Important: Safety Warning
This page recommends pest-control substances such as arsenic compounds, strychnine, or cyanide — in some cases applied to food crops. These substances are lethal to humans and animals, and their use is now banned or strictly controlled.
This page gives advice for salvaging or disguising food that has begun to spoil. Spoiled food can carry dangerous bacteria and toxins that no washing, soaking, or seasoning removes; it should be discarded.
This page directs the use of hazardous substances — such as benzine, gasoline, lye, or strong acids — for household tasks. These materials are highly flammable, corrosive, or poisonous, and the practices described have caused fires, burns, and poisonings.
This page describes collecting wild birds' eggs, shooting birds for specimens, or similar practices. These activities are now illegal under wildlife-protection laws, including the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, and they contributed to the decline of the very species described.
This information has been left in for historical purposes but should not be acted upon.
Home › Miscellaneous › To Make Boots and Shoes Durable
To Make Boots and Shoes Durable
.-- Apply to the soles four or five successive coats of gum-copal varnish; and, to the uppers, a mixture of four parts of lard to one of rosin.
Apply while warm.
TO GET LIGHT IN A WELL OR CISTERN. - Reflect it in by a looking-glass. Any steel or metal lost in a cistern may be drawn out by lowering a strong magnet.
TO CATCH WILD DUCKS OR GEESE ALIVE.-Soak wheat in strong alcohol, and scatter where they are in the habit of feeding, and take them while they are drunk. scatter where they are in the habit of feeding, and take them while they are drunk.
TO MAKE ARTIFICIAL BUTTER. -Render beef suet at a very low temperature , churn it in fresh buttermilk and yolks of eggs, and treat like butter, when removed. POUNDED GLASS-mixed with dry corn-meal, and placed within the reach pepper in their holes. of rats, it is said, will banish them from the premises; or sprinkle cayenne rats, it is said, will banish them from the premises; or sprinkle cayenne pepper in their holes.
SPOTS ON VARNISHED FURNITURE are readily removed by rubbing them with essence of peppermint or spirits of camphor, and afterwards with "furniture polish" or oil. TO KEEP SEEDS from the depredations of mice, mix some pieces of camphor with them. Camphor placed in trunks or drawers will prevent mice from doing them injury.
FURNITURE FILLING. - Mix two gallons plaster of paris, one pint flour, one ounce each of pulverized pumice-stone and prepared chalk; add one ounce each of pulverized pumice-stone and prepared chalk; add one half gallon boiled oil and one gill Japan drying.
TO BLOW OUT A CANDLE. - If a candle is blown out by an upward instead of a downward current of air, the wick will not smoulder down. Hold the a downward current of air, the wick will not smoulder down. Hold the candle higher than the mouth in blowing it out.
TIME TO CUT TIMBER. - Hard wood for timber or fire-wood should be cut in August, September or October. Hoop-poles should be cut before frost August, September or October. Hoop-poles should be cut before frost comes: cut at other times, there is danger of worms.
A WET SILK HAT. - Shake off the water, rub the way the nap lies with a clean linen cloth or silk handkerchief, and hang some distance from the clean linen cloth or silk handkerchief, and hang some distance from the fire to dry; a few hours after , brush with a soft brush.
TO MAKE OLD VARNISH DRY. - "Sticky" varnish may be dried by apply. ing a coat of benzine, and, after two or three days, apply a coat of good a coat of benzine, and, after two or three days, apply a coat of good varnish, and let dry thoroughly before using the furniture.
DISCOLORATIONS ON CUSTARD CUPS.-To take the brown discolorations off of cups in which custards are baked: Rub with damp flannel dipped in best whiting. Scouring sand or sand soap will answer the purpose. TO PRESERVE STEEL PENS.-Steel pens are destroyed by corrosion from acid in the ink. Put in the ink some nails or old steel pens, and the acid will exhaust itself on them, and the pens in use will not corrode. TO KEEP RUSSIA IRON PIPE OR STOVES during the summer: Give them a good coat of coal-oil all over, and put away in a dry place. In the fall give it a fresh coat of oil or benzine, and rub it all off clean and dry. BUCKEYE POLISH. - Take one ounce each shellac and coal-oil, half an ounce each linseed oil and turpentine, bottle and keep well corked, shake well before using and apply with a sponge. Good for marred furniture. FOR POULTRY. - Fish are an excellent food for poultry; largely increasing the production of eggs. Those who have tried the experiment have discarded all the patent egg-producing foods in the market, and feed fish. WOOD-may be fastened to stone with a cement made of four parts of pitch, four parts of pounded brick-dust or chalk, and one part of beeswax. Warm it before using, and apply a thin coating to the surfaces to be joined. OUTSIDE GARMENTS. - Bonnets, cloaks, hats, shawls, scarfs, and the like, will last clean and fresh much longer if the dust is carefully removed from them by brushing and shaking after returning from a ride or walk. NEW ROPE may be made pliable by boiling it in water for a couple of hours. Its strength is not diminished, but its stiffness is gone. It must hang in a warm room until thoroughly dried, and must not be allowed to kink.
RAZOR STRAPS-are kept in order by applying a few drops of sweet-oil. After using a strap, the razor takes a keen edge by passing it over the palm of the warm hand; dipping it in warm water also makes it cut more keenly.
MICA WINDOWS in stoves (often wrongly called "isinglass"), when smoked, are readily cleaned by taking out and thoroughly washing with vinegar a little diluted. If the black does not come off at once, let it soak a little.
ARRANGE FLAT-IRONS on the stove in two rows, "heel and toe," or so that when ready for a hot flat you can take the next one in order without loss of time in trying or "sissing" them, being sure of getting the one that has been heated the longest.
CHAPPED HANDS.-Grind one side of a pumice stone; wet, and, with the smooth side, rub the hands. If badly chapped, oil them at night, and dry in by the fire; or, at night, wet the hands, and rub a little honey over them, drying it in before the fire.
CHICKADEES IN WINTER.-A cup of pumpkin-seeds, set on the windowsill, will attract chickadees, and they will become quite tame, and are very amusing with their antics. They may be kept about the house from December to May by feeding and kind treatment. SHELLAC VARNISH.-Put shellac in a bottle, pour 90 per cent. alcohol to cover, cork tight and put in a warm room, shake occasionally, and if not all dissolved in three or four days, add more alcohol. This is good to varnish almost any thing, and will dry in half an hour.
FRICTION MATCHES-should never be left where the mice will get them, as they carry them to their nests, and sometimes ignite them. They are poison to children, and are dangerous to women, who ignite them by stepping on them, and endangering their clothing from fire.
TO PREVENT PUMPS FROM FREEZING. - Take out the lower valve in the fall, and drive a tack under it, projecting in such a way that it can not quite close. The water will then leak back into the well or cistern, while the working qualities of the pump will not be damaged .
VALUABLE CEMENT. - TWO parts, by weight, of common pitch and one part gutta percha, melted together in an iron vessel, makes a cement that holds together, with wonderful tenacity, wood, stone, ivory, leather, porcelain, silk, woolen or cotton. It is well adapted to aquariums CEMENT FOR RUBBER OR LEATHER.-Dissolve one ounce of gutta percha in one-half pound chloroform. Clean the parts to be cemented; cover each with solution, and let them dry twenty or thirty minutes; warm each part in the flame of the candle, and press very firmly together till dry. INSURANCE. -Suppose your barn or house should take fire to-night and be burned down, would you know, without investigating, that it was fully insured and that the policy was good and tight? Some insurance companies have a keen scent for flaws in policies and often find them. Don't let them ever find one in yours. Always insure in companies known to be sound. TO MAKE OLD PAINT DRY.-Old paint which is "sticky" may be made hard and dry by applying a coat of benzine, then after a day or two, if the coat of paint is good, go over it with a thin coat of laquer mixed with one third of its bulk of boiled oil. If paint is thin apply a second coat in which more laquer is used.
TO RENOVATE HAT-BANDS WHEN STAINED BY SWEAT. - Dissolve one and a half ounces white castile soap in four ounces alcohol and one ounce each of sulphuric ether and aqua ammonia, apply with a sponge or toothbrush, rub smartly, rinse out with clear rain-water. This is equally good to renovate any cloth with fast color.
TO THAW OUT A PUMP.-Pour hot water directly on the ice, through a tin tube, lowering it as fast as the ice thaws. Ice may be thawed in this way at the rate of a foot a minute; while, by pouring hot water into the pump, the ice would hardly be affected, the hot water being lighter than the cold, and rising to the top.
WATER-PROOF SHOES. -To make shoes water-proof and make them last a long time, dissolve beeswax and add a little sweet-oil to thin it. Before the shoes are worn, warm the soles and pour the melted wax on with a teaspoon; and then hold it close to the fire till it soaks into the leather; then add more till the leather ceases to absorb it.
DIAMOND CEMENT. - Dissolve thirteen ounces of white glue in a tin dish containing a pint and a half soft water (set in a kettle containing boiling water); when the glue is dissolved, stir in three ounces of white lead, and boil till well mixed; remove from fire, and, when cool, add half pint alcohol; bottle immediately, and keep well corked. A GOOD PASTE.--To one pint cold water add two heaping table-spoons flour. Put the flour in a pan, add a little of the water, stirring until smooth; then add the rest of the water, stir thoroughly, place on the stove and stir constantly until it boils. After taking from the stove, add one-fourth teaspoon ground cloves to keep it sweet.
PIECE-BAGS.-White cotton piece-bags hung in the linen closet are a great convenience; have them made with a string to draw from both sides; mark in large letters in indelible ink, "Merino and Cloth," "Cotton and Linen Sundries," "Dress Pieces," "Old Linen," "Worsted and Yarn," "Old Silk," "Thread and Tape," "Old Gloves," etc.
TO REMOVE WHITE SPOTS ON FURNITURE, caused by a hot iron or hot water, or to restore blistered furniture. - Rub with a No. 1 sand-paper somewhat worn, or apply pulverized pumice stone mixed with a few drops of linseed oil, then with a cotton cloth rub on some shellac varnish thinned well with turpentine. Or, rub with spirits of camphor. WEIGHT OF GRAIN. - Wheat 60 pounds in all states except Connecticut, where it is 56; corn 56, except in New York, where it is 58; oats 32; barley 48; buckwheat 46 to 50, but generally 48; clover seed 60, but 64 in Ohio and New Jersey; timothy 41; flaxseed 56; potatoes 60; beans 60, but in Ohio 56, and New York 62; dried peaches 28 to 33; dried apples 22 to 28. UNFERMENTED WINE FOR COMMUNION. - Weigh the grapes, pick from the stems, put in a porcelain kettle, add very little water, and cook till stones and pulp separate; press and strain through a thick cloth, return juice to kettle, and add three pounds sugar to every ten pounds grapes; heat to simmering, bottle hot, and seal. This makes one gallon, and is good. 1 TO SOFTEN SPONGES. - A sponge when first purchased is frequently hard, stiff and gritty. To soften it, and dislodge the particles of sea-sand from its crevices, having first soaked and squeezed it through several cold waters, put the sponge into a clean tin sauce-pan, set it over the fire, and boil it a quarter of an hour. Then take it out into a bowl of cold water, and squeeze it well. Wash out the sauce-pan, and return the sponge to it, filling up with clean, cold water, and boil it another quarter of an hour. Repeat the process, giving it three boils in fresh water, or more than three if you find it still gritty. Take care not to let it boil too long, or it will become tender and drop to pieces.
EXTRAS THROWN IN. - To purify a room of unpleasant odors, burn vinegar, resin, or sugar; to make chicken gravy richer, add eggs found in chicken, or, if none, yolk of an egg: soak garden seeds in hot water a few seconds before planting; to prevent cholera in chickens, put assafoetida in water they drink, and let them pick at coal ashes; in using hard water for dish water add a little milk; to clean paint, add to two quarts hot water, two table-spoons turpentine and one of skimmed milk, and only soap enough to make suds, and it will clean and give luster; iron rust on marble can generally be removed with lemon-juice; a thin coat of varnish applied to straw-matting makes it more durable and adds to its beauty.
BOLOGNA SAUSAGE. -Take equal portions of fresh pork, veal, and ham or salt pork, chop them fine or grind, and mix together thoroughly; to nine pounds of the meat allow ten tea-spoons powdered sage, two each of cayenne and black pepper, one grated nutmeg, one teaspoon cloves, one minced onion, and sweet herbs to taste; mix well and stuff into beef intestines. (Wash the intestines thoroughly and cut them into lengths of two yards each; turn inside out, and again wash thoroughly in warm water, scraping with a scraper made for this purpose purpose; throw into salt water to soak till used. Great care will be necessary in cleaning cases to avoid tearing them.) Tie up both ends of the bag tightly, prick in several places, and boil slowly for an hour; then dry them in the sun, and hang them in a cool dry cellar, after rubbing the outside of the skins with melted butter. These are eaten without further cooking, and are very nice.
BLACK FOR WOOLENS. - One ounce vitriol, one ounce extract logwood to two pounds goods; color in iron. Dissolve the extract over night in warm water; pulverize the vitriol, put it into boiling water sufficient to cover the goods; wash the goods well, rinse in warm water, then simmer a few minutes in vitriol water; take out, wash thoroughly in clear water, then dip in boiling logwood dye till the color is good, stirring often and lifting up so it will get the air; dry, then wash in a suds and rinse. In renovating black alpaca that has become rusty, dissolve the logwood only, as nothing is needed to set the color. Wash the goods well in suds, rinse, dip in logwood dye, boil a few minutes, stirring and lifting to air. When dry, wash again in suds and rinse in water in which a little gum m arabic has been dissolved, and press smoothly on the wrong side while damp. Dyed in this way the color will not rub off more than from new goods, and looks as good as new. When extract of logwood is used, it is only needful to boil enough to dissolve before putting in the goods. THE CISTERN.-An abundant supply of good water is a necessity for every house, and capacious cisterns are a necessity. Two essential requisites are good hydraulic lime and clean pure sand. The hydraulic cement becomes in a few months as hard as sandstone, but the sand must never exceed two parts to one of lime. The cheapest form of cistern is simply a hole dug in the ground with sides sloping like those of a narrow bottomed tub. The water lime mortar is applied directly to these sides, the shape of the sides sustaining the mortar until it hardens. The breadth of such a cistern, if large, makes it difficult to cover, but this may be done with a plank supported by strong scantling, over which should be placed earth to the depth of the lowest frost. There must be a hole through the covering, left for cleaning, which should be curbed, and may admit the pump if the locality is right, or a pipe may go from cistern into cellar below the frost line, and thence to the kitchen. The mortar on the walls should never be less than an inch thick, and they should have at least two coats, and three are better. As the mortar begins to dry in a very short time after mixing, it is best to mix the lime and sand dry, and apply water to small quantities at a time as needed. A more capacious cistern may be made at a greater expense by digging a hole with perpendicular walls, and laying walls of brick in the form of the upper half of a barrel, on which to lay the mortar. This form has a smaller top, and is much more easily covered than the other. The wall should be laid as well as plastered with water-lime. A filtering attachment is made by building a small receiving cistern beside the larger one, with filtering apparatus between them, or a strong wall may be built through the middle of the cistern, receiving the water in one division and filtering it through into the other.
LIME-WATER AND ITS USES.-Place a piece of unslaked lime (size is immaterial, as the water will take up only a certain quantity) in a perfectly clean bottle, and fill with cold water; keep corked in a cellar or cool dark place; it is ready for use in a few minutes, and the clear lime-water may be used whenever it is needed. When the water is poured off, add more; this may be done three or four times, after which some new lime must be used as at first. A tea-spoon in a cup of milk is a remedy for children's summer complaint; also for acidity of the stomach; when added to milk it has no unpleasant taste. When put into milk that would otherwise curdle when heated, it prevents its curlding, so that it can then be used for puddings and pies. A small quantity of it will prevent the "turning" of cream and milk. It also sweetens and purifies bottles which have contained milk. Some add a cupful to a sponge of bread to prevent it from souring. THE LIGHTNING ROD. - When properly put up, the lightning rod is a perfect protection; but, when not scientifically constructed, is only a source of danger. The following are essentials: 1. It must extend several feet into the ground so as always to be in contact with moist earth, or into a never-failing supply of water; 2. It must be sharp at the top, and, if there are several points, all the better; 3. It must be half as high above the top of the building as the distance horizontally to the most remote part of the roof of the building; 4. It should be large enough to convey off every discharge without being melted or broken; 5. The best material is iron with copper below the surface of the ground, as iron rusts away rapidly in the moist earth. Copper is the best conductor, but costs more, and is not as stiff to withstand the wind. One-half to five-eighths of an inch in diameter is large enough. Bright points are not essential, and glass insulators are of no use whatever, as when wet they are good conductors, and, even if they were not, a small charge even would leap across the short distance from the rod to the iron staple. The best way to fasten the joints, is to weld them, which any blacksmith can do, passing the rod through opposite doors of his shop, afterwards dragging it home. If the building is so high that it can not be readily put up in one piece, the best joint is made by screwing the two ends firmly into one nut. The points are easily made by welding several smaller wires to the large one, and filing them sharp. A rod will protect a space the distance of which is four times the height of the rod. The cheapest and best support is wood. The only point to be considered is to secure the rod firmly. The round rods are the best. If there are iron water-pipes or steam-pipes in the building, they should all be connected with the lightning rod, or directly with the moist earth, eight or ten feet below the surface.
CANARY BIRDS.-Do not keep in a room that is being painted or has odor of new paint. Do not hang over a stove or grate which contains fire. Do not set the cage in a window, and shut it down upon it; the draft is injurious. Do not wash cage bottom, but scrape clean with a knife, and then put on some fresh gravel; the moisture breeds red mites, and is injurious to the bird. Do not keep the birds you intend to breed in the spring together during the winter. Do not keep single birds in a room where others are breeding, or males and females in mating season in the same room in separate cages, as it is likely to cause mating fever. Feed canary on rape seed, but no hemp. For diarrhea put a rusty piece of iron in dish water, changing water not oftener than twice a week, and bread boiled in milkas for asthma; boil well in this case, SO that when cold it will cut like cheese; give freely with plenty of vegetables.
Moulting is not a disease, yet during this season all birds are more or less sick, and some suffer severely. They require plenty of nourishing food. Worms, insects, and fruits to those which eat them; and to those which live upon dry seeds, bread dipped in milk, fruit and vegetables. The German metallic-enameled cages are the best-white and green (a combination of) or a light chocolate are the best colors; they are not painted as are the cages made here in America, but the color is burnt into the wires. Avoid wooden or brass cages, also conical "fountains" for food and drink; for the latter, square or round cups of china or glass are the best. The perches should be plain, round, unvarnished sticks, and no two of the same size. Clean the cage thoroughly every morning. Prepare fresh, clean bathing and drinking water, and if sand is used on the bottom of cage, clean it (the sand) by boiling in water. Scrape the perches well, and twice a week plunge them in boiling water to kill any red mites that may have lodged there. Give plenty of seed, also green parts of many plants, such as poppy, rape, hemp, etc.; also the seeds of of weeds like the chickweed , plantain, etc., and the fresh, tender leaves of beets, cabbage and lettuce. Avoid fruits containing a large percentage of acid, but give occasionally a hard-boiled egg. Never give them sugar, but all the red pepper they will eat. It is the best thing for them. And if your bird feels hoarse at any time, put a piece of fat salt pork in the cage and see how the little fellow will enjoy it. Give him it .
Give him flax-seed once in a while, and if he appears dumpy occasionally give him a diet of bread and water, with red pepper sprinkled in. For lice, cleanliness is the best preventive, but not always sure. For cure you have simply to cover your cage at night with a white cloth, rise early in the morning, remove the cloth and dip in scalding hot water. BED-BUGS. To banish bed-bugs after they have got into the walls and ceilings of a house, close all doors and windows and burn brimstone, by throwing it upon red hot coals in an iron kettle set in the middle of the room. Or heat a piece of iron red hot, place in a kettle, throw in the brimstone, and leave room closed for twenty-four hours. It is death to the vermin.
TO CURE A BURN. - Wet a cloth and sprinkle it with carbonate of soda (common cooking soda) and bind it on the burn. It quickly stops the pain, and is a harmless and thorough remedy. If no cloth is at hand, wet the part burned and sprinkle dry soda on it.
USE OF BORAX. - Borax water will instantly remove all soils and stains from the hands, and heal all scratches and chafes. To make it, put crude borax into a large bottle and fill with water. When the borax is dissolved add more to the water, until at last the water can absorb no more, and a and a residuum remains at the bottom of the bottle. To the water in which the hands are to be washed pour from this bottle enough to make it very soft. It is very cleansing and healthy. By its use the hands will be kept in excellent condition-soft, smooth and white.
USES OF CHARCOAL. -Charcoal laid flat while cold on a burn, cause the pain to abate immediately; by leaving it on for an hour the burn seems almost healed when the wouud is superficial. Tainted meat surrounded with it, is sweetened. Strewn over heaps of decomposed pelts, or over dead animals, charcoal prevents any unpleasant odor. Foul water is purified by it. It is a great disinfectant, and sweetens offensive air if placed in shallow trays around apartments. It is so very porous that it absorbs and condenses gasses rapidly. One cubic inch of fresh charcoal will absorb one hundred inches of gaseous ammonia. Charcoal forms an excellent poultice for malignant wounds and sores. In cases of what is called proud flesh it is invaluable. It gives no disagreeable odor, corrodes no metal, hurts no texture, injures no color, is a simple and safe sweetener and disinfectant. A teaspoonful of charcoal, in half a glass of water, often relieves a sick headache. It absorbs the gases and relieves the distended stomach pressing against the nerves, which extend from the stomach to the head. It often relieves constipation, pain or heart disease.
LIME IN CANS.-Lime ground and pulverized for white-washing purposes is put in cans and sold by druggists. It is convenient in form and excellent.
TO CLEAN A BROWN PORCELAIN KETTLE, boil peeled potatoes in it. The porcelain will be rendered nearly as white as when new. TO MAKE SHOES DURABLE.-A coat of gum copal varnish applied to the soles of boots and shoes, and repeated as it dries until the pores are filled and the surface shines like polished mahogony, will make the soles waterproof, and make them last three times as long. EBONIZING WOOD.-Wash any close-grained wood with a strong boiling decoction of logwood two or three times, allowing the wood to dry between the applications. Then wash with a solution of acetrate of iron (made by dissolving iron filings in strong vinegar).
TO REMOVE RUST FROM A STOVEPIPE. - Rub with linseed oil (a little goes a great way); build a slow fire till it is dry. Oil in the Spring to prevent it from rusting.
TO CURE A KICKING COW. - Take a strap an inch wide and buckle tight around each hind leg, just above the hock, tight enough to slightly compress the ham-string. Then she can not kick. In fly time take in the tail with the leg and you will not swear.
HANDLES.-Knife and fork handles that have become loosened may be fastened by taking a piece of quill, putting it into the handle, and pushing the knife or fork in firmly, after first heating it.
HOW TO DETECT POISON IVY. -The poison ivy and the innocuous kind differ in one particular which is too easy of remembrance to be overlooked by any one who is interested enough in the brilliant-hued leaves of autumn to care for gathering them; the leaves of the former grow in clusters of threes, and those of the latter in fives. As somebody has suggested in a juvenile story book, every child should be taught to associate the five leaves in a cluster with the fingers on the human hand, and given to understand that when these numbers agree they can be brought into contact with perfect safety. It may spare our readers no little suffering to bear this point in mind during their October rambles in the fields.
TO CURE WORMS IN HORSES. - Put a handful of sifted wood ashes in a quart bottle, and fill the bottle with cider vinegar. It will foam like soda water. It should be given to the horse the moment it foams. Two bottles will cure the worst case of worms. Forty years' experience attests the efficiency of this. Never known to fail.
HARMONIOUS COLOR CONTRASTS. -The following list of harmonizing colors will be found very useful in selecting wall decorations or colors for any purpose: Red with green, blue with orange, yellow with violet, black with warmbrown, violet with pale-green, violet with light-rose, deep blue with goldenbrown, chocolate with light blue, deep red with gray, maroon with warmgreen, deep blue with pink, chocolate with pea-green, maroon with deep blue, claret with buff, black with warm-green.
BRANCHES of the elder-bush hung in the dining-room of a house, will clear the room of flies. There is an odor which the insects detest. room of flies. There is an odor which the insects detest. TO CLEAN LOOKING-GLASSES. - Keep for this purpose a piece of sponge, a cloth, and a silk handkerchief, all entirely free from dirt, as the least grit will scratch the fine surface of the glass. First sponge it with a little spirits of . wine, gin-and-water, so as to clean off all spots; then dust over it powder blue, tied in muslin, rub it lightly and quickly off with the cloth, and finish by rubbing it with the silk handkerchief. Be careful not to rub the edges of the frame.
AN EASY WAY TO CLEAN SILVER ARTICLES. -Set fire to some wheat-straw, collect the ashes, and, after powdering it, sift it through muslin. the silver plate with a little of it applied to some soft leather. Polish FRECKLE CURE. -Take 2 oz. lemon juice, or half a dram of powdered borax, and one dram of sugar; mix together, and let them stand in a glass bottle for one dram of sugar; mix together, and let them stand in a glass bottle for a few days, then rub on the face occasionally.
YANKEE SHAVING SOAP. - Take 3 lbs. white bar soap; 1 lb. Castile soap; 1 quart rain water; 1/2 qt. beef's gall; 1 gill spirits of turpentine. Cut the soap into thin slices, and boil five minutes after the soap is dissolved, stir while boiling; scent with oil of rose or almonds. If wished to color it, use ½ oz. vermilion.
BLOOM OF YOUTH. - Boil 1 ounce of Brazil wood in 3 pints of water for 15 minutes; strain. Add 34 oz. isinglass 1/4 oz. cochineal, 1 oz. alum, ½ oz. borax. Dissolve by heat, and strain.
COLOGNE WATER. -Oils of rosemary and lemon, of each 4 oz.; oils of bergamot and lavender, each ½ oz.; oil cinnamon, 8 drops; oils of cloves and rose, each 15 drops; best deodorized alcohol, 2 qts.; shake two or three times per day for a week.
TO CLEAN OLD MARBLE. -Take a bullock's gall, 1 gill soap lees, half a gill of turpentine; make into a paste with pipeclay, apply it to the marble; let it dry a day or two, and then rub it off, and it will appear equal to new; if very dirty, repeat the application.
TO EXTRACT OIL FROM MARBLE OR STONE.-Soft soap, 1 part; fullers'-earth, 2 parts; potash, 1 part; boiling water to mix. Lay it on the spots of grease, and let it remain for a few hours.
THE BEST RAT TRAP.-Rats are very sharp to spy out traps. Any trap that has caught one without being deodorized is not likely to catch another, and caught one without being deodorized is not likely to catch another, and old ones are hard to catch by any sort of trap. The best method, however, is to fill a common wash boiler one-third full of water, and sprinkle over the surface a few handfuls of oats. These will float on the surface and look like a tempting feast, but the rat that ventures in is drowned. By placing a block of wood in the center large enough to float.one rat, its cries will often call more in. This trap will prove effective when others fail. TO RENEW STAINED FLOORS-that have grown a little dull, rub thoroughly with beeswax and turpentine. Repeat this whenever they need it. TO CLEAN VARNISHED FURNITURE, there is nothing so good as a woolen rag dampened in spirits of turpentine. This takes all the dust and cloud from carvings and panels. When they have been thoroughly cleaned with the turpentine, go over the surface again with a bit of flannel dipped in linseed oil, rubbing it well into the wood.
COWS AND TURNIPS. - To prevent the odor and flavor of turnips from appearing in the milk, feed while milking, and the flavor will have disappeared before the next milking. With this precaution, feeding turnips will increase the flow without injuring the quality or flavor of milk. CARE OF A CARRIAGE. - A carriage should be kept in a dry coach-house, with a moderate amount of light, otherwise the colors will be destroyed. There should be no communication between the stables and the coach-house. The manure heap or pit should also be kept as far away as possible. Ammonia cracks varnish and fades the colors both of painting and lining. In washing a carriage, keep out of the sun and use plenty of water which apply with a large, soft sponge. This, when saturated, squeeze over the panels, and by the flow down of the water the dirt will soften and harmlessly run off, then finish with a soft chamois leather and old silk handkerchief. Never use a brush, which, in conjunction with the grit from the road, acts like sand-paper on the varnish, scratching it, and of course effectually removing all gloss. Never allow water to dry itself on the carriage as it invariably leaves stains. THE FAMILY Cow. -The best cows are usually the thinnest ones and the largest eaters. The warmer the stable is kept the less food will she require. Linseed oil-cake meal gives a greasy, unpleasant flavor, and light color to butter. Winter and Spring butter is often injured in flavor by allowing cows to eat the litter from horse stables.
TO FRESHEN OLD HICKORY NUTS FOR CAKE MAKING. - Put large ones in boiling water for half an hour and small ones for a quarter hour, crack, pick out meats being careful not to mix in any pieces of shell or the film that divides the two halves, If the meats seem damp, place for a few moments in the oven to dry out. Now place in a sieve and rub gently to remove all the dark portions that adhere to the meats, and they are ready to be chopped for the cake. Chop very fine for icings, but only moderately fine for cake.