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Keeping Fruits and Vegetables

TO KEEP CELLAR CLEAN. -Remove all vegetables as soon as they begin to decay, and ventilate well SO that the walls will not become foul. Use decay, and ventilate well so that the walls will not become foul. Use chloride of lime as a disinfectant freely, after taking care to make it as neat and clean as possible.

ALL KINDS OF HERBS.-Gather on a dry day, just before or while in blossom, tie in bundles, blossom downward.

When perfectly dry, wrap the medicinal ones in paper, and keep from air. Pick off the leaves of those to be used in cooking, pound, sift them fine, and cork up tightly in bottles.

KEEPING CABBAGES. - When the weather becomes frosty, cut them off near the head, and carry them, with the leaves on, to a dry cellar, break off the head, and carry them, with the leaves on, to a dry cellar, break off superfluous leaves, and pack into a light cask or box, stems upward, and when nearly full cover with loose leaves; ; secure the box with a lid against rats.

POTATOES-Should be kept in a cool, dark place. When old, and likely to sprout, put them in a basket and lower them into boiling water, for a minute or two, let them dry and put away in sacks. This destroys the germ, and the potatoes retain their flavor until late.

THE TEMPERATURE. - Vegetables keep best at as low a temperature as possible without freezing. Apples bear a very low temperature. Sweet potatoes (which keep well packed in dry forest leaves) require a dry, warm atmosphere. Squashes should be kept in a dry place, as cool as possible without freezing.

KEEPING PEASE FOR WINTER USE. -Shell, throw into boiling water with a little salt, boil five or six minutes, drain in a colander and afterwards on a salt, boil five or six minutes, drain in a colander and afterwards on a cloth, until completely dried, and place in air-tight bottles. Some use widemouthed bottles, not quite filling them, pouring over fried mutton fat so as to cover the pease, and cork tightly, securing the cork with resin or sealingwax. When used, boil until tender, and season with butter.

TO KEEP APPLES. Apples are usually kept on open shelves, easily accessible, so that the decaying ones may easily be removed. They are sometimes packed in layers of dry sand, care being taken not to let them touch each other, with good results. When they begin to decay, pick out those which are speckled, stew them up with cider and sugar, and fill all empty self-sealing fruit-cans, and keep the sauce for use late in the season. Or pack in dry saw-dust, or any grain, as oats, barley, etc., so that they will not touch each other; or if fruit is fine, wrap each apple in paper and pack in boxes.

TO KEEP GRAPES. -A barrel hoop suspended from the ceiling by three cords, from which grape stems are hung by means of wire hooks attached to , from which grape stems are hung by means of wire hooks attached to the small end, sealing the other with hot sealing-wax, each stem free from contact with its neighbors, is said to be the best contrivance for keeping grapes. The imperfect grapes must be removed, and the room must be free from frost, and not dry enough to wither them or too moist. The simplest way to keep grapes is to place them in drawers holding about twenty-five pounds each, piling the boxes one over another.

PACKING VEGETABLES. -For present use they should be laid away carefully in a bin with a close lid (hung on hinges) SO that the light may be exin a bin with a close lid (hung on hinges) so that the light may be excluded. To keep them for a longer time, the best plan is to pull them on a dry day, cut off the tops and trim, and pack them in clean barrels or boxes, in layers with fine clean moss, such as is found in abundance in woods, between them. The moss keeps them clean and sufficiently moist, preventing shriveling of the roots on the one hand , and absorbing any excess of dampness on the other. KEEPING CABBAGES IN THE COUNTRY. - Take up the cabbages by the roots, set closely together in rows, up to the head in soil, roots down as they closely together in rows, up to the head in soil, roots down as they grew; drive in posts at the corners of the bed, and at intermediate points if necessary, higher on one side than the other; nail strips of boards on the posts and lay upon these old boards, doors, or if nothing else is at hand, beanpoles, and corn fodder, high enough so that the roof will be clear of the cabbages, and allow the air to circulate; close up the sides with yard or garden offal of any kind, and the cabbages will keep fresh and green all winter, and be accessible at all times. Exclude moisture but never mind the frost.

A child's first right is to be well born, of parents sound in body and mind, who can boast a long line of ancestors on both sides; an aristocracy, based on the cardinal virtues of purity, chastity, sobriety, and honesty. If the thought, the money, the religious enthusiasm, now expended for the regeneration of the race, were wisely directed to the generation of our descendants, to the conditions and environments of parents and children, the whole face of society might be changed before we celebrate the next Centennial of our national life.

All religious, educational, benevolent, and industrial societies combined, working harmoniously together, can not do as much in a life-time of effort, toward the elevation of mankind, as can parents in the nine months of prenatal life. Locke took the ground that the mind of every child born into the world is like a piece of blank paper, that you may write thereon whatever you will; but science proves that such idealists as Descartes were nearer right when they declared that each soul comes freighted with its own ideas, its individual proclivities; that the pre-natal influences do more in the formcharacter than all the education that come after. Let the young man, indulging in all manner of excesses, remember that in considering the effect of dissipation, wine, and tobacco, on himself and his own happiness or misery, he does not begin to measure the evil of his life. As the High Priest at the family altar, his deeds of darkness will entail untold suffering on generation after generation. Let the young woman with wasp-like waist, who lives on candies, salads, hot bread, pastry, and pickles, whose listless brain and idle hands seek no profitable occupation, whose life is given to folly, remember that to her ignorance and folly may yet be traced the downfall of a nation.

One of the most difficult lessons to impress on any mind is the power and extent of individual influence; and parents above all others, resist the belief that their children are exactly what they make them; no more, no less; like producing like. If there is a class of educators who need special preparation for their high and holy calling, it is those who assume the responsibility of parents . Shall we give less thought to the creation of an immortal being than the artist devotes to his statue or landscape? We wander through the art galleries in the old world, and linger before the works of the great masters, transfixed with the grace and beauty, the glory and grandeur, of the ideals that surround us; and, with equal preparation, greater than these are possible in living, breathing humanity. The same thought and devotion in real life would soon give us a generation of saints, scholars, scientists, and (541) statesmen, of glorified humanity; such as the world has not yet seen. To this hour, we have left the greatest event of life to chance, and the result is the blind, the deaf and dumb, the idiot, the lunatic, the epileptic, the criminal, the drunkard, the glutton-thousands of human beings, in our young republic, that never should have been born; a tax on society, a disgrace to their parents, and a curse to themselves.

Well, born-a child's next right is to intelligent care. If we buy a rare plant, we ask the florist innumerable questions as to its proper training ; but the advent of an immortal being seems to suggest no new thought, no anxious investigation into the science of human life. Here we trust every thing to an ignorant nurse, or a neighbor who knows perchance less than we do ourselves.

Ignorance bandages the new-born child, as tight as a drum, from armpits to hips, compressing every vital organ. There is a tradition that all infants are subject to colic for the first three months of their existence; at the end of which time the bandage is removed, and the colic ceases. Reason ceases. suggests that the bandage may be the cause of the colic, and queries as to , and queries as to the origin of the custom, and its use. She is told, with all seriousness, that the bones of a new-born child are like cartilage, that, unless they are pinned up snugly, they are in danger of falling to pieces." Reason replies: If Infinite Wisdom has made kittens and puppies SO that their component parts remain together, it is marvelous that He should have left the human being wholly at the mercy of a bandage;" and proposes, with her first-born, to dispense with swaddling bandages, leaving only a slight compress on the navel, for a few days, until perfectly healed.

Ignorance, believing that every child comes into the world in a diseased and starving condition, begins at once the preparation of a variety of nostrums, chemical and culinary, which she persistently administers to the struggling victim. Reason, knowing that after the fatigue of a long and perilous march, what the young soldier most needs is absolute rest in some warm and cozy tent, shelters him under her wing, and fights off all intruders, sure that when he needs his rations the world will hear from him. His first bath should be preceded by a generous application of pure, sweet olive -oil, from head to foot, in every little corner and crevice of his outer man; and then he should be immersed in warm soap-suds, SO nearly the temperature of the body as to cause no shock. Great care should be taken that neither oil nor soap touch the eyes. The room should be very warm, all drafts excluded; and on emerging from the tub, a hot soft-flannel blanket should be closely wrapped around him, in which he may rest awhile before dressing. The softest garments, simply made, and SO cut as to fasten round the throat and rest on the shoulders, should constitute his wardrobe; eschew all bands, pins, ligatures, ruffles, embroidery, caps, socks, etc. Let the child's first efforts at foraging for an existence be at his mother's breast; there he will find the medicine he needs, and just what she needs, too, to dispose of.

The child's mouth and the mother's nipples should be carefully washed before nursing; thus, much suffering, for both mother and child, will be prevented. "Give the baby water six times a day," was one of the most important messages ever sent over the telegraph wires to a young mother. Ignorance bathes her baby on a full stomach, because she finds it will go through the ordeal of dressing more quietly; Reason bathes hers two hours after feeding, knowing that the vital forces needed for digestion should not be drawn to the surface. Being constructed on the same general plan with its parents, the same principle that makes it dangerous for a man to go swimming immediately after eating, makes it equally SO to put a baby in its it equally so to put a baby in its tub after nursing.

Though Ignorance eats her own meals regularly and at stated times, she feeds her baby at all times and seasons. If the child has colic from overeating, or the improper diet of its mother, she trys to ally its suffering with additional feeding and vigorous trotting; not succeeding, she ends the drama with a spoonful of Mrs. Winslow's soothing syrup; having drugged the sentinel and silenced his guns, she imagines the citadel safe. Reason feeds her baby regularly, by the clock, once in two or three hours, and gives the stomach some chance for rest. She prevents colic by regulating her own diet and habits of life, knowing that improper articles of food, and ill-nature or outbursts of passion in the mother, have cost many a baby its life. Ignorance, having noticed that her baby sleeps longer with its head covered, uniformly excludes the air. Breathing the same air over a dozen times, it becomes stupefied with the carbonic -acid gas, is thrown into a profuse perspiration, and is sure to catch cold on emerging from the fetid atmosphere. Reason puts her child to sleep, with head uncovered, in a spacious chamber, bright with sunlight and fresh air; where, after a long nap, she will often find him (as soon as he is old enough to notice objects) looking at the shadows on the wall, or studying the anatomical wonders of his own hands and feet, the very picture of content.

Regular feeding, freedom in dress, plenty of sleep, water, sunlight, and pure air, will secure to babies that health and happiness that in nature should be their inheritance. "Seeing that the atmosphere is forty miles deep, all round the globe," says Horace Mann, "it is a useless piece of economy to breathe it more than once. If we were obliged to trundle it in the wheel-barrows, in order to fill our homes, churches, school-houses, railroad-cars, and steamboats, there might be some excuse for our seeming parsimony. But as it is we are prodigals of health, of which we have SO little; and niggards of air, of which we have so much." -Mrs. Elizabeth Cady Stanton , New York.

GREAT care should be given that children are not fed with milk that has been turned by a thunderstorm. The chemical change is rapid, and extra caution is necessary.

GINGER-BREAD made from oatmeal instead of flour is a good aperient for children.

PARENTS SHOULD TEACH their children to gargle their throats, for it may be the saving of their lives. It is easier to teach them this difficult and the saving of their lives. It is easier to teach them this difficult and awkward feat in health than when prostrated by disease.

TO PREVENT A CHILD COUGHING AT NIGHT, boil the strength out of ten cents worth of "seneca snake-root" in one quart of soft water; strain through a cloth, boil down to a pint, add one cup powdered sugar made into a thick molasses. Give one tea-spoonful on going to bed CHILDREN ARF OFTEN TROUBLED with ulcers in the ears after scarlet fever and other children's diseases. Roast onions in ashes until done, wrap in a other children's diseases. Roast onions in ashes until done, wrap in a strong cloth, and squeeze out juice. To three parts juice, add one part laudanum and one part sweet-oil, and bottle for use. Wash ear out with warm water, shake bottle well, and drop a few drops into the ear. FOR SORE MOUTH IN NURSING BABIES, take a tea-spoon each of pulverized alum and borax, half a salt-spoon of pulverized nut-galls, a table-spoon of honey; mix, and pour on it half a tea-cup boiling water; let settle, and with a clean linen rag wash the mouth four or five times a day, using a fresh piece of linen every day; or simple borax water is equally good. Half an even tea-spoon powdered borax in two tablespoons soft water is strong enough.

A LUMP OF SUGAR, saturated with vinegar, will stop hiccough when drinking water will not. For babies, a few grains of sugar will often suffice. water will not. For babies, a few grains of sugar will often suffice.

Care must be taken in giving sugar to nursing babies, as it is constipating.

Dio Lewis says feather pillows are death to children. Make them of straw or hair, and not too large.

TO CURE THE EARACHE, take a bit of cotton batting, put upon it a pinch of black pepper, gather it up and tie it, dip it in sweet-oil, and insert it black pepper, gather it up and tie it, dip it in sweet-oil, and insert it into the ear. Put a flannel bandage over the head to keep it warm.

PROBABLY NINE CHILDREN OUT OF TEN who die of croup might be saved by the timely application of roast onions, mashed, laid upon a folded napkin, timely application of roast onions, mashed , laid upon a folded napkin, and goose-oil, sweet-oil, or even lard, poured on and applied as warm as can be borne comfortably to the throat and upper part of the chest, and to the feet and hands, or the onions may be sliced, boiled soft in water until almost dry, grease added, and cooked in the grease until browned.

LET NATURE WAKE THE CHILDREN; she will not do it prematurely. Take care that they go to bed at an early hour-let it be earlier and earlier, until that they go to bed at an early hour let it be earlier and earlier, until it is found that they wake up themselves in full time to dress for breakfast.

JUST BEFORE EACH MEAL let a child have some ripe fruit or some fruit sauce. Apples and berries are wholesome.

Oranges should never be given to children unless the skin and the thick white part underneath the skin and between the quarters is all carefully removed.

WHILE THE BABY IS DOWN FOR A CREEP, draw little stocking legs over his arms, and secure them by a safety-pin.

SEE THAT A CHILD'S FOOD is well cooked. Never give a child new bread. Always insist that a child thoroughly masticate his food. Avoid too nourishing a diet for a child of a violent, fretful temper. Give a nourishing diet to a pale, white-looking, delicate child. diet to a pale, white-looking, delicate child. Both under-feeding and over- . Carefully study a child's constitution, digestive powers, teeth , strength, and endeavor to proportion to these the kind and the quantity of its food. Sweetmeats and confectionery should only be given to children very sparingly, if at all.

Never pamper or reward a child with them.

A child should never be allowed to go to sleep with damp, cold feet. Neglect of this has often resulted in dangerous attacks of croup, diphtheria , or a fatal sore throat.

Always on entering the house in rainy, muddy, or thawy weather, the child should remove its shoes, and the mother should herself ascertain whether the stockings are the least damp. If they are they should be taken off, the feet held before the fire, and rubbed with the hands until perfectly dry, and dry stockings and shoes put on.

DR. OSGOOD RECOMMENDS as a night suit for children a single garment, ending in drawers and stockings. Over this, in cold weather, may be worn a flannel sack. At severe seasons, instead of putting an extra coverlet on the bed, he advises the use of a large bag, made of a light blanket, into which the child may be securely placed, and closely buttoned around the neck. Light coverings generally are preferable to heavy ones, if the night-clothing and the room are sufficiently warm, as they do not induce perspiration nor check exhalations.

EATING SNOW, except in very limited quantities, is very injurious, producing catarrh, congestion and many other troubles. JUMPING THE ROPE is an injurious and dangerous amusement, often resulting in disease of the spine and brain.

FOR WORMS, give rue tea; for colic, catnip tea.

NEVER LET THE LITTLE CHILDREN go out of doors in winter without being warmly clad. They lose heat rapidly, and easily contract throat and lung affections. Every child should have full suits of underclothing; and especially let the legs and ankles be well protected with thick stockings and leggings.

BATHE CHILDREN IN THE FORENOON when possible, or, if not too tired, an hour before the evening meal; never for at least an hour after eating. When possible bathe before an open fire or in a warm room near, and rub dry before an open fire. It is injurious to bathe children on rising before breakfast, especially in cold weather. Washing the face, neck, and hands, and dressing, is enough before refreshing the body by eating. GREAT CARE MUST BE TAKEN that the navel of infants takes its proper place. If not attended to it is likely to puff out and produce a breach. If it shows any signs of protruding, round a piece of cork into a ball as large as a large marble, cover with linen, and lay over the navel, fastening it to its place by six or eight strips of adhesive plaster. Let it remain for a month or six weeks, as it will cause no inconvenience.

IF A SCURF OR MILK-CRUST appears on the head, do not apply water, but brush often gently with a soft baby's brush.

FOR CONSTIPATION, BRAN WATER is an excellent remedy. Boil two tablespoons bran in a pint of water for two hours, strain and use as food. It must be made fresh every day, and the fresher the better. NO CHILD SHOULD GO TO BED HUNGRY, but food taken near the hours of sleeping should be of the simplest nature,-a cracker, a bit of bread, or a glass of milk.

When lying on its back the food A BABY SHOULD SLEEP ON ITS SIDE. sometimes rises in its throat and chokes it.

GREAT CARE SHOULD BE TAKEN to shade a baby's eyes from the light. If a strong light shines directly in its face, it often produces ophthalmia, an inflammation of the eyelids, which is troublesome and dangerous. A few drops of breast-milk, applied to the eye and worked under the lid, is very to the eye and worked under the lid, is very healing to sore lids.

SOME BABIES' SKINS WILL NOT BEAR FLANNEL. In this case a linen shirt should be put on first, and flannel over it.

WHEN CHAFED, SQUEEZE COLD water over the parts chafed. Dry lightly without rubbing, and apply vaseline or cold cream.

IN CLEANSING THE EAR, penetrate no deeper than you can clearly see. Never scratch or inflame the entrance to the ear. The ear-wax is not dirt, and should not be removed, at least only that portion which is plainly visible should be disturbed. Pins and scrapers inserted in the ear are injurious. The wax will find its way out when too much is accumulated. Scraping produces irritation, discomfort, and calls for a repetition, which, after a time, produces disease. Sweetoil, glycerine, etc., are apt to clog the ear and produce inflammation. Syringing the ear with tepid water relieves itching. If cold air gives pain a little wool, placed in the ear while out of doors, will protect.

ALWAYS hold a baby with feet next the fire, when sitting in a room with a fire in it. The old adage, "Keep the feet warm and head cool," means a good deal.

Ir the children who attend school are puny and do not seem to thrive, take them away from school. Give the child a robust body, whether he is at the head or tail of his class.

DON'T give the baby cordials, soothing syrups, and sleeping-drops. Touch lightly paregoric. All such things injure the constitution of the child.

THE New York Sun says: "The pain of teething may be almost done away, and the health of the child benefited, by giving it fine splinters of ice, the health of the child benefited, by giving it fine splinters of ice, picked off with a pin, to melt in its mouth. The fragment is so small that it is but a drop of warm water before it can be swallowed, and the child without the slightest injury.

The avidity with which the little things taste the cooling morsel, the instant quiet which succeeds hours of fretfulness, and the sleep which follows the relief, are the best witnesses to this magic remedy. Ice may be fed to three months' child this way, each splinter being no longer than a common pin, for five or ten minutes, the result being that it has swallowed in that time a teaspoonful of warm water, which so far from being a harm, is good for it, and the process may be repeated hourly as often as the fretting fits from teething begin." IT is not necessary to wholly exclude the light from the room when the babe is born. The admission of sunlight should be regulated; but a soft is born. The admission of sunlight should be regulated; but a soft and pleasant light is a benefit to both mother and child. The baby should not be carried into a glowing sunshine , but should become gradually accustomed to the light. For restlessness or colic in children, give a warm bath at bed-time, dry quickly with soft towels, and rub well with the hand; dress loosely, wrap in flannel blanket, warm and lay away to sleep. 66 FOR colic, give three or four swallows of warm water; place one hand on stomach and one on back, and give a lively trotting. This is better than a barrel of soothing syrup. If one do, try two, or three even, with a drink of warm water before starting. For trip to Boston" on the knee will not sore mouth or constipation, give three or four good swallows of cold water the first thing in the morning. This is both a preventive and a cure.

ONE of the best remedies for chafing is cocoa butter, which may be had in cakes, at any drug store. Warm slightly, if necessary, and apply to the cakes, at any drug store. Warm slightly, if necessary, and apply to the chafed parts. Cocoa butter is also excellent for greasing in scarlet fever.

Among the old-fashioned and good remedies fo fatty inside of the rind of a piece of smoked ham. for the same purpose is the FOR colds, hoarseness, or indications of croup, slice raw onions, sprinkle with granulated sugar, let stand until the juice is extracted (to hasten the granulated sugar, let stand until the juice is extracted (to hasten the flow of the juice, place in heater for a few moments), pour off juice, and give a teaspoonful every hour, or oftener if the case is severe.

GREASING the navel, bowels, and up and down spine, at night before going to bed, promotes regular action of the bowels, and cures constipation. bed, promotes regular action of the bowels, and cures constipation.

IF injections are necessary for babies, warm water with a very little pure soap dissolved in it is better than inserting a piece of hard soap, as is dissolved in it is better than inserting a piece of hard soap, as is often done. Small syringes with flexible tubes, are now made, and are much safer than the old form of syringe.

Sweet flag, which may be obtained in a dried state at any drug store, is an excellent remedy for colic in children. Make a mild tea of it, sweeten, excellent remedy for colic in children . Make a mild tea of it, sweeten, and give a teaspoonful whenever there are signs of trouble coming on.

For teething children, an ivory ring, a silver dollar, or some similar article should be provided for them to bite on. to drink.

Or dip the end of the finger in cold water and rub the inflamed Give plenty of pure water gums.

In washing children, do not let the water run into the ears. should never be washed in a careless, slipshod manner. The excretions never be washed in a careless, slipshod manner.

Children and the exhalations of the skin are often acrid enough to produce great irritation and suffering, and careful washing, with liberal enough use of water to insure cleanliness, and a rapid and thorough drying, removing every particle of moisture in all the crevices of the skin, and that with a gentle hand. Use as little soap as possible, and that the finest kind, and be sure to wash it off thoroughly with pure soft water. After the surface is well dried, any harmless powder, such as corn starch, may be used to prevent chafing.

In the case of a sick child, if the skin is tender when there is pressure, wash with diluted camphor water. Sick children should not lie long in one position, and the bed should be as smooth as possible. If there is any disease in the head, a pillow of finely shredded corn-husks should take the place of a feather pillow. Cool, salt-water baths remove the prickly heat that is so annoying in summer.

THE warm bath, the water being at about the same heat as the surface of the body, is best for young children. As they grow older the bath may be made cooler.

ALWAYS be able to have a fire in at least one room in the house, even in the warmest season, if there are children in the family. In the Northern States there is rarely a month in the year during which there is not an occasional day or evening when fire would be beneficial. Children should always play on the sunny side of the yard or street in cold weather. The sun-warmed air is what they need. Children less than four years old ought not to play out of doors when the thermometer ranges lower than 25° above zero.

To ventilate apartments without causing a draft, raise the lower sash four to six inches, and place under it a board perfectly fitted to the casing, SO as it a board perfectly fitted to the casing, so as to shut out all air. The cold, outside air then passes upward between the sash, to the upper part of the room, and is diffused without causing a draft. The night air is not objectionable, except in malarious regions. Indeed, in cities, the night air is purer than what is abroad by day. In the hot season, children should be kept out of the sun after ten o'clock, and may sit up later than usual at night to enjoy the cool evenings. Excessive heat is as fatal as excessive cold. Keep the baby cool by baths, but never put it to sleep in a room from which the sunshine is constantly kept. No room can be wholesome where sunshine is never admitted.