other; with which wash the roaster, gridiron, pots, and kettles. Then

wash and rinse the dish-cloth, and hang it up. Empty the slop-bucket

and scald it. Dry metal tea-pots and tins before the fire. Then put the

fire-place in order, and sweep and dust the kitchen.

Some persons keep a deep and narrow vessel, in which to wash knives

with a swab, so that a careless domestic _can not_ lay them in the

water while washing them. This article can be carried into the

eating-room, to receive the knives and forks when they are taken from

the table.

KITCHEN FURNITURE.

_Crockery._—Brown earthen pans are said to be best for milk and for

cooking. Tin pans are lighter, and more convenient, but are too cold

for many purposes. Tall earthen jars with covers are good to hold

butter, salt, lard, etc. Acids should never be put into the red

earthenware, as there is a poisonous ingredient in the glazing which

the acid takes off. Stone ware is better and stronger, and safer every

way than any other kind.

_Iron Ware._—Many kitchens are very imperfectly supplied with the

requisite conveniences for cooking. When a person has sufficient

means, the following articles are all desirable: A nest of iron pots,

of different sizes, (they should be slowly heated when new;) a long

iron fork, to take out articles from boiling water; an iron hook with

a handle, to lift pots from the crane; a large and small gridiron,

with grooved bars, and a trench to catch the grease; a Dutch oven,

called also a bake-pan; two skillets, of different sizes, and a spider,

or flat skillet, for frying; a griddle, a waffle-iron, tin and iron

bake and bread pans; two ladles, of different sizes; a skimmer; iron

skewers; a toasting-iron; two tea-kettles, one small and one large one;

two brass kettles, of different sizes, for soap-boiling, etc. Iron

kettles lined with porcelain are better for preserves. The German are

the best. Too hot a fire will crack them, but with care in this respect

they will last for many years.

Portable charcoal furnaces, of iron or clay, are very useful in summer,

in washing, ironing, and stewing, or making preserves. If used in

the house, a strong draught must be made, to prevent the deleterious

effects of the charcoal. A box and mill, for spice, pepper, and coffee,

are needful to those who use these articles. Strong knives and forks, a

sharp carving-knife, an iron cleaver and board, a fine saw, steelyards,

chopping-tray and knife, an apple-parer, steel for sharpening knives,

sugar-nippers, a dozen iron spoons, also a large iron one with a

long handle, six or eight flat-irons, one of them very small, two

iron-stands, a ruffle-iron, a crimping-iron, are also desirable.

_Tin Ware._—Bread-pans; large and small patty-pans; cakepans,

with a centre tube to insure their baking well; pie-dishes, (of

block-tin;) a covered butter-kettle; covered kettles to hold berries;

two saucepans; a large oil-can, (with a cock;) a lamp-filler; a

lantern; broad-bottomed candlesticks for the kitchen; a candle-box; a

funnel; a reflector for baking warm cakes; an oven or tin-kitchen; an

apple-corer; an apple-roaster; an egg-boiler; two sugar-scoops, and

flour and meal scoop; a set of mugs; three dippers; a pint, quart,

and gallon measure; a set of scales and weights; three or four pails,

painted on the outside; a slop-bucket with a tight cover, painted

on the outside; a milk-strainer; a gravy-strainer; a colander; a

dredging-box; a pepper-box; a large and small grater; a cheese-box;

also a large box for cake, and a still larger one for bread, with tight

covers. Bread, cake, and cheese, shut up in this way, will not grow dry

as in the open air.

_Wooden Ware._—A nest of tubs; a set of pails and bowls; a large

and small sieve; a beetle for mashing potatoes; a spade or stick

for stirring butter and sugar; a bread-board, for molding bread and

making pie-crust; a coffee-stick; a clothes-stick; a mush-stick; a

meat-beetle, to pound tough meat; an egg-beater; a ladle, for working

butter; a bread-trough, (for a large family;) flour-buckets, with lids,

to hold sifted flour and Indian meal; salt-boxes; sugar-boxes; starch

and indigo boxes; spice-boxes; a bosom-board; a skirt-board; a large

ironing-board; two or three clothes-frames; and six dozen clothes-pins.

_Basket Ware._—Baskets of all sizes, for eggs, fruit, marketing,

clothes, etc.; also chip-baskets. When often used, they should be

washed in hot suds.

_Other Articles._—Every kitchen needs a box containing balls of brown

thread and twine, a large and small darning-needle, rolls of waste

paper and old linen and cotton, and a supply of common holders. There

should also be another box, containing a hammer, carpet-tacks, and

nails of all sizes, a carpet-claw, screws and a screw-driver, pincers,

gimlets of several sizes, a bed-screw, a small saw, two chisels, (one

to use for button-holes in broadcloth,) two awls, and two files.

In a drawer or cupboard should be placed cotton table-cloths for

kitchen use; nice crash towels for tumblers, marked T T; coarser

towels for dishes marked T; six large roller-towels; a dozen

hand-towels, marked H T; and a dozen hemmed dish-cloths with loops.

Also two thick linen pudding or dumpling cloths, a jelly-bag made

of white flannel, to strain jelly, a starch-strainer, and a bag for

boiling clothes.

In a closet should be kept, arranged in order, the following articles:

the dust-pan, dust-brush, and dusting-cloths, old flannel and cotton

for scouring and rubbing, large sponges for washing windows and

looking-glasses, a long brush for cobwebs, and another for washing the

outside of windows, whisk-brooms, common brooms, a coat-broom or brush,

a whitewash-brush, a stove-brush, shoe-brushes and blacking, articles

for cleaning tin and silver, leather for cleaning metals, bottles

containing stain-mixtures and other articles used in cleansing.

CARE OF THE CELLAR.

A cellar should often be whitewashed, to keep it sweet. It should

have a drain to keep it perfectly dry, as standing water in a cellar

is a sure cause of disease in a family. It is very dangerous to

leave decayed vegetables in a cellar. Many a fever has been caused

by the poisonous miasm thus generated. The following articles are

desirable in a cellar: a safe, or movable closet, with sides of wire or

perforated tin, in which cold meats, cream, and other articles should

be kept; (if ants be troublesome, set the legs in tin cups of water;)

a refrigerator, or a large wooden box, on feet, with a lining of tin

or zinc, and a space between the tin and wood filled with powdered

charcoal, having at the bottom a place for ice, a drain to carry off

the water, and also movable shelves and partitions. In this articles

are kept cool. It should be cleaned once a week. Filtering-jars, to

purify water, should also be kept in the cellar. Fish and cabbages in a

cellar are apt to scent a house, and give a bad taste to other articles.

STORE-ROOM.

Every house needs a store-room, in which to keep tea, coffee, sugar,

rice, candles, etc. It should be furnished with jars having labels, a

large spoon, a fork, sugar and flour scoops, a towel, and a dish-cloth.

CHAPTER XXII.

THE CARE OF YARDS AND GARDENS.

First, let us say a few words on the _Preparation of Soil_. If the

garden soil be clayey and adhesive, put on a covering of sand, three

inches thick, and the same depth of well-rotted manure. Spade it in

as deep as possible, and mix it well. If the soil be sandy and loose,

spade in clay and ashes. Ashes are good for all kinds of soil, as they

loosen those which are close, hold moisture in those which are sandy,

and destroy insects. The best kind of soil is that which will hold

water the longest without becoming hard when dry.

_To prepare Soil for Pot-plants_, take one fourth part of common soil,

one fourth part of well-decayed manure, and one half of vegetable mold,

from the woods or from a chip-yard. Break up the manure fine, and sift

it through a lime-screen, (or coarse wire sieve.) These materials must

be thoroughly mixed. When the common soil which is used is adhesive,

and indeed in most other cases, it is necessary to add sand, the

proportion of which must depend on the nature of the soil.

_To prepare a Hot-Bed_, dig a pit six feet long, five feet wide, and

thirty inches deep. Make a frame of the same size, with the back two

feet high, the front fifteen inches, and the sides sloped from the back

to the front. Make two sashes, each three feet by five, with the panes

of glass lapping like shingles instead of having cross-bars. Set the

frame over the pit, which should then be filled with fresh horse-dung

which has not lain long nor been sodden by water. Tread it down hard;

then put into the frame light and very rich soil, six or eight inches

deep, and cover it with the sashes for two or three days. Then stir

the soil, and sow the seeds in shallow drills, placing sticks by them,

to mark the different kinds. Keep the frame covered with the glass

whenever it is cold enough to chill the plants; but at all other times

admit fresh air, which is indispensable to their health. When the sun

is quite warm, raise the glasses enough to admit air, and cover them

with matting or blankets, or else the sun may kill the young plants.

Water the bed at evening with water which has stood all day, or, if it

be fresh drawn, add a little warm water. If there be too much heat in

the bed, so as to scorch or wither the plants, lift the sashes, water

freely, shade by day; make deep holes with stakes, and fill them up

when the heat is reduced. In very cold nights, cover the sashes and

frame with straw-mats.

_For Planting Flower Seeds_.—Break up the soil till it is very soft,

and free from lumps. Rub that nearest the surface between the hands, to

make it fine. Make a circular drill a foot in diameter. Seeds are to be

planted either deeper or nearer the surface, according to their size.

For seeds as large as sweet peas, the drill should be half an inch

deep. The smallest seeds must be planted very near the surface, and a

very little fine earth be sifted over them. After covering them with

soil, beat them down with a trowel, so as to make the earth as compact

as it is after a heavy shower. Set up a stick in the middle of the

circle, with the name of the plant heavily written upon it with a dark

lead-pencil. This remains more permanent if white-lead be first rubbed

over the surface. Never plant when the soil is very wet. In very dry

times, water the seeds at night. Never use very cold water. When the

seeds are small, many should be planted together, that they may assist

each other in breaking the soil. When the plants are an inch high, thin

them out, leaving only one or two, if the plant be a large one like

the balsam; five or six, when it is of a medium size; and eighteen or

twenty of the smaller size. Transplanting, unless the plant be lifted

with a ball of earth, retards the growth about a fortnight. It is best

to plant at two different times, lest the first planting should fail,

owing to wet or cold weather.

_To plant Garden Seeds_, make the beds from one to three yards wide;

lay across them a board a foot wide, and with a stick make a furrow

on each side of it, one inch deep. Scatter the seeds in this furrow,

and cover them. Then lay the board over them, and step on it, to

press down the earth. When the plants are an inch high, thin them out,

leaving spaces proportioned to their sizes. Seeds of similar species,

such as melons and squashes, should not be planted very near to each

other, as this causes them to degenerate. The same kinds of vegetables

should not be planted in the same place for two years in succession.

The longer the rows are, the easier is the after-culture.

_Transplanting_ should be done at evening, or, which is better, just

before a shower. Take a round stick sharpened at the point, and make

openings to receive the plants. Set them a very little deeper than they

were before, and press the soil firmly round them. Then water them,

and cover them for three or four days, taking care that sufficient air

be admitted. If the plant can be removed without disturbing the soil

around the root, it will not be at all retarded by transplanting. Never

remove leaves and branches, unless a part of the roots be lost.

_To Re-pot House Plants_, renew the soil every year, soon after the

time of blossoming. Prepare soil as previously directed. Loosen the

earth from the pot by passing a knife around the sides. Turn the plant

upside down, and remove the pot. Then remove all the matted fibres at

the bottom, and all the earth, except that which adheres to the roots.

From woody plants, like roses, shake off all the earth. Take the new

pot, and put a piece of broken earthenware over the hole at the bottom,

and then, holding the plant in the proper position, shake in the earth

around it. Then pour in water to settle the earth, and heap on fresh

soil till the pot is even full. Small pots are considered better than

large ones, as the roots are not so likely to rot from excess of

moisture. _ In the Laying out of Yards and Gardens_, there is room for

much judgment and taste. In planting trees in a yard, they should be

arranged in groups, and never planted in straight lines, nor sprinkled

about as solitary trees. The object of this arrangement is to imitate

Nature, and secure some spots of dense shade and some of clear turf.

In yards which are covered with turf, beds can be cut out of it, and

raised for flowers. A trench should be made around, to prevent the

grass from running on them. These beds can be made in the shape of

crescents, ovals, or other fanciful forms.

In laying out beds in gardens and yards, a very pretty bordering can

be made by planting them with common flax-seed, in a line about three

inches from the edge. This can be trimmed with shears, when it grows

too high.

_For transplanting Trees_, the autumn is the best time. Take as much of

the root as possible, especially the little fibres, which should never

become dry. If kept long before they are set out, put wet moss around

them and water them. Dig holes larger than the extent of the roots; let

one person hold the tree in its former position, and another place the

roots carefully as they were before, cutting off any broken or wounded

root. _Be careful not to let the tree be more than an inch deeper than

it was before._ Let the soil be soft and well manured; shake the tree

as the soil is shaken in, that it may mix well among the small fibres.

Do not tread the earth down, while filling the hole; but, when it is

full, raise a slight mound of say four inches deep around the stem to

hold water, and fill it. Never cut off leaves nor branches, unless some

of the roots are lost. Tie the trees to a stake, and they will be more

likely to live. Water them often.

_The Care of House Plants_ is a matter of daily attention, and well

repays all labor expended upon it. The soil of house plants should be

renewed every year, as previously directed. In winter, they should

be kept as dry as they can be without wilting. Many house plants are

injured by giving them too much water, when they have little light and

fresh air. This makes them grow spindling. The more fresh air, warmth,

and light they have, the more water is needed. They ought not to be

kept very warm in winter, nor exposed to great changes of atmosphere.

Forty degrees is a proper temperature for plants in winter, when they

have little sun and air. When plants have become spindling, cut off

their heads entirely, and cover the pot in the earth, where it has the

morning sun only. A new and flourishing head will spring out. Few

house plants can bear the sun at noon. When insects infest plants, set

them in a closet or under a barrel, and burn tobacco under them. The

smoke kills any insect enveloped in it. When plants are frozen, cold

water and a gradual restoration of warmth are the best remedies. Never

use very cold water for plants at any season.

THE PROPAGATION OF PLANTS.

This is an occupation requiring much attention and constant care.

Bulbous roots are propagated by offsets; some growing on the top,

others around the sides. Many plants are propagated by cutting off

twigs, and setting them in earth, so that two or three eyes are

covered. To do this, select a side shoot, ten inches long, two inches

of it being of the preceding year’s growth, and the rest the growth of

the season when it is set. Do this when the sap is running, and put a

piece of crockery at the bottom of the shoot when it is buried. One

eye, at least, must be under the soil. Water it, and shade it in hot

weather.

Plants are also propagated by layers. To do this, take a shoot which

comes up near the root, bend it down so as to bring several eyes under

the soil, leaving the top above-ground. If the shoot be cut half

through, in a slanting direction, at one of these eyes, before burying

it, the result is more certain. Roses, honeysuckles, and many other

shrubs are readily propagated thus. They will generally take root by

being simply buried; but cutting them as here directed is the best

method. Layers are more certain than cuttings.

_Budding and Grafting_, for all woody plants, are favorite methods of

propagation. In all such plants there is an outer and inner bark, the

latter containing the sap vessels, in which the nourishment of the tree

ascends. The success of grafting or inoculating consists in so placing

the bud or graft that the sap vessels of the inner bark shall exactly

join those of the plant into which they are grafted, so that the sap

may pass from one into the other.

The following are directions for _budding_; which may be performed at

any time from July to September:

[Illustration: Fig. 64.]

Select a smooth place on the stock into which you are to insert the

bud. Make a horizontal cut across the rind through to the firm wood;

and from the middle of this, make a slit downward perpendicularly, an

inch or more long, through to the wood. Raise the bark of the stock on

each side of the perpendicular cut, for the admission of the bud, as is

shown in the annexed cut, (Figure 64). Then take a shoot of this year’s

growth, and slice from it a bud, taking an inch below and an inch above

it, and some portion of the wood under it. Then carefully slip off the

woody part under the bud. Examine whether the eye or germ of the bud

be perfect. If a little hole appear in that part, the bud has lost its

root, and another must be selected. Insert the bud, so that _a_, of the

bud, shall pass to a, of the stock; then _b_, of the bud, must be cut

off, to match the cut b, in the stock, and fitted exactly to it, as it

is this alone which insures success. Bind the parts with fresh bass or

woolen yarn, beginning a little below the bottom of the perpendicular

slit, and winding it closely around every part, except just over the

eye of the bud, until you arrive above the horizontal cut. Do not bind

it too tightly, but just sufficient to exclude air, sun, and wet. This

is to be removed after the bud is firmly fixed and begins to grow.

Seed-fruit can be budded into any other seed fruit, and stone-fruit

into any other stone-fruit; but stone and seed fruits can not be thus

mingled.

Rose-bushes can have a variety of kinds budded into the same stock.

Hardy roots are the best stocks. The branch above the bud must be cut

off the next March or April after the bud is put in. Apples and pears

are more easily propagated by ingrafting than by budding.

[Illustration: Fig. 65.]

_Ingrafting_ is a similar process to budding, with this advantage, that

it can be performed on large trees; whereas budding can be applied only

on small ones. The two common kinds of ingrafting are whip-grafting and

split-grafting. The first kind is for young trees, and the other for

large ones.

The time for ingrafting is from May to October. The cuttings must be

taken from horizontal shoots, between Christmas and March, and kept

in a damp cellar. In performing the operation, cut off in a sloping

direction (as seen in Fig. 65) the tree or limb to be grafted. Then

cut off in a corresponding slant the slip to be grafted on. Then put

them together, so that the inner bark of each shall match exactly on

one side, and tie them firmly together with yellow yarn. It is not

essential that both be of equal size; if the bark of each meet together

exactly on _one_ side, it answers the purpose. But the two must not

differ much in size. The slope should be an inch and a half, or more,

in length. After they are tied together, the place should be covered

with a salve or composition of bees-wax and rosin. A mixture of clay

and cow-dung will answer the same purpose. This last must be tied on

with a cloth. Grafting is more convenient than budding, as grafts can

be sent from a great distance; whereas buds must be taken in July or

August, from a shoot of the present year’s growth, and can not be sent

to any great distance.

The next cut (Fig. 66) exhibits the mode called stock-grafting; _a_

being the limb of a large tree, which is sawed off and split, and is

to be held open by a small wedge till the grafts are put in. A graft

inserted in the limb is shown at _b_, and at _c_ is one not inserted,

but designed to be put in at _d_, as two grafts can be put into a large

stock. In inserting the graft, be careful to make the edge of the inner

bark of the graft meet exactly the edge of the inner bark of the stock;

for on this success depends. After the grafts are put in, the wedge

must be withdrawn, and the whole of the stock be covered with the thick

salve or composition before mentioned, reaching from where the grafts

are inserted to the bottom of the slit. Be careful not to knock or move

the grafts after they are put in.

[Illustration: Fig. 66.]

_Pruning_ is an operation of constant exercise, for keeping plants and

trees in good condition. The following rules are from a distinguished

horticulturist: Prune off all dead wood, and all the little twigs on

the main limbs. Retrench branches, so as to give light and ventilation

to the interior of the tree. Cut out the straight and perpendicular

shoots which give little or no fruit; while those which are most nearly

horizontal, and somewhat curving, give fruit abundantly and of good

quality, and should be sustained. Superfluous and ill-placed buds may

be rubbed off at any time; and no buds pushing out after midsummer

should be spared. In choosing between shoots to be retained, preserve

the lowest placed, and on lateral shoots those which are nearest the

origin. When branches cross each other so as to rub, remove one or the

other. Remove all suckers from the roots of trees or shrubs. Prune

after the sap is in full circulation, (except in the case of grapes,)

as the wounds then heal best. Some think it best to prune before the

sap begins to run. Pruning-shears, and a pruning-pole, with a chisel at

the end, can be procured of those who deal in agricultural utensils.

_Thinning_ is also an important but very delicate operation. As it is

the office of the leaves to absorb nourishment from the atmosphere,

they should never be removed, except to mature the wood or fruit. In

doing this, remove such leaves as shade the fruit, as soon as it is

ready to ripen. To do it earlier impairs the growth. Do it gradually

at two different times. Thinning the fruit is important, as tending

to increase its size and flavor, and also to promote the longevity of

the tree. If the fruit be thickly set, take off one half at the time

of setting. Revise in June, and then in July, taking off all that may

be spared. One _very large_ apple to every square foot is a rule that

may be a sort of guide in other cases. According to this, two hundred

large apples would be allowed to a tree whose extent is fifteen feet by

twelve. If any person think this thinning excessive, let him try two

similar trees, and thin one as directed and leave the other unthinned.

It will be found that the thinned tree will produce an equal weight,

and fruit of much finer flavor.

THE CULTIVATION OF FRUIT.

By a little attention to this matter, a lady with the help of her

children can obtain a rich abundance of all kinds of fruit. The writer

has resided in families where little boys of eight, ten, and twelve

years old amused themselves, under the direction of their mother, in

planting walnuts, chestnuts, and hazelnuts, for future time; as well

as in planting and inoculating young fruit-trees of all descriptions.

A mother who will take pains to inspire a love for such pursuits in

her children, and who will aid and superintend them, will save them

from many temptations, and at a trifling expense secure to them and

herself a rich reward in the choicest fruits. The information given in

this work on this subject may be relied on as sanctioned by the most

experienced nurserymen.