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AMERICAN 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA 
 
 OR 
 
 HOME BOOK OF USEFUL KNOWLEDGE. 
 
 A 
 
 COMPLETE FAMILY GUIDE TO SUCCESS IN LIFE, 
 
 CONTRIBUTING TO 
 
 HEALTH, WEALTH, WISDOM AND HAPPINESS 
 
 CONTAINING THE EXPERIENCE OF THOSE AMONG 
 
 THE WISEST, BEST AND MOST SUCCESSFUL MEN AND WOMEN 
 
 OF EVERY PROFESSION AND PURSUIT. 
 
 ON SUBJECTS ADAPTED TO THE WANTS AND NECESSITIES OF ALL 
 PERSONS, OLD AND YOUNG, MALE AND FEMALE. 
 
 COLLECTED AND ARRANGED BY 
 
 A. J. CAMPBELL. 
 
 SOLD TO SUBSCRIBERS ONLY. 
 
 CLEVELAND, OHIO: 
 
 PUBLISHED EY Al. J. CAMPBELL. 
 1872. 
 
Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1866, by 
 A. J. CAMPBELL, 
 
 In the Clerk’s Office of the District Court of the United States for the Northern 
 
 District of Ohio. 
 
£ fYUi 3 3 /71 £- 
 
 CONTENTS 
 
 v7 
 
 Page 
 
 The Family 7 
 
 Home 11 
 
 Kindness 16 
 
 To Husbands r 23 
 
 Value of a Female Adviser 27 
 
 The Worth of a True Wife 28 
 
 To Wives 32 
 
 The Father 35 
 
 The Mother. 36 
 
 To Mothers 40 
 
 Management of Children 45 
 
 Family Worship 54 
 
 Eight to Sixteen... 55 
 
 Rules for Home Education 56 
 
 Duties of Parents to Schools 57 
 
 Children 59 
 
 To Boys 65 
 
 A Hint to Youth 70 
 
 To Young Ladies 72 
 
 The Bible 73 
 
 Christ the Model Man 75 
 
 To Parents and Teachers — Why Teachers Fail 77 
 
 Education 79 
 
 Knowledge 81 
 
 Wisdom 82 
 
 Science and Philosophy 82 
 
 \ The Benefit of Singing. 83 
 
 Music at Home 84 
 
 Reading — What to Read and How to Read 85 
 
 Newspapers and their Value 88 
 
 Novel Reading 90 
 
 Wit.. 95 
 
 Argument 96 
 
 Self-Reliance 97 
 
 Character. 100 
 
 Cheerfulness 105 
 
 Economy 109 
 
 Actions 116 
 
 Industry. 118 
 
 Habit 122 
 
 Observation 3 28 
 
 Opportunity 130 
 
 1 042922 
 
IV 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 Purpose i3p 
 
 Will 140 
 
 Patience 143 
 
 Manners 149 
 
 Principle and Right 152 
 
 Promptitude 153 
 
 Courage 154 
 
 Contentment 159 
 
 Labor 162 
 
 The True Gentleman 167 
 
 Success 170 
 
 Honor. 175 
 
 Honesty..' 176 
 
 Punctuality 179 
 
 Fortitude 183 
 
 Independence I 184 
 
 Prudence ' 184 
 
 Saving 186 
 
 Energy 191 
 
 Action 195 
 
 Employment 196 
 
 Occupation j 198 
 
 Integrity 201 
 
 Calmness 202 
 
 Caution 204 
 
 Bright Side 205 
 
 Hope. * 209 
 
 Spirits 210 
 
 Example 210 
 
 Application . 211 
 
 Early Rising. * 212 
 
 Never Too Old to Learn .> 213 
 
 Beginnings 214 
 
 Early Obscurity and Future Eminence 217 
 
 Little Things 224 
 
 Maxims, Precepts and Rules. 229 
 
 Business 236 
 
 Buildings and Building Materials 243 
 
 Wells, Cisterns, Filters and Ice Houses 274 
 
 Paints and Painting 285 
 
 Whitewashes, <fcc 293 
 
 Bleaching and Staining Wood 297 
 
 Varnishes, Lacquers, Bronzes, (fee 299 
 
 Protecting and Preserving Wood and Iron 305 
 
 Loather, Hides, Tanning and Dressing 308 
 
 Cements and Glues 318 
 
 Miscellaneous. 323 
 
 Silvering, Galvanizing, Gilding, &c 335 
 
 Testing Gold, Silver and Diamonds 337 
 
 Detecting Counterfeit and Spurious Bank Notes 339 
 
 On Farming 345 
 
 Plowing, Draining, Fertilizing and Fencing.... 355 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 V 
 
 Farming Tools and Implements, Wagons, Harness, &c * 3(»4 
 
 Grasses, Pastures, Meadows, Hay, &c 368 
 
 Cereals and Seeds * 373 
 
 Cultivating Vegetables 382 
 
 The Vegetable Garden. * 391 
 
 The Flower Garden and House Plants 398 
 
 Lawn and Trees - 411 
 
 The Culture of Orchard Fruits 422 
 
 Small Fruits of Garden and Vineyard 436 
 
 Care and Management of the Horse 450 
 
 Diseases of the Horse and Remedies 459 
 
 Care and Management of Cattle 465 
 
 Diseases of Cattle and Remedies * 478 
 
 Management of Sheep f ... 482 
 
 Diseases of Sheep and Remedies 487 
 
 Raising and Fattening Hogs 488 
 
 Diseases of Hogs and Remedies 493 
 
 Management of Poultry 495 
 
 Management of Bees 506 
 
 How to make a Domestic Fish. Pond 509 
 
 Valuable Tables, &c 511 
 
 A Chapter on Pests and their Remedies 518 
 
 On Fires and Lights 544 
 
 Selecting and Cooking Meat, Fish, Fowl, &c 554 
 
 Cooking Vegetables 574 
 
 Making Soups, Broths and Gruels 589 
 
 Preparing and Cooking Fruit 596 
 
 Making Bread and Cake 598 
 
 Pies, Puddings, Sauces, &c 637 
 
 Custards, Creams and Sweets 667 
 
 Preserves, Jellies and Jams 679 
 
 Preservation of Meats 687 
 
 Making and Preserving Sausage, Head Cheese, <fcc 698 
 
 Preservation of Fish 702 
 
 Preserving Eggs 703 
 
 Preserving Vegetables and Roots 705 
 
 Preservation of Fruits 714 
 
 Making Vinegar 733 
 
 Making Tickles 737 
 
 Catsups 744 
 
 Milk, Butter and Cheese 746 
 
 Beverages 668 
 
 Domestic Dyes 808 
 
 Clothing, Furs, Boots and Shoes 816 
 
 Washing, Scouring and Renovating Clothing 828 
 
 Starching and Ironing 841 
 
 Soaps, Washing Fluids, Powders, &c 842 
 
 Household Cleaning 848 
 
 House Furnishing and Household Furniture 861 
 
 Housekeeping 867 
 
 Miscellaneous for Housekeepers 871 
 
 Household Ornaments and Amusements 874 
 
vi 
 
 CONTENTS, 
 
 Care of Gold Fish and Canaries, 
 
 Music Hints 
 
 How to make all kinds of Ink. 
 
 Paper, Parchment, Tracing, Transferring, <fcc 
 Picture Painting and Taking Plaster Casts... 
 
 The Weather and its Signs 
 
 The Toilet — Cosmetics, &c 
 
 Care of the Face and Hands 
 
 Care of the Feet... 
 
 Management of the Hair i 
 
 Care of the Eyes 
 
 Preservation of the Teeth 
 
 The Ear and Voice 
 
 Health v 
 
 Sickness 
 
 Clothing 
 
 Cleanliness 
 
 Disinfectants 
 
 The Body and Mind 
 
 Exercise 
 
 Eating. 
 
 Sleep 
 
 Diseases and Domestic Remedies 
 
 Accidents and Emergencies 
 
 General Index 
 
 Page. 
 . 877 
 . 878 
 . 881 
 
 . 886 
 . 890 
 
 896 
 
 903 
 
 908 
 
 914 
 
 918 
 
 923f 
 
 925 
 
 928 
 
 929 
 938 
 940 
 945 
 948 
 950 
 952 
 956 
 964 
 967 
 
 1003 
 
 1025 
 
PRACTICAL CYCLOPEDIA. 
 
 THE FAMILY. 
 
 Tbs oldest institution in the world is the family. It is the parent 
 of all other human associations. States, empires, are its offspring, 
 deriving their material and their character from it. We look in vain 
 for a parallel institution. It creates its own subjects, and trains them 
 not only to be good members of the domestic organization, but good 
 citizens of the State, and what is of striking note, the same process 
 of training which produces the obedient child, also produces the ex- 
 emplary citizen. The dispositions and principles which are found to 
 be necessary for family happiness and prosperity, are precisely those 
 which, carried out into habitual life in societies, states, churches, &c., 
 are the guaranties of prosperity and happiness there. The very same 
 lesson of the mother to the child on her knees, which teaches him to 
 be kind, patient, forbearing, forgiving towards his brothers and sisters, 
 and respectful and obedient to his parents, is the lesson which pre- 
 pares him to act well his part on the wide stage of the world. 
 
 Happy is that State whose families enjoy the teachings of truth and 
 the living exemplifications of virtue. Nothing can compensate for the 
 lack of a holy family influence, and no vital damage can befal a na- 
 tion whose families are daily instilling the principles of a sound mo- 
 rality and a pure religion. There may be dark days in its calender. 
 Disease may sweep its territory, and evils of various kinds may come ; 
 but the substantial prosperity and happiness of such a people follows, 
 as effect follows cause, by the eternal law of the universe. 
 
 The family circle is Gods blessed ordinance, and is the sweetest, 
 the happiest, and the most hallowed spot on earth. It is the nursery 
 
8 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 of affection, of friendship, and of virtue ; the place where those ties 
 of natural dependence and help are first formed, which, in their ex- 
 panded state, unite human society; and according to the manner in 
 which the rights of the family circle are enjoyed, its duties discharg- 
 ed, and its true benefits realized, are the moral character, the stability 
 and the grandeur of the country. 
 
 The domestic relations precede, and, in our present existence, are 
 worth more than all other social ties. They give the first throb to 
 the heart, and unseal the deep fountains of its love. Home is the 
 chief school of human virtue. Its responsibilities, joys, sorrows, smiles, 
 tears, hopes, and solicitudes form the chief interest of human life. 
 
 There is nothing in the world which is so venerable as the charac- 
 ter of parents ; nothing so intimate and endearing as the relation of 
 husband and wife ; nothing so tender as that of children ; nothing so 
 lovely as those of brothers and sisters. The little circle is made one 
 by a singular union of the affections. The only fountain in the wil- 
 derness of life where man drinks of water totally unmixed with bit- 
 terness, is that which gushes for him in the calm and steady recess of 
 domestic life. 
 
 The great want in families is justice, reciprocity and forbearance. 
 Family intimacy should never make brother and sister forget to be po- 
 lite and sympathizing to each other. Those who contract thoughtless 
 and rude habits towards the members of their own family will be rude 
 and thoughtless to the whole world. But let the family be true, ten- 
 der, and affectionate, and the manners of all uniformly gentle and con- 
 siderate, and th.e members of -the family thus trained will carry into 
 the world and society the habits of their childhood. They will re- 
 quire in their associates similar qualities ; they will not be satisfied 
 without mutual esteem, and the cultivation of the best affections, and 
 their own character will be sustained by that faith in goodness which 
 belongs to a mind exercised in pure and high thoughts. 
 
 Habitual politeness is truly a valuable element of family intercourse. 
 A coarse, rude speech is less excusable addressed to a father, mother, 
 brother, or sister, than if used to a stranger, or' a simple acquaint- 
 ance. Some parents think it beneath their dignity to prefix a request 
 with “ if you please,” or “ have the kindness,” and then wonder why 
 their children can not be mannerly and polite like others. Let such 
 parents remember that precept is of little use without example. We 
 have known the sons of a poor widow, who, on no account would have 
 permitted themselves to sit down to table with their mother, without 
 first arranging their toilet in the best manner their circumstances 
 
THE FAMILY. 
 
 9 
 
 would permit, and never suffer her, no matter what the temptations, 
 to attend church or weekly prayer meeting alone. This consideration 
 extended to the minutest acts of their daily life, and was a most charm- 
 ing thing to see. The mother, it is hardly necessary to say, had care- 
 fully practiced towards her children that respect for their feelings and 
 thoughtfulness for their comfort, which she afterwards received from 
 them. 
 
 In the home circle nothing is more productive of mischief than 
 small mysteries, the concealment of little things, and the furtive ac- 
 complishment of what might better be done openly. Dr. Johnson, in 
 his forcible language, once said, “Nothing ends more fatally than mys- 
 teriousness in trifles ; indeed it commonly ends in guilt, for those who 
 begin by concealment of innocent things, will soon have something to 
 hide which they dare not bring to light.” 
 
 The faculty for concealment — or as the phrenologists term it, “ se- 
 cretiveness ” — is a dangerous gift. Openness and candor are delight- 
 ful in a household, giving all the members a pleasant participation in 
 each other’s happiness. When we discover that a friend has deceived 
 or only half trusted us, we regard him ever after with suspicion, and 
 it requires a very long time for him to recover the ground he has lost 
 in our confidence and esteem. Especially is this true in the family; 
 for when we perceive that those abroad know more of the motives of 
 a member of the same house than we do, it seems as if wrong were 
 done which can not be forgotten. Husbands and wives insure do- 
 mestic discomfort by having outdoor confidents. Coolness and even 
 separations have had their rise in some trifling matters of this sort, 
 when the parties might, by a wiser course, have remained affectionate 
 and inseparable. Children who prefer other friends over their pa- 
 rents are almost sure to be led into error and unhappiness. While 
 under the home roof, the heart should be kept there ; the prelimina- 
 ries to a future home causing the only exception. And even in such 
 a case, he or she is usually best married whose parents were earliest 
 apprised of the engagement. 
 
 Even as the sunbeam is composed of millions of minute rays the 
 home life must be constituted of little tendernesses, kindly looks, 
 sweet laughter, gentle words, loving counsels ; it must not be like the 
 torch-blaze of natural excitement which .is easily quenched, but like 
 the serene, chastened light which burns as safely in the dry east wind 
 as in the stillest atmosphere. Let each bear the other’s burden the 
 while — let each cultivate the mutual confidence which is a gift capa- 
 ble of increase and improvement — and soon it will be found that kind- 
 
10 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPEDIA. 
 
 liness will spring up on every side, displacing constitutional unsuita- 
 bility, want of mutual knowledge, even as we have seen sweet violets 
 and primroses dispelling the gloom of the gray sea- rocks. 
 
 There is nothing on earth so beautiful as the household on which 
 Christian love forever smiles, and where religion walks a counselor 
 and a friend. No cloud can darken it, for its twin-stars are centered 
 in the soul. No storms can make it tremble, for it has a heavenly 
 support and a heavenly anchor. 
 
 The sweetest type of heaven is home — nay, heaven itself is the 
 home for whose acquisition we are to strive the most strongly. Home, 
 in one form and another, is the great object of life. It stands at the 
 end of every day’s labor, and beckons us to its bosom ; and life would 
 be cheerless and meaningless did we not discern across the river that 
 divides it from the life beyond, glimpses of the pleasant mansions pre- 
 pared for us. 
 
 Eules to promote harmony in the family : 
 
 1. We may be sure that our will is likely to be crossed during the 
 day, so prepare for it. 
 
 2. Everybody in the house has an evil nature as well as ourselves, 
 and, therefore, we are not to expect too much. 
 
 3. To learn the different temper of each individual. 
 
 4. To look upon each member of the family as one for whose soul 
 we are bound to watch, as those that must give account. 
 
 5. When any good happens to any one, to rejoice at it. 
 
 6. When inclined to give an angry answer, to lift up the heart in 
 prayer. 
 
 7. If, from sickness, pain, or infirmity, we feel irritable, to keep a 
 very strict watch over ourselves. 
 
 8. To observe when others are suffering, and drop a word of kind- 
 ness or sympathy suited to them. 
 
 9. To watch for little opportunities of pleasing, and to put little an- 
 noyances out of the way. 
 
 10. To take a cheerful view of everything, and to encourage hope. 
 
 11. To speak kindly to the servants, and praise them for little 
 things when you can. 
 
 12. In all little pleasures which may occur, to put self last. 
 
 13. To try for the “ soft answer that turneth away wrath.” 
 
 14. When we have been pained by an unkind word or deed to ask 
 ourselves, “ Have I not done the same, and been forgiven ? ” 
 
 15. In conversation, not to exalt ourselves, but to bring others 
 forward. 
 
HOME. 
 
 11 
 
 16. To be very gentle with the younger ones, and treat them with 
 respect. 
 
 17. Never to judge one another, but attribute a good motive when 
 you can. 
 
 HOME. 
 
 One of the brightest pages in the annals of our race, is that which 
 is connected with the love of home. Home is the sacred spot, where 
 the heart has garnered up its choicest earthly treasures; where the 
 character is chiefly formed ; where the natural affections are cherished 
 and fostered ; where the mind begins to expand ; where those habits 
 are formed that assure to industry its appropriate rewards. May we 
 cherish them in ourselves and foster them in our children. In the 
 formation of a proper virtuous character, the influence of home is 
 most important, as well as in the production of the highest happiness. 
 At home, the natural affections receive their culture; at home, the 
 young heart finds something to love, and something to reciprocate that 
 love. The expressions of kindness and affection, made by a father, a 
 mother, a brother, or a sister, call into active service similar feelings 
 in him to whom they are addressed ; while the intensity of such feel- 
 ings is not dissipated by the number or multiplicity of its objects; 
 nor chilled by the indifference, the neglect of a strangers actions, or a 
 stranger’s inattentions. At home, the filial and fraternal feelings find 
 an atmosphere congenial to their growth ; and in our riper years, with 
 what delight we review the scenes of our childhood. How the recol- 
 lections of them strengthen the feelings nurtured in our youth. The 
 hill, the garden, the tree, the rill, and the rich green grass of the 
 meadows, all increase the ties of attachment to the friends that form 
 the centre of attraction to our little world of home. 
 
 How many hallowed associations come thronging upon the mind, as 
 we look back to our childhood's home ! The very word stirs the deep 
 fountains of feeling within the breast, and warms even the chilled 
 heart of old age with a glow of unwonted emotion. At the touch of 
 memory’s wand, forms long since mingled with the dust — “ bright 
 dreams buried in the far dark past,” and scenes that have vanished 
 like “ fancy’s fairy frostwork,” start up in all the freshness of life and 
 reality, until we forget the present, and are alive only to the recollec- 
 tion of the past. We see once more the beloved and revered father. 
 
12 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 whose counsels and example taught us that wisdom’s ways are ways 
 of pleasantness, and who was to us the prototype of all earthly noble- 
 ness and excellence. Again, we hear the voice of the tender mother 
 whose unwearied love made the sunshine of our childhood, or share 
 her caresses with the brothers and sisters whose joys and sorrows were 
 identified with our own. For a few brief moments, we throw off the 
 cankering fetters of care, and rejoice in the warmth and brightness 
 of our early youth, ere yet the heart had learned the sad lesson of 
 doubt, or treachery, or decay. But in thus looking back, does no 
 painful remembance throw its dark shadow over the brilliant hues of 
 memory s picture ? Does no whisper of accusing conscience, remind- 
 ing us of neglect or unkindness toward any member of the now broken 
 domestic circle, disturb the soul as it gazes on the record of the past ? 
 Alas — how bitter is the thought, that we might have done far more to 
 contribute to the. happiness and improvement of those so dear, if the 
 spirit of Christ had dwelt uniformly in us ! That in a thousand in- 
 stances, our waywardness or thoughtlessness gave an additional pang 
 to the warm hearts that beat only for us, and which are now cold and 
 still in death ! But repentance, however deep, is unavailing — no sor- 
 row or remorse, can give us back the golden hours of childhood, or 
 restore to our embraces the loved and lost. 
 
 But though the past can never be recalled, it is still in our power 
 so to improve the present, that we can look back upon it, in the even- 
 ing of life, with gratitude and pleasure. Those who are still sheltered 
 under the wing of parental love, and those who in maturer age are 
 presiding over a home of their own, are alike interested in any sug- 
 gestions that may tend to make that home what it should be — the 
 sweetest and most attractive spot this side heaven. How delightful 
 to enter a house like that of which the Psalmist speaks — “ a taberna- 
 cle filled with the voice of rejoicing;” not the vain mirth which exists 
 in connexion with sin, and often conceals an aching heart, but the 
 solid cheerfulness which springs from “ peace of conscience, and joy 
 in the Holy Ghost.” . Here is a united and happy family — friendship 
 comes in to draw more closely the bonds of nature — all the members 
 suffer or enjoy together; every care is divided, every sorrow dimin- 
 ished, and every joy redoubled by communion and sympathy — and in 
 this earthly intercourse a foretaste is enjoyed of that blessedness which 
 awaits the righteous at the right hand of God in heaven. The effects 
 of such domestic happiness on the character and habits of the children 
 of a household, cannot be easily estimated. As they go out into the 
 world, the remembrance of a father’s faithful counsels, and a mother’s 
 
HOME. 
 
 13 
 
 tender love, will constitute a shield to ward off the fiery darts of 
 temptation, in the hour of severest conflict, these strong cords will 
 draw the inexperienced youth back from the “ counsel of the ungod- 
 ly,” the “ way of sinners,” and the “seat of the scornful.” 
 
 Whose home is happy ? Is it his who is the owner of hundreds of 
 thousands of dollars — whose walls are bright with exquisite pictures, 
 and whose parlqrs are furnished like a palace? Perhaps so; it may 
 be that his is a very happy home ; but the wealth, and the pictures, 
 and the costly furniture do not create that happiness. They may, in- 
 deed add very much to the enjoyment of the heart which is at peace 
 without them, but such things are not indispensable to a happy 
 home. 
 
 But his is a happy home, even if it be but in a single humble room, 
 who has dear friends, or at least, one friend, awaiting him, and who 
 loves him so that every effort is made to render it comfortable and 
 pleasant ; — who meets him with a glad face, and is true in the very 
 heart’s core to him. His is the happy home who carries to it an un- 
 selfish and affectionate disposition, and a temper sweetened and made 
 gentle by the discipline of life. There may be no picture on the .walls, 
 no carpet on the floor, and the furniture may be scanty indeed, — it 
 matters not — if love and peace are there, the home of the man is 
 happy. Love is the basis of all true joy and pleasure. Selfishness is 
 the bane of life — the darkener and destroyer of home. Why will not 
 men believe it ? Why, at least, will not the poor believe it ? How 
 superlatively foolish in those who have nothing else there, to cast out 
 love and loving kindness from their homes. If the rich man who has 
 his portion in this world can afford to do this, the poor certainly 
 cannot. 
 
 There is much more misery thrown into the cup of life by domes- 
 tic unkindness than we might at first suppose. In thinking of the 
 evils endured by society from the malevolent passions of individuals, 
 we are apt to enumerate only the more dreadful instances of crime ; 
 but what are the few murders which unhappily pollute the soil of this 
 Christian land — what, we ask, is the suffering they occasion — what 
 their demoralizing tendency, when compared with the daily effu- 
 sions of ill-humor which sadden, may we not fear, many thousand 
 homes ? 
 
 We believe that an incalculably greater number are hurried to the 
 grave by habitual unkindness than by sudden violence ; the slow poi- 
 son of churlishness and neglect is, of all poisons, the most destructive. 
 If this is true, we want a new definition for the most flagrant of all 
 
14 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 crimes ; a definition which shall leave out the element of time, and 
 call those actions the same, equally censured by the righteous gov- 
 ernment of Heaven, which proceed from the same motives, and lead 
 to the same result, whether they be done in a moment, or spread out 
 through a series of years. Habitual unkindness is demoralizing, as 
 well as cruel. Whenever it fails to break the heart, it hardens it. 
 To take a familiar illustration : a wife who is never addressed by her 
 husband in tones of kindness, must cease to love him, if she wishes 
 to be happy. It is her only alternative. Thanks to the nobility of 
 her nature, she does not always take it. Ho; for years she battles 
 with cruelty, and still presses with affection the hand which smites 
 her ; but it is fearfully at her own expense. Such endurance preys 
 upon her health, and hastens her exit to the asylum of the grave. 
 
 Let home be the nursery of truth, of refinement, of simplicity, and 
 of taste. Study to make it attractive to your children by every 
 means in your power, and lose no opportunity of improving their 
 minds and cultivating their home affections. Let system and order, 
 industry and study, taste and refinement, be cultivated at home, and 
 comfort, harmony, and peace will reign within your dwelling, however 
 humble. Do your children love music, or drawing, or flowers ? En- 
 courage their taste to the utmost of your ability. Indeed, where the 
 love of music pervades a family, and is judiciously cultivated, it is an 
 important aid in the training of children ; for the child whose soul is 
 touched with melody easily yields to the voice of affection, and sel- 
 dom requires severity. More than this, the harsh tones of the father’s 
 voice, as he commands, and the cutting tones of the mother as she 
 forbids, become milder and more persuasive, if accustomed to join 
 with their children in these recreations, and thus both parents and 
 children are mutually refined and elevated. Let me add that I can- 
 not conceive of any purer enjoyment than is felt by the head of a 
 family, as wife and children gather in about him, and pour forth their 
 sweet voices in songs of praise at the morning sacrifice and evening 
 oblation. If the father has money to spare, I do not doubt that he 
 might make a good investment in a piano, a melodeon, or some other 
 instrument to accompany the voices of his wife and children, pro- 
 vided always that practice on these instruments be not allowed to in- 
 terfere with the practice of the kneading-trough, the wash board, or 
 with any other duty that a true woman, be she daughter, sister, wife, 
 or mother, ought to understand. These duties and these pleasures 
 are in no degree incompatible with each other. Whatever tends to 
 
HOME. 
 
 15 
 
 develop the intellect, to refine the taste, and purify the affections, 
 may find a fitting place in every house. 
 
 The loveliest spot on earth is, or should be, home. Man loves the 
 green sunny spots of earth. A tradition seems to lurk in the memo- 
 ory even of the dweller amidst bricks and mortar which inclines his 
 soul with an undefined longing towards Nature arrayed in her una- 
 dorned simplicity. There is a charm about the idea of the greenwood 
 shade, and a couch of velvet grass, which fascinates the man in his 
 childhood, and grows with him, as years increase, into absolute fond- 
 ness; as if the capacity for the original nomade existence he enjoyed 
 was destined by the unalterable law T s of his constitution never to be 
 eradicated. Hence, the flowers we see tended with so much care in 
 the squalid districts of our large cities, and the arid patches, with 
 plants pining in the shade, cultivated with an assiduity which apolo- 
 gizes for many a grave error. But of all the places which Providence, 
 by the instrumentality of an advanced degree of civilization, has cre- 
 ated for the comfort of man, is a home. 
 
 Then beautify your premises. Every person who' owns a foot of 
 earth or has the lease of a southern wall, whereon to let a vine creep 
 up, and lets May or June go by without improving the opportunity of 
 doing something for their beautification, should be considered remiss 
 in a very important duty. No matter if you don’t own the house and 
 yard you occupy, still plant flowers and vines and shrubbery for your 
 own comfort and your own heart’s sake. 
 
 Let the flowers look upward in every place, 
 
 Through this beautiful world of ours; 
 
 For dear as the smile of an old friend’s face, 
 
 Is the smile of the bright, sweet flowers. 
 
 I would be glad to see more parents understand that when they 
 spend money judiciously to improve and adorn the house, and the 
 ground around it, they are in effect paying their children a premium 
 to stay at home as much as possible and enjoy it; but when they 
 spend money unnecessarily in fine clothes and jewels for their children, 
 they are paying them a premium to spend their time away from 
 home — that is, in those places where they can attract the most atten- 
 tion and make the most display. 
 
 Six things, says Hamilton, are requisite to create a happy home. 
 Integrity must be the architect, and tidiness the upholsterer. It must 
 be warmed by affection, and lighted up with cheerfulness, and indus- 
 try must be the ventilator, renewing the atmosphere, and bringing 
 
16 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 in fresh salubrity day by day ; while over all, as a protecting glory 
 and canopy, nothing will suffice except the blessing of God. 
 
 KINDNESS. 
 
 A word of kindness is a seed which, when dropped, by chance 
 springs up a flower. A kind word and pleasant voice are gifts easy 
 to give ; be liberal with them ; they are worth more than money. 
 “If a word or two will render a man happy,” said a Frenchman, “he 
 must be a wretch indeed, who will not give it. It is like lighting 
 another man’s candle with your own, which loses none of its brillian- 
 cy by what the other gains.” If all men acted upon that principle 
 the world would be much happier than it is. 
 
 Kindness makes sunshine wherever it goes ; it finds its way into 
 hidden chambers of the heart, and brings forth golden treasures * 
 harshness, on the contrary, seals them up forever. Kindness makes 
 the mother’s lullaby sweeter than the song of the lark, the care-laden 
 brow of the father and man of business less severe in their express- 
 ion. Kindness is the real law of life, the link that connects earth 
 with heaven, the true philosopher’s stone, for all it touches it turns to 
 virgin gold — the true gold wherewith we purchase contentment, peace 
 and love. Write your name by kindness, love and mercy on the 
 hearts of the people you come in contact with year by year, and you 
 will never be forgotten. 
 
 How sweet are the affections of kindness. How balmy the influ- 
 ence of that regard which dwells around the fireside, where virtue 
 lives for its own sake, and fidelity regulates and restrains the thirst 
 for admiration, often a more potent foe to virtue than the fiercest lust. 
 Where distrust and doubt dim not the lustre of purity, and where so- 
 licitude, except for the preservation of an unshaken confidence, has 
 no place, and the gleam of suspicion or jealousy never disturb the 
 harmony and tranquility of the scene. Where paternal kindness and 
 freshness and filial affection blossom in all the freshness of eternal 
 spring. It matters not if the world is cold, if we can turn to our 
 own dear circle for the enjoyment of which the heart yearns. 
 
 There is nothing like kindness in the world. It is the very princi- 
 ple of love — an emanation of the heart which softens and gladdens, 
 and should be inculcated and encouraged in all our intercourse with 
 our fellow beings. It is impossible to resist continued kindness. We 
 
KINDNESS. 
 
 17 
 
 may in a moment of petulance or passion manifest coldness to tlie ex- 
 hibition of good will on the part of a new acquaintance ; but let him 
 persist, let him continue to prove himself really benevolent of heart, 
 generously and kindly disposed, and we will find our stubborn nature 
 giving way, even unconsciously to ourselves. If this be the result of 
 kindness among comparative strangers, how much more certain and 
 delightful will be the exereise of the feelings at home, within the 
 charmed circle of friends and relatives ? Home enjoyments, home 
 affections, home courtesies, cannot be too carefully or steadily cultiva- 
 ted. They form the sunshine of the heart. They bless and sanctify 
 our private circle. They become a source of calm delight to the man 
 of business after a day of toil, they teach the merchant, the trader, 
 the working man, that there is something purer, more precious even, 
 than the gains of industry. They twine themselves round the heart, 
 call forth its best and purest emotions and resources, enable us to be 
 more virtuous, more upright, more Christian, in all our relations of 
 life. We see in the little beings around us the elements of gentleness, 
 of truth, and the beauty of fidelity and religion. A day of toil is 
 robbed of many of its cares, by the thought that in the evening we 
 may return home, and mingle with the family household. There, at 
 least, our experience teaches us, we may find confiding and loving bo- 
 soms, those who look up to and lean upon us, and those also to wh&m 
 we may look for counsel and encouragement. 
 
 We say to our friends, one and all, cultivate the home virtues, the 
 household beauties of existence. Endeavor to make the little circle 
 of domestic life a cheerful, an intelligent, a kindly, and a happy one. 
 Whatever may go wrong in the world of business and trade, however 
 arduous may be the struggle for fortune or fame, let nothing mar the 
 purity of reciprocal love, or throw into its harmonious existence the 
 apple of discord. 
 
 The house will be kept in turmoil where there is no toleration of 
 each other's lenity shown to failings, no meek submission to injuries, 
 no soft answer to turn away wrath. If you lay a single stick of wood 
 in the grate and apply fire to it, it will go out ; put on another stick, 
 and they will burn ; and half a dozen, and you will have an effective 
 blaze. There are other fires subject to the same condition. If one 
 member of a family gets into a passion, and is left alone, he will cool 
 down, and possibly be ashamed and repent. But oppose temper to 
 temper, let one harsh answer be followed by another, and there will 
 soon be a blaze which will enwrap them all in its burning heat. 
 
 The moment a friend, or even a mere acquaintance, is dead, how 
 
18 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 surely there starts up before us each instance of unkindness of which 
 we have been guilty towards him. In fact, many and many an act oi 
 word which while he was in life did not seem to us to be unkind at 
 all, now “ bites back” as if it were a serpent, and shows us what it 
 really was. Alas ! 'twas thus we caused to suffer him who now is 
 dust, and yet then we did not pity him nor reproach ourselves. 
 
 There is always a bitterness beyond that of death in the dying of a 
 fellow creature to whom we have been unjust or unkind. Some do 
 not yet know this, having never lost any companion by death ; bu: 
 there are few indeed who will not, if they live long, find it out. 
 
 Give no pain. Breathe not a sentiment, say not a word, give noi 
 the expression of the countenance that will offend another, or send a 
 thrill of pain to his bosom. We are surrounded by sensitive hearts, 
 which a word or look even, might fill to the brim with sorrow. If 
 you are careless of the opinions of others, remember that they are dif- 
 ferently constituted from yourself, and never, by word or sign, cast a 
 shadow on a happy heart, or throw aside the smiles of joy that Lager 
 on a pleasant countenance. 
 
 Deal gently with the stranger. Remember the severed cord Ox af- 
 fection, still bleeding, and beware to wound by a thoughtless act, or a 
 careless word. The stranger ! he, perchance, has lived in an atmos- 
 phere of love as warm as that we breathe. Alone and friendless now, 
 he treasures the images of loved ones far away, and when gentle words 
 and warm kisses are exchanged, we know not how his heart thrills 
 and the hot tear drops start. Speak gently. The impatient word 
 our friends may utter does not wound, so mailed are you in the im- 
 penetrable armor of love. We know that it was an inadvertant word 
 that both will forget in a moment after, or, if not, you can bear the 
 censure of one, when so many love you ; but keenly, is an unkind re- 
 mark felt by the lone and friendless one. 
 
 Like a clinging vine torn from its support, the stranger's heart be- 
 gins to twine its tendrils around the first object which is presented to 
 it. Is love so cheap a thing in this world, or have we already so much 
 that we can lightly cast off the instinctive affections thus proffered? 
 Oh, do not ! To some souls an atmosphere of love is as necessary as 
 the vital air to the physical system. A person of such a nature may 
 clothe one in imagination with all the attributes of goodness and make 
 his heart’s sacrifices at the shrine. Let us not ungratefully and cru- 
 elly destroy the illusion by unkindness. 
 
 Let the name of stranger be ever sacred, whether it is that of an 
 honored guest at our fire side, or the poor servant girl in our kitchen 
 
KINDNESS. 
 
 19 
 
 — the gray-haired or the young ; and when we find ourseives far from 
 friends, and the dear associations of home, and so lonely, may some 
 kind, some angel-hearted being, by Sympathizing words and acts, 
 cause our hearts to thrill with unspoken gratitude, and thus we will 
 find again the “bread” long “cast upon the waters.” 
 
 Kindness is its own reward. Good and friendly conduct may meet 
 with an unworthy, and an ungrateful return ; but the absence of grat- 
 itude on the part of the receiver can not destroy the self-approbation 
 which recompenses the giver. And we may scatter the seeds of cour- 
 tesy and kindness around us at so little expense. Some of them will 
 inevitably fall upon good ground, and grow up into benevolence in the 
 minds of others, and all of them will bear fruit of happiness in the 
 bosom whence they spring. Once blest are all the virtues always; 
 twice blessed sometimes. Every act of kindness done, whether ac- 
 knowledged or not, opens a well-spring of happiness in the doer’s own 
 breast. As there are none so weak that we may venture to injure 
 them with impunity, so there are none so low that they may not at 
 some time be able to repay an obligation. A person always gains 
 more by obliging his inferior, than by disobliging him. To pluck 
 thorns fromAhe bosoms of others is to plant roses in your own. 
 
 When you want to manage men, says Henry Ward Beecher, do as 
 bee-keepers do when they want to manage bees. Here are two men 
 that have bees in a hive. One says, “ I own these bees, and I am 
 going to divide them, and move them.” He prepares a place for 
 them, and then goes to the hive, thrusts his hands rudely in the midst 
 of them, and very soon he has his bees all over him, and he moves 
 himself very rapidly. That is just as I have seen men attempt to 
 manage men. Another man gets a bowl of sugar and water, and 
 washes his hands all over, and goes with the utmost quietness and se- 
 renity and opens the hive, and puts his hand in gently, and the bees 
 find everything sweet, and, he can scoop them up as though they were 
 so much flour, and put them in as many hives as he pleases — if he only 
 takes care to put a queen-bee in each — and they will not sting him or 
 fly away. And people say, “ Wonderful ! that man has a real mag- 
 netic power with bees.” So he has, when he has sugar and water on 
 his hands. Now when you want to manage men, wash your hands 
 with sugar and water. 
 
 It is right for us to maintain a thousand courtesies that tend to 
 give pleasure, and to avoid many rudenesses that tend to give pain. 
 Choose things that will please men. Nutgalls are not the only things 
 in the world. There are roses and honeysuckles. Wasps are not the 
 
20 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 only things in the world. There is honey as well. Eemember, honey 
 catches flies; vinegar never. Good nature, like a bee, collects its 
 honey from every herb. Ill nature, like a spider, sucks poison from 
 the sweetest flowers. It costs men a great deal of trouble to exhibit 
 constant ill-nature, and they don’t make anything by it. Why should 
 they be such fools as to work for nothing? “ Speak not evil of one 
 another, brethren. A soft answer turneth away wrath ; but grievous 
 words stir up anger. A wholesome tongue is a tree of life.” 
 
 He makes a good market of bad commodities, who with kindness 
 overcomes injuries. To do evil for good, is human corruption ; to do 
 good for good is civil retribution ; but to do good for evil is Christian 
 perfection. 
 
 One of the proverbs of Solomon teaches that a soft answer turneth 
 away wrath. The contrary result of the opposite course of giving 
 “ railing for railing,” has always proved that the proverb suggests 
 the true policy, and demonstrated the verity of the corresponding 
 doctrine that “like begets like.” And who can recall his own expe- 
 rience, without assenting to the correctness of this position ? 
 
 There is an anecdote of the great American philosopher, Benjamin 
 Franklin, beautifully and instructively in point: in 1736, he was cho- 
 sen clerk of the General Assembly of Pennsylvania. It was his first 
 appointment to office. Although as free from vain ambition as the 
 most favored of mere mortals, he was evidently proud of the position 
 and desirous of retaining it. When the next election for clerk came 
 round, a certain wealthy as well as intelligent and therefore influen- 
 tial member, made a long speech in opposition to his re-election. As 
 he himself tells us, in his narrative of the events, he did not resent 
 this opposition, however unjust he may have deemed the ground and 
 temper of it. Not he. But he determined on a very different sort 
 of answer — one which, while it should avoid all appearances of ser- 
 vility or a cringing spirit, would, he felt sure, disarm an opposition 
 whose continuance he feared. He had heard that the member refer- 
 red to had, in his library, a very rare and curious volume. He wrote 
 him a respectful and kindly note asking the favor of its perusal. The 
 book was promptly sent. In about a week, the philosopher returned 
 it with a second note, in which he strongly expressed his sense of ob- 
 ligation for the loan of it. Thereupon his opponent assumed a kind- 
 ly bearing. His opposition soon ceased, and he became Franklin’s 
 warmest friend. So he remained throughout life, and he was always 
 ready to promote him. 
 
 Many years since there lived in one of the central counties of New 
 
KINDNESS. 
 
 21 
 
 Jersey, a poor mechanic, eminent for his pious zeal and consistency. 
 He was very much tried by the conduct of a neighbor, who was in 
 the habit of cutting his wood for the week on the Lords day, and the 
 sound of whose ax continually disturbed the old Christian’s medita- 
 tions. Father H., as he was called, often remonstrated earnestly and 
 kindly with his neighbor, but without any effect. At length he 
 adopted a different course. On Saturday afternoon his neighbor 
 found the old man very busy at his wood pile, and inquired in aston- 
 ishment, what he was doing. “Why,” replied father H., “you will 
 persist in cutting your wood on God’s holy day, and it grieves me so 
 much that I mean to do it for you this afternoon, so that you will have 
 no temptation to do it to-morrow.” The man was at once overcome, 
 and exclaimed, “No, you shall not, I will do it myself. Nor will you 
 ever after this have reason to complain for chopping wood on the 
 Lord’s day.” And he was as good as his word. The old man has long 
 since gone to his reward, but this incident lives after him to enforce 
 the divine direction, “Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil 
 with good.” 
 
 An anecdote is told of a Quaker, whose pile of kindling wood was 
 constantly depredated upon. He watched for the thief one night, 
 and discovering him to be a near neighbor, carted a load of his well- 
 split unseasoned wood to the thief’s door the next day; and as he de- 
 posited it in a convenient place, quietly remarked to the conscience 
 smitten neighbor, “ Friend , thee must burn 'part green .” No more 
 wood was stolen. Sir Walter Scott once had an Irishman working 
 for him, who was a great drunkard, and who often neglected the work 
 that Sir Walter set him to do. One morning, while engaged in his 
 library labor, word was brought him that his man had returned after 
 a two days’ spree. Sir Walter dashed his pen down on his desk, and 
 in great anger ordered the son of Erin to be sent to him immediately. 
 Pat entered, like humbleness personified, and Sir Walter poured out 
 the vials of his wrath : “You unthankful dog,” said he, “here I have 
 been putting up with your misdoings, and forgiving you from time to 
 time ; yet no sooner are you in my good graces than you take ad- 
 vantage of me. But this is the last time, sir ; we must part!” “Well,” 
 said the gentleman from Ireland, “if we must part, I’m sorry, and 
 hope no ill will happen ye ; but may I ask where are you going to ? ” 
 he had another trial. 
 
 What a mighty power there is in kindness. It may be a feminine, 
 but it is one of the regalest qualities of our nature. Woman possess- 
 es it in pre-eminence — the African traveler, Park, was wont to say 
 
22 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 that among the most savage tribes, women had never failed to treat 
 him kindly. 
 
 The traveler Ledyard bears testimony to the kindness and tender- 
 ness of women as follows : “I have observed,” he says, “ that women 
 in all countries are civil, tender, obliging, and humane. I never ad- 
 dressed myself to them, in the language of decency and friendship, 
 without receiving a decent and friendly answer. With man it has 
 often been otherwise. In wandering over the barren plains of inhos- 
 pitable Denmark ; through honest Sweeden and frozen Lapland ; rude 
 and churlish Finland ; unprincipled Kussia, and the wide-spread re- 
 gions of the wandering Tartar; if hungry, dry, cold, wet, or sick, the 
 women have ever been friendly to me, and uniformly so : and to add 
 to this virtue, (so worthy the appellation of benevolence,) these actions 
 have been performed in so free and kind a manner, that if I was dry, 
 I drank the sweetest draught — a,nd if hungry, ate the coarsest morsel 
 with a double relish.” 
 
 Kindness is stored away in the heart like rose-leaves in a drawer, 
 to sweeten every object around them. Little drops of rain brighten 
 the meadows, and little acts of kindness brighten the world. I can 
 conceive of nothing more attractive than the heart when filled with 
 the spirit of kindness. Certainly nothing so embellishes human na- 
 ture as the practice of this virtue ; a sentiment so genial and so ex- 
 cellent ought to be emblazoned upon every thought and act of our 
 life. The principle underlies the whole theory of Christianity, and 
 in no other person do we find it more happily exemplified than in the 
 life of our Savior, who, while on earth, went about doing good . And 
 how true it is that 
 
 11 A little word in kindness spoken, 
 
 A motion, or a tear, 
 
 Has often heal’d the heart that’s broken, 
 
 And made a friend sincere ! ” 
 
 The benefits resulting from its practice are twofold: it begets while 
 it bestows blessings. This law of compensation we see every day il- 
 lustrated in the physical as well as in the moral world. When the 
 spring returns to unbind the frozen streams, they leap downward to 
 the sea*, imparting life and beauty in their course, and the ocean, ever 
 prompt to duty, sends greeting back to earth the grateful shower. 
 May our lives thus ever flow forth in deeds of love, and under heaven 
 prove a blessing to our race ! 
 
 Dr. Young says more hearts pine away in secret anguish, for the 
 
TO HUSBANDS. 
 
 23 
 
 want of kindness from those who should be their comforters, than for 
 any other calamity in life. 
 
 TO HUSBANDS. 
 
 As you stand by your young bride when you are married, so stand 
 by her ever afterwards. 
 
 A good wife is the workmanship of a good husband. 
 
 I wish every husband would copy into his memorandum book this 
 sentence, from a recently published work: — “Women must be consti- 
 tuted very differently from men. A word said, a line written, and we 
 are happy ; omitted, our hearts ache, as if for a great misfortune. 
 Men cannot feel it, or guess at it; if they did, the most careless of 
 them would be slow to wound us so. 
 
 The grave hides many a heart which has been stung to death, be- 
 cause one who might after all, have loved it after a certain careless 
 fashion, was deaf, dumb and blind to the truth in the sentence we 
 have just quoted, or if not, was at least restive and impatient with re- 
 gard to it. Many men, marrying late in life, being accustomed only 
 to take care of themselves, and that in the most erratic, rambling, 
 exciting fashion, eating and drinking, sleeping and waking, whenever 
 their fancy, or good cheer and amusement, questionable or unques- 
 tionable, prompted, come at last, when they get tired of this, with 
 their selfish habits fixed as fate to — matrimony. For awhile it is 
 novelty. Shortly, it is strange as irksome, this always being obliged 
 to consider the comfort and happiness of another. To have something 
 always hanging on the arm, which used to swing free, or at most, but 
 twirl a cane. Then they think their duty done if they provide food 
 and clothing, and refrain (possibly) from harsh words. Ah — is it ? 
 Listen to that sigh as you close the door. Watch the gradual fading 
 of the eye, the paling of the cheek, not' from age — she should be yet 
 young — but that gnawing pain at the heart, born of the settled con- 
 viction that the great hungry craving of her soul, gJs far as you are 
 concerned, must go forever unsatisfied. God help such wives, and 
 keep them from attempting to slake their soul’s thirst at poisoned 
 fountains. 
 
 Think you, her husband, how little a kind word, a smile, a caress to 
 you, how much to her. If you call these things “childish,” and “be- 
 neath your notice,” then you should never have married. There are 
 
24 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 men who should remain forever single. You are one. You have no 
 right to require of a woman her health, strength, time, and devotion, 
 to mock her with this shadowy, unsatisfying return. A new bonnet, 
 a dress, a shawl, a watch, anything, everything but what a true wo- 
 man’s heart must crave — sympathy, appreciation, love, She may be 
 rich in everything else, but if she is poor in these, and is a good wo- 
 man, she had better die. 
 
 There are hard, unloving, cold monstrosities of women (rare excep- 
 tions,) who neither require love or know how to give it. We are not 
 speaking of these. That big-hearted, loving, noble men have occas- 
 ionally been thrown away upon such, does not disprove what we have 
 been saying. But even a man thus situated has greatly the advan- 
 tage of a woman in a similar position, because, over the needle, a wo- 
 man may think herself into an insane asylum, while the active out- 
 door turmoil of business life is at least a sometime reprieve to him. 
 
 Do you ask me, “Are there no happy wives?” God be praised 
 yes, and glorious, loveable husbands, too, who know how to treat a 
 woman, and would have her neither fool nor drudge. Almost every 
 wife would be a good and happy wife were she only loved enough. 
 Let husbands, present and prospective, think of this. 
 
 Show love for your wife and your andmiration of her, not in non- 
 sensical compliment ; not in picking up her handkerchief, or her glove, 
 or in carrying her fan ; not, though you have the means, in hanging 
 trinkets and baubles upon her ; not in making yourself a fool by wink- 
 ing at, and seeming pleased with her foibles or follies or faults ; but 
 show them by acts of real goodness toward her ; prove, by unequivo- 
 cal deeds, the high value you set on her health, and life, and peace 
 of mind ; let your praise of her go to the full extent of her deserts, 
 but let it be consistent with truth and with sense, and such as to con- 
 vince her of your sincerity. He who is the flatterer of his wife only 
 prepares her ears for the hyperbolical stuff of others. The kindliest 
 appellation that her Christian name affords is the best you can use, 
 especially before faces. An everlasting “ My dear ” is but a sorry 
 compensation for a want of that sort of love that makes the husband 
 cheerfully toil by clay, break his rest by night, endure all sorts of 
 hardships, if the life or health of his wife demand it. Let your deeds, 
 and not your words, carry to her heart a daily and hourly confirma- 
 tion of the fact, that you value her health, and life, and happiness be- 
 yond all other things in the world ; and let this be manifest to her, 
 particularly at those times when life is always more or less in danger. 
 
 Walking the other day with a valued friend who had been confined 
 
TO HUSBANDS. 
 
 25 
 
 a week or two by sickness to his room, he remarked that a husband 
 might learn a good lesson by being confined occasionally to his house, 
 by having an opportunity of witnessing the cares and never-ending 
 toils of his wife, whose burden and duties and patient endurance he 
 might never have otherwise understood. There is a great deal in this 
 thought. Men, especially young men, are called by their business du- 
 ring the day mostly away from home, returning only at the hours for 
 meals, and as they then see nearly the same routine of duty, they be- 
 gin to think that it is their own lot to perform all the drudgery, and 
 to be exercised with all the weight of care and responsibility. But 
 such a man has a very wrong view of the case ; he needs an opportu- 
 nity for more extended observation, and it is perhaps for this very rea- 
 son that a kind Providence arrests him by sickness, that he may learn 
 in pain what he would fail to observe in health. The fact is, men often 
 lose their interest in their homes by the neglect to make their homes 
 interesting and pleasant. It should never be forgotten that the wife 
 has her rights — as sacred after marriage as before — and a good hus- 
 band’s devotion to his wife after marriage, will concede to her quite 
 as much attention as his gallantry did before. If it is otherwise, he 
 most generally is at fault. 
 
 It not unfrequently happens that married men, after having been 
 away from home the live-long day, during which the wife has toiled 
 at her duties, go at evening again to some place of amusement and 
 leave her to toil on alone, uncheered and unhappy. How often it 
 happens that her kindest offices pass unobserved and unrewarded even 
 by a smile, and her best efforts are condemned by the fault-finding 
 husband. How often it happens, even when the evening is spent at 
 home, that it is employed in silent reading, or some other way that 
 does not recognize the wife’s right to share in the enjoyment even of 
 the fireside. 
 
 Look, ye husbands, a moment, and remember what your wife was 
 when you took her, not from compulsion, but from your own choice — 
 a choice based, probably, on what you then considered her superiority to 
 all others. She was young, perhaps the idol of a happy home; she 
 was gay and blithe as the lark, and the brothers ancl sisters at her 
 father’s fireside cherished her as an object of endearment. Yet she 
 left all to join her destiny with yours ; to make your home happy, and 
 and do all that woman’s love could prompt and woman’s ingenuity de- 
 vise, to meet your wishes, to lighten the burdens which might press 
 upon you in your pilgrimage. She, of course, had her expectations 
 too. She could not entertain feelings which promise so much, with- 
 
26 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 out forming some idea of reciprocation on your part, and she did ex- 
 pect you would after marriage perform those kind offices of which you 
 were so lavish in the days of betrothment. She became your wife ! 
 left her own home for yours ; burst asunder, as it were, the bands of 
 love which had bound her to her father’s fireside, and sought no other 
 boon than your affections : left, it may be, the care and delicacy of a 
 home of indulgence, and now what must be her feelings, if she grad- 
 ually awakes to the consciousness that you love her less than before ; 
 that your evenings are spent abroad ; that you only come home at all 
 to satisfy the demand of your hunger, and to find a resting place for 
 your head when weary, or a nurse for your sick chamber when dis- 
 eased ? 
 
 Why did she leave the bright hearth of her youthful days? Why 
 did you ask her to give up the enjoyments of a happy home ? Was 
 it simply to conduce to your own comfort ? Or was there some under- 
 standing that she was to be made happy in her connection with the 
 man she dared to love ? 
 
 Nor is it a sufficient answer, that you reply that you give her a 
 home, that you feed and clothe her. You do thi$ for your help ; you 
 would do it for any indifferent housekeeper. She is your wife, and 
 unless you attend to her wants, and in some way answer the reasona- 
 ble expectations you raised by your attentions before marriage, you 
 need not wonder if she is dejected, and her heart sink into insensibil- 
 ity : but if this be so, think well who is the cause of it. We repeat, 
 very few women make indifferent wives, whose feelings have not met 
 with some outward shock, by the indifference or thoughtlessness of their 
 husbands. It is our candid opinion that a large majority of the in- 
 stances of domestic misery, the man is the aggressor. 
 
 Be patient. You have great trials and perplexities in your busi- 
 ness with the world, but do not carry to your home a clouded or con- 
 tracted brow. Your wife may have many trials, which, though of 
 less magnitude, may have been as hard to bear. A kind, conciliating 
 word, a tender look, will do wonders in chasing from her brow all 
 clouds of gloom. You encounter your difficulties in the open air, 
 fanned by heaven’s cool breezes ; but your wife is often shut in from 
 these healthful influences, and her health fails, and her spirits lose 
 their elasticity. But Oh ! bear with her ; she has trials and sor- 
 rows to which you are a stranger, but which your tenderness can de- 
 prive of all their anguish. Notice kindly her little attentions and ef- 
 forts to promote your comfort. Do not take them all as a matter of 
 course, and pass them by, at the same time being very sure to observe 
 
VALUE OF A FEMALE ADVISER. 
 
 27 
 
 any omission of what you may consider due to you. Do not treat her 
 with indifference, if you would not sear and palsy her heart, which, 
 watered by kindness, would, to the latest day of your existence, throb 
 with sincere and constant affection.* Sometimes yield your wishes to 
 her. She has preferences as strong as you, and it may be just as try- 
 ing to yield her choice as to you. Do you find it hard to yield some- 
 times ? Think you it is not difficult for her to give up always ? If 
 you never yield to her wishes, there is danger that she will think you 
 are selfish and care only for yourself, and with such feelings she can- 
 not love as she might. Again, show yourself manly , so that your 
 wife can look up to you and feel that you will act nobly, and that she 
 can confide in your judgment as a man. 
 
 Talk to your wife freely about your affairs. Let her understand 
 exactly your condition. Tell her of your difficulties, of your embar- 
 rassments, and of your plans for extricating yourself from the entan- 
 glements in which you are involved. My word for it, you will get 
 help in nine cases out of ten 1 ! Women have quick perceptions. They 
 reach conclusions by a nearer way than reasoning, and get at the so- 
 lution of a difficult question long before your slow moving thoughts 
 bring you near enough for accurate observation. Tell your wife, then, 
 when in trouble, all about your affairs ! Keep nothing back. The 
 better she understands the matter, the clearer will be her perceptions. 
 
 VALUE OF A FEMALE ADVISEE. 
 
 A female adviser is a wondrous advantage to a man, in every pur- 
 suit or vocation. In woman there is at once a suitable delicacy of 
 tact, and a plain soundness of judgment, which are rarely combined 
 to an equal degree in man. A woman, if she is really your friend, 
 will have a sensitive regard for your character, honor and repute. 
 She will seldom counsel you to do a shabby thing, for a woman friend 
 always desires to be proud of you. At the same time her constitu- 
 tional timidity makes her more cautious than your male friend. She 
 therefore seldom counsels you to do an imprudent thing. By female 
 friendships, I mean pure friendships — those in which there is no ad- 
 mixture of the passion of love, except in the married state. A man *3 
 best female friend is a wife of good sense and good heart, whom he 
 loves and who loves him. If he have that, he need not seek else- 
 where. But supposing the man to be without such a helpmate, fe- 
 
28 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 male friendship he must still have, or his intellect will be without a 
 garden, and there will be many an unheeded gap, even in the strong- 
 est fence. Better and safer, of course, such friendships, where dispar- 
 ities of years or circumstances put the idea of love out of the question. 
 Middle life has rarely this advantage ; youth and old age have. We 
 may have female friendships with those much older and those much 
 younger than ourselves. Moliere’s old house-keeper was a great help 
 to his genius ; and Montagues philosophy takes both a gentler and 
 loftier character of wisdom from the date in which he finds in Marie 
 de Gourney an adopted daughter ; “ certainly beloved by me," says 
 the Horace of essayists, “ with more than paternal love, and involved 
 in my solicitude and retirement, as one of the best parts of my being." 
 Female friendship, indeed, is to a man “ prsceidium et dulce decus ” — 
 bulwark, sweetener, ornament of his existence. To his mental culture 
 it is invaluable. 
 
 THE WOBTH OF A TBUE WIFE. 
 
 The man that asks no love is a monster. The man who expects none 
 is a child of despair. There may be hearts so frozen by selfishness, 
 or ossified by pride and egotism, or paralyzed by disappointment, as to 
 be indifferent to affection. But these are icebergs, drifting in dark- 
 ness on Polar seas ; cold, barren, desolate. In them no tree or shrub 
 plants a root, no flower sheds its fragrance there. No melody of liv- 
 ing joy is obtained there. God found that it was not good for man to 
 be alone, chiefly because he needed the conscious affection of a female 
 heart to soften the aspirations of his own, and thus give completeness 
 to his being. In the deep, full affection of a wife’s heart the husband 
 finds that appreciation and interest that every soul covets. This stim- 
 ulates his enterprise. This makes him brave to peril. This cheers 
 his hard labor. This comforts him under irritation, slander, reproach, 
 in the outside world. 
 
 To meet this craving of man, woman is adapted. She is not ambi- 
 tious of wealth or fame. She shrinks from great changes and great 
 perils. She is not fitted for the great struggles of the forum, the con- 
 flicts of arms, or the labors of the field. Her home is her earthly 
 heaven, and she holds a loving heart to cheer him to whom God has 
 given a loftier ambition, a deeper craving of earth’s wealth, a stronger 
 arm and a higher courage. Subjected, by the ordinance of God, and 
 
THE WORTH OF A TRUE WIFE. 
 
 29 
 
 the laws of the land, to abide a sterner will than her own, she is fur- 
 nished with a wealth of affection which makes her burden of subordi- 
 nation light, and melts and moulds to tenderness the controller of her 
 destiny. 
 
 The treasure of a wife’s affection, like the grace of God, is given, 
 not bought. Gold is power. It can sweep down forests, raise cities, 
 build roads and deck houses. It can collect troops of flatterers, and 
 inspire awe and fear. But, alas ! wealth can never purchase love. 
 Bonaparte essayed the subjugation of Europe, under the influence of 
 a genius almost inspired — an ambition insatiable, and backed by mil- 
 lions of armed men. He almost succeeded in swaying his sceptre 
 from the Straits of Dover to the Mediterranean — from the Bay of Bis- 
 cay to the sea of Azoff. On many a bloody field his banner floated 
 triumphant. But the greatest conquest was the unbought heart of 
 Josephine — his sweetest and most priceless treasure her outraged but 
 unchanged love. If any man has failed to estimate the affection of a 
 true-hearted wife, he will be likely to mark the value in his loss when 
 the heart that loved him is stilled by death. 
 
 In the true wife the husband finds not affection only, but compan- 
 ionship — a companionship with which no other can compare. The 
 family relation gives retirement with solitude, and society without the 
 rough intrusion of the world. It plants in the husbands dwelling a 
 friend who can bear his silence without weariness — who can listen to 
 the details of his interests with sympathy — who can appreciate his 
 repetition of events only important as they are embalmed in the 
 heart. Common friends are linked to us by a slender thread. We 
 must retain them by ministering in some way to their interest or their 
 enjoyment. What a luxury it is for a man to feel that in his home 
 there is a true and affectionate being, in whose presence he may throw 
 off restraint without danger to his dignity — he may confide without 
 fear of treachery — and be sick or unfortunate without being abandon- 
 ed. If, in the outer world, he grows weary of human selfishness, his 
 heart can safely trust in one whose indulgences overlooks his defects. 
 
 Nor, in the matter of personal comfort , in the thousand things 
 which combine to shed happiness on man’s pathway through life, i3 
 the wife a less precious gift of God. Who is it that gives care to the 
 neatness, order and tidiness of our dwellings, our halls, our bedcham- 
 bers ? Who is it that consults our tastes and affinities, our repellan- 
 ces, and so regulates our tables, our couches, our apparel, as to min- 
 ister to our comfort ? Who is it that supplies our lack of interest in 
 ordinary things, and sends us out into society prepared to meet the 
 
30 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 claims of decency, taste and propriety ? Who caters for our appe- 
 tites, and swelters in heated kitchens for our indulgence, and often un- 
 thanked and unblessed, plies the needle the whole evening for our 
 benefit ? Who is it that schemes by a rigid economy, to get the most 
 elegance and comfort from the least tax on our income ? Who fur- 
 nishes the ready pin, the napkin, the bandage for our wounds, the 
 cup for our thirst, the friction for our aching head, the medicine for 
 our pains ? What angel of mercy is it that watches by our sick pil- 
 low, bears all our pains and irritations, and moves with muffled step 
 when we slumber ? 
 
 The assiduities of a faithful wife are so common, so varied, so cheer- 
 ful, so unsuspecting, that husbands are likely to regard her kindness 
 as they do the sunlight and dews of heaven — matters of course — to be 
 received without gratitude. But the constancy which makes them 
 feel familiar — to a right constituted mind — deepens the sense of obli- 
 gation. While the husband safely trusts to the companion of his years 
 for his personal comforts, she has a right to expect that her benefi- 
 cence shall be appreciated. If not, he will be likely to find her worth 
 in her loss. Her absence or death is to the little world at home like 
 the loss of the glowing sun which protects oUr earth from eternal dark- 
 ness and frost. 
 
 As a counselor, the faithful wife is invaluable. Well might Solo- 
 mon say, “ The heart of her husband doth safely trust in her.” It is 
 difficult to find a friend who is so deeply interested in our welfare as 
 to take the trouble to study our perplexities — so conversant with us 
 and our affairs as to understand our wants and dangers — so morally 
 brave as to venture to tell us unwelcome truth — so perfectly disinter- 
 ested as to assure us that no selfishness prompts her advice — and so 
 persevering as repetitiously to urge that which is for our benefit. A 
 wife is such a friend, and a wise man will often seek her counsel. 
 
 And there is something in the ready, instinctive suggestions of an 
 intelligent wife, which no sane husband should ever despise. She 
 does not pause to collect facts, weigh arguments and draw inferences. 
 Her impressive nature which renders her indisposed slowly to reason, 
 is furnished with instinctive perception of the right, which is better 
 than logic. 
 
 It is wonderful how often, in nicely-balanced cases, when we appeal 
 to the judgment of a wife, she instantly decides the case for us, and 
 how generally she is right. Pilate was embarrassed in the struggle 
 between his sense of justice and his desire of popularity; but his wife 
 said at once “ Have thou nothing to do with that just man !” Had 
 
THE WORTH OF A TRUE WIFE. 
 
 3 
 
 lie heeded her counsel, Pilate’s hands would not have been stained 
 with the blood of the Son of God. 
 
 In the matter of economy, too — in the watchful guardianship of his 
 income and estate — the husband can well trust the good wife. It is 
 true there are some wives who cannot thus be trusted. Actuated by 
 a foolish vanity for dress, furniture and equipage, and reckless of a 
 husband’s toil, anxieties and pecuniary embarrassments, they will sus- 
 tain a certain style in the present, even if they have to trample on a 
 husband’s broken heart and ruined reputation in the future. These 
 are the wives that drive husbands to wild speculation, to frauds, and 
 embezzlement, to debts never to be paid, to lottery-gambling, to des- 
 peration and a premature grave. 
 
 But we are happy to believe that such cases are few. As a general 
 fact, the principle of justice, economy and thrift is strong in the heart 
 of woman. Her home-destiny qualifies her for a minute regard to 
 the details of domestic economy, and her love for her husband and re- 
 gard for the welfare of her children disposes her to use wisely and 
 well the earnings entrusted to her control. She is the one that obeys 
 Christ in “ gathering up the fragments, that nothing be lost.” Hers 
 is no hireling's eye and hand. The husband lays his purse in her 
 lap, assured that the comfort and responsibility of his house and the 
 interests of his property are safe in her keeping. 
 
 Let the husband, then, who is thus blessed, appreciate the gift of 
 God. “ A prudent wife is from the Lord,” and the gift is worthy of 
 the Giver. “ Her price is far above rubies and we are told, m the 
 word of God, “ the heart of her husband doth safely trust in her.” 
 There is a peculiarity in this language. Ordinarily, it is the office of 
 divine truth to weaken our confidence in earthly blessings. Thus it 
 is said : “ He that trusted in his own heart is a fool.” “ Trust not in 
 man, whose breath is in his nostrils.” “ Put not your trust in prin- 
 ces.” “Trust not in uncertain riches.” Human friendships are 
 treacherous. Wealth is too cold to fill a warm heart. Fame hangs 
 on a breath of air, and comes and goes, rises and falls by the caprices 
 of a crowd. God ordinarily represents earthly things as vanity. But 
 he seems to make an exception in favor of a virtuous woman. Of a 
 true and virtuous wife, he says, “ The heart of the husband doth safe- 
 ly trust in her ; and while he may trust, let him love, appreciate and 
 meetly cherish her. 
 
39 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 TO WIVES. 
 
 Above all things there should be no gloom at home. The dark 
 clouds of discontent and shadows of wasting fretfulness should never 
 cross its threshold — throwing their large black shapes like funeral 
 palls, over the happy young spirits gathered there. In the sentiment 
 thus generally stated all agree — but how to prevent such sad visitants 
 to the earthly heaven of the heart, and upon whom rests the respon- 
 sibility of guarding it against such intrusions, upon these points, there 
 is a wide difference of opinion. After all that may be said about the 
 mutual responsibilities of parents, it cannot be denied that in all that 
 affects the reign of peace and love in the family circle, woman holds 
 and exercises supreme and entire control. A faithful, affectionate wife 
 and mother will make home a heaven, and go far to make every in- 
 mate an angel there. If she will she may sit on a throne and be the 
 presiding deity of the household. She wields a power more absolute 
 and more efficient than any and all others combined. The children 
 are her imitators, and the servants are moulded by her influence ; 
 even the Husband and Father, prate as he may of his superiority in 
 point of position, inevitably becomes just what the Wife and Mother 
 makes him. Each member of a household receives its cue from the 
 Wife and Mother. The children repeat in themselves the tones of her 
 voice, the expressions of her countenance, and even the movements of 
 her body. The servants almost unconsciously adopt her manner and 
 spirit — and the Husband and Father becomes like her, or falls out of 
 the circle and becomes a stranger in his own house. 
 
 The reception that the little song “ What is home without a Mother” 
 everywhere meets with, is a testimony swelling up from the heart of 
 humanity, that home is what a Mother makes it. The conceded axiom 
 that Man without Woman, under all the circumstances of life whicfi 
 go to make up his happiness, is “A World without a Sun” attests as 
 plainly, from the depths of the human soul, that Man is, in this re- 
 spect, what W oman makes him. These reflections were suggested by 
 a little incident in every day life, which, but for the musing fit that 
 was upon me at the time, might have passed unnoticed by me. Walk- 
 ing home with a friend one evening in dreary cold December, our con- 
 versation turned upon the effects of a business life in the present day 
 upon the disposition and temper of a man. The night was setting in 
 very cold ; the wind blew fitfully, and as it rose and fell at intervals it 
 produced quite a variety of sounds which, in their combination, sug- 
 
TO WIVES. 
 
 33 
 
 gested the idea of a funeral dirge, or some solemn saddening chant. 
 My friend was a man of some thirty-five years experience in life — 
 nearly twenty of which he had been in business. He had not succeed- 
 ed in accumulating money — but, though his family was somewhat ex- 
 pensive, he had, (with the exception of two or three years in which he 
 *had failed in business, owing to circumstances which left his integrity 
 and standing as a merchant unimpaired,) always secured a good living. 
 The effect of the present times upon his business had been of a char- 
 acter that increased its difficulties and made it much more perplexing 
 and harrassing than heretofore. 
 
 During the day just past he had been seriously annoyed by contact 
 and contention with several from whom he had been experiencing 
 what he regarded as persecutions and ill will on business accounts al- 
 together. He had borne with many a cruel tone — many cold and even 
 sharp words and one had even alluded to his former difficulties in bu- 
 siness. He had come out of the trial without having lost his temper 
 or self-respect, for he had not retorted upon any of them and had borne 
 himself with a becoming dignity and self-possession throughout the 
 whole interview — but in order to do this he had nerved himself up to 
 an energy so desperate, that as he turned away from his store his 
 frame relaxed and his spirits drooped — every step he took seemed to 
 increase his weakness and depression — his limbs ached with very wea- 
 riness ; and his temples throbbed with the pain-beat caused by the 
 mental and physical exertion ke had been making. All this came out 
 in our conversation as we wended our way along the streets through 
 which we were passing to his home ; and, what seemed to annoy him 
 most, and what, I have no doubt, led him to recite these trials and 
 cares to me, was his total unfitness to meet his family as was his wont, 
 and as he felt it was due to them he should meet them. We reached 
 his place of residence. A soft light from the parlor windows spread 
 its enlivening beams on the red pave before the door, which suddenly 
 brightened as his latch key was heard opening it. A sweet voice fell 
 upon his ear, and its tones were so soft and glad that despite of the 
 sadness that had been weighing down his spirits his face lit up with 
 bright indications that hope and joy had again entered into his bosom 
 and were nestling against his heart. 
 
 Our hats and overcoats were hastily removed and as we turned and 
 entered the sunny little parlor, we were met by as smiling and happy 
 a face as woman ever wore. She did not hesitate to give to her hus- 
 band a cordial and earnest welcome home, even in the presence of a 
 stranger. Every thing about this woman and her house gave evi- 
 
34 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 dence that a loved and honored one was expected. The shining hair 
 smoothed over her fair brow — her dress neat and tasteful — the great 
 arm chair drawn up to the fire — the slippers soft and warm, laid upon 
 the stool before the grate. The children (there were four in all, but 
 two only were old enough to wait up until papa came home,) were 
 washed and combed, and dressed with scrupulous neatness and care — 
 and, when the boots were drawn and slippers donned — they came for- 
 ward and claimed each a place beside the great chair, reaching up in 
 turn for the coveted kiss — while behind and leaning over its side^stood 
 the Wife and Mother, with eyes beaming love and joy in every glance. 
 My friend reached up his arms and clasping them about her neck 
 drew her to him and imprinted upon her brow a fond kiss — as she 
 lifted her head from before his face, his eyes met mine gazing upon 
 
 them with evident delight — “ Ah, C ,” said he, “ all the trials of 
 
 this long long day are past and gone ! I might have known, if I had 
 only given it a thought, that my gloomy feelings were doomed to have 
 but a short existence. My dear good wife here has learned to govern 
 herself, and her household too, by the principles of the Christian Re- 
 ligion. Come to my home when I will, and how I may, it is always 
 the same — here I am consoled for all my trials — here I cannot be un- 
 happy — here I am sure to find man’s sweetest, best and dearest solace.” 
 
 I will not detain my readers with an account of all that passed be- 
 tween us during the remainder of that ever to be remembered eve- 
 ning. Suffice it to say that such were the impressions made upon my 
 mind and heart by this incident, that whenever I have met the lady 
 alluded to, (and we have met frequently since then,) I have experien- 
 ced more profound deference and respect for her — for her sex, which 
 she adorns — and for her religion which she so nobly vindicates, than 
 I had ever before deemed due to aught on earth. 0 ! faithful wife, 
 what privileges, what powers, what treasures of love and happiness 
 are placed within thy grasp ! What rash and important influences 
 may be wielded by thee ! 
 
 Never let your husband have cause to complain that you are more 
 agreeable abroad than at home. Many an unhappy marriage has 
 been occasioned by neglect in these particulars. Nothing can be more 
 senseless than the conduct of a young woman, who seeks to be ad- 
 mired in general society for her politeness and engaging manners, or 
 skill in music, when, at the same time, she makes no effort to render 
 her home attractive ; and yet that home, whether a palace or a cot- 
 tage, is the very centre of her being, the nucleus around which her af- 
 fections should revolve. 
 
THE FATHER. 
 
 35 
 
 Beware of entrusting any individual whatever with small annoyan- 
 ces, or misunderstandings between your husband and yourself, if they 
 unhappily occur. Confidants are dangerous persons ; and many seek 
 to gain an ascendancy in families by winning the good opinion of young 
 married women. Should any one presume to offer you advice with 
 regard to your husband, or seek to lessen him by insinuations, shun 
 that person as you would a serpent. Many a happy home has been 
 rendered desolate by exciting coolness, or suspicion, or by endeavors 
 to gain importance in an artful and insidious manner. 
 
 A woman — a married woman — who permits herself to find fault 
 with her condition in life, and allows herself to be chagrined or feel 
 an emotion of envy toward those who are pecuniarily better situated 
 than herself, has already taken the first false step that may lead her 
 on to ruin and disgrace, and will be the text of future remorse coupled 
 with degradation. Envy and pride go hand in hand. Women will 
 do well to ponder this, and let content make happy homes. 
 
 THE FATHER. 
 
 A young man stood in the center of a dim chamber, holding in his 
 hands his first-born child. He stood in silence, with his eyes fixed on 
 the tiny creature he held. Tears came into his eyes as he reflected 
 on the utter helplessness of that unknowing being, that “little pilgrim 
 of love, coming none knew whither/’ “ How strange, how wonder- 
 ful,” thought the newly consecrated priest of the household, “that the 
 great God, should entrust to a sinful mortal like me the care and 
 training of one of his human spirits. How awful is the responsibility 
 that has come upon me. I feel that this is not my child alone, but 
 that he is also the child of the Eternal God, and at my hands will his 
 soul be required. Not for my pleasure or for the stay of my old age 
 is this dear infant given, so much as for my instruction in the things 
 of God. I feel this hour that the universal Father has laid his hand 
 on me in a most solemn charge. He bids me to interpret to my child 
 the character of his heavenly Father in such a manner as shall give 
 him a worthy and attractive idea of God. I would rather drop down 
 now, and die this moment, than live to treat my boy in any manner 
 that shall cause his heart to shrink back from God, when, in future 
 years, He shall be presented to his mind in the character of a father. 
 I hold thee, my unconscious child, and over thee I resolve, God help- 
 
36 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 ing me, that I will, to the utmost of my power, represent to thy un- 
 folding mind the justice, the wisdom, the mercy, the patience, and 
 love of God, that when thou art told that He is thy 1 Father ’ thou 
 may’st long to hasten to his arms and look upon ‘his face; that thy 
 heart may willingly and gladly yield Him its service and homage. 
 
 “Father and Son are the staple figures of the gospel, and never, 
 sweet son, may thine earthly father be so lost to his duty and his love 
 to thee, as to libel, by his own behavior, the paternal character of the 
 Father of us all. Thou art in my power, my babe — thy destiny for 
 weal or wo is in my hands, thy character depends upon my treatment 
 and training of thee, and I know that for all I do to thee I must ac- 
 count to Him who gave thee. Oh ! child, God grant me grace to be 
 a true father unto thee, or let Him take thee, whilst thou art unspot- 
 ted, unto himself.” 
 
 THE MOTHER. 
 
 “Can a mother’s love be supplied ? No ! a thousand times no I By 
 the deep, earnest yearning of my spirit for a mother's love ; by the 
 weary, aching void in my heart ; by the restless, unsatisfied wander- 
 ings of my affections, ever seeking an object on which to rest ; by my 
 instinctive discernment of the true maternal love from the false — as I 
 would discern between a lifeless statue and a breathing man ; by the 
 hallowed emotions with which I cherish in the depths of my heart 
 the vision of a grass-grown mound in a quiet graveyard among the 
 mountains ; by the reverence, the holy love, the feeling akin to idola- 
 try with which my thoughts hover about an angel form among the 
 seraphs of Heaven — by all these, I answer, no ! 
 
 Dear reader, have you a mother ? Then on your knees remember 
 the Giver of this greatest earthly good, and as you offer to Him the 
 incense of a grateful heart, oh ! mingle with the oblation a prayer for 
 those to whose quivering lips is pressed the orphan’s bitter chalice.” 
 
 A mother mourning at her first born’s grave, or closing the dying 
 eye of child after child, displays a grief whose very sacredness is sub- 
 lime. But bitterer, heavier than the death-stroke is the desperation 
 of a son who rushes over a crushed heart into vices which he would 
 hide even from the abandoned and the vile. 
 
 In what Christian country can we deny the influence which a moth- 
 er exerts over the whole life of her children. The roughest and hard- 
 
THE MOTHER. 
 
 37 
 
 est wanderer, while he is tossed on the ocean, or while he scorches his 
 feet on the desert sands, recurs in his loneliness and suffering to the 
 smiles which maternal affection shed over his infancy ; the reckless 
 sinner, even in his hardened career, occasionally hears the whisper- 
 ings of those holy precepts instilled by a virtuous mother, and, al- 
 though they may, in the fulness of guilt, be neglected, there are many 
 instances of their having so stung the conscience, that they have led 
 to a deep and lasting repentance ; the erring child of either sex will 
 then if a mother yet exists, turn to her for that consolation which the 
 laws of society deny, and in the lasting purity of a mother’s love 
 will find the way to Heaven. How cheerfully does a virtuous son la- 
 bor for a poverty-stricken mother ! How alive is he to her honor and 
 high standing in the world ! And should that mother be deserted — 
 be left in “ worse than widowhood,” how proudly does he stand forth 
 her comfort and protector ! Indeed, the more we reflect upon the sub- 
 ject, the more entirely are we convinced, that no influence is so last- 
 ing, or of such wide extent, and the more extensively we do feel the 
 necessity of guiding this sacred affection, and perfecting that being 
 from whom it emanates. 
 
 “ The future character of a child,” said Napoleon, “is always the 
 work of its mother, and he delights in recollecting that to his parent 
 did he owe much of the greatness of a mind, which probably grasped 
 at too much, but which afterwards enabled him to bear years of pri- 
 vation and exile with fortitude and dignity. General Scott in the 
 opening paragraph of his autobiography pays this beautiful tribute to 
 his mother : In my sixth year I lost my father, a gallant lieutenant, 
 captain in the Revolutionary army,, and a successful farmer. Happily, 
 my dear mother was spared to me eleven years longer, and if, in my 
 now protracted career, I have achieved anything that my countrymen 
 are likely to honor in the next century, it is from the lessons of that 
 admirable parent that I derived the inspiration. John Randolph 
 never ceased, till his dying day, to remember with unutterable affec- 
 tion the pious care of his mother, in teaching him to kneel at her side, 
 and, with his little hands pressed together, and raised upwards, to 
 repeat, in slow and measured accents, the pattern prayer. 
 
 It is said that John Quincy Adams remarked, when fourscore years 
 old, that he had no recollection of ever retiring for the night without 
 repeating the simple lines which his mother taught him when he 
 was a very little child, and which so many mothers besides her, have 
 taught their children. 
 
38 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 u Now I lay me down to sleep 
 I pray the Lord my soul to keep ; 
 
 If I should die before I wake, 
 
 I pray the Lord my soul to take.” 
 
 \ 
 
 At home and abroad, on the sea and on the land, in the presidential 
 mansion and in his own private dwelling, where ever he laid himself 
 down for rest, he closed not his eyes in sleep till he had repeated these 
 lines. This fact reveals to us the character of the man. He never 
 hesitated to acknowledge his belief in a Supreme Being, and to own 
 his dependance upon Him for guidance and protection. He commenc- 
 ed the day with reading the Scriptures, and closed it with the words 
 of prayer. And he did this through all the scenes of his varied and 
 protracted life. 
 
 This fact also reveals to us the greatness of a mother’s influence 
 and the permanancy of her early instructions. He was favored with 
 one of the best of mothers, and she spared no pains in teaching him 
 his duties both to God and man, and his firm adherence to what he 
 believed to be right, and the fearless advocacy of it, were the fruits 
 of her instruction. And the offering up of that simple prayer at 
 night, for so many years, he traced to the same source. She taught 
 him to pray, taught him this little prayer, and he ceased not to offer 
 t until his life closed. 
 
 “ My mother,” said Mr. Benton, not long before he died, “ asked me 
 not to drink liquor, and I never did. She desired me at another time 
 to avoid gaming, and I never knew a card. She hoped I would not 
 use tobacco, and it never passed my lips.” 
 
 I was told to-day the story of a mother on the hills of Vermont, 
 holding by the right hand a son of sixteen years old, mad with the 
 love of the sea. And as she . stood by the garden gate one sunny 
 morning, she said: “Edward, they tell me that the great temptation 
 of a seaman’s life is drink.” Promise me, before you quit your moth- 
 er’s hand, that you will never drink.” “And,” said he, for he told 
 me the story, “ I gave her the promise, and I went the broad globe 
 over — Calcutta, the Mediterranean, San Francisco, the Cape of Good 
 Hope, the North Pole and the South — I saw them all in forty years, 
 and I never saw a glass filled with sparkling liquor that my mother’s 
 form, by the garden gate, on the green hill-side of Vermont, did not 
 rise before me; and to-day, at sixty, my lips are innocent of liquor.” 
 Yet that was not half. “For,” said he, “yesterday there came into 
 my counting-room a young man of forty, and asked, ‘Do you know 
 me?' ‘No.’ ‘Well/ said he, ‘I was once brought drunk into 
 
THE MOTHER. 
 
 39 
 
 your presence on shipboard ; you were a passenger ; the captain kick- 
 ed me aside; you took me to your berth and kept me there until I 
 had slept the sleep of intoxication ; you then asked me if I had a mo- 
 ther. I said I never knew a word from her lips! You told me of 
 yours at the garden gate, and to day I am master of one of the finest 
 packets in New York, and I came to ask you to call and see me.’ ” 
 How far that little candle throws its beams ! That mother’s word on 
 the green hill-side of Vermont! 
 
 Not long ago the Eev. Dr. Mills, in one of his powerful appeals to 
 mothers to consecrate their children to the ministry of the Gospel, 
 said: “A youth, after great deliberation, and with the knowledge 
 that his mother desired him to be a clergyman, decided at last to 
 become a lawyer ; and soon after his mother inquired of him in a tone 
 of deep and tender interest, ( my son, what have you decided to do ? ’ 
 Ho study law, mother.’ She only replied, 1 1 had hoped otherwise;’ 
 and her convulsive sobbing told the depth of her disappointment. * Do 
 you think,’ said he, ‘I could go into the law over my mother’s tears?’ ” 
 He reconsidered the case, and has long been an able and efficient 
 clergyman. 
 
 Eev. Dr. Leland, of South Carolina, stated recently in the prayer 
 meeting at Saratoga Springs, that of one hundred students in the 
 Theological Seminary at Columbia, he had ascertained, by personal 
 inquiry, that ninety-nine received their first religious impression from 
 pious mothers. All that Leigh Eichmond was, he attributed to the 
 simplicity and propriety with which his mother endeavored to win his 
 attention, and store his memory with religious truths, when yet al- 
 most an infant. Oh! if Christian mothers would but wake up to the 
 use of their powers and their influences, a Samuel might arise out 
 of every family, and Leigh Eichmonds be numbered by thousands. 
 
 Who can look coldly upon a mother? Who, after the unspeakable 
 tenderness and care with which she has fostered him through infancy, 
 guided him through childhood, and deliberated with him through the 
 perplexities of opening manhood, can speak irreverently of a mother ? 
 Her claims to the affection of her offspring are founded in nature ; 
 and cold must be the heart that can deny them. “Oh!” says Irving, 
 “there is an enduring tenderness in the love of a mother to her son 
 that transcends all other affections of the heart. It is neither to be 
 chilled by selfishness, nor daunted by danger, nor weakened by worth- 
 lessness, nor stifled by ingratitude. She will sacrifice every comfort 
 to his convenience ; she will^ surrender every pleasure to his enjoy- 
 ment ; she will glory in his fame, and exult in his prosperity ; and 
 
40 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 if misfortune overtake him, he will be the dearer to her from misfor* 
 tune ; and if disgrace settle upon his name, she will still love and cher- 
 ish him in spite of his disgrace ; and if all the world beside cast him 
 off, she will be all the world to him.” 
 
 Alas ! how little do we appreciate a mother’s tenderness while liv- 
 ing. How heedless are we in youth of all her anxieties and kindness ? 
 But when she is dead and gone, when the cares and coldness of the 
 world come withering to our hearts, when we experience how hard it 
 is to find true sympathy, how few to love us for ourselves, how few 
 will befriend us in misfortune ; then it is, that we think of the mother 
 we have lost. 
 
 Over the grave of a friend, of a brother, or a sister, I would plant 
 the primrose, emblematical of youth ; but over that of a mother, I 
 would let the green grass shoot up unmolested, for there is something 
 in the simple covering which nature spreads upon the grave, that well 
 becomes the abiding place of decaying age. 0, a mother’s grave ! 
 Earth has some sacred spots, where we feel like loosing shoes from our 
 feet, and treading with reverence ; where common words of social con- 
 verse seem rude, and friendship’s hands have lingered in each other ; 
 where vows have been plighted, prayers offered, and tears of parting 
 shed. Oh ! how thoughts hover around such places, and travel back 
 through unmeasured space to visit them ! But of all spots on this 
 green earth none is so sacred as that where rests, waiting the resur- 
 rection, those we have once loved and cherished — our brothers, or our 
 children. Hence, in all ages, the better part of mankind have chosen 
 and loved spots of the dead, and on these spots they have loved to 
 wander at eventide. But of all places, even among the charnel-houses 
 of the dead, none is so sacred as a mother’s grave. There sleeps the 
 nurse of infancy, the guide of our youth, the counselor of our riper 
 years — our friend when others deserted us ; she whose heart was a 
 stranger to every other feeling but love — there she sleeps and we love 
 the very earth for her sake. 
 
 TO MOTHEBS. 
 
 It is said that a certain celebrated artist had already spent two 
 whole years in painting a scene ; but being dissatisfied, destroyed the 
 labor of so many months and was making another attempt, when a 
 friend interrogated him as to the cause of his thus spending so much 
 
TO MOTHERS. 
 
 41 
 
 of his time. His reply was, “ I paint for immortality.” Every indi- 
 vidual now living, is doing work for enterprise ; but a mother , to whom 
 is committed the training of a mortal immortal, is emphatically paint- 
 ing for immortality. 
 
 Hers is the hand that is delineating features on a canvass which will 
 retain its characters “ far into the other world.” It is this considera- 
 tion that gives its momentous importance to that question, so often 
 asked with such solicitude, by the anxious mother, “ what influences 
 among those I can bring to bear upon my child, will be the most last- 
 ing and productive of the greatest good ?” 
 
 Who among the children of men require so much wisdom as the 
 mother of a family ! The statesman requires wisdom that he may so 
 advise or direct as to secure the happiness or prosperity of the nation ; 
 but should one statesman act unwisely, another may step in and re- 
 pair the evil, and so his country may be saved from impending ruin. 
 The merchant needs wisdom and skill, and foresight and tact, that he 
 may guide his affairs with discretion ;• but should his plans be all frus- 
 trated, and riches make themselves wings and fly away at one period 
 of his life, he may have them returned at another, so that at the close 
 of his life he may leave his family in ease and comfort. The farmer 
 needs wisdom in cultivating his land and arranging his stock, so as to 
 bring him the best return for his labor and toil ; but should he fail 
 one year to realize his hopes, the next may make up the deficiency. 
 The navigator needs wisdom to guide his frail bark over the trackless 
 deep, so that he may escape the rocks and quicksands; and whirlpools 
 which may lie in his way ; but should he be unfortunate, and become 
 a wreck, he has a chance of being saved by holding on to the rigging 
 or escaping in his boat, and in this pitiful situation may find timely 
 help from another voyager. But the Mother ! if she makes a mis- 
 take in her mighty work, the probability is that it will be fatal. Her 
 little bark which has just been launched upon the ocean of life, will 
 find many rocks and quicksands, and whirlpools in its way ; she, the 
 mother , is to be the pilot for the most important part of the voyage, 
 and if she fails to guide it aright, dreadful will be the wreck when it 
 dashes over the precipice of time into the abyss of eternity. There 
 will be no kind hand to help, no returning season to repair the inju- 
 ry ; the work is done, and done badly ; and eternity will echo and re- 
 echo the dreadful tale of a child lost through its mother s neglect ! 
 
 Napoleon once asked a lady what France needed for the education 
 of her youth, and the short profound reply was, “ Mothers !” 
 
42 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 The first book read, and the last book laid aside by every child, is 
 the conduct of its mother. 
 
 1. First give yourself, then your child, to God. It is but giving 
 him his own. 
 
 2. Always prefer virtue to wealth — the honor that comes from God 
 to the honor that comes from men. Do this for yourself, do it for 
 your child. 
 
 3. Let your whole course be to raise your child to a high standard. 
 Do not sink into childishness yourself. 
 
 4. Give not needless commands, but when you command, require 
 prompt obedience. 
 
 5. Never indulge a child in cruelty, even to an insect. 
 
 6. Cultivate sympathy with your child in all lawful joys and sor- 
 rows. 
 
 7. Be sure that you never correct a child until you know it deserves 
 correction. Hear it first and fully. 
 
 8. The knowledge and fear of the Lord, are the beginning of wis- 
 dom.' 
 
 9. Nevkr mortify the feelings of your child by upbraiding it with 
 dulness ; but do not inspire it with self-conceit. 
 
 10. Pray with and for your child, often and heartily. 
 
 11. Encourage all attempts at self-improvement. 
 
 12. Never deceive nor break a promise to a child. 
 
 It was a judicious resolution of a father, being asked what he in- 
 tended to do with his girls, he replied : I intend to apprentice them to 
 their excellent mother, that they may learn the art of improving time, 
 and be fitted to become wives, mothers, and heads of families, and 
 useful members of society. 
 
 Young women, and particularly those brought up in luxury and in- 
 dolence, are too apt to consider domestic concerns, beneath their no- 
 tice. This is a great mistake. Women should from their infancy be 
 accustomed to have the direction of some department in their father’s 
 house ; they should keep the accounts, learn to purchase the various 
 articles used in housekeeping, and know how each may be employed 
 to most advantage : meanwhile care must be taken that economy de- 
 generate not into avarice, explain the folly of this passion, remind 
 them that it increases with age, that it is very disgraceful, and that a 
 prudent woman should only endeavor by a frugal and diligent life to 
 avoid the shame attached to prodigality and extravagance. It is ne- 
 cessary to curtail all useless expenses in order to be more liberal in 
 acts of benevolence, charity, and friendship. Frequently that which 
 
TO MOTHERS. 
 
 43 
 
 costs most at first, is ultimately cheapest, and it is a general good 
 management, not a mean parsimony, that is truly profitable. Do not 
 fail to represent the folly of those women, who eagerly save a wax 
 candle, while they suffer themselves to be cheated in objects of impor- 
 tance. Teach your daughters to pay great attention to neatness and 
 regularity, and accustom them not to suffer anything dirty or slattern- 
 ly about their persons or in their houses. Tell them nothing contri- 
 butes so much to economy as keeping everything in its proper place : 
 this rule, though apparently trifling, is highly important, and should 
 be strictly observed. When your daughters firs* begin to attend do- 
 mestic concerns, let them commit some errors, as it is well to sacrifice 
 something to improvement; point out what they should have done to 
 avoid these inconveniences, and teach them what you have yourself 
 learned by experience. Be not afraid to tell them of similar mistakes 
 you committed while young, for by these means you will inspire them 
 with confidence in themselves, and without which they will never do 
 anything well. 
 
 I know some houses, well built and handsomely furnished, where it 
 is not pleasant to be even a visitor. Sharp, angry tones resound 
 through them from morning till night, and the influence is as conta- 
 gious as measles, and much more to be dreaded in a household. The 
 children catch it and it lasts for life an incurable disease. Where 
 mother sets the example you will scarcely hear a pleasant word among 
 the children in their plays with each other. Yet the discipline of 
 such a family is always weak and irregular. The children expect just 
 so much scolding before they do anything they are bidden, while many 
 a home where the low, firm tone of the mother, or a decided look of 
 her steady eye is law, never think of disobedience, either in or out 
 of her sight. Oh mothers, it is worth a great deal to cultivate that 
 “ excellent thing in woman,” a low, sweet voice. If you are ever so 
 much tired by the mischievous or willful pranks of the little ones, speak 
 low. It will be a great help to you even to try to be patient and 
 cheerful, if you cannot wholly succeed. Anger makes you wretched, 
 and your children also. Impatient, angry tones never did the heart 
 good, but plenty of evil. Bead what Solomon says of them, and re- 
 member he wrote with an inspired pen. You cannot have the excuse 
 for them that they lighten your burdens any — they make them only 
 ten times heavier. For your own as well as your children’s sake, 
 learn to speak low. They will remember that tone when your head 
 is under the willows. So too, would they remember a harsh and angrv 
 voice. Which legacy will you leave to your children ? 
 
44 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 How many mothers are there in the world who have one manner of 
 speaking at home, and another when out in society ? Can there be a 
 more touching rebuke than that uttered by the little girl below ? She, 
 like all children, was a close observer of her parent’s conduct. A lady 
 who was in the habit of visiting the poor for benevolent purposes, took 
 her little daughter with her. The child saw, heard, and was ’inter- 
 ested. But there was something which the child could not exactly 
 make out. So on the road home she said : “ Mamma, when you are 
 out visiting the poor you always talk about Jesus Christ to them, and 
 you don’t talk of him when you are at home.” 
 
 “ Walk in, Mrs. Sloane,” said a mother, as she ushered a visitor into 
 the family room, where her three daughters were seated. “ It seems 
 an age since you were here. You have quite neglected us. I really 
 felt unhappy about it, and wondered what kept you away so long.” 
 And so the lady ran on, enlarging upon her happiness at seeing her 
 friend once more. The lady was pleased with this appreciation of her 
 society, and after a pleasant call of a reasonable length prepared to 
 go. Then followed an urgent request that she would sit longer, suc- 
 ceeded by a pressing invitation to call again. The acquaintance passed 
 on down the street, and the mother turned to the three young ladies, 
 as she resumed the work which had been laid aside for the caller, with 
 the pettish remark, “ I wonder how people find so much time to run 
 around the streets and trouble their neighbors.” This mother was a 
 professing Christian, and but ? short time before had expressed her 
 deep concern to her pastor for the souls of her daughters. “I talk 
 with them, and pray and labor for their conversion, but it all seems to 
 do no good.” Alas ! could they possibly have confidence in a religion 
 which was thus represented ? Would not that mother’s insincerity 
 make a deeper impression on their hearts than all her precepts ? Re- 
 member, mother, there are sharp eyes watching you every hour. 
 “There’s a chief among them that takes notes,” when you least sus- 
 pect it. You may sometimes “get on the blind side” of older people, 
 but seldom on that of keen, honest-hearted children. And 0 what 
 fatal consequences may result from your inconsistency, with your high 
 profession as Christian mothers ! When once a child loses faith in 
 mother, one of the great anchor-cables of his life is severed, and fear- 
 ful indeed may be the shipwreck. Be what you seem, mother, to all 
 the world, if you would have your children believe in your truth. No 
 authority can command their respect for a hypocritical mother. They 
 will in heart despise her character, though a mere natural affection 
 which they share in common with the lower orders of animal life may 
 
MANAGEMENT OF CHILDREN. 
 
 45 
 
 bind their hearts to her. Still it is weak as a spider’s web, com- 
 pared with the might of that mother’s influence who can command 
 the unsullied love and perfect confidence of her children. 
 
 If you wish to cultivate a gossipping, meddling, censorious spirit in 
 your children, be sure when they come home from church, a visit, or 
 any other place where you do not accompany them, to ply them with 
 questions concerning what everybody wore, how everybody looked, 
 and what everybody said and did — and if you find anything in all this 
 to censure, always do it in their hearing. You may rest assured, if 
 you pursue a course of this kind, they will not return to you unladen 
 with intelligence; and, rather than it should be uninteresting, they 
 will by degrees learn to embellish in such a manner as shall not fail to 
 call forth remarks and expressions of wonder from you. You will, by 
 this course, render the spirit of curiosity — which is so early visible in 
 children, and which, if rightly directed, may be made the instrument 
 of enriching and enlarging their minds — a vehicle of mischief, which 
 shall serve only to narrow them. 
 
 By the quiet fireside of home, the true mother, in the midst of hei 
 children, is sowing, as in vases of earth, the seeds of plants that shal 
 sometime give to Heaven the fragrance of their blossoms, and whose 
 fruit will be a rosary of angelic deeds — the noblest offering that she car 
 make through the ever-ascending and ever-expanding souls of hei 
 children to her Maker. Every word that she utters goes from heart 
 to heart with a power of which she jjttle dreams. Solemn is the 
 thought, but not more solemn to the Christian mother than the thought 
 that every word that falls from her lips, every expression of her coun- 
 tenance, even in the sheltered walk, and retirement, may leave an in- 
 delible impression upon the young souls around her, and form, as it 
 were, the underlying strata of that education which peoples Heaven 
 with celestial beings, and gives to the white brow of the angel, next 
 to the grace of God, its crown of glory. 
 
 MANAGEMENT OF CHILDREN. 
 
 Bishop Paine, of the Southern Methodist Church said at Alexan- 
 dria : “ Give him the children of a town for five years, and he would 
 take the town.” “ The child,” says Wordsworth, “ is father of the 
 man.” 
 
 The instruction of your children cannot commence too early. Every 
 
46 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 mother is capable of teaching her children obedience, humility, cleanli- 
 ness and propriety of behavior ; and it is a delightful circum- 
 stance, that the first instruction should thus be communicated by 
 so tender a teacher. It is by combining affectionate gentleness in 
 granting what is right, with judicious refusal of what, is improper, 
 that the happiness of children is promoted, and that good and orderly 
 habits are established. If children are early trained to be docile 
 and obedient, the future task of guiding them aright will be com- 
 paratively easy. 
 
 Do all in your power to teach your children self-government. If a 
 child is passionate, teach him by gentle and patient means, to curb his 
 temper. If he is greedy, cultivate liberality in him. If he is sulky, 
 charm him out of it by encouraging frank, good humor. If he is in- 
 dolent, accustom him to exertion. If pride makes his obedience re- 
 luctant, subdue him by counsel or discipline. In short, give your 
 children a habit of overcoming their besetting sin. 
 
 In all your teaching do not forget the most important of lessons. — 
 Teach to love, so that when your eyes are old, and their sense almost 
 extinguished, you may yet find round your sick couch and dying bed 
 no greedy covetous looks, but anxious weeping eyes, which strive to 
 warm your freezing life, and lighten the darkness of your last hour 
 by thanks for their first ; teach to love, I repeat ; that means — do you 
 love! 
 
 The very handling of the nursery is significant, and the petulance, 
 the passion, the gentleness, the tranquilty indicated by it, are all re- 
 produced in the child. His soul is a purely receptive nature, and that 
 for a considerable period, without choice or selection. A little farther 
 on, he begins voluntarily to copy everything he sees. Voice, manner, 
 gait, everything which the eye sees, the mimic instinct delights to act 
 over. And thus we have a whole generation of future men receiving 
 from us their very beginnings, and the deepest impulses of their life 
 and immortality. They watch us every moment, in the family, before 
 the hearth, and at the table ; and when we are meaning them no good 
 or evil, when we are conscious of exerting no influence over them, they 
 are drawing from us impressions and molds of habit, which, if wrong, 
 no heavenly discipline can wholly remove ; or, if right, no bad associ- 
 ations utterly dissipate. Now, it may be doubted, I think, whether, 
 m all the active influence of our lives, we do as much to shape the 
 destiny of our fellow men, as we do in this single article of unconscious 
 influence over children. 
 
 Be ever gentle with the children that God has given to you; re- 
 
MANAGEMENT OF CHILDREN. 
 
 47 
 
 prove them earnestly, but never in anger. In the forcible language 
 of Scripture “Be not bitter against them.” “Yes, they are good 
 children,” I once heard a kind parent say, “I talk to them much, but 
 I don’t like to beat my children, the world will beat them.” It was 
 a beautiful thought, yet there is not one child that comes round your 
 table, hearty as they now look, on whose head, if long spared, the 
 storm will not beat. Adversity may wither them, sickness fade, a 
 cold world frown on them; but amid all, let memory carry them back 
 to a home where the law of kindness reigned, where the mother’s re- 
 proving eye was moistened with a tear, and a father’s frown was more 
 in sorrow than in anger. 
 
 Be patient with the little ones. Let neither their slow understand- 
 ing nor occasional pertness offend you to provoke the sharp reproof. 
 Remember the world is new to them, and they have no slight task to 
 grasp with their unripened intellect the mass of facts and truths that 
 crowd upon their attention. You are grown to maturity and strength, 
 through years of experience ; and it ill becomes you to fret at a child 
 who fails to keep pace with your thought. Teach him patiently as 
 God teaches you “ line upon line, precept upon precept, here a little, 
 and there a little.” Cheer him on in his conflict of mind, in after 
 years his ripe, rich thought shall rise and call you blessed. 
 
 Bide patiently the endless questionings of your children. Do not 
 roughly crush the rising spirit of free inquiry with an impatient word 
 or frown, nor attempt on the contrary, a long instructive reply to 
 every casual question. Seek rather to deepen their curiosity. Con- 
 vert if possible, the careless question into a profound and earnest in- 
 quiry. Let your reply send the little questioner forth, not so much 
 proud of what he has learned, as anxious to know more. Happy, 
 thou, if, in giving your child the molehill of truth he asks for, you 
 can whet his curiosity with a glimpse of the mountain of truth lying 
 beyond ; so wilt thou send forth a philosopher, and not a silly pedant 
 into the world. 
 
 Bear patiently the childish humors of those little ones. They are 
 but the untutored pleadings of the young spirit for care ard cultiva- 
 tion. Irritated into strength, and hardened into habits, they will 
 haunt the whole life like fiends of despair, and make the little ones 
 curse the day they were born ; but corrected kindly and patiently, 
 they become elements of happiness and usefulness. Passions are but 
 fires, they may either scorch us with their uncontrolled fury, or may 
 yield us a genial and needful warmth. 
 
 Bless your little ones with a patient care of their childhood, and 
 
48 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 they will certainly consecrate the glory and grace of their man- 
 hood to your service. Sow in their hearts the seeds of a perennial 
 blessedness; its ripened fruit will afford you a perpetual joy. Send 
 your little child to bed happy. Whatever cares press, give it a warm 
 good night kiss as it goes to its pillow. The memory of this in the 
 stormy years which fate may have in store for the little one, will be 
 like Bethlehem’s star to the bewildered shepherds. 
 
 Harshness and severity used without caution is calculated either to 
 injure the dignity and independent spirit of the child, or produce a 
 morbid obstinancy and perverseness. It is at times necessary to cen- 
 sure and punish ; but very much more may be done by encouraging 
 children when they do well. Be, therefore, more careful to express 
 your approbation of good conduct than your disapprobation of bad. 
 Nothing can more discourage a child than a spirit of incessant fault- 
 finding on the part of its parent; and hardly, anything can exert a 
 more injurious influence upon the disposition 'both of the parent and 
 child. There are two great motives influencing human action — hope 
 and fear. Both of these are at times necessary. But who would not 
 prefer to have her child influenced to good conduct by a desire of pleas- 
 ing rather than by the fear of offending ? If a mother never expresses 
 her gratification when her children do well and is always censuring 
 them when she sees anything amiss, they are discouraged and unhap- 
 py ; their dispositions become hardened and soured by this ceaseless 
 fretting ; and last, finding that, whether they do well or ill, they are 
 equally found fault with, they relinquish all efforts to please and be- 
 come heedless of reproaches. 
 
 The day for sternness of family discipline is passed ; but the day 
 of thorough respectfulness among its members and a careful proprie- 
 ty will never pass. Play with your children as much as you please, 
 but keep the reins of your authority steadily drawn. 
 
 Some dangerous theorists hold that vehemence of passion proves 
 strength of feeling ; that people of warm tempers have necessarily 
 warm affections ; and that a boy’s spirit should not be broken. They 
 never consider that a burst of passion is neither more nor less thau a 
 burst of selfishness, and that the individual who does more injury in 
 one hour of anger than he could undo, perhaps in years of willing 
 toil, is likely to make his friends wish that his feelings had only the 
 usual and average strength of their own, and that his spirit had been 
 curbed only by his reason. 
 
 The eldest son of President Edwards, congratulating a friend on 
 having a fine family of sons, said to him with much earnestness, “He- 
 
MANAGEMENT OF CHILEItEN. 
 
 49 
 
 member there is but one mode of family government. I have brought 
 up and educated fourteen boys, two of whom I brought, or rather 
 suffered to grow up without the rod. One of those was my youngest 
 brother, and the other Aaron Burr, my sister's only son," both of 
 whom had lost their parents in their childhood ; “ and from both my 
 observation and experience, I tell you, sir, maple sugar govern- 
 ment will never answer. Beware how you let the first act of disobe- 
 dience in your little boys go unnoticed, and unless evidence of repent- 
 ance be manifest, unpunished." Of all the sermons I ever heard, 
 long or short, this has been the most useful, so far as this world is 
 concerned. It is a solemn lesson, to be prayerfully pondered by all pa- 
 rents and guardians. The Bible lays down four great rules, involving 
 the four great elements of the successful religious training of children 
 — prayer, instruction, example, and restraint. And it is useless to 
 pray for, or with your children, if you do not instruct them ; and it 
 will be in vain to instruct them if your example contradicts your 
 teaching; and in vain will be the prayer, the instruction, the 
 example, if, like Eli, when your children do wrong, you “ restrain them 
 not." 
 
 It is related of the mother of Gen. Schuyler, that she was indul- 
 gent, but a firm disciplinarian, and she never allowed her authority to 
 be questioned by her children. The General frequently mentioned an 
 illustrative example that occurred when he was about ten years of 
 age. On one occasion, not satisfied with some food that was set before 
 him at dinner, he refused to eat it, and asked for another dish. His 
 mother, regarding his dislike as whimsical, ordered a servant, to carry 
 the dish away, and nothing else was given him. At supper the same 
 dish was set before him, and it was again refused. He went to bed 
 fasting, and the next morning the same dish was given him for break- 
 fast. All this while his mother had not uttered a word of reproof, 
 nor exhibited the least unkindness of manner. Hunger had subdued 
 his rebellious spirit, and conscience made him penitent. He ate the 
 obnoxions food, cheerfully begged his mother to forgive him for his 
 obstinacy, and resolved never again to defy her authority. This kind 
 of maternal discipline had a powerful effect and was reproduced in 
 the character of the son in an eminent degree. 
 
 Says Dr. Edward Lawton : Many people begin the education of their 
 children with an exhibition of toys, marvelous tales, silly romances, 
 and wind up with the circus and theatre. The degrading influences 
 and sorrowful consequences of this mode of education will be illustra- 
 ted by stating a few facts that passed under my own observation. 
 
50 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 So far as my memory goes, about thirty boys educated in this way, 
 i. e., in contempt of all useful knowledge and occupation have spent 
 their days in reading novels, the lives and confessions of pirates and 
 murderers, &c., and their nights in the streets, dram shops, gambling 
 houses, circus and theatre ; at the age of forty-five, one had been hung 
 for murder, one for robbing the mail and three as pirates ; five died 
 in the penitentiary, and seven lived and died as useless vagabonds 
 about the streets ; three were useful mechanics, and the fate of the re- 
 mainder is unknown. Of about forty educated with me by a really 
 moral and scientific teacher under the old fogy Puritanical system of 
 restraint as it is now called by Young America, at the age of fifty- 
 five, one was a member of Congress, one Judge of the Supreme Court, 
 three physicians, five lawyers, fourteen were dead, and the remainder 
 farmers and mechanics, and so far as known, not one of them 
 was ever called before the bar of his country on a criminal charge, 
 and they all had comfortable homes, except two or three, and every 
 one was passably respectable. 
 
 Keep your children off the street. By that we mean, do not let 
 them make acquaintance on the sidewalks. If they frequent the pub- 
 lic schools, you must establish a sort of verbal quarantine at your own 
 door, and examine the youthful tongue once a day, to see if it has not 
 a secretion of slang upon it. 
 
 Fathers and mothers, look out for your boys when the shades of 
 evening have gathered around you ! Where are they then ? Are they 
 at home, at the pleasant, social fireside, or are they running the streets? 
 Are they gaining a street education? If so, take care, the chances 
 of their ruin are many. There is scarcely anything more destructive 
 to their morals than running about at night. Under cover of dark- 
 ness they acquire the education of crime ; they learn to be rowdyish, 
 if not absolutely vicious ; they catch up loose talk, they hear sinful 
 thoughts, they see obscene things, they become reckless and riotous. 
 If you would save them from vulgarity, save them from ruin, save 
 them from prison, see to it that night finds them at home. More than 
 one young man has told the chaplain of the State prison that here was 
 the beginning of his downward course, which finally brought him to 
 the felon’s cell. Let parents solemnly ponder this matter, and do what 
 they can to make home attractive for all the children, so attractive 
 that the boys will prefer it to roaming in the streets. There is no 
 place like home in more sense than one — certainly no place like home 
 for boys in the evening. 
 
 Don’t be afraid of a little fun at home, good people. Don’t shut up 
 
MANAGEMENT OF CHILDREN. 
 
 61 
 
 your house lest the sun should fade your ckrpets, and your hearts lest 
 a hearty laugh shake down some of the musty old cobwebs there. If 
 you want to ruin your sons let them think that all mirth and social 
 enjoyment must be left on the threshold without when they come home 
 at night. When once a home is regarded as only a place to eat, drink, 
 and sleep in, the work begins that ends in gambling-houses and reck- 
 less dissipation. Young people must have fun and relaxation some- 
 where; if they do not find it at their own hearthstones i-t will be 
 sought at other and perhaps less profitable places. Therefore let the 
 fire burn brightly at night and make the homestead delightful with 
 all those little arts that parents so perfectly understand. Don’t re- 
 press the buoyant spirits of your children ; half an hour of merriment 
 round the lamp and firelight of a home blots out the remembrance of 
 many a care and annoyance during the day, and the best safeguard 
 they can take with them into the world is the unseen influences of a 
 bright little domestic sanctum. 
 
 Teach your children the elements of Christian Philosophy, the Bi- 
 ble, lessons of Love, and Temperance, and Knowledge, and Virtue, and 
 Faith, and Hope and Charity, and you may turn them out into the 
 world without a doubt of distrust or fear ; they will never inj ure the 
 State. 
 
 Teach your child to take care of himself. Educate your children 
 to activity, to enterprise, to fearlessness in what is right, and to cow- 
 ardice in what is wrong. Educate them to despise suffering that 
 stands in the way of accomplishment of many aims, and count it as 
 a little thing. Make them free by lifting them up into the storms of 
 life, and not by covering them down with soft and downy plush. Give 
 your children fortune without education, and at least one-half of the 
 number will go down to the tomb of oblivion — perhaps to ruin. Give 
 them an education, and they will be a fortune to themselves and their 
 country. It is an inheritance worth more than gold, for it buys true 
 honor ; they can never spend or lose it ; and through life it will prove 
 a friend, and in death a consolation. 
 
 The father who plunges into business so deeply that he has no lei- 
 sure for domestic duties and pleasures, and whose only intercourse 
 with his children consists in a brief word of authority, or a surly la- 
 mentation over their intolerable expensiveness, is equally to be pitied 
 and to be blamed. What right has he to devote to other pursuits the 
 time which God has allotted to his children ? Nor is it an excuse to 
 say, that he cannot support his family in their present style of living 
 without this effort. I ask, by what right can his family demand to 
 
52 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 live in a manner which requires him to neglect his most solemn and 
 important duties ? Nor is it an excuse to say that he wishes to leave 
 them a competence. Is he under obligation to leave them that com- 
 petence which he desires ? Is it an advantage to be relieved from 
 the necessity of labor ? Besides, is money the only desirable bequest 
 which a father can leave to his children ? Surely, well cultivated in- 
 tellects ; hearts sensible to domestic affection ; the love of parents and 
 brethren, and sisters; a taste for home pleasures; habits of order, 
 regularity, and industry ; hatred of vice and vicious men ; and a live- 
 ly sensibility to the excellence of virtue, are as valuable a legacy as 
 an inheritance of property — simple property, purchased by the loss 
 of every habit which would render that property a blessing. 
 
 A gentleman was walking over his farm with a friend, exhibiting 
 his crops, herds of cattle, and flocks of sheep, with all of which he 
 was highly pleased, but with nothing so much as with his splendid 
 sheep. He had never seen such noble specimens, and with great ear- 
 nestness he asked how he had succeeded in raising such flocks. His 
 simple answer was, “I take care of my lambs, sir." Here was all 
 the secret — he took care of his lambs ! Reader — father, mother, 
 teacher — need we make the application. 
 
 Training is not merely teaching a child what it ought to do ; it is 
 this, and a great deal more. There may be right teaching, which does 
 no good ; because, along with it there is a wrong training which does 
 much harm. “Give me some of that” said a peevish-looking boy 
 about seven or eight years of age, to his mother, who was seated on 
 the deck of a steamer in which I happened to be, lately. The mother 
 had some eatables in her hand. “Hold your tongue, Peter.” replied 
 his mother: “you won’t get it.” “I want that” again demanded Pe- 
 ter, with increased earnestness. “I tell you,” said the mother, look- 
 ing at him, “you shall not get it. Is that not enough for you ? Go and 
 play, and be a good boy.” “But I want that” reiterated Peter, be- 
 ginning to sulk and look displeased. “ What a laddie ! ” exclaimed 
 the mother. “ Have I not told you twenty times never to ask a thing 
 when I say that you are not to get it ? ” “I want that” cried Peter, 
 more violently than ever, bursting into tears. “Here!’ said his 
 mother, “ take it and be quiet. I am sure I never, in all my life, saw 
 such a bad boy.” Alas ! poor boy, he had more reason, if he only 
 knew it, to complain of his mother. The same boy, Peter, grows up, 
 probably, to be a selfish and’self-willed young man. His mother sees it 
 and suffers from it ; but she wonders how such a temper or disposition 
 should show itself in her Peter ! and consoles herself with the thought 
 
MANAGEMENT OF CHILDREN. 
 
 53 
 
 that, whatever is the cause of so mysterious a dispensation, from no 
 fault in her could it have come, nor “for want of telling." 
 
 The eastern proverb which declares that there are no ungrateful 
 children, is nearer the truth than it appears. It is but another ver- 
 sion of the Biblical maxim : Train up a child in the way he should go, 
 and when he is old he will not depart from it. The parent who does 
 really train up a child in the way he should go, is the parent who 
 truly deserves the gratitude of his child, and he is the only parent who 
 can hope to receive it in full measure. How many parents there are 
 who, after indulging their children’s every desire, are sincerely aston- 
 ished to find them making no return of love and gratitude. Grati- 
 tude ! For what should they be grateful ? For an impaired diges- 
 tion ? For a will uncurbed ? For an appetite unregulated ? For a 
 heart cold ? For a mind empty ? For hands unskillful ? For a child- 
 hood wasted? For the chance of forming a noble character lost? 
 These are poor claims upon the gratitude of a child. Bring up your 
 child so that, at mature age, he has a sound constitution, healthy de- 
 sires, an honest heart, a well-informed mind, good manners, and a 
 useful calling, and you may rely upon his making you such a rich 
 return of grateful affection as shall a thousand times repay you for 
 the toil and self-denial which such a training costs. No — there are 
 no ungrateful children ! It is a hard saying. But is it not 
 true? 
 
 A child is never happy from having his own way. Decide for him 
 and he has but one thing to do ; set him to please himself, and he is 
 troubled with everything and pleased with nothing. 
 
 A spoiled child is an unfortunate victim, who proves the weakness 
 of his parents’ judgment much more forcibly than the strength of 
 their affection. It is the just punishment of a weak over-indulgency 
 that, the more we fondle a spoiled child, the more completely we 
 alienate him from us, as an arrow flies the farther from us, the closer 
 we draw it to our bosom. 
 
 I think that the management of children should be regarded and con- 
 ducted from the following stand-point: 
 
 All our thoughts, feelings, and action ought to be arbitrarily ruled 
 by wisdom. Only when this master bears the scepter can we be 
 good and harmonious beings. The child is not yet unfolded — that is, 
 
 wisdom has not yet appeared in the center of its soul therefore it 
 
 must be governed by this divine sovereign. How can this be accom- 
 plished ? Having no wisdom yet of its own, the child must be guided 
 by wisdom from abroad; and whence can it emanate, if not from pa- 
 
54 
 
 PEACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 rents and teachers ? As we obey and must obey our wisdom, so the 
 child must absolutely obey the wisdom of its guardians — the parents 
 and teachers. 
 
 Parents and teachers ! To you I speak — Labor to make yourselves 
 good, and wise, and harmonious — to become whole men and women — 
 for only then are you able to “ manage children.” No system of ex- 
 terior rules, no compilation of superficial prescriptions, can fix the 
 place of this central rule — this law of laws. The child must learn 
 to obey, strictly and unhesitatingly with an innocent and loving faith 
 in the excellency of his guardian ; for only thus will the child be able 
 in riper years, to obey its own unfolded wisdom. Our education most 
 needs obedience. But how can a child, in many cases show obedi- 
 ence — the treatment being so unwise. Therefore, parent, teacher, 
 first cultivate yourselves, and you will become capable without any 
 rules, to “ manage children,” and these, rationally managed, will gov- 
 ern themselves afterwards, according to the holy whispers of wisdom. 
 
 If you wish your child to follow in the path of truth and virtue, 
 walk in that way yourself. F ew parents like to be told of the faults 
 of a child. The reason is obvious. All faults are either hereditary 
 or educational, and in either case to point a finger at the child is, in- 
 lirectly, to reprove the parent. 
 
 FAMILY WORSHIP. 
 
 Not a few Christians who desire above all things that their children 
 should serve the Lord, neglect the best means to secure that result. 
 They pray for them, are careful to have them attend Sabbath school 
 and public worship, and occasionally exhort them to seek the Lord. 
 What more can they do ? They can maintain a Christian atmosphere 
 at home. The experience of the Church proves that no influence 
 equals home religion in converting children to Christ. And the most 
 fit and potent expression of family religion is in family worship every 
 day. The reading of the Bible and prayer daily when children are 
 growing up is like the perpetual sunlight, charging and renewing the 
 hearts by gradual, silent progress. 
 
 Let parents read and kneel before the Lord, have all the children 
 kneel, from smallest to greatest, and they may acquire a reverence 
 and love for the Savior that will make them feel that a household 
 without prayer is heathen, vulgar, intolerable. They love their pa- 
 
EIGHT TO SIXTEEN. 
 
 55 
 
 rents and revere their superior wisdom, and when, from early child- 
 hood, they see them bow and pray, they come to regard prayer as an 
 essential part of daily life. 
 
 But in order to do this the worship must be regular and devout, and 
 the whole family engage in it. Some families are not careful to have 
 their children present when they worship. This is very wrong. The 
 children, above all others, are benefitted, and should always be pres- 
 ent. Some do not teach the children to kneel during prayer, and 
 hence they awkwardly sit in their seats while the parents kneel. This 
 is a sad mistake. If they do not kneel they naturally suppose they 
 have no part or lot in the devotions, and soon feel that it is wrong for 
 them to bow before the Lord. We have seen many cases where grown 
 up sons and daughters have never bent the knee before the Lord, and 
 thought it wrong to kneel till they were Christians. In this way they 
 were made more shy and stubborn, and felt that there was an impas- 
 sable barrier between them and Christ. This feeling is wrong and 
 unnecessary. If family worship had been rightly observed they would 
 have felt that they were very near the Savior, and would easily be 
 inclined to give their hearts to him. Indeed, children thus trained 
 seldom grow to maturity without becoming practical Christians. 
 
 EIGHT TO SIXTEEN. 
 
 Lord Shaftesbury recently stated in a public meeting in London, 
 that from personal observation he had ascertained that of adult male 
 criminals of that city, nearly all had fallen into a course of crime be- 
 tween the ages of eight and sixteen years, and that if a young man 
 lived an honest life up to twenty years of age, there were forty-nine 
 chances in favor and only one against him as to an honorable life 
 thereafter. 
 
 This is a fact of singular importance to fathers and mothers, and 
 shows a fearful responsibility. Certainly a parent should secure and 
 exercise absolute control over the child under sixteen. It can not be 
 a difficult matter to do this, except in very rare cases, and if that con- 
 trol is not very wisely and efficiently exercised it must be the parent’s 
 fault ; it is owing to the parental neglect or remissness. Hence the 
 real source of ninety-nine per cent of the real crime in a country such 
 as England or the United States lies at the door of the parents. It is 
 a fearful reflection. We throw it before the minds of the fathers and 
 
56 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 mothers of our land, and there leave it to be thought of in wisdom, re- 
 marking only as to the early seeds of bodily disease that they are, in 
 nearly every case, sown between sundown and bedtime, in absence 
 from the family circle, in the supply of spending-money never earned 
 by the spender, opening the doors of confectioneries and soda foun- 
 tains, of beer, and tobacco, and wine shops, of the circus, the negro 
 minstrel, the restaurant, and dance; then follows the Sunday excur- 
 sion, the Sunday drive, with the easy transition to the company of 
 those whose ways lead to the gates of social, physical, and moral ruin. 
 From eight to sixteen ; in these few years are the destinies of children 
 fixed in forty-nine cases out of fifty — fixed by the parents. Let every 
 father and mother solemnly vow, “ By Grod’s help, I’ll fix my darling’s 
 destiny for good by making home more attractive than the streets.” 
 
 BULES FOB HOME EDUCATION. 
 
 1. From your children’s earliest infancy inculcate the necessity of 
 instant obedience. 
 
 2. Unite firmness with gentleness. Let your children always un- 
 derstand that you mean exactly what you say. 
 
 3. Never promise them anything unless you are sure that you can 
 give them what you promise. 
 
 4. If you tell a child to do any thing, show him how to do it, and 
 see that it is done. 
 
 5. Always punish your children for willfully disobeying you, but 
 never punish when you are angry. 
 
 6. Never let them perceive that they can vex you or make you lose 
 your self-command. 
 
 7. Never smile at any of their actions of which you do not approve, 
 even though they are somewhat amusing. 
 
 8. If they give way to petulance and temper, wait till they are 
 calm, and then gently reason with them on the impropriety of their 
 conduct. 
 
 9. Bemember that a little present punishment, when the occasion 
 arises, is much more effectual than the threatening of a greater pun- 
 ishment should the fault be renewed. 
 
 10. Never give your children anything because they cry for it. 
 
 11. On no account allow them to do at one time what you have 
 forbidden under the same circumstances, at another. 
 
DUTIES OF PARENTS TO SCHOOLS. 
 
 57- 
 
 12. Teach them that the only sure and easy way to appear good is 
 to be good. 
 
 13. Accustom them to make their little recitals the perfect truth. 
 
 14. Never allow of talebearing. 
 
 15. Teach them that self-denial, not self-indulgence, is the appoint- 
 ed and sure method of securing happiness. 
 
 16. Above all things instruct them from the Word of God, taking 
 Jesus for their example in patience, meekness, and love ; teaching 
 them to pray morning and evening, and during the day once or often- 
 er, as they grow up, as the only preservative against error, weakness, 
 and sin. 
 
 DUTIES OF PARENTS TO SCHOOLS. 
 
 1. Parents should send their children to school constantly and sea- 
 sonable. 
 
 2. They should see that they are decently clothed, and cleanly in 
 their persons. 
 
 3. They should encourage them to respect and obey the rules and 
 requirements of the school. 
 
 4. They should encourage them to be orderly in their deportment, 
 and studiously to regard right. 
 
 5. They should encourage them to be studious by manifesting an in- 
 terest in their lessons. 
 
 6. They should have regard for the character of the books their 
 children read, and see that they read understandingly. 
 
 7. They should cultivate in their children habits of true politeness 
 and courtesy. 
 
 8. Besides visiting the school and co-operating and sympathising 
 with the teacher, they can do much for its improvement and success, 
 by manifesting at all proper places, an interest in its welfare, and a 
 deep solicitude for its reputation ; by speaking well of the teacher, 
 and of all his judicious plans ; by palliating or excusing his faults or 
 failings, (of which every teacher must be expected to have some,) and 
 by inducing their neighbors to visit the school and take an interest in 
 its exercises ; thus showing to their children, in the most convincing 
 manner, that they feel that their present employment is an important 
 one, and that the duties of school are not to be regarded as little con- 
 sequence. 
 
'58 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 DUTIES OF PARENTS TO SCHOOL CHILDREN. 
 
 Among the most important observances for school children, says 
 Dr. Hall, and which every wise and affectionate parent will never lose 
 sight of, are, 
 
 1. See that they have all the sleep that they can take. Every child 
 under ten should be in bed by eight o’clock, summer and winter, so 
 that they may have nearly eleven hours’ sleep. Those older should 
 be in bed at nine and be required to rise at six ; thus they will have 
 more time for study in the morning, when the brain is rested and acts 
 efficiently, and will also be prevented from injuring their eyes, as very 
 many school children do, by using artificial light. 
 
 2. See to it that every child goes to bed with warm, dry feet, and 
 that they sleep warm all night. 
 
 3. If you are a human, and not a brute, never allow your child to 
 go to bed with wounded or ruffled feelings from any angry words, or 
 harsh or hasty conduct on your part. Always send them off to school 
 in a happy and affectionate state of mind ; and when they return, let 
 them be invariably received with a kindly greeting, and a loving, 
 thankful heart that they are once more returned to you in health and 
 safety. These things are the more necessary as their ambitions, their 
 disappointments, their discouragements, and their troubles, in refer- 
 ence to their school and their lessons, are as important to them as 
 yours to you in the mightier matters of life, and if they find not a 
 balm for all these in the affection, and smiles, and sympathy, of their 
 mothers especially, it is to them a misfortune, and to such mothers a 
 disgrace. 
 
 4. By all possible means arrange that your children shall reach 
 school with dry feet and dry clothing ; the neglect of this has sent 
 many a sweet child to its early grave, the victim of a mother’s care- 
 lessness or a teacher’s stupidity. 
 
 5. School children should eat with great regularity ; thrice a day 
 is all-sufficient for those above ten. Frequent eating, and tempting 
 their appetites with sweetmeats. and delicacies, has been the ground- 
 work of early and life-long dyspeptics to multitudes. 
 
 6. Teach children perse veringly the importance of attending prompt- 
 ly to the calls of nature ; and by any and every means bring it about 
 that this shall be done before leaving for school in the morning. To 
 this end arrange that they shall be through with their breakfasts an 
 hour before it is necessary to start for school, even if they have to eat 
 by candle-light. Cases of fatal inflammation of the bladder have often 
 
CHILDREN. 
 
 59 
 
 \ 
 
 occurred in consequence of the ignorance or brutality of teachers in 
 this connection. 
 
 7th. Embrace every opportunity of impressing the child's mind 
 with the fact that teachers are laboring for their good, and therefore 
 ought to bn loved, respected, and obeyed, as their best friends. 
 
 ! 
 
 CHILD REN. 
 
 Hearer to glory they stand than we, in this world and the naxt ! 
 It was a gentle and not unholy fancy that made the Portuguese artist 
 Siquina, in one of his sweet pictures, form of infant faces the floor of 
 heaven, dividing it thus from the fiery vault beneath, with its groups 
 of the lost. For how many women had this image been realized! 
 How many have been saved from despair or sin by the voice and 
 smile of these unconscious little ones ! The woman who is a mother 
 dwells in the immediate presence of guardian angels. She will bear 
 on for her children's sake. She will toil for them, live for them, which 
 is sometimes harder still. The neglected, miserable, maltreated wife 
 has still one bright spot in her home ; in that darkness a watch-light 
 burns ; she has her children's love, she will strive for her children. 
 The woman tempted by passion has still one safeguard stronger than 
 all with which you would surround her ; she will not leave her chil- 
 dren. The angry and outraged man sees in those tiny features a 
 pleading more eloquent than words ; her wrath against her husband 
 melts in the sunshine of their eyes. 
 
 There is not in this world a more lovable object than a young child 
 — its fair brow unshadowed by care, its clear eye undimmed by tears, 
 its pure heart untainted by passion. Its every word, look and ac- 
 tion bespeak its guilelessness. Its smiles — its affectionate endearments 
 — its unstinted confidence — its artless, winning ways, knit to your heart 
 with ties cable strong. Heaven help the childless ! Without child- 
 hood’s ringing laugh and bird-like music, how desolate the household. 
 A child is the brightest ray in the sunshine of a parent’s heart. 
 
 Give them your sympathies — show them kindness — teach them to 
 love you — to confide in you — and see how, like flowers to the sun, they 
 will open their little hearts to you. “ Suffer little children to come 
 unto you, and forbid them not,” for there is a blessing in their pres- 
 ence ; a charm in their association which refreshes the world-weary 
 heart, and softens the asperities of life. 
 
60 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPEDIA. 
 
 The man is to be pitied who has no love for children — who frowns 
 upon their sportiveness and rebukes their caresses. We would not 
 carry such a cold turbid heart under our vest for the wealth of the 
 Indies. 
 
 Says Douglas Jerrold: “ Blessed be the hand that prepares a plea- 
 sure for a child, for there is no saying when and where it may again 
 bloom forth. Does not almost everybody remember some kind-heart- 
 ed man who showed him a kindness in the dulcet days of his childhood ? 
 The writer of this recollects himself, at this moment, a bare-footed 
 lad, standing at the wooden fence of a poor little garden in his native 
 village, while with longing eyes he gazed on the flowers which were 
 blooming there quietly in the brightness of a Sabbath morning. The 
 possessor came forth from his little cottage ; he was a wood-cutter by 
 trade, and spent the whole week at work in the woods. He had come 
 into the garden to gather flowers to stick in his coat when he went to 
 church. He saw the boy, and breaking off the most beautiful of his 
 carnations — it was streaked with red and white — he gave it to him. 
 Neither the giver or the receiver spoke a word, and with bounding 
 steps the boy ran home. And now here, at a vast distance from that 
 home, after so many events of so many years, the feeling of gratitude 
 which agitated the breast of that boy expresses itself on paper. The 
 carnation has long since faded, but it now blooms afresh. 
 
 Children should if possible, be joyous and happy. If childhood 
 does not blossom, manhood will be likely to bear no fruit. Hard be 
 his fate who makes not childhood happy ; it is so easy. It does not 
 require wealth, or position, or fame; only a little kindness, and the 
 tact which it inspires. Give a child a chance to love, to play, to ex- 
 ercise his imagination and his affections, and he will be happy. Give 
 him the conditions of health — simple food, air, exercise, and a little 
 variety in his occupations — and he will be happy and expand in hap- 
 piness. Childhood is like a mirror, catching and reflecting images all 
 around it. Remember that an impious, profane or vulgar thought 
 may operate upon a young heart like a careless spray of water thrown 
 upon polished steel, staining it with rust that no after efforts can 
 efface. 
 
 OCCUPATION OF CHILDREN. 
 
 The habits of children prove that occupation is a necessity with 
 most of them. They love to be busy, even about nothing, still more 
 to be usefully employed. With some children it is a strongly devel- 
 
CHILDREN. 
 
 61 
 
 oped necessity, and if not turned to good account, will be productive 
 of positive evil, thus verifying the old adage, that “ Idleness is the 
 mother of michief.” Children should be encouraged, or if inherently 
 disinclined to it, be disciplined into performing for themselves every 
 little office relative to the toilet which they are capable of performing. 
 They should also keep their own clothes and other possessions in neat 
 order, and fetch for themselves whatever they want; in short, they 
 should learn to be as independent of others as possible, fitting them 
 alike to make a good use of prosperity, and to meet with fortitude any 
 reverse of fortune that may befall them. I know of no rank, how- 
 ever exalted, in which such a system would not prove beneficial. 
 
 AN INNOCENT ERROR OF CHILDHOOD. 
 
 Make-believe is one of the innocently intended ruses of child- 
 hood, but one that often leads to willful deception and falsehood. How- 
 ever it may be with the old, the young should practice no disguises — 
 not even in sport, for that which answers a double, or equivocal pur- 
 pose in sport, may very likely suggest a rule of action for real contin- 
 gencies. Of all traits, in the young or old, truth and frankness are 
 the most admirable. They win our confidence and command our res- 
 pect. We know just where to find their votaries. The kingdom of 
 Heaven could only have been likened to children, because in them is 
 the least make-believe. Their simplicity, faith, trust and sincerity, 
 are fitly made a type of that pure state where there is no shadow nor 
 guile. Let the young believe, and not make-believe. Let them do, 
 and not pretend to do. 
 
 Children, beware of make-believe ! The habit you put on playfully 
 now may cling to you closer than the fabled poisoned shirt, and tor- 
 ment you when you become powerless to shake it off. 
 
 THE ANGEL ON EARTH — A TOUCHING SCENE. 
 
 “ Come to me, darling ; papa’s cross to-night,” said a young mother, 
 as she extended her arms affectionately to a little girl of three years, 
 who had left her toys and playthings to climb upon her father’s knee. 
 The child hazarded a puzzled look at that dark, stern countenance, 
 and without a glance of reassurance, stole softly to his side. Hot a 
 word was spoken, and the gloomy man sat sad and sullen, his mind 
 wholly absorbed with the busy world’s excitements. Although a 
 husband and a father, he was evidently in no humor to participate in 
 the pleasures of a “home circle.” The child, not at all discouraged 
 
62 
 
 PEACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 by tbe forbidding look of her parent, crept gently upon his knees, and 
 placing one tiny arm about his neck, the other glided affectionately 
 over the opposite cheek, while her innocent lips pressed gently the 
 troubled brow. In a subdued breath she whispered “ Nellie loves papa 
 so much!" and she drew her little soft hands caressingly down either 
 side of that care-worn face, until they jnet beneath the heavily beard- 
 ed chin. Observe the effect ; 'twas electrical ; the stern features re- 
 laxed, the sullen gloom disappeared, and the whole conntenance as- 
 sumed a lively animated expression. The scene was most touching. 
 Words fail to express the exquisite beauty of such a picture. As the 
 transformed parent drew the little girl to his bosom, and pressed a 
 kiss upon that innocent, upturned face, the finer feelings of his manly 
 nature were in his voice as he said, “No, my child, pa could nevei 
 be cross with such a lovely daughter to calm the heart the world has 
 tortured into despair.” 
 
 “ Whosoever shall offend one of these little ones that believe in me, 
 it were good for him that a mill-stone were hanged about his neck 
 and he cast into the depths of the sea.” 
 
 PEECOCIOUS CHILDEEN. 
 
 Phrenologists, from the days of Gall and Spurzheim, have written 
 much in regard to the premature development and decay of children. 
 In their practice as phrenologists, they found that “forward children,” 
 of which foolish parents are usually most proud, are, as a rule, either 
 short-lived, or that, if they come into the full stature of men and wo- 
 men, that they develop less character than those more slow and back- 
 ward in ripening. 
 
 The business of childhood is to grow, to grow bodily, to take on 
 constitution, to lay in a stock of vitality for future use. Many pa- 
 rents seem to suppose the business of childhood to be to get an edu- 
 cation, and they lose sight of the more important part, that of getting 
 bodily health, strength, and vigor. Put a young colt into harness or 
 under the saddle when not half grown, and he remains a weak and 
 spiritless animal, if not almost worthless, and dies at the age of a 
 dozen years ; whereas, if first permitted to get his growth, to become 
 strong, firm, and vigorous before breaking into service, he will work 
 steadily for twenty years. And so it is with human beings; they must 
 not be forced. In a hot-house, plants may b« stimulated into flower 
 before their time, but they decay as much sooner. 
 
 Says a recent writer : A beautiful, fascinating lady, came in yester- 
 
CHILDREN. 
 
 63 
 
 day to arrange for the admission of her son to the Gymnasium. She 
 exhibited her darling with a glow of pride and declared that she nev- 
 er saw such a creature; he never played like other children, but ' 
 would sit from morning till night with his book. Although he was but 
 eight, he had read everything, and was now going over Josephus 
 for the second time. 
 
 In a polite way I warned her against such a course, and assured 
 her if he had not learned to read, it would be far better for him, that, 
 in brief, the chances were very strong that he would turn out a ner- 
 vous, unhappy, feeble-minded man, but I fear she went away not only 
 unconvinced, but pretty firmly resolved not to come again. Good 
 physical education might perhaps save him, but it is almost sure he 
 will do up his thinking before he is fifteen, and as a man will prove a 
 regular noodle. A man at five may be a fool at fifteen. 
 
 Precocity is not genius, though it is often mistaken for it. We not 
 unfrequently see mere children so precocious as to become very prod- 
 igies. They shine, for a time, as "bright particular stars” in some sphere 
 or other, and then sink into obscurity, or mediocrity at best — sinking 
 all the lower because of the extraordinary expectations, awakened by 
 their debut , never being met in adult years ! 
 
 The walks of literature are strewn with withered flowers, resulting 
 from precocious culture. And in no department are they found more 
 numerous than that of poetry, where they spring forth exotically, as 
 it were, only to wither beneath the first touch of criticism, and teach the 
 writers, and their ill-advising friends, how sadly they had mistaken 
 their mission. 
 
 We always experience a feeling of sadness in beholding a precocious 
 youth. We cannot free our mind from the thought of the great tempta- 
 tions that lie in the pathway of such. To be beautiful, to be gifted, 
 is to be exposed to the flattery, the adulation and the smiles of ,the 
 unthinking, the unreflecting portion of mankind. Full of peril is the 
 life, the boyhood of such a child. It is to be petted, to be spoiled, 
 and ere the gravity of manhood has settled on the brow — too often — 
 to be lost. We tremble for precocious youth. The pitfalls in their 
 pathway are too many and too dangerous for their safety, they fall 
 like premature fruit, ripening and decaying ere their youth has fairly 
 blossomed. 
 
 It is a great misfortune to be a precocious child. Precocity should 
 not be confounded with genius ; the one is unnatural, the other only 
 uncommon ; the one is pre-matureness of power ; the other superior 
 power. The former should be constantly held in check ; the latter 
 
64 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 may be safely cultivated. In the case of a precocious child one fac- 
 ulty has run away from its fellows, and should be strapped down until 
 those faculties, which should accompany it, can catch up. 
 
 Two of the most dangerous evils children can experience is to be 
 born with a. gold spoon in the mouth and to be endowed by nature 
 with some remarkable faculty of mind. The first evil may correct it- 
 self; the last is almost certain to so strain the childhood as to throw 
 it, wrecked, upon manhood s shore. Our great men and women come 
 not from precocious childhood ; our useful ones never do. To be great, 
 or useful, requires a harmonious combination of powers ; the existence 
 of one astonishing faculty betrays the presence, commonly, of some 
 corresponding weakness. Where there is a flood in one direction, 
 there must be a drain in another direction. Precocity is an unnatural 
 growth, and unless art can hold nature in check when it takes a 
 “ freak,” and train it properly to the framework of our physical and 
 mental being, the plant becomes a monstrosity. 
 
 Baillet mentions one hundred and sixty-two children endowed with 
 extraordinary talents, among whom few arrived at an advanced age. 
 The two sons of Quintillian, so vaunted by their father, did not reach 
 their tenth year. Hermogenes, who, at the age of fifteen, taught 
 rhetoric to Marcus Aurelius, who triumphed over the most, celebrated 
 rhetoricians of Greece, did not die, but at twenty-four lost his facul- 
 ties, and forgot all he had previously acquired. Pica di Mirandola 
 died at thirty-two ; Johannes Secundus at twenty-five, having at the 
 age of fifteen, composed admirable Greek and Latin verses, and be- 
 come profoundly versed in jurisprudence and letters. Pascal, whoee 
 genius developed itself at ten years old, did not attain the third of a 
 century. In 1791, a child was born at Lubeck, named Henry Hein- 
 neken, whose prococity was miraculous. At ten months of age he 
 spoke distinctly, at twelve learned the Pentateuch by rote, and at 
 fourteen months was perfectly acquainted with the Old and Hew Tes- 
 tament. At two years he was as familiar with ancient history as the 
 most erudite authors of antiquity. Sauson and Danville only could 
 compete with him in geographical knowledge. In the ancient and 
 modern languages he was a proficient. This wonderful child was un- 
 fortunately carried off in its fourth year. 
 
 A boy may be dull and yet have a superior mind. There is all the 
 difference possible between a dull boy and a dunce. The latter can 
 never know much ; on the contrary, a dull boy only requires that the 
 instruction given should be slowly communicated, and in greater di- 
 
TO BOYS. 
 
 65 
 
 vision and subdivision. Many a clever boy is ruined by being liurried 
 over subjects more rapidly than he can comprehend. 
 
 TO BOYS. 
 
 The following affecting narrative purports to have been given by a 
 father to his son, as a warning derived from his own experience of re- 
 sisting a mpther’s counsel : 
 
 What agony was visible on my mother’s face when she saw that al' 
 she said and suffered failed to move me ! She rose to go home, and 1 
 followed her at a distance. She spoke no more till she reached her 
 own door. “It's school time now,” she said. “ Go, my son, and once 
 more let me beseech you to think upon what I have said.” I sha’nt 
 go to school,” said I. She looked astonished at my boldness, but re- 
 plied firmly — “ Certainly you will go, Alfred. I command you.” “ I 
 will not!” said I, in a tone of defiance. “One of two things you 
 must do, Alfred, either go to school this morning, or I will lock you 
 up in your room, and keep you there till you are ready to promise 
 implicit obedience to my wishes in future.” “ I dare you to do it,” 
 said I; “ you can’t get me up stairs.” “Alfred, choose now,” said my 
 mother, who laid her hand upon my arm. She trembled violently 
 and was deadly pale. “ If you touch me I will kick you,” said I in a 
 terrible rage. God knows I knew not what I said. “Will you go, 
 Alfred?” “No!” I replied; but quailed beneath her eye. “Then 
 follow me,” said she, and she grasped my arm firmly. I raised my 
 foot — oh, my son hear me ! — I raised my foot and kicked her ! How 
 my head reels as the torrent of memory rushes over me ! I kicked 
 my mother — a feeble woman — my mother ! She staggered back a few 
 steps, and leaned against the wall. She did not look at me. I saw 
 her heart beat against her breast. “Oh! Heavenly Father,” said 
 she, “ forgive him — he knows not what he does ! ” The gardener just 
 then passed the door, and seeing my mother pale, and almost unable 
 to support herself, he stopped. She beckoned him in. “Take this 
 boy up stairs and lock him in his room,” said she, and turned from 
 me. Looking back as she was entering her room, she gave me a look 
 of agony, mingled with the most intense love ! — it was the last unut- 
 terable pang from a heart that was broken. In a moment I found 
 myself a prisoner in my own room. I thought for a moment I would 
 fling myself from the open window, and dash my brains out, but I 
 
PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 was afraid to do it. I was not penitent. At times my heart was sub- 
 dued ; but my stubborn pride rose in an instant, and bade me not to 
 yield. The pale face of my mother haunted me. I flung myself on 
 the bed, and fell asleep. Just at twilight I heard a footstep approach 
 the door. It was my sister. “What may I tell my mother from 
 you?” she asked. “ Nothing,” I replied. “Oh, Alfred! for my sake, 
 say that you are sorry, she longs to forgive you.” I would not an- 
 swer. I heard her footsteps slowly retiring, and again I threw my- 
 self on the bed, to pass another and fearful night. Another footstep, 
 still slower and feebler than my sister's disturbed me. It was my 
 mother’s. “Alfred, my son, shall I come ?” she asked. I cannot tell 
 what influence, operating at that moment, made me speak adverse to 
 my feelings. The gentle voice of my mother thrilled me through, 
 melted then the ice of my obdurate heart, and I longed to throw my- 
 self on her neck, but I did not. But the words gave the lie to my 
 heart when I said I was not sorry. I heard her withdraw. I heard 
 her groan. I longed to call her back, but I did not 
 
 I was awakened from my uneasy slumber by hearing my name called 
 loudly, and my sister stood at my bedside. “ Get up and come with 
 me. Mother is dying.” I thought I was yet dreaming, but I got up 
 mechanically and followed my sister. On the bed, pale and cold as 
 marble, lay mother. She had not undressed. She had thrown her- 
 self on the bed to rest ; arising to go to me, she was seized with a pal- 
 pitation of the heart, and was borne senseless to her room. I cannot 
 tell you with what agony I looked upon her. My remorse was ten- 
 fold more bitter from the thought that she would never know it. I 
 believed myself to be her murderer. I fell on the bed beside her. I 
 could not weep. My heart was burned in my bosom; my brain was 
 on fire. My sister threw her arms around me and wept in silence. 
 Suddenly we saw a slight motion of mother’s hand ; her eyes unclosed. 
 She had recovered consciousness, but not speech. She looked at me 
 and moved her lips. I could not understand her words. “ Mother, 
 mother !” I shrieked, “ say only that you forgive me 1” She could not 
 say it with her lips, but her hand pressed mine. She smiled upon me, 
 and lifting her thin, white hands, she clasped my own within them, 
 and cast her eyes upward. She moved her lips in prayer, and thus 
 she died . I remained still kneeling beside that dear form, till my sis- 
 ter removed me. The joys of youth had left for ever. 
 
 Boys who spurn a mother’s control, who are ashamed to own that 
 they are wrong, who think it manly to resist her authority, or yield to 
 
TO BOYS. 
 
 67 
 
 her influence, beware ! Lay not up for yourselves bitter memories for 
 future years. 
 
 Let every child, having any pretence to heart or manliness or piety, 
 and who is so fortunate as to have a father or mother living, consider it 
 a sacred dut} r to consult at any reasonable, personal sacrifice, the 
 known wishes of such a parent, until that parent is no more ; and our 
 word for it, the recollection of the same through the after pilgrimage 
 of life, will sweeten every sorrow, will brighten every gladness, will 
 sparkle every tear drop with a joy ineffable. But be selfish still, have 
 your own way, consult your own inclinations, yield to the bent of your 
 own desires, regardless of a parent’s commands and counsels and be- 
 seechings and tears, and as the Lord liveth your life will be a failure ; 
 because “ the eye that mocketh at his father, and despiseth to obey 
 his mother, the ravens of the valley shall pick it out, and the young 
 eagle shall eat it.” 
 
 THE BOY THE FATHER OF THE MAN. 
 
 Solomon said, many centuries ago, “ Even a child is known by his 
 doings, whether his work be pure and whether it be right.” Some 
 people seem to think that children have no character at all. On the 
 contrary, an observing eye sees in these young creatures the signs of 
 what they are likely to be for life. When I see a boy in haste to spend 
 every penny as soon as he gets it, I think it a sign that he will be a 
 spendthrift. When I see a boy hoarding up his pennies, and unwil- 
 ling to part with them for any good purpose, I think it a sign that he 
 will be a miser. When I see a boy or girl always looking out for him 
 or herself, and disliking to share good things with others, I think it is 
 a sign that the child will grow up a very selfish person. When I see 
 boys and girls often quarreling, I think it a sign that they will be vi- 
 olent and hateful men and women. When I see a little boy willing to 
 taste strong drink, I think it a sign that he will be a drunkard. When 
 I see a boy who never attends to the services of religion, I think it a 
 sign that he will be a profane, a profligate man. When I see a child 
 obedient to his parents, I think it a sign of great future blessing from 
 his Heavenly Parent. And though great changes sometimes take 
 place in the character, yet, as a general rule, these signs do not fail. 
 
 THE PRETENTIOUS BOY. 
 
 A pretentious boy’s character is soon revealed by his boisterous 
 
68 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 speech, empty-headed whistling, noisy foot-steps, and disorderly con- 
 duct in general wherever and whenever he moves for the purpose of 
 discharging the service required of him. Such a boy when known 
 finds it difficult to get a place, and still more so to keep it after he 
 gets it, so disagreeable does he make himself to all with whom he is 
 brought in contact. Boys should, therefore, remember this, to-wit, 
 that much of the capital which secures success in business, consists of 
 good-breeding, affable, pleasing manners, unostentatious and orderly 
 deportment. 
 
 THE BOY THAT IS RESPECTED. 
 
 Who is it ? It is the boy, who conducts himself well, who is honest, 
 diligent, and obedient in all things. It is the boy who is making an 
 effort continually to respect his father, and obey him in whatever he 
 may direct to be done. It is the boy who is kind to other little boys, 
 who respects age, and who never gets into difficulties and quarrels 
 with his companions. It is the boy who leaves no effort untried to 
 improve himself in knowledge and wisdom every day — who is busy 
 and attentive in endeavoring to do good acts towards others. Show 
 me a boy who obeys his parents, who is diligent, who has respect for 
 age, who always has a friendly disposition, and who applies himself 
 diligently to get wisdom, and to do good towards others, and if he is 
 not respected and beloved by everybody, then there is no such thing 
 as truth in this world. Remember this, little boys, and you will be 
 respected by others, and will grow up and become useful men. 
 
 WANTED — AN HONEST, INDUSTRIOUS BOY. 
 
 We lately saw an advertisement headed as above. It conveys to 
 every boy an impressive moral lesson. 
 
 “ An honest, industrious boy” is always wanted . He will be sought 
 for ; his services will be in demand ; he will be respected and loved ; 
 he will be spoken of in terms of high commendation ; he will always 
 have a home ; he will grow up to be a man of known worth and estab- 
 lished character. 
 
 He will be wanted. The merchant will want him for a salesman or 
 a clerk ; the master mechanic will want him for an apprentice or a 
 journeyman; those with a job to let will want him for a contractor; 
 clients will want him for a lawyer ; patients, for a physician ; religious 
 
TO BOYS. 
 
 69 
 
 congregations, for a pastor; parents for a teacher of their children; 
 and the people, for an officer. 
 
 He will be wanted. Townsmen will want him as a citizen ; ac- 
 quaintances as a neighbor ; neighbors as a friend ; families as a visit- 
 or ; the world as an acquaintance; nay, girls will want him for a beau, 
 and finally for a husband. 
 
 An honest, industrious boy! Just think of it, boys, will you an- 
 swer this description ? Can you apply for this situation ? Are you 
 sure that you will be wanted ? You may be smart and active, but 
 that does not fill the requisition — are you honest? You may be ca- 
 pable — are you industrious ? You may be well-dressed and create a 
 favorable impression at first sight — are you both “honest and indus- 
 trious?” You may apply for a “good situation are you sure that 
 your friends, teachers, acquaintances can recommend you for those 
 qualities ?• 0, how would you feel, your character not being thus es- 
 tablished, on hearing the words “can’t employ you!” Nothing else 
 will make up for the lack of these qualities. No readiness or aptness 
 for business will do it. You must be honest and industrious — must 
 work and labor; then will your “calling and election ” for places of 
 profit and trust be made sure. 
 
 GIVE THE BOYS TOOLS. 
 
 In man there is what may be termed a “ making instinct,” and our 
 houses, garments, ships, machinery, and in fact, everything we use, 
 are the practical results of this instinct. How important then that 
 this faculty be cultivated, and that the idea be at once and forever 
 abandoned that none but mechanics require this great element of use- 
 fulness and happiness." Whatever a man’s occupation, whether he be 
 a farmer, a merchant, an artist or a mechanic, there are hourly occa- 
 sions for its practical application. Being thus general in its usefulness, 
 the cultivation of this constructive faculty should be a primary con- 
 sideration with parents. Skill in the use of tools is of incalculable 
 advantage. It gives useful employment to many an otherwise idle 
 hour. It prompts one to add a thousand little conveniences to the 
 house, which but for this skill would never be made. In a word, it is 
 the carrying out, in a fuller sense, of the design of the Creator, when 
 he implanted this faculty of constructiveness within us. Let it then 
 be cultivated in children. Indulge the propensity to make water- 
 wheels and miniature wagons, kites and toy boats, sleds and houses, 
 anything in fact which will serve to develop it and render it practical- 
 
70 
 
 PEACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 ly useful. Give the boys good pocket knives, and what is better, give 
 them a good workshop. Employed in it, they will not only be kept 
 out of mischief, but they will be strengthening their muscles, exercis- 
 ing their mental powers, and fitting themselves for greater usefulness, 
 when they shall be called upon to take their place in the ranks of 
 men. 
 
 A HINT TO YOUTH. 
 
 “ Old men for counsel, and young men for war.” Never was axiom 
 juster, if the worlds history be taken for the test. The blood of 
 youth may be fiery, its tongue quick, and its heart impulsive and pas- 
 sionate ; but more than counterbalancing all these, are its hope, its 
 faith, its energy, and endurance, which, when experience has ripened 
 and tempered judgment and speech, still spur onto high heroic action. 
 The pioneer men of the world — on the battle field, in the van of colo- 
 nization, in the development of art and science, and in the prosecu- 
 tion of the mightiest and most perilous enterprises for the world’s 
 weal — have stood on the eastern declivity of life; have begun the 
 narch, prosecuted the endeavor, and won their most fadeless laurels, 
 ere the noon of three-score-and-ten was past. Be up, then, and a- 
 doing ! 
 
 There is no moral object so beautiful to me as a conscientious young 
 man. I watch him as I do a star in the heavens ; clouds may be be- 
 fore him, but we know that his light is behind them, and will beam 
 again ; the blaze of others’ popularity may outshine him, but we know 
 that, though unseen, he illuminates his own true sphere. He resists 
 temptation, not without a struggle, for that is not virtue, but he does 
 resist and conquer ; he bears the sarcasm of the profligate, and it 
 stings him, for that is a trait of virtue, but heals the wound with his 
 own pure touch. He heeds not the watchword of fashion if it leads 
 to sin; the Atheist who says not only in his heart, but with his lips, 
 “ there is no God ! ” controls him not ; he sees the hand of a creating 
 God, and rejoices in it. Woman is sheltered by fond arms and loving 
 counsel ; old age is protected by its experience, and manhood by its 
 strength; but the young man stands amid the temptations of the 
 world like a self-balanced tower. Happy he who seeks and gains the 
 prop and shelter of morality. Onward, then, conscientious youth — 
 raise thy standard and nerve thyself for goodness. If God has given 
 
A HINT TO YOUTH. 
 
 71 
 
 thee intellectual power, awaken in that cause ; never let it be said of 
 thee, he helped to swell the tide of sin by pouring his influence into 
 its channels. If thou art feeble in mental strength, throw not that 
 drop into a polluted current. Awake, arise, young man ! assume that 
 beautiful garb of virtue ! It is difficult to be pure and holy. Put 
 on thy strength, then. Let truth be the lady of thy love — defend 
 her. 
 
 The inducements for the formation of a good character are almost 
 innumerable. Among these the respect of the world should not be 
 forgotten. All people love to be respected. To obtain respect one 
 must possess a good character. The world respects goodness, and 
 does it honor. No matter where it is found, in the palace or hovel, 
 it will be respected. Every man has an inward reverence for good- 
 ness. He meets it with a feeling of awe. He pays a willing tribute 
 to virtue. Nothing on earth is more beloved, esteemed, and honored 
 in the world’s great heart than a noble youth, one whose character is 
 pure, whose aims are high, whose life is a moral essay. Men delight 
 to do him good, to aid him, to give him place, preferment, office, or 
 anything that he may desire at their hands. Bad men will respect 
 him. Villians will “lie low” in his presence, and assume the outward 
 garb of good men. And they, too, will vie with each other in doing 
 him good. It is glorious to have the unlimited confidence and respect 
 of all who know us, and to feel that such confidence is not misplaced. 
 It is a thought that an angel may cherish in purity. To be conscious 
 of being beloved for our real worth, respected and honored for the 
 excellency of our characters, is a happiness rich and hallowing in its 
 influence. 
 
 But let the youth fix it in his mind as a fact unalterably and ever- 
 lastingly true, that this respect can not be gained without a good 
 character. He can not deceive the world with respect to his true 
 character. It will out. And if he has deceived for awhile, he will be 
 all the more despised when he is found out. A character stainless as 
 truth, sweet as goodness, upright as the soul of honesty, is the only 
 thing with which to secure and hold the world’s respect. * 
 
 Again, let the youth fix it as a fact that he must make his own 
 character. It is a work which God has wisely consigned to him alone. 
 No other can do it for him. Not man, or angel, or God, can form a 
 character for his soul. These may assist him, but the work he must 
 do himself. Character is the unseen spirit-garment that one’s thoughts 
 and feelings weave about his soul with the invisible finger of the Di- 
 vine law of reward and retribution. 
 
72 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPEDIA. 
 
 And glorious is the thought that our characters are of our own 
 forming. Not with wealth were they bought ; and not as an inheri- 
 ted heir-loom did they descend upon us, nor as the patrimony of pa- 
 ternal industry ; not with other hands were they formed, nor with 
 other’s exertions were they obtained. No; for they are ours. We 
 formed them by industrious exertion in behalf of the good, the beau- 
 tiful, and the true ; formed them in the efforts of wisdom, virtue, and 
 love, in trial, tears, and prayer, in struggle, discipline, and hope, in 
 constancy, energy, and devotion ; and formed them for the glory of 
 our own souls, and the good of all with whom we are linked in love 
 and duty. We formed them for earth, and formed them for the skies. 
 W e shall wear them through time, and wear them in eternity ; but, 
 God be thanked, we may brighten and strengthen them below, and 
 adorn and enrich them more and more even forever in heaven. 
 
 TO YOUN'G LADIES. 
 
 We wish to say a word to you, young ladies, about your influence 
 over young men. Did you ever think of it ? Did you ever realize 
 that you could have any influence at all over them ? We believe that 
 a young lady by her constant, consistent Christian example, may ex- 
 ert an untold power. You do not know the respect and almost 
 worship which young men, no matter how wicked they may be them- 
 selves, pay to a consistent Christian lady, be she young or old. 
 
 A gentleman once said to a young lady who boarded in the same 
 house with him, that her life was a constant proof of the Christian 
 religion. Often the simple request of a lady will keep a young man 
 from doing wrong. We have known this to be the case very frequent- 
 ly ; and young men have been kept from breaking the Sabbath, from 
 drinking, from chewing, just because a lady whom they respected, 
 and for whom they had an affection, requested it. A tract given, an 
 invitation to go to church, a request that your friend would read the 
 Bible daily, will often be regarded, when a more powerful appeal from 
 other sources would fall unheeded upon his heart. Many of the gen- 
 tlemen whom you meet in society are away from the influence of pa- 
 rents and sisters, and they will respond to any interest taken in their 
 welfare. We all speak of a young man’s danger from evil associates, 
 and the very bad influence which his dissipated gentlemen associates 
 have upon him. We believe it is all true that a gentleman’s charac- 
 ter is formed to a greater extent by the ladies that he associates with 
 
THE BIBLE. 
 
 73 
 
 before he becomes a complete man of the world. We think, in other 
 woids, that a young man is pretty much what his sisters and young 
 lady friends choose to make him. We knew a family where the sis- 
 ters encouraged their young brothers to smoke, thinking it was man- 
 ly, and to mingle with gay, dissipated fellows because they thought 
 it “smart;” and they did mingle with them body and soul, and abus- 
 ed the same sisters shamefully.- The influence began further back 
 than with their gentleman companions. It began with their sisters, 
 and was carried on through the forming years of their character. On 
 the other hand, if sisters are watchful and affectionate they may in 
 various ways — by entering into any little plan with interest, by intro- 
 ducing their younger brothers into good ladies’ society — lead them 
 along till their character is formed, and then a high-toned respect for 
 ladies, and a manly self-respect, will keep them from mingling with 
 low society. 
 
 If a young man sees that the religion which in youth he was taught 
 to venerate, is lightly thought of, and perhaps sneered at, by the young 
 ladies with whom he associates, we can hardly expect him to think 
 that it is the thing for him. Let none say that they have no influence 
 at all. This is not possible. You cannot live without having some 
 sort of influence, any more- than you can without breathing. One 
 thing is just as unavoidable as the other. Beware, then, what kind of 
 influence it is that you are constantly exerting. An invitation to take 
 a glass of wine, or to play a game of cards, may kindle the fires of 
 intemperance or gambling, which will burn forever. A jest given at 
 the expense of religion, a light, trifling manner in the house of God, 
 or any of the numerous ways in which you may show your disregard 
 for the souls of others, may be the means of ruining many for time 
 and eternity. 
 
 THE BIBLE. 
 
 Viewed merely as a human or literary production, the Bible is a 
 marvelous book, and without a rival. All the libraries of theology, 
 philosophy, history, antiquities, poetry, law, and policy would not fur- 
 nish material enough for so rich a treasure of the choicest gems of 
 human genius, wisdom, and experience. It embraces works of about 
 forty authors, representing the extremes of society, from the throne 
 of the king to the boat of the fisherman ; it was written during a long 
 
74 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 period of sixteen centuries, on the banks of the Nile, in the desert of 
 Arabia, in the land of promise, in Asia Minor, in classical Greece,, and 
 in imperial Borne ; it commences with the creation and ends with the 
 final glorification after describing all the interesting stages in the rev- 
 elation of God and the spiritual development of man : it uses all forms 
 of literary composition ; it rises to the highest hights and descends to 
 the lowest depths of humanity ; it measures all states and conditions 
 of life; it is acquainted with every grief and every woe ; it touches 
 every chord of sympathy ; it contains the spiritual biography of every 
 heart ; it is suited to every class of society, and can be read with the 
 same interest and profit by the king and the beggar, by the philoso- 
 pher and the child ; it is as universal as the race, and reaches beyond 
 the limits of time into the boundless regions of eternity. Even this 
 matchless combination of human excellencies point to its divine char- 
 acter and origin, as the absolute perfection of Christs humanity is an 
 evidence of his divinity. 
 
 But the Bible is, first and last, a book of religion. It presents the 
 only true, universal, and absolute religion of God, both in its prepara- 
 tory process or growth under the dispensation of the law and the 
 promise, and in its completion under the dispensation of the Gospel a 
 religion which is intended ultimately to absorb all the religions of the. 
 world. It speaks to us as immortal beings on the highest, noblest, 
 and most important themes which can challenge our attention, and 
 with an authority that is absolutely irresistible and overwhelming. 
 It can instruct, edify, warn, terrify, appease, cheer, and encourage as 
 no other book. It seizes man in the hidden depths of his intellectual 
 and moral constitution, and goes to the quick of the soul, to that mys- 
 terious point where it is connected with the unseen world and with 
 the great Father of spirits. It acts like an all-penetrating and all- 
 transforming leaven upon every faculty of the mind and every emotion 
 of the heart. It enriches the memory, it elevates the reason, it en- 
 livens the imagination, it directs the judgment, it moves the affections, 
 it controls the passions, it quickens the conscience, it strengthens the 
 will, it kindles the sacred flame of faith, hope, and charity ; it pu- 
 rifies, ennobles, sanctifies the whole man, and brings him into living 
 union with God. It can not only enlighten, reform, and improve, but 
 regenerate and create anew, and produce effects which lie far beyond 
 the power of human genius. It has light for the blind, strength for 
 the weak, food for the hungry, drink for the thirsty ; it lias a counsel, 
 in precept or example, for .every relation in life, a comfort for every 
 sorrow, a balm for every wound. Of all the books in the world the 
 
CHRIST THE MODEL MAN. 
 
 75 
 
 Bible is the only one of which we never tire, but which we admire 
 and love more and more in proportion as we use it. Like the dia- 
 mond, it casts its luster in every direction ; like a torch, the more it 
 is shaken the more it shines ; like a healing herb, the harder it is 
 pressed the sweeter is its fragrance. 
 
 ‘ CHKIST THE MODEL MAN. 
 
 Christ was free from all one-sidedness, which constitutes the weak- 
 ness as well as the strength of the most eminent men. He was not 
 a man of one idea nor of one virtue towering above all the rest. The 
 moral forces were so well tempered and moderated by each other, that 
 none was unduly prominent, none carried to excess* none alloyed by 
 the kindred failing. Each was checked and complemented by the op- 
 posite grace. His character never lost its even balance and happy 
 equilibrium, never needed modification or readjustment. It was thor- 
 oughly sound and uniformly consistent from the beginning to the 
 end. 
 
 We cannot properly attribute to him any one temperament. He was 
 neither sanguine like Peter, nor choleric like Paul, nor melancholy 
 like John, nor phlegmatic as James is sometimes, though incorectly 
 represented to have been, but he combined the vivacity without the 
 levity of the sanguine, the vigor without the violence of the choleric, 
 the seriousness without the austerity of the melancholic, the calmness 
 without the apathy of the phlegmetic temperament. 
 
 He was equally far removed from the excesses of the legalist, the 
 pietist, the ascetic, and the enthusiast. With the strictest obedience 
 to the law, he moved in the elements of freedom ; with all the fervor 
 of the enthusiast, was always calm, sober, and self possessed ; not- 
 withstanding his complete and uniform elevation above the affairs of 
 this world, he freely mingled with society, male and female, dined with 
 publicans and sinners, sat at the wedding feast, shed tears at the sep- 
 ulchre, delighted in God’s nature, admired the beauties of the lilies, 
 and used the occupations of the husbandman for the illustration of 
 the sublimest truths of the kingdom of heaven. His virtue was heal- 
 thy; manly, vigorous ; yet genial, social, and truly humane, never 
 austere and repulsive, always in full sympathy with innocent joy and 
 pleasure. He, the purest and holiest of men, provided wine for the 
 wedding feast, introduced the fatted calf and music and dancing into 
 
76 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 the picture of welcome of the prodigal son to his father’s house, and 
 even provoked the sneer of his adversaries that he “ came eating and 
 drinking,” and was a “glutton ” and a “ wine-bibber.” 
 
 His zeal never degenerated into passion or rashness, his constancy 
 into obstinacy, his benevolence into weakness, nor his tenderness into 
 sentimentality. His unworldliness was free from indifference and un- 
 sociability, his dignity from pride and presumption, his affability from 
 undue familiarity, his self-denial from moroseness, his temperance 
 from austerity. He combined child-like innocence with manly strength, 
 all-absorbing devotion to God with untiring interest in the welfare 
 of man, tender love to the sinner with uncompromising severity 
 against sin, commanding dignity with winning humility, fearless 
 courage with wise caution, unyielding firmness with sweet gentleness. 
 
 He is justly compared with the lion in strength and with the lamb 
 in meekness. He equally possessed the wisdom of the serpent and the 
 simplicity of the dove. He brought both the sword against every 
 form of wickedness, and the peace which the world cannot give. He 
 was the most effective, and yet the least noisy, the most radical and 
 yet the most conservative, calm, and patient of all reformers. He 
 came to fulfil every letter of the law, and yet he made all things 
 new. 
 
 The same hand which drove the profane traffickers from the temple, 
 blessed little children, healed the lepers, and rescued the sinking dis- 
 ciple ; the same ear which heard the voice of approbation from heaven 
 was open to the cries of the woman in travail ; the same mouth which 
 pronounced the terrible woe on hypocrites and condemned the impure 
 desire and unkind feeling as well as the open crime, blessed the poor 
 in spirit, announced pardon to the adulteress, and prayed for his mur- 
 derers ; the same eye which beheld the mysteries of God, and pene- 
 trated the heart of man, shed tears of compassion over ungrateful 
 Jerusalem, and tears of friendship at the grave of Lazarus. 
 
 These are indeed opposite traits of character, yet as little contra- 
 dictory as the different manifestations of God’s power and goodness 
 in the tempest and sunshine, in the towering Alps and the lily of the 
 valley, in the boundless ocean and the dew drop of the morning. They 
 are separated in imperfect men, indeed, but united in Christ, the uni- 
 versal model for all. 
 
TO PARENTS AND TEACHERS — WHY TEACHERS FAIL. 
 
 77 
 
 TO PARENTS AND TEACHERS— WHY TEACHERS FAIL. 
 
 Of the large number of those who engage in the work of teaching, 
 but few, comparatively, are successful. A very large majority teach 
 but a short time and with no true success. It may not be unprofita- 
 ble to consider some of the reasons for these numerous cases of failure 
 in teaching. That such cases are numerous, no one will question, — 
 but why they are so numerous, but few stop to consider. It will be 
 one object in this article to name a few of the more prominent reasons 
 as they occur to us. 
 
 1. Want of sufficient education. It is often the case that persons 
 enter the teacher’s desk with a very limited educational capital. By 
 the favor of some relative or the commitee, and by the direct or in- 
 direct connivance of the examiners, they are entrusted with work for 
 which they have no proper qualification. From want of the requisite 
 knowledge, they fail to interest their pupils or to awaken any true 
 love for school and its exercises. 
 
 2. An excess of education. This may seem rather paradoxical. It 
 is, however, unquestionably true that some know too much , — in their 
 own estimation, — to teach a common school. They have pursued a 
 collegiate course of study, and have acquired a somewhat superficial 
 knowledge of many branches. Their elementary training was entire- 
 ly neglected or but very imperfectly attended to. Most of their time 
 and attention have been devoted to the study of the “ languages” and 
 the “ higher branches,” and they consider it “ beneath their dignity ” 
 to teach the common branches. Indeed, they do not thoroughly un- 
 derstand them. Latin, and Greek, and French they know, but read- 
 ing and spelling they poorly comprehend. Algebra, Geometry, Phi- 
 losophy, Chemistry, and Geology they are somewhat familiar with, 
 but of Grammar, Geography and Arithmetic they know but little, 
 and care less. They are of the class thus described by the inimitable 
 Dickens : — “ He and some one hundred and forty other teachers had 
 been lately turned, at the same time, in the same factory, on the same 
 principle, like so many piano forte legs. He had been put through an 
 immense variety of paces, and had answered volumes of head-break- 
 ing questions. Orthography, etymology, syntax, and prosody, biogra- 
 phy, astronomy, geography, and general cosmography, the science of 
 compound proportion, algebra, land surveying, and leveling, vocal mu- 
 sic and drawing from models, were all as at the end of his ten chilled 
 fingers. He had taken the bloom of the higher branches of mathe- 
 
78 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 matics and physical science, French, German, Latin, and Greek. He 
 knew all about all the water-sheds of all the world, and all the names 
 of all the rivers and mountains, and all the productions, manners, and 
 customs of all the countries, and all their boundaries and bearings on 
 the two and thirty points of the compass. Ah, rather over-done. If 
 he had only learned a little less, how infinitely better he might have 
 taught much more !” 
 
 3. Want of a lively interest in the work. Ho one can expect true 
 success to attend any work in which he engages with feelings of in- 
 difference. Especially is this true of teaching. Unless one feels that 
 his work is an important one — a work for which he has a love — he 
 will hardly engage in its performance with a zeal and earnestness 
 which will make success sure. 
 
 4. An excess of confidence. A degree of confidence in one’s ability 
 to do a work is essential to his success in its accomplishment. Indeed 
 he must feel that he can do before he will do. But some teachers 
 have a superabundance of confidence in themselves. They know too 
 much to know more. They cannot be told anything. Hints or sug- 
 gestions from fellow teachers, committees or parents, they spurn as 
 useless — or, perhaps, regard as insults. 
 
 5. A lack of confidence. If an excess of confidence is undesirable, a 
 deficiency is equally so. A degree of it is indispensable to true suc- 
 cess. To feel that we can do a certain work will do much to make 
 its accomplishment certain. 
 
 6. A want of true courtesy. If a teacher would be in the truest 
 sense successful and useful, he must have the respect and good wishes 
 of those with whom he is called to labor. A lack of genuine polite- 
 ness has done much to prevent the usefulness of many a teacher. A 
 rough exterior, negligence of personal appearance and dress, unpol- 
 ished and abrupt modes of address or excessively formal and frigid 
 manners, have, in many cases, blighted the prospects of teacher* 
 whose intellectual qualifications were ample. 
 
 7. Want of 'patience. It is frequently the case that teachers de- 
 spond and labor in vain because they are too impatient. When they 
 do not see immediate and abundant fruits of their labors, they are too 
 apt to feel that they have not done what they ought. An impatient 
 or desponding spirit will always prove hurtful in the school room, and 
 they who indulge the same will not prove successful. It is the teach- 
 er’s duty to labor wisely and patiently ; to sow the good seed with 
 diligent and careful hand: another and a greater will give the in- 
 
EDUCATION. 
 
 79 
 
 crease in his own good time — particularly is this so in moral culture 
 and resu.ts. 
 
 8. Want of adaptation. Some teachers have the ability to succeed 
 in some particular situation and under a certain order of arrange- 
 ments and circumstances, while the most trifling change or deviation 
 will cause a failure. Lacking the ability to adapt themselves to ex- 
 isting circumstances and surroundings, they lack one of the most im- 
 portant essentials to success. 
 
 9. Want of professional feeling and interest. “Every man," said 
 Webster., “owes a debt to his profession." By this we understand 
 that every member of a profession is under obligations to do what he 
 can for the elevation of his profession. This he must do by promoting 
 his own improvement, by uniting with others in associational effort, 
 and in various ways by manifesting a professional interest and feel- 
 ing — a true esprit de corps. A teacher who secludes himself, with- 
 drawing from all associated efforts and meetings for mutual improve- 
 ment, may keep a good school — but as a man and as a professional 
 teacher he will fall far behind the mark. If his own views, plans, 
 and results are entirely satisfactory to himself, he will, if he has true 
 professional feeling, gladly communicate them to others and not be 
 content to hide his light as under a bushel. AV e would then advise 
 all teachers who would make success sure, to unite heartily in every 
 effort and plan designed for the good of their profession. By the very 
 means adopted for professional improvement, personal profit and ad- 
 vancement will be secured. — Conn. Com. School Journal. 
 
 EDUCATION. 
 
 ADVANTAGE OF EDUCATION TO LABORERS. 
 
 Manufacturers find intelligent educated mechanics more profitable 
 to employ, even at higher wages, than those who are uneducated. We 
 have never met any one who had much experience in employing large 
 numbers of men who did not hold this opinion, and, as a general rule, 
 those manufacturers are most successful who are most careful to se- 
 cure intelligent and skillful workmen. 
 
 It requires extensive observation to enable one even partially to ap- 
 preciate the wonderful extent to which all the faculties are developed 
 by mental cultivation. The nervous system grows more vigorous and 
 
60 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 active, the touch is more sensitive, and there is greater mobility in 
 the hand. 
 
 We once knew a weaving room filled with girls above the average 
 in character and intelligence, and there was one girl among them 
 who had been highly educated. Though length of arms and strength 
 of muscle are advantages in weaving, and though this girl was short 
 and small, she always wove the greatest number of pieces in the room, 
 and consequently drew the largest pay at the end of every month. 
 We might fill many pages with similar cases which have come under 
 our own observation, but there is no occasion. It has long since been 
 settled by the general observation of manufacturers, that intelligent 
 workmen will do more and better work than ignorant ones. 
 
 But the excess in the amount of work performed is not the most 
 important respect in which an intelligent workman is superior to a 
 stupid one. He is far more likely to be faithful to the interests of 
 his employer, to save from waste and to turn to profit every thing 
 that comes to his hand. There is also the exalted satisfaction of be- 
 ing surrounded by thinking, active and inquiring minds, instead of 
 by brutes. 
 
 Such are some of the advantages to the “ Captains of Industry,” 
 which result from the employment of intelligent workmen ; not in one 
 article, nor in any number of articles, could these advantages be fully 
 set forth. And if it is impossible to state the advantages to the em- 
 ployer, how vain must be the effort to describe those which result to 
 the workman himself ! 
 
 The increase of wag*;s is the least and lowest of the rich rewards of 
 mental culture. The whole being is enlarged and exalted ; the scope 
 of view is widened; the objects of interest are increased ; the subjects 
 of thought are multiplied ; life is more filled with emotion ; and the 
 man is raised in the scale of creation. 
 
 To intelligent English travelers, nothing in the United States has 
 excited such wonder and admiration as Lowell, Nashua, Manchester, 
 Lawrence, and the other manufacturing towns of New England. 
 That factory-girls should play on the piano, and sustain a creditable 
 magazine by their own contributions ; that their residences should 
 be clean, commodious, and elegant ; that factory-men should be intel- 
 ligent gentlemen, well-read in literature, and totally unacquainted 
 with beer and its inspirations, have been, for many years, the crown- 
 ing marvels of America to all travelers of right feeling and good 
 judgment. 
 
KNOWLEDGE. 
 
 81 
 
 EDUCATION OF BUSINESS MEN. 
 
 In the education of a business man, it must never be forgotten, that 
 his future life will be a life of action and study. Great care must 
 therefore be taken that the health be not impaired in a strife for use- 
 less honors, that the feelings be not suffered to grow over-sensitive in 
 recluse contemplation, nor the mind lose its spring and elasticity un- 
 der a load of cumbersome and unpractical learning. It has been said 
 that at least one-fourth of the students of colleges leave them with 
 impaired health; full one-half are too sensitive to bear the rude jost- 
 lings of the world ; and perhaps two-thirds of the remainder have 
 some defect that would seriously mar their happiness and usefulness. 
 
 KNOWLEDGE. 
 
 Acquirement of every kind has two values — value as knowledge, 
 and value as discipline. Besides its use for guidance in conduct, the 
 acquisition of each order of facts has also its use as mental exercise ; 
 and its effects as a preparative for complete living have to be consid- 
 ered under both these heads. 
 
 Knowledge cannot be acquired without pains and application. It 
 is troublesome and deep digging for pure water, but when once you 
 come to the springs, they rise up and meet you. Every grain helps 
 fill the bushel, so does the improvement of every moment increase 
 knowledge. 
 
 Says Swedenborg : It is of no advantage to man to know much, un- 
 less he lives according to what he knows, for knowledge has no other 
 end than goodness ; and he who is made good is in possession of a far 
 richer treasure than he whose knowledge is the most extensive, and 
 yet is destitute of goodness ; for, what the latter is seeking by his 
 great acquirements, the former already possesses. 
 
 One of the most agreeable consequences of knowledge is the respect 
 and importance which it communicates to old age. Men rise in char- 
 acter often as they increase in years ; they are venerable from what 
 they have acquired and pleasing from what they can impart. Knowl- 
 edge is the treasure, but judgment the treasurer of a wise man. Su- 
 perficial knowledge, pleasure dearly purchased, and subsistence at the 
 will of another, are the disgrace of mankind. 
 
 6 
 
82 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 WISDOM. 
 
 The beginning of wisdom is to fear God, but tbe end of it is to love 
 him. The highest learning is to be wise ; and the greatest wisdom, 
 is to be good. The wise man looks forward into futurity, and consid- 
 ers what will be his condition millions of ages hence, as well as what 
 is at present. A wise man, says Seneca, is provided for occurrences 
 of any kind : the good he manages, the bad he vanquishes ; in pros- 
 perity he betrays no presumption, and in adversity he feels no de- 
 spondency. 
 
 The chief properties of wisdom are to be mindful of things past, 
 careful for things present, and provident for things to come. 
 
 He that thinks himself the happiest man is really so ; but he that 
 thinks himself the wisest is generally the greatest fool. 
 
 It is the part of wisdom to do great things without a fuss. When 
 Solomon, the wisest of men, built his wondrous temple, no sound of 
 saw or hammer was heard therein. 
 
 SCIENCE AND PHILOSOPHY. 
 
 Prof. Henry, the distinguished savan, and head of the Smithsoni- 
 an Institute, testifies that he knows but one man among the scientific 
 men of the United States who is an infidel. This fact speaks volumes, 
 and shows conclusively that the lights of science have any other ten- 
 dency than to make men skeptical or unbelievers. It is usually your 
 pretenders to scientific knowledge, or men wholly destitute of any sci- 
 entific attainments, who disbelieve, or affect to do so. As a general 
 remark, we think it will be found that a vast majority of them belong 
 to the latter class, being wholly ignorant, or, what is worse, mere 
 smatterers. Lord Bacon tells us “a little philosophy inclineth a 
 man’s mind to atheism ; but depth in philosophy bringeth man’s mind 
 about to religion. 
 
 For all practical purposes, true science is a thorough knowledge of 
 a mans own business. 
 
 It is the work of a philosopher to be every day subduing his pas- 
 sions and laying aside his prejudices. A philosopher never deems sny 
 man beneath his notice ; for there is no mind that can not furnish 
 some scraps of intellectual entertainment. 
 
THE BENEFIT OF SINGING. 
 
 83 
 
 Practical philosophy is that which enables us to look at the ills of 
 iife, its disappointments and its diseases, in a manner which does 
 much to surmount them and deprive them of the power to do any per- 
 manent injury. True philosophy has no prentense about it ; no chi- 
 canery, no fraud ; it does not worry itself in the endeavor to make the 
 worse appear the better reason, or in making troublesome conceal- 
 ments ; on the contrary, it finds a happiness and a grateful relief even 
 in a frankness which endangers a storm of ridicule. 
 
 THE BENEFIT OF SINGING. 
 
 1. It improves our speaking. It often corrects any defects of 
 speech, such as stammering, Hissing or a nasal enunciation. Some 
 parents have declined to send their children to the Singing School be- 
 cause of these defects of voice. This is a great mistake. 
 
 2. It improves our hearing. By listening to singing, we learn to 
 distinguish the relative position of the notes uttered by one voice ; 
 our ear thus becomes practiced, and able to convey the nice distinc- 
 tion of tone to the seat of perception. Thus, by endeavoring gradu- 
 ally to imitate others, we succeed in rendering the organs of voice 
 capable of reproducing the sounds which the ear has received. 
 
 3. It improves the health of children. One of the prejudices most 
 obstinately maintained against teaching children to sing, arises from 
 an opinion frequently broached, that singing, if practised at a tender 
 age, may have a baneful influence on the health, and may occasion 
 spitting of blood and other pulmonary affections. It is not long since 
 this idea prevailed in Germany also ; but the most minute investiga- 
 tions, made by governments as well as parents, have proved it to be 
 quite erroneous. 
 
 Nothing is better calculated than the practice of singing to produce 
 the power of free respiration. We are convinced that singing, or as 
 it may be termed, the art of breathing, is one of the best preventives 
 of, and surest remedies for, general weakness of the chest; and that 
 its use, provided always it be proportioned to the other physical pow- 
 ers of the singer, is calculated to exert a most favorable influence on 
 delicate constitutions, to impart vigor to the organs connected with 
 the lungs, and thus to conduce to a healthy state of all parts of the 
 body. 
 
 It was the opinion of Dr. Bush, that singing by young ladies, whom 
 
84 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 the customs of society debar from many other kinds of salubrious ex- 
 ercise, ought to be cultivated not only as an accomplishment, but as 
 the means of preserving health. He particularly insists that vocal 
 music should never be neglected in the education of a young lady, 
 and states that besides its salutary operation in soothing the cares of 
 domestic life, it has a still more direct and important effect. In hia 
 remarks on this subject, the Doctor introduces a fact which was sug- 
 gested to him by his professional experience, which is, that the exer- 
 cise of the chest by singing contributes very much to defend the lungs 
 from the diseases to which the climate and other causes expose them. 
 The Germans, he continues, are seldom afflicted with consumption, nor 
 has he ever known more than one instance of spitting of blood among 
 them. This, he believes, is in part occasioned by the strength which 
 constitutes an essential branch of their education. 
 
 MUSIC AT HOME. 
 
 We find in the American Agriculturist the following : “ Ho family 
 can afford to do without music. It is a luxury and an economy ; an 
 alleviator of sorrow, and a spring of enjoyment ; a protection against 
 vice and an incitement to virtue. When rightly used, its effects, phys- 
 ical, intellectual and moral, are good, very good, and only good. 
 Make home attractive ; music affords a means of doing this. Contri- 
 bute kindly feeling, love. Music will help in this work. Keep out 
 angry feeling. “ Music hath charms to soothe the savage breast.” 
 Be economical. Pleasure, recreation, all must have, and no pleasure 
 costs less in proportion to its worth than home music. Make your 
 sons and daughters accomplished. What accomplishment is more 
 valuable than music ? Fit your daughters to support themselves in 
 the future, if need be. There has been no time in many years when 
 any young lady having sufficient knowledge to teach music could not 
 pleasantly earn a respectable support in that way. “But,” some may 
 say, “ I have no ear for music, nor have any of my family.” Probably 
 not one of you has ever tried it faithfully. Perhaps your sons had no 
 natural “ ears ” for reading, or your daughters natural hands for wri- 
 ting ; and certainly unless they had learned these things they would 
 never have been accomplished in them. Music does, indeed, come 
 more naturally to most people than many other accomplishments that 
 are next to universal; yet it does not come to all without much time 
 
READING WHAT TO READ AND HOW TO READ. 
 
 85 
 
 spent in careful cultivation. “ The one best means of introducing 
 music to the family, and inducing its cultivation is to procure a good 
 musical instrument. If none of your daughters or sons can play at 
 all, yet if they have a good instrument at hand, some of them will 
 learn. In almost every family this will be the case. Buy an instru- 
 ment and try the experiment ; if it succeeds only to a very small ex- 
 tent, the cost will be repaid many fold." Says Shakespeare : — 
 
 The man that hath no music in himself, 
 
 Nor is moved with concord of sweet sounds. 
 
 Is fit for treasons, stratagems, and spoils; 
 
 The motions of his spirit are dull as night, 
 
 And his affections dark as Erebus : 
 
 , Let no such man be trusted. 
 
 BEADING— WHAT TO BEAD AND HOW TO BEAD. 
 
 Beading is one of the greatest consolations of life; it is the nurse 
 of virtue ; the upholder in adversity ; the prop of independence ; the 
 support of a just pride, the strengthener of elevated opinions ; it is 
 the shield against the tyranny of all the petty passions ; it is the re- 
 peller of the fool’s scoff and the knave's poison. 
 
 Among the questions addressed to us by those who do us the honor 
 to ask our advice, there is not one which we oftener receive than this : 
 What books would you advise a young person to read for the im- 
 provement of his mind? It is a puzzling question to answer, when 
 we know nothing of our correspondent’s character and education. 
 Yet it is pleasant to know, that, somewhere in our vast circle of read- 
 ers, in some secluded farm-house, or work-shop, far from the crowded 
 haunts of men, there is, at least, one young human soul athirst for 
 knowledge. 
 
 What shall you read ? Bead whatever good book you like to read. 
 Beading is, in one respect, like eating ; it does not do you much good 
 unless you have an appetite for it. The realm of knowledge is so 
 vast, that the most learned man is obliged to leave some of its paths 
 untrodden, and some of its great provinces unvisited. What do you 
 want to know ? Bespecting what subject of inquiry, has your curi- 
 osity been awakened ? Bead about that. 
 
 What shall you read ? Bead what will enable you to work success- 
 fully. Understand your own trade or profession to the bottom. 
 
86 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 Know the science of it, the history of it, and all he hidden secrets 
 of it, which hooks reveal. If you are an artisan, read Watt, Stephen- 
 son, Ben. Franklin, and all other great and glorious Heroes of the 
 Workshop. If you are a farmer, despise not knowledge which books 
 contain respecting your noble and beautiful calling. If you are a man 
 of leisure, the most dangerous of Heaven’s gifts, read and think in- 
 cessantly till you have learned what to do with it ; for you must make 
 it tell on the good of the community, or it will curse you and your 
 children to the third generation. 
 
 What shall you read ? Bead that which will help you to vote intel- 
 ligently. Bead the History of your country, up and down, and cross- 
 wise. Bead all about it ; its colonial history ; its revolutionary his- 
 tory ; its political history. Bead it, till you understand clearly how 
 the United States of the year 186 — came to be the country you find 
 it. Bead one good general newspaper ; for the newspaper is the link 
 which connects each individual with the great Life of mankind. The 
 man who reads no newspaper is a man cut off from his species. 
 
 What shall you read ? Bead beautiful things. Bead the high, the 
 sweet, the eloquent words of inspired and gifted men and women ; 
 poets, orators, prophets, sages; the noble and the good of all ages and 
 all climes. But above all, read the sacred volume. Oh ! yes ; read 
 the sacred volume ! Bead something for the soul every day you live. 
 If you starve your body, stunt not the mind for lack of nourishment. 
 
 “In reading authors, when you find 
 Bright passages that strike your mind, 
 
 And which, perhaps, you may have reason 
 To think of at another season ; 
 
 Be not contented with the sight, 
 
 But take them down in black and white ; 
 
 Such a respect is wisely shown, 
 
 To make another’s sense one’s own. 
 
 Imprint the beauties of authors upon your imagination, and their 
 morals upon your heart. With many readers, brilliancy of style 
 passes for affluence of thought ; they mistake buttercups in the grass 
 for immeasurable gold mines under ground. 
 
 The author of “ Waverly” remarks somewhere in that work, that a 
 feeble and indecisive habit of mind is produced by desultory and om- 
 niverous reading. Pliny and Seneca, in giving advice on reading, 
 agreed that “ men should read much but not many books.” It is re- 
 markable that many great waiters and eminent men seem to have had 
 some particular favorite author which they studied continually. Be- 
 
HEADING — WHAT TO READ AND HOW TO READ. 87 
 
 mosthenes made Thucydides his model in style, and re-copied his 
 history eight times. Lord Clarendon studied Livy and Tacitus. 
 Voltaire’s favorite books were the Athelia of Racine, and the Petit 
 Careme of Massilon. Diderot wanted “ Moses, Homer and Richard- 
 son ” as his authors. Fenelon’s favorite was Homer. Montesquieu 
 chose Tacitus. Bourdalone re-read every year St. Paul, Chrysostom, 
 and Cicero. Grotius studied Lucan. The favorite author of the 
 Earl of Chatham was Barrow. Sir William Jones read Cicero through 
 every year. 
 
 Many other examples might be given ; and in this era of books it 
 would be a great advantage to real improvement in learning and lit- 
 erature, if women as well as men would select some one author, or 
 some few books to be studied thoroughly, instead of skimming over 
 hundreds of new publications. 
 
 Reading without purpose is sauntering, not exercise. More is got 
 from one book on which the thought settles for a definite end in know- 
 ledge, than from libraries skimmed over by a wandering eye. A cot- 
 tage flower gives honey to the bee, a king’s garden none to the but- 
 terfly. Youths who are destined for active careers, or ambitious of 
 distinction in such forms of literature as require freshness of inven- 
 tion or originality of thought, should avoid the habit of intense study 
 for many hours at a stretch. There is a point in all tension of the 
 intellect beyond which effort is only waste of strength. Fresh ideas 
 do not readily spring up within a weary brain ; and whatever exhausts 
 the mind not only enfeebles its power, but narrows its scope. We 
 often see men who have over-read at college, entering upon life lan- 
 guidly as if they were about to leave it. They have not the vigor to 
 cope with their own generation, for their own generation is young, 
 and they have wasted the nervous energy which supplies the sinews 
 of war to youth, its contests for fame or fortune. Study with regu- 
 larity, at settled hours. Those in the forenoon are the best, if they 
 can be secured. The man who has acquired the habit of study, 
 though for only one hour every day in the year, and keeps to the one 
 thing studied till it is mastered, will be startled to see the way he has 
 made at the end of the twelvemonth. He is seldom overworked who 
 can contrive to be in advance of his work. If you have three weeks 
 before you to learn something which a man of average quickness could 
 learn in a week, learn it the first week, and not the third. Business 
 despatched is business well done, but business hurried is business ill- 
 done. In learning what others have thought, it is well to keep in 
 practice the power to think for one’s self. When an author has added 
 
88 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCL0P2EDIA. 
 
 to your knowledge, pause and consider if you can add nothing to his. 
 Be not contented to have learned a problem by heart; try and deduce 
 from it a corrollary not in the book. Spare no pains in collecting de- 
 tails before you generalize; but it is only when details are generalized 
 that a truth is grasped. The tendency to generalize is universal with 
 all men who achieve great success, whether in art, literature, or action. 
 The habit of generalizing, though at first gained with- care and cau- 
 tion, secures, by practice, a comprehensiveness of judgment and a 
 promptitude of decision, which seem to the crowd like intuitions of 
 genius. And, indeed, nothing more distinguishes the man of genius 
 from the mere man of talent than the facility of generalizing the va- 
 rious details, each of which demands the aptitude of a special talent ; 
 but all of which can only be gathered into a whole by the grasp of a 
 mind which may have no special aptitude for any. 
 
 NEWSPAPERS AND THEIR VALUE. 
 
 The editor keeps the world’s day book ; the historian keeps the ledger. 
 A European traveler describes the United States as “ a country 
 where every man has a newspaper in his pocket.” This is a very cor- 
 rect national characteristic, and a distinctive one from what any other 
 nation could apply to itself. Every man in this country has not only 
 a newspaper in his pocket, but what is better, every man knows how 
 to read and understand it. Newspapers have been so cheap in the 
 United States that every individual could afford to take one, and he 
 has been so long doing this that his daily journal has become as indis- 
 pensable to him as his daily food. In fact he could do much better 
 without some article of daily consumption on his table than to do 
 without the daily food for his mind which a newspaper supplies, and 
 which keeps the humblest man as well posted as his more wealthy 
 neighbor in all matters affecting his political, social and moral good. 
 It is the general diffusion of intelligence among the people through 
 newspapers — that kind of intelligence which is the most practical and 
 the most useful, because appertaining to all the movements of society, 
 of which he is a living and breathing member — that gives such activ- 
 ity and earnestness to American life, and makes every individual 
 nature self-dependent and thoroughly conscious of his manhood. 
 
 It is a great mistake, to female education, to keep a young lady’s 
 time and attention devoted to the fashionable literature of the day. 
 
NEWSPAPERS AND THEIR VALUE. 
 
 89 
 
 If you would qualify her for conversation you must give her some- 
 thing to talk about — give her education with this actual world and 
 its transpiring events. Urge her to read the newspapers and become 
 familiar with the present character and improvement of our race. 
 History is of some importance ; but the past world is dead and we 
 have nothing to do with it. Our thoughts and our concerns should be 
 for the present world, to know what it is and improve the condition 
 of it. Let her have an intelligent opinion, and be able to sustain an 
 intelligent conversation, concerning the mental, moral, political and 
 religious improvement of our times. Let the gilded annals and poems 
 of the center-table be kept part of the time covered with weekly and 
 daily journals. Let the whole family — men, women and children — 
 read the newspapers. 
 
 How lonesome the fireside where there is no paper ! Ask the man 
 who has a family paper to read with the latest news, the good stories, 
 the useful lessons, with the witty sayings of the newspaper — ask him 
 its value. Let him be deprived of it for a few weeks, and ask him to 
 put an estimate on it. 
 
 Says the Educational Monthly : It is possible that we overrate the 
 influence of the newspaper as an educator, but we think not. It is 
 the voice of the living world. It is history, art, philosophy, science, 
 truth, justice, rhetoric, grammar, and everything else — not unmixed 
 with falsehood and nonsense, but not more so mixed than the home 
 infant school for girls, from which boys break away before their bones 
 are out of gristle. Take grammar, natural history, rhetoric and com- 
 position. Where are these so well taught as in the carefully edited 
 newspaper? What better lesson in rhetoric than to see some popular 
 writer or famous scholar roasted alive on the hot coals of criticism ? 
 Where are better examples of tasteful composition ? Where is a better 
 cabinet of natural history ? What in all the world escapes the news- 
 paper editor ? And if he commits blunders in grammar, or logic, or 
 fact, or philosophy, is he not forthwith served up on a gridiron by 
 another editor ? Where, but in a newspaper, will be found a running 
 history of all the literature of the day ? Where else are you told 
 what books you may safely buy, what are not worth putting on your 
 shelves, and what would be as hurtful to the minds of your children 
 as henbane to their bodies. 
 
90 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 NOVEL READING. 
 
 The morals of a people, as well as their intellectual character, are 
 affected by the literature of a people. This is true of individuals and 
 of nations. Alexander’s character was moulded and shaped very 
 much, by the constant reading of Homer. He is said to have carried 
 continually with him the Iliad, that by contemplating the life and 
 character of Achilles, the great ideal hero of the poem, he might him- 
 self become truly heroic. Our Puritan fathers were truly brave, as 
 well as good men, but they had drank in the spirit of Milton, Howe 
 and Baxter, the great authors of their age and nation. 
 
 He who said “ Let me write the ballads of a nation, and I care not 
 who makes her laws,” meant to state a great principle. He meant to 
 state, that the morals of society are more affected by works, which ad- 
 dress the imagination, than by philosophy and legislative enactments. 
 The young especially, whose passions are ardent, whose imagination is 
 ever on the wing, love to dwell in an ideal world, rather than in a 
 world of reality. They crave the romantic, the strained, the start- 
 ling. Works of fiction are evidently adapted to feed and fire this 
 natural propensity. 
 
 We have only then to multiply works of this character, and scatter 
 them broad-cast over the land, and the minds of the young receive an 
 effectual bias which may fit them to move in some ideal world, but not 
 in this world of toil and trial, and moral responsibility. To do this — 
 to make the mind robust and healthy — to fit moral agents for their 
 high duties and destinies, the mind and the moral feelings must un- 
 dergo a severe and rigid discipline, which it is not the province of fic- 
 tion to impart. From the multiplication of works of fiction, from 
 their cheapness, from their universal diffusion, we see the danger to 
 which the youth of our country are exposed. Indeed, we have expe- 
 rienced, to some extent, the fascinating power of this species of litera- 
 ture ; we have stood within the charmed circle, and our imagination 
 has reeled beneath the intoxicating influence. And now, that we have 
 retreated from the enchanted ground, we see the danger over whom 
 the sorceress is still weaving her spell, and breathing her incantations. 
 May we not then be permitted to lift up the voice of warning — to speak 
 very briefly, of the effects upon the intellect and the heart, of indis- 
 criminate novel reading ? 
 
 That this species of excitement affects injuriously the intellectual 
 character, there can be no doubt. All the powers of the mind should 
 
NOVEL READING. 
 
 91 
 
 be duly exercised to secure a happy and harmonious development — 
 the reason, the conscience, the memory, as well as the imagination. 
 But it is this peculiar design of works of fiction, to address and stim- 
 ulate to excess, the latter faculty. The reasoning power, which is the 
 chief glory of man, is not called into exercise ; the conscience finds 
 little or nothing to awaken its energies, but is rather blinded by the 
 deceptive radience shed around it; the memory is taxed in following 
 the intricacies of a plot; rather than the actings of principle, the ex- 
 aggerated development of an exciting story, rather than the truthful 
 representations of incident and character. The exercise is consequent- 
 ly morbid and unhealthy. The harmony of the mind, by such a pro- 
 cess, is destroyed, and the imagination is left to travel wildly and 
 without restraint over a false and fairy land. A love for the excite- 
 ment of romance imparts a disrelish for works of a positive and prac- 
 tical utility. Science, philosophy, and history, are laid aside, as 
 requiring too much thought and study. An habitual novel reader is 
 like an epicure, who lives to eat, and does not eat to live, and who has 
 no appetite for plain food, unless accompanied with wines and stimu- 
 lating cordials. With what utter disgust would he turn away from 
 the lofty conceptions of Dugald Stewart, the reasonings of a Butler, 
 or the eloquence of a Bates, or a Barrows. He denounces these, as 
 characterized by unendurable dulness and stupidity. Excitement, 
 mere, excitement , is the luxury of his life and the ultimatum of his 
 reading. And what has produced this mental distortion, this excess- 
 ive and absorbing love of the fabulous, the ideal , rather than the true 
 and the useful ? There must have been brought to bear the arts of 
 fascination and sorcery. The enchantress who mingles the wine-cup 
 and wreathes the dance, must have been with the deluded victim, be- 
 guiling him with the music of her blandishment, and inducing him to 
 sacrifice all that is lofty and noble in mind, at the shrine of her own 
 idolatry. 
 
 But the effects of novel reading are perhaps more marked upon the 
 moral character. Most professed novel writers are, we believe, no 
 great sticklers for morality. A very low standard satisfies them. A 
 romantic love, a reckless daring, an uncomplaining patience under 
 the imaginary evils of life, fealty and fortitude, are among the loftiest 
 of their delineated virtues ; while positive vices, such as treachery 
 and intrigue, seduction and murder, are unfrequently made the theme 
 of eulogy. The pirate, the duelist, the debauchee, are often made 
 the admired heroes of a tale or a tragedy. The downward path to 
 ruin is crowded with scenes and incidents the most enchanting and 
 
92 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 the most seductive. False views of life and character are presented. 
 The prominent pictures or persons, in the ideal scene, are generally 
 too highly colored — the lights are too strong — the shadows too deep 
 — the heroes and heroines too brave or beautiful — the villains too in- 
 teresting — the incidents and exploits too unlike the average realities 
 of life. Can such a representation fail to affect the interested and ex- 
 cited reader? Will not his mind receive a bias prejudicial to his 
 highest interests ? And will not the heart drink in the false senti- 
 ments inculcated, as the earth drinketh in the dew ? If the morals 
 and religion of our country are in danger from the rapid influx of 
 foreign population, the dregs of European society , far greater is the 
 danger from the popular literature that is flooding our country and 
 sweeping away the high barriers of truth and virtue. Every good 
 man, every patriot, every parent, has a vital interest in this matter. 
 To the sons and daughters of our land must soon be committed its 
 social interests ; for the right management and guardianship of 
 which, they will be miserably prepared by their growing familiarity 
 with the enervating and depraving pictures of foreign fashionable li- 
 centiousness, which everywhere abound in the popular literature of 
 the day. Those who live in a world of dreams and visions, who are 
 accustomed to follow the fabulous vicissitudes— the extatic joys and 
 sorrows, the romantic exploits of some fancied hero or heroine, will 
 find the sober realities and duties of life quite uncongenial to their ex- 
 cited sensibilities. They may have wept over the sorrows of a Wer- 
 ter, or over some tale of imaginary suffering, but for hearts really 
 crushed under the heavy burdens of life, they can have little or no 
 sympathy. 
 
 Their whole moral nature is sadly perverted, soured and alienated 
 from the true ends and aims of human existence. In the works with 
 which they have been familiar, their minds have found no true and 
 unchanging standard of moral excellence — their passions and impul- 
 ses no rightful and authoritative law — hence their moral derange- 
 ment, and indeed the debasement of their entire being. While we 
 are thus free to express the opinion, that the fictitious literature of all 
 ages, from Boccacio down to Bulwer has, in the main, exerted a per- 
 nicious influence intellectually and morally upon society, we can not 
 say this of all works of the imagination. Some have exerted a deci- 
 dedly moral and elevating influence, and the most important and 
 wholesome truth has been conveyed under the garb of fictitious nar- 
 rative. 
 
 The Great Teacher himself employed allegories and parables to rep- 
 
NOVEL READING. 
 
 93 
 
 resent the truths of his own system. If our censure were unqualified, 
 then to be consistent, we must discard the parables of Scripture, the 
 Paradise Lost, the Pilgrim’s Progress, and many other works which 
 are an ornament to our literature, and an honor to the men who wrote 
 them. Some works of the imagination are beautiful — they are mag- 
 nificent and above all praise. They present religion in the most 
 evangelical and attractive aspect. The mind of the reader is carried 
 along in an ecstacy of interest, over hallowed yet enchanted ground, 
 and is constantly impressed with a sense both of the power and pre- 
 ciousness of religion. Full of exquisite imagery — of noble thoughts 
 happily expressed, and of high and holy principles, they will shed 
 their bright and blessed influence around many a fire-side, imparting 
 courage and constancy to the weak and the wavering. 
 
 Says Isaac Taylor: Genuine zest disappears wherever fiction holds 
 sway. I am intending no onslaught on novel-reading. I have no pu- 
 ritanic horror of novels. I have listened to the most of those that 
 were the popular fictions of that by-gone time. I would say this only 
 to the heads of families. Make your choice — freely admit from the 
 circulating library the three volume novels of the season, and then 
 be content to find that all residue of zest is gone as to history, or bi- 
 ography, or science, or anything else that is real and genuine, Chris- 
 tianity included. 
 
 Novel-reading is an infatuation which masters souls as surely as 
 dram-drinking does. Many are the melancholy spectacles which one 
 encounters in town — as, for instance, a woman, wasted, worn, in tat- 
 ters, and near to starvation — this is a sad sight. And so it is sad to 
 meet the well-dressed lady of forty or fifty, with the three greasy- 
 boarded volumes, which are all to be devoured between the noon of 
 to-day and the dawn of to-morrow ! The alternative for the individ- 
 ual or for the family is this : novel-reading with its consequent ennui 
 and often apathy, or else genuine feeling, employment, with zest, as 
 to whatever is real in life, in history, in science, in poetry and gener- 
 al literature. Fiction of any sort in one scale, and reality in the other, 
 the beam will never stand on the level. 
 
 * 
 
 NOVEL-READING AND INSANITY. 
 
 Dr. Ray, of the Butler Insane Asylum, in noticing some of the 
 prominent causes of insanity in our day, liys stress on the light read- 
 ing of the age. It fails to develop the mental health and strength 
 needed to endure the trials of life, and by cultivating a morbid frame 
 
94 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPEDIA. 
 
 of mind, makes it more susceptible to certain forms of insanity. Hear 
 him: 
 
 Generally speaking, there can be no question that excessive indul- 
 gence in novel-reading necessarily enervates the mind and diminishes 
 the power of endurance. In other departments of literature, such as 
 biography and history, the mental powers are more or less exercised 
 by the ideas which they convey. F acts are stored up in the memory, 
 hints are obtained for the further pursuit of knowledge, judgments are 
 formed respecting character and actions, original thoughts elicited, a 
 spirit of investigation is excited, and, more than all, life is viewed as 
 it really has been, and must be lived. A mind thus furnished and 
 disciplined is provided with a fund of reserved power to fall back 
 upon when assailed by the adverse forces which, in some shape or 
 other, all of us must expect to encounter. In novel-reading, on the 
 contrary, the mind passively contemplates the scenes that are brought 
 before it, and which, being chiefly addressed to the passions and emo- 
 tions, naturally please without the necessity of effort or preparation. 
 Of late years a class of books has arisen, the sole object of which is to 
 stir the feelings, not by ingenious plots ; not by touching the finer 
 chords of the heart, and skillfully unfolding the springs of action ; not 
 by arousing our sympathies for unadulterated, unsophisticated good- 
 ness, truth, and beauty, for that would assimilate them to the immor- 
 tal productions of Shakespeare and Scott ; but by coarse exaggera- 
 tion of every sentiment, by investing every scene in glowing colors, 
 and, in short, by every possible form of unnatural excitement. In all 
 this there is little or no addition to one’s stock of knowledge, no ele- 
 ment of mental strength is involved, and no one is better prepared by 
 it for encountering the stern realities of life. The sickly sentimental- 
 ity which craves this kind of stimulus, is as different from the sensi- 
 bility of a well-ordered mind as the crimson flush of disease from the 
 ruddy glow of high health. A mind that seeks its nutriment from 
 books of this description is closed against the genial influences that 
 flow from real joy and sorrow, and from all the beauty and heroism 
 of common life. A refined selfishness is apt to prevail over every 
 better feeling, and when the evil day comes, the higher sentiments 
 which bind us to our fellow-men by all the ties of benevolence, and 
 justice, and veneration, furnish no support nor consolation. 
 
 The specific doctrine that I would inculcate is, that the excessive 
 indulgence in novel-reading, which is a characteristic of our times, is 
 chargeable with many of the irregularities that prevail among us in a 
 degree unknown at any former period. 
 
WIT. 
 
 95 
 
 Xenophen commended the Persians for the prudent education of 
 their children, who would not suffer them to effeminate their minds 
 with amorous stories and idle romances, being sufficiently convinced 
 of the danger of adding weight to the bias of corrupt nature. 
 
 In reading romances, women (who are most addicted this way,) do 
 not only learn the evil they should be ignorant of, but also the most 
 delicate way of committing it. 
 
 WIT. 
 
 He who endeavors to oblige the company by his good-nature never 
 fails of being beloved ; he who strives to entertain it by his good sense 
 never fails of being esteemed ; but he who is continually aiming to be 
 witty, generally miscarries of his aim ; his aim and intention is to be 
 admired, but it is his misfortune either to be despised or detested — to 
 be despised for want of judgment, or detested for want of humanity. 
 For we seldom admire the wit when we dislike the man. There are 
 a great many to whom the world would be so charitable as to allow 
 them to have a tolerable share of common sense; if they did not set 
 up for something more than common, something very uncommon, 
 bright, and witty. If we would trace the faults of conversation up to 
 their original source, most of them might, I believe, be resolved into 
 this, that men had rather appear shining than be agreeable in com- 
 pany. They are endeavoring to raise admiration instead of gaining 
 love and good-will, whereas the latter is in everybody’s power, the 
 former in that of very few. 
 
 There is as much difference between wit and wisdom, as between 
 the talent of a buffoon and a statesman. Wit is brushwood, judgment 
 is timber. The one gives the greatest flame, the other yields the du- 
 rablest heat ; and both meeting makes the best fire. 
 
 To have the reputation of a wit, is of but little credit, since it is 
 generally applied rather to railery and satire, than pregnancy and 
 beauty of conceit. We sometimes meet with a frothy wit, who would 
 rather lose his best friend than his worst jest. Skill in small wit, 
 like skill in small arms, is very apt to beget a confidence, which may 
 prove fatal in the end. Strong and sharp as a man’s wit may be, it 
 is neither so strong as the memory of fools, nor so keen as their re- 
 sentment. He that has not strength of mind to forgive, is by no 
 
96 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 means weak enough to forget, and it is much more easy to uo a cruel 
 thing than to say a severe one. 
 
 According to the opinion of a distinguished author, good sense is 
 the father of wit, truth his grandfather,* and mirth and good humor 
 his chosen companions. As a razor is best whetted in oil, so wit is 
 set sharpest by politeness. The lack of edge in both is discoverable 
 from the offense or pain they give. 
 
 True wit is nature to advantage dressed, 
 
 What oft was thought, but ne’er so well expressed. 
 
 False wit, like false money, only passes current with those who have 
 no means of comparison. A little wit, and a great deal of ill-nature 
 will furnish a man for satire ; but the greatest instance of wit, is to 
 commend well. 
 
 ARGUMENT. 
 
 Avoid argument with a person if he is directly opposite to you ; 
 if he has a mind of his own he can not be convinced ; and if he has 
 no mind he is a poor convert ; it is not only a loss of time, but often 
 of friendship. 
 
 With fools argument is passion and vociferation ; with politicians 
 it is a majority; with kings it is the sword; with men of sense it is 
 a sound reason. 
 
 In reasoning, the best way to gain the cause, and bring the contro- 
 versy to a speedy determination, is by asking questions, and proceed- 
 ing still upon the adversary’s concessions. 
 
 A concluding face put upon an unconcluding argument, is the most 
 contemptible sort of folly. 
 
 Jefferson never engaged in dispute ; he expressed himself freely to 
 those who sought his society for information or an intelligent compar- 
 ison of opinion ; but his lips were closed in the presence of a dispu- 
 tant. The patience with which he listened to others, and the modest 
 candor with which he expressed himself, usually disarmed the conten- 
 tious ; when they did not, he went no farther. If his views were 
 false, he did not wish them to prevail ; if they were true, he felt cer- 
 tain that sooner or later they would prevail. He left no one in doubt 
 as to his opinions. 
 
SELF-RELIANCE. 
 
 97 
 
 SELF-BELIANCE. 
 
 It appears to have been designed by Creative Providence, that every 
 human being should chiefly depend on the means within himself, for 
 his own subsistence and advancement in the world. Were we to ask 
 a hundred men who from small beginnings have attained a condition 
 of respectability and influence, to what they imputed their success in 
 life, the general answer would be, “It was from being early com- 
 pelled to think and depend on ourselves.” 
 
 The oak that stands alone to contend with the tempest’s blasts 
 only takes deeper root and stands the firmer for ensuing conflicts ; 
 while the forest tree, when the woodman’s ax has spoiled its surround- 
 ings, sways and bends and trembles and perchance is uprooted. So 
 it is with men. Those who are trained to self-reliance are ready to 
 go out and contend in the sternest conflicts of life; while men who 
 have always leaned for support on those around them, are never pre- 
 pared to breast the storms of adversity that arise. 
 
 Many a young man — and for that matter, many who are older — 
 halts at his outset upon life’s battle-field, and falters and faints for 
 what he conceives to be a necessary capital for a start. A few thou- 
 sand dollars, or hundreds, or “something handsome” in the way of 
 money in his purse, he fancies to be about the only thing needful to 
 secure his fortune. Many a young man would, doubtless, make a 
 good use of such a capital, and to many it has been the beginning of 
 disaster — the unnerving of self-reliance, the pillow of activity, and the 
 rust of every genial, manly virtue and ambition. 
 
 The best capital, in nine cases out of ten, a young man can start in 
 the world with, is robust health, sound morals, a fair intelligence, a 
 will to work his way honestly and bravely, and if it be possible, a 
 trade — whether he follows it for a livelihood or not. He can always 
 fall back upon a trade when other paths are closed. Any one who will 
 study the lives of memorable men — apart from the titled, or heredit- 
 arily great — will find that a large majority of them rose from the 
 ranks, with no capital for a start, save intelligence, energy, industry, 
 and a will to rise and conquer. In the mechanic and artizan pur- 
 suits, in commerce, in agriculture, and even in the paths of literature, 
 science and art, many of the greatest names sprung from poverty and 
 obscurity. Dr. Johnson made himself illustrious by his intellect and 
 industry — so did Franklin, and so have multitudes whose memories 
 are renowned. * 
 
 The greatest heroes of the battle-field — as Napoleon, Hannibal, 
 
 7 
 
98 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 Cromwell — some of the greatest statesmen and orators, ancient and 
 modern 1 — as Demosthenes, Chatham, Burke, and our own Webster 
 and Clay — could boast no patrician advantages, no capital in gold, 
 to start with. The grandest fortunes ever accumulated or possessed 
 on earth, were and are, the fruit of endeavor that had no capital to 
 begin with save energy, intellect, and the will. From Croesus down 
 to Astor, the story is the same — not only in the getting of wealth, 
 but also in the acquirement of various eminence — those men have won 
 most, who relied most upon themselves. 
 
 The path of success in business is invariably the path of common 
 sense. Notwithstanding all that is said about “ lucky hits,” the best 
 kind of success in every man’s life is not that which comes by acci- 
 dent. The only “good time coming” we are justified in hoping for, 
 is that which we are capable of making for ourselves. The fable of 
 the labors of Hercules is indeed the type of all human doing and 
 success. Every youth should be made to feel that if he would get 
 through the world usefully and happily, he must rely mainly upon 
 himself and his own independent energies. Making a small provi- 
 sion for young men is hardly justifiable; and it is of all things the most 
 prejudicial to themselves. They think what they have much larger 
 than it really is; and they make no exertion. The young should 
 never hear any language but this : ‘You have your ow : n way to make, 
 and it depends upon your own exertions whether you starve or not.’ 
 
 One of the best lessons a father can give his son is this: Work; 
 strengthen your moral and mental faculties, as you would strengthen 
 your muscles by vigorous exercise. Learn to conquer circumstances ; 
 you are then independent of fortune. The men of athletic minds, 
 who have left their mark on the years in which they lived, were all 
 trained in a rough school. They did not mount their high position 
 by the help of leverage; they leaped into chasms, grappled with the 
 opposing rocks, avoided avalanches, and, when the goal was reached, 
 felt that but for the toil that had strengthened them as they strove, it 
 could never have been attained. Be your own right hand man. 
 Every man is the architect of his own fortune. 
 
 People who have been bolstered up and levered all their lives, are 
 seldom good for anything in a crisis. When misfortune comes, they 
 look around for somebody to cling to, or lean upon. If the prop is 
 not there, down they go. Once down, they are as helpless as capsized 
 turtles, or unhorsed men in armor, and they can not find their feet 
 again without assistance. Such silken fellows no more resemble self- 
 made men, who have fought their way to position, making difficulties 
 
SELF-RELIANCE. 
 
 99 
 
 their stepping-stones, and deriving determination from their defeat, 
 than vines resemble oaks, or spluttering rushlights tho stars of heaven. 
 Efforts persisted in to achievements train a man to self-reliance ; and 
 when he has proven to the world that he can trust himself, the world 
 will trust him. We say, therefore, that it is unwise to deprive young 
 men of the advantages which result from energetic action, by “ boost- 
 ing” them over obstacles which they ought to surmount alone. No 
 one ever swam well who placed his confidence in a cork jacket; and 
 if, when breasting the sea of life, we cannot buoy ourselves up and 
 try to force ourselves ahead by dint of our own energies, we are not 
 salvage ; and it is of little consequence whether we “ sink or swim, 
 survive or perish.” 
 
 It is not good for human nature to have the road of life made too 
 easy. Better to be under the necessity of working hard and faring 
 meanly, than to have everything done ready to our hand, and a pillow 
 of down to repose upon. Indeed, to start in life with comparatively 
 small means seems so necessary as a stimulus to work, that it may 
 almost be set down as one of the essential conditions to success in 
 life. Hence, an eminent judge, when asked what contributed most 
 to success at the bar, replied, “ Some succeed by great talent, some 
 by high connections, some by miracle, but the majority by commen- 
 cing without a shilling.” So it is a common saying that the men who 
 are most successful in business are those who begin the world in their 
 shirt-sleeves ; whereas those who begin with fortunes generally lose 
 them. Necessity is always the first stimulus to industry; and those 
 who conduct it with prudence, perseverance, and energy will rarely 
 fail. Viewed in this light, the necessity of labor is not a chastisement, 
 but a blessing — the very root and spring of all that we call progress 
 in individuals, and civilization in nations. It may, indeed, be ques- 
 tioned whether a heavier curse could be imposed on man than the com- 
 plete gratification of all his wishes without effort on his part, leaving 
 nothing for his hopes, desires or struggles. The feeling that life is 
 destitute of any motive or * necessity for action, must be of all others 
 the most distressing and the most insupportable to a rational being. 
 The Marquis de Spinola asking Sir Horace Vere what his brother 
 died of, Sir Horace replied, “He died, sir, of having nothing to do.” 
 “Alas!” said Spinola, “that is enough to kill any general of us all.” 
 
 The men who stand boldly for the defense of the truth, in the midst 
 of the flood of errors that surround them, are not the gentlemen of 
 lily fingers who have been rocked in the cradle of indulgence and 
 caressed in the lap of luxury; but they are men whom necessity has 
 
100 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 called from the shade of retirement, to contend under the scorching 
 rays of the sun, with the stern realities of life with all its vicissitudes. 
 It is good for a man that he bear the yoke in his youth. 
 
 Don’t rely upon friends. Don’t rely upon the good name of your 
 ancestors. Thousands have spent the prime of life in the vain hope of 
 those whom they called friends ; and thousands have starved because 
 they had a rich father. Rely upon the good name which is made by 
 your own exertions, and know that better than the best friend you can 
 have is unquestionable determination, united with decision of charac- 
 ter. And remember that without God’s blessing you cannot truly 
 prosper. In all thy ways acknowledge Him, and He will direct thy 
 paths. Nothing would fortify us more against all manner of accidents, 
 than the remembrance of this maxim, that we can never be hurt hut 
 by ourselves. If our reason be what it ought, and our actions ac- 
 cording to it, we are invulnerable. 1 Heaven helps those who help 
 themselves.' 
 
 Depend not on the stores of others. Tax a neighbor’s good offices 
 as seldom as possible. “Do not ride a free horse to death” is trite 
 but good advice. Rely upon your own resources as much as possible. 
 Human nature delights in novelties, hence look out that an opportu- 
 nity for your neighbor to serve you is a novelty. 
 
 CHARACTER. 
 
 The crown and glory of life is character. It is the noblest posses- 
 sion of a man, constituting a rank in itself, and an estate in the gen- 
 eral good-will; dignifying every station, and exalting every position 
 in society. It exercises a greater power than wealth, and secures all 
 the honor without the jealousies of fame. It carries with it an influ- 
 ence which always tells ; for it is the result of proved honor, rectitude 
 and consistency, — qualities which, perhaps more than any other, com- 
 mand the general confidence and respect of mankind. 
 
 Character is human nature in its best form. It is moral order em- 
 bodied in the individual. Men of character are not only the con- 
 science of society, but in every well-governed state they are its best 
 motive power; for it is moral qualities, in the main, which rule the 
 world. Even in war, Napoleon said, the moral is to the physical 
 as ten to one. The strength, the industry, and the civilization of 
 nations, all depend upon individual character; and the very founda- 
 
CHARACTER. 
 
 101 
 
 tions of civil authority rest upon it. Laws and institutions are but its 
 outgrowth. In the just balance of nature, individuals, and nations, 
 and races will obtain just so much as they deserve, and no more. And 
 as effect finds its cause, so surely does quality of character amongst a 
 people produce its benefiting results. 
 
 Though a man have comparatively little culture, slender abilities, 
 and but small wealth, yet, if his character be of sterling worth, he 
 will always command an influence, whether it be in the workshop, the 
 counting-house, the mart, or the senate. You may admire men of 
 intellect; but something more is necessary before you will trust 
 them. We sometimes ask the assistance of men of genius, but we 
 prefer to follow the guidance of men of character. Sidney Smith 
 said of Francis Horner, a member of the English House of Commons, 
 that “the Ten Commandments were stamped upon his countenance.” 
 His history is calculated to inspire every right-minded youth. He 
 died at the age of thirty-eight, possessed of greater public influence 
 than any other private man in England, and admired, beloved, 
 trusted and deplored by all, except the heartless or the base. No 
 greater homage was ever paid in parliament to any deceased member. 
 Now let every young man ask — How was this attained? By rank? 
 He was the son of an Edinburgh merchant. By wealth? Neither 
 he nor any of his relations, ever had a superfluous sixpence. By of- 
 fice ? He held but one, and only for a few years, of no influence, and 
 with very little pay. By talents? His were not splendid, and he had 
 no genius. Cautious and slow, his only ambition was to be right. 
 By eloquence ? He spoke in calm, good taste, without any of the ora- 
 tory that either terrifies or seduces. By any fascination of manner? 
 His was only correct and agreeable. By what, then, was it ? Merely 
 by sense, industry, good principles, and a good heart — qualities which 
 no well-constituted mind need ever despair of attaining. It was the 
 force of his character that raised him, and this character not im- 
 pressed upon him by nature, but formed out of no peculiarly fine ele- 
 ments by himself. 
 
 Franklin, also, attributed his success as a public man, not to his tal- 
 ents or his powers of speaking — for these were but moderate — but to 
 his known integrity of character. “Hence, it was,” he says, “that 
 I had so much weight with my fellow citizens. I was but a bad speak- 
 er, never eloquent, subject to much hesitation in my choice of words, 
 hardly correct in language, and yet I generally carried my point.” 
 Character creates confidence in men in every station of life. It was 
 said of the first Emperor Alexander of Russia, that his personal char- 
 
102 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 acter was equivalent to a constitution. During the wars of the 
 Fronde, Montaigne was the only man among the French gentry who 
 kept his castle gates unbarred ; and it was said of him, that his per- 
 sonal character was worth more to him than a regiment of horse. 
 
 That character is power is true in a much higher sense than that 
 knowledge is power. Mind without heart, intelligence without con- 
 duct, cleverness without goodness, are powers in their way, but they 
 may be powers only for mischief. We may be instructed or amused 
 by them, but it is sometimes as difficult to admire them as it would 
 be to admire the dexterity of a pickpocket or the horsemanship of a 
 highwayman. 
 
 Truthfulness, integrity and goodness, — qualities that hang not on 
 any man’s breath, — form the essence of manly character, or, as one 
 of our old writers has it, ** that inbred loyalty unto virtue which can 
 serve her without a livery.” He who possesses these qualities, united 
 with strength of purpose, carries with him a power which is irresisti- 
 ble. He is strong to do good, strong to resist evil, and strong to bear 
 up under difficulty and misfortune. When Stephen of Ooloma fell 
 into the hands of his base assailants, and they asked him, in derision, 
 “Where is now your fortress?” “Here,” was his bold reply, placing 
 his hand upon his heart. It is in misfortune that the character of 
 the upright man shines forth with the greatest luster ; and, when all 
 else fails, he takes stand upon his integrity and his courage. 
 
 Every man is bound to aim at the possession of a good character, as 
 one of the highest objects of his life. The very effort to secure it by 
 worthy means will furnish him with a motive for exertion; and his 
 idea of manhood, in proportion as it is elevated, will steady and ani- 
 mate his motive. It is well to have a high standard of life, even 
 though we may not be able altogether to realize it. “The youth,” 
 says Disraeli, “who does not look up will look down; and the spirit 
 that does not soar is destined perhaps to grovel.” He who has a 
 high standard of living and thinking will certainly do better than he 
 who has none at all. “ Pluck at a gown of gold,” says the Scotch 
 proverb, “ and you may get a sleeve o’t.” Whoever tries for the high- 
 est results can not fail to reach a point far in advance of that from 
 which he started; and though the end accomplished may fall short 
 of that proposed, still, the very effort to rise, of itself can not fail to 
 prove permanently beneficial. 
 
 There are many counterfeits of character, but the genuine article is 
 difficult to be mistaken. Some, knowing its money value, would as- 
 sume its disguise for the purpose of imposing upon the unwary. Col- 
 
CHARACTER. 
 
 103 
 
 ouel Cliarteris said to a man distinguished for his honesty , “I would 
 give a thousand pounds for your good name.” “Why?” “Because 
 I could make ten thousand by it,” was the rogue’s reply. 
 
 Integrity in word and deed is the backbone of character; and 
 loyal adherence to veracity its most prominent characteristic. The 
 groundwork of all manly character is veracity. That virtue lies at 
 the foundation of everything solid. How common it is to hear parents 
 say, “I have confidence in my child so long as he speaks the truth. 
 He may have many faults, but I know he will not deceive me.” It 
 is a lawful and just ground to build upon. And that is a. beautiful 
 confidence. Whatever errors temptation may betray a child into, so 
 long as brave open truth remains, there is something to depend on ; 
 — there is another ground — there is substance at the center. Men of 
 the world feel so about one another. They can tolerate and forbear 
 so long as their erring brother is true. Ordinary commerce can 
 hardly proceed a step without a good measure of it. If we can not 
 believe what others say to us, we. can not act at all. Truth is com- 
 mon interest. When we defend it, we defend the basis of all social or- 
 der. When we vindicate it, we vindicate our own foot-hold. When 
 we plead for it, it is like pleading for the air of health we breathe. 
 When you undertake to benefit a lying man, it is like putting your 
 foot into the mire. 
 
 There is truthfulness in action as well as in words, which is essen- 
 tial to uprightness of character. A man must really be what he seems 
 or purposes to be. Always endeavor to be really what you would 
 wish to appear. Every man who respects himself, and values the 
 respect of others, will carry out this maxim in act : — doing honestly 
 what he proposes to do — putting the highest character into his work , 
 scamping nothing, but priding himself upon his integrity and con - 
 scientiousness. Men whose acts are at direct variance with their 
 words, command no respect, and what they say has but little weight ; 
 even truths, when uttered by them, seem to come blasted from their 
 lips. • 
 
 The true character acts rightly, whether in secret or in the sight 
 of men. That boy was well trained who, when asked why he did not 
 pocket some pears, for nobody was there to see him, replied, “ Yes, 
 there was : I was there to see myself; and I do n’t intend ever to see 
 myself do a dishonest thing.” This is a simple but not inappro- 
 priate illustration of principle, or conscience, dominating in the char- 
 acter, and exercising a noble protectorate over it; not merely a 
 passive influence, but an active power, regulating the life. Such a 
 
104 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPEDIA. 
 
 principle goes on moulding the character hourly and daily, growing 
 with a force that operates every moment. Without this dominating 
 influence ; character has no protection, but is constantly liable to fall 
 away before temptation ; and every such temptation succumbed to, 
 every act of meanness or dishonesty, however slight, causes self-deg- 
 radation. It matters not whether the act be successful or not, dis- 
 covered or concealed, the man is no longer the same, but another 
 person ; and he is pursued by a secret uneasiness, by self-reproach, 
 or the workings of what we call conscience, which is the inevitable 
 doom of the guilty. 
 
 Strength of character consists of two things : — power of will and 
 power of self-restraint. It requires two things, therefore, for its exist- 
 ence — strong feelings and strong command over them. Now it is 
 here we make a great mistake ; we mistake strong feelings for strong 
 character. A man who bears all before him, before whose frown do- 
 mestics tremble, and whose bursts of fury make the children of the 
 household quake ; — because he has his will obeyed, and his own way in 
 all things, we call him a strong man. The truth is, that is the weak 
 man; it is his passions that are strong; he, mastered by them is weak. 
 Y ou must measure the strength of a man by the power of the feelings 
 he subdues, not by the power of those which subdue him. And 
 hence composure is very often the highest result of strength. 
 
 Did we never see a man receive a flagrant insult, and only grow a 
 little pale, and then reply quietly ? This is a man spiritually strong. 
 Or did we never see a man in anguish stand, as if carved out of solid 
 rock, mastering himself? Or one bearing a hopeless daily trial remain 
 silent, and never tell the world what cankered his home peace ? That 
 is strength. He who, with strong passions, remains chaste ; he who, 
 keenly sensitive, with manly powers of indignation in him, can be 
 provoked, and yet restrain himself and forgive — these are the strong 
 men, the spiritual heroes. 
 
 The truest criterion of a man's character and conduct, is, invaria- 
 bly, to be found in the opinion of his nearest relations, who, having 
 daily and hourly opportunities of forming a judgment of him, will not 
 fail in doing so. It is a far higher testimony in his favor, for him to 
 secure the esteem and love of a few individuals within the privacy of 
 his own home, than the good opinion of hundreds in his immediate 
 neighborhood, or that of ten times the number residing at a distance. 
 In fact, next to a close and impartial self-scrutiny, no question comes 
 so near the truth, as for a man to ask himself, “What is thought of 
 
CHEERFULNESS. 
 
 105 
 
 me by the familiar circle of my own fireside?" Would that all re- 
 membered this ! 
 
 The chief outlines of the human character are drawn within the 
 first ten years of life. Character is what a man truly is, and what 
 his reputation soon will be. In trifles, infinitely clearer than in great 
 deeds, actual character is displayed. The differences of character are 
 never more distinctly seen than in times when men are surrounded 
 by difficulties and misfortunes. A good character is a fortune. 
 
 CHEERFULNESS. 
 
 Cheerfulness arises from various causes : from health ; but it is 
 not dependent upon health ; from good fortune : but it does not arise 
 solely from that; from honor and position, and a tickled pride and 
 vanity : but it is quite independent of these. The truth is, it is a 
 brave habit of the mind ; a prime proof of wisdom ; capable of being 
 acquired, and of the very greatest value not only to one’s self, but to 
 the whole world besides. A cheerful man is pre-eminently a useful 
 man. 
 
 A spirit of cheerfulness should be encouraged in our youth if we 
 would wish to have the benefit of it in our old age. Time will make 
 a generous wine more mellow, but turn that which is early on the fret 
 to vinegar. There is more real virtue in goodness, kindness, and 
 cheerfulness of heart, than in all the cold, canting solemnity that was 
 ever put on as a mask for selfishness. A cheerful heart paints the 
 world as it finds it, like a sunny landscape; the morbid mind depicts 
 it like a sterile wilderness, pallid with thick vapors, and as dark as 
 the “Shadow of Death." It is the mirror, in short, on which it is 
 caught, which lends to the face of nature the aspect of its own turbu- 
 lence or tranquility. As the river flows out from under the shadow 
 of the willow that bends over its waters, so the cheerful spirit flashes 
 out from the cloud without bearing it along. 
 
 One of the most valuable, and one of the most infectious examples 
 which can be set before the young, is that of cheerful working. Cheer- 
 fulness gives elasticity to the spirit. Spectres fly before it ; difficul- 
 ties cause no despair, for they are encountered with hope, and the 
 mind acquires that happy disposition to improve opportunities which 
 rarely fails of success. The fervent spirit is always a healthy and 
 happy spirit; working cheerfully itself, and stimulating others to 
 
106 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 work. It confers a dignity on even the most ordinary occupations. 
 The most effective work, also, is always the full-hearted work — that 
 which passes through the hands or the head of him whose heart is 
 glad. Hume was accustomed to say that he would rather possess a 
 cheerful disposition — inclined always to look at the bright side of 
 things — than with a gloomy mind to be the master of an estate of ten 
 thousand a year. It has been said that the lively and sprightly are 
 as open books, with the leaves turned down at the notable passages. 
 Their souls sit at the windows of their eyes, see’ng and to be seen. 
 
 If the waves threaten to engulph you, dont add by your tears to 
 the amount of water. If the sun is going down, look up to the stars ; 
 if the earth is dark, keep your eyes on heaven. With God’s presence 
 and God’s promise, a man or child may be cheerful. Everything, an- 
 imate and inanimate, turns to the sunbeams. We instinctively avoid 
 cloudy days, and cloudy faces. He who murmurs at his lot is like 
 one baring his feet to tread upon thorns. Some people think black 
 is the color of Heaven, and that the more they make their faces look 
 like night the holier they are. Let not the stream of your life always 
 be a murmuring stream. 
 
 “Care to our coffin adds a nail no doubt, 
 
 While every grin so merrily draws one out.” 
 
 There is no little repining on the part of many worthy people, which 
 must be attributed chiefly to a habit of forgetting some well known 
 truths. It would be good for all' to remember that in the long run, 
 the things which now fret and annoy will all be seen to be parts of a 
 plan of infinite benevolence. The evils we lament will be turned into 
 agencies for good, and the sorrows we experience will eventuate in 
 future joys. That life is the sweetest which is passed in extracting 
 honey even from the bitterest adversities ; and he is the wisest man 
 who can most heartily confide in the rectitude of Providence, and in 
 the final supremacy of truth and right. In the long run, that Christ- 
 ian will come out well who works cheerfully, heartily, hopefully, with- 
 out wasting his energies upon vain regrets and passionate murmur- 
 ings. The birds sing in the storm ; why may not the child of God 
 rejoice too, even though the passing clouds lower? 
 
 There is no greater every-day virtue than cheerfulness. This qual- 
 ity in man among men, is like sunshine to the day, or gentle, renew- 
 ing moisture to parched herbs. The light of a cheerful face diffuses 
 itself, and communicates the happy spirit that inspires it. The sourest 
 temper must sweeten in the atmosphere of continuous good humor. 
 
CHEERFULNESS. 
 
 107 
 
 As well might fog, and cloud, and vapor, hope to cling to the sun- 
 illumined landscape, as the blues and moroseness to combat jovial 
 speech and exhilarating laughter. Be cheerful, always. There. i$ no 
 path but will be easier traveled, no load but will be lighter, no shadow 
 on heart or brain but will lift sooner in presence of a determined 
 cheerfulness. It may at times seem difficult for the happiest temper- 
 ed to keep the countenance of peace and content, but the difficulty 
 will vanish when we truly consider that sullen gloom and passionate 
 despair do nothing but multiply thorns and thicken sorrows. Ill 
 comes to us as providentially as good — and is a good, if we rightly 
 apply its lessons ; why not, then, cheerfully accept the ill, and thus 
 blunt its apparent sting ? Cheerfulness ought to be the fruit of phi- 
 losophy — much more of Christianity. What is gained by peevishness 
 and fretfulness — by perverse sadness and sullenness? If we are ill, 
 let us be cheered by the trust that we shall soon be in health — if mis- 
 fortune befall us, let us be cheered by hopeful visions of better for- 
 tune — if death robs us of the dear ones, let us be cheered by the 
 thought that they are only gone before, to the blissful bowers where 
 we shall all meet, to part no more forever. 
 
 Cultivate cheerfulness, if only for personal profit. You will do and 
 bear every duty and burthen better by being cheerful. It will be 
 your consoler in solitude, your passport and commendator in society. 
 You will be more sought after, more trusted and esteemed for your 
 steady cheerfulness. The bad, the vicious, may be boisterously gay 
 and vulgarly humorous, but seldom or never truly cheerful. Genuine 
 cheerfulness is an almost certain index of a happy mind and a pure, 
 good heart. 
 
 I once heard a young lady say to an individual, “ Your countenance 
 to me is like the shining sun, for it always gladdens me with a cheer- 
 ful look.” A merry or cheerful countenance was one of the things 
 which Jeremy Taylor said his enemies and persecutors could not take 
 away from him. There are some persons who spend their lives in this 
 world as they would spend their time if shut up in a dungeon. Every- 
 thing is made gloomy and forbidding. They go mourning and com- 
 plaining from day to day, that they have so little, and are constantly 
 anxious lest what little they have should escape out of their hands. 
 They look always upon the dark side, and can never enjoy the good 
 that is present, for the evil that is to come. This is not religion. 
 Religion makes the heart cheerful, and when its large and benevolent 
 principles are exercised, men will be happy in spite of themselves. 
 
 The industrious bee does not stop to complain that there are so 
 
108 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 many poisonous flowers and thorny branches in his road, but buzzes 
 on, selecting the honey where he can find it, and passing quietly by 
 the places where it is not. There is enough in this world to complain 
 about and find fault with, if men have the disposition. We often 
 travel on a hard and uneven road, but with a cheerful spirit and a 
 heart to praise God for his mercies, we may walk therein with great 
 comfort and come to the end of our journey in peace. 
 
 A cheerful life must be a busy one. And a busy life cannot well 
 be otherwise than cheerful. Frogs do not croak in running water. 
 And active minds are seldom troubled with gloomy forebodings. 
 They come up only from the stagnant depths of a spirit unstirred by 
 generous impulses or the blessed necessities of honest toil. 
 
 The cheerful are the busy; when trouble knocks at your door or 
 rings the bell, he will generally retire if you send him word “en- 
 gaged.” God bless the cheerful person — man, woman or child, old or 
 young, illiterate or educated, handsome or homely. Over and above 
 every other social trait stands cheerfulness. What the sun is to na- 
 ture, what the stars are to night, what God is to the stricken heart 
 which knows how to lean upon Him, are cheerful persons in the house 
 and by the wayside. Man recognizes the magic of a cheerful influ- 
 ence in woman more quickly and more willingly than the potency of 
 dazzling genius — of commanding worth — or even of enslaving beauty. 
 
 What shall we say by way of commending that sweet cheerfulness 
 by which a good and sensible woman diffuses the oil of gladness in 
 the proper sphere of home. The best specimens of heroism in the 
 world were never gazetted. They play their role in common life, 
 and their reward is not in the admiration of spectators, but in the 
 deep joy of their own conscious thoughts. It is easy for a housewife 
 to make arrangements for an occasional feast; but let me tell you 
 what is greater and better : amid the weariness and cares of life ; the 
 troubles, real and imaginary, of a family; the many thoughts and 
 toils which are requisite to make the family home of thrift, order and 
 comfort ; the varieties of temper and cross-lines of taste and inclina- 
 tion which are to be found in a large household — to maintain a heart 
 full of good nature and a face always bright with cheerfulness, this is 
 a perpetual festivity. We do not mean a mere superficial simper, 
 which has no more character in it than the flow of a brook, but that 
 exhaustless patience, and self-control, and kindness, and tact which 
 spring from good sense and brave purposes. Neither is it the mere 
 reflection of prosperity, for cheerfulness, then, is no virtue. Its best 
 exhibition is in the dark back-ground of real adversity. Affairs as- 
 
ECONOMY. 
 
 109 
 
 aume a gloomy aspect, poverty is hovering about the door, sickness 
 has already entered, days of hardship and nights of watching go 
 slowly by, and now you see the triumph of which we speak. When 
 the strong man has bowed himself, and his brow is knit and creased, 
 you will see how the whole life of a household seems to hang on the 
 frailer form, which, with solicitudes of her own, passing, it may be, 
 under “ the sacred primal sorrow of her sex,” has an eye and an ear 
 for every one but herself, suggestive of expedients, hopeful in ex- 
 tremities, helpful in kind words and affectionate smiles, morning, 
 noon and night, the medicine, the light, the heart of a whole house- 
 hold. God bless that bright, sunny face! says many a heart before 
 me, as he recalls that one of mother, wife, sister, daughter, which has 
 been to him all that my words have described. 
 
 We can not all of us be beautiful, but the pleasantness of a good- 
 humored look is denied to none. We can all of us increase and 
 strengthen the family affections and the delights of home. A cheer- 
 ful face is nearly as good for an invalid as healthy weather. Life 
 may be merry as well as useful. We always admire the answer of 
 the man who, when asked how old he was, replied, just forty years ; 
 but if you count by the fun I’ve seen, I am at least eighty. When 
 the celebrated Hayden was asked how all his sacred music was so 
 cheerful, the great composer replied : I can not make it otherwise. I 
 write according to the thoughts I feel ; when I think upon God, my 
 heart is so full of joy that the notes dance and leap as it were from 
 my pen ; and since God has given me a cheerful heart, it will be par- 
 doned in me that I serve him with a cheerful spirit. The greatest 
 and most brilliant conceptions have been the births of a genial mo- 
 ment, and not the wooden carving of logical toil. 
 
 ECONOMY. 
 
 What is economy? Not meanness; not avarice. It is not a grasp- 
 ing, grinding, mercenary spirit, which hoards and keeps and neither 
 enjoys nor gives, and while it does not waste, it does not even use. 
 This is a love of gain, for its own sake, which sees no other use for 
 gold than to be kept. This is a passion that makes fools of its pos- 
 sessors, and profits nobody. A slack hand is better than a miserly 
 hand. Both are bad. A diligent hand, a prudent economy, makes 
 the best possible use of what it has — turns everything to best ac- 
 
110 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 count — eats, drinks, wears, and gives away all that is necessary, all 
 the circumstances really demand or will allow, and saves the rest. 
 
 Economy is the parent of integrity, of liberty, and of ease, and the 
 sister of temperance, of cheerfulness and of health; and profuseness 
 is a cruel and crafty demon, that generally involves her followers in 
 dependence and debts, that is, fetters them with “ irons that enter 
 their souls.” Economy is one of three sisters, of whom the other and 
 less reputable two are avarice and prodigality. She alone keeps the 
 safe and straight path, while avarice sneers at her as profuse, and 
 prodigality scorns at her as penurious. To the poor she is indispen- 
 sable ; to those of moderate means she is found the representative of 
 wisdom; and although some moralist has said that, at the hearth of 
 the opulent, economy takes the form of a vice, she is perhaps as great 
 a virtue there as elsewhere. Her very name signifies the law or 
 rule of a house, and her presence is as much required in the palace as 
 in the cottage. The prince who despises her and outruns his means 
 is at once slave and knave. The honest man who lives within his 
 income, and owes no man anything, is your only true king. It is he 
 alone who makes the golden discovery that economy is the mother of 
 liberality. In the olden time there were sumptuary laws which, 
 while they attached a penalty to extravagance, set a fine on the man 
 who let a year pass by without asking a friend to dinner. 
 
 True economy is something better than stinginess. Economy, 
 joined to industry and sobriety is a better outfit for business than a 
 dowry. Take care to be an economist in prosperity ; and there is no 
 fear of your having to be one in adversity. Do not be extravagant. 
 The man who will live above his present circumstances, is in danger 
 of living in a little time much beneath them. If you buy what you 
 have no occasion for, you will soon have to sell what you can not spare. 
 There is no exception to the rule of three. As your income is to your 
 expenditure, so will the amount of your debts be to the cash in your 
 pocket. He is poor whose expenses exceed his income. Money and 
 time have both their value. He who makes a bad use of one will 
 never make a good use of the other. 
 
 Economizing one’s means with the mere object of hoarding is a very 
 mean thing; but economizing for the purpose of being independent is 
 one of the soundest indications of manly character; and when prac- 
 ticed with the object of providing for those who are dependent upon 
 us, it assumes quite a noble aspect. A good father gave his son this 
 advice: “ While I wish you to be comfortable in every respect, I can 
 not too strongly inculcate economy. It is a necessary virtue to all ; 
 
ECONOMY. 
 
 Ill 
 
 and however the shallow part of mankind may despise it ; it certainly 
 leads to independence, which is a grand object to ever^ man of a high 
 spirit. The following lines of Burns contain the right idea : 
 
 “ Not for to hide it in a hedge, 
 
 Nor for a train attendant, 
 
 But for the glorious privilege 
 Of being independent.” 
 
 Every man ought so to contrive as to live within his means. This 
 practice is of the very essence of honesty. For if a man do not man- 
 age honestly to live within his own means, he must necessarily be 
 living dishonestly upon the means of somebody else. Those who are 
 careless about personal expenditure, and consider merely their own 
 gratification, without regard for the comfort of others, generally find 
 out the real uses of money when it is too late. Though by nature 
 generous, these thriftless persons are often driven in the end to do 
 very shabby things. They dawdle with their money as with their 
 time ; draw bills upon the future ; anticipate their earnings ; and are 
 thus under the necessity of dragging after them a load of debts and 
 obligations which seriously affect their action as free and independent 
 men. The loose cash which many persons throw away uselessly, and 
 worse, would often form a basis of fortune and independence for life. 
 These wasters are their own worst enemies, though generally found 
 among the ranks of those who rail at the injustice of “the world.” 
 But if a man will not be his own friend, how can he expect that oth- 
 ers will? Orderly men of moderate means have always something 
 left in their pockets to help others; whereas your prodigal and care- 
 less fellows who spend all never find an opportunity for helping any- 
 body. It is poor economy, however to be a scrub. Narrow-minded- 
 ness in living and in dealing is generally short-sighted, and leads to 
 failure. The penny soul, it is said, never came to two-pence. Gen- 
 erosity and liberality, like honesty, prove the best policy after all. 
 Though Jenkinson, in the “Vicar of Wakefield,” cheated his kind- 
 hearted neighbor Flamborough in one way or another every year, 
 “Flamborough,” he says, “has been regularly growing in riches, 
 while I have come to poverty and a jail.” And practical life abounds 
 in cases of brilliant results from a course of generous and honest 
 policy. 
 
 We don’t like stinginess, we don’t like economy, when it comes 
 down to rags and starvation. We have no sympathy with the notion 
 that the poor man should hitch himself to a post and stand still, while 
 
112 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 the rest of the world moves forward. It is no man’s duty to deny 
 himself every amusement, every recreation, every comfort, that he 
 may get rich. It is no man’s duty to make an iceberg of himself, to 
 shut his eyes and ears to the sufferings of his fellows, and to deny 
 himself the enjoyment that results from generous actions, merely that 
 he may hoard wealth for his heirs to quarrel about. But there is an 
 economy which is every man’s duty, and which is especially commen- 
 dable in the man who struggles with poverty — an economy which is 
 consistent with happiness, and which must be practiced if the poor 
 man would secure independence. It is almost every man’s privilege, 
 and it becomes his duty, to live within his means ; not to, but within 
 them. Wealth does not make the man, we admit, and should never 
 be taken into the account in our judgment of men; but competence 
 should always be secured, when it can be, by the practice of economy 
 and self-denial only to a tolerable extent. It should be secured, not 
 so much for others to look upon, or to raise us in the estimation of 
 others, as to secure the consciousness of independence, and the con- 
 stant satisfaction which is derived from its acquirement and pos- 
 session. 
 
 A man is rich in proportion to the number of things he can afford 
 to let alone. What the world calls avarice is oftentimes no more than 
 compulsory economy : and even a willful penuriousness is better than 
 a wasteful extravagance. A just man, being reproached with parsi- 
 mony, said that he would rather enrich his enemies after his death 
 than borrow of his friends in his lifetime. A man is not so likely to 
 deserve or win the blessing of his children by giv : ng them much as 
 by teaching them how to live on little. Economy in our affairs has 
 the same effect upon our fortunes that good breeding has on our con- 
 versation. He that hath no money needeth no purse. Be rather 
 bountiful, than expensive. If your means suit not your ends, pursue 
 those ends which suit your means. Feel a noble pride in living within 
 your means, then you will not be hustled off to a cheerless hospital in 
 your last sickness. 
 
 The first part of economy is to do your peculiar work; the second 
 to do it by system. “ It has been computed,” says Dr. Franklin, “ by 
 some political arithmetician, that if every man and woman would 
 work for four honrs each day on something useful, that labor would 
 be sufficient to procure all the necessaries and comforts of life, want 
 and misery would be banished out of the world, and the rest of the 
 twenty-four hours might be leisure and pleasure.” Franklin once 
 made to a young man the following offer: “Make a full estimate o^ 
 
ECONOMY. 
 
 113 
 
 all you owe, and of all that is owing you. Reduce the same to a note. 
 As fast as you can collect pay over to those you owe: — if you can 
 not collect, renew your note every year and get the best security you 
 can. Go to business diligently ; be very economical in all things ; 
 discard all pride ; be industrious ; waste no idle moments ; be faithful 
 in your duty to God, by regular and hearty prayer morning and even- 
 ing; attend to church and meeting regularly every Sunday; and do 
 unto all men as you would they should do unto you. If you are to© 
 needy in circumstances to give to the poor, do whatever else may be 
 in your power for them cheerfully, but if you can, always help the 
 worthy poor and unfortunate. Pursue this course diligently and sin- 
 cerely for seven years, and if you are not happy, comfortable and in- 
 dependent in your circumstances, come to me and I will pay your 
 debts. 
 
 We are ruined, not by what we really want, but by what we think 
 we do; therefore never go abroad in search of your wants; if they 
 be real wants, they will come home in search of you; for he that buys 
 what he does not want, will soon want what he can not buy. It is 
 foolish to lay out money in purchase of repentance. 
 
 Lawrence, the millionaire merchant of Boston, said, I made fifteen 
 hundred dollars the first year, and more than four thousand the sec 
 ond. Probably had I made four thousand the first year, I should 
 have failed the second or third year. I practiced a system of rigid 
 economy, and never allowed myself to spend a fourpence for unneces- 
 sary objects until I had acquired it. Silas Wright, with his estate of 
 four thousand dollars, was really wealthier than many others are with 
 one hundred thousand dollars. He owed no man anything; he met 
 his obligations with the utmost promptness, and never indulged in 
 any luxury he could not pay for. He was a model of republican sim- 
 plicity. It should also be understood that he was not mean in saving 
 money. There was something glorious in witnessing a great states- 
 man like Silas Wright never asking a pecuniary favor, or even ac- 
 cepting one, yet possessing only an income that could support him 
 and his wife in frugality. When he was elected Governor of the 
 great State of New York, he was known to be too poor to furnish his 
 house. His rich friends got together, and, without his knowledge, 
 made up a subscription, which was tendered to him as a gift, in order 
 to furnish his mansion. This he respectfully but kindly declined, 
 saying, with a true Roman grandeur, that he could not consent to 
 receive such a favor from any one— even from his most esteemed 
 friends; he was elected by the people to he Governor of the State 
 8 
 
114 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 of New York, and he considered it his imperative duty to live on 
 whatever income the people had appended to that office; and he did 
 live on that income while he was Governor, in good style, but with 
 no ostentation. Such an example on the part of so eminent a man 
 as he was, is one of those precious legacies that the young men of the 
 present day should bear in mind — as no true greatness can ever be 
 achieved so long as they are the pecuniary slaves of even their near- 
 est friends. When a public man receives favors that he can not re- 
 pay, he loses that sturdy independence so essential to usefulness and 
 an enduring popularity. Live within your income, is more import- 
 ant to one who aims to be an influential and useful statesman, than 
 any other maxim. 
 
 Simple industry and thrift will go far toward making any person 
 of ordinary working faculty comparatively independent in his means. 
 Almost every working man may be so, provided he will carefully hus- 
 band his resources and watch the little outlets of useless expenditure. 
 A penny is a very small matter, yet the comfort of thousands of fam- 
 ilies depends upon the proper saving and spending of pennies. If a 
 man allows the little pennies, the result of his hard work, to slip out 
 of his fingers — some to the beer-shop, some this way and some that — he 
 will find that his life is little raised above one of mere animal drudgery. 
 On the other hand, if he take care of the pennies, — putting some 
 weekly into a benefit society or an insurance fund, others into a sav- 
 ings-bank, and confiding the rest to his wife to be carefully laid out, 
 with a view to the comfortable maintenance and education of his fam- 
 ily, — he will soon find that his attention to small matters will abun- 
 dantly repay him, in increasing means, growing comfort at home, 
 and a mind comparatively free from fears as to the future. If a 
 working man have high ambition and possess richness in spirit, — a 
 kind of wealth which far transcends all mere worldly possessions, — 
 he may not only help himself, but be a profitable helper of others in 
 his path through life. 
 
 What is frugality in the rich, may be extravagance in the poor ; 
 and on the contrary what is mere frugality in the poor, may be par- 
 simony in the rich. Frugality is not incompatible with charity; foi 
 though sparing to self, it may be liberal to others, but parsimony de- 
 nies both self and others. 
 
 When one is blessed with good sense, and fair opportunities, this 
 spirit of economy is one of the most beneficial of all secular gifts, and 
 takes high rank- among the minor virtues. It is by this mysterious 
 power that the loaf is multiplied, that using does not waste, that lit- 
 
ECONOMY. 
 
 115 
 
 tie becomes much, that scattered fragments grow to unity, and that 
 out of nothing, or next to nothing, comes the miracle of something ! 
 Economy is not merely saving, still less, parsimony. It is foresight 
 and arrangement. It is insight and combination. It is a subtile 
 philosophy of things by which new uses, new compositions are discov- 
 ered. It causes inert things to labor, useless things to serve our ne- 
 cessities, perishing things to renew their vigor, and all things to 
 exert themselves for human comfort. Economy is generalship in little 
 things. We know men who live better on a thousand dollars a year 
 than others upon five thousand. We know very poor persons who 
 bear about with them in everything a sense of fitness and nice ar- 
 rangement, which make their life artistic. There are day -laborers 
 who go home to more real comfort of neatness, arrangement, and 
 prosperity, in their single snug room, than is found in the lordly dwell- 
 ings of many millionaires. And blessings be on their good angels of 
 economy, which wastes nothing, and yet is not sordid in saving; that 
 lavishes nothing, and is not parsimonious in giving; that spreads out 
 a little with the blessings of taste upon it, which, if it does not mul- 
 tiply the provision, more than makes it up in the pleasure given. 
 Let no man despise economy. 
 
 When Christ had miraculously fed thousands with five loaves, he 
 said to his disciples, “ Gather up the fragments that remain, so that 
 nothing be lost.” How strange this command, after such a display * 
 of power ! They were to fill their baskets with broken bits of bread, 
 though he whom they followed could make enough for thousands by 
 the touch or the mere volition of his creative energy. The lesson is 
 manifest. Economy is a Christian duty. We are not to expect mir- 
 acles while we can succeed by a faithful use of means ; we are to save 
 even the fragments, because God has made them. 
 
 What an economist is Nature, so made by God! She economizes 
 even the light that she so immensely possesses; catches it on the 
 moon as a candle, after the sun has gone down, as we say, when he is 
 but rising on other lands, and sends it inconceivably far to us from 
 the stars. She economizes heat, equalizing it for the life and health 
 of the whole world, by currents in the air and ocean of the electric 
 fluid. She economizes water, to answer a thousand successive, im- 
 portant purposes, in a thousand different places, with the same drop. 
 How nicely and carefully she sifts out its minutest portions from the 
 briny sea, to cleanse the air and revive the plants at this season, to fill 
 the springs, and paint the sky, and support all human life ! How, 
 with her elemental agencies, she crumbles and bears down the barren 
 
116 
 
 PKACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 rock from the mountains and the hills, to fertilize for boundless crops 
 the valley and the grain ! How she makes the ashes even of the 
 dead spring into grass, and blossom into flowers ! How, applying the 
 same economy to crude mineral, from the very gravel in the ground 
 she distils a curious, delicate wash to protect the tender stalks of the 
 growing grain : though you may not think what perhaps cuts youi 
 hand to bleeding in this varnish of flint. 
 
 How she saves every hair, particle, nail paring, and exhalation to 
 turn it to some account. How she converts ice, and the snow that 
 manures the poor man's ground, into harvests of corn and wheat ! 
 How she nourishes her vegetable offspring, so that her animal may not 
 hunger! The roots of a shrub, thirsty for a supply that had been 
 drawn aside by an artificial channel, have been known, in their reso- 
 lution not to be defrauded, to find their way to the aqueduct under 
 ground, and bore a hole through its soft wooden plug, that every fi- 
 bre might drink its fill, as was divinely intended. To one who looks 
 with a careless view on nature, it seems as if everything with her 
 was in extravagant excess. We quote the line about “many a flower 
 born to blush unseen,” and we talk of the floods that are poured away 
 to no purpose. But a closer inspection corrects this error, and shows 
 how frugal her utility, and perfect her order, enough, but “ no room 
 to insert a particle,” however art may re-arrange her forms to edu- 
 cate and give scope to human powers. 
 
 ACTIONS. 
 
 The only thing in which we can be said to have any property, are 
 our actions. Our thoughts may be bad yet produce no poison ; they 
 may be good, yet produce no fruit. Our riches may be taken from us 
 by misfortune, our reputation by malice, our spirits by calamity, our 
 health by disease, our friends by death. But our actions must follow 
 us beyond the grave; with respect to them alone , we cannot say we 
 shall carry nothing with us when we die, neither that we shall go na- 
 ked out of the world. Our actions must clothe us with an immortali- 
 ty, loathsome or glorious ; these are the only title-deeds of which we 
 can not be disinherited; they will have their full weight in the bal- 
 ance of eternity, when everything else is as nothing ; and their value 
 will be confirmed and established by those two sure and stateless de- 
 stroyers of all other things — Time and Death. 
 
ACTIONS. 
 
 117 
 
 Character is formed by a course of actions, and not actions by char- 
 acter. A person can have no character before he has had actions. 
 Though an action be ever so glorious in itself, it ought not to pass for 
 great, if it be not the effect of wisdom and good design. Great actions 
 carry their glory with them as the ruby wears its colors. Whatever 
 be your condition or calling in life, keep in view the whole of your 
 existence. Act not for the little span of time allotted you in this 
 world but act for eternity. Yonder lies one who has gone to the silent 
 shore ; he realizes now that his acts are irrevocable — he feels what 
 beforehand he fancied — that time can not alter them, that eternity 
 can not change them. Beside the bier there stands a weeping friend ; 
 and too late he finds that tears can not efface his acts, that repentance 
 can not amend them; too late he finds that every act of harshness, 
 every bitter word, every sarcastic expression, lives forever ; too late 
 he finds that unseen wings have borne his deeds beyond' the flight of 
 love, and he can never recall them to his embrace again. We are not 
 acting for the present, but working for eternity. Every act becomes 
 a centre of pulsations that widen throughout existence, and re-centre 
 in a thousand crossing waves from every hill, and house, and tree. 
 
 Little acts are the elements of true greatness. They raise life’s 
 value like the little figures over the larger ones in Arithmetic, to its 
 highest power. They are tests of character and disinterestedness. 
 They are the straws upon life’s deceitful current, and show the cur- 
 rent’s way. The heart comes all out in them. They move on the 
 dial of character and responsibility significantly. They indicate the 
 character and destiny. They help to make the immortal man. It 
 matters not so much where we are as what we are. It is seldom that 
 acts of moral heroism are called for. Bather the real heroism of life 
 is, to do all its little duties promptly and faithfully. 
 
 It is the bubbling spring which flows gently, the little rivulet which 
 runs along day and night by the farm-house that is useful, rather 
 than the swollen flood or the warring cataract. Niagara excites our 
 wonder, and we stand amazed at the power and greatness of God 
 there as he “ pours it from the hollow of his hand.” But one Niagara 
 is enough for the continent or the world, while the same world re- 
 quires thousands and tens of thousands of silver fountains and gently- 
 flowing rivulets, that water every farm, and meadow, and every gar- 
 den, and that shall flow on every day and night with their gentle, 
 quiet beauty. So with the acts of our lives. It is not by great deeds, 
 like those of the martyr’s, that good is to be done, but by the daily 
 
118 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 and quiet virtues of life, the Christian temper, the good qualities ol 
 relatives and friends. 
 
 The prayer of deeds is oftener answered than the prayer of words. 
 Deeds are fruits, words are but leaves. There is thought to be very 
 little use in a man’s meaning well, if he cannot express his meaning 
 by his acts. 
 
 Every man is wary and discreet in confession; it were well if they 
 were so much so in action. Boldness in doing ill is in some sort modi- 
 fied and restrained by boldness in confessing it. Actions show the 
 nature of a man, as fruit does that of a tree; while motives, like the 
 sap, are hidden from our view. We may do a very good action and 
 not be a good man, but we cannot do a very ill one and not be an ill 
 man. Just thoughts often fail to produce just deeds, but just deeds 
 never fail to create just thoughts. A man’s best monument is his 
 virtuous actions. 
 
 Desire not to live long, but to live well : 
 
 How long we live, not years but actions tell. 
 
 Fear not to have every action of your life open to the inspection of 
 mankind. Bemember that a nicer casuist than man sees into your 
 least actions. A man’s most glorious action will at last be found to 
 )e but glorious sins, if he hath made himself, and not the glory of 
 God, the end of those actions. 
 
 We are not too closely to scrutinize motives, says Burke, as long 
 as actions are irreproachable. 
 
 Even a child is known by its doings, whether his work is pure, and 
 whether it be right. 
 
 INDUSTRY. 
 
 A very important principle in the business of money-getting, is, 
 Industry — persevering indefatigable attention to business. Perse- 
 vering diligence is the Philosopher’s stone, which turns everything to 
 gold. Constant, regular, habitual, and systematic application to busi- 
 ness must, in time, if properly directed, produce great results. It 
 must lead to wealth, with the same certainty that poverty follows io 
 the train of idleness and inattention. It has been truly remarked, 
 that he who follows his amusements instead of his business, will, in a 
 short time, have no business to follow. 
 
INDUSTRY. 
 
 119 
 
 It has been said that the best cure for hard times is to cheat the 
 doctor by being temperate; the lawyer, by keeping out of debt; the 
 demagogue, by voting for honest men ; and poverty, by being indus- 
 trious. 
 
 To industry, guided by reasonable intelligence and economy, every 
 people can look with certainty as an unfailing source of temporal 
 prosperity. Whatever is useful or beautiful in art, science, or other 
 human attainment, has come from industry. In the humblest pur- 
 suits, industry may be accompanied by the noblest intelligence, so 
 that respect, place and power are open to its humblest honest practi- 
 cer. Let no man spurn industry as his temporal shield; it is the 
 safest and surest he can buckle to his arm, and with it he may defy 
 the want and poverty which, more than everything else, destroy the 
 independence of man. 
 
 In a collection of obituary notices for the year 1799, we find re- 
 corded the deaths of two persons, whose circumstances are extraordi- 
 nary examples of the reverses of fortune, and afford striking proofs 
 of the superiority of honest industry to wild speculation. The first 
 was Mr. James Calvert, who in February died in indigence, having 
 been the sole proprietor of the first ticket that ever drew so high a 
 prize as one hundred thousand dollars in the English lottery; and in 
 a subsequent lottery he gained twenty-five thousand dollars : he was 
 originally a capital vinegar-merchant, at the corner of Old-street, in 
 the City Eoad. In the following month died Mr. Abraham Newman, 
 who was one of the richest citizens of London, and a happy instance 
 of the powers of accumulation by the steady pursuit of honorable in- 
 dustry. Without speculation or adventure, he acquired three million 
 dollars, as a grocer : he retired from trade about four years before his 
 death, but so forcible was his habit, that he came every day to the 
 shop, and ate his mutton at two o’clock, the good old city hour, with 
 his successors. Verily, it is the hand of the diligent that waxeth rich. 
 
 Honorable industry always travels the same road with enjoyment 
 .md duty ; and progress is altogether impossible without it. The idle 
 pass through life leaving as little trace of their existence as foam 
 upon the water, or smoke upon the air ; whereas the industrious stamp 
 their character upon their age, and influence not only their own but 
 all succeeding generations. Labor is the best test of the energies of 
 men, and furnishes an admirable training for practical wisdom. A 
 life of manual toil is not incompatible with even the highest culture. 
 Hugh Miller, than whom none knew better the strength and the weak- 
 ness belonging to the lot of labor, stated the result of his experience 
 
120 
 
 PKACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 to be, that work, even the hardest, is full of pleasure and materials 
 for self-improvement. He held honest labor to be the best of teach- 
 ers, and that the school of toil is the noblest of schools, — save only 
 the Christian one, — that it is a school in which the ability of being 
 useful is imparted, the spirit of independence is learned, and the habit 
 of persevering effort is acquired. He was even of opinion that the 
 training of the mechanic, by the exercise which it gives to his obser- 
 vant faculties, from his daily dealing with things actual and practical, 
 and the close experience of life which he acquires, better fits him for 
 picking his way through the journey of life, and is more favorable to 
 his growth as a Man, emphatically speaking, than the training afforded 
 by any other condition of life. 
 
 It is related of James Watt, the inventor of the steam-engine, that 
 he was one of the most industrious of men. Whatever subject came 
 under his notice in the course of his business, immediately became to 
 him an object of study; and the story of his life proves, what all ex- 
 perience confirms, that it is not the man of the greatest natural vigor 
 and capacity who achieves the highest results, but he who employs 
 his powers with the greatest industry and the most carefully disci- 
 plined skill, — the skill that comes by labor, application, and experi- 
 ence. Many men in his time knew far more than Watt, but none 
 .abored so assiduously as he did to turn all that he did know to use- 
 ful practical purposes. 
 
 Michael Angelo was a great believer in the force of labor ; and he 
 held that there was nothing which the imagination conceived, that 
 could not be embodied in marble, if the hand were made vigorously 
 to obey the mind. He was himself one of the most indefatigable of 
 workers ; and he attributed his power of studying for a greater num- 
 ber of hours than most of his contemporaries, to his spare habits of 
 living. A little bread and wine was all he required for the chief part 
 of the day when employed at his work ; and very frequently he rose 
 in the middle of the night to resume his labors. On these occasions, 
 it was his practice to fix the candle, by the light of which he worked, 
 on the summit of a pasteboard cap which he wore. Sometimes he 
 was too wearied to undress, and he slept in his clothes, ready to spring 
 to his work so soon as refreshed by sleep. 
 
 Titian, also, was an indefatigable worker. His celebrated " Pietro 
 Martyre ” was eight years in hand, and his “ Last Supper ” seven. 
 In his letter to Charles V. he said, “ I send your majesty the ‘Last 
 Supper * after working at it almost daily for seven years.” Few think 
 of the patient labor and long training involved in the greatest works 
 
INDUSTRY. 
 
 121 
 
 of the artist. They seem easily and quickly accomplished, yet with 
 how great difficulty has this ease been acquired. “ You charge me 
 fifty sequins ” said the Venetian nobleman to the sculptor, “for a bust 
 that cost you only ten days’ labor." “ You forget," said the artist, 
 “ that I have been thirty years learning to make that bust in ten 
 days." 
 
 Thomas Scott was employed upon his Commentary for thirty- three 
 years. The marginal references alone cost him seven years of severe 
 labor. For nearly forty-six years he was employed eight, ten, and 
 sometimes fourteen hours in a day in his study. Of his Commenta- 
 ries on the Scriptures, not less than thirty-five thousand copies have 
 been sold in the United States alone, at a sum of at least, seven hun- 
 dred thousand dollars. 
 
 Practical industry, wisely and vigorously applied, never fails of 
 success. It carries a man onward and upward, brings out his indi- 
 vidual character, and powerfully stimulates the action of others. All 
 may not rise equally, yet each, on the whole, very much according to 
 his deserts. “ Though all cannot live on the piazza," as the Tuscan 
 proverb has it, “ every one may feel the sun." 
 
 The history of Disraeli affords a beautiful example of the power of 
 industry and application in working out an eminent public career. 
 His first achievements were in literature ; and he reached success 
 only through a succession of failures. As an orator, too, his first ap- 
 pearance was a failure. It was spoken of as “ more screaming than 
 an Adelphi farce." Though composed in a grand and ambitious 
 strain, every sentence was hailed with “loud laughter." But he con- 
 cluded with a sentence which embodied a prophesy. Writhing under 
 the laughter with which his studied eloquence had been received, he 
 exclaimed, “I have begun several times many things, and have suc- 
 ceeded in them at last. I shall sit down now but the time will come 
 when you will hear me." The time did come ; and how Disraeli suc- 
 ceeded in at length commanding the attention, the rapt attention of 
 the British House of Commons, affords a striking illustration of what 
 determination and energy will do ; for Disraeli earned his position by 
 dint of patient industry. He did not as many young men do, having 
 once failed, retire dejected, to mope and whine in a corner, but pluckily 
 set himself to work. He carefully unlearned his faults, studied the 
 character of his audience, practiced seduously the art of speech, and 
 industriously filled his mind with the elements of parliamentary 
 knowledge. He worked patiently for success ; and it came, but slow- 
 ly; then the house laughed with him, instead of at him. The recol- 
 
122 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 lection of his early failure was effaced, and by general consent he was 
 at length admitted to be one of the most finished and effective of par- 
 liamentary speakers. 
 
 It ought to be constantly inculcated on the young that industrious 
 habits are essential to success. Industry, honesty, and temperance 
 are essential to health. He who is a stranger to industry may pos- 
 sess, but he cannot enjoy. Peace rears her olive for industrious 
 brows. Industry, and not mean savings, produces wealth. Regulai 
 industry is the parent of sobriety. Heat gotten by degrees, with 
 motion and exercise, is more natural, and stays longer by one than 
 what is gotten all at once by coming to the fire — so wealth acquired 
 by industry proves commonly more lasting than that which descends 
 from our ancestors. 
 
 Count that day lost whose descending sun 
 Views from thy hand no worthy action done. 
 
 An hour’s industry will do more to produce cheerfulness, suppress 
 evil humors and retrieve your affairs than a month’s moaning. Re- 
 deem misspent time by industry. Few things are impossible to in- 
 dustry, temperance and skill. Whatever other qualities he may have, 
 be sure of this: the most successful man is the most industrious. 
 The sound of your hammer, says Franklin, at five in the morning, or 
 nine at night, heard by a creditor, makes him easy six months longer; 
 but if he sees you at the gaming table, or hears your voice at the 
 tavern when you should be at work, he sends for his money next day. 
 
 I have been taught 
 
 The world is nothing but a mass of means, — 
 
 We have but what we make ; that every good 
 Is locked by nature in a granite hand, 
 
 Sheer labor must unclench. 
 
 HABIT. 
 
 Habit in a child is at first like a spider’s web ; if neglected, it be 
 comes a thread of twine; next, a cord of rope; finally, a cable — then 
 who can break it ? 
 
 0, the tyranny, the despotism of a bad habit ! Coleridge, one of 
 the subtlest intellects and finest poets of his time, battled for twenty 
 years before he could emancipate himself from his tyrant, opium. He 
 
HABIT. 
 
 123 
 
 went into voluntary imprisonment. He hired a man to watch him 
 day and night, and keep him by force from tasting the pernicious 
 drug. He formed resolution after resolution. Yet, during all the 
 best years of his life, he wasted his substance and his health, neg- 
 lected his family, and lived degraded and accursed, because he had 
 not resolution to abstain. He would lay plans to cheat the very 
 man whom he paid to keep the drug from him, and bribe the jailor 
 to whom he had voluntarily surrendered himself. 
 
 Terrible, terrible is the despotism of a bad habit. The case of Col- 
 eridge is an extreme one, of course. But there are many, whose eyes 
 these lines will meet, who are as truly the slaves of a perverted ap- 
 petite as he. Their despot may be opium, tobacco, drink or worse; 
 but they are so completely under the dominion of their master, that 
 nothing short of a moral war of independence, which should task all 
 their own strength, and all they could borrow from others, would suf- 
 fice to deliver them. 
 
 Few people form habits of wrong-doing deliberately or wilfully ; 
 they glide into them by degrees and almost unconsciously, and be- 
 fore they are aware of danger, the habits are confirmed and require 
 resolute and persistent effort to effect a change. “ Resist beginning,” 
 was a maxim of the ancients, and should be preserved as a landmark 
 in our day. 
 
 It was only the other day that a man fell asleep in his boat on the 
 Niagara Biver. During his slumber the boat broke loose from her 
 moorings, and he woke to find himself shooting down the rapids di- 
 rectly toward the cataract. In vain he shrieked for help, in vain he 
 tried to row against the current; he drifted on, till his light craft 
 upset, when he was borne rapidly to the brink of the abyss, and leap- 
 ing up with a wild cry, went over and disappeared forever. 
 
 In the great battle of Gibraltar, when the united fleets of France 
 and Spain attacked the impregnable fortress, one of the gigantic float- 
 ing batteries broke from her anchorage and began to drift directly 
 into the hottest of the British fire. The thousand men who formed 
 the crew of the unwieldy mass, vainly strove to arrest its progress or 
 divert it from its path. Every minute it drifted nearer to the English 
 guns, every minute some new part took fire from the red-hot shot, every 
 minute another score of its hapless defenders were swept like chaff 
 from its decks. The most superhuman efforts failed to prevent its 
 drifting with its human freight to inevitable death. 
 
 A ship was wrecked at sea. The passengers and crew took refuge 
 on a raft, the boats having been stove in the attempt to* launch them. 
 
124 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 For days and weeks these unfortunates drifted about without oar or 
 sail on the hot, broken tropical ocean. At last their provisions failed, 
 and then their water. Still they drifted about, vainly looking for a 
 sail, or hoping for a sight of land. The time had now come when 
 that fearful alternative became inevitable — death from starvation or 
 feeding on human flesh — and they were just beginning to cast lots 
 for a victim when a vessel was seen on the distant horizon. They 
 abandoned their terrible design ; the stranger would approach. The 
 ship came toward them. She drew nearer and nearer. They strove 
 to attract her attention by shouts and by raising their clothing; but 
 the indolent look-out saw them not. They shouted louder and loud : 
 er, still they were not seen. At last the vessel tacked. With frantic 
 terror they rise in one body, shouting and waving their garments. 
 It was in vain. The unconscious ship stood steadily away. Night 
 drew on, and as the darkness fell the raft drifted and drifted in the 
 other direction till the last trace of the vessel was lost forever. 
 
 So it is in life. The intemperate man who thinks he at least will 
 never die a drunkard, whatever his neighbor may do, only wakes to 
 find himself drifting down the cataract and all hope gone. The sen- 
 sualist, who lives merely for his own gratification, drifts into an 
 emasculated old age to be tortured with passions he can not gratify, 
 and perish by merciless, agonizing diseases. The undisciplined, who 
 never learned to control themselves, who are spendthrifts, or passion- 
 ate, or indolent, or visionary, soon make shipwreck of themselves, 
 and drift about the sea of life, the prey of every wind and current, 
 vainly shrieking for help, till at last they drift away into darkness 
 and death. 
 
 Take care that you are not drifting. See that you have fast hold 
 of the helm. The breakers of life forever roar under the lee, and ad- 
 verse gales continually blow on the shore. Are you watching how 
 she heads ? Do you keep a firm gripe of the wheel ? If you give 
 way but for one moment you may drift hopelessly into the boiling 
 vortex. Young men, take care! It rests with yourselves alone un- 
 der God, whether you reach port triumphantly or drift to ruin. 
 
 Be not slow in the breaking of a sinful custom; a quick, courage- 
 ous resolution is better than a gradual deliberation; in such a com- 
 bat, he is the bravest soldier who lays about him without fear or wit. 
 Wit pleads, fear disheartens ; he that would kill hydra, had better 
 strike off one neck than five heads; fell the tree, and the branches 
 are soon cut off. 
 
HABIT. 
 
 125 
 
 Evil habits must be conquered, or they will conquer us and destroy 
 our peace and happiness. 
 
 Vicious habits are so great a stain upon human nature, said Cicero, 
 and so odious in themselves, that every person actuated by right 
 reason would avoid them, though he was sure they would always be 
 concealed both from God and man, and had no future punishment en- 
 tailed upon them. 
 
 Vicious habits, when opposed, offer the most vigorous resistance on 
 the first attack. At each successive encounter this resistance grows 
 fainter and fainter, until finally it ceases altogether and the victory 
 is achieved. 
 
 Habit is man’s best friend or worst enemy ; it can exalt him to the 
 highest pinnacle of virtue, honor and happiness, or sink him to the 
 lowest depths of vice, shame and misery. 
 
 We may form habits of honesty, or knavery; truth or, falsehood; 
 of industry, or idleness; frugality, or extravagance; of patience, or 
 impatience; self-denial, or self-indulgence; of kindness, cruelty, po- 
 liteness, rudeness, prudence, perseverance, circumspection. In short 
 there is not a virtue, nor a vice; not an act of body, nor of mind, to 
 which we may not be chained down by this despotic power. 
 
 It is a great point for young men to begin well; for it is in the 
 beginning of life that that system of conduct is adopted, which soon 
 assumes the force of habit, Begin well, and the habit of doing well 
 will become quite as easy as the habit of doing badly. Pitch upon 
 that course of life which is the most excellent, and habit will render 
 it the most delightful. Well begun is half ended, says the proverb; 
 and a good beginning is half the battle. Many promising young men 
 have irretrievably injured themselves by a first false step at the 
 commencement of life ; while others, of much less promising talents, 
 have succeeded simply by beginning well, and going onward. The 
 good practical beginning is, to a certain extent, a pledge, a promise, 
 and an assurance, of the ultimate prosperous issue. There is many a 
 poor creature, now crawling through life, miserable himself and the 
 cause of sorrow to others, who might have lifted up his head and 
 prospered, if, instead of merely satisfying himself with resolutions of 
 well-doing, he had actually gone to work and made a good practical 
 beginning. 
 
 Man, it has been said, is a bundle of habits ; and habit is second 
 nature. Metastasio entertained so strong an opinion as to the power 
 of repetition in act and thought, that he said, “All is habit in man- 
 kind, even virtue itself.” Butler, in his “Analogy,” impresses the 
 
126 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPEDIA. 
 
 importance of careful self-discipline, and firm resistance to tempta- 
 tion, as tending to make virtue habitual, so that at length it may be- 
 come more easy to he good than to give way to sin. “As habits be- 
 longing to the body/’ he says, “are produced by external acts, so 
 habits of the mind are produced by the execution of inward practical 
 purposes, i. e., carrying them into act, or acting upon them, — the 
 principles of obedience, veracity, justice, and charity.” Make sobri- 
 ety a habit, and intemperance will be hateful ; make prudence a hab- 
 it, and reckless profligacy will become revolting to every principle of 
 conduct which regulates the life of the individual. Hence the neces- 
 sity for the greatest care and watchfulness against the inroad of any 
 evil habit ; for the character is always weakest at that point at which 
 it has once given way ; and it is long before a principle restored can 
 become so firm as one that has never been moved. It is a fine re- 
 mark of a Eussian writer that “ Habits are a necklace of pearls : un- 
 tie the knot, and the whole unthreads.” 
 
 Wherever formed, habit acts involuntarily, and without effort; and 
 it is only when you oppose it, that you find how powerful it has be- 
 come. What is done once and again, soon gives facility and prone- 
 ness. The habit at first may seem to have no more strength than a 
 spider’s web; but once formed, it binds us as with a chain of iron. 
 The small events of life, taken singly, may seem exceedingly unim- 
 portant, like snow that falls silently, flake by flake ; yet accumulated, 
 these snow-flakes form the avalanche. 
 
 Self-respect, self-help, application, industry, integrity, — all are of 
 the nature of habits, not beliefs. Principles, in fact,, are but the 
 names which we assign to habits ; for the principles are words, but 
 the habits are the things themselves : benefactors, or tyrants, accord- 
 ing as they are good or evil. It thus happens that as we grow older, 
 a portion of our free activity and individuality becomes suspended in 
 habit ; our actions become of the nature of fate ; and we are bound 
 by the chains which we have woven around ourselves. 
 
 It is indeed scarcely possible to over-estimate the importance of 
 training the young to virtuous habits. In them they are the easiest 
 formed, and when formed they last for life ; like letters cut on the 
 bark of a tree, they grow and widen with age. “Train up a child in 
 the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it.” 
 The beginning holds within it the end ; the first start on the road of 
 life determines the direction and the destination of the journey. As 
 habit strengthens with age, and character becomes formed, any turn- 
 ing into a new path becomes more and more difficult. Hence, it is 
 
HABIT. 
 
 127 
 
 often harder to unlearn than to learn ; and for this reason the Grecian 
 flute-player was justified who charged double fees to those pupils who 
 had been taught by an inferior master. To uproot an old habit is 
 sometimes a more painful thing, and vastly more difficult, than to 
 wrench out a tooth. Try and reform a habitually indolent, or im 
 provident, or drunken person, and in a large majority of cases you 
 will fail. For the habit in each case has wound itself in and through 
 the life until it has become an integral part of it, and can not be 
 uprooted. Hence the wisest habit of all is the habit of care in the 
 formation of good habits. 
 
 Even happiness itself may become habitual. There is a habit of 
 looking on the bright side of things, and also of looking on the dark 
 side. Dr. Johnson has said that the habit of looking at the best side 
 of a thing is worth more to a man than a thousand pounds a year. 
 And we possess the power, to a great extent, of so excercising the 
 will as to direct the thoughts upon objects calculated to yield happi- 
 ness and improvement rather than their opposites. In this way the 
 habit of happy thought may be made to spring up like any other 
 habit. And to bring up men or women with a genial nature of this 
 sort, a good temper, and a happy frame of mind, is perhaps of- even 
 more importance, in many cases, than to perfect them in much knowl- 
 edge and many accomplishments. 
 
 An instance exhibiting the force of habit is related of a counselor, 
 renowned for the art of pleading, who had a trick of rubbing his 
 spectacle case while addressing a jury. A foolish attorney who had 
 confided a brief to him, thought this action indecorous, and likely to 
 impair the effect of the pathetic appeals which the nature of the suit 
 admitted. Accordingly, he watched for an opportunity, and stole 
 away the spectacle case. For the first time in his life the counselor’s 
 tongue faltered — his mind missed the bodily track with which it had 
 long associated its operations; he became confused, embarrassed — he 
 stammered, blundered and boggled — lost all the threads of his brief, 
 and was about to sit down, self-defeated, when the conscience-stricken 
 attorney restored the spectacle case. Straightway, with the first 
 touch of the familiar talisman, the mind recovered its self-possession, 
 the memory its clearness, the tongue its fluency; and as, again and 
 again the lawyer fondly rubbed the spectacle case, argument after 
 argument flew forth like the birds from a conjurer’s box. And the 
 jury, to whom a few moments before, the case seemed hopeless, were 
 stormed into unanimous conviction of its justice. 
 
 Such is the force of habit. Such the sympathy between mental 
 
128 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 and bodily associations. Every magician needs bis wand; and per- 
 haps every man of genius has — his spectacle case. 
 
 Every one knows the story of the tallow chandler, who, having 
 amassed a fortune, disposed of his business and taken a house in the 
 country, not far from the city, that he might enjoy himself, after a 
 few months trial of the holiday life, requested permission of his suc- 
 cessor to come into town, and assist him on melting days. We have 
 heard of one who kept a retail spirit shop, and having, in like man- 
 ner, retired from trade, used to enjoy himself by having one puncheon 
 filled with water, and measuring it off by pints into another. We 
 have heard, also, of a butcher in a small country town, who, some 
 little time after he had left off business, informed his old customers 
 that he meant to kill a lamb once a week, just for his amusement. 
 
 OBSERVATION. 
 
 To be always attentively observing what is passing around them, 
 is one of the means by which men improve their circumstances. The 
 difference between men consists in a great measure, in the intelligence 
 of their observation. The Russian proverb says of the non-observant 
 man, “ He goes through the forest and sees no firewood." “ The wise 
 man’s eyes are in his head,” says Solomon, “ but the fool walketh in 
 darkness.” “Sir,” said Johnson, on one occasion, to a fine gentleman 
 just returned from Italy, “Some men will learn more in the Hamp- 
 stead stage than others in the tour of Europe.” It is the mind that 
 sees as well as the eye. Where unthinking gazers observe nothing, 
 men of intelligent vision penetrate into the very fibre of the phenom- 
 ena presented to them, attentively noting differences, making com- 
 parisons and detecting their underlying idea. Many before Galileo, 
 had seen a suspended weight swing before their eyes with a measured 
 beat ; but he was the first to detect the value of the fact. One of the 
 vergers in the Cathedral at Pisa, after replenishing with oil a lamp 
 which hung from the roof, left it swinging to and fro; and Galileo, 
 then a youth of only eighteen, noting it attentively, conceived the 
 idea of applying it to the measurement of time. Fifty years of study 
 and labor, however, elapsed before he completed the invention of his 
 pendulum, — an invention, the importance of which, in the measure- 
 ment of time and in astronomical calculations, can scarcely be over- 
 valued. In like manner, Galileo, observing the magnifying effect pro- 
 
OBSERVATION. 
 
 129 
 
 duced by two of a spectacle-maker’s glasses accidentally placed to- 
 gether, was led to the invention of the telescope, which was the be- 
 ginning of astronomical discovery. Discoveries such as these could 
 never have been made by a negligent observer, or by a mere idle 
 gazer. 
 
 While captain (afterwards Sir Samuel) Brown was occupied in 
 studying the construction of bridges, with the view of contriving one 
 of a cheap description to be thrown across the Tweed, near which ha 
 lived, he was walking in his garden one dewy autumn morning wheL 
 he saw a tiny spider’s net suspended across his path. The idea im- 
 mediately occurred to him that a bridge of iron ropes or chains might 
 be constructed in like manner, and the result was the invention of his 
 Suspension Bridge. So James Watt, when consulted about the mode 
 of carrying water by pipes under the Clyde along the unequal bed of 
 the river, turned his attention one day to the shell of a lobster pre- 
 sented at table ; and from that model he invented an iron tube, 
 which, when laid down, was found effectually to answer the purpose. 
 Sir Isambert Brunei took his first lessons in forming the Thames Tun- 
 nel from the tiny shipworm : he saw how the little creature perfora- 
 ted the wood with its well-armed head, first in one direction and then 
 in' another, till the archway was complete, and then daubing over the 
 roof and sides with a kind of varnish ; and by copying this work ex- 
 actly on a large scale, Brunei was at length enabled to accomplish hia 
 great engineering work. 
 
 It is the intelligent eye of the careful observer which gives these 
 apparantly trivial phenomena their value. So trifling a matter as 
 the sight of sea- weed floating past his ship, enabled Columbus to quell 
 the mutiny which arose amongst his sailors at not discovering land, 
 and to assure them that the eagerly sought New World was not far off. 
 
 The following familiar anecdote illustrates the action of both the 
 perceptive and reflective faculties in a happy manner. It is a dia- 
 logue between an Indian and a white man, relating to a deer which 
 had been killed by the Indian, and hung upon the limbs of a tree : 
 
 Indian to White Man — Have you seen a little old white man with 
 a deer on his back, a long gun, and a little short-tailed dog pass by 
 of late ? 
 
 White Man — No. Why do you ask? And how do you know it 
 was a little old white man with a long gun, and a little short-tailed 
 dog? 
 
 Indian — The deer had been hung up so high that the thief could 
 not reach it till he had first placed logs and blocks by the side of the 
 9 
 
130 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 tree on which to stand when he managed to get the “ game.” He — the 
 Indian — therefore inferred it was a small man who stole it. 
 
 White Man — But how do you know he had a long gun ? 
 
 Indian — Because, seeing where it had been set on the ground, and, 
 observing the mark where it touched the side of the tree higher up, 
 showing it must have been a long gun. 
 
 White Man — How do you know he was an old white man ? 
 
 Indian — I know he was a white man, for he turned his toes out in 
 walking, which an Indian does not do, and I know he was old, because 
 he took short steps. 
 
 White Man — How do you know he had a small dog with a short 
 tail? 
 
 Indian— By his tracks, and seeing where he sat on the snow while 
 his master was taking down the deer; his short tail left its impression 
 in the snow. 
 
 Thus, by the powers of “observation” which are great in the tu- 
 tored Indian, he was enabled to describe a person he had not seen, to 
 detect the thief, and fix the crime on him by strong circumstantial 
 evidence. 
 
 Teach your children to observe closely, reflect carefully, and de- 
 scribe exactly what they see. By this, that habit of reckless exagge- 
 ration and loose description, now so common, would in a great mea- 
 sure be avoided. Indeed, this is one way, the way to educate children. 
 
 OPPORTUNITY. 
 
 Four things come not back : the spoken word ; the sped arrow ; 
 the past life ; and the neglected opportunity. Opportunity has hair 
 in front, behind she is bald ; if you seize her by the forelock you may 
 hold her, but if suffered to escape, not Jupiter himself can catch her 
 again. Opportunities are the offers of God. Heaven gives us enough 
 when it gives us opportunity. Great opportunities are generally the 
 result of the wise improvement of small ones. Wise men make more 
 opportunities than they find. If you think your opportunities are 
 not good enough you had better improve them. Remember you are 
 responsible for talents, for time, and for opportunities ; improve them 
 as one that must give an account. Make hay while the sun shines. 
 Gather roses while they bloom. While you aro deliberating, the sea 
 
OPPORTUNITY. 
 
 131 
 
 son now so favorable may pass away never to return. No one should 
 undervalue the advantage he enjoys. 
 
 There is an eastern story, which has its version in many languages, 
 of a beautiful damsel, to whom a genius of surpassing power desired 
 to give a talisman. He enjoined her to take herself across a field of 
 standing corn; she was to pluck the tallest and largest ear she could 
 find, but she was to gather it as she went forward, and never pause 
 in her path, or step backward in quest of her object. In propor- 
 tion to the size and ripeness of the ear she gathered so would be its 
 power as a talisman. She went out upon her quest, says the legend, 
 and entered upon the field. Many a stalk of surpassing excellence 
 met her glance, but she still walked onward, expecting to find some 
 one more excellent still. At last she reached a portion of the field 
 where the crops were thinner and the ears more stunted. She re- 
 gretted the tall and graceful stalks she had left behind, but disdained 
 to pick those which fell so far below what her ideas were of a perfect 
 ear. But alas ! the stems grew more ragged and more scanty as she 
 trod onward ; on the margin of the field they were mildewed, and 
 when she had accomplished her walk through the waving grain she 
 emerged on the other side without having gathered any ear whatever. 
 The genius rebuked her for her folly, but we are not told that he gave 
 an opportunity of retrieving her error. 
 
 We may apply this mystic little Indian fable to the realities of 
 daily life. 
 
 Never whine over what you suppose to be loss of opportunities. A 
 great many men have good early opportunities* who never improve 
 them, and many have lost their early opportunities without losing 
 much. Every one may educate himself that wishes it. It is the will 
 that makes the way. Many a servant that wanted knowledge has 
 listened, while his master’s children were saying their letters and 
 putting them together to form easy words, and has thus caught the first 
 elements of spelling. If a man has a strong thirst for knowledge, we 
 do not care where he is put, he will become an educated man. The 
 first step toward self-improvement is, to leave off whining over the past. 
 Let the past go, and bend every energy to the improvement of the 
 present. This is the only way. 
 
 Accident does very little towards the production of any great result 
 in life. Though sometimes what is called a “ happy hit” maybe 
 made by a bold venture, the old and common highway of steady in- 
 dustry and application is the only safe road to travel. 
 
 Although there are discoveries which are said to have been made 
 
132 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 by accident, if carefully inquired into, it will be found that there has 
 really been very little that was accident about them. For the most 
 part, these so called accidents have only been opportunities, carefully 
 improved by genius. The fall of the apple at Newton’s feet has often 
 been quoted in proof of the accidental character of some discoveries. 
 But Newton’s whole mind had already been devoted for years to the 
 laborious and patient investigation of the subject of gravitation; and 
 the circumstance of the apple falling before his eyes was suddenly 
 apprehended only as a genius could apprehend it, and served to flash 
 upon him the brilliant discovery then bursting on his sight. In like 
 manner, the brilliantly colored soap bubbles blown from a common 
 vobacco pipe, — though “ trifles light as air,” inmost eyes, — suggested 
 to Dr. Young his beautiful theory of “interferences,” and led to his 
 discovery relating to the diffraction of light. Although great men 
 are popularly supposed only to deal with great things, men such as 
 Newton and Young were ready to detect the significance of the most 
 familiar and simple facts; their greatness consisting mainly in their 
 wise interpretation of them. 
 
 It is said that the Marquis of Worcester’s attention was first acci- 
 dentally directed to the subject of steam power, by the tight cover 
 of a vessel containing hot water having been blown off before his 
 eyes, when confined a prisoner in the Tower. He published the re- 
 sult of his observations in his “Century 6f Inventions,” which formed 
 a sort of text book for inquirers into the power of steam for several 
 generations, until Savary, Newcomer, and others, applying it to prac- 
 tical purposes, brought it to the state in which Watt found it when 
 called upon to repair a model of Newcomer’s engine. This accidental 
 circumstance was an opportunity for Watt, which he was not slow to 
 improve; and it was the labor of his life to bring the steam-engine 
 to perfection. 
 
 This art of seizing opportunities and turning even accidents to ac- 
 count, bending them to some purpose, is a great secret of success. 
 Dr. Johnson has defined genius to be “a mind of large general pow- 
 ers accidentally determined in some particular direction.” Men who 
 are resolved to find a way for themselves, will always find opportuni- 
 ties enough ; and if they do not lie ready to their hand, they will 
 make them. It is not those who have enj oyed the advantages of colleges, 
 museums, and public galleries, that have accomplished the most for sci- 
 ence and art; nor have the greatest mechanics and inventors been 
 trained in mechanics’ institutes. Necessity, oftener than facility, has 
 been the mother of invention ; and the most prolific school of all has 
 
OPPORTUNITY. 
 
 133 
 
 been the school of difficulty. Some of the very best workmen have 
 had the most indifferent tools to work with. But it is not tools that 
 make the workman, but the trained skill and perseverance of the 
 man himself. Indeed, it is proverbial that the bad workman never 
 yet had a good tool. Some one asked Opie by what wonderful proc- 
 ess he mixed his colors. “I mix them with my brains, sir,” was his 
 reply. It is the same with every workman who would excel. Fer- 
 guson made marvelous things, — such as his wooden clock, that accu- 
 rately measured the hours, — by means of a common penknife, a tool 
 in everybody's hand. An eminent savant once called upon Dr. Wal- 
 laston, and requested to be shown over his laboratories, in which sci- 
 ence had been enriched by so many important discoveries, when the 
 doctor took him into a little study, and pointing to an old tea-tray 
 on the table, containing a few watch-glasses, test-papers, a small 
 balance, and a blow-pipe, said, “ There is all the laboratory that I 
 have!” 
 
 Strothard learned the art of combining colors by closely studying 
 butterflies' wings; he would often say that no one knew what he 
 owed to these tiny insects. A burnt stick and a barn-door served 
 Wilkie in lieu of pencil and canvass. Bewick first practiced drawing 
 on the cottage walls of his native village, which he covered with his 
 sketches in chalk ; and Benjamin West made his first brushes out of 
 the cat's tail. Ferguson laid himself down in the fields at night in a 
 blanket, and made a map of the heavenly bodies, by means of a 
 thread with small beads on it stretched between his eye and the 
 stars. Franklin first robbed the thunder cloud of its lightning by 
 means of a kite made of two cross-sticks and a silk handkerchief. 
 Watt made the first model of his condensing steam-engine out of an 
 old anatomist’s syringe, used to inject the arteries previous to dissec- 
 tion. Gifford worked his first problem in mathematics when a cob- 
 bler’s apprentice, upon small scraps of leather, which he beat smooth 
 for the purpose ; whilst Bittenhouse, the astronomer first calculated 
 eclipses on his plough handle. 
 
 The most ordinary occasions will furnish a man with opportunities 
 or suggestions for improvement, if he be but prompt to take advan- 
 tage of them. 
 
 Sir Humphrey Davy, when an apothecary’s apprentice, performed 
 his first experiments with instruments of the rudest descriptions. He 
 extemporized the greater part of them himself, out of the motley 
 materials which chance threw in his way. The pots and cans of the 
 kitchen, and the phials and vessels of his master’s surgery, were re- 
 
134 
 
 PEACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 morselessly put in requisition. The words entered in his note-book, 
 when about twenty years of age, were eminently characteristic : “I 
 have neither riches, nor power, nor birth, to recommend me ; yet, if 
 I live, I trust I shall not be of the less service to mankind and my 
 friends, than if I had been born with all these advantages.” 
 
 Cuvier, when a youth, was one day strolling along the sands, when 
 he observed a cuttle-fish lying stranded on the beach. He was at- 
 tracted by the curious object, took it home to dissect it, and began 
 the study of the mollusca, which ended in his becoming one of the 
 greatest among natural historians. In like manner, Hugh Miller’s curi- 
 osity was excited by the remarkable traces of extinct sea animals in 
 the Old Bed Sandstone, on which he worked as a quarryman. He in- 
 quired, observed, studied, and became a geologist. “It was the 
 necessity,” said he, “ which made me a quarrier, that taught me to 
 be a geologist.” 
 
 It is not accident, then, that helps a man in the world, but purpose 
 and persistent industry. These make a man sharp to discern oppor- 
 tunities, and turn them to account. To the feeble, the sluggish, and 
 purposeless, the happiest opportunities avail nothing, — they pass 
 them by, seeing no meaning in them. But if we are prompt to seize 
 and improve even the shortest intervals of possible action and effort, 
 it is astonishing how much can be accomplished. Watt taught him- 
 self chemistry and mechanics while working at his trade of a mathe- 
 matical instrument maker; and he availed himself of every opportu- 
 nity to extend his knowledge of language, literature, and the princi- 
 ples of science. Stephenson taught himself arithmetic and mensura- 
 tion while working as an engineman during the night shifts, and he 
 studied mechanics during his spare hours at home, thus preparing 
 himself for the great work of his life, — the invention of the passenger 
 locomotive. 
 
 With perseverance, the very odds and ends of time may be worked 
 up into results of the greatest value. An hour in every day with- 
 drawn from frivolous pursuits, would, if profitably employed, enable 
 any man of ordinary capacity, very shortly to master a complete sci- 
 ence. It would make an ignorant man a well-informed man in ten 
 years. We must not allow the time to pass without yielding fruits, 
 in the form of something learned worthy of being known, some good 
 principle cultivated, or some good habit strengthened. Dr. Mason 
 Good translated Lucretius while riding in his carriage in the streets 
 of London, going his rounds among his patients. Dr. Darwin com : 
 posed nearly all his works in the same way, while riding about in his 
 
OPPORTUNITY. 
 
 135 
 
 “sulky,” from house to house in the country, — writing down his 
 thoughts on little scraps of paper, which he carried about with him 
 for the purpose. Hale wrote his “ contemplations ” while traveling 
 on a circuit. Dr. Burney learned French and Italian while traveling 
 on horseback from one musical pupil to another in the course of his 
 profession. Kirk White learned Greek while walking to and from a 
 lawyer’s office ; and we personally know a man of eminent position in 
 a northern manufacturing town, who learned Latin and French while 
 going messages as an errand-boy in the streets of Manchester. 
 
 Elihu Burritt attributed his first success in self-improvement, not 
 to genius, which he disclaimed, but simply to the careful employment 
 of those invaluable fragments of time, called “odd moments.” While 
 working and earning his living as a blacksmith, he mastered some 
 eighteen ancient and modern languages, and twenty-two European 
 dialects. Withal, he was exceedingly modest, and thought his 
 achievements nothing extraordinary. Like another learned and wise 
 man, of whom it was said that he could be silent in ten languages, 
 Elihu Burritt could do the same in forty. “Those who have been 
 acquainted with my character from my youth up,” said he, writing 
 to a friend, “ will give me credit for sincerity when I say, that it 
 never entered into my head to blazon forth any acquisition of my own. 
 * * * All that I have accomplished, or expect, or hope to accom- 
 
 plish, has been and will be by that plodding, patient, persevering 
 process of accretion which builds the ant-heap, — particle by particle, 
 thought by thought, fact by fact. And if ever I was actuated by 
 ambition, its highest and warmest aspiration reached no further than 
 the hope to set before the young men of my country an example in 
 employing those invaluable fragments of time called ‘odd moments.’” 
 
 Daguesseau, one of the great chancellors of France, by carefully 
 working up his odd bits of time, wrote a bulky and able volume in 
 the successive intervals of waiting for dinner ; and Madame de Gentis 
 composed several of her charming volumes while waiting for the 
 princess to whom she gave her daily lessons. Jeremy Bentham in 
 like manner disposed of his hours of labor and repose, so that not a 
 moment should be lost, the arrangement being determined on the 
 principle that it is a calamity to lose the smallest portion of time. 
 He lived and worked habitually under the practical consciousness 
 that man’s days are numbered, and that the night cometh when no 
 man can work. 
 
 What a solemn and striking admonition to youth is that inscribed 
 on the dial at All Souls, Oxford, England, — “Periunt et imputantur,’* 
 
136 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPEDIA. 
 
 — the hours perish and are laid to our charge. For time, like life, 
 can never be recalled. Melanchton noted down the time lost by him, 
 that he might thereby reanimate his industry, and not lose an hour. 
 An Italian scholar put over his door an inscription intimating that 
 whosoever remained there should join in his labors. “We are afraid/’ 
 said some visitors to Baxter, “that we break in upon your time.’- 
 “To be sure you do,” replied the disturbed and blunt divine. Time 
 was the estate out of which these great workers, and all other work- 
 ers, carved a rich inheritance of thoughts and deeds for their suc- 
 cessors. 
 
 Sir Walter Scott found opportunities for self-improvement in every 
 pursuit, and turned even accidents to account. Thus it was in the 
 discharge of his functions as a writer’s apprentice that he first pene- 
 trated into the Highlands, and formed those friendships among the 
 surviving heroes of 1745 which served to lay the foundation for a 
 large class of his works. Later in life, when employed as quarter- 
 master of the Edinburgh Light Cavalry, he was accidentally disabled 
 by the kick of a horse, and confined for some time to his house; but 
 Scott was a sworn enemy to idleness, and he forthwith set his mind 
 to work, and in three days composed the first canto of “ The Lay of 
 the Last Minstrel,” — his first great original work. 
 
 PUBPOSE. 
 
 It is not eminent talent that is required to insure success in any 
 pursuit, so much as purpose. There is nothing like a fixed, steady 
 aim, with an honorable purpose. It dignifies your nature, and insures 
 your success. The young man without a mark is like a ship at sea 
 without a compass or other means of knowing his destination and 
 speed. A man who has a fixed purpose to which he devotes his pow- 
 ers, is invulnerable. Like the rock in the sea, it splits the troubles 
 of life, and they eddy round him in idle foam. Some people are busy, 
 and yet do nothing; they fatigue and wear themselves out, and yet 
 arrive at no point, nor propose any general end of action or design. 
 
 Always have an object in view; and let your aim in life be ele- 
 vated. This is the safeguard of character, and the mainspring of 
 excellence. Aim at virtue and moral excellence. This is the first, 
 the indispensable qualification of a good citizen. It imparts life and 
 
PUKPOSE. 137 
 
 strength and beauty, not only to individual character, but to all the 
 institutions and interests of society. 
 
 When a child is learning to walk, if you can induce the little crea- 
 ture to keep its eyes fixed on any point in advance, it will generally 
 “navigate” to that point without capsizing; but distract its attention 
 by word or act from the object before it, and down goes the baby. 
 The rule applies to children of a larger growth. The man who starts 
 in life with a determination to reach a certain position, and adheres 
 unwaveringly to his purpose, rejecting the advice of the over-cau- 
 tious, and defying the auguries of the timid, rarely fails if he live 
 long enough to reach the goal for which he set out. If circumstances 
 oppose him, he bends them to his exigencies by the force of energetic, 
 indomitable will. On the other hand, he who vacillates in his course, 
 “yawning,” as the sailors say, toward all points of the compass, is 
 pretty sure to become a helpless castaway, before his voyage of life 
 is half completed. 
 
 There can be no question among philosophic observers of men and 
 events, that fixedness of purpose is a grand element of human suc- 
 cess. Weathercock men are Nature’s failures. They are good for 
 nothing. 
 
 The men of action, whose names are written imperishably on the 
 page of history, were men of iron. Silky fellows may do for intrigue, 
 but the founders, and conquerors, and liberators, and saviors of em- 
 pires have all been of the warrior metal. No human being who hab- 
 itually halts between two opinions, who can not decide promptly, and, 
 having decided, act as if there were no such word as fail, can ever be 
 great. Caesar would never have crossed the Bubicon, nor Washing- 
 ton the Delaware, had they not fixed their stern gaze on objects far 
 beyond the perils at their feet. 
 
 Henry Ward Beecher, in a recent sermon, remarked: 
 
 We see supreme purposes which men have formed running through 
 their whole career in this world. A young man means to be a civil 
 engineer. That is the thing to which, his mind is made up; not his 
 father’s mind, perhaps, but his. He feels his adaptation to that call- 
 ing, and his drawing toward it. He is young, inexperienced, forget- 
 ful, accessible to youthful sympathies, and is frequently drawn aside 
 from his life purpose. To-day he attends a picnic. Next week he 
 levotes a day to some other excursion. Occasionally he loses a day 
 in consequence of fatigue caused by over action. Thus there is a link 
 knocked out of the chain of this week, and a link out of the chain of 
 
138 
 
 PKACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 that week. ' And in the course of the summer he takes a whole week, 
 or a fortnight out of that purpose. 
 
 Yet there is the thing in his mind, whether he sleeps or wakes. If 
 you had asked him a month ago what he meant to be in life, he would 
 have replied, “I mean to be a civil engineer.” And if you ask him 
 to-day what has been the tendency of his life, he will say, “ I have 
 been preparing myself to be a civil engineer.” If he waits and does 
 nothing, the reason is that he wants an opportunity to carry out his 
 purpose. That purpose governs his course, and he will not engage in 
 anything that would conflict with it. 
 
 These generic principles in the soul are like those great invisible 
 laws of nature, whose effects are seen in the falling of the pebble- 
 stone, in all the various changes which natural objects undergo. 
 When a man has formed in his mind a great sovereign purpose, it 
 governs his conduct, as the law of nature governs the operation of 
 physical things. 
 
 Every man should have a mark in view, and pursue it steadily. 
 He should not be turned from his course by other objects ever so at- 
 tractive. Life is not long enough for any one man to accomplish 
 everything. Indeed but few can at best accomplish more than one 
 thing well. Many, alas, very many! accomplish nothing worthy. 
 Yet there is not a man endowed with fair or ordinary intellect or ca- 
 pacity but can accomplish at least one useful, important, worthy pur- 
 pose. 
 
 But few men could ever succeed in more than one of the learned 
 professions. Perhaps the man never lived who could master and be- 
 come eminent in the practice of all of them. Certainly not in them, 
 and also in agriculture and the mechanic arts. Not because one man 
 was never endowed with capacity for any of those pursuits or callings 
 as he might choose. Our country, every country abounds with men 
 possessing sufficient natural capacity for almost or quite any pursuit 
 they might select and pursue exclusively. But the reason is simply 
 because no one man has the time even if he have the capacity to mas- 
 ter and pursue with eminent success, so many and such widely dif- 
 ferent avocations. Indeed, man’s days, at most, are so few, and his 
 capacity, at the highest, so small, that never yet has he even by con- 
 fining the united efforts and energies of his lifetime at the most triv- 
 ial pursuit, much less in the deep and intricate learned professions, 
 attained to perfection ; and he never will. How much less then are 
 the probabilities of him exhausting several, and those perhaps the 
 most complicated spheres of man’s activity. 
 
PUEPOSE. 
 
 139 
 
 Let man have one mark in view, and let him not under any con- 
 sideration lose sight of that. Neither let him loiter by the way, nor 
 wander from the direct path. What would you think of the man 
 who should start on a journey, and, becoming weary on the way., 
 should lie down in some tempting shade and abandon his project; or 
 should be lured from his course by some enticing company or some 
 idle tale ; or should he turn back when nearly, or even not more than 
 half way there, and seek another object in an opposite direction? 
 Suppose I have several places to visit, and after having proceeded 
 some distance on my way towards one, conclude to turn about and 
 seek another first, and before reaching that turn for still another, and 
 so continue to vacillate between the different points, so constantly 
 changing my mind and accordingly ray direction as to never arrive 
 at any of the places. Would you not all set me down as crazy at 
 once ? 
 
 Do we not see men whom we have never suspected of unsoundness 
 all around us, even in our own town, and among our own acquaint- 
 ances, ever shifting their purpose, first pursuing this, then that, af- 
 terward something else, and thus, though reckoned smart, able men, 
 yet never perfecting or succeeding in anything. On the other hand, 
 do we not see hundreds of others, of far less natural endowments, 
 men of small calibre, selecting, adopting, pursuing and adhering to 
 one business, perhaps what we are pleased to denominate a small bu- 
 siness at that, but by persistence in a straight-forward course toward 
 his mark, he has acquired proficiency in that business and succeeds. 
 He is “ making money he is making himself useful in the world 
 while our friend of natural talent, too bright for any one pursuit 
 alone, but who must try to follow half a dozen, fails in all, accom- 
 plishes nothing praiseworthy, but spends his time in telling what his 
 ancle or grandfather has done, what he might have done, or intends 
 to do, with a slight change by way of diversity, in fruitless because 
 not thorough experiments in this that and the other — 'twould take a 
 phonographic reporter to make a note of them all. 
 
 Perhaps some may here interrupt me by saying that the latter is 
 the better man of the two, that he is generous, noble-hearted, clever, 
 a friend to everybody, and therefore everybody his friend. So it 
 may be. I will not impeach his character, nor question his motives. 
 They may be, nay, I trust they are, good. I hope he is in principles, 
 in morals, in religion a good man. And if so, how much more im- 
 portant that he should be a practical, a systematic, a successful busi- 
 ness man. His goodness now amounts to but little more than words. 
 
140 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 looks, wishes — if these are right, they are much, aye, very much. A 
 kind word, a look of love, even a benevolent wish are much to he 
 prized. But how much more value might be attached to them, how 
 much more serviceable could they be made, were they accompanied 
 by the means, were the words, looks, wishes, aided by acts of charity 
 that would relieve poverty, comfort the widow, and care for the 
 orphan. 
 
 It is the living, acting, moving man who has it in his power to do 
 good. It is very easy to feel sorry, but let us ask with the intelligent 
 old Quaker, “ Friend, how much does thee feel sorry? I feel sorry 
 half a dollar ; does thee feel sorry half a dollar ? ” And the man 
 who not merely talks, looks and wishes, but actually lives, acts, 
 moves, must, in order to gain the power to do good, have a mark in 
 view, and direct all his efforts, or his principal efforts to secure that 
 point. Whatever he reads should be in view of that object, and 
 whatever he does should be regulated by that aim in view. He may 
 sometimes be compelled to step aside from the straight path, he may 
 have outside duties to perform, but let them be subservient to that 
 fixed purpose, let his purpose still be onward, let that onward course 
 be prosecuted as soon as circumstances will admit. If forced to make 
 a pause, let it not be a period. 
 
 WILL. 
 
 The indomitable will, the inflexible purpose, looking for future 
 good through present evil, have always begot confidence and com- 
 manded success, while the opposite qualities have as truly led to timid 
 resolves, uncertain councils, alternate exaltation and depression, and 
 final disappointment and disaster. A vacillating policy, irresolute 
 councils, unstable will, subordination of the future to the present, ef- 
 forts to relieve ourselves from existing trouble without providing 
 against its recurrence, may bring momentary quiet, but expose us to 
 greater disquiet than ever hereafter. A double-minded man is un- 
 stable in all his ways. Unstable as water, thou shalt not excel. 
 
 Will is the monarch of the mind, ruling with despotic, and at times 
 with tyrannical powers. It is the rudder of the mind, giving directions 
 to. its movements. It is the engineer giving course and point, speed 
 and force to the mental machinery. It acts like a tonic among the 
 soul’s languid powers. It is the band that ties into a strong bundle 
 
WILL. 
 
 141 
 
 the separate faculties of the soul. It is the man’s momentum ; in a 
 word, it is that power by which the energy or energies of the soul 
 are concentrated on a given point, or in a particular direction : it 
 fuses the faculties into one mass, so that instead of scattering all over 
 like grape * and canister, they spend their united force on one point. 
 The intellect is the legislative department, the sensibilities are the 
 judicial, and the will the executive. 
 
 Says Shakespeare, Our bodies are our gardens ; to the which, our 
 wills are gardeners : so that if we will plant nettles, or sow lettuce ; 
 set hyssop, and weed up thyme ; supply it with one gender of herbs, 
 or distract it with many ; either to have it sterile with idleness, or 
 manured with industry ; why, the power and corrigible authority of 
 this lies in our wills. 
 
 Where there is a will there is a way. Nothing is impossible to 
 him who wills. Will is the root; knowledge the stem and leaves; 
 feeling the flower. 
 
 Mr. Walker, author of the “ Original,” had so great a faith in the 
 power of the will, that he says on one occasion he determined to be 
 well, and he was so. This may answer once ; but, though safer to 
 follow than prescriptions, it will not always succeed. The power of 
 mind over body is no doubt great, but it may be strained until the 
 physical power breaks down altogether. It is related of Muley Mo- 
 loc, the Moorish leader, that when lying ill, almost worn out by an 
 incurable disease, a battle took place between his troops and the Por- 
 tugese ; when, starting from his litter at the great crisis of the fight, 
 he rallied his army, led them to victory, and instantly afterwards 
 sank exhausted and expired. 
 
 It is will , — force of purpose, — that enables a man to do or be what- 
 ever he sets his mind on being or doing. A holy man was accustomed 
 to say, “ Whatever you wish, that you are ; for such is the force of 
 our will, joined to the Divine, that whatever we wish to be, seriously, 
 and with a true intention, that we become. No one ardently wishes 
 to be submissive, patient, modest, or liberal, who does not become 
 what he wishes.” 
 
 Each individual feels and knows that practically he is free to choose 
 between good and evil. It would paralyze all desire of excellence 
 were it otherwise. The entire business and conduct of life, with its 
 domestic rules, its social arrangements, and its public institutions, 
 proceed upon the practical conviction that the will is free. In every 
 movement of our lives, conscience is proclaiming that the will is free. 
 It is the only thing that is wholly ours, and it rests solely with our- 
 
142 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 selves individually, whether we give it the right or wrong direction. 
 Our habits or our temptations are not our masters, be we of them. 
 
 Said Lammenais once, “ That which the easiest becomes a habit in 
 us is the will. Learn then to will strongly and decisively.” Buxton 
 held the conviction that a young man might be very much what he 
 pleased, provided he formed a strong resolution and held to it. He 
 said, “I am sure he may. In my own case it was so. Much of the 
 happiness and all of my prosperity in life have resulted from the change 
 that I made at an early age.” He adds, “ If you seriously resolve 
 to be energetic and industrious, depend upon it that you will for your 
 whole life have reason to rejoice that you were wise enough to form 
 and act upon that determination.” As will, considered without re- 
 gard to direction, is simply constancy, firmness, perseverance, it will 
 be obvious that everything depends upon right direction and motives. 
 Directed towards the enjoyment of the senses, the strong will may 
 be a demon, and the intellect merely its debased slave ; but directed 
 towards good, the strong will is a king, and the intellect is then the 
 minister of man’s highest well-being. 
 
 “ Where there is a will there is a way,” is an old and true saying. 
 He who resolves upon doing a thing, by that very resolution often 
 scales the barriers to it, and secures its achievement. To think we 
 are able is almost to be so, — to determine upon attainment, is fre- 
 quently attainment itself. Thus, earnest resolution has often seemed 
 to have about it almost a savor of Omnipotence. “ You can only half 
 will,” Suwarrow would say to people who had failed. “ I don’t know,” 
 “I can’t,” and “ impossible,” were words which he detested above all 
 others. “Learn ! do ! try ! ” he would exclaim. 
 
 One of Napoleon’s favorite maxims was, “The truest wisdom is a 
 resolute determination.” His life, beyond most others, vividly 
 showed what a powerful and unscrupulous will could accomplish. He 
 threw his whole force of body and mind direct upon his work. Im- 
 becile rulers and the nations they governed went down before him in 
 succession. He was told that the Alps stood in the way of his ar- 
 mies. “ There shall be no Alps,” he said, and the road across the 
 Simplon was constructed, through a district formerly almost inacces- 
 sible. “ Impossible,” said he, “ is a word only to be found in the dic- 
 tionary of fools.” He was a man who toiled terribly ; sometimes 
 employing and exhausting four secretaries at a time. He spared no 
 one, not even himself. His influence inspired other men and put a 
 new life into them. “ I made my generals out of mud,” he said. 
 But ail was of no avail : for Napoleon’s intense selfishness was his 
 
PATIENCE. 
 
 143 
 
 ruin, and the ruin of France, which he left a prey to anarchy. Hia 
 life taught the lesson that power, however energetically wielded, 
 without beneficence, is fatal to its possessor and its subjects ; and 
 that knowledge, or knowingness; without goodness, is but the in- 
 carnate principle of evil. 
 
 PATIENCE. 
 
 i SAW the proprietor of a large garden stand at his fence, and call 
 over to a poor neighbor, “ Would you like some grapes?” “Yes, 
 and very thankful to you,” was the ready answer. “ Well, then, 
 bring your basket.” The basket was quickly brought and handed 
 over the fence. The owner took it and disappeared among the vines ; 
 but I marked that he was depositing in it all the while, rich and va- 
 rious clusters from the fruitful labyrinth in which he had hid him- 
 self. The woman stood at the fence, the meanwhile, quiet and hope- 
 ful. At length he reappeared with a well-replenished basket, saying, 
 “I have made you wait a good while, but, you know, the longer you 
 have to wait, the more grapes .” So it is, with the great Giver of all 
 gifts — the longer He makes me wait, the more He gives. 
 
 A lady in Switzerland, addressing a peasant who was working in his 
 garden very early in the season, said : “ I fear the plants which have 
 come forward rapidly will yet all be destroyed by frost.” “God has 
 been our father a great while,” was the reply. 
 
 “ Patient waiting no loss,” has been made the maximal title of an 
 instructive volume, and “ let patience have her perfect work,” was 
 one of the admirable suggestions of ancient wisdom. The history of 
 every great achievement, and the realization of every grand idea, is 
 the record of a corresponding patience on the part of the hero and the 
 thinker. But for the large possession of this sublime quality, human- 
 ity must have succumbed to a thousand obstacles which have been 
 gloriously overcome. The discoverer, the reformer — the benefactor 
 of whatever class — has each in turn, since the world began, learned 
 through his own experience the truth of the poet’s line, 
 
 11 They nobly win who watch and wait,” 
 
 and the story of any one of them is mainly the story of all. Patience 
 is a lofty, a divine attribute. 
 
 Every man that has cultivated fruit, knows that no tree can bear 
 
144 
 
 PEACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 very rich the first year. The first year a tree bears, the fruit is of 
 the lowest quality ; the second year it is a little better ; the fourth 
 year it is better yet ; and it continues to improve every year until 
 the tenth ; and then you begin to know what is the best thing that 
 the tree can do. Trees have to go through a maturing process of ten 
 years duration, before they can bear fruits of the highest flavors. So 
 it is with man in the accomplishment of any good purpose. It is not 
 until he has borne the fruits of industry, economy and good manage- 
 ment in his profession or pursuit, whatever it may be, year after 
 year, that he can bring them forth in their highest state of develop- 
 ment. The tree must be planted and protected for a long time be- 
 fore it will bear any fruit at all, then it must continue to grow and to 
 mature and produce year after year before it will yield its richest 
 and most valuable harvest. And the wealth of its productions de- 
 pend greatly too upon nurture and care, yet time can not be dispensed 
 with. 
 
 One of the requisites for the successful training of children at home, 
 or in the school-room, is patience. Every teacher and mother will 
 find her labors made easy by the constant exercise of this cardinal 
 virtue. Children are won by kind words ; but cross looks and harsh 
 tones deter them from seeking our sympathy or giving us their con- 
 fidence. The mother or teacher should regard the sports of children 
 as a blessing, join in their innocent amusements, and draw from them 
 some useful lesson for their future consideration. They should learn 
 to look up to her as a friend in whom they could confide, who will 
 bear patiently with their childish follies, and in kindness seek to im- 
 prove whatever may be amiss in their manners or morals. 
 
 Ye have need of patience, that, after ye have done the will of God, 
 ye might receive the promise. God’s will is manifested in the way a 
 man is made up. Some are fitted for one thing, and some for anoth- 
 er : and the first thing for a man to find out is what he is good for, 
 if it takes him half his life. And it is where, when a man seeks the 
 things that are within the sphere of his faculties ; it is where when 
 a man seeks right things that are attainable by him ; it is where, 
 when a man uses proper instrumentalities, the result is delayed — it is 
 there that patience is needed. Under such circumstances men have 
 a right to expect results in proportion to their exertions. They have 
 a right to look for effects from the causes which they operate. 
 
 There will however be cases where the best exertions put forth in 
 the best manner, are not crowned with immediate success. But this 
 does not change the laws of success. The general law of summer is 
 
PATIENCE. 
 
 145 
 
 the growth and ripening of fruits and grains ; and yet there is a law 
 of storms and cold weather; and the tumultuous seasons throughout 
 the summer may cut short the harvest and prevent the ripening of 
 the fruit at the usual time. We must have patience and perhaps 
 correct our calculations for another year. If you take the voyages 
 from New York to Liverpool, you may say that the average time of 
 the voyage of smart sailing vessels, through summer and winter is 
 twenty-one days ; but this period of three weeks is often departed 
 from, and the time required for a voyage is sometimes four weeks, 
 sometimes six weeks, and sometimes eight weeks. The relation be- 
 tween means and ends is so definite and so constant as to justify la- 
 bor, and hope, and expectation; but in particular instances there 
 may be a great disproportion of results. A man must not therefore 
 be discouraged, if he does not get at a certain time the things which 
 he seeks. He must make allowance for a change in circumstances. 
 
 Be and continue poor, young man, while others around you grow 
 rich by fraud and dishonesty ; bear the pain of defeated hopes, while 
 others gain the accomplishment of theirs by flattery ; forego the gra- 
 cious pressure of the hand for which others cringe and crawl ; wrap 
 yourself in your own virtue, and seek a friend and your daily bread. 
 If you have, in such a course grown gray with unblemished honor 
 bless God and die. 
 
 There is an old Latin proverb, (Festina lente) which says, “ hasten 
 slowly.” It is rarely that we find two words which express so much, 
 or contain more food for thought. He that is hasty fishes in an emp- 
 ty pond. 
 
 “Shun all rash acts. Let moderation mark 
 Each enterprise in which you may embark; 
 
 And from your mind ne’er let there be effaced 
 The old, yet startling proverb, ‘ haste makes waste.’ ” 
 
 Do not be in a hurry to get rich. Gradual gains are the only nat- 
 ural gains ; and they who are in haste to be rich, break over sound 
 rules, fall into temptations and distress of various sorts, and generally 
 fail of their object. There is no use of getting rich suddenly. The 
 man who keeps his business under his control, and saves something 
 from year to year, is always rich. At any rate, he possesses the 
 highest enjoyment which riches are able to afford. 
 
 Progress of any Jnnd is comparatively slow. Great results cannot 
 be achieved at once, and we must be satisfied to advance in life as we 
 walk, step by step. Christ did not count his converts by thousands, 
 nor yet by tens, but he counted them by units, saying, “ There is joy 
 10 
 
146 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPEDIA. 
 
 in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth.” 
 He valued individuals ; and yet at last shall he welcome his redeemed 
 as an innumerable multitude, whom no man can number. 
 
 There are men who grow rapidly rich by the force of perspicacity, 
 a singleness of purpose, and an energy of will, which would have made 
 them distinguished in any department of human life, in any pursuit 
 to which they may have been directed; upon such men we ought not 
 to look with envy, but with respect, and, while we should admire 
 them the more, we ought not to think of ourselves the less, for all 
 the great pecuniary difference, as long as we have been fast in our in- 
 tegrity in every strait, and in every temptation. 
 
 But suppose we have failed a dozen times, who knows but that H 
 may be with us as it has been with multitudes before us, that past 
 adversities are the foundations, constitute the elements, of future suc- 
 cess, the very schoolings to great accomplishments. 
 
 Let every man, then, be diligent, and abide his time in patience, 
 remembering that the race is not commonly, in practical life, to the 
 swift, nor the battle to the strong ; and that ultimate and permanent 
 success, is the pretty sure reward of him, who has patience, diligence, 
 and a great heart. 
 
 Every man must patiently abide his time. He must wait. It is 
 not in listless idleness ; not in useless pastime, not in querulous de- 
 fection ; but in constant, steady, cheerful endeavor, always willing, 
 fulfilling and accomplishing his task, that when the occasion comes he 
 may be equal to the occasion. The talent of success is doing noth- 
 ing more than what you can do well, without a thought of fame. If 
 it comes at all it will come because it is deserved, and not because it 
 is sought after. 
 
 I am surprised, said a certain old lady, that the little boys will 
 knock the apples off the trees, when if let alone, they would so soon 
 fall of themselves. I am surprised that men should kill each other 
 so much, when in time they would all die of themselves. I am sur- 
 prised that the girls will go after the young men so far, when other- 
 wise they would much quicker come for them of their own accord. 
 
 Hundreds have attempted the definition of genius. When Sir 
 Isaac Newton was asked for it, he replied, “Patience and Work.” 
 Sir Isaac would spend whole months in the examination of a single 
 numerical relation, or the bearings of an angle of incidence, and if he 
 was not then perfectly satisfied, other months were consumed in the 
 same studies. Demosthenes, when wishing to make a great effort, 
 would retire to some secret place, with his head shaved, so that de- 
 
PATIENCE. 
 
 147 
 
 cency, if his love of glory failed, should prevent his appearance in 
 public, and there, in bald-headed solitude, the orator forged his rhe- 
 torical thunderbolts, and with a new growth of locks, his beloved 
 Athens received a new speech, which, to this day, is the delight of 
 the scholar and the model of the greatest declaimers. The illustrious 
 Fox pored over the mighty Greek for years; Brougham even yet 
 makes him a close study. A celebrated English judge copied the 
 text books of his profession no less than five times. Cuvier, the 
 Prince of Naturalists, passed weeks in the examination of a single 
 bone. What immense labor Agassiz must have gone through ! What 
 years of toil were those of Herschell ! 
 
 The most beneficent operations of nature are the result of patience. 
 The waters slowly deposit their rich alluvium ; the fruits are months 
 in their growth and perfecting. 
 
 To be wise we must diligently apply ourselves, and confront the 
 same continuous application which our forefathers did ; for labor is 
 still, and ever will be, the inevitable price set upon everything which 
 is valuable, We must be satisfied to work energetically with a pur- 
 pose, and wait the results with patience. Buffon has even said of 
 patience, that it is genius, — the power of great men, in his opinion, 
 consisting mainly in their power of continuous working and waiting. 
 All progress, of the best kind, is slow ; but to him who works faith- 
 fully and in a right spirit, be sure that the reward will be vouchsafed 
 in its own good time. “Courage and industry,” says Granville 
 Sharpe, “ must have sunk in despair, and the world must have re- 
 mained unimproved and unornamented, if men had merely compared 
 the effect of a single stroke of the chisel with the pyramid to be 
 raised, or of a single impression of the spade with the mountains to 
 be leveled.” We must continuously apply ourselves to right pur- 
 suits, and we cannot fail to advance steadily, though it may be un- 
 consciously. 
 
 Hugh Miller modestly says, in his autobiography, ^ The only merit 
 to which I lay claim is that of patient research, — a merit in which 
 whoever wills may rival or surpass me; and this humble faculty of 
 patience, when rightly developed* may lead to more extraordinary 
 developments of idea than even genius itself. 
 
 Sir Astley Cooper, one of the most skillful and deserving in the 
 medical ranks, in the first year of his practice netted only five guin- 
 eas ; in the second, £26 ; in the third, £64 ; in the fourth, £96 ; in 
 the fifth, £100 ; in the sixth, £200 ; in the seventh, £400 ; in the 
 eighth, £600; and in the ninth, £1,100. The highest amount he 
 
148 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 ever received in any one year was £21,000, but for many years bis 
 average income was over £15,000, or $75,000. 
 
 Patience is a good nag, says tbe proverb. Wisely and slow; they 
 stumble that run fast. Always have a good stock of patience laid 
 by, and be sure you put it where you can easily find it. Cherish pa- 
 tience as your favorite virtue. Always keep it about you. You will 
 find use for it oftener than for all the rest. Moderation is the silken 
 string running through the pearl-chain of all virtue. He who is im- 
 patient to become his own master is most likely to become merely his 
 own slave. You can do anything if you will only have patience; wa- 
 ter may be carried in a sieve, if you can only wait till it freezes. 
 Those who at the commencement of their career, meet with less ap- 
 plause than they deserve, not unfrequently gain more than they de- 
 serve at the end of it ; though having grounds at first to fear that 
 they were born to be starved, they often live long enough to die of a 
 surfeit. 
 
 Patience is a most necessary qualification for business; many a 
 man would rather you heard his story than granted his request. 
 You must seem to hear the unreasonable demands of the petulant 
 unmoved, and the tedious details of the dull untired. That is the 
 least price that a man must pay for a high station. 
 
 He hath made a good progress in business that hath thought well 
 of it beforehand. Some do first, and think afterwards. Precipita- 
 tion ruins the best laid designs ; whereas patience ripens the most 
 difficult, and renders the execution of them easy. That is done soon 
 enough which is done well. Soon ripe, soon rotten. He that would 
 enjoy the fruit, must not gather the flower. He calls to patience, 
 who is patience itself ; and he that gives the precept enforces it by 
 his own example. Patience affords us a shield to defend ourselves, 
 and innocence denies us a sword to defend others. Knowledge is 
 power, but it is one of the slowest because one of the most durable of 
 agencies. Continued exertion, and not hasty efforts, that lead to 
 success. What cannot be cured must be endured. How poor are 
 they that have not patience ! 
 
 For violent fires soon burn out themselves : 
 
 Small showers last long, but sudden storms are short; 
 
 He tires betimes that spurs too fast betimes; 
 
 With eager feeding, food doth choke the feeder. 
 
MANNERS. 
 
 149 
 
 MANNERS. 
 
 There is no policy like politeness; and a good manner is the best 
 thing in the world to get a good name or to supply the want of it. 
 
 Good manners are a part of good morals, and it is as much our 
 duty as our interest to practice in both. 
 
 Good manners is the art of making those around us easy. Who- 
 ever makes the fewest persons uneasy is the best bred man in the 
 company. 
 
 Good manners should begin at home. Politeness is not an article 
 to be worn in all dress only, to be put on when we have a compli- 
 mentary visit. 
 
 Nothing prevents a person from being natural and easy, so much as 
 an extreme anxiety to appear so. 
 
 A man's own good breeding is the best security against other peo- 
 ple's ill manners. 
 
 The beauty of behavior consists in the manner, not the matter, of 
 your discourse. 
 
 An honest heart makes a gentleman ; but honest modesty makes a 
 gentle manner. 
 
 “ Manners make the man,” says the proverb. It may be true that 
 some men's manners have been the making of them ; but as manners 
 are rather the expression of the man, it would be more proper to say 
 — the man makes the manners. 
 
 Social courtesies should emanate from the heart, for remember al- 
 ways that the worth of manners consists in being the sincere express- 
 ions of feelings. Like the dial of the watch they should indicate that 
 the work within is good and true. 
 
 The young should be mannerly, but they feel timid, bashful and 
 self- distrustful the moment they are addressed by a stranger or ap- 
 pear in company. There is but one way to get over this feeling, and 
 acquire easy and graceful manners, and that is to do the best they 
 can at home as well as abroad. Good manners are not learned so 
 much as acquired by habit. They grow upon us by use. We must 
 be courteous, agreeable, civil, kind, gentlemanly, and manly at home, 
 and then it will become a kind of second nature everywhere. A 
 coarse rough manner at home begets a habit of roughness, which we 
 can not lay off if we try, when we go among strangers. The most 
 agreeable persons in company are those who are the most agreeable 
 at home. Home is the school for all the best things. 
 
150 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPEDIA. 
 
 Levity of manners is prejudicial to every virtue. Avoid all sour- 
 ness and austerity of manners. Virtue is a pleasant and agreeable 
 quality, and gay and civil wisdom is always engaging. 
 
 There are a thousand pretty, engaging little ways, which every 
 person may put on, without running the risk of being deemed either 
 affected or foppish. The sweet smile; the quiet, cordial bow; the 
 earnest movement in addressing a friend — more especially a stran- 
 ger — whom one may recommend to our good regards ; the inquiring 
 glance ; the graceful attention, which is so captivating when united 
 with self-possession : these will secure us the good regards of even a 
 churl. Above all, there is a certain softness of manner which should 
 be cultivated, and which, in either man or woman, adds a charm that 
 always entirely compensates for a lack of beauty. 
 
 Lord Chatham, who was almost as remarkable for his manners as 
 for his eloquence and public spirit, has thus defined good breeding : 
 “ Benevolence in trifles, or a preference of others to ourselves in the 
 little daily occurrences of life. 
 
 Says Emerson, I wish cities would teach their best lesson — of quiet 
 manners. It is the foible especially of American youth — pretension. 
 The mark of the man of the world is absence of pretension. He does 
 not make a speech; he takes a low business tone, avoids all brag, is 
 lobody, dresses plainly, promises not at all, performs much, speaks in 
 monosyllables, hugs his fact. He calls his employment by its lowest 
 name, and so takes from evil tongues their sharpest weapon. His 
 conversation clings to the weather and the news, yet he allows him- 
 self to be surprised into thought, and the unlocking of his learning 
 and philosophy. 
 
 One of the most marked tests of character, is the manner in which 
 we conduct ourselves toward others. A graceful behavior toward su- 
 periors, inferiors, and equals, is a constant source of pleasure. It 
 pleases others because it indicates respect for their personality ; but 
 it gives tenfold more pleasure to ourselves. Every man may to a 
 large extent be a self-educator in good behavior, as in everything 
 else ; he can be civil and kind, if he will, though he have not a penny 
 in his purse. 
 
 Good manners, as we call them, are neither more nor less than good 
 behavior ; consisting of courtesy and kindness ; for benevolence is the 
 preponderating element in all kinds of mutually beneficial and plea- 
 sant intercourse amongst human beings. “ Civility," said lady Mon- 
 tague, “ costs nothing and buys everything.” The cheapest of all 
 things is kindness, its exercise requiring the least possible trouble 
 
MANNERS. 
 
 151 
 
 and self-sacrifice. Those little courtesies which form the small change 
 of life, may separately appear of little intrinsic value, but they acquire 
 their importance from repetition and accumulation. They are like 
 the spare minutes, or the groat a day, which proverbially produce 
 such momentous results in the course of a twelvemonth, or in a life- 
 time. 
 
 Manners are the ornament of action ; and there is a way of speak- 
 ing a kind word, or of doing a kind thing, which greatly enhances 
 their value. What seems to be done with a grudge, or as an act of 
 condescension, is scarcely accepted as a favor. Yet there are men 
 who pride themselves upon their gruffness ; and though they may 
 possess virtue and capacity, their manner is often formed to render 
 them almost insupportable. It is difficult to like a man who, though 
 he may not pull your nose, habitually wounds your self-respect, and 
 takes a pride in saying disagreeable things to you. There are others 
 who are dreadfully condescending, and cannot avoid seizing upon 
 every small opportunity of making their greatness felt. 
 
 The cultivation of manner, — though in excess it is foppish and fool- 
 ish, — is highly necessary in a person who has occasion to negotiate 
 with others in matters of business. Affability and good-breeding 
 may even be regarded as essential to the success of a man in any emi- 
 nent station and enlarged sphere of life ; for the want of it has not 
 unfrequently been found in a great measure to neutralize the results 
 of much industry, integrity, and honesty of character. There are, no 
 doubt, a few strong tolerant minds which can bear with defects and 
 angularities of manner, and look only to the more genuine qualities ; 
 but the world at large is not so forbearant, and cannot help forming 
 its judgments and likings mainly according to outward conduct. 
 
 Agreeable manners contribute wonderfully to a man’s success. 
 Take two men, possessing equal advantages in every other respect ; 
 but let one be gentlemanly, kind, obliging and conciliating ; the other 
 disobliging, rude, harsh and insolent, and the one will become rich 
 while the other will starve. 
 
 If Christianity had no higher recommendation than this, that it 
 makes a man a gentleman, it would still be an invaluable element. 
 The New Testament inculcates good manners. Our Savior was cour- 
 teous even to his persecutors. Look at Paul before Agrippa ! His 
 speech is a model of dignified courtesy as well as of persuasive elo- 
 quence. A spirit of kindly consideration for all men characterized 
 the Twelve. The same mild, self-sacrificing spirit which pervaded 
 the sayings and doings of the early disciples is exhibited by the true 
 
152 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 followers of the cross at the present day. A man, it is true, may be 
 superficially polite without being a Christian ; but a Christian, by the 
 very conditions of his creed and the obligations of his faith, is neces- 
 sarily in mind and soul — and therefore in word and act — a gentleman. 
 
 PRINCIPLE AND RIGHT. 
 
 One man of unbending moral principle is mightier than a host of 
 dishonest knaves; in his majestic presence they feel their own little- 
 ness and weakness and shame, and are ready to slink away lest they 
 blush beneath the gaze of his calm, clear eye. It is a noble sight, 
 worth going far to look at, the man who stands erect and serene, with 
 his foot on the red dragon of temptation, its seven heads and ten 
 horns crushed and trodden to dust ! In all the world, there is no 
 sight so grand and lovely as this. He is nobler than any coronet can 
 make him. He is richer than gold or precious stones can make him. 
 He is mightier than kings and one of the greatest conquer ers, 
 for all men rejoice in his victory. Even those who have not the 
 courage to follow him in his conflicts, are glad to see him come 
 forth from the life battle-field unscarred, and silently in their hearts 
 they bless him. 
 
 Diminish principle, and you increase the need of force. A man 
 had better be poisoned in his blood than in his principles. Men of 
 principle are always the principal men. He that will win the game, 
 must look more upon the mark, than the money ; if he hits the one 
 he takes the other. If a thing be not proper, do it not ; if it be not 
 true, speak it not. Prefer loss to unjust gain. Upright walking is 
 sure walking. In all the affairs of life, let it be your care not to hurt 
 your mind, nor offend your judgment. When doing what is right, 
 the heart is easy, and becomes better every day ; but when practicing 
 deceit, the mind labors, and every day becomes worse. 
 
 Without established principles, our feelings contend against evil 
 as an army without a leader, and are far oftener vanquished than 
 victorious. Practice flows from principle ; for as a man thinks so 
 will he act. 
 
 No man has a right to do as he pleases, except when he pleases to 
 do right. Never be afraid to do right ; he that strives to please ev- 
 erybody pleases nobody. Men gravitate towards right, but are con- 
 tinually drawn aside by disturbing causes. Walk fast untill you get 
 
PROMPTITUDE. 
 
 153 
 
 upon the right ground, and then stand fast. When, in a case of 
 doubtful morality, you feel disposed to ask, “ Is there any harm in 
 doing this ? ” answer it by asking yourself another, “ Is there any 
 harm in letting it alone ? ” None are so often in the wrong, as those 
 who pretend to be always in the right. A man that does the best he 
 can does all he should. Let a man do his' best, and the world may 
 do its worst. One, with God on his side, is a majority. Whatever 
 the world may say, adhere to the right. Said Henry Clay, ‘‘I would 
 rather be right than President." Do not a wrong action if you are 
 satisfied that neither God nor man can know it. 
 
 PEOMPTITUDE. 
 
 Sir Walter Scott, writing to a youth who had obtained a situation 
 and asked him for his advice, gave him in reply this sound counsel : 
 “ Beware of stumbling over a propensity which easily besets you from 
 not having your time fully employed, — I mean what the women call 
 dawdling. Your motto must be, Hoc age. Do instantly whatever is 
 to be done, and take the hours of recreation after business, never be- 
 fore it. When a regiment is under march, the rear is often thrown 
 into confusion because the front do not move steadily, and without 
 interruption. It is the same with business. If that which is first 
 in hand is not instantly, steadily, and regularly dispatched, other 
 things accumulate behind, till affairs begin to press all at once, and 
 no human brain can stand the confusion.” 
 
 Promptitude in action may be stimulated by a due consideration of 
 the value of time. An Italian philosopher was accustomed to call 
 time his estate; an estate which produces nothing of value without 
 cultivation, but, duly improved, never fails to recompense the labors 
 of the diligent worker. Allowed to lie waste, the products will be 
 only noxious weeds and vicious growths of all kinds. 
 
 Men of business are accustomed to quote the maxim that Time is 
 Money, but it is much more ; the proper improvement of it is self-cul- 
 ture, self-improvement, and growth of character. An hour wasted 
 daily on trifles or in indolence, would, if devoted to self-improvement, 
 make an ignorant man wise in a few years, and, employed in good 
 works, would make his life fruitful, and death a harvest of worthy 
 deeds. Fifteen minutes a day devoted to self-improvement, will be 
 felt at the end of the year. Good thoughts and carefully gathered 
 
154 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 experience take up no room, and are carried about with us as com- 
 panions everywhere, without cost or incumbrance. An economical 
 use of time is the true mode of securing leisure ; it enables us to get 
 through business and carry it forward, instead of being driven by it. 
 On the other hand, the miscalculation of time involves us in a perpet- 
 ual hurry, confusion, and difficulties ; and life becomes a mere shuffle 
 of expedients, usually followed by disaster. Nelson once said, “ I owe 
 all my success in life to having been always a quarter of an hour be- 
 fore my time.” 
 
 Some take no thought of the value of money until they have come 
 to an end of it, and many do the same with their time. The hours 
 are allowed to flow by unemployed, and then, when life is fast wan- 
 ing, they bethink themselves of the duty of making a wiser use of it. 
 But the habit of listlessness and idleness may already have become 
 . confirmed, and they are unable to break the bonds with which they 
 have permitted themselves to become bound. Lost wealth may be 
 replaced by industry, lost knowledge by study, lost health by tem- 
 perance or medicine, but lost time is gone forever. 
 
 The prudent use of time, rather than extraordinary natural power, 
 has been the secret of success, in a vast majority of instances among 
 those who have been distinguished for extraordinary results. 
 
 Any business you may have to transact should be done the first 
 opportunity, and finished, if possible, without interruption. Business 
 must not be sauntered and trifled with, and you must not say to it 
 as Felix did to Paul, “At a more convenient season I will speak to 
 thee.” The most convenient season for business is the first ; but 
 study and business, in some measure, point out their own times, to a 
 man of sense. Business, of any kind, should never be done by 
 halves, but every part of it should be well attended to, for he that 
 does business ill had better not do it at all. 
 
 It is astonishing how much an energetic man of business can ac- 
 complish by methodical working, and by the careful economy of his 
 time. It would even appear as if the more business he had the more 
 leisure he had for other affairs. 
 
 COUBAGE. 
 
 All men begin life with fear. The child is full of fears, because of 
 weakness and ignorance. Water, fire, the cat, the dog, the wall he 
 
COURAGE. 
 
 155 
 
 bumps bis bead against, tbe cbair or table be pulls down upon bim, 
 are tbe enemies of tbe child, wbicb be only masters by knowledge. 
 All men begin life with fear ; and when one person in a company 
 spoke of one wbo “ never knew wbat fear was,” Dr. Johnson replied, 
 u Then be never snuffed a candle with bis fingers.” Courage is pres- 
 ence of mind ; self-possession. Knowledge aids it. Cowardice, fear, 
 shuts tbe eyes, freezes tbe juices. It was said very well by Mon- 
 taigne, that tbe only thing be was afraid of was of being frightened. 
 Cowardice “ shuts tbe eyes until tbe sky is no bigger than a calf- 
 skin.” Fear is cowardly and mean, until at last, we do not know 
 virtue when we see it. There is a total perversion of things ; society 
 is upside down, and its best men are thought too bad to live. It has 
 been said that courage is tbe greatest of all virtues, because unless a 
 man has that virtue, be has no security for any other. Each has bis 
 own courage, as bis own talent. Bonaparte said, “ My band is in- 
 stantly connected with my bead, and wbat I say, that I do, or die.” 
 So it is with tbe hero. Tbe brave man believes in bis thought, and 
 obeys it, nothing doubting that it will bring bim out well. 
 
 But far above tbe courage of blood is tbe courage of character — 
 tbe will. There are many books on tbe will. There is Edwards, and 
 Hopkins, and Kant, and Hegel, but it remains a mystery and a mir- 
 acle, and when it appears in a man be is a hero, and all tbe meta- 
 physics in tbe world is dumb before bim, and shares tbe astonish- 
 ment. As soon as we rise to tbe bights of courage, we come to tbe 
 grand models of mankind. We have come to tbe secret of tbe will, 
 wbicb is tbe antagonist of fate, which is tbe presence always of spir- 
 itual power, tbe presence of Cod in man — always miraculous, and 
 “past finding out.” 
 
 If there is any man wbo has no faith in a Beneficent Power above 
 us, but sees only an adamantine fate coiling its inevitable folds about 
 men, to bim I say, tbe best use of fate is to teach us courage, like tbe 
 Turk. Co face tbe fire at sea, or tbe cholera in a friend’s bouse, or 
 tbe burglar in your own, or whatever danger lies in tbe way of duty, 
 knowing that you are guarded by destiny. 
 
 Nothing that is of real worth can be achieved without courageous 
 working. Man owes bis growth chiefly to that active striving of tbe 
 will, that encounter with difficulty, wbicb we call effort ; and it is as- 
 tonishing to find bow often results apparently impracticable are thus 
 made possible. An intense anticipation itself transforms possibility 
 into reality ; our desires being often but tbe precursers of the things 
 wbicb we are capable of performing. On tbe contrary, tbe timid and 
 
156 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 hesitating find everything impossible, chiefly because it seems so. It 
 is related of a young French officer, that he used to walk about his 
 apartment exclaiming, “I will be Marshall of France and a great 
 general.” This ardent desire was the presentiment of his success; 
 for he did become a distinguished commander, and he died a marshall 
 of France. 
 
 Some years ago, a naval officer wishing to cross from Staten Island 
 to Bergen, could find no person willing to undertake the job save a 
 bare-footed boy, who, despite the roughness of the sea, bravely rowed 
 him to the place of destination. The officer was so pleased with his 
 pluck that he got him a situation on a steamer, and that boy was 
 Cornelius Vanderbilt, who is now worth* over $13,000,000. 
 
 To believe a business impossible, is the way to make it so. How 
 many feasible projects have miscarried through despondency, and 
 been strangled in the birth by a cowardly imagination. It is better 
 to meet danger than to wait for it. A ship on a lee shore stands out 
 to sea in a storm to escape shipwreck. Impossibilities, like vicious 
 dogs, fly before him who is not afraid of them. * Should misfortune 
 overtake, retrench — work harder — but never fly the track — confront 
 difficulties with unflinching perseverance. Should you then fail, you 
 will be honored ; but shrink, and you will be despised. When you 
 put your hands to a work, let the fact of your doing so constitute the 
 evidence that you mean to prosecute it to the end. Stand like a 
 beaten anvil. It is the part of a great champion to be stricken and 
 conquer. 
 
 Courage, like cowardice, is undoubtedly contagious, but some per- 
 sons are not at all liable to catch it. . The attention of restless and 
 fickle men turns to no account ; poverty overtakes them whilst they 
 are flying so many different ways to escape it. What is called cour- 
 age is oftentimes nothing more than the fear of being thought a cow- 
 ard. The reverence that restrains us from violating the laws of God 
 or man is not unfrequently branded with the name of cowardice. 
 The Spartans had a saying, that he who stood most in fear of the 
 law generally showed the least fear of an enemy. And we may infer 
 the truth of this from the reverse of the proposition, for daily expe- 
 rience shows us that they who are the most daring in a bad cause are 
 often the most pusillanimous in a good one. 
 
 Plutarch says courage consists not in hazarding without fear, but 
 by being resolute in a just cause. An officer, after a very severe bat- 
 tle, on being complimented on standing his ground firmly, under a 
 terrible fire, replied, “ Ah, if you knew how I was frightened, you 
 
COURAGE. 
 
 167 
 
 would compliment me more still.” It is not the stolid man, or the 
 reckless man ; who exhibits the noblest bravery in the great battle cf 
 life. It is the man whose nerves and conscience are all alive; who 
 looks before and behind ; who weighs well all the probabilities of suc- 
 cess or defeat, and is determined to stand his ground. There is an- 
 other fine anecdote apropos to this subject: A phrenologist exam- 
 ining the head of the Duke of Wellington, said, “ Your Grace has not 
 the organ of animal courage largely developed.” “ You are right,” 
 replied the great man, “and but for my sense of duty I should have 
 retreated in my first fight.” This first fight, in India, was one of the 
 most terrible on record. 0, that word “duty!” What is animal 
 courage compared with it? Duty can create that courage, or its 
 equivalent, but that courage never can create duty . The Duke of 
 Wellington saw a' man turn pale as he marched up to a battery. 
 “That is a brave man,” said he, “ he knows his danger and faces it.” 
 
 To lead the forlorn hope in the field of carnage requires less nerve 
 than to fight nobly and unshrinkingly the bloodless battle of life. To 
 bear evil speaking and illiterate judgment with equanimity, is the 
 highest bravery. It is, in fact, the repose of mental courage. 
 
 Ho one can tell who the heroes are, and who the cowards, until 
 some crisis comes to put us to the test. And no crisis puts us to the 
 test that does not bring us up alone and single-handed to face danger. 
 It is nothing to make a rush with the multitude even into the jaws 
 of destruction. Sheep will do that. Armies might be picked from 
 the gutter, and marched up to make food for powder. But when 
 some crisis singles one out from the multitude, pointing at him the 
 particular finger of fate, and telling him, “Stand or run,” and he 
 faces about with steady nerve, with nobody else to stand behind, we 
 may be sure the hero stuff is in him. When such a crisis comes, the 
 true courage is just as likely to be found in people of shrinking nerves, 
 or in weak and timid women, as in great burly people. It is a moral, 
 not a physical trait. Its seat is not in the temperament, but the 
 will. How courageous Peter was, and all those square-built fisher- 
 men of the sea of Galilee, at the Last Supper, and in the garden of 
 Gethsemane, where Peter drew his sword and smote the officer ! But 
 when Christ looked down from his cross, whom did he see standing 
 in that focus of Jewish rage? Hone of those stout fishermen, but a 
 young man and a tender-hearted woman — John and Mary. 
 
 A good cause makes a courageous heart. They that fear an over- 
 throw, are half conquered. To be valorous is not always to be ven- 
 turous. A warm heart requires a cool head ; courage without con- 
 
158 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 duct is like fancy without judgment, all sail and no ballast. True 
 valor protects the feeble, and humbles the oppressor. Have the 
 courage to show your respect for honesty in whatever guise it appears ; 
 and your contempt for dishonesty and duplicity, by whomsoever ex- 
 hibited. The moral courage which will face obloquy in a good cause, 
 is a much rarer virtue than the physical valor, which will confront 
 death in a bad one. The moral hero is one whose voice is often at 
 first alone, a still small voice in the moral desert against the wind 
 and the earthquake and the fire of strong and evil passion. 
 
 Do not be discouraged by obstacles. Despair is the result of doubt. 
 Doubt God’s fatherliness, man’s brotherliness, and the need of you: 
 own soul, and you have begun, unconsciously, to twist the three cords 
 in the cable of despair, which the Devil waits to coil round you and 
 tie in a Gordian knot — defying every hand save His beneath whose 
 lightest finger-touch the most perplexing tangle of mystery is swept 
 away, as easily as the gossamer web that glimmers on the grass. 
 Doubt is the beginning of error. 
 
 u Our doubts are traitors, 
 
 And make us lose the good we might win 
 By fearing to attempt. 
 
 Two instances occurred in the recent riot in New York, which 
 show what the courage of a single man may do. The mob threat- 
 ened and approached a house. One man, not its owner, nor his friend, 
 stood on the steps as the crowd came on. The leader rushed forward. 
 Said this hero: “You shall enter this house only over my dead 
 body.” They stopped, hesitated, swore, and retreated, leaving the 
 house unharmed. One brave heart protected it. A negro was pur- 
 sued by a howling mob of thirty or forty, bent on killing him. Hun- 
 dreds saw it, and stirred not ; lifted not voice or hand to defend him. 
 But there was one man not a coward. He ran forward, threw his 
 arm about the negro, faced the mob, drew his revolver, and an- 
 nounced, “The first man who approaches, dies.” And he saved him. 
 
 A robber recently broke into a house at Debreezin, Hungary, there 
 being only the daughter, aged seventeen, of the occupants at home, 
 except an old man, whom he killed on entering. He demanded her 
 father's property, and told her she must die, lest she should cause his 
 arrest. Seeing he was in earnest, she begged to be allowed to 
 die by a swift poison, to which h^ consented. She took a bottle from 
 a shelf, raised it to her lips, and then suddenly dashed the contents 
 
CONTENTMENT. 159 
 
 into his face and eyes. He fell howling to the floor, and next day 
 died. The bottle contained oil of vitriol ! 
 
 An instance of the truest kind of courage is related of a little drum- 
 mer boy in one of our regiments, who had become a great favorite 
 with many of the officers, by his unremitting good nature. He hap- 
 pened on one occasion to be in the officers’ tent when the bane of the 
 soldier’s life passed round. A captain handed a glass to the little fel- 
 low, but he refused it, saying, “ I am a cadet of temperance, and do 
 not taste strong drink.” 
 
 “ But you must take some now. I insist on it. You belong to our 
 mess to-day, and cannot refuse.” Still the boy stood firm on the 
 rock of total abstinence, and held fast to his integrity. 
 
 The captain, turning to the major, said : “ H is afraid to 
 
 drink ; he will never make a soldier.” 
 
 “ How is this? ” said the major, playfully; and then assuming an- 
 other tone, added, “ I command you take a drink, and you know it is 
 death to disobey orders.” 
 
 The little hero, raising his young form to its full hight, and fixing 
 his clear blue eyes, lit up with unusual brilliancy, on the face of the 
 officer, said, “Sir, my father died a drunkard; and when I entered 
 the army I promised my dear mother, on my bended knees, that by 
 the help of God I would not taste a drop of rum, and I mean to keep 
 my promise. I am sorry to disobey your orders, sir ; but I would 
 rather suffer than disgrace my mother, and break my temperance 
 pledge.” 
 
 CONTENTMENT. 
 
 Contentment excludes all murmuring and repining at the allot- 
 ments of providence, all solicitude and anxious thoughts about future 
 events, further than such precautions as are within the sphere of hu- 
 man prudence. Contentment is to be found only within ourselves. 
 A man that is content with a little, has enough ; he that complains 
 has too much. To prize everything according to its real use ought to 
 be the aim of a rational being. There are few things which can much 
 conduce to happiness, and, therefore, few things to be ardently desired. 
 He that looks upon the business and bustle of the world with the phi- 
 losophy with which Socrates surveyed the fair at Athens, will turn 
 away at last with his exclamation — “ How many things are here which 
 I do not want.” 
 
160 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 Those who are contented with a little deserve much ; and those who 
 deserve much are far the most likely persons to be contented with a 
 little. Contentment is oftener made of cheap materials than of dear 
 ones. What a glorious world this would be, if all its inhabitants 
 could say with Shakespeare’s shepherd : “ Sir, I am a true laborer, I 
 earn that I wear ; owe no man hate ; envy no man’s happiness ; glad 
 of other men’s good ; contented with my farm.” Half the discontent 
 in the world arises from men regarding themselves as centers instead 
 of the infinitesimal segments of circles. Be contented with enough ; 
 you may butter your bread until you are unable to eat it. Enough 
 is as good as a feast. When you feel dissatisfied with your circum- 
 stances, look at those beneath you. There are minds, said John Quincy 
 Adams, which can be pleased by honors and preferments, and I can 
 see nothing in them save envy and enmity. It is only necessary to 
 possess them to know how little they contribute to happiness. I had 
 rather be shut up in a very modest cottage, with my books, my fami- 
 ly, and a few old friends, dining upon simple bacon and hominy and 
 letting the world roll on as it likes, than to occupy the most high 
 places which human power can give. 
 
 The truest content is that which no man can deprive you of. Quaint 
 old Andrew Fuller writes truly that contentment consisteth not in 
 adding more fuel, but in taking away some fire ; not in multiplying 
 wealth, but in subtracting men’s desires. Worldly riches, like nuts, 
 tear men’s clothing in getting them, spoil men’s teeth in cracking 
 them, but fill no belly in eating them. When Alexander saw Dioge- 
 nes sitting in the warm sun, and asked what he should do for him ? 
 he desired no more than that Alexander would stand out of his sun- 
 shine, and not take from him what he could not give. A quiet and 
 contented mind is the supreme good ; it is the utmost felicity a man 
 is capable of in this world : and the maintaining of such an uninter- 
 rupted tranquility of spirit is the very crown and glory of wisdom. 
 
 Nature teaches us to live, but wisdom teaches us to live contented. 
 Contentment is opposed to fortune and opinion, it is the wealth of na- 
 ture, for it gives everything we either want or need. The discontents 
 of the poor are much easier allayed than those of the rich. Solon 
 being asked by Croesus, who in the world was happier than himself, 
 answered, Tellus; who, though he was poor, was a good man, and 
 content with what he had, and died in a good old age. No line holds 
 the anchor of contentment so fast as a good conscience. This cable 
 is so strong, and compact, that when force is offered to it, the strain- 
 ing rather strengthens, by uniting the parts more close. The foun- 
 
CONTENTMENT. 
 
 161 
 
 dation of contentment in all conditions, and of patience under all suf- 
 ferings is that when death, which is not far off, removes us out of this 
 world, it will take us from all the sufferings of it. To be in a low 
 condition, and contented, affords the mind an exquisite enjoyment of 
 what the senses are robbed of. If therefore thou would’st be happy 
 bring thy mind to thy condition. 
 
 Our soveriegn remedy against discontent, is constancy of mind. 
 Nothing is above him that is above fortune. We must needs have 
 some concern when we look into our losses ; but if we consider how 
 little we deserve what is left, our murmurs will turn into thankful- 
 ness. If we would begin at the right end, and look with as much 
 compassion on the adversities of some, as we do with envy at the 
 prosperity of others, every man would find cause to sit down content- 
 ed with his own burden. There is no wise man, that would change 
 persons and conditions entirely with any man in the world. 
 
 The contented man is independent of the whole world ; he feels a 
 kind of property in all he sees. An eccentric wealthy gentleman 
 stuck up a board in a field upon his estate, upon which was painted 
 the following — “I will give this field to any man contented.” He 
 soon had an applicant. “Well, sir, are you a contented man?” “ Yes, 
 sir, very.” “Then what do you want with my field?” The appli- 
 cant did not stop to reply. 
 
 An old man said, “ Whei I was young, I was poor; when old, I be- 
 came rich ; but in each condition I found disappointment. When the 
 faculties of enjoyment were mine, I had not the means; when the 
 means came, the faculties were gone. 
 
 Happiness only begins when wishes end ; and he who hankers after 
 more enjoys nothing. 
 
 A short while ago as we sat thinking over the frailties of our race, 
 our eye chanced to fall upon the web of a spider, around which 
 was playing an unsuspecting fly, unconscious of the danger which 
 surrounded it. The wary spider scanned closely its movements, but 
 stirred not, calmly biding his time. He had not long to wait; the fly, 
 charmed with the beauty of the nest, soon made the fatal plunge. 
 No sooner trapped, than, with fearful bounds, it sought to free itself; 
 and for a time the contest seemed doubtful. While they were war- 
 ring for the mastery, another noble prize was entrapped; but the spi- 
 der, true to its interest, made no effort whatever to secure it, but 
 sought rather the securement of that which was still in jeopardy. 
 And as we reflected on the spider’s course, we found that it had beeu 
 
 II 
 
162 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 wise and proper; for, had he loosened his hold upon one, both would 
 doubtless have eluded his grasp. 
 
 How instructive the lesson — and how unlike the course pursued by 
 man ! He, not content to secure enough, is ever grasping for more. 
 And how often does he in grasping for everything get nothing. Let 
 us henceforth learn wisdom from the spider. It teaches the one great 
 lesson # of happiness — contentment. 
 
 LABOB. 
 
 Labor is the parent of all the lasting wonders of the world, wheth- 
 er in verse or in stone. The sweat-drop is the jewel in the coronet 
 of toil. Physical labor relieves us of physical pain ; this constitutes 
 the happiness of the poor. A popular author says, I have no propensity 
 to envy any one, least of all the rich and great ; but if I were disposed 
 to this weakness, the subject of my envy would be a healthy young man, 
 in full possession of his strength and faculties, going forth in a morning 
 to work for his wife and children, or bringing home his wages at 
 night. 
 
 The day-laborer, who earns with horny hand and the sweat of his 
 face, coarse food for a wife and children whom he loves, is raised, by 
 this generous motive to true dignity, and, though wanting the refine- 
 ments of life, is a nobler being than those who think themselves ab- 
 solved by wealth from serving others. 
 
 Labor drives away three of our most inveterate enemies, viz: en- 
 nui, vice, and poverty. Would you be an honest man and enjoy com- 
 petency with pleasure, unknown to hasty wealth or sly roguery? 
 Work ! Let your sweat-drops wash your gains from all dishonesty. 
 You shall live to tell your children that you have observed and felt 
 the wisdom of the royal preacher : — Wealth gathered by vanity shall 
 be diminished, but wealth gathered by labor will increase. 
 
 Never anticipate wealth from any other source than labor. God 
 gives every bird its food, but does not throw it into the nest. He 
 who acquires riches without labor, generally lavishes them without 
 care. Frugality is as closely connected with industry as idleness is 
 with vice. To love and to labor is the sum of living, and yet how 
 many think they live who neither love nor labor. 
 
 Labor is life! ’Tis the still water faileth ; 
 
 Idleness ever despaireth, bewaileth ; 
 
 Keep the watch wound, or the dark rust assaileth ! 
 
LABOR. 
 
 163 
 
 Facility helps to accomplish, but does not accomplish anything ; it 
 goes faster, but never as far as labor. There is no excellence with- 
 out great labor. Dr. Johnson says : All would be losers were all to 
 work for all ; they would have no intellectual improvement. All in- 
 tellectual improvement arises from leisure ; all leisure arises from one 
 working for another. 
 
 The noblest thing in the world is honest labor. It is the very pre- 
 servative principle of the universe. Wise labor brings order out of 
 qhaos ; it turns deadly bogs and swamps into grain-bearing fields ; it 
 rears cities ; it adorns the earth with architectural monuments, and 
 beautifies them with divinest works of art; it whitens the seas with 
 the wings of commerce ; it brings remote lands into mutual and prof- 
 itable neighborhood ; it binds continents together with the fast-hold- 
 ing bands of railroads and telegraphs ; it extinguishes barbarism and 
 plants civilization upon its ruins ; it produces mighty works of gen- 
 ius in prose and verse, which gladden the hearts of men forever. 
 Work, therefore, with pride and gladness, for thereby you will be 
 united by a common bond with all the best and noblest who have 
 lived, who are now living, and who shall ever be born. 
 
 No man has the right to expect a good fortune, unless he goes to 
 work and deserves it. Luck ! cried a self-made man, I never had 
 any luck but by getting up at five every morning and working as 
 hard as I could. No faithful workman finds his task a pastime. We 
 must all toil or steal — no matter how we name our stealing. A 
 brother of the distinguished Edmund Burke was found in a reverie 
 after listening to one of his most eloquent speeches in Parliament, 
 and being asked the cause, replied, “I have been wondering how 
 Ned has contrived to monopolize all the talents of the family; but 
 then I remember, when v$e were at play he was always at work. 
 
 The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars, 
 
 But in ourselves that we are underlings. 
 
 Plato often inculcates this great precept : “ Do thy own work, and 
 know thyself.” Never defer that till to-morrow which you can do 
 to-day ; never do that by proxy which you can do yourself. If you 
 want a thing done, go ; if not, send. Plan no more than you can ex- 
 ecute, and execute all you plan. 
 
 Let no poor boy, after reading the following interesting fact, ever 
 despair of making a comfortable living : A gentleman was once 
 
 walking down the streets of P , when a beggar loudly craved for 
 
 a few coppers for a night's lodging. The gentleman looked earnestly 
 
164 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 at the poor man and inquired, “Why do you not work? You 
 should be ashamed of begging.” “ 0, sir, I do not know where to 
 get employment.” “ Nonsense !” replied the gentleman, “you can 
 work if you will. Now listen to me. I was once a beggar like you. 
 A gentleman gave me a crown-piece and said to me, ‘ Work, and don’t 
 beg; God helps those who help themselves.' I immediately left 
 
 P , and got out of the way of my old companions. I remembered 
 
 the advice given me by my mother before she died, and I began to 
 pray to God to keep me from sin, and to give me His help day by day. 
 I went round to the houses in the country places, and with a part 
 of my five shillings bought old rags. These I took to the paper mills 
 and sold them at a profit. I was always willing to give a fair price 
 for the things I bought, and did not try to sell them for more than 
 they were worth. I determined to be honest, and God prospered me. 
 My purchases and profits became larger, and now I have got more 
 than ten thousand crown-pieces that I can call my own. One great 
 thing that has contributed to my success is this : I have kept from 
 drink and tobacco.” As the gentleman spoke he took out his purse, 
 and drew from it a five-shilling piece, and handing it to the aston- 
 ished beggar, he said : “Now, you have the same chance of getting 
 on in the world as I had. Go and work, and never let me see you 
 begging again. If you do, I will hand you over to the police.” Years 
 passed away. The gentleman had forgotten the circumstance, until 
 
 one day, when traveling through P , he entered a respectable 
 
 looking bookseller's shop, in order to purchase some books that he 
 wanted. He had not been many minutes in conversation with the 
 bookseller, before the latter eagerly looked into the face of his custo- 
 mer and inquired : “ Sir, are you not the gentleman who, a few 
 
 years ago, gave a five-shilling piece to a poor beggar at the end of 
 this street!” “Yes, I remember it well.” “ Then, sir, this home, 
 this well-stocked shop, is the fruit of that five-shilling piece.” Tears 
 of gratitude trickled down his cheeks, as he introduced the gentleman 
 to his happy wife and children. He was regarded as their benefac- 
 tor. When gathered round the table to partake of tea, the bookseller 
 recounted his history from the above eventful day. It was very sim- 
 ilar to that of the welcome visitor. By industry,” honesty, and de- 
 pendence upon God’s help, he had risen step by step, from buying 
 rags to selling papers and tracts in the streets, then to keeping an 
 old book shop, and ultimately to be owner of one of the best circula- 
 ting libraries in the place. Before the happy party separated, the 
 large old family Bible was brought, out of which a psalm of thanks- 
 
LABOR. 
 
 165 
 
 giving was read, and then all bent round the family altar. Words 
 could not express their feelings. 
 
 The mere drudgery undergone by some men in carrying out their 
 undertakings has been something extraordinary ; but the drudgery 
 they regarded as the price of success. Addison amassed as much as 
 three folios of manuscript materials before he began his “ Spectator.” 
 Newton wrote his “ Chronology ” fifteen times over before he was sat- 
 isfied with it ; and Gibbon wrote out his “ Memoir” nine times. Hale 
 studied for many years at the rate of sixteen hours a day, and when 
 weary with the study of the law, he would recreate himself with phi- 
 losophy and the study of the mathematics. Hume wrote thirteen 
 hours a day while preparing his “ History of England.” Montesquieu, 
 speaking of one part of his writings, said to a friend, “ You will read 
 it in a few hours; but I assure you it cost me so much labor that it 
 has whitened my hair.” 
 
 Professor Lane, in his preface to his Arabic-English Lexicon, 
 makes the following remarks as to the labor expended on that work : 
 
 “ Nearly twenty years have now elapsed since I commenced this 
 work. Had I foreseen that the whole labor of the composition must 
 fall upon me, or the project be abandoned, and had I foreseen the 
 length of time that it would require of me, unaided, I should certain- 
 ly not have had the courage to undertake it. * * * For seven 
 
 years, in Cairo, I prosecuted my task on each of the work-days of the 
 week, after an early breakfast until within an hour of midnight, with 
 few and short intervals of rest, (often with no interruption but that 
 of a few minutes at a time for a meal, and half an hour for exercise,) 
 except on rare occasions when I was stopped by illness — and once 
 when I devoted three days to a last visit to the Pyramids. I seldom 
 allowed myself to receive a visitor, except on Fridays, the Sabbath 
 and leisure day of the Muslims, and more than once I passed a quar- 
 ter of the year without going out of my house. * * * To convey 
 
 a due idea of the difficulties of my task would be impossible. While 
 mainly composing from the ‘ Taj-el-Aroos/ I have often had before 
 me, or by my side, eight or ten other lexicons, presenting three dif- 
 ferent arrangements of the roots, and all of them differing in the or- 
 der, or rather in the disorder, of the words explained, requiring to 
 be consulted at the same time; and frequently more than a day’s 
 study have been necessary to enable me thorougly to understand a 
 single passage. 
 
 Dr. Tyng stated in an anniversary sermon that he had brought to 
 confirmation 1,417 persons ; received to first communion 1,627 per- 
 
166 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 sons ; married 615 couples ; delivered 6,550 sermons, and addresses 
 at more than 1,000 funerals ; and that he had been the means of 
 raising $1,218,242 for religious purposes. 
 
 Bayard Taylor, in a farewell letter to the Hew York Mercury , thus 
 sums up his labors for six months : “ Two hundred and fifty lectures, 
 thirty thousand miles travel, forty- eight Mercury articles, two books 
 published, and one house built. ,, 
 
 Don’t live in hope with your arms folded ; fortune smiles on those 
 who roll up their sleeves, and put their shoulders to the wheel. Yon 
 cannot dream yourself in a character ; you must hammer and forge 
 yourself one. To love and to labor is the sum of living, and yet how 
 many think they live who neither love nor labor. 
 
 To labor is the destiny of man. It was his normal condition before 
 the fall, and his necessary condition afterwards. The curse pro- 
 nounced upon the earth caused no change in this respect. What pre- 
 viously was his pleasure now became his necessity. Every law of 
 man’s nature, both before and after the fall, protested against idle- 
 ness. Without effort no development, no strength, no compensation, 
 can be secured. It is this that gives utility, and value and beauty, 
 to all physical productions. And he who refuses or neglects to per- 
 form some part in increasing the vital values of the physical or men- 
 tal world, not only violates the law of his own nature, but is a cum- 
 berer of the ground, and a sinner against God. The same conditions 
 of success, the same penalties for idleness, exist in the spiritual world. 
 Effort is everywhere the essential requisite of success. . “ My Father 
 worketh hitherto, and I work,” was the exclamation of Jesus, as he 
 surveyed all that divinity was accomplishing for the salvation of man, 
 and in a parable intended to sum up the whole duty of man in every 
 stage of life, he says, “Go work to-day in my vineyard.” “Work 
 while it is day,” seems to be the universal command, binding on eve- 
 ry Christian. 
 
 The late Bev. W. Blunt once requested a lady whom he thought 
 qualified, to take some charge in district visiting, or some kindred 
 engagement. She answered him, rather declining the proposal. 
 
 “ My stay here will probably be too short for me to be of any use. 
 I do not know that I shall be here three months.” 
 
 His answer was brief, calm, and solemn : 
 
 “ I do not know that I shall be here one.” 
 
 He alluded to his time and life in this present world. She saw his 
 meaning, and answered no more, and heartily embraced the work 
 offered her to do. In God’s sight, time has in reality no remnants. 
 
THE TRUE GENTLEMAN. 
 
 167 
 
 no shreds, no patches to be thrown away ; and the habit of speedy 
 and ready application of onr faculties is one of the most important 
 acquisitions which can possibly be formed. 
 
 “ But if any provide not for his own, and specially for those of his 
 own house, he hath denied the faith, and is worse than an infidel." 
 
 A useful, toiling life may be a perpetual prayer, as it is a perpet- 
 ual hymn. 
 
 THE TEUE GENTLEMAN. 
 
 A gentleman is a man who is gentle. Titles — graceful accomplish- 
 ments — superior culture — princely wealth — great talents — genius — 
 do not constitute a man with all the attributes needed to make him a 
 gentleman. He may be awkward — angular, homely, or poor — and 
 yet belong to the uncrowned aristocracy. His face may be bronzed 
 at the forge or bleached in the mill — his hand huge and hard — his 
 patched vest, like Joseph s coat of many colors — and he may still be 
 a true gentleman. The dandy is a dry goods sign, and not a gentle- 
 man, for he depends upon dress, and not upon his honor and 
 virtue, for his passport to the best circles of society. “ The man who 
 has no money is poor — he who has nothing but money is poorer than 
 he,” and is not a gentleman. * Some of the most distinguished men in 
 the world of letters — in the world of art — have been unamiable — 
 gross — vulgar — ungentle, consequently not gentlemen. 
 
 “ You are a plebian,” said a patrician to Cicero. “ I am a plebian,” 
 said the eloquent Roman ; “ the nobility of my family begins with 
 me ; that of yours will end with you.” I hold no man deserves to be 
 crowned with honor whose life is a failure ; and he who lives only to 
 eat and drink and accumulate money is a failure. The world is no 
 better for his living in it. He never wiped a tear from a sad face — 
 never kindled a fire upon a frozen hearth. I repeat with emphasis, 
 he is a failure. There is no flesh in his heart ; he worships no God 
 but gold. 
 
 There is true dignity in labor, and no true dignity without it. He 
 who looks down scornfully on labor is like Hermes, who had a mouth 
 and no hands, and yet made faces at those who fed him — mocking the 
 fingers that brought bread to his lips. 
 
 He who writes a book, or builds a house, or tills a farm, or follows 
 any useful employment, lives to some purpose, and contributes some- 
 thing to the fund of human happiness. 
 
 Garibaldi, the greatest hero of the age, is a working man. Henry 
 
168 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 Clay was “ the mill-boy of the slashes.” Daniel Webster knit his 
 iron frame into strength by working on his father’s farm when young. 
 
 A gentleman is a human being, combining a woman’s tenderness 
 with a man’s courage. 
 
 One very frequently hears the remark made, that such and such a 
 man “ can be a gentleman when he pleases.” Now when our reader 
 next hears this expression made use of, let him call to mind the fol- 
 lowing: He who “can be a gentleman when he pleases,” never 
 pleases to be anything else. 
 
 The forbearing use of power is a sure attribute of the gentleman ; 
 indeed, we may say that power — physical, moral, purely social or po- 
 litical — is one of the touchstones of genuine gentlemanship. The 
 power which the husband has over his wife, in which we must include 
 the impunity with which he may be unkind to her ; the father over 
 his children ; the old over the young ; and the young over the aged ; 
 the strong over the weak ; the officer over his men ; the master of a 
 vessel over his hands ; the magistrate over the citizens ; the employ- 
 er over the employed; the rich over the poor; the educated over the 
 unlettered; the experienced over the confiding; the keeper of a se- 
 cret over him whom it touches ; the gifted over the silly — the for- 
 bearing and inoffensive use of all this power or authority, or a total 
 abstinence from it where the case admits it, will show the gentleman 
 in a plain light. Every traveler knows at once whether a gentle- 
 manly or a rude officer is searching his trunk. But not only does 
 the use of power form a touchstone ; even the manner in which an 
 individual enjoys certain advantages over others, is a test. No gen- 
 tleman can boast of the delights of superior health in the presence 
 of a languid patient, or speak of great good luck when in hearing of a 
 man bent down by habitual misfortune. Let the man who happily 
 enjoys the advantages of a pure and honest life, speak of it to a fallen 
 fellow being, and you will soon see whether he be, in addition to his 
 honesty, a gentleman or not. The gentleman does not needlessly and 
 unceasingly remind an offender of a wrong he may have committed 
 against him. He cannot only forgive, he can forget ; and he strives 
 for that nobleness of soul and manliness of character whiph impart 
 sufficient strength to let the past be truly past. He will never use 
 the power which the knowledge of an offence, a false step, or an un- 
 fortunate exposure of weakness gives him, merely to enjoy the power 
 of humiliating his neighbor. A true man of honor feels humbled 
 himself when he cannot help humbling others. 
 
 The true gentleman is courteous and affable to his neighbors. As 
 
THE TRUE GENTLEMAN. 
 
 169 
 
 the sword of the best- tempered metal is the most flexible, so the 
 truly generous are the most pliant and courteous in their behavior to 
 their inferiors. 
 
 The true gentleman is one whose nature has been fashioned after 
 the highest models. His qualities depend not upon fashion or man- 
 ners, but upon moral worth, — not on personal possessions, but on 
 personal qualities. The psalmist briefly describes him as one “ that 
 walketh uprightly, and worketh righteousness, and speaketh the 
 truth in his heart.” 
 
 The gentleman is eminently distinguished by his self-respect. He 
 values his character, — not so much of it only as can be seen by oth- 
 ers, but as he sees it himself ; having regard for the approval of his 
 inward monitor. And, as he respects himself, so, by the same law, 
 does he respect others. Humanity is sacred in his eyes ; and thence 
 proceed politeness and forbearance, kindness and charity. 
 
 The true gentleman has a keen sense of honor, — scrupulously 
 avoiding mean actions. His standard of probity in word and action 
 is high. He does not shuffle nor prevaricate, dodge nor skulk ; but 
 is honest, upright, and straightforward. His law is rectitude, — ac- 
 tion in right lines. When he says yes , it is a law ; and he dares to 
 say the valiant no at the fitting season. The gentleman will not be 
 bribed ; only the low-minded and unprincipled will sell themselves to 
 those who are interested in buying them. 
 
 Biches and rank have no necessary connection with genuine gen- 
 tlemanly qualities. The poor man may be a true gentleman, — in 
 spirit and in daily life. He may be honest, truthful, upright, polite, 
 temperate, courageous, self-respecting, and self-helping, — that is, be 
 a true gentleman. The poor man with a rich spirit is in all ways 
 superior to the rich man with a poor spirit. To borrow St. Pauls 
 words, the former is as “ having nothing, yet possessing all things,’* 
 while the other, though possessing all things, has nothing. The first 
 hopes everything, and fears nothing ; the last hopes nothing, and fears 
 everything. Only the poor in spirit are really poor. He who has 
 lost all, but retains his courage, cheerfulness, hope, virtue, and self- 
 respect, is still rich. For such a man, the world is, as it were, held 
 in trust; his spirit dominating over its grosser cares, he can still walk 
 erect, a true gentleman. 
 
 Above all the gentleman is truthful. He feels that truth is the 
 “ summit of being,” and the soul of rectitude in human affairs. Lord 
 Chesterfield, with all his French leanings, when he came to define a 
 gentleman, declared that truth made his success. 
 
170 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPEDIA. 
 
 True courage and gentleness go liand in hand. The brave man is 
 generous and forbearant, never unforgiving and cruel. It is said of 
 Sir John Franklin that “he was a man who never turned his back 
 upon a danger, yet of that tenderness that he would not brush away 
 a mosquito.” 
 
 Gentleness is indeed the best test of gentlemanliness. A consider- 
 ation for the feelings of others, for his inferiors and dependants as 
 well as his equals, and respect for their self-respect, will pervade the 
 true gentleman’s whole conduct. He will rather himself suffer a 
 small injury than, by an uncharitable construction of another’s be- 
 havior, incur the risk of committing a great wrong. He will be for- 
 bearant of the weaknesses, the failings, and the errors, of those whose 
 advantages in life have not been equal to his own. He will be mer- 
 ciful even to his beast. He will not boast of his wealth, or his 
 strength or his gifts. He will not confer favors with a patronizing 
 air. 
 
 The true gentleman is God’s servant, the world’s master, and his 
 own man ; virtue his business, study his recreation, contentment his 
 rest, and happiness his reward ; God is his father, the Church is his 
 mother, the saints his brethren, all that need him his friends ; devo- 
 tion is his chaplain, chastity his chamberlain, sobriety his butler, 
 temperance his cook, hospitality his housekeeper, Providence his 
 steward, charity his treasurer, pity his mistress of the house, and 
 discretion his porter, to let in or out, as most fit. This is the whole 
 family, made up of virtues, and he is the true master of the house. 
 He is necessitated to take the world on his way to heaven ; but he 
 walks through it as fast as he can, and all his business by the way is 
 to make himself and others happy. Take him in two words — a man 
 and a Christian. 
 
 SUCCESS. 
 
 The generally accepted theory that fortune is a fickle dame, turn- 
 ing her smiles or her frowns upon whom she will without any regard 
 to merit, is false and dangerous in its influence upon youth. There 
 is nothing it seems to me more evident than that everything in the 
 universe is governed by the strictest laws. And as in the planetary 
 system myriads of orbs revolve in resplendent order around one com- 
 mon center, directed in all their course by fixed and unchanging 
 
SUCCESS. 
 
 171 
 
 laws so complicated that the slightest variation on the part of any 
 one body must end in universal “ wreck of matter and crash of 
 worlds/’ so in human life every cause produces its legitimate effect, 
 every action is followed by its legitimate consequence. Every man 
 is the architect of his own fortune, and his success or failure depends 
 upon the course he takes, the amount of experience, common sense, 
 and energy he possesses, and the devotion and perseverance with 
 which he applies himself to the accomplishment of his purpose. Ev- 
 ery one doa’t succeed because every one don’t try. A wrong philos- 
 ophy of life destroys the attainment of a thousand triumphs. The 
 young man who believes that he may or may not succeed according 
 to the whims of the fickle little lady fortune may float along finely 
 for a time. Every breeze may he as propitious as heart could wish 
 and every current favorable. But darkness always follows the sun- 
 shine, and storms the calm. Such an one is apt — in fact is almost 
 certain to look upon these changes of nature as the “ slings of outra- 
 geous fortune,” directed especially against himself, and with which 
 it is folly for him to contend, instead of considering them (as they 
 really are) the natural and necessary attendants of life, by which its 
 stream is kept pure, and its voyageurs in healthful action. 
 
 Who are the successful men? They are those who when boys 
 were compelled to work either to help themselves or their parents, 
 and who when a little older were under the stern necessity of doing 
 more than their legitimate share of labor ; who as young men had 
 their wits sharpened by having to devise ways and means of making 
 their time more available than it would be under ordinary circum- 
 stances. Hence in reading the lives of eminent men who have greatly 
 distinguished themselves, we find their youth passed in self-denials 
 of food, sleep, rest, and recreation. They sat up late, rose early, to 
 the performance of imperative duties, doing by daylight the work of 
 one man, and by night that of another. Said a gentleman, the other 
 day, now a private banker of high integrity, and who started in life 
 without a dollar, “ For years I was in my place of business by sun- 
 rise, and often did not leave it for fifteen or eighteen hours.” Let 
 not then any youth be discouraged if he has to make his own living, 
 or even to support a widowed mother, or sick sister, or unfortunate 
 relative ; for this has been the road to eminence of many a proud 
 name. This is the path which printers and teachers have often trod 
 — thorny enough at times, at others so beset with obstacles as to be 
 almost impassable : but the way was cleared, sunshine came, success 
 followed — then the glory and renown. 
 
172 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 Twenty clerks in a store ; twenty hands in a printing office ; twenty 
 apprentices in a shipyard ; twenty young men in a village — all want 
 to get on in the world, and expect to do so. One of the clerks will 
 become a partner and make a fortune ; one of the compositors will 
 own a newspaper and become an influential citizen ; one of the ap- 
 prentices will become a master builder ; one of the young villagers will 
 get a handsome farm and live like a patriarch — but which one is the 
 lucky individual? Lucky! there is no luck about it. The thing is 
 almost as certain as the Eule of Three. The young fellow who will 
 distance his competitors is he who * masters his business, who pre- 
 serves his integrity, who lives cleanly and purely, who devotes his 
 leisure hours to the acquisition of knowledge, who never gets into 
 debt, who gains friends by deserving them, and who saves his spare 
 money. There are some ways to fortune shorter than this old dusty 
 highway — but the staunch men of the community, the men who 
 achieve something really worth having, good fortune and serene old 
 age, all go on in this road. 
 
 Men are made each with some triumphant superiority which, 
 through some adaptation of the finger, or the eye, or ear, enriches 
 the community with new interest. We value these feats as certifi- 
 cates of mental power. Jeuffroy could draw a perfect circle with his 
 bare hand ; a king of Norway could row around his galleries on the 
 blades of the oars, while the boat was in motion ; another gave a 
 public entertainment, where he painted the scenes, cut the statues, 
 invented the enginery, composed the music, wrote the comedy, and 
 built the theater. Sheridan in one day took part in the prosecution 
 of the Hastings, and in the evening in the debate of the House of 
 Commons, and then at night, the two theaters played, one the “Du- 
 enna,” and the other the “ School for Scandal,” his pieces. On the 
 Ehine, Dr. Polodores said to Byron, “After all, what is there you 
 can do and I can not? ” “Why, since you force me to say,” answered 
 Byron, “ I think of three things which I can do, and you can not.” 
 Being defied to name them, he said, “ I can swim across that river, 
 (the Ehine ;) I can snuff out that candle with a pistol shot at twelve 
 paces ; and I have written a poem of which fourteen thousand copies 
 were sold in one day.” I was told in Philadelphia by a person quite 
 knowing as to what he said that Sidney Smith forced the State of 
 Pennsylvania to pay its bonds ; he followed that offending common- 
 wealth with his ridicule ; nobody could dodge it ; his letters were re- 
 printed all over the state, and his ridicule permeates everything un- 
 til at last no man dare go to the legislature until he was content to 
 
SUCCESS. 
 
 173 
 
 vote to pay the bonds. I saw at Montreal Sir George Simpson, 
 whose boast it is that he has gone round the world by land. Bona- 
 parte did exploits enough for many lives, but here is one long forgot- 
 ten : “ I have displaced the seat of industry in driving it from the 
 
 sea, and causing sugar to be made from turnips, and soda from salt.” 
 Hypocrates, in Greece, knew how to stay the devouring plague which 
 had ravaged Athens. We have seen a woman who could institute 
 hospitals in armies ; another who by pure music could melt the souls 
 of a population. We have seen, in America, a woman write a novel, 
 of which a million copies were sold in all languages, which was read 
 to three audiences, in the drawing-room, the nursery, and the kitch- 
 en. There is many a man in this country who has built his town ; 
 there are inventors who can put their thoughts into brass, iron, stone 
 or wood ; and we can build the best ships for freight and swiftness. 
 One makes a wheel that saves ninety per cent, of the waterfall ; an- 
 other makes a reaping machine ; another plays chess ; another tames 
 horses. Our civilization is made up of a million contributions of fact-8 
 of this kind of success. 
 
 I have read that Napoleon used to say, “ Never mind justice and 
 means, so that I succeed.” In the same spirit is the French maxim, , 
 “ Nothing succeeds better than success,” and some Americans are too 
 deeply tainted with this insanity about bankruptcies. But nature 
 knows how to convert our evil to good. Nature utilizes all our foi- 
 bles, utilizes misers, fanatics, showmen, egotists, to accomplish her 
 ends, though we must not think the better for the foible for that. 
 This passion for sudden, superficial, external success is all rude 
 and puerile, just as the worn cannon and execution is used to clear 
 the ground of savages, but always to the damage of the conquerers. 
 
 There was a wise man in Italy, Michael Angelo, who writes thus 
 of himself: “ The Cardinal St. Giorgio, in whom all my best hopes 
 were placed, having died, I begin to understand that the dreams of 
 this world are but vain phantasies, and that to confide in one’s self 
 and become something of worth and value is the best and safest 
 course.” Let us take Michael Angelo’s rule, “ to confide in one’s 
 self and be something of worth and value.” 
 
 Each man has an aptitude born with him to do easily some feat 
 impossible to another. Do your work, respect the excellence of the 
 work and not its acceptableness. This is so much economy, that 
 rightly read, it is the sum of all economy. Do your work. Let 
 the man dare to do that which he can do best, that is the plainest 
 thrift. 
 
174 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 Self-trust is the first secret of success. So long as you work at 
 your own take, so long you are successful. Success does not consist 
 in rushing prematurely to showy feats to catch the eye. It is enough 
 that you work in the right direction. 
 
 We hear a good deal about “good luck” and “bad luck.” If a 
 person has prospered in business, he is said to have had “good luck.” 
 If he has failed, he has had “ bad luck.” If he has been sick, good 
 or bad luck is said to have visited him, accordingly as he got well or 
 died. Or, if he has remained in good health, while others have been 
 attacked by some epidemic disease, he has had the “ good luck ” to 
 escape that with which others have had the “ bad luck ” to be seized. 
 
 These habitual expressions about “ luck,” whether good or bad, 
 are the offspring of atheism. They ignore the idea of Divine Provi- 
 dence, which, Christianity teaches us, superintends all the affairs of 
 men. 
 
 Good or bad luck is in most cases but a synonym for good or bad 
 judgment. The prudent, the considerate, and the circumspect seldom 
 complain of ill luck. 
 
 The secret of one’s success or failure in nearly every enterprise is 
 usually contained in answer to the question : How earnest is he ? 
 Success is the child of confidence and perseverance. The talent of 
 success is simply doing what you can do well, and doing well what- 
 ever you do — without a thought of fame. Fame never comes be- 
 cause it is craved. Success is the best test of capacity. Success is 
 not always a proper criterion for judging a man’s character. It is 
 certain that success naturally confirms us in a favorable opinion of 
 ourselves. Success in life consists in the proper and harmonious de- 
 velopment of those faculties which God has given us. 
 
 Be thrifty that you may have wherewith to be charitable. He that 
 labors and thrives, spins gold. 
 
 They who are eminently successful in business, or who achieve 
 greatness, or even notoriety in any pursuit, must expect to make en- 
 emies. Whoever becomes distinguished is sure to be a mark for the 
 malicious spite of those who, not deserving success themselves, are 
 galled by the merited triumph of the more worthy. Moreover, the 
 opposition which originates in such despicable motives, is sure to be 
 of the most unscrupulous character; hesitating at no iniquity, de- 
 scending to the shabbiest littleness. Opposition, if it be honest and 
 manly, is not in itself undesirable. It is the whetstone by which a 
 highly tempered nature is polished and sharpened ; and the competi- 
 tor in life’s struggle, who is of the true metal, deprecates not opposi- 
 
HONOR. 
 
 176 
 
 tion of such a character, but rather rejoices in it, as a brave warrior 
 exults in a foeman worthy of his steel. It is only injustice or mean- 
 ness which wounds ; and it is this which the successful must meet 
 proportioned in bitterness, ofttimes, to the measure of success which 
 excites it. 
 
 In any age, but especially in ours, the faint-hearted must fail. The 
 way to great results is always beset by difficulties that only deter- 
 mined effort can overcome. Ofttimes the difficulties to be surmounted 
 are great in proportion to the magnitude of the end, so that the 
 grandest of human achievements have come of an energy and deter- 
 mination more than earthly. The greatest talents have sometimes 
 lost an occasion worthy of themselves, simply from indecision, while 
 smaller minds have seized the hour, and with resistless will accom- 
 plished their purpose. Indecision is a weakness, sometimes a sin. 
 Decision of character can and should be cultivated. 
 
 HONOB. 
 
 True honor, as defined by Cicero, is the concurrent approbation of 
 good men ; those only being fit to give true praise, who are them- 
 selves praiseworthy. Anciently the Bomans worshipped virtue and 
 honor as gods ; they built two temples, which were so seated, that 
 none could enter the temple of honor, without passing through the 
 temple of virtue. 
 
 The way to be truly honored, is to be illustriously good. Maxim- 
 ilian, the German emperor, replied to one who desired his letters pa- 
 tent to ennoble him, saying, I am able to make you rich ; but virtue 
 must make you noble. Who would not desire the honor that Agesi- 
 laus, king of Sparta, had, who was fined by the Sphori for having 
 stolen away all the hearts of the people to himself alone ? Of whom 
 it is said, that he ruled his country by obeying it. It is with glory 
 as with beauty : for as a single fine lineament cannot make a fine 
 face, neither can a single good quality render a man accomplished ; 
 but a concurrence of many fine features, and good qualities, make true 
 beauty and true honor. 
 
 The Athenians raised a noble statue to the memory of iEsop, and 
 placed a slave on a pedestal, that men might know the way to honor 
 was open to all. The man of honor is internal, the person of honor 
 an external ; the one a real, the other a fictitious character. A per- 
 
176 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 son of honor may be a profane libertine, penurious, proud, may insult 
 his inferiors, and defraud his creditors ; but it is impossible for a man 
 of honor to be guilty of any of these. 
 
 There is no true glory, no true greatness, without virtue; without 
 which we do but abuse all the good things we have, whether they be 
 great or little, false or real. Biches make ub either covetous or prod- 
 igal ; fine palaces make us despise the poor and poverty ; a great 
 number of domestics flatter human pride, which uses them like slaves ; 
 valor oftentimes turns brutal and unjust ; and a high pedigree makes 
 a man take up with the virtues of his ancestors, without endeavoring 
 to acquire any himself. 
 
 Where honor runs parallel with the laws of God and our country, 
 says Addison, it cannot be too much cherished. Says Pope : — 
 
 li Honor and shame from no condition rise: 
 
 Act well your part; there all the honor lies.” 
 
 “ Mine honor is my life; both grow in one; 
 
 Take honor from me, and ,my life is undone.” — Shale. 
 
 HONESTY. 
 
 Nothing more completely baffles one who is full of trick and du- 
 plicity himself, than straightforward and simple integrity in another. 
 A knave would rather quarrel with a brother knave than a fool, but 
 he would rather avoid a quarrel with one honest man than with both. 
 He can combat a fool by management and address, and he can con- 
 , quer a knave by temptations. But the honest man is neither to be 
 bamboozled or bribed. 
 
 A man who is rightly honest, looks not to what he might do, but 
 to what he should. He wears always the same countenance ; speaks 
 the truth ; his cheeks are never stained with the blushes of recanta- 
 tion ; nor does his tongue falter to make good a lie, with the secret 
 glosses of double or reserved meaning. An honest man is believed 
 without an oath ; for his reputation swears for him. Xenocrates was 
 a man of so much truth and fidelity, that the Athenians gave him 
 alone this privilege, that his evidence should be lawful without swear- 
 ing. And it is said of Fabricius that a man might as well attempt 
 to turn the sun out of its course, as bring him to do a base or dis- 
 honest action. 
 
 Sincerity of heart and integrity of life, are the great and indispen- 
 
HONESTY. 
 
 177 
 
 sable ornaments of human nature. No man is wise or safe, but he 
 that is honest. A firm faith and true honesty are not to be forced 
 by necessity, or corrupted by reward. Honesty is silently commend- 
 ed by the practice of even the most wicked ; for their deceit is under 
 its colors. 
 
 It is with honesty in one particular as with wealth ; those that 
 have the thing care less about the credit of it than those that have it 
 not. What passes as open-faced honesty is often masked malignity. 
 He who saith there is no such thing as an honest man, you may be 
 sure is himself a knave. When any one complains, as Diogenes did, 
 that he has to hunt the street with candles at noon-day to find an 
 honest man, we are apt to think that his nearest neighbor would have 
 quite as much difficulty as himself in making the discovery. If you 
 think there isn’t an honest man living, you had better, for appear- 
 ance sake, put off saying it till you are dead yourself. Honesty is 
 the best policy, but those who do honest things merely because they 
 think it good policy, are not honest. No man has ever been too hon- 
 est. Cicero believed that nothing is useful that is not honest. He 
 that walketh uprightly, walketh surely ; but he that perverteth his 
 ways shall be known. There is an alchemy in a high heart which 
 transmutes other things to its own quality. 
 
 The truth of the good old maxim, that “ Honesty is the best poli- 
 cy,” is upheld by the daily experience of life ; uprightness and integ- 
 rity being found as successful in business as in everything else. As 
 Hugh Miller’s worthy uncle used to advise him, “ In all your deal- 
 ings give your neighbor the cast of the bauk , — 1 good measure, heaped 
 up, and running over,’ — and you will not lose by it in the end.” An 
 English brewer of beer attributed his success to the liberality with 
 which he used his malt. Going up to the vat and tasting it, he would 
 say, “ Still rather poor, my lads ; give it another cast of the malt.” 
 The brewer put his ‘'character into his beer, and it proved generous 
 accordingly, obtaining a reputation in England, India, and the Brit- 
 ish colonies, which laid the foundation of a large fortune. Integrity 
 of word and deed ought to be the very corner-stone of all business 
 transactions. To the tradesman, the merchant, and manufacturer, it 
 should be what honor is to the soldier, and charity to the Christian. 
 In the humblest calling there will always be found scope for the ex- 
 ercise of this uprightness of character. Hugh Miller speaks of the 
 honest mason with whom he served his apprenticeship, who “put his 
 conscience into every stone that he laid.” So the true mechanic will 
 pride himself upon the thoroughness and solidity of his work, and the 
 12 
 
178 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 high-minded contractor upon the honesty of performance of his con- 
 tract in every particular. The upright manufacturer will find not 
 only honor and reputation, but substantial success, in the genuine- 
 ness of the article which he produces, and the merchant in the hon- 
 esty of what he sells, and that it really is what it seems to be. We 
 may succeed for a time by fraud, by surprise, by violence ; but we 
 can succeed permanently only by means directly opposite. It is not 
 alone the courage, the intelligence, the activity, of the merchant and 
 manufacturer which maintain the superiority of their productions 
 and the character of their country ; it is far more their wisdom, their 
 economy, and, above all, their probity. 
 
 It may be admitted that trade tries character perhaps more severe- 
 ly than any other pursuit in life. It puts to the severest tests hon- 
 esty, self-denial, justice, and truthfulness ; and men of business who 
 pass through such trials unstained, are perhaps worthy of as great 
 honor as soldiers who prove their courage amidst the fire and perils 
 of battle. And, to the credit of multitudes of men engaged in the 
 various departments of trade, we think it must be admitted that on 
 the whole they pass through their trials nobly. If we reflect but for 
 a moment on the vast amount of wealth daily intrusted even to sub- 
 ordinate persons, who themselves probably earn but a bare compe- 
 tency, — the loose cash which is constantly passing through the hands 
 of shopmen, agents, brokers, and clerks in banking houses, — and note 
 how comparatively few are the breaches of trust which occur amidst 
 all this temptation, it will probably be admitted that this steady dai- 
 ly honesty of conduct is most honorable to human nature, if it do not 
 even tempt us to be proud of it. The same trust and confidence re- 
 posed by men of business in each other as implied by the system of 
 credit, which is mainly based upon the principle of honor, would be 
 surprising if it were not so much a matter of ordinary practice in bu- 
 siness transactions. Dr. Chalmers has well said, that the implicit 
 trust with which merchants are accustomed to confide in distant 
 agents, separated from them perhaps by half the globe, — often con- 
 signing vast wealth to men, recommended only by their character, 
 whom perhaps they never saw, — is probably the finest act of homage 
 of one human being to another. 
 
 Although common honesty is still happily in the ascendant amongst 
 common people, and the general business community is still sound at 
 heart, putting their honest character into their respective callings, — 
 there are unhappily, as there have been in all times, but too many 
 instances of flagrant dishonesty and fraud, exhibited by the unscru- 
 
PUNCTUALITY. 
 
 179 
 
 pulous, the over-speculative, and the intensely selfish, in their haste 
 to be rich. There are tradesmen who adulterate, contractors who 
 “scamp,” manufacturers who give us shoddy instead of wool, “dress- 
 ing” instead of cotton, cast-iron tools instead of steel, needles without 
 eyes, razors made only “ to sell,” and swindled fabrics in many shapes. 
 But these we must hold to be the exceptional cases of low-minded and 
 grasping men, who, though they may gain wealth which they proba- 
 bly cannot enjoy, will never gain an honest character, nor secure that 
 without which wealth is nothing, — a satisfied conscience. Money 
 earned by falsehood, cheating, and over-reaching, may for a time daz- 
 zle the eyes of the unthinking ; but the bubbles blown by unscrupu- 
 lous rogues, when full-blown, usually glitter only to burst. The dis- 
 honest, for the most part, come to a sad end even in this world ; and 
 though the successful swindles of others may not be found out, and 
 the gains of their roguery may remain with them, it will be as a 
 curse and not as a blessing. To such the words of the Apostle strong- 
 ly apply : “ Your gold and silver is cankered : and the rust of them 
 
 shall be a witness against you, and shall eat your flesh as it were 
 fire.” ' 
 
 It is possible that the scrupulously honest man may not grow rich 
 so fast as the unscrupulous and dishonest one ; but the success will 
 be of a truer kind, earned without fraud or injustice. And even 
 though a man should for a time be unsuccessful, still he must be hon- 
 est; better lose all and save character. For character is itself 
 a fortune; and if the high-principled man will but hold on his way 
 courageously, success will surely come, — nor will the highest reward 
 of all be withheld from him. 
 
 PUNCTUALITY. 
 
 There were four good habits a wise man recommended to be essen- 
 tially necessary for the management of temporal concerns ; and these 
 were punctuality, accuracy, steadiness, and dispatch. Without the 
 first of these, time is wasted ; without the second, mistakes the most 
 hurtful to our own credit and interest and that of others may be com- 
 mitted; without the third, nothing can be well done; and without 
 the fourth, opportunities of great advantages are lost, which it is im- 
 possible to recall. 
 
 A punctual man can always find leisure, a negligent one never. 
 
180 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 Appointments once made, become debts. I have no right to throw 
 away your time if I do my own. One of the first habits young per- 
 sons should form, should be that of doing things at their right time. 
 They should establish a character that will be a pledge that whenever 
 anything is undertaken, it will be completed at the right time. If 
 you make an engagement to meet any one at a certain time, be sure 
 and be at the place exactly at the time appointed. Do not say a few 
 minutes will not make any difference. If you engage to do anything 
 by a certain hour, do not say it will be just as well if it be done half 
 an hour afterward. 
 
 A proper consideration of the value of time, will inspire habits of 
 punctuality. Punctuality, said Louis XIY, is the politeness of kings. 
 It is also the duty of gentlemen, and the fiecessity of men of business. 
 Nothing begets confidence in a man sooner than the practice of this 
 virtue, and nothing shakes confidence sooner than the want of it. He 
 who holds to his appointment and does not keep you waiting for him, 
 shows that he has regard for your time as well as for his own. Thus 
 punctuality is one of the modes by which we testify our personal res- 
 pect for those whom we are called upon to meet in the business of 
 life. It is also conscientiousness in a measure ; for an appointment is 
 a contract, express or implied, and he who does not keep it breaks 
 faith, as well as dishonestly uses other people’s time, and thus inevi- 
 tably loses character. We naturally come to the conclusion that the 
 person who is careless about time, will be careless about busi- 
 ness, and that he is not the one to be trusted with the transaction of 
 matters of importance. When Washington’s secretary excused him- 
 self for the lateness of his attendance, and laid the blame upon hi? 
 watch, his master quietly said, 11 Then you must get another watch, 
 or I another secretary.” 
 
 The unpunctual man is a general disturber of others’ peace and seren- 
 ity. Everybody with whom he has to do is thrown from time to time 
 into a state of fever ; he is systematically late ; regular only in his 
 irregularity. He conducts his dawdling upon a system; always ar- 
 rives at his appointment after time ; gets to the railway station after 
 the train has started ; and posts his letters when the box -has closed. 
 Business is thus thrown into confusion, and everybody concerned is 
 put out of temper. It will generally be found that the men who are 
 thus habitually behind time, are as habitually behind success ; and 
 the world generally casts them aside to swell the ranks of the grum- 
 blers and the railers against fortune. A London publisher, who rose 
 from a very humble position in life, once said of himself, that he “had 
 
PUNCTUALITY. 
 
 181 
 
 lodged with beggars, and had the honor of presentation to royalty,” 
 and that he attributed his success in life mainly to three things, — 
 punctuality as to time, self-reliance, and integrity in word and deed. 
 
 If you desire to enjoy life, avoid unpunctual people. They impede 
 business and poison pleasure. Make it your own rule, not only to 
 be punctual, but a little beforehand. Such a habit secures a com- 
 posure, which is essential to happiness. For want of it many peo- 
 ple live in a constant fever, and put all about them in a fever too. 
 
 It is related of a Mr. Scott, of Exeter, England, who traveled on 
 business till about eighty years of age, and was one of the most cele- 
 brated characters in the Kingdom for punctuality by his methodical 
 conduct, joined to uniform diligence, amassing a large fortune that 
 for a long series of years, the proprietors of every inn he frequented 
 in Devon and Cornwall knew the day and the very hour he would 
 arrive. A short time before he died, a gentleman on a journey in 
 Cornwall stopped at a small inn to dine. The waiter presented him 
 with a bill of fare that he did not approve of ; but observing a fine 
 duck roasting, “ I’ll have that,” said the traveler. “ You can not, 
 sir,” said the landlord “ it is for Mr. Scott, of Exeter.” “I know 
 Mr. Scott very well,” rejoined the gentleman ; “ he’s not in your 
 house.” “ True, sir,” said the landlord, “ but six months ago, when 
 he was here last, he ordered a duck, to be ready for him this day 
 precisely at two o’clock,” and to the astonishment of the traveler, he 
 saw the old gentleman jogging into the inn-yard just about five min- 
 utes before the appointed time. 
 
 A certain punctual and wealthy landlord, remarkable for his ur- 
 banity of manners and willingness to oblige every one who is up to 
 the mark, when pay-day comes, has a large number of tenants, and 
 never varies five minutes from a certain hour on each quarter-day to 
 call in person and receive his due. One day a very good tenant 
 asked a little delay, as he was a little short of funds, and he had a 
 note to meet at the bank, and pleaded in addition that he had always 
 been up to the time before, and only wanted a little extension now. 
 “Oh, certainly,” said the generous landlord, taking out his watch; 
 “it is now twelve oclock ; Til call around at two!” 
 
 On one occasion, when Washington was sitting for his portrait in 
 Mr. Peale’s painting room, he looked at his watch and said : “ Mr. 
 
 Peale, my time for sitting has expired, but if three minutes longer 
 will be of any importance to you, I will remain, and make up the 
 time by hastening my walk up to the State House, (where Congress 
 was in session.) I know exactly how long it will take to walk there. 
 
182 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 and it will not do for me, as President, to be absent at the hour of 
 meeting.” 
 
 Mrs. Washington was as remarkable for punctuality as her illus- 
 trious husband. At one time, during the General's absence, he wrote 
 to her to get Mr. Peale to paint her portrait in miniature, and to send 
 it to him. Mrs. Washington wrote a note to the artist, saying that 
 her presence at home was indispensable when the General was away, 
 and it would not be convenient for her to attend at his painting room. 
 She requested him, therefore, to come to her house for the sittings 
 and offered to accommodate herself to any hour when it would suit 
 him to be away from his studio. In reply, Mr. Peale appointed sev- 
 en o'clock in the morning. When he left his home to keep the en- 
 gagement for the first sitting, it occurred to him that the lady might 
 not be quite ready to see him at so early an hour. He walked on 
 more slowly than usual. Mrs. Washington met him with the obser- 
 vation, “ Mr. Peale, I have been in the kitchen to give my orders for 
 the day ; have read the newspaper, and heard my niece take her les- 
 son on the harp, and yet I have waited on you twenty minutes.” The 
 gentleman, of course, felt exceedingly mortified, and remarked that 
 if his engagement had been with General Washington, he should have 
 felt the importance of being punctual to the minute, but he thought 
 it necessary to give a lady a little more time. “ Sir,” replied Mrs. 
 Washington, “ I am as punctual as the General.” It may be imag- 
 ined that Mr. Peale took care to be at the house the next day at the 
 time appointed. 
 
 Among mechanics, punctuality is a great desideratum. Show us 
 a mechanic who will get our work done by the time specified, and we 
 will cherish him as the apple of our eye. But to the mechanic who 
 makes us call twice, (fire and sickness excepted,) we bid farewell — a 
 long farewell — he is not the man for our money. The mechanic gains 
 nothing by false promises except a bad name. In order to grasp at 
 all the work in a neighborhood, many a mechanic will promise when 
 he knows it is not in his power to perform. What is such a man but 
 a liar ? To say nothing of the vice of lying, than which there is 
 nothing more low and contemptible, the mechanic, in the end, gets 
 far less work by false promises than he would by a strict adherence 
 to the truth. Punctuality in a mechanic is the soul of business, the 
 foundation of prosperity, and the security of a good reputation. 
 
 Appoint a time for everything, and do everything in its time. 
 
 An incident is told of Sir William Napier, who was one day taking 
 a long country walk near Freshford, when he met a little girl about 
 
FORTITUDE. 
 
 183 
 
 five years old, sobbing over a broken bowl ; she bad dropped and bro- 
 ken it in bringing it back from the field to which she had taken her 
 father’s dinner in it, and she said she would be beaten on her return 
 home for having broken it ; then, with a sudden gleam of hope, she 
 innocently looked up into his face and said, “ But yee can mend it, 
 can’t ee ? ” My father explained that he could not mend the bowl, 
 but the trouble he could, by the gift of a sixpence to buy another. 
 However, on opening his purse it was empty of silver, and he had to 
 make amends by promising to meet his little friend in the same spot 
 at the same hour the next day, and to bring the sixpence with him, 
 bidding her meanwhile tell her mother she had seen a gentleman who 
 would bring her the money for the bowl next day. The child, en- 
 tirely trusting him, went on her way comforted. On his return 
 home, he found an invitation awaiting him to dine in Bath the fol- 
 lowing evening, to meet some one whom he specially wished to see. 
 He hesitated for some little time trying to calculate the possibility 
 of giving the meeting to his little friend of the broken bowl and of 
 still being in time for the dinner-party in Bath ; but finding this 
 could not be, he wrote to decline accepting the invitation on the plea 
 of a “ pre-engagement,” saying to us, “ I cannot disappoint her, she 
 trusted me so implicitly.” 
 
 FOKTITUDE. 
 
 It is good for man that he bear the yoke in his youth. Oaks are 
 made hard by strong discipline. As a gladiator trained the body, so 
 must we train the mind to self-sacrifice, “ to endure all things,” to 
 meet and overcome difficulty and danger. We must take the roagh 
 and thorny roads as well as the smooth and pleasant ; and a portion 
 at least of our daily duty must be hard and disagreeable ; for the 
 mind cannot be kept strong and healthy in perpetual sunshine only, 
 and the most dangerous of all states is, that of constantly recurring 
 pleasure, ease, and prosperity. 
 
 It seems as if man were like the earth. It cannot bask forever 
 in sunshine. The snows of winter and frosts must come and work in 
 the ground and mellow it to make them fruitful. A man upon whom 
 continuous sunshine falls is like the earth in August. He becomes 
 parched and dry, and hard and close-grained. To some men the win- 
 ter and spring come when they are young ; others are born in sum- 
 
184 
 
 PBACTICAL CYCLOPEDIA. 
 
 mer and are only made fit to die by a winter of sorrow coming to 
 them when they are middle-aged or old. 
 
 Fortitude has its extremes as well as the rest of the virtues, and 
 ought, like them, to be always attended by prudence. 
 
 The gallant, the accomplished, and more than all that, the good 
 Major Popham, who departed this life not long ago on the verge of a 
 hundred, the last surviving member of the family of Washington, of 
 whom he was an aid-de-camp, once remarked thus : “ People talk,” 
 
 said he, “ of the hardships of the revolutionary war. Sir, there were 
 no hardships in it. There was an excitement, an enthusiasm attend- 
 ing on the cause in which we were engaged, which kept up our spirits, 
 and actually made toil and privation a pleasure.” “ But, Major, you 
 had hard work, and hard fare, and hard fighting,” was the reply. 
 11 That’s all true, ” he again said, “ but no hardship . Studio fallente 
 labor cm, you know Horace says — the interest beguiled the toil. No 
 years of my life fled away more quickly and pleasantly.” 
 
 What we have seen of men and of the world convinces us that one 
 of the first conditions of enjoying life is to have something to do, 
 something great enough to rouse the mind and noble enough to sat- 
 isfy the heart, and then to give our mind and heart, our thought and 
 toil and affections to it, to labor for it, in the fine words of Eobert 
 Hall, “with an ardor bordering on enthusiasm,” or, as a yet greater 
 sage expresses it, to 11 do it with all our might” 
 
 Skillful mariners get their art in tempestuous storms ; any novice 
 can sail on a smooth sea. 
 
 INDEPENDENCE. 
 
 Though no man is perfectly independent of all others, yet be above 
 the world, and act from your own sense of right and wrong. Let 
 your judgment control your conduct, and your conscience control 
 your judgment always. Be independent. 
 
 PEUDENCE. 
 
 The richest endowments of the mind, are temperance, prudence, 
 and fortitude. Prudence is a universal virtue, which enters into the 
 
PRUDENCE. 
 
 185 
 
 composition of all the rest ; and where she is not, fortitude loses its 
 name and nature. At every action and enterprise, ask yourself this 
 question : What will the consequence of this be to me ? Am I not 
 likely to repent of it ? I shall be dead in a little time, and then all is 
 over with me. Whatever thou takest in hand, remember the end, 
 and thou shalt never do amiss. Think before you speak, and consid- 
 er before you promise. Take time to deliberate and advise; but lose 
 no time in executing your resolutions. Do nothing to-day that you 
 will repent of to-morrow. In the morning, think of what you have 
 to do; and at night, ask yourself what you have done. Seek not out 
 the things that are too hard for thee. Strive not in a matter that 
 concerneth thee not. 
 
 As man is a being very sparingly furnished with the power of pre- 
 science, he can provide for the future only by considering the past ; 
 and as futurity is all in which he has any real interest, he ought very 
 diligently to use the only means by which he can be enabled to enjoy 
 it, and frequently to revolve the experiments which he has hitherto 
 made upon life, that he may gain wisdom from his mistakes, and cau- 
 tion from his miscarriages. When a prudent man, says Lord Ches- 
 terfield, gets into that predicament that he must ask himself more 
 than once what he shall do, he will answer, ‘ Nothing.' Where reason 
 points out no good way, or at least none less bad than the other, he 
 will stop short and wait for light. A little busy mind runs on at all 
 events — must be doing, and like a blind horse, fears no danger be- 
 cause he sees none. Look before you leap. Dangers avoided inspire 
 confidence in Providence. Be ye wise as serpents, yet harmless as 
 doves. 
 
 Judgment is the throne of prudence, and silence is its sanctuary. 
 Nothing goes wrong where prudence is the guide. Your wit makes 
 clear things doubtful ; but it is your prudence that makes doubtful 
 things clear. It is a sign of great prudence to be willing to receive 
 instruction ; the most intelligent persons sometimes stand in need of 
 it. Had I been in the worldly sense of the word even a prudent 
 man, said Lord Byron, I should not be where I am now. The man 
 that is prudent and energetic will succeed. Though fortune seems to • 
 be a universal mistress, yet prudence is her’s. When we are guided 
 by prudence, we are surrounded by all other divinities. 
 
 The most provident have commonly more to spare than men of 
 great fortunes. Prudence saves what passion wastes. Never spend 
 money before you have it. Do not all that you can do ; spend not all 
 that you have; believe not all that you hear; and tell not all that 
 
186 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPEDIA. 
 
 you know. It is a maxim of prudence, to leave things before they 
 leave us. He should consider often, who can choose but once. Sell 
 not virtue to purchase wealth. 
 
 Charity obliges us not to mistrust a man ; prudence not to trust 
 him before we know him. 
 
 SAVING. 
 
 It is not what people eat, but what they digest, that makes them 
 strong. It is not what they gain, but what they save, that makes 
 them rich. It is not what they read, but what they remember, that 
 makes them learned. It is not what they profess, but what they 
 practice, that makes them righteous. These are very plain and im- 
 portant truths, too little heeded* by gluttons, spendthrifts, book- 
 worms, and hypocrites. It is not the money that a man earns, but 
 the money that he saves, which enriches him. Anybody may acquire 
 wealth who will remember to act on this principle. The facility with 
 which money can be gained by industry, in this country, is very great 
 when compared with the facilities for gaining it, generally abroad; 
 but we are an extravagant people, and we expend our earnings with 
 a commensurate prodigality. Those who do not, but practice self- 
 restraint and a careful economy invariably grow rich. They cannot 
 well avoid it. Money makes money. The first thousand dollars soon 
 creates more thousands ; and if you will only compute it, you would 
 be surprised to discover how soon you have expended that thousand 
 upon purchases by no means indispensable to either your comfort or 
 your happiness. “ It's what thee’ll spend, my son,” said a sage old 
 Quaker, “ not what thee’ll make, which will decide whether thee is 
 to be rich or no.” The advice was right, for it was but Franklin’s in 
 another shape. “ Take care of the pennies, and the pounds will take 
 care of themselves.” But it cannot be too often repeated. Men are 
 continually indulging in small expenses, saying to themselves that it 
 is only a trifle, yet forgetting that in the aggregate it is serious, that 
 even the sea-shore is made up of petty grains of sand. Ten cents a 
 day is even thirty-six dollars and a half a year, and that is the inter- 
 est of a capital of six hundred dollars. The man that saves ten cents 
 a day only, is so much richer than if he does not, as if he owned a life 
 estate in a house worth six hundred dollars. Every sixteen years, 
 ten cents a day becomes six hundred dollars ; and if invested quar- 
 
SAVING. 187 
 
 terly does not take half the time. But ten cents a day is child’s play, 
 some will exclaim. 
 
 It takes more of a man, requires more mind, more moral, to save 
 money than to make it ; the idea being expressed, although in not 
 very elegant phrase, “Any fool or knave can make money, but it re- 
 quires a wise man to keep it.” A penny saved is tuppence gained. 
 A man is a man, in proportion to the amount of self-denial he can 
 exercise over himself, in proportion to his moral courage to deny 
 himself as to his appetites and gratifications. Spendthrifts have none 
 of these high qualities, consequently, the world over, they are con- 
 temptuously set aside with the -expression: “Oh! he’s no account.” 
 Where there is most poverty, there is most crime, destitution, dis- 
 ease, and premature death. 
 
 The way to keep money is to earn it fairly and honestly. Money 
 so obtained is pretty certain to abide with its possessor. But money 
 that is inherited, or that in any way comes without a just and fair 
 equivalent, is almost certain to go as it came. The young man who 
 begins by saving a few shillings, and thriftily increases his store — 
 every coin being a representative of a good solid work, honestly and 
 manfully done — stands a better chance to spend the last half of his 
 life in affluence and ease than he who, in his haste to become rich, 
 obtains money by dashing speculations or the devious means which 
 abound in the foggy regions lying between fair dealing and actual 
 fraud. Among the wisest and most thrifty men of wealth, the cur- 
 rent proverb is, “Money comes as it goes.” Let the young man make 
 a note of this and see that his money comes fairly, that it may long 
 abide with him. 
 
 The saving of money, like the getting, should be intelligent of a 
 purpose beyond. It should not be saving for saving’s sake, but for 
 the sake of some worthy object to be accomplished by the money 
 saved. A shoemaker being asked how he contrived to give so much, 
 replied, that it was easily done by obeying St. Paul’s precept in 
 1 Cor. xvi, 2, “Upon the first day of the week, let every one of you 
 lay by him in store, as God hath prospered him.” I earn, said he, 
 one day with another, about a dollar a day ; and I can, without in- 
 convenience to myself or family, lay by five cents of this sum for 
 charitable purposes; the amount is thirty cents a week. My 
 wife takes in sewing and washing, and earns about two dollars a 
 week, and she lays by something like ten cents of that. My children 
 each of them earn a shilling or two, and they are glad to contribute 
 a penny ; so that altogether we lay by us in store forty cents a woek ; 
 
188 
 
 PKACTICAL CYCLOPEDIA. 
 
 and if we have been unusually prospered, we conrtibute something 
 more. The weekly amount is deposited every Sunday morning in a 
 box kept for that purpose, and reserved for future use. Thus, by 
 these small earnings, we have learned that it is more blessed to give 
 than receive. The yearly amount saved in this way is about twenty- 
 five dollars ; and I distribute this among the various benevolent soci- 
 eties, according to the best of my judgment. 
 
 There is now an old man in an almshouse, in Bristol, England, who 
 states that for sixty years he spent sixpence a day in drink, but was 
 never intoxicated. A gentleman who* heard this statement aston- 
 ished the old man by showing him, in figures, that his sixpence a day, 
 if invested at five per cent., compound interest, would have amounted 
 by this time to over $16,000. A shilling a day saved amounts to an 
 estate in the course of a life. A son of Caleb Smith, of Amherst, 
 Massachusetts, about ten years of age, has thirty dollars in silver that 
 he inherited from his grandfather, who, seventy years ago, presented 
 it to the father of the boy on condition that it should be kept in the 
 family as an heir-loom. Had it been placed at interest it would now 
 amount to about $2,000. 
 
 Economy is especially important in the outset of life, until the 
 foundations of an estate are laid. Many men are poor all their days, 
 because, when their necessary expenses were small, they did not seize 
 the opportunity to save a small capital, which would have changed 
 their fortunes for the whole of their lives. He who buys too many 
 superfluities may be obliged to sell his necessaries. It is better to 
 know what you don’t want, than not to know what you do want. 
 
 The world is full of people who can’t imagine why they don’t pros- 
 per like their neighbors, when the real obstacle is not in banks or 
 tariffs, in bad public policy or hard times, but in their own extrava- 
 gance and heedless ostentation. The young clerk marries and takes 
 a house, which he proceeds to furnish twice as expensively as he can 
 afford, and then his wife, instead of taking hold to earn a livelihood 
 by doing her own work, must have a hired servant to help spend his 
 limited earnings. Ten years afterwards you will find him struggling 
 on under a load of debts and children, wondering why luck was al- 
 ways against him, while his friends regret his unhappy destitution 
 and financial inability. Had they from the first been frank and 
 honest, he need not have been so unlucky. 
 
 The single man 11 hired out” in the country at ten or fifteen dollars 
 per month, who contrives to dissolve his year’s earnings in frolics 
 and fine clothes ; the clerk who has five hundred a year, and melts 
 
SAVING. 
 
 189 
 
 fifty of it into liquor and cigars, are paralleled by the young mer- 
 chant who fills a house with costly furniture, gives dinners, and drives 
 a fast horse on the strength of the profits he expects to realize when 
 his goods are sold and his notes all paid. Let a man have a genius 
 for spending, and whether his income be a dollar a day or a dollar a 
 minute, it is equally certain to prove inadequate. The man who, be- 
 ing single, does not save money on six dollars a week, will not be apt 
 to on sixty; and he who does not lay up something in his first year 
 of independent exertion, will be pretty apt to wear la poor man's hair 
 into his grave. 
 
 The art of money-saving is an important part of the art of money- 
 getting. Without frugality no one can become rich ; with it, few 
 would be poor. Those who consume as fast as they produce, are on 
 the road to ruin. As most of the poverty we meet with grows out 
 of idleness and extravagance, so most large fortunes have been the 
 result of habitual industry and frugality. The practice of economy 
 is as necessary in the expenditure of time as of money. They say 
 that if we “ take care of the pence, the pounds will take care of them- 
 selves.” So, if we take care of the minutes, the days will take care 
 of themselves. 
 
 Beware of little expenses, for saving is the bee-line road to wealth. 
 The first effort to save is the most difficult ; only begin and it will 
 soon become easy. Forget not that the loftiest structures were raised 
 stone by stone. 
 
 If every laborer would make a rule to lay by something from his 
 earnings every week, even though it is but a dime, it would be a great 
 step gained toward independence. There are few, if any, in the com- 
 mon walks of life who cannot do this, and the first five dollars laid by 
 in the savings bank, is a good foundation for a fortune. It will make 
 you more careful of little useless expenditures, and give you great 
 relief and satisfaction in view of possible reverses, or long-continued 
 sickness. Every one who can, should lay aside for a rainy day. A 
 lady who was in the habit of cutting out a great deal of work for a 
 large establishment, found a great many bits of cloth accumulating, 
 and her first impulse was to burn them ; but she thought better of it, 
 and saved them up until a convenient opportunity occurred for send- 
 ing them to a paper mill. A rustling five-dollar bill was sent back 
 to her, much to her surprise and pleasure. She resolved to put it 
 into the savings bank, and add to it all her rag-money. After a time 
 a very good opportunity occurred to buy a gold watch, which she de- 
 sired to improve. She looked over her bank funds, and found that 
 
190 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 she had sufficient to purchase it. So her rag-bag literally brought 
 her a gold watch. The little fund kept steadily growing, and now 
 the habit of saving had become formed, and she was able by good 
 management to add a few dollars aside from the rag-money, until at 
 length, with the added interest and all, it amounted to twenty-five 
 hundred dollars. “ I hardly know how it has accumulated,” said the 
 lady. “A few cuttings laid aside when I cut out my work — a few 
 dollars carried to the bank when I went to the city — a little interest 
 added on from time to time — and it has grown up almost without 
 thought or care on my part.” There is a wonderful power in these 
 littles. Just try it in little savings, if you would be well convinced 
 of it. 
 
 It depends much, more on our savings than on our income, whether 
 we shall become prosperous or whether our lives shall be constantly 
 harrassed by want and its attendant miseries. 
 
 John Wesley, in his powerful sermon on the use of money, lays 
 down these three rules — Make all you can ; save all you can ; give 
 all you can. To make without saving, is useless and absurd. To 
 save without giving, is covetousness and idolatry. To make and then 
 save is wise. To save and then give is Christian. 
 
 He that is taught to live upon little, owes more to his father’s 
 wisdom, than he that has a great deal left him, does to his father’s 
 care. 
 
 It is easier to increase our wants, be it ever so much, than to re- 
 duce them, be it ever so little. To find the sheriff’s office, every time 
 you earn five dollars spend ten. There’s two ways of doing it, said 
 Pat to himself, as he stood musing and waiting for a job. If I save 
 me two thousand dollars, I must lay up two hundred dollars a year 
 for twenty years, or I can put away twenty dollars a year for two 
 hundred years — now which shall I do? 
 
 Frugality is good, if liberality be joined with it. Frugality is a 
 fair fortune, and industry a good estate. If there is no fuel, we can 
 have no fire. Waste not, want not. Ants provide against winter. 
 A penny saved is as good as two pennies earned. Gather up the 
 fragments that nothing be lost. 
 
 Who is the worse, — he who never spends, or he who never saves ? 
 A fool and his money are soon parted. He has a good income who 
 has but few occasions for spending ; not he who has great rents and 
 great vents. 
 
 A man that saves the fragments of time, will accomplish much in 
 the course of his life. 
 
ENERGY. 
 
 191 
 
 John Jacob As tor used to say, that when a man who wishes to be 
 rich, has saved ten thousand - dollars, he has won half the battle. The 
 laboring classes of the state of New York, have at this moment over 
 $80,000,000 to their credit in the savings banks. In Massachusetts, 
 one in five of the whole population of the state has a deposit in the 
 savings banks, the total amount of which, as appears by the last an- 
 nual returns to the secretary of the commonwealth, is $62,557,655. 
 
 It is not the money earned that makes a man wealthy — it is what 
 he saves from his earnings. Self-gratification in dress, or indulgence 
 in appetite, or more company than his purse can well entertain, are 
 equally pernicious. The first adds vanity to extravagance, the sec- 
 ond fastens a doctor’s bill to a long butcher’s account, and the latter 
 brings intemperance, the worst of all evils, in its train. 
 
 ENERGY. 
 
 It was Goethe that said this beautiful tbu'g : The longer I live, the 
 more certain I am that the great difference between men, the great 
 and insignificant, is energy, invincible detei mi nation — an honest pur- 
 pose once fixed, and then victory. That quality will do anything that 
 can be done in the world, and no circumstance, no opportunity, will 
 make a two-legged creature a man without it. 
 
 I have lived long enough to know, says AcLm Clarke, that the 
 greatest secret of human happiness is this: Never suffer your ener- 
 gies to stagnate. There is no genius of life, like the genius of energy 
 and industry. All the traditions current among very young men 
 that certain great characters have wrought their greatness, by an in- 
 spiration, as it were, grows out of a sad mistake. There are no rivals 
 so formidable as those earnest, determined minds, which reckon the 
 value of every hour, and which achieve eminence by persistent appli- 
 cation. 
 
 The author of that most excellent book, “ Self-Help,” says, that 
 the difference between one boy and another consists not so much in 
 talent as in energy. Provided the dunce has persistency and applica- 
 tion, he will inevitably head the cleverer fellow without these quali- 
 ties. Slow but sure, wins the race. It is perseverance that explains 
 how the position of boys at school is often reversed in real life ; and 
 it is curious to note how some who were then so clever have since be- 
 come so common-place; whilst others, dull beys, of whom nothing 
 
192 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 was expected, slow in their faculties but sure in tbeir pace, have as- 
 sumed the position of leaders of men. And be adds, that, when a 
 boy, be stood in the same class with one of the greatest of dunces. 
 One teacher after another had tried his skill upon him and failed. 
 Corporeal punishment, the fool’s cap, coaxing, and earnest entreaty, 
 proved alike fruitless. Sometimes the experiment was tried of put- 
 ting him at the top of his class, and it was curious to note the rapidity 
 with which he gravitated to the inevitable bottom, like a lump of lead 
 passing through quicksilver. The youth was given up by many tea- 
 chers as an incorrigible dunce, — one of them pronouncing him to be 
 “■a stupendous booby.” Yet, slow though he was, this dunce had a 
 dull energy and a sort of beefy tenacity of purpose, which grew with 
 his muscles and his manhood ; and, strange to say, when he at length 
 came to take part in the practical business of life, he was found head- 
 ing most of his school companions, and eventually left the greater 
 number of them far behind. The tortoise in the right road will beat 
 a racer in the wrong. It matters not though a youth be slow, if he 
 be but diligent. Quickness of parts may even prove a defect, inas- 
 much as the boy who learns readily will often forget quite as readily ; 
 and also because he finds no need of cultivating that quality of appli- 
 cation and perseverance which the slower youth is compelled to exer- 
 cise, and which proves so valuable an element in the formation of 
 every character. Davy said, “ What I am, I have made myself;” 
 and the same holds true universally. The highest culture is not ob- 
 tained from teachers when at school or college, so much as by our own 
 diligent self-education when we have become men. Parents need not 
 be in too great haste to see their children’s talents forced into bloom. 
 Let them watch and wait patiently, letting good example and quiet 
 training do their work, and leave the rest to Providence. Let them 
 see to it that the youth is provided, by free exercise of his bodily 
 powers, with a full stock of physical health ; set him fairly on the 
 road of self-culture ; carefully train his habits of application and per- 
 severance ; and as he grows older, if the right stuff be in him, he will 
 be enabled vigorously and effectively to cultivate himself. 
 
 The proverb says, He who has heart has everything ; and who 
 doth not burn doth not inflame. It is astonishing how much may be 
 accomplished in self-culture by the energetic and the persevering, 
 who are careful to avail themselves of opportunities, and use up the 
 fragments of spare time which the idle permit to run to waste. In 
 study, as in business, energy is the great thing. We must not only 
 strike the iron while it is hot, but strike it till it is made hot. 
 
ENERGY. 
 
 193 
 
 (live us not men like weathercocks that change with every wind, 
 hut men like mountains, who change the winds themselves. There 
 is always room for a man of force, and he makes room for many. 
 You can not dream yourself in to a character ; you must hammer and 
 forge yourself one. Therefore don’t live in hope with your arms 
 folded ; fortune smiles on those who roll up their sleeves, and put 
 their shoulders to the wheel. “I can’t! — it is impossible!” said a 
 foiled lieutenant to Alexander. • “Begone!” shouted the conquering 
 Macedonian in reply — “there is nothing impossible to him who will 
 try;” and to make good his words, the haughty warrior not yet come 
 to weep that there were no more worlds to subdue, charged with a 
 phalanx the rock-crested fortress that had defied his timid subaltern, 
 and the foe were swept down as with the besom of destruction. 
 
 The greatest glory is not in never falling, but in rising every time 
 we fall. 
 
 There is a famous speech recorded of an old Norseman, thoroughly 
 characteristic of the Teuton : “ I believe neither in idols nor demons,” 
 said he, “ I put my sole trust in my own strength of body and soul.” 
 The ancient crest of a pickax, with the motto of “ Either I will find 
 a way or make one,” was an expression of the same sturdy independ- 
 ence and practical materialism, which to this day distinguishes the 
 descendants of the Northmen. Indeed, nothing could be more char- 
 acteristic of the Scandinavian mythology than that it had a god with 
 a hammer. A man’s character is seen in small matters ; and from 
 even so slight a test as the mode in which a man wdelds a hammer, 
 his energy may in some measure be inferred. Thus, an eminent 
 Frenchman hit off in a single phrase the characteristic quality of the 
 inhabitants of a particular district, in which a friend of his proposed 
 to settle and buy land. “ Beware,” said he, “ of making a purchase 
 there ; I know the men of that department ; the pupils who come 
 from it to our veterinary school at Paris, do not strike hard upon the 
 anvil; they want energy ; and you will not get a satisfactory return 
 on any capital you may invest there.” A fine and just appreciation 
 of character, indicating the accurate and thoughtful observer ; and 
 strikingly illustrative of the fact that it is the energy of the individ- 
 ual men that gives strength to a state, and confers a value even upon 
 the very soil which they cultivate. 
 
 The cultivation of this quality is of the greatest importance ; reso- 
 lute determination in the pursuit of worthy objects being the founda- 
 tion of all true greatness of character. Energy enables a man to 
 force his way through irksome drudgery and dry details, and carries 
 13 
 
194 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 him onward and upward in every station in life. It accomplishes 
 more than genius, with not one-half the disappointment and peril. It 
 is not even eminent talent that is^required to ensure success in any 
 pursuit or purpose, — not merely the power to achieve, but the will to 
 labor, to labor energetically and perseveringly. Hence energy of will 
 may be defined to be the very central power of character in a man, — 
 in a word, it is the Man himself. It gives impulse to his every ac- 
 tion, and soul to every effort. True hope is based on it, — and it is 
 hope that gives the real perfume to life. “ Wo unto him that is faint- 
 hearted,” says the son of Sirach. There is, indeed, no blessing equal 
 to the possession of a stout heart. Even if a man fails in his efforts, 
 it will be a great satisfaction to him to enjoy the consciousness of 
 having done his best. In humble life nothing can be more cheering 
 and beautiful than to see a man combatting suffering by patience, 
 triumphing in his integrity, and who, when his feet are bleeding and 
 his limbs failing him, still walks upon his courage. 
 
 Mere wishes and desires but engender a sort of green-sickness in 
 young minds, unless they are promptly embodied in act and deed. 
 The good purpose once formed must be carried out w T ith alacrity, and 
 without swerving. In many walks of life drudgery and toil must be 
 cheerfully endured as the necessary discipline of life. Hugh Miller 
 says, the only school in which he was properly taught was “ that 
 world-wide school in which toil and hardship are the severe but no- 
 ble teachers.” He who allows his application to falter, or shirks his 
 work on frivolous pretexts, is on the sure road to ultimate failure. 
 Let any task be undertaken as a thing not possible to be evaded, and 
 it will soon come to be performed with alacrity and cheerfulness. The 
 habit of strenuous, continued labor will become comparatively easy 
 in time, like every other habit. Thus even men with the commonest 
 brains and the most slender powers will accomplish much, if they will 
 but apply themselves wholly and indefatigably at one thing at a time. 
 Fowel Buxton placed his confidence in ordinary means and extraor- 
 dinary application; realizing the Scriptural injunction, “ Whatsoever 
 thy hand findeth to do, do it with all thy might,” and he himself at- 
 tributed his own remarkable success in life to his practice of con- 
 stantly “ being a whole man to one thing at a time.” 
 
 Energy usually displays itself'in promptitude and decision. When 
 Ledyard, the English traveler, was asked by the African Association 
 when he would be ready to set out for Africa, he promptly answered, 
 “ To-morrow morning.” “Every moment lost,” said Napoleon, “gives 
 opportunity for misfortune ;” and he used to say that he beat the 
 
ACTION. 
 
 195 
 
 Austrians, because they never knew the value of time ; while they 
 dawdled he overthrew them. 
 
 It is astonishing how much an energetic man of business can ac- 
 complish by methodical working, and by the careful economy of his 
 time. It would even appear as if the more business he had the more 
 leisure he had for other affairs. 
 
 There are hundreds that want energy for one that wants ambition. 
 
 ACTION. 
 
 Man was designed for action. Nature has so constituted him, that 
 both body and mind require daily exercise to develope their powers. 
 The soul is always busy ; and if it be not exercised about serious af- 
 fairs, it will spend its activity upon trifles. Action is the great law ; 
 it is by steady, strong, continuous action that all great works are 
 accomplished. Push is the Shibboleth of our age. If you do not 
 move with the enterprising crowd, it will sweep over you. The day 
 for waiting upon Providence in -business matters is past. Providence 
 will not help any man that cannot help himself. Tax all your ener- 
 gies ; use every new success as a stepping-stone to another triumph ; 
 wrestle resolutely with every difficulty ; and be sure that the Great 
 Artificer, who created and keeps in motion all the forces of the uni- 
 verse, will smile propitiously on your undertakings. Men who 
 have half a dozen irons in the fire are not the ones to go crazy. It 
 is the man of voluntary or compelled leisure who mopes, and pines, 
 and thinks himself into the madhouse or the grave. Motion is all 
 nature’s law. Action is man’s salvation, physical and mental. And 
 yet, nine out of ten are wistfully looking forward to the coveted hour 
 when they shall have leisure to do nothing, or something only if they 
 feel like it — the siren that has lured to death many a “ successful ” 
 man. Hr only is truly wise who lays himself out to work till life’s 
 latest hour, and that is the man who will live the longest, and live to 
 most purpose. 
 
 It was a maxim of Caesar, that we ought to reckon we have done 
 nothing, so long as anything remains to be done. They pass best 
 over the world, said Queen Elizabeth, who trip over it quickly, for it 
 is but a bog — if we stop we sink. Says Patrick Henry, The battle, 
 sir, is not to the strong alone; it is to the vigilant, the active, the 
 
196 
 
 PEACTICAL CYCLOPEDIA. 
 
 brave. Carlyle says, Cast forth thy act, thy word, into the ever-liv- 
 ing, ever-working universe ; it is a seed-grain that cannot die. 
 
 Work while you work, and play while you play. Constant motion 
 is a great law of nature, nothing being stationary. A man can move 
 the hugest mountains to or from himself by the simple lever of his 
 two legs. 
 
 In all emergencies men of prompt action, rather than of curious 
 speculation, .are demanded. W e have heard of men of science who, 
 when a house was on fire, would stand calmly before it, arguing 
 whether the better way to extinguish the flames was by a siphon or 
 by capillary attraction. 
 
 We never knew a smart, active, honest, industrious boy, who did 
 not turn out an energetic, enterprising, and wealthy man. Better 
 wear out than rust out. The most hours do not always signify the 
 most work. 
 
 Mankind are not governed by those that know the most. It is 
 not what men know, but what they do, that governs their place in 
 the world. 
 
 Wait not for difficulties to cease; glory lies in overcoming them. 
 The human race is divided into two classes, those who go ahead and 
 do something, and those who sit still and ask, “ Why wasn’t it done 
 the other way?” We have an excellent example of activity and its 
 rewards in the career of General Sheridan. In the beginning of the 
 month of September last, he was simply a captain in the 13th infant- 
 ry. Twenty days later he became a brigadier, and in less than two 
 months’ time, a major-general in the regular service. 
 
 EMPLOYMENT. 
 
 When the former part of our life has been nothing but vanity, the 
 latter end of it can be nothing but vexation. In short, we must be 
 miserable without some employment to fix, or some amusement to 
 dissipate, our thoughts : the latter we cannot command in all places, 
 nor relish at all times ; and therefore there is an absolute necessity 
 for the former. 
 
 A life of full and constant employment is the only safe and happy 
 
EMPLOYMENT. 
 
 197 
 
 one. If we suffer the mind and body to be unemployed, our enjoy- 
 ments, as well as our labors, will be terminated. One of the minor 
 uses of steady employment is, that it keeps one out of mischief, for 
 truly an idle brain is the devil's workshop, and a lazy man the devil’s 
 bolster. To be occupied is to be possessed as by a tenant, whereas 
 to be idle is to b£ empty ; and when the doors of the imagination are 
 opened, temptation finds a ready access, and evil thoughts come 
 trooping in. It is observed at sea that men are never so much dis- 
 posed to grumble and mutiny as when least employed. Hence an old 
 captain, when there was nothing else to do, would issue the order to 
 “ scour the anchor.” 
 
 That great divine, Jeremy Taylor, says : Avoid idleness and fill 
 up all the spaces of thy time with severe and useful employment; 
 for lust easily creeps in at those emptinesses where the soul is unem- 
 ployed, and the body is at ease ; for no easy, healthful, idle person 
 was ever chaste if he could be tempted ; but of all employments bod- 
 ily labor is the most useful, and of the greatest benefit for driving 
 away the devil. 
 
 If your hand cannot be usefully employed, attend to the cultivation 
 of your mind. To be employed, said the poet, Gray, is to be happy. 
 It is better to wear out than to rust out, said Bishop Cumberland. 
 Have we not all eternity to rest in ? exclaimed Arnauld. 
 
 The man who is obliged to be constantly employed to earn the nec- 
 essaries of life and support his family, knows not the unhappiness he 
 prays for when he desires wealth and idleness. To be constantly busy 
 is to be always happy. Persons who have suddenly acquired wealth, 
 broken up their active pursuits, and began to live at their ease, waste 
 away, and die in a very short time. Thousands would have been 
 blessings to the world, and added to the common stock of happiness, 
 if they had been content to remain in a humble sphere, and earned 
 every mouthful of food that nourished their bodies. But no ; fashion 
 and wealth took possession of them, and they were completely ruined. 
 They ran away from peace and pleasure, and embraced a lingering 
 death. Ye who are sighing for the pomp and splendor of life, be- 
 ware ! Ye know not what ye wish. 
 
198 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 OCCUPATION. 
 
 It is an imperative law of nature that in order to be happy we 
 must have some occupation. The mind is so constituted that it re- 
 quires some object on which its powers maybe exercised, and without 
 which it preys upon itself and becomes miserable. A person accus- 
 tomed to a life of study longs for ease and retirement ; and when he 
 has accomplished this purpose he finds himself wretched. We are 
 acquainted with persons whose early lives were passed in active busi- 
 ness pursuits, and who, at the age of forty, having acquired a compe- 
 tence, have retired from business with the intention of passing the 
 remainder of their days in leisure. For a while everything seemed 
 pleasant, and they flattered themselves that they could now enjoy life 
 and be happy. But they had deceived themselves; their minds soon 
 became restless, and there was a vast amount of time which they 
 could not occupy, and they have said that their happiest days were 
 passed in business. The pleasure of relaxation can be known only to 
 those who have regular and interesting occupation, and on this ac- 
 count continued relaxation becomes a weariness, and the mind be- 
 comes tired of being inactive, and on this ground we maintain that 
 the greatest degree of real happiness and enjoyment is not realized 
 by the luxurious men of wealth, nor by the listless votary of fashion, 
 but by the middle classes of society who, along with the comforts of 
 life, have constant occupation, which in itself proves one of their many 
 sources of happiness. From these facts we draw the following con- 
 clusions : That in order to be happy the mind must have some em- 
 ployment; but we would observe that it is not necessary for any 
 person to make their occupation the sole end of their existence, and 
 pursue it with such energy as to shorten their lives ; but we believe 
 that occupation, with proper seasons for relaxation, is conducive to 
 and actually necessary for the happiness and welfare of every human 
 being, and without which no one can enjoy life. 
 
 There is no discredit, but honor, in every right walk of industry, 
 whether it be in tilling the ground, making tools, weaving fabrics, or 
 selling the products behind a counter. A youth may handle a yard- 
 stick, or measure a piece of ribbon ; and there will be no discredit in 
 doing so, unless he allows his mind to have no higher range than the 
 stick and ribbon ; to be as short as the one, and as narrow as the 
 other. “ Let not those blush who have but those who have not a law- 
 ful calling.’’ “ Sweet is the destiny of all trades, whether of the 
 
OCCUPATION. 
 
 199 
 
 brow or of the mind.” Men who have raised themselves from an 
 humble calling, need not be ashamed, but rather ought to be proud 
 of the difficulties which they have surmounted. The laborer on his 
 feet stands higher than the nobleman on his knees. A former presi- 
 dent of the United States, when asked by a foreigner what was his 
 coat of arms, remembering the occupation of his youth, proudly re- 
 plied, “A pair of shirt sleeves.” It is said that a certain English 
 lord used to point out to his son with pride the shop in which his 
 lather had shaved for a penny. A French doctor once taunted a cer- 
 tain bishop, who had been a tallow chandler in his youth, with the 
 meanness of his origin, to which the bishop replied, “ If you had been 
 born in the same condition that I was, you would still have been but 
 a maker of candles.” Some small spirits, ashamed of their origin, 
 are always striving to conceal it, and by the very efforts they make 
 to do so, betray themselves. It is told of an English dyer, who hav- 
 ing worthily gained his money by honest chimney-sweeping, and feel- 
 ing ashamed of chimneys, stupidly built his house without one, send- 
 ing all the smoke into the shaft of his dye-works. Another very 
 intelligent master chimney-sweeper in London affords a good illus- 
 tration of the force of diligence and well-doing. In early boyhood 
 he was kidnapped for a sweep ; the condition of climbing-boys at the 
 time being one almost of slavery. The boy however had energy of 
 body and mind, and survived the privations of his unfortunate class. 
 At eighteen years of age he commenced business as a sweep on his 
 own account. When employment was slack in his trade he sought 
 and found it in others; in summer ‘and harvest time he worked at 
 farm labor, always bringing home a little store of savings. But he 
 did not neglect his mind ; above all, he did not forget the hardships 
 endured by the poor little climbing-boys ; all of which he had him- 
 self passed through. He therefore devoted his leisure, — snatched 
 from a busy life, — to write a treatise on the subject, which he printed 
 and distributed amongst influential persons. By his frugality, indus- 
 try, and application to business, he eventually realized a large fortune, 
 at the same time promoting the comfort of his boys and workmen in 
 a manner altogether unknown and unusual at the time. On being 
 asked how he had succeeded in his business, and accumulated so 
 large a fortune, he answered, “ By never having an idle hour or an 
 idle guinea.” This was his whole secret. It is not the place which 
 makes the person honorable, but the person makes the place so. 
 
 A useless calling is disgraceful; one that injures mankind — infa- 
 mous. No profession confers honor. No honest work degrades. It 
 
200 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 is excellence in one s vocation, and not the vocation itself, that con- 
 fers distinction. Let ns hear no more of “ humble occupation.” No 
 man will excel in his profession if he thinks himself above it. One 
 should not undertake what he cannot perform. Every man finds in 
 himself, either from nature or education, (for they are hard to dis- 
 tinguish,) a peculiar bent and disposition to some particular charac- 
 ter. Let him follow and cultivate that vocation, he will succeed in 
 it. Whatever situation in life you ever wish or propose for yourself, 
 acquire a clear and lucid idea of the inconveniences attending it. It 
 is only those that have done nothing who fancy they can do every- 
 thing. It is so ungenial to the human mind to do nothing, that, if a 
 good occupation be not provided, men will occupy themselves peril- 
 ously, as in gaming and drinking. He that hath a trade, says 
 Franklin, hath an estate ; and he that hath a calling, hath an office 
 of profit and honor. 
 
 Down to the minutest division of human occupation it will be found 
 that the men whose pursuits bring them in contact with inanimate 
 nature, enjoy their avocations much more than those who are con- 
 versant with humanity and all modifications of the social and moral 
 system. Champort observes that the writers on physics, natural his- 
 tory, physiology, chemistry, have been generally men of mild, even, 
 and happy temperament : while, on the contrary, the writers on pol- 
 itics, legislation, and even morals, commonly exhibited a melancholy 
 and fretful spirit. Nothing more simple ; the former studies nature, 
 the other society. One class contemplates the work of the great Be- 
 ing, the other fixes its observation upon the work of man — the results 
 must be different. The nymphs of Calypso, as they caressed and fon- 
 dled the infant Cupid, became unconsciously penetrated with his 
 flame, and if the power of love be thus subtle, that of hatred is un- 
 fortunately not less pervading. We cannot handle human passions, 
 even to play with them, without imbibing some portion of their acri- 
 mony, any more than we can gather flowers amid nettles without 
 being stung. Into everything human a spirit of party becomes insin- 
 uated, and self-love is perpetually forcing us to taste of its bitterness ; 
 but there is no rivalry with nature ; our pride does not revolt at her 
 superiority, nay, we find a pure and holy calm in contemplating her 
 majesty, before which we bow down with mingled feelings of delight 
 and reverence. Contrast this with the effects produced upon us by 
 human grandeur and elevation. Hence the- charm of solitude; it 
 places us in communion with things, whereas society fixes our regards 
 upon man. 
 
INTEGEIT I. 
 
 201 
 
 INTEGRITY. 
 
 Integrity is the foundation of all that is high in character among 
 mankind ; other qualities may add to its splendor, but if this essential 
 requisite be wanting all their lustre fades. Our integrity is never 
 worth so much to us as when we have lost everything to keep it. In- 
 tegrity without knowledge is weak ; knowledge without integrity is 
 dangerous and dreadful. Integrity, however rough, is better than 
 smooth dissimulation. 
 
 Foremost in the list of requisites for the acquirement of wealth, 
 are honesty and strict integrity in every transaction of life. Let a 
 man have the reputation of being fair and upright in his dealings, and 
 he will possess the confidence of all who know him. Without these 
 qualities, every other merit will prove unavailing. Ask concerning a 
 man, “ Is he active and capable?” Yes. “ Industrious, temperate, 
 and regular in his habits ?” 0, yes. “ Is he honest ? is he trust- 
 
 worthy ?” Why, as to that, I am sorry to say that he is not to be 
 trusted ; he wants watching ; he is a little tricky, and will take an 
 undue advantage, if he can. “ Then I will have nothing to do with 
 him,” will be the invariable reply. Why, then, is honesty the best 
 policy ? Because, without it, you will get a bad name, and everybody 
 will shun you. 
 
 A character for knavery will prove an insurmountable obstacle to 
 success in almost every undertaking. It will be found that the 
 straight line is, in business, as in geometry, the shortest. In a word, 
 it is almost impossible for a dishonest man to acquire wealth by a 
 regular process of business, because he is shunned as a depredator 
 upon society. 
 
 Needy men are apt to deviate from the rule of integrity, under the 
 plea that necessity knows no law : they might as well add that it knows 
 no shame. The course is suicidal, and by destroying all confidence, 
 ever keeps them immured in poverty, although they may possess 
 every other quality for success in the world. 
 
 Avoid — and young men especially — avoid all base, servile, under- 
 hand, sneaking ways. Part with anything rather than your integri- 
 ty and conscious rectitude; flee from injustice as you would from a 
 viper’s fangs; avoid a lie as you would the gates of hell. Some there 
 are who are callous as to this. Some there are who, in stooping to 
 mercantile dishonor and baseness — in driving the immoral bargain — 
 think they have done a clever action. Things are often called by 
 
202 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 their wrong names ; duplicity is called shrewdness, and wrong-heart- 
 edness is called long-headedness; evil is called good, and good evil, 
 and darkness is put for light, and light for darkness. Well ! he it so. 
 You may be prosperous in your own eyes ; you may have realized an 
 envied fortune ; you may have your carriage, and plate, and servants, 
 and pageantry ; but rather the shielding and the crust of bread with 
 a good conscience, than the stately dwelling or palace without it. 
 Rather than the marble mausoleum, which gilds and smothers tales 
 of heartless villainy and fraud — rather, far rather, that lowly heap of 
 grass we were wont often to gaze upon in an old village churchyard, 
 with the simple record of a cotter’s virtues — 11 Here lies an honest 
 man !” There is nothing more sad than to be carried like a vessel 
 away from the straight course of principle; to be left a stranded out- 
 cast thing on the sands of dishonor ; a man bolstering himself up in a 
 position he is not entitled to. “That is a man of capital ,” says the 
 world, pointing to an unscrupulous and successful swindler. Capital ! 
 What is capital ? Is it what a man has ? Is it counted by pounds 
 and pence, stocks and shares, by houses and lands ? No ! capital is 
 not what a man has , but what a man is. Character is capital ; honor 
 is capital. That is the most fearful of ruin when character is gone, 
 when integrity is sold, when honor is bartered for a miserable mess 
 of earthly pottage. God save us from ruin like this ! Perish what 
 may ; perish gold, silver, houses, lands ; let the winds of misfortune 
 dash our vessel on the sunken rock, but let integrity be like the val- 
 ued keepsake which the sailor boy lashed with the rope round his 
 body, the only thing we care to save. Let me die ; but let angels 
 read, if friends cannot afford to erect the grave stone — “ Here lies an 
 honest man” 
 
 CALMNESS. 
 
 The more peacably and quietly we get on, the better for us and 
 others. In nine cases out of ten, the wisest policy is, if a man cheats 
 you, quit dealing with him ; if he is abusive, quit his company ; if 
 he slanders you, take care to live so that nobody will believe him. 
 No matter who he is, or how he misuses you, the wisest way is gen- 
 erally to leave him alone, for there is nothing better than this cool, 
 calm, quiet way of dealing with the wrongs we meet. 
 
 Calmness is strength. Self-command is always important, and ne' 
 
CALMNESS. 
 
 203 
 
 cessary to moral dignity. He only is great who “ ruleth his own 
 spirit.” Calmness enables a man to survey his position, to see its 
 perils, to parry and foil approaching harms, and seize upon sudden 
 advantages. 
 
 The calmness of a well-ordered spirit is the first element of a strong 
 character. No man is capable of swaying and guiding others who 
 does not govern himself. 
 
 And then how sweet the serenity of habitual self-command ! How 
 many stinging self-reproaches it spares us ! When does a man feel 
 more at ease with himself than when he has passed through a sudden 
 and strong provocation without speaking a word , or in undisturbed 
 good humor ! When, on the contrary, does he feel a deeper humilia- 
 tion than when he is conscious that anger has made him betray him- 
 self by word, look or action ? 
 
 It is said of Socrates, that whether he was teaching the rules of an 
 exact morality, whether he was answering his corrupt judges or was 
 receiving sentence of death, or swallowing the poison, he was still the 
 same man ; that is to say, calm, quiet, undisturbed, intrepid, in a 
 word, wise to the last. 
 
 A man once called at the house of Pericles and abused him vio- 
 lently. His anger so transcended him that he did not observe how 
 late it was growing, and when he had exhausted his passion it was 
 quite dark. When he turned to depart, Pericles calmly summoned a 
 servant and said to him, “ Bring a lamp, and attend this man home.” 
 
 Archbishop Leighton was once kept all day out of his study by the 
 thoughtlessness of his servant, who had gone a fishing and carried 
 the key in his pocket. When the man came home in the evening, 
 the Archbishop quietly said to him, “ John, the next time you go a 
 fishing, leave the key in the door.” 
 
 Sir Isaac Newton had nearly completed one of his great works, in- 
 cluding a great number of long and complicated calculations, for the 
 press. The sheets lay on his study table. While he was out one 
 evening, a favorite little dog named Diamond jumped on the table, 
 overturned a lamp, set fire to the papers, and so consumed the labor 
 of many years. When the philosopher entered his library and saw 
 the ruin, he exclaimed, “ 0, Diamond, Diamond, you little know the 
 injury you’ve done me!” 
 
 These men are all great in history. But the majesty of true great- 
 ness shines forth in that act of self-command more splendidly than in 
 anything they ever did or wrote. 
 
 The celebrated Henderson, the actor, was seldom known to be in a 
 
204 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 passion. When at Oxford, lie was one day debating with a fellow 
 student, who, not keeping bis temper, threw a glass of wine in his 
 face. Mr. Henderson took out his handkerchief, wiped his face, and 
 coolly said, “That, sir, was a digression — now for the argument.” 
 
 He that can reply calmly to an angry man, is too hard for him. A 
 great man is most calm in storms, a little one most stormy in calms. 
 
 Calmness indicates refinement. A gentleman makes no noise ; a 
 lady is serene. 
 
 CAUTION. 
 
 No man should be confident of his own merit ; the best err : neither 
 should any rely too much upon his own judgment; for the wisest are 
 deceived. Security is mortal’s chiefest enemy. He that falls into 
 error for want of care and diligence to find out the truth, can have no 
 pretence to pardon. We are as much bound to know our duty as 
 obliged to practice it. He who trusts all things to chance makes a 
 lottery of his life ; wherein for one happy event, he will meet with ten 
 unhappy ones. 
 
 With caution judge of probability, 
 
 Things deemed unlikely, e’en impossible, 
 
 Experience oft hath proven to be true. 
 
 Deliberate slowly, execute promptly. Deliberate with caution, but 
 act with decision. Either yield with graciousness or oppose with 
 firmness. Do not trust to a weak argument because you think you 
 have got a weak adversary ; remember, a donkey will eat through 
 his rope, if you only bind him with a hay band, and be all the strong- 
 er for it. Measure thy cloth ten times ; thou can’st cut it but once. 
 Is it consoling to lose a small fortune in an unlucky speculation, and 
 have all your friends wondering how you could have been such a fool ? 
 There is nothing lost by being careful. The danger which is despised 
 arrives soonest. 
 
 In our intercourse with the world a cautious circumspection is of 
 great advantage. Slowness of belief, and a proper distrust are essen- 
 tial to success. The credulous and confiding are ever the dupes of 
 knaves and imposters. Ask those who have lost their property how 
 it happened, and you will find in most cases it has been owing to mis- 
 placed confidence. One has lost by endorsing ; another by crediting; 
 
BRIGHT SIDE. 
 
 205 
 
 another by false representations ; all of which a little more foresight 
 and a little more distrust would have prevented. In the affairs of 
 this world men are not saved by faith, but by the want of it. 
 
 Judge of men by what they do, not by what they say. Believe in 
 looks, rather than in words. Observe all their movements. Ascer- 
 tain their motives and their ends. Notice what they say or do in 
 their unguarded moments, when under the influence of excitement. 
 The passions have been compared to tortures, which force men to re- 
 veal their secrets. Before trusting a man, before putting it in his 
 power to cause you a loss, possess yourself of every available infor- 
 mation relative to him. Learn his history, his habits, inclinations 
 and propensities ; his reputation for honesty, industry, frugality, and 
 punctuality; his prospects, resources, supports, advantages, and dis- 
 advantages ; his intentions and motives of action ; who are his friends 
 and enemies, and what are his good or bad qualities. You may learn 
 a man’s good qualities and advantages from his friends — his bad qual- 
 ities and disadvantages from his enemies. Make due allowance for 
 exaggeration in both. Finally, examine carefully before engaging in 
 anything, and act with energy afterwards. Have the hundred eyes 
 of Argus beforehand, and the hundred hands of Briarus afterwards. 
 
 BRIGHT SIDE. 
 
 Men are blamed for looking at only one side of things, but they 
 are right enough if that side is the bright one. Dr. Johnson used to 
 say that a habit of looking at the best side of every event is better 
 than a thousand pounds a year. The evils inseparably annexed to 
 the present condition of man are so numerous and afflictive, that it 
 has been, from age to age, the task of some to bewail and of others 
 to solace them ; and he, therefore, will be in danger of seeing a com- 
 mon enemy, who shall attempt to depreciate the few pleasures and 
 felicities which nature has allowed us. 
 
 Soros non numero nisi serenas — “I count only the hours that are 
 serene,” is the motto of a sun-dial near Venice. There is a softness 
 and a harmony in the words and in the thought unparalleled. Of all 
 conceits it is surely the most classical. I count only the hours that 
 are serene. What a bland and care-dispelling feeling ! How the 
 shadows seem to fade on the dial-plate as the sky lowers, and time 
 presents only a blank, unless as its progress is marked by what is 
 
206 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPEDIA. 
 
 joyous, and all that is not happy sinks into oblivion! What a fine 
 lesson is conveyed to the mind — to take no note of time hut hy its 
 benefits, to watch only for the smiles and neglect the frowns of fate, 
 to compose our lives of bright and gentle moments, turning always to 
 the sunny side of things, and letting the rest slip from our imagina- 
 tions, unheeded or forgotten! 
 
 Look on the bright side. It is the right side. The times may be 
 hard, but it will make them no easier to wear a gloomy and sad coun- 
 tenance. It is the sunshine and not the cloud that makes the flower. 
 There is always that before or around us which should fill the heart 
 with warmth. The sky is blue ten times where it is black once. You 
 have troubles, it may be. So have others. Hone are free from them. 
 Perhaps it is as well that none should be. They give sinew and tone 
 to life — fortitude and courage to man. That would be a dull sea, and 
 the sailor would never get skill, where there was nothing to disturb 
 the surface of the ocean. It is the duty of every one to extract all 
 the happiness and enjoyment he can without and within him, and, 
 above all, he should look on the bright side of things. What though 
 things do look a little dark ? The lane will turn, and the night will 
 end in broad day. In the long run, the great balance rights itself. 
 What is ill becomes well ; what is wrong becomes right. Men are 
 not made to hang down either heads or lips ; and those who do, only 
 show that they are departing from the paths of true common sense 
 and right. There is more’ virtue in one sunbeam than a whole hem- 
 isphere of cloud and gloom. Therefore, we repeat, look on the bright 
 side of things. Cultivate what is warm and genial — not the cold and 
 repulsive, the dark and morose. Don’t neglect your duty; look to 
 the bright side ; live down prejudice. 
 
 Enjoy the glory of the sun, and not put out your eyes by trying to 
 count the spots upon his face. Keep the horrors at arm’s length. 
 Never turn a blessing round to see whether it has a dark side to it. 
 Dr. Johnson justly observes : The business of life is to go forward; 
 he who sees evil in prospect, meets it in his way ; but' he who catches 
 it by retrospection, turns back to find it. That which is feared may 
 sometimes be avoided; but that which is regretted to-day may be 
 regretted to-morrow. We should, to be useful, decidedly condemn 
 the indulgence of brooding over circumstances and events that 
 thoughts cannot mend, because it unstrings the mind ; and that once 
 done, it is surprising with what rapidity all its peace unravels itself ; 
 and how much it loses of the power of judging rightly on the mixed 
 condition of human affairs. 
 
BRIGHT SIDE. 
 
 207 
 
 “I could write down twenty cases/’ says Cecil, “wherein I wished 
 that God had done otherwise than he did ; but which I now see, had 
 I had my own will, would have led to extensive mischief.” Bishop 
 Hall quaintly remarks, “ For every bad there might be a worse ; and 
 when a man breaks his leg, let him be thankful that it was not his 
 neck.” When Fenelon’s library was on fire, “God be praised,” he 
 exclaimed, “ that it is not the dwelling of some poor man ! ” This is 
 the true spirit of submission — one of the most beautiful traits that 
 can possess the human heart. Besolve to see this world on its sunny 
 side, and you have almost half won the battle of life on the outset. 
 
 We once knew a man whom neither care nor sorrow seemed to af- 
 fect ; who at sixty had the digestion and flow of spirits of twenty- 
 one ; who had acquired a large fortune apparently without an effort ; 
 who, in short, was the happiest of men, and the envy of all who knew 
 him. “How is it,” we said to him, “you are so fortunate? What 
 talisman secures to you all these advantages ? ” He smiled as he 
 answered, “ I have no talisman, unless it is to make the best of eve- 
 rything.” 
 
 To make the best of everything ! Like a key to a problem, the 
 answer unlocked for us at once the whole of the great mystery. Life 
 is too short and happiness too precious to consume the one or throw 
 away the other in idle, unavailing regrets. Even if ill fortune swells 
 into a flood, threatening to undermine the very ground on which we 
 stand, is it not wiser to strive to bridge the torrent than to wait, be- 
 wailing our fate, till the waters swallow us ? The weak and unstable 
 succumb to destiny and are washed into oblivion. The wise and 
 brave, accepting circumstances as they present themselves, plunge 
 boldly, like Horatius of old, into the stream, win the farther shore in 
 safety, and earn immortal guerdon and renown. 
 
 F ew men, if any, ever succeed in life who have not learned to make 
 the best of everything ; and generally their success is in exact pro- 
 portion to their adherence to the rule. Does a debtor fail ? Every 
 merchant knows that it is the best course, if the debtor is honest, to 
 accept his first offer of compromition, and not squander money in use- 
 less litigation. Have you become insolvent yourself? The worst 
 thing you can do is to give up in despair, and say that it is folly try- 
 ing to redeem yourself. Has a friend misjudged you, or an enemy 
 done you secret harm ? Don’t lose precious moments in sentimental 
 grief over ingratitude, or passionate threats at your wrong doer ; but 
 go to work on the instant to shame your friend or disarm your foe. 
 Had Astor, when he was a poor German emigrant, made up his mind 
 
208 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 that the attempt to be a millionaire was absurd, he might have died 
 a beggar in the almshouse. Had Washington, when Cornwallis pur- 
 sued him across New Jersey with thirty thousand troops, said that it 
 was hopeless to save America with his fragment of an army, his three 
 thousand tattered continentals, we might all this day have been in 
 slavery to Great Britain ; but he said, “ If the British cross the Del- 
 aware, I will the Alleghanies, and if they are victorious there, I will 
 fly to the wilderness beyond,” and this resolution never to give it up, 
 but always to make the best of everything, led to the victory of Tren- 
 ton and the freedom of the Republic. 
 
 We are familiar with people who whine continually at fate. To 
 believe them never was lot so hard as theirs ; yet those who know 
 their history will generally tell you that their life has been but one 
 ] ^ng tale of opportunities disregarded, or misfortunes otherwise de- 
 served. Perhaps they were born poor. In this case they hate the 
 rich, and have always hated them, but without ever having emulated 
 their prudence or energy. Perhaps they have seen their rivals more 
 favored by accident. In this event they forgot how many have been 
 less lucky than themselves ; so they squandered their little, because, 
 as they say, they cannot save as much as others. Irritated at life, 
 they grow old prematurely. Dissatisfied with everything, they never 
 permit themselves to be happy. Because they are not born at the 
 top of the wheel of fortune, they refuse to take hold of the spoke as 
 the latter comes around, but lie stubborn to the dirt, crying like 
 spoiled children, neither doing anything themselves, nor permitting 
 others to do it for them. 
 
 Make the best of everything ! At home, if wife or husband is 
 cross, if servants are careless, if children are irritating, don’t fly into 
 a passion, for that will do no good, but make the best of the circum- 
 stances, and fulfill your duty, and wait for happier times. Abroad, 
 if things look unpromising, preserve a stout heart, keep cool, and play 
 your hand to the best of your ability. 
 
 A determination to make the lest of everything is a wonderful 
 smoother of the difficulties which beset us in our passage through 
 this probationary scene. In Peter Pindar’s story of the “ Pilgrims 
 and the Peas,” two fellows, upon whom the penance of walking to a 
 certain shrine with peas in their shoes had been enjoined, are repre- 
 sented as having performed their tasks under very different circum- 
 stances and in very different moods. One of them, having taken the 
 precaution to soften his peas by boiling them, tripped lightly and 
 merrily over the ground; the other, who had not “gumption” enough 
 
HOPE. 
 
 209 
 
 to turn his hard pellets into a poultice by the same process, limped 
 and howled all the w T ay. It is pretty much the same in our pilgrim- 
 age through this " vale of tears..” The impatient and imprudent 
 travel on hard peas; the prudent and sagacious make themselves easy 
 in their shoes, and run cheerfully the race that is set before them. 
 
 Men are great as they make others great. We may apply this rule 
 to letters or to the house. Do you think death, and skulls, and laz- 
 ar-houses, fit subjects for cabinet pictures ? I think the Crucifixion 
 must be treated with more genius than I have seen in Italian art, to 
 be a proper picture for my house. So with dead Bomeos, and smoth- 
 ered princes, and battles. Nature does not so. See with what skill 
 she covers up the skeleton. She weaves the tissues and integuments, 
 and draws the skin, and beautifully closes over it, and forces death 
 under ground, and makes the sod to cover it up with leaves ; and 
 who and what are you that would lay the ghastly anatomy bare ? 
 Don't be a cynic or a disconsolate preacher. Don’t present the neg- 
 ative picture, but chant the beauty of the good. 
 
 Mrs. Sigourney says : A disposition to dwell on the bright side 
 of character is like gold to the possessor. One of the principal in- 
 gredients in the happiness of children is freedom from suspicion, and 
 kind and loving thoughts toward all. 
 
 HOPE. 
 
 The expectation of future happiness is the best relief of anxious 
 tLoughts, the most perfect cure of melancholy, the guide of life, and 
 the comfort of death. Hope makes that present by a prepossession 
 of that which is to come. Hope deferred maketh the heart sick. How 
 has expectation darkened into anxiety, anxiety into dread, and dread 
 into despair ! Expectation, in a weak mind, makes an evil greater, 
 and a good less ; but in a resolved mind it digests an evil before it 
 comes, and makes a future good, long before present. We must ex- 
 pect the worst, because it may come ; the best, because we know it 
 will come. Hopes and fears chequer human life. He that wants 
 hope, is the poorest man living. Our hopes and fears are the main- 
 springs of all our religious endeavors. There is no one whose condi- 
 tion is so low, but that he may have hopes ; nor is any one so high, 
 as to be out of the reach of fears. Hopes and disappointments are 
 the lot and entertainment of human life ; the one serves to keep us 
 14 
 
210 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 from presumption, the other from despair. Hope is the last thing 
 that dieth in man; and though it he exceeding dutiful, yet it is of 
 this good use to us, that while we are traveling through this life, it 
 conducts us in an easier and more pleasant way to our journey’s end. 
 When faith, temperance, the graces, and other celestial powers, left 
 the earth, (says one of the ancients,) hope was the only goddess that 
 staid behind. Hope’s enchantments never die. Eternal hope ! Hope 
 gilds the future. Hope cheers and rouses the soul. Hope and strive 
 is the way to thrive. The man who carries a lantern in a dark night 
 can have friends all around him, walking safely by the help of its 
 rays, and not be defrauded. So he who has the God-given light of 
 hope in his' breast, can help on many others in this world’s darkness, 
 not to his own loss, but to their precious gain. 
 
 SPIBITS. 
 
 It is a Spanish maxim, that he who loseth wealth, loses much ; ne 
 who loseth a friend, loseth more ; but he who loseth his spirits, loseth 
 all. 
 
 EXAMPLE. 
 
 We have seen Thorwaldsen in his studio at Borne, busy upon a 
 group of statues which were designed to adorn a royal palace in his 
 native land. The figures stood before him, slowly emerging into life 
 and beauty under his hand and chisel. He had models beside him, 
 and he consulted them ; but he had a more perfect model in his own 
 mind. That he could not entirely reach, but on he wrought, by blow 
 after blow, by touch after touch ; now the contour more rounded, and 
 now the expression more life-like, indefinitely approaching his ideal. 
 The great sculptor eyed his handiwork from this point, from that, 
 from many ; he retreated to a distance, he came nearer, and his eye, 
 deep lored in the beautiful, created fresh attractions even where all 
 had seemed symmetry before. 
 
 Now, would we thus work out moral beauty ? Setting some stand- 
 ard, not ideal but actual before us, would we go on unto perfection, 
 and leave our mark upon our age, so as to be missed when we die? 
 
APPLICATION. 
 
 21 i 
 
 Then be it ours to study model men, and mark what made them what 
 they were. Testing all by the only perfect model, be it our business 
 to note how men stood, or how men fall in the battle of life. So shall 
 we find stepping stones through the rapids which might otherwise 
 sweep us away, or help in hours of weakness when we might other- 
 wise falter, or hope at times when we might despair, and either sink 
 into feebleness, or have power only for evil. 
 
 Every human being is a center of influence for good or for ill. 
 No man can live unto himself. The meshes of a net are not more 
 surely knit together than man to man. We may forget this secret, 
 silent influence. But we are exerting it by our deeds, we are exert- 
 ing it by our words, we are exerting it by our very thoughts — and 
 he is wise with a wisdom more than that of earth who seeks to put 
 forth the highest power for good, be his home a hut or a hall, a cab- 
 in or a palace. 
 
 APPLICATION. 
 
 No one was ever born a Newton or an Edwards. It is patient, 
 vigorous and long continued application, that makes the great mind. 
 All must begin with the simplest elements of knowledge, and advance 
 from step to step in nearly the same manner. When a man has been 
 laying out that time in the pursuit of some great and important truth, 
 which others waste in a circle of gay follies, he is conscious of having 
 acted up to the dignity of his nature ; and from that consciousness 
 there results that serene complacency, which, though not so violent, 
 is much preferable to the pleasures of animal life. 
 
 He that would be sure to have his business well done, must either 
 do it himself or see to the doing of it. Every man is the architect of 
 his own fortune. A young man, writing to the Scientific American, 
 says : “ I am now twenty-three years of age ; when I was eighteen I 
 did not know how to add one-half and two-thirds together; I was a 
 poor boy, wild and reckless ; I chanced to get possession of the Life 
 of George Stephenson ; I gave it a thorough perusal ; I made up my 
 mind I would, by the help of God and the energies of man, elevate 
 my position in life, and I have been exceedingly prosperous since 
 that time. I worked seventeen hours and studied three a day, for 
 twelve months ; after that I worked from four and a half o’clock in 
 the morning until five in the evening, and studied till twelve and one 
 
212 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 at night, for two and a half years. I then got a situation in an iron 
 manufacturing establishment, at a very low salary. My employers 
 were not aware of my determined spirit when they hired me, and now 
 [ have complete control of the entire establishment, getting a large 
 salary ; the books have to pass my inspection, as well as all other 
 things connected with the business. I am determined to persevere 
 in my studies as long as I live.” The fate of every young man is in 
 his own hands. 
 
 Dr. Johnson was once asked how it was that the Christian fathers, 
 and the men of other times, could find leisure to fill so many folios 
 with the productions of their pens. “ Nothing is easier,” said he, 
 and he at once began a calculation to show what would be the effect 
 in the ordinary term of a man’s life, if he wrote only one octavo page 
 in a day. The result in thirty or forty years would account for all 
 that Jerome, or Chrysostom, or Augustine, that Luther, Calvin, or 
 Baxter has done. 
 
 Men with the commonest brains and the most slender powers will 
 accomplish much, if they will but apply themselves wholly and inde- 
 fatigably to one thing at a time. 
 
 EABLY BISING. 
 
 The industrious, the active-minded, the enthusiastic in pursuit of 
 knowledge or gain, are up betimes at their respective occupations. 
 Dean Swift says, that he never knew any man to rise to eminence, 
 who lay in bed of a morning ; and Dr. Franklin, in his peculiar man- 
 ner, says, that he who rises late may trot all day, but never overtake 
 his business. The difference betwen rising at five and seven o’clock 
 in the morning, for the space of forty years, supposing a man to go 
 to bed at the same time at night, is nearly equivalent to the addition 
 of ten years to a man’s life. I would inscribe on the curtains of your 
 bed, and the walls of your chamber, said Lord Chatham, “ If you do not 
 rise early, you can make progress in nothing. If you do not set apart 
 your hours of reading, if you suffer yourself, or any one else, to break 
 in upon them, your days will slip through your hands, unprofitable 
 and frivolous, and unenjoyed by yourself.” 
 
 Napoleon was an early riser; so were Frederick the Great, Charles 
 the Twelfth, and Washington. Whatever may be the quantity of 
 
NEVER TOO OLD TO LEARN. 
 
 213 
 
 Bleep required, early rising is essential to health, and promotes 
 longevity. 
 
 “Rise with the lark, and with the lark to bed.” 
 
 “Bright Chanticleer proclaims the dawn, 
 
 And wakes the sluggard in the morn.” 
 
 “Early to bed, and early to rise, 
 
 Will make a man healthy, wealthy, and wise.” 
 
 NEVER TOO OLD TO LEARN. 
 
 Socrates, at an extreme age, learned to play on musical instru- 
 ments, for the purpose of resisting the wear and tear of old age. Ca- 
 to, at eighty years of age, thought proper to learn the Greek lan- 
 guage. Plutarch, when between seventy and eighty, commenced the 
 study of Latin. Boccacio was thirty -five years of age when he com- 
 menced his studies in polite literature. Yet he became one of the 
 three great masters of the Tuscan dialect, Dante and Petrarde being 
 the other two. Sir Henry Spelman neglected the sciences in his 
 youth, but commenced the study of them when he was between fifty 
 and sixty years of age. After this time he became a most learned 
 antiquarian and lawyer. How different the present estimate put 
 upon experience from that which characterized a certain period of 
 the Grecian Republic, when a man was not allowed to open his 
 mouth in caucuses or political meetings, who was under forty years 
 of age. 
 
 Colbert, the famous French minister, at sixty years of age returned 
 to his Latin and law studies. Ludivico, at the age of one hundred 
 and fifteen, wrote the memoirs of his own times. A singular exer- 
 tion, noticed by Voltaire, who was himself one of the most remarka- 
 able instances of the progress of age in new studies. Ogilby, the 
 translator of Homer and Virgil, was unacquainted with Latin and 
 Greek till he was past fifty. Franklin did not fully commence his 
 philosophical pursuits till he had reached his fiftieth 'year. Accorso, 
 a great lawyer, being asked why he began the study of law so late, 
 answered, that indeed he began it late, but he should, therefore, mas- 
 ter it the sooner. This agrees with our theory, that healthy old age 
 gives a man the power of accomplishing a difficult study in much les3 
 time than would be necessary to one of half his years. Dryden, in 
 
214 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 his sixty-eighth year, commenced the translation of the Iliad ; and 
 his most pleasing productions were written in his old age. 
 
 We could go on and cite thousands of examples of men who com- 
 menced a new study and struck out into an entirely new pursuit, 
 either for livelihood or amusement, at an advanced age. But every 
 one familiar with the biography of distinguished men will recollect 
 individual cases enough to convince him that none but the sick and 
 indolent will ever say, I am too old to learn . 
 
 BEGINNINGS. 
 
 Remember, in all things, that if you do not begin, you will never 
 come to an end. The first weed pulled up in the garden, the first 
 seed in the ground, the first shilling put in the saving bank, and first 
 mile traveled on a journey, are all important things; they make a be- 
 ginning, and thereby a hope, a promise, a pledge, an assurance that 
 you are in earnest with what you have undertaken. How many a 
 poor, idle, erring, hesitating outcast is now creeping and crawling 
 his way through the world who might have held up his head and 
 prospered, if instead of putting off his resolutions of industry and 
 amendment, he had only made a beginning! 
 
 It is a great point for young men to begin well ; for it is in the be- 
 ginning of life that that system of conduct is adopted, which soon 
 assumes the force of habit. Begin well, and the habit of doing well 
 will become quite as easy as the habit of doing badly. Well begun 
 is half ended, says the proverb ; and a good beginning is half the bat- 
 tle. Many promising young men have irretrievably ruined them- 
 selves by a first false step at the commencement of life ; while others, 
 of much less promising talents, have succeeded simply by beginning 
 well, and going onward. The good practical beginning is, to a cer- 
 tain extent, a pledge, a promise, and an assurance, of the ultimate 
 prosperous issue. There is many a poor creature, now crawling 
 through life, miserable himself and the cause of sorrow to others, who 
 might have lifted up his head and prospered, if, instead of merely 
 satisfying himself with resolutions of well-doing, he had actually gone 
 to work and made a good practical beginning. 
 
 Too many are, however, impatient of results. They are not satis- 
 fied to begin where their fathers did, but where they left off. They 
 think to enjoy the fruits of industry without working for them. They 
 
BEGINNINGS. 
 
 215 
 
 cannot wait for the results of labor and application, but forestall them 
 by too early indulgence. 
 
 A worthy Scotch couple, speaking of their favorite son, and the 
 cause why he had gone wrong in life, used to tell how they themselves 
 had begun life with working hard, living upon porridge and humble 
 fare, and gradually added to their comforts as their means improved, 
 until at length they were able to dine off a bit of roast meat, and 
 sometimes a “ boilt chuckie,” or fowl. But as for Jock, their son, 
 he had set up in business, and, without waiting for success, or even 
 laboring for it, he began life as if he had already secured it ; as his 
 parents were wont to tell the story, 11 he began wV the chuckie first 
 in other words, he began at the wrong end. 
 
 If there is one thing in life more important than another, it is to 
 begin right. The best enterprises often fail for want of this. Young 
 men are sometimes in such a hurry to get into business on their own 
 account that they commence with inadequate means, or an insufficient 
 connection, or in ignorance of many necessary details. In nine cases 
 out of ten, under such circumstances, they fail. Or they begin with 
 trusting too many, or on too long a time, and have to struggle under 
 difficulties for years, and perhaps become insolvent at last. Or they 
 fancy, with the sanguine feelings of the young, that their profits will 
 be greater than the resulf verifies, and, on the faith of this delusion, 
 launch out into expenses which they can but illy afford. Or they spec- 
 ulate, before they have realized the money to speculate on, so that if 
 the speculation proves unfortunate, they not only ruin themselves, 
 but defraud honest creditors, whose funds they have, in point of fact, 
 speculated with. 
 
 Other men make a mistake in marrying. They do not in this mat- 
 ter either begin right. Have they their fortunes still to make? Too 
 often, instead of seeking one who would be a helpmate in the true 
 sense of the term, they unite themselves to a giddy, improvident 
 creature, with nothing to reccommend her but the face of a doll and 
 a few showy accomplishments. Such a wife, they discover too late, 
 neither makes home happy, nor helps to increase her husband’s means. 
 At first, thriftless, extravagant and careless, she gradually becomes 
 cross and reproachful, and while she envies other women, and re- 
 proaches her husband because he cannot afford to maintain her like 
 them, is really the principal cause of his ill fortune. The selection 
 of a proper companion is one of the most important concerns of life. 
 A well-assorted marriage assists, instead of retarding, a man’s pros- 
 perity. Begin right in this respect. Select a sensible, agreeable. 
 
216 
 
 PEACTICAL CYCLOPEDIA. 
 
 amiable woman, and you will have secured a prize “ better than rich- 
 es.” If you do otherwise, then, alas for you! 
 
 Begin right in establishing a character. The only way to do this 
 is to be what you seem, for hypocrites and rogues are always found 
 out in the end. Honesty is the best policy. But no man can be up- 
 right, amid the various temptations of life, unless he is honest for the 
 right's sake. You should not be honest from the low motive of poli- 
 cy, but because you feel the better for being honest. The latter will 
 hold you fast, let the element set as it will, let storms blow ever so 
 fiercely ; the former is but a cable of pack-thread, which will snap 
 apart. In the long run, character is better than capital. Most of. 
 the great American merchants, whose revenues outrank those of prin- 
 ces, owe their colossal fortunes principally to a character for integrity 
 and ability. Lay the foundations of a character broad and deep. 
 Build them on a rock, and not on sand. The rains may then descend, 
 the floods rise and the winds blow, but your house will stand. Begin 
 right. But, establish a character for loose dealings, and, lo! some 
 great tempest will sweep it away. Begin right ! 
 
 At thy first entrance upon thy estate, said a wise man once, keep a 
 low sail, that thou mayst rise with honor; thou canst not decline 
 without shame ; he that begins where his father ends, will end where 
 his father began. 
 
 Many an unwise parent labors hard and lives sparingly all his life, 
 for the purpose of leaving enough to give his children a start in the 
 world, as it is called. Setting a young man afloat with money left 
 him by his relatives is like tying bladders under the arms of one who 
 cannot swim : ten chances to one he will lose his bladders and go to 
 the bottom. Teach him to swim, and he will never need the blad- 
 ders. Give your child a sound education, and you have done enough 
 for him. See to it that his morals are pure, his mind cultivated, and 
 his whole nature made subservient to the laws which govern men, 
 and you have given what will be of more value than the wealth of 
 the Indies. To be thrown upon one's resources, is to be cast into the 
 very lap of fortune, for our faculties then undergo a development, and 
 display an energy, of which they were previously insusceptible. 
 
EARLY OBSCURITY AND FUTURE EMINENCE. 
 
 217 
 
 EARLY OBSCURITY AND FUTURE EMINENCE. 
 
 A long time ago, a little boy twelve years old, on bis road to Ver- 
 mont, stopped at a country tavern, and paid for bis lodging and break- 
 fast by sawing wood, instead of asking for it as a gift. Fifty years 
 later, tbe same boy passed that same little inn as George Peabody, 
 tbe banker, whose name is tbe synonym of magnificent charities — tbe 
 honored of two hemispheres. He was born poor in Danvers, Massa- 
 chusetts, and by beginning right and pursuing a course of strict hon- 
 esty, integrity, industry, activity and Christian benevolence, he has 
 been able to amass great wealth. Some years since he made a gen- 
 erous gift to his native town ; and ajso remembered the city of Balti- 
 more, Maryland, where he long resided, by a liberal donation. For 
 the last twenty-five years, having done business in London, and being 
 now past sixty years old, he has given £150,000 sterling — nearly 
 $750,000 — to be devoted to the benefit of the poor of that city. 
 
 Peter Cooper, the New York millionaire, and founder of the Cooper 
 Institute, which he built at an expense, including the ground, of over 
 $630,000, and gave to the city to be devoted to the elevation of the 
 working classes, by instruction without charge, was born poor, and 
 worked hard in a hatter’s shop until he was seventeen, then learned 
 coach making. He built after his own design, the first locomotive 
 engine ever used on this continent. 
 
 When Cornelius Vanderbilt was a young man, his mother gave him 
 fifty dollars of her savings to buy a small sail boat, and he engaged 
 in the business of transporting market-gardening from Staten Island 
 to New York city. When the wind was not favorable he would work 
 his way over the shoals by pushing the boat along by poles, putting 
 his own shoulder to the pole, and was very sure to get his freight in 
 market in season. This energy gave him always a command of full 
 freights, and he accumulated money. After awhile he began to build 
 and run steamboats, and he is now reputed to be worth more than 
 nineteen millions of dollars, after making the government a present, 
 as a free gift, of a steamship that cost $800,000. 
 
 Mr. Tobin, the President of the Hudson River Railroad Company 
 is a millionaire. He is not yet forty years of age. He began life as 
 a steamboat clerk with Commodore Vanderbilt. When he took his 
 position the Commodore gave him two orders : first, to collect fare of 
 everybody and have no dead heads on the boat ; second, to start the 
 boat on time, and wait for nobody. The Commodore then lived at 
 
218 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 Staten Island. Tobin obeyed bis orders so literally that be collected 
 fare of tbe Commodore on tbe first evening, and left bim on tbe wbarf 
 tbe next morning, as tbe boat could not wait. Tbe Commodore was 
 coming down tbe wbarf leisurely, and supposed, of course, tbe boat 
 would wait for bim. He proved a man after Vanderbilt’s own heart. 
 He became bis confidential clerk and broker, bought and sold Harlem 
 and made for himself a fortune. 
 
 In 1802, Mr. Bidwell, a law student in Stockbridge, told a poor lad 
 that if be would catch and turn out bis horse be might have it to ride 
 home to keep Thanksgiving. Tbe boy accepted tbe offer, and tbe day 
 before Thanksgiving, as be was mounted on tbe horse ready to start 
 for home, Mr. Bidwell banded bim a silver dollar — tbe first dollar tbe 
 boy ever bad. Instead of spending it for personal gratification, as 
 most boys now-a-days do, be bought a sheep with it. From that 
 sheep be bad, in 1832, a flock of ten hundred and sixty sheep which 
 he sold for $1506. Tbe money be invested in up-town lots in Hew 
 York city, purchasing ten lots for $250 each, which be sold in two 
 years, for $12,000. This was tbe beginning of tbe fortune of Nathan 
 Jackson, Esq., distinguished for bis generous and munificent dona- 
 tions at various times to William’s College, Massachusetts. 
 
 Wm. M. Stone, Governor of Iowa, it is said, was once a canal dri- 
 ver on tbe Ohio canal at three dollars a month. While studying law 
 with General Bierce, at Akron, Ohio, Mr. Stone worked eight hours 
 a day for Mr. G. D. Sanford, for tbe purpose of earning money to pay 
 bis boaid and tuition. John Butterfield, Mayor of tbe city of Utica, 
 N. Y., has become tbe richest man in that city from tbe bumble call- 
 ing of stage driver. 
 
 Stephen Girard left bis native country at tbe age of ten or twelve 
 years, as cabin boy on a vessel. He came to New York in that ca- 
 pacity. His deportment was distinguished by such fidelity, industry 
 and temperance, that be won the attachment and confidence of bis 
 master, who generally bestowed on bim tbe appellation of ' my Ste- 
 phen.’ When bis master gave up business be promoted Girard to the 
 command of a small vessel. Girard was a self-taught man, and tbe 
 world was bis school. It was a favorite theme with bim, when be af- 
 terwards grew rich, to relate that he commenced life with a sixpence, 
 and to insist that a man’s best capital was bis industry. All pro- 
 fessions and all occupations, which afforded a just reward for labor, 
 were alike honorable in bis estimation. He was never too proud to 
 work. During tbe revolutionary war be bottled and sold cider and 
 claret. In tbe time of the fever, in 1793, when consternation bad 
 
EARLV OBSCURITY AND FUTURE EMINENCE. 
 
 219 
 
 seized the whole population of the city of Philadelphia, Stephen Gi- 
 rard, then a rich merchant, offered his services as a nurse in the hos- 
 pital. His offers were accepted, and in the performance of the most 
 loathsome duties, he walked unharmed in the midst of the pestilence. 
 He used to say to his friends, “ When you are sick, if anything ails 
 you, do not go to a doctor, hut come to me, I will cure you.” 
 
 Far back in the teens of the present century, a young man asked 
 for employment in the Springfield armory : but he was poor and 
 modest, and had no friends, so he went away without it ; but, feeling 
 the man within him, he sought work until he found it. An age later, 
 he visited that armory a second time, not as a common day-laborer, 
 but as the ablest speaker of the House of Representatives, and for 
 many years Governor of Massachusetts. 
 
 Said the lamented Gen. Mitchell : “ When I was a boy of twelve 
 
 years, I was working for twenty-five cents a week with an old lady, 
 and I will tell you I had my hands full ; but I did my work faithful- 
 ly. I used to cut wood, fetch water, make fires, and scrub and scour 
 mornings for the old lady, before the real work of the day commenced; 
 my clothes were bad, and I had no means of buying shoes, so was often 
 bare-footed.” One morning she called him a liar, and he left her. 
 He says : “ I had not a cent in my pocket when I stepped out into 
 the world. * * * An independent spirit, and a steady, honest 
 
 conduct, with what capacity God has given me — as he has given you 
 — have carried me successfully through the world.” 
 
 Thurlow Weed, whose father was a poor but honest and hard-work- 
 ing man, occupying a log house upon a small clearing near the Onon- 
 daga river, Cortland county, Hew York, says : My first employment 
 was in attendance upon an ashery. This labor was succeeded, when 
 the spring had advanced far enough, by the duties of the sap-bush. 
 During the day I would lay in a good stock of fat pine, by the light 
 of which blazing bright before the sugar-house, I have passed many 
 and many a delightful night in reading. I remember in this way to 
 have read a history of the French revolution, and to have obtained 
 from it a better and more enduring knowledge of its events and hor- 
 rors, and of the actors in that great national tragedy, than I have 
 received from all subsequent readings. I remember also how happy 
 I was in being able to borrow the book of a Mr. Keyes, after a two- 
 mile tramp through the snow, shoeless, my feet swaddled in the rem- 
 nants of a rag carpet. 
 
 Says Cobbet : I learned grammar when I was a private soldier, 
 on the pay of sixpence a day. The edge of my berth, or that of my 
 
220 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPEDIA. 
 
 guard bed, was my seat to study in ; my knapsack my bookcase, and 
 a bit of board lying on my lap was my writing table. I bad no money 
 to purchase a candle or oil ; in winter, it was rarely that I could get 
 any light but that of the fire, and only my turn even of that. To buy 
 a pen or piece of paper, I was compelled to forego some portion of my 
 food, though in a state of half starvation. I had not a moment of 
 time that I could call my own ; and I had to read and write amid the 
 talking, laughing, singing, whistling, and bawling of at least half a 
 score of the most thoughtless men — and that, too, in their hours of 
 freedom from all control. And I say, if I, under these circumstances, 
 could encounter and overcome the task, is there, can there be, in 
 the whole world, a youth who can find an excuse for the non-per- 
 formance ? 
 
 Of P. R. Spencer, the author of the Spencerian system of penman- 
 ship, it is said that, “ the smooth sand beach of Lake Erie constituted 
 the foolscap in and on which, for want of other material, he perfected 
 essentially the system which meets such general favor in our common 
 and commercial schools, and in our business and literary circles/’ 
 When we reflect upon the immense popularity of his system, which, 
 passing beyond the limits of our own country, has been re-engraved 
 in England, is used in the model counting-rooms of London, Liverpool 
 and Manchester, and is also the adopted system of the English De- 
 partment of the University of Zurich, in Switzerland, we must accord 
 to its honored author chaste and elevated powers of conception, with 
 bold and tireless grasp, of just apprehension, and agree that the bare- 
 footed boy of fifty years ago must have been thinking , and thinking 
 aright, and thinking with no ordinary mind, when he gave to his 
 coinings in the sands such vitality of science, that the world has 
 adopted and embalmed them as the most beautiful imagery of “ the 
 art.” 
 
 Some years ago, as good Mr. Gallaudet was walking in the streets 
 of Hartford, there came running a poor boy, whose intelligent eye 
 fixed the gentleman’s attention. The boy inquired: 
 
 “ Please, sir, can you tell me of any one who would like a boy to 
 work for him and learn to read ? ” 
 
 “Whose boy are you and where do you live ?” 
 
 “I have no parents, sir,” was the reply, “and have just come away 
 from the work-house because they would not teach me to read.” 
 
 The gentleman made arrangements with the authorities of the 
 town, and took the boy into his family. He soon acquired the confi- 
 dence of Mr. Gallaudet by his faithfulness and honesty. He soon 
 
EARLY OBSCURITY AND FUTURE EMINENCE. 
 
 221 
 
 learned to read and was allowed tlie use of his master's library, 
 whereby he made rapid progress in the acquisition of knowledge. 
 
 It became necessary, after a while, that George should leave Mr. 
 Gallaudet, when he was apprenticed to a cabinet maker in the neigh- 
 borhood. There the same integrity won for him favor. 
 
 To gratify his inclination for study, his kind master had a little 
 room fitted up for him in the upper part of the shop, where George 
 devoted his leisure time to his favorite pursuits. He made rapid at- 
 tainments in mathematics, in the French language, and other branch- 
 es of learning. 
 
 After being in this situation a few years, as he sat at tea with the 
 family one evening, he all at once remarked that he wanted to go to 
 France. 
 
 “ Go to France,” said his master, surprised that the apparently 
 contented and happy youth had thus suddenly become dissatisfied 
 with his situation, — “ for what ?” 
 
 “ Please, sir, will you ask Mr. Gallaudet to call ? ” continued 
 George, “ and I will explain.” 
 
 His kind friend was invited accordingly, and at tea-time the ap- 
 prentice presented himself with his manuscripts in English and 
 French, and explained his singular intention to go to France. 
 
 “ In the time of Napoleon,” said he, “ a prize was offered by the 
 French government for the simplest rule for measuring plain sur- 
 faces. The prize has never been awarded, and that method I have 
 discovered.” 
 
 He then demonstrated his problem, to the surprise and gratifica- 
 tion of his friends, who immediately furnished him with means of de- 
 fraying his expenses, and with letters of introduction to Hon. Lewis 
 Cass, then the American minister to the court of France. He was 
 introduced to Louis Philippi, and, in the presence of the king, nobles 
 and plenipotentiaries, this youth demonstrated his problem, amid the 
 plaudits of the court. He received the prize, besides valuable pres- 
 ents from the king. 
 
 He then took letters of introduction and came to the court of St. 
 James, and gained a similar prize, offered by the Eoyal Society. He 
 then returned to the United States. There he was preparing to se- 
 cure the benefit of his discovery by patent, when he received a letter 
 from the Emperor Nicholas himself, one of whose ministers had wit- 
 nessed his demonstrations at London, inviting him to make his resi- 
 dence at the Eussian court, and furnished him with ample means for 
 his outfit. 
 
222 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 He complied with the invitation, repairing to St. Petersburg, be- 
 came professor of mathematics in the royal college, under the special 
 protection of the Emperor of all the Bussias ! 
 
 One to-day is worth two to-morrows. Boys, use your spare mo- 
 ments well ! Had George Wilson been an idle boy, spending his 
 evenings in the streets, or in bad company, he would never have 
 “ stood before kings/' 
 
 Bayard Taylor says, in one of his articles, giving a very humorous 
 account of his way of life on his first visit to London : In a word, 
 my associations were not of the most respectable character. I was, 
 reluctantly, forced to this conclusion. But how could it be helped ? 
 When a man has but three shillings a day, he cannot keep four shil- 
 ling society, without cheating somebody. I lodged in a vulgar hole, 
 it is true ; but, then, I paid my reckoning. Honest Bayard ! A 
 man who commences life in this manner is sure of success. 
 
 Said Daniel Webster : It is only the shallow-minded pretenders 
 who make either distinguished origin a matter of personal merit, or 
 obscure origin a matter of personal reproach. A man who is not 
 ashamed of himself, need not be ashamed of his early condition. It 
 did happen to me to be born in a log cabin, raised among the snow- 
 drifts of Hew Hampshire, at a period so early that when the smoke 
 first rose from its rude chimney, and curled over the frozen hills, 
 there was no similar evidence of a white man’s habitation between it 
 and the settlement on the Canada. Its remains still exist. I make 
 it an annual visit. I carry my children to it, and teach them the 
 hardships endured by the generations before them. I love to dwell 
 on the tender recollections, the kindred ties, the early affections, and 
 the narration and incidents which mingle with all I know of this 
 primitive family abode. I weep to think that none of those who in- 
 habited it are among the living ; and if I fail in affectionate venera- 
 tion for him who raised it, and defended it against savage violence 
 and destruction, cherished all domestic comforts beneath its roof, and 
 through the fire and blood of seven years’ revolutionary war, shrank 
 from no toil, no sacrifice, to save his country and to raise his children 
 to a condition better than his own, may my name and the name of my 
 posterity be blotted from the memory of mankind. 
 
 A man who is not at heart ashamed of himself need not be ashamed 
 of his early condition in life. Many of the most eminent names the 
 history of our country and of the world can produce have sprung from 
 obscurity. Andrew Johnson, our present President, commenced life 
 a practical tailor. Our lamented President Lincoln, it is well known, 
 
EARLY OBSCURITY AND FUTURE EMINENCE. 
 
 223 
 
 commenced life poor and labored bard. John Adams, the elder, was 
 the son of a shoemaker, and was in youth himself put to the trade, 
 by his father, a pious, deacon. Eoger Sherman, who was a member 
 of Congress from Connecticut, was sent there from the shoemaker’s 
 bench. 
 
 Among the most eminent of English statesmen and jurists, we find 
 those whose birth, education, and early associations were of the most 
 unpromising sort : sons of horse-jockeys, strolling players, barbers, 
 small dealers in old books, errand boys, newspaper reporters, clerks, 
 &c., &c. These men overthrew all obstacles by native strength of 
 character, surmounted the barriers of a matured social system, exhib- 
 iting practically their patent of nobility — the gift of the King of 
 Kings, which is generally understood by the powers that be in Great 
 Britain. Commingling this blood with that of the conquerers at 
 Hasftngs, it ennobles nobility of birth, by conferring heaven-derived 
 genius fresh from its fountain. 
 
 To a young friend, ambitious to obtain eminence as a lawyer and 
 jurist, Lord Erskine recommended to squander his fortune, marry and 
 spend his wife’s fortune, then affront all his wealthy friends, in short, 
 to destroy totally all resources without himself, to have nothing, ab- 
 solutely nothing, to fall back upon when prostrated by discourage- 
 ment, and then, said he, you will draw from the profoundest depths 
 a power that you never dreamed you possessed, and that will not only 
 astonish yourself but society, and secure to you fame, fortune, influ- 
 ence and station. This is the secret of the success of poor men's sons, 
 while the children of the wealthy fail. One knows if he falls, he will 
 drop upon a soft cushion, the other that a hard, and cold bed will be 
 his fate, while a hard, cold world will trample upon his prostrated 
 form and prospects. 
 
 Obscurity and poverty are the wholesome disciplinary methods of 
 nature to insure what otherwise would not be done. Wealth is real- 
 ly nothing, or if more than nothing, it is a clog to the career of any 
 sound mind in a sound body. Eemember this, when social superci- 
 liousness would depress, when opulence forgets its true origin, and 
 station turns its back upon the ladder it has used to mount above the 
 ordinary level. 
 
 From the barber’s shop, says Samuel Smiles, rose Sir Eichard Ark- 
 wright, the inventor of the spinning-jenny, and the founder of the 
 cotton manufacture of Great Britain ; Lord Tenterden, one of the 
 most distinguished of English Lord Chief Justices; and Turner, the 
 very greatest among landscape painters. 
 
224 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 Shakespeare’s father was a butcher and grazier ; and Shakespeare 
 himself is supposed to have been in early life a wool comber ; whilst 
 others aver that he was an usher in a school, and afterwards % scrive- 
 ner's clerk. 
 
 The common class of day labors has given us Brindley, the engineer, 
 Cook the navigator, and Burns, the poet. 
 
 Masons and bricklayers can boast of Ben Jonson, who worked at 
 the building of Lincoln’s Inn with a trowel in his hand and a book in 
 his pocket, Edwards and Telford, the engineers, Hugh Miller, the 
 geologist, and Allen Cunningham, the writer and scuptor. John Huu- 
 ter, the physiologist, Ronevey and Opie, the painters, Professor Lee, 
 the orientalist, and John Gibbons, the sculptor, were carpenters. 
 Wilson, the ornithologist, Dr. Livingstone, the missionary traveler, 
 and Tannahill, the poet, were weavers. Samuel Drew, the esrayist, 
 and Gifford, the editor of the “ Quarterly Review,” were shoemakers. 
 Admiral Hobson, one of the gallantest of British seaman, was origin- 
 ally a tailor. 
 
 LITTLE THINGS. 
 
 There is nothing too little for so little a creature as man. It is by 
 studying little things that we attain the great art of having as little 
 misery and as much happiness as possible. “If a straw,” says Dry- 
 den, “ can be made the instrument of happiness he is a wise man who 
 does not despise it.” A very little thing makes all the difference. 
 You stand in the engine-room of a steamer ; you admit the steam to 
 the cylinders, and the paddles turn ahead ; a touch of a lever, you 
 admit the self-same steam to the self-same cylinders, and the paddles 
 turn astern. It is so, oftentimes, in the moral world. The turning 
 of a straw decides whether the engines shall work forward or back- 
 ward. Look to the littles. The atomic theory is the true one. The 
 universe is but an infinite attrition of particles. Tha grandest whole 
 is resolvable to fractions ; or, as the ditty has it — 
 
 “ Little drops of water and little grains of sand, 
 
 Fill the mighty ocean and form the solid land.” 
 
 So with character, fortune, and all the concerns of life — the littles 
 combined, form the great bulk. If we look well to the disposition of 
 these, the sum total will be cared for. It is the minutes wasted, that 
 
LITTLE THINGS. 
 
 225 
 
 wound the hours and mar the day. It is the pennies neglected, that 
 squander the dollars. The majority of men disdain littles — to many, 
 fractions are “ vulgar ” in more senses than the rule implies. It is 
 apt to be thought indicative of a narrow mind and petty spirit to be 
 scrupulous about littles. Yet from littles have sprung the mass of 
 great vices and crimes. In habits, in manners, in business, we hava 
 only to watch the littles, and all will come out clear. The smallest 
 leak, overlooked, may sink a ship — the smallest tendency to evil 
 thinking or evil doing, left unguarded, may wreck character and life. 
 ISTo ridicule should dissuade us from looking to the littles. The great- 
 est and best of men have not been above caring for the littles — some 
 of which, have to do with every hour and every purpose of our lives. 
 
 Often what seems a trifle, a mere nothing by iicelf, in some nice 
 situations turns the scale of fate, and rules the most important ac- 
 tions. The cackling of a goose is fabled to have saved Home from the 
 Gauls, and the pain produced by a thistle to have warned a Scottish 
 army of the approach of the Danes ; and according to the following 
 anecdote from Randall's Life of Jefferson, it seems that flies contribu- 
 ted to hasten the American Independence : While the question of In- 
 dependence was before Congress, it had its meeting near a livery 
 stable. Its members wore short breeches and silk stockings, and, 
 with handkerchief in hand, they were diligently employed in lashing 
 the flies from their legs. So very vexatious was this annoyance, and 
 to so great an impatience did it arouse the sufferers, that it hastened, 
 if it did not aid in inducing them to promptly affix their signatures to 
 the great document which gave birth to an empire republic ! 
 
 The anecdote I had from Mr. Jefferson, at Monticello, who seemed 
 to c-njoy it very much — as well as to give credit to the influence of 
 the flies. He told me with' much glee, and seemed to retain a vivid 
 recollection of the severity of an attack from which the only relief 
 was signing the paper and flying from the flies. 
 
 John McClure, an eminent banker in New York, was recently 
 taught the importance of crossing his t’s by an impressive lesson. He 
 wrote to his agent in London to invest $60,000 forhim in State secu- 
 rities, but he failed to cross the first t, and his agent bought for him 
 an interest in a slate quarry in Wales. The agent was stupid, but 
 he obeyed orders literally. 
 
 A Philadelphia merchant being applied to by a young man for a 
 situation refused him, whereupon the young man starting to go out 
 - of the store picked up a pin, which the merchant observed and called 
 15 
 
226 
 
 PEACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 to him giving him at once the situation applied for. The young man 
 proved to be the best clerk in the establishment. 
 
 The most trifling actions that affect a man’s credit, says Franklin, 
 are to be regarded. The sound of your hammer at five in the morn 
 ing, or nine at night, heard by a creditor, makes him easy six months 
 longer ; but if he sees you at the billiard- table, or hears your voice at 
 a tavern, when you should be at work, he sends for his money the 
 next day, demands it before he can receive it in a lump. 
 
 It has been remarked, that the world punishes with too great se- 
 verity the error of those who imagine that the ignorance of little 
 things may be compensated by the knowledge of the great ; for so it 
 is, that as more can detect petty failings than can distinguish or es- 
 teem great qualifications, and as mankind is in general more easily 
 disposed to censure than to admiration, contempt is often incurred by 
 slight mistakes, which real virtue or usefulness can not counterbal- 
 ance. 
 
 Yet such mistakes and inadvertencies, it is not easy for a man 
 deeply immersed in study to avoid ; no man can become qualified for 
 the common intercourses of life by private meditation : the matters 
 of the world are not a regular system, planned by philosophers upon 
 settled principles, in which every cause has a congruous effect, and 
 one part has a just reference to another. Of the fashions prevalent 
 in every country, a few have arisen perhaps, from particular temper- 
 atures of the climate ; a few more from the constitution of the govern- 
 ment ; but the greater part have grown up by chance, been started 
 by caprice, been contrived by affectation, or borrowed without any 
 just motives of choice from other countries. 
 
 Of all these, the savage that hunts his prey upon the mountains, 
 and the sage that speculates in his closet, must necessarily live in 
 equal ignorance ; yet by the observation of these trifles it is, that the 
 ranks of mankind are kept in order, that the address of one to an- 
 other is regulated, and the general business of the world carried on 
 with facility and method. 
 
 We cut the diamond with dust, which we can not even scratch with 
 steel, and many a man’s spirit is worn away and brought down with 
 petty cares and small annoyances, who would have struggled manful- 
 ly against great evils. Though some small evils, like invisible insects, 
 inflict pain, and a single hair may stop a vast machine, yet the chief 
 secret of comfort lies in not suffering trifles to vex one, and in pru- 
 dently cultivating an undergrowth of small pleasures, since very few 
 great ones, alas ! are let on long leases 1 
 
LITTLE THINGS. 
 
 227 
 
 Small troubles are always more difficult to encounter and bear than 
 great ones. No person who has lived long in this world of troubles, 
 has failed to detect this in his own experience. 
 
 Men will bear troubles of the heaviest nature patiently one day, 
 and sink down in despair, the very next, under the most frivolous 
 occurrences imaginable. Especially is this likely to be the case when 
 troubles come together, and the saying is that they never come singly. 
 It is then that they destroy the patience, and with it the indispensa- 
 ble virtue of self-control in the sufferer. 
 
 It is because patience under small troubles is so rare, that its exer- 
 cise denotes a great spirit. Such was that of Job when covered with 
 boils, and tempted to “ curse God, and die !” 
 
 The young cannot be too frequently or emphatically warned against 
 succumbing to small troubles. They should be taught to bear up 
 against them, and study that patience which has been characterized 
 as a great virtue. 
 
 Little troubles wear the heart out. It is easier to throw a bomb 
 shell a mile than a feather — even with artillery. Little faults, no 
 less than great crimes, can hide the light of heaven from the soul. 
 Just breathe upon the glasses of a telescope, and the dew of your 
 breath will shut out all the stars. 
 
 Trifles are not to be despised. The nerve of a tooth, not so large 
 as the finest cambric needle, will sometimes drive a strong man to 
 distraction. A musquito can make an elephant absolutely mad. The 
 coral rock, which causes a navy to founder, is the work of worms. 
 The warrior that withstood death in a thousand forms may be killed 
 by an insect. For want of a nail the shoe was lost, for want of a shoe 
 the horse was lost, for want of a horse the rider was lost. Every pea 
 helps to fill the peck. Little and often fills the purse. Moments are 
 the golden sands of time. Every day is a little life ; and our whole 
 life is but a day repeated ; those, therefore, that dare lose a day, are 
 dangerously prodigal ; those that dare misspend it, desperate. Springs 
 are little things, but they are sources of large streams — a helm is a 
 little thing, but it governs the course of a ship — a bridle bit is a little 
 thing, but see its use and power — nails and pegs are little things, but 
 they hold parts of large buildings together — a word, a look, a frown, 
 all are little things, but powerful for good or evil. Think of this, and 
 mind the little things. Pay that little debt — it’s promised, redeem 
 it — if it’s a shilling, hand it over — you know not what important event 
 hangs upon it. Keep your word sacredly — keep it to the children, 
 
228 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 they will mark it sooner than anybody else, and the effect will proba- 
 bly be as lasting as life. Mind little things. 
 
 Sedulous attention and painstaking industry always mark the true 
 worker. The greatest men are not those who “ despise the day of 
 small things,” but those who improve them the most carefully. Mi- 
 chael Angelo was one day explaining to a visitor at his studio what 
 he had been doing at a statue since his previous visit. " I have re- 
 touched this part, — polished that, — softened this feature, — brought 
 out that muscle, — given some expression to this lip, and more energy 
 to that limb.” “ But these are trifles,” remarked the visitor. “ It 
 may be so,” replied the sculptor, “ but recollect that trifles make per- 
 fection, and perfection is no trifle.” So it was said of Nicholas Pois- 
 sin, the painter, that the rule of his conduct was, that “ whatever wa3 
 worth doing at all was worth doing well;” and when asked, late in 
 life, by what means he had gained so high a reputation among the 
 painters of Italy, he emphatically answered, “ Because I have neglect- 
 ed nothing.” 
 
 It is the intelligent eye of the careful observer which gives appa- 
 rently trivial phenomena their value. So trifling a matter as the 
 sight of sea-weed floating past his ship, enabled Columbus to quell the 
 mutiny which arose amongst his sailors at not discovering land, and 
 to assure them that the eagerly sought New World was not far off. 
 There is nothing so small that it should remain forgotten ; and no 
 fact, however trivial, but may prove useful in some way or other if 
 carefully interpreted. Who could have imagined that the famous 
 “ chalk-cliffs of Albion ” had been built up by tiny insects, — detected 
 only by the help of the microscope, — of the same order of creatures 
 that have gemmed the sea with islands of coral ! And who that con- 
 templates such extraordinary results, arising from infinitely minute 
 operations, will venture to question the power of little things ? 
 
 It is the close observation of little things which is the secret of suc- 
 cess in business, in art, in science, and in every pursuit in life. Hu- 
 man knowledge is but an accumulation of small facts, made by suc- 
 cessive generations of men, the little bits of knowledge and experi- 
 ence carefully treasured up by them growing at length into a mighty 
 pyramid. Though many of these facts and observations seemed in 
 the first instance to have but slight significance, they are all found to 
 have their eventual uses, and to fit into their proper places. Even 
 many speculations seemingly remote turn out to be the basis of results 
 the most obviously practical. In the case of the conic sections dis- 
 covered by Apolonius Pergceus, twenty centuries elapsed before they 
 
MAXIMS, PRECEPTS AND RULES. 
 
 229 
 
 were made the basis of astronomy, — a science which enables the mod- 
 ern navigator to steer his way through unknown seas, and traces for 
 him in the heavens an unerring path to his appointed haven. And 
 had not mathematicians toiled for so long, and, to uninstructed ob- 
 servers, apparently so fruitlessly, over the abstract relations of lines 
 and surfaces, it is probable that but few of our mechanical inventions 
 would have seen the light. 
 
 When Franklin made his discovery of the identity of lightning and 
 electricity, it was sneered at, and people asked, “ Of what use is it ?” 
 to which his apt reply was, “ What is the use of a child ? It may 
 become a man ! ” When Galvani discovered that a frog's leg twitched 
 when placed in contact with different metals, it could scarcely have 
 been imagined that so apparently insignificant a fact could have led 
 to important results. Yet therein lay the germ of the electric tele- 
 graph, which binds the intelligence of continents together, and doubt- 
 less before many years elapse will “ put a girdle round the globe.” 
 So, too, little bits of stone and fossil, dug out of the earth, intelligently 
 interpreted, have issued in the science of geology and the practical 
 operations of mining, in which large capitals are invested and vast 
 numbers of persons profitably employed. 
 
 There are no such things as trifles in the biography of man. Drops 
 make up the sea. Acorns cover the earth with oaks, and the ocean 
 with navies. Sands make up the bar in the harbor’s mouth, on which 
 vessels are wrecked ; and little things in youth accumulate into char- 
 acter in age, and destiny in eternity. All the links in that glorious 
 chain which is in all and around all, we can see and admire, or at 
 least admit ; but the staple to which all is fastened, and which is the 
 conductor of all, is the Throne of Deity. 
 
 MAXIMS, PRECEPTS AND RULES. 
 
 HON. STEPHEN ALLEN’S POCKET-PIECE. 
 
 Among the victims of the Henry Clay disaster, was Stephen Allen, 
 Esq., an aged man of the purest character, formerly a mayor of New 
 York, beloved and esteemed by all who knew him. In his pocket 
 was found a printed slip, apparently cut from a newspaper, of which 
 the following is a copy : 
 
 Always keep good company or none. Never be idle. 
 
230 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 If your hands cannot be usefully employed, attend to the cultiva- 
 tion of your mind. 
 
 Always speak the truth. Make few promises. 
 
 Live up to your engagements. Keep your own secrets, if you have 
 any. 
 
 When you speak to a person, look him in the face. 
 
 Good company and good conversation are the very sinews of virtue. 
 
 Good character is above all things else. 
 
 Your character cannot he essentially injured, except by your own 
 
 SjLCt'S. 
 
 If any one speaks evil of you, let your life be so that none will be- 
 lieve him. 
 
 Drink no kind of intoxicating liquors. 
 
 Ever live (misfortune excepted) within your income. 
 
 When you retire to bed, think over what you have been doing du- 
 ring the day. 
 
 Make no haste to he rich, if you would prosper. 
 
 Small and steady gains give competency with tranquility of mind. 
 
 Never play at any game of chance. 
 
 Avoid temptation, through fear you may not withstand it. 
 
 Earn money before you spend it. 
 
 Never ^run into debt unless you see a way to get out again. 
 
 Never borrow if you can possibly avoid it. 
 
 Do not marry until you can support a wife. 
 
 Never speak evil of any one. 
 
 Be just before you are generous. 
 
 Keep yourself innocent if you would be happy. 
 
 Save when you are young to spend when you are old. 
 
 Bead over the above maxims at least once a week. 
 
 hunt’s business precepts. 
 
 In the first place, make up your mind to accomplish whatever you 
 undertake ; decide upon some particular employment, and persevere 
 in it. All difficulties are overcome by diligence and assiduity. Be 
 not afraid to work with your own hands, and diligently too. “A cat 
 in gloves catches no mice.” Attend to your own business, and never 
 trust it to another. “A pot that belongs to another is ill stirred and 
 worse boiled.” Be frugal. “ That which will not make a pot will 
 make a pot-lid.” Be abstemious. “ Who dainties love shall 
 beggars prove.” Arise early. “ The sleeping fox catches no poultry.” 
 
MAXIMS, PEECEPTS AND EULES. 
 
 231 
 
 Treat every one with respect and civility. “ Everything is gained 
 and nothing lost by courtesy.” “ Good manners insure success.” 
 Never anticipate wealth from any other source than labor. “ He 
 who waits for dead mens shoes may have to go a long time barefoot.” 
 And above all, 11 Nil desjoerandum ,” for “ Heaven helps those who 
 help themselves.” If you implicitly follow these precepts, nothing 
 can hinder you from accumulating. 
 
 BUSINESS EULES. 
 
 An Eastern paper gives the following seasonable and excellent 
 rules for young men commencing business : 
 
 The world estimates men by their success in life, and, by general 
 consent, success is evidence of superiority. 
 
 Never under any circumstances assume a responsibility you can 
 avoid consistently with your duty to yourself and others. 
 
 Base all your actions upon a principle of right ; preserve your in- 
 tegrity of character, and in doing this never reckon on the cost. 
 
 Remember that self-interest is more likely to warp your judgment 
 than all other circumstances combined ; therefore, look well to your 
 duty when your interest is concerned. 
 
 Never make money at the expense of your reputation. 
 
 Be neither lavish nor niggardly ; of the two, avoid the latter. A 
 mean man is universally despised, but public favor is a stepping-stone 
 to preferment ; therefore generous feelings should be cultivated. 
 
 Say but little, think much and do more. 
 
 Let your expenses be such as to leave a balance in your pocket. 
 Ready money is a friend in need. 
 
 Keep clear of the law ; for, even if you gain your case, you are 
 generally a loser. 
 
 Avoid borrowing and lending. 
 
 Wine drinking and smoking cigars are bad habits; they impair the 
 mind and pocket, and lead to a waste of time. 
 
 Never relate your misfortune, and never grieve over what you can 
 not prevent. 
 
 EOTHSCIIILD’S EULES. 
 
 The founder of the celebrated house of the Rothschilds is said to 
 have ascribed his success to a strict adherence to the following rules : 
 
 1. I combined three profits ; I made the manufacturer my custom- 
 
232 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 er, and the one I bought of my customer ; that is, I supplied the 
 manufacturer with the raw material and dyes, on each of which I 
 made a profit, and took his manufactured goods, which I sold at a 
 profit ; and thus combined three profits. 
 
 2. Make a bargain at once. Be an off-handed man. 
 
 3. Never have anything to do with an unlucky man or place. I have 
 seen, said he, many clever men who had not shoes to their feet. I 
 never act with them; their advice sounds very well, but fate is 
 against them. They can not get on themselves; how can they do 
 good to me ? 
 
 4. Be cautious and bold. It requires a great deal of boldness and 
 a great deal of caution to make a great fortune ; and when you have 
 got it, it requires ten times as much wit to keep it. 
 
 ricardo’s rules. 
 
 David Bicardo, the distinguished writer on political economy, used 
 to press on his friends the observance of the following laconic rules : 
 
 1. Never refuse an option when you can get it. 
 
 2. Out short your losses. 
 
 3. Let your profits run on. 
 
 m’donough’s rules. 
 
 Upon the tomb of John McDonough, the New Orleans millionaire, 
 are engraved the following maxims, which he had made the rules for 
 his guidance through life, and to which his success is mainly attribu- 
 table : 
 
 1. Bern ember always that labor is one of the conditions of our ex- 
 istence. 2. Time is gold; throw not one minute away, but place 
 each one to account. 3. Do unto all men as you would be done by. 
 
 4. Never put off till to-morrow what you can do to-day. 5. Never 
 bid another to do what you can do yourself. 6. Never covet what is 
 not your own. 7. Never think any matter so trifling as not to de- 
 serve notice. 8. Never give out that which does not first come in. 
 9. Never spend but to produce. 10. Let the greatest order regulate 
 the tranactions of your life. 11. Study in your course of life to do 
 the greatest amount of good. 12. Deprive yourself of nothing neces- 
 sary to your comfort, but live in an honorable simplicity and frugali- 
 ty. 13. Labor, then, to the last moment of your existence. 
 
MAXIMS, PRECEPTS AND RULES. 
 
 • 233 
 
 THE MOTTO OF HON. JOHN FREEDLEY. 
 
 It was self-dependence , self-reliance. He says, it is a mistaken no 
 tion that capital alone is necessary to success in business. If a man 
 has head and hands suited to his business, it will soon procure him 
 capital. My observations through life satisfy me that at least nine- 
 tenths of those most successful in business start in life without any 
 reliance except their own head and hands — hoe their own row from 
 the jump. 
 
 amos Lawrence’s maxims. 
 
 He says, I have had these mentors before me: Do what you un- 
 dertake thoroughly. Be faithful in all accepted trusts. 
 
 I am satisfied they have served me well three score years. 
 
 LETTER FROM JOHN RANDOLPH. 
 
 The following interesting letter is from John Randolph, of Roan- 
 oke, written to John Randolph Bryant, who married his favorite 
 niece. It was written from England a short time before Randolph’s 
 death : 
 
 London, December 28, 1830. 
 
 My Dear Godson : — Although I have so lately written to your bet- 
 ter half, and at such tedious length, too, yet I cannot refrain from 
 the attempt to engraft an old head upon young shoulders, notwith- 
 standing my belief that no man was the wiser for another’s experi- 
 ence. There are too many who are unable to profit by their own. 
 Witness the gambler and the spendthrift, not to mention another 
 class of victims of licentious propensities matured into habitual indul- 
 gence. Each of these wretched votaries of his darling vice, is more 
 sensible of the ruinous effects of his folly than any preacher who ex- 
 horts him against the consequences. He that wears the chain best 
 knows how and where the fetter galls. They that declaim against 
 the fixed and rooted ill-habits of- their neighbor, under the expecta- 
 tion of reforming him, only show that they themselves are coxcombs. 
 Rather sententious and flat this, you will say, and you will say the 
 truth. 
 
 Having established yourself in Gloucester, let me remind you “ not 
 to put off until to-morrow what may be done to-day,” and to leave 
 until next year what could be done this. (1831.) Plant all sorts of 
 
234 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 trees. Man and boy I knew John Lewis for some forty years or so, 
 although I never was in his house. It may be probable he has saved 
 you the trouble of rearing orchards. But, be that as it may, fail not 
 to have a good apple orchard, especially, and banish ardent spirits as 
 a beverage from your table. * * * If, at the beginning, 
 
 you are obliged to resort to spirits, let your wife make punch or toddy 
 by measure, of a certain strength never to be increased, according to 
 the good old Virginia fashion. 
 
 2. Have no dealing that can possibly be avoided with your neigh- 
 bors. The disregard of this caution will certainly lead to squabbles 
 find strife. 
 
 3. Take no receipt on loose pieces of paper. Carry a receipt book 
 in your pocket, and take all receipts in it ; if you are afraid of losing 
 it, keep it in your desk. Always have the receipts witnessed when 
 practicable. 
 
 4. Copy, or have copied, all your bills in a book, so that you may 
 at a glance see the cost of any article or branch of expense. Without 
 accurate accounts you must first fall behind hand. What voyage 
 would a ship make without observation or reckoning? You are now 
 embarked on a voyage of life ; without a good look-out you may be 
 cast away. 
 
 5. Form no intimacies with your neighbors under a seven year ac- 
 quaintance. The rigid observance of my own maxims did not prevent 
 ill blood between some of my neighbors and myself. My maxims 
 preserved me from strife, and from loss by those. With the rest I 
 was on the best of terms. 
 
 6. Economy, the adapting of your supplies judiciously to their in- 
 tended end. This is a gift of Cod. It cannot be taught, at least. I 
 have tried to learn it all my life, without success. My mother had 
 it in perfection. 
 
 7. Frugality — It is in the power of every honest man, who means 
 to retain his honesty, to refrain from indulging in expenses which he 
 cannot afford. A disregard of this maxim, the result of their igno- 
 rant indolence of their own affairs, has ruined all my name and race ; 
 they did not know what they could afford, and some, I fear, did not 
 care. 
 
 I shall send you some acorns of an oak from Turkey, and also a few 
 English. Plant them in beds, keep clean and transplant at eighteen 
 inches or two feet high. I hope that you will not forget broad nuts, 
 English walnuts, filberts, hazel nuts and chestnuts. 
 
 I shall probably never see you and my darling niece succeed as 
 
MAXIMS, PRECEPTS AND RULES. 
 
 235 
 
 housekeepers. Daily and every day I find that I am sinking. To 
 he laid by the side of my honored parents at Old Matoax, is now the 
 only wish that I have personally to myself. No tomb stone, no mon- 
 ument for me. Let “ spring with her dewy fingers cold,” dress the 
 turf that shall cover my no longer feverish head or throbbing heart. 
 If there be any memorial of me, let it be a plain headstone, with this 
 inscription : “ John Randolph, of Roanoke, son of John Randolph, of 
 Roanoke, the elder, and Frances Bland, his wife, of Virginia ; born 
 
 June 2d, 1773, died, , 1831.” Beyond this last period I feel 
 
 that it is impossible, almost a miracle, for my existence to be pro- 
 longed. “Thy will be done.” 
 
 Adieu, my children. J. R., of Roanoke. 
 
 To John Randolph Bryant, Esq. 
 
 MORE MAXIMS. 
 
 Never taste an atom when not hungry; it is suicidal. Never hire 
 servants who go in pairs, as sisters, cousins, or anything else. Never 
 speak of your father as “ the old man.” Never reply to the epithet 
 of a drunkard, a fool, or a felon. Never speak contemptuously of 
 womankind. Never abuse one who was' once your bosom friend, how- 
 ever bitter now. Never smile at the expense of your religion or your 
 Bible. Never stand on the corner of a street. Never insult poverty. 
 Never eat between meals. 
 
 COUNSELS. 
 
 He who will take no advice, but be always his own counselor, shall 
 be sure to have a fool for his client. Good counsel is cast away by 
 the arrogant, the self-conceited, and the stupid ; who are either too 
 proud to take it, or too heavy to understand it. Some folks are silly 
 enough to disregard all good advice, unless he who gives it lives fully 
 up to his own precepts. This is just about as wise as it would be in a 
 traveler to scorn the directions of a finger-post, unless it drew its one 
 leg out of the ground and hopped after its own finger. 
 
 When we commend good and noble actions, we make them in some 
 measure our own. Doing justice to worthy qualities, is at least a 
 credit to our judgment. Those are presumed to be the best counsels, 
 which come from them that advise against their own interest. Don’t 
 force a man to take your advice. You can advise him to take a bath 
 without pitching him into the river. Advice, like snow, the softer it 
 
236 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 falls the longer it dwells upon, and the deeper it sinks into, the mind. 
 Men must be taught as if you taught them not. 
 
 Eat, digest ; read, remember ; earn, save ; love, and be beloved. 
 If the above rules are strictly followed out, health, wealth, intelli- 
 gence and true happiness will be the result. Kely on yourself. Shun 
 vice. Go not to sleep in malice. Take care lest thou lose. Do well, 
 but boast not. Govern thy passions. Eesolve to be virtuous. Be 
 cheerful. Try to better your condition. Hate nothing but what ip 
 dishonest ; fear nothing but what is ignoble ; and love nothing but 
 what is just and honorable. Hear no ill of a friend, nor speak any 
 of an enemy ; believe not all you hear, and appear what you are. 
 Keep out of debt — out of quarrels — out of law — out of politics — out 
 of idleness — out of thin-soled shoes — out of damp clothes — out of 
 reach of brandy and water — out of public office — out of matrimony, 
 unless you are in love. There were three good lessons which the 
 bird in the fable gave the fowler for his release : Not to lose a 
 certainty for an uncertainty; not to give credit to things beyond 
 probability ; nor to grieve for that which is past remedy. Do noth- 
 ing shameful, either in the presence of others or alone. Eespect your- 
 self, and others will respect you. Above all things, reverence thy- 
 self. Live peacably with all men, and have but one counselor among 
 a thousand. Let not sleep fall upon thy eyes till thou hast twice re- 
 viewed the transactions of the past day. Where have I turned aside 
 from rectitude ? What have I been doing ? What have I left un- 
 done which I ought to have done ? Begin thus from the first act and 
 proceed ; and, in conclusion, at the ill which thou hast done be 
 troubled, and rejoice for the good. 
 
 BUSINESS. 
 
 Every human being has duties to be performed, and, therefore, 
 has need of cultivating the capacity for doing them ; whether the 
 sphere of action be the management of a household, the conduct of a 
 trade or profession, or the government of a nation. 
 
 Attention, application, accuracy, method, punctuality, and dispatch 
 are the principal qualities required for the efficient conduct of busi- 
 ness of any sort. These, at first sight, may appear to be small mat* 
 ters ; and yet they are of essential importance to human happiness, 
 well-being and usefulness. Says Solomon, “ Seest thou a man dili- 
 gent in his business ? he shall stand before kings.” “ That man is 
 
BUSINESS. 
 
 237 
 
 but of the lower part of the world that is not brought up to business 
 and affairs.” “He that would be sure to have his business well 
 done, must either do it himself or see to the doing of it.” “ The man 
 who neglects his business will soon be without business.” “ Call on 
 a business man in business hours, only on business ; transact your 
 business, and then go about your business, in order to give him time 
 to finish his business.” 
 
 HONOR YOUR BUSINESS. 
 
 Henry Ward Beecher, in one of his New York Ledger articles, 
 says : It is a good sign when a man is proud of his work, or his 
 calling. Yet nothing is more common than to hear men finding fault 
 constantly with their particular business, and deeming themselves 
 unfortunate because fastened to it by the necessity of gaining a live- 
 lihood. In this spirit men fret, and laboriously destroy all their 
 comfort in work. Or they change their business, and go on misera- 
 bly shifting from one thing to another, till the grave or the poor- 
 house gives them a fast gripe. 
 
 But while, occasionally, a man fails in life because he is not in the 
 place fitted for his peculiar talent, it happens ten times oftener that 
 failure results from neglect and even contempt of an honest business. 
 A man should put his heart into everything, that he does. There is 
 not a profession in the world that has not its peculiar cares and vex- 
 ations. No man will escape annoyance by changing business. No 
 mechanical business is altogether agreeable. Commerce, in its endless 
 varieties, is affected like all other human pursuits, with trials, unwel- 
 come duties, and spirit-tiring necessities. It is the very wantonness of 
 folly for a man to search out the frets and burdens of his calling, and 
 give his mind every day to a consideration of them. They belong to 
 human life. They are inevitable. Brooding, then, only gives them 
 strength. 
 
 On the other hand, a man has a power given him to shed beauty 
 and pleasure upon the homeliest toil if he is wise. Let a man adopt 
 his business, and identify it with his life, and cover it with pleasant 
 associations. For Cod has given us imagination not alone to make 
 some men poets, but to enable all men to beautify homely things. 
 Heart varnish will cover up innumerable evils and defects. Look at 
 the good things. Accept your lot as a man does a piece of rugged 
 ground, and begin to get out the rocks and roots, to deepen and mel- 
 low the soil, to enrich and plant it. There is something in the most 
 
238 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 forbidding avocation around which a man may twine pleasant fancies, 
 out of which he may develop an honest pride. 
 
 We met, not long since, a fine specimen of just the thing we mean. 
 He began life a blacksmith. “ I never wanted to be anything else 
 than a mechanic,” said he. He determined to be respectable and 
 honorable, not in spite of his business, but by means of it. He entered 
 with heart and soul and ambition into it. Little by little he improved 
 it. Selecting a single line of articles, he began manufacturing them. 
 “When I first entered the market,” said he, “I found everybody try- 
 ing to sell cheaper than his neighbor, and so making poorer and 
 poorer articles, and running down the trade. I determined that I 
 would not undersell , but excel. 
 
 In this spirit he entered heartily into his work, was proud of it, 
 nursed and nourished it, and now he is, in his own department, al- 
 most without a competitor in the market. He has gathered riches, 
 which he employs benevolently, and is respected and honored by all 
 his townsmen. The good which this honest mechanic has done will 
 not stop with himself. He will have made his business honorable to 
 others. A man can impart to a business a flavor of honor by his own 
 conduct, which shall make it thereafter more creditable to any one 
 who enters it. Franklin left upon the printing office an impress 
 which has benefited the profession of printers ever since. Black- 
 smiths love to speak of the yet uncanonized name of St. Elihu Burritt. 
 
 Mr. Dowse, by tanning and currying, amassed a fortune, and be- 
 queathed it and its literary products to the public in Boston and Cam- 
 bridge ; and we venture to say, that hereafter that business will be 
 easier and more encouraging to every lad that is bound apprentice to 
 the nasty trade. Once let a man convert his business into an instru- 
 ment of honor, benevolence and patriotism, and from that moment it 
 is transfigured, and men judge its dignity and merit, not by what it 
 externally is, but by what it has done and can do. It is better to 
 stick to your business, and by patient industry and honorable enter- 
 prise crown it with honor, than to run away from it, and seek pros- 
 perity ready made to your hand. It is not what a man finds that 
 does him good, but what he does. 
 
 COMMERCE. 
 
 A man ceases to be a savage when you can awaken in him a desire 
 to buy and sell. A strong taste for commerce leads by the shortest 
 road to civilization. The spirit of modern times is commercial. Com- 
 
BUSINESS. 
 
 239 
 
 merce is a great divine instrumentality in civilizing and Christiani- 
 zing the world. Comprehensively regarded, it may be said to be a 
 Christian agency. As a general tendency, it is doing more good to 
 the world than we can calculate or imagine. And yet those that are 
 conducting the commerce of the world are, to a very great extent, in 
 their private and special operations respecting it, oppressors. For 
 the first contact of the commercial spirit is apt to produce oppression. 
 
 ♦ 
 
 SPECULATION. 
 
 “Take heed that thou enter not into reckless speculation.” Never 
 take great hazards. Such hazards are seldom well balanced by the 
 prospects of profit ; and if they were, the habit of mind which is in- 
 duced is unfavorable, and generally the result is bad. To keep what 
 you have, should be the first rule ; to get what you can fairly, the 
 second. 
 
 Financeiring is a deep game, and he who leaves an honest toil in 
 a business that he does understand, for calculations of chance in mat- 
 ters where he has no skill, is very apt to become the loser ; and, as 
 in all lotteries, to grow desperate in the attempt to make up his loss- 
 es. We do not speak of investments in stocks, &c., as property, but 
 of the spirit of speculation ; and we have no doubt that a just verdict 
 upon many cases of fraud would be, “ This man lost his capital and 
 his character by speculation in stocks.” Keep therefore to honest toil 
 in a legitimate business, and do not aspire to become a financier. “ Be 
 content with such things as ye have?” 
 
 It is never wise to let extraneous considerationr countervail the 
 natural laws of trade. 
 
 PURCHASES. 
 
 Make it a rule through your life, says Rev. Joseph Jones, to never 
 buy what the people do not want. Buy that which is desired by all, 
 and you will never have any difficulty in realizing your money again 
 when you may want it. Do not purchase undesirable property be- 
 cause it is cheap. 
 
 An old Philosopher and Naturalist has handed down to us some 
 facts which are simple and easily understood, but are little practiced 
 in every day's transactions : 
 
 1st. When any article or commodity demands a high price, more 
 than it is worth, never invest your money in it for speculation, unless 
 
240 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 you know where to sell it at once at a higher figure. Experience has 
 shown that seven-tenths of all such investments have proven a fail- 
 ure in one hundred years together. 
 
 2d. When an article or commodity falls far below its ordinary price 
 or real value, invest all your capital in it, when prices are at their 
 minimum, or as near it as possible, for nine times out of ten, all such 
 investments have been profitable, for the last century. 
 
 It is an old saying, that he who buys by the penny, keeps his own 
 house and other men's too. 
 
 When articles rise, the consumer is the first that suffers, and when 
 they fall, he is the last that gains. 
 
 CONTRACTS. 
 
 For everything you buy or sell, lend or hire, make an exact bar- 
 gain at first, and do not be put off to an hereafter by one who says 
 to you, “ We shall not disagree about trifles.” I have often met with 
 men who appeared reluctant to make a previous bargain, remarking, 
 “ 0, we shall not disagree about trifles ! ” I have invariably found 
 such persons exorbitant, and often dishonest. The remark really 
 meant, “ As you wont disagree about a trifle, I shall have a good 
 chance to shave you ! ” 
 
 It is a universally acknowledged maxim, that as soon as one con- 
 tracting party departs from the condition of his engagement, the oth- 
 er is no longer bound by his. 
 
 SETTLEMENTS. 
 
 I 
 
 Says Lawrence, the millionaire merchant of Boston : “ During the 
 first seven years of my business, I never allowed a bill against me to 
 stand unsettled over the Sabbath. If the purchase of goods was made 
 at auction on Saturday, and delivered to me, I always examined and 
 settled the bill by note or credit, so that in case I was not on duty on 
 Monday, there would be no trouble for the boys ; thus keeping my 
 business before me, instead of allowing it to drive me.” 
 
 MODEL MANNER OF SETTLING AN ESTATE. 
 
 Seth Thomas, of Plymouth Hollow, Connecticut, left at the time of 
 his decease, in 1858, property worth from $400,000 to $600,000, and 
 six children who were his heirs. There was no with and the estate 
 
BUSINESS. 
 
 241 
 
 descended in a legal manner to the children equally. They consulted 
 no lawyers, began no scramble, but mutually agreed upon two judi- 
 cious men, and employed them to divide the property into six portions 
 as nearly equal in value as could be. This done the portions were 
 put up at auction among them, each buying a portion, and the pre- 
 miums again were equally divided. In this way the lawyers got no 
 fees, the community no scandal, the peace of the family circle was 
 preserved, and an end arrived at which gratifies every pure sentiment. 
 
 ENDORSING. 
 
 If you want to avoid being drawn into the common vortex of finan- 
 cial ruin by friends and relations, as dishonest in reality as they are 
 reckless, never endorse for a dime without your wife’s written con- 
 sent. Or read daily the fifteenth verse of the eleventh chapter of 
 Proverbs. 
 
 DUNNING. 
 
 No man should be delicate about asking for what is properly due 
 him. If he neglect doing so he is deficient in the spirit of independ- 
 ence which he should observe in all his actions. Eights, if not grant- 
 ed, should be demanded. The selfish world is little inclined to give 
 one his own unless he have the manliness to claim it. 
 
 PROPERTY. 
 
 The advantages of the acquisition of property are two-fold ; they 
 are not merely to be estimated by the pecuniary profit produced, but 
 by the superior tone of industry and economy which the possessor 
 unconsciously acquires. When a man is able to call his own that 
 which he has obtained by his own well-directed exertion, this power 
 at once causes him to feel raised in the scale of being, and endows 
 him with the capacity of enlarging the stock of his possessions. A 
 cottager having a garden, a cow, or even a pig, is much more likely 
 to be an industrious member of society than one who has nothing in 
 which he can take an interest during his hours of relaxation, and who 
 feels he is of no consequence because he has nothing which he can call 
 his own. The impressions which have been produced upon the minds 
 of the peasantry, by affording them the means of acquiring property 
 and of possessing objects of care and industry, are great, unqualified, 
 16 
 
242 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 and unvaried. In every instance the cottager has been rendered 
 more industrious, the wife more active and managing, the children 
 better educated and more fitted for their station in life. 
 
 TO PURCHASERS OF REAL ESTATE, 
 
 Do not pay for property until you are certain that the title is with- 
 out a flaw. Do not trust to “ honor,” “ friendship,” or anything hut 
 the records. Have the title searched by your own lawyer and not by 
 the seller’s or else by both of them. Before buying see 
 
 1. That the seller has a connected chain of title; 
 
 2. That no dower .interests are outstanding ; 
 
 3. Nor mortgages ; 
 
 4. Nor mechanic’s liens ; 
 
 5. If property has ever been sold at Sheriff’s, Executor’s, Admin- 
 istrator’s or Guardian’s sale, see that the proceedings were regular ; 
 
 6. If ever devised by will, see that will was duly probated ; 
 
 7. See that there are no liens from taxes or tax sales, either countv 
 or city ; 
 
 8. That there are no liens from judgments by the courts of this 
 State ; 
 
 9. Nor from judgments rendered in the United States Circuit Court. 
 
 HOW TO OBTAIN A PENSION. 
 
 In obtaining a pension the steps are simple : First, the declaration 
 with two witnesses is made before any court of record, or an officer 
 representing it ; second, the certificate of two surgeons as to the in- 
 jury received or disease contracted and the degree of disability is 
 necessary; third, the certificate of a commissioned officer having 
 knowledge of the facts, stating time, place and facts. 
 
 SENDING MONEY BY MAIL. 
 
 Holbrook’s Mail says that it is very essential that parties enclosing 
 bank notes in letters, for transmission in the mail, should be particu- 
 lar in retaining the number, letter and date of each bill. If lost or 
 stolen this will aid materially in tracing out the robbery and in the 
 return of the property to the rightful owner, provided it is recovered 
 in whole or in part. It is not enough to be able to say that the notes 
 posted were of particular denominations and on certain banks. Such 
 
BUILDINGS AND BUILDING MATERIALS. 
 
 243 
 
 identification is not sufficient'to authorize the restoration, if found. 
 The practice of retaining a pretty full description would, if generally 
 followed, tend greatly to prevent depredations, and aid materially in 
 conviction where robberies are committed and detected. 
 
 TO FIND LOST BANK NOTES. 
 
 Bank notes when dropped are apt to be carried away from the spot 
 by the wind. They are. sometimes recovered by dropping a piece of 
 thin paper in the same place where the note was lost and watching 
 the course it takes. 
 
 BUILDINGS AND BUILDING MATERIALS. 
 
 THE HOUSES WE LIVE IN. 
 
 Some one has said, I will tell you the character of the man, if you 
 will show me the house he lives in. The dwellings of the people are 
 the indices of their character and civilization. The airy, sunny, rov- 
 ing, free Arab of the desert lives in a tent, as have his fathers, from 
 the day that Ishmael went forth from the family of Abraham. The 
 North American Indian lives in his wigwam of poles and skins, or 
 bark. The Esquimeaux burrows in his hut of snow, or tent of seal 
 skin. The Hottentot builds of mud. The wild Tartar hordes have 
 their light villages on wheels. The houses of the Chinese and Japan- 
 ese are perfectly expressive of their characters. So were those of the 
 ancient Egyptians, Greeks and Romans. Every people writes its 
 character in its architecture ; and the various classes of every people 
 and every individual who builds or selects a dwelling, makes it ex- 
 pressive of his character and condition. 
 
 Here the rough backwoodsman builds his log cabin. The thrifty 
 farmer puts up a house of frame and clapboards, lath and plaster. A 
 solid and assured prosperity intrenches itself in brick or stone. 
 
 In our cities, the old aristocratic families like spacious double 
 houses, with plenty of room about them ; while the newer aspirants 
 of fashion prefer the narrow, five-story, brown-stone fronts. Strug- 
 gling gentility contents itself with the narrowest of possible edifices, 
 or puts up with a divided domicil to save rent. The poor do what 
 
244 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 they can, but still manage to make characteristic selections. Some 
 burrow in cellars — some roost in attics. 
 
 The national character comes out in its great hotels, its showy vil- 
 lages, its hasty, ambitious and sham decorations. The Americans 
 paint old houses to look like new. The Italians, on the contrary, 
 paint new buildings so as to give them the air of the antiquities and 
 ruins. The American would like everything about him to look as if 
 it were finished yesterday. He does not care much if it be unfinished, so 
 that it is spick and span new. The ancient, the venerable has no 
 charms for him. A place which has that air of age and ripeness, 
 which would give it a double charm to a European, makes it fright- 
 ful to the American, and he either sets to repairing and painting, to 
 make it look like new, or sells it and builds another. 
 
 So much for the aspect and character of the houses we live in. 
 Something now of their uses and adaptedness for human dwellings. 
 
 When Methuselah had lived in a tent five hundred years, he was 
 told to arise and build him a house. He said that he had done very 
 well in a tent so far, and that for the little time he had left, it was 
 not worth while to build a house ; so he lived on in his tent nearly 
 five hundred years longer. 
 
 We have talked with men who, in such dry, equable climates as 
 western Texas and New Mexico, have slept out doors for a year or 
 two, and they said that when they came to sleep in a log house, with 
 big cracks between the logs, they, had a feeling of suffocation. Per- 
 sons accustomed to live in tents find closely built houses very uncom- 
 fortable. Custom makes very bad conditions bearable, but it does 
 not make them healthful. 
 
 As a rule, our houses are tight boxes, which poison us with bad 
 air. Our builders make no more provision for ventilation than if 
 men were not breathing animals, or could do as they thought proper 
 about it. When the joiner has made the doors and windows all snug, 
 and the plasterer has finished the walls and ceiling of a room, how is 
 the foul air to escape, and the fresh air to enter ? How are we to 
 get rid of the carbonic acid, or get fresh supplies of oxygen ? 
 
 Talk of the health of American women ! They suffer most, because 
 they stay in-doors most. Is it any wonder that they lose the roses 
 from their cheeks, the brightness from their eyes, the elasticity from 
 their limbs, and vigor and strength from their whole system? Is it 
 any wonder that their hair falls out, or their teeth decay, and theii 
 ,vhole nervous system goes to wreck and ruin ? 
 
 What is it that gives roses to the cheeks? Oxygen. What is it 
 
BUILDINGS AND BUILDING MATERIALS. 
 
 245 
 
 that gives brightness to the eye ? Oxygen. What gives vigor to the 
 whole physical system ? Oxygen. And we can get it by breathing 
 fresh, pure air, and in no other way. 
 
 Every room in every house ought to be built so as to secure to its 
 inmates a constant supply of pure air. If the architect has neglected 
 this, then the windows should be so made as to let them down from 
 the top. An opening of one inch at the top of a window will venti- 
 late a room better than raising it a foot from the bottom. Unless this 
 is done, the only ventilation we are sure of is from the cracks made 
 by the shrinking of the doors and windows — which is a blessing of 
 unseasoned lumber — or between the floor and mop-board. 
 
 A good means of ventilation in summer, as far as it goes, is a stove- 
 pipe hole in the chimney ; but it must be left open. A fire-place, 
 also, is of some use ; but not if it is closed up with a fire-board. Our 
 fathers, with their big chimneys and roaring wood-fires in winter, 
 and open doors and windows in summer, were far better off than we. 
 
 We breathe bad air in our churches, our lecture rooms, our thea- 
 ters, our schools, our dwellings — but most of all in our sleeping apart- 
 ments ; where we toss, and strangle, and smother, and asphyxiate for 
 the want of an inch of opening at the top of a window. 
 
 ARCHITECTURE. 
 
 The labors of a few leading architects in this country have resulted 
 in educating and improving the taste of the wealthy and refined pro- 
 portion of the community up to a point of excellence that speaks well 
 for the future of architectural science. Under their wise and ener- 
 getic tuition, our metropolitan avenues have become lined with a 
 multiplicity of imposing structures, embodying high conceptions of 
 art, and the banks of the East and Hudson rivers, as well as the beau- 
 tiful and attractive shores of Staten Island, are adorned with villas 
 and homesteads, surrounded by all the appliances which can be fur- 
 nished by nature and by art. 
 
 The taste which has thus been infused into the wealthy portion of 
 the populace is gradually extending itself into the rural districts, and 
 impressing the farming community with the necessity of consulting 
 the laws of architecture in the erection of their dwellings, so as to 
 combine the two fundamental ideas of the science — use and beauty. 
 
 A building erected merely with regard to use and comfort, in utter 
 disregard of ornament and beauty, is a blot upon a landscape. 
 
 The strong hold which the soil and the homestead has upon the 
 
246 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 affections of Englismen, is owing to the attractions and graces with 
 which the ancestral dwelling is invested. Attachment to the soil is 
 the result of years spent in the pursuit of agriculture, gardening, and 
 the cultivation of the tasteful and beautiful. 
 
 It is an old saying, that “ where you see flowers in the garden, a 
 nice housekeeper may be found within.” 
 
 Our farmers cannot surround themselves with too many of the or- 
 naments and elegancies, as well as the material comforts, of life. The 
 eye and ear need education, as well as the lower sense of taste. 
 
 HOW TO SELECT A HOUSE. 
 
 A large empty house is only a burden, especially when good ser- 
 vants are scarce, and means limited. If possible, obtain one with a 
 a good hall, the principal room opening from it ; rooms interfering 
 with others are a great annoyance to housekeepers, as it is impossible 
 to keep a room tidy when used as a thoroughfare by members of the 
 family, without frequent use of broom and duster, which is a constant 
 wear on carpet and patience. The dining room ought either to open 
 out of the kitchen, or to be separated by a hall ; each should have a 
 closet opening from them ; and the kitchen have a passage to the 
 cellar, and an outside door. The parlor is the most pleasant facing 
 north, and should be independent of the rest of the house. The nur- 
 sery is most convenient on the principal floor. Small bedrooms are 
 preferable with closets to large ones without. Spring and rain wa- 
 ter should be near the kitchen. Furniture appears well in small, 
 that would hardly be called respectable in large, rooms. 
 
 THE DISADVANTAGES OF A LARGE HOUSE. 
 
 Says a recent English writer : Do you think that a rich man, sit- 
 ting in his sumptuous library, all oak, and Morocco-glittering backs 
 of splendid volumes, lounges and sofas of every degree, which he 
 merely paid for, has half the enjoyment that Bobinson Crusoe had 
 when he looked around his cave, with its rude shelves and bulkheads, 
 its clumsy arm-chair and its pottery, all contrived and made by his 
 own hands ? Now, the poor cottager has a good deal of the Bobsison 
 Crusoe enjoyment; something of the pleasure Sanford and Merton 
 felt when they had built and thatched their house, and then sat with- 
 in it, gravely proud and happy, while the pelting shower came down, 
 but could not reach them. When a man gets the length of considering 
 
BUILDINGS AND BUILDING MATERIALS. 247 
 
 the architectural character of his house, the imposing effect which 
 the great entrance-hall has upon visitors, the vista of drawing-room 
 retiring within drawing-room, he loses the relish which accompanies 
 the original idea of a house, as something which is to keep us snug 
 and warm from wind and rain and cold. So, if you gain something 
 by having a grand house, you lose something, too, and something 
 which is the more constantly felt — you lose the joy of simple tidiness, 
 and your life grows so artificial that many days you never think of 
 your dwelling. The master of a magnificent and splendidly furnished 
 mansion should take care that he be not the one thing little amidst 
 everything else that is great. 
 
 BUILDING HOUSES. 
 
 Convenient arrangement, durability of material and facility of re- 
 pair, adequate ventilation, warmth in winter, and congruity of sur- 
 rounding objects are among the important requisites in a house. Says 
 a correspondent of the American Agriculturist , two-story houses, and 
 square houses are cheapest. Carpets are made a yard wide, and nine- 
 tenths of the carpets are made so as to require cutting by the yard to 
 make them match, hence the measure of every room and hall should 
 be the exact multiple of a yard, both to save trouble and expense. 
 If a room must go beyond twelve or fifteen or eighteen feet, and can 
 not reach the next multiple above it, make it half a yard. A great 
 variety of carpets can be cut by the half yard. 
 
 LIGHT AND SUNSHINE — LIGHTING A HOUSE. 
 
 Mrs. Stowe, in one of her papers, says : Our house shall be set on a 
 southeast line, so that there shall not be a sunless room in it, and 
 windows shall be so arranged that it can be traversed and trans- 
 pierced through and through with those bright shafts of life which 
 come straight from God. 
 
 Says Dr. Hall : Chambers should not only be constructed with a 
 view to a constant, thorough, and unpreventable ventilation, but also 
 with an eye to their perfect dryness and their free exposure to the 
 sun for the greater portion of each day. 
 
 A dark house, says Florence Nightingale, is always an unhealthy 
 house, always an ill-aired house, always a dirty house. Want of light 
 stops growth and promotes scrofula, rickets, &c., among children. 
 People lose their health in a dark house, and if they get ill, they can 
 
248 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 not get well again in it. Three out of many negligences and igno- 
 rances in managing the health of houses generally I will here men- 
 tion as specimens. First, that the female head in charge of any build- 
 ing does not think it necessary to visit every hole and corner of it 
 every day. How can she expect that those under her will be more 
 careful to maintain her house in a healthy condition than she who is 
 in charge of it ? Second, that it is not considered essential to air, to 
 sun and clean rooms while uninhabited, which is simply ignoring the 
 first elementary notion of sanitary things, and laying the ground for 
 all kinds of diseases. Third, that one window is considered enough 
 to air a room. Don't imagine that if you who are in charge don’t 
 look after all these things yourself, those under you will be more care- 
 ful than you are. It appears as if the part of the mistress was to 
 complain of her servants and accept their excuses, not to show them 
 how there need be neither complaints nor excuses made. 
 
 Dr. Moore, the metaphysician, thus speaks of the effect of light on 
 body and mind : A tadpole confined in darkness would never become 
 a frog, and an infant being deprived of heaven's free light, will only 
 grow into a shapeless idiot, instead of a beautiful and responsible be- 
 ing. Hence, in the deep, dark gorges and ravines of the Swiss val- 
 eys, where the direct sunshine never reaches, the hideous prevalence 
 )f idiocy startles the traveler. It is a strange melancholy idiocy; 
 many people are incapable of any articulate speech ; some are deaf, 
 some are blind, some labor under all these privations, and are mis- 
 shapen in almost every part of the body. 
 
 I believe there is in all places a marked difference in the healthi- 
 ness of houses, according to their aspect with regard to the sun, and 
 those are decidedly the healthiest, other things 'being equal, in which 
 all the rooms are, during some part of the day, fully exposed to the 
 direct light. Epidemics attack inhabitants on the shady side of the 
 street, and totally exempt those on the other side ; and even in epi- 
 demics such as ague the morbid influence is often thus partial in its 
 labors. 
 
 All persons of cultivation and refinement must instinctively shrink 
 from cooking in the dark. Hence, it should be arranged that this 
 department should have all the daylight possible, and also that the 
 “ back-yard,” as it is called, and which is- usually in the rear of the 
 kitchen should have the advantage of abundant sunshine, so as to keep 
 it dry and healthful. 
 
 Light is just as essential to a child as to a plant. When the latter 
 is kept in the dark, it loses its shape, flavor, and color — becomes etio- 
 
BUILDINGS AND BUILDING MATERIALS. 
 
 249 
 
 lated or blanched, slender and weak. Deprivation of light has a 
 similar effect on the human frame, and is naturally more marked and 
 more disastrous in childhood than in maturity. 
 
 Light, says the Builder , well diffused over all parts of a dwelling, 
 is essential to its being healthy ; a dark house is not only gloomy and 
 dispiriting, but is always unhealthy. We know, on high medical au- 
 thority, that the amount of diseases in light rooms, as compared with 
 dark ones, is vastly less. Light ought to be diffused over the whole 
 dwelling, so that no dark corners be left. 
 
 A New York merchant noticed, in the progress of years, that each 
 successive book-keeper gradually lost his health, and finally died of 
 consumption, however vigorous and robust he was on entering his 
 service. At length it occurred to him that a little rear room where 
 the books were kept, opened in a back yard, so surrounded by high 
 walls, that no sunshine came into it from one years end to the other. 
 An upper room well lighted was immediately prepared, and his clerks 
 had uniform good health ever after. 
 
 A familiar case to general readers is derived from medical works, 
 where an entire English family became ill, and all remedies seemed 
 to fail of their usual results, when accidentally a window glass of the 
 family room was broken, in cold weather. It was not repaired, and 
 forthwith there was a marked improvement in the health of the in- 
 mates. The physician at once traced the connexion, discontinued his 
 medicines, and ordered that the window-pane should not be replaced. 
 
 A French lady became ill. The most eminent physicians of her 
 time were called in, but failed to restore her. At length Dupeytren, 
 the Napoleon of physic, was consulted. He noticed that she lived in 
 a dim room, into which the sun never shone ; the house being situa- 
 ted in one of the narrow streets, or rather lanes of Paris. He at once 
 ordered more air and cheerful apartments, and all her complaints 
 vanished. 
 
 The lungs of a dog become tuberculated (consumptive) in a few 
 weeks, if confined in a dark cellar. The most common plant grows 
 spindly, pale and straggling, if no sunlight fall upon it. The great- 
 est medical names in France, of the last century, regarded sunshine 
 and pure air as equal agents in restoring and maintaining health. 
 
 For these facts, which cannot be disputed, the most common mind 
 should conclude that cellars and rooms on the northern side of build- 
 ings, or apartments into which the sun does not immediately shine, 
 should never be occupied as family rooms or chambers, or as libra- 
 ries or ‘studies.' Such apartments are only fit for stowage, or pur- 
 
250 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 poses which never require persons to remain in them over a few min- 
 utes at a time. 
 
 Sunshine, heat, air, water, food and exercise are the chief necessa- 
 ries of life. Many young ladies of the present day do not present the 
 mixture of the rose and lily in their complexion that their mothers 
 were remarkable for. Is not this attributed, in some measure, to 
 ‘ closing the blinds,’ and keeping out the sunshine. The appearance 
 of health, with shame be it acknowledged, is now-a-days by some 
 young ladies considered ungenteel. What nonsense to raise violets 
 in a cellar ! Let us have plenty of sunshine ! The direct sunlight 
 is as indispensable as pure air. There can be no real health in habit- 
 ual absence of the one more than of the other. 
 
 MORE LIGHT — A TRAP TO CATCH A SUNBEAM. 
 
 The first fiat of the Creator was “ Let there be light and from 
 that hour to this mankind struggle and pray for it, and pine away 
 when deprived of its genial life-giving rays. In too many of the 
 homes of the land sunbeams are as rigidly, excluded as if they carried 
 some death-dealing miasma or subtle poison, instead of bearing, as 
 they do, balm and healing to every house. Dark corners and closO 
 little rooms abound, from which every beam is shut out ; and human 
 beings wilt ^n such places as surely as a plant will under similar con- 
 ditions. A very simple way to obviate such troubles is to erect re- 
 flectors to throw in light obliquely where it cannot enter directly. 
 
 Procure a small iron rod, say half an inch in diameter and three 
 feet long, and fasten it to the side of a window-frame by suitable 
 brackets, so that it will turn easily like a blind ; to this rod rivet flat 
 bars of hoop iron, two feet long, at right angles with it. Over this 
 frame-work stretch a white cotton cloth, and the reflector is ready 
 for use. It is easy to see that any side light striking upon this cloth 
 will be reflected into the apartment where it is erected, with an inten- 
 sity varying according to the angle it is fixed at. If tin be substitu- 
 ted for cloth, the improvement will be very great. If the apartment 
 is more easily lighted from above, the reflector must be fastened ove* 
 the top. Deflectors are used in many places in large cities. 
 
 THE EFFECT OF COLOR UPON HEALTH. 
 
 A correspondent of the London Builder gives us this very impoi 
 tant information : From several years’ observations in rooms of vari 
 
BUILDINGS AND BUILDING MATERIALS. 
 
 251 
 
 ous sizes used as manufacturing rooms, and occupied by females for 
 twelve hours per day, I found that the workers who occupied those 
 rooms which had large panes of glass in the four sides of the room, so 
 that the sun's rays penetrated through the room during the whole 
 day were much more healthy than the workers who occupied rooms 
 lighted from one side only, or rooms lighted through very small panes 
 of glass. I observed another very singular fact, viz : that the work- 
 ers who occupied one room were very cheerful and healthy, while the 
 occupiers of another similar room, who were employed on the same 
 kind of work, were all inclined to melancholy, and complained of pain 
 in the forehead and eyes, and were often ill and unable to work. Up- 
 on examining the rooms in question, I found they were both equally 
 well ventilated and lighted. I could not discover anything about the 
 drainage of the premises that could affect the one room more than the 
 other-; but I observed that the room occupied by the cheerful work- 
 ers was wholly white -washed, and the room occupied by the melan- 
 choly workers, was colored with yellow ocher. I had the yellow ocher 
 washed off, and the walls and ceilings white-washed. The workers 
 ever after felt more cheerful and healthy. After making this dis- 
 covery, I extended my observations to a number of smaller rooms and 
 garrets, and found, without exception, that the occupiers of the white 
 rooms were much more healthy than the occupiers of the yellow or 
 buff-colored rooms ; and wherever I succeeded in inducing the occu- 
 piers of the yellow rooms to change the color for white-wash, I always 
 found a corresponding improvement in the health and spirits of the 
 occupiers. 
 
 VENTILATION. 
 
 Neither men, nor animals, nor vegetables, can live, if the air which 
 surrounds them is not constantly renewed. No air is fit to breathe 
 which has been expelled from the lungs, until it is purified by fresh 
 intermixture with the atmospheric air. The Police Tribune says : 
 “Pure air plays a more important part than old fogies imagine. Near- 
 ly all our fighting is done in houses where a short supply of oxygen 
 is compensated by an over supply of gin and water. The less pure 
 air, the sooner we become irritable. Irritation leads to quarrels and 
 quarrels to plug-musses, station houses and broken heads. Insuffi- 
 cient ventilation is very often the cause of the most wanton injustice. 
 Children at school “ can't cypher ” in the afternoon. They become 
 dull, stupid, and listless. • In consequence of this they can’t tell alge- 
 
252 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPEDIA. 
 
 bra from Yankee Doodle. The teacher looks upon this as the effect 
 of stubbornness, and rushes for his rattan. The boys get a whaling, 
 when all they required was a few quarts of pure air. Instead of rais- 
 ing their ferules, teachers should first try the effect of raising a win- 
 dow. Dr. G-riscom says there is not one well ventilated school house 
 in this state.” Horace Mann remarks : “To put children on a short 
 allowance of fresh air, is as foolish as it would have been for Noah, 
 during the deluge, to have put his family on a short allowance of wa- 
 ter. Since God has poured out an atmosphere fifty miles deep, it is 
 enough to make a miser weep to see our children stinted in breath.” 
 
 Hundreds of little boys and girls are confined in close rooms for 
 three hours at a time, breathing over and over again the same air, 
 constantly diminishing its oxygen, which is the supporter of life, 
 thus reducing the force of the vital functions ; while at the same time 
 the brain, that inevitably shares the enervating influence, is stimu- 
 lated by the most exciting ambition to exertions too great for even 
 its undiminished strength. By this course, hundreds of helpless 
 children, each the pride and joy of its home, have been doomed to 
 lingering disease and early death. 
 
 In our churches the congregations generally have air the forenoon 
 which is quite tolerable, but in the afternoon their consciences and 
 good manners are subjected to a constant strain in efforts to resist 
 the stupefying effects of the noxious gases with which the church 
 has become filled during the morning service. Commonly in the 
 churches, after the morning services are over, every door and window 
 is shut, and the careful sexton keeps them shut till night. The con- 
 sequence is, the air is dead and putrid, and everybody is drowsy. If 
 the weather is cold, and fires are needed, some of the upper sash 
 ought to be so fixed as to permit ventilation to go on, especially if the 
 house is very close. But in all weather, the instant a congregation 
 leaves the house the windows should be raised, and a complete venti- 
 lation accomplished. This is important to devotion and to health. If 
 sextons will not heed this obvious suggestion of common sense, then 
 the official or private members of the church ought to remind them 
 of it and enforce it. 
 
 The great mass of the inhabitants of the northern United States 
 live in better houses, weai better clothes, and eat better food than the 
 mass of any other nation, but it is said they breathe the worst air of 
 any people in the world. There is no necessity for breathing poison- 
 ous gases. We are placed in a great ocean of air, which has been 
 prepared by nature in just the proper proportions of oxygen, nitrogen 
 
BUILDINGS AND BUILDING MATERIALS. 
 
 253 
 
 <md watery vapor, to adapt it to the structure of our lungs and the 
 healthful action of all our organs. We know that by breathing con- 
 stantly this atmosphere, taking a fresh and pure supply at every 
 breath, our physical system will attain to the highest degree of health 
 and strength of which it is capable. 
 
 If a little more oxygen were added to the atmosphere we breathe, 
 eays Dr. Hall, in his Journal of Health , the very first match that 
 was struck would envelop the world in fire in an instant of time, 
 while if there was a little more nitrogen added to it, all that breathe 
 would suffocate and die within an hour, so easy is it for Omnipotence 
 to wrap the solid globe in flames, or sweep from existence the entire 
 race of animals and man ! 
 
 It is estimated that ten cubic feet of pure air per minute for the 
 respiration of an adult person is necessary for comfort and safety, 
 and that in a close apartment of only six hundred cubic feet, a single 
 person cannot spend six consecutive hours in air of ordinary temper- 
 ature without impairment to health. 
 
 In New York city, in 1832, the deaths averaged one in thirty-five 
 and a half, while in 1861 they averaged one in twenty-seven and a 
 half. This increase of mortality is due in a measure to over-crowded 
 houses, which have increased in filth, and have become fetid for want 
 of sufficient fresh air. It is the opinion of physicians that the mini- 
 mum quantity of air space allotted to each person in a bedroom 
 should be five hundred cubic feet — a cube of eight feet space. Less 
 breathing space than this tends to produce disease. There are nearly 
 300,000 persons in New York who sleep in apartments containing 
 much less space than five hundred cubic feet for each. Although 
 nearly half the population of New York live in tenement buildings, 
 no other city of the same population contains so many occupied by 
 their owners. 
 
 There is one tenement house in New York city having sixty-eight 
 rooms, eight by ten feet, containing seventy families of one hundred 
 and forty-four adults, and one hundred and thirty-eight children, 
 eleven dogs, and forty-three cats. It is stated that many of the 
 deaths in New York city are directly traceable to bad- ventilated 
 dwellings and workshops. Half of the children die before the age of 
 eleven, and half the artizans of the city die under the age of twenty- 
 one. Over 34,000 people are probably now living in cellars in this 
 city. 
 
 The recent investigations of circumstances affecting the health of 
 the masses have caused the importance of pure air and light to be 
 
254 
 
 PEACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 more generally understood now than it was before. The simple fact 
 set forth by Dr. Arnott long ago, that a canary bird suspended near 
 the top of a curtained bedstead in which people are sleeping will gen- 
 erally be found dead in the morning, should have been sufficient to 
 show the danger of breathing a vitiated medium, and the necessity 
 for providing a constant and ample supply of fresh air in our dwell- 
 ings. Impure air, however, cannot be seen ; its effects are not imme- 
 diate ; and so it has been allowed quietly to kill its thousands annual- 
 ly, and to lay the seeds of disease in other thousands ready to be de- 
 veloped by assisting circumstances, without an effort to stay its rava- 
 ges, and almost without a knowledge of its agency. A healthy, man 
 respires about twenty times in a minute, and inhales in that period 
 about seven hundred cubic inches of air. Fresh air contains twenty- 
 three per cent, of oxygen, and one and a half per cent, of carbonic 
 acid ; by the process of respiration the oxygen is reduced to eleven 
 per cent., and the carbonic acid is increased to rather more than eight 
 per cent. Three and a half per cent, of this gas render air unfit to 
 support life ; so that a man respiring seven hundred cubic inches in 
 a minute, vitiates about sixteen hundred and thirty cubic inches, (to 
 say nothing of the effect produced by the exhalation from the skin ;) and 
 this will serve to give some notion of the large quantity of air re- 
 quired for the healthful occupation of a building by a number of per- 
 sons, and especially of sleeping rooms. 
 
 We take the following from the American Agriculturist: “If two 
 persons are to occupy a bedroom during a night let them step upon 
 weighing scales as they retire, and then again in the morning,. and 
 they will find their actual weight at least a pound less in the morning. 
 Frequently there will be a loss of two or more pounds, and the aver- 
 age loss throughout the year will be more than one pound. That is, 
 during the night, there is a pound of matter which has gone off from 
 their bodies, partly from the lungs, and partly through the pores of 
 the skin. The escaped material is carbonic acid, and decayed animal 
 matter, or poisonous exhalations. This is diffused through the air in 
 part, and in part absorbed by the bed clothes. If a single ounce of 
 wood or cotton be burned in a room, it will so completely saturate 
 the air with smoke that one can hardly breathe, though there can 
 only be one ounce of foreign matter in the air. ' If an ounce of cotton 
 be burned every half hour during the night, the air will be kept con- 
 tinually saturated with smoke, unless there be an open door or win- 
 dow for it to escape. Now the sixteen ounces of smoke thus formed 
 is far less poisonous than the sixteen ounces of exhalations from the 
 
BUILDINGS AND BUILDING MATERIALS. 
 
 255 
 
 lungs and bodies of the two persons who have lost a pound in weight 
 during the eight hours of sleeping, for while the dry smoke is mainly 
 taken into the lungs, the damp odors from the body are absorbed 
 both into the lungs and into the pores of the whole body. 
 
 Need more be said to show the importance of having bedrooms 
 well ventilated, and of thoroughly airing the sheets, coverlids, and 
 mattrasses in the morning, before packing them up in the form of a 
 neatly made bed ? ” 
 
 The condensed air of a crowded room gives a deposit which, if al- 
 lowed to remain a few days, forms a solid, thick, glutinous mass, hav- 
 ing a strong odor of animal matter. If examined by a microscope, it 
 is seen to undergo a remarkable change. First of all, it is converted 
 into a vegetable growth, and this is followed by the production of 
 multitudes of animalcules ; a decisive proof that it must contain organic 
 matter, otherwise it could not nourish organic beings. 
 
 In sick chambers, hospitals, and sleeping apartments a large sup- 
 ply of fresh air is required ; but a strong current should always be 
 avoided. The best way of admitting air into such places is by divid- 
 ing it into numerous fine streamlets, such as through wire gauze 
 curtains. 
 
 Typhoid fevers, says the Scientific American, in the camps of ar- 
 mies are principally due to sleeping in close tents, where a sufficient 
 supply of fresh air is not admitted. Soldiers who bivouac in the open 
 air, with the blue canopy of heaven over them for a tent, never take 
 the typhoid fever. Typhus fever first broke out in Europe during the 
 retreat of Napoleon's army from Moscow. It originated in the hos- 
 pitals, which were filled with the sick and wounded soldiers. These 
 places were not sufficiently ventilated, and the atmosphere in them 
 became fetid ; the fever became a plague, and scourged almost every 
 city in the Old World. 
 
 The following are a few of the many examples that might be cited 
 to show how horrible may be the effects of a vitiated atmosphere : In 
 the year 1756, during a rebellion in India, one hundred and forty-six 
 persons, chiefly English, Dutch and Portugese soldiers, were impris- 
 oned by the natives in the Black Hole of Calcutta, which was nothing 
 more nor less than a room eighteen feet square, and about sixteen 
 feet high, and furnished with two grated openings on one side for the 
 admission of light and air. During a confinement of twelve hours 
 one hundred and twenty-three perished, and the remainder were sub- 
 sequently attacked with “ putrid fever," which is said to have proved 
 fatal in most of the cases. 
 
PRACTICAL CYCLOPEDIA. 
 
 25<? 
 
 In tlie year 1797 or ’8, during a storm at sea, seventy men, wo^en 
 and children were kept for a short time in the hold of a small vessel, 
 the hatches of which had not only been " laid over,” hut, for better 
 security, “ battened down.” The death of the entire number was 
 the result. In December, 1848, also during a storm, one hundred and 
 fifty passengers were enclosed in the same hermetical manner, in the 
 steerage cabin of the steamer “ Londonderry,” while on its passage 
 from Liverpool to New York. Soon half the number perished by 
 suffocation, and it is very probable that the rest .would have speedily 
 met with a similar fate, had it not been for the strength of one man, 
 who succeeded in bursting open the door of the companion-way, al- 
 though the captain of the steamer had taken especial pains to pre- 
 vent such an occurrence. 
 
 The following are a few examples to illustrate the importance of a 
 thorough system of ventilation in cases where little if any complaint 
 had been previously made of inattention to this higienic measure : 
 There was once in Glasgow an assemblage of buildings attached to a 
 factory, which were occupied by about five hundred persons — one fam- 
 ily to each room. There had long been a great deal of sickness in 
 the buildings, which the inmates seemed to regard as a mysterious 
 dispensation of Providence, for they obstinately refused to adopt such 
 sanitary expedients as had been repeatedly advised them. At length, 
 the proprietors of the establishment, despairing of ever making the 
 inmates appreciate the necessity of occasionally opening windows, re- 
 solved to apply a system of ventilation which should be thorough, 
 continual, and utterly beyond the control of those subjected to it. 
 They accordingly connected each room, by means of tubes, with the 
 chimney of the factory furnace, and compelled every occupant, wheth- 
 er willing or unwilling, to be exposed daily and nightly to a draft of 
 air. The result was, that sickness of every kind rapidly diminished, 
 and one disease — typhus fever — which had frequently raged as an 
 epidemic, was for eight years scarcely known in the place. 
 
 In 1832, at Norwood School, in England, scrofula made its appear- 
 ance among six hundred children and destroyed a great number of 
 them. The disorder having been attributed to an insufficiency and 
 bad quality of food, a scientific investigation was made, and a decis- 
 ion given that the food was “ most abundant and good,” — that “ de- 
 fective ventilation and consequent atmospheric impurity ” was the 
 cause of the sickness. A thorough system of ventilation was immedi- 
 ately applied ; scrofula rapidly disappeared, nor did it ever recur, 
 
BUILDINGS AND BUILDING MATERIALS. 
 
 257 
 
 though the number of pupils was gradually increased to eleven hun- 
 dred. 
 
 In a hospital at Dublin, two thousand nine hundred and forty-four 
 deaths took place in four years. A better system of ventilation 
 having been resorted to, as a means of lessening the mortality, it was 
 found that during the next four years, the number of deaths was only 
 two hundred and seventy-nine. 
 
 The above facts are merely selected from a long array of similar 
 character, which tend to show the paramount importance of breath- 
 ing an untainted atmosphere. It is- certainly no exaggeration to say 
 that were the public as particular as they should be, and easily might 
 be, about the quality of that subtle fluid, which enters and departs 
 from an average pair of human lungs about a thousand times in an 
 hour, and nearly nine million times in a year,. the bills of human mor- 
 tality would be reduced one-third at least, and the ordinary duration 
 of human life would be nearer seventy than forty. 
 
 An intelligent physician writes that there is no more certain meth- 
 od of propagating scarlet fever, and perpetuating consumption in a 
 family, than the practice now adopted by many of keeping a house 
 closed for several weeks or months after a death has occurred in it. 
 
 Wire gause is by some applied to windows in such a manner as to 
 answer the double purpose of ventilation and to keep out insects when 
 the window is open. 
 
 Ventilation, in England, is now very much promoted by the use 
 of hollow brick in the walls, which are made to serve as pipes for 
 ventilation. 
 
 SIZE AND VENTILATION OF CHAMBERS AND BED ROOMS. 
 
 One of the most general and, at the same time, one of the most per- 
 nicious errors in modern architecture, especially in the construction 
 of private dwellings, is founded on the mischievous supposition that 
 almost any place is good enough to sleep in. It is common every- 
 where to set apart the smallest rooms in the house for sleeping apart- 
 ments. To show what a ruinous mistake this is, let the reader re- 
 member that at least one-third of a man’s existence is spent in bed 
 in sleep. Eight hours out of every twenty-four we are in our cham- 
 bers. And when it is considered that air is essential to health, that 
 without it we can not live two minutes, it must be of material impor- 
 tance whether we breathe a pure or impure air for a third of our ex- 
 istence. A full-sized man breathes — takes into his lungs — at each 
 17 
 
258 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPJEjDIA. 
 
 breath about a pint of air ; while in there all the life nutriment is 
 extracted from it, and, on its being sent out of the body, it is so en- 
 tirely destitute of life-giving power that if rebreathed into the lungs 
 again, without the admixture of any pure air, the individual would 
 suffocate — would die in sixty seconds. As a man breathes about 
 eighteen times in a minute, and a pint at each breath, he consumes 
 over two hogsheads of air every hour, or about sixteen hogsheads du- 
 ring the eight hours of sleep : that is, if a man were put into a room 
 which would hold sixteen hogsheads of air, he would, during eight 
 hours of sleep, extract from it every atom of life-nutriment, and would 
 die at the end of the eight hours, even if each breath could be kept to 
 itself, provided no air came into the room from "without. However 
 pure the air of the whole room may be at first, it is to be remembered 
 that it becomes contaminated by the first expiration, hence only the 
 first inspiration is pure, and each one thereafter becomes more and 
 more impure unless there is some ventilating process going on. 
 
 Every individual has, in his own experience, demonstrative proof 
 of the impurity of the air of a room in which a person has slept all 
 night by the “ closeness ” he has observed on entering a sleeping 
 apartment after a morning’s walk, and this, even when more or less 
 fresh air has been coming in through the crevices about the doors and 
 windows during the whole night. The most eminent physiologists, at 
 home and abroad, have estimated that no sleeping apartment, even 
 for a single person, should have a floor surface of less than what would 
 equal twelve feet long and twelve feet broad, or one hundred and 
 forty-four square feet, and eight or ten feet high, or about twelve or 
 fifteen hundred cubic feet to each sleeper. 
 
 In hospitals, one thousand cubic feet — that is, a space equal to ten 
 feet each way, length, breadth, and height — is allowed for each pa- 
 tient. Now, according to this rule — one which ought to be carefully 
 observed — a bed room for a married man, wife and child, ought to be 
 not less than eighteen feet long, by fifteen feet in breadth, and ten 
 feet high, which would give two thousand seven hundred cubic feet 
 for three. The health of a hard working man requires this to enable 
 him to recruit his strength during night for to-morrow’s task, and to 
 rear a healthy family. This is a fact; and it is equally true that 
 small bed rooms are no less a curse to the laborer than they are to 
 the farmer, the landlord, and the nation. 
 
 As, therefore, each out-breathing vitiates the whole air of a room, 
 as a drop of milk will discolor the whole bulk of water in a tumbler, 
 the chambers for the members of families should not only be large 
 
BUILDINGS AND BUILDING MATERIALS. 
 
 259 
 
 and commodious, but should be so arranged that a system of ventila- 
 tion, at least to a small extent, shall be going on all the time, not 
 only in spite of inattention, but a system which can not be easily pre- 
 vented, which is accomplished by the simple expedient of having a 
 fire place in each room which cannot be closed with screens or “ sum- 
 mer blowers for by this means a draft will be made by the cold air 
 coming in at the bottom of the doors and from other places, passing 
 over the floor towards the open fire place, driving the heavy carbonic 
 acid gas before it up the chimney. 
 
 For the purpose of more perfect ventilation of each apartment, es- 
 pecially those which are to be occupied as chambers, the sashes should 
 be so arranged that they can be let down from above as well as raised 
 from below, for the reason that the foul air of a room rises to the cei- 
 ling in warm weather because it is lighter than cold air. This makes 
 room for the cold air from without to rush in at the lower part of the 
 window ; thus a “circuit” or draught of air is soon formed, admitting 
 pure air from below and driving the foul air out of the room above. 
 But every chamber should be so constructed that a window can be 
 kept open or raised, more or less, without having the draught come 
 right in upon the sleeper, and it is safer that whatever draught there 
 is should pass the foot of the bed rather than the head, because the 
 feet are always covered. Hence it is not so easy to take cold nor so 
 dangerous. The air blowing in upon a sleeper’s head, for even half 
 an hour, has often caused quinsy^, or other form of sore throat, to 
 prove fatal in the course of a very few days. 
 
 To show what a little taint in the atmosphere not natural to it may 
 affect the whole system, it is only necessary to state an observed fact ; 
 that a man who sleeps near a poppy field, with the wind blowing to- 
 wards him from the field, will die before morning. In the winter of 
 1860 a man named Robertson, his wife, and three children were in 
 the habit of sleeping in one small, ill- ventilated room. One morning, 
 about five o’clock, the wife woke in a very exhausted state, and found 
 her infant of nine months dead in her arms. She immediately roused 
 her husband who had barely strength to get out of bed. They next 
 discovered that their son of three years of age was also dead, and a 
 daughter of nine in an apparently dying condition, but recovered on 
 being removed to another apartment. Facts like these show that 
 breathing a bad air for a single night is perilous to life, and ought to 
 have an impressive effect upon the mind of every man who has a 
 family when he is contemplating building or arranging for them a 
 home for life. 
 
260 
 
 PEACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 If a neglect of these things were invariably followed by death be- 
 fore morning, attention to them would be compelled. But, although 
 the deleterious effects do not thus speedily and impressively follow, 
 they do inevitably result to all persons and under all circumstances; 
 coming on slowly, it is true, but none the less surely and disastrous- 
 ly. Professor Carpenter, the first physiologist in Great Britain, as- 
 certained that an atmosphere containing six per cent of carbonic acid 
 gas would produce immediate death; and that less than half that 
 amount would prove fatal in a short time. But every expiration of a 
 sleeper brings out with it some portion of carbonic acid gas, and dis- 
 perses it through the room ; and if six per cent of carbonic acid gas 
 will cause speedy death, the effects of breathing it nightly, even in 
 very small quantities, for twenty or thirty years, cannot be otherwise 
 than pernicious to the whole system, must lower the standard of hu- 
 man health, and materially shorten life. 
 
 Every chamber, then, should be arranged to have a ventilating 
 process going on all the time, when it can be done by having an open 
 fire place in it ; and as there can be no advantage but a positive in- 
 jury, resulting from sleeping in any room colder than forty degrees 
 above zero of Fahrenheit, a little fire should be kept burning in the 
 grate or fire place under such circumstances. This creates a draft 
 up the chimney, and keeps the atmosphere of a sleeping room com- 
 paratively pure. In cases of sickness, where an actual fire can not 
 be kept, an admirable substitute will be found in placing a large lamp 
 in the fire place, to be kept burning all night. This creates a draft 
 without making much heat, and is a good means of ventilating a sick 
 chamber, when warmth is not desirable, such, for example, as in mea- 
 sles, scarlet fever, and other skin diseases, where a cool air and at the 
 same time a pure one is an indispensable means of a safe and speedy 
 cure. But let it always be borne in mind that a cold air is not ne- 
 cessarily pure, nor is warm air necessarily impure. 
 
 With a little fire in a cold bed room not only is the chamber kept 
 ventilated, but fewer bed clothes are needed ; less clothing does more 
 good next day, while there is a freer escape of gases and exhalations 
 from the body of the sleeper, and the person wakes up in the morning 
 more fresh and vigorous. Sleeping rooms for invalids and children 
 should have a temperature of about fifty degrees in cold weather, 
 never running lower than thirty-five. There is no advantage to any 
 person from sleeping in a cold room. 
 
 It is said to be a remarkable fact that the disease of consumption 
 is unknown in the City of Mexico, which is nine thousand feet above 
 
BUILDINGS AND BUILDING MATERIALS. 
 
 261 
 
 the sea. In sleeping, the higher up from the ground we lodge, the 
 better for health, as a general rule. 
 
 HOW TO FINISH ROOMS. 
 
 Bayard Taylor’s opinion on this subject, with which our own en- 
 tirely agrees, is thus expressed : 
 
 For the finishing of rooms there is nothing equal to the native 
 wood, simply oiled to develope the beauty of. the grain. Even the 
 commonest pine, treated in this way, has a warmth and luster, beside 
 which the dreary white paint, so common even in the best of houses, 
 looks dull and dead. Nothing gives a house such a cold, uncomfort- 
 able air as white paint and white plaster. This color is fit only for 
 the tropics. Our cheap, common woods — pine, ash, chestnut, oak, 
 maple, beech, walnut, butternut — offer us a variety of exquisite tints 
 and fibrous patterns, which, until recently, have been wholly disre- 
 garded in building. Even in furniture we are just beginning to dis- 
 cover how much more chaste and elegant are oak and walnut than 
 mahogany. The beauty of a room is as dependent on the harmony 
 of its coloring as that of a picture. Some of the ugliest and most dis- 
 agreeable apartments I have ever seen were just those which con- 
 tained the most expensive furniture and decorations. 
 
 My experience shows that a room finished with the best seasoned 
 oak or walnut, costs actually less than one finished with pine, painted 
 and grained in imitation of those woods. Two verandahs of yellow 
 pine, treated to two coats of boiled oil, have a richness and beauty of 
 color beyond the reach of pigment ; and my only regret connected 
 with the house is, that I was persuaded by the representation of me- 
 chanics, to use any paint at all. 
 
 ECHOING FLOORS. 
 
 • 
 
 As houses are now built, floors are apt to be very noisy annoyances. 
 The timbers are so strained up that the floors become resonant, like 
 a drum. Now this can be easily remedied at a trifling expense. Af- 
 ter laying the under floor, nail down some sawed laths directly over 
 and across the sleepers. These will show where to lay the upper 
 floor. Now make a mortar of lime and sand, in which the latter in- 
 gredient may be in excess. It may be made thin. Pour it on to the 
 floor and spread it just as thick as the laths, and let it dry before lay- 
 
262 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 ing the second floor. Nail down the upper floor through the laths, 
 and it will seem to you like walking on a brick pavement. 
 
 CHEAP CEILING. 
 
 A cheap plan for keeping an attic warm in winter is to sew pieces 
 of sheeting together till you have sufficient breadth to cover the 
 whole room. Tack this to the rafters and paste house-paper all over 
 it. At one time nearly all the houses in California were finished in 
 this manner. 
 
 TO PREVENT THE TRANSMISSION OF SOUND THROUGH A PLATE-GLASS 
 
 PARTITION. 
 
 Have two plates with an air space betwixt. Ordinary windows 
 may be glazed with double glass, having one quarter or one-eight of 
 an inch air space betwixt each sheet of glass ; they will he warmer 
 and deaden the sound. 
 
 TO CONSTRUCT A CHIMNEY THAT SHALL NOT SMOKE, 
 v 
 
 Chimneys are deservedly held to he of high rank among the 
 great blessings of modern civilization. They were unknown to the 
 Ancients. In the thirteenth century, chimneys were unknown in 
 England. 
 
 There is considerable practical science involved in the construction 
 of chimneys. Many smoke, and the plague of a smoky chimney is 
 put in the same category with a “ scolding wife.” 
 
 Among the first who treated the subject of chimneys in a philo- 
 sophic manner, was that wisest and most practical of our philoso- 
 phers, Franklin, who published a treatise on the subject in 1785. 
 This essay was followed by one on the same subject by Count Rum- 
 ford — anotheb American philosopher of a most practical turn of mind. 
 These two authors have laid down the principles upon which all chim- 
 neys should he built. The flue should be the smallest place in the 
 chimney. In ascending from the flue upward, in the course of about 
 one foot the chimney should widen, or rather deepen off to about two 
 and a half times the width of the flue. If we suppose the flue to be 
 four inches, in ascending one foot, the distance from the inside of the 
 front to inside of the hack should he ten inches ; and then if we sup- 
 pose the width of the fire-place to he three feet, the caliber of the 
 
BUILDINGS AND BUILDING MATERIALS. 
 
 263 
 
 c\i mney on the inside will be 360 square inches. And the caliber 
 she uld not be less at any point above. Then there will be room for 
 all ‘ihe smoke which enters the flue to pass upward without impedi- 
 ment. The chimney may be brought into a different shape, so as to 
 make it appear well at the top, but still the number of square inches 
 in the caliber should not be lessened. 
 
 HOW TO CURE A SMOKY CHIMNEY. 
 
 I have just succeeded, says a correspondent of the Mining Journal, 
 in curing an obstinate smoky chimney by the Rid of a zinc covering 
 outside a common earthenware chimney pot, having two openings in 
 the zinc, one east and the other west. There are also two partitions, 
 or stoppers, north and south, to prevent the draught from escaping 
 by the opposite opening. By the aid of this contrivance, an upward 
 current of air is carried outside the flue to its top, on the windward 
 side of the chimney. I have now had the plan in use for some time, 
 and in the face of several most violent storms not a particle of smoke 
 or soot has come down the flue. In other rooms, the soot was blown 
 on the floor to a large extent. 
 
 CELLARS. 
 
 Cellars under our dwelling-houses are generally deemed indispen- 
 sable. They are certainly very useful; but there are evils of such 
 magnitude connected with them, that some have advocated their non- 
 construction. They are almost universally manufactories of foul air, 
 which, finding its way upwards by means of doors, windows, stair- 
 ways and crevices in the floors, diffuses its noxious elements through 
 the rooms above, and becomes a fruitful source of disease; and again, 
 they serve as a harbor for rats and mice, in the mode in which they 
 are usually constructed, affording access to the side walls from below. 
 It is not necessary, however, that they should be infested with ver- 
 min or half filled with rotten garbage, to produce the results com- 
 plained of. The surface of the earth is filled with decomposable sub- 
 stances, and whenever the air is confined in any spot, it becomes 
 saturated with various exhalations deleterious to health. Means must 
 be provided, therefore, for their thorough ventilation, or cellars must 
 be totally abandoned. A cellar, to fully serve its purposes, should be 
 cool in summer, impervious to frost in winter, and at all times free 
 from moisture. The walls should rise one or two feet at least above 
 
264 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 the level of the surrounding ground, and should he laid in good lime 
 mortar, or at least pointed with it. The thickness of the wall should 
 not be less than fifteen or eighteen inches ; and if the house walls 
 above be built of brick or stone, two feet is preferable. The cellar 
 should have a connecting drain at its lowest corner, which should al- 
 ways be kept free from obstruction ; and each room in it should have 
 at least two sliding sash windows to secure a good circulation of air. 
 In very cold climates, those portions of the wall above the surface of 
 the ground should be double, either by means of a distinct thin wall 
 on the outside, or by lathing and plastering on the inside, and be fur- 
 nished with double windows as a farther security against frost. An 
 outside door with a flight of steps is desirable in every cellar, and 
 especially in one connected with a farm house. 
 
 It should always be borne in mind that in constructing cellars, par- 
 ticular care should be taken to have all its walls, and their connecting 
 surfaces with the ceilings above, all perfectly tight, and secure from 
 the egress and ingress of all vermin, however diminutive. A due ob- 
 servance of these hints, with those given above, in regard to keeping 
 the cellar clear from all rubbish and decaying vegetable matter, will 
 ensure any house from the presence of vermin. 
 
 The greatest precaution should be exercised to insure cleanliness 
 and pure air with ventilation, preventing it from becoming a fruitful 
 source of sickness and suffering. In a family of one of the healthiest 
 villages in Massachusetts, a few years ago, the father and three chil- 
 dren died of an obstinate slow fever, and the mother and two other 
 children were “ hard at death's door ” for weeks. Before the fatal 
 results, but too late to prevent them, an examination of the house by 
 order of the physician disclosed in the cellar a barrel partly filled 
 with decayed onions, the undoubted cause of the disease. If there is 
 any obscure or slow disease in the family of any reader of this article, 
 and a cellar is attached to the building, it is worth the experiment to 
 let the cellar be emptied of every movable thing, the walls and floor 
 thoroughly swept, and, if practicable, washed, and after a week or 
 two airing, the walls and ceiling well white- washed, and if the walls 
 are not plastered, and the floor not covered with a hard cement, let 
 both these be done, and the white-washing repeated once every year, 
 first sweeping off the old. 
 
 Every partition and every shelf in a cellar should be made of 
 smoothly planed boards, well covered with good white paint, to pre- 
 vent the accumulation of dust, and aid in making the cellar light, 
 cheerful, and clean; for the more light you can have the better. Ev- 
 
• BUILDINGS AND BUILDING MATERIALS. 
 
 265 
 
 ery cellar should be so contrived that either by its grating or win- 
 dows or doors, it may be easily and thoroughly ventilated an hour or 
 two at least every day in the year ; this is often very perfectly done 
 by a flue running into the chimney. All shelves in a cellar should 
 be so arranged that you can go all around them ; if suspended from 
 the ceiling, all the better. 
 
 Where a cellar cannot be drained water may be excluded by coat- 
 ing the bottom and sides with water-lime cement, making a perfect 
 cistern, with the difference that a cistern is to hold water inside, in- 
 stead of excluding it. The cellar must not be allowed to freeze as 
 that cracks cement. 
 
 TO MAKE A CEMENT FLOOR. 
 
 The surface should first be rammed down and leveled ; then hy- 
 draulic cement, mixed with sand, of about the consistency of thick 
 mortar, should be laid on to about one inch in thickness, and its sur- 
 face leveled with a scraper made of a thick plank. In laying down 
 such a floor, sections of about eight feet square should be marked off, 
 and finished one after another. A coat of clean sand or gravel, one 
 inch thick, should be laid on the top of the cement ; and after it has 
 stood about half an hour, the whole should be rammed down smooth 
 with a pounder, when the work is comrplete, after the surplus sand 
 has been swept off. In a few days, such a floor becomes hard as a 
 stone, and quite impervious to water. Or, mix two parts best water 
 lime, or cement, (proved such,) with three parts sharp, clean sand, 
 and spread immediately over the cellar bottom. This will become 
 like stone. A more perfect bottom and requiring less cement, is 
 made by first finely and evenly paving the bottom, then applying 
 rather thin mortar of water lime. It runs down among the stones, 
 and all form a hard mass. The best mortar will soon harden, and it 
 is therefore best to mix the lime and sand dry first, and then mix with 
 water such portions successively as may be quickly applied. The 
 very best hydraulic cement, with perfectly clean, sharp, white sand, 
 will make a cement that will withstand even the effects of moisture 
 and the hardest freezing. 
 
 CONCRETE FOR UNDERGROUND WALLS. 
 
 Mix dry one peck of good hydraulic cement with two pecks of clean 
 gravel, then wet the mixture and use it immediately as a mortar for 
 
266 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 laying the wall. Or boards may be secured to form a box of the 
 width of the wall, and the mortar may be made so thin that it can be 
 poured into the trough together with the stones to form the wall. 
 Unless hydraulic cement is used immediately after it is wet, it is 
 worthless. It becomes hard in a few minutes. Clean sharp sand an- 
 swers the same purpose as the gravel. 
 
 TO MAKE COMMON LIME MORTAR. 
 
 As to the proportions of lime and sand for mortar there is a wide 
 variance. One says “it should never exceed two parts by measure 
 of sand to one of lime paste.” Another says, “the true rule, for good 
 plastering, is seven bushels of sand to one of good stone lime.” 
 
 In slacking common lime for making mortar, General Gilmore re- 
 commends in a recently published book, that all the water required 
 be poured on at once, and that the heap be covered until next day, 
 and then be mixed with its proper quantity of sand ; after which the 
 mortar should be heaped up for future use. It is a common practice 
 to slack the lime, mix it with sand, and apply it directly to walls, 
 without allowing it time to rest for the substances to combine more 
 intimately. Such mortar is generally deficient in adhesive qualities. 
 
 TO MAKE MORTAR IMPERVIOUS TO WET. 
 
 Says the Builder: Provide a square wood trough say eight feet by 
 four feet ; put a quantity of fresh lump lime in, add water quickly. 
 When the lime is well boiled, having assisted- that operation by fre- 
 quent stirring, add tar, (the heat of the boiling lime melts the tar,) 
 stir it well, taking care that every part of the lime is intimately 
 mixed with the tar ; then add sharp sand or crushed clinker, and stir 
 well as before, after which, in about twenty hours it will be fit for use. 
 
 Tar and lime may also be used, in order to make either wood or 
 mason-work water proof. The best way to prepare gas or coal-tar 
 for coating wood work with, is to get some lime, avoiding chalk lime, 
 and slake it to a fine powder ; boil the tar for half an hour, and then 
 add about one pint of the hot lime powder to a gallon of tar, and boil 
 it about half an hour longer stirring it all the while. It will then be 
 ready for use. Lay it on with a brush while it is hot, and you will 
 find it to set hard, and have a brilliant appearance. It is the h * t 
 coating for wood work, except lead. 
 
BUILDINGS AND BUILDING MATERIALS. 
 
 267 
 
 BUILDING MATERIALS. 
 
 The great waste of our country is the decay of the materials with 
 which we build. A house, well-built, of proper materials, should be 
 as good a hundred years afterward as on the day it was finished. 
 There are houses of brick and stone more than a century old, in this 
 country ; and in Europe, plenty of cottages and palaces three or four 
 centuries old. 
 
 We build of wood — chiefly of the softest and most destructible. 
 Our houses are old in twenty years. Our wood works, of all kinds, 
 decay with great rapidity. Our fences need continual and costly re- 
 newals. Our bridges go to quick destruction. What a perpetual 
 labor and large cost in renewing railroad ties and tressle-work ! 
 
 Yet there are woods that last; and all woods, with a little expense, 
 can be made almost indestructible. The foot of a fence-post can be 
 charred, so that it will last longer in the ground than out. Timber 
 can be so impregnated with corrosive sublimate, or sulphate of zinc, 
 that no rot or worm will touch it. We can give wood the properties 
 of minerals. It is said that the means have been discovered by which 
 all kinds of timber may be petrified, at so cheap a rate, that we may 
 have an indestructible material for the most common purposes. 
 
 We do not know that the experiment has been tried; but, we be- 
 lieve, that standing timber, by means of its own circulation, may be 
 saturated with powerful antiseptics. If an air-pump were placed at 
 one end of a log, and the other immersed in a mineral solution, the 
 pressure of the atmosphere would drive it through every pore. 
 
 Will it pay ? That is another question. The man who only wants 
 an article for his own temporary use, and who does not care for its 
 permanent value, will not care about it. But it will pay our govern- 
 ment to build ships and public works that will not decay. It will 
 raise the value of all railroad stocks by diminishing the estimates for 
 prospective repairs. Perhaps it will pay us all to have some thought 
 for the future, and the good feeling of our posterity. 
 
 BUILDING OF STONE AND BRICK. 
 
 Spring and fall are the best seasons of the year for building of 
 brick or stone. In warm, dry weather, the moisture of the moftar 
 evaporates too rapidly ; and in frosty weather it crystalizes, and when 
 thawed it sweats out. The bricks should by all means be wet when 
 building in warm weather, or they will at once abstract the moisture 
 
268 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 from the mortar, whereby the binding vehicle between the two is re- 
 moved, and the mortar crumbles into dust. 
 
 BRICK MAKING. 
 
 Bricks may be made of any earth that is clear of stones, but all 
 will not burn red. According to Leibourn, the earth should be dug 
 before winter, and not made into brick before spring. In general, 
 the earth whereof bricks are made, ought not to be too sandy, which 
 makes them heavy and brittle, nor too fat, which makes them crack 
 in drying. Tempering the earth properly is the all-essential secret. 
 Using too much water makes them brittle ; too much sand or ashes, 
 or sandy earth makes a light brick full of cracks. The well-drying 
 bricks before burning, prevents their cracking and crumbling in 
 burning. It is not the richness of soil, but lack of duly tempering, 
 that causes failure in brick making. 
 
 TO PROTECT STONE AND BRICK HOUSES AGAINST DAMP. 
 
 The employment of the pitch of coal tar has become very common 
 in the towns of the North of France, to protect the basements of 
 houses from the effects of external damp ; but of course this cannot 
 prevent the damp rising from the ground through the interior of the 
 walls. To effect this object in damp situations, the layers of brick or 
 stone for cellar walls, when being erected, should be treated with this 
 pitch. In 'New York the walls of the basements of many buildings 
 erected along the streets fronting the rivers, where they are subjected 
 to back water during the high tides, have been protected from damp 
 by asphalt. The bricks are dipped into boiling asphalt, laid up in 
 three courses, and become imperviable to moisture ; this is an old and 
 effectual method practiced by the ancients for preserving walls from 
 damp. 
 
 The Scientific American says : To exclude dampness from brick 
 work, varnish it with a coating made in the proportion of mixing eight 
 pounds of linseed oil with one pound of sulpher, and heating to two 
 hundred and seventy-eight degrees. 
 
 And the American Agriculturist says : To prevent dampness in 
 walls of stone or brick houses, the only sure means is some kind of 
 non-conductor between the wall and the air of the apartments. The 
 best method is to “ fur off” an inch or two from the solid wall, then 
 plaster tightly, and it will keep out both frost and moisture better 
 
BUILDINGS AND BUILDING MATERIALS. 
 
 269 
 
 than a foot of solid granite. Even a cellar can be made dry and com- 
 paratively healthy in this manner. 
 
 TO PREVENT SANDSTONE FROM SCALING OFF. 
 
 Also to prevent brick from absorbing water : give it a coat of raw 
 linseed oil; as soon as that is sufficiently absorbed, give it a second 
 coat, and so on until you have given it what you think enough. Care 
 must be taken not to allow any of the coats to dry until all that is 
 intended to be put on has been applied. 
 
 INDURATION OF STONE, BRICK, WOOD, &C. 
 
 All kinds of soft porous stone become hard by white washing them 
 with fresh slacked lime. The lime absorbs carbonic acid from the 
 atmosphere, and is converted into carbonate of lime. A portion of 
 this remains in the pores of the stone, and ultimately becomes mar- 
 ble. 
 
 Mr. F. S. Barff, of Dublin, for preserving and hardening brick, 
 stone, and other substances, and timber, proposes to use soluble silicate 
 of soda, or of potash, by preference the silicate of potash with a mix- 
 ture of sulphate of barytes and carbonate of lime. The mixture is 
 laid on with a brush. 
 
 TO MAKE ARTIFICIAL MARBLE. 
 
 Soak plaster of Paris in a solution of alum. Bake it in an oven, 
 and then grind it to a powder. In using, mix with water, and to pro- 
 duce the clouds and veins, stir in any (dry) color you wish. This will 
 become very hard, and is susceptible of a high polish. 
 
 Artificial marble has been obtained both by Sir James Hall, of 
 England, and Professor Bose, of Prussia, by subjecting chalk to a high 
 heat in a close vessel. 
 
 SHINGLES, AND HOW TO LAY THEM. 
 
 The New York Tribune says : Of all the inventions ever contrived, 
 that of sawed shingles has proved one of the greatest detriments to * 
 the country. The only profit is to the patentee and manufacturer. 
 To every one that has ever used the article it has proved a loss, no 
 matter what the saving has been in first cost, unless the shingles, 
 previous to laying on the roof, were saturated with something to pre- 
 vent their saturation with water every time the rain fell upon them. 
 
 It is this that rots them and gives us leaky roofs, where sawed shin- 
 
270 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 gles are used, in one-fourth the time that split shingles remain sound. 
 It is true that good shingle timber is becoming scarce, and more and 
 more so evety year, and that farmers must have something as a sub- 
 stitute. What that something is we know not, but are quite sure, 
 where economy is studied, that it will not be sawed shingles. If they 
 must be used, let the roof have a very steep pitch. On a flat roof, 
 we have known them to rot entirely through in five years. Another 
 roof, ten years old, both shingles and roof-boards, when taken off, 
 crumbled into a mass of rotton wood, that scarcely bore any resem- 
 blance to boards and shingles. 
 
 Mr. Ed. Emerson, of Hollis, Mass., thus gives in the New England 
 Farmer, some hints upon shingling roofs that are worthy of repe- 
 tition : — 
 
 As I shingle differently from almost every one else, I will give you 
 my method, and my reasons for it. However wide the shingles may 
 be, I do not allow the nails to be put more than two inches apart. 
 Reason — If your shingles are wet or green, and the wide ones are 
 nailed at the edges, the shingles must split, or one of the nails must 
 draw when the shingle shrinks. If the shingle is dry, it must huff 
 or crowd the nail out when it swells. Thus your nails are kept in 
 constant motion by every shrink or swell of the shingle, till they are 
 broken, pulled out, or the shingle is split. I do not want the nails 
 drove quite in, or so as to sink the head. Reason — The heads of the 
 nails hold up the buts of the next row of shingles, and give the air a 
 free circulation. 
 
 A correspondent of the Canada Farmer says, instead of taking off 
 his old shingles when he renewed the roof of his dwelling, he covered 
 them over with mortar, and with nails some half an inch longer than 
 the common ones, put on the new shingles. 
 
 PRESERVING SHINGLES. 
 
 By steeping shingles in a solution of the sulphate of copper or in 
 lime-water, they will endure much longer than the common unpre- 
 pared shingles, and render them partially fire-proof. 
 
 Hon. D. Hunter says that slaked lime sprinkled on the roofs of 
 buildings on rainy days, will remove moss and preserve the shingles 
 for nearly double the time they would last if not thus treated. Put 
 it on thick enough to make the roof look white, and two applications 
 will clean off the moss and leave the roof white and clean. It should 
 
 V 
 
BUILDINGS AND BUILDING MATERIALS. 271 
 
 be applied annually ; but if the lime is not to be bad very conven- 
 iently, wood ashes will answer the same purpose. 
 
 The following composition will stay on, if well put on, and will pre- 
 serve the shingles : Mix a bushel of good lime into a smooth white- 
 wash, in about forty gallons of water. If there are any lumps, strain 
 them out ; then add slowly, and stir thoroughly, twenty pounds of 
 Spanish whiting, seventeen pounds of rock salt, twelve pounds of su- 
 gar. Keep the mixture well stirred while using. Put it on thin — 
 two or three coats — and it will keep white, and preserve shingles, 
 fence, or any rough boards, better than paint, and it is infinitely 
 cheaper. It may be made stone-color with water-lime, or yellow by 
 ocher. 
 
 Dip the shingles in a tub of white-wash made of lime and salt. Line 
 with red chalk. The lime will harden the wood, and prevent its wear- 
 ing away by rain and weather, and will effectually exclude moss, a 
 common hastener of decay. It is said that shingle roofs will last 
 twice as long when treated in this way, as without it. White-washing 
 each successive layer of shingles after nailing down is sometimes 
 adopted, but it is less effectual. White-washing the roof after com- 
 pleted is comparatively useless, as the lime, or but little of it, can 
 enter between the shingles, where the water lodges and hastens the 
 decay. Some may object that this is “ troublesome,” but so is nearly 
 everything that is done in a thorough and consequently economical 
 manner. Carpenters may object on account of getting lime on their 
 hands and clothes, and declare they know it does not do any good. 
 
 TO STOP LEAKS IN ROOFS. 
 
 By mixing common tar or gas tar with clean, fine sand, to the 
 thickness of a paste, a good material is formed for stopping large 
 leaks. Small ones may be closed by thickening common white lead 
 paint with fine, clean sand. Or mix two parts of coarse sand with 
 one of paint skins, and apply once or twice to leaks. 
 
 FIRE-PROOF WASH FOR SHINGLES. 
 
 Says the Albany Knickerbocker : A wash composed of lime, salt, 
 and fine sand, or wood ashes, put on in the ordinary way of white- 
 washing, renders the roof fifty fold more safe against taking fire from 
 falling cinders or otherwise, in cases of fire in the vicinity. It pays 
 the expense a hundred fold in its preserving influence against the ef- 
 
272 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 fects of the weather. The older and more weather beaten the shin • 
 gles, the more benefit derived. Such shingles generally become more 
 or less warped, rough and cracked ; the application of the wash, by 
 wetting the upper surface, restores them at once to their original or 
 first form, thereby closing the space between the shingles, and the 
 lime and sand, by filling up all the cracks and pores in the shingle 
 itself, prevent it from warping for years. 
 
 Mr. John Mears communicates the following to the Boston Cultiva- 
 tor. He states that after an experience of eleven years, and using 
 seven forges in his blacksmith shop, he has never seen a shingle on 
 fire, nor has a nail started. The following is his method of preparing 
 them : 
 
 “ Having a large trough, I put into it a bushel of quick lime, half 
 a bushel of refuse salt, and five or six pounds of potash, adding water 
 to slack the lime and dissolve the vegetable alkali and the salt — well 
 knowing that pieces of an old lime-pit, a soap-barrel, or a pork-tub, 
 were not the best kindling stuff, and having long since learned, while 
 at the Vineyard Sound, that hot salt-water white- wash w^ould endure 
 far longer than that made with fresh water, absorbing moisture, stri- 
 king into the wood, and not peeling the washing off. I set the bun- 
 dles of shingles nearly to the bands in the wash for two hours, then 
 turned them end for end. When laid on the roof and walls they were 
 brushed over twice with the liquid, and were brushed over at inter- 
 vals of two or three years after.” 
 
 ROOFING COMPOSITIONS. 
 
 * 
 
 The essential ingredients in most roofing compositions are coal tar 
 and asphaltum. • 
 
 The following i^ a cheap roofing composition : Take coal tar, 300 
 pounds; hydraulic lime, 150 pounds; ocher, 75 pounds; and whiting, 
 40 pounds. Mix these substances together thoroughly, and they will 
 make a sufficient quantity *of cement to cover 1,000 square feet of 
 roofing. It should be laid down upon strong cotton sheeting, nailed 
 to the roof-boards, and on the top of all a coat of dry sand or gravel 
 ’B to be laid and pressed firmly down. The cost of such roofing is 
 about $2.30 for ten square feet. It answers very well for sheds and 
 other outhouses. 
 
BUILDINGS AND BUILDING MATERIALS. 
 
 273 
 
 TILE ROOFING. 
 
 The recommendations of tile are its durability, its security against 
 fire from the falling of burning soot, to which dry shingles are so Vfery 
 liable, and the clearness of rain water running from them. 
 
 THE CHEAPEST BARN. 
 
 ♦ 
 
 At a Farmers’ Club, held in West Springfield, Mass., after consul- 
 tation and debate — 
 
 u It was decided that a large barn was better than two or more 
 small one s; that a tight barn was better, even for badly cured hay, 
 than an open one ; that a brick barn and a slate roof, were the best 
 and cheapest for a man who has all his materials to buy ; that a good 
 connection between a house and barn is a covered walk, overhung 
 with grapevines; that economy of roof and convenience for work 
 were of the first importance in any building ; that warm water and 
 warm stables were essential to the comfort of animals ; that the hous- 
 ing of manures was judicious ; that liquid manures are largely lost, 
 even by those who have cellars and sheds for storing them ; and that 
 the best absorbants of liquid manure are buckwheat hulls, leaf mold, 
 sawdust, fine sand, dried peat, turf and straw.” 
 
 TIGHT BARNS. 
 
 The Massachusetts Ploughman has the following remarks : “ Cattle 
 must have air, or they die. Hay must have air, or it becomes musty. 
 Corn must have air in the crib, or it rots. Many farmers seem not 
 to understand this ; and they inclose their barns as tight as double- 
 boarding will permit — making it necessary to give their hay two or 
 three hours more sunning than it would need in Ijarns that admit 
 some air between the boards. It is a universal law that all living 
 animals require air. Some animals require much more than others. 
 Those living under water require the least, while the fowls of the air 
 require the greatest quantity, and their blodd is warmer than that of 
 cattle. Why will practical farmers continue to throw away their 
 money in building barns so tight that the cattle cannot breathe in 
 them — so tight that the hay becomes musty, and the horses become 
 'diseased with the heaves? The wall boards of barns should not be 
 jointed. It is loss of labor and lumber to make the edges straight by 
 planing or jointing. Good barn boards will come together quite close 
 
274 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 enough by merely pressing them close together by means of a small 
 iron bar. Boards put on in this way will keep the snow out, and let 
 a little air in — enough to keep hay from spoiling and cattle from 
 catching fevers.” 
 
 WELLS, CISTERNS, FILTERS AND ICE-HOUSES. 
 
 PUTRIDITY IN WELLS. 
 
 Sometimes the water in webs and cisterns suddenly acquires a pu- 
 trid taste and smell as though some animal matter was undergoing 
 decay therein, yet which upon careful examination is found not to be 
 the case. A remedy is frequently found in the thorough agitation of 
 the water, as by working a chain pump for two hours or more, bring- 
 ing the water more or less in contact with the air. The next day the 
 water will be as sweet as ever. 
 
 TO PURIFY A WELL INFESTED WITH WORMS. 
 
 Worms in your well may be destroyed by throwing some quick- 
 lime into the water and allowing it to stand for several hours. After 
 this draw off the water and allow a fresh supply to accumulate in the 
 well. 
 
 TO EXAMINE THE BOTTOM OF A WELL OR CISTERN. 
 
 The American Agriculturist says it is not known by most persons 
 that the bottom of a cistern or deep well even, may be thoroughly in- 
 spected for filth, or lost articles, by using a common looking glass. 
 When the sun shines, hold the mirror so that the light will be reflect- 
 ed in a bright spot at the bottom of the water and a pin can be seen 
 at a depth of ten to twenty feet or more. We have in this manner 
 seen fishes at the bottom of thirty or . forty feet of clear water. If 
 the sun be hid by intervening objects, use two or more mirrors to 
 bend the light by double or triple reflections to the desired point. 
 We have thus thrown the light coming into the dining-room window, 
 by one mirror through the door into the kitchen, by another to a cor- 
 ner of the latter room, and by a third mirror cast it down into a cis- 
 tern sufficientlv strong to see a small angle worm at the bottom. 
 
WELLS, CISTERNS, FILTERS AND ICE-HOUSES. 
 
 275 
 
 TO OBTAIN WATER BY MEANS OF A WELL AND SIPHON. 
 
 If there is some spot within convenient distance, where you can 
 find water by digging on higher ground than where you wish to use 
 it ; then put in a pipe, exhaust the air with an air pump, and if there 
 is no defect in the pipe you will have running water. In the event 
 of air collecting in siphons it can be removed by putting an air cham- 
 ber on the pipe at the highest point ; the air will then collect in the 
 chamber instead of the pipe, or else attach a cock to the siphon and 
 pump the air out through it and a pipe with a lifting pump. 
 
 HARMLESS LEAD PIPES. 
 
 It is said by Dr. Schwartz, of Breslan, that a strong solution of the 
 sulphide of potassum or of sodium, used at a temperature of 212° 
 Fah., passed through lead pipe, and allowed to act upon the metal for 
 from ten to fifteen minutes, converts the interior surface of the pipe 
 into an insoluble sulphide, through which water may pass as uncon- 
 taminated as if glass were used. Also that the boiling solution of 
 caustic soda and sulphur will answer the same purpose. And the 
 Scientific American adds that if caustic soda and sulphur will accom- 
 plish the objects stated above, it is one of the most useful discoveries 
 of the age. 
 
 HOW TO SUBSTITUTE LEAD PIPES FOR LOGS. 
 
 Some one with a good stock of yankee gumption has told a fact 
 worth knowing — how to save labor in substituting a line of lead pipe 
 in. the place of logs. “ It happened once that a course of pine pump- 
 logs, sixty rods long and two and a half feet under ground, sprung a 
 leak from decay ; and wishing to relay with lead, I dug to the logs at 
 distances apart of five or six rods, taking out a piece of log in each 
 place. Then, entering the pipe at the fountain, and stationing a man 
 at each opening, we were able to run it up through to the spring by 
 soldering together once. This was done nine years ago, and yet it 
 works well. The logs afford a fine protection and bed for the pipe, 
 and save quite a bill of expense for digging and covering.” 
 
 A SIMPLE AND INGENIOUS METHOD OF MENDING WATER PIPES. 
 
 It is described by a correspondent of the Scientific American . There 
 
276 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 was a pressure of water on the pipes of more than fifty feet head. 
 The two ends of the pipe were plugged, and then a small pile of bro- 
 ken ice and salt was placed around them ; in five minutes the water 
 in the pipes was frozen, the plugs removed, a short piece of pipe in- 
 serted and perfectly soldered, and in five minutes more the ice in the 
 pipe was thawed and the water flowing freely through it. 
 
 THE BEST WATER PIPES. 
 
 The Scientific American says : We think that water cement and 
 gravel make the best pipe for conducting water. It is necessary for 
 some one who understands the art, to lay it, or show how. 
 
 TO PREVENT WATER FREEZING IN PUMPS. 
 
 In winter set the handle of your pump as high as possible at night, 
 or throw a blanket over it. A very simple, practicable and econom- 
 ical expedient for preventing the freezing of pumps in exposed situa- 
 tions, consists in throwing in at the top of the pump each evening 
 when there is reason to apprehend danger, a small quantity of brine, 
 say a quart or less, and as it runs out at the spout catch and throw it 
 back a few times so as to mix it with the surface water. In extremely 
 cold weather plug the spout and fill straw in the handle mortise, and 
 you will effectually ward off an evil which incommodes many families 
 in winter. Indeed, it is no uncommon thing for pumps in cisterns 
 and wells in certain locations to freeze so as to be of no further ser- 
 vice until spring, or a general thaw restores them. 
 
 HOW TO THAW OUT FROZEN PUMPS. 
 
 Get a tin pipe, half inch in diameter, of sufficient length, and with 
 a funnel at one end, put it down one side of the pump handle to the 
 ice, and pour hot water into it. It will cost but a few cents and will 
 prove perfectly effective in all cases, as the heated tin will sink di- 
 rectly through the ice. 
 
 The Western Christian Advocate says : Salt is an effectual solvent 
 of ice, and by its use the worst frozen pumps can be relieved. If the 
 pump is only slightly frozen, a handful or two dropped in at the top, 
 so as to come in contact with the ice, will render it liquid in an hour 
 or two. If the case is desperate, the quantity of salt must be in- 
 creased. Repeat the dose from time to time, till the object is accom- 
 plished. 
 
WELLS, CISTERNS, FILTERS AND IOE-HOUSES. 
 
 277 
 
 SOW OUR SOLDIERS CONTRIVED TO CARRY WATER FROM THE RIVER TO THE 
 CAMPS AT BATON ROUGE. 
 
 An ordinary barrel has a block of wood fitted to the head with a 
 pivot, like the wheel of a wheelbarrow, and a rod of iron, like the 
 tongue of a buggy, that forks near the barrel, to draw it like a gar- 
 den roller, the barrel revolving like a wheel. Two men will draw a 
 barrel up the levee with considerable ease. 
 
 SUCKING UP WATER FROM SAND. 
 
 Livingstone, the African traveler, describes an ingenious method 
 by which the Africans obtain water in the desert : “The women tie a 
 bunch of grass to one end of a reed about two feet long, and insert it 
 in a hole dug as deep as the arm will reach, then ram down the wet 
 sand firmly around it. Applying the mouth to the free end of the 
 reed, they form a vacuum in the grass beneath, in which the water 
 collects, and in a short time rises to the mouth. It will be perceived 
 that this simple, but truly philosophical and effectual, method might 
 have been applied in many cases in different countries, where water 
 was greatly needed, to the saving of life. It seems wonderful that it 
 should have been now first made known to the world, and that it 
 should have been habitually practiced in Africa, probably for centuries. 
 It seems worthy of being particularly noticed, that it may no longer be 
 neglected from ignorance. It may be highly important to travelers 
 on our western deserts and prairies, in some parts of which water is 
 known to exist below the surface.” 
 
 WATER CISTERNS. 
 
 Cisterns are often made by digging out a space about the shape of, 
 but larger than, a potash kettle, plastering the bottom and sides with 
 water-lime mortar, and covering the top with timber and plank, and 
 then with a foot of earth, to prevent freezing, leaving a curb through 
 which water is drawn, the cistern cleaned, &c. But the top being 
 broad requires much timber to cover it ; and this covering, unless 
 supported by posts, will be apt to fall in in a few years. It is better 
 to build a wall of stone — a foot thick will do — in the form of an arch. 
 The wall being properly built as an arch, can never fall in, and the 
 earth being packed well outside, it cannot burst by the pressure of 
 the water within. The amount of plank to cover it is small, and it is 
 
278 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 very capacious. Cii items are commonly made much too small. Ten 
 feet in diameter and ten feet deep will have a capacity of about two 
 hundred barrels ; twenty feet diameter and twelve feet deep, about 
 one thousand barrels. 
 
 Every farm establishment, says the New England Farmer, should 
 be provided with a ca]i acious and conveniently located water cistern. 
 If the farm buildings are numerous and compactly situated, a very 
 small expenditure will answer for the construction of all the appara- 
 tus requisite for conducting the water from the roofs into the reser- 
 ved, which, for greater convenience, should be located in some place 
 where it may supply the wants of the animals in the yards- during 
 winter, as well as the household. 
 
 Good and substantial reservoirs, perfectly water tight, may be 
 formed of split stone, brick, plank, or even without either, the inte- 
 rior surface as well as the bottom being covered with two or three 
 coatings of cement. We have known them made by cementing di- 
 rectly upon the earth, but in our climate of penetrating frosts, such 
 would not be the best way. They may be made square, oval or 
 round ; but made in the form of an egg, they are very strong, and 
 require no deck or top covering, as the opening in the top may be 
 only a little larger than a man’s body, so that he can enter it occa- 
 ionally to clean it out. 
 
 In a cistern constructed in this manner, the water will soon become 
 clear and fit for family use, if the roofs of the buildings upon which 
 it falls are kept ordinarily clean. Where there is a good cistern at 
 or near the house, there is a feeling of safety and comfort, which one 
 can scarcely have without it, and these pleasurable emotions are con- 
 siderably higlitened by the fact that it is an economical arrangement 
 for supplying water. But the cistern has another recommendation 
 of more value than either of these, viz : It provides the women with 
 those indispensable conveniences, without which we do not believe a 
 good, genial temper and a pervading harmony can long exist in the 
 household. Men build their fine barns, purchase their mowing ma- 
 chines, newly-modeled plows, &c., and too often leave the women to 
 go ten rods and draw water with an old creaking sweep from a forty 
 foot well, or allow them to chop the wood with which to cook the 
 breakfast, or keep the children warm. Nothing tends more to good 
 order and serenity of temper in the house, and the comfort and econ- 
 omy of all its affairs, than the existence of the numberless and name- 
 less little conveniences which enable each one to perform his or her 
 part of the household duties with facility and ease — and among them 
 
WELLS, CISTERNS, FILTERS AND ICE-HOUSES. 279 
 
 all, none is more important than a plenty of pure, soft water, near at 
 
 hand. 
 
 TO KEEP THE WATER IN A CISTERN PURE. 
 
 Live fish — pickerel or trout — will keep a cistern free from worms, 
 dirt or smell. 
 
 TO CLEANSE A CISTERN. 
 
 Apply two pounds of caustic soda in the water, and in a few hours, 
 it is said, all foulness or unpleasant smell will disappear. Concen- 
 trated lye will answer an e’qually good purpose. 
 
 FILTERS AND FILTERING CISTERNS. 
 
 The importance of purifying thoroughly the water which is used as 
 a drink is scarcely appreciated. There is no doubt that thousands 
 of cases of severe illness might be prevented by the general use of 
 pure water. 
 
 All the different modifications of filters have one similar and essen- 
 tial provision, namely, the passage of the water through layers of 
 coarse, clean sand, or fine gravel, and charcoal. The gravel and sand 
 are for the purpose of keeping • the bed loose and for retaining the 
 coarser impurities; and the charcoal, with its powerful absorbent 
 powers, takes out such foul matter as may be held in solution, and 
 which no merely mechanical straining would intercept. In some fil- 
 ters, the sand or fine gravel is mixed with the charcoal, and slightly 
 moistened to make it pack well ; in others they are placed in alter- 
 nate layers of about two inches, and separated from each other by a 
 single piece of cotton flannel. We do not know that one mode is bet- 
 ter than the other ; but it is well in either case to use the flannel to 
 prevent the displacement of the materials, and to keep the charcoal 
 from being washed out of place. The sand used should be both coarse 
 and clean — good beach sand answers an excellent purpose. The char- 
 coal should not be pulverized, but granulated, so as to be about the 
 size of peas, or coarse shot. It is said that the refuse accumulations 
 in the pipes of locomotives, which is usually thrown out at engine- 
 houses, are just the material for that purpose. 
 
 Filters are either portable, and used for purifying a few pails of 
 water at a time, or else fixed and attached to the cistern, to cleanse 
 all that passes into it. The simplest portable form consists of a bar- 
 
280 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA, 
 
 rel or tub, with a stop-cock to set within a few inches of the bottom, 
 for the escape of the purified water. On the bottom is laid clean 
 stones about the size of hens’ eggs for the first. These may occupy 
 about one-fourth of the barrel, and are to form a reservoir for the 
 water after it is cleansed. The stop-cock should be an inch or two 
 above the bottom, so that any possible sediment may not be ■ drawn 
 off. The filter may be raised a little on bricks or wooden blocks, tr 
 set a pail under the stop-cock. On the top of this layer of stones arc 
 placed smaller stones, and then again smaller still, and the surface 
 smoothed off, about one-third of the way up, and the whole covered 
 with a perforated board. Cover the whole of this board with a piece 
 of flannel, which should extend up an inch or two against the sides 
 of the barrel. On this place the mixture of sand and charcoal, already 
 described, packing it completely but not pounding it, until within six 
 inches of the top, and cover it with a layer of coarse gravel. Pro- 
 vide a large tin pan to set in and fit the top of the barrel. Solder a 
 few short tubes in the bottom of this pan, extending upwards an inch 
 from its bottom, and thrust a piece of sponge into each tube. These 
 serve to strain the water as it passes through into the filter, and 
 coarse sediment will settle on the bottom of the pan without choking 
 these tubes. The pan may be lifted and washed out once a week, 
 more or less, as sediment accumulates in it, and the sponges are easi- 
 ly withdrawn and cleansed. The capacity of the reservoir at the bot- 
 tom may be varied with the size of the barrel, and with the quantity 
 of water required at a time; and the thickness of the layer of 
 sand and charcoal will be indicated by the impurity of the water to 
 be filtered. A small lead tube should extend from the top of the bar- 
 rel down its inner side to the reservoir to admit air, as the water is 
 drawn off — otherwise it will not flow through the stop-cock freely 
 when a supply is wanted. This tube is most conveniently secured to 
 the side of the barrel by means of small pieces of wood screwed on, 
 with a notch cut in for the tube to pass through. It may pass through 
 the barrel an inch from the top, which will secure the upper end and 
 place it out of the way. 
 
 The wood of the barrel, and the stones, may at first impart an un- 
 pleasant flavor to the water, but it will soon pass away. The taste 
 of pine is removed by alkali. The water may be dark-colored a day 
 or two from the charcoal. 
 
 The same form of filter may be fixed to cisterns. There should be 
 two cisterns, a large one and a small one, the water running through 
 the filter in passing from the latter to the former. The smaller cis- 
 
WELLS, CISTERNS, FILTERS AND ICE-HOUSES. 
 
 281 
 
 i,.m sLould be large enough to receive all the water which falls in a 
 single shower, which may be easily estimated by remembering that 
 every inch of rain that falls upon a roof, (and few showers exceed one 
 inch,) yields two barrels for each space ten feet square. 
 
 CHEAP AND SIMPLE FILTER FOR CISTERNS. 
 
 Construct a box about two feet square and eighteen inches deep, 
 with a perforated false bottom, and leave a space under it of about 
 three inches for the filtered water to flow by a pipe in the bottom into 
 the cistern. Layers of small pieces of charcoal and washed sand 
 should be placed to a depth of ten inches upon the false bottom, and 
 a piece of Canton flannel should be nailed over all on strips at the 
 side of the box. The water to be filtered should fall upon the strain- 
 ing cloth and leave a space of four or five inches to the top of the box. 
 The straining cloth must be boiled in soap-suds and washed occasion- 
 ally, and the layers of filtering materials should be washed or re- 
 newed once a year, and perhaps oftener. 
 
 THE CHEAPEST FILTER. 
 
 Le Moniteur Illustre des Inventions says : It is known that char- 
 coal is the most efficacious substance that can be employed for the 
 purification of liquids ; foul and stagnant waters containing decaying 
 animal carcases have been purified to the extent of becoming inodor- 
 ous, potable and healthy. Here is a method of constructing one of 
 these filters in the easiest manner : Take a flower pot, or any other 
 vase having a hole in the bottom, fill the bottom with large, round 
 pebbles, then cover with smaller pebbles, then with coarse sand or 
 fine gravel, and finally with about four inches of pounded charcoal. 
 The coal may be placed in a bag and broken with a mallet or hammer. 
 It should be sifted, and the very finest dust thrown away. The char- 
 coal should be freshly burned and renewed occasionally. It might 
 be covered with a clean flannel held down by stones on the corners. 
 
 THE BEST FILTERING MATERIAL. 
 
 Animal charcoal broken in small pieces about the size of beans is 
 allowed to be the best filtering medium for water in the world. Or- 
 dinary rain water filtered through this medium becomes as pure as 
 distilled water. 
 
282 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 ICE-HOUSES AND STORING ICE. 
 
 An ice-house is easily built above ground by inclosing a space be- 
 tween two board walls, of about a foot, and filling this space with saw 
 dust — providing free drainage, but preventing the admission of. air 
 from below — packing the ice in sawdust — and allowing free ventila- 
 tion above. A want of the latter, is often a cause of failure. Ice 
 may be kept in a small coarse barn with a single boarding, by care- 
 fully inclosing the ice with a foot of sawdust on every side. 
 
 The best situation for an ice-house is a northern exposure shaded 
 on the south by a hill or a building. It should be erected on the top 
 of the ground in preference to the old plan of excavating on a hill- 
 side. The ground for it should be prepared by digging a drain about 
 two feet deep to run through the center, and then filling in the space 
 intended for the floor about a foot deep with broken stones and gravel, 
 and over this the plank floor of the house should be laid. It should 
 be laid on joists secured in the sills of the frame. The sides should 
 be double with a space between the inside and outside planking of 
 about from four to six inches. The supports and braces should be 
 strong. A very common exercise of judgment will enable almost any 
 man to select proper timber for the purpose. The roof should also be 
 double and have a considerable slope. The spaces between the double 
 sides and ends and roof may be filled in with dry sawdust, dry spent 
 bark, fine charcoal or straw. The opening for receiving and taking 
 out the ice should be on the north side, and it should have a double 
 door opening outward. In filling the house, clean straw should be 
 spread upon the floor in a layer of several inches. The blocks of ice 
 should be cut as large as possible and be packed close together, and 
 no spaces be permitted between them. All the interstices should be 
 rammed down with small pieces of ice and sprinkled with water so as 
 to form an air-tight mass. A space should be left all around the 
 sides to be filled in with several inches of straw. No bottom venti- 
 lation should be permitted, but there should be a space left at the top 
 for ventilation by a lattice window. 
 
 Very cold days should be chosen for filling the ice-house. After 
 the blocks are cut and lifted from contact with the water they should 
 be left for an hour or more exposed to the atmosphere. Ice does not 
 keep so well when run into the ice-house direct from the pond, be- 
 cause that which has been in contact with the surface of the water is 
 only a few degrees lower in temperature than the water, whereas the 
 atmosphere may be twenty or more degrees lower. Clear solid ice 
 
WELLS, CISTERNS, FILTERS AND ICE-HOUSES. 
 
 283 
 
 should be selected. Porous blocks contain air and tbaw more readily 
 than solid ones. When the bouse is filled the top of the ice should 
 be covered with about three inches of straw, and when ice is taken 
 out in warm weather the door should be closed as soon as possible af- 
 terward. 
 
 An ice-house about twelve feet square will keep as much ice as will 
 supply a large family. Every farmer should have an ice-house, and 
 where lumber is cheap a small one may be put up at a cost not ex- 
 ceeding thirty dollars. 
 
 A CHEAP ICE-HOUSE. 
 
 A cheap ice-house may be quickly constructed in the form of board 
 shanties, with a good but not tight floor. Place a few inches of saw- 
 dust on the floor, pile up the ice compactly in square blocks, leaving 
 a space of eight to twelve inches all around, next to the boards, to be 
 filled with sawdust, trodden in, as the structure of ice is built up- 
 wards. Cover the whole with eight or ten inches of sawdust, and let 
 plenty of fresh air blow through the shanty over the top. Ice will 
 keep in this way as well as in the most costly and elaborate building. 
 Chaff or finely cut straw may be substituted for the sawdust ; but 
 being less perfect non-conductors should be in thicker layers. Care 
 should be takm that all the sawdust be pressed solid, and no cavities 
 left. 
 
 OUT DOOR ICE-HOUSE. 
 
 The Southern Homestead says : A correspondent — one of the inven- 
 tive men of the day — kept ice out of doors, and had a plenty to spare 
 last September. He threw down Jour foot wood upon a space eight 
 feet square, sufficient to keep ice from the ground. The spaces be- 
 tween the sticks were filled with sawdust or tan bark. The ice was 
 then packed snugly in pyramidal form. To make the mass more 
 compact in order to keep the air from it, a few pails of water were 
 thrown over it. The mass was then covered with sawdust. We are 
 inclined to think ice will keep in this way better than any other. 
 The evaporation from the outside carries off the heat, and the mass 
 keeps cooler than it would if shut up in a tight house. There appears 
 to be philosophy in the method. 
 
284 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 A NOVEL ICE-HOUSE. 
 
 The Winsted (Ct.) Herald gives this account of the manner in which 
 Mr. Goodwin of New Hartford fills his ice-house: Mr. Goodwin is 
 supplied with excellent water from a spring at a considerable eleva- 
 tion above his house. Connected with a pipe which supplies the lat- 
 ter is a branch pipe leading to the ice-house, across which it is ex- 
 tended. Within the ice-house this pipe is pierced by twenty or thirty 
 small holes, from which as many fine jets of water rise to the roof, 
 falling back in drops over the whole bottom surface of the house. 
 These jets are only let on when the weather is cold, and the doors and 
 ventilators being open, the water freezes as it falls, and in a few days, 
 or weeks at furthest, the house is filled with a single block of pure, 
 transparent ice. Mr. Goodwin’s ice keeps through the entire season, 
 with much less waste than that packed in the ordinary way. It costs 
 him nearly nothing. 
 
 FILLING ICE-HOUSES WITH SNOW. 
 
 There are many who would like the luxury of ice during the sum- 
 mer but who live where they can not secure it without great expense, 
 if at all. For their benefit, says H. W. Bleyer, of Buffalo, I would 
 suggest the use of compressed snow. It can be compressed into 
 square blocks suitable for conveyance and packing by any simple con- 
 trivance, and will keep as well as ice, without any more than ordinary 
 precaution. 
 
 Finding it expensive to haul ice from the neighboring ponds and 
 rivers, a farmer of Clifton, Ohio, last winter filled his house with snow, 
 after the custom prevailing in Switzerland and California, simply 
 rolling it up in masses, and with a wheelbarrow conveying it to the 
 house — first lining the sides of the pit with straw, and after it was 
 filled, covering the snow with the same material, thus filling his house 
 without cost, and securing an abundant supply of good ice for his 
 large family during the whole summer. The snow settled down into 
 a compact mass, when the spring and summer heats affected it. 
 
 MELTED ICE. 
 
 It lias been demonstrated that melted ice is as pure as distilled wa- 
 ter. During congelation the salts are eliminated. Sea water, when 
 frozen, furnishes pure water on being melted; and in the north of 
 
PAINTS AND PAINTING. 
 
 285 
 
 Europe, sait is economically extracted from sea water by exposing 
 the water to intense cold ; the water which remains unfrozen and un- 
 freezable is then extremely rich in salt, which may easily be obtained 
 by evaporation. 
 
 ARTIFICIAL ICE. 
 
 A great degree of cold is produced by a mixture of saltpetre and 
 glauber salts. 
 
 COOLING MIXTURES. 
 
 1. Muriate of ammonia, 5 parts ; nitrate of potash, 5 parts ; water, 
 16 parts. In such a mixture as this the thermometer sinks forty 
 degrees. 
 
 2. Nitrate of ammonia 1 part; water, 1 part. The thermometer 
 sinks forty-six degrees. 
 
 3. Sulphate of soda, 5 parts ; dilute sulphuric acid, 4 parts. The 
 thermometer falls forty-seven degrees. 
 
 With the use of ice or snow, ether mixtures may be made in which 
 the thermometer will fall fifty degrees below zero ; but we have giv- 
 en those which maybe employed when snow or ice cannot be ob- 
 tained. The salts for these mixtures should be fresh, dry, and re- 
 duced to a powder before being used. The vessel in which they are 
 dissolved should be thin and a good conductor. 
 
 PAINTS AND PAINTING. 
 
 Never suffer a painter to use unboiled oil upon any of your build- 
 ings or farm implements, and certainly never suffer yourself to leave 
 any of them unpainted. Take care that the painter is not too liberal 
 in the use of “ driers ” in your paint. Tint is to please the eye. Oil 
 preserves the wood, and one coat of boiled oil is worth three of un- 
 boiled. A good paint for outbuildings and fences is cheaply made 
 of powdered water lime and oil. It will answer if mixed with cheap 
 oil. 
 
 S. D. Welsh, of Wyandott Co., Ohio, writes to the American Agri- 
 culturist as follows : In opening a keg of white lead, break the head 
 in with a hatchet, or, if it is desired to save the head, with an old 
 
 9 
 
286 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPEDIA. 
 
 chisel extract the tacks from the upper hoops, drive them up, take 
 out the head and replace the hoops. The paint-can may he a tin pail 
 or an old oyster can, with a strong wire bail and a wire hook at- 
 tached, by which to hang it to the ladder. With a strong paddle 
 take from the keg and put into the can enough lead to one-third fill 
 it ; pour oil enough over the lead to about cover it, and mix them 
 thoroughly ; after this oil is well incorporated with the lead, fill the 
 can with oil, putting in a little at a time, and stir constantly while 
 adding. When ready to apply, the paint should be about the con- 
 sistence of rich cream. It should be tried on some inferior part at 
 first and made thicker or thinner, as needed. If too thick, it will not 
 work right under the brush, but incline to be sticky or tough. If too 
 thin, it is apt to run, has a yellowish hue and is too transparent. For 
 outside work use a large brush, with a smaller one to ' work about 
 windows and other corners. When not in use, keep all brushes in 
 oil, or well cleansed from paint, or they will dry up and spoil. In 
 commencing, take a course of boards, as many as can well be reached, 
 and brush their whole length. Do not leave off painting long enough 
 for the work to dry, until the course is finished. If obliged to sus- 
 pend the work, leave off about a window, door, or corner. Use 
 boiled oil, and never finish outside work in very hot weather. 
 
 For outside, the paint for first coats should be thinnish, the second 
 made thick, and the third thicker than the first, but thinner than the 
 second. For inside work there are different methods. It is safe, as 
 a general rule, to use equal parts of naptha and Japan varnish as a 
 vehicle with which to mix the pigments. Naptha is used as a sub- 
 stitute for turpentine, which is now very expensive. It is a poor 
 “ drier.” Japan varnish and turpentine are quick driers. Oil is a 
 slow drier, but dries more rapidly when boiled. If the paint is dry- 
 ing too fast while applying it, add more naptha or a little oil. 
 
 Positive colors, such as blues, reds, &c., are seldom if ever used on 
 inside work, but a great variety of tints are produced by mixing these 
 with white. For straw color , use yellow ocher with white ; for flesh 
 color , chrome yellow and a little red with white. Gray is made by 
 adding to the white a very little black. Bed and black make brown. 
 Be very careful in mixing colors with black, or the desired tint may 
 be neutralized. If dry colors are used with white, they should al- 
 ways be rubbed up with a little naptha or turpentine before mixing. 
 Make experimental trials for desired tints upon short boards, noting 
 each time the proportions of color used. After the first coat is dried 
 hard it is to be rubbed down with sand-paper, laid under a little 
 
PAINTS AND PAINTING. 287 
 
 block, before applying the next coat. If the work 13 to be varnished, 
 use Dammar varnish for all light colors. 
 
 A bright red, may be made of red lead ; and a red of a darker shade, 
 of Venetian red. 
 
 The best light yellow, is made of chrome yellow, and a darker and 
 inferior color, but very much cheaper of yellow ocher. 
 
 Lead color is made of white lead, with a very small portion of lamp- 
 black added. 
 
 Slate color, same as the lead color, with the addition of a little blue. 
 
 Green may be made of various shades, by mixing in different pro- 
 portions, either of the yellow above mentioned with Prussian blue, 
 or strong and handsome greens may be purchased in the form of 
 Chrome green and Brunswick green. 
 
 A very dark blue, approaching black, is made of pure Prussian blue, 
 and any shade of lighter blue by the addition of white lead in differ- 
 ent proportions. 
 
 For white, use pure white lead. 
 
 A cheap brown may be made from Spanish brown, and browns of 
 various shades from mixtures of black and red. 
 
 A warm stone color may be made of Venetian red, with the addi- 
 tion of a little white ; and a colder shade is given by adding lamp- 
 black and more white. 
 
 For black use best calcined lampblack. 
 
 Either of the above should be mixed with sufficient linseed oil to 
 enable them to be easily ground, and then thinned with spirits tur- 
 pentine to a proper consistence for use. 
 
 BEST TIME TO PAINT HOUSES. 
 
 Experiments have indicated that paint on surfaces exposed to the 
 sun will be much more durable if applied in autumn or spring, than 
 if put on during hot weather. In cool weather it dries slowly, forms 
 a hard, glossy coat, tough like glass, while if applied in warm weather, 
 the oil strikes into the wood, leaving the paint so dry that it is rapidly 
 beaten off by rains. 
 
 A correspondent of the Scientific American says : When paint has 
 been exposed to a hard frost before it is fully dry, its lustre and du- 
 rability are destroyed. Paint a house outside not earlier than the 
 middle of May nor later than the middle of September in this lati- 
 tude. Boiled linseed oil should always be used, for various reasons, 
 one of which is that it dries quicker, and consequently forms a cement 
 
288 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 upon the surface ; is sooner out of danger from dust and flies, and will 
 last longer. A little good coach-varnish in the last coat of paint for 
 outside work, will he found a very good investment. 
 
 CHEAP PAINT FOR BUILDINGS. 
 
 One bushel slacked lime. Half a gallon salt. Three pounds alum, 
 powdered. Three pounds saleratus. Mix and put in a tight barrel 
 with one head out. If the lime is quite fresh, cold water — if not then 
 use hot water. Keep stirring while slacking, adding water as re- 
 quired, so as not to become dry at any time. If it heats dry it be- 
 comes lumpy, and must not be overflowed with water so as to prevent 
 the slacking going on. Stir up well from the bottom. When fin- 
 ished, it may be thick as mush. When to be applied by a brush, 
 make the mixture the consistency of whitewash — about the thickness 
 of cream. Apply the first coat very thoroughly, filling every crack 
 or interstice between the bricks or in the boards. For wooden fences 
 a second coat of the same material is all that is required. Those who 
 desire to have some other color than white, can add coloring matter 
 to taste. 
 
 For Brick Houses. — For the second coat, add to the first named 
 materials twelve pounds of melted tallow, and mix as before. This 
 coat is impervious to water — is brighter, looking clean longer than 
 paint, and preserves the cement between the brick better than paint. 
 It costs but little to renew this, say once in three or four years. The 
 only difficulty is in mixing the materials properly. 
 
 Another Cheap Paint. — Make a thin paste of wheat or rye flour 
 — strain it, add sufficient Venetian red or ocher to make a thick 
 paint — put on one or two coats. Dissolve one pound of glue in three 
 gallons of water — mix in your paint, and put on for the last coat. It 
 is claimed that it will look as well as oil paint. 
 
 Another . — A pretty good cheap paint for outside work is made by 
 mixing plaster of Paris with white lead, or zinc white, and grinding 
 them together in a paint mill with oil. Plaster alone may be used, 
 and it is said to form a durable and cheap paint. Of course any color 
 may be given which is desired. 
 
 Another . — Water lime mixed with skimmed milk is said to make 
 an excellent drab colored paint. It will adhere to wood, stone, brick 
 or mortar, where oil paint has not been used, and is very hard and 
 durable. 
 
 Another . — Take one bushel of unslacked lime and slack it with cold 
 
PAINTS AND PAINTING. 
 
 289 
 
 water ; when slacked, add to it 20 lbs. of Spanish whiting, 17 lbs. of 
 salt, and 12 lbs. sugar. Strain this mixture through a wire sieve, 
 and it will be fit for use after reducing with cold water. This is in- 
 tended for the outside of buildings, or where it is exposed to the 
 weather. In order to give a good color, three coats are necessary on 
 bricK and two on wood. It may be laid on with a brush similar to 
 whitewash. Each coat must have sufficient time to dry before the 
 next is applied. 
 
 For painting inside walls, take as before one bushel of unslacked 
 lime, 3 lbs. of sugar, 5 lbs. of salt, and prepare as above, and apply 
 with a brush. 
 
 For brick it is claimed by some good authorities to be better than 
 oil paint. On wood it is said to last longer on rough siding, than oil 
 paint on planed. 
 
 You can make any color you please : for straw color, use yellow 
 ocher instead of whiting ; for lemon color, ocher and chrome yellow ; 
 for lead and slate color, lampblack; for blue, indigo; for green, 
 chrome green. The different kinds of paint will not cost more than 
 one-fourth as much as oil paints, including labor of putting on. 
 
 Another . — This is by some considered very valuable. Skimmed 
 milk, 2 quarts ; fresh slacked lime, 6J ounces ; linseed oil, 4 ounces ; 
 common whiting, 3 pounds. Put the lime into a stoneware vessel ; 
 pour upon it sufficient of the milk to make it like thin cream ; add 
 the oil, a little at a time, stirring to mix thoroughly ; add the re- 
 mainder of the milk ; then the whiting, made fine, is to be spread 
 upon the surface, and the whole well stirred. It is then fit for use. 
 It should be frequently stirred w T hile using. Apply with a common 
 paint or whitewash brush. It will dry in three or four hours. Two 
 coats are sufficient. It possesses great solidity, will bear rubbing 
 with a woolen cloth, and does not become dingy or yellow with smoke, 
 &c., as much as lead paint, and is much more economical. 
 
 For out-door work add to the foregoing 2 ounces lime, 6 ounces 
 oil, and 2 ounces white Burgundy pitch, the pitch to be melted in 
 the oil by gentle heat, and added to the mixture. 
 
 ANOTHER CHEAP SUBSTITUTE PAINT. 
 
 Take one pound of fresh burnt lime, and slack it by dipping it in 
 water and allowing it to break down in the open air. Take four 
 ounces of Burgundy pitch, and dissolve it by a gentle heat in twelve 
 ounces of linseed oil ; put the newly slacked lime, while hot, into a 
 
290 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 bucket, and add thereto a gallon of skimmed milk in a hot state ; then 
 add the mixture of pitch and oil, a little at a time, stirring it until it 
 is all thoroughly mixed ; and, lastly, mix with the whole, six pounds 
 of powdered whiting. 
 
 When applying this paint, stir it frequently to prevent it settling. 
 This will make a dead white ; but where color is required, it may be 
 easily obtained by using with the whiting powdered amber, yellow or 
 red ochers, chromes, blues, &c., ground in milk, and mixing in such 
 color and in such quantities as may be requisite to produce the tint 
 that is desired. In using this milk paint, should it become too thick, 
 then it might be thinned by adding a little more skimmed milk. Sour 
 milk must not be used. 
 
 This of course is not equal to oil paint, but when properly applied, 
 it covers the wood evenly, and looks neat, does not scale off, and will 
 keep good for three years. 
 
 VERY CHEAP PAINT — DRAB COLOR WITHOUT LUSTER. 
 
 Mix water lime with skimmed milk to a proper thickness to apply 
 with a brush, and it is ready for use. It will adhere well to wood, 
 whether smooth or rough, to brick, stone or mortar, where oil paint 
 has not been used. Try it. 
 
 CHEAP PAINT FOR OLD BUILDINGS 
 
 Take some fine oil meal, mix it with cold water, then put it on the 
 stove and keep stirring till it boils. Then reduce it to the desired 
 thickness with warm water. If you wish it white, stir in whiting, or 
 any color you like. Apply with a brush the same as paint. It fills 
 the pores in the wood, so that after two coats it will cost no more to 
 paint an old building than it would a new one. It penetrates the 
 wood, and does not peel off like white-wash. It is never safe to paint 
 over white-wash. It will last a number of years, as the oily nature 
 of the meal keeps it from washing. 
 
 COMPOSITION TO LAY ON A BOARDED BUILDING TO RESIST THE WEATHER 
 AND LIKEWISE FIRE. 
 
 Take one measure of fine sand, two measures of wood ashes, well 
 sifted, three of slacked lime, ground up with oil, and mix them to- 
 gether ; lay this on with a brush, the first coat thin, the second thick. 
 
PAINTS AND PAINTING. 
 
 291 
 
 This adheres so strongly to the boards covered with it that it resists 
 an iron tool, and the action of fire, and is impenetrable by water. On 
 the authority of the celebrated Count Eumford. 
 
 TO COLOR CONCRETE HOUSES. 
 
 No vegetable or animal matter should be used for this purpose, fo, 
 they lack durability ; but the pigments used should consist of mineral 
 substances that have the required color. They may be dissolved in 
 the water used in preparing the mortar for an outer coating, or they 
 may be dissolved in lime water, and put on with a brush. This should 
 be done before the wall is dry, or if the latter is already dry, it should 
 be thoroughly wet with clear water, or with lime water, which is better. 
 For gray in shades, use blue-black ; for blue, blue vitriol or blue ver- 
 diter ; for green, mineral green, or blue verditer and chrome yellow ; 
 for yellow, yellow ocher or green vitriol. If chrome yellow is used, 
 it must be with care, or scarlet specks will occur. Yellow can also 
 be produced by iron rust, which may be obtained by putting iron 
 chips or filings in lime water. Eed ocher, Venetian red, Indian 
 red, purple brown, Vandyke brown, raw and burnt umber are good, 
 and vermilion is more beautiful than when used with oil. 
 
 COAL TAR FOR PAINTING. 
 
 It is cheap, durable, and looks well for old buildings, especially if 
 painted with white around the doors and windows, the barge boards 
 and corners of the building, with white lead. The tar needs no pre- 
 paration. Use it just as it comes in the barrel, cold, putting it on 
 with a large round brush. 
 
 FIRE-PROOF PAINT AND WASH. 
 
 In Eussia very little turpentine or varnish is used in paints. The 
 curd of milk mixed with pigments is used ; it is more durable and 
 less dangerous on account of fires. A very excellent fire-proof wash 
 for outside buildings is made of clay stirred up in water containing 
 about one ounce of potash for every five gallons. This wash is excel- 
 lent for the boiler rooms of steamboats. 
 
292 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 SUBSTITUTE FOR PAINT OYER PLASTER. 
 
 A coat of oxide of zinc, mixed with size, and made up like a wash, 
 is first laid on the wall, ceiling or wainscott ; and over that a coating 
 of chloride of zinc, prepared in the same manner as the first wash, is 
 applied. The oxide and chloride immediately effect a sort of combi- 
 nation, forming a cement, smooth and polished as glass, and possess- 
 ing the advantage of oil paint without its disagreeable odor. Discov- 
 ered recently by a Frenchman. 
 
 DURABLE AND CHEAP PAINT FOR HOUSE FLOORS. 
 
 Dissolve one ounce glue in a quart of warm water, thickened with 
 paint. After being put on, go over with a coat of boiled linseed oil. 
 It will dry ready for use in two hours. 
 
 PAINT FOR STOPPING CRACKS. 
 
 White lead paint, thickened by mixing in fine clean sand — increas- 
 ing the thickness according to size of crack. 
 
 A FLEXIBLE PAINT FOR CANVASS. 
 
 Stir into fifty-six pounds of common oil paint a solution of soap lye, 
 made of half a pound of soap and three pounds of water ; it must be 
 used while warm. 
 
 PAINTS FOR IRON. 
 
 The editors of the Scientific American say that from their own ex- 
 perience they consider red lead the most durable paint for iron ex- 
 posed to w T ater. A coating of asphalt, thoroughly dried upon iron 
 pipes in an oven, is the best protective agent for the metal when 
 buried in the damp soil. 
 
 A cheap and durable green paint for iron rails and coarse wood 
 work is made of gas tar with yellow ocher. 
 
 A BLACK COLORING FOR GARDEN WALLS. 
 
 Mix quicklime, lampblack, a little coperas, and hot water. 
 
WHITEWASHES, &C. 
 
 293 
 
 WHITEWASHES, &C. 
 
 Common lime quickly and perfectly absorbs carbonic and other dis- 
 agreeable and unhealthy gases and odors ; and for this purpose, in 
 times of plagues, epidemics, and wasting diseases, is scattered plenti- 
 fully in cellars, privies, stables and gutters of the streets. It not 
 only purifies the air and promotes physical health, but as a whitewash 
 enlivens and beautifies wherever applied. As it is easily washed off 
 by the rain if not properly prepared as a wash, it has to be so fre- 
 quently re-applied that it is considered troublesome by many ; hence 
 the rich use paint, and the poor use nothing to protect their dwell- 
 ings, fences, etc., from the ravages of the weather ; yet the difference 
 between a well-whitewashed farm and one where no lime is used, 
 would amount to a large percentage in case of a sale. For the phys- 
 ical and moral benefits which may arise from the abundant use of 
 lime as a whitewash, several modes of preparing it, so as to make it 
 more durable, whether applied indoors or out, are here given, with 
 the suggestion that the same amount of money necessary to keep a 
 man’s premises well whitewashed cannot be expended to as great a 
 moral and healthful advantage in any other way. 
 
 1. One ounce of white vitriol, (sulphate of zinc,) and three ounces 
 of common salt to every four pounds of good fresh lime, that is, lime 
 which has not fallen into dry powder from exposure to the atmos- 
 phere, with water enough to make it sufficiently thin to be applied 
 with a brush, makes a durable outdoor whitewash. 
 
 2. Take a clean water-tight barrel, or other wooden cask, and put 
 into it half a bushel of lime in its rock state, pour enough boiling wa- 
 ter on it to cover it five inches deep, and stir it briskly until it is 
 dissolved or -thoroughly slacked, then put in more water and add two 
 pounds of sulphate of zinc — that is, white vitriol — and one pound of 
 common salt ; these harden the wash and prevent cracking ; this may 
 be colored according to taste by adding three pounds of yellow ocher 
 for a cream color ; four pounds of umber for a fawn color, with a 
 pound each of Indian red and lampblack ; four pounds raw umber 
 and two pounds lampblack for a common stone color ; lamp, vine or 
 ivory black for pearl or lead color. 
 
 3. Mix up half a pail of lime and water ready for whitewashing ; 
 make a starch of half a pint of flour and pour it, while hot, into the 
 lime water while it is hot. This does not rub off easily. 
 
 4. A good indoor whitewash, for a house of six or eight rooms is 
 
294 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 made thus : Take three pounds of Paris white and hot water, then 
 add the dissolved glue and sufficient water to make it of the proper 
 consistence for applying with a brush. If any is left over, it hardens 
 by the morning, but it may be dissolved with hot water ; still it is 
 best to make only enough to be used each day ; spread it on while it 
 is warm. 
 
 It is said to add to the value and lastingness of any lime wash if 
 the vessel in which it is slacking is kept covered with a cloth ; this 
 not only confines the heat, but keeps the very finest of the particles 
 of lime from being carried off by steam, wind, or otherwise. 
 
 When it is taken into account how much buildings and fences are 
 protected against the destructive influences of the weather, if they 
 are plentifully whitewashed in April and November, to say nothing 
 of the cheeriness, beauty, and purity which it adds to any dwelling, 
 it is greatly to be desired that the practice of whitewashing liberally 
 twice a year should be adopted by every household in the nation, 
 where paint cannot be afforded, and on every farm. 
 
 5. The editor of the American Agriculturist recommends for cellars 
 a simple mixture of fresh slacked lime as the best. For house rooms , 
 he says, the common “ Paris white,” to be bought cheaply, is very 
 good. We take for each two pounds of whiting, an ounce of the best 
 white or transparent glue, cover it with cold water over night, and 
 in the morning simmer it carefully without scorchiug, until dissolved. 
 The Paris white is then put in hot water, and the dissolved glue 
 stirred in the hot water, enough to fit it for applying to the walls and 
 ceilings. This makes a very fine white, so firm that it will not rub 
 off at all. When common fresh slacked lime is used, some recom- 
 mend adding to each two and a half gallons (a pailful) two table- 
 spoonfuls of salt and one half pint of boiled linseed oil, stirred in well 
 while the mixture is hot. This is recommended for outdoor and in- 
 door work. For an outdoor whitewash , take a tub, put in a peck of 
 lime and plenty of water to slack it. When hot with slacking, stir 
 in thoroughly about one-half pound of tallow or other grease, and 
 mix it well in. Then add hot water enough for use. The compound 
 will withstand rain for years. 
 
 6. The editors of the Country Gentleman give the following : Take 
 a barrel and slake one bushel of freshly burned lime in it, covering 
 the lime with boiling water. After it is slaked, add cold water 
 enough to bring it to the consistency of good whitewash. Then dis- 
 solve in water and add one pound of white vitriol, (sulphate of zinc,) 
 and one quart of fine salt. To make this wash of a handsome gray 
 
WHITEWASHES, &C. 
 
 295 
 
 stone color, add half a pound of French blue, and one-fourth pound 
 of Indian red ; a drab will be made by adding a half pound of burnt 
 sienna, and one- fourth of a pound of Venetian red. This wash owes 
 its durability chiefly to the white vitriol, which hardens and fixes 
 the wash. 
 
 A WHITEWASH THAT WILL KEEP. 
 
 This is from the Scientific American : If whitewash, made of lime 
 and water, is brought in contact with carbonic acid, the lime enters 
 into combination with the acid, forming carbonate of lime. . Water 
 usually contains carbonic acid, for if brought in contact with carbonic 
 acid gas it absorbs its own bulk of the gas. When whitewash is 
 made, therefore, a portion of the lime is immediately converted into 
 carbonate of lime. The water being thus freed from its carbonic 
 acid, gradually absorbs a fresh supply from the atmosphere and the 
 process of converting the lime into carbonate continues. This carbo- 
 nate of lime is not adhesive, and its mixture in the whitewash impairs 
 the quality of the wash. In order to make a whitewash that will 
 keep, the carbonic acid should be expelled from the water before the 
 lime is introduced, and the wash should then be excluded from the 
 atmosphere. The acid may be expelled by boiling the water, and it 
 may be prevented from returning by keeping the whitewash in a 
 tightly corked bottle. 
 
 • 
 
 THE BEST WHITEWASH. 
 
 Mr. Uriah Bitchie, well known$an Boston as a master builder, and 
 one of the owners of the immense building in New York in which are 
 located the offices of the Scientific American establishment, gives to 
 that excellent paper the following. Mr. Bitchie is a practical and 
 successful mechanic in the broadest sense, and after forty years ex- 
 perience at mason-work, and after having made a great many exper- 
 iments in the art of preparing whitewashes, he comes to the following 
 conclusion : 
 
 First — For rough outside walls — those exposed to the weather — the 
 best mixture is clear lime and water. Any animal or vegetable sub- 
 stance added diminishes the adhesion and durability of the wash. 
 
 Second — But if the wall is hard and smooth, the wash is improved 
 by a mixture of very fine sand — as much as will mix and can be ap- 
 plied. 
 
296 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCL0P2EDIA. 
 
 Third — For inside walls an addition of a little glue — say a quarter 
 of a pound to three pailfuls — increases the adhesion. If it is desired 
 to have the walls very white the whites of eggs may be used in thfi 
 place of the glue. 
 
 WASH FOR BUILDINGS. 
 
 Parts of the Palace at Westminster, England, which were fast going 
 to decay, have been restored by the application of the silicate of soda 
 solution, washed after drying, with dilute muriatic acid, so as to ren- 
 der the. soda soluble, when it washes off with rains, &c., leaving be- 
 hind it an indestructable coating of pure silica or flint, on which not 
 even the hardest scrubbing with wire brushes and water makes any 
 impression. Applied to iron in a somewhat similar way, it forms a 
 coating that will preserve the metal from rust. The roofs of the 
 Clock and Victoria Tower, to which it has been applied, are bright 
 and clean as when emerging from the foundry. It adheres to a meta 1 
 surface so tenaciously that in attempting to remove it the chisel chips 
 off the iron with it. It appears to be indestructible by the elements, 
 and is uninjured by long immersion in sulphuric acid. 
 
 ANOTHER WHITEWASH FOR BUILDINGS. 
 
 At a recent meeting of the New York Farmers' Club, Solon Robin- 
 son recommended a durable wash as follows : Slake one bushel*of good 
 lime and make it into whitewash by adding forty gallons of water — also 
 add twenty pounds of Spanish whiting, seventeen pounds of salt, and 
 twelve pounds of sugar. He state# that the whiting is for coating 
 the surface, the salt making it penetrate the wood, and the sugar to 
 render it adhesive. This is doubtless a good wash for interiors, but 
 we question if it is so well adapted for out-door work, or where con- 
 stantly exposed to rains and weather, as some other applications. 
 After trying many, we have found the following the best : Mix three 
 pecks of good fresh water lime with one peck of very fine and clean 
 sand and half a peck of salt. Add water enough to make a good 
 wash, and apply with a brush, stirring it frequently. A single coat 
 will last several years, especially if applied to rough boards. There 
 is no kind of wash, however, and probably never can be, that is equal 
 in durability and perfection to oil paint, through which water can 
 never pass, while all the different washes are soaked through by every 
 long rain. The lime, however, penetrating the pores of the wood. 
 
BLEACHING AND STAINING WOOD. 297 
 
 greatly increases its durability, and if occasionally repeated when 
 needed, is scarcely inferior in this respect to oil paint. 
 
 Another has recommended as follows : Take half a bushel of rock 
 lime ; slack it with boiling water ; cover it during the process to keep 
 in the steam. Strain the liquid through a fine sieve, and add to it a 
 peck of salt, previously well dissolved in warm water ; three pounds 
 of ground rice, boiled to a thin paste and stirred in boiling hot ; half 
 a pound of powdered Spanish whiting, and a pound of clean glue, 
 which has been previously dissolved by soaking it well and then hang- 
 ing it over a slow fire, in a small kettle within a large one filled with 
 water. Add five gallons of hot water to the mixture, stir it well, and 
 let it stand a few days, covered from dirt. It should be put on hot. 
 For this purpose it can be kept in a kettle on a portable furnace. 
 About a pint of this mixture will cover a square yard on the outside 
 of a house, if properly applied. It answers as well as oil paint for 
 wood, brick or stone, and is cheaper. It retains its brilliancy for 
 many years. There is nothing that will compare with it, either for 
 inside or outside walls. 
 
 When walls have been badly smoked, and you wish to have them 
 a clear white, it is well to squeeze indigo plentifully through a bag 
 into the water you use, before it is stirred in the whole mixture. 
 
 BLEACHING AND STAINING WOOD. 
 
 Bleaching Wood . — Wood may be bleached white, like cotton cloth 
 or paper pulp, by exposing it to the action of warm chlorine liquor or 
 to chlorine gas, when moist. 
 
 To Stain Wood Bed . — Take one pound of Brazil wood to one gal- 
 lon of water, boil three hours, with one ounce of pearlash, brush it 
 hot on the wood and while hot brush the wood with a solution made 
 with two ounces of alum in one quart of water. 
 
 To Stain Wood a Beautiful Blue . — Dip the wood in a hot solution 
 of sulphate of indigo, and then while hot place it in a solution of three 
 ounces of cream of tartar to a quart of water. 
 
 To make Blackboards . — An appliance for blackboards can be made 
 by boiling one pound of logwood in water enough to cover it, and 
 adding half an ounce of green vitriol. This is superior to paint, as it 
 stains the wood, and will not wear off, dries in a few minutes, and 
 bears no gloss. 
 
298 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 Hard wood is dyed jet black to resemble ebony with, a strong waim 
 solution of logwood and the acetate of iron. 
 
 Yellow Stain. — A decoction of turmeric and a little alum, or the 
 grounds of beer and a little sulphuric acid, make yellow stains cn 
 white wood. Dilute nitric acid brushed over white wood, then ex- 
 posed to the heat of a stove, also makes a yellow stain ; this is the 
 most convenient one for imitating maple. 
 
 Rosewood Stain. — This is made of a strong solution of logwood and 
 redwood, commonly called hyjpernic. It is put on the wood when hot 
 with a brush, the dark lines being produced by giving two or three 
 coats, and the light shades one. By washing over the surface of this 
 stain with a weak solution of salaratus, it will receive a bluish tinge 
 and appear of a darker- shade. When dry, use any kind of varnish 
 for the production of a polished surface. 
 
 Mahogany Stain. — The color of mahogany may be imitated with a 
 strong solution of logwood and fustic put on boiling hot with a brush. 
 The color can be reduced to any depth of shade according to the 
 strength of the liquor employed. After it is quite dry, the wood 
 should be varnished and afterward polished. A varnish made with 
 dragon’s blood dissolved in alcohol, and applied in two or three coats 
 will make a very good imitation of mahogany. When dry it should 
 be rubbed down with rotton-stone and oil. 
 
 Imitation of Mahogany. — Plane the surface smooth, and rub with 
 a solution of nitrous acid. Then apply with a soft brush one ounce 
 of dragon’s blood, dissolved in about a pint of alcohol, and with a 
 third of an ounce of carbonate of soda, mixed and filtered. When the 
 brilliancy of the polish diminishes, it may be restored by the use of a 
 little cold drawn linseed oil. 
 
 To Darken Mahogany. — Drop a nodule of lime in a basin of water 
 and wash the mahogany with it. 
 
 Imitation of Black Walnut. — Let the surface of the wood, after be- 
 ing thoroughly sandpapered, be washed with weak alum water, and 
 then treated with linseed oil colored by burnt umber and red lead. 
 The umber should be thoroughly burned, but the coloring matter not 
 made too strong. It is better to have it rather light, and renew the 
 application. When this has sufficiently dried, go over the surface 
 with a strong sizing of glue, (transparent,) and then use two coats 
 of good copal varnish. Treated thus, any good grained pine will bear 
 a very close resemblance to walnut, and the surface is nearly as hard. 
 
 Scarlet Color on Wooden Figures. — Boil a little of best carmine 
 with distilled water for four or five minutes in a glass or porcelain 
 
VARNISHES, LACQUERS, BRONZES, &C. 
 
 299 
 
 vessel, then add gradually some aqua ammonia, boil a little longer, 
 then cool. The wood must be left immersed in this liquor for some 
 
 time. 
 
 Staining Wood and Ivory . — Yellow. — Dilute nitric acid will pro- 
 duce it on wood. 
 
 Red. — An infusion of Brazil wood in stale urine, in proportion to a 
 pound for a gallon for wood ; to be laid on when boiling hot, and 
 should be laid over with alum water before it dries ; or a solution of 
 dragon’s blood, in spirits of wine may be used. 
 
 Black. — Strong solution of nitric acid for wood or ivory. 
 
 Mahogany. — Brazil, madder and logwood, dissolved in water and 
 put on hot. 
 
 Blue. — Ivory may be stained thus : Soak in a solution of verdigris 
 in nitric acid, which will turn it green ; then dip it into a solution 
 of pearlash boiling hot. 
 
 Purjple. — Soak ivory in a solution of sal-ammoniac into four times 
 its weight of nitrous acid. 
 
 To Blacken Brass. — The cheapest and quickest way is to coat it 
 with black shellac varnish. 
 
 VARNISHES, LACQUERS, BRONZES, &C. 
 
 Black Varnish for Leather. — Gnm shellac, 1 ounce; gum juniper, 
 1 ounce; lampblack, 1 ounce; rosin, 1 ounce; Venice turpentine, f 
 ounce ; spirits of wine, 1 pound. Mix and let it stand in a warm 
 place for a few days. 
 
 Black Varnish for Flexible Surface. — Asphaltum, in coarse powder, 
 24 ounces. Macerate in a flask for a day or two, with frequent shak- 
 ing, in 21 fluid ounces of benzine. Decant the clear solution, and mix 
 it with that of one or two ounces of manilla elemi, and one ounce of 
 balsam copaiba in sufficient benzine ; if necessary add more benzine 
 to get the proper consistence. 
 
 To Make Black Japan Varnish. — Pitch, 50 pounds ; dark gum 
 amber, 8 pounds. Melt this, and add linseed oil, 12 gallons. Boil 
 this and add 10 pounds more gum amber, previously melted and 
 boiled with two gallons of linseed oil; 7 pounds each of litharge and 
 red-lead, and boil for two hours, or until a little of the mass can be 
 rolled mto pills, then withdraw the fire and thin the varnish as re- 
 quired for use with turpentine. 
 
300 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPEDIA. 
 
 Black Varnish. Pattern , Wood, and Iron Varnish. One pound 
 of gum asphaltum, £ pound of gum benzine ; put both into a can or 
 jug with 1 gallon of benzole, and let stand until they dissolve, Then 
 add 1 pint of linseed oil, and it is ready for use. To have it clear, 
 leave out the asphaltum, and for patterns leave out the oil, and to 
 change the color add any color you wish, and mix with the clear var- 
 nish. 
 
 White Varnish. — Take 1 ounce of pure Venice turpentine; mix 
 well with 2 ounces of pure spirits of turpentine ; warm in a large bot- 
 tle. In another bottle put 4 ounces of best fir balsam, (it must be 
 pure,) with 2 ounces of 95 per cent, alcohol ; shake each bottle well 
 frequently for six hours or more, then mix both preparations in the 
 large bottle. The whole should stand several days before using in a 
 warm place. 
 
 Laning's Colorless Varnish. — The British Society of Arts awarded 
 a premium of twenty guineas for this varnish : Dissolve two ounces 
 and a half of shellac in a pint of rectified spirits of wine, boil for a 
 few minutes with five ounces of well burnt and recently heated ani- 
 mal charcoal. A small portion of the solution should then be filtered, 
 and if not colorless, more charcoal must be added. When all color is 
 removed, press the liquor through a piece of silk, and afterwards fil-* 
 ter through fine blotting paper. This kind of varnish should be used 
 in a room at least sixty degrees Fahrenheit, perfectly free from dust. 
 It dries in a few minutes, and is not liable afterwards to chill or 
 bloom. It is particularly applicable to drawings and prints that have 
 been sized, and may be advantageously used upon oil paintings which 
 are thoroughly hard and dry, as it brings out the colors with the pu- 
 rest effect. This quality prevents it from obscuring gilding, and ren- 
 ders it a valuable varnish for all kinds of leather, as it does not yield 
 to the warmth of the hand, and resists damp, which subjects leather 
 to mildew. Its useful applications are very numerous, indeed to all 
 the purposes of the best hard-spirit varnish. 
 
 Lac Varnish. — A common lac varnish may be made by digesting 
 four ounces of clear-grained lac in a pint of spirits of wine in a wide- 
 mouthed bottle, keeping it in a warm place for two or three days, 
 and occasionally shaking it. When dissolved, strain through flannel 
 into another bottle for use. 
 
 Picture Varnish. — Clear spruce balm dissolved in alcohol makes a 
 good varnish for pictures. Most varnish makers add some white gum 
 mastic and gum sandarac to it. 
 
 Varnish for Water Color Paintings. — Every one knows that the 
 
VARNISHES, LACQUERS, BRONZES, &C. 
 
 301 
 
 common practice of covering colored drawings with, glass, when framed 
 and hung up, destroys much of the fresh and brilliant expression of 
 the picture. The following simple varnish answers all the desired 
 purposes of protection, and admits of the washing of the picture with 
 cold water at any time. We have tried it, and it has stood more than 
 thirty years as good as when new. 
 
 First, moisten the picture carefully by passing a wet sponge over 
 its back, to expand or enlarge it ; next spread it smoothly on a simple 
 square frame, made on purpose to keep it stretched, and secure it to 
 this frame by pasting around the outer edges. It will then dry and 
 draw tight, like a drum. It must not draw too 'tight, or it will crack 
 —hence the moistening should be moderate (but thorough.) Next take 
 an ounce of Canada balsam and two ounces of spirits of turpentine, 
 and mix them well together. This forms the varnish. Size the pic- 
 ture well with a solution of izinglass in water — if not well sized, the 
 varnish will strike through and spoil it. When dry, apply the var- 
 nish with a camel’s hair brush, passing it lightly over, so as not to 
 disturb the colors. 
 
 The only skill required in this process, is to sponge the picture 
 evenly ; to stretch it enough to make it smooth and light, and not too 
 tight, so as to crack the paper ; and, lastly, to avoid washing off any 
 of the color in sizing and varnishing. It is not at all difficult, only 
 requires moderate care. 
 
 Pencil drawings may be preserved from rubbing out or chaffing, 
 by simply applying a thin coat of gum Arabic, with a camel’s hair 
 brush. 
 
 Best Clear Varnish for Maps, Drawings, §c . — Canadian balsam, dis- 
 solved in rectified oil of turpentine. The balsam should be placed in 
 the turpentine and set aside in a moderately warm place, and agi- 
 tated occasionally for about seven days. A varnish made with pale 
 mastic dissolved in alcohol, is used to fix pencil drawings. 
 
 Amber Varnish. — No. 1. Amber, pale and transparent, 6 pounds ; 
 fuse, add hot clarified linseed oil, 2 gallons ; boil it till it strings strong- 
 ly, cool a little, and add oil of turpentine, 4 gallons. Pale as copal 
 varnish ; soon becomes very hard, and is the most durable of oil var- 
 nishes, but requires time before it is fit for polishing. When wanted 
 to harden and dry quicker, “ drying ” oil may be substituted for lin- 
 seed, or “ dryers ” may be added during the boiling. 
 
 No. 2. Amber, 1 pound; melt, add Scio turpentine, J pound; trans- 
 parent white resin, 2 ounces ; hot linseed oil 1 pint, and afterwards 
 oil of turpentine q. s., very tough. 
 
302 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 No. 3. Hard. — Melted amber four ounces, hot boiled oil one quart 
 
 No. 4. Pale. — Very pale and transparent amber four ounces, clari- 
 fied linseed oil and oil of turpentine, of each one pint. 
 
 Another. — Melt sixteen ounces of. amber in an iron pot, then add 
 two ounces of melted lac, and ten ounces of bet, drying linseed oil ; in- 
 corporate tbe whole by stirring ; remove it from the fire, and before it 
 cools add a pint of warm oil of turpentine. 
 
 Crystal Varnish. — First, genuine pale Canada balsam and rectified 
 oil of turpentine, equal parts ; mix ; place the bottle in warm water, 
 agitate well, set it aside in a moderately warm place, and in a week 
 pour off the clear. Used for maps, prints, drawings, and other articles 
 of paper, and also to prepare tracing paper and to transfer engravings. 
 Second, mastic three ounces, alcohol one pint, dissolved. Used to fix 
 pencil drawings. 
 
 Japanese Varnish. — 1. Copal four pounds, melt in glass mattress, 
 till any water attached to it is evaporated; pour in boiling linseed oil 
 one pint, take the mattress from the fire, and mix the varnish, while 
 hot, with about its own weight of oil of turpentine. 2. Copal seven 
 pounds, melt, and when melted, add half a gallon of linseed oil ; boil 
 for five minutes, then remove it to the open air ; add boiling oil of tur- 
 pentine three gallons; mix and strain. This dries in fifteen minutes. 
 
 Water Proof Varnish. — Naptha and benzole dissolve india-rubber 
 rapidly ; and make a water-proof varnish that dries much sooner than 
 a varnish made with india-rubber and turpentine. 
 
 Black Asphalt Varnish. — Take asphaltum two pounds, fuse in an 
 iron pot, add of hot boiled oil one pint; mix well, remove the pot from 
 the fire, and, when cooled a little, add oil of turpentine two quarts. 
 Used to black and polish grates and iron work. 
 
 A good black varnish for Iron. — Take eight pounds of asphaltum 
 and fuse it in an iron kettle, then add two gallons of boiled linseed oil, 
 one pound of litharge, one half pound of sulphate of zinc (add these 
 slowly or it will fume over,) and boil them for about three hours. 
 Now add one and a half pounds of dark gum amber, and boil for two 
 hours longer, or until the mass becomes quite thick when cool. After 
 this it should be thinned with turpentine to the proper consistency. 
 
 Black ■ Varnish for Coaling the front sight of Rifles. — Mix lampblack 
 with thin lack varnish. The latter should be made with alcohol. 
 
 Varnish for Iron. — A very cheap and good black varnish for iron 
 work, such as railings exposed to the weather, may be made with two 
 pounds of asphaltum and coal tar boiled for about five hours with 
 
VARNISHES, LACQUERS, BRONZES, &G. 303 
 
 eight gallons of linseed oil, and ten pounds of litharge. It should be 
 thinned down with coal oil and turpentine to use it with a brush. 
 
 Varnish for Iron Chains. — The best varnish for iron chains is made 
 of pure linseed oil well boiled and rendered quick drying by adding 
 some litharge — about four ounces to the gallon. Color it black by 
 adding some lampblack and a little asphalt. When resin is added to 
 oil it renders it more liable to scale off. The chains should be thor- 
 oughly dried in a hot room before they are used. 
 
 Varnish for Coarse Castings. — Refined heavy petroleum mixed with 
 coal tar and applied warm. 
 
 Varnish for Rough Castings. — A varnish made of asphalt dissolved 
 in quick-drying linseed oil is the best for putting on rough castings. 
 It will not readily soften with oil if it is allowed to dry perfectly. 
 
 Varnish for Polished Metal. — White lac dissolved in alcohol is good, 
 but will not stand much exposure to the weather. The varnish can 
 ne made into good lacquer for brass work, by coloring it with a little 
 turmeric and annato. 
 
 Additional Varnishes. — Very superior varnishes are made with a 
 solvent composed of highly rectified* alcohol and benzole instead of 
 using, in the common way, alcohol alone. The alcohol should be 
 ivarly pure, and equal portions of it and the benzole mixed together. 
 The following are different varnishes made with gum resins and alco- 
 hol — benzole solvent: 
 
 1. For carriage varnish : Copal twenty-eight ounces, amber eight 
 ounces, anime four ounces, camphor half ounce, solvent one gallon. 
 
 2. Varnish for external use: Copal twenty-eight ounces, amber 
 four ounces, anime four ounces, camphor half ounce, solvent one gal- 
 lon. 
 
 3. Furniture varnish : Copal twenty-four ounces, shellac (bleach- 
 ed,) eight ounces, olibanum four ounces, camphor half ounce, solvent 
 one gallon. 
 
 4. Picture varnish : Copal twenty ounces, darner twelve ounces, 
 mastic eight ounces, solvent one gallon. 
 
 5. White hard varnish : Copal eight ounces, mastic sixteen ounces, 
 sandarac four ounces, camphor half ounce, solvent one gallon. 
 
 6. French Polish: Shellac thirty-two ounces, solvent one gallon. 
 
 7. Another French Polish : Shellac thirty-two ounces, olibanum 
 four ounces, solvent one gallon. 
 
 8. V arnish for prints and maps : Mastic sixteen ounces, sandarac 
 oixteen ounces, Canada liJsam four ounces, solvent one gallon. 
 
304 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 9. Varnish for iron (to be applied hot :) Resin twelve ounces ; san- 
 darac sixteen ounces, seed lac six ounces, solvent one gallon. 
 
 Preparations of lacker : 
 
 1. Sandarac twenty-six ounces, shellac six ounces, turmeric six 
 ounces, gamboge one ounce, solvent one gallon. 
 
 2. Seed lac eighteen ounces, amber (fused) six ounces, gamboge half 
 ounce, dragon’s blood one ounce, saffron half ounce, solvent one gallon. 
 
 3. Seed lac eight ounces, copal four ounces, sandarac twelve ounces, 
 turmeric two ounces, aloes one ounce, gamboge one ounce, dragon’s 
 blood half ounce, solvent one gallon. 
 
 The benzole and alcohol should be previously mixed together in 
 equal parts, and distilled together with seven ounces of caustic lime 
 to each gallon. The gum resins should be reduced to as small pieces 
 as possible before being fed into the solvent. 
 
 In making varnish, the gum is melted, then hot linseed oil is pour- 
 ed in, and finally benzine is added. Petroleum benzine is a very poor 
 solvent of the gums used in making varnish, and is apt to separate, 
 but the coal tar benzine is nearly as good as the spirits of turpentine. 
 
 Transparent Japan. — Oil of turpentine, four ounces ; oil of laven- 
 dar, three ounces ; camphor, one-half drachm ; copal, one ounce ; dis- 
 solve. Used to Japan tin, but quick copal varnish is mostly used in- 
 stead. • 
 
 Japanning Old Tea Irays. — First clean them thoroughly with soap 
 and water and a little rotten stone ; then dry them by wiping and 
 exposure at the fire. Now, get some good copal varnish, mix with it 
 some bronze powder, and apply with a brush to the denuded parts, 
 after which set the tea tray in an oven at a heat of 212 or 300 de- 
 grees until the varnish is dry. . Two coats will make it equal to new. 
 
 Pale Lacquer for Tin Flate. — Best alcohol, 8 ounces; turmeric, 4 
 drachms ; hay saffron, 2 scruples ; dragon’s blood, 4 scruples ; red San- 
 ders, 1 scruple ; shell lac, 1 ounce ; gum sanderac, 2 drachms ; gum 
 mastic, 2 drachms ; Canada balsam, 2 drachms ; when dissolved add 
 spirits turpentine, 80 drops. 
 
 Good Lacquer for Brass. — Seed lac, 6 ounces ; amber or copal, 2 
 ounces; best alcohol, 4 gallons; pulverized glass, 4 ounces; dragon’s 
 blood, 40 grains ; extract of red sandal wood, obtained by water, 30 
 grains. 
 
 Lacquer for Philosophical Instruments. — Alcohol, 80 ounces; gum 
 gutta, 3 ounces ; gum sandarac, 8 ounces ; gum elemi, 8 ounces ; 
 dragon’s blood, 4 ounces; seed lac, 4 ounces; terra meritta, 3 ounces; 
 saffron, 18 grains ; pulverized glass, 12 ounces. 
 
PROTECTING AND PRESERVING WOOD AND IRON. 
 
 305 
 
 Brown Bronze Dip for Coating Hat Hooks , $c. — Iron scales, 1 
 h amd; arsenic, 1 ounce; muriatic acid, 1 pound; zinc, (solid) 10 
 ounces. The zinc should be kept in only when the bath is used. The 
 castings -must be perfectly clean from sand or grease. 
 
 Green Bronze Dip. — Wine vinegar, 2 quarts ; verditer green, 2 
 ounces ; sal-ammoniac, 1 ounce ; salt, 2 ounces ; alum, J ounce ; 
 French berries, 8 ounces. Boil the ingredients together. 
 
 Olive Bronze Dip for Brass. — Nitric acid, 3 ounces; muriatic acid, 
 2 ounces ; add tilanium or palladium ; when the metal is dissolved, 
 add 2 gallons pure soft water to each pint of the solution. 
 
 To Bronze Gun Barrels. — Dilute nitric acid with water and rub 
 the gun barrels with it ; lay them by for a few days, then rub them 
 with oil and polish them with beeswax. 
 
 To Bronze Cast-iron. — Clean it thoroughly and dip it into a solu- 
 tion of sulphate of copper. The sulphate of copper is dissolved in 
 water. Or buy bronzing powders of the dealers in paint. 
 
 PROTECTING AND PRESERVING WOOD AND IRON. 
 
 Water-proofing and Strengthening Wood. — There are many ways 
 of rendering wood durable, hard, strong and impenetrable to liquids, 
 but there seems to be ample room for improvement in this depart- 
 ment. Carriage wheels have been made much more durable by sat- 
 urating them with boiled oil. Rosin, pitch, asphaltum, wax, tallow 
 and other substances have been used to keep out water ; petroleum 
 and turpentine have been kept with little waste in barrels prepared 
 with matters that have affinity for water ; and creosoting, kyanizing, 
 &c., have been long used to prevent rot. The mummies of Egypt 
 have been preserved thousands of years by asphaltum. This sub- 
 stance is water-proof, and renders wood stronger to resist crushing ; 
 it seems capable of useful application in vessels to contain liquids 
 that will not act upon it, or be injured by its flavor. But what is 
 wanted to prepare wood for mechanical use is something analogous 
 to the substance in bones that is strong, yet it must solidifiy without 
 shrinking. Asphaltum and rosin are too brittle, and give little 
 strength. Glue is strong, but the water in it must evaporate, and 
 then it will not fill the pores. Tough gums, such as shellac, require 
 solvents that must evaporate. And there are objections to most of 
 the substances that are cheap. It is a question for chemists, and one 
 20 
 
306 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 that offers a great reward to him who most successfully solves it. 
 Wood with its pores completely filled with a substance that can repel 
 water or oil, and that increases its strength, becomes a new material, 
 and may sell at a high price. 
 
 A Good Method of Preserving Wood for Fences. — The tar obtained 
 in the manufacture of pyrolygneous acid has been recommended as 
 the best preservative of every kind of wood fence. For this purpose 
 it should be gently heated in an iron pot, and laid on with a brush. 
 It soaks into the wood, and seems to leave “ nobody,” as the painters 
 express it ; but after some days exposure to the sun, the surface and 
 texture of the wood will be much altered, for it will be so hard and 
 impervious that it will be very difficult to make any impression on it. 
 If a second or third coat of the tar be laid on, it will then bear out. 
 When these are dry, if required for ornamental work, it may be 
 painted in oil in the usual manner. 
 
 An Application to Preserve Wood in Damp Places. — A coating to 
 preserve wood in damp situations may be made by beating twelve 
 pounds of rosin in a mortar, and adding to it three pounds of sulphur 
 and twelve pints of whale oil. This mixture must then be melted 
 over a fire, and stirred well while it is melting. Ocher of any re- 
 quired color ground in oil may be put to it. This composition must 
 be laid on hot, and when the first coat is dry, which will be in two or 
 three days, a second coat may be given ; and a third, if necessary. 
 
 To Prevent Posts and Piles from Potting. — The following coating 
 has been recommended, which is the more suitable since it is econom- 
 ical, impermeable to water, and nearly as hard as stone : Take 50 
 parts of rosin, 40 of finely powdered chalk, 300 parts (or less) of fine, 
 white, sharp sand, 4 parts of linseed oil, 1 part of native red oxide of 
 copper, and 1 part of sulphuric acid. First heat the rosin, chalk, 
 sand and oil in an iron boiler ; then add the oxide, and, with care, 
 the acid ; stir the composition carefully, and apply the coat while it 
 is hot. If it be not liquid enough, add a little more oil. This coat- 
 ing, when it is cold and dry, forms a varnish which is as' hard as 
 stone. 
 
 To Preserve Wood Placed in the Ground. — A very good composi- 
 tion for preserving wood which is to be placed in the ground, and 
 subjected to rapid decay, is made with coal tar, quick-lime, and 
 ground charcoal. The tar is first heated in an iron vessel; then 
 about a pound each of quick-lime and charcoal to every five gallons, 
 stirred among it until the whole has become thoroughly mixed. It 
 
PROTECTING AND PRESERVING WOOD AND IRON. 307 
 
 is applied hot with a brush, or the wood may be dipped into it. This 
 preparation resists the attacks of insects. 
 
 Another Method to Preserve Telegraph and Fence Posts. — After the 
 post is put in the ground, and the hole filled up to within fourteen 
 inches of the top of the surface, then put about one-half of a bushel 
 of iron chips around the post and fill up with earth two inches above 
 the chips. These chips will soon form a solid mass around the post, 
 which will help to keep it firm and prevent it from rotting. The 
 chips can be had at any machine shop at very little cost. 
 
 Soaking Fence Posts and Other Timber in Blue Vitriol. — One pound 
 of blue vitriol to forty pounds of water. If the timber is dry, soak it 
 ten days ; if green, six will be sufficient. This solution will do for 
 all kinds of timber requiring exposure to the weather — spouts, shin- 
 gles, bean poles, stakes, &c. Some use for posts one pound of vitriol 
 to twenty quarts of water. 
 
 Petroleum for Preserving Wood. — The oil wells near Prome, in 
 Burmah, have been in use from time immemorial. Wood, both for 
 ship building and house building, is invariably saturated or coated 
 with the product of these wells. The result is entire immunity from 
 decay, and the ravages of the white ants that in that country are so 
 generally destructive. M. Crebin, a Belgian government engineer, 
 who has tried experiments upon the relative advantages of creosote 
 and sulphate of copper for the preservation of timber in marine con- 
 structions from the attacks of worms, &c., says that creosoting is the 
 only process he has found to succeed for this purpose. He sta+^s that 
 sulphate of copper affords no protection whatever against the action 
 of salt water and marine insects. The Belgian government now re- 
 quires that all the wood sleepers used in the state railways should bo 
 creosoted ; and the government of Holland have also made the same 
 resolution, and upwards of 300,000 sleepers per annum are now being 
 creosoted by the Dutch government, and more by the Belgian gov- 
 ernment. 
 
 German Method for Preserving Wood. — The following method is 
 used in Germany for the preservation of wood : Mix 40 parts oi 
 chalk, 50 of rosin, 4 of linseed oil, melting them together in an iron 
 pot ; then add 1 part of native oxide of copper, and afterward, with 
 care, 1 part of sulphuric acid. The mixture is applied while hot to 
 the wood by means of a brush. When dry it forms a varnish as hard 
 as stone. 
 
 Sulphate of copper for Preserving Wood. — It has recently been dis- 
 covered that sulphate of copper is an excellent preservative of wood. 
 
308 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 A weak solution of it is used in the Garden of Plants, Paris, for pre- 
 serving the mats with which the hot houses are covered. 
 
 Preserving Wood by Charring. — Charring the outside of wood that 
 is put into the ground, as the ends of piles, posts, and the wood laid 
 in the foundation of buildings was practiced by the ancient Romans, 
 and is found very effective, as charcoal is perfectly incorruptible. 
 
 Coal Tar for Preserving Wood. — Coal tar is much better calculated 
 to preserve outside wood and iron, as well in land as in water, than 
 vegetable tar. The editors of the Country Gentleman say : Any wood 
 structure or vessel, not exposed to the sun may he preserved by the 
 use of coal tar better and cheaper than by the use of any other appli- 
 cation we know of. Por exposure to the sun light colors are desi- 
 rable. 
 
 Protecting Wood with Silicate of Potash. — The silicate of potash 
 renders wood hard and impervious to moisture, if it is washed with 
 dilute muriate acid after the silicate has become dry. 
 
 Protecting Iron and Wood with Oil and Coal Tar. — Some telegraph 
 companies boil the wire they use about fifteen minutes in linseed oil, 
 by which process it receives a coat of glazing which preserves it from 
 rust. The wooden braces of sycamore are boiled one hour in ordi- 
 nary coal tar to render it secure against warping or cracking from 
 sun or rain. 
 
 To Prevent Dry Rot in Timber. — We have been informed that 
 coal tar applied hot to timber having the dry rot, will arrest the 
 decay. 
 
 Time to Cut Timber. — It is said that if you cut timber from the 
 middle of September to the middle of December you cannot get a 
 worm into it — that there will be no powderpost. October and No- 
 vember are the best months. Cut from March to June, and you can 
 not save the timber from worms and borers. 
 
 LEATHER, HIDES, FURS, TANNING AND DRESSING. 
 
 EFFECT OF AGE ON LEATHER. 
 
 The Scientific American says that calf-skin leather, instead of im- 
 proving in quality with age (as generally supposed,) when made into 
 boots, deteriorates rapidly. It is subject to a species of dry rot, and 
 in the course of three years becomes as tender as brown paper. It 
 
LEATHER, HIDES, FURS, TANNING AND DRESSING. 309 
 
 first appears at the edge near the soles, in the form of a black glossy 
 sweat, resembling varnish, gradually proceeding over the whole. 
 Grease rather accelerates than arrests this decay ; sole leather en- 
 dures much longer under constant use than when laid away in a dry 
 situation. Cowskin and kip leather are not thus affected, but the 
 best as well as the poorest calf-skins are subject to it. 
 
 A PREPARATION FOR PRESERVING LEATHER. 
 
 We translate from the Gerber Courier a receipt for a preparation 
 which is said to insure great durability to leather, and to make it 
 very pliable and soft. It consists of four articles, tallow, soap, resin, 
 and water. These ingredients are prepared as follows : twenty-one 
 parts of tallow are melted in a vessel, three parts of resin added, and 
 the two when melted mixed well together. In another vessel seven 
 parts of good washing soap are dissolved in seventy parts of pure rain 
 water. After it is dissolved and the mass heated to the boiling point, 
 we add the part prepared before ; let it boil once more gently, and 
 the preparation is ready for use. It is especially adapted to boots, 
 harness leather, and belting. 
 
 A SUBSTITUTE FOR LEATHER. 
 
 The London Times endorses the claims of an invention, owned by 
 a Mr. Szerelmy of England, which, according to the description of 
 the article, possesses every quality of the real leather, and is vastly 
 superior to it on many accounts. It will not crack, is tougher, will 
 wear longer and will resist water as effectually as rubber. The 
 leather cloth can be of any color, and a pair of boot tops which cost 
 of calf-skin one dollar and a half, will cost of this material only twenty- 
 five cents. The invention is of immense value. 
 
 TO RENDER LEATHER VERMIN-PROOF. 
 
 Some two hundred thousand dollars worth of boots and shoes were 
 recently destroyed on a vessel hence to California. An application 
 of castor-oil will render leather vermin-proof, at the same time, it is 
 as good a dressing to preserve it as is known. It may be mixed with 
 tallow or other oil if preferred, say half and half. 
 
310 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 TO POLISH ENAMELED LEATHER. 
 
 Take half a pint of the best cream, a quarter of a pint of linseed 
 oil, make them each lukewarm and then mix them well together. 
 Having previously cleaned the leather, rub it over with a sponge 
 dipped in the mixture; then rub it with a soft dry cloth until a bril- 
 liant polish is produced. 
 
 TO POLISH PATENT LEATHER ON CARRIAGES, &C. 
 
 First apply sweet oil with a soft piece of muslin; then after a few 
 hours polish by rubbing with a soft, pliable piece of muslin. 
 
 LEATHER SCRAPS. 
 
 Leather scraps make excellent foot paths, side walks, and roads. 
 As fuel, some leather workers estimate them worth as much as an- 
 thracite coal, ton for ton. But they are far the most valuable for 
 manure. 
 
 THE USE OF RAW HIDE. 
 
 Few persons know the value of raw hides — 1 u deacon ” skins for in- 
 stance. Take a strip of well-tanned raw hide an inch wide, and a 
 horse can hardly break it by pulling back — two of them he can not 
 break. Cut into narrow strips and shave the hair off with a sharp 
 knife to use for bag strings, the strings will outlast two sets of bags. 
 It will outlast common hoop iron in any shape, and is stronger. It is 
 good to wrap around a broken thill — better than iron. Two sets of 
 rawhide halters will last a man’s life time — if he don’t live too long. 
 In some places the Spaniards use raw hide log chains to work their 
 cattle with, cut into narrow Strips and twisted together, hawser fash- 
 ion. It can be tanned so that it will be soft and pliable like harness 
 leather. 
 
 TO DRESS RAW HIDE. 
 
 When the skin is first taken from an animal, (a calf for instance,) 
 spread it flesh side up ; then make fine two parts of salt, and one part 
 each of saltpeter and alum ; sprinkle this evenly over the surface ; 
 roll it up, and let it lay a few days till dissolved. Then take off what 
 
LEATHER, HIDES, FURS, TANNING AND DRESSING. 311 
 
 flesh remains, and nail the skin to the side of a barn in the sun, or in 
 dry weather stretch on the ground by driving pegs in the edge of the 
 skin. It must be stretched tight, or there will be hard and ugly wrin- 
 kles you can not get out. After drying, and the flesh is sufficiently 
 off, it is fit to cut up. But to make it soft and pliable like harness 
 leather, put neat’s foot oil on it — fasten it up again, and let it remain 
 a day or two in the sun. Then take a stick about three inches wide, 
 and long enough to work with both hands, made like a wedge on the 
 end, and rub out all the oil you can, and it is dressed with the hair on. 
 
 TO CURE SHEEP SHINS WITH THE WOOL ON. 
 
 Take one tablespoonful of alum and two of saltpeter ; pulverize well 
 and mix together thoroughly. Sprinkle this powder upon the flesh 
 side of the skin and fold together with the wool out ; hang up in a 
 cool place. In two or three days, as soon as dry, take down and 
 scrape the flesh with a blunt-edged knife till clean. This completes 
 the process. Such skins make excellent saddle covers. 
 
 SHEEP SKINS FOR MATS. 
 
 Steep the skins in water, and wash them well till they are soft and 
 clean ; they are then scraped and thinned on the flesh side with the 
 fleshing knife, and laid in fermented bran for a few days, after which 
 they are taken out and washed ; a solution of salt and alum is then 
 made, and the flesh side repeatedly and well rubbed with it till it ap- 
 pears well bleached ; after which make a paste to the consistency of 
 honey, of the alum and salt solution, by adding wheaten flour and the 
 yolk of eggs, and spread this paste on the flesh side ; after this they 
 are stretched and dried, and when dry rubbed with pumice stone. 
 
 TANNING DEER SKINS. 
 
 The method usually practiced in preparing deer skins for market, 
 is as follows : The skins are placed in a barrel of water, with enough 
 ashes to make a weak ley. They remain there until the hair comes 
 off easily, with a graining knife, and they are then grained. They 
 are then hung up to dry, until hard and flinty, and then they are 
 soaked in rain water, with a little soft soap ; the water being about 
 blood-warm. To dry them, wringing is resorted to ; and after this 
 process, the wrinkles are pulled out by the hand. They should be 
 
312 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 next smoked with rotten wood, or sawdust, in a long trench, for a day 
 or so, the skins being placed loosely in a box, or barrel, and again 
 washed in rain water. This process is repeated two or three times, 
 and a very well tanned skin is the result. 
 
 DRESSING FUR SKINS. 
 
 Well-handled skins, that is those which are properly prepared, will 
 always sell for ten to twenty-five per cent, and sometimes fifty per 
 cent more than similar skins badly handled. 
 
 In the first place, carefully avoid getting blood or dirt upon the fur 
 before skinning. If that is unavoidable, carefully clean and dry it 
 before you take off the pelt, which of all small animals, such as mink, 
 fox, weasel, cats, wild or tame, muskrat, fisher, otter, rabbits, squir- 
 rels, should be taken off without ripping down the belly, and no bones 
 should be left in legs or tail, and no flesh left adhering to the pelt. 
 This must be carefully scraped or picked off, before or after the pelt 
 is stretched, which is best done upon a thin, smooth board, or shin- 
 gle, cut a little tapering, upon which the skin should be turned inside 
 out as soon as it is stripped from the body, and drawn smooth and 
 tight and tacked fast, and then hang up to dry in the air, or in the 
 smoke, with but little heat from the fire. If you are in the woods, or 
 where you cannot get boards or shingles to make your stretchers, you 
 must adopt the Indian’s mode, and stretch your pelts upon a bow 
 made of a hickory sprout, or other tough wood, which, after trimming 
 perfectlv smooth, vou will slightly notch in the middle of the length, 
 ana Dena towara me i^rccn Then half-way from the nose end cut 
 two notches and insert a brace, which will be held in place by tying a 
 string around the ends so **s to bring them just near enough together 
 to suit the size of your pelt. It is sometimes necessary to put in two 
 or more braces, to hold the sides of the. bow firm and wide enough 
 apart to stretch the skin into a good shape, and to the utmost tension, 
 which adds to their value. 
 
 It is not necessary to stretch skins fur side out to show the quality. 
 A good judge can tell a good pelt as soon as he sees the flesh side. 
 
 To dress skins with the fur on, stretch them tightly upon a board, 
 and scrape with a dull knife until you remove all the flesh. Mix two 
 quarts of milk, a teacupful of salt and half an ounce of oil of vitriol. 
 Warm this mixture to somewhat more than blood heat, but not scald- 
 ing, and soak the skin in it forty minutes, stirring and squeezing it 
 in the warm liquid. Press out the liquid and let the skin dry a sho' 4 . 
 
CEMENTS AND GLUES. 
 
 313 
 
 time, and then commence rubbing the flesh side with all your strength 
 across the smooth edge of a board. Continue this work until the pelt 
 is entirely dry. 
 
 Another process is to cover the flesh side of the skins when first ta- 
 ken off with powdered alum and salt in equal quantities, which may 
 remain from one to four days, and then be washed off in warm soap- 
 suds, partially dried, and afterward rubbed until thoroughly so. In 
 rubbing dry you may use powdered chalk, and afterward sprinkle 
 with powdered alum and fold up for a few days, when the skin will 
 be thoroughly cured and very soft. 
 
 For making glove leather, the hair must be first removed by lime 
 or ley upon the flesh side, then thoroughly wash in soap-suds, and 
 afterward soak several days in a paste made of brains ; then rub dry, 
 and cure by smoking moderately for a week in a cool place. This 
 will give the fine, soft durable Indian moccasin leather. 
 
 TANNING SKINS WITH THE FUR ON. 
 
 Nail the fresh skins tightly and smoothly against a door, keeping 
 the inside out. Next proceed with a broad-bladed blunt knife to 
 scrape away all loose pieces of flesh and fat ; then rub in much chalk, 
 and be not sparing of labor; when the chalk begins to powder and 
 fall off, take the skin down, fill it with finely ground alum, wrap it 
 closely together, and keep it in a dry place for two or three days ; 
 at the end of that time unfold it, shake out the alum, and the work 
 is over. 
 
 TO PRESERVE HIDES AND SKINS. 
 
 Dr. Calvert says hides or skins immersed for twenty-four hours in 
 a solution of one part of carbonic acid to fifty of water, and then dried 
 in the air, will remain quite sweet. Hides and bones thus prepared 
 have been safely imported from Monte Video. 
 
 CEMENTS AND GLUES. 
 
 Cements for Porcelain , Marble, Alabaster, Glass, <Jc. — Take of izin- 
 glass two drachms, wet it with water, and allow it to stand until sof- 
 tened, then add as much proof spirit as will rather more than cover 
 
3L4 
 
 PEACTICAL CYCLOPEDIA. 
 
 it, and dissolve with a moderate heat. Take of gum mastic one 
 drachm, dissolve it in two or three drachms of rectified spirits. Mix 
 the two solutions, and stir in one drachm of gum ammoniacum in a 
 fine powder, and rubbed down with a little water. Keep the cement 
 in a bottle. When required for use place the bottle in warm water, 
 and apply the cement with a stick or small hard brush to the china 
 previously warmed. Compress the pieces firmly together until cold, 
 taking care to make the contact perfect, and using a very thin layer 
 of cement. 
 
 The white of eggs thickened with powdered quicklime is also used 
 as a cement for broken china, marble and glass. 
 
 White resin and white beeswax melted and mixed with plaster of 
 Paris make a good cement for mending alabaster and marble orna- 
 ments. 
 
 A transparent cement for glass is made by dissolving one part of 
 india rubber in chloroform, and adding sixteen parts, by measure of 
 gum mastic in powder. Digest for two days, and frequently shake 
 the vessel in which these substances are contained. The cement is 
 applied with a fine camel’s hair brush. 
 
 The silicate of soda is about the best cement that can be used for 
 mending broken crystal. 
 
 To Join Alabaster. — Ornaments of alabaster or plaster may be joined 
 together by means of a little white of an egg, thickened with finely 
 powdered quicklime, or by a mixture of newly-baked and finely pow- 
 dered plaster of Paris, mixed up with the least possible quantity of 
 water. 
 
 To mend China — Excellent. — Take a very thick solution of gum 
 arabic in water, and stir into it plaster of Paris until the mixture be- 
 comes a viscious paste. Apply it with a brush to the fractured edges, 
 and stick them together. In three days the article cannot again be 
 broken in the same place. The whiteness of the cement renders it 
 doubly valuable. 
 
 Cement for China, &c., which stands fire and water. With a small 
 camel’s hair brush rub the broken edges with a little carriage oil- var- 
 nish, and let it dry thoroughly. . 
 
 Cement for Broken China , Glass, Alabaster, or Ivory Ornaments . — 
 A quarter of an ounce of the. best fine izinglass — not gelatine — half an 
 ounce of spirits of wine ; put the izinglass into a very small jug with 
 a lip ; pour on it & few drops of fast boiling water. This will dissolve 
 the izinglass. Then put in the spirits of wine. Let it stand ten min- 
 utes by the fire, or until the whole is well mixed. Pour it into a bot- 
 
CEMENTS AND GLUES. 
 
 315 
 
 tie with a tiny neck ; when cold it will he a solid white mass. The 
 articles to be repaired must be dry and warm; melt the cement by 
 standing the bottle in hot water, and apply it with a camel's hair 
 brush. After using, observe that the bottle is well corked, or the ce- 
 ment loses its strength by evaporation. This is the cheapest, best, 
 and readiest cement to use for repairing articles not intended to con- 
 tain hot water, as this would cause the mended fracture to come to 
 pieces. 
 
 Cement for Wood and Glass. — Dissolve common glue in a carpen- 
 ter’s glue pot, and add to it finely sifted wood ashes, until it becomes 
 somewhat thicker, but still pasty. Apply it while hot, and press the 
 edges of the glued article firmly together. This cement is said to be 
 very adhesive for wood. 
 
 Cement for Mending Glass. — A transparent cement for glass is 
 made by dissolving one part of India rubber in chloroform, and add- 
 ing sixteen parts by measure of gum mastic in powder. Dissolve for 
 two days and frequently shake the vessel in which the substances are 
 contained. 
 
 Cement for Glass , as Lamps, $c. — Mix quickly white of egg and 
 good quick-lime, and use instantly. 
 
 Amber is joined or mended by smearing the surfaces of the pieces 
 with linseed or boiled oil, and then strongly pressing them together, 
 at the same time holding them over a charcoal fire, or heating them 
 in any other way in which they will not be exposed to injury. 
 
 Cement for Sealing Fruit Cans. — Melt and stir well together one 
 pound of rosin and one ounce of tallow ; or, 
 
 Rosin four parts, tallow one part. This was recommended by Mr. 
 Watson before the Polytechnic Association. 
 
 Another. — Equal parts shellac, rosin and Venice turpentine. 
 
 Another. — One pound rosin, one ounce beeswax, one ounce tallow. 
 After the wax is poured on the cans, cool its surface with cold water, 
 and work it with the fingers, pressing out all bubbles of air, and leav- 
 ing the surface smooth and firm. 
 
 Cement for Kerosene Oil Lamps. — Plaster of Paris is the common 
 cement used for fastening brass burners to the glass. 
 
 Plaster of Paris is said to make a superior cement when mixed with 
 warm instead of cold water. It should, in every case, be applied as 
 soon as it is made, because it sets so rapidly. 
 
 Cement for the Brass Mountings of Paraffine Lamps. — Take equal 
 parts of gum shellac, common rosin and brick dust, and reduce them 
 to a fine powder in a mortar. Pill the inside of the brass mounting 
 
316 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 with this cement, and place it on a piece of sheet iron over the fire, or 
 gas flame, until it melts ; then press down the lamp on it, and allow 
 all to cool. The cement should not he allowed to flow over on lamps 
 with screwed sockets, as it is difficult to remove it from the thread. 
 
 Cement for Ivory , Mother of Pearl, $c. — Dissolve one part of izin- 
 glass and two of white glue in thirty of water, strain and evaporate to 
 six parts. Add one-thirtieth part of gum mastic, dissolved in half a 
 part of alcohol, and one part of white zinc. When required for use, 
 warm and shake up. 
 
 Another Ivory Cement. — The finest izinglass mixed in common gin. 
 They should be melted together in a wide-mouthed bottle, standing in 
 a sauce-pan of hot water; the cement should be very stiff when cold, 
 and it is best to allow it to become so, and then re-melt it for use. 
 This is also an admirable cement for any ornamental china, and it will 
 stand gentle washing although not soaking in water. 
 
 Another. — A strong solution of glue and whiting is a very good ce- 
 ment for ivory. 
 
 Cement for Uniting Bone. — A strong solution of white glue, mixed 
 with some fine chalk. 
 
 Cement for India Rubber. — The solution employed to cement India 
 rubber to leather, is India rubber dissolved in naptha. It is not how- 
 ever suitable for cementing vulcanized India rubber to leather. Gut- 
 ta percha dissolved in naptha also makes a good cement. 
 
 1 o Unite India Rubber. — The edges of India rubber may be fast- 
 ened together by means of a cement made by dissolving India rubber 
 in spirits of turpentine or in nseptha. The edges should be faced to- 
 gether by powerful pressure continued for two days. The same ce- 
 ment and process will secure India rubber to wood. 
 
 India rubber can be dissolved by several substances which evapo- 
 rate and leave it in a solid condition. Naptha, turpentine and ben- 
 zole are solvents, but the latter is preferable on account of it having 
 a more pleasant odor than the other two. You can form it upon a 
 mold by dipping the mold into the solution repeatedly as candles are 
 dipped ; allowing the rubber to harden between the immersions. If 
 you use a wooden mold rub the surface with pumice stone before 
 using it. 
 
 Cement for the Soles of Boots and Shoes. — Turpentine and naptha 
 will dissolve gutta percha and India rubber, converting these sub- 
 stances into cement for the soles of boots and shoes. Cut the gutta 
 percha into shreds, place it in the naptha, and stir it frequently until 
 it is dissolved. 
 
CEMENTS AND GLUES. 
 
 317 
 
 Old India rubber shoes may be patched by the use of warm India 
 rubber cement and patches of old rubber laid on and pressed down 
 with a flat-iron. 
 
 Vulcanized India rubber withstands heat up to 300 degrees Fah- 
 renheit. 
 
 Water Proof Cement. — Incorporate thoroughly eight parts of melt- 
 3 d glue, of the consistence used by carpenters, with four parts of lin- 
 seed oil, boiled into varnish with litharge. It hardens in about for- 
 ty-eight hours. It is also said that a compound of glue with one-fourth 
 its weight of Venice turpentine, made as above, serves to cement glass 
 water tight. 
 
 Another. — Gum shellac dissolved in alcohol makes a water proof 
 cement. 
 
 Water Tight Cement. — Mix equal parts of red and white lead with 
 sufficient boiled linseed oil to make a paste. 
 
 Fire and Water Proof Cement. — To half a pint of vinegar add the 
 same quantity of milk ; separate the curd and mix the whey with the 
 white of five eggs ; beat it well together and sift into it a quantity of 
 quick-lime to convert it to the consistency of a thick paste. It is said 
 that broken vessels mended with this cement never afterwards sepa- 
 rate, for it resists both the action of water and fire. 
 
 Fire , Water and Weather Proof Cement.. — A cement which is a 
 good protection against weather, water and fire to a certain extent, is 
 made by mixing a gallon of water with two gallons of brine, then stir 
 in two and a half pounds of brown sugar, and three pounds of com- 
 mon salt ; put it on with a brush like paint. 
 
 Cement for Sticking Brass Letters to Window Class. — Rosin 150 
 parts, wax 30 parts, burnt ocher 30 parts, and calcined plaster 2 parts. 
 Apply warm. 
 
 To Make Paper Adhere to Tin. — Paste, gum, wax, or glue will not 
 effect it, unless the surface is well rubbed with acetic acid or strong 
 vinegar. Many other acids will answer, but vinegar is always cheap- 
 est and most convenient. 
 
 A good paste for fixing paper labels on tinned sheet iron may be 
 obtained by preparing a paste from water, rye flour, and a small quan- 
 tity of a solution of glue, to which add so much of Venice terebinth 
 as to fit it for brushing over the labels, which will adhere closely to 
 the tinned surface and will not be affected by moisture. 
 
 A very fine marble cement is made by soaking plaster of Paris in 
 a strong solution of alum, after which it is baked in an oven, and then 
 ground to powder. The powder is then mixed with water and ap- 
 
318 
 
 PEACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 plied as wanted. It sets very hard and takes a brilliant polish. Jt 
 may he mixed with metalic colors, such as red lead, so as to produce 
 an imitation of marble. 
 
 Diamond Cement. — The diamond cement, which is so useful in 
 joining glass, china, wood, leather, etc., is formed as follows : White 
 glue, (or gelatine) 4 pounds ; white lead, (dry) 1 pound ; soft water, 
 4 quarts ; alcohol, 1 quart. Boil the glue and the lead in the water 
 by means of a water bath. When the glue is dissolved, add the alco- 
 hol, and stir until the whole is well mixed. Pour into vials for use. 
 
 Cement for Leather. — The best cement for uniting surfaces of leath- 
 er together is a strong solution of izinglass. A cement composed of 
 dissolved India rubber and lac varnish is also very adhesive. 
 
 Cement for Knife Handles. — When knives and forks have come off 
 the handles from being carelessly put in hot water, or otherwise, a 
 cement made as follows will be useful to refasten them : Take of gum 
 shellac two parts, and prepared chalk one part ; reduce them to pow- 
 der, and mix thoroughly. Fill the opening in the handle with this 
 mixture, heat the shank of the knife and press it in. Then keep the 
 handle out of hot water. 
 
 Stove Cement. — Wood ashes and salt and water are said to form a 
 cement sufficient to stop cracks in old stoves, and prevent the escape 
 of smoke. 
 
 Boiler Makers' Cement. — Mix with white lead ground in oil, as yov 
 buy it at the paint shops, red lead so as to make a paste like dough. 
 It will harden in two weeks. Use only just enough for the purpose. 
 
 Cement for Steam Pipes and Water Cisterns. — White lead and li- 
 tharge mixed together in nearly equal proportions with boiled linseed 
 oil so as to make it of the consistency of putty, forms a good cement 
 for water cisterns, when mixed with about ’ten per cent, of dry white 
 sand. 
 
 Cement for Lining Cisterns. — Sand, one part; ashes, two parts; 
 good clay, three parts, mixed with sufficient linseed oil. 
 
 Cement for Stopping Leaks — A composition of four pounds of rosin, 
 one pint of linseed oil, and one ounce of red lead, applied hot with a 
 brush, will stop leaks in roofs, water casks, &c. 
 
 Cement for Stone Work. — A very good cement for the joints of 
 stone flags and chimney caps is made with linseed oil, red lead and 
 whiting. Take equal parts of the two latter, and knead them with 
 the oil, until a cement of the consistency of putty is made ; when it 
 may be applied with a small trowel. 
 
 Improved Cement . — Common lime mortar becomes hard from long 
 
CEMENTS AND GLUES. 
 
 319 
 
 exposure to the atmosphere, by absorbing carbonic acid slowly, and 
 thus returning to its original condition — limestone being a carbonate 
 of lime. A patent has been taken out for a new cement to be used as 
 a mcrtar for building and plastering, and also casting in molds. The 
 nature of the improvement consists of a mixture of carbonate of lime 
 with common burned lime. This cement is composed of one bushel 
 of burned lime to two bushels of ground dry chalk or ground lime- 
 stone or marble. The lime, as it comes from the kiln, is first slacked 
 with water, then mixed with the ground chalk or limestone in water ; 
 sand is then added in the same way that common mortar is made, 
 and the mass allowed to stand for two or three days before the cement 
 is used. This cement may also be made by mixing the burned lime, 
 dry, with the chalk (which is dried in an oven,) in powder, and kept 
 for use, to be mixed with water. It may also be worked into a paste 
 and molded like clay. It soon becomes quite hard and fixed. 
 
 Hydraulic Cement for Walks. — Equal parts of cement, unslacked 
 lime, and thoroughly sifted sand, mixed, then left undisturbed one 
 week, then laid down and not again touched until dry. 
 
 Cement Pipe. — The proper proportion for cement pipe is one of wa- 
 ter cement to three of sand. Gravel from the size of a pigeon’s egg 
 down is better than fine sand, and it must be perfectly clean and free 
 from mold or vegetable matter. The cement and sand must be thor- 
 oughly mixed before the water is added, and it must be used immedi- 
 ately after mixing. The most common cause of failure is a poor qual- 
 ity of cement. 
 
 Cement for Stone Ware. — Gelatine is allowed to swell in cold water, 
 the jelly warmed, and so much recently slaked lime added as is requi- 
 site to render the mass sufficiently thick for the purpose. A thin 
 coating of this cement is spread, while warm, over the gently-heated 
 surfaces of fractures of the articles, and let dry under strong pressure. 
 What oozes out is removed directly with a moist rag. 
 
 A good Cement for the Joints of Steam Pipes. — Six parts (by weight,) 
 of plumbago, three of slacked lime, and eight of the sulphate of bary- 
 ta, mixed with boiled linseed oil. 
 
 Iron Cement. — To make an iron cement suitable for making rust 
 joints, mix thoroughly one hundred and twelve pounds of clean cast 
 iron borings or turnings, with eight ounces of sal ammoniac and one 
 ounce of flour of sulphur, and add sufficient water. Keep wet when 
 not to be immediately used, or it will heat and be spoiled. 
 
 Another. — To prepare iron cement for stopping leaks, take sixteen 
 parts of clean wrought-iron filings, three parts powdered sal ammoni- 
 
320 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 ac and two parts flour of sulphur ; mix all well together, and preserve 
 the compound in a stoppered vessel and in a dry place till wanted for 
 use. Then take one part of the mixture and add to it twelve parts 
 of clean iron filings, and mix this new compound with as much water 
 as will bring it to the consistency of a paste, having previously added 
 to the water a few drops of sulphuric acid. 
 
 Hard Cement — Pulverized brick, which has been well burnt, thir- 
 teen parts ; well ground litharge one part — made to a paste by lin- 
 seed oil. Apply as a plaster, previously wetting the surface with a 
 sponge, to prevent the cement being too much absorbed. It becomes 
 hard in three or four days. It may be applied to wood, but also to 
 stone or metal, and resists water. 
 
 Another . — The following cement has been used with great success 
 in covering terraces, lining basins, soldering stones, &c., and every- 
 where resists the filtration of water. It is so hard that it scratches 
 iron. It is formed of ninety-three parts of well burned brick, and 
 seven parts of litharge, made plastic with linseed oil. The brick and 
 litharge are pulverized ; the latter must always be reduced to a very 
 fine powder ; they are mixed together, and enough of linseed oil added. 
 It is then applied in the manner of plaster, the body that is to be cov- 
 ered being always previously wet with a sponge. This precaution is 
 indispensable, otherwise the oil would filter through the body, and 
 prevent the mastic from acquiring the desired degree of hardness. 
 When it is extended over a large surface, it sometimes happens tG 
 have flaws in it, which must be filled up with a fresh quantity of thf 
 cement. In three or four days it becomes firm. 
 
 Cheap Cement — Prof. Edmund Davy lately read a paper to the 
 Royal Dublin Society, on a cement which he obtains by melting to- 
 gether, in an iron vessel two parts (by weight,) of common pitch, with 
 one part of gutta percha. It forms a homogeneous fluid, which is 
 much more manageable for many useful purposes than gutta percha 
 alone, and which, after being poured into cold water, may be easily 
 wiped dry, and kept for use. The cement adheres with the greatest 
 tenacity to wood, stone, glass, porcelain, ivory, leather, parchment, 
 paper, hair, feathers, silk, woolen, cotton, &c. 
 
 Cement for Rooms . — An invention by M. Sorel, of Paris, is stated 
 to be superior to plaster of Paris for coating the walls of rooms. It 
 is used in the following manner : A coat of oxide of zinc mixed with 
 size made up like a wash, is first laid on the wall, ceiling, or wainscot, 
 and over that a coat of chloride of zinc applied, being prepared in the 
 same way as the first wash. The oxide and chloride effect an imme- 
 
CEMENTS AND GLUES. 
 
 321 
 
 diate combination, and form a kind of cement, smooth and polished as 
 glass, and possessing the advantages of oil paint, without its disad- 
 vantage of smell. 
 
 Flour Paste . — Too numerous to mention are the little conveniences 
 of having a little flour paste always at hand, as those made of any of 
 the gums impart a glaze to printed paper, and make it rather difficult 
 to read. Dissolve a tablespoonful of alum in a quart of warm water, 
 and when cold stir in as much flour as will give it the consistency of 
 thick cream being particular to beat up all the lumps, then stir in as 
 much powdered rosin as will stand on a dime, then throw in half a 
 dozen cloves, merely to give a pleasant odor. Next, have a vessel on 
 the fire which has a teacupful or more of boiling water, pour the flour 
 mixture on the boiling water, stir it well all the time; in a very few 
 minutes it will be of the consistence of mush ; pour it out into an 
 earthen or china vessel ; let it cool ; lay a cover on it, and put in a 
 cool place. It will keep for months. When needed for use, take out 
 a portion and soften it with warm water. We keep ours covered an 
 inch or two in water to prevent the surface drying up. Paste hand- 
 led in this way will last for twelve months. 
 
 Cement for Stoves . — Take iron filings, and mix to about the consist- 
 ency of putty for glazing, with white lead and linseed oil. Fill in the 
 joints as securely as possible, while the stove is cold, and let it stand 
 a day or two before using ; or, 
 
 Take fine salt one part, and two parts of fresh hard wood ashes, 
 mix well together, then take cold water, and mix into a mortar. Ap- 
 ply to the crack either warm or cold, and you will find a cement which 
 will answer all common purposes, and found to be very useful where 
 the stove-pipe joints are not as tight as desirable. These two are 
 communicated by T. E. Bridger, Suffolk, N. Y. 
 
 Glue Cement . — Dissolve half a pound of good common glue in water, 
 in the usual way, and saturate clean white paper in it until the glue 
 solution is absorbed. The saturated paper is then dried and cut into 
 strips, and these are put into a clean glue-pot containing about half a 
 pound of alcohol, then boiled gently over a fire for about an hour. A 
 light cover is kept on the glue-pot during ebullition. The paper is 
 now removed from the glue-pot, and is found freed from the glue, 
 which has been taken up by the alcohol. The object of thus soaking 
 the paper in glue is simply to obtain an extensive surface for the al- 
 cohol to act upon the glue. At this stage of the operation half a 
 pound of pulverized gum shellac is gradually added, and the boiling 
 of the alcohol continued with occasional stirring until the gum is dis- 
 
322 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 solved. This forms a very adhesive cement for leather belts and sev- 
 eral other purposes. 
 
 Glue. — Powdered chalk added to common glue strengthens it. A 
 glue which will resist the action of water is made by boiling one 
 pound of glue in two quarts of skimmed milk. 
 
 Preserving Glue. — Dr. Calvert, P. R. S., F. C. S., says, one part 
 of carbolic acid added to five thousand parts of a strong solution of 
 glue will keep it perfectly sweet for at least two years, and probably 
 for an indefinite period. 
 
 Prepared Liquid Glue. — Take of the best white glue sixteen oun- 
 ces ; white lead, dry, four ounces ; rain water two pints ; alcohol four 
 ounces. With constant stirring dissolve the glue and lead in the wa- 
 ter by means of a water bath. Add the alcohol, and continue the 
 heat for a few minutes. Lastly, pour into bottles while it is still hot. 
 
 Another. — A correspondent of the Country Gentlemen says : Liquid 
 glue is best prepared and preserved by simply dissolving the glue in 
 pure strong vinegar. And another adds that glue will dissolve read- 
 ily in alcohol and vinegar — half each. 
 
 Another newspaper correspondent says that the prepared glue so 
 much advertised in the newspapers is made by dissolving common glue 
 in warm water, and then adding acetic acid (strong vinegar,) to keep 
 it. Dissolve one pound of best glue in one and a half pints of water, 
 and add one pint of vinegar. It is ready for use. 
 
 Another. — L. E. Todd assures us he has been credibly informed that 
 Spaulding's liquid glue, which has been advertised so extensively in 
 years past, is prepared by dissolving glue in muriatic acid. 
 
 Marine Glue. — Dissolve three or four parts of india rubber in thirty- 
 four parts of coal tar naptha — aiding the solution with heat and agi- 
 tation ; add to it sixty-four parts of powdered shellac, which must be 
 heated in the mixture, till the whole is dissolved. While the mixture 
 is hot it is poured upon metal plates in sheets like leather. When 
 required for use, it is heated in a pot, till soft, and then applied with 
 a brush to the surfaces to be joined. Two pieces of wood joined with 
 this glue can scarcely be sundered. 
 
 Water Proof Glue. — Gum shellac dissolved in alcohol. 
 
 Glue in Bones. — Bone contains from thirty to thirty-six per cent 
 of earthy matter, and the remainder is gelatine. When bones are di- 
 gested in muriatic acid, they become transparent and flexible like 
 leather, the earthy matter is dissolved, and after the acid is all care- 
 fully washed away, pieces of glue of the same shape as the bones re- 
 
MISCELLANEOUS. 323 
 
 main, which are soluble in hot water, and adapted to all the purposes 
 of ordinary glue. 
 
 1 
 
 MISCELLANEOUS. 
 
 % \ 
 
 TO MAKE RED AND BLACK SEALING WAX. 
 
 Red sealing wax of good quality is made by carefully fusing a mix- 
 ture of forty-eight parts of shellac, nineteen of Venice turpentine, and 
 one of Peru balsam, to which thirty-two parts of finely levigated cin- 
 nebar and some sulphate of lime are afterwards added. In the cheap- 
 er kinds red lead is substituted for the vermilion, and there is much 
 common rosin, which causes the wax to run into thin drops when 
 melted. Black sealing wax is made of sixty parts of shellac, ten of 
 Venice turpentine, and eight of finely levigated ivory black. 
 
 TO BLEACH BROOM CORN BRUSH. 
 
 Dampen the brush with water, enclose it in a box, and apply the 
 fumes of burning brimstone. 
 
 TO SOFTEN HORN. 
 
 Horn is softened by boiling it in water. It becomes so pliable 
 that it may be molded under pressure into almost any form. In or- 
 der to render horn smooth it should be scraped when it is soft after 
 being boiled. It may be scraped so thin as to become almost trans- 
 parent. The nitrate of Silver is employed to stain it black, and 
 nitric acid colors it yellow. 
 
 TO CUT INDIA RUBBER, 
 
 When you cut India rubber keep the blade cf your knife wet, and 
 you can then cut it without difficulty. 
 
 LIGHTNING RODS. 
 
 The Scientific American says : Silver and platinum are used for tip- 
 ping the points of lightning rods, but there is no necessity for using 
 any other metal than the iron or copper of which the rod is made. 
 
324 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPEDIA. 
 
 Copper lightning rods are the best in use. Varnishing a lightning 
 rod injures its conducting power. 
 
 MELTING ZINC. 
 
 To melt zinc and prevent it from evaporizing, it being a very vola- 
 tile metal, cover its surface, in the vessel in which it is melted, with 
 soot of pulverized charcoal. 
 
 SOLDERING. 
 
 Dr. Augustus Vogel says : The ordinary cyanide of potassium pos- 
 sesses advantages over all other substances for soldering ; to be used 
 with solder in the same manner as powdered rosin is employed by 
 tinsmiths. It is kept at hand in the form of a powder in a closed 
 glass bottle, and sprinkled over the surface to be soldered, after it has 
 been slightly moistened. It will be found particularly useful when 
 the surfaces cannot be brightened. A mixture of one-half borax and 
 one-half cyanide in powder is best when the heat to be applied to melt 
 the solder is very high. For common soldering with very hard sol- 
 ders, a compound of borax, potash and table salt, fused together and 
 reduced to powder, is employed. 
 
 HOW TO APPLY SOLDER. 
 
 To make soldering fluid that will cause solder to run over or 
 through iron or any metal, take six pennyweights zinc, clean and cut 
 in small strips from the sheet, put it in an earthen cup, then put one 
 and a half pennyweights sub-nitrate of bismouth, then pour on one 
 ounce of muriatic acid. It will boil furiously. Let it stand a day or 
 two, stirring it occasionally, then let it settle, and pour off the clear 
 liquid for use. The edges of the pieces to be soldered are first filed, 
 then wet with the metallic solution, the edges brought together, a 
 piece of solder laid on, and the hot soldering tools then applied in the 
 usual manner. 
 
 VARIOUS SOLDERS. 
 
 Common plumbers' solder is lead two and tin one part. A very 
 soft solder used for soldering pewter is composed of two parts of tin, 
 one of bismouth and one of lead. Gunsmiths' soft solder is composed 
 
MISCELLANEOUS. 
 
 325 
 
 of two parts of tin and one of lead ; plumbers' solder, one of tin and 
 one of lead. A hard solder for gold is composed of thirteen grains 
 of gold, seven of pure copper and four of pure silver. Melt all together 
 and roll it out thin for use. 
 
 TO MAKE PLASTER AND ALABASTER ORNAMENTS WEATHER-PROOF. 
 
 The distinguished chemist, M. Kuhlman, informs us that casts of 
 molded plaster and sculptured alabaster, otherwise incapable of expo- 
 sure to the weather, may be treated by boiling in the pitch of coal 
 tar so as to become impervious to moisture, unaffected by frost, and 
 may be used for the outside ornamental works of buildings. 
 
 WHITE COMPOSITION FOR ORNAMENTS. 
 
 Make a strong solution of izinglass and gin, (or whisky) and add 
 chalk in fine powder until it is of the proper consistency. This com- 
 position is now generally heated and poured into the mold, which 
 should be coated with linseed oil to prevent adhesion. The composi- 
 tion is left in the mold until it is dry, when it may be taken out, and 
 will be found to have a resemblance to ivory. This substance be- 
 comes very hard, but it will not withstand exposure to the weather. 
 
 Eice starch, boiled in water for half an hour, and made into a paste 
 of suitable thickness, with fine chalk or plaster of Parish is also suita- 
 ble for making ornamental work by casting or pressing it into molds, 
 as described above. 
 
 COMPOSITION FOR MODELING. 
 
 Eosin, glue and whiting. A little experimenting will give the 
 right proportions. 
 
 TO TAKE A PLASTER OF PARIS CAST FROM A PERSON'S FACE. 
 
 The person must lie on his back, and his hair be tied behind ; into 
 each nostril put a conical piece of paper, open at each end to allow 
 of breathing. The face is to be lightly oiled over, and the plaster, 
 being properly prepared, it is to be poured over the face, taking par- 
 ticular care that the eyes are shut, till it is a quarter of an inch thick. 
 In a few minutes the plaster may be removed. In this a mold is to 
 be formed, from which a second cast is to be taken, that will furnish 
 casts exactly like the original. 
 
326 
 
 PEACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA , 
 
 CLAEIFIED GALL. 
 
 Ox gall is prepared for the use of artists in the following manner : 
 To one pint of fresh ox gall, boiled and skimmed, add one ounce of 
 finely powdered alum; leave it on the fire till the alum is dissolved, 
 then let it cool, put it into a bottle, and cork it loosely. Treat an- 
 other pint in the same way, with one ounce of salt, instead of alum. 
 After standing more than three months, carefully decant from each 
 bottle the clear portion, and mix them together. The coloring mat- 
 ter is precipitated, and a clear colorless liquid is obtained by filtra- 
 tion. It is used for mixing artists' colors, and to prepare ivory, oiled 
 paper, &c., to receive the colors. 
 
 TO MAKE OLD FILES AND EASPS NEAELY EQAUL TO NEW. 
 
 First boil them in soap, ley, or a mixture of slacked lime and sods 
 in water. This done, wash them in water, and directly throw them 
 into a vessel full of diluted sulphuric acid, formed of one part acid 
 and six parts water ; let them remain for some time, the exact period 
 being easily found by taking out a file, observing whether the nicks 
 appear sharp or not ; as soon as the sharpening is effected, the files 
 nust be taken out and washed in another vessel containing a solution 
 of soda, about an ounce of soda to a pail of water. 
 
 Re-cut files are largely used. They are of course somewhat thin- 
 ner or lighter, but are just as good. 
 
 MAGNETS. 
 
 To charge a piece of steel with the horse-shoe magnet, place one 
 end of the magnet on the middle of the bar, and draw it to the end 
 of the bar, and repeat the process several times, always in the same 
 direction. Then place the other end of the magnet on the middle of 
 the bar, repeating the stroke as before. 
 
 The harder steel is the more difficult it is to magnetize it. 
 
 Thin and narrow magnets are more powerful than those which are 
 broad and thick. 
 
 Pure soft iron cannot be rendered permanently magnetic, like steel 
 and cast-iron. 
 
 Any bar of iron or steel standing for a long time in a vertical po- 
 sition becomes magnetic. We have tried many old pairs of tongs 
 with a compass and always found that one end would attract the 
 North pole and the other the South. 
 
MISCELLANEOUS. 
 
 327 
 
 TO IMITATE GROUND GLASS. 
 
 A ready way of imitating ground glass is to dissolve Epsom salts in 
 beer, and apply with a brush. As it dries it crystallizes. 
 
 TO DRILL HOLES IN GLASS. 
 
 Use a little turpentine to keep the point of the drill moist. Glass 
 may be readily drilled by using a steel drill hardened but not drawn at 
 all, wet with spirits of turpentine. Run the drill fast and feed light. 
 Grind the drill with a long point, and plenty of clearance, and no diffi- 
 culty will be experienced. The operation will be more speedy if the 
 turpentine be saturated with camphor gum. With a hard tool thus 
 lubricated, glass can be drilled with small holes, say up to three-six- 
 teenths, about as rapidly as cast steel. 
 
 Any anti-lubricating fluid aids the drill in penetrating, and turpentine, 
 benzine, naptha, have been successively used for that purpose. 
 
 To drill through glass, it should be countersunk on both sides before 
 the drill is started, as that prevents the drill from scaling the edges 
 as it goes through. For countersinking, use a drill dressed off at the 
 point like a very flat three-sided pyramid. 
 
 TO FILE GLASS. 
 
 To file glass, take a twelve inch mill file, single cut, and wet it with 
 turpentine saturated with camphor, or any of the above liquids, and 
 the work can be shaped as easily, and almost as fast as if the material 
 were brass. 
 
 HOW THE SOLDIERS MADE GOBLETS. 
 
 A correspondent of the Mobile Register describes a new mode of 
 manufacturing glass goblets. He says : 
 
 I saw mine host, Dr. T., doing something last evening that was new 
 to me. Crockery and glassware -of the ordinary kind being well nigh 
 obsolete, especially at Tangipanoa, the Doctor was simply manufac- 
 turing his own glassware. As his process is easy, cheap, simple 
 and worthy of imitation, I will describe it. Take a claret bottle, 
 or any kind of a glass bottle — bottles of thin white glass with flat 
 bottoms are the best; hold the bottle firmly by both ends; let 
 another person, having a cup of water ready, pass a stout cotton cord 
 
328 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 twice around the bottle, and create a friction by pulling the ends of 
 the cord to and fro rapidly for a minute or so; then let bim jerk the 
 cord off, dasb the water on quickly, and presto ! you bold in one band 
 as serviceable a tumbler or goblet as you need wish, and in tbe other a 
 neat but not gaudy* - glass candlestick. Tbe bottle should be held with 
 a strap, piece of leather, or other substance with a bard, straight edge, 
 firmly around it, at tbe intended point of severation, in order to keep 
 tbe cord in one place during tbe friction, and to secure straight and 
 smooth edges to tbe glassware. Old bottles can be put in good use in 
 this way. 
 
 TO REMOVE OLD PUTTY. 
 
 Moisten the putty with muriatic acid, and it will soon become soft. 
 Turpentine will loosen it less efficiently, if tbe putty is not very bard. 
 Or beat a piece of iron of suitable size and shape — apply it to tbe putty, 
 and let tbe knife follow as fast as tbe oil compound softens. 
 
 SOLVENT FOR OLD PUTTY AND PAINT. 
 
 Soft soap mixed with a solution of potash or caustic soda, or pearl- 
 ash and slacked lime, mixed with sufficient water to form a paste, is an 
 excellent solvent for old putty and paint. Either of these laid on with 
 an old brush or rag, and left for some hours, will render tbe putty or 
 paint easily removable. 
 
 TO SOFTEN AN OLD PAINT BRUSH. 
 
 Prof. J. B. Turner of Ills, says, apply coal oil. 
 
 TO MAKE AN ARTIFICIAL GRINDSTONE. 
 
 An artificial grindstone can be made by tbe following formula, al- 
 though tbe natural one is cheaper and better. Washed silicious sand, 
 three parts ; shellac, one part ; melt the lac and mould in the sand 
 while warm. Emery may be substituted for sand. Used for razors and 
 fine cutlery. 
 
 TO REMOVE NITRATE OF SILVER STAINS FROM THE SKIN. 
 
 Water, one pint; sulphuric acid, half an ounce. It is quick in its 
 operation without any of the attendant dangers of the cyanide of 
 potassium. 
 
MISCELLANEOUS. 
 
 329 
 
 NEW WAY TO SEND A CYPHER MESSAGE. 
 
 Wrap a strip of paper slanting around a pencil case, ruler, or any 
 round object, making all the edges meet. Write upon it, and then un- 
 wrap it ; it will be quite a chaos, but when brought back to its old po- 
 sition on the roller, it will be as legible as this print. The roller would 
 have to be the same in both cases, with the sender and the recipient, 
 but this could easily be arranged beforehand. The message might also be 
 written zig-zag on the roller, and thus increase the difficulty of reading it. 
 
 PREVENTION OF RUST IN IRON AND STEEL. 
 
 When bricklayers leave off work for a day or two, as from Saturday 
 to Monday, they push their trowel in and out of the soft mortar, so 
 that the bright steel may be smeared all over with a film of it, and find 
 this plan an effectual remedy against rust. 
 
 Polished steel or iron goods, such as fire-arms, fenders, and the fronts 
 of “ bright stoves,” when not in use, are preserved by shaking a little 
 powdered lime on them out of a muslin bag, which is found sufficient to 
 prevent their rusting. 
 
 The manufacturers of needles, watch springs, cutlery, etc., generally 
 introduce a small package of quick-lime into the box or parcel with pol- 
 ished steel goods, as security from rust, before sending it to a distant 
 consumer, or stowing it away for future use. It is not absolutely essen- 
 tial that the quick-lime should be in actual contact with the metal, but 
 if somewhere near, as in the case of a parcel of lime packed up with 
 the needles or watch springs, the bright metal will remain a long while 
 without the least alteration in its appearance. 
 
 TO PREVENT TOOLS FROM RUSTING. 
 
 Thousands of dollars are lost each year by the rusting of plows, 
 hoes, shovels, &c. Some of this might be prevented by the applica- 
 tion of lard and rosin, to all steel or iron implements. Take three 
 times as much lard as rosin, and melt them together. This can be ap- 
 plied with a brush or cloth to all surfaces in danger of rusting, and they 
 can easily be kept bright. If tools are to be laid by for the winter, 
 give them a coating of this, and you will be well repaid. It can be 
 kept for a long time, and should always be on hand, and ready for use. 
 Beeswax and lard are also recommended. 
 
 If rusty iron is rubbed with boiled oil, in which some red lead has 
 been mixed, on a warm day, the rusty process will be arrested. 
 
330 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 TO PROTECT IRON IMMERSED IN WATER. 
 
 Iron that is to be immersed in water is protected by paint formed of 
 red lead and linseed oil. 
 
 TO REMOVE RUST FROM IRON UTENSILS. 
 
 Rust may be removed by first rubbing oil well into the article, and 
 in forty-eight hours cover it with finely powdered lime, rub it well and 
 the rust will disappear. Or — The preservation of iron from rust may 
 be accomplished thus : Add to a quart of water half a pound of quick 
 lime ; let this stand until the surface is perfectly clear ; pour off the 
 clear liquid, and stir up with it a quantity of olive oil, until it becomes 
 a thick cream. Rub the articles with this mixture, and then wrap up 
 in paper. If the nature of the articles will not admit of their being 
 wrapped up in paper, they will remain free from rust by covering them 
 more thickly with the mixture. 
 
 To clean rust from plows, Prof. Turner of Ills, says apply coal oil. 
 
 TO TAKE RUST OUT OF STEEL. 
 
 Cover the steel with sweet oil well rubbed on. In forty-eight hours 
 rub with finely powdered unslacked lime. 
 
 TO LOOSEN RUSTY NUTS AND SCREWS. 
 
 Prof. J. B. Turner says : Apply coal oil. 
 
 SCREWING ON NUTS. 
 
 We have sometimes known nuts on threshing machines, circular 
 saws, &c., to be found so tight that no wrench would move them. 
 This was because they had been held in the hand till they became 
 warm, and being then applied to very cold screws in winter, they con- 
 tracted by cooling on, and thus held the screw with an immovable 
 grasp. Always avoid patting a warm nut on a cold screw; and to 
 remove, apply a large heated iron in contact wdth the nut, so as to 
 heat and expand it and it will loosen at once — or a cloth wet with 
 boiling water will accomplish the same purpose. 
 
 HOW TO DRIVE CUT NAILS INTO VERY HARD WOOD. 
 
 Common cut-nails are easily driven into hard wood if rubbed with 
 a little soft soap ; saliva is better than nothing for that purpose. 
 
MISCELLANEOUS. 
 
 331 
 
 BUYING TOOLS. 
 
 A low priced tool is not always a cheap one ; and it is better, as a 
 general rule, to pay a fair price for a good article. 
 
 TO SPLIT HEATED IRON. 
 
 To split heated iron instead of using an awkward chisel, put the 
 iron when heated into a vice, and the ends may be readily slit with a 
 suitable saw, which would save labor in hammering and filing. A saw 
 for this purpose should be made thicker at the edge than at the back 
 and with uniform teeth one-twelfth of an inch apart. The saw when 
 used must be often dipped in water, to prevent it becoming too much 
 
 heated. 
 
 TO CUT HARDENED STEEL. 
 
 For cutting hardened steel, a circular piece of common thin iron 
 plate, or sheet iron, being adjusted to a lathe or by other means put 
 into a violent rotary motion, will readily cut off a file, a cutting tool, or 
 tempered steel spring, without drawing or reducing the temper, it is 
 a convenient method of cutting teeth to large saws; but objectionable 
 on account of the newly cut surface being left so hard that they can 
 not be filed by a common file. 
 
 TO SEVER A BAR OF IRON OF ANY SIZE INSTANTLY. 
 
 A bar of iron of almost any size may be instantly sundered while 
 hot, hy the simple application of common roll brimstone. . A knowledge 
 of this fact will be useful when some piece of iron work is required to 
 be severed, but which, as is sometimes the case, is so constructed and 
 situated that no ordinary chisel or cutting tool can be brought to app y. 
 
 TO PERFORATE IRON INSTANTLY. 
 
 Holes may be instantly perforated in bars or plates of heated iron by 
 the application of pointed pieces of brimstone, although this seldom af- 
 fords much practical utility. 
 
 COMPOSITION USED IN WELDING CAST STEEL. 
 
 Borax, ten; sal-ammoniac, two; flour of sulphur, one part; grind 
 
332 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPEDIA. 
 
 or pound them roughly together ; then fuse them in a metal pot over 
 a clear fire, taking care to continue the heat until all spume has dis- 
 appeared from the surface. When the liquid appears clear, the com- 
 position is ready to be poured out to cool and concrete ; afterward, 
 being ground to a fine powder, it is ready for use. 
 
 To use this composition, {he steel to be welded is raised to a heat, 
 which may he expressed by *• bright yellow ; ” it is then dipped among 
 the welding powder, and again placed in the fire until it attains the 
 same degree of heat as before. It is then ready to be placed under the 
 hammer. 
 
 POLISHED IRON AND STEEL. 
 
 Don’t strike finished work with a hammer ; take a piece of hard 
 wood instead. 
 
 A piece of horn rubbed over polished heated iron gives it a dark, 
 shiny surface. 
 
 TO RESTORE BURNED IRON. 
 
 Iron which has been burned slightly by careless heating may be 
 restored by drawing it out under a hammer at a low heat a number 
 of times. 
 
 TO DRILL THROUGH A FILE. 
 
 A diamond used as a drill, vfill perforate through the hardest file. 
 A good hard common steel point will also drill through a file, if it has 
 a high velocity, and plenty of cold water be used to keep it cool. 
 
 STEAM BOILERS AND HARD WATER. 
 
 The use of some slippery elm bark fed to the boiler weekly, and 
 blowing off with the surface cock frequently, will keep a steam boiler 
 clean a long time when using hard water. If your boiler gets coated 
 with scale, throw in a pound of slippery elm and it will remove it. 
 
 CROSSED BELTS. 
 
 A crossed belt will drive more than a straight belt, because it hugs 
 the pulley tighter. 
 
 WORKING A WINDLASS. 
 
 Two men, working a windlass at right angles to each other, caD 
 raise seventy pounds easier than one man can thirty. 
 
MISCELLANEOUS. 
 
 333 
 
 MELTING STEEL AS EASILY AS LEAD. 
 
 Make a piece of steel red in the fire; then, holding it with a 
 pair of pincers, touch it with a piece of brimstone. Immediately af- 
 ter their contact you will see the steel melt and drop as a liquid. 
 
 SHARPENING EDGE TOOLS. 
 
 The following is translated from a German scientific journal : “It 
 has long been known that the simplest method of sharpening a razor 
 is to put it in water to which has been added one-twentieth of its 
 weight of muriatic or sulphuric acid, then lightly wipe it off, and, 
 after a few hours, set it on a hone. The acid here supplies the place 
 of wet-stone, by corroding the whole surface uniformly, so that noth- 
 ing further than a good polish is necessary. The process never in- 
 jures good blades, while badly hardened ones are frequently improved 
 by it, although the cause of such improvement remains unexplained. 
 
 HOW TO HANG AN AX. 
 
 A simple rule for even a simple thing will often save much time. 
 A tool that is used so much as an ax should be properly adjusted, as 
 every blow will tell of the ease or hardship of the hanging. The rule 
 is very simple. It was given me by two persons, each of whom is 
 much accustomed to edge tools. Put the helve loosely into the ax at 
 first, so that it can be moved to the proper position ; now let the cen- 
 ter of the edge of the blade of the ax and the but of the helve (or part 
 taken hold of,) be brought each down to a horizontal line, which may 
 be done by simply placing them on the floor, and the ax is ready for 
 wedging. 
 
 SOLVENTS OF GUTTA PEROHA AND INDIA RUBBER. 
 
 The solvents for both gums are the same, and rank about in the 
 following order, the best being named first : Bisulphide of carbon, 
 chloroform, coal tar naptha, camphene, sulphuric ether, petroleum 
 benzine, lamp oil. Lamp oil not being volatile cannot be separated 
 from the solution, and therefore the gum cannot be recovered from 
 it. Neither of the gums is completely soluble after being vulcanized, 
 though all of the solvents soften them. Gutta percha is more costly 
 than India rubber. 
 
334 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 TO PETRIFY WOODEN OBJECTS. 
 
 Take equal quantities of gem salt, rock alum, wliite vinegar, chalk, 
 and pebbles powdered. Mix all these ingredients ; there will happen 
 an ebullition. If, after it has ceased, you throw some wooden objects 
 into this liquid, and leave them soaking for four or five days, they 
 will be transformed into petrifactions. 
 
 TINNING. 
 
 Plates or vessels of brass or copper, boiled with a solution of stan- 
 nate of potassa, mixed with turnings of tin, become, in the course of a 
 few minutes, covered with a firmly attached layer of pure tin. A sim- 
 ilar effect is produced by boiling the articles with tin filings and caus- 
 tic alkali, or cream of tartar. In the above way, chemical vessels 
 made of copper or brass may be easily and perfectly tinned. 
 
 FOR TINNING BRASS. 
 
 Water, two pailsful; cream of tartar, one-half pound; salt, one- 
 half pint. Shaved or grained tin : — Boil the work in the mixture, 
 keeping it in motion during the time of boiling. 
 
 COATING IRON WITH TIN OR ZINC. 
 
 Scour the iron bright with sand-paper, wash it with a dilute solu- 
 tion of muriate of zinc, and then rub melted tin over the iron by 
 means of a hot soldering copper. This is a good way to tin the points 
 of lightning rods, which is as good as the more expensive process of 
 silvering. Bright iron dipped in melted zinc becomes coated with 
 the zinc. 
 
 Old tin-ware clippings are now economized by having the tin re- 
 moved from them with a strong alkali, and using it as a mordant in 
 calico printing. The iron may be utilized like other scrap iron. 
 
 TO COAT IRON WITH COPPER. 
 
 Scour the iron bright and dip it into a strong solution of the sul- 
 phate of copper. A thin skin of pure copper will be deposited, but it 
 soon wears off. 
 
SILVERING, GALVANIZING, GILDING, AC. 
 
 335 
 
 FUSIBLE METAL. 
 
 1. Bismuth, eight parts ; lead, five parts ; melt together — melts 
 below 212 degrees Fahrenheit. 2. Bismuth, two parts; lead, five 
 parts; tin, three parts — melts in boiling water. 3. Lead, three parts; 
 tin, two parts ; bismuth, five parts ; mix — melts at 198 degrees Fah- 
 renheit. 
 
 The above is used to make toy spoons to surprise children by their 
 melting in hot liquors ; and to form pencils for writing on asses' skin, 
 or paper prepared by rubbing burnt hartshorn into it. 
 
 SILVERING, GALVANIZING, GILDING, &C. 
 
 Silvering by Powdered Tin. — A quantity of pure tin is melted and 
 poured into a box, which is then violently shaken ; the metal assumes 
 when cold the form of a very fine gray powder. This is sifted to sep- 
 arate any coarse particles, and is mixed with melted glue. When it 
 is to be applied it should be reduced by the addition of water to the 
 consistency of thin cream and is laid on with a soft brush like paint. 
 It appears when dry like a coat of gray water color, but when it is 
 gone over with an agate burnisher it exhibits a bright surface of pol- 
 ished tin. If the glue is too strong the burnisher has no effect, and 
 if too weak the tin crumbles off under the burnisher. A coating of 
 white or gold-colored oil varnish or lacquer, is immediately laid over 
 it, according as i£ may be intended to imitate silvering or gilding. 
 This kind of gilding is often used for covering wood, leather, iron or 
 other articles in constant wear. It is very ornamental. 
 
 Silvering Powder for Coating Copper. — Nitrate of silver, thirty 
 grains ; common salt, thirty grains ; cream of tartar, three and a half 
 drachms ; mix, moisten with water, and apply. 
 
 Silvering Glass. — Take one ounce pure nitrate of silver, one ounce 
 aqua ammonia, two ounces distilled water. Mix and add two ounces 
 pure alcohol, two ounces distilled water, one-fourth ounce of grape 
 sugar. The above is placed in the article to be silvered (a bottle, for 
 instance,) and kept at a temperature of 160° till the silvering is effect- 
 ed. The purity of the chemicals influence the results, in fact, all de- 
 pend upon that. The beautiful silvered glass globes seen in the win- 
 dows of many stores are thus produced. 
 
 To Repair the Silvering of Looking-Glasses. — Clean the bare portion 
 
336 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 of the glass by rubbing it gently with fine cotton taking care to re- 
 move any trace of dust and grease. If this cleaning be not done very 
 carefully, defects will appear around the place repaired. With the 
 point of your knife cut upon the back of another looking-glass around 
 a portion of the silvering of the required form, but a little larger. 
 Upon it place a small drop of mercury ; a drop the size of a pins head 
 will be sufficient for a surface equal to the size of the nail. The mer- 
 cury spreads immediately, penetrates the amalgam to where it was cut 
 off with the knife, and the required piece may now be lifted and re- 
 moved to the place to be repaired. This is the most difficult part of 
 the operation. Then press lightly the renewed portion with cotton ; 
 it hardens almost immediately, and the glass presents the same ap- 
 pearance as a new one. This operation now so simple has hitherto 
 been considered very difficult. 
 
 To Galvanize. — Take a solution of nitro-muriate of gold (gold dis- 
 solved in a mixture of aquafortis and muriatic acid,) and add to a gill 
 of it a pint of ether or alcohol, then immerse your copper chain in for 
 about fifteen minutes, when it will be coated with a film of gold. The 
 copper must be perfectly clean, and free from oxide grease, or dirt, 
 or it will not take on the gold. 
 
 To Gild without Gold. — Take dry saffron, in powder, with an equal 
 quantity of yellow orpine, well purified of its earthy particles, grind 
 all well together and put it to digest in hot stable manure for three 
 weeks. At the end of that time you may use it to gild whatever you 
 pf' ;ase. This preparation answers all the purpose of gold leaf. 
 
 To Gild Letters on Glass. — Mix powdered gold with thick gum ara- 
 bic and powdered borax. Trace your device with this on glass or 
 china, and afterward bake it in a hot oven, the gum is thus burnt and 
 the borax vitrifies and cements the gold to the ware. 
 
 To Make Gold Fowder. — A gold powder, according to “Cooley/’ 
 is made by rubbing gold leaf with sulphate of potassa in crystals, the 
 latter is afterwards washed out. Another gold powder can be made 
 by rubbing gold leaf on a marble slab with honey or molasses, and 
 afterwards washing out the molasses when the gold will sink to the 
 bottom. 
 
 Coloring Gold. — A solution of two ounces of alum, two of saltpetre 
 and one of sal ammoniac h used for coloring. Another pickle used 
 for coloring gold consists jf nitric acid eight ounces, muriatic acid one 
 quart, sal ammoniac two ounces, alum one ounce, and water two gal- 
 lons. The articles of gold are dipped in this for a few seconds, then 
 washed thoroughly in pure water and dried. Pale brassy gold may 
 
TESTING GOLD, SILVER AND DIAMONDS. 33V 
 
 be made to assume a deep redish shade by using such a pickle or “ dip." 
 The liquor employed by goldsmiths to color their trinkets is made by 
 dissolving one part of sea salt, one part of alum, and two parts of nitre 
 in three or four parts of water. 
 
 TESTING GOLD, SILVER AND DIAMONDS. 
 
 Jeweler s Gold. — Twenty-four carat gold means pure gold. Any- 
 thing less than twenty-four carat gold indicates that there are so many 
 twenty-fourth parts of pure gold, and that the remaining portion of 
 an ounce of it is made up of an alloy of some inferior metel — usually 
 copper or silver. Except for wedding rings, which are, or should be, 
 made of standard gold, consisting of twenty-two parts or carats of 
 pure gold, and two of alloy, jewelers seldom use gold of a higher rate 
 of purity than eighteen c&rat. How often they use it of a much lower 
 degree of fineness they know best. There is no doubt that it is possi- 
 ble to give almost any color to gold, by the addition of particular al- 
 loys, and of late, ingenuity has been at work to give the sixteen carat 
 gold the appearance of pure gold. This is done partly by coloring in 
 an acid bath ; by means of which twenty-two carat gold may be made 
 to resemble very closely native gold, as found in the shape of nuggets 
 in California or Australia. Nuggets are never, however, found to be 
 pure gold, being for the most part twenty-three or twenty-three and 
 a half carat gold. 
 
 To Test Gold . — To test the purity of gold the application of heat is 
 perhaps one of the simplest means. Pure gold will not be in the least 
 discolored by it, while twenty-three carat gold will take a slightly red 
 tint. There is this disadvantage about testing with heat, it will cer- 
 tainly discolor very materially all gold of less fineness than twenty- 
 three carat, and nothing but the acid bath will restore it to its origi- 
 nal hue. To effect this, place the article in an earthen pipkin, or galli- 
 pot, cover it with nitric acid, and hold it over a spirit or gas or oil 
 lamp, or even a candle, until the acid boils. The metal will be re- 
 stored to its original brightness. 
 
 To test the genuineness of gold coin, there is nothing equal in sim- 
 plicity and efficacy to weighing it. 
 
 The testing of “Jeweler’s gold,” when used in the manufacture of 
 many kinds of trinkets is a matter attended with considerable risk 
 and difficulty, and perhaps the only means readily at the command of 
 22 
 
338 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 the purchaser for ensuring a proper relationship between quality and 
 price in such cases, is to ascertain the respectability of the seller. 
 
 Test for Gold and Silver. — A good test for gold or silver is a piece 
 of lunar caustic, fixed with a pointed piece of wood. Slightly wet the 
 metal to be tested, and rub it gently with the caustic. If gold or sil- 
 ver, the mark will be faint ; but if an inferior metal, it will be quite 
 black. Jewelers who purchase old gold often use this test. The rel- 
 ative value of gold and silver is as 1 to 15 11-27. 
 
 Coin Test — Chrystalized nitrate of silver, one drachm, aquia dis- 
 tilled, or rain water, four ounces. 
 
 A shopkeeper, residing in Deptford (England,) appeared before the 
 magistrate at the Greenwich Police court as prosecutor in a case of 
 “smashing,” and in his evidence stated that, having taken avast 
 quantity of bad money, he had at length discovered a certain test for 
 silver coin. It was his invariable custom, on receiving a doubtful 
 piece, to rub it with blue vitriol stone, and then slightly wet it. The 
 effect is immediately seen ; for if the coin be spurious metal, it at 
 once turns black, but if genuine there is no alteration in its appearance. 
 
 Debased Gold Coin — Dangerous Counterfeits. — Filled coin in circu- 
 lation, so well made that none but experts can detect them. The 
 proportion of the filled coin is not large, as compared with the genu- 
 ine currency ; but it is nevertheless true that few of the men handling 
 it know whether the coin is genuine or not, and the uninitiated can 
 not possibly detect the work of the tamperers. 
 
 The system of filling, as now practised, is said to have originated 
 some years ago in California, and was first detected in England in the 
 process of melting the coin. The business is now, if possible, more 
 carefully and also more extensively conducted. The process is to split 
 the coin, to take from the centre one-third to one-half, and in some 
 cases a larger proportion of the gold, which is carefully weighed, and 
 ‘an equal amount of platina, or alloy of platina, of an inferior quality, 
 put in its place — ip what manner is not precisely understood. The 
 sides of the coin ar6 then closed, the edge is re-milled, and all of the 
 work is so accurately done that not only the weight of the piece re- 
 mains unchanged, but the size remains the same, or so nearly the 
 same that the difference is not perceptible; and what is most singu- 
 lar, the “ring” is perfectly clear. This test, therefore, which is gen- 
 erally employed to detect spurious coin, is quite useless, although 
 some experts think they can by this means observe and detect the 
 
DETECTING COUNTERFEIT AND SPURIOUS BANK NOTES. 339 
 
 filled pieces. The milling of the coin most frequently reveals its 
 character. 
 
 To Detect Imitation of Diamonds . — The paste imitations of the di- 
 amond are known by different titles ; sometimes as the “ California 
 diamond,” Australian pebble diamond,” etc.; but the basis of all of 
 them is quartz or rock crystal, pulverized and fused in combination 
 with the oxides of certain metals. The paste is technically known as 
 strass , after the discoverer. 
 
 There are many signs by which this strass can be detected by the 
 experienced eye. These signs are its inferior specific gravity, its want 
 of hardness, and the absence of coldness to the tongue-test, or when 
 it is applied to that organ. 
 
 Good strass is so hard that fire flies when it is rubbed on a file, but 
 it is readily attacked by fine quartz sand on a grinding plate. The 
 small air-bubbles in the strass may be readily detected with a good 
 magnifying glass, and the breath remains much longer upon it on ac- 
 count of its bad conducting power than upon real gems. The electri- 
 cal power of jewels is also another test, for it is stated that genuine 
 stones retain their electricity from six to thirty hours, whereas the 
 false stones retain it scarcely as many minutes. The appearance of 
 some California diamonds will deceive many persons, for they have a 
 luster and evanescent fire which is extremely beautiful. This is soon 
 lost, however, by wearing ; perspiration, moisture and dirt, washing 
 the hands, &c., soon destroy, the appearance of this paste, and in a 
 few days it becomes as dull and lack-lusterless as the eyes of a dead 
 fish. 
 
 It is said that chlorine decolorizes precious stones, but the diamond, 
 ruby and sapphire resist its influence. 
 
 A SYSTEM OF DETECTING COUNTERFEIT, SPURIOUS, 
 ALTERED AND PHOTOGRAPH BANK NOTES 
 AT A GLANCE. 
 
 Our design is to give a comprehensive knowledge of the elementary 
 parts which enter into the construction of all bank notes, so that any 
 person with proper attention may detect any counterfeit or altered 
 note, with the certainty and readiness of an experienced engraver. 
 
 Four kinds of engraving are usually employed in the construction 
 of bank notes, viz : Vignettes and portraits, lathe work oval denomi- 
 
340 
 
 PEACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 nations, medallion relief work, and lettering. Genuine engraving jy, 
 executed only by those artists who excel in their particular depart- 
 ments, and all counterfeits by inferior workmen. Hence a comparison 
 of the characteristics of a few specimens will enable any person to 
 detect counterfeit bank notes. 
 
 GENUINE VIGNETTE AND PORTRAIT. 
 
 Notice the regular appearance of the lines and dots, the well-formed 
 jjyes, nose, mouth, hands and feet, and a perfect symmetry of beauty 
 and finish. This is the highest quality of engraving, and consequently 
 the best security against counterfeiting. It requires many years of 
 study and practice by a person of natural talents to master it. For 
 these reasons few become eminent. Engravers of a high order of tal- 
 ent never have been counterfeiters ; not an instance being on record, 
 either in the history of the Bank of England, or of banking in this 
 country ; therefore a counterfeit is always known by its inferior 
 workmanship. 
 
 COUNTERFEIT VIGNETTE AND PORTRAIT. 
 
 Notice the uneven, irregular appearance of the lines and dots, the 
 badly formed eyes, nose, mouth, hands and feet, and a general ab- 
 sence of beauty and finish. 
 
 GENUINE GEOMETRICAL LATHE WORK. 
 
 Notice the perfect regularity of the white lines and black dots, or 
 in some cases of the black lines and white dots. Each row around 
 the circle or oval must be perfectly uniform, being the work of a 
 perfect machine, very difficult, if not impossible, for engravers to im- 
 itate by hand so as to deceive a practiced eye. To avoid alterations, 
 notice that the work is perfect close to the figures and between every 
 turn ; and that there is an exact uniformity in the color of the ink 
 and general appearance of the workmanship ; as sometimes the entire 
 lathe work is extracted, and a higher denomination reprinted. 
 
 COUNTERFEIT GEOMETRICAL LATHE WORK. 
 
 Notice the irregularity of the lines and dots. The utmost skill of 
 the hand cannot equal the machine. Low figures are sometimes 
 
DETECTING COUNTERFEIT AND SPURIOUS BANK NOTES. 341 
 
 scraped out and higher added with a pen or small brush. The work 
 around the outside in such cases will be genuine, but notice the lathe 
 work close to and between the figures, and it will appear uneven and 
 scratchy. The entire oval is sometimes extracted, and a higher de- 
 nomination reprinted. It can be detected by a general appearance of 
 incongruity, and also by examining the letters, or holding the bill to 
 the light. 
 
 GENUINE MEDALLION RELIEF WORK. 
 
 Notice a regular set of lines running entirely across the medal. 
 The variation from strict parallel ruling gives the shading, and forms 
 the relief figure. The shade is dark where the lines approach each 
 other, and light where they diverge. See that the work in and around 
 the figures is perfect — that it has not been scraped, nor additions 
 made with a pen. 
 
 * 
 
 COUNTERFEIT MEDALLION RELIEF WORK. 
 
 Notice irregularity in the lines, and failure in uniformity of shade. 
 The hand always fails to copy machine work, so as to deceive an ob- 
 serving eye. Familiarity with genuine work enables any one to de- 
 tect counterfeits. Guard against alterations, as in preceeding example. 
 
 GENUINE LETTERING. 
 
 Notice the shading of the letters in the word “Bank ; ” it is done 
 by a ruling machine ; the lines are equi-distant, and of uniform shade. 
 Notice in the writing perfection in the turns of hair lines. For alter- 
 ations, examine well the name of the bank, the state, the location, and 
 particularly the words “One Dollar.” The genuine is always work- 
 manlike and not crowded. Examine the imprint name of the engra- 
 vers. It is always perfectly done in the genuine ; and a counterfeit 
 can be detected by imperfections in this alone, when all other tests 
 fail. 
 
 COUNTERFEIT LETTERING. 
 
 Notice the imperfect shading in the word “Bank; ” it is an attempt 
 to imitate machine work by hand. Notice the writing ; it is imperfect 
 in the hair lines. If the name of the bank, state, or location is al- 
 tered, some bad workmanship will appear. The imprint will be im- 
 perfect. 
 
342 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 To become expert in the art of detecting, make yourself perfectly 
 acquainted with the different kinds of engraving, the ink, printing, 
 and paper of genuine notes. I would advise you to take five or six 
 notes of different banks, also the treasury notes and postage currency, 
 and examine each kind of engraving separately ; first with a magni- 
 fying glass, then examine the same work without a glass — look dose, 
 as if you were determining the fine texture of cambric or silk — prac- 
 tice a few times in this way, and you will educate the eye to good work, 
 and be enabled to detect the closest imitation. Study the engravers’ 
 names, letter by letter , the regularity and softness of ruled lines, the 
 uniformity of lines and undulations of bass-relief work ; study geo- 
 metric lathe work, circle by circle, commencing at the center of the 
 pattern ; notice the regularity of lines and fine angles where they cross 
 each other. 
 
 Examine the stipple or flesh work of portraits and human figures in 
 vignettes. Notice the regularity of lines and dots, and how gradually 
 they become fine from heavy to light shades ; this work and the eye is 
 the hight of perfection in engraving. The other engraving can be 
 examined without a glass. 
 
 Notice the perfect proportion of square lettering, the perfect down 
 strokes, curves and hair lines, of round lettering, the countenance and 
 perfect forms, drapery, &c., of human figures, the perfect anatomy of 
 domestic animals, the agricultural implements, ships, marine views, 
 skies, perspectives, &c., are all engraved true to nature and art. 
 
 An altered note from a broken to a solvent bank is done by extracting 
 the name of the bank, the town, the state, and bank officers’ signa- 
 tures, and then printing in the parts extracted the title, town and 
 state. They can be detected by imperfect parallel ruling, poor let- 
 tering, or by the difference of the color of ink in the parts extracted . 
 They can also be easily detected on the same principle as you would 
 examine the texture and lust&r of cloth or silk. Examine the face of 
 the note, hold to. the light , or glance across the surface of the note. 
 
 An altered note from a lower to a higher denomination is done by 
 extracting or scraping out the lettering and figures from broken banks 
 and pasting over the parts extracted. This can be detected on the same 
 principle of alterations from broken banks. Examine the face of the 
 note, hold to the light, glance across the surface of the note. 
 
 Spurious notes are unlike the genuine, some of them are all counterfeit, 
 some lithograph, and some have a few genuine dies. With those done 
 by lithograph the lines have a rough or filey appearance. About three- 
 fourths of the spurious notes can be detected by the- imperfect red let- 
 
DETECTING COUNTERFEIT AND SPURIOUS BANK NOTES. 
 
 343 
 
 ter in g, poor ink, printing and paper, and the best spurious notes can 
 be detected by imperfect lettering, especially the town, state, and en- 
 gravers names. 
 
 Counterfeit notes are imitations of the genuine, and all the engraving 
 and printing is done by one or a few counterfeiters. Some have a sus- 
 picious look, owing to poor ink, printing or red lettering, lathe work, 
 or vignettes and portraits, and the best specimens by the fine engra- 
 ving, the ruling, lathe work, bass-relief work, dots and lines of flesh- 
 work, or by the engravers' names. 
 
 You will observe that altered, spurious, and counterfeit notes can all 
 be detected by imperfect letters. You will see the importance of ex- 
 amining bank notes on the following system : 
 
 First. The title, denomination, town, state and signatures. 
 
 Second. Geometric lathe and bass-relief work around the counters or 
 figures. 
 
 Third. Vignettes and portraits. 
 
 Many banks notes have the .comptroller’s or auditor’s die. This die is 
 perfectly engraved, and should be examined with much care. 
 
 Bed letters and figures in the center of the note are used to prevent 
 alterations ; they are well printed, and, with a few exceptions, they are 
 printed on the face and back of the note, and the net- work of lines ap- 
 pear as if the ink went through the paper. 
 
 Photograph notes could deceive no one accustomed to handling pa- 
 per money. They have a reddish brown or purplish appearance, not 
 that jet black, rich gloss of engravers’ ink. Very few of these frauds 
 have been put in circulation. 
 
 The treasury notes, postage currency, and notes of the national banks 
 will all be closely counterfeited. They offer two or three hundred times 
 the temptation to counterfeiters of any common bank notes, and all 
 good judges of engraving will agree that they are as easily counterfeited 
 as many of our other bank notes. The first issue of the counterfeits 
 may be coarse in some points, and the second and third issues close im- 
 itations. This game has been frequently practiced by counterfeiters 
 for the purpose of procuring the aid of the bank note lists to cheat the 
 business community with the second and third issues. 
 
 This system of detecting is principally based on the inventions and 
 improvements introduced in bank note engraving by Mr. Perkins, of 
 Massachusetts, and Mr. Spencer, of Connecticutt, about forty-eight 
 years ago. With these and other improvements, no combination of 
 counterfeiters, or even other bank note companies, with their machine- 
 ry, skill, &c., can perfectly imitate our bank and treasury notes. 
 
344 . 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPEDIA. 
 
 Thompsons Reporter says of altered notes : “These are frauds we 
 do not pretend to keep a run of.” Peterson's Detector says : “We 
 would advise our subscribers to examine all large notes with care, and 
 not depend wholly upon any bank note reporter, as bank notes are be- 
 ing altered and counterfeited daily, in some parts of the country, and 
 therefore are issued before they are known to be in existence by any 
 detector.” 
 
 In short, every person will see the importance of studying genuine 
 bank note engraving for his own protection, and every moral man 
 should lend his aid to suppress the evil of counterfeiting. 
 
 Bank note engraving, as a study of the fine arts, is interesting to ev- 
 ery intelligent American. Our bank notes exhibit the high degree of 
 perfection to which our countrymen can attain in the fine arts when 
 well sustained. All the mechanical designs and safeguards to be found 
 in the notes of this and other countries, are all of American skill and 
 ingenuity. All the essential improvements were patented forty years 
 since. 
 
 A perfect acquaintance with the different kinds of engravings on one 
 genuine note gives an acquaintance with all genuine bank notes in the 
 United States and Canada. 
 
 THE MYSTERIES OF “STERLING EXCHANGE.” 
 
 The quotations of foreign exchange puzzle many persons, Why ex- 
 change should range from twelve to fifteen per cent, higher than gold, 
 seems unaccountable until an explanation of the matter is given. 
 
 The fact is, that the “par of exchange” is not based on dollar foi 
 dollar, or on a slight addition to cover the cost of transportation, but 
 other considerations enter into the calculation. The par of sterling 
 exchange is 109 Jc., nearly. 
 
 The original standard of value of a sovereign, or pound sterling, 
 was $4 44.4 in United States coin. Subsequently the American dol- 
 lar was more heavily alloyed or depreciated in gold value. Thus 'de- 
 preciated, it required $4 86 to make a pound, which was 9Jc., nearly, 
 more on every dollar than when the pound was $4 44.4 ; or if the 
 pound sterling were divided into decimal coin, it would take 9Jc., 
 nearly, to make one of the dollars of alloy of the United States equal 
 to one of the dollars of the alloy of great Britain. In other words, 
 the English dollar would be 9Jc. finer than the American. 
 
 The system of computing on this relative difference i n the fineness 
 Df the coin of the two countries causes much perplexity and inconven- 
 
FARMING. 
 
 345 
 
 lence; and should Great Britain and the United States, whose trade re- 
 lations are so intimate naturally, ever again make a united effort to 
 simplify and render more uniform commercial usages, nothing would be 
 of greater importance in that direction than to agree upon a decimal 
 coin currency of equal value in both nations. 
 
 ON FARMING. 
 
 The Farmer . — If there is a man who can eat his bread at peace with 
 God and man, it is that man who has brought that bread out of the 
 earth by his own honest industry. It is cankered by no fraud — it is 
 wet by no tear — it is stained by no blood. 
 
 The young man who leaves the farm-field for the merchant's desk 
 or the lawyer’s or doctor’s office, thinking to dignify or ennoble his 
 toil, makes a sad mistake. He passes, by that step, from indepen- 
 dence to vassalage. He barters a natural for an artificial pursuit, and 
 he must be the slave of the caprice of customers and the chicane of 
 trade, either to support himself or acquire fortune. The more artifi- 
 cial a man’s pursuit, the more debasing is it morally and physically. 
 To test it, contrast the merchant’s clerk with the plow-boy. The for- 
 mer may have the most exterior polish, but the latter, under his rough 
 outside, possesses the truer stamina. He is the freer, franker, happi- 
 er and nobler man. Would that young men might judge of the dig- 
 nity of labor by its usefulnees and manliness, rather than by the 
 superficial glosses it wears. Therefore we never see a man’s nobility 
 in his kid gloves and toilet adornments, but in that sinewy arm, whose 
 outlines, browned by the sun, betoken a hardy, honest toiler, under 
 whose farmer’s or mechanic’s vest a kingliest heart may beat. 
 
 The sun that only burns the brows of other men turns the work of 
 the farmer’s hands to glory and gold. The rains that bring discom- 
 fort to others, are beating the reveille of life and plenty for him. 
 
 No one has a better opportunity of witnessing the wonderful work- 
 ings of God in the wide field of nature than the farmer. His occupa- 
 tion brings him every day in full view of them. He is familiar with 
 the progressive development of the young plant, and the matured 
 beauty of its full growth. He is well acquainted with the sunshine 
 and the shadow, the softly falling dew and the heavy rain, the gentle 
 breeze and the rushing tempest. Some, from their very familiarity 
 with these evidences of Divine wisdom, lose all interest in them, and 
 
346 
 
 PEACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 look on them with little more regard than the beasts that perish. 
 Others, indeed, recognize the hand of God ; look on its movements 
 with awe and dread — but go no further. But it is only the Christian 
 that can see in everything the hand of a father. Other men may won- 
 der and admire ; he can love and praise. Everywhere he sees the 
 finger of God, and he rejoices to know that God is his friend; and 
 when in the tempest or thunderstorm, men’s hearts are failing them 
 for fear, he can be in peace, knowing that he is a son of Him whom 
 the winds and the seas obey. Truly the Christian farmer possesses 
 greater pleasures and more exquisite joys than other men have any 
 idea of, and if they have not experienced these they have never expe- 
 rienced true happiness. 
 
 How blest the farmer’s simple life, 
 
 How pure the joy it yields! 
 
 Far from the world’s tempestuous strife 
 Free mid the scented fields. 
 
 Farming. — Bev. Thomas Starr King, in an address before the Ag- 
 ricultural Society, in San Francisco, utters the following beautiful 
 sentiments : 
 
 In dealing with the land, man is called to be a co-worker with the 
 Infinite Mind. This is the foundation of the nobleness of the farmer’s 
 office. 
 
 The air is given to us. We can not alter its constitution or change 
 its currents. The sea is not placed under our dominion. We cannot 
 freshen it, or increase its saltness ; we cannot level or raise its billows. 
 The rain is ordained for each latitude, and we cannot hasten or vary 
 the bounty of the clouds. Minerals are provided in a definite, unalter- 
 able measure, by the creative force. But the soil we can make our 
 own. We can increase or renew its richness. God does not make it 
 to be a fixed or self-perpetuating blessing, like the atmosphere and the 
 ocean. It is a trust. So much he will do for it ; but a very great deal 
 is left for us to be faithful in. In the management of the soil the Cre- 
 ator takes us into partnership ; and on our fidelity within the bounds 
 of our trust, the progress of society depends. 
 
 The greatness of the trust is seen in this — that agriculture requires 
 the greatest amount and variety of knowledge, and is everywhere latent 
 in its development. We are only now entering upon the study of it. 
 Nation after nation has withered and shriveled, because it could not 
 manage its land — because it had not science enough, virtue enough, to 
 organize the State. Its prosperity is not rightly based. Its roots are 
 
FARMING. 
 
 347 
 
 feeble. It has begun to die. It is not able to sustain the tremendous 
 partnership with Providence in making the soil creative. 
 
 In fact we shall not reach the right point for appreciating the emi- 
 nence of agriculture as a duty, a profession and a trust, until we see 
 that the earth is not yet finished. The Creator has left part of the 
 fashioning to man ; or rather waits t6 work through man in perfecting it. 
 The air comes up to the Divine idea. The sea also answers to the maj- 
 esty of Gods first conception of it. The clouds correspond in their 
 charms of form and glory of color to the archetypes of them in the 
 Divine Imagination. The highest mountain tops, of splintered crag and 
 dazzling snow, cannot be improved, any more than they can be altered 
 by the power and wit of man. But the earth does not fulfil the Divine 
 intention. It was not made for nettles, nor for the manizito and chap- 
 parel. It was made for grain, for orchards, for the vine, for the com- 
 fort and luxuries of thrifty homes. It was made for these through the 
 educated, organized, and moral labor of man. As plow runs deeper, as 
 irrigation is better understood and observed, as the capacities of differ- 
 ent soils are comprehended, as types of vegetation are improved, as 
 economy in the renewal of the vitality of the land is learned and prac- 
 ticed, the process of creation goes on ; chaos subsides ; the Divine power 
 and beauty appear in nature. 
 
 Agriculture is the foundation of national prosperity, and one of the 
 pleasantest as well as one of the noblest and most profitable pursuits in 
 which a man can engage. Wherever agriculture flourishes, all other 
 branches of business prosper. Where it declines, everything else goes 
 down with it. The progress of Agriculture, said Louis Napoleon in a 
 recent speech, ought to be one of the objects of your constant care; for 
 upon its improvement or decline depends the prosperity or decline of 
 empires. 
 
 Dr. Franklin said : There seem to be but three ways for a nation to 
 acquire wealth. The first is by war, as the Bomans did, in plundering 
 their neighbors ; this is robbery. The second by commerce, which is 
 frequently cheating. The third by agriculture, the only honest way, 
 wherein a man receives a real increase of the seed thrown into the 
 ground in a kind of continued miracle wrought by the hand of God in 
 his favor, as a reward for his innocent life and his virtuous industry. 
 
 The Farmer s Wife . — Is there any position a mother can covet for 
 her daughter more glorious than to be the wife of an honest, indepen- 
 dent farmer in a country like this ? To be the wife of one who is look- 
 ed up to by his neighbors as one whose example may be safely followed 
 — one whose farm is known far and near as a model of perfection and 
 
348 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPEDIA. 
 
 cultivation. To be mistress of a mansion all her own, that sbe may be 
 tbe envy of every passer-by, because it is neat and comfortable, a sweet 
 lovely cottago at borne. 
 
 In a little book recently published in France, entitled “Advice to 
 Young Ladies wbo intend to become Farmer’s Wives,” tbe author, M. 
 Bodin, says : In order to become a farmeress it is not sufficient to know 
 bow to read, write, calculate, and sew. Order and economy in a bouse 
 are of more importance than tbe cares of cultivation properly so called. 
 On tbe farmeress depends for tbe most part tbe success of an agricultu- 
 ral enterprise. If a cultivator secures good crops, and if bis granaries 
 are filled, bis wealth will, nevertheless, not be real in presence of a bad- 
 ly directed household, or from want of care tbe outlay will be double, 
 and tbe economy nil. Be then thoroughly persuaded, young girls, that 
 your mission is most important, that your good direction may make 
 everything succeed, and that negligence or even indifference, may bring 
 about disunion, annoyances of every kind, and, finally, ruin. Tbe far- 
 meress, surrounded by her family, infusing order into everything, will 
 be loved and respected, and will probably live more happily than many 
 great ladies. 
 
 The Farmers Home . — Tbe New York Iribune says: One of tbe 
 strongest, if not entirely tbe strongest, inducements for tbe sons and 
 daughters of farmers in general in this country to leave tbe country 
 for a city life, is tbe neglect of parents to beautify home and teach chil- 
 dren to love it because everything around it is more cheerful, more 
 beautiful, more pleasant, more enticing than any other spot known to 
 them. To prevent tbe exodus of your children, tbe moment they get 
 old enough to have ideas of their own, let it be one of tbe life studies 
 of every parent to make tbe children sensible that their home is equal, 
 if not superior, in all that serves to make life worth living for, to that 
 of any other family in tbe same station of life. If your bouse is small 
 it is all tbe more easily painted, and made to wear an attractive out- 
 ward appearance, and it is no good reason, because it is small, that its 
 interior should be most inconvenient, uncomfortable and unattractive. 
 Study to make your bouse such in every respect that your visitors 
 will say, “ What a lovely place,” and you will make your children con- 
 tented and yourself happy, and all will exclaim, “ There is no place 
 like home.” Is there any one thought likely to be called up in after 
 years so pleasing as the remeniscences of a happy childhood’s home ? 
 
 Have a Permanent Home . — Stay where you are. Do not live and 
 work on your farm, with the expectation or wish to sell out. Nothing 
 will keep a man so much in a state of indecision. Living from day to 
 
FARMING. 
 
 349 
 
 day, with the idea that just as soon as you have a chance, you are 
 going to sell, is one of the poorest ways of getting along. Make up 
 your mind to stay where you are. Apply energy and headwork to 
 your operations ; determine to make a home— one for yourself and 
 your family — have a marked and definite purpose in life. 
 
 The Farmer s Ambition . — A practical farmer whose livelihood de- 
 pends on his calling, should make it the pinnacle of worldly ambition 
 to excel in it. If he neglects his farm for almost everything else, he 
 is generally a miser both in interest and credit. Solomon, the wisest 
 observer of men, tells us of his disgust at the sight of a slovenly farm- 
 er : “ I went by the field of the slothful — and lo, it was all grown over 
 with thorns, and nettles covered the face thereof, and the stone wall 
 was broken down.” 
 
 Farmers and Science. — For all practical purposes true science is a 
 thorough knowledge of a man's own business. And a farmer who 
 knows how to make the most profit with the least amount of labor and 
 capital, who understands how to make the most of his land without 
 impoverishing it, but rather continually improving it, is truly scien- 
 tific. 
 
 u Book- Farming." — No sensible man ever contended, or supposed, 
 that book-knowledge alone , would make a man a good farmer. “ Prac- 
 tice makes perfect” — practice alone. But a knowledge of principles 
 is the true and solid foundation of correct practice ; and principles 
 are vital in agriculture as in everything else. 
 
 The great want of farmers is more information. And there is no 
 class of people more anxious to obtain information in relation to their 
 business which may be depended upon. 
 
 Even the most prejudiced contemner of “ book-farming ” does not 
 absolutely refuse to profit by the experience of others ; if he is about 
 to try some new root or grain, he asks his more experienced neighbor 
 how the grain should be prepared ; where the seed should be sown ; 
 how the grain should be tilled, etc.; and is governed, to some extent, 
 in his culture by the answer he receives. “ Book-farming ” is mainly 
 the collected experience of the wisest and most successful farmers 
 through years, if not generations, collected and recorded in such form 
 as to be most available for those who come after. If one man’s expe- 
 rience or conclusions have any value, those of many men, compared 
 and averaged, should have far more value ; and whether printed in a 
 book or related by the fireside, matters little. At least, if there be a 
 difference, it is not against “ book-farming.” The wisest farmer can 
 
350 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 not know everything that would be useful in bis calling ; there must 
 be some department in which his knowledge might be improved. 
 What more reasonable, then, than that he should consult and profit 
 by the recorded experience of others ? 
 
 But no man was ever made wise solely by imbibing the wisdom of 
 others. Books, and periodicals, and lectures, can only help the farm- 
 er. In farming, as in everything else, mere book-learning is imper- 
 fect and unsafe. Let the head and the hand go together ; let prac- 
 tice modify the directions and enlarge the uses of theory ; let us ap- 
 propriate the wisdom of others without expecting it to enable us to 
 dispense with sense of our own. 
 
 A popular friend of Agriculture said in an address recently : I wish 
 the statement could be made to ring in the ears, and penetrate the 
 brain, and stir the heart of every man, woman and child, who is the 
 friend of agriculture — that the radical means of improvement is the 
 more perfect education of the farmer for his profession. 
 
 Ho w to Secure further Agricultural Improvement. — The following 
 valuable suggestions are from an Agricultural Address by the Hon. 
 L. Chandler Ball : 
 
 How the necessary conditions to further agricultural improvement 
 shall be secured, and farmers take the rank, exert the influence, and 
 receive the honors to which, by their contributions to social order, 
 and the welfare of the state they are entitled : 
 
 1. By adopting a higher standard of education, both general and 
 professional. 
 
 2. By a more thorough cultivation of the soil, by which its fertility 
 shall be increased, and permanently maintained. 
 
 3. By a more general introduction of improved implements of hus- 
 bandry, by which farnf and household labor may be more easily, and 
 more economically performed. 
 
 4. By improving the breeds of domestic stock, and rearing only 
 those animals which are the best of their respective kinds. 
 
 5. By growing only those roots, grains, grasses, and fruits which 
 are the most nutritious, and the most productive. 
 
 6. By pursuing that particular branch of husbandry which gives 
 the strongest probabilities of success ; having reference to climate, 
 soil, markets, and amount of foreign and domestic competition. 
 
 7. By making the business of farming attractive to educated men, 
 and the farm-house and all its surroundings pleasant to refined taste 
 and cultivated manners. 
 
FARMING. 
 
 35.1 
 
 Rules for Making Farming Profitable. — One whose conclusions liave 
 been founded upon experience, thus writes to the Prairie Farmer: 
 
 1. Buy no more land than there is capital enough to pay for, with 
 one-third more surplus. A small farm, free from debt, with plenty 
 of means to stock it, enrich it, and carry on its work, will yield more 
 than a large one, encumbered with debt, conducted feebly in every 
 part, with bad fences, poor implements, bony animals, weedy fields, 
 and thin crops. 
 
 2. Lay out the fields in the best order, so as to admit of a syste- 
 matic rotation, and to give ready access to every field at all times, 
 without passing through other fields, if possible. 
 
 3. Provide good fences, and necessary gates, and valuable time will 
 not be lost in driving out intruding animals, nor crops lost by their 
 depredations. 
 
 4. Furnish good farm buildings, to secure properly the crops, and 
 also to afford a good shelter for animals. 
 
 5. Select the best animals in purchasing, and secure the very best 
 the country affords to breed from. Also select the best implements 
 that can be procured at reasonable prices. 
 
 6. Bring the soil into good condition, and keep it so by a judicious 
 rotation. 
 
 Mr. Bakewell, of England, says : The road for the farmer to get 
 rich is to breed the best kind of cattle, sheep and horses, and the road 
 to grow poor is to breed the worst of their kind : as the best consume 
 no more food than the worst. Good farming is getting a dinner for 
 your appetite, whilst bad farming merely gains an appetite for your 
 dinner. 
 
 An agricultural paper says : Every extra dollar spent in deep and 
 thorough plowing will return five dollars in the harvest. One 
 acre thoroughly manured and cultivated yields a larger per centage 
 of profit than three sparingly manured and slovenly scratched over. 
 It is as easy to raise good varieties of fruit as poor ones. A choice 
 pear tree will produce from ten to thirty dollars worth of fruit. How 
 much will ten poor ones produce ? 
 
 As a general rule, good crops pay, while poor ones do not The first 
 offort of a farmer should be to increase his crop per acre, if not al- 
 ready large, rather than to increase the number of his acres. A 
 thousand dollars judiciously expended in fertilizing and subduing his 
 present farm would enrich him far more than the same amount expen- 
 ied in buying more acres. 
 
 Errors to be Avoided.’— How may farmers are to be found who can 
 
352 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 plead “not guilty” in reference to some one or more of the following 
 errors to which the Country Gentleman calls attention ? 
 
 1. Allowing weeds such as thistles, docks, stramonium, poison hem- 
 lock, etc., to grow along the highway. 
 
 2. Allowing elders, burdocks and nettles to grow along fences, and 
 Canada thistles, foxtail, pig weed, rag weed, etc., to grow among and 
 sometimes eclipse crops. 
 
 3. To plow, harrow, and seed, or plant, land so wet that year after 
 year it yields scarcely enough to pay tillage. 
 
 4. To allow boards to become knocked off board fences, and clap- 
 boards from barns ; and the hinges of gates to become so deranged 
 that they must be laboriously dragged over the ground in opening 
 and shutting, quickly wearing them out. 
 
 5. To pile manure against the side of the barn until it rots, and 
 mires the cattle, instead of spreading it for crops and leaving a neat 
 clean yard. 
 
 6. To admit pigs to door yards to root up the grass, and help them- 
 selves to swill at the kitchen door. 
 
 7. To throw kitchen slops into a puddle at the back door. 
 
 8. To build barns on the public road, thus making a barn-yard of 
 the highway. 
 
 9. To scatter implements, such as plows, harrows, rollers, etc., about 
 the barn-yard or along the sides of the road, exposed to all weathers. 
 
 10. To throw rubbish, brush, etc., into the public road, to the of- 
 fence of every traveler who has any appreciation of decency, instead 
 of destroying or converting these materials into manure. 
 
 11. Badly built board fences, half lifted by frost out of the ground, 
 and leaning half over — occasioned by a shallow and careless setting of 
 the posts, and by not draining the holes. 
 
 12. Cornfields with a dense undergrowth of weeds, and potatoes 
 with a dense overgrowth of the same. 
 
 13. Hedges and trees planted and allowed to grow up with grass, 
 and consequently never being good for anything — instead of giving 
 them good and broad cultivation. 
 
 14. Allowing cows and other animals to run in the streets, to pilfer 
 from neighbors, and dry up by being frequently lost at milking time. 
 
 Farm Management and Farm Accounts. — The farm should be so 
 managed as to pay for all labor bestowed upon it, and ultimately for 
 itself. Improvements that do not pay, ought, as a rule, to be discar- 
 ded ; and in order to know how the matter stands, every farmer should 
 keep an exact account with every field on his farm. 
 
FARMING. 
 
 353 
 
 No man can be a good farmer and a successful one who does not 
 keep accurate accounts ; be able to tell at the end of the year every 
 dollar that came to hand, and what for, and every one that goes out, 
 and why it went; and balance your cash account at least once a month 
 — once a week is better.’ 
 
 Keep accounts with everybody, debit and credit, and in some degree 
 with everything. Number your fields, and charge each with manure, 
 seed and labor, and credit the crops, and you will soon find which is 
 the most profitable. Open an account with your stable, your pig pen, 
 your pasture, and with your general stock and with different classes 
 and branches of it, if you would learn with accuracy which is the most 
 profitable. 
 
 To be successful, you must be accurate, and that you cannot be with- 
 out account books. 
 
 In any other branch of business worthy of the name, any one carry- 
 ing it on without a proper system of books would be regarded as crazy. 
 The ordinary excuse of “want of time" is entirely without foundation. 
 An hour a week dev6ted to a simple and well arranged syste hi oi ac- 
 oounts would be sufficient to keep them up. 
 
 That excellent work, Stephen's Book of the Farm , says : Let the far- 
 mer take an inventory and valuation of his live stock, implements 
 :rops, cost of labor, and debts due to and by him, at the beginning of 
 -very agricultural year, and he will see whether his capital has in- 
 creased or diminished in the course of the year — it will increase by a 
 arger produce and by a higher price, and diminish by a scantier pro- 
 luce and a lower price. Let him keep a cash book, which will inform 
 lim whether he has received or paid away most cash in the course of 
 he year. Let him have an account with the farm, by which he will 
 earn whether the value of the produce he has been able to dispose of 
 s greater or less than the cost of conducting the farm. It is clear 
 hat a knowledge of these particulars must acquaint the farmer with 
 he real state of his affairs at the beginning of every agricultural 
 r ear. 
 
 Farm Economy . — Allow me to say to young farmers especially : 
 jet us be studious and inquisitive, as well as laborious ; let us be sim- 
 ile and frugal in our habits ; avoid useless expenditures ; leave fine 
 Iress and fast horses, and showy dwellings to those who really need 
 uch things to recommend them. Let us ever remember that for 
 wealth and substantial wealth, for rare opportunities, for self-improve- 
 aent, for long life and real independence, farming is the best business 
 a the world. 
 
 23 
 
354 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 Economy is essential to success. Judge Peters, in his valuable 
 “ Notices to a Young Farmer” published some years since, says : Do 
 not commence with erecting costly buildings, but apply your time, ef- 
 forts and pecuniary means to your farm. Want of calculation in this 
 respect has been the ruin of many. 
 
 Industry, prudence and economy are essential to ensure success .in 
 any business whatever. 
 
 True economy does not consist in mere saving and stinting — it re- 
 quires far-reaching views and a generous spirit to decide practical 
 questions upon that just basis which secures the greatest measure of 
 success. We must look further than the first cost. In farm stock, for 
 instance, when once secured, it costs little more to raise, to any given 
 age, a good animal than a bad one, while one may be far more remu- 
 nerative than the other. 
 
 There is no economy like doing everything thoroughly. More prof- 
 it can be realized from one acre well manured and thoroughly cultiva- 
 ted than from two but half prepared for seeding. ‘It is better to till 
 fifty acres well, than one hundred in a slovenly manner. It is not the 
 abundance of land, but the thorough and skilful cultivation of it, that 
 fills the barn with hay, the cribs with corn, and the mansion-house 
 with plenty. The great principle of agriculture may be reduced to 
 these two points : Keep small farms and manage them well. Bev. J. 
 Starr King gave to the California farmers this very sensible advice : 
 “ Subdue the lust for immense ranches. If you have fifty acres and 
 burn for fifty more, annex the fifty that is beneath those you now own, 
 and gain your title by a subsoil plow. Own deep thus by agriculture, 
 not wide by scratchiculture.” 
 
 “ A little farm well tilled, a little barn well filled, a little wife well 
 willed.’' 
 
 The Produce Market. — An important feature in successful farming 
 is judicious marketing. Many farmers must sell as soon as possible, 
 but it is desirable to have good facilities for reaching the market, and 
 also to be so forehanded as not to be obliged to sell when fair prices can 
 not be obtained. The farmer can then watch the market reports and 
 study the probable home and foreign supply and demand, -and deter- 
 mine with considerable accuracy when it is best to sell. The farmer 
 who gets one dollar per bushel for his wheat, realizes double the profit 
 that he does who only gets eighty cents, providing the cost of produ- 
 cing is with both sixty cents per bushel. It pays to study marketing 
 well, and also to prepare and put in the best manner all perishable pro- 
 duce, such as butter, poultry, fruit, pork, vegetables, etc. 
 
PLOWING, DRAINING, FERTILIZING AND FENCING. 
 
 355 
 
 The great value of land is not its richness ; the great source of prof- 
 it is not the great crops produced, but the market for that produce ; 
 and land is valuable just m proportion to its contiguity to a place 
 where its produce can best be sold. It ought to be -a leading feature 
 in the calculation of every land purchaser, Where is the market? Ev- 
 ery producer should also keep this question constantly before his eyes, 
 and shape his productions accordingly. Before the age of railroads, 
 the price of wheat in the interior of Indiana and Illinois was twenty- 
 five to thirty-five cents a bushel, “ store pay.” It was not a cash ar- 
 ticle, because there was no market. Indian corn was still more a 
 cheap drug on hand, and many a “ broad horn ” has been loaded upon 
 the Wabash and other rivers for the far off New Orleans market with 
 corn at six to ten cents a bushel. The strongest incentive to high 
 farming is a high market. 
 
 PLOWING, DRAINING, FERTILIZING AND FENCING. 
 
 Plowing and Subsoiling . — It has been asserted that an increase of 
 one inch in the average depth of plowing throughout the United States 
 would produce a larger amount of profit, as compared with present re- 
 sults, than all the gold received from California. A good plan is to 
 increase the depth of plowing, as nearly as practicable, one inch every 
 year until the subsoil is loosened to the depth of at least twelve or fif- 
 teen inches. This will enable the land to hold more water to support 
 the crop in time of drouth, and the water will settle from the surface 
 during an excess of wet. Deep plowing saves manuring. 
 
 The subsoil plow is now becoming one of the most important im- 
 plements upon the farm. It is used to run in the bottom of the fur- 
 row before the potato is dropped, to loosen the earth under the seed, 
 to admit the air and permit the surplus water to sink ; and after the 
 potatoes are up, a one-horse subsoil plow is run between the rows ; 
 and when properly done, it is equal to trenching with a spade. It is 
 also run between the rows of corn when the corn is about four inches 
 high. This will lift the soil slightly, and also the young corn plants, 
 but will not separate the particles of earth from the roots. This will 
 be a more thorough disturbance of the soil than a dozen hoeings, and 
 will permit the corn roots to descend in search of food. In raising 
 carrots, beets and turnips in heavy ground, it is almost indispensable. 
 
 An old friend says he has been greatly benefitted by deep plowing, 
 
356 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 and not being able to own or hire a strong team, be adopted tbe plan 
 of running tbe same plow twice in one place, and is sure that tbe extra 
 work was much more than paid for by an increase in crops. By this 
 plan be plowed a stiff sward twelve or fourteen inches deep, and got 
 a good tilth on tbe top of tbe reverted sod, which remained undisturbed 
 through several years of cultivation, and crops were more free from 
 the effects of drouth than ever before. 
 
 Draining. — All lands that will not allow the water to pass through 
 the subsoil, should be properly drained, as water running off the sur- 
 face carries away the vegetable matter, and thus impoverishes the 
 land. 
 
 To ascertain where draining is required, dig holes into the earth 
 two or three feet deep — post-holes often answer — and observe if water 
 remains in these holes during the wettest periods. If it soaks away 
 within twenty-four hours through the porous subsoil, and leaves the 
 bottom dry, then draining will be wholly unnecessary. But if the 
 water remains several days, then artificial channels will be reqi ired 
 to carry it off. 
 
 The principal benefits ' of drainage are the following : It pre\ ents 
 washing, by admitting a sudden fall of rain quickly into the ground, 
 leaving little to run off. It enriches the soil, by causing it to absorb 
 the rain quickly, to lixiviate them and to retain for the use of plants 
 their carbonic acid, ammonia and other manurial matters, instead of 
 running them off, together with some of the richest top soil, into a 
 neighboring brook. 
 
 Prof. Mapes says : In England there is not a field that has been 
 under-drained that has not doubled in value, and so it can be here. 
 
 Cheap Method of Cutting Ditches. — Plow two furrows with a com- 
 mon plow as deep as you can ; then take a subsoil plow, with a piece 
 of plank four feet long attached to the mold-board, for the purpose 
 of raising the dirt, and go through twice with this, which will leave a 
 ditch two feet deep. 
 
 Requisite Depth of Under-draining. — John Johnston, the pioneer 
 of under-draining in New York, says: If practicable, drains should go 
 so deep that the water may come in at the sides, instead of rising from 
 the bottom of the ditch ; and this I have found to be the case at from 
 two and a half to three feet deep on my farm. In England the depth 
 for under-draining is from three to six feet. 
 
 How to Clean out an Obstructed Drain. — This has been successfully 
 effected by using a large eeb which works itself slowly through, fol- 
 lowed by the water. 
 
PLOWING, DRAINING, FERTILIZING AND FENCING. 
 
 35 
 
 * Fertilizing and Fertilizers . — It is a maxim among an excellent class 
 of farmers, that a good farm, like a good joint of meat, only requires 
 hasting with its own dripping. 
 
 Of all the waste upon a farm, perhaps there is none more apparent 
 than that of manures; none other so generally and directly prejudicial 
 to success in farming, and none other of anything like the same extent 
 can be so easily prevented. Professor Voelker found by accurate ex- 
 periments that manure lying in the yard exposed to all weathers, lost 
 in value two-thirds; only one-third remaining in one year. Johnson 
 and Sprengel, learned agricultural chemists, say that a cow annually 
 voids about 16,300 pounds of urine, which contains 961 pounds of sol- 
 id matter quite equal in value to Peruvian guano at $60 per ton, ma- 
 king the annual commercial value of the liquid manure of the cow to 
 be $28.83 ; no inconsiderable portion of her whole value ; a cord of 
 loam saturated with urine is equal to a cord of the best rotted dung. 
 The manure from poultry, if they are confined, is as good as guano; 
 that from the house is the most valuable, and if mixed with fresh loam 
 is completely deodorized. Bones thrown into a barrel, covered with 
 ashes and moistened, will after a while, become a valuable fertilizer. 
 Hard coal ashes, if screened thoroughly, are -worth saving to spread 
 on grass land with lime and wood ashes. Wood ashes form one of the 
 most valuable of all fertilizers, and are safer at common prices than 
 any other to be purchased. Soap suds are invaluable applied to trees, 
 shrubs, plants, etc.; no article of a liquid nature possesses more pow- 
 erful fertilizing properties. The carcasses of animals which die from 
 accident or disease on the farm possess a manurial value seldom fully 
 appreciated. It has been said that “ every pound of animal carcass 
 can impregnate ten pounds of vegetable mold, or, taking our arable 
 soils as they usually occur, one pound of flesh, fish, blood, wool, horn, 
 etc., can fertilize three hundred pounds of common loam." Every 
 portion is valuable. Bones, hoofs, hides, hair, flesh, may all be applied 
 with benefit to the soil. 
 
 In England salt is recognized by government as a manure of such 
 value that it passes turnpikes toll-free, and it is used by farmers at high 
 prices. It may be used from five to fifteen bushels per acre. It al- 
 ways does best on land that has been limed. It is useful in all com- 
 post. Prof. Mapes says : If you slack three bushels of lime with the 
 solution of one bushel of salt, it is the best thing ever used to decom- 
 pose muck. It is excellent upon the roots of peach trees. 
 
 It is estimated that England pays annually three hundred millions 
 of dollars for manures, more than the entire commerce of that country. 
 
358 
 
 PEACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 Liquid Manures . — Daniel Webster had the plank in his stable floors 
 laid about an inch apart, and so arranged as to be easily taken up. 
 Beneath this floor, about two feet of muck was placed, which absorbed 
 every drop of the urine, and furnished a rich manure. 
 
 Said an English writer, more than a century ago, The drainage of 
 dunghills is the very strength and power of the dung. 
 
 Of all methods of using muck, says the American Agriculturist, we 
 are best pleased with it as an article of bedding for cattle. This we 
 think the best and most rapid way of manufacturing it into manure. 
 
 Dry sawdust, says a correspondent of the New England Farmer, 13 
 one of the best articles for bedding horses and cattle, to take up the 
 urine and keep the cattle clean. But hard wood sawdust is the best, 
 and should be used freely for bedding, even if you have to go miles 
 for it ; it will answer every purpose of going to Peru for guano. Sand 
 has also been used with great satisfaction. 
 
 Covered Manures. — It is stated in the Journal of Agriculture that 
 an experiment has been made to determine the relative value of ma- 
 nure made under cover, and that exposed in the barnyard. Both ma- 
 nures were applied to potatoes in equal quantities. The yield on equal 
 portions of land was as follows ; manure from barnyard, 252 busheb 
 per acre ; manure made under cover, 297 bushels per acre. 
 
 Says the American Agriculturist : The farmer must prosper, if at 
 all, by savings as well as by gainings. If the banker’s vault should 
 have only a small hole where his deposits could be constantly filched 
 away, it would diminish his annual gains decidedly. So, if the far- 
 mer’s stock of manure is continually wasting in sun, and wind, and 
 rain, he is a great and continual loser. 
 
 Manure mixed from time to time with straw, leaves, and other re- 
 fuse matter, in the open barnyard, is better than that which is uncared 
 for ; but dung, both liquid and solid, carefully saved in a covered pit, 
 and mixed every few days with plaster, charcoal dust, dry muck, etc., 
 absorbing every particle of urine, and preventing the escape of ammo- 
 nia, is better still. 
 
 The best substitute for lack of cellar is a covering of earth or muck 
 for the manure as fast as it is collected. Where straw is plenty, as 
 in the wheat growing districts, it makes a very good covering for 
 manure. 
 
 Spreading Manure on the Surface. — A writer in the Edinburgh 
 Journal of Agriculture, commenting on the views of Prof. Voelckeras 
 to the exposure of fresh manure on the surface of the ground, relates 
 
PLOWING, DRAINING, FERTILIZING AND FENCING. 
 
 359 
 
 the following striking experiment, made by a scientific man, for the 
 purpose of testing expressly the several methods of using manure : 
 
 There being a difference of opinion among scientific men regarding 
 the advantage of spreading dung upon the surface and leaving it ex- 
 posed for some time before covering it in, Prof. Legnitz, of Eldens, 
 had recourse to experiment for the solving of the question. For this 
 purpose he divided a lot into four equal parts. To No. 1 no manure 
 ,vas given. No. 2 received about two tons of farmyard dung, which 
 was spread immediately, and covered in by means of the plow. No. 3 
 was treated in the same manner, with this difference, that the hoe was 
 used instead of the plow. The same quantity of dung was carried to 
 No. 4, and allowed to remain spread three weeks on the soil before be- 
 ing covered in by the hoe. On the 10th of October, the four lots sub- 
 jected to experiment were sown with about ninety-five pints of rye 
 each. The following are the total results of the crops of each lot, grain 
 and straw included : No. 1 produced 583 pounds ; No. 2 produced 
 770 pounds; No. 3 produced 818 pounds ; No. 4 produced 930 pounds. 
 
 How to Dissolve Bones and Make Super-phosphate . — To make a 
 good article of super-phosphate from bones, says the editor of the 
 Southern Field and Fireside , you should use about half as many 
 pounds of sulphuric acid as of bones, dry weight ; break the bones as 
 fine as you can with an old ax or sledge-hammer, or have them ground, 
 when they should be wet by the free use of water boiling hot, adding 
 half as many pounds of sulphuric acid as there are of dry bones. The 
 half of a molasses hogshead will perhaps be as convenient and cheap 
 for operating in as anything. To the bones and boiling water in this 
 vessel, or some other, add slowly the acid, and stir the mass constant- 
 ly, as the acid is poured in. A powerful boiling takes place from the 
 escape of carbonic acid from the bones, which gradually subsides by 
 occasional stirring ; the bones in a week or ten days become like paste, 
 when the whole can be taken out and mixed with perfectly dry loam, 
 or charcoal dust, to fit it for drilling with a machine. Where bones 
 are large, or the acid weak, it may take a month to dissolve their 
 earthy matter ; and this end is promoted by covering the large tub or 
 half hogshead holding the bones and acid with* several loads of fer- 
 menting loose dung to increase the temperature, where heat is an im- 
 portant element of chemical action, as the acid sells high in this coun- 
 try. Some use only 100 pounds to 300 pounds of dry bones. Any 
 bones or pieces not softened, compost with fermenting stable manure, 
 whose heat and carbonic acid will slowly dissolve them. 
 
 Solon Bobinson says : Break the bones as fine as possible with a 
 
360 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 "hammer, and put them in five gallons of water, with one gallon of sul- 
 phuric acid. Handle the acid with care. A good thing to use it in 
 is an old kettle, painted thickly on the inside with some earthy paint. 
 
 A Scotch farmer gives his rule as follows : Add 340 pounds of sul- 
 phuric acid to 25 bushels of fine bones, and wet with 18 gallons of 
 boiling water. Let it stand two days, and then mix the bones with 
 two cart-loads of fine mold, where they heat and become fine powder 
 in the course of six or eight weeks. Bones will become fine if broken 
 and mixed with ashes or fine mold, and kept moist. 
 
 Sulphuric acid (oil of vitriol,) is very corrosive, and must be han- 
 dled with great care. A large iron kettle, painted with a thick coat 
 of earthy paint, or even clay dissolved in skim-milk is a good vessel 
 to dissolve bones in. 
 
 The best and cheapest method of preparing bones for manure, says 
 the Country Gentleman , is first to boil them in strong lye a few hours 
 to extract from them the animal matter, or, what would be more con- 
 venient, perhaps, break them as fine as convenient, and put them into 
 a tub of lye, to remain there during pleasure, until the animal matter 
 is all extracted and incorporated with the lye. The mineral part of 
 the bones will now be found very friable and easily pulverized. They 
 should be rinsed clean, pulverized, and put into another tub or trough. 
 Apply to them some diluted sulphuric acid, in the proportion of one 
 of acid to five of water. Stir them frequently, and in a short time 
 they will be entirely decomposed and fit for use. These two masses, 
 being equally rich in the elements of fertility, the one of ammonia and 
 the other of phosphorus, are equally valuable as fertilizers, and adap- 
 ted to any and every variety of soil that may be deficient in these el- 
 ements, are equally necessary for the healthful maturity of every 
 growing plant, whether of grain, grasses, fruits or roots. I now ad- 
 vise a mixture of these two masses with the general compost, to secure 
 a general diffusion of them upon the different fields to be manured. 
 
 A correspondent of the Valley Farmer says : Put the bones in a 
 kettle and cover them with ley ; if the weather is cold, warm occa- 
 sionaly for a few days. The bones will become a soft pulpy mass. 
 Here you have precious stuff. Dilute this, and you will have a liquid 
 manure that will produce growth that is almost a miracle. Add as 
 many buckets of water to one of ley and soft mass of bones as you like ; 
 the less water, the less labor ; or mix it with muck ; the muck will be 
 manure. By all means save the bones. 
 
 Use of Kitchen Slops . — The water from the kitchen is rich in ele- 
 ments of fertility. The soap used in washing, pot-liquor, salt, &c. are 
 
PLOWING, DRAINING, FERTILIZING AND FENCING. 3G1 
 
 all needed by the garden and will amply repay for saving and apply- 
 ing to the plants. Let the kitchen waste be collected in a sunken hogs- 
 head or cistern, and applied in a liquid form, to the plants in the gar- 
 den, or run it to a convenient distance from the house to an excavation 
 which can readily be supplied with muck, which will absorb the liquid, 
 and many dollars worth of manure otherwise annually wasted, will be 
 saved. 
 
 Manure Maxims. — Manure-making and money-making are almost 
 synonymous terms on old farms, says the American Agriculturist. 
 
 Says Victor Hugo, If our gold is filth, on the other hand our filth 
 is gold. 
 
 Chaptal says, The action of leached ashes is most powerful upon 
 moist lands and meadows, on which they not only facilitate the growth 
 of useful plants, but if employed constantly for several years, will free 
 the soil from weeds. It is said that in Germany no other manure is 
 used for grass lands. 
 
 For over-rich garden soils use an application of lime and salt mix 
 ture. 
 
 It is an old adage : “ He who marles sand may buy the land.’ 
 “ Marie clay, throw all away; Marie sand, and buy land." 
 
 Fences and Fencing. — Custom requires every person who expects to 
 raise crops, to build fences to keep his neighbor’s animals from despoil- 
 ing them. We believe however the opinion is gaining with most intel- 
 ligent farmers that the custom should be done away with. The ex- 
 pense of the fence system is enormous, and in addition it keeps out of 
 cultivation millions of acres of good land. 
 
 It has been estimated that the farm fences of the whole Union have 
 cost $500,000,000, and that in the State of New York alone the zig-zag 
 fences, so commonly built, occupy at least three hundred thousand acres 
 of cultivated land. Incredible almost as this may appear, yet it is 
 probably below rather than above the actual facts. K. L. Pell esti- 
 mates that it costs $250,000,000 per annum to maintain the farm fences 
 of the United States. 
 
 We believe millions of dollars every year would be saved to the farm- 
 ers of our country if every man were required to fence in his own stock ; 
 and no man obliged to fence his neighbor’s stock out. 
 
 Preserving Fence-Posts — Kyanizing , <§c. — Why do some rot, whilst 
 others, apparently under the same circumstances, last twice or thrice 
 as long ? There is something in soil and climate to be considered. If 
 ihe soil is wet, a post will not last as long in it as it would if dry. If 
 
 a cold climate it will last longer than in a warm one. The great se- 
 
362 
 
 PEACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 cret however is in the season of cutting the timber. A post cut in sum- 
 mer, say July or August, will rot in less than half the time of one cut 
 in February. Then the majority of experiments reported indicate that 
 if set with top down they will last longer than otherwise, the theory | 
 being that moisture can not ascend as readily when the order of growth 
 is inverted. 
 
 One cause of the incalculable expense in maintaining fences is the 
 rapid decay of those parts of timber fence posts inserted in the ground. 
 F ences would last three times longer than they usually do could those > 
 parts that are covered in the earth be so treated as to render them 
 as durable as those parts that are exposed above ground. A great 
 saving would therefore be effected by any simple method of treatment 
 to prevent rot in fence posts. This may be effected in different ways: 
 
 One method is to season well, and then coat with coal tar. Apply 
 boiling hot. Another method is kyanizing : one pound of blue vitri- 
 ol (sulphate of copper,) is taken to twenty pounds of water. Dissolve 
 the vitrol with boilina;. water, and then add the remainder. The end 
 of the post is then dropped into the solution and allowed to stand four 
 or five days ; if six inches square, six days — some say ten days ; for 
 shingles, three days will answer. If a barrel is used it must be kept 
 moist on the outside, for instead of expanding it, as other liquids do, 
 this shrinks it. A box in a strong frame with keys to tighten it is 
 convenient. A strong box lined with copper, zinc, or lead is some- 
 times prepared for the purpose. It would corrode an iron vessel. 
 Dr. Parker says, let oak, if dry, be in the tanks ten days, pine twenty 
 days, beech, chestnut, &c., eight days. And he adds that one pound 
 of the sulphate to twenty gallons of water is strong enough. The tim- 
 ber may be seasoned or green. 
 
 A convenient post tank is made round, of copper, two feet in diam- 
 eter, four feet deep ; needs no wood sides, only a thick plank bottom. 
 
 Chloride of zinc, sulphate of iron, and creosote are also used for 
 kyanizing. The latter is preferred in England and is applied to con- 
 siderable extent to railroad, bridge, building and other timber. 
 
 Boring into the post just above the ground, then filling with half a 
 pint of salt, and plugging up, is said to be a preservative if the timber 
 is seasoned. Charring the foot of the post has also been recommend- 
 ed. And much advantage has been gained by inverting the posts. 
 But the best thing is boiling in coal tar, or to kyanize them. 
 
 Splitting Posts . — In splitting posts, commence by opening the heart 
 at the top end of the post, and if the timber is any way passable, the 
 split will follow the heart through the length of the stick. If it slabs 
 
PLOWING, DRAINING, FERTILIZING AND FENCING. 363 
 
 it will be with much less loss of timber than if splitting is com- 
 menced at the butt end. In quartering commence in the same way, 
 or if more convenient, start the wedge in the center of the length, re- 
 garding the heart as the center division. By the above methods good 
 chestnut timber may be split of rail length almost fine enough for 
 wen wood. 
 
 Driving Posts. — On loamy or clayey land, free from large stones, 
 posts can be driven with great expedition and will stand firmly, the 
 earth around them being well packed by the crowding of the post. 
 The best time is when the ground is just free from frost and still wet 
 md soft. Drive with a maul or iron sledge. Some use a long han- 
 lled iron wrench for holding them steady, and turning when neces- 
 sary. 
 
 A Cheap, Durable and Efficient Fence. — Stakes five feet in length, 
 he lower portion steeped in one pound of blue vitriol to forty of wa- 
 ter, driven into the ground eight inches apart, the tops brought into 
 \ straight line, and a narrow strip of board nailed upon them, one 
 lail to each stake. 
 
 A Cheap Home-Made Gate. — In our trips through Vermont we 
 'lave seen gates that were made in a manner very similar to the fol- 
 owing direction, which we copy from the Ohio Farmer . According 
 ,o our recollection of the Vermont style the long strips are thinner 
 md nailed on both sides of the end pieces and brace, opposite to each 
 ’)ther, of course, and the hinge end-piece was considerable longer than 
 he latch end. Such light gates may be easily opened and shut, al- 
 hough not entirely supported by the hinges. 
 
 I take five pieces of inch boards, each ten feet long, one of these 
 sight inches wide for the bottom strip, and each of the others four 
 nches wide. I then take one piece four inches wide for one end up- 
 ight, and one piece eight inches wide for the end piece where the 
 Linges are to be. These end strips are four feet long, that being high 
 Rough for any gate for ordinary purposes. Now lay down your end 
 >iece, then place the eight-inch wide and ten-foot long strip for the 
 •ottom, nail it at each end to the upright with wrought nails : now 
 ake three of the four inch wide strips and lay them on parallel with 
 be bottom one, dividing the spaces so as to leave four inches between 
 lie lower two boards, and six inches each space between the upper 
 nes : nail as before. Now turn the gate over, and take the remain- 
 ag strip, lay it at an angle from the bottom, at the hinge end, to the 
 op, at the latch end ; cut it so that it will fit in and lay close to the 
 mg strips; nail it thoroughly. Now hang with strong hinges and 
 
364 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 you have a gate that is light, and will not sag, and just as perfee 
 against cattle as one made by a joiner, and costing from three to five 
 dollars. Any person can put together and hang such a gate in twc 
 hours. 
 
 Hedges. — The two leading plants for fence hedges in this country 
 are thorns, such as are native to the locality, and Osage orange. Ir 
 the South there is considerable fencing done with the Cherokee rose 
 The Holly is sometimes used there also, and so is the red cedar. Anc 
 in the North, Norway spruce and Arbor Vitae. Hedges all occupy s 
 good deal of ground, and are not always reliable fences. 
 
 For ornamental hedges, the barberry, althea, shepherdia, mahonia 
 willow, Japan pear, (Pyrus Japonica,) and privet, are all used. 
 
 In setting hedge plants the first step is to deeply trench the ground 
 and unless the soil is naturally rich, work in some well- rotted manure 
 — that composted of leaves is excellent. 
 
 Amateurs are apt to spoil their hedges by false economy in trim- 
 ming. They are too anxious to increase the growth and do not cu 
 away enough of the wood at each of the first clippings. Six or eigb 
 inches is all that you can safely increase a hedge per year. The clip- 
 ping in May must be what persons unacquainted with the business 
 would call very severe, leaving but a mere framework of stubs oi 
 branches and bringing the hedge into the desired shape. 
 
 FARMING TOOLS AND IMPLEMENTS, WAGONS, HAR- 
 NESS, &C. 
 
 Care of Farm Implements . — The injury done to farm implement 
 oy getting well soaked in a heavy shower, and then rapidly dried b 
 the heat of the sun, is not sufficiently appreciated by the majority oi 
 farmers. Paint and shelter cost far less than the loss incurred by thei: 
 neglect. 
 
 C are of Tools . — Make a list of all tools, implements, carts, &c., anc 
 write it largely and plainly on a large sheet of stiff pasteboard, or or 
 a painted board prepared for this purpose, each class in a separate col- 
 umn. Every day at evening, as regularly as the cows are milked an 
 supper eaten, look over this list and see what tools have been usedtha 
 day, and see that all are in their places. Once a week examine ever; 
 sne more particulalry and see that it is in good condition, and put awa; 
 bright and clean. Unless this regular review is made and all work 
 
r ARMING TOOLS AND IMPLEMENTS, WAGONS, HARNESS, &C. 365 
 
 ien made responsible for the tools they use, many will be injured at a 
 >ss far greater than all this trouble ; many will ultimately be lost ; 
 nd hours will be expended in hunting for those misplaced, with work 
 urrying, men standing idle, and teams delayed — while every one will 
 irnestly protest that he “didn’t have it last.” 
 
 Keep a vessel of prepared paint with a close fitting lid, to prevent 
 /aporation, and repaint tools rainy days as frequently as they may 
 ?er so little need it, more particularly those parts exposed to moist- 
 re as felloes of wagon and cart wheels, &c., and they will last very 
 uch longer for it. Light colors heat the least in the sun and are 
 lerefore best. Whitewashing the coarser tools frequently will be 
 aarly or quite as beneficial as paint and much cheaper. 
 lo Keep Plows Bright. — The moment the plow comes from the field 
 ■ter use, grease the bright mould board and other parts with any 
 Lnd of cheap grease, which has no salt in it, or with lamp oil. The 
 tter may be best where mice frequent. 
 
 Grindstones. — Attach a treadle to your grindstone, then you can 
 irn it yourself while you grind knife, axe, scythe, or other implement. 
 
 Water Troughs. — A large iron kettle, such as is used for boiling pot- 
 $h, furnishes a convenient and lasting watering trough for stock, and 
 said to be cheaper in the end than any that can be made of wood, 
 owever strongly constructed. 
 
 Securing the Foot of Ladders. — Take almost any old piece of iron 
 oout a foot in length, and have one end drawn to a point, and three 
 : four holes punched in it, and screw it firmly to the under side of 
 ie of the ladder sides, letting the sharp point extend about three 
 iches beyond the end of the wood. Such a fixture will cost about a 
 me, and may save broken bones or even life. 
 
 Wagons. — The Agnculturist says wagon wheels ought to stand per- 
 ctly plumb, and the face of the tire should be parallel with the axles 
 id with the plane of travel, if it is the prime object to have the load 
 oon the wheels drawn with the least outlay of power. If the ends of 
 le axles are bent down, the only good effect is to give the mud thrown 
 hen driving rapidly a tendency to fly away from the carriage. The 
 heels are then drawn at a mechanical disadvantage. Neither should 
 ie axles be tapering and hub-boxes conical, both should be perfectly 
 ylindrical. 
 
 A writer recommends for farm wagons front wheels two feet six in- 
 les high, hind wheels three feet, felloes and tires five or six inches 
 ide, tires thin. Advantages claimed : less liability to overturn on 
 
366 
 
 PEACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 side hills, greater ease of drawing on soft ground, where narrow tires 
 cut in, and can be used on sward ground when soft in Spring. 
 
 To Keep Tires on Wheels . — A practical man says on this subject 
 I ironed a wagon some years ago for my own use, and before putting; 
 on the tires, I filled the fellies with linseed oil ; and the tires have 
 worn out and were never loose. I ironed a buggy for my own use 
 seven years ago, and the tires are as tight now as when they were put 
 on. My method of filling the fellies with oil, is as follows : I use a 
 long cast iron oil heater, made for the purpose ; the oil is brought to 
 a boiling heat, the wheel is placed on a stick so as to hang in the oil 
 each felly an hour for a common sized felly. The timber should be 
 dry, as wet timber will not take oil. Care should be taken that the 
 oil be not made hotter than boiling heat, in order that the timber be 
 not burnt. Timber filled with oil is not susceptible to water, and the 
 timber is much more durable. Some blacksmiths and wagon makers 
 may object to it as it is profitable business to tighten tires and repair 
 wheels. 
 
 India Rubber Lubricator . — Take one gallon of rape seed or of lard 
 oil, and heat it to about 212° Fah., then add half a pound of India- 
 rubber cut into fine shreds and stir the whole until the rubber is dis- 
 solved. This is held to be a superior anti-friction lubricator. 
 
 Care of Harness . — Leather is seldom injured by being wet if hung 
 up to dry, instead of being left in a mass on the floor or in a corner, 
 where the drying is so slow as to create mold. Harness should be 
 kept hung on wooden pegs in a clean dry room with a plank floor, so 
 that it may be free from dampness. When soiled it should be wash- 
 ed with Castile soap suds. For general use harness should be fairly 
 oiled twice a year, or if used constantly, four times a year, and for 
 this purpose either • pure neat’s foot oil should be used, or the article 
 known by the curriers as “ daubing ; ” and this should be rubbed in 
 while the leather is moist, but not wet. The oil should be rubbed on 
 smartly for a sufficient length of time to insure its entrance into the 
 leather, rather than leave it upon its immediate surface. If the leath- 
 er be positively dry, this substance cannot enter, and therefore the 
 necessity of its being moist and pliant at the time of application. 
 Varnish should never be applied; it fills pores, and prevents the nec- 
 essary access of air, causing the leather to become crisp and rigid, and 
 in a short space of time it is rendered tender, causing it to crack, break, 
 etc. Before applying any oily substance to the leather, all dirt should 
 be thoroughly removed from its surface, and no other material than 
 lamp black should ever be mixed with oil, where it is necessary to 
 
FARMING- TOOLS AND IMPLEMENTS, WAGONS, HARNESS, AC. 3G7 
 
 blacken the leather. Shoe blacking is sometimes used and always 
 with injurious effect ; it frequently contains sulphuric acid, which, when 
 brought into contact with leather, rapidly destroys it. Where the 
 leather is very dry, as with boots and shoes, the injury from this cause 
 is not so great. 
 
 Unbuckle and separate every strap ; wash in warm soap-suds — the 
 warmth a little exceeding that of new milk — if approaching hot, 
 it will injure the leather. Some prefer a cold suds. Use the 
 soap suds only long enough to remove the crust formed by dust on the 
 previous oiling. If the application is longer continued, it will ab- 
 stract too' much oil from the leather. Carriage harness to look well, 
 should be blacked, and afterwards the oil applied. After washing let 
 the harness dry until when a strap is bent the water does not ooze 
 out, then apply the oil. 
 
 Oil for Harness. — It has been recommended to apply first neats 
 foot oil, and afterwards the same with one-third castor oil, which, it is 
 said, enables the leather to withstand the effects of rain and exposure 
 longer than otherwise. Parts worn and used most should have a sec- 
 ond application. 
 
 Blacking for Harness. — One ounce of extract of logwood, twelve 
 grains of bi-chromate of potash, both powdered fine, and then two 
 quarts of boiling rain water added and stirred until all is dissolved. 
 To be kept in a bottle. 
 
 Another. — Take izinglass, one-fourth ounce ; indigo' in fine powder, 
 one-fourth ounce ; soft-soap, four ounces ; glue, five ounces ; logwood, 
 four ounces ; vinegar two pints ; ground black, one-half ounce ; bees- 
 wax, one ounce. Infuse the logwood in vinegar for some time with 
 gentle heat, and when the color is well extracted, strain the liquid and 
 add the other ingredients to it ; boil until the glue is dissolved, then 
 put it into stoneware or glass jars. 
 
 Another. — Melt four ounces of mutton suet with twelve ounces of 
 beeswax, and twelve ounces of sugar candy, four ounces of soft soap 
 dissolved in water, and two ounces of indigo finely powdered. When 
 melted and well mixed, add half a pint of turpentine. Lay it on the 
 harness with a sponge, and polish it off with a brush. This blacking 
 is for working harness, which should be cleaned up and polished fre- 
 quently when in constant use. 
 
 For Carriage Harness. — Take three sticks of black sealing wax, dis- 
 solve them in half pint of alcohol, and then apply with a sponge. Lac 
 dissolved in alcohol, and colored with lampblack will answer the same 
 purpose. This is a quick drying hard varnish, liable to crack the 
 leather, and should therefore be put on seldom as possible. 
 
368 
 
 PKACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 To Protect Harness from Mice . — Mice gnaw harness for the salt 
 contained in the perspiration exuded from the horse. To prevent the 
 gnawing, place salt in places where the mice can get at it. 
 
 Cleaning Saddles , <Jc. — The whites of three eggs evaporated till the 
 substance left resembles the common gum, dissolve in a pint of gin, 
 and put into a common wine bottle, and fill up with water. This will 
 give saddles and bridles a good polish and be entirely free from all 
 stickiness. 
 
 ABOUT GRASSES, PASTURES, MEADOWS, HAY AND 
 HAY MAKING. 
 
 Sowing Grass Seed . — We believe in the economy of sowing grass 
 seed with every small grain crop. If a field of wheat is well harrow- 
 ed in, and the ground is fresh, it may be sown with timothy without 
 doing anything further ; the first shower will cover the seed sufficient- 
 ly. If the surface is not entirely smooth, it will pay to drag over it 
 a large bush when the grass seed is sown. Some land that is pretty 
 wet is apt to send the timothy ahead of the wheat in the spring, and 
 injure the crop. Such land had best not be sown till spring. It is a 
 good plan to sow upon a light snow, if there is one at the right time. 
 When it melts, the grass seed will be sufficiently covered. If there is 
 not a snow, or if the land is dry, the grass seed may be sown in March, 
 and lightly harrowed or bushed in without any harm to the wheat. 
 If wheat land is to be seeded to clover we would mix the seed with 
 plaster, and sow it in March or April, without harrowing. The quan- 
 tity of timothy or clover seed per acre varies from four to eight quarts, 
 and plaster from a half a bushel to two bushels. In sowing grass or 
 clover seed upon oat ground, care should be taken to sow it directly 
 after the oats, while the ground is fresh ; and it will be an advantage 
 to roll the land or drag it with a bush. There is no method of manur- 
 ing land equally cheap with sowing grass or clover seed, and turning 
 in the sod for a hoed crop with a Michigan plow. 
 
 A farmer of fifty year's experience and observation, says he is con- 
 vinced too little grass seed is sown. Formerly he sowed four quarts 
 of clover and eight quarts of timothy seed to an acre ; now never less 
 than eight or ten quarts clover, and fourteen to eighteen quarts timo- 
 thy. Since doing this he has had no failure, but generally a heavy 
 mat of fine grass. 
 
GRASSES, PASTURES, MEADOWS, HAY, &C. 
 
 369 
 
 Solon Robinson says : The best time to sow clover is early in the 
 spring, with small grain. If upon winter wheat, sow the clover on the 
 last snow, at least four quarts to the acre. 
 
 Grass and Good Husbandry. — The foundation of all good husban- 
 dry upon any farm not devoted to some speciality, as cotton, sugar, 
 rice, fruit, &c., is an abundance of grass. And this grass, either as 
 grazing or winter keeping, must be fed on the farm to domestic ani- 
 mals. It cannot be sold off without endangering the fertility of the 
 land. Every Northern farmer who would be successful must devote 
 his energies to making his farm productive in grass. 
 
 Pasturing. — It is poor economy to feed pastures very close. They 
 will yield much more if the grass has a fair start, than if fed down so 
 low that it can scarcely grow. Cattle which pick a pasture down to 
 the bone, are very apt to run largely to bone. John Johnson supposes 
 a case founded on repeated observation, in illustration of this truth. 
 He says : A has a little field which he thinks will keep twenty head of 
 cattle, and puts them into it. B has a field the same size and quality, 
 but he puts only ten into it. Now it will almost always be found that 
 in the autumn, the ten have gained as many, often more pounds live 
 weight, than the twenty. The ten with the first rate pasture would 
 gain say four hundred pounds each, and it is doubtful if the twenty 
 have gained two hundred pounds each. The ten would make extra 
 beef, bring an extra price, while the twenty would only make third 
 rate beef, bringing little more per pound than they were worth when 
 turned into pasture. The ten paid twenty-five dollars each for their 
 oasture, or perhaps more. This I have often seen. 
 
 Mossy Meadows. — Old grass fields are sometimes rendered almost 
 worthless by a growth of moss. We see it stated that such land has 
 )een entirely renovated by sowing salt broadcast. The quantity of 
 ;alt per acre may vary from five to fifteen bushels ; but it is stated 
 hat in some experiments four bushels were found entirely sufficient — 
 hat the moss disappeared and the new grass that came up was highly 
 •elished by the cattle. 
 
 Hay Making. — Don't dry your Kay too much. Hay may be dried 
 ill it is as worthless as straw. As a good coffee-maker would say, 
 ‘don’t burn your coffee, but brown it; ” so we say, “ don't dry your 
 iay, but cure it.” Our good old mothers, who relied upon herb tea, 
 gathered their herbs when in blossom, and cured them in the shade. 
 
 This is the philosophy of making good hay. Cut in the blossom, 
 nd cure in the shade. The sugar of the plant, when it is in bloom, 
 
 3 in the stalk ready to form the seeds. If the plant is cut earlier, the 
 
370 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 sugar is not there ; if later, the sugar has became converted to woody 
 matter. 
 
 Hay should be well wilted in the sun, but cured in the cock. Bet- 
 ter to be a little too green than too dry. If, on putting it into the 
 barn, there is danger of “ heating in the mow,” put on some salt. Cat- 
 tle will like it none the less. 
 
 Heat, light, and dry winds, will soon take the starch and sugar, 
 which constitute the goodness of hay, out of it ; and, with the addi- 
 tion of a shower, render it almost worthless. Grass cured with the 
 least exposure to the drying winds and searching sunshine, is more 
 nutritious than if longer exposed, however good the weather may be. 
 If over cured, it contains more woody fibre, and less nutritive matter. 
 
 The true art of hay making, then, consists in cutting the grass when 
 the starch and sugar are most fully developed, and before they are 
 converted into seed and woody fibre ; and curing it up to the point 
 when it will answer to put in the barn without heating , and no more. 
 
 The sooner any of the kinds of hay is brought into proper condition 
 to go into winter quarters after being cut the better. It should be cut 
 while it is grass, not after it has become hay ; it should be cut and 
 cured, not cured and cut. 
 
 A writer says : A new and rather thinly seeded piece of Timothy 
 will grow coarse stalks, which must be cut while younger than the crop 
 of an old field which was thickly seeded, and has grown thick and fine. 
 The field where the growth is thin we would cut as soon as it blossomed. 
 The field where the stalks grow thick and fine we would allow to stand 
 until the seeds in the but-end of the heads were in the milk, and a por- 
 tion of them would mature so as to grow after the grass was cut. Oth- 
 er grasses and clover we would cut in full blossom, taking care not to 
 dry it to death after it was cut. We would never mow while the gras9 
 was wet with dew or rain ; and if cut with a machine, we would not 
 care how soon after it was cut it was raked into winrows with the 
 horse-rake. If cut with a scythe, turn the swaths over as soon as the 
 top is well wilted, and, after an hour or two of hot sun on the other 
 side, let a man with a thin-pronged fork begin to pitch the swaths to- 
 gether into winrows. If not previously bleached, grass will stand a 
 hard rain in swath or winrow without serious injury. It should al- 
 ways be put in good-sized well-made cocks before it is dry, and then 
 let it sweat. It may even turn black without injury, but it is prefer- 
 able not to allow it to reach that stage, for fear acetous fermentation 
 should take place. Ho matter how green the grass or hay of the cock 
 looks, or how much it smokes from the sweating process when you 
 
GRASSES, PASTURES, MEADOWS, HAY, &C. 
 
 371 
 
 pitch it on the wagon ; if the air is hot and windy it will dry out So as 
 to keep perfectly in the mow or stack by the time you have pitched 
 and carted and pitched again, and then again in mowing it away. 
 Grass cut at noon may be cocked at four o'clock, and hauled the next 
 morning, and make better hay than it would if cut in the morning and 
 afterward spread, and stirred, and raked, and pitched about, and fi- 
 nally cocked in the afternoon, and the cocks opened and shook up 
 again the next afternoon, because they felt a little warm inside, and, 
 finally, after getting as dry as tinder and puffy as feathers, hauled 
 away to the barn. In our opinion, there is a foolish fashion of cutting 
 grass “ with the dew on," and an unnecessary labor in curing it, and 
 an altogether causeless fear of putting hay in the barn too green. It 
 should be put away in such a condition that it will be green in color 
 when fed out in winter. Take a handful of grass and hang it up in a 
 dry, dark room until cured, and see if you don’t think such hay of 
 more value than your sun-dried, colorless stuff. • 
 
 Another says : The best time for .cutting clover is when it comes 
 first into bloom — that after being cut, it should remain five hours in 
 the swath, then be thrown into cocks, and thus cured. 
 
 I lay down as a principle, says Mechi, that good hay should be 
 green. If the cut grass were immediately dessicated or dried, it 
 would be green. 
 
 Preservation of Hay. — Gen. Thompson, of Hew Bedford, Mass., cut 
 grass about eleven o’clock in the forenoon of a day in July. It was 
 immediately packed closely in a cask, the head of which w T as at once 
 put in, its hoops driven, and the cask rolled into a shed. There it re- 
 mained untouched until January, when it was opened, and its contents 
 were as sweet as the day when they were first packed. There was all 
 the freshness, greenness and aroma of new-mown hay — not a suspicion 
 of mustiness nor a sign of decay. It was bright, flexible and juicy. It 
 is suggested that gfrass cut as this was, might be screwed into bun- 
 dles in the field, and thus be equally well preserved. There are hay- 
 presses which accomplish the object very thoroughly. 
 
 Leading Products of Different States . — From the census returns of 
 1860, it appears that the state of Illinois produced the largest quan- 
 tity of wheat and Indian corn of any state in the Union ; Pennsylvania 
 the most rye and buckwheat; New York the most oats, potatoes, hay, 
 butter and cheese ; Ohio the most wool and wine ; Virginia the most 
 tobacco, and Kentucky the next largest quantity ; Mississippi the lar- 
 gest amount of cotton, and Alabama the next ; South Carolina the 
 most rice, and Georgia the next largest quantity ; Louisiana the most 
 sugar and molasses. 
 
372 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 Average Yield of Crojps Per Acre in the Different States . — The fol- 
 lowing is compiled from the First Annual Eeport of the Department 
 of Agriculture : 
 
 California, 
 
 Connecticut, 
 
 Delaware, 
 
 Illinois, 
 
 Indiana, 
 
 Iowa, 
 
 Kansas, 
 
 Maine 
 
 Maryland, 
 
 Michigan, 
 
 Minnesota, 
 
 Massachusetts, 
 
 Missouri, 
 
 New Hampshire, . . 
 
 New Jersey, 
 
 New York, 
 
 Ohio, 
 
 Rhode Island, 
 
 Pennsylvania, 
 
 Vermont, 
 
 Wisconsin, 
 
 Largest yield, 
 
 Smallest, 
 
 Average yield of all 
 
 States in even bush. 
 
 Highest price per 
 
 bush., 
 
 Lowest per bushel, . 
 
 Average price for 
 
 all the States 
 
 STATE. 
 
 Iff co to ^ w co co co co co co to co rf*. to co *>. co rf*. to co to 
 
 . u< OWO»i05»4Wyi^OOQC«40iH»if.OOOUOONIOO 
 
 © tO — 
 
 — CO 0 
 
 Indian corn, 
 bushels. 
 
 — Iff — t— • to 1 —* t— ' 1 to t— * I—* V— ^ 1 — ‘ )— * 1 — ■ to 1 — ■ I—* t— < to ' — • 1 — ‘ 1 —* 1 — ‘ I— * to 
 
 . -4 itk#.*4oaioacioo9'M^oooiKO)HifiO»^oiM^ 
 
 Z S2 ■ X X 
 
 Wheat, 
 
 bushels. 
 
 I—* HUMHMtSHI-'HHMHtOHMMtOtOtOtOMMtO 
 
 . 00 tf.OOOOOiOOMC5«000®-(Oi|raiO>OOQClWOO(»lfs.O 
 
 -4 ^ 00 
 
 to 0-4 
 
 Rye, bushels. 
 
 Iff CO — ^ CO CO rf 5 . — CO CO co to co to to CO CO CO 1 -* to to CO to 
 
 • 1 — 0'V<M»-toiotwwif>-®oiwOTO)05Wooioo'wao 
 
 CO to 0 • \W 
 
 0 to 0 «P\ 
 
 Oats, bushels. 
 
 ^ to to CO co to to co to to to to to to CO to CO to co to to co to to to 
 . 00 WMW>K500Cn«0^0>-J05(f.®t5!0<l'OQO;0»CnCC 
 
 -4 — ■ to \W \M 
 
 0 oo i£\ 
 
 Barley, 
 
 bushels. 
 
 Yl to 1-1 CO to to to — to to to to to to to to to to co to to to CO — to 
 rf* G)Om-l#*-IWNWO0'“CiW«C®O , OC<CCOCiO 
 
 01 CO- 
 CO -4 rf5. 
 
 Buckwheat, 
 
 bushels. 
 
 JO JO^JOJOJOJOJOJOJOJO CO to rfi.JOJO tO^CO jt\CO^OJOjOjND 
 0 © © — 'flO " — co'to'to'co'o'oo 05~CO © CO ©'©'© to'rf/. ©'rfi.'^'o* — 
 
 • • • O — ©©Cne©4l©©©©©®©©©t0©©4!©0©rf5. 
 
 O OOp OOOOOO'OOOOOOOOOOtOOOCOOOOO 
 
 Hay, pounds. 
 
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 Sweet Potatoes 
 bushels. 
 
 Average Yield Per Acre in Bushels and Pounds. 
 
CEREALS AND SEEDS. 
 
 373 
 
 CEREALS AND SEEDS. 
 
 Seeds. — It may be laid down as a universal rule, correct in theory, 
 though not always appreciable by the senses, that seed never produces 
 its like, — but that every plant produced from seed is a new variety. 
 
 Method of Preserving Seeds Pure. — Whoever wishes to keep a 
 squash, or cucumber, or melon true to that quality which belongs to 
 its vine, must protect its blossoms from the contact of bees and bugs 
 for one day. Whoever has a favorite peach, whether itself grown on 
 a budded stock or not, can raise the same in successive generations 
 by securing a single blossom from all admixtures with other trees for 
 three days — one before and two after its opening — himself attending, 
 if necessary, to the fertilization from its own stamens. In the case 
 of vines, place small boxes covered with gauze or fine millinet over a 
 few of the blossoms a day or two previous to their opening, keeping 
 them there till the blossoms shrivel. 
 
 It has been frequently stated that if the largest pip in an apple be 
 sown, the fruit will be similar to that of the parent tree without 
 grafting. 
 
 Testing Seeds. — All doubtful field and garden seeds should be proved 
 before sowing. Count a portion of seed and plant it in a box or pot 
 of fine soil, kept damp in a warm room. The number of plants which 
 appear will show the proportion of good seed. Or place the seeds be- 
 tween the folds of a damp cloth, and put this between two plates to 
 prevent evaporation. Or tie them in a cloth and bury them in the 
 soil of a hot-bed. — Editor American Agriculturist. 
 
 The vitality of seeds may be tested by putting into a tin pan a thin 
 green sod, grass uppermost. On this place a quantity of sod with the 
 grass side down. Moisten the whole with hot water, keep near a 
 stove, and in a short time the seeds will show whether they may be 
 depended on or not. 
 
 Vitality of Seeds. — Seeds of different kinds, collected and preserved 
 with equal care, will vary in the length of time they retain their pow- 
 ers of germination. Some seem to be good after an indefinite period, 
 while others are not to be depended upon after they are a year old. 
 The seeds of some trees will not germinate at all if once allowed to 
 dry, and others will only appear the second year after planting. 
 Works upon horticulture are generally deficient in information upon 
 the raising of seeds and the length of time they may be safely kept. 
 While it is safest to keep them at a uniform temperature just above 
 
374 
 
 PKACTICAL CYCLOPEDIA. 
 
 freezing, there are many which will hear great extremes of heat and 
 cold/ Plants have been raised from seeds taken from raspberry jam 
 which must have been exposed to a heat of 220 degrees. When bu- 
 ried in the earth, below the reach of those influences which induce 
 germination, there seems to be no limit to the vitality of some seeds. 
 Among plants commonly cultivated, the seeds of carrots, onions, pars- 
 aeps, aiid salsify, are not to be relied upon when over a year old. 
 Beets, spinach, lettuce, celery and parsley, will keep two or three 
 years. Radishes, cabbages and turnips, four or five years. Melons 
 and cucumbers may be kept for ten or more years ; old seeds of these 
 are preferred by some gardeners, as the vines are said to be more pro- 
 lific and less luxuriant than those from fresh ones. Good seeds being 
 heavier than water will generally sink in it, but this is not applicable 
 to those with a hairy or spongy seed-coat ; such seeds will float even 
 when sound. The only sure test is to try and sprout them in boxes 
 or pots of earth. If they do not germinate there, they should be re- 
 jected. 
 
 A very good authority gives the following : Parsneps and rhubarb, 
 two years; beans and peas, two to three years ; „ carrot, lettuce, mus- 
 tard, nasturtions, and parsley, three to four years; cabbage, egg 
 plant, pepper, radish, spinach, salsify, turnip, tomato, four to five 
 years ; asparagus, brocoli, cauliflower, celery, and okra, five to six 
 years ; beets, corn and all the cerials, cucumber, gourd, melon, pump- 
 kins, squash, six to ten years and upwards. This applies to the best 
 seeds, well ripened, and kept with proper care. If kept dry and cool 
 in air-tight vessels, as all garden seeds should be, possibly they may 
 be made to preserve their vitality very much longer. 
 
 In addition to the old story of the vegetation of wheat found in an 
 Egyptian mummy, the Hew Hampshire Journal of Agriculture, in re- 
 ply to the inquiry of a correspondent as to the length of time that 
 seeds retain their vitality, quotes the following statement froiji an 
 English paper : 
 
 James Binks, in the North British Agriculturist , stated that he had 
 recently cleared off some old Roman encampments on his farm near 
 Alnwick, a farm which he had lived upon for sixty-four years, and 
 forthwith among the barley there sown arose some seventy-four vari- 
 eties of oats never seen in that region before. As no oats had been 
 sown, he supposed the place to have been an old cavalry camp, and 
 that the oats, which were ripened under other skies, had lain covered 
 with debris for fifteen hundred years, and now being exposed to the 
 
CEREALS AND SEEDS. 
 
 375 
 
 action of sun and air, they germinated as readily as though but re- 
 cently sown. 
 
 Time Required for Seeds to Germinate. — Wheat, one day ; beans, 
 mustard, spinach, three days; lettuce, four; melon, cucumber, cress, 
 beets, radishes, five ; barley, seven ; purslane, nine ; cabbage, ten ; 
 parsley, forty; peach, chestnut, almond, one year ; roses, filberts, haw- 
 thorn, two years. Soil, degree of moisture, and temperature may 
 cause some variations. 
 
 Saving Seeds . — If farmers and gardeners would but spend a small 
 fraction of the time literally thrown away every year, in producing and 
 saving their home grown seeds, instead of depending as is too widely 
 the practice upon seedsmen and strangers, they would be greatly the 
 gainers in improved stock. 
 
 Begin to save garden seeds in August. Tie a red cloth on the ear- 
 nest ears of sweet corn, on the most forward tomatoes, cucumbers, 
 squashes, and everything else to be saved for seed — and save none but 
 the earliest. By this means earlier vegetables and fruit will be saved 
 next year. But by saving the seed of those that ripen last, the fruit 
 will mature later and later every season, until after a few years it will 
 not ripen at all. 
 
 It is said that cabbage seed gathered from the middle flower stem 
 produces plants which will be fit for use a fortnight earlier than those 
 from the seed of the lateral flower stems. 
 
 The subject -of saving seed is a very important one to the farmer and 
 gardener, and to every one that works a patch of ground, therefore we 
 add some excellent advice from Hibberd : 
 
 He says, make it a rule to clear off every crop as soon as it ceases 
 to be useful ; and if your ground is not too large for you, never grow 
 a single ounce of seed, except of any particular thing of which you can 
 not make sure of a supply. When you do grow seed, do not leave the 
 worst plants for that purpose, but the very best you have ; and give 
 those as much extra culture as they will bear, for poor seed is not 
 worth gathering, and there are few things that can not be improved by 
 bestowing a little extra labor in growing and seeding. Such things as 
 peas and beans, if intended for seed, should not be gathered from at 
 all, because the first pods are the best ; if they are plucked, and a sec- 
 ond supply depended upon, the seed will be inferior. In saving seed 
 of potatoes, choose the best shaped, hardest tubers, that have no sec- 
 ond growth on them : let them be thoroughly ripe before taking up. 
 Choose those that are about the size of hen’s eggs, and let them lie on 
 a piece of dry ground in the fall sun for a week ; then lay them in 
 
376 
 
 PEACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 shallow baskets and stow them away, where they will be safe from 
 frost, damp, and artificial heat, so that a free circulation and some 
 amount of light can reach them. By February they will be green 
 and hard, and little sprouts will be breaking : they are just in trim 
 for planting. Of all other things, choose the very best for seed; for 
 early things, choose those that are the earliest in the patch. Of things 
 that are prized for bulk and weight, select the finest for size and gen- 
 eral perfection; gather all seeds just before they are dead ripe, and 
 dry them on a piece of cloth or sacking, so that if any shell out they 
 may not be lost. 
 
 How to have good Seeds. — There is a town Agricultural Society in 
 Andover, Mass., which has been of great value, and tended more than 
 anything else to beautify the town. One person belonging to the 
 society plants beets, another carrots, others some other vegetables, for 
 the purpose of supplying the members of the society with fresh and 
 surely-germinating seed. 
 
 To Clean Tomato and Cucumber Seeds. — A correspondent of the 
 American Agriculturist says: Put the seeds and pulp just as they 
 come from the vegetable into any earthen-ware dish, and set them in 
 a cool place for a week or ten days, when a thick mould will appear 
 m top and a thin watery substance beneath the mould. Then pour 
 vater into the vessel, stir up the contents, and the mould and other 
 impurities can be poured off, and the seeds will be found perfectly 
 clean and free from pulp. 
 
 Saving Seed Corn. — Remember, that every new plant raised from 
 grain, is more or less a new variety — and to have it constantly impro- 
 ving save the very best. In husking corn, take such ears as are finest, 
 and from the most prolific stalks. Ten years of constant care like 
 this, will, step by step, effect a great improvement. Potatoes, not 
 being raised from seed , but only by a multiplication of the same plant, 
 will not thus improve. 
 
 The most successful and interesting demonstration of the practica- 
 bility of improving Indian corn, says the Rural Register , is that made 
 by Thomas Baden, Maryland, who, by carefully selecting the best seed 
 in his field for a long series of years, having special reference to those 
 stalks which produced the most ears, ultimately obtained a variety 
 which yields four, five, six, and even as high as eight and ten ears to 
 the single stalk. 
 
 The plan he adopted was this : When the corn was husked, he made 
 a re-selection, taking only that which was perfectly sound and fully 
 ripe. In the spring, before shelling the corn, he examined it again, 
 
CEREALS AND SEEDS. 
 
 377 
 
 throwing out any that had assumed a bad appearance during the win- 
 ter. In shelling the corn, he threw aside the grains at both large and 
 small ends. He has carefully followed this mode of selecting seed 
 corn, for twenty-five or thirty years, and still (if living,) continues to 
 do so. At present he does not pretend to lay up any seed without it 
 comes from stalks which bear four, five and six ears. 
 
 In addition to the number of ears, and of course the great increase 
 of the quantity unshelled, it yields much more than common corn when 
 shelled ; ten bushels of ears will make more than six bushels when 
 shelled. Ordinary corn will only shell five bushels to the barrel. 
 
 Mr. Baden plants his corn five feet each way, leaving two stalks to 
 the hill, which is equivalent to three and a half feet each way with one 
 stalk to the hill. This makes more hills to the acre than four by four, 
 or five by three, the old Virginia mode of planting. 
 
 A correspondent of the Boston Cultivator gives the following hints 
 in regard to selecting seed corn : 
 
 1. Pick the ears that set nearest to the ground. 2. Those ears that 
 have a short foot stalk. 3. From stalks having the most ears. Gen- 
 erally but one ear on a stalk is proper for seed, and that usually the 
 second ear. If the first ear is as good, take that. 4. Never take from 
 a stalk having but one ear, if stalks can be found having two or more 
 ears. 5. Always take ears that are filled out full to the end, and that 
 run beyond the husk, if such can be had. 6. Lay up four or five times 
 as much as will probably be wanted. 7. When you come to plant, 
 before shelling, break every ear and see if the pith of the cob is dried 
 up and hollow, for if it is not, the corn is not fully ripe. Then shell 
 off the butt and tip till you come to the long grains. 
 
 If farmers will follow this course yearly, the crop may be greatly 
 increased. Great crops can never be raised from stalks having but one 
 ear. The carelessness of farmers in selecting seed corn is one great 
 cause why corn crops are generally of so little profit. The general 
 practice of farmers in selecting seed corn, is to take the best and fair- 
 est ears in the pile, without knowing if there were one or more ears 
 cn a stalk, and most likely there was but one. 
 
 Testing Seed Corn . — A correspondent of the Cincinnati Gazette writes: 
 The following mode will be found simple, practical, and certain, and 
 can be applied to any extent desired. Put the shelled corn in a vessel 
 cr vessels of such dimensions as are required for the quantity to be 
 tested. Pour water over it of about the temperature of milk from the 
 cow, until it is fully covered, adding to the water, from time to time, 
 f the absorption and swelling of the corn should raise it above the 
 
378 
 
 PKACTICAL CYCLOPEDIA. 
 
 surface. Set it in a moderately warm place and let it remain twenty- 
 four hours. Then pour the water off, cover the corn with some thick 
 cloth which must he kept wet, and let it stand in some warm place, 
 until it sprouts. This will take place in from thirty-six to forty-eight 
 hours, usually, if the corn is good. 
 
 I prepare all my corn for planting in this manner, though I kr..ow 
 the seed to he good. I plant sometimes with the sprout half an inch 
 long. The result is that it brings the plant forward a week or more 
 earlier than planting dry. This advantage in the fall is something 
 very important. The damaged corn from my field last year did not 
 exceed five per cent. 
 
 Average Yield of Corn . — From statistics gathered by the Secretary 
 of the' Iowa Agricultural College, it appears that the average yield of 
 corn in Iowa is seventy bushels per acre: The average period of 
 growth is four and a half months — the gourd-seed variety requiring 
 five months, and the flint variety four months. 
 
 Average Yield of Grain in England. — The Mark Lane Express gives 
 in detail the average yield of wheat, barley, oats, beans and peas in 
 thirty-eight counties of England, from which we find that the grand 
 average yield, in bushels per acre, in all those counties, is as follows : 
 wheat, 29 bushels; barley, 37} bushels; Oats, 46 J bushels; beans, 
 32J bushels ; peas, 30 bushels. 
 
 Farmers will do well to compare it with the average yields of the 
 same articles in this country. The lowest average of wheat in any 
 county, 22 J bushels per acre in Devonshire, and the highest 34} bush- 
 els in Lancashire. 
 
 The lowest average of barley is 29 bushels per acre, in Shropshire, 
 and the highest average of barley is 44 bushels in Northampton. 
 
 The lowest average of oats is 34} bushels per acre, in Westmorland, 
 and the highest 59} bushels, in Cambridgeshire. 
 
 Marvels of the Wheat Plant — One of the most marvelous faculties oi 
 the wheat plant is that of sending up a multitude of stalks from a single 
 grain, known as tillering. It is the secret of its great productiveness. 
 Many experiments have been made to ascertain the limit of this fac- 
 ulty, and the results have been truly wonderful. An English gentle- 
 man sowed a few grains of commq^i red wheat on the 2d of June, one 
 of the plants from which had tillered so much by the 8th of August 
 that he divided it into eighteen others, all of which were planted sep- 
 arately. In a few weeks so many of these had again multiplied their 
 stalks, that he had set out sixty-seven altogether to go through the 
 winter. With the spring growth all these began tillering, so that ir 
 
CEREALS AND SEEDS. 
 
 379 
 
 March and April a new division was made, and the number of plants 
 increased to five hundred. It was believed that another division might 
 have been made, and that it would have increased the number of 
 two thousand. The five hundred grew most vigorously, exceeding 
 plants as ordinarily cultivated. When harvested, a single plant yield- 
 ed over one hundred ears, and the whole number of ears produced was 
 21,109, or more than forty to each divided plant, and the grain mea- 
 sured three and three-fourth pecks, weighing forty-seven and a half 
 pounds. The grains were estimated as numbering 576,840. All this 
 was the product of a single grain. 
 
 Quantity of Seed Wheat to the Acre . — When sown broadcast two bush- 
 els or two bushels and a half seems to be the general quantity ; when 
 sown in drills about a half as much. Charles Brackett of Fulton Co., 
 Ind., gives some experience in planting in hills, as follows : I planted 
 last fall five rows of wheat, with spaces between different rows of three 
 feet, two feet, and eighteen inches ; this was kept clean with the hoe, 
 and the product is as follows : Average number of stalks from each 
 seed, nearly thirty- two; number of grains to the head, seventy-two 
 to one hundred. 
 
 Thus if we count less than really grew, say thirty stalks from each 
 grain of seed, and seventy-two the fewest number of grains found in 
 any one head, we get at the rate of over two thousand fold, and from 
 that to three thousand two hundred, counting the highest yield. From 
 the year 1845 to 1855, the average of wheat in this and parts of the 
 adjoining counties, according to my record, was less than eight bushels 
 to the acre, the very best being thirty-three bushels. Indian corn 
 sown broad-cast at the rate of from one to two bushels, will yield a 
 larger average, but when planted in our usual way, produces from 
 thirty to one hundred bushels per acre. 
 
 My object in writing this is to bring the facts to the notice of agri- 
 culturists, and to induce as many as possible to try the experiment on 
 as much land as they are willing to experiment with. I hope those 
 wishing to test the matter will get the wheat in before the last of Au- 
 gust. I lay off the ground two feet each way, and put four grains to 
 each hill, and keep clean till next harvest. It must be put in early — 
 no matter how soon after harvest. This will give thirty stalks to the 
 square foot, and 104,089,600 grains to the acre; which, allowing 
 898,560 grains to the bushel, gives nearly one hundred and sixteen 
 bushels to the acre. This estimate is a correct one, based upon actual 
 facts, and, although it looks like a wild calculation, will, I think, prove 
 so nearly correct as to help reform our present slovenly and extrava- 
 
380 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 gant mode of wheat culture. The quantity of seed required to plant 
 an acre, is only a trifle over five pounds if put in as above described. 
 Where my wheat stood in rows, three feet apart, when ripe the heads 
 appeared nearly as thick together as in a field of broad-cast wheat, 
 and, instead of being from two to three inches in length, were from 
 six to seven. 
 
 Selecting and Mixing Seed Wheat. — If as much pains were taken 
 in selecting seed wheat as seed corn probably no less advantages would 
 be gained. Eepeated screening will select the finest grain. In pick- 
 ling seed wheat as a preventive of smut, if care is used to scatter but 
 little at a time in the pickle, the imperfect and light grains may he 
 skimmed off. Seed wheat may be greatly improved from year to year 
 by taking pains to cut it from the best portions of the field. Persons 
 who use but little seed may go through the field and select the choic- 
 est heads. By selecting the best sheaves and whipping them over a 
 barrel without unbinding them the best heads are shelled. And one 
 farmer took his seed wheat on the barn floor, and threw it across the 
 barn, a handful at a time, saving only the heaviest kernels, which 
 went the farthest. 
 
 Samuel Heinstern, of Chester Co., Pa., says that he practised mix- 
 ing seed wheat sixteen years with the best results, and recommends 
 that each farmer should every year exchange with another a part of 
 his seed and mix the two or more sorts together. The advantage of 
 this course has been proved by others. A change of seed is by some 
 thought more important than rotation of crops. 
 
 To Prevent Smut in Wheat. — Pickle it in a strong brine, to which 
 may or may not be added sulphate of copper, or sulphate of iron, or sim- 
 ply urine saturated with salt. The practice of. sprinkling dry slacked 
 lime with it in the bins when stored also prevents smut and the injury 
 by weavil. One farmer recommends keeping the seed over to the sec- 
 ond year for sowing; another recommends mixing a peck of fresh 
 slacked lime with ten bushels of seed wheat and letting it stand a few 
 days before sowing. The lime can be separated from the grain by 
 running it through the fanning mill. 
 
 How to Treat Germinating Wheat. — Prof. Nickels has directed the at- 
 tion of the Agricultural Society of Sancy, France, to a very simple 
 process of treating germinating wheat, so as to make it fit for use in 
 bread. On account of the heavy rains in many parts of France last 
 autumn, the harvest was gathered in a damp state, and much of the 
 wheat germinated, so as to be unfit for use. This attracted the serious 
 attention of M. Nickels, who immediately made some experiments, 
 
CEREALS AND SEEDS. 
 
 381 
 
 with a view to find out some cheap and efficient mode of removing it; 
 and he succeeded in obtaining very satisfactory results, simply by the 
 use of salt. The two principal ingredients of wheat are starch and 
 gluten, and both of which are insoluble after germination. Thus the 
 starch becomes dextrine; the gluten loses the elasticity necessary to 
 make good dough ; and the bread made from it is heavy, indigestible 
 and unwholesome. By the addition of salt, however, the gluten is res- 
 tored to its natural taste of insolubility, and becomes fit for making 
 good bread. M. Nickels found that a mixture of about four ounces 
 of salt and thirteen pounds of flour from germinated wheat, yielded 
 about seventeen pounds of excellent bread. About twenty-one pounds 
 of salt, worth 1 3 4d., will be sufficient for o*_e hundred pounds of 
 flour, producing one hundred and forty-three pounds of bread. 
 
 Hulled Wheat. — A French writer states that hulled wheat makes 
 ten per cent, more flour and of a better quality than the unhulled 
 grain, also that the former has been found to keep much better, as 
 the weavils and animalculae which destroy grain deposit their eggs in 
 the hull. 
 
 Protection from Dust in Threshing. — Tie a thin piece of slightly 
 moistened sponge of good quality over the mouth and nostrils. It 
 will collect all the small particles of dust that would otherwise settle 
 on the lungs, and does not at all interfere with breathing. When it 
 becomes filled with dirt and dust, wash it out in water and apply to 
 the face as before. 
 
 Buckwheat as an Exterminator. — “ Buckwheat when sown on rich 
 ground, will kill grass effectually. It must be sown as soon as the 
 grass is plowed. In such case, a few crops will even exterminate 
 mack. Buckwheat seems to be a poison to other plants ; and it is 
 Bven known to destroy insects. It does this probably by destroying 
 the roots of the grasses and herbs on which they feed. No insect ever 
 touches buckwheat in the ground.” 
 
 When to Sow Oats. — As a general rule, there is no time to sow oats 
 so good as just as soon as the frost is out of the ground so that plow- 
 ing can be done ; and if the land is not naturally dry, or has been 
 underdrained, so as to plow very early in the spring, it should be 
 plowed in the fall with a Michigan plow, and then it can be harrowed 
 or scarified with a cultivator, and sown and lightly dragged. And it 
 is even better to sow without any stirring of the soil previously, if it 
 is very soft, rather than to “wait for a good time.” The year 1858 
 will be long remembered as one of unusual wetness in the spring, and 
 one of failure of the oat crop. Yet, in every instance where the seed 
 
382 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPEDIA. 
 
 was put into the ground early, where it had been previously prepared, 
 or where it had been underdrained, the crop was good both in straw 
 and berry. 
 
 CULTIVATING VEGETABLES. 
 
 The Most Profitable Variety of Potato. — By experiments made in 
 1.862, with the following kinds, the rate per acre of the yield is said 
 to have been as follows : 
 
 Prince Albert, 86 bushels 6 quarts; Jersey Mercer, 91 bushels 18 
 quarts ; Nova Scotia, 163 bushels 20 quarts ; Peach Blow, 114 
 bushels 3 quarts; Garner Chili, 120 bushels 3 quarts; Copper- 
 mine, 199 bushels 2 quarts ; Busty Coat, 216 bushels 6 quarts ; Cusco, 
 240 bushels, 7 quarts. 
 
 Mr. Carpenter said at a recent meeting of the Farmer’s Club of 
 the American Institute, New York, he believed that the Cusco-white, 
 with good culture, would yield three hundred bushels to the acre. It 
 brings the same price in the New York market as the Mercer. 
 
 The Best Early Potato. — The same gentleman says that Early Cot- 
 tage is far the best and most profitable early potato. 
 
 How to Have Early Potatoes. — Bring the seed potatoes in a barrel 
 into a warm room about the first of March. The eyes start rapidly, 
 and in about two or three weeks they are ready to plant. Or start 
 the potatoes in the hot bed about the middle of March, cutting the 
 tubers in halves and placing them flat side down, covered with two 
 inches of mould, and separate carefully to transplant when up about 
 two inches. Or put each piece of potato in a small piece of turf ex- 
 posed to the sunshine, where they can be watered, and when in dan- 
 ger of freezing covered with straw, the potato and turf set in the 
 ground at the proper time. On a small scale for family use this is an 
 excellent method. Always have early varieties, and grow them in 
 warm ground, well manured with horse manure. 
 
 What Sized Potatoes are Best to Plant. — An English experimenter, 
 after deducting the weight of the seed, found a gain of 5,069 pounds 
 per acre in using four ounce in preference to two ounce sets, and in 
 using eight ounce sets the gain over the two ounce was 6,942 pounds 
 per acre. He planted in rows two feet apart, and one foot in the row. 
 We believe the farmers near New York City who raise potatoes large- 
 ly for the city market use their large potatoes for seed almost uniform- 
 
CULTIVATING VEGETABLES. 
 
 383 
 
 /, cutting each tuber into four pieces, and allowing only four stalks 
 o grow in a place. They raise potatoes of very uniform size, and 
 nardly any small ones. 
 
 Sort out the Small Potatoes. — At a late meeting of the New York 
 Farmers’ Club, Solon Robinson said that farmers would save one- 
 fourth of their price by separating the large from the small potatoes 
 before sending them to market. When mixed the small potatoes only 
 fill up the interstices and lessen the value of the whole, while when 
 separated, the large ones will bring a good price and the small ones 
 sell for something for use by bakers and otherwise. Or, if desired, the 
 small ones could be kept at home, and are as good for family use, in 
 most cases, as any. 
 
 Potatoes Exposed to the Sun when Growing are Poison. — The shoots 
 of potatoes exposed to light contain solanum — a powerful poison. The 
 tubers of potatoes which are covered with earth from the light never 
 contain this poison, but if exposed when growing they become green 
 on the skin, which is a sign that this poison has become developed in 
 them. On no account should green ‘potatoes be given to persons or 
 animals. 
 
 Remedies for Potato Rot. — Prof. Mapes states that he had a field, 
 half of which was under-drained, and he planted the whole to pota- 
 toes. On the under-drained portion none of the potatoes rotted, while 
 on the other half they all rotted. 
 
 A farmer sixty-three years old says he never had potatoes rot in 
 the ground. He plants in the latter part of April or fore part of May. 
 When six inches high he dresses and plasters. When the sets show 
 for blossoming, he takes two parts plaster and one part fine salt, mixes 
 well together, puts a large spoonful to each hill as nearly in the center 
 as possible. Just as soon as the potatoes are ripe, he takes them out 
 of the hill, puts them in the cellar perfectly dry, and keeps them dry 
 and cool. 
 
 A paper has been addressed to the Agricultural Society of Chalons, 
 in which it is stated that potatoes may be safely grown, free from dis- 
 ease, by merely planting them in June instead of April. The writer, 
 who has proved his theory by several years of successful experiment, 
 is of opinion that by planting the roots in AprU they become corrupted 
 by the alternate frost and heat. 
 
 A German agriculturist says he saves his potatoes from the potato 
 disease by washing them in chlorine water before planting, drying 
 them in the sun. 
 
 A correspondent of the Boston Cultivator considers it an important 
 
384 
 
 PEACTICAL CYCLOPEDIA. 
 
 item in the cultivation of potatoes to pick off the blossoms as soon as 
 they appear, for the reason, as he says, that it hurts a potato as much 
 to go to seed as it does a radish or any other, root crop. 
 
 Potatoes should never be used for seed in the soil in which they 
 grew. The same seed continued in the same soil would deteriorate. 
 Farmers will always do better to dispose of their whole crop, and buy 
 new seed each year. 
 
 A farmer, who thinks the depredations of a little black bug causes 
 the potato rot, says he prevents it quite effectually by dusting the tops 
 frequently, and always immediately after a rain, with ashes. He 
 places his potatoes in shallow bins in his cellar, a foot from the 
 ground, and is careful to assort out any affected ones a few weeks after 
 storing. 
 
 Uselessness of Earthing u'p Potatoes. — By drawing up the earth over 
 the potato in sloping ridges, it is deprived of its due supply of moist- 
 ure by rains, for when they fall the water is cast into the ditches. 
 F urther, in regard to the idea that by this nursing up the number 
 of tubers is increased, the effect is quite the reverse ; for experience 
 proves that a potato placed an inch only under the surface of the 
 earth will produce more tubers than one planted at the depth of a 
 foot. 
 
 Tanbark for Potatoes. — A gardener at Troyes, “having observed 
 that everybody living in the quarter of the town occupied by tanners 
 escaped the cholera, determined to try the virtue of tan when plant- 
 ing potatoes. For this purpose he placed a shovelful of tan in the 
 trench under the seed in a part of the field, and planted the remainder 
 in the ordinary way. On digging out the potatoes he found that those 
 which were planted near the tan were perfectly sound, while the oth- 
 ers were diseased. He found, further, that potatoes were preserved 
 in winter by spreading tan on the floor of the storehouse.” 
 
 Sweet Potato Culture. — A gentleman in Delaware contributes the 
 following : 
 
 Sweet potatoes are raised very extensively along the eastern shore 
 of the Delaware, on the light sandy soil that extends thirty miles 
 southward from Camden. The principal markets are Philadelphia, 
 Hew York, Boston, Wilmington, Delaware, and Baltimore. The va- 
 rieties cultivated are Hansemonds, Early Yorks and Bermudas. The 
 first named grow large, long, and rougher than the second, yields 
 abundantly, but does not suit the Philadelphia and Wilmington mar- 
 kets as well as the Early Yorks, which are marketable earlier and grow 
 more smoothly and compactly, and are the most generally cultivated. 
 
CULTIVATING VEGETABLES. 
 
 385 
 
 Tlie third, a new variety, received from Bermuda, of a light red color, 
 coarse and rough, is inferior to the first two for the table, but attains 
 a marketable size earlier than they do, and produces a much larger 
 yield. ^ 
 
 Sweet potato seed is all sprouted in hot beds, which is made about 
 the middle of April, nearly as follows : In a sheltered piece of ground 
 with a southeasterly exposure, dig the ditch for the bed one foot deep 
 by live wide, and about two and a half feet long, for each basketful 
 (five-eights of a bushel) of seed, stake-boards at the ends and sides to 
 make the whole depth about two feet ; put coarse hay in the bottom 
 so that when well trodden it will be one-third full. If the hay is dry, 
 io must be wet sufficiently to make it heat. Next, put on good horse- 
 stable manure, that has not fermented nor been water-soaked ; have 
 the manure thrown along the side of the bed, shake it loosely on the 
 hay, (walking backward, so as not to pack it,) to the depth of six 
 inches or more. . Then take a broad board, lay it on the manure, and 
 walk gently on it to give it uniform surface. Upon this put a layer 
 of fine sandy soil, about four inches in depth, on which the potatoes 
 ire laid, so as not to touch each other, small ones being generally used, 
 lover the potatoes with the same kind of earth that was put on the 
 nanure, so deep that when your fore-finger is thrust through it upon 
 he potato, the earth will come to the middle joint. Cover the bed 
 nth coarse hay two or three feet deep to prevent the heat from esca- 
 ping, and the rain from wetting it. Take off the hay in the heat of 
 he day, from nine to three o’clock, if it is warm weather. When the 
 >ed begins to heat, it must be examined by running the hand into it 
 -a moderate warmth is all that is necessary — more than that will be 
 ijurious, and must be counteracted by leaving off the cover at night, 
 r hy applying cold water. When the plants appear, and afterward, 
 bey must be watered daily, unless the bed should be too cold to allow 
 - Warm water from a pond or ditch is best. A basket of seed, if 
 x^all, is expected to produce at least 1,500 plants ; sometimes more 
 lan ouble that amount is obtained. Large seed don’t yield so much, 
 ight sandy soil, free from indecomposed vegetable matter, is gener- 
 ly selected for the crop. Plow as for oats, harrow thoroughly, mark 
 out thirty-three inches each way for the hills. 
 
 The manure for sweet potatoes must be well rotted by composting 
 ’ °therwise. Marie mixed with it is an advantage. From eight 
 thirteen two-horse loads, according to quality and abundance, are 
 'ed per acre for composting. When rotted, a one-horse cart-load 
 111 make ^ rom 2 50 to 400 hills. The hills should be made, or the 
 
386 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 manure covered as soon as it is put in the hills ; from four to six good 
 hoes full of earth are sufficient to make a hill. The plants are taken 
 from the bed and put in the hills about the middle of May, and so on- 
 ward to the first of July. As often as one growth of plants are pulled 
 another takes its place. Care must be taken, when pulling the plants 
 to hold the potato firmly in the bed by pressing on it with the left 
 hand. In setting out plants, a boy drops a plant on each hill, taking 
 two rows at once ; a man follows, and taking the plant in his left hand, 
 runs three fingers of his right hand through the top of the hill into 
 the manure; as he withdraws them he quickly thrusts in the root of 
 the plant to the bottom of the hole, and then with the thumb and fin- 
 ger of each hand, firmly presses the earth around the plant. Plants 
 are best set out when the ground is not too wet and cold much bet- 
 ter before a rain than after. The crop is tended with small cultivators 
 and hand hoes. One hand is allowed to attend 40,000 plants, or abou' 
 eight acres. The crop is generally dug with large hoes made expressly 
 for that use. When stored for spring, they are carefully placed ii> 
 baskets in the field, and then emptied into boxes or barrels, and some 
 times covered with dry sand, or leaves, or cut straw, but often with- 
 out anything to keep the air from them but the lid of the box, which, 
 if tight, is mostly sufficient ; but the room must be kept dry and 
 warm. If the crop brings fifty dollars per acre, it is considered to pay 
 expenses. All over that is profit ; and 250 baskets per acre is a large 
 yield. 
 
 Setting Sweet Potato Plants. — A. W. Todd, of Louisville, Ky., gives 
 these instructions : 
 
 Prepare ground immediately before planting, as freshly prepaied 
 ground is more suitable to receive the plants. Having got both plants 
 and ground all ready, no matter how dry the weather, commence 
 about the middle of the afternoon, having tubs or barrels of water 
 conveniently situated, and use about a teacupful of water to each plant 
 The ground being loose, the four fingers of the right hand are passes 
 down about their length into the earth, and the dirt pulled up so as tc 
 make a hole large enough for a cup of water. With your left hand 
 carefully set your plant down as it should stand. Now let some per- 
 son pour on the cup of water, which will cause the fibrous roots tc 
 swim and straighten out in their natural position. Now quickly lei 
 the dirt in your right hand be conducted around your plant in as loose 
 a manner as possible, leaving the top of the plant properly out of the 
 ground. No packing is desirable. By this method we never have tc 
 wait for a suitable season ; the plants commence growing right along 
 
CULTIVATING VEGETABLES. 
 
 387 * 
 
 and live and do better than planted in any other way unless it is a 
 very favorable season. 
 
 Cultivation of Cabbage. — This valuable esculent may be brought to 
 table in good oondition nearly the whole of the year round, by plant- 
 ing from a series of monthly sowings, extending from early in March 
 to the end of August. The largest sowing, however, requires to be 
 made on or about the 12th of July, from which the spring supply is 
 produced; those which are sown previous to that date form heads the 
 same year, and produce a succession of nice young cabbages far on into 
 the winter. The August sowing is to furnish plants to be pricked into 
 a nursery bed, and planted in a bed in March, to succeed the autumn 
 planted bed, which should be rooted up as soon as the produce is cut. 
 In this manner, by making small beds at proper intervals, removing 
 the old beds as soon as the first produce is cut, and cropping the ground 
 with a different vegetable, the fertility of the ground is retained. The 
 whole family are terrible suckers of the soil, and hence arises the ne- 
 cessity for affording them a liberal supply of manure strength. 
 
 Cabbages like a strong soil, which, when prepared for planting, 
 should be well manured and deeply trenched ; and to ensure a free 
 growth and consequent succulent tender quality during the hot months, 
 they should be roughly hoed up, and liberal supplies of liquid manures 
 poured over them ; in the cooler months of the year this will not be 
 necessary, provided there is plenty of stimulation from beneath. Very 
 light and sandy soil will require even more attention to be paid to the 
 manuring part of the question than strong soil, and will not produce 
 tender fine-flavored cabbages without a good supply, and many appli- 
 cations in a liquid state. 
 
 Salt for Cabbages. — A correspondent of the Farmer and Gardener 
 tested the value of salt on cabbages, and with satisfactory results : 
 After planting them out he watered them some two or three times a 
 veek with salt water, containing about fifteen grains of salt to the pint. 
 Che cabbages grew beautifully, and headed up very finely; while those 
 vhich had no salt water given them, produced loose open heads, which 
 vere unfit for any other purpose than boiling. Bain water was given 
 •t the same time and in the same quanties as the salt water. He does 
 tot know how strong a solution of salt the cabbages would bear with- 
 ut injury, but is fully satisfied that a solution no stronger than that 
 o used is decidedly beneficial. 
 
 Storing Cabbage. — Levi Bartlett of New Hampshire, who is good 
 uthority for what he recommends, says the best way to store cab- 
 age for family use in winter is to cut off the heads and strip off the 
 
388 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 loose leaves, and pack the heads in damp moss, such as is generally 
 used by nurserymen. Barrels or boxes may be used, and t'ne beaus 
 come out clean, fresh and sound during winter and keep till spring. 
 One advantage of the method is that less storage room is required in 
 the cellar, and there are no waste leaves and stalks to decay. He 
 says : Last fall I again packed boxes and barrels of them m moss. 
 These were stored in the barn, and frozen slightly. They were then 
 covered with straw, and remained partially frozen through the winter 
 into April, and there was no rotting or shriveling, but they were al- 
 ways sound and fresh. By placing a head in a bucket of water for an 
 hour or iwo previous to putting it into the dinner-pot, the frost would 
 be removed, and the cabbage would be as fresh as when taken from 
 the field the preceding November. Where moss cannot be readily ob 
 tained, I think clean straw, cut in a hay-cutter, and thoroughly wet 
 ted with water, might be successfully used as a substitute for the mos3 
 in packing. Although the moss and cabbages were frozen, there was 
 no difficulty in taking out the heads at all times, when needed 
 
 Plant a Squash Vine.— Mrs. Susan Shepardson writes from Spring- 
 field, Lagrange county, Indiana, that she raised a squash vine the past 
 season that measured six hundred and seventy-three feet long, and pro- 
 duced nineteen squashes that weighed nine hundred and twenty-six 
 pounds, the largest of which measured five feet seven inches around 
 and weighed one hundred and sixteen pounds. She says : Now it 
 any of the young people can beat an old woman, sixty-two years old, 
 raising squashes, they may have some of the seeds of the big one y 
 
 sending for them. „ , ,, 
 
 We commend such a producer of food as this old woman to the 
 
 particular attention of “the young people,” who ought to produce 
 
 to J^ve Early Mdons.-Plz.ee four bricks about melons flat- 
 wise, and a piece of glass laid over them will hasten the vines and pro- 
 duce early fruit. As the vines grow, turn the bricks up edgewise. 
 
 It will also protect them from the frost. 
 
 The Cultivation of Lima Beans . — The most successful growers 
 Lima beans use poles only five feet high, and such are not costly noi 
 liable to blow over. As soon as the runners reach the top, pinch them 
 off, and they will throw out laterals, which bear the fruit, and a F“ 
 to the pole gives a very profitable crop. One peculiarity of this km 
 of bJ. i„, .bat it beara bigb marring, and P.nman gam *■ 
 
 best. The beans should be started m a hot-bed, or m bo 
 house. Cut sods into squares of two inches, and insert one bean 
 
CULTIVATING VEGETABLES. 
 
 389 
 
 each, being careful to place the eye down. When they vegetate, plant 
 the sods, four to each hill, which may be made in well plowed ground 
 to good advantage by boring with a post-hole auger two feet deep and 
 working it back and forth so that the ground will be very mellow to 
 that depth, right under the roots. Set the pole before planting the 
 beans. 
 
 Pinching off at six feet high instead of permitting the vines to run 
 around poles fifteen feet high is excellent practice. It causes the vine 
 to grow to a much larger size, throwing out side shoots with a larger 
 crop of fine fruit, and to perfect the beans before frost, instead of con- 
 tinuing to bear indefinitely, and to perfect but few. This is an excel- 
 lent crop when so managed and always profitable. It only requires 
 full fertilization and thorough disintegration of the soil to raise a pint 
 or more of Lima beans per pole, and with such a crop sold at six dol- 
 lars per bushel in the dry state, the yield will equal four hundred dol- 
 lars or more per acre in value. 
 
 A Brooklyn suburban resident recommends trellises instead of poles 
 for qj. 1 climbing beans. He thinks it absurd to grow pole beans in 
 hills, as the roots are crowded and the vines twisted up together in 
 their attempts to twine around the pole. If planted by a trellis with 
 a wire for each vine they are spread out to the sunshine and will pro- 
 duce twice as much as in hills. The best plan is to have a permanent 
 frame for Lima or other running beans. Set strong posts twelve feet 
 apart, with a slat or wire on top. The posts according to the Iowa 
 recommendation should not be over five feet high. A slat or wire is 
 also fastened upon the posts about a foot above the ground. The beans 
 are planted in a drill under this wire, and when ready to run are led 
 along twine to the upper wire. Such a trellis may be used for a blind 
 in summer, or as an ornamental screen of any part of the garden. An- 
 other good form of trellis is made portable, in lengths of eight or ten 
 feet. It is formed by nailing strips of lath together, or it may be 
 made of wire or in any form to suit the taste. These frames are set 
 up two or three feet apart at the bottom, leaning together at the top 
 and fastened. The vines are planted upon the outside of each frame. 
 Beans may be thus grown to be both ornamental and useful. A gar- 
 den, or a part of it filled in the ordinary way with beans on poles, is 
 anything but ornamental. The great secret, however, of growing 
 Lima beans, is to keep them pruned. 
 
 It is important not to plant Lima beans too deep, also to set them 
 carefully by hand right side up. 
 
 To Cure White Beans . — Take stakes about five feet long, with bran- 
 
390 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 ches left on them long enough to.prevent the branches settling down 
 into a compact mass, and go through the field and set as close togeth- 
 er as your present experience will tell you is necessary Place any 
 old trash, such as coarse weeds, sticks, sods or stones around the bot- 
 tom of the poles to form a raised bed as you would for a hay stack 
 bottom, and then pull your beans and stack them in a single course 
 around the stake, the roots inward, and dryest vines at the bottom, 
 and a tangled bunch at the top to hold the stack to its pole, and your 
 beans will cure and look clean and bright, and the leaves and pods 
 will be eaten with great avidity by the sheep. There is no other in- 
 expensive way to cure field beans. 
 
 Hie Cultivation of Peas. — A light, rich soil, abounding in vegetable 
 mould, produces the earliest peas ; but a strong loam inclining to 
 clay, yields the largest crops. 
 
 Elihu Burritt says: The theory, recently advocated of planting 
 peas very deeply in the earth, in order to prolong the bearing capaci- 
 ty of the vines, has been well tested in Williamstown, and found to be 
 correct. A farmer told me that he plowed a furrow beam deep ; ihen 
 scattered the seed peas at the bottom ; after which he turned a deep 
 furrow upon them with his plow, covering them, if possible, to the 
 depth of twelve or fourteen inches. They pushed their way up 
 through the thick mass of earth very soon, and, instead of turning 
 yellow at the bottom and dying after the first gathering, they blos- 
 somed and bore until he was tired of picking the pods. 
 
 How to Grow Beets. — A Mr. Gaskill, of Minn., writing to the N. 
 Y. Tribune , says : Some one asks why beets are smaller inside the 
 beds. I plant on ridges, and raise beets uniformly of large size, es- 
 pecially the white sugar variety, averaging from five to ten pounds. 
 Cultivate both beets and turnips on ridges, and you will have them 
 of large size. 
 
 Medical Qualities of Carrots. — Stewart, in his excellent work on 
 Stable Economy, says : “Not only do carrots give strength and en- 
 durance to sound horses, but also give recovery and health to suck a9 
 are sick. There is nothing better, perhaps nothing so good. When 
 first given they are slightly diuretic and laxative, but as the horses 
 become accustomed to them these effects cease to be produced. They 
 also improve the state of “the skin. They form a good substitute for 
 grass, and an excellent alterative for horses out of condition. To sick 
 and idle horses, they render grain necessary. They are beneficial in 
 all chronic diseases connected with breathing, and have a marked in- 
 fluence on chronic cough and broken wind. They are serviceable 
 
THE VEGETABLE GARDEN. 
 
 391 
 
 In diseases of the skin ; and in combination with oats restore worn 
 horses much sooner than oats alone. 
 
 To Have Mushrooms in Winter . — Provide boxes three feet long and 
 one foot eight inches deep; a quantity of horse droppings perfectly 
 decomposed; some spawn and some light dry soil. Fill the boxes by 
 layers of droppings, spawn and soil, which must be trodden perfectly 
 tight ; repeat these triple layers till the boxes are full, and all trodden 
 firmly together. F our such boxes at work are sufficient for a moder- 
 ate demand. The surface of these portable beds must be covered with 
 a little hay, and occasionally, though sparingly, watered. Set them on 
 the flue of a hot house, stove, in the kitchen, pantry or other warm 
 place. 
 
 THE VEGETABLE GARDEN. 
 
 Gardening was the first employment, and it is still the most agree- 
 able, healthful, and esthetic, and should thus be practically esteemed 
 by every family, and especially by every lady of refined taste. A 
 garden is the place for beauty, pleasure, health, and all sweet thoughts. 
 It is a choice place of occupation for a leisure hour, to all who have 
 an elevated and pure taste, and it should be a favorite occupation with 
 every lady ; she should have her plants and shrubs and employ her- 
 self in attending to them, in the open air, one or two hours every day, 
 when the weather will at all permit. American women grow old and 
 die before their time, for want of out-door exercise, which can better 
 be afforded in the garden than anywhere else. 
 
 Nothing teaches patience like a garden. You may go round, and 
 watch the opening bud from day to day ; but it takes its own time, 
 and you cannot urge it on faster than it will. If forced, it is only 
 torn to pieces. All the best results of a garden, like those of life, are 
 slowly but regularly progressive. 
 
 No one can be truly said to live who has not a garden. None but 
 those who have enjoyed it can appreciate the satisfaction — the luxury of 
 sitting down to a table spread with the fruits of of one’s own planting 
 and culture. A bunch of radishes, or a few heads of lettuce taken 
 from the garden on a summer’s morning for breakfast, or a mess of 
 green peas or sweet corn, is quite a different affair from that brought 
 from market in a dying condition. How many in the smaller cities 
 and villages of our country, possessing every facility for a good gar- 
 
392 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 den, either through indolence or ignorance are deprived of this source 
 of comfort. And how many farmers, with most of the luxuries of 
 life, are content to plod on in the even tenor of their way, never rais- 
 ing their taste above the 1 pork and beans ’ of their fathers. 
 
 We enjoy our gardens the more from having had a little trouble in 
 adorning them, as we relish nuts that we crack better than those that 
 we buy cracked. 
 
 What Can he Done on a Small Lot — A correspondent of the Coun- 
 try Gentleman writes from Baltimore Co., Md. : Our dwelling, front 
 yard, back yard, cistern, out-houses, poultry house, kitchen garden, 
 peach orchard, and flower garden, occupy a space of fifty feet by a 
 hundred, which is less than one-eighth of an acre. Upon this small 
 portion of the North American Continent, we have room to cultivate 
 quite a variety of choice roses, verbenas, hyacinths, tuberoses, chry- 
 santhemums and dahlias. These occupy a space of twenty-five feet 
 square, and about the same space is devoted to our kitchen garden, 
 flanked by about half a dozen young peach trees, and capable of produc- 
 ing a respectable quantity of carrots, onions, beets, tomatoes, and radish- 
 es. Being somewhat enthusiastic on the subject of Poultry, we have used 
 a large portion of the remainder for their accommodation, and have 
 raised the past summer one hundred and fifty chickens, chiefly Brama 
 Pootras and Cochins, the profit on which is probably something more 
 than the ground devoted to them would have yielded. The ground 
 was given to man to be cultivated. It is his great inheritance. And 
 because he has but one acre, or one square rod, shall he be like the 
 man who hid his talent in the earth ? It is the judicious and thor- 
 ough cultivation of small portions of land which is the most profitable ; 
 just as frequent returns from a small capital make men rich far often- 
 er than great investments. 
 
 One Acre. — The following were raised in Plainfield, Mass., on one 
 acre in one year : Forty bushels of corn and stalks, equal to more 
 than one ton of hay ; one hundred and fifty bushels of potatoes ; seven 
 large cart-loads of pumpkins ; fifteen bushels of carrots ; twenty bush- 
 els of turnips ; three bushels of onions ; forty cabbages ; one bushel of 
 beans, after supplying the family during the summer ; a lot of peas ; 
 and fifteen bushels of sugar beets. 
 
 Best Site and Soil for a Vegetable Garden. — James Jones, gardener 
 of Girard College, Philadelphia, has made an .essay on the preparation, 
 management, &c., of a vegetable garden, from which we give the fol- 
 lowing extract : 
 
 “The best site for a vegetable garden is one sloping to the south, or 
 
THE VEGETABLE GARDEN. 
 
 39o 
 
 south-east, preferably the former, as better protected from the north- 
 westerly winds, and the aspect being to the sun, earlier crops may al- 
 ways be obtained. The soil should be naturally rich and deep, so that 
 the long roots of beets, carrots, parsnips, horse-radish, and the like, 
 may easily penetrate beyond the influence of long droughts ; for with 
 good, deep cultivation, plenty of well decomposed barnyard manure 
 and good seed, you will not fail of good results. Whatever the as- 
 pect, if it have not a natural slope sufficient for surface drainage, be 
 sure to French shore (?) so that the surface water will easily run off. 
 Plow or spade at least eighteen inches deep — better still, twenty-four 
 inches ; — deep tillage is indispensable. As in most gardens a general 
 assortment of vegetables is required, they should be arranged accor- 
 ding to the height of the different crops, so as to protect against the 
 effects of too hot suns and high winds. The ground can be worked 
 either by hand or horse labor, observing, as an inblexible rule, never 
 to work the soil while wet. The Girard College garden is worked by 
 horse labor ; it consists of four acres divided into five parts ; one for 
 permanent crops, like asparagus, rhubarb, and herbs, and for hot-bed 
 frames along the borders for nursing early plants for table use and 
 transplanting; these are indispensable in every well regulated garden.” 
 
 Fineness of Soil. — “ 1 he fineness of the particles of a soil greatly in- 
 fluences its fertility. On the surface of a block of granite only a few 
 lichens and mosses can exist ; crush the block to a coarse powder and 
 a more abundant vegetation can be supported on it ; if reduced to a 
 very fine dust and duly watered, even the cereal grains will grow and 
 perfect fruit on it. Thus two soils may have the same chemical com- 
 position, and yet one may be almost inexhaustibly fertile, and the other 
 almost hopelessly barren. 
 
 Early Sowing. — The American Agriculturist says on this subject: 
 A few bright, warm days such as always occur the latter part of April, 
 are usually sufficient to bring on an attack of the planting fever. 
 The garden must be plowed or spaded, beds laid off, and in go the 
 beets, carrots, parsnips, turnips, etc. They find a cold bed, the soil 
 is packed over them by repeated rains, and many of the seeds rot out- 
 right, or the slender germs fail to lift the heavy soil pressing upon 
 them. It is far better to leave sowing most seeds until the ground is 
 dry and warm. A few of the hardy sort, such as early peas, potatoes, 
 onions, lettuce, tomatoes, radishes, spinach, salsify, etc., may be put in 
 during the month of April, but May 15th is sufficiently early for the 
 generality of seeds. They will then come up quickly and grow rap- 
 idly; every one knows, that a quick grown vegetable is far better than 
 
394 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 one which has taken a whole season to mature. Beets for late fall and 
 winter use do best when sown from the first to the middle of J une. 
 
 Pots for Plants . — The authority above quoted states that the small- 
 est can be purchased in some places for less than one dollar per hun- 
 dred. You can start all kinds of garden stuff, flowers, &c., in them 
 with great advantage and economy. Fill with earth, plant one or 
 more seeds in each, set on the warm side of a fence or building, water 
 as needed, cover on cold nights with old carpets, blankets, or straw. 
 Transfer to the open ground as soon as warm enough, by inverting the 
 pot, with the hand upon the earth, the plant passing between the fin - 
 gers, letting the ball of earth drop out on the earth unbroken. 
 
 Transplanting Vegetables and Annuals. — Seedlings may be safely 
 transplanted in hot and dry weather, if shaded for a few days by a 
 common flower pot. The hole at the bottom serves as a chimney. 
 Toward evening take off the pot, and replace it in the morning. Raise 
 the side by a stone placed under, as the plant becomes established, and 
 finally remove it altogether. The pot keeps the ground moist, and is 
 much better than watering. 
 
 Transplanting Boxes. — These are made of wood or other material 
 from three inches high and three inches in diameter to twenty inches 
 each way, without bottoms, set in shallow boxes or on boards, filled 
 with soil, a few seeds put in each, the whole set under glass or brought 
 into the house to start, and transplanted by slipping the boxes off the 
 boards into holes made in the garden large enough to receive them, 
 and drawing the earth around them, then after loosening the box by a 
 few slight raps, lifting it out, leaving the roots undisturbed. — Ameri- 
 can Agriculturist. 
 
 Flower pots answer the same purpose, and perhaps quite as well. 
 
 A Cheap Hot Bed.— Some six weeks before planting in open ground, 
 take horse manure with or without an equal amount of forest leaves 
 mixed through it. Throw it into a heap and turn over at intervals 
 of a few days until it begins to heat, then in a dry place make into a 
 bed two feet deep and eighteen inches larger each way than your 
 frame, built up in equal layers, and beaten occasionally with the back 
 of the fork to make it somewhat compact, finished with the fine ma- 
 nure, spread evenly on the top. On this place the frame which may 
 be a rude box, one foot high on the side fronting the south, and two 
 feet high at the rear. Put into it rich mold six inches deep, and 
 smoothen it over. Then cover with old window sash. Raise this a 
 little through the heat of the day, and close toward night. After a 
 few days the heat will be moderate (60° or 70°) when the seeds may 
 
THE VEGETABLE GARDEN. 
 
 395 
 
 oe sown. Continue to raise the rear end of the sa»h during the heat 
 of the days, closing them before the bed cools too much, sprinkle as 
 may be necessary water warmed to the temperature of the bed, and 
 cold nights cover with straw, mats, or shutters. 
 
 Paper for Hot Beds. — Paint strong brown paper with two or three 
 coats of boiled linseed oil ; or, to six pints linseed oil, add two ounces 
 sugar of lead and a quarter pound of white resin. These must be 
 thoroughly mixed while hot, and applied at once. 
 
 Varnish for Cloth for Hot Beds. — Three pints best boiled linseed 
 oil, four ounces white resin, one ounce sugar of lead. Heat the oil 
 moderately and put in the resin, after having first pulverized it. The 
 lead should be ground with a little of the oil, and added to the whole 
 after the resin has melted. 
 
 Another. — Four ounces linseed oil, two ounces lime, two ounces 
 white of eggs, two ounces yellow of eggs. Mix the oil and lime inti- 
 mately. Beat the white and yelk of eggs very thoroughly separately. 
 Then stir in the white. Lastly the yelk. 
 
 Cold Frames. — MakeTike a hot bed without the manure to create 
 beat. Set it directly on fine mellow soil. The heat of the sun and 
 the moisture are kept in by the glass. It is of great help in forward- 
 ing seeds. Hand-glasses can be made by covering small wooden boxes 
 with panes of glass. 
 
 How to Water Plants. — This is usually badly done. Water is 
 poured upon the surface, enough, perhaps, to wet down an inch or 
 two. The water washes the fine earth into the chinks and interstices, 
 ind there the .plant stands with dry or only moist soil below, but with 
 i baked mass on the surface which shuts out warmth, air, and the 
 noisture that would be derived from its free circulation. One of two 
 nethods should be adopted. Bemove the surface earth and pour on 
 water enough to reach the wet subsoil, and when the water has soaked 
 n, replace the dry surface soil, to be moistened from below ; or make 
 i hole as near the plant as you can without disturbing the roots, and 
 ill this with water two or three times, and afterwards fill it with the 
 Iry earth first removed. At all events, when you water at all, water 
 'reely, and with the foot or a hoe throw a little dry earth over the 
 surface as the water settles away. These are important hints. A few 
 jlants thus well cared for will yield more than three times the number 
 carelessly treated. 
 
 Keep tin watering-pots painted and they will not rust and will last 
 i great many years ; otherwise they will very soon rust out. 
 
 To Get Early Tomatoes. — Sow a pot or two of seed in the green- 
 
396 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 house, hot bed, or in a warm window, in the latter case, placing a 
 piece of glass over the pot, to accelerate germination, forming a minia- 
 ture hot bed. When up into rough leaf, separate into smaller pots. 
 In due time plant on the sunny side of the garden fence or house. 
 
 Or for early tomatoes and cabbage plants, fill a box with good rich 
 earth, and sow thinly. Keep warm near a stove or fire-place, and 
 water properly. When the plants are up, place the box on the win- 
 dow-stool, where they can have light and heat. Warm days put out 
 in the air and sun, bringing them in nights. As soon as the frosts are 
 over, transplant into the garden. 
 
 Or take a good large turnip, cut off the top, and scoop out to a shell 
 three-quarters of an inch thick. Fill the cavity with rich mold, plant 
 a half a dozen seeds, and place the turnip in a box of loam. Keep in 
 a warm room, by an east window if possible, and sprinkle with tepid 
 water every day, until there is no longer any danger from frost, when 
 remove the turnip to the out-door bed, and thin out all but one plant. 
 Should the turnip shell put out shoots, pinch them off, and the 
 shell will soon rot, affording a fertilizer to the tomato plant, that will send 
 it ahead wonderfully. A dozen turnips thus tomatoized will afford an 
 abundant supply of early tomatoes for an ordinary family. 
 
 Ripening Tomatoes . — Tomatoes need heading in so as to expose the 
 fruit to the sun, in order to ripen them rapidly. The tomato vine is 
 killed by the slightest frost, but if pulled up before frost comes, and 
 hung under a shed fronting the south, the fruit will continue to ripen 
 for weeks. 
 
 Forwarding Cucumbers and Other Vines . — Cucumbers may be for- 
 warded some weeks simply by planting them in the open soil, placing 
 around them, when up, four bricks, laid flatways, and laying over them 
 a pane of glass. The glass may be removed during the day, and re- 
 placed at night. The bricks will retain a portion of the heat absorbed 
 during the daytime, and this, acting in favorable conjunction with the 
 exclusion of the night air, will tend powerfully to accelerate the de- 
 velopment, and produce a vigorous action of the system throughout. 
 Melons, squashes, and other vines of a similar description, may be ad- 
 vanced by this same very simple and economical process. Broken 
 glass from the shops, which will cost nothing, or, at most, a mere tri- 
 fle, will answer for this purpose as well as new, and will last for years. 
 Watering frequently and copiously, if the weather be dry, with soap 
 suds, or diluted urine, as a stimulant, will be found singularly advan- 
 tageous. Gypsum and pulverized charcoal should be frequently 
 sprinkled over the vines as soon as they are up. 
 
THE VEGETABLE GARDEN. 
 
 397 
 
 Row to Raise Celery. — Mr. Gore, of New Jersey, says : My inode 
 of raising celery is this : I dig a trench twelve or fourteen inches deep* 
 to set the plants in, and always manure with guano or phosphate. I 
 set a board upon each side of the row, so that no dirt can get into the 
 heart of the plant when I commence earthing up, and keep them there 
 until I get my trench filled as high as the surface of the ground. The 
 soil is a sandy loam. I am very successful, and produce it very fine. 
 
 I cover the plants with boards in winter, and dig out from one end 
 of the row as I want it. It should be carefully earthed up every day. 
 The most essential thing in raising celery is to blanch it well. 
 
 Andrew Fuller, of Brooklyn, says : Seymour’s celery is the best. 
 
 I prefer guano for manure. William Lawton says : I notice the gar- 
 deners about here do not use boards, but they are very careful about 
 earthing up the plants every day when they are dry. 
 
 Judge Meigs says : I have raised celery with success forty years. 
 The plant loves shade, and must have it when young. I choose such 
 a situation as will be shaded at midday, as the north side of a build- 
 ing, or in the shade of a tree, for the best location for a celery-plant 
 bed. 
 
 Says Prof. Mapes : I have tried a great many experiments in grow- 
 ing celery, and have settled the whitest kinds as the best, and that 
 above all other manures, hair, such as I get from skin-dressers, put in 
 the bottom of the trenches is the best. The young plants I cut back 
 three times, taking care not to injure the crown, to make the plants 
 strong before they are transplanted. I prefer to have celery beds up- 
 on an inclination where I can run water between the rows, and I have 
 tried sundry things in solution as fertilizers, but never found anything 
 equal to hair, though old expoliated horns do pretty well. Decom- 
 posed muck mixed with sand makes an excellent soil for celery. 
 
 For blanching celery, the earth alone is used by some, charred earth 
 by others, others still use charcoal, and, in its absence, sawdust. 
 
 Cultivating Asparagus . — To make a first-rate bed, dig out the 
 ground two and a half feet deep, and fill up with chips, sawdust, tan, 
 or sticks of wood packed close together, five or six inches from the 
 bottom. Then put in five or six inches of the strongest stable ma- 
 nure, and fill up to the top with manure and dirt, about half-and-half. 
 Put the roots about ten inches apart, each way, and cover them about 
 three inches deep with the richest soil to be had, and sow evenly over 
 the whole equal parts of salt and ashes mixed together, say a peck 
 each for a bed five feet wide and twenty feet long, which will abund- 
 
398 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 antly supply a family of eight or ten every day from the first of April 
 to the last of June. 
 
 » 
 
 The newspapers say asparagus plants of an enormous size, now ex- 
 hibited in the windows of eating houses at Paris, attract the attention 
 of strangers. Great curiosity is expressed as to their mode of culture. 
 It is said they are planted, not in the usual way, in beds, but sepa- 
 rately. As soon as the plant rises a short hight from the ground, it is 
 covered with a bottle, under which the plant attains an enormous size 
 before it is fit for use. 
 
 How to have Early Salad . — To have early salad in the spring, plant 
 a bed of lettuce in the fall. 
 
 To Raise Cabbage Plants . — Cabbage plants may be raised easily 
 from sprouts thrown out by the old stumps. They merely require to 
 be cut from the stump with a portion of its bark pertaining to them, 
 and to be planted in rows like rooted seedlings, and to have the usual 
 watering. It is the mode of raising cabbages universally adopted by 
 the Chinese. 
 
 THE FLOWER GARDEN AND HOUSE PLANTS. 
 
 Arranging Flower Beds . — To have a well-formed and nicely-filled 
 garden is not enough — it must also be nicely arranged. Nay, the lat- 
 ter is of much more importance than the former. It is of the first im- 
 portance that the outline of the beds, and their relation to each other, 
 should be good ; but it is of much greater importance that the colors 
 with which they are filled should either harmonize or contrast with 
 each other. * * * Colors are. separated into cool or warm colors. 
 
 The former should prevail in gardens laid out on gravel, which is it- 
 self generally a warm color ; the latter in those laid out on grass, 
 which is invariably a cold color. For instance, in gardens on gravel, 
 gray, lilac, yellow, white, blue, green, &c., should predominate ; in 
 those on grass, purple, pink, scarlet and orange should prevail. White 
 however is equally suitable for gardens of both descriptions ; and, un- 
 less where the gravel is very light, is always striking and effective ; 
 and nothing can be more chaste and beautiful than beds, broad mar- 
 gins, or lines of white contiguous to grass — it is equally striking in 
 juxtaposition to bright red gravel. As a practical rule, the most in- 
 tense colors should be placed in the center of the beds, and the less 
 decided tints used for contrasting rings or edgings. Generally, too. 
 
THE FLOWER GARDEN AND HOUSE PLANTS. 
 
 399 
 
 the smaller the beds, the more liberally may the intense colors, as 
 ecarlet, be introduced, and vice versa. 
 
 The Cultivation of Roses. — The rose requires abundance of air and 
 light, and judicious grouping is indispensable. This may be accom- 
 plished by forming a rose pyramid, rising gradually in hight from the 
 minutest dwarf at the base to the tallest standard at the apex. As 
 the varieties are almost endless, it would be impossible to enumerate 
 them. Every florist’s catalogue will supply the list, and the taste of the 
 operator direct the arrangement. A proper discrimination should, 
 of course, be manifested with regard to the time and continuance of 
 blooming, so as to secure the finest possible effect. 
 
 Care of Dahlia Roots. — The roots should be dug up as soon as the 
 first hard frost has spoiled their foliage. Cut the stem about six inches 
 above the tubers ; then lay them up to dry. After they have become 
 dry, pack them in the cellar, there to remain until they begin to grow 
 in the spring ; then plant them out in the borders, previously dividing 
 the roots if an increase is required. 
 
 To Produce Double Flowers from Single. — Double flowers are pro- 
 duced somewhat in the same manner as choice fruits. By years of 
 careful culture, and the raising of new varieties from seed, improve- 
 ment is effected. In double blossoms, the seed producing qualities 
 are sacrificed in the production of an extra number of petals, and 
 sometimes, therefore, double flowers, like the Ten Weeks Stock, pro- 
 duce no seeds, or very few, like the Balsam. In cases where the double 
 flower produces no seed, it must be saved from single flowers growing 
 near or surrounded with double ones. In that case, the pollen from 
 the double flower affects the single plant, and the product is a good 
 proportion of double flowers. We have not space at present to dis- 
 cuss the physiology of the matter. 
 
 How to Water Plants. — As a rule, never water plants until the fur- 
 ther withholding of it would be detrimental. Habitual watering, in a 
 majority of cases, does more hurt than good. Plants left to battle with 
 drought, send their roots deep in search of moisture, and when rain 
 comes they are more benefitted than those that had regular watering. 
 Ground that is deeply tilled and under-drained rarely suffers much 
 from drought. Plants that have just vegetated, or that have recently 
 been transplanted, should be watered — as should be succulent vegeta- 
 bles expected to grow quick, and pot plants. There are two impor- 
 tant points to be attended to in giving water ; one is to expose it to 
 the sun before using it, and the other is to give a thorough soaking at 
 once, sufficient to keep the ground moist for a week. Supposing the 
 
PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 iOO 
 
 supply to be limited, but regular, tbe best way of economizing both 
 water and time, is to take the garden piece by piece, watering each 
 thoroughly every evening, and then beginning again as at first. Once 
 begun it must be followed up until rain falls in sufficient quantity to 
 wet down among the roots. 
 
 Wild Flowers . — Some may be found which, by careful cultivation, 
 will prove valuable additions. The peculiarities of soil, shade, mois- 
 ture, &c., where they grow naturally, should be noted for future gui- 
 dance. 
 
 Bags for Saving Flower Seeds . — Save envelopes that you have re- 
 ceived, cut them transeversely and seal up where thus cut with gum 
 arabic, each envelope making two convenient seed pockets. 
 
 Annuals . — The plants generally known as annuals, are raised from 
 the seed, perfect their flowers, mature their seed the same season, and 
 then perish. There are me flowers, however, cultivated as annuals, 
 that are such only in a northern climate, being in their own more con- 
 genial region perennials, or biennials. Among them are the verbena, 
 chriseis, or eschscholtzia, as it was formerly called, commelina, mira- 
 bilis, and many others. This class of anuuals may be kept through 
 the winter in green houses or in any light cehars. Annuals are most 
 appropriate for those who are changing their abode from year to year, 
 as from these alone a fine display may be kept up the whole season, 
 with the exception of the vernal months, and this deficiency may be 
 supplied by having a choice collection of perennials, grown in pots, 
 which can be plunged in the ground, and thus removed at any time 
 when it is necessary to change the residence. 
 
 Biennials . — Biennials are those plants which flower the second and 
 sometimes the third year from the time the seeds are sown, and then 
 perish, as the hollyhock. Sow, for the most part, in early spring, in 
 light soil, and plant out in the following autumn in the situations where 
 they are to flower. Many of the fine double and other varieties never 
 produce seed. 
 
 Perennials . — Perennials are those plants which do not in their 
 growth form either trees or shrubs, but which lose their tops, wholl} 
 or in part, every year, after they have done flowering ; the roots con- 
 tinuing to live and generate for several years successively. Imperfect 
 perennials continue three or more years, and then die, as the sweet 
 william or fox glove, but which, with a little care in dividing the roots 
 every year, can be kept many years. Perennials are hardy, half-har- 
 dy and tender. Hardy perennials stand the hardest winter without 
 protection ; half-hardy require to be well protected ; and tender pe- 
 
THE FLOWER GARDEN AND HOUSE PLANTS. 401 
 
 ennials must be kept through the winter in the greenhouse. Peren- 
 dals are of two kinds, bulbous and herbaceous, which, differing ma- 
 erially from each other in habits, require, consequently, a different 
 ;ind of treatment. 
 
 Bock Work. — There are many plants that succeed best when plant- 
 d among rocks; and, for their accommodation,' and to show off their 
 leauties to the greatest advantage, it is common in many gardens to 
 iave an appendage called a rockery. This is made of a collection of 
 tones, in the rough or natural state, laid up without much order, with 
 oil, which should be concealed as much as possible by the fragments 
 f rock. As many of the plants succeed best in the shade, a portion 
 f the rock work should be partly surrounded with trees or shrubs, 
 hat they may derive that advantage. Trillums, orchis, cyprepedi- 
 ms, and some few ferns, and a great variety of native plants which 
 re found in our woods, with an appropriate soil, would flourish well 
 1 such a spot. The rockery should be partly, or wholly, concealed 
 ’om the general flower garden by shrubs or trees. 
 
 List of Hardy Shrubs and Plants. — The following list is by Mr. 
 'uller, Horticulturist, of Brooklyn, who has worked among flowers 
 3 a gardner nearly all his life : 
 
 June Boses, blooming once, five varieties; Madame Plant ier, pure 
 kite; La Belle African, very dark; General Foy, violet, spotted; 
 ersian Yellow, deep yellow; Coupe de Hebe, pink. 
 
 Moss Boses, blooming once, five varieties ; Alice Leroy, red or pink ; 
 risteta, crested, very large, roseate; Laneii, bright red ; Unique de 
 rovence, white; Etna, flame color. 
 
 Perpetual Moss Boses, five varieties : General Drouat, violet red ; 
 adam Edward Ory, carmine; Salet, bright rose; Herman Kegel, 
 d, slightly striped. 
 
 Hybrid Perpetual Boses, ten varieties : Caroline de Sansal, pale in- 
 rnadine; Blanche Vibert, white; Giant of Battles, bright crimson; 
 •ince Noir, very dark; Madam Tredeaux, bright carmine; Pius IX, 
 'ge crimson; Crystal Palace, shaded, incarnadine; Baron Brevost, 
 ; 3 eate; Sydonie, light pink; La Beine, very large, rosy lilac. 
 
 Climbing Boses, five varieties : Queen of the Praries, deep pink ; 
 ultimore Belle; Mountjoy, white border, pink center; Mrs. Hovey, 
 jle blush; Perpetual Pink, deep pink. 
 
 Shrubs, twelve sorts : Spiraea prunifolia, pleno double white ; Spiraea 
 hvesii, pleno double white; Fortunii, red; Pyrus Japonica, red; 
 hegela amablis, pink; Wiegela rosea, pink; Bibes sanguinea, red 
 f '.vering currant; Deutzia Grasselas, dwarf, white ; Calycenthus laevi- 
 26 
 
402 
 
 PEACTICAL CYCLOPEDIA. 
 
 gatus, sweet scented shrub; Curcis Japonica, Japan Judas tree; Phil- 
 adelphia coronarius, mock orange ; Magnolia gracilis, purple. 
 
 Herbaceous Plants: Achillea Ptarmico, Pleno, double white; Cam- 
 panula, double white; Campanula, double blue; Delyta spectabilis; 
 Dictmnus, white; Dictmnus, red. 
 
 Digitalis of varieties; Lupinus polyhhyllus, of varieties; Lychnis, 
 double scarlet and white; Spirsea, double white and double red; Yuc- 
 ca filamentosa, flower white ; Phlox, Hoi Leopold, striped. „ 
 
 Climbing Plants for Arbors : Aristalachia sipha; Bignonia grandi- 
 flors; do. sanguinea; Wistaria sinensis, blue; do. do., white; Ampe- 
 lopsis, tricolor; Lonicera, scarlet trumpet honeysuckle; do. chives, 
 evergreen, blush ; do. yellow monthly ; Clematis flamula. 
 
 Peonies, Lillies, &c. : Pseonia Whitley 1, double white ; Pseonia Pott- 
 sii, double crimson; Lilies — Lancifolium album, white crested; do. 
 punctatum, pink crested; do. longiflorum, Chinese, long white. 
 
 Proper Time and Mode for Cutting Flowers . — Those who wish to 
 retain the beauty and perfume of their cut flowers would do well to 
 take the following advice : — Never cut your flowers during the intense 
 sunshine, nor keep them exposed to the sun or wind ; do not collect 
 them in large bundles, nor tie them tightly together, as this hastens 
 their decay. Do not pull them, but cut them cleanly off the plant 
 with a sharp knife, by which means the tubes through which they 
 draw up the water are left open, and the water is permitted to ascend 
 freely, whereas if the stems are bruised or lacerated, these pores are 
 closed up. Use pure water to set them in, or pure white sand in a 
 state of saturation, sticking the ends of the stalks in it, but not in a 
 crowded manner. If in water alone, it ought to be changed daily, 
 and a thin slice should be cut off the ends of the stalks at every 
 change of water. Water about milk-warm, or containing a small quan- 
 tity of camphor dissolved in spirits of wine, will often revive flowers 
 that have begun to fade. Place a glass shade over them during the 
 night, or indeed at all such times as they are not purposely exhibited. 
 Shade them from very bright sunshine, and when uncovered, set them 
 where they may not be exposed to a draught of air. A cool temper- 
 ature during the summer is favorable for them, and a removal of the 
 slighest symptoms of decay is necessary. When carried to a distance, 
 carry them in a shallow, air-tight tin case, or cover them with paper 
 to exclude them from air and light. Charcoal saturated with water is 
 also a good media to stick them in, and the thinner they are kept the 
 better. 
 
 To Preserve a Boquet . — First sprinkle it lightly with fresh water. 
 
THE FLOWER GARDEN AND HOUSE PLANTS. 
 
 •103 
 
 Then put it into a vessel containing soap-suds, which will nutrify the 
 roots, and keep the flowers as bright as new. Take the boquet out 
 of the suds every morning, and lay it sideways, the stalks entering 
 first, in water. Keep it there a minute or two, then take it out, and 
 sprinkle the flowers lightly by the hand with water. Replace it in 
 the soap-suds, and it will bloom as fresh as when first gathered. The 
 soap-suds need changing every three or four days. By observing 
 these rules, it is said, a boquet can be kept bright and beautiful for at 
 least a month, and will last longer in a very passable appearance. See 
 article above. 
 
 To Obtain Fresh Blown Flowers in Winter. — Choose some of the 
 most perfect buds of the flowers you would preserve, such as are latest 
 in blowing and ready to open, cut them off with a pair of scissors, 
 leaving to each, if possible, a piece of the stem about three inches 
 long : cover the end of the stem immediately with sealing wax, and 
 when the buds are a little shrunk and wrinkled, wrap each of them 
 up separately in a piece of paper perfectly clean and dry, and lock 
 them up in a dry box or drawer ; and ’they will keep without corrupt- 
 ing. In winter, or at any other time, when you would have the flow- 
 ers blow, take the buds at night and cut off the end of the stem sealed 
 with wax, and put the buds into water wherein a nitre or salt has been 
 diffused, and the next day you will have the pleasure of seeing the 
 buds open and expand themselves, and the flowers display their most 
 lively colors and breathe their agreeable odors. 
 
 To Revive a Fading Flower. — Cut the stalk, and hold it a few mo- 
 ments in the flame of the candle, and then set the flower again in the 
 jold water, when it will recover its strength almost visibly after this 
 fiolent assistance, and blossom immediately. 
 
 To Crystalize Flowers. — The experiment is simple and can be tried 
 vithout difficulty. Dissolve eighteen ounces of burnt alum in a quart 
 )f soft spring water, (observing proportion for a greater or less quan- 
 ity,) by boiling it gently in a close tinned vessel over a moderate fire, 
 seeping it stirred with a wooden spatula, until the solution is complete. 
 vVhen the liquor is almost cold, suspend the subject that is to be crys- 
 alized, by means of a small thread or twine, from a lath or small stick 
 aid horizontally across the aperture of a deep glass or earthen jar, as 
 >eing best adapted for the purpose, into which the solution must be 
 >oured. The respective articles should remain in the solution twenty- 
 our hours ; when taken out they are carefully to be suspended in the 
 bade until perfectly dry. When the subjects to be crystalized are put 
 ato the solution while it is quite cold, the crystals are apt to be too 
 
404 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 large; on the other hand, should it be too hot, the crystals will be 
 small in proportion. The best temperature is about 60° Fahrenheit. 
 
 Among the vegetable specimens that may be operated upon are moss 
 rose or holly, fruit of the sloe bush, the hyacinth, furze blossoms, ran- 
 ucculus, garden daisy, pink, and a great variety of others ; in fact, 
 there are few subjects in the vegetable world that are not eligible to 
 this mode of preservation. The fitness of the solution for the purpose 
 may be ascertained by putting a drop of it on a slip of glass and see- 
 ing if it crystalizes as it cools ; if so, the solution is sufficiently strong. 
 Then twist around a sprig of a plant, a tinder, or a wire ornament of 
 any kind, some cotton, or still better, worsted. After being immersed, 
 as already indicated, the surface of the whole will be found covered 
 with beautiful crystalization. 
 
 The effect of the above is very pretty, and is especially adapted to 
 winter boquets. 
 
 Pretty Experiment . — If an acorn be suspended by a piece of thread 
 within half an inch of the surface of some water contained in a hya- 
 cinth glass, and so permitted to remain without being disturbed, it 
 will, in a few months, burst, and throw a root down into the water, 
 and shoot upward its tapering stem with beautiful little green leaves. 
 A young oak tree growing in this way on the mantle-shelf of a room 
 is a very interesting object. 
 
 Preserving Grass and Flowers . — The German mode is to take large 
 shallow pans or boxes, and covering them with a layer of the finest 
 and dryest sand, to lay the grasses in this, and carefully sift in more 
 sand till all are completely covered. The sand is then kept for some 
 days exposed to slight heat, at the end of which process it is left to 
 cool gradually, and the flowers or grasses when taken out are found to 
 retain perfectly their natural form, and, with little difference, their 
 own color also. 
 
 Plants in Dwellings . — There are few tokens so truthful of a happy 
 home as a display of fragrant flowers in a parlor window. 
 
 Plants in dwelling houses are generally kept at the windows, and, 
 except in very hard winters, suffer but little ; these will be greatly as- 
 sisted by removing them to a stand in the middle of the room at night, 
 and keeping them there, if there be much of a frost, as that would be 
 more felt at the windows than in the middle of an apartment. 
 
 One great point to be attended to in all cases, is to give no more 
 water than is absolutely necessary to keep them alive. We do not 
 mean by this that they are to have but little at a time, for that will 
 destroy the most hardy plants in existence, but that they are not to be 
 
THE FLOWER GARDEN AND HOUSE PLANTS. 
 
 405 
 
 watered oftener than they require it — and this, when plants are at 
 rest, is very seldom indeed; but when they do want it, all the soil in 
 the pot should be watered, but it should never be given them a day 
 before they need it. When a plant is at rest, it will stand a much 
 greater degree of cold than when growing, and the tendency of water- 
 ing too much is to excite growth, or, failing in that, to rot the roots, 
 and therefore it ought to be avoided ; the same remark also applies to 
 plants in a greenhouse. When a plant will grow, the proper nourish- 
 ment must be afforded ; but when at rest, it must not be excited to 
 stow. 
 
 Window Flowers . — When the windows and balconies are filled with 
 a selection of plants according to taste, and these are planted into 
 moderately large pots sufficient to last them through the growing sea- 
 son, they will require little other attention besides watering, which 
 must be very regular and constantly done. Plants in this situation, 
 from the position they occupy, are extremely liable to suffer from 
 drouth, if there is the least neglect in administering their supply of 
 water. This applies equally to all kinds of plants cultivated in these 
 situations. In order to protect the plants from injury in consequence 
 of the powerful rays of the sun striking directly on the side of the 
 pots, often very thin, and forming a mere shell around the roots, it is 
 advantageous to set the pots containing the plants within others just 
 large enough to contain them ; the double sides of the pots, together 
 with the small open cavity all around between the two, prevent the 
 evil to a very great extent ; and it may be still further prevented by 
 choosing the exterior pot still larger, and filling the cavity between 
 the two with moss, which is to be kept damped. Where moss is easily 
 procured, a bed of it may be formed on the window-ledge, in which 
 the pots could be placed, the moss being kept damp. 
 
 Watering Window Plants . — There is one universal law as to water- 
 ing plants which a great many people entirely neglect. The neglect 
 of this one rule causes more blight and more unhealthy plants than 
 perhaps any single thing that can be named besides. I mean the ex- 
 cellent rule of watering them with warm water, always rather warmer 
 chan the soil the plants are growing in. People must surely see the 
 check and injury it must be to plants always to get cold food. The 
 organs of tender plants are extremely delicate ; and when they are 
 wanted to digest their food it is a bad plan surely to paralyze them 
 with cold. If we feed them, on the other hand, with food a little 
 warm, they are stimulated at once to make the most of their meal. 
 
406 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 Another important "branch of the watering question consists in the 
 washing that all house plants require. 
 
 Soil for Parlor Plants. — The best soil for plants in pots is generally 
 mixed with vegetable mould and sand ; and the pots should be nearly 
 a quarter filled with little bits of broken pots, called pot-shreds ; so as 
 to ensure complete drainings. When plants are shifted, they are 
 turned out of the old pots into new ones, a size larger. Plants should 
 never be de-potted when in flower ; the best time, indeed, is when they 
 are growing, before their flower-buds begin to swell — as when the 
 flower-buds have appeared, they should be allowed to remain undis- 
 turbed until the growing season is completely over. 
 
 In-Door Gardens. — Why should not the country cottage have its 
 conservatory as well as the city mansion ? The materials need not be 
 costly. Fence off the warmest corner of the piazza with a few plain 
 sashes glazed with common window glass, and convey into it, in the 
 most convenient way, enough of the artificial heat that warms your 
 dwelling to keep Jack Frost out, and you have an eligible site and a 
 sufficiently genial temperature for your little winter garden. You 
 need not go to the tropics for expensive flowers and shrubs to stock it. 
 There are plenty of sweet-smelling garden plants that will bud and 
 bloom in mid-winter, if you coax them with a congenial atmosphere. 
 Many varieties of the rose-tree will keep in “full bearing” all the year 
 round under such circumstances, and you can always be two or three 
 months in advance of the natural season with your house-warmed vi- 
 olets, jonquils, daffodils, hyacinths, double-daisies, crocuses and snow- 
 drops. Most of the aromatic garden shrubs may be kept green and 
 fragrant throughout the winter in your cosy corner, and if you have 
 no such corner, surely you have a couple of windows that look toward 
 the south, where a few floral pets, in pots and boxes, may smile in the 
 face of winter. There is something delightful in the companionship 
 of our vegetable proteges. It is refreshing to see the dainty nurslings 
 we have protected so carefully from the cold, burst into blossom in the 
 depth of winter, as if in gratitude for our fostering care. 
 
 We like people who are fond of flowers. It is a sign that they have 
 souls. Persons who are indifferent to bloom and perfume may be set 
 down with the Goths, who take no delight in music, as 
 
 11 Fit for treasons, stratagems and spoils.” 
 
 Keep House Plants Clean. — A writer in the London Cottage Gar- 
 dener relates an experiment showing the advantage of keeping the 
 
THE FLOWER GARDEN AND HOUSE PLANTS. 
 
 407 
 
 leaves of plants free from dust. Two orange trees, weighing respec- 
 tively eighteen ounces and twenty ounces, were allowed to vegetate 
 without their leaves being cleaned for a year ; and two others, weigh - 
 ing nineteen ounces and twenty and a half ounces, had their leaves 
 sponged with tepid water once a week. The first two increased in 
 weight less than half an ounce each, while of the two latter, one had 
 increased two and a half and the other nearly three ounces. Except 
 the cleansing, the plants were similarly treated. 
 
 Frosted Plants . — Thaw them gradually, says the Horticulturist, and 
 in the dark. If but a single plant, immerse it in cold water, and set 
 it under the greenhouse stage ; if the whole house be frozen, put up 
 the shutters, or throw on mats over the glass, and syringe well with 
 cold water. 
 
 Insects Infesting House Plants . — There are several kinds of insects 
 which are great pests to the cultivator of flowers, and for which a vig- 
 ilant watch should be maintained in order to prevent their ravages. 
 
 The most common kind of these insects is the green louse, which 
 often completely covers the young and tender shoots of roses and other 
 plants. These may easily be destroyed by inverting the pots over a 
 tub of water or soap suds, and, immersing the plants, waving them 
 gently to and fro. A soft brush will assist in removing them. It will 
 be necessary to tie a piece of cloth over the soil in the' pot, or use some 
 other similar means to prevent the soil from falling out while per- 
 forming this operation. The green fly may be destroyed in the same 
 manner. In greenhouses tobacco is generally used to fumigate the 
 plants, by burning in a furnace, but this is an offensive operation in 
 the house. It may be performed, however, on a few plants at a time, 
 by taking an iron vessel of any kind, putting in a few live coals and a 
 small quantity of moist tobacco, and turning over this and the plants 
 a barrel or large box, and allowing them to remain for some time. 
 
 There is another insect, more difficult to get rid of, which is fre- 
 quently found on house plants. It is a species of corns, commonly 
 known as the mealy bug. They are generally to be found in the ax- 
 ils of the leaves, and greatly resemble little wads of cotton. They can- 
 not be removed by washing, but must be picked off by the hand. This 
 is a slow process, but it must be done when they first appear, or your 
 plants will be ruined by them, as they increase rapidly. 
 
 These are the ordinary insect pests against which it is necessary to 
 guard your plants. The red spider is also a nuisance. These are 
 very small, in fact, almost invisible except to a close observer. Their 
 presence may be inferred if the foliage appear yellow and sickly. On 
 
 
408 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 observing this, turn up the leaves, and you will probably find the lit- 
 tle rascals at work. They may be destroyed by profuse and repeated 
 syringing of the plants, and particularly of the under side of the 
 leaves. 
 
 Constant vigilance is necessary in the cultivator of flowers to enable 
 him to check the operations of these insects before they have had an 
 opportunity to accomplish much mischief. 
 
 Plants in Sleeping Rooms . — There are two distinct and apparently 
 opposite processes going on in the plant : 1. The decomposition of 
 
 carbonic acid — the fixation of the carbon for the purpose of building 
 up its own tissues — and the liberation of the oxygen. This constitutes 
 vegetable nutrition. 2. The exhaling carbonic acid, the result of the 
 union of the oxygen of the atmosphere with the carbon of the vegeta- 
 ble tissues. This is analogous to respiration. 
 
 The first of these processes is not only beneficial to animal life, but 
 absolutely essential to its existence, for as the animal inhales oxygen and 
 exhales carbonic acid in the process of respiration, if some agency did 
 not work out the reverse change, the whole of the oxygen in the at- 
 mosphere would be used up in a certain length of time, (800,000 years 
 according to Professor Dumas,) and animal life consequently disap- 
 pear. But, as it is, animals and plants are thus mutually dependent 
 upon each other ; and this is the case, not merely with regard to car- 
 bonic acid, but also some other compounds, such as ammonia, water, 
 &c., which are formed in animals and decomposed in plants. So far, 
 then, it is healthy to have plants in rooms. But there is the second 
 process — a kind of decay, or by some looked upon as true respiration ; 
 and as this is precisely what occurs in animals, it must, of course, add 
 to the carbonic acid of the atmosphere, and thus produce an effect 
 prejudicial to animal life. If both these processes were carried on to 
 the same extent, the one would as a matter of course, counteract the 
 other, and neither would produce either good or evil as to its effects 
 upon the atmosphere. But as the former, under general circumstan- 
 ces, preponderates excessively over the latter, it is on the whole 
 healthy to live amongst plants. There are circumstances, however, 
 in which the respiratory process is active, and the nutritive at a stand- 
 still, and here the influence of the vegetable upon the atmosphere will 
 be injurious to animal life. One of these circumstances is the absence 
 of sunshine, or daylight, as these stimuli are necessary to the carrying 
 on the process of nutrition in the plant. It is therefore injurious, 
 more or less, to sleep in a room in which there are plants. 
 
 The Perfume of Flowers . — An English writer regrets the waste of 
 
THE FLOWER GARDEN AND HOUSE PLANTS. 409 
 
 flowers in many gardens, and recommends their use in perfuming for 
 domestic purposes. The cultivation of flowers for this purpose, says 
 the writer, is carried on to an enormous extent in the South of F ranee, 
 the weight of blooms from which the odor is there extracted being 
 reckoned by thousands of pounds. Highly purified fat is used for the 
 purpose of absorbing the scent, which is thus transferred to the per- 
 fumer, who then re-extracts it from the fat by the aid of spirits of 
 wine, for which it has a still stronger affinity. Why should we not 
 ?row flowers for their odors as well as their colors ? There are scores 
 }f flowers in our gardens that would yield admirable extracts with a 
 ittle pains. For instance, there is heliotrope, the lily of the valley, 
 loneysuckle, myrtle, clove, pink and wall flower. We have extracts 
 rom all these flowers in the perfumers’ shops ; but they are nothing 
 )ut skillful combinations of other scents. He further suggests that 
 wery lady be her own perfumer, and gives us a recipe for obtaining 
 icent from heliotropes, or any other sweet-smelling flower. How that 
 >ur gardens are in full beauty and perfume, some of our fair readers 
 nay like to try the experiment for themselves, and we therefore give 
 hem the benefit of the recipe : 
 
 At the season when the flowers are in bloom, obtain one pound of 
 ine lard, melt it and strain it through a coarse hair sieve — allowing 
 he liquid fat, as it falls from the sieve, to drop into cold spring water, 
 .^his operation granulates and washes the blood and membrane from 
 L In order to start with a perfectly inodorous grease, the process 
 aay be repeated three or four times, using a pinch of salt and a pinch 
 f alum in each water ; it is then to be washed five or six times in 
 lain water ; finally remit the fat, and cast it into a pan, to free it 
 rom adhering water. How put the clarified fat into a glue pot, and 
 lace it in such a position, near the fire, or the greenhouse, or else- 
 where, that it will keep warm enough to be liquid ; into the fat throw 
 s many flowers as you can, and there let them remain for twenty-four 
 ours. At this time strain the fat from the spent flowers and add 
 resh ones ; repeat the operation for a week. We expect at the last 
 training, the fat will have become very highly perfumed, and when 
 old, may be justly termed pomade a la heliotrope. To turn this pom- 
 de into an extract fit for the handkerchief, all that has to be done is 
 o cut the perfumed fat into small pieces, drop it into a wide-mouthed 
 ottle, and cover it with highly rectified spirits, in which it must re- 
 gain for a week ; when strained off, the process is completed. 
 
 Preserving Flowers and Fruit . — A friend has just informed us that 
 •uit and flowers may be preserved from decay and fading by immer- 
 
410 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 sing them in a solution of gum arabic and water two or three times, 
 waiting a sufficient time between each immersion - to allow the gum to 
 dry. This process covers the surface of the fruit with a thin coating 
 of the gum, which is entirely impervious to the air, and thus prevents 
 the decay of the fruit, or the withering of the flower. Our friend has 
 roses thus preserved which have all the beauty and fragrance of freshly 
 plucked ones, though they have been separated from the parent stems 
 for many months. To insure success in experiments of this kind, it 
 should be borne in mind that the whole surface must be completely 
 covered ; for if the air only gets entrance at a pin-hole, the labor will 
 all be lost. In preserving specimens of fruit, particular care should be 
 taken to cover the stem end and all with gum. A good way is to wind 
 a thread of silk about the stem, and then sink it slowly in the solu- 
 tion, which should not be so strong as to leave a particle of gum un- 
 dissolved. The gum is so perfectly transparent that you can with 
 difficultv detect its presence, except by the touch. Here we have an- 
 other simple method of fixing the beauty of nature, and surrounding 
 ourselves ever with those objects which do most elevate the mind, re- 
 fine the taste and purify the heart. 
 
 Horticultural Waifs . — Double roses and flowers are unnnatural, and 
 are induced by high culture. The fullest roses will produce seed if 
 grown for a while on poor soil. Some varieties of vegetables and 
 flowers are more prolific if their seed is kept several years. Prize 
 melons have been grown from seed twelve years old, and the balsam, 
 or lady’s slipper, is more likely to come double from old seed than 
 from that freshly gathered. Most varieties of seeds, however, are in- 
 jured by long keeping. An overgrown specimen of fruit is generally 
 considered coarse and deficient in flavor. The third or fourth eye of 
 the grape produces larger and better fruit than the first or second. 
 Grapes, raspberries, and strawberries do better for being covered 
 through the winter. A plant may lie in solid ice all winter and not 
 be injured if the water runs off when it melts. Seedling fruit trees 
 are less liable to disease than budded or grafted ones, and grafted 
 trees generally produce fruit sooner than budded ones, and either 
 sooner than seedlings. Nearly all foreign varieties of strawberries 
 are from American varieties. These are mostly sent wild from Vir- 
 ginia, and when Anglicised and named sufficiently, are sent back, usu- 
 ally with poor success. The Triomphe de Gand is an exception from 
 Belgium. A good fresh virgin soil, or the top earth of an old pasture 
 is better than any artificial soil for carnations. Land that has been 
 in sod harbors the wire-worm ; the wire-worm is sometimes destine- 
 
LAWN AND TREES. 
 
 411 
 
 five to plants, and a dressing of lime and ashes, just before a rain, is 
 destructive to the wire-worm. Liquid manures often hasten the bloom 
 of plants at the expense of their color. Foreign grapes grown in the 
 open air, in our climate, are inferior to our best natives, and thus far 
 have otherwise proved unsuccessful. 
 
 LAWN AND TEEES. 
 
 Plant Trees . — There is no way a man can so effectually rear a mon- 
 ument to posterity, and one for which he shall receive their blessing, 
 as by planting a tree ; no matter whether a shade tree that shall pro- 
 tect from the scorching rays of the midsummers sun, or one that 
 shall yield a luxury in its wealth of delicious golden fruit. 
 
 Trees are not limited in their value to the proprietors of them. 
 Every citizen, rich or poor, property holder or day laborer, shares 
 in their common benefits. They are like nature’s other bounteous 
 gifts to man — the air, the water, and the sky — they can not be exclu- 
 sively appropriated, but exist for the benefit of all. Wherever a green 
 tree spreads its umbrageous arms, every passer-by is proprietor of its 
 charms, and can enjoy its coolness and freshness as much as the own- 
 er. Trees gladden the face of the whole city, and make all men par- 
 takers in their beauty. 
 
 He who plants a tree is one of the foremost of human benefactors ; 
 his own generation will hold him in grateful remembrance, and his 
 children will rise up and call him blessed. In no other way, so sim- 
 ple and so unexpensive, can an equal amount of pleasure and of com- 
 fort be conferred upon one’s neighbors and fellow citizens, as by the 
 liberal planting of trees by the owners of property. They are a liv- 
 ing testimony to the taste and public spirit of the planter, and afford 
 a choice and permanent protection to the houses they ornament, from 
 the summer fervors of the sun. 
 
 The advice of the old laird of Dumbiedikes to his son deserves to 
 ?)e written in letters of gold in the family record of every man who 
 owns a rood of land : — “Ay, stick in a tree now and then, Jack; it 
 will be growing while ye are sleeping.” Many men build fanciful 
 structures of perishing materials, in the vain hope of winning a name 
 for taste and enterprise ; but the green trees that rear their luxuriant 
 branches against the blue sky, growing taller and broader every year r 
 are living monuments of the taste of their planters, which will keep 
 
412 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 their memory green .when fickle fashion has recorded a sentence of 
 condemnation against gingerbread houses and fancy fences. The 
 groves and woods planted by Sir Walter Scott, at Abbotsford, are 
 pointed out as memorials of taste, while the proud pinnacles of the 
 baronial mansion he erected are shown as evidence of the weakness of 
 an otherwise great and good man. 
 
 Sir Walter found the lands of Abbotsford wholly or nearly desti- 
 tute of trees, and when he went to work planting them with his own 
 hands, he was ridiculed for his weakness, and told that he would never 
 live to reap the benefit of his labors, for he was then past the meridi- 
 an of life. “ No matter,” was his noble answer, “ posterity will thank 
 me for it.” He did live, however, to see the previously naked slopes 
 and hills stretching around him densely covered with luxuriant fol- 
 iage, and to fell many a sturdy ash with his own hands, so dense had 
 his plantation become. There is no more beautiful object in nature 
 than a symmetrical thrifty tree, with its tall shafts rising to the sky, 
 and its regular branches expanding on every side. Sir Walter realiz- 
 ed this; his quick eye and appreciating faculties were impressed, and 
 by following out the dictates of his cultivated taste, he erected more 
 enduring monuments to his honor and memory than the proudest old 
 feudal pile could ever prove. 
 
 Even in midwinter a noble tree is not ungraceful, with its fine out- 
 line and delicate tracery of interwoven twigs and branches. A gigan- 
 tic oak standing alone and leafless, and battling with the December 
 blast, is a grand spectacle ; but when leafy June has made of it a ver- 
 dant pyramid and bower — when the birds, building among its branch- 
 es, have made its interior vocal — when the winds sigh or murmur 
 through its foliage, like an iEolian harp, and it§ grateful shadow in 
 the sultry summer noontide lies broad and cool upon the emerald grass 
 — or when the welcome raindrops patter musically on the garniture of 
 leaves, then indeed, as we behold its gladsome glory, we realize that 
 “a thing of beauty is a joy forever.” 
 
 The man who plants a tree, erects a monument to his taste — a me- 
 morial that will live years after he himself has mouldered into dust. 
 What more graceful remembrancer than a tree to commemorate some 
 striking event in the history of a family — the birth of an heir — the 
 anniversary of a happy marriage ? What purer pleasure than to 
 mark the growth of a tree from year to year, till from a tender sap- 
 ling it rises to the lofty pyramid of verdure, with the birds of Heaven 
 building among its branches ? No man that ever set out a tree re- 
 gretted it. We speak not here of fruit trees, for they are a sort of 
 
LAWN AND TREES. 
 
 413 
 
 speculation — but of ornamental trees, things of beauty, to be cultiva- 
 ted in an aesthetic spirit that looks far above considerations of pecuni- 
 ary profit. 
 
 The villages of New England are among the pleasantest in the 
 world, and the chief secret of their charm is summed up in one word : 
 Trees. The people who laid them out a century or two ago, had the 
 good sense to plant a few score of young trees about the green and 
 along the streets. Now, look at them ! Glorious elms arch the 
 streets, and envelop the place in shade. The meanest cottage is pleas- 
 ant and picturesque if it stands beneath a fine old tree. . The poorest 
 village is good to live in if it nestles under giant trees. Plant trees. 
 Plant them round the school house. Plant them round the church. 
 Plant them on the common. Plant them along the street. Make all 
 the villages and towns pleasant with trees. 
 
 It has been recommended for the young men to form “ tree planting 
 clubs." The idea is a good one. Let the young men in a village or 
 town set apart a day in spring or autumn for the purpose of setting 
 out shade and ornamental trees. 
 
 Spare the Woods. — God’s providence is marvelous, if we will but ob- 
 serve how it pervades all things in nature that concern our lives. 
 Not least is it visible in the uses of the woods, which, were they truly 
 understood, would make us lovingly careful of the trees. When the 
 farmer denudes an otherwise sterile hill or plain of its forest crown, he 
 little considers that he may be destroying a value for all his lands, far 
 greater than the money he gets for his cord-wood, timber and rails. 
 If he has not studiedx the relations of nature’s forces, he has not learn- 
 ed that the earth receives more of its renewing through the agency 
 of trees, than from the hand of man. Of electricity, which is one of 
 the most vital needs of the earth, trees are the natural conductors ; 
 and any one who observes, may see the wooden country drawing the elec- 
 tric and rain- freighted clouds, while the surrounding woodless spaces 
 are parched and blistered with drouth. 
 
 No country is arid and desert where trees abound, but- many lands 
 have been shorn of spontaneous verdure and of noble navigable 
 streams, by being for ages stripped of woods. In parts of Spain, 
 there are dry beds of old rivers up which the Eoman galleys were 
 wont to sail, in the days of the Csesars, but where now there are 
 scarcely dribbling brooklets. High up in the sides of rocks, above 
 which the stunted olive lives a feeble, thirsty life, remain the iron bolts 
 driven by the old navigators, ere the forests that fed and made rivers 
 were destroyed. Still, from lessons such as these, written abundantly 
 

 414 PRACTICAL CYCLOPEDIA. 
 
 in every cultivated quarter of the globe, man does not get wisdom to 
 spare trees, where God evidently intended they should grow as long 
 as the earth lasts ; or to plant them, on spaces where trees only would 
 grow. The trees are not only conductors of electricity, but they at- 
 tract and hold excesses of moisture — of night dews, and summer rain3 
 and winter snows — which they distribute by gradual processes for the 
 benefit of the open fields. 
 
 If not for their beauty, as the “ verdurous crown of the landscape, 1 " 
 the owner of land should preserve some portions of woods— if woods 
 he has — for his fields, and for the earth’s sake. If he does not, his 
 glebe will be sultry, and he will have dearth in a four-fold sense ; 
 dearth of the fairest of natures beauties — dearth of shade, so re- 
 freshing to man and beast — dearth of music of birds, for the birds 
 flee the barren treeless spaces — and dearth of electricity and moisture, 
 upon which all that he cultivates from the bosom of the earth most 
 depends. How many a rocky hill is shorn of that which gave it pomp 
 and fed the valley with sparkling rills, and left forever after an ugly 
 and accusing monument. Let man be driven for a period to some 
 shadeless, springless desert — over which even the clouds and lightniugs 
 hurry with unwonted speed, as if to shun the place — and he would re- 
 turn to woodland with a reverence for trees, as one of God’s greatest 
 beauties. 
 
 The woodlands of America are peculiarly rich in varieties of forest 
 trees ; tall pines, fit for the flag-ship of an admiral ; hemlocks, with 
 their dense and drooping evergreen branches ; royal oaks, stately and 
 umbrageous; graceful and flickering birches; verdant walnuts, with 
 their straight trunks and glossy leaves ; chestnuts, useful and orna- 
 mental ; the exquisite magnolias, and tulip trees, and a hundred others 
 that we have not space to name, make the hills of our land of prom- 
 ise glorious and goodly to behold. Yet war to the knife has been de- 
 clared upon these unhappy trees, and even the present generation re- 
 gard them with hereditary rancor. Trees were the sturdiest enemies 
 of civilization the early settlers had to contend with. They served as 
 a shelter for the savage foe, and the not less savage wild beast; their 
 extermination imposed the severest labor on the husbandman, who 
 went into the woodland with his axe in his hand, and his rifle on his 
 back; and a man’s enterprise and wealth were measured by the ex- 
 tent of his clearing^. 
 
 The spirit has survived the exigency that prompted and excused it. 
 and some people seem to have a spite against the trees, and would go 
 many miles out of their way to chop one dowm, as John Randolph said 
 
LAWN AND TREES. 
 
 415 
 
 he would to kick a sheep ! But this feeling is fast becoming extinct; es- 
 pecially in the neighborhood of cities, where trees are such rarities ; a 
 truer spirit is now awakened, and almost every rural town — good taste 
 be thanked! — has its “Tree Society.” 
 
 The Japanese have a custom uniformly observed among them, by 
 which every man leaves on his grounds as many trees as he finds. It 
 is the law in Japan that no fir or Cypress tree can be cut down with- 
 out the permission of a magistrate, and for every full grown tree that 
 is felled a sapling must be planted. A French paper says that at 
 Thouseth, the Cure, who is now nearly eighty years of age, has al- 
 ways insisted for the last thirty years, that the parents of every child 
 he baptized should plant a fruit tree of some kind or other. The re- 
 sult is that this commons, which was formerly very unproductive, now 
 presents the appearance of an immense orchard. 
 
 Planting Trees . — Instead of the many formal, stiff lines that are 
 common in walks, there should be exhibited more of the elegant, easy, 
 fiowing lines, which render so much of grace to a charming landscape. 
 
 Trees and shrubbery, if set out in the fall, get nearly a year’s start 
 of those delayed until spring; and in planting do not set them in lines 
 and squares, but form them in clusters, or elegant groups, about your 
 grounds. 
 
 Care and taste are quite necessary in grouping trees. Plant in 
 groups of three, four, or half a dozen; intermingling the maple, the 
 evergreen, and .the elm. 
 
 Be careful that the trees you select, and the forms you create, in a 
 manner harmonize with the style of architecture of your house, caring 
 too that they hide from view some ungainly object in the adjoining 
 
 landscape. 
 
 An- uneven wavy surface of ground, is preferable to a dead level, 
 because in it there is more variety, and consequently more beauty. 
 
 Easy and sweeping curves of line, whether of road, ridge, walk or 
 drive, are much more beautiful than straight lines. Stiffness mars a 
 landscape. 
 
 Before commencing your labors, just map the whole picture in your 
 mind. 
 
 The best Shade Trees and Trees for Lawns. — Maple, elm, horse 
 chestnut, mountain ash, chestnut, black walunt, oak, ash, magnolia, 
 tulip- tree, ptelea, catalpa, larch, &c., and such evergreens as Norway 
 spruce, Austrian pine, Scotch pine, white pine, balsam fir, and white 
 and black spruce, are all good. For the beginner, we would say, plant 
 at first, native, well-known, hardy trees. These will include, gener 
 
416 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 ally, tlie white elm ; the rock maple, silver, red and black maple ; the 
 white ash, the white oak, chestnut, and perhaps a few others. To 
 these, we would add a few evergreens, such as white pine, balsam fir, 
 black and white spruce, and arbor vitae. Then we would go on with 
 the Norway maple; English, Scotch and Dutch elms; Scotch larch, 
 European mountain ash, Norway spruce, Siberian arbor vitae, and a 
 few other foreign evergreens. 
 
 The maple is one of the best shade trees for city growth as well as 
 for the country. It is not affected a particle by the extremes of heat 
 and cold. It forms a beautiful head, with clean, glossy foliage, smooth 
 bark, is free from all insects, and has a rapid growth. In five years 
 in a good soil, it makes a fine symmetrical head, with gracefully 
 sweeping branches, and affords a dense shade. The American tulip 
 tree is also very choice. Its great elegance of habit, and striking 
 beauty of leaf and blossom, recommend it to any one who has an eye 
 to fine proportions. It requires a deep soil, with plenty of room to 
 expand freely on all sides. It will not bear removing when large; 
 but small trees grow rapidly when transplanted into a deep soil. 
 
 Evergreen Shrubs . — Those who have small grounds, should confine 
 their plantings of evergreens exclusively to the small species and vari- 
 eties, if they would avoid having everything else overshadowed. 
 Among some of these may be named the dwarf white spruce, which 
 grows only four or five feet high; the several varieties of juniper, and 
 the bay silver fir. There are several dwarf varieties of the Norway 
 spruce, which grow only a few feet high. The pinus pumila, or dwarf 
 Scotch pine, forms a broad, dense mass of dark leaves, never grows 
 over ten or twelve feet high. 
 
 Transplanting Evergreens . — Transplant just as they commence grow- 
 ing in the spring, or else in February. May and June are probably 
 the best months of the year. Dig the trees very carefully. Prefer 
 those under three feet in height. Immediately place them in a coarse 
 cloth thoroughly wetted, keeping it so until they are placed in the 
 ground again. If the tree is large, select a time when the ground is 
 frozen, and take up as large a block of frozen earth as you can. Move 
 carefully. 
 
 Eruning Evergreens . — A gardener, in an English journal, referring 
 to pruning evergreens, whether hedges or otherwise, gives the follow- 
 ing advice : There is a natural law about cutting in the boughs of all 
 kinds of evergreens, which can never be departed from, in a single in- 
 stance, without doing more or less harm in the long run. It is this : 
 that the lowest boughs all round the bottom of a tree or bush be left 
 
LAWN AND TREES. 
 
 417 
 
 longer than those above them, if only the fraction of an inch ; and the 
 rule holds good from bottom boughs to the topmost ones, even of a 
 Wellingtonia. The reason for the rule is this : if the boughs or bran- 
 ches in any part of the tree or bush are allowed to get longer than 
 those below them, the longest will throw off the drops when it rains, 
 and shade them from the sun ; and when the sun and rain are kept 
 from an evergreen bough, it soon languishes and dies by inches. That 
 this is the only reason why laurels and fir trees, and all the rest of 
 them, get naked below. People allow the top branches to spread over 
 the bottom ones. Now, any one who understands that law, and acts 
 on it, can never go wrong in managing a hedge or tree. 
 
 Transplanting Trees and Shrubs . — We are often asked, “ What is 
 the best time to transplant trees and shrubs ?” To all such question- 
 ars we would say : if your soil is well drained and in good heart, it 
 nay be done in November, with the single exception of evergreens. 
 But if the soil is not well drained, don’t set out a single tree or shrub 
 until it is. Before planting, plow the soil deep, using a sub-soil plow ; 
 md be sure it has not been exhausted by former crops. Trees need 
 bod equally with any other crop, and suffer more from the want of it 
 Pan any other. A coating of fresh manure applied just before plant- 
 ng, is worse than useless. Don’t dig your holes very deep, but be 
 lure and make them wide enough, so that every root may be placed in 
 ts natural position, with plenty of space to spare. If you will plant 
 n wet ground, set the roots on the surfau 1 ., and heap the soil over 
 hem, but all such cases should be left until spring. The great secret 
 I successful planting, is to obtain plants with good roots that have 
 lever been allowed to get dry, filling in carefully around every rootlet 
 fith the hand, so that no empty space is left, using mellow soil alone 
 or this purpose, without any manure ; and putting the young trees 
 ery little or no deeper in the ground than they were in the nursery. 
 Irape vines may be treated a little differently in regard to depth of 
 etting. If the roots and branches are dry, or partially so, when re- 
 eived, bury all in the ground for two or three weeks ; this will often 
 ave them. Trees or shrubs that are liable to winter-kill, should not 
 ■e transplanted until spring, and many prefer spring to fall planting, 
 pring transplanted plants are full of sap, and consequently get a good 
 tart, but this is of less account than doing the work well. 
 
 Lime in Transplanting Trees . — An English publication says that a 
 irge plantation of trees has been formed in that country, within a few 
 ears past, without the loss of a single tree, by putting a small quan- 
 ty of lime in the hole when planting the tree. Four bushels of lime 
 27 
 
418 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 are said to be sufficient for an acre. The lime is thoroughly mixed 
 with the soil, in order that it may be reached by the roots with equal 
 facility in every direction, as its principal effect is to push forward the 
 tree during the first precarious stages of its growth. 
 
 To Transplant Nut-Bearing Trees. — Cut the long tap root about a 
 foot below the surface a year before transplanting. This causes nu- 
 merous fibrous roots to be thrown out, and the tree may afterwards be 
 removed with but little risk of injury. 
 
 Removing Large Trees. — Dig a trench around at a distance from 
 the tree — depending on the size of the tree — and leave the mass of 
 earth to freeze. When frozen the earth may be taken out from be- 
 neath, and the large roots clipped, when with a strong rope attached 
 to the top it may be overturned and transferred to the desired loca- 
 tion on a stone-boat or sled. 
 
 Culture of the Locust. — A writer says the locust tree grows in twen- 
 ty years to a goodly size. Its use in ship-building, for fence posts, as 
 well as for manifold purposes in the arts and manufactures, is render- 
 ing it every year more and more valuable as an article of commerce, 
 and it already commands a high price. An acre of locusts of fifteen 
 years' growth will bring $800 to $1000 ; of twenty years’ growth, 
 $1500, without the labor of cutting and carrying to market. 
 
 Planting Locust Seeds. — The best treatment of lucust seed to insure 
 a speedy germination, is to gather the seed as soon as ripe in the fall, 
 shell them and put them in a box of sand, keep the sand moist and ex- 
 posed to the weather until spring, then sift the sand out, and plant in 
 April, about the usual time of planting corn. When seed are not pro- 
 cured in time to adopt this method, take them at the proper time of 
 planting, pour hot (not boiling) water on them : let them stand in the 
 water in a warm place for several days, changing the water every 
 second day, when some of the seed will become considerably swollen ; 
 these should be picked out and planted ; let the others remain in the 
 water until the shell becomes soaked and the kernel swollen, and plant 
 as before. With this treatment they will grow as readily as Indian 
 corn. Plant first in nursery rows, putting the seed six inches apart, 
 and the rows four feet asunder, and transplant the first or second 
 spring following. 
 
 Planting a Walnut Grove. — Plant the nuts in the fall about two 
 inches deep, and if not too close together and they are well taken care 
 of, in six or seven years they will commence bearing. Keep the weeds 
 down and the stock from them, and in a few years you will have a 
 beautiful grove, and valuable both for the timber and the nuts. 
 
LAWN AND TREES. 
 
 419 
 
 Wind-Breaks . — Says the editor of the American Agriculturist : A 
 protecting hedge of some fast- growing tree is of great service, espe- 
 sially in districts where high winds prevail. The soft maple, silver pop- 
 lar, Ailanthus, and white willow are quick-growing deciduous trees 
 for this purpose. The Norway spruce, white pine and arbor vitae are 
 the most rapidly growing evergreens. 
 
 Botanic Names of Trees . — The following list of botanical names of 
 some of our most common trees will be found useful to all readers. 
 Those with an asterisk (*) are foreign ; the others are natives of the 
 
 United States and Canada : 
 
 Common Name. Botanic Name. 
 
 Norway Spruce, * Abies excelsa. 
 
 Balsam Fir, Abies balsamea. 
 
 Hemlock Spruce, Abies Canadensis. 
 
 Black Spruce, Abies nigra. 
 
 False Sycamore, * Acer pseudo platanus. 
 
 Sugar Maple, Acer saccharinum. 
 
 Silver Maple, Acer dasycarpum. 
 
 Ailantbus, *Ailantus glandulosa. 
 
 Weeping Birch, *Betula alba pendula. 
 
 Spanish Chestnut, Castanea vesca. 
 
 American Chestnut, Castanea vesc^Americana. 
 
 Catalpa, Catalpa syringaefolla. 
 
 White Hickory, Carya alba. 
 
 Cedar of Lebanan, *Cedrus Libani. 
 
 Indian Cedar, *Cedrus deodora. 
 
 Wild Cherry, Cerasus Virginia na. 
 
 Laburnum, Cytisus laburnum. 
 
 Persimmon, Diospyras Virginiana. 
 
 Copper-Leaved Beech, *Fagus sylvatica cuprea. 
 
 Purple-Leaved Beech, *Fagus sylvatica purpurea. 
 
 Weeping Ash, *Fraxinus excelsior pendula. 
 
 European Holly, *nex aquifolium. 
 
 English Walnut, *Juglans regia. 
 
 Black Walnut, Juglans nigra. 
 
 Scotch Larch, *Larix Europea. 
 
 Large-Flowered Magnolia, Magnolia grandiflora. 
 
 Slaucus-Leaved Magnolia, Magnolia glauca. 
 
 Sreat-Leaved Magnolia, Magnolia macrophylla. 
 
 Cucumber Tree, Magnolia acuminata. 
 
 Chinese Magnolia, ^Magnolia conspicus. 
 
 White Mulberry, *Morus alba. 
 
 Black Mulberry, *Morus nigra. 
 
 Chinese Mulberry, *Morus alba sinensis. 
 
 Pine, Pinus. 
 
 Imperial Paulownia, *Paulownia imperialis. 
 
 Mountain Ash, *Pyrus aucuparia. 
 
 Abele Tree, *Populus alba. 
 
 Buttonwood, Platanus occidentalis 
 
 Oak, Quercus. 
 
 Common Willow, Salix alba. 
 
 Weeping Willow, *Salix Babylonica. 
 
 Linden, *Tilea Europes. 
 
 Yew, *Taxus baccata. 
 
 Chinese Arbor Vitae, i.*Thuja orientalis. 
 
 American Arbor Vitae, Thuja occidentalis. 
 
 English Elm, * Ulmus campestria 
 
 Dutoh Elm, *Ulmus c. major. 
 
 American Elm, Ulmus Americana. 
 
 Weeping Elm, Ulmus A. pendula. 
 
 Slippery Elm, Ulmus A. pulva. 
 
420 
 
 PEAGTICAL CYCLOPEDIA. 
 
 Lawns . — There is nothing — not even expensive statuary, flowers 
 and shrubbery — that adds so much to the surrounding embellishments 
 of a farmhouse or suburban residence, as green grass upon a well-kept 
 lawn, and it is a beauty that is permanent and inexpensive. If the 
 ground is well under-drained and the grass well dressed in the fall, it 
 will start fresh as soon as the snow is off, and often earlier, and it 
 keeps green through the most severe drouth upon ground that has 
 been well prepared. With here and there a shade, what a lovely sight 
 it is to see children playing upon a smooth lawn. With what glee they 
 run from tree to tree, the old dog joining with great satisfaction in the 
 sport. In spring, in summer, in autumn, the lawn is beautiful, and 
 even in winter it speaks of refinement of the resident occupants. It 
 tells too of the art and industry in man, since lawns are seldom if ever 
 found in a natural state. The sea of grass upon the western prairies 
 is only beautiful when seen at a distance. It does not bear close in- 
 spection like the velvety sod of a lawn. 
 
 Whenever we see a lawn turning brown in summer, we know that 
 it was neither trenched with the spade, nor subsoil plowed, without 
 which manuring will not always preserve its perpetual green. 
 
 Those who build country houses are too apt to expend their means 
 upon a grand mansion, expensive out-buildings, ornamental fences, 
 fine carriages and horses, and sometimes gaudy inappropriate furni- 
 ture, which is all unsatisfactory, for the grand house, though embow- 
 ered in trees, has no grassy lawn. 
 
 Seeding a Lawn . — A small lawn may be covered with sods — a large 
 one must have the sod formed upon it. Two quarts of white clover 
 seed mixed with a bushel of the chafiy seed of redtop, and sown evenly 
 upon the third of an acre of well prepared ground, will form a fine 
 lawn turf. Some add a little seed of the vernal or sweet-scented 
 grass, that is so fragrant in new-mown hay. To make the ground 
 perfectly level and smooth, if the space is small, rake it carefully — if it 
 is large, use the roller. 
 
 Sodding a Lawn . — Prepare the ground as smooth as possible, after 
 having worked it deep and finely pulverized, and then go with your 
 barrow, if the distance is short, to the spot where you will cut your 
 turf. If far distant, of course a cart must be used to haul home the 
 load. If less distant, an ox sled will be found more convenient. In cut- 
 ting sods do not take them up by the spade-full, but stretch a line and 
 cut through the sod with a sharp spade. If much is to be cut, it 
 would be better to do it with a plow-coulter ground sharp and set in 
 a beam with handles, and gauged to the right depth. An implement 
 
LAWN AND TREES. 
 
 421 
 
 could be made with but little expense, that would cut the edges and 
 bottom all at once. If cut with a spade, line off the courses exactly a 
 foot wide, and cut the sod evenly one and a half inches thick, and 
 roll up a course upon a handspike as big as two men can carry to the 
 '/ehicle that is to transport it, and carry the roll in the same way to 
 the ground prepared for your lawn- and unroll just as you would a 
 carpet. Afterward use the roller or something to compact the sods 
 iown firmly in place. 
 
 Clipping the Lawn . — More persons fail in the care of than in the 
 making of a lawn. They cannot see the necessity of the frequent clip- 
 oir,gs, without which they cannot have a good lawn turf. One has 
 cnly to look at the sod of a once-a-year clipped mowing field, and corn- 
 care that with a closely-grazed pasture or roadside sod, and see which 
 s preferable for a lawn. Let it be set down as a rule that a lawn can- 
 lot be clipped too often, and that it must be clipped twice a month, 
 md that it will improve the sod to roll it as frequently. If there is 
 prass enough so they would not wear it out, a troop of playful children 
 ipon the lawn every day would make the sod grow thick and firm, 
 ind the grass fine and soft. It is a good thing for a lawn to go over 
 t every spring in a rainy day and scatter grass seed wherever there is 
 he least show of bare ground. 
 
 Watering and Manuring the Lawn.— ML you have a hydrant, have 
 t long hose with a showering muzzle, and use it often in dry weather. 
 Itherwise, you must, if you desire to see your grass always green, 
 vater by hand, or with a watering cart or garden engine. It will 
 greatly add to the advantage of watering, if you will dissolve some 
 ertilizing substance in the water, a few pounds to a hogshead full, 
 fou may use guano, salt, niter, lime, potash and several other ingre- 
 iients. If there are grubs in the sod, salt them to death. Carbonate, 
 ihosphate, or sulphate of lime -may all be used at times to advantage 
 m a lawn, sowed on in moderate quantity. A dressing of well decom- 
 >osed compost is the only manure that should be applied, and that in 
 he fall or early spring. 
 
 Planting Lawn Trees . — We beg of you not to plant in rows nor any 
 ^rm of mathematical precision. Follow nature — go to the woods for 
 pattern, or rather to some natural park, like the bur-oak groves of 
 lichigan and Indiana. Keep in view “what for?” every time you 
 st a tree. The object is either ornament or shade — it is not to fill up. 
 ^eep also in view the fact that the tree you are planting is to .grow. 
 1 requires a combination of skill, taste, judgment, forethought, that 
 
122 
 
 PEACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 few persons possess, to plant the trees in a lawn, great or small — from 
 a door yard to a royal park. 
 
 The great thing to remember is this — a short green- grass and com- 
 pact sod, is the leading beauty of a lawn or park, and trees and flow- 
 ers are only thrown in to fill up or hide ugly spots, or break the 
 uniformity, or furnish agreeable shade. Make everything — grass, 
 trees, flowers, rocks, water, walls, fences, to look as natural, and just 
 as little artificial as possible, and your lawns will excite admiration in 
 strangers and satisfaction in yourself. 
 
 THE CULTURE OF ORCHARD FRUITS. 
 
 Fruit as a Medicine . — Ripe fruit is the medicine of nature. Noth- 
 ing could be more wholesome for man or child; and although green 
 fruit is, of course, almost as fatal as so much poison, the ripe is fully 
 as thorough a health restorative and health preserver. Strawberries 
 are a favorite with all classes, and constitute a popular luxury. But 
 who can compute the amount of general health promoted by this rel- 
 ’sh for strawberries? Who can imagine how many pills that relish 
 hrows out of the market; or, in other words, to what extent these 
 pills prepared by Mother Nature, and sugar coated, as it were, to ren- 
 der them more palatable, crowd out of use those prepared by the 
 chemist and the apothecary ? Who can tell the number of disordered 
 livers, deranged stomachs, and afflictive digestive apparatus generally, 
 the grateful acid of that delicious fruit gradually restores to a sound 
 condition, mocking at all the skill of the ablest physician, vindicating 
 the simple laws of Hygeia by their radical action, and teaching us 
 how often a panacea for some of the most painful of human maladies 
 lies directly at our feet, and is condemned because it is so unassuming? 
 After strawberries, we do homage especially to peaches and apples. 
 They are the kind of drugs that cost comparatively little and do com- 
 paratively much, when the patient is not too far gone for the use of 
 such pleasant medicaments. We knew a person once, who believing 
 himself in a decline, and having been completely worn out in patience 
 by the experiments of his doctors, determined to eat from four to six 
 ripe apples every day, and note the result. In three months he was 
 well! We know of another, who, without being afflicted with any 
 particular disorder, was never in good health, and for twenty-five 
 years could scarcely be said to enjoy a single week’s exemption from 
 
THE CULTURE OF ORCHARD FRUITS. 
 
 423 
 
 suffering. He then commenced the habit of drinking a glass of plain 
 cider every morning, and for the next twenty-five years never had a 
 single day’s iilness. Such remedies are simple enough! 
 
 Planting Fruit Trees. — Henry C. Vail, of Sing Sing, N. Y., urges the 
 planters of orchards to be more careful in preparing the soil and plant- 
 ing trees. The want of success in growing fruits is more frequently to 
 braced to negligence .in this department than any other cause. A tree 
 is a vitalized body, possessed of delicate organs. By means of these 
 crgans the tree is enabled to build itself up from the food to be found 
 in the soil and the air, also to perfect its fruit. Study the habits of 
 pour trees, and give them all they require ; but of one thing do not 
 lose sight — all fruit trees of value require a loose, deep soil, free from 
 excessive quantities of water and well supplied with mineral food. Is 
 pour soil wet ? Drain it deeply. Is it compact ? Loosen it with a 
 plow as deeply as possible, and follow in the bottom of the furrow 
 with the lifting sub-soil plow, if in a field; if in a garden, trench the 
 soil deeply throughout the whole plot. Is it poor in vegetable ma- 
 nure? Supply none but those well decomposed — such as woods’ mold, 
 muck, compost, rich road scrapings and with a rake mixing it with the 
 soil, adding a small quantity of fine barn yard manure. 
 
 When the soil has been thus prepared, a little larger than the space 
 occupied by the spread roots of the tree, will answer. Place the tree no 
 leeper than it grew in the nursery, unless it be a pear one, quince stock, 
 when it should be left so as to entirely cover the quince with soil. None 
 but the best soil should be put under or about the roots. No plaster, 
 ashes, phosphates, or guano, should touch them. No fermenting ma- 
 lures of any kind should be allowed under the tree to injure its roots 
 oy the escape of gases. Sprinkle fine soil on the roots while the tree 
 -s held still, regulating it as necessary to secure the natural position. In 
 all but heavy clay soils, pour a pail of water over the loose earth and al- 
 ow it to settle away among the fine rootlets. Don’t churn the tree up and 
 lown in the hole. Don't trample on the earth with your feet leaving great 
 paces in which no soil finds its way. Don't throw in clumps of earth 
 or stones. Fill up the hole carefully, keeping away grass and sods ; cov- 
 3r a wide space around the tree with coarse litter, leaves, salt, hay, and 
 last, tan bark, or stones loosely piled around. These will shade the 
 soil, keep in moisture, and enable you to water the tree without form- 
 ing a thick crust on the top of the soil or packing it down too closely. 
 
 Should you be unable to subsoil or trench all your land, dig wide 
 and deep holes, leaving out all the subsoil, returning nothing but sur- 
 face soil, and proceeding as before. For large trees use strong, limber 
 
42d 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPEDIA. 
 
 stakes, to which they should be attached by soft ties of willow oi 
 straw. Trees thus carefully set, will grow and reward the planter. 
 
 All newly planted trees require to be kept hoed around, or the 
 ground covered with a mulch of fresh mown grass, tan bark, etc,, du- 
 ring the first summer, and should have it continued for years. The 
 extra growth will more than repay the expense. When not done, in 
 ordinary seasons, instead of obtaining a vigorous growth many will 
 die. 
 
 For Propagating Trees and Plants by Cuttings. — Apples, pears, 
 plums, apricots, &c., roses and other plants easy to live. Put the 
 whole cutting in the ground, bent in the form of a bow, with the cen- 
 ter part up, and just on a level with the surface; at which point there 
 must be a good bud or shoot, which is the only part exposed to the 
 air ; the other, being protected by the earth from drying up, supports 
 and gives vigor to the bud, which starts directly into leaf, and in Its 
 turn helps the cutting to form roots, and the whole even forms a thri- 
 ving tree. The method of setting them is to form two drills about 
 three inches apart, with a sharp ridge between, over which bend the 
 cutting and stick an end in each drill, and cover up and press the earth 
 firmly, and water freely. Cuttings should be of the last year’s growth, 
 fresh and vigorous. Out of a hundred cuttings put out in June, not 
 one but was thriving in August in the open air, without shade or ex- 
 tra care, except watering a few times soon after they were planted. 
 
 The Apple. — The apple is universally and justly admitted to be the 
 most important of all fruits. Its hardiness, productiveness, ease of 
 culture, and long continuance — and the facility with which it is kept 
 and ripened — all concur to place it first in general value. 
 
 Farly Care of Fruit Trees. — The following sensible hints are from 
 a writer in the Boston Cultivator : The first eight years of the life of 
 a fruit tree are the most important, and require judicious manage- 
 ment. If a good compact head is formed in this period, it will need 
 comparatively little pruning afterward. The wood is of the first con- 
 sequence in these, years, and fruit should be steadily sacrificed for the 
 future good of the tree. Apply the knife above and the compost be- 
 low and keep the heads as much in a pyramidal shape as possible. In 
 due time you will have abundant fruit and limbs strong enough to 
 hold it. 
 
 Fruit or Wood. — There are two principles in fruit trees ; the growth 
 of fruit and the growth of wood. It is the fruit grower’s business, 
 says the Valley Farmer , to attend to these and see that they are prop- 
 erly directed. It is in his power to divert the growth as he wishes. 
 
THE CULTURE OF ORCHARD FRUITS 
 
 425 
 
 He has the reins of the sap, so to speak, in his hands. It is his busi- 
 ness when the tree is young to grow all the wood he can. But when 
 the time for bearing has come, (and that may come early,) he must 
 give the reins a turn, and direct the reins of the tree to growing fruit. 
 To this end, he is to pinch off the tips of -his main shoots, of all the 
 shoots, if he wishes a general and generous bearing. This will have 
 a tendency to develop fruit spurs; the tree’s attention is directed tow- 
 ards maternity. Next year there will be a prospect of fruit, if the 
 thing is not prematurely done; a tree cannot bear before it is fit to 
 bear. 
 
 To Obtain Fruit in New Places. — The quickest return is from plant- 
 ing strawberries. Muskmelons and watermelons will yield their de- 
 licious products four months after planting. Good sized plants of 
 gooseberries, currants, raspberries, and blackberries, will bear the sec- 
 ond year. Dwarf pears of the right sorts, and under the right man- 
 agement, come quickly into bearing — some the second year. Grapes 
 afford fruit soon — usually beginning to bear the second and third year. 
 Of dwarf apples half a peck per tree is often obtained the third year 
 from the most profitable sorts. 
 
 Fruit Trees Near Barn Yards. — We have known peach trees to 
 grow four feet in a year when planted on the margin of a barnyard, 
 and others every way else alike, away from the barnyard, but eight 
 inches. Fine crops of peaches and apples may be had by setting trees 
 around such yards. 
 
 How to Produce Large Fruit. — We find the following curious state- 
 ment in Emery's Journal , and think it well worth a trial : By a very 
 simple and easy process, fruits of many kinds may be raised about 
 )ne-third larger than is usually the case, and of greatly improved 
 [uality. The secret consists in supporting the fruits so that they shall 
 lot be allowed to hang their whole weight upon the stock, or twist 
 hout in the wind. The writer states that when fruit is allowed to 
 lang naturally upon the stock, the increasing weight strains the stem 
 >r twig, and thus lessens the quantity of nutritious food flowing to 
 he fruit, which may be supported either by tying it to a branch with 
 > piece of string or by inclosing it in a small net. Flowers, such as 
 ahlias or peonies, may also be rendered much larger by the adoption 
 f this system. 
 
 Orchards in Grass. — No man living, says Judge French, can show 
 good orchard of grafted fruit which was kept in grass the first ten 
 cars of its life. It is a point settled beyond controversy, that orch- 
 
426 
 
 PEACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 ards, to be healthy and productive, must be cultivated most of the 
 time. 
 
 Productiveness arid Profit of Orchards. — Henry Ward Beecher say 
 an acre of potatoes will not produce as much as the same area in orch- 
 ard, with five times the labor. 
 
 To Prevent Pry Pot in Apple Trees. — A load of green manure from 
 the barn-yard placed around the roots of each tree subject to “dry 
 rot,” has proved a sure specific against this destructive disease — so 
 says an experienced neighbor of mine. It should be applied in the 
 fall or winter. 
 
 Renovating Old Apple Trees. — “Dig about and dung it,” was the 
 scriptural way of renewing barren trees. Success attends the same 
 method now. Dig “about,” certainly as far as the branches extend 
 but do not dig too deep, or injure the roots unnecessarily. Stirring 
 the surface soil frequently, is what they want. Try that, and you will 
 be amazed at the renovation you work in old apple trees. 
 
 To Prevent Frost from Injuring Fruit Trees. — The Superintendent 
 of the Missouri Blind Institution says he has proved by three years 1 
 satisfactory experimenting that by tying one end of a clothes line tc 
 the lower branch on one side of a tree, then throwing it over the top 
 and across the middle of the tree and placing the other end in a tut 
 of water — keeping it there during the whole time there is the least 
 likelihood of a sudden frost after the buds first begin to swell in the 
 spring — will invariably protect the fruit wholly from the effects of 
 frost. 
 
 Parren Fruit Trees. — Occasionally pear and apple trees make strong 
 and vigorous growth, year after year, but fail to set any fruit. Now 
 is the time to compel them to form fruit buds. Dig a trench around 
 the body of the tree one-third the diameter of the extending limbs 
 cut the trench deep, cutting off every root ; then fill in again. This 
 cutting of the roots checks the upward flow of sap, and causes more of 
 it, after being elaborated by the leaf, to be deposited in the buds and 
 short branches, and next year spurs will be formed giving fruit with- 
 out fail the following season. 
 
 How the Spaniards Secure an Abundance of Fruit. — When a Span- 
 iard eats a peach or pear by the roadside, wherever he is, he digs a 
 hole in the ground with his foot, and covers the seed. Consequently; 
 all over Spain, by the roadsides and elsewhere, fruit in great abun 
 dance tempts the taste, and is ever free. Let this practice be imitated 
 in our country, and the weary wanderer will be blest, and bless the 
 hand that ministered to his comfort and joy. We are bound to leave- 
 
THE CULTURE OF ORCHARD FRUITS. 
 
 427 
 
 the world as good, or better, than we found it, and Le is a selfish churl 
 who basks under the shadow, and eats the fruit of trees which other 
 hands have planted, if he will not also plant trees which shall yield 
 fruit to coming generations. 
 
 Long-Keeping Apples. — Apples that are remarkably well covered 
 with wax never fail to keep long and preserve a good flavor — whether 
 they are summer, fall, or winter apples. My friend, Rev. Joseph 
 Jones, of Berea, informs me that he raised on his farm some winter 
 apples of this description which he kept without difficulty in consider- 
 able quantities until the fourth of July. 
 
 Stamping Fruit. — A German Journal publishes the following : At 
 Vienna, for some time past, fruit dealers have sold peaches, pears, ap- 
 ples, apricots, etc., ornamented with armorial bearings, designs, init- 
 ials and names. The impressions of these things are effected in a very 
 simple manner. A fine fruit is selected at the moment it is beginning 
 to ripen — that is, to take red color — and paper, in which the designs 
 are neatly cut out, is affixed. After awhile the envelope is removed, 
 and the part of the fruit which has been covered is brilliantly white. 
 
 Wash for Fruit Trees. — Dissolve one pound common sal soda in a 
 gallon of water, and wash. Solon Robinson says, caustic soda wash is 
 me of the best things we ever saw applied to a fruit tree. It will 
 nake the bark as smooth as if wax-polished. It leaves no harbor for 
 nsects under pieces of dead bark. He recommends to make it by 
 mating the common sal soda red hot in any old iron vessel, and then 
 naking a ley of it — say about one pound of the salts to a gallon of 
 vater — and washing the trees with a brush. It is best to put it on in 
 he spring. A piece of old stove pipe, battered up at one end, and 
 tuck into one of the stove-holes answers very well to heat the soda 
 n. The wash should be too caustic to put your hands in. 
 
 Another Wash. — Mr. Carpenter, of Hew York, recommends soft 
 oap as the very best material that can be used in spring as a tree 
 vash. It should be manipulated into such a consistency that it can 
 >e put on like paint with a brush, first scraping off the loose bark. It 
 (lakes tne bark as smooth as willow twigs. Some wash twice a year 
 flth soap and water — one third soft-soap and two-thirds water. 
 
 Sulphate of Iron for Trees. — It is stated as a new discovery, that 
 wonderful effects may be obtained by watering fruit trees and vegeta- 
 bles with a solution of sulphate of iron. Under this system beans will 
 ;row to nearly double the size, and will acquire a much more savory 
 aste. The pear seems to be particularly well adapted to this treat- 
 
428 
 
 PKACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 ment. Old nails thrown into water and left to rust there, will impart 
 to it all the necessary qualities for forcing vegetation as described. 
 
 To Destroy Caterpillars. — If the limbs are too high to be reached 
 by the hand, take a pole and tie on a sponge saturated with coal oil, 
 and brush them off with it. See article on Pests. 
 
 To Save Girdled Fruit Trees. — Trees girdled by rabbits, mice, &c., 
 may be saved as follows : When the sap flows freely in the spring, take 
 a keen knife, run it around the trunk of the tree above and below the 
 wound, cutting to the hard wood, and peel the gnawed bark if any ; 
 when that has been done, take another piece of bark, just to fit and re- 
 place it ; then spread a rag with grafting wax, and bind it so that the 
 water cannot penetrate any part of the wounded trunk. When the 
 tree is merely wounded, but not entirely girdled, heap up earth above 
 the wounded part, or apply grafting wax warm enough to spread easily 
 using a common paint brush, and pressing on to it white wrapping 
 paper or cotton cloth, to keep the wax from running when the sun 
 shines upon it, or, tie pieces of tarred ’waxed cloth tightly about the 
 wounded part. A reliable remedy for connecting the upper and lower 
 portions of the bark of fruit trees, separated by the gnawing of mice, 
 &c., is to provide a number of young shoots or portions of the branch- 
 es, and as they are wanted, sharpen them in the form of a wedge at 
 •each end, making them long enough to connect the upper and lower 
 portions of the bark separated by gnawing. A chisel, the breadth of 
 which is about equal to the diameter of the shoots, is then driven into 
 the bark, (say half an inch from the gnawed edge,) both above and be- 
 low, and the prepared or sharpened shoot is then firmly pressed at 
 each end into the cut made by the chisel. This is easily done by first 
 bending the shoot outwards at the middle, so as to allow each end to 
 enter, and then crowding it in again. The place must be then well 
 waxed. The edge of the chisel must be placed so as to make a hori- 
 zontal line in the bark. When the shoot is placed in the cut thus 
 made, some portion of the line between the bark and the wood in both 
 tree and shoot, must necessarily coincide, and as a consequence, the 
 two parts almost invariably adhere and grow together — there is scarce- 
 ly a failure. To prevent girdled trees see article on Pests. 
 
 Pruning — When to Prune. — At a recent discussion by the Farm- 
 ers Club, N. Y., it was agreed as the result of experience that the best 
 time to prune is in the summer when the trees are growing. Trees 
 pruned at that time heal more readily, and are less likely to be at- 
 tacked by black blast, or otherwise injured, than if pruned in the win- 
 ter. The American Agriculturist says the month of June is the best 
 
THE CULTURE OF ORCHARD FRUITS. 
 
 429 
 
 .ime to prune. A sharp knife should always be used so as to make a 
 dean cut. Cut to an outside or inside bud if you would contract or 
 >pen the head of the tree. The upper bud, without accident, will 
 'row and lengthen the limb. Geo. Hite, of Morrisiana, N. Y., is in 
 avor of winter pruning, that is, after the greatest frost, and before the 
 ap starts. In February, he says, is the best time certainly for pru- 
 ning peach trees. If he had more trees than he could prune in Feb- 
 uary, he would go over some of them before that time. 
 
 The Mw York Tribune says, There never was a more certain truth 
 ttered than the following words of the editor of The Ncw-England 
 farmer, who is not only a practical farmer, but one who never does a 
 hing without first answering the question, “ What for ?” to the satis- 
 iction of his own reason, and therefore is more entitled to attention 
 tan a mere utterer of dogmatisms. He says : Never prune an apple 
 :e e in the months of March, April or May. All the borers in the 
 orld do not commit half the havoc in our orchards that the pruning- 
 aife and saw do, applied at the wrong season of the year. In the 
 Dring the sap is abundant, thin and active, and where limbs are taken 
 T it passes through the pores of the wood to the surface, and coming 
 l contact with the atmosphere, becomes bitter and acrid, runs down 
 le bark and poisons it, so that it is often killed quite into the wood, 
 ais is what causes most of the black lines so often seen upon apple 
 ees, and which frequently cause their death, Mr. Carpenter, of 
 ew York, says, If it is to produce an increased growth of wood upon 
 e tree, pruning may be done in autumn or early winter. 
 
 Preserving Grafts , — Pack them in sawdust from green hemlock or 
 her moist timber. Sand skillfully used will answer, but if too dry 
 •sorbs too much moisture, and if too moist is more destructive still, 
 d at best is injurious to the knife in grafting. 
 
 To Revive Dried Cions. — Mr. Carpenter says the very best way is 
 wrap them up in damp moss. In a few days the cions wil] revive 
 d look fresh. Or they may be buried entirely in the earth for two 
 three weeks. 
 
 To Transmit Cions by Mail. — Dr. Parker, of Ithica, N. Y., says the 
 ly safe and proper way is to touch the ends with a thick solution of 
 m arabic and wrap them in dry paper. They should, when received, 
 packed in dry sand in a box, and buried about two feet deep on the 
 ^th side of a building. The box should have an inclined top to shed 
 3 rain. 
 
 Grafting Wax. — Geo. H. Hite gives the following : Twenty-eight 
 Tsof Burgundy pitch; twenty-eight parts of common pine pitch; 
 
430 
 
 PEACTICAL CICLOPiEDIA. 
 
 fourteen parts tallow ; sixteen parts beeswax ; fourteen parts of yellow 
 ochre. For large wounds put it on hot with a spatula. 
 
 Mr. Burgess gives this : Equal parts of mutton tallow and beeswax 
 and W. S. Carpenter recommends two pounds of resin, one pound oi 
 tallow, one pound of beeswax, which he says adheres well, is pliable 
 and easily worked, easily made, and not expensive. 
 
 Four pounds resin, two pounds tallow and one pound beeswax make 
 a good and cheap grafting wax. These three ingredients are used ir 
 various proportions — sometimes in equal quantities — sometimes eight 
 parts resin, and three each of tallow and beeswax, or eight parts res- 
 in, five of beeswax, three of tallow, &c. By using lard instead of tal- 
 low, as it is softer, more resin may be employed. 
 
 The following has been recommended : One pint linseed oil, three 
 pounds resin, one pound beeswax — melt well, and pour into a vesse' 
 of water — grease the hands and pull until white. 
 
 Watson' s Grafting Wax . — Melt together two parts of resin, twe 
 black pitch, one white turpentine, one tallow, one beeswax. Applied 
 melted with a brush. 
 
 New Grafting Wax . — Take two ounces of common resin, melt it 
 slow over a fire, being careful not to heat it so much as to make it 
 throw off its spirit of turpentine. When it becomes clear as syrup, 
 add a little less than an ounce of alcohol, and mix well and put in a 
 bottle at once and cork tight. Alcohol is to be added sufficient tc 
 make the mixture liquid and keep it so, and when applied to trees it 
 hardens at once and forms an air tight covering. 
 
 Lefort' s Liquid Grafting Wax . — Until lately this formula has beer 
 kept secret, and the preparation sold at a high price. All who have 
 used it speak of it as the best preparation for covering wounds ir 
 trees that has ever been invented. Good for all abrasions for the skii 
 of trees or animals. It must be kept in a corked bottle and applied 
 with a brush. 
 
 “ Melt one pound of common resin over a gentle fire. Add toitar 
 ounce of beef tallow and stir it well. Take it from the fire, let it coo 
 down a little and then mix with it a tablespoonful of spirits of tur- 
 pentine, and after that about seven ounces of very strong alcohol (9c 
 per cent.) to be had at any druggist’s store. The alcohol cools it dowi 
 so rapidly that it will be necessary to put it again on the fire, stirring 
 it constantly. Still the utmost care must be exercised to prevent th 
 alcohol from getting inflamed. To avoid it, the best way is to remov( 
 the vessel from the fire, when the lump that may have been formed 
 commences melting again. This must be continued till the whole if 
 
THE CULTURE OF ORCHARD FRUITS. 
 
 431 
 
 i homogeneous mass similar to honey. After a few days’ exposure to 
 he atmosphere in a thin coat, it assumes a whitish color, and becomes 
 is hard as stone, being impervious to water and air.” 
 
 Substitute for Grafting Wax . — Melt resin with alcohol in sufficient 
 >roportions to form a thick paste, and apply with a brush. 
 
 ■ Wounded Fruit Trees . — The wounds may be covered thinly with 
 ny of the above preparations, or with a composition made by dissolv- 
 ng shellac in alcohol. Give the trees good culture so as to make them 
 ;row rapidly. The gum shellac dissolved in alcohol will immediately 
 top bleeding in grape vines, where pruning is delayed until the sap 
 tarts. The liquid is easily applied, and may be kept for years ready 
 or use, if kept tightly corked in a bottle. 
 
 A Waterproof Varnish for Trees . — Melt seed-lac, or shellac, in a 
 •ot in a water bath like a common glue pot, and then saturate the lac 
 nth a solution of four parts of water to one part of spirits of ammon- 
 a. Let the mixture stand three or four hours in a warm place, and 
 hen put the pot again over the fire and add boiling water to it, stirr- 
 ig all the time until all is homogeneous. 
 
 To Prevent Fruit Trees from Splitting . — The editor of the Agricul- 
 urist directs that if there are crotches liable to split down under a 
 eavy load of fruit or violent wind, take a vigorous shoot, in spring, 
 nd insert one end under the bark of the main stem and the other un- 
 er the opposite branch. Tie the branches firmly together to prevent 
 tipping apart in windy weather. Or if a growing sprout can be 
 >und near the right place, cut off the top and insert it under the bark 
 f the opposite limb. 
 
 The Prairie Farmer says : Take a small limb on each fork, and 
 Lean them of leaves and lateral branches for most of their length, 
 ring them carefully together and wind them round each other, from 
 ae main branch to the other. In twelve months they will have uni- 
 id and in two years the ends can be cut off. 
 
 Profitableness of Pear Culture. — W. Sharp, of Lockport, N. Y., 
 ■ates that several of his neighbors set out pear orchards six years 
 ?o, and none has received for them less than five hundred dollars per 
 3re — some seven hundred dollars — and if every tree should now die, 
 le investment was good. Others had lost largely by blight. Such 
 ’chards, set out years ago, had been neglected, and produced little, 
 person near Vicksburg, Miss., in 1859, sold from two hundred and 
 ty trees, occupying two and a half acres of land, fruit to the amount 
 five thousand dollars. That of a single tree sold for eighty dollars. 
 Best Varieties of Pears . — The Fruit Growers’ Society of Western 
 
432 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPEDIA. 
 
 New York recommend fourteen varieties in the following order: 1st, 
 Bartlett; 2d, Angouleme; 3d, Louise Bonne; Sheldon, Lawrence, 
 Doyenne d’Ete; 4th, Seckel, Belle Lucrative; 5th, Beurre Giffard, 
 Beurre Aujou; 6th, Rostiezer, Flemish Beauty, Winter Nelis, 7th 
 Beurre Bose. 
 
 Pears for Cold Regions. — The Country Gentleman recommends Oi- 
 band’s Summer, Beurre Giffard, for early varieties; Virgalieu an. 
 Flemish Beauty for Autumn pears; and Lawrence and Winter Nelit 
 for late sorts. 
 
 Remedy for Pear Tree Blight. — Mrs. Weller Dean, of Rockport, 
 Ohio, says that blight might not only be prevented in healthy trees, 
 but might be successfully arrested, in many trees, after it had made 
 considerable progress, by means of repeatedly washing the bodies of 
 the trees with a saturated solution of sulphate of iron (copperas) at a 
 time when the sap is in active circulation. 
 
 Ripening Pears. — It is the opinion of all pear culturists that the 
 fruit should not be allowed to ripen on the trees. Indeed some varie- 
 ties will not hold on until ripe, and if left to ripen on the ground they 
 are nearly worthless. As a rule, all pears should be picked from the 
 tree and ripened in a dry, cool room. 
 
 After picking, says Gen. S. M. Wade, place them in a cellar, or a 
 place with a low temperature ; keep them cool and dry, and as you 
 wish them to ripen, take them up stairs into a higher temperature- 
 say 65 to 80 degrees. Pears never get tender and buttery in a low 
 temperature. 
 
 To illustrate the importance of the proper ripening of pears, a storj 
 was told at the late session of the American Pomological Society aboul 
 a gentleman’s buying a. crop of the Winter Nelis of a neighboring far- 
 mer who said he had fed it to his hogs for thirty years. The gentle- 
 man bought the farmer’s crop of pears, took them home, stored then 
 in his cellar, piling potatoes over them. When ripened, he sent his 
 farmer friend a half dozen of them, who was so pleased with their riel 
 
 flavor that he soon came over to see Mr. P , and get grafts oi 
 
 that new variety of pears he had sent him. 
 
 Where to Plant Peach Trees. — A peach grower writes as follows 
 After several years experience and close observation, the writer ha £ 
 found that those peach orchards planted upon an elevation having i 
 hight greater than the surrounding lands, produce a crop of frui 
 each year; while those planted in ravines or depressions, or on leve 
 land, usually fail, at least two years out of three. 
 
 The cause of this difference in fruiting, I think is this; upon eleva 
 
THE CULTURE OF ORCHARD FRUITS 
 
 433 
 
 bed locations the winds are more constantly in action than in depres- 
 sions and on level lands, and, in consequence, evaporation is carried on 
 more rapidly, drying up the humidity there. Therefore, the frost 
 loes not penetrate the vital part of the bud or bloom. On the other 
 land, if water remains upon the buds, it congeals by only an ordinar) 
 frost, thus killing the fruit. 
 
 Some writers, I see, are recommending the planting of peach or- 
 chards on land closely and densely surrounded by heavy forest trees ; 
 ny observation would dictate the reverse. The day previous to the 
 severe frost of 22d of April, 1859, there was quite a quantity of rain 
 ell in the morning ; about twelve o’clock the wind commenced blow- 
 ng quite severely, and continued until evening ; upon land where it had 
 fee access among the boughs, the orchards bid fair to yield an ordi- 
 larv crop ; but in other localities, where the wind was obstructed in 
 ts motion by adjacent forests or hills, and the water left upon the 
 mds, the crop is almost an entire failure. 
 
 Care of Peach Trees . — If small peach trees could be laid down and 
 sovered with earth during the cold weather, or if a tree could be en- 
 losed in a case made of boards, and the interstices filled with straw, 
 he proprietor would feel very certain of having a bountiful crop of 
 teaches next year. In some instances, where the limbs are very low, 
 hey may be laid down and covered with earth, and kept there by 
 lacing large stones or blocks of wood upon them, after they have 
 een covered with earth. 
 
 The treatment in Maryland, on a large scale, is as follows : They 
 re carefully examined every year, and all worms or ova destroyed ; 
 shovelful of wood ashes is thrown around the roots every spring. 
 Vhem six years old, the soil is cautiously removed for about two feet 
 round the trunk, so as to examine the root ; a strong wash of lime 
 nd some salt is then applied to the top of the root at the trunk, and for 
 ighteen inches above it ; prior to the application of which the 
 ragh bark should be scraped off. The removed soil is left open for 
 ae week, then replaced in its former position. 
 
 A yearly examination for worms, a good soil, and careful cultivation 
 re all that is necessary for the prosperity of the peach tree. 
 
 Peach Trees and Tansy. — A writer in the New York Times re- 
 amends the sowing of tansy about the roots of peach trees as a 
 ^ans of preserving them. He says he once saw a large peach tree 
 hich was more than forty years old, while several generations of sim- 
 ar trees in the same soil had passed away. This led to examination, 
 id a bed of tansy was discovered about the trunk. It was naturally 
 28 
 
434 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 inferred that the preservation of this tree to such a green old age was 
 due to the presence of this plant. It was decided to try experiments 
 on others, and, accordingly, a few of the roots were placed about each 
 of the other trees on the premises, some of which gave signs of decay. 
 Not only has it preserved for several years the sound trees, but reno- 
 vated those that were unsound. The odor of the plant, he says, doubt- 
 less keeps off the insect enemies of this kind of tree, and it might have 
 the same effect on others, such as the plum, apple and pear, as well as 
 the elm, sycamore, and other ornamental trees. 
 
 Iron for Peach Trees. — Iron dust, or clearings from a machine-shop 
 around peach trees are said to be very beneficial. The scales of iron 
 that accumulate around the anvil of a blacksmithshop are more valu- 
 able than manure for peach trees. A shovelful put round a healthy 
 peach tree will be very likely to keep it in good condition. 
 
 For the Curl in Peach Trees. — Scatter ashes around the trunks and 
 optinkle it over the foliage while wet with dew. 
 
 Nails in Peach Trees. — It is said that by driving nails into peach 
 trees the ravages of the worms may be prevented. Experiments have 
 been made, it is said, successfully by driving a ten-penny nail through 
 the body as near the ground as possible, when the trees were about 
 a year old. Driving half a dozen nails into the trunk has been re- 
 commended. A chemical writer on the subject says : The rusting 
 of the iron by the sap evolves ammonia, which, as the sap rises, im- 
 pregnates the foliage, and proves too severe a dose for the insects. 
 Try it. 
 
 Pruning Peach Trees. — Cut back the previous year’s growth one- 
 half or one-third, in February or early spring. 
 
 How to Grow Peaches Every Year. — Procure your trees grafted 
 upon the wild plum stock, says a correspondent of the Ohio Cultivator. 
 The trees partake of the nature of the plum, being hardy and will 
 never winter-kill, and putting out late in the spring, will never be 
 injured by the frost, and it is a certain preventive against the work- 
 ings of the peach-grub, while the natural lifetime of a tree is beyond 
 that of our own ; so you may depend upon peaches every year, and 
 for a long period of time without the destructive and discouraging in- 
 fluences attending the growth of the common peach. They can be 
 obtained for from fifty to seventy-five cents per tree, and you had bet- 
 ter pay five times that amount than not to obtain them, and be certa^ 
 of peaches every year. Try it, and our word for it, you will be satis- 
 fied with the result. 
 
 Peaches in Pots. — Mr. Pullen, of Hightstown, N. J., has been sue- 
 
THE CULTURE OF ORCHARD FRUITS. 
 
 435 
 
 cessful in producing peaches as well as nectarines from potted trees 
 under the hot house process. His peaches began to ripen the last of 
 May, and brought him fifty cents apiece. He produces about two doz- 
 en per tree. The trees are taken one year after having been budded 
 and placed in nine inch pots. 
 
 The next year they are moved to thirteen inch pots. They are 
 pinched in during their growth so as to dwarf them. The head of the 
 tree is started about eighteen inches high. He thinks they could thus 
 be grown on a large scale with profit. The peaches are not quite so 
 good flavor as those grown out doors, though the nectarines seem 
 equally good. 
 
 To improve the quality of the peaches he places them out of doors 
 a short time before ripening, when the weather is sufficiently warm. 
 A house one hundred by fourteen feet will accomodate one hundred 
 and fifty trees. 
 
 Plum Trees — Black Knot — Curculio . — When the black knot first 
 makes its appearance, cut it off clean, and keep cutting. If this rem- 
 edy is promptly applied it will be effectual. The Ohio Farmer says : 
 A gentleman formerly connected with the coal oil business tells us 
 that several years ago, in taking a lot of sample bottles of oil on a 
 journey, he accidentally had a bottle broken, saturating the sawdust 
 in which the bottles were packed. When he arrived at his stopping 
 place, he put the dust at the foot of a plum tree, it being about the 
 time of the blossoming of the plum trees. The result was watched, 
 and it turned out that the curculio, which ravaged the other plum 
 trees in the orchard, gave this one a wide berth, and the plums were 
 saved to ripen. 
 
 The circumstance led to further experiments, with like favorable 
 results. The sawdust thus saturated, which can be with the cheapest 
 kind of coal oil, retains the odor for a long time, which is offensive to 
 the fastidious taste of the little Turk. The borer, also, will not put 
 his gimlet into the trunk of a tree which is encircled in this stuff. 
 
 The quince tree seems to have a constitutional fondness for salt. A 
 top-dressing of two quarts of coarse salt every spring makes both foli- 
 age and fruit much more healthy. 
 
 Fruit Picker . — The editor of the Agriculturist says : Take a com- 
 mon bottle gourd ; in the larger end cut a hole large enough to re- 
 ceive the fruit ; cut off the smaller end so as to admit a wooden han- 
 dle, which should have a shoulder to make a snug fit to the gourd. 
 Make a hole through or a groove in the part of the handle entering 
 the gourd, and pour melted 1 ead. into it to fasten the handle. 
 
436 
 
 PKACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 SMALL FRUITS OF GARDEN AND VINEYARD. 
 
 In families where garden fruits are used tne most extensively, you 
 will always find the greatest degree of health. Instead of producing 
 summer complaints in the bowels, they are the very best preventives. 
 Beside having some of them upon the table every meal while in sea- 
 son, you should preserve such quantities in sealed bottles or jars, that 
 you can have them every day until strawberries are ripe in June. 
 
 Strawberries. — We suppose we need not offer arguments to any one 
 who has ever grown strawberries in the garden, to prove that no oth- 
 er fruit or vegetable can he grown with greater profit, whether for sale 
 or use. They are healthful because they are the first garden fruit, 
 when nature craves just such sub-acid food as the strawberry, and if 
 produced in such abundance, of the mast choice varieties, that all the 
 family can eat to their hearts’ content, we are willing to guarantee that 
 while strawberries are in season there will be very little occasion foi 
 calling in the doctor. Therefore for the promotion of health, wealth, 
 and happiness, we urge farmers to pay more attention to their culti- 
 vation. 
 
 Planting and Cultivating Strawberries. — Nothing pays so well for 
 what it costs as a bed of good strawberries. If they have had cover- 
 ing, we prefer not to work them much in the spring — do that after 
 bearing. If thrown up by frost, reset carefully, or fill up with fresh 
 soil. A mulching of tanbark, rotten wood, or. rotten sawdust, will 
 help to keep the weeds down, and retain the moisture. 
 
 If you have not a bed of good varieties, set one out immediately. 
 Inferior varieties are dearer as a gift than good ones at the price they 
 sell for. A bushel to the square rod is only an ordinary yield, when 
 properly managed ; we have picked over three bushels from a rod and 
 a half of ground. They will grow on any good garden soil. In set- 
 ting a new bed, spade the ground deep, pulverize well, put on no 
 fresh stable manure, but if your soil is not rich, you may use some 
 thoroughly rotten ; use half a bushel of leached ashes to a rod. We 
 set two rows fifteen or eighteen inches apart, the plants the same dis- 
 tance ; then leave an alley two and a half or three feet wide ; then 
 two rows, same as before. Many set in rows two feet apart. We 
 prefer the former, as it avoids tramping around each plant, and is 
 equally convenient A mulching will be advantageous ; keep weeds 
 down at all times. Wilson's Albany is the most popular sort. Its 
 
SMALL FRUITS OF GARDEN AND VINEYARD. 
 
 437 
 
 good qualities are productiveness, size, and firm, juicy flesh. It is, 
 however, too add for the taste of many. The Triomphe de Gand is 
 also a favorite. 
 
 There is a question with some as to whether it is better to keep 
 strawberries in hills, or let them run in promiscuously ana fill up the 
 bed. Some contend that this latter mode of management is the best, 
 as the plants act as a sort of mulching, and make it unnecessary to 
 use tan and other substances for this purpose. Some contend also, 
 that the fruit is kept cleaner by this method, and though it may not 
 be so large, it will be more abundant and thus pay better. They say 
 too, that this slovenly treatment saves time and trouble. 
 
 We are inclined to think it pays to take more pains and get the lar- 
 gest and finest fruit, and this is affected more surely by the hill sys- 
 tem. You can manage the plants better, and keep in the stray run- 
 ners which are apt to use up the forces of the plant, and prevent the 
 formation of fruit stems. By clipping off the runners, the fruit stems 
 push out near the collar of the plant, and the power is spent in pro- 
 ducing berries of good size, instead of producing so many useless run- 
 ners. 
 
 If the two systems were carefully tried side by side, and the result 
 noted, we are sure the hills would have the preference. 
 
 If you intend your bed to cover all the earth set the plants a foot 
 apart each way. Some plant in rows three feet apart, and the plants 
 eight to twelve inches apart in the rows. Dr. Parker of Ithica, N. Y., 
 says the great secret of the strawberry culture is to cut off all the 
 runners, leaving not one in the bearing beds or grounds. He who is 
 too indolent to cut off runners, better let strawberries alone. 
 
 There is no wrong season, when the plants are not bearing, to trans- 
 plant strawberries. Perhaps the best time is after the old roots send 
 out runners, and the first of them get well rooted. Then cut the con- 
 nection with the old stool, and keep the new root from sending out 
 runner? until it becomes a strong root, and then, if your new bed is to 
 be made in the same locality, take up the plants with a transplanting 
 trowel, with all the dirt that will adhere, and lay them on boards and 
 carry right to the spot where they are to be set, and put them in suit- 
 able holes scooped out with the trowel or hand, and they will keep on 
 growing almost as freely as though they had not been removed. Keep 
 the ground free of weeds, and frequently stirred between the plants 
 till winter, and then cover with forest leaves, held in place by brush, 
 or a little dirt scattered over. In the spring, rake the leaves off the 
 plants, and leave them between the plants as a mulch. After fruit- 
 
438 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 ing, the runners begin to put out. If your plan is to keep distinct 
 hills, cut off all runners every week. If your plan is for rows, keep 
 working between the rows, and turn the runners so as to form a growth 
 of plants a foot wide, leaving a space for working two feet wide be- 
 tween. This is the best plan for field culture : working the beds 'by 
 horse hoe. When the rows get grassy and need changing, run the 
 subsoil plow deeply and repeatedly through the rows, and work in the 
 necessary fertilizers, and prepare a new row of plants by setting or 
 training runners to the right spots and let them set themselves, cut- 
 ting away all the surplus ones. Then late in the fall the old row is to 
 be completely turned under by the spade or plow, and so this system 
 of renewal may be continued, turning down a portion of the old bed 
 each year, and thus having vigorous plants always in full bearing. 
 
 Where the plants are set with the design of covering all the surface, 
 the runners are permitted to spread where they will the first year, 
 and the second year the poorest plants, old or young, should be cut 
 out, so as not to allow the bed to become matted. When it begins to 
 fail, from being overrun with weeds or grass, or from the plants be- 
 coming feeble from age, or want of room, divide it into strips two feet 
 wide, and turn under alternate ones, and fertilize the ground for a 
 new setting of plants to spread over it from runners, and when they 
 are well established, turn over the other strips in the same way, and 
 so continue. At every new preparation of the bed add ashes if you 
 can, or bone-dust, or super phosphate of lime, or fine compost, in which 
 rotted sods, leaves, and woods mold hold the greatest share, and then 
 no other manuring will be necessary while the plants are in bearing, 
 except the mulching of leaves, straw, or salt hay that you should give 
 every winter. Where it can be had conveniently, always get spent 
 tan-bark for mulching. Turners’ chips are a very good substitute, 
 and so are leather shavings. When any fine material is used for 
 mulching, be careful not to smother the plants. Sawdust, and also 
 scrapings from the wood-pile, may be used if care is had about smoth- 
 ering. 
 
 Covering the ground permanently with saw-log slabs has been 
 practiced with good success. The plants were set in well prepared 
 soil, in straight rows, one foot apart, and then slabs notched on the 
 edge, about three inches deep, were fitted to the plants, so that they 
 grew in bunches in holes about six inches wide, and of course free from 
 weeds and grass. By this plan no new plants are made from runners. 
 If such are desired, a bed must be kept for that purpose. The old 
 stools of strawberry plants, after a few years, grow so much above the 
 
SMALL FRUITS OF GARDEN AND VINEYARD. 
 
 439 
 
 surface that they are not productive. Hence the necessity of fre- 
 quent renewals. 
 
 In transplanting strawberries in the same garden, or near where the 
 plants are obtained, take up the plants with a trowel, when the ground 
 is moist, with a good ball of earth adhering, and set them out imme- 
 diately, and they will not stop growing. We have moved them so 
 when budded, and they bloomed and bore fruit almost as well as though 
 not transplanted. Never set the plants any deeper than they origi- 
 nally stood. Although we should always prefer new plants, yet it may 
 be remembered that the art of transplanting old roots, even those that 
 have become barren, causes them to send out newly bearing crowns, 
 and so become fruitful again. It is also recommended by those who 
 have proved its value, to hill up all stools with fresh earth, which has 
 the effect to make them fruitful again. 
 
 Watering in a dry time is highly important. It will keep the plants 
 in bearing twice as long as without it. Charles A. Peabody of (near) 
 Columbus, Ga., has certainly been one of the most successful straw- 
 berry culturists in this country, He has carried berries to market 
 more than six months of the year, and he obtained them by copious 
 watering with a movable pump — a garden engine. He planted his 
 beds upon sandy land, newly cleared of pine and oak timber, choosing 
 a flat near a little brook, on account of convenience of water. He used 
 no other fertilizer at first than what was obtained by burning the tim- 
 ber and brush, and scattering the ashes, and afterward by mulching 
 with forest leaves. After the fruit season, his practice was to have a 
 hand go through with a hoe and cut up the poorest looking plants, so 
 as to keep them from getting too thick; and then the mulch being put 
 on, the runners are prevented from setting, and are afterward cut 
 away. He is careful to leave all the vines cut off on the ground, con- 
 sidering them the best fertilizer. This is true in regard to all kinds 
 of plants. The ashes are the best manure for the same kind growing. 
 
 Soil and Fertilizers for Strawberries . — The best soil is that lately in 
 forest, of a gravelly loam character, situated on a gentle south-eastern 
 slope, and should be underdrained, spade trenched, or deeply sub- 
 soiled, and made rich and mellow before setting’ the plants. If under- 
 drained thoroughly, it will soon pay the cost in extra productiveness. 
 If possible, protect the north and west sides by high fences or hedge. 
 The best manure is woods mold and unleached ashes, and what is 
 known as the “lime and salt mixture ” — that is a bushel of salt in just 
 water enough to dissolve it — and that used to slake three bushels of 
 lime. Shell lime is best. If land is parched with drouth, without ar- 
 
PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 440 
 
 tificial watering, the fruit will be deficient, though all other requisites 
 are complete. All the fertilizers should be mixed in the soil before 
 the plants are set. Twenty or thirty bushels of ashes, three bushels 
 of salt, and nine of lime, may be used on an acre, and the more the 
 soil is stirred in its preparation the better ; and it should be as free 
 of weeds and grass as possible. 
 
 When ready to set your plants, rake the bed smooth and mark off 
 the rows, and procure strong-rooted plants, and dip the roots as you 
 proceed in water thick with rich earth or compost, and set them no 
 deeper than they naturally stood, being careful to .cover with fine 
 earth well pressed. 
 
 Rev. J. Knox's Method of Cultivating the Strawberry . — This gentle- 
 man devotes fifty acres at Pittsburgh, Pa., to this fruit. He recom- 
 mends a rather light clay soil, thorough drainage, several plowings in 
 several directions, until the ground is well broken up and pulverized 
 to the depth of from twenty to twenty-four inches, which is sufficient 
 for ten or twelve crops in succession ; not much manure, well rotted 
 stable manure only, any good wheat or corn land being good enough. 
 Plant in rows thirty inches apart ; keep the plants ten inches apart in 
 the rows, making twenty thousand plants to the acre. Cultivate sim- 
 ply with the hoe, disturbing the soil after planting as little as possible. 
 Never allow the vines to bear the first year after being planted ; pick 
 off all the fruit stems and runners, and remove the runners every year 
 that the plant is fruited. Set out plants early in the spring ; protect 
 them in the winter by wheat or rye straw, threshed with the flail, two 
 tons to the acre the first year, one ton of new each season thereafter. 
 Remove the straw in the spring, and place it around the plants as a 
 mulch. Varieties that succeed in some soils and situations fail in 
 others. For general crop, “Wilson’s Albany” and “ Triomphe de 
 Gand” are most profitable. The latter possess all excellencies de- 
 sired — productive, beautiful, large, fine quality, bears shipping well, 
 plants are hardy — not as productive as the former, but an acre will 
 bring more money, and produces over three hundred bushels per acre; 
 if the runners are kept off, will bear ten years. A good many crowns 
 will start and cluster around the original plant, each bearing a fruit 
 stem, and all producing a very large amount of fruit. 
 
 Sex of Strawberries . — It appears to be a settled question that there 
 are three distinct forms among the blossoms of strawberries, and that 
 two of them will not produce fruit, except by impregnation, one with 
 the other. These are called male and female flowers ; the male flow- 
 er growing stamens without pistils, and the female flower pistils with- 
 
SMALL FRUITS OF GARDEN AND VINE f ARD. 
 
 441 
 
 out stamens. The other, called hermaphrodite, is furnished with both, and 
 has the power of self-fertilization in each blossom. The female or pistil- 
 late flower has a golden center, the pistils covering it like short stiff hairs. 
 The male or staminate flower has a dark center, from which grow a 
 dozen or more stamens, which are little stems with knobs on the ends, 
 which bear the pollen, that must come in contact with the pistils to 
 fructify them. Some plants bear all staminate and some all pistillate 
 dowers ; and when that is the case, unless the two sorts grow in prox- 
 imity, both will be nearly destitute of berries. It is often observed 
 hat strawberry blossoms are abundant in the fields, and fruit scarce, 
 rhis is owing to the sexuality of flowers, and the lack of favorable 
 3ircumstances to produce impregnation. The great scarcity of bees 
 n many of the old States, cuts off one of the great means by which 
 lature carries on the work of fecundation in flowers. 
 
 Some varieties of strawberries always produce hermaphrodite flow- 
 ers, the center of which is like the pistillate w T ith stamens growing 
 iround it, as they do from the center of the staminate flower. This 
 dnd of blossoms will produce fruit if there should be no other sort 
 growing near. 
 
 Although a pistillate variety will not produce without the aid of 
 staminates, if the two kinds are set together, the staminates will soon 
 mtgrow the others, and so take possession of the ground, that in throe 
 >r four years the bed affords but a meagre supply of fruit. Great care 
 kerefore must be used in cultivating strawberries, not to let the bar- 
 •en, rapidly growing male plants overpower the female ones, which are 
 he true fruit bearers. 
 
 To Hybridize Strawberries. — The American Agriculturist says : Cut 
 >ut the stamens of the flowers to be fertilized, as soon as it opens, and 
 hen apply the pollen from the flower with which you wish to cross by 
 neans of a camel's hair pencil. 
 
 An Immense Strawberry Crop. — A prominent fruit grower of west- 
 rn New York, from a single patch of sixteen acres, sent to market in 
 >ne year thirteen hundred bushels of strawberries. The entire crop 
 vas sold at an average price of twelve and a half cents per quart, real- 
 zing the snug sum of five thousand two hundred dollars. This may 
 >e taken as an instance of the profitableness of thoroughly scientific 
 ruit growing. 
 
 Good strawberries can be raised by the bushel, says Orange J udd, 
 heaper than wheat. The space necessary to supply a family need not 
 >e large. We have averaged one quart to two and sixteen one-hun- 
 iredths square feet, or at the rate of six hundred and thirty bushels 
 
■ 
 
 442 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 per acre. The Ohio Farmer says that if strawberries are weR i 
 the fall, they will fruit the next season, as it is the fall growth of roc 
 which supports the plant for the next year s fruiting. J. J. Thorm 
 recommends in planting to make a little mound under the roots, an 
 spread the roots evenly upon it, and then carefully cover them. Tin 
 treated, they grow twice as well as when planted as they usually ar< 
 A writer says : The secret of success in raising the strawberry is m 
 tering it freely daily. Mr. Carpenter finds cornstalks a good coverin 
 for strawberries. Mr. Fuller says : Early Scarlet should be alway 
 grown in beds, Triomphe de Gand always in hills, and the runner 
 kept trimmed off. Mr. Knox says: Strawberries do not injure grape 
 vines when grown among them. 
 
 Cultivation of the Blackberry. — Soil. — The blackberry delights i 
 rich, rather moist soil. It would be almost impossible to get a soi 
 too rich. We have seen a portion of a blackberry patch receiving th 
 wash of a barnyard, and the canes grew to an immense size, and pre 
 duced the largest berries we have ever seen, while the quantity born 
 was almost incredible. 
 
 Preparation of the Soil. — The soil should be deeply plowed an 
 trench-plowed in the fall. By trench-plowing the soil is deepene 
 and a portion of the subsoil is brought to the surface where it is sub 
 jected to the ameliorating influences of the frost, air and sun. I 
 February or March the ground should be again plowed and the sub 
 soil or lifting plow used, which breaks up the subsoil without bringin 
 any of it to the surface. We are satisfied from our own experiment 
 that this preparation of the soil will be amply rewarded by the ic 
 creased amount of fruit produced. 
 
 Time and Manner of Planting. — The best season for planting th 
 blackberry is autumn, if the soil is in a proper condition. The black 
 berry commences growth very early in the spring, and if disturbed a 
 this period by transplanting is very liable to die. None of the smai 
 fruits so imperatively demand planting in the fall or very early in th 
 spring. If the plants can be set out early in March, or in the firs 
 opening in spring, it will answer. But if the planting is delayed, i 
 will be at a sacrifice of a large portion of the plants. 
 
 The plants should be set out in rows eight feet apart, and the plant 
 should be set two feet apart in the row. Give the ground between th 
 rows good deep culture the first season, and the second keep all th 
 weeds down, not working deeply between the rows. Strawberries ma 
 be grown between the rows the first two years, if preferred. Let th 
 plants come up thickly in the rows, but cut off with a hoe even wit 
 
SMALL FRUITS OF GARDEN AND VINEYARD. 
 
 443 
 
 ;he ground all suckers that come up between the rows, treating them 
 is weeds. The plants coming up thickly in the rows form a kind of 
 icdge, the canes mutually sustaining one another, thus rendering 
 stakes and trellises and the trouble of tying unnecessary. We have 
 practiced this system with great success, and those who have seen our 
 :>atch in fruit say the yield was enormous. There is no care or 
 iabor required in training by this method. Those who go to the ex- 
 pense of procuring stakes and setting them, and tearing their flesh 
 ,o pieces in tying up the canes, would avoid the trouble after trying 
 the plan we recommend. 
 
 Pruning . — The only labor required by this method of treating the 
 blackberry is in pruning. This is done in summer. When the plants 
 send up canes four or five feet high, go over the patch with a corn- 
 mife and cut off the tops of all the canes to the height of about four 
 feet. This will cause them to throw out laterals upon which the fruit 
 s produced. The plantation must be gone over several times during 
 :he season, as new canes are raising themselves and their tops must be 
 jut off as before recommended. If the laterals get too rampant and 
 in the way, as they will, they must be shortened in. The only imple- 
 ment required for this work is a corn-knife, and one man will prune 
 several acres per day in this manner. 
 
 I would particularly recommend that after the plantation is estab- 
 lished, the ground between the rows should not be disturbed. It will 
 oreak the roots, and cause an immense amount of suckers to put forth 
 *nd greatly weaken and lessen the productiveness of the bearing canes. 
 I'he best plan is to spread a very heavy mulching of straw, or, what 
 s better, coarse manure between the rows, thus keeping down the 
 7/eeds, rendering the soil moist and enriching it at the same time. 
 
 At a meeting of the New York Farmers’ Club, Dr. Ward described 
 fis plan of cultivating and training blackberries which we condense : 
 fhe vines are planted in rows three feet apart, and three feet apart in 
 Ihe rows. Over each row is stretched a stout wire at the height of 
 xbout four feet, with stakes at proper intervals to support it at this 
 aeight. As the vines grow they are tied to the wire, and bent down 
 ilong the wire all in the same direction — that is, all toward the south, 
 ill toward the north, or in such direction as may be most convenient. 
 
 The berries are grown on the wood of the previous year’s growth, 
 in the spring of each year, the bearing wood of the year before is cut 
 mt and removed, and the new shoots are tied to the wire, the lateral 
 shoots of the new wood being at the same time cut back within a foot 
 
 the main stalk. Thus the whole labor of training the vines is per- 
 
444 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 formed at one operation. It is better to manure in the fall, and tni 
 all-important matter should be attended to every year. 
 
 The American Agriculturist says : After the fruit is gathered, cii 
 out the old canes. Allow two, or at most three canes to grow fo 
 next season. These should have been stopped when about six fee 
 high. Remove all other shoots unless needed for new plantations. 
 
 Kinds of Blackberries Recommended for General Cultivation. — Th 
 Lawton, as the most productive, and most profitable for a market gar 
 dener, or for converting into wine. The parsley-leafed, as a very or 
 namental, trailing vine, and producing excellent fruit, ripening late ii 
 the season. The Dorchester, as a less rampant grower than the othe 
 two, and in some sections a more prolific bearer of excellent fruit. I 
 is far better than the Lawton in Massachnsetts. 
 
 Profitable Blackberry Yield. — The editor of the Norwalk (Conn. 
 Gazette states that George Seymour & Co., New Rochelle, in 1859, ha( 
 three acres under cultivation which produced over four hundred busk 
 els of blackberries, with a cultivation that cost eight dollars per acre 
 and the blackberries when sold in New York, realized above expense? 
 $3200, or more than $1000 per acre. Besides this, thirty barrels oi 
 blackberry wine, worth $50 per barrel, were made from berries growi 
 on the same lot, and there were plants enough for the sale of nes 
 spring to make the net yield of this small lot at least $5000. 
 
 Raspberry Cultivation. — The profits of raspberry culture are con 
 siderable ; the outlay is small ; the annual expense trifling comparec 
 with some other crops. The return is almost immediate, since plant? 
 bear a good crop the second year, increasing the next, and continuing 
 profitable for five or six years. Two thousand quarts (about sixty-twi 
 bushels) is a fair crop from an acre. Five hundred dollars has beer 
 received for the product of an acre. Treat the same as blackberries 
 Brinkle’s Orange is the general favorite for family use, being very pro- 
 ductive and fine flavored. The Fastolf and Franconia are both excel- 
 lent sorts. 
 
 Cultivation of the Currant and Gooseberry. — A writer says : It if 
 to be presumed that not one in a hundred understands the simple pro- 
 cess of cultivating either currants or gooseberries, although it has been 
 detailed in all the horticultural books with which the world abounds, 
 Thousands of persons, with every appliance for success, are still con- 
 tent to live without a plentiful supply of these delicious, healthy, and 
 cheap luxuries, merely because they have not thought of the matter, 
 They have a few stinted bushes set in the grass, with three-fourths of 
 the stocks dead, and then wonder why they do not bear in abundance, 
 
SMALL FRUITS OF GARDEN AND VINEYARD. 
 
 445 
 
 There is not a more beautiful shrub growing than the currant; 
 •operly propagated; and the same may be said of the gooseberry, 
 altivators who pay any attention to the subject, never allow the root 
 make but one stock, or, as the English say, make them stand on 
 le leg,'— thus forming a beautiful miniature tree. 
 
 To do this you must take sprouts of last year's growth, and cut out 
 1 the eyes, or buds, in the wood, leaving only two or three at the 
 p ; then push them about half the length of the cutting into mellow 
 :ound, where they will root, and run up a single stock, forming a 
 dutiful symmetrical head. If you wish it higher, cut the eyes out 
 ;ain the second year. I have one six feet high. This places your 
 uit out of the way of hens, and prevents the gooseberry from mil- 
 3wing, which often happens when the fruit lies on or near the ground, 
 id is shaded by a superabundance of leaves and sprouts. It changes 
 1 unsightly bush, which cumbers and disfigures your garden, into an 
 namental dwarf tree. The fruit is larger, and ripens better, and 
 ill last on the bushes, by growing in perfection, until late in the fall. 
 The mass of people suppose that the roots make out from the lower 
 ids. It is not so — they start from between the bark and the wood, 
 
 ; the place where it was cut from the parent root. 
 
 Many excellent cultivators however prefer the bush form for grow- 
 g currants. Its great advantage consists in the system of renewal 
 hich should be combined with it. Keep no old wood. Every branch 
 iat has grown three crops is cut away at the ground. When first 
 anted cut the young bush away close to the ground, to induce several 
 gorous shoots, instead of one. Next spring shorten all these canes, 
 id let the fruit grow below and new shoots above, and next spring 
 lorten them again. When three crops have been borne upon any 
 ’anch, cut it away to the ground the following spring. It is the se- 
 •et of success. Plant four feet apart each way or four by five feet, 
 ben manure, plow and hoe them as you do Indian corn. The com- 
 on red Dutch currant can in this manner be grown almost or quite 
 i large as the cherry currant is ordinarily. Urine and soap-suds is 
 i excellent application to the roots of currant bushes. Currants 
 Lould remain on the bushes usually for some time after they have 
 langed color before they are fully ripe. 
 
 Gooseberries need similar cultivation to the currant. The most 
 ipular native gooseberry is the Houghton Seedling. Of foreign va- 
 eties Crown Bob and Sheba Queen are considered the best. All 
 loseberries of foreign origin are much liable to mildew. 
 
 Grape Culture . — The preparation of the vine border is an impor- 
 
446 
 
 PRACTICAL QYCLOP.EDIA. 
 
 tant process in grape culture in private gardens. It should be mad 
 from four to six feet wide, and two to three feet deep, and be compos 
 ed of a liberal mixture of limestone, or old plaster or mortar, bonef 
 leather parings, hair, ashes, and strong, well rotted manure, well mis 
 ed with the soil. 
 
 A calcareous soil or gravelly loam is the best for the grape, an' 
 should be well drained and warm. It is somewhat difficult in we 
 clay lands to raise good grapes, unless the vine border is carefoll 
 prepared. Soap suds and wash from the house is favorable for th 
 grape, and we have known some, plants succeed well that were placet 
 immediately under the spout of the sink. For vineyard culture, th 
 nearer the process approximates to the one described above by trench 
 ing and enriching, the better. 
 
 Every plant should be thoroughly pruned down to two or thre 
 leading shoots; and after these cover the trellis or stakes as extensive 
 ly as you wish, then the rule in pruning is, every year from Decern 
 ber to first of February, fearlessly to cut back all of the last year’ 
 growth, so far as to leave only two eyes. It is also desirable, after th 
 grapes are beginning to fill in June, to pinch back the terminal bud o 
 every branch, and thus check its growth, and throw back its sap, to 
 ripen the fruit and mature the wood. By pinching back, we mean, to 
 pinch off with the thumb nail and forefinger the end of every bearin| 
 branch, and we then cut out all the superfluous little shoots and suckers 
 
 The vine is composed the greater part of potash, lime, and carbon! 
 acid; therefore a frequent application of ashes, lime, and soapsuds, i 
 beneficial. 
 
 What Soil is Best for Grape Growing. — Any good corn land is gocx 
 for growing grapes. It must be kept mellow and in good order, am 
 be well underdrained unless there is a good natural drainage. Ther< 
 is probably no better land for grapes than clay if well underdrained 
 
 How to Grow Delaware and Other Grape Cuttings. — F. A. Flem 
 ing, of Curwensville, Pa., who has tested the plan, says: The first tri 
 al we made was with some thirty Concord cuttings of three eyes each 
 We took a box about two feet long, one foot wide, and twenty inchef 
 deep. We filled it half full of leaf mould, fresh from the woods, in 
 serted the whole thirty cuttings in the box, with two eyes in the soi 
 and one above; watered them well with warm rain water; tacked i 
 piece of thin muslin on the top of the box, and set the box under ai 
 apple tree in the yard. It stood there without being watered until th* 
 middle of August, when I took the cover off to examine my grap* 
 cuttings, which I had planted in a “ Poor Man’s Cold Frame.” Ever} 
 
SMALL FRUITS OF GARDEN AND VINEYARD. 
 
 447 
 
 sutting had started, and the box was complete.y filled with a mass of 
 -terns and leaves of a strong growth. They had grown to the top of 
 he box ; some of the shoots had grown against the muslin, so much 
 hat I thought it best to leave the cover off. I watered them at that 
 ime, which was all the artificial watering they had during the entire 
 ummer after they were planted. 
 
 In the fall, I took them out of the box to transplant them. The soil 
 n the box was one perfect mass of roots. Having such good success, 
 
 ' planted more the next spring in the same manner ; also some single 
 yes. I tried some half dozen different varieties, over two hundred 
 sittings in all, and I did not lose lialf a dozen cuttings among all I 
 )lanted. The Delaware grew as readily as any, but of course did not 
 rrow so strong and rampant. 
 
 Better vines we have never seen from any nursery. Plenty of good 
 •oots; strong stems of well ripened wood. We have since that time 
 •aised all the vines we wanted, at little or no expense except for the 
 cuttings or eyes. We have raised a good many blackberry and rasp- 
 )erry plants in the same manner. The box should be narrow, and 
 rom ten to fifteen inches high above the top of the soil. Boot or shoe 
 )0xes, such as are found at the dry goods stores, will do, but we pre- 
 er to make our own. As far as our own experience goes, the plants 
 lo not need watering at all ; but the cloth must not be oiled or var- 
 lished so as to prevent the plants having all the moisture they need, 
 blowers and plants which require to be started in a hot bed, we have 
 ried in this manner, and they do well with or without bottom heat. 
 
 A similar method practiced by the Canterbury Shakers, is mention- 
 id by Geo. Clark, one of their trustees, as follows : He says one of 
 heir brethren from a distant family in Ohio, told him to make the 
 :uttings of three buds in length, and insert them in the usual way, 
 sarly in the spring, in rich, mellow, rather moist, garden soil ; then 
 )ut up a row of shingles, by pushing one end of them four or five in- 
 hes into the ground, on each side of the row of cuttings ; then cover 
 he whole with cotton cloth wide and long enough to hang down on 
 ;ach side and end. so as to shade the cuttings from the sun and keep 
 he ground moist, and be sure and water them very often. He did 
 o, and the result was almost all of the cuttings started and grew. 
 
 Every gardener will not have shingles to use in this way, but any 
 >ld board, ten or twelve inches wide, put up on each side of the out- 
 ings, will answer just as well as shingles, no doubt. How this is 
 lothing but “a cold frame,” covered with cotton instead of glass; 
 >erhaps its quality lies in its being very narrow, and the covering of 
 
448 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 plain cotton cloth, unprepared with varnish, &c. These were Dela- 
 wares. 
 
 To Propagate Grape vines from Single Pyes in the Open Air. — We 
 get our new fashions from Paris, and it is said that most of the nev; 
 practical ideas of culture originate from the French. On looking 
 through a file of French papers recently, we found the following “ new 
 idea,” which, as it must be new, when the French say it is, we trans- 
 late for our readers' benefit : 
 
 “ The best way to propagate the grape vine, undoubtedly, is the sys- 
 tem recently discovered by M. Fabvier, a celebrated vigneron, of the 
 Haut Garronne. He selects the strongest of last year's shoots as soon 
 as the leaves fall in autumn, and cuts out the eyes, with about a quar- 
 ter of an inch of wood above and below the bud, at that season. He 
 then mixes an abundance of earth with them, and sets them in a cool 
 cellar for the winter. As soon in the spring as the ground will work, 
 he sets the buds two inches deep under ground, and about nine inches 
 apart in the rows, covering the depth of two inches above the eye 
 with very rich soil. The vines so produced are equal in strength to 
 one year's growth, to the strongest layers of the same age.” 
 
 Now, there does not seem to an American much novelty in raising 
 grapes from eyes ; nine- tenths of the grapes sold here being so raised ; 
 but + here is for all a little novelty in successfully raising them this 
 way in the open air. The trouble with us has been, that in open air 
 attempts, we imitate our hothouse practice, and set the bud just level 
 with the surface of the ground, and our warm summer sun soon settles 
 that business. The buds dry out before the roots get deep enough to 
 save them. We doubt if any American propagator thougnt of put- 
 ting a bud two inches under ground, or dreamed if he did, that a bud 
 would manage to push through that thickness of soil. 
 
 Perhaps they will. It is at any rate worth the trial. If really 
 good one year vines can be had from eyes in the open ground, it will 
 be a much cheaper way of raising grapes than that now generally 
 followed ; and the plants, without doubt, would be considerably 
 healthier. 
 
 Grafting the Grape vine. — A correspondent of the Country Gentle- 
 man says : I have a Delaware graft, set one year last April, that I 
 gathered one peck of grapes from this fall — one vine that was grafted 
 two years last April, that I picked a bushel of Delaware grapes from 
 this fall ; the first was on a seedling root, the other on an Isabella root. 
 
 Method. — Remove the dirt from the vine for six inches in depth — 
 cut it off four inches below the surface, and cleft-graft, as you would 
 
SMALL FRUITS OF GARDEN AND VINEYARD. 
 
 449 
 
 the apple — tie the scion to its place with strips of cotton factory, and 
 press the dirt firmly about the stump and scion ; and then fill in care- 
 fully j;o the second bud on the scion, covering with a little straw for 
 mulching. During very dry weather it will want watering. 
 
 Any one who can graft an apple tree can graft a grape vine. The 
 difference is that he must dig down about six inches for the stock to 
 set his grape grafts. 
 
 The Horticulturist directs to saw off the stalk and put in the scion 
 ivith two or three buds, wedge fashion, as in the cleft-grafting of fruit 
 :rees, and then cover up a few inches, leaving one or two buds above 
 ;he ground. No clay or covering of the grafted part is necessary, be- 
 yond the natural soil, below which the graft is to be inserted. The 
 sprouts of the old stalks, as they spring up to rob the graft, must be 
 Dulled off. Grafts often bear some fine clusters the first season of 
 growth, and many more the second. 
 
 Pruning the Grape. — Many people suppose that it is necessary tc 
 nit out the leaves of the grape that shade the fruit. This is a serious 
 srror, as the leaves are required to perfect the fruit,, and so long as 
 he leaves can have the sun the fruit does not need it. The grapes 
 mder the most dense shade of grape leaves are as sweet, if not sweet- 
 sr, than those more exposed. The ends of the shoots can be cut back 
 )ut let the leaves alone. 
 
 To Stop the Bleeding of Recently Pruned Vines. — A little gum shel- 
 ac dissolved in alcohol will immediately stop bleeding in grape vines, 
 yhere pruning is delayed until the sap starts. A mixture in equal 
 roportions of flour and salt, it is said, will have the desired effect 
 dien grafting wax and burning have failed. The Hew England Far- 
 mer says, Apply hard soap to the end. 
 
 Profits of Grape Growing. — The Agriculturist says : Grape vines 
 ccupying but a fraction of a square rod, often yield more profit than 
 whole acre of grain ! Mr. Carpenter said before the Farmers’ Club 
 t New York, that ten tons — 20,000 pounds — of grapes might be 
 aised on one acre, and this, at fifteen cents per pound, would amount 
 d $3,000. It is stated in the Scientific American that a French pro- 
 rietor lately paid four millions of francs for a tract of vineland where 
 ledoc was the favorite wine, and he has realized the full amount of 
 be purchase money from the crop of 1864' alone. 
 
 To Prevent Mildew on Grapes. — David Thomas, the late celebrated 
 orticulturist, &c., said the grape never mildews when running over 
 living tree. Such is the fact. An Isabella grape vine has mildewed 
 idly for several years. Two years ago I trained the vine over a 
 29 
 
450 
 
 PEACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 plum and also a pear tree that stood near. The fruit on that part that 
 runs over the trees is all free from mildew, and truly fine, whilst od 
 some of the lower branches the fruit is worthless. 
 
 American Wine Grapes. — Catawba, Delaware, Concord, Iowa, Al- 
 vey, Taylor, Oporto, Franklin, Creveling, Clinton, Diana. 
 
 Making Raisins. — Mr. Bugby, of California, has been very success- 
 ful in making raisins. He makes a framework near the vineyard, 
 over which he places laths, making a wicker frame. On this he lays 
 straw paper. The grapes must be thoroughly ripe ; they are gathered 
 and laid on this paper; in ten days they are turned over; they will 
 then flatten, and the work is done. The frames are protected from 
 birds, bees, &c., by musketo bars. After they are thus cured, they 
 are packed in large boxes between layers of papers for a brief time, then 
 finally packed and sent to market. These raisins are much superior 
 to imported fruit. 
 
 R. G # Pardee recently presented to the Farmers’ Club, N. Y., some 
 raisins made of Delaware grapes dried without any more care than 
 drying other fruit. 
 
 The Fig . — Of all the fruits cultivated in the South, the fig requires 
 the least care, and is one of the most productive and useful. South 
 of the latitude of thirty -two degrees the fig tree produces three crops 
 a year, commencing in May and bearing until November, but in Cen- 
 tral Georgia, we generally gather but two crops a year, unless the 
 season is peculiarly favorable, the first or early crop being often killed 
 by spring frosts. The figs are mostly eaten directly from the tree, as 
 soon as ripe, and may be found in abundance upon the breakfast table 
 of all lovers of fine fruit. The fig tree grows very freely from cuttings 
 planted early in the spring, and will sometimes bear the first year, 
 generally the second. It has ever been a source of surprise to us that 
 the fig is not extensively cultivated, and turned to more profitable ac- 
 count ; but this is not the only instance in which the prodigal and 
 generous gifts of nature are lavished upon man in vain, 
 
 CARE AND MANAGEMENT OF THE HORSE. 
 
 Points of a Good Horse . — In purchasing a good horse, sight, wind, 
 leet and limbs must be the uppermost object of inquiry ; for nine hor- 
 ses out of ten are defective in one of these particulars. First, then, 
 examine his eyes, and do this before he comes out of the stable ; see 
 
CARE AND MANAGEMENT OF THE HORSE. 
 
 451 
 
 that they are perfectly clear and transparent, and that the pupils or 
 apples of the eye are exactly alike in size and color. Next, examine 
 his pipes ; if good and sound, on being nipped in the gullet, he will 
 utter a sound like that from a bellows ; but if his lungs are touched, 
 and he is broken winded, he will give vent to a dry, husky, short 
 cough ; look to his limbs, also, and in passing your hand down his 
 legs, if you find any unnatural protuberance, or puffiness, or if feeling 
 first one leg, then the other, you discover any difference between them, 
 disease more or less is present ; he may not be lame, but he is not 
 clean upon his legs. If he is broad and full between the eyes, he may 
 be depended on as a horse of good sense, and capable of being trained 
 to almost anything. If you want a gentle horse, get one with more 
 or less white upon him ; many suppose that the parti-colored horses 
 belonging to circuses, shows, &c., are selected for their oddity ; but it 
 is on account of their docility and gentleness ; in fact, the more kindly 
 you treat horses, the better you will be treated by them in return. 
 
 In the Sports and Pastimes of Merry England , we find the follow- 
 ing : A good horse should have fifteen properties and conditions, viz : 
 Thrte of a man, three of a woman, three of a fox, three of a hare, and 
 three of an ass. Of a man, bold, proud and hardy ; of a woman, fair 
 breasted, quick hearing and easy to move ; of a fox, a fair tail, short 
 ears and a good trot ; of a hare, a clear eye, a dry head and a well- 
 formed body ; of an ass, a big chin, a flat leg and a good hoof. 
 
 The California Agricultural Society requires that a first premium 
 work horse shall be between fifteen and sixteen hands ; quick, lively 
 ears ; broad between the eyes ; round barrel ; short loins ; well up in 
 the shoulder ; deep chested ; square quarters ; fiat legs ; short between 
 the knee and pastern and hock and pastern ; hind legs well under 
 him ; speed equal to eight miles an hour on the road, and at least 
 three miles at the plow; with sufficient blood to insure spirit and en- 
 durance. 
 
 The Ohio Cultivator says : A horse weighing from 1,300 to 1,400 
 is large enough for a cart horse ; 1,000 to 1,200 is large enough for 
 a farmer’s horse ; from 1,000 to 1,100 is heavy enough for a carriage 
 horse. 
 
 The points of merit in a farm horse, according to Mr. Strawn, the 
 great stock farmer of Illinois, are these : A large eye, bay color, with 
 heavy black mane and tail, round body, large ham-strings, short back, 
 long belly, fifteen or sixteen hands in height, and weighing about 1,200 
 pounds. 
 
 Raising.-^ The Arabs still stand at the head of stock-raisers. 
 
452 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 even in the nineteenth century. With them we find that more stress 
 is laid on the quality of the dam than the sire ; that a first-class mare 
 can not be bought from an Arab, since he knows by tradition what 
 watchful experience is now teaching us. 
 
 The too general idea is that with a good sire, any mare is good 
 enough to breed from. But experience shows that it is as impossible 
 to get a good blooded colt from a poor mare as to make a mahogany 
 table from a basswood sapling. The mother imparts to the foal size, 
 strength and vigor of constitution — the father supplies spirit and mus- 
 cle. Without the first, the last qualities are comparatively useless. 
 
 Age of Mares for Breeding . — It is quoted as the opinion of Col. Wm, 
 B. Johnson, of Virginia, an old “ Napoleon of the turf,” that if raising 
 a mare for breeding purposes, one should commence at two years old, 
 if she were well grown, not for the value of the first colt, but for the 
 extension of her breeding properties and enlarging her nursing capac- 
 ities. 
 
 Treatment of Horses . — Horses repay humane and careful treatment. 
 Give them luxury of shade and air, when practicable, during the heat 
 of day. Use nets, or try a wash made by steeping walnut leaves, to 
 keep off the tormenting flies. They will enjoy freedom in the pasture, 
 nights. 
 
 The Arabians never beat their horses ; they never cut their tails ; 
 they treat them gently ; they speak to them, and seem to hold a dis- 
 course ; they use them as friends ; they never attempt to increase 
 their speed by the whip, nor spur them but in cases of great necessi- 
 ty. They never fix them to a stake in the fields, but suffer them to 
 pasture at large around their habitations ; and they come running the 
 moment they hear their master’s voice. In consequence of such treat- 
 ment, these animals become docile and tractable in the highest degree. 
 The little boys and girls are often seen upon the body or neck of the 
 mare, while the beasts continue inoffensive and harmless, permitting 
 them to play and caress them without injury. 
 
 laming Vicious Horses . — The secret for taming vicious horses is 
 gentleness and patience, which remove fear and give the animal confi- 
 dence in man. Bubbing a horse in the face will cause him to present 
 his head to you, and talking kindly to him will attract his attention. 
 After having cleared the stable of everything that will tend in any 
 way to frighten the horse, drive him as gently as possible into a cor- 
 ner, and approach him by degrees, that he may see there is no cause 
 for alarm. Now rub his face gently downward, (not across nor against 
 the grain of the hair,) and when he becomes reconciled to that, as you 
 
CARE AND MANAGEMENT OF THE HORSE. 
 
 453 
 
 will perceive by his eye and countenance, rub his neck and back till 
 he will permit you to handle his tail freely. You may now lead him 
 out, and call upon him constantly, in a steady tone, “ come along," 
 (whispering the words to horses is better than to speak loud,) and in a 
 few minutes he will follow you about quite tame and gentle. Two 
 emotions, says Earey, fear and anger, a true horseman should never 
 feel. • 
 
 How to Treat Nervous Horses . — Never “ shy ” yourself when your 
 horse is becoming nervous, nor notice it in your horse, far less punish 
 him. An experienced horseman says, whenever you notice the horse 
 directing his ears to any point whatever, or indicating the slightest 
 disposition to become afraid, instead of pulling the rein to bring the 
 horse toward the object causing its nervousness, pull it on the other 
 side. This will instantly divert the attention of the horse from the 
 object which is exciting its suspicion, and in ninety-nine cases out of a 
 hundred the horse will pay no more attention to the object from which 
 he will fly away if forcibly driven to it by pulling the wrong rein. 
 
 Feeding and Watering Horses . — The London Omnibus Company 
 have lately made a report on feeding horses, which discloses some in- 
 teresting information, not only to farmers but to every owner of a 
 horse. The company uses no less than six thousand horses ; three 
 thousand of this number had for their feed bruised oats and cut hay 
 and straw, and the other three thousand got whole oats and hay. The 
 allowance accorded to the first was : bruised oats, sixteen pounds ; cut 
 hay, seven and a half pounds ; cut straw, two and an eighth pounds. 
 The allowance accorded to the second : unbruised oats, nineteen pounds ; 
 uncut hay, thirteen pounds. The bruised oats, cut hay and cut straw 
 amounted to twenty-six pounds ; and the unbruised oats, &c., to thirty- 
 two pounds. The horse which had bruised oats, with cut hay and 
 straw, and consumed twenty-six pounds per day, could do the same 
 work as well, and was kept in as good condition, as the horse which 
 received thirty-two pounds per day. Here was a saving of six pounds 
 per day on the feeding of each horse receiving bruised oats, cut hay 
 and cut straw. The advantage of bruised oats and cut hay over un- 
 bruised oats and uncut hay is estimated at five cents per day on each 
 horse, amounting to three hundred dollars per day for the company's 
 six thousand horses. It is by no means an unimportant result. Six 
 pounds of horse-feed per day saved on each horse, and no horse-power 
 lost. 
 
 A French writer says the same quantity of oats given to a horse 
 produce different effects according to the time they are administered. 
 
454 
 
 PEACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 There is always a quantity not digested when water is given immedi- 
 ately after a feed of oats. There is decidedly, then, a great advantage 
 in giving horses water before grain is fed them. And grain and hay 
 given on their return to the stable immediately after hard work is not 
 properly masticated, nor well digested. When a horse returns from 
 work, perspiring and out of breath, it should be allowed to rest for a 
 time, then given a little hay ; half an hour afterward, water, and then 
 oats or other grain. By this plan water may be given without risk 
 of cold, as the oats act as a stimulant. 
 
 Cost of Keeping Horses. — The American Stock Journal says a horse 
 may be maintained in good condition on twelve pounds of hay and five 
 pounds of oats for daily food. 
 
 Fifteen pounds of hay and twelve quarts of oatmeal, says the Coun- 
 try Gentleman , is a fair average to keep a good sized horse in fine con- 
 dition for all road or farm work. 
 
 An article in the Hew York Tribune says, the Third Avenue Bail- 
 road Company keep seven hundred horses, upon the following daily 
 rations: hay, fourteen to sixteen pounds; meal, fourteen to sixteen 
 pounds. The hay is, generally, the best of Westchester timothy, 
 bought loose, and always chaffed and moistened, thoroughly incorpo- 
 rated with meal, and always slightly salted before feeding, but never 
 allowed to ferment. The meal is generally made of the best quality 
 of Indian corn, varying occasionally by mixing oatmeal or ship stuff 
 with corn meal, and such other variations as may be deemed necessa- 
 ry, when a horse is “ off his feed.” 
 
 Another writer says it costs the New York Third Avenue Horse 
 Bailroad [at ordinary prices,] sixty-two and a half cents a day to feed 
 its horses, but Boston keeps its horses for forty-one cents. The feed 
 in both cases is about seventeen pounds of corn meal and thirteen 
 pounds of hay for each horse a day, with seven pounds of rye straw 
 for bedding. 
 
 The following we quote from the Scientific American: With hay at 
 a cent a pound and meal at the same price, the daily cost of keeping a 
 horse will be twenty-eight cents, making one dollar and ninety-five 
 cents per week — equal to one hundred and two dollars and twenty 
 cents a year. 
 
 The Horse Stable. — Horses should be fed regularly, with clean and 
 wholesome food, and neither stinted nor surfeited. Their stalls and 
 the whole stable should be kept scrupulously clean, and they them- 
 selves well groomed — at least once a day ; the eyes and nostrils light- 
 ly sponged with clear cold water, and the legs from above the knees i 
 
CARE AND MANAGEMENT OF THE HORSE. 
 
 455 
 
 down to the fetlocks, well hand-rubbed. The feet should be examined 
 on coming into the stable, and any particles of gravel or small stones, 
 etc., carefully taken out, and then washed. It is a good plan, twice 
 or three times a week, at night, to stuff the fore feet with a mixture 
 of cow-dung and clay, or cow-dung alone ; this keeps the feet cool and 
 the soles tough. The hind legs do not require that attention as they 
 stand in their own offal. 
 
 The stable should be well lighted and have good ventilation ; but 
 that ventilation should not be caused by having a crack between every 
 board in the building, wide enough to put one’s hand through. 
 
 A bran mash is a good thing, once or twice a week, given at night, 
 with a handful of salt in it, and his feed of grain mixed with it. 
 
 Tie your horse in the center of the stall or he will be liable to drive 
 more on one rein than on the other. 
 
 The New England Farmer says, never attempt to clean or other- 
 wise disturb your horse while eating his meal, unless you want him to 
 bite and kick. But when you clean, take him out of the stall, and 
 make a business of it. 
 
 Daily Exercise of Animals. — Horses require daily exercise in the 
 open air, and can no more be expected to exist without it than their 
 owners. Exercise is an essential feature in stable management, and 
 like well-opportuned food, tends alike to preserve the health of horses. 
 Daily exercise is necessary for all horses unless they are sick ; it as- 
 sists and promotes a free circulation of the blood, determines morbific 
 matter to the surface, develops the muscular structure, creates an ap- 
 petite, improves the wind, and finally invigorates the whole system. 
 We can not expect much of a horse that has not been habituated to 
 sufficient daily exercise ; while such as have been daily exercised and 
 well managed, are capable not only of great exertion and fatigue, but 
 are ready and willing to do our bidding at any season. When an an- 
 imal is overworked it renders the system very susceptible to whatever 
 morbid influences may be present, and imparts to the disease they 
 may labor under an unusual degree of severity. The exhaustion pro- 
 duced by want of rest is equally dangerous ; such horses are always 
 among the first victims of disease, and when attacked their treatment 
 is embarrassing and unsatisfactory. 
 
 Shoeing Horses for Winter Travel. — 1ST. P. Willis is our authority 
 for the following. He says, you will have discovered, of course, that 
 you can not have uninterrupted winter riding, with a horse shod in 
 the ordinary way. The sharp points of frozen mud will wound the 
 frog of the foot, and with snow on the ground, the hollow hoof soon 
 
456 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 collects a hard ball, which makes the footing very insecure. But these 
 evils are remedied by a piece of sole leather nailed on under the shoe 
 '—a protection to the hoof which makes a surprising difference in the 
 confidence and sure-footedness of the animal’s step. 
 
 To Prevent Over-Reaching. — Let the blacksmith make the heel 
 corks of the fore shoes high and the toe corks of the hind shoes high 
 and the heel corks low. Good authority pronounces this an infallible 
 remedy. 
 
 A correspondent of the American Agriculturist says : Hold up the 
 head of over-reaching horses with the check-rein. 
 
 To Prevent Interfering of Horses' Feet. — Make the inner half or 
 halves of the shoe or shoes one-eighth of an inch thicker than the out- 
 er half or halves and set them even with the face of the hoof. 
 
 An intelligent writer says : Add twenty-five per cent, to the quan- 
 tity of their food. 
 
 Keeping Horses' Feet andwLegs in Order. — If I were asked to ac- 
 count for my horses’ legs and feet being in better order than those of 
 my neighbors, says Miles, I should attribute it to the four following 
 circumstances: First, they are all shod with few nails so placed in the 
 shoe as to permit the foot to expand every time they move ; second, 
 that they all live in boxes instead of stalls, and can move wherever 
 hey please ; third, they spend two hours, daily, walking exercise when 
 they are not at work ; and fourth, that I have not a head stall or track 
 chain in my stall. These four circumstances comprehend the whole 
 mystery of keeping horses’ legs fine, and their feet in sound working 
 condition up to age. 
 
 Washing Horses' Legs. — Whenever it is necessary to wash a horse’s 
 legs do it in the morning, except the legs are already soaked. If they 
 are not then rub down when the horse comes in with straw and dry 
 brush, and the next morning wash as clean as soap and water can 
 make them. Pick and wash the soles as quick as the horse comes in. 
 
 To Prevent Horses Chafing under the Collar. — A correspondent of 
 the Boston Journal advises simply a piece of leather cut in such a 
 shape as to lie singly between the shoulders of the horse and the col- 
 lar. Chafing is caused by friction. This prevents the friction as the 
 collar slips on it instead of the shoulder. 
 
 To Prevent a Horse or Mule from Breaking His Halter. — Many 
 remedies have been proposed for curing this bad habit, but a simple 
 and effective one is, to discard the common halter, and get a broad 
 strong leather strap to buckle around the neck a few inches below tho 
 ears. A horse may pull at this, but will soon give it up. 
 
CARE AND MANAGEMENT OF TILE HORSE. 
 
 457 
 
 Tying Horses. — Barrow tells us that Icelanders tie the head of one 
 iorse to the tail of another, and the head of this to the tail of the 
 ormer. Under these circumstances, if the animals are disposed to 
 aove, it will only be possible in a circle, and even then there must be 
 n agreement to turn their heads the same way. 
 
 To Prevent Horses from Jumping. — A correspondent of the Iowa 
 Joniestead was riding with a friend, and observed that one of the 
 orses had a hole in each ear. On inquiring the cause, he learned 
 bat it was to keep the horse from jumping. “Why,” said he, “a 
 orse don’t jump with his ears.” “ You are mistaken,” replied his 
 lend, “a horse jumps as much with his ears as with his feet, and un- 
 iss he can have free use of his ears he can not jump. He ties the 
 wo ears together and has no more trouble with the horse. 
 
 To Start a Baulky Horse. — It is said that if you tie a rope to his 
 )re feet and go ahead he will follow. Or open his month and fill it 
 r ith dry dirt or sand and he will go. 
 
 A noose placed around the under jaw of the animal, just below the 
 'ont teeth, will enable one to obtain a complete mastery over him by 
 wading or holding him with the end of the rope. 
 
 Remedy for Horses Catching the Rein. — «An enlargement of the 
 rapper, in the extreme back part of the bow, to an inch and a quar- 
 3r or an inch and a half in diameter, will most commonly prevent the 
 itching of the line under a horse’s tail when in harness. 
 
 To Stop a Runaway Horse . — A correspondent of the American 
 Agriculturist recommends the following: Take a small hut strong 
 ird, tie one end into a loop (not slip noose), pass it over the horse’s 
 ead, and attach it rather loosely to the throat latch, so that it will 
 ot fall down too low. The other end of the cord is passed to the car- 
 age within easy reach of the driver. When the horse runs, and 
 innot be stopped by the reins, pull upon the cord, hard enough to 
 ;op his breathing ; he will soon stop — indeed he must stop. So soon 
 3 he stops, slack up the cord and quiet him by soothing words and 
 ind treatment. There is no danger of his falling, as he will stop long 
 sfore he becomes exhausted, and will brace himself on his feet so long 
 3 he has strength — the cord being slackened as soon as he stops will 
 dieve him. This simple remedy may be applied to any horse which 
 in the habit of running away ; he will very soon connect cause and 
 feet together, and after a few trials, will be entirely cured. Kick- 
 ig, backing, and other vicious habits yield to the same remedy when 
 idiciously employed. 
 
 To Extricate Horses Easily from a Burning Building. — In remov- 
 
458 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 ing horses from a stable or any other building dfi fire, considerable 
 difficulty is always experienced in consequence of the terror which 
 seizes them, especially when the fire and smoke have come near them. 
 If, however, the harness and trappings be thrown over draught horses, 
 and the saddle placed as usual on other horses, they may be brought 
 out as easily as on ordinary occasions. If time permits, substitute the 
 bridle, &c., for the halter, and thus the animal’s fears will be com- 
 pletely removed. Self-possession in the person that is employed is 
 indispensable. 
 
 To Recover Stolen Horses. — A correspondent of the Homestead says * 
 I once knew one of a pair of horses that was stolen recovered mainly 
 by the track being made out by his mate, and that after he had been 
 absent six or eight hours. With some horses, he adds, the scent is as 
 acute as with a dog. 
 
 To Teach a Horse to Diem Down. — First, with some soft handker- 
 chief or cloth tie up one fore leg ; then with a stick tap him on the 
 other, and say, “ Kneel!” — sometimes by rubbing him on the head, 
 and patting him on the leg, you will induce him to lie down. Repeat 
 the trial three or four times, and you will be successful. 
 
 Bridle Bits in Cold Weather. — Be sure and cover the bits of your 
 bridles in cold weather with leather to prevent the frost from making 
 the mouths of your horses sore. It is downright cruelty to put an 
 iron bit into a horse’s mouth on a cold morning. If you doubt it, bit 
 yourself some morning when the mercury stands below zero. 
 
 To Protect Horses Feet from Tenderness and Slipping. — Gutta 
 percha is now used to protect the feet of horses from tenderness and 
 slipping. It is first cut into small pieces and softened with hot water, 
 then mixed with half its weight of powdered sal ammoniac, and the 
 mixture melted in a tinned saucepan over a gentle fire, keeping it well 
 stirred. When required for use, melt in a glue pot, scrape the hoof 
 clean, and apply the mixture with a knife. 
 
 To Accustom a Horse to a Gun, Umbrella, fyc. — Commence by show- 
 ing your friendship by rubbing the horse’s face with your hand ; then 
 snap and explode percussion caps with a pistol. Let the horse fre- 
 quently smell the powder and smoke ; then you may fire small reports 
 until you see fear removed ; then overhead and behind the horse until 
 all is free. If you have a very wild horse, place him in a stall or 
 small pen, so as to have him safe ; then fire a gun all around him, 
 and go often up to him, speak to him, and rub him in the face, and 
 then fire the gun again, until he is free from starting. To make a 
 horse used to an umbrella, walk before him, raising it up and shutting 
 
DISEASES OF THE HORSE AND THEIR REMEDIES. 
 
 459 
 
 again ; let him smell it,- and rnb it over his head, and then get on 
 m, gently raise it, and ride him until the fear is over. It is better 
 take him to some new place. Sometimes horses will remember 
 r years places and habits, both good and bad. You must rub your 
 >rse on both sides ; for he may be gentle on qv** side and not on the 
 her. 
 
 Rareys Opinion of Blinkers on Hot js. — All my experience with 
 id observation of horses proves clearly to me that blinkers should 
 >t be used, and that the eight of the horse, for many reasons, should 
 >t be interfered with in any way. * * fr Horses can be broken 
 
 less time and better without blinkers ; bvu horses that have always 
 orn them will notice the sudden change, and must be treated care- 
 lly the first drive. After that they will drive better without the , 
 inkers than with. 
 
 DISEASES OF THE HOESE AND THEIR REMEDIES. 
 
 Cure for Colic in Horses. — One of the best veterinary surgeons in 
 ie city of Baltimore recommends three ounces of spirits of turpentine 
 id one ounce of tincture of opium. If relief is not obtained in one 
 )ur, repeat the dose wi'h one ounce of best powdered aloes well dis- 
 •lved together. 
 
 Another remedy is : Half an ounce of laudanum ana one ounce of 
 yeet spirits of nitre, given in a pint of warm water ; repeat the dose 
 half an hour, if relief is not afforded. When the attack is severe, 
 1 ounce of laudanum should be given first. In case of “ wind col- 
 ,” it would be best to add the es^oneG of ginger and oil of pepper- 
 int. 
 
 Charcoal is recommended by some. 
 
 A corresponded of the Country Gentleman recommends for flatu- 
 nt colic, linseed oil, one pint ; castor oil, half a pint ; tincture of 
 )ium, one ounce; sulphuric ether, two ounces. Mix, and give at 
 ie dose. 
 
 Worms in Horses. — Dr. uadd prescribes twelve ounces castor oil ; 
 
 1 of wormwood, one ounce ; and oil of tansy, three drachms ; to be 
 ven on an empty stomach, followed by mashes of fine feed or shorts, 
 ell seasoned with salt. To be repeated if necessary until the bowels 
 spond. 
 
 A correspondent of the Southern Cultivator says : Administer a ta- 
 
460 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 blespoonful of copperas, pulverized ; in three or four days repeat th 
 dose. The horse is relieved of the worms at once — eats and thrive? 
 and his hair becomes sleek. 
 
 Bots in Horses . — The following is considered a specific : Sulphuri 
 ether, two ounces; laudanum, two drachms; warm water, sweetened 
 one quart. Drench the animal, and repeat the dose if necessary in ai 
 hour, to be followed two or three hours afterwards with a good dos' 
 of linseed oil. 
 
 Scours in Colts . — Boil smartweed in water enough to make a strong 
 tea, and give your colt a half pint in two quarts of scalded milk twic 
 a day. This has been highly recommended. 
 
 Treatment of Wounds , Corks and Collar Galls in Horses . — On 
 ounce white vitriol, one ounce copperas, one tablespoonful gunpowder 
 one quart soft water. After washing the parts with hot soft water 
 and wiping dry, apply the above wash with a sponge or cloth. 
 
 The following, known as Masson’s Oil, is highly esteemed as a cure 
 Take two ounces of rock salt, two ounces of copperas, two ounces o 
 white vitriol, eight ounces of sale molasses, one-half pint of linsee( 
 oil, and one pint of chamber lye. Pulverize and boil the above to 
 gether fifteen minutes ; then add four ounces spirits turpentine an( 
 one ounce of oil of vitriol, and bottle it up. When cold it is fit fo 
 use. Shake the bottle before using it. Bathe the wound once o 
 twice a day, and dry it with a hot shovel. 
 
 A communication to the Michigan Farmer recommends that salt 
 peter should be dissolved in warm water, in such proportions as to h 
 moderately strong to the taste, and blue stone added until the solu 
 tion is slightly tinged. This, and nothing else, is to be used as a wasl 
 two or three times a day. It purifies the wound, destroys the prow 
 flesh, produces granulations immediately, and heals the wound in ; 
 surprisingly short time. He says : I have had a horse badly kicke.o 
 and otherwise hurt, in midwinter and midsummer, and their cure wa' 
 equally rapid, and afterwards no scar was visible. The wound re 
 quires no covering, flies will not approach it, and dressing it with i 
 mop of rags tied to a stick is very little trouble. Wounds do not re 
 quire to be sewed up under this treatment ; at least, I never saw an) 
 advantage from it, as the stitches have uniformly torn out. 
 
 Major Long says that his party found white lead moistened witl 
 milk to succeed better than anything else in preventing the bad effect: 
 of galls on their horses’ backs. 
 
 For Sprains in Animals . — Mix together half a pint of soft soap, on< 
 ounce of the oil of origanum, two ounces spirits of camphor, a quarter 
 
DISEASES OF THE HORSE AND THEIR REMEDIES. 
 
 461 
 
 ' an ounce saltpeter, and half a pint of strong vinegar ; rub the limb 
 fected three times a day for a few days — taking care, before each 
 ibbing, to wash the part with warm water and Castile soap, and dry- 
 g it with a cloth before each rubbing. 
 
 Scratches in Horses. — Wash their feet and legs clean, and when dry 
 lint with white lead. One or two dressings only will be needed. 
 
 Or, first wash them clean with soft soap and water, and then apply 
 hite lead and linseed oil, rubbing it thoroughly in with a brush, 
 ne application will commonly effect a cure, but in bad cases two 
 ay be necessary. 
 
 Another remedy is : In mild cases, wash with soap suds, and grease 
 ith fried pork fat. In bad cases, apply a solution of copperas in vin- 
 $ar. Heal the sore with lard. 
 
 A correspondent of the New England Farmer says his method of 
 iring scratches is to rub on West India molasses a few times. He 
 is never known it to fail. 
 
 And a writer in the New York Tribune says : We have never 
 aown an application of beef brine to fail. Wash the legs first with 
 arm soap suds, and then two or three times with old beef brine, and 
 le scratches are cured. 
 
 Cure for Horses Rubbing their Tails. — Wash three or four times 
 ith stale urine. Said to be effectual. 
 
 To Remove a Film from a Horses Eye. — Apply medicamentum to 
 ie film with a feather. Or, bake beef steak until it becomes a crust, 
 ten pulverize and throw into the eye. Or, take the white end of 
 in droppings, pulverize and throw into the eye. 
 
 Remedy for Corns on Horse's Hoofs. — An old horseman says : Don’t 
 it out the corn, nor put spirits of salt on it ; neither pare the heel 
 >wn so that the shoe will not touch it. Take some tow dipped in tar, 
 ace on the corn, and nail the shoe on over the tow, which lessens 
 e jar on the corn. Put the shoe on with five nails, three on the 
 itside, and two on the inner side. Perhaps some will say, “ Oh ! five 
 tils wont hold the shoes on my horse’s feet three days.” All I have 
 say is, try it, In three weeks take the shoes off and examine ; if 
 e corns are not gone, put on some more tow and tar, and in a few 
 oeings they will disappear. 
 
 To Remove a Wart from a Horse's Foot. — Apply a few drops of ni- 
 ic acid with a small stick to the wart two or three times a week, and 
 5 careful it does not run on to the surrounding skin. As the wart 
 es, cut off the dead part, and apply until it is removed ; then apply 
 me oil to soften the sore, should there be one. 
 
462 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 Treatment of Ringbone. — For incipient ringbone the best reined 
 emphatically is rest. Dr. Dadd recommends in addition, an applica 
 tion of acetate of cantharides. When the part becomes hot apply col. 
 water bandages. 
 
 A reliable remedy is said to be, equal parts of oil of spike, Britis' 
 oil, and turpentine, mixed, with an infusion of liquid vitriol sufficien 
 for fomentation — to be applied immediately — and remixed and applies 
 every other morning, for three successive times — after which soft oi 
 of some kind should be used to suspend the cauterizing effect. 
 
 Not to remove the bunches, but to cure the lameness : One half pin 
 spirits turpentine, one ounce oil organum, one ounce oil amber, on 
 ounce oil of spike, one half ounce aquafortis. Mix in a bottle, and ap 
 ply daily with a swab. 
 
 Spavin. — The best remedy for spavin, taken at the first symptoms 
 is rest. Turn the animal out to grass, if in summer, or give him 
 stable with a soft floor, or a warm yard, if in winter. A cooling lotio: 
 may abate any inflammation ; and may be made by mixing alcohol 
 vinegar, and common salt, and applying it by means of a broad fla 
 sponge, occasionally dipped into the liquid, and drawn around by i 
 broad strip of tape sewed to it. Prevention is always better thai 
 cure ; and be sure never to breed from a diseased animal, and be care 
 ful never to strain the limbs of a young animal by hard work. 
 
 Take camphor and dissolve it in spirits of turpentine, to be appliec 
 till the hair starts, but not to . blister severely. Then let the hors< 
 rest a few days. The above was recommended in the Country Gentle 
 man as a cure. 
 
 String Halt. — Bleeding in the leg is said to be a remedy. 
 
 Artificial Hoofs for Horses. — An English paper says: What is re 
 quired by the veterinary surgeon is a substance possessing the consist 
 ence of horn, to retain the nails of the shoe ; that will readily softei 
 by heat, so as to mold itself to the required form ; that it be indissolu 
 ble in water, that the horses hoof is generally in contact with moist 
 ure ; and, lastly, that it be capable of uniting perfectly with the hoof 
 No known substance possesses all these qualities except gutta percha 
 For the purpose under consideration it is prepared by being cut into 
 fragments the size of a nut and softened in hot water ; the pieces an 
 then mixed with half their weight of powdered sal-ammoniac, an* 
 melted together in a tinned saucepan over a gentle fire, keeping the 
 mass stirred ; the mixture should assume a chocolate color. Wher 
 required for use it should be melted in a glue-pot ; the surface of the 
 hoof must be scraped clean, and the gutta percha applied as required 
 
DISEASES OF THE HORSE AND THEIR REMEDIES. 
 
 463 
 
 'he application may be facilitated by the use of a glazier’s knife 
 r armed, by which also the surface of the artificial hoof may be smooth- 
 i and polished. In this way many a valuable horse may be rendered 
 seful, which otherwise would only remain fit for slaughter. On the 
 3ore of humanity, also, this application of gutta percha is to be wel- 
 Dined. 
 
 For Fistula or Poll Evil . — Take a good large handful of poke roots, 
 ad put them into a gallon of wa-ter and boil them till you get the 
 ;rength out ; then take out the roots and boil down to one quart ; 
 len add half a pint of spirits of turpentine ; also half a pint of oil of 
 Dike; then simmer away to one quart; add four ounces of blue vitri- 
 l, and it is ready for use. Cleanse the sore with soap-suds once a 
 ay ; and when dry apply the liniment. A few applications will gen- 
 ral^r be sufficient. 
 
 Another invaluable remedy is : Three gills alcohol, one ounce aqua- 
 )rtis, one ounce spirits turpentine, one ounce corrosive sublimate, one 
 iince camphor, one vial oil of spike, one ounce castile soap. Mix to- 
 ether in a strong bottle, and shake well before using. Wash the af- 
 icted parts well with the soap-suds, and apply the above preparation 
 ntil it is cured. It is recommended also for corns and warts. 
 
 Another : Fill a woolen bag, one foot long, and six or seven inches 
 ide, with hickory ashes ; place it in a vessel of water and make it 
 Diling hot, and while hot, press out the ley between two boards, and 
 Dply to the parts affected while steaming hot, and let it remain some 
 dnutes. If the disease is not of long continuation, one or two appli- 
 itions will be sufficient to dry it up, and effect a permanent cure. 
 Another: Inject into the opening strong brine of common salt with 
 syringe. If it breaks out a second time, repeat. 
 
 Cure for Sweeney . — Take equal parts of balsam of sulphur and spirits 
 ? turpentine. Mix, apply, and hold a hot iron near enough to heat 
 at not to scorch. Apply every other day, till a cure is effected — ■ 
 mally from ten days to two weeks. 
 
 Or, take laudanum, camphor, spirits hartshorn, spirits turpentine, 
 istile soap, alcohol, each one ounce, and one gill sweet oil. Eub well 
 le affected part twice a day for a week. This is said to be a certain 
 
 ire. 
 
 Or, take one pint of turpentine, one ounce Spanish flies, half a pound 
 lard, half a pound of resin. Melt the lard and resin together. As 
 cools add the flies and turpentine/ Apply it to the affected parts, 
 id rub well with the hand. In two or three days rub again — that 
 ill take off the hair — then rub again and it will blister. If three ap- 
 
464 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 plications do not cure, then continue it till it does cure. The contritj 
 utor of this says it will cure, and he would not be without the know] 
 edge of it for the price of three good horses at least, for it has alread: 
 cured that number for him. 
 
 Cure for Founder in Horses . — Eecommended by a correspondent o 
 the Cotton Planter , as speedy, safe and certain : Clean out the froj 
 of the foot ; let it be well cleansed by scraping off all the dirt. Kais< 
 the foot so as to be level — pour spirits of turpentine, a sufficient quan 
 tity, so as not to run over the hoof ; then set the turpentine on fire 
 and let it be all consumed. 
 
 Cure for Heaves in Horses. — Sour milk. 
 
 “ Pampas” — Do not resort to the cruel practice of burning then 
 out. It is unnecessary, and the injury thus done to the mouth cai 
 never be repaired, as it permanently impairs the power of perfect ipas 
 tication. The inflamed parts may be lanced with a sharp penknife ii 
 thought best. After the lancing, it is recommended to wash th< 
 mouth with two ounces of tincture of myrrh, to a pint of water, or i\ 
 strong solution of alum in water. Feed the colt on bran mashes anc 
 grass, withholding all grain until he eats without difficulty. 
 
 Cure of Lockjaw in a Horse . — Wilkes Spirit of the limes states thai 
 a recent case of lockjaw in the horse is reported in the English Sport 
 ing papers, which was cured by eight ounces of chloroform. The fill} 
 lay prostrate under the effects of the* medicine for nearly four hours 
 when the effects of the powerful potion passed off, and the malad} 
 went with it. She promised soon to entirely recover. 
 
 The Mule. — A correspondent of the Wisconsin Farmer sums up th( 
 merits of the mule as compared with the horse as follows : 1. He if 
 much more easily and cheaply raised than his cousin, the horse. 2 
 He eats but little more than half as much when matured. 3. He if 
 satisfied with and thrives upon a coarser and less expensive kind oi 
 provender. 4. It costs less to keep him in harness and in shoes. 5 
 He is proportionately stronger. 6. He is very much tougher. 7. H< 
 is less liable to disease. 8. He has more sense and docility. 9. He if 
 better adapted to some important kinds of work. 10. He is a true 
 puller, and, when loaded, a quicker traveler. 11. He sells for a bet 
 ter price. 12. He lives more than twice as long. 13. He is better 
 looking. [No accounting for taste.] 14. In nothing but fleetness if 
 he excelled by the horse. 
 
 J. T. Warder, of Springfield, Ohio, in the Agricultural Eeport, says 
 In every country the mule is sure-footed and hardy. * * * Th( 
 
 mule is everywhere hardier than the horse, subject to fewer diseases 
 
CARE AND MANAGEMENT OF CATTLE. 
 
 465 
 
 more patient, better adapted to traveling on rugged and trackless sur- 
 faces, less fatidious as to its food, and much less expensive in feeding, 
 more muscular in proportion to its weight ; and usually living and 
 working to about double the age. He adds : In the mule we have 
 he size -and activity of the horse, combined with the form and hardi- 
 lood of the ass, while he surpasses both his parents in sure-footednesa 
 md in longevity, and has more endurance and greater power of recu- 
 leration from fatigue and exhaustion when excessively worked. Well- 
 ired mules are as spirited, and equally active, or even quicker than 
 lorses, if perfectly broken. They will walk fast, and in the draught 
 hey pull even more steadily. Their intelligence is so great that they 
 nay be trained very readily either to the line or to the word, and 
 nany splendid, large teams are driven, even over rough ground where 
 here is scarcely any road, perfectly guided by the voice of the team- 
 ter, aided only by the loud crack of his whip, which they understand 
 is a sound of encouragement rather than as an intimation of impend- 
 ing torture. 
 
 In southern countries particularly they are used for light transpor- 
 ation almost exclusively, and even the grandees use them for carriages 
 .s well as under the saddle. In our own country the prejudice that 
 >nce existed against them is rapidly yielding, and we find them used 
 n the street cars in some of our cities, and occasionally observe them 
 ttached to elegant private carriages. 
 
 The census tables show that the number of mules produced has in- 
 reased in a greater ratio than those of any other kind of farm stock, 
 nd that from 1850 to 1860 the total number of these animals had 
 lore than doubled. 
 
 I 
 
 i 
 
 CARE AND MANAGEMENT OF CATTLE. 
 
 Cows — Points of a Good Milker . — According to the Ohio Farmer, 
 cow, to be a good milker, must have a good form, firm and compact 
 ones, wide and deep chest, wide and broad udder, thin hide, soft and 
 lossy hair, and a gentle feminine look. Large, thick bones mark the 
 karacter of the animals. They are generally spongy ; if so, the an- 
 nal is a coarse, half formed concern, that has no richness of body, 
 find or production. If large and compact, they show her to be too 
 masculine, and that her appropriate place is at the plow, rather than 
 30 
 
166 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 in tlie milk stall. Sucli cows give milk and water, ratker tkan good 
 milk. 
 
 So, too, a cow witk a large, clumsy kead, dull eyes and stag horns, 
 skould be killed or sold, but never kept for milk. For a good cow 
 tkere skould be as muck mildness, amiability and beauty, in tke kead, 
 eyes and countenance, as in a lovely woman. It is not all nonsense 
 to say : “ A good cow skould be as pretty as a sckool ma’am.” Good 
 lungs are another requisite of a good milker, and an important one. 
 Without them tke milk is unhealthy, partaking of the constitution of 
 tke animal. 
 
 In selecting a milker, look well to tke udder. Before milking, it 
 skould be wide and broad, not hanging down like a sack ; and hard 
 and shiny, nearly destitute of hair, and what tkere is skould be short, 
 fine and bright. After milking, tke udder skould be soft, and appa- 
 rently a skin-bag. If, after milking tke udder is hard and full, it 
 shows that it is flesh, and not milk, that distends it. A thin skin, and 
 soft glossy hair, is an index to tke texture of tke whole animal. If 
 these are right, tke whole animal may generally be set down as good. 
 
 Points of a good Dairy Cow according to Harley. — Head small, long, 
 and narrow toward tke muzzle ; horns small, clear, bent, and placed at 
 considerable distance from each other ; eyes not large, but brisk and 
 lively ; neck slender and long, tapering toward tke kead, witk a little 
 loose skin below ; shoulders and fore quarters light and thin ; kind 
 quarters large and broad; back straight, and joints slack and open; 
 carcass deep in tke rib ; tail small and long, reaching to tke keels ; 
 legs small and short, witk firm joints ; udder square, but a little ob- 
 long, stretching forward, thin-skinned and capacious, but not low hung: 
 teats or paps small, pointing outward, and at a considerable distance 
 from each other ; hair short, soft, and woolly ; general figure, when in 
 flesh, handsome and well proportioned. 
 
 What is a Good Cow. — Tke New York Tribune says : One cow 
 may be good for producing milk for sale by tke quart ; another good 
 for making butter, where that alone is tke object ; a third one maybe 
 good for a cheese dairy and very poor for butter ; and a fourth not 
 good for either purpose, and should at once be turned out for beef. 
 For butter making, we think a cow which gives fourteen quarts of 
 milk a day, when fresh, and fourteen pounds of butter a week, a good 
 cow, and that that might be adopted into use as the meaning of a good 
 butter-dairy cow. A good many cows, it is true, go above that, bui 
 they should be ranked as extra good. A cow that gives twelve oi 
 fourteen quarts of milk a day, and ten pounds of butter a week, raigb ■ 
 
CARE AND MANAGEMENT OF CATTLE. 
 
 467 
 
 be called a fair medium cow; and one that gives eight or twelve quarts 
 a day and six or seven pounds of butter a week, should be called com- 
 mon, and all below that inferior, as in fact they are ; and so is a cow 
 that gives fifteen or sixteen quarts of milk a day that yields only a 
 pound of butter, and there are many of this description. The lowest 
 rate we ever heard was three quarts of milk for a pound of butter, 
 but that is very rare, the average being over twelve quarts. 
 
 A cow that will average five quarts of milk a day through the year, 
 making one thousand eight hundred and twenty-five quarts, is an ex- 
 traordinary good cow. One that will yield five quarts a day for ten 
 months is a good cow, and one that will average four quarts during 
 that time is more than an average quality. That would make one 
 thousand two hundred quarts a year, which, at three cents a quart, is 
 thirty-six dollars. 
 
 The daily yield of an Ayrshire cow has been estimated by Youatt 
 Jt five gallons a day, on an average, for the first two or three months 
 after calving; at three gallons for the next three months ; and at one 
 gallon and a half for the next four months — making an annual aver- 
 age of a cow at eight hundred and fifty gallons — though, allowing for 
 some unproductive cows, he estimates the average of a dairy at six 
 lundred gallons per annum for each cow. Three gallons and a half of 
 he Ayrshire cow’s milk will yield one and a half pounds of butter. 
 EEe therefore reckons two hundred and fifty-seven pounds of butter, 
 >r five hundred and fourteen pounds of cheese, as the yield of every 
 
 )0W. 
 
 For a dairy cow many excellent authorities assert there is none 
 qual to the Ayrshire ; while for family use, where but one or two are 
 :ept, perhaps the Alderney or Jersey cow ranks highest. 
 
 Cost and Profit of Keeping Cows . — A New England paper states 
 hat Otis Brigham, of Westboro’, Mass., announces, as the result of 
 many year’s experience, that good cows eat, on an average, twenty 
 >ounds of hay per day when giving milk, and fifteen pounds when dry — 
 lot guess work, but tested by actual weighing for months at a time. Then 
 t is easy to calculate the cost of milk. In the neighborhood of New 
 fork, the average value of hay is one cent per pound, and the quan- 
 ity of milk not over six quarts. At three and a half cents a quart, it 
 nil pay the hay bill and one cent a day over. If other feed is given ; 
 he increase of milk must pay for that. The manure will be worth at 
 3ast the cost of attendance and milking. If the milk is worth more 
 han three and a half cents, it gives a profit ; and if less, a loss. 
 
 Three per cent, of the cow’s weight each day is the quantity of hay 
 
468 
 
 PEACT1CAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 generally estimated to keep her well during the time that she requires 
 to be fed. This usually demands from one and a half to two tons. 
 Whoever wishes to secure the greatest possible profit from his cows, 
 should certainly provide two tons of hay or its equivalent. 
 
 Fall , Winter and Spring Feed for Cows. — In addition to good haj 
 give some or all of the following so as to afford sufficient variety : In- 
 dian corn ; oats, buckwheat and rye ground, rye and wheat bran, corn- 
 stalks, oat straw, pumpkins, turnips, cabbage, carrots, beets, &e. 
 Many of the best dairymen chaff their hay, steam it, and then mix 
 ground feed with it ; also cut up their cornstalks and straw and mix 
 with ground feed. Some feed grain boiled whole. All who are suc- 
 cessful feed with care when changing cows from grass to hay in the 
 fall and from hay to grass in the spring to save them from falling off 
 either in milk or flesh, which they are very liable to do. 
 
 The Chinese sugar cane is highly recommended as food for milch 
 cows. And W. C. Earl, of Toledo, Ohio, states that he fed his cow 
 tomatoes, green, ripe, and thawed out after freezing, with good re- 
 sult; they not only caused her to give a good supply but a rich quali- 
 ty of milk. In his opinion there is no vegetable superior to the to- 
 mato for making milk. 
 
 Dr. Valcker states that in the fall of the year, milk, when the cows 
 are well fed, yields more cheese and butter than during the summer. 
 Bilt if the cows have not a good supply of nutritious food, the milk 
 falls off greatly. 
 
 It is said that the time to feed turnips to cows is morning and eve- 
 ning, just after milking, and the turnip taste in the milk and butter 
 will be avoided. 
 
 One of the best dairymen of Orange county, New York, says he 
 thinks that by currying a cow, and keeping her and her stable scru- 
 pulously clean, she will give her full quantity of milk on half the feed 
 required if she is neglected. 
 
 It is suggested that in feeding cows pumpkins the seeds should not 
 be given to them on account of their well known diuretic quality. 
 
 Stabling Cows . — During the cold season cows should be well housed 
 and well fed. The stable should be just moderately warm, well venti- 
 lated, clean, and provided with a little bedding. Aside from the mere 
 matter of food and drink, the animals should be made comfortable. 
 This matter can hardly be over estimated. In mild weather they might 
 range by day in a commodious yard, protected on two or more sides 
 by covered sheds. There should be running water, or a trough kept 
 full from a pump in the yard. 
 
CARE AND MANAGEMENT OF CATTLE. 
 
 469 
 
 Cows should be salted two or three times a week. 
 
 A dairyman who keeps a large number of cows, secures them in the 
 stable with stanchions, all attached to a long rod or bar, so that by 
 having the food previously deposited, when the cows are turned in, 
 each eagerly seeks her place, and every one is secured by one move- 
 ment of the rod. 
 
 At the State Almshouse, Massachusetts, the manager* of the farm 
 beds his cows regularly with sand, which he considers superior to any 
 other substance for that purpose. It is warm, easy to lie upon, pre- 
 vents the cow from slipping when reaching her food, is an excellent 
 absorbent of liquids, easily shoveled in and out, a superior divisor of 
 droppings, and is an excellent substance to apply to cold lands. 
 
 Milking Cows .— Each cow should have a steady milker, be milked 
 as fast as possible and all the milk drawn. There is a loss of one- 
 third in many dairies, by the lazy hap-hazard way in which cows are 
 milked. Allow no talking or whistling. 
 
 It is said to have heen proved in England, by nicely conducted ex- 
 periments, that the last drawn milk is twelve times as rich in cream 
 as the first. 
 
 The best way of milking is to approach the cow gently, to say a 
 kind word as you seat yourself by her, to apply the left hand to the 
 forward teat next you, and the right to the one opposite, holding the 
 left arm rather firmly, that it may ward off from the pail any sudden 
 movement of the cow’s foot, then milk as fast as you conveniently can 
 those two teats, till the milk is nearly exhausted, after which milk the 
 3ther two in the same way till exhausted, then strip the first two, next 
 the last two, and then quit. 
 
 The manner of milking exerts a powerful influence on the product- 
 iveness of the cow. A slow and careless milker, or one who treats her 
 harshly, soon dries up the best of cows. The animal must be ap- 
 proached gently, never struck or abused, and the operation of milking 
 begun gradually, steadily increasing in rapidity, until all is drawn. 
 Tf the milking is performed in the stall, it is a good plan to feed at 
 the same time with roots or some other palatable food. 
 
 > When the milking of a cow is begun there should be no cessation 
 till it is completed — no stopping to talk or bandy jokes; and if the 
 tabor is wearisome, rest should be taken rather after finishing with 
 3ne cow before beginning with another, than while milking any one. 
 If the milker is a man with ordinary strength, he should remember 
 ^hat has been said about holding the left arm firmly to guard the pail. 
 
470 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 Women and children might fad in this; hut a full grown man should 
 have his milk pail kicked over but once in a very great while. 
 
 Breaking Heifers for Milking . — This is often quite a serious affair, 
 in which kicks and bruises are freely interchanged between the fright- 
 ened brute and the irritated master. Many an otherwise excellent 
 milker is spoiled for life by harsh treatment. A heifer, if well broken 
 to the milk pail, is thereby made worth at least twenty per cent, more 
 — an increase that will pay for much painstaking. Earey’s reasoning 
 respecting horses applies equally to other animals. They only resist 
 when injury is apprehended, and their natural instinct suggests a dan- 
 ger whenever any unusual treatment occurs. Every one has noticed 
 how shy a creature is on entering strange enclosures, or at sight of 
 new objects. The handling of a heifer’s bag is to her an unusual pro- 
 ceeding, and, in addition, the teats are often tender, and the bag caked 
 and inflamed so as to be painful under even a gentle touch. Training 
 for milking should commence long before calving. First teach the an- 
 imal to welcome your coming by little presents of an apple, a handful 
 of corn or salt, or other delicacy, she will soon permit the hand to be 
 laid upon her back and enjoy the gentle rubbing and scratching which 
 may be given. Extend the handling to different parts of the body, 
 until she will not shrink from grasping her teats, and the work may 
 be soon accomplished without even a harsh word. 
 
 It is said that young cows, the first year they give milk, may be 
 made, with careful milking and good keeping, to give milk almost any 
 length of time desirable; but that if they are allowed to dry up early 
 in the fall, they will, if they have a calf at the same season, dry up 
 at the same time each succeeding year, and nothing but extra feed 
 will prevent it, and that but a short time. 
 
 To Prevent Cows from Holding up tlieir Milk. — Several remedies 
 are prescribed : — One is, to feed at the time of milking ; another, to 
 drive them so that their hind feet will be either higher or lower than 
 the fore feet ; another, to put a bag of meal or any other weight on 
 their backs ; another, to continue milking patiently until she ceases to 
 hold it. Patience and perseverence will generally overcome the diffi- 
 culty and effect a cure. 
 
 Solon Eobinson says, the best way to make a cow give down is to 
 coax her. Strapping up the fore leg of a cow with a strap slipped over 
 the bent knee so that she cannot walk until milked, will sometimes 
 cause her refractory disposition to yield. 
 
 To Prevent Cows from Kicking. — Treat them uniformly with gen- 
 tleness and kindness, and guard the pail firmly with the left arm as 
 
CARE AND MANAGEMENT OF CATTLE. 47 J 
 
 recommended above. If this is not sufficient remedy try some of the 
 following : 
 
 Strap up the off fore leg, as directed for holding up of milk. If her 
 foot is well drawn up she cannot kick. A pin of some soft wood, six 
 or eight inches long, and an inch and a half in diameter, inserted 
 between the strap and the knee joint, will secure the strap from slip- 
 ping off. 
 
 Tie a cord or small rope around the body of the cow, just in front 
 of the hips and udder, drawing it pretty tight. Some tie it loosely 
 just back of the fore legs, then with a short stick twist it tight, and 
 hold the stick with the right hand while they milk with the left. 
 
 Place the cow in the stancheons, then put a rope around her horns, 
 and pass it over the beam over her head, draw it up until her head is 
 as high as it can be without raising her feet from the floor, fasten it, 
 and she cannot kick. 
 
 Cows dislike to have their teats jerked, and if, whenever they kick 
 or step, this infliction always instantly follows , they will soon cease. 
 It is of the utmost importance that it be invariable and prompt, and 
 uniformly severe, not irregular, and never but once performed for each 
 repetition of the fault. 
 
 Some tie the cow’s hind legs together just above the knee. 
 
 To Milk a Cow with Sore Teats. — A correspondent of the American 
 Agriculturist recommends to take hens’ quills, cut an oblong hole 
 about one-fourth of an inch from the small end of each, oil them and 
 insert them into the teats. They will cause no pain and empty the 
 milk in a short time. 
 
 How to Improve the Stream of Milk. — The editor of the Country 
 Gentleman says : Take a small, sharp-pointed penknife in one hand, 
 grasp the teat firmly in the other, and, by a quick, steady motion, in- 
 sert the blade an inch or more into the orifice through which the milk 
 passes. He adds, those who have tried this, have pronounced it a cer- 
 tain remedy. 
 
 To Prevent Cows from sucking themselves. — The following plans 
 have all been tried and pronounced effectual : 
 
 Smear the teats night and morning with soft grease, and then dust 
 them thoroughly with pulverized Cayenne pepper. Continue this about 
 a week. 
 
 Use a “cow collar,” made in various ways, the simplest being a 
 frame, something like that of a common chair with seat and back off, 
 which prevents the cow from bending her neck more than half way 
 
 round. 
 
472 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPEDIA, 
 
 Take a hickory stick about half an inch in diameter, tapering to 
 the ends for lightness, and with a smaller part in the middle, to pre- 
 vent its slipping either way, and thrust it through a slit in the nose, 
 so that its ends shall project on eacln side horizontally a few inches, 
 and prevent the cow from pushing her nose under her leg. 
 
 The best way to cure sucking cows is to put on an old bridle, with 
 the bit in the animal's mouth. This is said to be the least injurious 
 to the cow, and at the same time the most effectual preventive. 
 
 Another method is to take a stick two or three inches in diameter, 
 and from two and a half to four and a half feet long — the larger the 
 cow the longer the stick. Make a mortise one and a half or two 
 inches wide in each end, and put the stick between the caw’s fore legs, 
 and buckle a strap that is passed through the mortise :n the stick 
 around the body just behind the fore legs, and fasten thj other end 
 of the stick in the same manner around the neck, being careful to not 
 make either too tight. 
 
 Some resort to splitting the end of the tongue, which ;'s doubtless 
 effectual and at the same time injurious. 
 
 Remedy for Sore Teats. — The Irish Farmer s Gazette sr ys : Wasl 
 twice a day with tincture of myrrh. 
 
 A Country Gentleman correspondent recommends keeping the cov} 
 n the barn, and the milk in the bag reduced by frequent milkings. 
 Then cauterize the edges and inside of the wound with a hrt iron, let- 
 ting the burn heal by granulation. 
 
 To Remedy Leaking Teats. — Dip the end of the teat in strong alum 
 water twice a day for several days, and the leak will cease. 
 
 To Cure a Cow of Caked TJdder. — Half a bushel of carrots a day, 
 and clean milking ; or, application of tincture of arnica and rubbing, 
 repeated ; or, cod liver oil applied night and morning, with thorough 
 rubbing. Continue it until it effects a cure. 
 
 Remedies for Garget, or Bloody Milk. — The editor of the Country 
 Gentleman says : Tansy is a sure remedy. A cow that has the gar- 
 get will voluntarily eat tansy by the handful as she would h?y. 
 
 The poke plant and root, known also as snake, garget root, pigeonberry, 
 crowberry, &c., are said to cure it ; also, that if it grows in cows’ pas- 
 tures, they will not have the garget. Little plugs of poke root are 
 sometimes introduced into the opening of the teat as a remedy. 
 
 The following is said to never fail : Take one quart corn meal and 
 six quarts soft water. Soak for one hour, stirring occasionally. 
 Wash the udder three times a day, rubbing well with the hand or a 
 soft cloth. 
 
CARE AND MANAGEMENT OF CATTLE. 473 
 
 Wash the udder with salt and water twice a day, aLd it will gener- 
 illy disappear. 
 
 A writer says : Give one pound of sulphor, one-fourth pound at a 
 ime, four days in succession, unless the third dose effects a cure, 
 jive in bran or meal, or anything the cow will eat. 
 
 Saltpeter is considered a good remedy, given in doses of half an 
 nince in a bran mash, or other similar food, every evening, or every 
 >ther evening, according as the effect is visible on the animal, for a 
 veek or ten days, or until the animal is cured. 
 
 An old dairyman advises that when the usual remedies, cold water, 
 loap suds, spirits of camphor, &c., fail, try a mixture of one part aqua 
 tmmonia, and two parts of sweet oil, w T ell rubbed in twice a day until 
 nired. 
 
 To Prevent Calves from Sucking Cows , and from Sucking One An- 
 ther. — Apply to the teats, ears, or whatever part is sucked, a strong 
 nixture of lard and Cayenne pepper. A few applications will be found 
 ufficient. 
 
 To Teach Calves to Drink. — Use no harsh measures. Go into the 
 >en as quietly as you can. Set the pail down. In a few minutes, 
 inless very wild, the calf will come up to see the pail. Then put your 
 inger into its mouth, and press its head down until it gets a taste of 
 he milk. There will be little difficulty after that. 
 
 To Bring Cows into Heat. — The editor of the Country Gentleman 
 ays : Give a piece of rennet as large as the palm of the hand, thrust- 
 ng it down her throat, and she will be in heat within twenty-four 
 lours invariably. 
 
 To Produce Animals of Hither Sex at WiU. — Prof. Thury, of Gen- 
 va, Switzerland, who has made the subject a special study, says that, 
 /hen females are desired, the very earliest period of coming in heat 
 hould be taken advantage of ; and, if a male is wanted, the latest 
 tactical moment. A Belgian farmer writes to the Luxumburg 
 Agricultural Society that if the act of copulation takes place before 
 ailking, the invariable result is a heifer calf, while if it is just after 
 he cow has been thoroughly milked, a male calf will be produced. 
 Tobably the true theory is, that the most vigorous of the two gives 
 ts sex to the offspring. Hence, if the cow is much the oldest, the 
 alf will most likely be a male ; if much the youngest, a female. 
 
 Economy in Grazing. — There is just as much economy in grazing 
 attle and sheep upon the same farm, as there is in having hogs follow 
 be herd while feeding corn. Every feeder knows that hogs will fat- 
 
474 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 ten well upon the droppings, and every grazier whoever tried it, knows 
 that sheep will fatten upon herbage rejected by cattle. 
 
 Sheep do very well among cattle, but cattle do badly among sheep. 
 Cattle do well where horses pasture, but horses will not eat what 
 cattle leave very readily. Horses and sheep do well together, especi- 
 ally the sheep. 
 
 Wintering Cattle . — The Hew York Tribune says : The one great 
 error is in neglecting cattle in autumn, after the frost has destroyed 
 the sweetness of the grass, and allowing them to commence getting 
 poor before commencing winter feed. There is no error more fatal to 
 success than such neglect. It is often the foundation of disease that 
 the animal never recovers from. There is no condition so good for an 
 animal going into winter quarters as a thriving fatness ; if that can 
 be kept up till midwinter, the danger of starvation upon very light 
 feed in the spring is greatly diminished. It is one of the worst things 
 in all farm economy to neglect feeding stock in the fall, because it is 
 not time to begin to fodder yet. All that is saved of fodder in the 
 fall, upon the plea that “ cattle can shift awhile longer,” exactly veri- 
 fies the old saw about “ saving at the spigot and wasting at the bung.” 
 
 The great point in the economy of farm stock is in the winter feed- 
 ing. Regularity is of the highest importance. A regular system of 
 feeding, milking and cleansing the stables should be strictly adhered 
 to. 
 
 The Iribune adds : Food which has been crushed, ground, or 
 cooked, is more easily and completely digested by stock, and furnishes 
 more nourishment. Three pounds of ground corn are equal to about 
 four of unground, and three of cooked Indian meal to about four of 
 the same meal uncooked. Meal and roots are usually cooked by 
 boiling, but with suitable fixtures can be much better and cheaper 
 done by steam. 
 
 Cows give a greater quantity of milk in winter if fed on moist and 
 succulent food. Hay, cornstalks, straw, &c., moistened with warm 
 water and then allowed to stand a few hours in this condition, are 
 rendered more nutritive. The method of feeding cows in winter is not 
 however so important as to make the change from grass to hay, and 
 from hay to grass, without producing any deterioration in their con- 
 dition. 
 
 Cattle need variety. Every winter shows observing men that do- 
 mestic animals become cloyed on the best of food, if confined long to 
 one article. Experiments have shown that dogs, cats, and other ani- 
 mals, sicken, languish and die. if kept an undue period on one kind 
 
CARE AND MANAGEMENT OF CATTLE. 475 
 
 >f food. Obviously the true course is to lay in both enough and a va- 
 iety of fodder. 
 
 In Germany, cattle and horses are fed five times each day, and, of 
 course, a small quantity at each meal. 
 
 If a machine was invented to grind hay, says the London Farmer , 
 he ground article would approximate in value to unground oats in 
 >roducing fat and muscle. 
 
 Oat Straw as Food for Sick Animals. — I have often noticed, says Dr. 
 Dadd, in the American Stock Journal, that sick horses will eat oat 
 straw in preference to any other kind of fodder; as a matter of course, 
 lowever, some will refuse to eat it. Oat straw contains a large pro- 
 portion of nutrimental matter and some phosphates, and when con- 
 rerted into a sort of bran by means of mill stones, is a very nourish- 
 ing diet. This sort of aliment is useful when combined with ground 
 >ats, for animals whose systems lack the requisite amount of phos- 
 nhates. A milch cow, for example, the subject of a prostrating dis- 
 ease, is very much benefitted by food of this kind. 
 
 Use of Salt in the Food of Cattle. — Animals that are permitted to 
 ;oam in the salt marshes are generally the most healthy, as they con- 
 sume a large amount of saline material. The antiseptic property of 
 salt is too well known and appreciated by most husbandmen, and the 
 krmer might as well think of entirely dispensing with food as to fail 
 n seasoning food with salt. No animal can long exist without salt ; 
 n the stomach it operates favorably, and has a healthy action on the 
 iver, it also prevents the food from running into fermentation, and is 
 leath on intestinal parasites. 
 
 The use of salt in the food of cattle must not be looked upon as a 
 lirect producer of flesh, so much as a necessary element of the econo- 
 ny, without which animals are apt to perish from disease, but with 
 vhich the animal is kept in a normal and healthy state. A German 
 igriculturist, whose sheep had received habitually a certain dose of 
 salt, deprived ten of their usual allowance, five of which died of rot 
 md worms, the remainder of his flock, four hundred and fifty head, 
 osing but four. The next year a new lot of ten sheep, deprived of 
 salt, lost seven, the remainder of the flock > three hundred and sixty- 
 bur, lost five only ; a little later the three died also of diarrhea. The 
 hird year was very rainy. Sixteen sheep were deprived of salt. The 
 .vhole of them died in the course of the year of rot and vermicula 
 meumonia. Sir John Sinclair observes that the habitual use of salt 
 las a marked influence in improving the quantity and quality of the 
 tfool of sheep. 
 
476 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 M. Garriott assures us that the milk of cows subjected to a daily al- 
 lowance of salt is richer in butter and cheese than when these same 
 cows are deprived of salt. There exists no doubt among those who 
 have tried it, that when employed in proper quantity it increases the 
 appetite, stimulates digestion, keeps up the nominal supply of salt in 
 the blood, improves the wool or hair of the cattle, prevents disease, 
 and moreover, enables the agriculturist to fatten cattle upon food which 
 they -would not enjoy without it were previously mixed up with the 
 salt. A most important consideration, is its influence in preventing 
 disease. 
 
 In Great Britain, in the best farmed districts, we find the allowance 
 of salt oscillating around the subjoined figures, taken as a center of 
 basis : 
 
 Allowance of Salt per Day. — Calf, six months old, one ounce ; Bul- 
 lock or cow, one year old, three ounces ; Oxen, fattening, six ounces; 
 Milch cows, four ounces. 
 
 Horses .— To mix salt with the food of the horse, colt, ass or mule, 
 daily, is becoming a frequent practice in England and America. The 
 usual allowance for a full grown horse, is about two ounces per day. 
 In Belgium it is little more than one ounce. 
 
 Sheep . — The Homans gave every fifth day about half an ounce per 
 head, and this is precisely the quantity which is still employed in 
 England and Saxony daily, for sheep full grown and of ordinary size, 
 Salt is more beneficial to sheep than to any species of cattle. 
 
 Digs . — The best proportion to adopt appears to be about two-thirds 
 of an ounce per day for full grown pigs. 
 
 In administering salt, unless it be used as a medicine, the more inti- 
 mately it is mixed with the food, the better. An excess of salt is in- 
 jurious to any animal. With horses an excess of salt has produced 
 dysentery ; and in oxen diseases of the blood. 
 
 Considered as a medicine, salt purges animals at the following doses : 
 Horses, eight to ten ounces ; Sheep two to three ounces ; Oxen ten to 
 sixteen ounces ; Pigs two to three ounces ; Dogs one to two ounces. 
 
 It becomes poison at the following doses: — Horses two pounds; 
 Oxen three pounds ; Sheep six to eight ounces ; Pigs four to six 
 ounces. 
 
 The Stock Journal says the best rule for salting animals is to keep it 
 constantly before them, and they will then take it in such quantities and 
 only in such quantities as their systems require ; but if deprived of 
 it for some time, they become so eager for it, that they may eat so 
 much as to injure them when they are liberally fed. 
 
CARE AND MANAGEMENT OF CATTLE. 
 
 477 
 
 Another writer says : Do not give it in excess. If you cannot get 
 ock salt, or if that is too expensive, mix fine salt with soft clay, and 
 ry that in large cakes, and lay .them under cover for the cattle to 
 ck. 
 
 Water for Stock. — Every effort should be made to supply each pas- 
 are with fresh running water. When this cannot be done, and the 
 -ater must be drawn from wells, it should, if possible, be drawn daily 
 nd not at long intervals and not allowed to remain exposed to a burn- 
 ig sun until it becomes almost putrid. During the hot weather water 
 roughs should be cleaned often, and kept entirely free from the veg- 
 table fungus, which will accumulate. In many sections of the coun- 
 :y, fresh running water cannot be obtained, and the farmer is forced 
 ) rely upon his artificial ponds to supply his stock. When this is the 
 ise care should be taken to remove the rank vegetation and bushes 
 ’om the b^nks, and thus expose the water as much as possible to the 
 ction of the winds, as it is thus kept in motion, and in a great mea- 
 are prevented from becoming stagnant. 
 
 Quantity of Food for Oxen. — Frequent observations have shown 
 lat an ox will consume two per cent, of his weight of hay per day 
 ) maintain his condition. If put to moderate labor, an increase of 
 ais quantity to three per cent, will enable him to perform his work, 
 ad still maintain his flesh. If he is to be fatted he requires about 
 )ur and a half per cent, of his weight daily in nutritious food. 
 Comparative Value of Oxen and Horses. — A writer in the Massa- 
 msetts Floughman, says : It is generally agreed that horses travel 
 ,ster than oxen, and that on a farm consisting of plains and destitute 
 f rocks, a pair of horses will do more on the plow and harrow than a 
 fir of oxen. Horses will wear longer than oxen; that is, farm 
 Drses will last to wear till twenty years old, but oxen should not be 
 3pt half so long, though some work till they are fourteen. But after 
 Imitting so much, we may be allowed to say a word or two in favor 
 ’ the practice of keeping oxen. 
 
 And first, as to the cost of the animals. Oxen of equal weight with 
 ie horses are bought for one-half price. Oxen are worth something 
 ? ter they are worn out in work — horses are not. 
 
 Oxen are not half so liable to disease as horses are* An insurer 
 ill ask four fold more for insuring the health of horses than of oxen. 
 The gearing of oxen costs less by half than that of horses. A 
 ooden yoke lasts longer than leather harness, and it is put on and off 
 half the time. 
 
 Oxen are more patient than horses, and will carry a more even yoke. 
 
478 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPEDIA. 
 
 They start a load better than horses, particularly in a snow path, 
 where the runners stick to the snow. 
 
 Oxen can be entrusted with hired men at less risk than hcrses. 
 They are soon taught to draw the plow, and are driven by the plow- 
 man without any reins. 
 
 We have not a large proportion of farms without rocks and stumps, 
 and where the land is rocky there is no comparison between oxen and 
 horses. 
 
 In regard to cost of keeping, there would be but little difference if 
 both were kept on the same food. But many of our farmers keep 
 oxen through the winter on coarse hay, straw and husks, which would 
 hardly keep horses alive. 
 
 Whipping Oxen . — It is a cruel and generally a useless act of bar- 
 barism to whip oxen. The best drivers use the lash the least. It is 
 surely a savage practice to apply the lash before inviting the animals 
 to move by the proper words. Yet this is a very common practice of 
 those who are not owners of the cattle. Proper driving is an important 
 item in husbandry. The merciful man is merciful to his beast. 
 
 Sore Necks of Oxen from Working in Wet Weather. — To prevent it, 
 occasionally rub a little tallow bn the yoke and bows. 
 
 To Direct the Growth of the Horns of Oxen. — Scraping the horns 
 of oxen on the inside will make them curve outwards, or vice versa. 
 
 To Prevent Unruliness in Stock. — See that the fences are always 
 kept up, and never force animals to jump over bars or fence but par- 
 tially let down. 
 
 Kindness to Animals. — The American Agriculturist very truly says : 
 All the animals of the farm should be glad to see their owner, and in 
 fact every other person who has to do with them. Man should be 
 recognized as their best friend. Colts and steers particularly should 
 be petted. 
 
 DISEASES OF CATTLE AND THEIB BEMEDIES. 
 
 Nursing Sick Cattle. — If an animal, as well as human being, is not 
 carefully nursed w T hen sick — well taken care of — all the medicine in 
 the world can do but little good. And, on the other hand, with good 
 nursing, medicine is generally unnecessary. It is our opinion, forme< 
 from a good deal of observation, that in at least nine cases out of ten 
 medicine, as commonly administered, does more harm than good. 
 
DISEASES OF CATTLE AND THEIR REMEDIES. 
 
 479 
 
 Liniment for Swellings on Cattle. — Half an ounce spirits of harts- 
 horn ; one gill spirits turpentine ; half pint sweet oil ; one pint alco- 
 hol ; two ounces gum camphor, dissolved in the alcohol. Mix. This 
 is considered one of the very best. 
 
 Cure for Wens on Cattle. — Bathe thoroughly once in twenty-four 
 hours with fine salt and cider vinegar. Put in as much salt as will 
 dissolve. Continue the application until it effects a cure. 
 
 Or stir fine salt into tar until the mixture is the color of very dark 
 sugar and apply it night and morning until cured. 
 
 Or make a salve of soot, spirits of camphor, turpentine and soft 
 soap,' in no very exact proportions, and apply three times a day, rub- 
 bing the wen thoroughly before and after each application. 
 
 To Cure Warts on Cattle. — Dissolve potash to a paste, cover the 
 wart with it for half an hour, then wash it off with vinegar. It is 
 said to he a sure cure for warts on man or beast. 
 
 The Remedy for Scurf or Mange on Cattle. — Curry and brush the 
 parts affected well, to remove the scurf, then wash well with warm 
 water and soap, and when dry rub with a mixture of hogs lard, sul- 
 phur and spirits of tar. Wash clean with warm water and soap, and 
 rub with ointment every second or third day till well. 
 
 Remedies for the Horn Ail or Hollow Horn. — Cutting off an inch 
 of the tail and turning the head first on one side and then on the other 
 and pouring boiling water upon the lower horn until the animal dodg- 
 es was once very much practiced And some have poured a table- 
 spoonful of British oil, or as much very salt butter melted, into each 
 ear. Others pronounce it wholly an imaginary disease, and say that 
 the sunken eyes, dry nose, cold horn next to the head and rough hair 
 are only symptoms of cold or fever, are better remedied by giving 
 a cathartic of epsom or glauber salts, sulphur or linseed oil, combined 
 with ground mustard, ginger, red pepper or any stimulant aromatic. 
 
 Cattle that are kept in a comfortable stable in winter, and well cared 
 *or, will rarely be troubled with horn-ail. 
 
 Foot Ail in Cattle. — A correspondent of the Albany Cultivator , in 
 response to an inquiry upon this subject, says : 
 
 I would prescribe as a sure remedy, spirits of common salt, (muri- 
 atic acid.) A teaspoonful, applied to the diseased parts once in two 
 or three days, for half a dozen times, will cure its worst form, and a 
 single application taken in season will often be enough. The milder 
 form, or scratches, as it is often called, which often appears on horses 
 as well as cattle, may easily be cured by application of pot fat, or lard 
 well saturated with salt. The former is best. 
 
480 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 Cure for Scours or Diarrhea in Cattle . — An English farmei recom- 
 mends the use of acorn meal as a sure cure of diarrhea in horn-cattle, 
 sheep and lambs, and young stock generally. He says : 
 
 I sent the dried acorns to the mill to be ground into flour, and, when 
 I found symptoms of scour or diarrhea in my cattle, I ordered two 
 handfuls to be mixed in a bran mash, and given warm immediately, 
 and to continue it once a day until the disease disappeared. This 
 proved a never-failing cure. 
 
 A writer in the Country Gentleman recommends Indian meal burnt 
 until it is as brown as well-roasted coffee, to be given from one to two 
 quarts at a feed twice a day. 
 
 To Cure Bloody Murrain in Cattle . — Cassius M. Clay, of Kentucky, 
 says, salt, sprinkled on ashes, in tight troughs, kept always accessible 
 to cattle, is almost a sure preventive. 
 
 Soft soap and molasses, one pint each, well mixed before giving, is a 
 remedy well recommended. 
 
 An experienced correspondent of the Ohio Cultivator says, v/here 
 cattle have access at all times to running water, they will not get the 
 murrain. If any cattle are affected with it, remove them from all 
 other stock, and let them be as quiet as possible. Rest and quiet will 
 cure them, if anything will. 
 
 Cassius M. Clay recommends as a cure, lime slacked as if for white- 
 wash, and says, as soon as the symptoms appear, give a full grown bul- 
 lock from three to four pints of it at once. Remove the animal at 
 once from the herd. 
 
 Bleuro- Pneumonia. — Mr. Charles S. Flint, Secretary of Massachu- 
 setts Board of Agriculture, says : The most moderate estimate fixes 
 the loss by pleuro-pneumonia alone, in the British Isles, at ten million 
 of dollars a year. Immense amounts of diseased meats are constantly 
 offered and sold in the markets of England. More than nineteen tuns 
 were detected in the London market in one week, in the summer of 
 1862. One inspector of markets said that if he were called upon to 
 exclude from market animals affected with contageous diseases, he 
 must exclude two thousand animals out of Islington market on many a 
 Monday morning. The effects of this diseased meat are already dis- 
 coverable in the impaired health of those who consume it. The dis- 
 ease is highly contagious. The most distinguished veterinary sur- 
 geons in the world now agree on this subject. 
 
 To spread from animal to animal, says the New York Tribune, there 
 must be actual contact between the healthy and diseased, or with 
 some infected article, such as straw, manure, clothing, or fodder. The 
 
DISEASES OF CATTLE AND THEIR REMEDIES. 
 
 481 
 
 emedy then, is very plain. As soon as the disease is discovered in a 
 erd, separate the sick from the well at once, and keep them so separ- 
 ted that the contagion cannot be communicated. 
 
 Dark, close, damp and dirty stables, marshy pastures, and exposure 
 f a beast unsheltered to the vicissitudes of an American winter, feed 
 nd spread not only pleuro-pneumonia but other diseases to whicn 
 attle are subject. 
 
 The New York Herald recommends as an antidote to burn tar fre- 
 uently in the barn or shed two or three times a day, and let the cat- 
 Le inhale it, but not too close ; let them lap freely of salt every other 
 ay ; dissolve chlorate of potassa in water, wash their nostrils and 
 louth and rub them all over with a coarse brush wet in the same; 
 prinkle chloride of lime in and about the stables ; give the cattle a 
 3 W onions if they can be procured, and plenty of sound vegetables and 
 :esh grass and water ; no hay if it can be avoided. 
 
 A writer in the Cincinnati Gazette says : Inoculation, by taking the 
 irus or matter from the lungs, and inserting it in the end of the tail 
 f healthy animals, is reported as a good safeguard against the conta- 
 ion, or if the disease should be contracted, it will be in the mild form, 
 rom which recovery is pretty certain. But this should not be relied 
 pon until well tested in this country. 
 
 Dawson Hunt, writing to the American Agriculturist, recommends 
 s a preventive : Tartar emetic forty grains, nitre forty grains, digi- 
 alis powder ten grains — mix ; give in a bottle of cold water after fast- 
 ig. Give the full dose to an animal three years old, two-thirds to a 
 wo year old beast, and one-third to a yearling. 
 
 The symptoms of the disease are described as, loss of appetite, hang- 
 lg of the head, and as the disease progresses, an extension of the head ; 
 right and watery eye, mouth dry, breath hot, breathing quick, with 
 lore or less agitation of the flanks, with occasional cough, always dry ; 
 lore or less thirst; horns and ears hot. The quick d ' id occasional 
 ough, coupled with great prostration of strength, more particularly 
 lark the progress of the disease. The ear applied to tin side of the 
 nimal readily detects the impediment to a free circulation of air 
 lirough the lungs, from the violent congestion that exists. 
 
 Chronic Inflammation of Liver in Cattle. — Dr. Dadd prescribes pow- 
 ered iodide of potassium, two drachms ; powdered golden seal, four 
 unces. Mix. Divide the mass into six equal parts, an/ 1 give one in 
 little water every morning on an empty stomach. C ,ntinue some 
 Line. 
 
 01 
 
482 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 Remedy for “ Buckeyed Cattle,” Diseased from Eating Buckeys 
 To a pint of whisky add a tablespoonful of ground black pepper, and 
 give in one dose. If no improvement is noticeable in half an hour, 
 repeat the dose. If the case is very bad, three doses may be neces- 
 sary. 
 
 “ Witch Balls ” — Cattle frequently in eating grass where animals 
 have been killed or died take quantities of fine hair into the stomach, 
 the natural tendency of which is to become felted together and massed 
 into one or more hard balls, which were, in the days of New England 
 witchcraft, called “ witch balls.” These balls sometimes accumulate 
 until larger than goose eggs, and often cause death. 
 
 Cattle Licking Paint. — Benjamin Treat, of Southview, Connecticut, 
 lost several cattle by their licking the paint from a newly painted 
 barn. 
 
 To Remove Films from the Eyes of Cattle . — Finely pulverized earth 
 occasionally blown into the eye through a quill is said to be sure. 
 
 v MANAGEMENT OF SHEEP. 
 
 If a man wishes to buy young sheep, it is an easy matter to tell 
 their age by their teeth. A sheep has eight front teeth, and whes 
 one year old they shed the two middle teeth, and within six months 
 from the time of shedding, their places are filled with two wider than 
 the first ; at two years, the next two are shed, and in six months theii 
 places are filled with two wide teeth ; at three years, the two thirc 
 teeth from the center are shed, and their places filled with two wid( 
 teeth ; and at four years, the corner teeth are shed, and by the tim( 
 the sheep is five years old, the teeth will have grown out even, and it 
 will have a full mouth of teeth ; after that the teeth begin to grow 
 round and long, and at nine or ten they begin to shed, and then i: 
 the time to fatten for the butcher, and let young sheep take theii 
 place. 
 
 If a farmer would have a good flock of sheep, he must keep a few 
 of his best ewe lambs to take the place of his old sheep. Poor nurse: 
 should not be kept. The same ram should not be kept with a flocl 
 more than one year ; neither should he be used in the flock that h> 
 was raised from. 
 
 Sheep to be healthy should not be kept in low, wet pastures. T 
 have a good flock of sheep, "ihey must be well fed summer and wintei 
 
MANAGEMENT OF SHEEP. 
 
 483 
 
 To make sheep peaceable and contented, never allow them out of the 
 pasture intended for them to run ; but if they should happen to get 
 out, return them immediately, and make the fence sure. Sheep should 
 be taken to the field as soon as harvest is done, as their droppings 
 are worth as much to the field as the grass they eat, and they will 
 thrive much faster in the field than in the pasture. Sheep should nev- 
 Br feed their pasture so close but that a horse or colt would find plenty 
 to eat with them ; but cows should never be allowed to go in the sheep 
 oasture. To tell whether a sheep has a heavy fleece, put your hand 
 nto the wool, and if you can easily shut it, the sheep has a small 
 leece ; if you get your hand full, it is a heavy fleece. Rams with no 
 lorns are most desirable, if other qualities are the same, as they are 
 lot so apt to injure the ewes. 
 
 Size of Sheep for Profit. — The Hon. Geo. Geddes, of Fairmount, JST. 
 Y, has long been of opinion that sheep of a moderate size were more 
 )rofitable than the large breed, particularly if kept more for wool than 
 nutton. He says : 
 
 “ The principle involved I think is this : The yield of wool is in 
 )roportion to the surface sheared, while the sheep consumes fcycd in 
 )roportion to the weight of the animal. This, I think, is the general 
 *ule — not true of every individual sheep, but true when applied to 
 locks. We know that two sheep weighing 150 pounds have more sur- 
 ace to bear wool than one sheep that weighs 150 ; and if a man has a 
 lock of 100 sheep that weighs 10,000 pounds, and another man has a 
 lock of 133 sheep that weighs 10,000, the food required will be same, 
 according to the German experiments,) while the wool of the 133 
 heep will be 638 pounds, and the wool of the 100 sheep will be only 
 >70, as deduced from the tables of the Messrs. Sweet. 
 
 Production of Sexes among Sheep and Cattle. — The sex depends on 
 he greater or less vigor of the individuals coupled. This has long 
 >een known and acted upon. Careful observation and experiment has 
 Iso shown that more males are born among the first and last births 
 n a flock reared by a single ram, th$n among lambs born in the in- 
 ervening period. Vigor in the male tends to produce males, but 
 aore from the weaker than the stronger ewes ; and the opposite fact 
 n regard to females tends to keep up the equilibrium, and secure the 
 >erfection and preservation of the species, by confining the reproduc- 
 ion of either sex to the most perfect type of each respectively. 
 
 Some couple a young ram with old ewes, if female offspring be de- 
 ired, and an old ram with young ewes, if male offspring be wanted. 
 
 Sheep Shedding Wool. — Feeding Sheep — The best plan to keep the 
 
484 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 wool on sheep, says Mr. Lewis Clark, in the Wisconsin Farmer , is to 
 keep them fat, and if sheep “run down” from any cause, and are fed 
 high at once, their wool will start. Even a change of pasturage from 
 a poor to a timothy and clover pasture, will start the wool from a lean 
 sheep. But the feeding of corn, beans, wheat, rye, barley, oats, vege- 
 tables, or anything that sheep will eat that makes fat , avoiding sud- 
 den changes, will not only cause the wool to stick, but will increase it 
 more than enough to pay the additional cost. 
 
 Says the New England Farmer : We have some acquaintance with 
 a purchaser of wool, who was called upon by a farmer who had about 
 twenty fleeces of wool for sale ; some of them were Cotswold and Lei- 
 cester cross — others were nearly pure merino. The long wool about 
 an inch from the bottom of the staple was cotted, the bottom being 
 perfectly free. The merino not being so apt to cott was very weak at 
 that point, the wool being well grown up to the place already describ- 
 ed. The purchaser made this remark to the farmer : “You have an 
 excellent pasture ; your sheep came up in the fall in an excellent con- 
 dition ; but you put them upon very poor feed as soon as they got 
 into winter quarters ; you feed them upon nothing but very poor hay 
 till near lambing time, then you improved their feed to a considerable 
 degree and continued it till they were turned out to grass.” The man 
 at first denied the whole, saying that the sheep were well fed through 
 the whole of winter. The purchaser, however, firmly maintained his 
 position, offering to send a man to make inquiries of his hired man. 
 When he found a further denial was of no avail, he asked very ear- 
 nestly, “ How did you know all about it ? You were not there to 
 see.” The purchaser of the wool showed him how every fleece was 
 affected just at the same point of growth, and how seriously it had 
 injured his wool, besides materially lessening the weight of the fleece. 
 As the feed was improved the wool begun to grow free again, leaving 
 the cott considerably up in the staple. A similar result is sometimes 
 caused by sickness ; but in this case every fleece being alike affected, 
 and at the same place, it was conclusive evidence that it was caused 
 by poor feed. 
 
 Lieut. Gov. Brown says : There is no hay equal to well made clo- 
 ver, both red and white, for feeding sheep. 
 
 Fattening Sheep in Winter . — Keep them in a dry place, says Jona- 
 than Kitson, of Howard, 0. W., and let them have plenty of good clo- 
 ver hay and turnips, with half a pound of oil cake and a pint of barley 
 per day. Water daily. I have fattened them in this way in a short 
 time, and I think this is the best way of fattening them in the winter 
 
MANAGEMENT OF SHEEP. 
 
 485 
 
 Water for Sheep . — There are some farmers who entertain the opin- 
 ion that sheep do not need water in winter. Others think if the sheep 
 need any water, they can satisfy their thirst by eating snow ! That 
 sheep need water there can be no doubt. In Mr. Lawes' recent ex- 
 periments, the sheep were allowed all the water they wanted, and those 
 fed on hay alone drank, from February 22d to March 22d, on an av- 
 erage, thirty-three pounds of water per head per week. The next 
 month, they drank forty pounds each per week ; the next month, for- 
 ty-five and one-fourth pounds ; the next month, thirty-nine and one- 
 fourth nounds; and during the whole period of seven months, each 
 sheep drank on an average forty and one-fourth pounds per week. 
 
 Early Shearing of Sheep . — An Ohio wool grower remarks as fol- 
 lows : We shear early, from the fact that from several years’ experi- 
 ence we have found that sheep thrive better, and will clip annually a 
 a little more wool, than when shorn late. It may be asked why sheep 
 shorn early will clip more wool than late shorn sheep ? My answer 
 to this is, that an All-wise Providence has constituted everything, an- 
 imals as well as human beings, to adapt themselves to the circumstan- 
 ces in which they are placed. Hence, when the weather becomes 
 warm, and the fleece becomes burdensome, nature goes to throw off 
 this unnecessary amount of clothing. The first indication of this will 
 be seen on the belly, then the legs and about the face, and it is no un- 
 frequent thing before shearing time to see an animal nearly naked. 
 On the other hand, if the sheep are shorn early, they for a while re- 
 quire more protection, and nature brings every power into exercise to 
 supply the demand. Many wool growers in Vermont have practiced 
 early shearing for a few years past, and I believe it is generally con- 
 ceded that it is the better for the sheep than the old practice of late 
 shearing. The only objection that is made is, that wool buyers are 
 afraid to buy unwashed wool, and will sometimes take advantage of 
 them. 
 
 Shall Sheep he Washed t — Wool undoubtedly needs cleansing before 
 it can be used in the manufactory, but it does not follow that it must 
 be washed while on the sheep’s back. There are many reasons why it 
 should not be — few if any valid ones for a continuance of the practice. 
 The best washing will only remove part of the foreign matter from 
 the fleece. The manufacturer subjects all wool to a cleansing process, 
 whether it has been previously carefully washed, or only “soused” in 
 a slovenly manner. Sheep washing is violently unnatural. No ani- 
 mal dreads the water more, and with good reason ; it requires days 
 of warm weather to evaporate the moisture held in the meshes of a 
 
486 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 thick fleece of wool, and the animal not only suffers discomfort, hut 
 frequently positive injury. It is comparatively an easy process to re- 
 move the yolk and dirt from wool when sheared from the sheep, hut 
 impossible to complete the work while upon the back of the struggling 
 animal. It would be just as wise, and little less humane, to give 
 children an occasional plunge to remove stains and soils from their 
 garments. But for the washing, the sheep might be sheared one or 
 T .wo weeks earlier in the season, which would promote heaviness of 
 fleece, and add to the comfort and thrift of both sheep and lambs. 
 
 The great objection urged against shearing unwashed sheep is, that 
 an unwarrantable deduction in the price of the wool is made by man- 
 ufacturers. The remedy for this is with the producer. He has only 
 to remain Arm in a reasonable demand, and in time his terms must be 
 be acceded to. There is a very just cause of complaint in the practice 
 pursued of buying wool according to a general average of cleanliness, 
 instead of fixing the price according to the actual condition of each 
 lot. This has in effect been to offer a premium for neglect, and many 
 clips of professedly washed wool have been little superior in cleanliness 
 to unwashed fleeces from sheep properly cared for. Producers should 
 in every case insist upon selling their wool according to its own mer- 
 its, and this can as easily be done with the unwashed article as any 
 other. To change the present practice will require general simulta- 
 neous effort, and this can scarcely be expected without considerable 
 discussion. It is here intended only to indicate some of the leading 
 points that seem to make the change desirable. 
 
 Objects in Growing Sheep . — In sheep growing there are three dis- 
 tinct sources of profit sought, viz : increase of number by natural 
 propagation, growth of increase in size and weight, and annual pro- 
 duct of wool. The fattening of sheep for mutton exclusively consti- 
 tutes a branch of business by itself. 
 
 To Manage Sheep . — Put a bell on a muley, heifer, one or two years 
 old, of white or roan color, and let her run with the sheep. They will 
 become mutually attached to each other, and she will greatly assist in 
 keeping the sheep together, also in driving them, especially across 
 streams. 
 
 Care of Sheep . — One of the cares of sheep, most important for their 
 health and comfort, is tagging, and this is most often neglected. Pro- 
 bably the only attention ever given to this matter is at shearing time, 
 and we have seen, even then, sheep sent off out of the shearer’s hands 
 with the tag locks untouched. If there is anything in farming more 
 slovenly than this, we don’t know what it is. 
 
DISEASES AND REMEDIES. 
 
 487 
 
 Marking Sheep. — Dry Venetian red is said to be the best paint 
 which can be used for marking sheep. It combines with the oil of the 
 wool, and cannot be easily removed. 
 
 To Test the Quality of Wool. — Take a lock of wool from the sheeps 
 back and place it upon an inch rule. If you can count from thirty to 
 thirty-three of the spirals or folds in a space of an inch, it equals in 
 quality the finest Electoral or Saxony wool grown. Of course, when 
 the number of spirals to the inch diminishes, the quality of the wool 
 becomes relatively inferior. Many tests have been tried, but this is 
 considered the simplest and best. Cotswold wool and some other in- 
 ferior wools do not measure nine spirals to the inch. With this test 
 every farmer has in his possession a knowledge which will enable him 
 to form a correct judgment of the quality of all kinds of wool. There 
 are some coarse wools which experienced wool growers do not rank as 
 wool, but as hair, on account of the hardness and straightness of the 
 fibre. 
 
 Rules for Selling Sheep. — The character of a flock depends very much 
 on the practice of the owner in making sales. Never suffer a pur- 
 chaser to take the pick of your flock, but do the picking yourself. 
 Try to pick when you buy — be sure and pick when you sell. 
 
 DISEASES AND EEMEDIES. 
 
 Cure for Scab in Sheep. — Wash the parts affected with a pretty 
 strong decoction of tobacco, and repeat every two or three days until 
 the skin of the animal resumes its healthy state. It is said to be a 
 sure cure. 
 
 Another. — The following remedy has been found effective at the 
 Cape of Good Hope, and is used by some very large flockmasters. It 
 is a wash of tolerably strong ley, made of wood ashes, strongly tinc- 
 tured with aloes. The ley is kept boiling in a large kettle, and is dip- 
 ped out into a tub from time to time to keep the wash at a right tem- 
 perature. With two tubs and proper conveniences, five or six hun- 
 dred sheep a day can be washed. The operator holds the sheep by 
 the head, and takes care to keep the liquid out of its eyes, ears, and 
 mouth. The sheep only remains in long enough to be sure that the 
 skin is all wet, and the operation can be accomplished, with a long 
 fleece on the sheep, but not as easily as when it is short. 
 
488 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 Stretches in Sheep . — It is said that sheep will have no stretches 
 while their salt trough is supplied. 
 
 Remedy for Grubs in Sheep . — Take one quart of whiskey, and two 
 ounces of yellow snuff, mix and warm to blood heat. Let one man 
 hold the sheep, and another take a small syringe aud discharge about 
 a teaspoonful of the mixture into each nostril. Recommended to us to 
 be a certain cure. 
 
 Scours in Sheep. — R. L. Allen, in his Treatise on Domestic Animals, 
 says: Change of food; light diet; warm dry shelter; are remedies. 
 If very severe, or long protracted, a dose of castor oil, and after its 
 operation, three grains of opium with one ounce of chalk, and then 
 keep them on dry food. If slight and of a mild form, wheat bran or 
 shorts, and oat meal, or flaxseed gruel, are both good. Fresh boughs 
 of the juniper, or pine and hemlock, help to check the disorder. 
 
 Remedy for Scours in Lambs . — Take the seed of the common dock, 
 make a strong decoction, sweeten with loaf sugar, add half a tea- 
 spoonful of Cayenne pepper to a quart ; give to each lamb a wine- 
 glassful three or four times a day, until a cure is effected. 
 
 RAISING AND FATTENING HOGS. 
 
 A writer in the Valley Farmer gives some good rules for the man- 
 agement of swine, as follows : 
 
 A sow should not bring forth a litter of pigs before she is sixteen or 
 eighteen months old. She is then fully grown, and her pigs will be 
 worth keeping. If she is allowed to breed sooner, it will retard her 
 growth, and nursing a litter of pigs will reduce her still more, and 
 she never will become of so large a size as if allowed to mature before 
 breeding. 
 
 A boar should not be used till he is at least one year old. He 
 should be kept by himself till this age, and should afterwards be kept 
 alone, except when his services are needed. When this process is fol- 
 lowed we shall begin to improve our swine, and not till then. 
 
 Suitable pens should be provided for sows in which they should be 
 put a couple of weeks before they are expected to bring forth a litter, 
 A dry place should be selected, and some dry, light material furnished 
 for the bed. Dry leaves are excellent for this purpose. Never have 
 more than one sow in a pen with her pigs. If there should be two or 
 more sows together, it will be a sacrifice of many of the pigs. The 
 
RAISING AND FATTENING HOGS. 
 
 489 
 
 pigs should be confined to the pen, for if they can get out with 
 other sows having younger pigs, they will take the milk from the sows 
 at the expense of the younger pigs. 
 
 Hogs are fond of charcoal. They will eat it nearly as greedily as 
 they do corn, and it is very healthful for them. Sulphur fed to hogs 
 occasionally is also beneficial in keeping off disease, and removing lice, 
 if they are troubled with them. Stone coal, wood coal, and ashes, 
 will also be eaten, if placed within their reach. 
 
 To be successful in raising hogs, care should be taken of them. 
 Their sleeping apartments should be kept dry and warm, with plenty 
 of comfortable bedding, It is also highly beneficial to rub or curry 
 hogs as we do horses, and it does them as much good as horses. The 
 pens should be kept clean, and divided off so that there is a place for 
 sleeping, a place for feeding, and a place for their evacuations. The 
 hog is naturally a clean animal. If a little pains is taken, it will keep 
 clean — never making its sleeping apartment filthy. 
 
 Every one that keeps hogs should have a hospital for those that 
 show any signs of sickness or unthriftiness. By a hospital, I mean a 
 warm, dry place in the barn or stable, where they can be put and seen 
 to — fed in a proper manner — medicine mixed with their food, &c. If 
 an epidemic is prevalent, it may be frequently arrested by removing 
 immediately those which show any signs of sickness. 
 
 The Maine Farmer says : “ It is quite common to breed from young 
 sows, say fall pigs, to come in with a litter of pigs when one year old, 
 a practice to be utterly condemned, and if continued in the same fam- 
 ily for a few generations of the swine, they will be found to dwindle 
 down from three or four hundred hogs to two or three hundred. It 
 is much better to keep the sow three or four years, or even much 
 longer. They have been kept some fifteen years to advantage. The 
 hog is seme years in his natural state in maturing. 
 
 A correspondent of the same paper says : For breeding sows, se- 
 lect a pig with twelve or fourteen fully developed teats — never less 
 than ten. 
 
 To Prevent Sows Killing their Pigs. — The intoxicating principle is 
 generally adopted. The Maine Fanner says give about half a pint of 
 good rum or gin. It is safe and reliable. A correspondent of the 
 Country Gentleman , says : Instead of using ardent spirits, we prefer 
 giving hard cider. 
 
 Keeping Hogs Clean. — It is very generally supposed that hogs thrive 
 best when they are freely allowed to “wallow in the mire” and re- 
 main as damp and dirty as possible. This is an erroneous notion. 
 
f 
 
 190 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 Various experiments have proven conclusively that hogs when kept 
 clean, warm and dry, thrive best and are most easily fattened : They 
 should be kept in well shaded, dry and clean pens, and they should he 
 fed regularly three times per day. 
 
 Teaching Pigs to Eat Slow. — A correspondent of the New England 
 . Farmer says : Pigs should be early taught to eat slowly, for the ad- 
 vantage of the pig, as well as of the owner. Nothing is easier. Give 
 the weaned pig, at six or eight weeks old — in a clean trough — half a 
 teacup of dry shorts or bran, and after his dry food is all eaten, give 
 his drink, and increase the dry food according to the age and appetite, 
 till three months old ; and then add one-half Indian meal for two 
 months, and then dry Indian meal, till fattened sufficiently. This plan 
 has been followed for five years with decided success. 
 
 Pigs and Pork. — “ Keeping pigs eighteen months to fatten them 
 the last three, is not a paying business. Feed a decent pig well from 
 weaning until eight months old, and you will get two hundred and fif- 
 ty pounds to three hundred pounds of pork — and you do not usually 
 get fifty pounds more for those ten months older. There can be no 
 question but an animal can consume much more to produce in eighteen 
 months about the same quantity of meat, which is made by another 
 in half that length of feeding. If the object of raising a hog is to 
 make pork, that end should be kept steadily in view — his swineship 
 should see it, and eat for it.” This is our view exactly. Winter none 
 but autumn pigs, keep them in pens, and always growing. “ To keep 
 a pig growing, one must keep him eating and eating about all the time. 
 To do this there is nothing like 1 change and variety,’ now a little corn, 
 then a little milk, a few boiled potatoes, a few raw apples, now a pud- 
 ding, then a dish of greens — anything to keep them eating and stuff- 
 ing when awake, even if it does require a little extra attention.” 
 
 Fatten Hogs Early. — The Boston Cultivator says : We have used 
 this caption, or its equivalent, on former occasions. It has been 
 brought to mind by reading an article from the Ohio Farmer. He 
 first “ bagged down ” (in western parlance) forty acres of corn, be- 
 tween the 19th of September and the 23d of October. By the hogs 
 being weighed when they were turned in and when they were taken 
 out, it was found that they paid forty cents a bushel for the corn, es- 
 timating the pork at four cents a pound and corn at forty bushels to 
 the acre. 
 
 His next course was to take one hundred hogs, averaging two hun- 
 dred pounds each, which were placed in nine covered pens and fed all 
 they could eat of corn and cob ground together, steamed, and given in 
 
RAISING AND FATTENING HOGS. 
 
 491 
 
 auowance five times a day. In a week they were again weighed, when 
 reckoned seventy pounds of corn and cob as equal to a bushel of corn, 
 and the pork as before, the hogs paid eighty cents a bushel for the 
 corn. The weather was warm for the season. 
 
 The same experiment was tried again the first week in November, 
 when the corn brought sixty-two cents, the weather being colder. 
 The third week in November, the corn brought only forty cents, and 
 the fourth week it brought but twenty-six cents, the weather continu- 
 ing to grow colder. Another lot of hogs were fed through December, 
 which only gave twenty-six cents a bushel for the corn. A part of 
 the time the temperature was at zero, and the hogs only gained enough 
 to pay five cents a bushel for the corn, and afterwards, when the mer- 
 cury went down to ten degrees below zero, the hogs only held their 
 own. 
 
 The inference from these trials is, that in general it is not profitable 
 to feed corn to hogs, after the middle of November. The difference 
 in grain is certainly surprising, and whether caused altogether by the 
 difference of temperature, or not, no person of. observation can doubt 
 that hogs gained much more in proportion to the food consumed, in 
 mild than in cold weather. It seems that the hogs gained much less 
 by helping themselves to corn in the field, and when the corn was 
 ground and cooked, and fed to the animals in pens, under equal ad- 
 vantages of weather. 
 
 Cooked and Uncooked Food . — Cassius M. Clay, the noted stock 
 breeder of Kentucky, has experimented a good deal in feeding cooked 
 and uncooked food for his stock. 
 
 Mr. Clay’s experiments show, that to make pork on dry corn, one 
 bushel gave in one instance, a gain of five pounds and ten ounces. In 
 changing the food, on the same animals, to boiled corn, one bushel 
 produced a gain of fourteen pounds and seven ounces, and a bushel of 
 corn ground and cooked, gave a gain of sixteen pounds and seven 
 ounces ; while in another instance, after a change from dry corn to 
 cooked meal, the gain upon one bushel was but a fraction short of 
 eighteen pounds. 
 
 These experiments then show an average gain of about three pounds 
 when the animals were fed on cooked food, to a gain of one pound 
 when fed on dry corn. Or, to reduce the comparative cost of the gain 
 per pound, estimating the corn at twenty-eight cents per bushel, the 
 following are the results : — When the hogs were fed on dry corn, the 
 average gain cost a fraction over 4J cents per pound. The same ani- 
 mals, when fed on cooked meal, the gain cost a fraction over 1J cents 
 
z»no 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 a pound, or when fed on cooked corn, unground, the gain cost 1 cent 
 and nine mills per pound, leaving but four mills, or less than half a 
 cent per pound in favor of cooked food, or allowing but four mills per 
 pound for grinding, exclusive of the greater time required to cook 
 whole corn, over that which is ground. But to come to the point 
 more definitely, we will reduce the price of the corn to twenty-five 
 cents per bushel, (which is as low as may now ever be expected, ex- 
 cept, perhaps, in some remote quarter,) and reduced the gain from 
 two-thirds to one-half, for the difference between cooked and uncook- 
 ed food, which will be equal to twelve and a half cents on each bushel 
 of corn fed out, and see how the question will stand. 
 
 From experiments made by a man in Illinois it was shown that fifty 
 pounds of corn, whole and raw, will make ten pounds of pork. 
 
 Fifty pounds of corn, ground, will make fifteen pounds of pork. 
 
 Fifty pounds of corn, ground and fermented, will make seventeen 
 pounds of pork. 
 
 Fifty pounds of corn, cooked and fermented, will make twenty-one 
 pounds of pork. 
 
 "William Van Loon, writing to the Prairie Farmer, says that he has 
 practiced feeding boiled corn to his stock and hogs, and is “ satisfied 
 that he saves half his grain, and gains as much more in time ; ” that 
 one bushel of corn on the cob boiled, will produce as much pork as 
 two fed raw, and in half the time. In one experiment he fed three 
 bushels of boiled corn per day, to twenty-seven hogs for ten days. 
 The averge gain was two pounds per day. He then fed the same lot 
 of hogs on three bushels of raw corn per day for twenty days; they 
 gained a mere trifle over one pound per day. These were small young 
 hogs — larger ones would have fattened better. 
 
 How Much Fork a Bushel of Corn will Make . — With care in breed- 
 ing from a good stock of hogs, and with proper management through- 
 out, keeping the hogs constantly thriving, at least an average of fif- 
 teen pounds of flesh may be received from every bushel of corn con- 
 sumed. A few well conducted experiments in feeding, with appropri 
 ate apparatus for preparing the food, compared with facts determining 
 the amount of grain from the ordinary method of feeding, would for- 
 ever settle the question, and lead to valuable improvements in thit 
 most important interest to farmers, especially in the west. 
 
 In England bean meal is extensivly used for fattening hogs. 
 
DISEASES OF HOGS AND REMEDIES. 
 
 493 
 
 DISEASES OF HOGS AND REMEDIES. 
 
 Mortifying as the fact may be to human pride, it is nevertheless 
 :ertain that in their internal organs and general structure, the hog 
 ind bear more closely resemble man than any other animal. Most of 
 heir diseases, as might be expected, closely resemble those of the hu- 
 nan species, and require similar treatment. 
 
 The diseases of swine, though not very numerous, are very danger - 
 )us, and soon run their course. 
 
 Bog Cholera . — The symptoms as described by Jas. Higgins, state 
 igriculturist, chemist of Maryland, are first a laziness on the part of 
 he animal affected; some experience a slight loss of appetite; a kind 
 )f husky grunt approaching to a cough ; sometimes a slight purging 
 ff the bowels, and a yellowish colored urine ; then the animal would 
 oecome more weak and seem to be paralyzed in the small of the back, 
 :otter about for a short time, and finally lie down and die. 
 
 Remedy . — Drench with a strong solution of alum, and mix pulver- 
 zed alum in their food as you would salt. A rope behind the tusks 
 ind a horn with the small end sawed off, are convenient for adminis- 
 tering it. 
 
 A writer says : Last May my hogs were attacked with hog cholera, 
 md upon mentioning it to a friend, he spoke of a suggestion publish- 
 ed in a Cincinnati paper, advising the use of alum. I procured some, 
 nade a strong solution, all the water would bear, and drenched all I 
 bund with the disease upon them, and gave to the lot (about 100 
 lead) a pound of pulverized alum in some mill feed each day for two 
 weeks, by which time all remaining seemed healthy. Out of twenty- 
 wo drenched with one pint of the solution to each, administered with 
 the assistance of a rope behind the tusks, and a horn with the small 
 md sawed off, I lost five head, and, with the exception of two, the re- 
 naming seventeen appear to have entirely recovered to a healthy, 
 hrifty condition. Some of those which have recovered, were in the 
 .ast stage, vomiting, with red blotches on the skin, and bleeding at 
 the nose, which I have always considered the last stage of the disease. 
 I'he above is but little cost, and if it is as successful as with me, is 
 well worth the trial. 
 
 A letter from a farmer in Indiana prescribes copperas as a remedy 
 for hog cholera, and states his own experience of a favorable result. 
 He boils corn in copperas water, and feeds it to the diseased animals. 
 
 Another remedy that has been recommended to us in thevervhirb- 
 
494 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPEDIA. 
 
 est terms is, four pounds sulphur, four pounds madder, two pound* 
 saltpeter, one pound black ammonia, Mix together, and give a table- 
 spoonful two times a day in milk, gruel, or anything they will eat i i 
 in. Should they be too far gone to eat, drench them with it. The 
 author of this says it is worth more to farmers than the price of oui 
 entire book. 
 
 Blind Staggers in Hogs . — This is one of the most dangerous diseases 
 to which swine are liable. The first symptom is a manifest uneasiness 
 on the part of the pig ; he will lay down for a minute or so, and then 
 get up ; walk about for a short time, and then lay down again. This 
 will sometimes continue for eighteen or twenty hours. I know of but 
 one instance where it lasted more than twenty-four hours. After a 
 short time, the disease becomes more violent, the animal rears on its 
 hind legs, foams at the mouth, grinds its teeth, and is to all appear- 
 ances blind. Bleeding, if resorted to early in the disease, followed uj 
 with a light dose of castor oil or epsom salts, will give relief. 
 
 The Kidney Worm . — This disease is often fatal. The first symp- 
 tom is a weakness of the loins and hind legs, and, if not checked, is 
 followed by a general prostration of the whole body. As soon as the 
 first symptoms appear, copperas, given at the rate of quarter to hali 
 tablespoonful efaily for one or two weeks, will generally effect a cure. 
 Spirits of turpentine rubbed on the loins is very good. 
 
 One teaspoonful of copperas, dissolved in warm water, and giver 
 once every alternate day for a week, is said to be an excellent remedy 
 for worms in the hog. 
 
 The Mange , or Itch . — This is not dangerous, but a “ mangy” hog 
 will never thrive. Soap suds, well applied with a good stiff scrubbing 
 brush, is a remedy ; a running stream to wallow in, or plenty of clear 
 wheat straw, will effect a cure in time. 
 
 For coughs and inflamation of the lungs, bleeding is resorted to, fol- 
 lowed with light doses of some purgative medicine, and one, or half 
 (according to size,) drachm of nitre. 
 
 A good warm bed, with plenty of straw, is a preventive for all the 
 diseases to which a pig is liable. 
 
 Hogs are bled inside of the fore arm, just above the knee, or else in 
 the roof of the mouth. 
 
MANAGEMENT OF POULTRY. 
 
 495 
 
 MANAGEMENT OF POULTRY. 
 
 Maxims for Poultry Reapers. — 1. It is not advisable to keep large 
 numbers of hens together, or go into the poultry business on a large 
 scale. It is found unpracticable and unprohtable — besides they can- 
 not be kept in so healthy a condition as where but few are together. 
 
 2. It is impossible to keep hens to advantage without having a suit- 
 able and properly arranged house for their accommodation. This is 
 as necessary as that a farmer should have a stable for his cattle, or a 
 dwelling for his family. 
 
 3. In connection with the house, a poultry yard should be provided, 
 which should contain a grass plot, gravel, some quantities of slacked 
 lime, and dry ashes. 
 
 4. The inside of the poultry house should be whitewashed twice a 
 a year, or oftener, which will serve to keep it free from vermin, and 
 the hens will be kept in a better condition. 
 
 5. Pure water in sufficient quantities must be provided several times 
 a day, in winter and summer. 
 
 6. Feed should be given at regular periods. To fatten fowls, they 
 must not be allowed to run at large. 
 
 Preparation for Spring . — During the cold weather a warm hous 
 and plenty of good food is sufficient. But with the rains of early spring 
 especial care will be needed to keep their quarters dry and clean. 
 These are essential to the health of the fowls, and unless secured very 
 few eggs can be expected. A thorough cleansing should be given to 
 the roosting poles, the nest boxes, and every other part of the poultry 
 house and yard. Give the floors a fresh coating of gravel, or some 
 substitute, such as rubbish from an old building, broken bricks and 
 mortar. This floor should be spread with fresh straw at least once a 
 week, and where many fowls are kept, every morning. This will keep 
 everything clean, and secure the health of the fowls. 
 
 The nest boxes will be located most nearly in accordance with the 
 natural instincts of the animal, if placed on or quite near the ground, 
 in a cool, sheltered spot. Many kinds are now beginning to lay, and 
 they should have every facility, as early fresh eggs command the high- 
 est price. 
 
 To enable the fowls to keep themselves free from lice, the Michigan 
 Farmer recommends that a flat box that will hold a good quantity of 
 ashes, into which has been thrown a handful of sulphur, should be 
 orovided for the fowls. They may be fed ever so well ; but if not 
 
PRACTICAL CYCLOPEDIA. 
 
 496 
 
 afforded facilities for keeping themselves clean, they will not thrive, 
 
 Begular and moderate feeding is considered better than leaving 
 them all the food they can eat constantly within their reach. “Give 
 them what they will run after at regular times,” is a maxim of the 
 best poultry breeders, and to this we add : Becollect that six fowls 
 veil kept will afford more satisfaction and better returns than two 
 dozen shifting for themselves, without room and without care. 
 
 Profits from Poultry. — At a late discussion by the Concord Far- 
 mers’ Club, as reported in the New England Farmer , J. B. Farmer 
 remarked, as follows : Last year he had twenty hens, and raised one 
 hundred and fifty chickens ; did not know how many eggs ; his hens 
 cost him half a cent per day. This year he had thirty hens ; in Jan- 
 uary he had fifty dozen eggs ; he got thirty cents per dozen. Bought 
 one hundred and fifty pounds of beef, and kept it by them while it 
 lasted ; he pounded up the bones ; the hens eat pounded bones gree- 
 dily. He gives them warm dough once a day in cold weather. If we 
 keep hens for the eggs only, he thinks the Poland or Black Spanish 
 or Bolton Grays, are better than the larger breeds. It is more prof- 
 itable to raise chickens ; his hens range over a ten acre pasture ; he 
 keeps scraps by them. Hens should be treated gently ; hens that 
 are perfectly tame will lay twice as many eggs as wild ones. He thinks 
 hen manure better than guano; last year he had enough to manure 
 three acres of corn in hill. 
 
 Productiveness of Fowls. — The Springfield (Mass.) Pepublican says : 
 F owls commonly decrease in laying properties after their second year. 
 The estimate for the yield of a good laying hen the first year is one 
 hundred and fifty eggs, the second year one hundred eggs, and the 
 the third year fifty eggs. Continual laying debilitates a fowl, hence 
 good layers are often poor setters, and the worst fatteners. 
 
 By experiments in the zoological gardens of the Bois de Boulogne, 
 it appears that the Asiatic breeds of Nankin and Brahma-pootra are 
 the best layers; the French Crevecceurs come next; the Houdans 
 third ; the La Fleche fourth ; and after them the Dorkings and a 
 Dutch breed. The Nankins and Brahma-pootras are also remarkably 
 precocious ; and, according to some breeders, they begin laying in 
 February, and keep on almost to the end of the year. 
 
 It is a mooted question whether a hen ever lays more than one egg 
 a day. John 'Whyman, of Lockport, N. Y., says he obtained twelve 
 eggs in one day from six Black Spanish hens. They were fed upon 
 soft sugar corn. Does any one else know of a similar instance ? 
 
 To Make Fens Lay. — Boiled oats, fried in fat, have been recom- 
 
\ 
 
 MANAGEMENT OF POULTRY. 497 
 
 nended for laying hens as the very best food for productiveness of 
 >gg s - 
 
 A lady who keeps poultry says, that, to cause them to lay regular- 
 y, she gives them with their food, every other day, a teaspoonful of 
 Cayenne pepper to each sixteen hens. She gets daily from that num 
 >er of hens twelve to fourteen eggs. 
 
 A writer in the Homestead says : A change of diet is very essential 
 ,o the well being of the biddies. Variety is the spice of life, with 
 owls as much as with men ; and they should have an assortment of 
 ood given them applicable to their wants. Corn and cob meal is, on 
 he whole, preferable to a constant use of more solid grain or meat, in 
 :ither making hens lay, or for the accumulation of flesh. Potatoes 
 tnd bran are an excellent dish for them ; also cabbage heads, chopped 
 ip and added to their dough ; in fact, any kind of vegetable substan- 
 :es are good for them. Of the choice of grain for laying exclusively, 
 >ats should be furnished them, with a mess of buckwheat now and 
 hen. Where they cannot procure gravel, sand or ashes should be 
 iberally strewn over the bottom of their coops, and occasionally they 
 >ught to have some clam or oyster shells pounded fine and put into 
 heir food ; bone meal is another good ingredient to give them, all 
 ;oing towards forming the shells of eggs ; fresh meat, when conven- 
 enfly to be had, might be added to the list of feed for the keeping of 
 owls. 
 
 How to have Plenty of Eggs in Winter . — Give the manufacturers 
 materials to make them with, and a comfortable place to work in. 
 live them animal food to supply the place of insects they catch in 
 ummer, and then let them have a warm place to run into, with plenty 
 f unfrozen water, not snow, and a frequent taste of green food, such 
 s cabbage leaves, potatoes, &c., and remember to supply some gravel 
 or their grinding mill, and lime to make shells out of, and we will 
 warrant the animals to repay all the care and food, in nice, plump 
 ggs — no matter what the particular breed may be. Try it. 
 
 A hen without some kind of meat, and gravel, and lime, compelled 
 o eat snow for water, or go without, cannot make eggs. 
 
 I recently received a letter from J. C. Thompson, Esq., of Tomp- 
 insville, Staten Island, in which he mentioned having a liberal sup- 
 ly of eggs throughout the month November, from his fowls, which 
 re of the Brahma-pooira and Leghorn varieties. 
 
 Every poultry raiser knows how rare it is that hens lay liberally 
 uring that and the succeeding months of December, January, and 
 ebruary, and I made inquiry of Mr. Thompson in regard to his man- 
 32 
 
m 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 agement of fowls, to secure such desirable results. In a letter written 
 me on the 6th day of the present month, he said, in reply to my in- 
 quiry, “ I have confined in one lot, thirty Brahma hens and pullets, 
 and they have laid in this month, including to-day, (six days,) eighty- 
 two eggs. In regard to 'how I managed to get so many eggs/ I will 
 tell you what I do. Feed and clean water within their reaeh con- 
 stantly, also shells or bones pounded, or old mortar ; grass, cabbage, 
 or other vegetables of which they are fond, boiled potatoes, turnips, or 
 the peelings of them, and scraps from the table 'daily. The potatoes' 
 and turnips, boiled with coarse Indian meal, or corn and oats ground 
 together, and fed cold, or partially so — never hot; scrap meat that 
 comes from the tallow chandler’s or pork butcher’s in cakes, is good ; 
 make a hole, basin-like, into a cake, and fill it with water, which af- 
 fords them drink and softens the scrap so as to make it palatable to 
 them. When they have picked it to pieces, soak or boil the refuse 
 with meal, and feed it the same as the potatoes, &c.” 
 
 In addition to this, Mr. Thompson gives his fowls warm, clean, and 
 airy quarters, as I know from observation. The concluding para- 
 graph of his letter, quaint, though practical, is as follows : " Remem- 
 ber that hens are only machines for making eggs, and, like the mill 
 for making flour, if the grain is not put into the hopper, the flour will 
 not come out.” As the grain is to the hopper, so is the feed, water, 
 vegetables, lime, pounded shell, bones, &c., to the hens. 
 
 Mr. Thompson breeds but two varieties of fowls, the Brahmas and 
 Leghorns, and those with great care and in their utmost purity. The 
 latter were long his favorites, but he now considers the former, for al] 
 purposes for which domestic fowls are kept, superior. 
 
 For Hens that Lay Soft Shell Eggs. — Give a very little linseed oil 
 two or three times a day, for a week or so. If the legs of hens be- 
 come broken, they will lay their eggs without shells until the fracture 
 is repaired, all the lime in the circulation being employed for the pur 
 pose of reuniting the' bones. 
 
 To Prevent Hens Fating their Eggs. — The methods which have beer 
 recommended are rather contradictory. The first is, make their nest,^ 
 in nail kegs, half filled with straw. This furnishes a secret place for 
 laying, but too confined to allow their eating their eggs while on th( 
 nest, and too far down to allow of their reaching them from the top ol 
 the keg. 
 
 The next is as follows : When hens eat their eggs it is often owini 
 to the form of the nest. The proper form is that of a plate, shallow 
 that she may not have to jump down on the eggs, and flat on the hot 
 
MANAGEMENT OF POULTRY. 
 
 499 
 
 tom, so that when she treads on them they will roll aside, and let her 
 feet slip easily between them. She can then pass her bill among 
 them, as she tucks them under her, and shuffles them together with 
 her wings without hurting them. If, on the contrary, the nest is 
 made in the form of a basin, the eggs press against each other, and 
 are liable to be crushed by her efforts to push her feet between them, 
 or to alter her position with her beak or wings. When an egg is bro- 
 ken most hens will eat it, and, as hatching time approaches, the egg3 
 become more brittle ; and in deep or badly formed nests, the chicks 
 are very apt to be crushed and killed between the other eggs, by the 
 movements of the hen. 
 
 Another says : Take a half eaten egg, substitute ground mustard for 
 the yolk and let them try that. 
 
 Hoy) to Set a Hen — Ireland, like China and France, is a great coun- 
 try for hatching chickens, consequently good practical information 
 should be expected from such a source. A correspondent of the Irish 
 Country Gentleman writes : When a hen of any description is to be 
 set with eggs, the place ought to be well cleaned out, and a nest made 
 of some clean straw. Some give eleven eggs, others thirteen, and 
 even more, according to the size of the hen, yet in most cases she will 
 manage eleven eggs best ; but let the lot consist of an odd number, 
 and be all about the middle size. Carefully examine every egg, by 
 holding it up betwixt you and the sun or candle, so that the tread, 
 so called, if present, may be seen, if not visible the egg must be •re- 
 jected ; reject also those that have a circular flaw, which is indicative 
 of a double yolk. Should a given number of cockerels only be want- 
 ed, the male and female are known by examining the egg in the same 
 way ; such as have a “ tread ” or vacuum directly on the top of the 
 egg will be a cockerel, and those on the side of the top pullets. The 
 hen should be provided with oats and water when hatching, with lib- 
 erty to leave the eggs a little, if inclined. If she becomes affected 
 with lice, &c., a little flour of brimstone may be shaken upon both 
 her and the nest. 
 
 As a hen brings forth the young of her own species in three weeks, 
 or twenty one days, she must be watched regularly to see if all goes 
 on right, as sometimes the young require a little assistance to get out 
 of the shell ; this, however, is seldom necessary, and in nine cases out 
 of ten it is better to let nature take its course ; but the shell that the 
 young have left ought to be instantly removed, as also any visible 
 rotten eggs, which will make a watery jumble when shaken. The eggs 
 
500 
 
 PKACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 must be as equal in age as possible, and the newer laid the better, as such 
 are more certain. 
 
 Sex of Eggs. — M. Genin affirms, in an address before tbe Acadamio 
 des Sciences, that be is now able, after having studied the subject for 
 upward of three years, to state with assurance that all eggs contain- 
 ing the germ of males have wrinkles on the small ends, while female 
 eggs are smooth at the extremities. 
 
 To Economize Time with Hens. — A correspondent of the American 
 Agricuiturist directs : Confine the first hen that hatches in a coop with 
 her chickens, until another brood is hatched ; then substitute the sec- 
 ond hen for the first, relieving the charge of the former. When a 
 third hen hatches, put her in the place of the second, with all three 
 broods ; if the aggregate number does not exceed thirty, a full sized 
 hen will take good care of the whole: 
 
 Hatching Chickens by Steam. — A room has been prepared in 'Phila- 
 delphia for the hatching of eggs by steam after the custom of the 
 Chinese. The establishment is about six hundred hen power. 
 
 Bearing Chickens. — Says a correspondent of the Irish Country Gen- 
 tleman , when chickens first come out, feed for ten days with soaked 
 oat meal and hard boiled eggs, afterwards groats and hulled oats : all 
 kinds of soft meat should be avoided at this age ; but plenty of clean 
 water, which should constantly stand before them, placed in such a 
 manner that the chickens cannot get into it. A bowl may be turned 
 over in the middle of a pan of water. When rearing chickens never 
 let them out too soon in the morning ; avoid wet grass and rainy days, 
 which generally bring on all diseases that gallinaceous poultry are 
 subject to. It will be found that feeding poultry with the very best 
 of oats is quite preferable. 
 
 A writer in Wilkes Spirit recommends for chickens for the first 
 week after hatching, a hard boiled egg, to be given, chopped fine, at 
 least twice a day, wheat steeped in milk, and coarse Indian meal, 
 bread, crumbs, etc. 
 
 Cure for Gapes in Chickens and Other Poultry . — Draw a flight fea- 
 ther from the wing, and insert it about one inch and a half in the 
 wind pipe ; turn it gently three or four times with the finger and 
 thumb ; withdraw, (turning,) when you will extract perhaps three 
 small worms. Once doing is in general sufficient. This is an old and 
 successful plan. The cause of gapes is these worms in the windpipe, 
 and if this operation is rightly performed it never fails to effect a cure. 
 The quill may be trimmed so as to form at the end a slim brush, 
 
 
MANAGEMENT OF POULTRY. 
 
 501 
 
 about an inch, long, then passed down the wind pipe, and twisted 
 round as you withdraw it. 
 
 Another method is to insert a loup of horsehair into the windpipe, 
 twist it around and draw out to loosen the worms. The opening to a 
 chicken’s windpipe is a slit through the tongue. 
 
 The following restorative is excellent : — Take half a pound of sul- 
 phate of iron, one ounce of diluted sulphuric acid, dissolved together ; 
 when dissolved, put two gallons of spring water to the iron and acid, 
 let it stand twelve or fourteen days, when it is fit for use. The dose 
 to chickens is a teaspoonful to one pint of water for them to drink, 
 given twice a week, or even thrice, and there will be no gapes. 
 
 Half a teaspoonful of ground black pepper for a grown hen, the 
 dose diminished according to the age, has been considered a remedy. 
 Ashes have also been recommended. Put the chickens into a barrel, 
 have a bag of coarse cloth holding a quart or two half full of dry 
 ashes, and shake it in the barrel until the barrel is filled with the dust, 
 repeating two or three times in the course of an hour. It is said too 
 that a small piece of assafoetida will cure it, and that a little in their 
 water occasionally will prevent it.' 
 
 Dough raised with milk rising is recommended as a sure and safe 
 remedy, fed while fermenting, but while still sweet. To cook their 
 meal, and give but little for several days after they are hatched, is 
 said to prevent it. Feed little or none on corn dough, but feed plen- 
 tifully on cheese made of lobbed milk or clabber, crums of wheat bread 
 and corn bread, is claimed to be a perfect remedy. The following has 
 been recommended : Cracked corn, (chicken feed) four quarts ; fom 
 quarts coarse wheat bran ; scald the meal and bran at the same time ; 
 add two tablespoonfuls of good wood ashes, sifted, also one tablespoon- 
 ful of best ground black pepper. Mix and feed once every three hours 
 to chickens and turkeys alike. 
 
 A teaspoonful of Cayenne pepper, mixed with a saucer full of In- 
 dian meal and water, for one or two dozen chickens, is said to be a 
 cure. For young turkeys, we have heard a few drops of sweet or 
 lamp oil recommended, to be followed with a strong solution of alum. 
 
 Mr. Bergen stated before the Hew York Farmers’ Club that the 
 common cause of this very fatal disease is the feeding of chickens with 
 freshly wetted Indian meal ; the meal swelling in the stomach. When 
 this food is given to chickens, the meal should be mixed with the 
 water several hours before it is eaten. Some one has suggested that 
 a dough, made by mixing Indian meal with urine, will cure this 
 lisease, 
 
502 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 Fattening Poultry . — We know no better authority on this subject 
 than Mr. C. 1ST. Bement, who says : Chickens intended for market 
 should be separated from the older fowls, and confined in more re- 
 stricted quarters, and fed liberally with a variety of food, of which 
 grain of some sort should form the basis. They should be regularly 
 fed three times a day — the first time as soon after day-break as possi- 
 ble or convenient. 
 
 It is hopeless to attempt to fatten chickens while they are at liberty 
 and growing ; they must be confined, and during their confinement 
 they must be supplied with abundance of pure, fresh water, gravel, 
 old lime mortar, crushed bones, or broken clam or oyster shells, if 
 to be had. In about three weeks they will be in condition for mar- 
 keting. 
 
 It is equally hopeless to attempt to fatten older fowls unless con- 
 fined in a proper coop ; and this, like most other appurtenances, need 
 not be expensive. To fatten a dozen adult fowls, of common size, a 
 coop may be made three feet long, eighteen inches deep, made entirely 
 of slats, open on all sides, top and bottom. Discretion must be used, 
 according to the size of fowls cooped. They do not require much 
 space ; indeed the closer the better, if they can all stand up at the same 
 time. 
 
 Fowls selected to fatten should be in good health; one diseased 
 fowl might contaminate the whole ; besides if there are any that seem 
 inclined to be quarrelsome they should be removed at once. Quarrel- 
 some fowls will not fat kindly. Care must be taken to put up such 
 as have been accustomed to be together, or they will fight, and like 
 other bad examples, it soon finds imitators. 
 
 The food should be ground oats, Indian meal, mixed with water 
 or milk ; the latter is the best. It should be slaked, forming a pulp 
 or paste. 
 
 The food should be varied ; barley, buckwheat and wheat screen- 
 ing ; boiled or baked potatoes form excellent fattening materials for 
 fowls. 
 
 Regularity when fed should always be observed in the hours of 
 feeding, also in the quantity of food given, not to surfeit them one day 
 and starve them the next, but give the fowls their food as regular as 
 you take your own meals. They must be well fed three or four times 
 a day — the first time as soon after day-break as possible or conven- 
 ient, and then at intervals of four hours. 
 
 No animal is easier kept than fowls. No kind of food comes amiss 
 to them. When at liberty they obtain their living promiscuously, and 
 
MANAGEMENT OF POULTRY. 
 
 503 
 
 pick up everything that can he made use of as food in the barnyard ; 
 even the worms, grubs and bugs give them the most nutritious food. 
 And if insectivorous food is wanted, there is nothing perhaps more ea- 
 sily obtained, at almost any season, than by what the French term a 
 verminer. Procure a deep crock, into which put some bran, and on it 
 lay a piece of carrion or other flesh ; cover it with a glass cap so as to 
 admit light, but exclude rain ; in a few days it will be a moving mass 
 of living insects or worms, which may be thrown out to young poul- 
 try, young turkeys in particular ; there is nothing they* will devour 
 more greedily ; but they should be sparingly given, as the fowls are so 
 fond of them, that if given abundantly it will prevent them taking 
 their usual food. 
 
 We have practiced another method for fattening fowls which has 
 proved successful. We confined a number of fowls, ducks and turkeys, 
 in the month of November, in a small, dark room, only giving them 
 light when feeding. By depriving them of light they were kept per- 
 fectly quiet, nothing to do but eat, drink and grow fat, spending most 
 of the time quiet on the roost. Feed was kept constantly before them 
 in a flat box, consisting of a mixture of corn, oats, barley and buck- 
 wheat, with pure, fresh water supplied daily. They were also pro- 
 vided with broken bones, oyster shells, gravel, and pulverized char- 
 coal, of which they ate quite a large quantity. 
 
 A writer says : The cheapest and most advantageous food to use 
 for fattening every description of poultry is ground oats. These must 
 not be confounded with oat meal, or with ordinary ground oats. The 
 whole of the grain is ground to a fine powder ; nothing of any kind is 
 taken from it. When properly ground, one bushel of the meal will 
 more effectually fatten poultry than a bushel and a half of any other 
 meal. The greatest point in fattening poultry, is to feed them at day- 
 break. 
 
 Another says : Poultry should be fattened in coops, and kept very 
 clean. They should be furnished with ‘gravel, but with no water. 
 Iheir only food, barley meal, mixed so thin with water as to serve 
 them for drink. Their thirst makes them eat more than they would 
 in order to extract the water that is among the food. This should net 
 be put in troughs, but laid upon a board, which should be clean washed 
 every time fresh food is put upon it. It is foul and heated water that 
 is the sole cause of the pip. 
 
 S. Edwards Todd, of Auburn, N. Y., directs for fattening poultry 
 cheaply, so that it will be tender and juicy, to mingle equal quantities 
 ef wheat flour and Indian corn meal together, and wet the mass with 
 
504 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPEDIA. 
 
 boiling hot water, and let tbe fowls have access to it all day. Also, 
 let them have access to clean water and some boiled potatoes. Pre- 
 pare a fresh batch for them every morning. By allowing them to have 
 access to food at all times, they will consume less and fatten faster 
 than they will to feed them several times a day. Fowls need food 
 very often, and but little at one feeding, in order to fatten very fast. 
 
 It is said that chickens are very fond of sunflower seeds, which not 
 only fattens them very quickly, but makes their flesh very tender, jui- 
 cy and fine flavored. 
 
 Spread dry loam or charcoal dust on the floor of a hen house. 
 
 Caponizing Chickens Turkeys, <Jc. — The capon is an emasculated 
 rooster, turkey, &c. 
 
 The art of caponizing has been known and practiced in China for 
 thousands of years. It was also known and practiced in England at a 
 former period, as the capon is mentioned by Shakespeare. But the 
 art is believed now to be utterly lost in England. Indeed, very little 
 poultry of any kind is raised in England. In France and Spain, and 
 in the French and Spanish colonies, it is known and practiced. It is 
 also known and practiced in Louisiana. 
 
 No person who has ever tasted the flesh of a well fattened capon 
 will ever forget it. He will remember it as the most tender, and jui 
 cy and well flavored meats ever known. Tender as the most delicate 
 turkey, and juicy as the finest roast beef. The flesh of the capon far 
 excels the best turkey. 
 
 The proper time of caponizing is when the chicken is twelve weeks 
 old. 
 
 A fair operator will lose very few chickens by the operation. 
 
 Turkeys may be caponed at the same age. 
 
 The capon is a most quiet bird. He will hardly get over any fence. 
 He has no excitements. He does not crave much for insects, but eats 
 cooked potatoes, carrots, &c., corn, and any grain or dough, &c. 
 
 It does not cost more than two-thirds as much to raise and fatten 
 capons as of any other fowls. I am certain that the flesh of capons 
 can be obtained at less cost than beef, mutton, lambs or veal. 
 
 The art of caponizing is simple, and may be performed by any one 
 accustomed to the use of a needle and thread and scissors. The chick- 
 en should be full four months old, indeed, should be just commencing 
 to crow. Now place him across the knee, with the legs pulled for- 
 ward and firmly held by an assistant. Pluck off the soft fine feathers 
 between the end of the breast bone and fundament, and midway be- 
 tween these two points make an incision an inch and a half long, cro*?- 
 
MANAGEMENT OF POULTRY. 
 
 505 
 
 wise of the chickens body, with a sharp pair of scissors. Through 
 this incision insert the forefinger to the backbone, along which move 
 for an inch and a half, and on either side will be found a testicle. 
 Dislodge them by a single twist, and withdraw by the route the fin- 
 ger went in. Draw the edges of the wound made together, and half a 
 dozen stitches with waxed thread completes the operation. The nail 
 of the finger must be smooth, so as not to damage the intestines. 
 
 It should be mentioned, that previous to the operation of caponi- 
 zing, the chicken must be deprived of food for eighteen or twenty 
 hours. 
 
 Hen Mischief— It is very annoying to have a garden destroyed by 
 hens, and it is more so when we reflect that it is entirely unnecessary. 
 The secret of preventing it is, first, to treat your hens as though they 
 were domestic animals, and not wild ones. Give them a house and a 
 home, and train them to know that it is their home. Don’t keep your 
 chicken coops in the door yard, and then scold about the hens being 
 always around the door. Don’t compel them to roost in trees, and 
 afterward complain about their befouling the fruit. If you have no 
 hen house, don’t grumble because the hens roost in the wagon shed. 
 If you compel your hens to live upon bugs and worms, and chase 
 grasshoppers, you must expect they will scratch. If you would not 
 have your hens mischievous, feed them. F eed them as regularly as 
 you would, or should, your pigs, and keep them fat, so that you can 
 have a fat pullet whenever you like, and don’t keep any but pullets. 
 Kill off all the old hens before they acquire mischievous habits. That 
 is the way to avoid hen mischief. 
 
 And if you are a gentleman or lady, if you are honest, you will not 
 suffer your fowls, whatever they may be, to trespass upon your neigh- 
 bor’s premises, without their express consent. 
 
 Wild Fowl and Game. How to Ascertain the Age of Game . — An 
 easy method of ascertaining the age of pheasants, partridges, grouse, 
 black game, hares and rabbits in the early part of the season : Hold 
 the lower part of the bird’s beak, or what ornithologists call the man- 
 dible, firmly at its extremity between the forefinger and thumb ; if 
 the bird be an old one the beak will sustain his entire weight without 
 in the slightest degree yielding ,* but if, on the contrary, the bird be 
 a young one, the beak will yield, and perhaps break. The legs of 
 young partridges are yellow ; those of old birds darkish. A one year 
 old cock pheasant has a short spur without any point, in fact, round ; 
 in a two year old bird, it is still short, but pointed ; and in a three 
 and four year old cock it becomes both long and very sharp, and the 
 
.506 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPEDIA. 
 
 plumage becomes much darker. The plumage also of the hen bird 
 becomes much darker with age. The ears of hares and rabbits which 
 are young may be easily slit ; whereas those of old ones can only be 
 torn by using the greatest force. 
 
 MANAGEMENT OF BEES. 
 
 The Queen Bee. — Appleton’s Cyclopaedia says : The queen bee is 
 the largest, being eight and a half lines in length, the males being sev- 
 en, and the workers six; her abdomen is larger in proportion, her 
 wings are so short as hardly to reach beyond the third ring, and her 
 color is of a deeper yellow. She is easily recognized by the slowness 
 of her march, by her size, and by the respect and attention paid to 
 her ; she lives in the interior of the hive, and seldom departs from it, 
 unless for the purpose of being impregnated, or to lead out a new 
 swarm. If she be removed from the hive, the whole swafm will fol- 
 low her. The queen governs the whole colony, and is, in fact, its 
 mother, she being the only breeder out of 20,000 or 30,000 bees ; on 
 this account she is loved, respected and obeyed with all the external 
 marks of affection and devotion which human subjects could give to a 
 beloved monarch. In a well proportioned hive, containing 20,000 
 bees, there would be 19,499 workers, 500 males and 1 queen. 
 
 The Size and Shape of Hives . — All hives should be of one uniform 
 size and shape, unless you should design to make a trial of different 
 inventions. It has been decided, from long experience in bee keeping 
 by the best apiarians in this country, that the lower sections of hives 
 should contain about 2,000 cubic or solid inches. If they contain less 
 than this, the queens will not have sufficient space for their brood. 
 If they are larger, to much extent, there will be less surplus honey 
 stored, and less swarms thrown off. 
 
 The best shape for a hive is slightly oblong, a little higher than it 
 is wide. We refer to the main section, where the bees build their 
 brood combs. By being of this shape, they will winter better in most 
 cases, than they do where a greater surface below is exposed to the 
 cold air. It is not of much consequence what the shape of the supers 
 is, so far as the prosperity of the bees is concerned. They should, 
 however, be so made as to admit a sett of four boxes, about six inches 
 in diameter, and about the same height. Honey does not sell well in 
 the New York market, if the boxes weigh over six to eight pounds. 
 
MANAGEMENT OF BEES. 
 
 507 
 
 If the honey is merely for home consumption, the boxes should be lar- 
 ger. Indeed, if but one box is supplied, to hold thirty or forty pounds, 
 it will generally be filled about as quick as small boxes holding in the 
 aggregate about thirty pounds. 
 
 Mr. Quinby tells us that bees will store most honey when they have 
 but one apartment of a size that will just be filled by the end of the 
 reason. When this is divided, and the bees have filled one And are 
 forced into another for want of room, they will lose a little time before 
 commencing in the second. The greater the length and the less the 
 lumber and size of the passages the longer the bees will be in com- 
 nencing work there. 
 
 Painting Hives. — It may not be desirable to paint hives, but if it is 
 lone let it be some months previous to using them, and let the color 
 )e light but not a clear white. Swarms put into newly painted hives, 
 especially dark colored ones, are quite apt to leave. 
 
 Hiving Bees. — Draw a long woolen stocking on the end of a pole, 
 ind when the swarm begins to settle place the stocking where the bees 
 seem thickest and hold it there until it is completely covered with the 
 vhole swarm. Have a sheet spread and then lay the pole or rather 
 stocking on the sheet, put the hive over and carefully pull out the 
 cole. 
 
 Bee Pasturage. — The Bee Journal says : “ The rapidity with which 
 >ees will build comb and gather honey, under favorable circumstances, 
 sso extraordinary as to be almost incredible. Mr. Brink says that 
 le has known a strong swarm to fill its hive with comb in twenty-two 
 sours ; and that colonies expelled in August, put into empty hives, 
 nd transported to the heathe, would fill the hive with new comb and 
 ;ather from thirty to forty pounds of honey, in the brief season for 
 fork in which they could labor. 
 
 It is estimated that the annual crop produced in Tompkins county, 
 I. Y., is one hundred thousand pounds of honey, and five thousand 
 •ounds of wax. 
 
 Bemedf for the Bobbing of Bees. — Mr. Quinby, in his “ Mysteries 
 f Bee-Keeping,” says : “ Remove the weak hive in the morning to 
 he cellar, or some dark, cool place, for a few days, until at least two 
 r three warm days have passed, that they may abandon the search, 
 'he robbers will then probably attack the stock on hand. Contract 
 he entrance of this in accordance with the number of bees that are to 
 ass. If strong, no danger need be apprehended. 
 
 “ Another method is, when you are sure a stock is being robbed, to 
 ike a time when there are as many plunderers inside as you can get. 
 
508 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 and close the hive at once, (wire-cloth, or something to admit air, and 
 at the same time confine the bees, is necessary ;) carry in as before, 
 for two or three days, when they may be set out. The strange bees 
 thus enclosed will join the weak family, and will be as eager to defend 
 what is now their treasure, as they were before to carry it off. This 
 plan succeeds about four times in five, when a proper number is en- 
 closed. Weak stocks are strengthened in this way very easily; and 
 the bees being taken from a number of hives are hardly missed. The 
 difficulty is, to know when there are enough to he about equal to what 
 belongs to the weak stock ; if too few are enclosed, they are surely de- 
 stroyed.” 
 
 K. P. Kidder of Burlington, Vt., Practical Agriculturist, says : If 
 the stock is a good one, and a small entrance given to the bees, say 
 one half inch hv one quarter inch, it is very seldom that bees will ever 
 get robbed, especially if they have a fertile queen. 
 
 After a swarm of bees fairly get to robbing, it is not an easy task 
 to prevent it, unless they are captured and imprisoned. They then 
 can be destroyed, or kept imprisoned for nine days and made to serve 
 us the same as other colonies, providing they are foreign bees. If our 
 own bees get to robbing each other, then there is no other alternative 
 but to scent the besieged hive with some essential oils, and contract 
 the entrance to both hives. 
 
 To Remove Boxes of Honey . — Bemove them immediately to a dark 
 cellar, shut all windows but one, place the boxes near it, and as the 
 bees come out of the box they will make for the light, and return to 
 their hives. If he has no cellar, another very good way is to take off 
 the boxes when it is warm ; turn them with the hole up, then set glass 
 tumblers over the holes ; when a quantity get up in the glasses, raise 
 them and let the bees out. This will prevent any from entering the 
 box. 
 
 Wintering Bees . — To winter bees successfully it is necessary to keep 
 them warm, and at the same time dispose of the moisture always gen- 
 erated in the hive. Several patents have been granted for particular 
 openings, and the manner of condensing the moisture, which are no 
 improvement on the box hive with the holes left open in the top. 
 Straw is valuable in absorbing moisture and retaining heat, and bees 
 will winter in the open air in the best manner possible in hives made 
 of this material. The conical shape of the old fashioned straw hive is 
 not adapted to improved bee culture, and if straw is used, some of the 
 new forms should be adopted. 
 
HOW TO MAKE A DOMESTIC FISH POND. 
 
 509 
 
 It is ascertained that a partition in the hive, with holes for commu- 
 nication, will keep the honey separate from the pollen. 
 
 Feeding Bees. — Fur this purpose honey in the comb is best — next 
 strained honey poured over empty comb, and last, a mixture of two 
 pounds kdgar heated in a pint of water. 
 
 Effects of Chloroform on Bees. — Mr. Annan, builder, Downfield, 
 wishing to have the honey taken away without killing the bees, and 
 having before heard of chloroform being used, felt anxious to try the 
 experiment. He first closed the doorway, and then covered the hive 
 with a cloth, to shut out the light as much as possible, after which he 
 eommenced to blow chloroform into the hive. When it was discovered 
 that the bees had fallen asleep, they were easily removed to another 
 t hive without any harm to any one, and the next morning were all 
 wake and in a lively state, humming around their hive, no doubt won- 
 dering what had happened. This being a successful and useful exper- 
 iment in keeping the bees alive, we think it right to make it known 
 for the benefit of others. 
 
 To Stop Bees Mobbing. — Coal oil sprinkled about the entrance of 
 the hive, is a sure remedy to drive away robber bees. I have 
 tried it in several instances, the past season, with entire success. — 
 J. L. Peabody. 
 
 To Prevent Bees from Stinging. — (See page 19.) — Bees gorged with 
 honey never volunteer an attack. 
 
 HOW TO MAKE A DOMESTIC FISH POND. 
 
 A correspondent of The Homestead gives the following account of 
 making a fish pond : 
 
 “Three years ago I constructed in a ravine a fish pond, covering a 
 surface of about three-fourths of an acre. It is fed by four small 
 springs, and receives a large amount of surface-water from the slopes 
 around. It is fifteen feet deep at the greatest depth, and has shallow 
 bays and inlets, where the small fish may breed and find protection 
 from larger ones. It contains a small island, and the shores are em- 
 bellished with flags, (Iris,) water-lilies, (Nymphce odorata,) and other 
 water-plants. It was stocked with yellow bass, Oswego bass, white 
 perch, and every variety of sun fish and minnows, also a dozen gold 
 Ssh, (Cyprinus auratus.) And now, at the end of three years, it is as- 
 tonishing to note the vast increase in my scaly family. They hav« 
 
510 
 
 PKACTJCAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 multiplied by hundreds, and grown in size beyond all my calculation; 
 The gold fish number several hundred, some of them over a foot 
 length, and a few of them are beautifully marked with silvery side 
 and red fins, head and tail; others with golden sides and black fins an 
 tail. I had no idea that they would thus sport in colors, but certain! 
 they are very beautiful. The other fish have grown so much, that 
 intend to commence using them for the table in autumn. I have nc: 
 fed these fish, except for amusement and to tame them, when a fe 1 
 crumbs of bread are thrown in, from a small bridge connecting the k 
 land with the shore, and the fish called up like chickens. The su 
 fish, gold fish, and smaller fry soon learned to come at my call, and t 
 follow me in great- numbers, from one end of the bridge to the othei 
 for their morning or evening meal. 
 
 “ The young bass (the old ones hold back) and the sun-fish dart t 
 the surface for their food, and have a lively scramble for it ; the gold 
 fish pick up what sinks to the bottom. Their habits in this way ar 
 very much like a flock of chickens, for some of the smaller fish tak 
 their position immediately under my feet, to pick up the small crumb 
 that fall in breaking the larger ones to throw out. Some persons rim 
 a small bell to bring their fish up, but I prefer calling mine. They d< 
 not appear to come from a greater distance than about forty feet t< 
 any one spot. I feed them in several places, to note the varieties anc 
 their growth. Now, as to the utility of this pond; it furnishes ice fo: 
 my own use, and three or four of my neighbors who have ice-houses 
 it also affords excellent stock water, and will doubtless hereafter sup 
 ply my table with fish. A small skiff on its surface gives many i 
 pleasant hour of recreation to the young who are fond of rowing. 
 
 “ The construction of this pond was very simple. The earth wa : 
 excavated across the ravine four feet deep and five feet wide for a foun 
 dation ; then stiff clay filled in and well pounded, to prevent leakage 
 at the bottom. The earth from the bottom and sides of the ravine 
 was thrown on the top of this foundation, to raise the embankment to 
 the proper hight. A waste weir at one side, paved with flag-stones; 
 and two feet lower than the top of the dam, sufficiently large to earn 
 off the heaviest flow of water in very heavy rains, guarded by a wire 
 scieen to prevent the escape of the fish, completed the construction 
 it is now sodded over, and planted with willows at the foot, and is con- 
 sidered safe. The expense of making such a pond is small, and it add 
 much to the value of the farm.” 
 
 Messrs. Dunham, Kellogg and Ives, of Hartford, Conn., are cultiva 
 ting trout on a large scale in a pond in Glastenbury. They have 
 
511 
 
 VALUABLE TABLES, ETC. 
 
 nearly fifty thousand of a stock, and when the number reaches half a 
 million the proprietors expect to net twelve thousand five hundred 
 dollars per annum from them. 
 
 Aquariums . — Construct of plank, coat with pitch or a varnish of 
 sealing wax dissolved in alcohol at seams. They should contain sev 
 eral species of water plants. Change the water frequently. Common 
 pitch is the best cement which can be used. It does not communicate 
 any deleterious quality to the water like cements made with litharge 
 and oil. 
 
 lo Stupefy Fish . — Coculus Indicus is used to destroy or stupefy 
 fishes so that they can be taken with little trouble and in large quan- 
 tities. 
 
 VALUABLE TABLES, ETC. 
 
 Land Measure . — Every farmer should have a rod measure, a light, 
 stiff pole, just sixteen and a half feet long, for measuring land. By 
 a little practice he can learn to step just a rod at five steps, which will 
 answer very well for ordinary farm work. Ascertain the number of 
 rods in width and length, of a lot you wish to measure, and multiply 
 one number by the other and divide by one hundred and sixty, and 
 you have the number of acres ; as one hundred and sixty square rods make 
 one square acre. If you wish to lay off one square acre measure thir- 
 teen rods upon each side. This lacks one rod of full measure. 
 
 One acre is comprised in two hundred and eight and three-fourths 
 feet square ; half an acre is one hundred and forty- seven and a half 
 feet square ; fourth of an acre is one hundred and five and one-fourth 
 feet square ; an eighth of an acre is seventy-three and three-fourths 
 feet square. Every farmer by observing this rule can set off any of 
 these quantities of ground accurately without trouble. 
 
 To Estimate Crops per Acre . — To estimate the yield per acre of a 
 growing crop, wheat, rye, oats, barley, &c., the following method has 
 oeen found correct in England. 
 
 Frame together four light sticks, measuring exactly a foot square 
 inside, and with this in hand walk into the field and select a spot of 
 fair average yield, and lower the frame as square over as many heads 
 as it will enclose, and shell out the heads thus enclosed carefully, and 
 weigh the grain. It is fair to presume that the product will be forty- 
 three thousand five hundred and sixtieth part of an acre’s produce. 
 
512 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 To prove it, go through the field, and make ten or twenty similar cal- 
 culations, and estimate by the mean of the whole number of results. 
 It will certainly enable a farmer to make a closer calculation of what 
 his yield will produce than he can do by guessing. 
 
 To Measure Corn in the Crib . — Find the cubic inches in the crib, 
 bin or pile, then divide by two thousand eight hundred and fifteen, the 
 cubic inches in a heaped bushel, and take two- thirds of the quotient 
 for the number of bushels of shelled corn. This is upon the rule of 
 giving three heaping half bushels of ears to make a bushel of 
 grain; some fall short and some overrun this measure. Where it 
 takes two bushels of ears to make one of shelled corn, one-half in- 
 stead of “two-thirds” of the quotient will give the number of bushels 
 shelled. 
 
 Examples : In a crib of corn in the ear measuring ten feet in length, 
 eight feet high and seven feet wide, there will be two hundred and fif- 
 ty-three bushels of shelled corn, if only three heaped half bushels of 
 ears are required to make a bushel shelled — or one hundred and eighty- 
 nine and a half bushels of shelled corn, if it takes two bushels of ears 
 for one shelled. 
 
 Another and simpler rule is : Multiply the cubic feet contents of the 
 crib by four and a half, and cut off the right hand figure, which will 
 give the bushels of shelled corn, one bushel shelled for three heaped 
 half bushels of ears. Example : 10 x 8 x 7 x 4 J = 253, the same as 
 above. If two bushels of ears are required to make a bushel shelled, 
 then multiply this result by three and divide by four. Thus, 253 x 3 
 = 759; and 759 -A 4 = 189J. 
 
 The above rules agree with weighing corn — seventy pounds to the 
 bushel in the ear. Assuming them to be correct, they will certainly 
 be found to be very useful. 
 
 Other rules disagreeing with the above are given. Perhaps the cus- 
 tom of different localities, and the difference in varieties of corn may 
 sufficiently explain their origin. 
 
 One given by the New York Tribune is, to multiply the cubic con- 
 tents in feet by three and one-fourth, and cut off the right hand figure, 
 which in the above example gives but one hundred and eighty-two 
 bushels of shelled corn. 
 
 To this a correspondent of the Country Gentleman adds : If the corn 
 is green or has not settled in the crib, multiply by three and one-fifth, 
 &c. ; while another says, multiply the cubic contents in feet by the 
 decimal eight-tenths ; and for the heaped or coal bushel of two thou- 
 sand six hundred and eighty-eight inches, multiply by sixty four hun- 
 
513 
 
 VALUABLE TABLES, ETC. 
 
 dreths. And another still says : Deduct one-fifth from the cubic feet 
 contents of the crib. 
 
 Shrinkage of Corn in Drying. — The weight of cobs in a bushel of 
 corn in November ascertained to be nineteen pounds, was only seven 
 and a half pounds in May. 
 
 What is a Bushel Measure. — The old Winchester bushel, which i 
 the legal bushel of the United States, contains two thousand one hun- 
 dred and fifty and forty-two one hundreth cubic inches. To make a 
 box hold half a bushel, it will require one foot square inside measure, 
 and seven and a half inches high ; or twice that height for a bushel. 
 A hoop eighteen and a half inches in diameter, and eight inches deep, 
 holds a bushel. A heaping bushel is 2,815 cubic inches. 
 
 To Measure Grain in the Bin. — The quantity of grain in any bin 
 can easily be computed by reducing its contents to inches and dividing 
 it by the number of cubic inches in a bushel as above. 
 
 Or multiply the width and length of the bin together, and that 
 product by the height, and divide by 2,150, and you have the contents 
 in bushels. 
 
 LEGAL WEIGHTS OF THE BUSHEL OF ALL KINDS OF AGRICULTURAL 
 PRODUCE IN DIFFERENT STATES. 
 
 ARTICLES. 
 
 New York 
 
 Ohio 
 
 Pennsylvania. 
 
 Indiana 
 
 Wisconsin 
 
 Iowa 
 
 Illinois 
 
 Michigan 
 
 Connecticut . . 
 
 o 
 
 C3 
 
 QQ 
 
 0Q 
 
 cS 
 
 s 
 
 Rhode Island. 
 Kentucky 
 
 New Jersey . . 
 
 Vermont 
 
 Missouri 
 
 Canada | 
 
 Wheat, lbs 
 
 60 
 
 60 
 
 60 
 
 60 
 
 60 
 
 60 
 
 60 
 
 6059 
 
 60 
 
 ..60 
 
 60 
 
 60 
 
 60 
 
 69 
 
 Rye 
 
 56 
 
 56 
 
 56 
 
 56 
 
 56 
 
 56 
 
 54 
 
 56 56 
 
 56 
 
 . . 56 
 
 56 
 
 56 
 
 56 
 
 56 
 
 Corn 
 
 56 
 
 56 
 
 56 
 
 56 
 
 56 
 
 56 
 
 56 
 
 56 56 
 
 56 
 
 ..56 
 
 56 
 
 56 
 
 52 
 
 56 
 
 Oats 
 
 32 
 
 32 
 
 32 
 
 32 
 
 32 
 
 35 
 
 32 
 
 32 28 
 
 30 
 
 
 30 
 
 32 
 
 
 34 
 
 Barley 
 
 48 
 
 48 
 
 48 
 
 48 
 
 48 
 
 48 
 
 44 
 
 48 
 
 
 46 
 
 -.48 
 
 48 
 
 46 
 
 
 48 
 
 Buckwheat _ 
 
 48 
 
 
 48 
 
 50 
 
 42 
 
 52 
 
 40 
 
 42 45 
 
 46 
 
 ..52 
 
 50 
 
 46 
 
 
 48 
 
 Clover seed 
 
 64 
 
 64 
 
 
 60 
 
 60 
 
 60 
 
 .. 
 
 60 
 
 
 
 ..60 
 
 64 
 
 
 
 60 
 
 Timothy Seed 
 
 45 
 
 42 
 
 
 45 
 
 .. 
 
 45 
 
 
 
 .. 
 
 
 ..45 
 
 
 
 
 48 
 
 Flax seed 
 
 56 
 
 56 
 
 
 56 
 
 
 56 
 
 
 
 
 
 ..56 
 
 55 
 
 
 
 56 
 
 Hemp seed 
 
 44 
 
 
 
 44 
 
 
 44 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 44 
 
 Bl. Grass Seed 
 
 15 
 
 
 
 14 
 
 
 14 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 14 
 
 Dried Apples . . 
 
 22 
 
 25 
 
 
 30 
 
 28 
 
 24 
 
 
 28 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 22 
 
 Dried Peaches 
 
 32 
 
 33 
 
 
 
 28 
 
 38 
 
 
 28 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 22 
 
 Dried Plums . . ... 
 
 
 
 
 34 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Coarse Salt 
 
 56 
 
 50 
 
 85 
 
 50 
 
 
 50 
 
 
 
 
 70 
 
 ..50 
 
 
 
 50 
 
 56 
 
 Fine Salt 
 
 56 
 
 50 
 
 62 
 
 50 
 
 
 50 
 
 
 
 
 70 
 
 ..50 
 
 
 
 50 
 
 56 
 
 Potatoes 
 
 60 
 
 
 
 60 
 
 
 60 
 
 
 
 60 
 
 6( 
 
 60.. 
 
 .. 
 
 60 
 
 
 60 
 
 Peas 
 
 60 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 61 
 
 
 
 
 
 60 
 
 Beans . 
 
 60 
 
 56 
 
 
 60 
 
 
 60 
 
 
 
 
 6' 
 
 ..60 
 
 
 _ _ 1 . . 
 
 60 
 
 C. Beans. 
 
 46 
 
 
 
 46 
 
 
 46 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 40 
 
 Onions 
 
 57 
 
 
 
 57 
 
 
 57 
 
 
 
 
 5( 
 
 65 .. 
 
 
 
 
 60 
 
 Corn Meal 
 
 
 
 
 50 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 65 .. 
 
 
 
 
 
 Mineral Coal 
 
 
 
 
 70 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 33 
 
514 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 Corn on the cob, seventy pounds ; bran, twenty pounds ; sweet po 
 tatoes, fifty pounds ; turnips, carrots, parsnips, beets, sixty pounds 
 malt, thirty-six pounds. 
 
 Number of Seeds in a Bushel. — A correspondent of the New Eng 
 land Farmer says : Timothy seed numbers 41,823,360 grains to th< 
 bushel, and if sown on an acre of ground, as recommended by some 
 would give about six to the square inch. Clover of medium size 
 17,400,960, or two and three-fourths to the square inch. Bio Grand* 
 wheat, fair and plump, 556,288 to the bushel, or twelve and thre* 
 fourths to the square foot. Eye, 888,390, or twenty and a half to tht 
 square foot. Thus it is easy to judge of about the quantity thatshoulc 
 be sown per acre. 
 
 An English table gives : Wheat, 660,000 ; Oats, 672,000 ; Barley 
 550,000; Eye, 1230,000; Buckwheat, 1404,000; Eed clover, 15,000,000 
 White clover, 40,220,000. 
 
 Quantity of Wheat for a Barrel of Flour. — Four bushels and fifteei 
 pounds of winter wheat, or four bushels and thirty-two pounds o: 
 spring wheat, fair quality, will make a barrel of flour. 
 
 To Estimate weight of Hay in Bulk. — On an average about five hun 
 dred to five hundred and twelve cubic feet, or a cube of eight feet, of hay 
 well packed in a large mow, will make a tun. Yet without good sounc 
 discretion, it is not safe to buy or sell hay by measure. Fine timoth; 
 in the bottom of a large, deep mow, will require only about four hun 
 dred cubic feet for a tun ; while of coarse clover on a scaffold eigh 
 hundred cubic feet will seldom make a tun. 
 
 Shrinkage of Hay in Drying. — From experiments made many year 
 ago and published in 1823, it appears that one hundred pounds o: 
 green white clover yield of dry hay twenty-nine pounds ; the same o 
 green red clover twenty-five pounds ; timothy, thirty-nine pounds 
 red top, forty-six pounds ; Couch grass, forty-eight pounds. The los 
 of hay weighed July 20, when cured enough to put in the barn, an< 
 again February 20, has been ascertained to be twenty-seven and ; 
 half per cent. So that hay at fifteen dollars per ton in the field i 
 equal to twenty dollars and upwards when weighed from the mow ii 
 winter. 
 
 To Estimate Weight of Cattle by Measurement * — Measure careful! 
 with a tape line from the top of the shoulder to where the tail is at 
 tached to the back ; this will give the length. F or the girth, measur 
 immediately behind the shoulder and fore legs. Multiply half th 
 girth by itself in feet, and the sum by the length' in feet, and the prc 
 duct will give the net weight in stones of eight pounds each. 
 
VALUABLE TABLES, ETC. 
 
 515 
 
 The Spirit of the Times says : To ascertain the weight of a beast 
 when alive, take the girth behind the fore arms in inches, and square 
 it ; take the length from the top of the shoulder to the buttocks in 
 inches, and multiply the square of the girth by it ; multiply that pro- 
 duct by the decimal 07958, and divide that product by 576, which 
 gives the weight in stones of fourteen pounds each. The same rule 
 applies to all classes of animals when thoroughly fat. 
 
 Difference between Live and Dead Weight of Cattle. — An animal in 
 good condition will usually lose from thirty-two to forty per cent, of 
 its live weight in dressing. If very fat and well formed, the loss will 
 be about one-third, or thirty-three per cent. This is for “ Boston 
 weight,” where the hide and fat, counted as the “ fifth quarter,” is 
 taken into account. At “ York weight,” where the meat only is coun- 
 ted, the bullocks vary from fifty to seventy per cent, of dead weight 
 on the live weight. An old “ shelly ox,” that woujd weigh 16 cwt. on 
 the scales, would not sell for more than 8 cwt. net. A steer in fair 
 order for packing beef, would sell at about 55 lbs. net on the live 
 weight — say 715 lbs. upon 13 cwt. A fair quality for retail market 
 beef — steers, oxen, or cows — would rate 57 to 58 lbs. per cwt.; and a 
 bullock of prime quality, 60 or 62 lbs. per cwt. All above that are 
 counted “ extra,” “ premium,” or “ fancy,” and at the highest rate 
 reach 70 or 72 lbs. per cwt. 
 
 The common practice at the West is to weigh fatted cattle, some 
 hours after feeding and a little exercise, and calculate the net weight 
 at 55 pounds per 100 of the live weight. 
 
 Live and Dead Weight of Sheep. — Sheep will dress from fifty to six- 
 ty-five pounds per hundred weight of live weight. 
 
 The English rule is to weigh sheep when fatted and divide the 
 weight by seven and call it quarters. Thus a sheep weighing one hun- 
 ched and forty pounds, would give twenty pounds a quarter as dead 
 weight. If the sheep are in good condition, this rule is sufficiently 
 accurate for all purposes. Poor sheep will fall below the mark, and 
 Bxtra fat ones go over it. 
 
 Gross and Net Weight of Nogs. — Hogs are generally calculated to 
 dirink twenty per cent., but a good fat lot, that will average two hun- 
 Ired pounds live weight, will not shrink over seventeen or eighteen 
 
 3er cent. 
 
 Average Period of Gestation in Domestic Animals. — Mare 347 days 
 —Cow 284 — Ewe 154 — Sow 115 — Goat 156 — Ass 380 — Rabbit 28. 
 The larger quadrupeds vary more than the smaller. 
 
 Average Period of Incubation with Domestic Fowls. — Pigeons are 
 
516 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 hatched in eighteen days ; chickens, twenty-one ; turkeys, twenty-si 
 ducks and geese, thirty. 
 
 Weights and Measures. — The United States standard gallon co 
 tains 231 cubic inches ; and the United States standard bushel contai , 
 2,150.42 cubic inches. A cubic foot of water weighs 62.5 pounds ; , 
 foot of hard wood, green 62 pounds, air dried, 46 pounds, kiln drie 
 28 pounds. A cubic foot of cast iron weighs 450 pounds ; of wroug, 
 iron, 480 pounds ; coke, 50 to 65 pounds ; coal, 75 to 95 pounds ; san- 
 stone, 140 pounds ; granite, 180 pounds ; brickwork, 95 pounds. Is 
 1 iron is 5-16 inch thick ; No. 3 is 9-32, scant ; No. 4 is J inch ; K 
 5 is 7-32, and No. 7 is 3-16 inch thick. The above is on the excelie, 
 authority of the Scientific American. 
 
 Relative Heating Value of Different Kinds of Wood. — The follow! : 
 is set down as the relative heating values of different kinds of Ame - 
 can wood : Shellbark hickory, being taken as the highest standai 
 100 ; pig nut hickory, 95 ; white oak, 75; white hazel, 72 ; apple tr<, 
 70; red oak, 69; black walnut, ,66; white beech, 65; black birc, 
 62 ; yellow oak, 60 ; hard maple, 59 ; white elm, 58 ; red cedar, 5 1 
 wild cherry, 55 ; yellow poplar, 52 ; butternut, 52 ; white birch, 4 ; 
 white pine, 42. 
 
 In one of the tables quoted in the Ohio Agricultural Transactioi 
 for 1860, it is stated that hickory, one cord, will produce a certa* 
 heat for 100 days. 
 
 "White oak, one cord, will produce the same for 77 days. 
 
 White beach, 
 
 do 
 
 do 
 
 65 
 
 (( 
 
 White birch, 
 
 do 
 
 do 
 
 48 
 
 it 
 
 Black birch, 
 
 do 
 
 do 
 
 63 
 
 it 
 
 White elm, 
 
 do 
 
 do 
 
 58 
 
 it 
 
 Hard maple, 
 
 do 
 
 do 
 
 60 
 
 it 
 
 Soft maple, 
 
 do 
 
 do 
 
 59 
 
 i( 
 
 Bed oak, 
 
 do 
 
 do 
 
 68 
 
 it 
 
 Pitch pine, 
 
 do 
 
 do 
 
 35 
 
 a 
 
 White pine, 
 
 do 
 
 do 
 
 42 
 
 a 
 
 Shrinkage of Oak Timber . — Oak timber loses about one-fifth of ; 
 weight in seasoning, and about one third of its weight in becomi : 
 perfectly dry. 
 
 What a Circular Saw will do . — A circular saw, two and a half V 
 in diameter, and making 270 revolutions per minute, will saw for 
 square feet of oak and seventy square feet of spruce per hour, p' 
 horse power. 
 
 Horse power . — One horse can raise 150 pounds two hundred a » 
 
VALUABLE TABLES, ETC. 
 
 517 
 
 twenty feet high in a minute, eight hours a day ; one horse power is 
 reckoned at from 30,000 to 36,000 pounds raised one foot high per 
 ninute; one horse force, drawing horizontally, is estimated at 770 
 pounds ; one horse can draw on a level 4,480 pounds — two tons, equal 
 
 to seven men. 
 
 Power of a Man. — An active man, working to the best advantage, 
 can raise ten pounds ten feet in a second for ten hours in the day, or 
 100 pounds one foot in a second. Absolute force of pressure with the 
 hands was found by the dynanometer of Eegnier to be on an average 
 equal to 110 pounds. Absolute force of a man lifting with both hands, 
 286 pounds. Greatest average load which a man can support on his 
 shoulders for some seconds, is estimated at 330 pounds, and it is sup- 
 posed that he can exert the same force in drawing vertically down- 
 ward. The mean absolute force, in drawing or pulling horizontally, 
 is found by the dynanometer to be 110 pounds ; the force of the pull 
 in the strongest man was found to be only 20 pounds more than the 
 average. One strong man can draw on a level 640 pounds. 
 
 Units of Horse and Man Powers. — An active man, in the prime of 
 life, can raise 100 pounds one foot per second, working ten hours per 
 day ; a horse can raise 550 pounds in the same space of time. These 
 are units of horse and man powers. 
 
 To Calculate the Number of Barrels in a Water Cistern. — Divide the 
 cubic contents in feet by four and twenty-one-hundredths. For each 
 foot of depth , the numbers of barrels answering to the different diam- 
 eters, are as follows : 
 
 For 5 feet in diameter, 4.66 bbls. 
 “ 6 do do 6.71 do 
 
 “ 7 do do 9.13 do 
 
 For 
 
 u 
 
 8 feet in diameter, 11.93 bbls. 
 
 9 do do 15.10 do 
 10 do do 18.65 do 
 
 To Calculate the Quantity of Fluid Discharged per day from any 
 Opening. — Ascertain the cubic feet of any fluid discharged per minute 
 from any opening, and multiply them by 9,000, and you have the 
 number of gallons for twenty-four hours. 
 
 Liquid Measure. — One teaspoonful contains sixty drops ; four tea- 
 spoonfuls are equal to one tablespoonful ; one tablespoonful contains 
 half an ounce ; four tablespoonfuls are half a gill ; eight tablespoonfuls 
 are one gill ; a common sized wine glass contains half a gill, or 2 ounces ; 
 
 a teacup contains a gill ; a common sized tumbler holds halt a pint. 
 
 Number of Cut Nails by Count per Pound. — Of three-penny, 600 ; 
 four-penny, 360 ; six-penny, 200 ; eight-penny, 110 ; ten-penny, 88 ; 
 twelve-penny, 68; twenty-penny, 40. 
 
 The Barrel.— A barrel' of pork or beef is 200 pounds ; of salt, 280 
 
518 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 pounds, in some places 250; potatoes, in New York, 2J bushels; flour, 
 196 pounds; rice, 600 pounds; cider and other liquids, 30 gallons; 
 powder, 25 pounds. 
 
 A CHAPTER ON PESTS AND THEIR REMEDIES. 
 
 Remedies for Rats and Mice . — To get rid of these pests, apply what- 
 ever remedy you select as soon as they make their appearance, and 
 persevere with it. Powdered potash, strewn in their paths, and rub- 
 bed on the edges of boards where they come through, makes their feet 
 sore, and drives them away. The pulverized potash is sometimes 
 sprinkled over cotton batting, and crowded into the holes which they 
 frequent. Chloride of lime, or bleaching powder, loose or wrapped in 
 a rag, and stuffed in rat holes, or passage ways, will often drive them 
 away for a few months, until the chlorine odor has disappeared. A 
 strong solution of copperas, sprinkled freely in their haunts and hid- 
 ing places, has in many instances driven them away effectually. Plas- 
 ter of Paris has proved successful. A tablespoonful of live plaster, 
 mix6d in a cup of Indian meal, or flour, or equal parts of plaster and 
 flour, mixed dry, slightly sweetened with sugar, and put in dry places, 
 will be eaten ravenously by both rats and mice. The plaster sets firmly 
 directly after it is moistened, becomes a lump inside of them, and kills, 
 to a cei'tainty. A little grated cheese makes the food more attractive. Oil 
 of anise would be still more so. Ten grains of powdered phosphorus, 
 mixed with a pint of Indian meal, is a good remedy. Five cents 
 worth of strychnine, mixed with a pint of Indian meal, with grated 
 cheese, or oil of anise, is effectual. A handful of seeds fresh from a 
 pumpkin, or soaked in water a short time, then sprinkled with a little 
 arsenic, and placed at night where rats and mice frequent, is a pretty 
 certain remedy, for they are so fond of the seeds, they seldom refuse 
 to eat them. Sir Humphrey Davy’s great remedy was hog’s lard and 
 carbonate of bareyta, mixed well together in sufficient quantities, then 
 smeared upon the inside of a skillet, and placed so that neither cats 
 nor dogs, nor anything but rats and mice, can have access to it. A 
 very successful plan has been to bait them regularly every night for a 
 week with good fresh Indian meal, the seventh night adding strych- 
 nine, or equal parts of orpiment and arsenic. Powdered nux vomica, 
 mixed with oat or corn meal, and placed in the haunts of rats and 
 mice, is sometimes a very successful remedy. With, this, as with 
 
A CHAPTER ON PESTS AND THEIR REMEDIES. 
 
 5J9 
 
 some of the preceding, proper precautions must be observed to pre- 
 vent accidents. A bunch of raw cotton, saturated or moistened with 
 any kind of oil, and dipped in dry Scotch snuff, then used to wad up 
 holes, has been well recommended. To drive away and keep rats 
 from corn cribs and granaries, place gas tar in them, and daub some 
 in their holes, and they will leave the premises at once. One part of 
 powdered squills to three or four parts of strong smelling cheese, mix- 
 ed and made into balls, then placed where rats will get at it will either 
 kill them or cause them to disappear immediately. 
 
 A remedy which is extensively manufactured and sold at a great 
 profit is made as follows : In a pot of water put two spoonfuls of cay- 
 enne pepper, one spoonful pulverized anise seed, half a drachm each 
 of salt petre and white lead, and a wine glass of extract of hops. 
 Then take a loaf of stale bread and throw it into the above mixture 
 in crumbs ; digest for six hours in a moderate heat ; strain through a 
 cloth ; add thereto thirty drops of the tincture of quassia, and let it 
 stand until next day, then bottle it. Some pieces of bread saturated 
 with this will destroy all the rats and mice. Some lumps of sugar 
 saturated with it will be a speedy cure for cockroaches. 
 
 The following methods have been employed very successfully : Fill 
 a large smooth kettle with water, and then cover with a few inches of 
 chaff. The first rat that gets in makes a great outcry, which brings 
 others to share his fate. A barrel, one-third full of water, with an 
 island, the surface covered with chaff, and a bait suspended over it, is 
 an excellent trap. A large kettle half full of water, with a small 
 stone island in the center, just big enough for one rat to rest upon, the 
 top of the kettle being covered with parchment similar to a drum- 
 head, having a cross cut in the center, is a first rate trap. Fasten a 
 small bait upon the points of the cut, and the rat jumps down from a 
 board arranged for the purpose, and through he goes into the water. 
 He scrambles on the island and screams for help. Another hears him, 
 and comes looking around, sees the bait, jumps for it, takes the plunge, 
 and goes down on the other fellow’s head. Then comes a scramble for 
 place, the stronger pushing the weaker off to take his place in the 
 water. This muss, as with men, attracts others, and in they go. We 
 have heard of twenty in a night thus inveigled to destruction. A 
 large wire cage trap, where the second rat will go in because he sees 
 the first in there, often proves successful in ridding a place of the 
 pests. If the center of a cage is sprinkled with a few drops of the oil 
 of Rhodium, multitudes are irrestibly attracted to the spot, to be dis- 
 posed of at will. By the use of oil of Rhodium, or oil of anise, rats 
 
520 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 may be coaxed out of a bouse to eat poison and die where their bodies 
 will not be a nuisance. 
 
 Tarring and feathering rats ; and then letting them run, has been 
 practiced to give the tribe a hint that it would be well for them to 
 leave. It is said that if a dozen rats are caught and put alive in a 
 large kettle, out of which they cannot escape, and kept there without 
 food, they will devour each other till there is but one left, and that 
 the strongest ; that if he is then let out, he will catch and eat every 
 rat on the premises. A gentleman in New York opened the floor at 
 several places in the upper stories of his house,- placed there vessels 
 containing a mixture of sulphuric acid, black oxide of manganese and 
 common salt, and closed down the boards. The result was a slow 
 chemical decomposition and recombining of elements, in the progress 
 of which the heavy, stifling gas, chlorine, was disengaged. This made 
 its way along the open spaces and down to the cellar. A few breaths 
 of the poisonous atmosphere served to convince the rats that danger 
 was at hand. Seizing what of their accumulated plunder they could, 
 they hastened to abandon the premises, sneezing and weeping as they 
 went, from having inhaled the noxious chlorine. Many months passed 
 before one of the number ventured to return. An army of ants, moths, 
 bugs, roaches, and other pestilent insects perished in the fumes. 
 
 When one remedy fails it is always best to immediately try anoth- 
 er, for these pests soon destroy more than the cost of alb the remedies 
 enumerated put together. A good-mannered well-trained cat is al- 
 ways one of the most efficient remedies; a good terrier dog is often 
 useful; ferrets and weasels are frequently effective. 
 
 Remedies for Ants . — One of the best is half a pound of flour of brim- 
 stone and four ounces of potash, placed over the fire in an iron or 
 earthen pan, until dissolved and united, then beaten into powder, and 
 a little of it infused in water! Wherever this is sprinkled, the ante 
 will die or leave the place. Flour of sulphur alone sprinkled in their 
 haunts is said to repel them. Ground coffee scattered about their 
 haunts, through the season, following them up from place to place, 
 will cause them to disappear. Spirits of turpentine, poured on their 
 hillocks disperses or destroys them. Bottles partly filled with sweet- 
 ened water attract them, and imprison and drown them. It is said 
 that they avoid drawers and boxes made of red cedar ; also that red 
 cedar shavings placed in drawers or on shelves will repel them. We 
 have seen preserves, &c., kept from ants by being placed on tables, 
 the legs of which were set in dishes of w T ater. Or the dish of pre- 
 serves, sugar bowl, &c., may itself be placed in a plate of water, or in 
 
521 
 
 A CHAPTER ON PESTS AND THEIR REMEDIES. 
 
 / 
 
 a plate covered with powdered chalk. Mix together two-thirds of a 
 tumbler full of whisky, molasses and water in equal parts and place it 
 where they frequent. This will attract and catch them, when you 
 may destroy them as you please. Or smear the inside of a vessel 
 with honey, and invert it over their nests or places of most frequent 
 resort, and when covered with them jar them off into boiling water. 
 
 Red ants are repelled by placing camphor about the shelves, &c., 
 where they are found. Twigs of tomato vines thrown around closets 
 are said to repel them. A small quantity of corrosive sublimate (poi- 
 son,) dissolved in alcohol and applied thoroughly with a feather in the 
 crevices and corners of shelves, across the threshold of closet doors, 
 sills of windows, &c., renewing it every three or four weeks in warm 
 weather, will be found a most perfect preventive. If shelves, &c., are 
 washed clean, and while damp fine salt rubbed on them quite thick, 
 and allowed to remain for a time, the ants will disappear. Black wal- 
 nut leaves, also green sage placed in closets likely to be infected by 
 them is said to be a preventive. The following is a very simple and 
 said to be a very effectual remedy : Procure a large sponge, wash it 
 well and press it dry, which will leave the cells quite open ; then sprin- 
 kle over it some fine white sugar, and place it near where the ants are 
 troublesome. They will soon collect upon the sponge and take up 
 their abode in the cells. It is only necessary to dip the sponge in 
 scalding water, which will wash them out dead by the tens of thou- 
 sands. Put on more sugar and set the trap for a new haul. This 
 process will soon clear the house of every ant. 
 
 Remedies for Cockroaches . — Roaches devour greedily, and die while 
 eating, flour paste, if into half a pint of it, while hot, a dime’s worth 
 of phosphorous is stirred, in a tin cup, with a long stick. When this 
 is nearly cold, add a quarter as much grease, to keep it from drying ; 
 then smear it on broken glass or dirty board, to be left where they 
 congregate. Common red wafers scattered about their haunts often 
 drive away, if not destroy them. Dried camomile flowers powdered 
 and blown into their crevices expel them. Cucumber rinds placed 
 plentifully around their haunts, and renewed every week or two are 
 said to drive them away. Corrosive sublimate as recommended for 
 ants is a certain remedy. 
 
 Remedy for Crickets . — Scotch snuff put on the holes where crickets 
 come out, will destroy them. 
 
 Remedies for Moths . — Destroy the millers that make the moths, by 
 catching them with sweetened water and vinegar. Or in the evening 
 place a burning lamp or candle in a pan of water and they will be at- 
 
522 
 
 PEACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 tracted to it and drowned. Fumigate closets and drawers with tobac- 
 co. Wrap up some yellow or turpentine soap and place it or an open 
 bottle containing spirits of turpentine in the wardrobe. In the month 
 of April or May, beat your fur garments 'well with a small cane or 
 elastic stick, give them a thorough exposure to the hot sun if practi- 
 cable, wrap them up in linen, without pressing the fur too hard, and 
 put between the folds some camphor in small lumps; then put your 
 furs in this state in boxes well closed. When the furs are wanted for 
 use beat them well as before, and expose them for twenty-four hours 
 to the air, which will take away the smell of the camphor. If the fur 
 has long hair, as bear or fox, add to the camphor an equal quantity of 
 black pepper in powder. Eub or strew under and around the edge 
 of carpets, and on them, salt and black pepper, or salt and Scotch 
 snuff. Tobacco, turpentine, camphor, shavings of camphor-wood, sha- 
 vings of cedar-wood, small branches of cedar, pimento berries or al- 
 spice, and aromatic herbs, have all been recommended as preventives 
 of the moth to be distributed freely among clothes and furs in bags, 
 boxes, drawers, closets, &c. Clothes closets that have been infested 
 with moths should be well rubbed with a strong decoction of tobacco, 
 and repeatedly sprinkled with spirits of camphor. The odor of tur- 
 pentine is a deadly poison to moths and their grubs. A few pieces of 
 paper smeared lightly with turpentine, and placed in drawers where 
 furs and woolens are kept, will completely prevent their ravages. It 
 is said that moths can’t bear tallow, and that a pound of commonest 
 tallow candles put in paper and scattered through a closet, will secure 
 the clothes in it from injury. A remedy used in Eussia under the 
 name of Chinese Tincture, for moths, is composed of one ounce of gum 
 camphor, and one ounce powdered red pepper, macerated in eight 
 ounces of strong alcohol for several days, then strained. With this 
 tincture the furs or cloths are sprinkled over, and then rolled up in 
 sheets. If furs are washed with twelve grains of corrosive sublimate 
 in a pint of warm water, and then dried, the moth will not molest 
 them. Eemember this is poison. For carpets, after the moths have 
 commenced eating, the best thing that can be done, without taking the 
 carpet up is, to wring out a crash towel, spread it smoothly on the car- 
 pet, wherever moths are suspected or detected, and iron it dry with a 
 hot iron, repeating if necessary. The hot steam will penetrate the car- 
 pet (not injuring the color at all,) and kill both worms- and eggs. 
 
 Mosquitoes . — Camphor is the most powerful agent to drive away 
 mosquitoes. A camphor bag hung up in an open casement, it is said, 
 will prove an effectual barrier to their entrance. Camphorated spirits 
 
A CHAPTER ON PESTS AND THEIR REMEDIES. 
 
 523 
 
 applied as a perfume to the face and hands will act as an effectual pre- 
 ventive ; but when bitten by them, aromatic vinegar is the best anti- 
 dote. A newspaper says, put a couple of generous pieces of beef on 
 plates, near your bed at night, and you will sleep untroubled by these 
 pests. 
 
 Fleas . — Five or six pieces of camphor of the size of a walnut tied 
 up seperately in pieces of cloth, and placed in different parts of the 
 bed will keep fleas away. Blankets with long nap substituted for 
 sheets to the bed will place them at your mercy, as their legs become 
 entangled. A few drops of the oil of wormwood sprinkled among 
 clothing will keep them away. 
 
 Bed-Bugs . — A very sure remedy is to take a board, say a foot wide 
 and four feet long, puncture it with many holes with a small bit, put 
 it inside of the head board and next to the bed and pillows ; if there 
 is a bug about the bed he will find his way to the holes in the board 
 soon. Take it out of its place every morning, hold it over the fire or 
 water, and give it a few raps with a hammer, then put in place and 
 repeat. The following remedy is said to be infallible : Take two pounds 
 of alum, bruise it and reduce it nearly to powder ; dissolve it in three 
 quarts of boiling water, letting it remain in a warm place till the alum 
 is dissolved. The alum is to be applied hot, by means of a brush, to 
 every joint and crevice. Brush the crevices in the floor of the skirt- 
 ing board if they are suspected places : whitewash the ceiling, putting 
 in plenty of alum. It is also said that half an ounce of soap boiled 
 in a pint of water, and put on with a brush while boiling hot, infalli- 
 bly destroys the bugs and their eggs. Whatever remedy is used, 
 must be applied thoroughly, and repeated several times in quick suc- 
 cession, or it will be in vain. 
 
 Coal oil is a most effectual remedy applied plentifully with a small 
 brush or feather to the places where they congregate. A decoction 
 of half a pound of dried calamus (sweet flag) root, boiled in two quarts 
 of vinegar, and left to steep over night, will remove bed bugs, if the 
 bedsteads are thoroughly and repeatedly washed with it. Filling every 
 crack with salt, or washing every place infested with very strong salt 
 water, repeating the process very frequently, has been well recommen- 
 ded. Turpentine has been recommended ; so has quicksilver thorough- 
 ly mixed with white of egg ; also quicksilver and lard, rubbed togeth- 
 er in a stone mortar or earthen bowl until well mixed, then put in the 
 crevices of bedsteads, &c., in small quantities. This is similar to blue 
 ointment and has an advantage over liquids as it does not dry, and 
 will remain for years unless washed off, Candlewick saturated with 
 
524 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 tar and tied loosely (so as to retain the tar) around the foot of the 
 bedstead in the smallest part, or on the castor just above the roller, 
 renewing the tar as often as necessary, has been practiced it is said 
 with success. Corrosive sublimate with alcohol is an effective remedy 
 thoroughly administered. Corrosive sublimate and muriatic acid, each 
 one ounce, and water half a pint, is one of the cleanest and surest 
 remedies. What remains should be thrown away as it is a deadly 
 poison. 
 
 Body Vermin . — These breath through their sides, and common 
 sweet oil plugs up their conduits so that death from suffocation is 
 speedy and certain, always. Ignorance in many cases makes the oil, 
 which is the efficient remedy, merely the vehicle for applying a poison, 
 dangerous to man, which has no efficiency whatever in destroying 
 vermin. 
 
 House Flies . — To one pint of milk add a quarter of a pouna of raw 
 sugar and two ounces of ground pepper ; simmer together eight or 
 ten minutes, and place it about in shallow dishes ; or, take as much 
 each of ground black pepper and sugar as will lie on a dime, moisten 
 with two teaspoonfulls of cream or rich milk, and spread it on a plate 
 or board ; the flies eat it greedily, are soon suffocated, seek the air, and 
 die out of doors. By this means, kitchens, &c., may be kept clear of 
 flies all summer without the danger attending poison. The Colton fly 
 trap is remarkable for its simplicity, and for its efficiency during au- 
 tumn, when flies settle in great numbers on the ceilings of rooms. It 
 consists simply of a glass tumbler half full of soap suds. In the morn- 
 ing before fires are made, and while the flies are half dormant with 
 the chill of cold autumn nights, the tumbler is placed up against the 
 ceiling, so as to enclose the fly — he starts to escape but cannot, but 
 goes down plump into the soap suds. The operator passes quickly 
 from one to another, till in a few minutes at most the whole ceiling is 
 cleared. If the ceiling is high, the tumbler may be fastened to the 
 end of a stick by attaching a little box to the stick, and setting the 
 tumbler in it. The tumbler must be glass so as to allow the light to 
 pass through, or the fly will not try to escape, and cannot be so well 
 caught in the soap suds. Another cheap and very efficient apparatus 
 for exterminating flies, is made by filling a glass tumbler to two- thirds 
 its capacity with strong soap suds, and covering it with a slice of 
 bread smeared on the lower side with molasses, and perforated in the 
 middle with a hole the size of ones finger. There should be a little 
 molasses through the hole and around its upper edge. For two or 
 three hours very few flies will be caught, but after they begin to ac- 
 
A CHAPTER ON PESTS AND THEIR REMEDIES. b'Zh 
 
 cumulate the liquid will soon be black with them. It is said that flies 
 may be excluded from a room with unclosed windows, by covering the 
 openings of such windows with a net made of white or light colored 
 thread, with meshes an inch or more in diameter ; the only condition 
 being, that the light enter the room on one side only ; for if there be 
 a through light from window or door, the flies will pass through the 
 net. It is also said that if a bunch of plantain or fleawort be dipped 
 in milk and hung up in a room, the flies will leave. Cold green tea, 
 made very strong, and sweetened will, if set about in saucers, attract 
 flies and destroy more or less of them. So will the liquor of boiled 
 poke root mixed with a little molasses, and spread on plates. Four 
 parts of brown sugar, and one each of ground pepper, and quassia in 
 coarse powder, dissolved in a pint of boiling water, and placed on 
 plates, will also destroy them. Eesin, melted in sweet oil or lard oil 
 to the consistence of thick molasses and spread upon writing paper, 
 placed where flies will come in contact with it, will cause the death of 
 every one. Wrapped around table legs or trees, it prevents insects 
 from climbing them. Gilt frames, chandeliers, &c., rubbed lightly 
 over with coal oil, will not be disturbed by flies. 
 
 General Remedies for Insects . — The powder of Coculus Indicus, 
 which boys use to stupefy fishes, destroys many insects, if scattered 
 about their haunts. Insect powders purchased at drug stores, if gen- 
 uine, are chiefly or wholly the powdered leaves of a European species 
 of Pyrethrum, and will effectually destroy all kinds of insects, lice, 
 &c. The Persian Powder is said to be harmless to man, but certain 
 death to insects. It is the powdered blossoms of the Caucassian veg- 
 etable, Pyrethrum Eoseum, of a yellowish gray color, odorless, tasteless 
 at first, but leaving a burning sensation. The plant will flourish in 
 our country, and seeds will be furnished by the Agricultural Depart- 
 ment at Washington City. It is one of the best remedies known, be- 
 cause cheap, perfectly harmless to man and infallibly fatal to insects. 
 Some insect powders sold under different names are said to be com- 
 pounds of arsenic — arsenite of copper — and other active and potent 
 poisons, the vapors even from which, are exceedingly injurious and 
 dangerous. Eed chamomile, sold by druggists, rubbed to a fine pow- 
 der, and mixed with something which they will eat, then dusted into 
 haunts of insects, is one of the most effective remedies known for all 
 kinds of insects. Lyon’s Bug Powders, made of chamomile, it is said 
 made him immensely rich. 
 
 Bats, though charged with sustaining bed bugs as parasites, are 
 
526 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 nevertheless great insect eaters, and never visit tlie house of an even- 
 ing for any other purpose than catching insects for food. 
 
 Mice and Fruit Trees . — To prevent mice from gnawing fruit trees, 
 go through the orchard or nursery in the fall and hoe away all litter 
 or trash that would be likely to give harbor to mice, and haul up a 
 little fine soil and tramp it hard over the roots. Or in the fall bank 
 the earth up around the trees six to ten inches high, and remove it in 
 the spring. Tramping the snow around the trees is recommended, 
 and said to be sure, but it is necessary to repeat the operation at least 
 as often as one snow melts and another falls. Small trees are some- 
 times protected by sheets of tin bent around them ; or hollow out a 
 polk stalk, split it on one side, and fit it around the tree. It needs no 
 tying. A good protection may be had by using two pieces of two inch 
 tile, placing them together so as to encircle the tree. At the bottom 
 they may be held together by a pyramid of earth, or fastened top and 
 bottom by a small sized annealed wire, as mice eat off an ordinary 
 string. Tiles of this size or larger when the trees require it, are not 
 very expensive, if preserved for future use. Let the lower end into 
 the ground an inch or more so that the mice will not work under them. 
 Short pieces of lath, placed edge to edge around the trees and tied 
 top and bottom, answer the same purpose. Force the ends a little into 
 the ground, or put the earth around the bottom. Melted tar, applied 
 late in the fall, with a swab, completely covering the tree at the ground, 
 and up the body as far as there is any danger, has been found effectu- 
 al ; so has one pound of tallow melted and mixed with two quarts of 
 tar and applied similarly. A composition of cow dung, clay and coal 
 tar has also been recommended for the purpose. One gallon of soft 
 soap, one pound Scotch snuff, one pound sulphur, and to make these 
 stick, a teacupful of newly slacked lime ; all made scalding hot and 
 thoroughly mixed by stirring, then applied with a large paint brush or 
 otherwise wherever there is danger, has been found very effectual, not 
 only against mice, but rabbits and goats likewise. If too stiff add a 
 little water. If the bark of any of the trees is very smooth dip a 
 piece of cotton cloth in the mixture and apply it. One spadeful each 
 of hot slacked lime and cow dung, half a spadeful of soot and one 
 handful of flour of sulphur, mixed with water to the consistency of 
 thick paint, is used by some in the same manner. This has been re- 
 commended by Downing. A dry day should be chosen for the appli- 
 cation. Paper smeared with coal tar, and wrapped around the bodies 
 of the trees near the ground, has been tried successfully. Where tin- 
 ners’ scraps or iron turners' chips can be had for the asking, if they 
 
a' CHAPTER ON PESTS AND THEIR REMEDIES. 527 
 
 are placed around the trees an inch or two doep, they will serve as a 
 great protection -and general benefit to the trees. In the absence of 
 these, coal ashes, or leached wood ashes, or even coarse gravel will be 
 found beneficial, removing all grass and weeds before placing them 
 around the trees. Corn soaked in strychnine and placed where tho 
 mice will eat it, is relied upon by some. 
 
 To Prevent Rabbits Grtawing Irees. — Wind narrow strips of cotton 
 cloth about the bodies of the trees as high as the rabbits can reach. 
 In the spring dry and put away carefully until another winter. Or 
 dip rags in melted brimstone and fasten about the trees. Or plaster 
 the trees with fresh cow dung. Or daub the trees with grease scented 
 with some offensive odor. Several of the remedies recommended 
 against mice are also efficient. Simply newspapers kept bound around 
 the trees are said to be sufficient. 
 
 Insects on Trees. — Take of potash, twenty pounds ; air-slacked lime, 
 half a bushel ; sifted wood ashes, half a bushel ; fresh cow dung, t half 
 a bushel. Mix in water enough to be of the consistence of white- 
 wash. Scrape off the rough bark, and rub the wash in well with a 
 brush. Keep ants off fruit trees by bending around the trunks of the 
 trees tarred paper. 
 
 Apple Tree Borer. — Apply soft soap at the lower part of the trunks 
 of the trees ; or scrape off the rough bark and wash with soap or lime 
 and manure ; or dissolve one ounce of saltpeter and eight ounces of 
 common salt in a gallon of lye and apply well with a brush. Benj. D. 
 Walsh, of Rock Island, Ills., states that a thorough washing of the 
 trunks of trees with soap about the last of May is a perfect protection 
 against the borer. It is said, upon what appears to be good authority, 
 that newspapers bound around the trees are an efficient protection. 
 
 Catterpillars in Apple Trees. — An ounce of prevention is worth a 
 pound of cure : As soon as the leaves of the apple tree fall, look care- 
 fully and you will find the eggs of the caterpillar in bands or rings 
 upon the smaller limbs. Scrape them off, and at one blow you des- 
 troy hundreds of future depredators. On small trees this can readily 
 be done and should never be neglected. Or wash the caterpillars with 
 hot strong soap suds, using a long handled brush ; it destroys the 
 worms and benefits the trees. Other ways recommended are burning, 
 shooting with powder, applying oil, &e. 
 
 The following is said to be sure death to the catterpillar : Take a 
 pole of suitable length, fasten upon it some cloth or piece of old car- 
 pet in the form of a swab, drive into it a nail leaving a projection with 
 which you can tear open the nest, saturate the swab with coal oil and 
 

 528 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 apply it to tlie nest in the morning, before the worms leave to com- 
 mence feeding. One quart of oil will kill a large number. Some ap- 
 ply the oil with a brush made of stiff feathers. 
 
 To Destroy Bark Lice on Apple Trees . — Wash with potash water, or, 
 if not convenient, a strong lye. In the spring, before the buds start, 
 wash the bodies and large limbs of the trees, using a brush or swab. 
 Do this every year. The bark will becomd green and smooth, and the 
 tree healthy and vigorous. Some put into a strong lye as much salt 
 as will dissolve. Select a damp day. Another remedy is to take one 
 gallon soft soap, half a gallon of lye water, heat to boiling, and add 
 three-fourths of a pint of spirits of turpentine, to be applied while 
 warm, with a paint brush. And another still, to whitewash young 
 apple trees with good fresh slacked lime before the buds start. It will 
 scale off and take the bark louse with it. 
 
 For Beach Tree Borers — Peach Worm — Peach Tree Grub . — Scald 
 the stem of the tree well, letting the hot water get well into the 
 ground around the tree, where the grubs do the most harm, and a des- 
 truction of both eggs and grub follows. Prof. Mapes says he has nev- 
 er found any remedy equal to hot water, and that he has satisfied him- 
 self that a peach tree cannot be injured by hot water. This principle 
 may be applied to other trees and other insects. Lime is also highly 
 recommended. So are wood ashes. The ashes of anthracite coal also. 
 F or more certainty many remove the earth from around the trunks of 
 the trees, and crush and destroy the cocoons and borers which may be 
 found in it or under the bark, before making the applications named 
 above. 
 
 It is said that if tobacco stems can be procured, a few of them put 
 at the base of the tree in the spring will prevent the borer harming 
 the tree. Ashes and hog manure are no doubt equally efficient. A 
 plaster of soft cow manure is recommended to be applied after the 
 worms are dug out. A funnel shaped hole around the base of the 
 tree, to hold three or four quarts, filled with boiling water, is also re- 
 commended. Then fill the holes with a tenacious clay, tramp it hard 
 and leave the surface around cone-shaped and hard compacted. 
 A communication to the Cincinnati Horticultural Society, states that 
 placing stones around peach trees affords harbor for insects which des- 
 troy the peach worm in embryo. A writer to the Country Gentleman 
 says: Place the scales from blacksmith’s anvils around peach trees, 
 and in a short time you will not be able to find a worm there. 
 
 In planting peach trees it has been recommended to cut away the 
 tap root close under where the horizontal roots put out, then to drive 
 
A CHAPTER ON PESTS AND THEIR REMEDIES. 
 
 529 
 
 a stake firmly, and plant tlie tree so shallow that after heavy rain the 
 upper side of the roots will become exposed. In this way, it is said, 
 the trees are not so liable to become infested with the grub. 
 
 Worms in Pears . — A horticulturist writes that having some fine 
 pears stung by worms, he saved them by inserting in the worm hole 
 the stem of a pear leaf, flexible enough to follow its sinuosities, and 
 crush the intruder in his retreat. — The pears would have been good 
 for nothing otherwise, but after this experiment, they “ obtained ad- 
 mirably their maturity, presenting no other trace of the operation 
 than a slightly hardened scar, and an imperceptible depression of 
 contour. 
 
 Save your Plums. Remedies for the Curculio . — Pick up the stung 
 fruit and destroy it after it falls. This, if faithfully pursued, will prove 
 successful. Confine poultry and swine in the plum orchards in early 
 spring, when the curculio is coming out of the ground, and at midsummer, 
 when he is leaving the fruit. Drive strong stakes here and there 
 through the orchard for the hogs to rub against instead of rubbing 
 the trees. One certainly effective method of destroying the curculio, 
 and one that is adopted by many, is to shake them off on sheets every 
 day, and then burn them. Those who rightly practice this always 
 secure fine crops. Use a large cheap umbrella, made for the purpose, 
 with a white covering, and an opening or slit between two stiff arms to 
 receive the trunk of the tree. Place it in an inverted position under 
 the tree, and the blow of a mallet on the short stub of a limb will jar 
 all or nearly all the curculio from the branches. The umbrella is to 
 be then partly folded, and shaken at the same moment, by which all 
 the insects are thrown through an opening a few inches in diameter, at 
 the center, made for this purpose, into a pail of hot water, already pre- 
 pared, c". into a shallow vessel of oil of turpentine, and thus destroyed. 
 For small trees, this is a convenient method. Or, when the trees are 
 very large, use iight frames of wood, covered with white cotton cloth, 
 made as light as possible. Each piece of muslin is attached to two 
 square frames that may be folded together like a book, throwing the 
 insects together, and, by then inclining it over the vessel of hot water 
 or turpentine and jarring them into it. Two such frames are needed 
 for a tree. 
 
 Another way recommended, is to pave the ground with brick, slate 
 or mortar, &c., preventing the insect from penetrating the ground af- 
 ter it leaves the punctured plum. Another still, is the removal of the 
 surface soil from around the tree, in the fall or early spring, and with 
 it the buried insects. Also, the covering of the ground with salt at 
 34 
 
I 
 
 530 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 midsummer, is d as to kill the worm escaping from the fruit. And an 
 application of unfermented stable manure about the tree when the 
 fruit is just set. The placing of lamps set in vessels of soap suds 
 around trees. In this way it is well known many insects may be at- 
 tracted and destroyed. The syringing of various offensive and poison- 
 our mixtures over the foliage of the tree, to wit : 1. To one pound of 
 whale oil soap add four ounces of flour of sulphur. Mix them thor- 
 oughly, and dissolve in twelve quarts of water. 2. To half a peck of 
 quick lime add four quarts of water, and stir well together. When 
 well settled, pour off the transparent lime water, and add the soap and 
 sulphur mixture. 3. Add to the same four quarts of tolerably strong 
 tobacco water. 4. Apply the mixture with a garden syringe to your 
 plum trees, and others that need protection from the curcuJio, so that 
 the foliage shall be well drenched. If no rain succeeds for three weeks 
 one application will be sufficient, otherwise new applications will he 
 necessary. 
 
 It is said that lime sprinkled over plum trees from a bag, sieve or 
 vessel with holes, slung on the end of a pole, will preserve the fruit 
 from curculio, applying it freely as often as the rain or dew takes it 
 off, from the time the blossom leaf begins to fall until the curculio is 
 done working, usually about four weeks. Use air slacked lime in a 
 dry state, and when the tree is wet with dew in the morning, or after 
 a rain. It may be thrown through the tree by handfuls. The same 
 process should be used on cherry and pear trees when the nasty slug 
 begins to make its depredation on the -leaves. This is claimed to be 
 infallible against the curculio. Sawdust saturated with coal oil, and 
 spread around the roots of .plum trees is also recommended to keep 
 awav the curculio. And a correspondent of the American Agricultu~ 
 rist says : As soon as the trees blossom, wrap their trunks with cotton 
 or cloth saturated with kerosene oil, a foot or two from the ground, 
 and renew once or twice a week as long as the insect appears. Some 
 have said this has killed their trees. 
 
 The Country Gentleman recommends rags smeared with gas tar 
 hung in the branches of the trees, and says a judicious use of gas tar 
 will also expel insects from other vegetables. Another remedy, 
 claimed to be effectual for repelling curculio and other insects, is, to 
 bore a hole into the trunk of the tree, fill it with sulphur, and plug it 
 up. To burn soot under the trees at the time the insect commences 
 his ravages, has been also recommended. And to throw a covering 
 over the tree on a still morning, when the plums are beginning to set, 
 &nd generate a smoke of refuse tobacco underneath. This, too, has 
 
A CHAPTER ON PESTS AND THEIR REMEDIES. 531 
 
 been reported effectual if repeated. The Germans, it is said, some- 
 times practice the following : About the time the fruit is forming, 
 catch and kill a number of mice, or take pieces of meat and hang them 
 among the branches, and into these decaying bodies the insect depos- 
 its its eggs, instead of stinging the fruit. Dr. Underhill, of Croton 
 Point, on the Hudson river, raises a large crop of plums every year 
 by simply planting his trees inclining over the water, where the fruit 
 if stung would fall into the water, and it is never molested by the cur- 
 cuKq. There is no doubt that this and several other remedies named 
 are effectual if properly applied and persevered in, but there are many 
 persons who will not be thorough in the practice of any method, and, 
 consequently, seldom or never succeed in securing a crop of this deli- 
 cious and valuable fruit. To jar off the insects on a sheet and kill 
 them, is perhaps the most commonly practiced, and, if persevered in, 
 is perfectly sure, as well as simple. Other remedies have been recom- 
 mended, as for instance, a mixture of sulphur, lard and Scotch snuff, 
 applied to the body and branches of the tree, which did effectually re- 
 pel the curculio, and secured a full crop of fruit, but also killed the 
 tree. Black soap from the tallow chandler’s, dissolved in water, and 
 much diluted, with which the trees are syringed directly after the 
 blossoms, fall, after a rain, and repeated when washed off, has been 
 tried, it is said, with success. Fresh cow-dung, a little wood ashes, 
 some lime, made into a decoction, with about half a pound of sulphur 
 to the half barrel, thrown over the trees after each rain, has also suc- 
 ceeded. Simply fresh cow or pig manure, dissolved, and the water 
 sprinkled over the trees, has been recommended. It is said a heavy 
 coat of fresh horse manure spread on the ground under the trees, has 
 prevented their ravages. A coop of chickens underneath the tree, 
 and the insect jarred off frequently, has secured crops of fruit. Soap 
 suds and chamber lye, scattered freely under the trees early in spring, 
 also lime similarly applied, has in some instances proved a success. 
 
 To Eepd Currant and Gooseberry Worms. — It is said that an ap- 
 plication of air slacked lime, in early spring, around currant bushes, 
 preserves the foliage from the attack of the chermes, which occasions 
 the unsightly and diseased appearance of curl in the leaves. Dust the 
 bushes with the powder of white helebore, which can be had at the 
 drug stores. This will destroy the worm. Apply it when the bushes 
 are damp. Or stir one ounce of powdered helebore and two ounces 
 of powdered alum with a small quantity of water, until the alum is 
 dissolved and the powder of helebore thoroughly wetted and mixed. 
 Put the whole into a gallon of water, and throw upon the plants 
 
532 PKACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 means of a syringe or watering pot. One application will often be 
 sufficient. A repetition must be made whenever tbe worm appears. 
 This powder is a poison, and must be kept and used like other poisons. 
 The first shower will clean the bushes, and no injurious effects will be 
 likely to follow from using the fruit. 
 
 Spent tan placed around gooseberry bushes preserves them from 
 the ravages of the worm. 
 
 To Protect the Gooseberry from Mildew. — Applications made every 
 few days of powdered sulphur to the foliage and fruit of the gooseber- 
 ry, when the fruit begins to form and increase in size, is said to be a 
 complete protection from the mildew. 
 
 Insects in Stored Grain. — A commission was appointed by the 
 French government to inquire into the means of protecting stored 
 grain from the ravages of insects. The commission state, as the re- 
 sult of their experiments, that thirty grains of chloroform, or sulphu- 
 ret of carbon, put into the interior of a grain pit, hermetically closed, 
 are sufficient to destroy every insect in a metrical quintal (220 lbs.) 
 of corn in four or five days. Or seventy-five grains of sulphuret of 
 carbon, suitably divided amongst the grain, will do it in twenty-four 
 hours. Chloroform operates rather more slowly. The sulphuret, in 
 a still larger quantity, succeeds on grain, laid in a heap and covered 
 with an impermeable tarpaulin. 
 
 To keep Vermin from Granaries. — After the grain is in the bin, anc! 
 made level, we may spread evenly over it a quantity of slaked lime — 
 one quart to twenty-five bushels, or in that proportion. If the rats 
 or mice come upon it, they will do so but once — and will leave the 
 premises. The lime must be fresh slaked and perfectly dry. To keep 
 out insects the lime must be mixed thoroughly with the grain. It can 
 be separated from the grain by running through the fanning mill. 
 
 Insects in Growing Grain. — A correspondent of the North Western 
 Farmer says : Make a free use of air slacked lime on all crops, even 
 potatoes, and there will be no injury from insects. A very successful 
 wheat grower says : One of the best preventives of the ravages of 
 wheat-destroying insects is early sowing. Another says : Cutting 
 wheat while in the milk, and the straw green, then applying salt lib- 
 erally to the mow or stack, destroys the wevil, if some time is allowed 
 before threshing. The French remedy, mentioned above, will effec- 
 tually destroy the wevil. 
 
 To Destroy Insects on Plants. — W. S. Carpenter says that the best 
 remedy for worms and all insects on plants is flour sulphur. The Lon- 
 don Cottage Gardener recommends bitter aloes. Mix half an ounce 
 
A CHAPTER ON PESTS AND THEIR REMEDIES. 
 
 533 
 
 of aloes with a gallon of warm water, and apply it to the affected 
 plants by means of a syringe or watering can. Before half an hour 
 you will have clean plants. Solution of aloes is fatal to bed bugs. 
 
 Dingier 1 s Polytechnisches Journal says: In scattering chloride of 
 lime on a plank in a stable all kinds of flies, but more especially biting 
 flies, were quickly got rid of. Sprinkling beds of vegetables with 
 even a weak solution of this salt, effectually preserves them from cat- 
 erpillars, butterflies, mordellas, slugs, &c. It has the same effect when 
 sprinkled on the foliage of fruit trees. A paste of one part of powder- 
 ed chloride of lime and one-half part of some fatty matter, placed in a 
 narrow band around the trunk of the tree, prevents insects from creep- 
 ing up it. It has ever been noticed that rats and mice quit places in 
 which a certain quantity of chloride of lime has been spread. This 
 salt, dried and finely powdered, can, no doubt, be employed for the 
 same purposes as flour of sulphur, and be spread by the same means. 
 
 Berries of the China tree of the south scattered over the ground kills 
 all insects. Elder leaves scattered over cabbages, cucumbers, squash- 
 es, and other plants subject to the ravages of insects, it is said effectu- 
 ally shields them; also that the plum and other fruit may be saved 
 from insects by placing upon the branches and through the tree, 
 branches of elder leaves. It is also said that, the water in which po- 
 tatoes are boiled, sprinkled over plants, will destroy all the insects. 
 A bright fire of resinous pine, tar, shavings, or any other combustible, 
 kindled in the garden at night, on a platform erected for that purpose, 
 will attract and destroy millions of insects. Dr. Trimble advises 
 treating with tobacco juice all worms and insects that trouble plants, 
 as none but the variety that live upon tobacco plants can stand a de- 
 coction of the vile weed. 
 
 To Destroy Worms in Garden Walks. — Pour into the worm-holes a 
 strong lye, made of wood ashes, lime, and water. Or, if more conven- 
 ient, use, for this purpose, strong salt and water* 
 
 To Protect Plants from the Garden Flea. — Sprinkle corn meal 
 around the plants and renew after rain or heavy dew. 
 
 To Protect Vines from Bugs. — Corn meal sprinkled freely as direct- 
 ed above is believed to be infallible. Boxes without top or bottom, 
 say about fifteen inches square and eight or ten inches high, placed 
 around the vines, are believed to be equally so. Covers to the boxes, 
 of glass, millinet or similar material, arc sometimes used, but we think 
 unnecessarily. A pane of glass over each hill, supported at the cor- 
 ners on four small wooden pegs, is said to be effective. Sulphur dust- 
 ed from a gauze bag upon the vines is a good remedy, and may be ap- 
 
534 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 plied to fruit trees and all plants with equal benefit. One of the best 
 remedies is a strong decoction of cow manure and hen manure, applied 
 cold morning and evening. Good for the plants, and bad for the in- 
 sects. Another remedy, and at the same time excellent fertilizer, is 
 fresh fish or fresh fish offal, put in a vessel of water with a little salt, 
 and allowed to stand until decomposition commences. Dampen the 
 leaves and vines occasionally with the liquid. The odor of guano, cow 
 dung, onions, tomatoes, &c., are all recommended. Some set an onion 
 in each hill, or plant onion seeds around the hill, or as soon as the 
 bugs make their appearance cut up or mash the tops from sets or old 
 onions, and sprinkle them around the hills for successive evenings. 
 Others rely on pulverized hen manure scattered on the hills and around 
 the vines. Covering the hills just before the plants appear with clean, 
 sharp sand, is said to be quite efficacious. Scotch snuff, or equal parts 
 of common red pepper, powdered, and plaster ; or charcoal dust ; are 
 all popular remedies, to be sprinkled freely upon the vines while the 
 dew is on, and also upon the ground under and around the vines. 
 Rags smeared with gas-tar, also feathers or little wads of cotton dip- 
 ped in turpentine, have been successfully tried, by placing them among 
 but not touching the vines, and renewing after showers. Bright eve- 
 ning fires kindled among the vines entice a great many insects to de- 
 struction. Very thin layers of cotton batting, spread over the plants 
 as soon as they appear, held down by a little dirt on the corners, do 
 not interfere with light or moisture, and protect the vines until be- 
 yond the reach of bugs. A decoction of parsley roots and tops ; or 
 snuff, flower of sulphur, and soft soap, one pound each, boiled together 
 half an hour in three or four gallons of water ; or poppy leaves, stalks, 
 buds, &c., steeped in hot or cold water; or a little opium dissolved in 
 water — any of these may be used by sprinkling slightly over the vines 
 occasionally, it is said with success. Some successful growers use 
 plenty of seed at first,, and then at four or five successive periods plant 
 on a new side of the hill, more seed. This supplies an abundance of 
 young plants for the bugs to feed on, and they leave stronger growing 
 plants untouched. When well out of the way of the bugs, surplus 
 plants are dug up with the hoe. A plentiful supply of pumpkin or 
 squash seeds planted near cucumber or melon hills, are said to be an 
 aid, as the insect prefers the thick seed leaves. 
 
 Remedies for the Onion Worms . — The following have been recom- 
 mended as if to be relied on, but we have not tried them : Strew over 
 the bed about half a bushel of pine sawdust to the square rod just be- 
 fore the plants come up. Or, where the onions are four or five inches 
 
A CHAPTER ON PESTS AND THEIR REMEDIES. 
 
 535 
 
 high, sprinkle them well with spirits of turpentine. Or with a water- 
 ing pot apply strong brine once or twice. 
 
 To Prevent Grubs from Infesting Radishes. — Strew fine sawdust 
 over them the same as for onions. 
 
 Protecting Cabbage from Lice and Worms. — The American Agricul- 
 turist says : To protect young cabbage plants, surround the stems 
 closely with small flat stones, or chips, or pieces of shingles. Or wrap 
 the bottoms of the stems with strips of paper. At the time of setting 
 out dip the roots in strong brine to kill the white worms. To protect 
 from plant lice, mingle a small handful of well leached ashes with the 
 surface earth around the stem and crown of the roots of the plants, 
 when they are set. Also mix it with the surface earth when planting 
 melons and cucumbers. 
 
 To destroy cabbage worms, break off a large leaf from the bottom of 
 the cabbage and place on the top, upper side down. Do this in the 
 evening, and in the morning you will find nearly or quite all the worms 
 on each cabbage have taken up their quarters on this leaf. Take off 
 the leaf and kill them or feed them to the chickens, and place the leaf 
 back if there be any more to catch. To keep the little black bug off 
 from cabbages or turnips, sprinkle ashes when the dew is on, and after 
 every rain. 
 
 Remedies for the Turnip Fly. — A correspondent of the Mark Lane 
 Express says, a simple, cheap, and efficient remedy is sowing mustard 
 among turnips, which the turnip fly prefers — also the black caterpil- 
 lar. The common English practice of protecting the turnip from the 
 fly is by dusting the row with lime during the night and while the 
 dew is upon the plant. Soot is applied in the same manner. Guano 
 also. 
 
 The Potato Bug. — Dressings of salt, lime, ashes, plaster, &c., are all 
 recommended, and are certainly valuable, if for no other purpose, to 
 increase the growth of the potato. 
 
 Tobacco Worms.— Half a pound of cobalt, reduced to a powder, to 
 a pint of water, sweetened with white sugar. Two or three drops in 
 the blossoms of the tobacco plant, or in the blossoms of the Jamestown 
 weed set fresh through the field, destroys the moth. Turkeys eat the 
 worms, and are employed for that purpose. 
 
 The Cotton-Ball Worm. — The depradations of this terribly destruct- 
 ive insect may be effectually prevented by placing upon stakes set 
 among the cotton, plates containing a mixture of four parts of vinegar 
 and one part of molasses to catch the moths. It must be replenished 
 every evening while the moths last. 
 
536 
 
 PEACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 Lighted lamps placed in pans of water, or soapsuds, or fires kindled 
 in different parts of the field at night will catch the moths. 
 
 To Destroy Wire - Worms. — Nitrate of soda, one and a half tons per 
 acre, sown in powder, will prove a remedy for this pest. Sow in damp 
 weather, when the ground is moist, and it will also prove one of the 
 greatest fertilizers. 2. Soak the seed over night in copperas water or 
 niter. 3. Soak seed corn in strong salt water before planting. 4. It 
 is said that if two successive crops of buckwheat be grown on the land 
 where the wire worms are, it will drive them off or destroy them. 
 
 5. Sow twenty-five bushels of lime, or ten bushels of salt, per acre. 
 
 6. Hiram Spear, of Springfield, Bradford county, Pa., says, tobacco 
 will effectually prevent wire worms from destroying seed corn. Boil 
 one pound of good tobacco in water enough to cover a bushel of seed 
 corn ; pour the liquid on boiling ; stir till cool ; spread the corn to 
 cool, and plant. He says the root and sprout will partake of tobacco 
 sufficient to prevent the worms touching it. 7. Fall plowing, either 
 deep or shallow. 8. Spread short straw from the threshing machine 
 on the land, and plow it in ; the worms will crawl into the straw, un- 
 til stopped by the joint, and there die. 
 
 The Mark Lane Express says that high farming is as destructive to 
 vermin as to weeds, and it is rarely that the devastation committed on 
 highly cultivated land is very serious. 
 
 Cut Worm. — The most thorough mode of destroying the cut worm, 
 is to fatten hogs in the truck patch or garden, after the crops are ta- 
 ken off in the fall or winter. They destroy the larvae. Or pick them 
 up by hand early in the morning each successive day, until none are 
 left. Choice plants may be protected by wrapping paper about the 
 stems. Snuff, strong liquid manure, powder, charcoal dust, etc., will 
 protect,, provided they can find plenty to eat elsewhere. Protect vines 
 by planting plenty of seed. Set traps for the moths. 
 
 To Kill Insects on Cattle. — Well kept stock, housed in clean, well 
 littered, whitewashed stables, are rarely, unless they take them from 
 other cattle, troubled with vermin. 
 
 One of the best remedies for lice on cattle is the water in which 
 potatoes have been boiled, thoroughly rubbed in so as to wet the skin. 
 It is perfectly safe, costs nothing, and is easily applied. And there 
 is no harm in repeating it as many times as may be necessary. 2. An- 
 other is to boil white oak bark, and with the liquid wash the animals 
 around the neck and over their backs. 3. Water lime is also good. 
 4. So is plaster, rubbed thoroughly in the hair. 5. And a very effec- 
 tual remedy is to thoroughly wet the affected parts with alcohol. On 
 
A CHAPTER ON PESTS AND THEIR REMEDIES. 
 
 537 
 
 a rainy day, when the hair is partially wet, less alcohol will be re- 
 quired. Repeat in about two weeks, if necessary. 6. Apply freely 
 lamp oil from the head along the back, also behind, and in spots on 
 the sides. This is regarded effectual. 7. Dry wood ashes, taken fresh 
 from the stove, and rubbed well into the hair, keeping the animals dry 
 for a few days, is said to be first rate, especially with calves. 8. Or, 
 keep the stable floor sprinkled with wood ashes for two weeks after 
 the cattle are brought to the barn. 9. If warm weather, apply soft 
 soap, rubbing to a lather ; let it remain a few hours. 10. In cold 
 weather, hog's lard will prove an effectual application. 11. Take to- 
 bacco and boil it in water until very strong, then wash the animal 
 freely with the liquid two or three times. 12. Cover with a thick 
 blanket, except the head, and blow tobacco smoke under it, filling the 
 hair full. This will not destroy the nits, but a second smoking will 
 finish that generation. Recommended particularly for calves. 13. 
 Rub the parts well with a mixture of Scotch snuff and soft soap. 
 14. Coal oil, thoroughly rubbed into the hair, is said to be safe and 
 sure. 15. A little calomel sprinkled on the back. An ounce is suffi- 
 cient for twenty head of cattle, or more. 16. A strong decoction of 
 larkspur, rubbed all over until the hair is thoroughly wet. 17. Mix 
 yellow snuff with lamp oil, and rub on where they will not lick it. 
 18. Any greasy matter, well rubbed in, says the Massachusetts Plow - 
 man. 19. It adds : Fine sand sifted on them will drive off lice : the 
 only objection to sand is that it causes an itching on old cattle in the 
 spring. 20. Pulverized copperas and sulphur, in the proportion of 
 one teaspoonful of copperas and two of sulphur, with a little salt, mix- 
 ed in half a bushel of meal, given twice a week for three weeks, to 
 one hundred head of cattle or hogs, is said to be a complete remedy. 
 21. Feed them once in two or three days fine salt and sulphur, about 
 one part sulphur and two parts fine salt, when the weather is not too 
 severe. If very cold, do not let them be too much exposed. Also 
 apply oil to the parts most troubled. 22. Tanners’ oil is good, to be 
 rubbed on the parts. 
 
 Whatever is used, cattle with lice should be brushed or curried ev- 
 ery day or two. 
 
 To expel fleas from animals : Oil of wormwood, or oil of pennyroy- 
 al — a few drops rubbed along the spine. The application may be re- 
 peated and extended if necessary. 
 
 To Prevent Flies from Teasing Morses —Take two or three small 
 handfuls of black walnut leaves, upon which pour two or three quarts 
 of soft cold water ; let it infuse one night, and pour the whole next 
 
538 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 morning into a kettle, and let it boil for fifteen minutes. When cold, 
 it will be fit for use. No more is required than to wet a sponge, and, 
 before the horse goes out of the stable, let those parts which are most 
 irritated be smeared over with the liquor. Keep it in the stable. In- 
 digo weed, stuck plentifully about the harness, tends to keep flies 
 from horse3. Some make a decoction of indigo weed, and others of 
 pennyroyal, and bathe horses with it to defend them from insects. 
 Wash with diluted linseed oil, or benzole, or rub occasionally with 
 smartweed. 
 
 Ticks on Sheep . — Sulphur fed to sheep is pronounced a certain rem- 
 edy against the ticks which frequently infest, very injuriously, these 
 animals. John Johnson, of Geneva, N. Y., says, if sheep are fed 
 grain or oil cake, as they should be, he will warrant them from ticks. 
 Open the wool on the back of the sheep, from the head to the hips, 
 and strew in a teaspoonful of yellow snuff, mostly on the neck and 
 shoulders. Or, arsenic, one pound, finely powdered; potash, twelve 
 ounces ; common yellow soap, six ounces ; rain or river water, thirty 
 gallons. Boil the ingredients together for fifteen minutes. After 
 shearing, the ticks leave the old sheep and go upon the longer-wooled 
 lambs. In about two weeks make a strong solution of tobacco and 
 dip the lambs in it. The stems of tobacco that can be had of cigar- 
 makers will answer. 
 
 Jo Rid Poultry of Vermin . — Clean out the nests, put in fresh 
 straw, grease or whitewash the roosts, whitewash the whole poultry 
 house, purify it of everything that can give shelter to an insect, and 
 take care that the hens have a wallowing box, well supplied with dry 
 wood ashes, renewed by a little addition every day or two. Feed sul- 
 phur occasionally in the food, keep a constant supply of lime for the 
 hens, and keep them fat. Make roosts of sassafras poles, and scatter 
 sassafras bark about the hen house and in the nests. Or boiling hot 
 lime-water by the bucketful, dashed upon and scrubbed thoroughly 
 into every part of the hennery. Apply sweet oil to the tops of their 
 heads, under their wings, and elsewhere. Lard will answer. 
 
 To Preserve Bees from Moths . — Take some indigo reduced to a fine 
 powder, and place it at the mouth of the hive, so that the bee must 
 pass over it to enter ; a portion will adhere to his feet and be carried 
 in. The indigo will be agreeable to the bee, but poisonous to the 
 moth. Put in dishes and set among the bees at evening an agreeable 
 mixture of sugar or molasses with vinegar and water, and do not de- 
 stroy spider webs near the bee hives. Both these are traps for the 
 moth. A man in western New York who breeds minks for their fur, 
 
A CHAPTER ON PESTS AND THEIR REMEDIES. 
 
 539 
 
 by keeping his minks- and bees close together, has found that they 
 catch and eat every miller that comes near them. 
 
 To prevent Crows from Pulling Corn. — Feed them. Do not kill 
 them. Sow corn broadcast through the field, and they will not touch 
 that which you have planted. One-half bushel of corn, soaked twen- 
 ty-four hours, and sowed on ten acres, will not only save time, but 
 preserve the crop. Birds of all descriptions should be taught that 
 man is a friend and not an enemy, and they will return the friend- 
 ship. Some roll their seed corn in tar, and say it is effectual. A 
 very common method is to kill one crow, and hang up in the field, or 
 lay it in a conspicuous place with some of the feathers scattered 
 around. If a crow cannot be had, a black hen may answer. 
 
 Those who wish to destroy the birds frequently soak some corn in 
 a solution of strychnine or arsenic, and scatter over the field ; or, re- 
 moving the white from half a dozen eggs, insert a little strychnine, 
 and place them around. the cornfield. 
 
 To Protect Fruit from Birds.— Yery early in the spring place wren 
 boxes on the cherry trees. The wrens will drive away other birds. 
 The entrance to the boxes must not be large enough to admit the blue- 
 bird. Or else plant trees enough to serve both yourselves and the 
 birds. Or suspend small looking glasses, or pieces of broken ones, in 
 the trees. A windmill in the tree is sometimes resorted to. 
 
 The following plan I once saw succeed, says a recent writer : An 
 old gardener got a hawk stuffed in what he called a hovering position, 
 put it on the end of a long wire, attached the wire to the top of a tree, 
 and thus had the hawk suspended in the air as if it had been alive. 
 He had, however, another hawk which really was alive put into a 
 cage, and had the cage put into the same tree where the dead hawk 
 was. The hawk in the cage was by no means mute, and I may add 
 that I scarcely ever afterwards saw birds in the garden. 
 
 Spare the Birds. — If you wish to secure the assistance of the nicest 
 little garden help in the world, put up plenty of bird boxes. The best 
 remedy for insects is to preserve the birds. They are the natural in- 
 sect destroyer. It is their decrease that has increased destructive 
 insects. In France, the destruction of small birds has gone on in- 
 creasing, and in a corresponding ratio has also proceeded the increase 
 of those insects and reptiles which prey on the crops of grain and all 
 kinds of vegetable food ; and the public mind has become alarmed, 
 until investigation has demonstrated the fact that the destruction of 
 the beautiful feathered songsters may, if continued, lead to something 
 like positive famine. 
 
540 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 Birds are a joy about any bouse. If there is any luxury that is 
 worth most at the least cost, it is the music of the wild singing birds. 
 Most singing birds build their nests near human dwellings to avoid 
 their natural enemies, the birds of prey, but every house provides a 
 more secret and dangerous enemy in the sly old cat. Visiting at a 
 house where an old lady lived alone, I was struck with astonishment 
 at the large number of singing birds around the house, and expressed 
 my surprise. The worthy inmate explained it all in three sentences : 
 She had no children, she shook her table cloth on the green grass, and 
 suffered no cat near the house. 
 
 If suitable bird houses are provided for martins, bluebirds and 
 wrens, they will almost always be filled. Bluebirds and martins want 
 compartments about four by six inches. The wren should not have 
 more than three and a half or four inches by five. Two pairs of 
 wrens will not occupy the same house. Place them some distance 
 from martin and bluebird houses. Bird houses should be well ven- 
 tillated. 
 
 Several hundred wren houses have been built in Union Square, 
 New York, which are not only occupied by wrens, but several other 
 kinds of birds, and they serve to keep the park and neighborhood al- 
 most free of insects. One pair in the yard of Mr. Nash hatched and 
 reared ten young ones in one season, and they acted as perfect scav- 
 engers of bugs and worms in the neighborhood. 
 
 The birds may pluck a few of your cherries and berries, but the in- 
 sects they will destroy will tenfold repay you for their fruit banquet. 
 Better provide extra what the birds require, than to destroy the prov- 
 idential birds. Even the jay, the blackbird and the crow are a part 
 of the wise economy of nature, if man will but learn all their natural 
 uses. But if you will not spare these, spare at least the household 
 birds — the tiny hummer, the delicate wren, the gentle robin, the rol- 
 icking oriole, and all the little yellow and brown-winged beauties that 
 haunt the door-yard in quest of their daily feast of crumbs. Of all 
 lesser animate things the Heavenly F ather has sent us, none are more 
 worthy of our affection than these airy songsters, who a thousand 
 times repay our care for them with their jubilant music. 
 
 To Prevent Cats Killing Chickens and Birds . — Harriet Martineau 
 gives the following as a sure preventive : When a cat is seen to kill a 
 chicken tie it round her neck, and make her wear it for two or three 
 days. Fasten it securely for she will make incredible efforts to get 
 rid of it. Be firm for that time, and the cat is cured — she will never 
 again desire to touch a bird. 
 
A CHAPTER ON PESTS AND THEIR REMEDIES. 
 
 541 
 
 To 'prevent Dogs going Mad. — It is said that a small portion of the 
 flour of sulphur mixed with their food or drink, during the spring 
 months, is practiced in Europe to prevent the disease from breaking 
 out among the packs of hounds which belong to the English noblemen, 
 and that it is a certain preventive. A celebrated German physician 
 affirms that madness is principally caused by the numerical dispropor- 
 tion of the two sexes, most of the female dogs being killed immediate- 
 ly after birth, while the male dogs are allowed to live. 
 
 To kill Fleas in Dogs. — Rub them well over with whisky — it acts 
 like magic, killing them instanter ; if all are not polished off by one 
 application, another will be necessary. 
 
 Biting Dogs. — It is an unpleasant situation to be attacked by a dog ; 
 if you are so circumstanced, never attempt to run ; try throwing a 
 stone at him, or present your hat in your hand, and when he has 
 seized it, hit him with a stick across the nose or fore leg. These are 
 the most vulnerable points in a dog ; a blow on any other part of the 
 head but the nose will not hurt him. If a dog comes up to you and 
 growls, and will not be friendly, do not withdraw from him ; put on a 
 bold face, and stretch your hand toward him, keeping it quite still — 
 if you withdraw it after stretching it out he will bite you. The dog 
 will come up and smell the hand, and having once done this, will be 
 your friend. 
 
 To Prevent Foxes Killing Lambs. — Take a red woolen flannel string, 
 say three quarters of an inch wide, saturate it with sulphur and grease, 
 give it a slack twist, and tie it around the lamb's neck. Thus serve 
 all, taking off the string about the first of September. Do not tie too 
 tight. 
 
 Skunks. — It is true that the poor, despised, but seldom-kicked skunk, 
 is sometimes a troublesome visitor to the poultry-yard, but for the few 
 chickens he eats, the quantity of mice, worms, bugs, beetles and other 
 pests that he destroys is simply enormous. He lives almost exclusive- 
 ly upon insects. He also takes possession of the apartments of the 
 woodchuck, and thus often expels this unmitigated nuisance from your 
 clover fields, turnip patches, and gardens. 
 
 Squirrels. — The best way to prevent the striped squirrel, or “ chip- 
 munk " from digging up seed-corn is to give him plenty to eat on the 
 surface. What is half a bushel of corn sown broadcast for the squir- 
 rels to pick up, when it will save the seed of a large field harmless. 
 Coating the seed with tar, which is done by mixing a pint of tar in a 
 pail of warm water, and putting the corn in it, will prevent them from 
 eating it. To make it pleasant to handle, roll it in dry plaster. Or, 
 
542 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 sprinkle a little flour sulphur on the wet seed. It will adhere and 
 give it an odor that all little pests dislike. If you wish to kill them 
 it may be done by poisoned corn. 
 
 Toads. — There is no animal more harmless, and few that do the 
 farmer more good than toads. Their whole food is of insects injuri- 
 ous to the farmer. In a garden the toad is invaluable. One in a 
 milk-room will be constantly engaged in catching flies and bugs. 
 
 Moles. — In all Russia laws are enacted to prevent the killing of 
 moles. The Royal Agricultural Society’s Transactions contain the 
 following : Every year 60,000 bushels of seed wheat, worth £30,000, 
 are destroyed by wire worms. This prevents 720,000 bushels from 
 being grown, worth £300,000. If our farmers and others, instead of 
 killing moles, partridges and pheasants, would protect them, 720,000 
 bushels more wheat would go every year into the English markets. 
 But the creature designed by a kind Providence to perform His chief 
 part of this immense good is the mole. Some years since I had two 
 fields, one of which was full of wire worms, the other perhaps a third 
 full. My crops failed on these fields for the first two or three years, 
 •but afterward improved rapidly, for I bought all the live moles I could 
 find at three shillings a dozen, and then two shillings a dozen, and 
 turned them into these fields. I had eight quarters of barley per acre 
 and seven of wheat where the moles were at work all summer, making 
 the ground like a honey-comb. Next year, my wire worms being all 
 cleared out, my innocent little workmen who had performed for me a 
 service beyond the powers of all the men in my parish, emigrated to 
 my neighbor’s land to perform the same service. 
 
 Weeds. — Land should be properly cleaned of all weeds, so as to give 
 the whole strength of the soil to the crops. “A lazy man’s farm is al- 
 ways dressed in weeds as if he were dead and it was his widow.” Let 
 every one always pull up every noxious weed met with on the farm, 
 and compost your manure, and you will be surprised to see how soon 
 you will rid yourself of this pest. Still nothing but clean culture, with 
 some hoed crop, will rid the land of all weeds. 
 
 Rid, now, your fields of one year’s seeding, 
 
 And save the toil of seven years’ weeding. 
 
 How to kill the Canada Thistle. — This weed is execrable, and for- 
 ever to be detested, hateful to sight or touch, pronounced by Linneus, 
 the greatest pest of the earth , and by Dr. Darlington, in his history of 
 Weeds, called the cursed thistle. It has a malignant vitality. Its roots 
 
A CHAPTER ON PESTS AND THEIR REMEDIES. 
 
 543 
 
 creep under ground, and its seeds multiply and fly endlessly above 
 ground. The only way to exterminate them is to never allow them to 
 go to seed. Pennsylvania has a law whereby it is finable ten dollars 
 for each complaint, for an individual or corporation to allow any of the 
 seeds of this pestiferous weed to ripen upon their premises. Let every 
 State enact a similar law, and enforce it to the letter. It has been cal- 
 culated that one plant of thistle produces over eleven thousand seeds , 
 enough to stock two and one-fourth acres with plants three feet apart. 
 Let not one therefore go to seed on the farm, or between the fences, 
 or on the highways. To have these thistles on the farm, without ef- 
 fort at extirpation, ought to be as disgraceful as to have vermin on the 
 body. An experienced farmer says he has found that a heavy crop of 
 buckwheat, followed by a crop of oats seeded with clover will almost 
 entirely eradicate them. 
 
 To Destroy White Daisies. — In some soils and localities, get in bet- 
 ter grasses and they will run out this pest. This may be done in ma- 
 ny instances by giving them a top dressing of yard manure or com- 
 post, aided by plaster, sown a bushel an acre. Or cultivate a hoed 
 crop, with thorough tillage, arid stock heavily with the grasses most 
 natural to the soil. Simply sowing plaster sometimes is sufficient. 
 Daisies should always be cut when quite green, to prevent the seed 
 from maturing and scattering on the soil. When so cut, they make 
 good fodder. 
 
 To Eradicate Snap-Dragon. — This is known also as Butter-and- 
 Eggs, Jacob s Ladder, and by a variety of other names. Spread over 
 the spots where it grows, swamp grass or any other litter of little val- 
 ue, three or four inches thick, and lay upon it sticks, stone, or earth, 
 to prevent its blowing off. This effectually smothers the weed, and 
 of course everything else. Or give a thin coating of fine salt. 
 
 Milk- Weeds. — To destroy any weed, like the milk-weed, which ex- 
 tends beneath the surface by creeping stems or roots, it must not be 
 allowed to breathe. Cut every plant as far below the surface as possi- 
 ble, the first moment the tip of its stalk appears, by the means of a 
 chisel set on the end of a spade handle — unless the soil is so loose as 
 to allow pulling to bring up a longer portion of it. Watch constantly 
 for a few months, and keep them all below ground, and they will die. 
 
 lo Destroy the Plantain. — Cut off the root below the ground with a 
 narrow tool ; or, drop a few drops of oil of vitriol on the crown of each 
 growing plant ; or, spade deep and reseed at the rate of two bushels 
 of grass seed per acre, very early in the spring. 
 
 Clearing off Pocks. — Bocks weighing three or four tons or less heat- 
 
r 
 
 544 PRASTICU CYCLOPEDIA. 
 
 ed by keeping a brisk fire over them for an hour or so, will crumble 
 to pieces by dashing a few buckets of water on them while hot. Boul- 
 ders and rocks are often more economically disposed of by digging a 
 hole partially under them, large and deep enough to bury them be- 
 neath the reach of the plow, then rolling them in than by any other 
 means. Sometimes it is necessary to prop up the rock while digging 
 to prevent danger of its falling in too soon. 
 
 Blowing up Stumps. — W. A. Gill of the Columbus, Ohio, Agricul- 
 tural Warehouse and Seed Store, states that he cleared a stumpy 
 twenty acre field, just north of that city, some years ago, by the aid 
 of gunpowder, so cheaply and expeditiously, that he thinks it better 
 than any patent invention in the market. The plan is this : Select a 
 solid place in a large root, near the ground, if an oak or any stump 
 with a tap root, and with an inch and a quarter augur, bore in, slant- 
 ing downward, to as near the heart of the base of the tap root as you 
 can judge ; then put in a charge of one or two ounces of powder, with 
 a safety fuse, and tamp in dry clay or ordinary tamping material, to 
 fill the hole, some six inches above the charge ; then touch fire to the 
 fuse, and get out of the way. The blast will usually split the stump 
 into three pieces, and make it hop right out of the ground. If the 
 charge is put in too high up, the blast will only split the top of the 
 stump, without lifting it. 
 
 ON FIBE AND LIGHTS. 
 
 Precaution Against Fire . — Keep matches in metal boxes, and out 
 of reach of children. Wax matches are particularly dangerous, and 
 should be kept out of the way of rats and mice. Fill fluid or cam- 
 phene lamps only by daylight, and never by a fire or light. Do not 
 deposit coal or wood ashes in a wooden vessel, and be sure burning 
 cinders are extinguished before deposited. Never place a light or 
 ashes under a staircase. Never take a lamp to examine a gas meter 
 or gas pipes inside of a building. Be careful never to place gas or 
 other lights near curtains. Never take a light into a closet. Do not 
 read in bed by candle or lamp light. Place glass shades over gas 
 lights in show windows, and do not crowd goods near them. No smo- 
 king should be permitted in warehouses, particularly where goods are 
 placed or cotton stored. When furnaces are used, the principal reg- 
 ister should always be fastened open. Stove pipes should be at least 
 
ON FIRES AND LIGHTS. 
 
 545 
 
 four inches fiom wood-work, and guarded by tin. All hatchways or 
 openings in the floors of stores, factories or warehouses, should always 
 be closed at night. 
 
 The awful and harrowing circumstances of the recent catastrophe in 
 the Cathedral Church of Santiago, in South America, whereby more 
 than two thousand human beings (chiefly women,) were burnt to death 
 should be a warning forever to school trustees and others having con- 
 trol of large places of assemblage. 
 
 The adage says of fire : it is a good servant but a hard master. 
 
 To Protect Staircases from Fire. — A strong solution of alum applied 
 to your wooden staircase will prevent it from rapid ignition and burn- 
 ing with flame, in case of fire on your premises. An application of 
 the sulphate of ammonia, the tungstate of soda or the silicate of soda, 
 will effect the same object, but alum is the cheapest substance. 
 
 To put out Fire in a burning Chimney. — In cases of fire in the 
 chimney, it is an excellent plan to put salt on the fire in the grate be- 
 low, as it acts chemically on the flaming soot above. This has been 
 found to extinguish the fire in a short time, and deserves to be moro 
 generally known. Put a gill or more of salt on to the fire in the 
 stove ; then close the stove and draughts as tight as possible. The air 
 will condense and quench the flame. 
 
 A handful of flour of sulphur thrown on the fire is also recommend- 
 ed, the doors and windows to be shut tightly. A wet blanket or other 
 woolen article held or fastened before the fireplace so as to exclude the 
 air will also smothe'r it out. 
 
 To Extinguish Fire. — It is said that a solution of pearlash in water, 
 thrown upon a fire extinguishes it instantly. The proportion is a 
 quarter of a pound dissolved in hot water and then poured into a buck- 
 et of common water. 
 
 The French paper, “Gralignani,” tells the following: — “An apothe- 
 cary at Nantes has just discovered, by the merest accident, that am- 
 monia will put out fires. He happened to have about seventy litres 
 of benzine in his cellar, and his boy, in going down carelessly with a 
 light, had set fire to it. Assistance was speedily at hand, and pail 
 after pail of water was being poured into the cellar without producing 
 any effect, when the apothecary himself took up a pail which was stand- 
 ing unused in a corner, and emptied the contents into the cellar. To 
 his astonishment, the flames were quenched as if by magic, and upon 
 examination he found that the pail, which belonged to his laboratory, 
 had contained a quantity of liquid ammonia. The result is easy to 
 explain on scientific principles ; for ammonia, which consists of eighty- 
 35 
 
546 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPEDIA. 
 
 two parts of nitrogen and eighteen of hydrogen, is easily decomposed 
 by heat; and the nitrogen thus set free in the midst of a conflagra- 
 tion, must infallibly put out the flames. A large supply of liquid am- 
 monia, properly administered, would be the promptest fire-extinguish- 
 er ever imagined." 
 
 Economy of Fuel — There is much homely truth in the old proverb 
 — “ economy is wealth." A saving effected in the consumption of 
 any article, such as fuel, with the attainment of equally favorable re- 
 sults, amounts to an increase of wealth in proportion to the value of 
 fuel economized. 
 
 Wood and Coal . — By experiment on the Baltimore and Ohio Bail- 
 road, it was found that one pound of Cumberland coal was equal to 
 2. 55 pounds of pine wood. On the Beading Bailroad it was shown 
 that one pound of anthracite was equal to three pounds of wood. For 
 relative value of different kinds of wood, see table. 
 
 Best mode of 'piling Firewood. — D. Currie says, it may benefit some 
 of your readers to know that firewood for next year’s use is much bet- 
 ter when piled with the bark side uppermost, for wood piled with the 
 bark side down is not so dry as when the bark is uppermost, besides 
 when you come to handle it again the bark is liable to fall off, and go 
 to loss, owing to the wet in summer getting between the bark and the 
 wood. 
 
 But it is a better plan to set wood on end than to put it in .cord- 
 wood piles. Commence by setting them two and two in a row, the 
 bottoms a foot or more apart. Then lean up sticks top end down on 
 either side until the rick is as wide as you choose to have it, after 
 which form a ridge by laying sticks lengthwise on the top, when you 
 may shingle your pile with split wood so that the pile will scarcely 
 wet at all, and instead of the wood rotting it will season thoroughly 
 and remain sound. Bailway compani es ha ve pretty generally adopted 
 this plan. 
 
 Twice the amount of heat is said to be obtained from firewood when 
 dried and seasoned under cover, as if seasoned in the open air. 
 
 A woodsman says the best way to season wood is to girdle the trees 
 in June, and let them stand until the next winter. 
 
 Splitting Wood . — Take a block of hard wood, say two feet or more 
 in diameter, and of convenient length, set it up endwise, and in the 
 middle dig out with an augur and chisel, a hole seven or eight inches 
 in diameter, and about six inches deep. This will hold the stick up- 
 right, and they can be split into several pieces without handling, ma- 
 
ON FIEES AND LIGHTS. 
 
 547 
 
 king the work easier, and lessening the danger of the boys cutting 
 their feet. 
 
 A good wood pile is one sign of a good home. 
 
 Economizing Coal. — The Scientific American gives the following use- 
 ful hints upon this subject, which are confirmed by every one’s expe- 
 rience who understands the philosophy of coal fires : — 
 
 “ A good bright fire can be steadily maintained with coal, with less 
 trouble than with any other kind of fuel, but not by raking, poking 
 and piling in green fuel continually. After breakfast the fire should 
 be cleared of ashes, if there are any, and fresh fuel put on to fill the 
 grate moderately. Let the oven damper be turned up, so as to heat 
 it, and leave the small top door open, more or less, according to the 
 intensity of the heat required. In this way air enters over the top 
 of the fire, and maintains a far better combustion and consequently 
 greater heat than when the draft dampers are thrown open. A wash- 
 ing can be done or ironing accomplished with one -third less coal than 
 is generally thought necessary to use. So far as sifting ashes for the 
 cinders they contain is considered, it is hopeless to expect much change. 
 Hundreds of poor families in cities live off of the waste of their im- 
 provident neighbors, and in this way there is something used which 
 would otherwise be lost ; but it seems to us that charity should be 
 practised in a different and more positive manner. If the proverb be 
 true that 1 charity begins at home,’ then we have a still stronger argu- 
 ment against the wasteful practice. Cinders will burn admirably in 
 small cylinder stoves, and heat a nursery or a laundry as hot as it 
 should be. Every shovel full saved is a shovel full of coal put in the 
 cellar, and a hint to the wise is enough on this point.” 
 
 How to Kindle a Coal Fire . — Whoever has suffered the annoyance 
 of seeing the fire go out soon after it has been lighted will excuse the 
 insertion of the following suggestions : The better way is to have some 
 pieces of very choice inflammable coal, and to lay a few pieces at first 
 on the bottom bars, but without covering them entirely ; then lay on 
 the paper or shavings, then the wood, and on that some pieces of round 
 coal of the size of eggs, and no small coal : when the whole is kindled, 
 let it burn up before any more coal is added. If a fire is thus laid 
 and kindled, there is no reason why it should go out, and it ought to 
 burn up with certainty when left to itself. 
 
 It has often been condemned as a bad plan to throw too much coals 
 on the fire at a time, as by this a great deal of the hydrogen is dis- 
 tilled off, and escapes up the chimney without catching fire, which is 
 absolute waste. 
 
548 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 Important to Coal Consumers. — The United States Circuit Court at 
 Philadelphia, have decided that the weight of a ton of coal is 2,240 
 pounds, instead of 2,000 pounds. 
 
 Corn Cobs for Fuel. — A farmer in La Salle County, 111., has made 
 his own corn cobs, with some shavings, and a load or two of coal each 
 year, supply his fuel for several years. He thinks that every farmer 
 who raises two hundred bushels of corn might keep one fire going with 
 the cobs. 
 
 Grates. — It was a doctrine first taught by Count Eumford, that the 
 great quantity of iron usually put into grates abstracts much more 
 heat from the fire than it can give out to the apartment, and there- 
 fore occasioning a loss of heat, and, consequently, a waste of fuel. 
 This is certainly quite true in principle ; and it is by reference to 
 principles, that the merit of inventions or constructions are to be de- 
 termined. Making the fire burn against brick or stone instead of 
 iron, is of great importance. Iron has undoubtedly many bad quali- 
 ties when used in great quantity about a fire ; and, were economical 
 principles alone considered, the less of it employed in a grate the bet- 
 ter. Brick or stone cheeks in the grate are by much the best for the 
 fire to burn against ; and those who are anxious to have the best pos- 
 sible open fires, we advise to have them. But the iron mongers abhor 
 them. Iron covings are however the most durable, and are to be ex- 
 cused on no other grounds, iron throwing out much less heat than 
 non-conducting materials, like stone and brick. It is desirable to have 
 the grates as low as possible. 
 
 Stoves. — The Bussian stove is the most sensible form of heating a 
 house. F ew of us use stoves large enough. Mine are very much lar- 
 ger than those in common use, and are never heated to a red heat. 
 There is nothing more unhealthy than a red hot stove in a close room, 
 unless it is a house heated with a hot air furnace, without ventillation. 
 
 It is said that when iron is not heated above 212° it has no injuri- 
 ous effect upon the air. 
 
 To Stop the Cracks of a Stove , and prevent the smoke from escaping, 
 use wood ashes and common salt, wet with water. 
 
 lo Keep a Stove Bright by Two Applications a Year. — Make a weak 
 alum water, and mix British lustre with it, perhaps two teaspoonfuls 
 to a gill of water ; let the stove be cold ; brush it with the mixture ; 
 then take a dry brush and rub it till it is perfectly dry. Should any 
 part before polishing, become so dry as to look gray, moisten with a 
 wet brush and proceed as before. 
 
 To Remove Clinkers from Stoves. — Some kinds of coal are liable to 
 
ON FIRES AND LIGHTS. 
 
 549 
 
 form clinkers which adhere to the fire brick lining of stoves, grates, 
 and furnaces, and become a source of great annoyance, as they cannot 
 be removed by usual means without breaking the fire brick. When 
 the coal is all aglow, throw on half a dozen broken oyster shells, cover 
 these over with fresh coal, and when all are red hot, the clinkers are 
 doughy and easily removed. 
 
 To Prevent Stoves from Rusting when not in Use. — Oil them with 
 the heaviest portion of petroleum. As petroleum contains no oxygen 
 and absorbs none, it is peculiarly adapted for preserving iron from 
 rust. But as the light portion soon evaporates, the heavy portion only 
 is suitable for this purpose. 
 
 Fire in Summer. — We have visited many farm houses since the ad- 
 vent of stoves, in all the months usually supposed to be warm, and 
 found that the stoves had all been carefully stowed away in Summer 
 quarters. Even the cook stove is turned out of the kitchen into some 
 “ lean-to ” shed, and not a single chance left throughout the house to 
 dry or warm a wet and shivering mortal. This is a great error. There 
 is not a month in the year that a farmer can safely do without fire. 
 It not only adds to his comfort, but is a great purifier of the air of 
 the house, and promoter of health, and no farm house should be with- 
 out the means of making the influence of fire felt in every room when- 
 ever a cold or wet spell of weather occurs. In our opinion, it is a 
 great mistake to take down all the stoves in summer, in town or coun- 
 try, in houses that are unprovided with fireplaces. 
 
 Row to Carry Live Coals in the Rand. — A savant one day deep in 
 abstruse studies, was interrupted by a little knock at the door; a 
 young girl asked him for a few coals to kindle her fire. “ But what 
 will you put them in ?” said he. “Oh! that’s easy managed,” replied 
 the child, who filled her hand with cold ashes, and put the hot coals on 
 the top. The doctor, surprised, threw aside his books, saying : “With 
 all my science I should never have thought of that.” 
 
 The Economy of Lights. — Cost of Oils for Light Compared. — E. N. 
 Kent, of the United States Assay Office, furnishes the following table: 
 
 MATERIALS. 
 
 Kerosene Oil, 
 
 LAMP USED. 
 
 Kerosene, . . 
 
 Retail Price of Oil 
 per gallon, 
 
 . . $1 00 
 
 Cost of an equal 
 amount of light. 
 
 $ 4 10 
 
 Camphene, 
 
 Camphene, . . 
 
 . . 63 
 
 4 35 
 
 Sylvie Oil, 
 
 Bosin Oil, . . 
 
 . . 50 
 
 6 05 
 
 Bape Seed Oil, 
 
 Mechanical, 
 
 . . 1 50 
 
 9 00 
 
 Wh*.le Oil, 
 
 Solar, . . . 
 
 . ‘ . 1 00 
 
 12 00 
 
 Lard Oil, 
 
 Solar, . . . 
 
 . . 1 25 
 
 17 00 
 
 Sperm Oil, 
 
 Solar, . . . 
 
 . . 2 25 
 
 26 00 
 
 Burning Fluid, 
 
 Large wick, 
 
 . . 87 
 
 29 00 
 
550 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 Cost of Oil and Candles Compared. — Dr. Ure gives the compara- 
 tive cost of an equal amount of light, in cents, per hour, from the Al- 
 lowing substances : 
 
 PER HOUR. 
 
 Carcel lamp, with sperm oil, 1J cents. 
 
 Wax candles, 6 cents. 
 
 Spermaceti candles, 5J cents. 
 
 Stearic acid candles, 4J cents. 
 
 Molded tallow candles, 2J cents. 
 
 Economy of Kerosene Oil. — From the above it will be seen that ker- 
 osene oil is the least expensive of all fluid light-producing substances ; 
 and as it is now refined and burnt in improved lamps, we believe it to 
 be a very agreeable substitute for tallow candles ; but whether cheap- 
 er or not, can only be determined by actual experiments in different 
 households, comparing the cost per gallon with the value per pound 
 of tallow, and the light produced, or the light required. Many a 
 bright pair of eyes have been dimmed in consequence of inferior lights, 
 and for this reason, if for no other, the question, What light is most 
 economical ? becomes a very important one. 
 
 Petroleum — Coal Oil. — The Western Christian Advocate says : Pe- 
 .roleum, when properly clarified, possesses greater illuminating pow- 
 er than that of any other kind of oil. A lamp with a flat wick six- 
 eighths of an inch broad, supplied with petroleum, gives light equal 
 to 7 15-100 candles, which if fed with the best olive oil, the effect is 
 that of 2 20-100 candles. Again, petroleum does not congeal on the 
 vrick of a lamp, and is much cheaper. The Scientific American says : 
 Light from petroleum costs about one-third as much as the same 
 quantity from gas, at New York prices, and the petroleum light is 
 better for the eyes, and of superior quality in every respect. 
 
 Explosiveness of Coal Oil. — Very light coal and rock oils should be 
 used with great caution for burning in lamps, as they are fully more 
 volatile and equally as dangerous as the old explosive lamp mixtures 
 of alcohol and turpentine. One pint of the old brandy-colored oil gave as 
 much light as a quart of the clear light oil, which though quite cheap, free 
 from the fetid smell of old coal oils, and not nigh so liable to smoke, 
 obtains these qualities at the expense of durability. The same author- 
 ity says again that coal oil is not explosive, but some makers are in 
 the habit of drugging it with other ingredients so as to render it pos- 
 sibly unsafe. Get a good article from a reliable manufactory, and 
 it is as safe to use as a tallow candle. 
 
ON FIRES AND LIGHTS. 
 
 551 
 
 To Detect Explosive Coal Oil. — The Philadelphia Ledger says : To 
 detect explosive coal oil, pour a small quantity into a saucer, and 
 bring a lighted match slowly down to it. If explosive, the oil will 
 blaze and flash up almost like powder ; if not explosive, it will not 
 burn at all. It adds that the latter only is safe for use. 
 
 Coal oil and lard oil, mixed half and half, may be burned in any 
 ‘ommon lamp, and is by many prefered to pure petroleum. 
 
 Blowing out Kerosene Lamps. — The danger of blowing out kerosene 
 or carbon oil lamps from the top is greater than people generally sup- 
 pose. There -are several instances on record where lives have been 
 lost by the explosion of lamps from this practice. The following ex- 
 planation of the causes that produce the explosion are worth consid- 
 ering and heeding : 
 
 First. The oil in the lamp is generally low, leaving more room for 
 
 gas. 
 
 Second. The gas is very inflammable, and will always explode when 
 ignited. 
 
 Third. In blowing the blaze down, it ignites the gas. 
 
 The inference is, a lamp should never be blown out from the top. 
 The wick may not perfectly fill the tube, and the flame may go down 
 when the gas comes up. 
 
 Fourth. The less oil in the lamp the greater danger. 
 
 Burning Kerosene Lamps Turned Down Low. — One of the most 
 prevalent and injurious modes in using kerosene oil lamps is the turn- 
 ing down very low of the flame in order to darken the room as much 
 as possible, and yet keep the flame ignited, so that it may be turned 
 on full without trouble. This is often done in sick chambers, or when 
 the lamp will be needed by some one coming in late. It is often*very 
 convenient, but always exceedingly hurtful. Gas light, or burning 
 fluid lamps may be thus used, but kerosene requires a great amount 
 of oxygen in order to consume poisonous carbonic acid gas. The 
 chimney is made large and the flame kept up brightly in order to 
 cause a strong draft, and draw the oxygen through the lower portion 
 of the chimney. While the flame is large, sufficient oxygen is drawn 
 in to consume, or rather be jointly consumed with the carbonic acid 
 gas, but if the flame is too low sufficient oxygen will not be drawn in- 
 to the chimney, and the carbonic acid gas is not consumed, but escapes 
 through the chimney top into the room in large quantities. Here it 
 is a most deadly poison, and if the room be small and kept tightly 
 closed, a single kerosene lamp in this condition would kill a weak per- 
 son and materially injure any one. One might as well leave their gas 
 
552 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPEDIA. 
 
 jet turned on without being lighted. The positive harm caused by 
 turning down the flame of a kerosene lamp to the lowest possible point 
 is very great, and it should never be done. We have explained the 
 matter at length, in order to make the people understand it, and 
 thereby induce them to follow the advice given. 
 
 Kerosene Lamp Wicks. — Take cotton flannel, of which all have pie- 
 ces, and fold it up three thicknesses, just wide enough to go into the 
 tube, and catch the edges with coarse stitches. 
 
 To prevent Lamp Chimnies from Cracking with the Heat of the 
 Flame. — One who claims to have thoroughly tried the experiment, 
 says : Put the glass chimney in lukewarm water ; heat to the boil- 
 ing point, and boil one hour, after which leave it in the water till it 
 cools. 
 
 Common Burning Fluid. — This is a composition made of four 
 quarts of alcohol, (strength, 95 per cent.,) and one quart of refined 
 turpentine. The latter is added to the alcohol, and the whole agita- 
 ted until a thorough mixture is effected. If this fluid were not so 
 dangerous, it would be more generally used, because it is so cleanly 
 and ha,s such a pleasant odor. Any quantity, according to the fore- 
 going proportions, may be made at one time. 
 
 Another Burning Fluid. — Alcohol, three gallons ; camphene, one 
 gallon ; gum camphor, one ounce. Dissolve the camphor, and then 
 mix. 
 
 Smoking Lamps. — Soak the wick in strong vinegar, and dry it 
 well before using it. It will then burn both sweet and pleasant, and 
 not smoke. 
 
 To Protect Gas Meters from Frost. — As winter approaches it is 
 well to guard against gas meters being frozen up. All that need to 
 be done is to enclose the meter in a box, packing in a quantity of saw- 
 dust. 
 
 Blowing Out Gas. — John Kose, of Fairfield, Iowa, went to bed at 
 the Briggs House, in Chicago, a few nights ago, blowing out the gas, 
 instead of turning it off. He died of suffocation during the night. 
 This is only one of numerous deaths thus occasioned. Never blow out 
 gas. 
 
 To Befine Tallow for Candles. — Boil the tallow in water just made 
 slippery to the taste with ley. When cold, cut out and scrape from 
 the bottom all impurities. Then boil the tallow slowly half a day in 
 a kettle of water, in which one pound of saltpeter to ten pounds of 
 tallow is dissolved. When cold, and drugs scraped from it, boil again 
 in which one pound of alum is melted. When cold, melt with one 
 
ON FIRE AND LIGHTS. 
 
 553 
 
 pound of bleached wax and mould at your leisure. We took a premi- 
 um once on candles thus prepared, and they could hardly be distin- 
 guished from star candles. 
 
 How to Improve Candles. — The New York Tribune says : If you use 
 home-made candles, purify the tallow, and do not mix lard with it, 
 though you may add a little alum ; and never use your candles, any 
 sooner than you would soap, until they are at least six months old. 
 Pack them in bran, and set them away in a cool, dry place, and see 
 how much they improve by age. It is well to mix beef and mutton 
 tallow, but the proportion of the latter should be small, because it 
 sometimes gives a disagreeable odor. All good tallow is white, firm, 
 Mid brittle, and dipt candles can only be made of it in mild weather. 
 Be careful to use nothing but fine, white, clean cotton yarn for wick- 
 ing. 
 
 To Improve Candle Wicking. — Says the Scientific American, Steep 
 the cotton wick in water in which has been dissolved a considerable 
 quantity of nitrate of potassa — chlorate of potassa answers still better, 
 but it is too expensive for common practice — by this means a purer 
 flame and superior light are secured, a more perfect combustion is in- 
 sured, and snuffing is rendered nearly as superfluous as in wax can- 
 dles. The wicks must be thoroughly dried before the tallow is put to 
 them. 
 
 Common cotton pack-thread or cord, of the best quality, four being 
 twisted together, has been well recommended for candle wicking. 
 
 To Whiten Tallow. — The Chemists and Druggist's Cirmlar recom- 
 mends to melt the tallow and add a little alum and saltpetre, or a lit- 
 tle nitric or sulphuric acid. 
 
 To make hard Candles from soft Tallow. — For thirty pounds tallow, 
 take half a pound of alum dissolved in water, pour it into the tallow, 
 let it come to a boil, skim and add two pounds beeswax. If the tallow 
 is moderately hard you can add one-quarter lard. It is also asserted 
 that the beeswax without the alum will have the same hardening ef- 
 fect. 
 
 2. Add about one pound of alum to eighteen pounds of tallow, more 
 or less, as may be desired. For dipping, dissolve the alum in boiling 
 water and add the tallow. For moulding, mix the alum with the tal- 
 low when cold, and dissolve together. 
 
 3. For twelve pounds of tallow, take half a gallon of water, to which 
 add three tablespoonfuls of pulverized alum, and two of saltpetre, 
 which heat and dissolve; then add your tallow and one pound of bees- 
 wax ; boil all together, until the water evaporates, and skim well while 
 
554 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 boiling. It should not be put in the molds hotter than you can bear 
 your hand in. In very cold weather use less alum ; in very warm 
 weather, more. 
 
 4. Add one pound beeswax to every ten pounds tallow. Bayberry 
 tallow is also good. 
 
 5. To sixty pounds tallow add one pound each of alum and saltpe- 
 tre. 
 
 To make Lard Candles. — To every eight pounds of lard add one 
 ounce of nitric acid. Having carefully weighed your lard, place it 
 over a slow fire, or at least merely melt it ; then add the acid, and 
 mold the same as tallow, and you have a clear and beautiful candle. 
 A small proportion of beeswax makes them harder and more resemb- 
 ling tallow. 
 
 Another Way. — Cheap and Excellent. — For twelve pounds of lard 
 take one pound of saltpetre, and one pound of alum ; mix them and 
 pulverize them, dissolve the saltpetre and alum in a gill of boiling wa- 
 ter ; pour the compound into the lard before it is quite all melted ; 
 stir the whole until it boils, skim off what rises ; let it simmer until 
 the water is all boiled out, or till it ceases to throw off steam ; . pour 
 off the lard as soon as it is done and clean the boiler while it is hot. 
 If the candles are to be run you may commence immediately; if to be 
 dipped, let the lard cool first to a cake and then treat as you would 
 tallow. 
 
 In Lighting Candles always hold the match to the side of the wick, 
 and not over the top. 
 
 OH FOOD— SELECTING AND COOKING MEAT, FISH, 
 FOWL, ETC. 
 
 Food and its Influence. — Very few well-informed persons dispute 
 the fact that the nature of the food taken by man has an influence 
 upon his brain or mental power. National traits and characteristics 
 are thus developed. Prof. Moleschott, of Zurich, says, It is a well 
 known fact that change of food has transformed the wild cat into the 
 domestic fireside-companion, from a carniverous animal with short in- 
 testines, it has, by gradually becoming accustomed to other food, be- 
 come transformed into another being, enabled by a long intestinal ca- 
 nal to digest vegetable food, which in its natural state it never touch- 
 es. Food, therefore, makes the most rapacious and perfidious animal 
 
SELECTING AND COOKING MEAT, FISH, FOWL, ETC. 555 
 
 in the world an inmate with man, agreeing with children, and rarely, 
 except to a close observer, revealing its former guileful character. 
 Are we, then, to wonder that tribes of men become ardent, phlegmat- 
 ic, strong or feeble, courageous or cowardly, thoughtful or unintelli- 
 gent, according to the different kinds of aliments they take ? If food 
 is transformed into blood, blood into nerve and muscle, bone and 
 brain, must not the ardor of the heart, the strength of the muscles, 
 the firmness of the nerve, the activity of the brain, be dependent upon 
 the constituents of food? 
 
 In treating of the diet of the artist and literary man, the same wri- 
 ter states that a well-baked bread and lean meat, combined with 
 young vegetables and such roots as are easy of digestion and contain 
 a considerable proportion of sugar, form a wholesome diet for thinkers 
 and poets ; a large quantity of leguminous seeds, heavy bread, rich 
 gravy, and greasy meat, create those irritable, morose, and almost al- 
 ways slender statesmen, who have permitted gloomy thoughts and 
 gloomy imaginations to eclipse all happier views of life in them, or 
 that they have come to consider rods and fetters as the most impor- 
 tant promotors and protectors of civilization. 
 
 Rules for Marketing . — In marketing, the first rule is to purchase 
 chiefly from known and respectable persons who have to support the 
 character of their shops, and who are likely to go themselves to the 
 best markets. The second rule to be observed is that of not purchas- 
 ing inferior articles under the idea of being economical. A bargain is 
 seldom a prize; and this is especially the case with regard to butch- 
 ers meat. 
 
 The best meat and the prime parts are unquestionably cheapest in 
 the end, although the first cost may be the greatest. In coarse and 
 inferior joints there is always too great a proportion of gristle, bone, 
 and hard meat to render them truly economic ; these may serve as the 
 basis of soups, gravies, or stews ; but for roasting or boiling they are 
 wasteful. 
 
 The criteria of bad meat, by which must be understood meat that 
 has been too long killed, or meat from animals killed in a state of dis- 
 ease, ought to be well known by those who market, no less than the 
 value and economy of the different parts and joints. 
 
 HOW TO CHOOSE MEAT, FISH AND POULTRY. 
 
 Beef . — The grain of ox beef, when good, is loose, the meat red, and 
 the fat inclining to yellow. Cow beef, on the contrary, has a closer 
 
556 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 grain, a whiter fat, but meat scarcely as red as that of ox beef. Infe- 
 rior beef, wbicb is meat obtained from ill-fed animals, or from those 
 which had become too old for food, may be known by a hard, skinny 
 fat, a dark-red lean, and, in old animals, a line of a horny texture run- 
 ning through the meat of the ribs. When meat pressed by the finger 
 rises up quickly, it may be considered as that of an animal which was 
 in its prime ; when the dent made by pressure returns slowly, or re- 
 mains visible, the animal had probably passed its prime, and the meat, 
 consequently, must be of inferior quality. 
 
 Veal should be delicately white, though it is often juicy and well- 
 flavored when rather dark in color. Butchers, it is said, bleed calves 
 purposely before killing them, with a view to make the flesh white ; 
 but this also makes it dry and flavorless. On examining the loin, if 
 the fat enveloping the kidney be white and firm-looking, the meat 
 will probably be prime and recently killed. Veal will not keep as long 
 as an older meat, especially in hot or damp weather ; when going, the 
 fat becomes soft and moist, the meat flabby and spotted, and some- 
 what porous, like sponge. Large, overgrown veal is inferior to small, 
 delicate, yet fat veal. The fillet of a cow calf is known by the udder 
 attached to it, and by the softness of the skin ; it is preferable to the 
 veal of a bull calf. 
 
 Mutton . — The meat should be firm and close in grain, and red in 
 color, the fat white and firm. Mutton is in its prime when the sheep 
 is about five .years old, though it is often killed much younger. If 
 too young, the flesh feels tender when pinched ; if too old, on being 
 pinched it wrinkles up, and so remains. In young mutton, the fat 
 readily separates ; in old, it is held together by strings of skin. 
 
 In sheep diseased of the rot, the flesh is very pale-colored, the fat 
 inclining to yellow, the meat appears loose from the bone, and, if 
 squeezed, drops of water ooze out from the grains ; after cooking the 
 meat drops clean away from the bones. 
 
 Wether mutton is preferred to that of the ewe; it may be known 
 by the lump of fat on the inside of the thigh. 
 
 Lamb . — This meat will not keep long after it is killed. The large 
 vein in the neck is bluish in color when the fore quarter is fresh, green 
 when becoming stale. In the hind quarter, if not recently killed, the 
 fat of the kidney will have a slight smell, and the knuckle will have 
 lost its firmness. 
 
 Pork . — When good, the rind is thin, smooth, and cool to the touch ; 
 when changing, from being too long killed, it becomes flaccid and 
 
SELECTING AND COOKING MEAT, FISH, FOWL, ETC. 557 
 
 clammy. Enlarged glands, called kernels, in tlie fat, are marks of an 
 ill-fed or diseased pig. 
 
 Bacon should have a thin rind, and the fat should be firm and ting- 
 ed red by the curing ; the flesh should be of a clear red, without in- 
 termixture of yellow, and it should firmly adhere to the bone. To 
 judge of the state of a ham, plunge a knife into it to the bone ; on 
 drawing it back, if particles of meat adhere to it, or if the smell is dis- 
 agreeable, the curing has not been effectual, and the ham is not good; 
 it should in such a state, be immediately cooked. In buying a ham, 
 a short thick one is to be preferred to one long and thin. 
 
 Venison. — When good, the fat is clear, bright, and of considerable 
 thickness. To know when it is necessary to cook it, a knife must be 
 plunged into the haunch ; and from the smell it must be determined on 
 dressing or keeping it. 
 
 In choosing poultry, the age of the bird is the chief point to be at- 
 tended to. 
 
 An old turkey has rough and reddish legs ; a young one smoother 
 and black. Fresh killed, the eyes are full and clear, and the feet 
 moist. When it has been kept too long, the parts about the vent be- 
 gin to wear a greenish, discolored appearance. 
 
 Common domestic fowls, when young, have the legs and combs 
 smooth ; when old, they are rough, and on the breast long hairs are 
 found instead of feathers. Fowls and chickens should be plump on 
 the breast, fat on the back, and white-legged. 
 
 Geese. — The bills and feet are red when old, yellow when young. 
 Fresh killed, the feet are pliable, stiff when too long kept. Geese are 
 called green when they are only two or three months old. 
 
 Bucks. — Choose them with supple feet, and hard, plump breasts. 
 Tame ducks have yellow feet, wild ones red. 
 
 Pigeons are very indifferent food when they are too long kept. Su- 
 pleness of the fat show them to be young; the state of the flesh is 
 flaccid when they are getting bad from keeping. Tame pigeons are 
 larger than the wild. 
 
 Hares and rabbits, when old, have the haunches thick, the ears dry 
 and tough, and the claws blunt and rugged. A young hare has claws 
 smooth and sharp, ears that easily tear, and a narrow cleft in the 
 lip. 
 
 Partridges, when young, have yellow legs and dark colored bills. 
 Old partridges are very indifferent eating. 
 
 Woodcocks and Snipes, when old, have the feet thick and hard ; 
 when these are soft and tender, they are both young and fresh killed 
 
658 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 When their bills become moist, and their throats muddy, they have 
 been too long killed. 
 
 Turbot, and all flat white fish, are rigid and firm when fresh ; the 
 under side should be of a rich cream color. When out of season, or 
 too long kept, this becomes a bluish white, and the flesh soft and 
 flaccid. A clear, bright eye in fish is also a mark of being fresh and 
 good. 
 
 Cod is known to be fresh by the rigidity of the muscles (or flesh,) 
 the redness of the gills, and the clearness of the eyes. Crimping 
 much improves this fish. 
 
 Salmon . — The flavor' and excellence of this fish depends upon its 
 freshness and the shortness of time since it was caught ; for no meth- 
 od can completely preserve the delicate flavor it has when just taken 
 out of the water. 
 
 Mackerel must be perfectly fresh, or it is a very indifferent fish ; it 
 will neither bear carriage, nor being left many hours out of the water. 
 The firmness of the flesh and the clearness of the eyes must be the 
 criterion of fresh mackerel, as they are of all other fish. 
 
 Herrings can only be eaten when very fresh, and, like mackerel, 
 will not remain good many hours after they are caught. 
 
 Fresh Water Fish . — The remarks as to firmness and clear, fresh eyes 
 apply to these also. 
 
 Lobsters recently caught, have always some remains of muscular ac- 
 tion in the claws, which may be excited by pressing the eyes with the 
 finger ; when this cannot be produced, the lobster must have been too 
 long kept. When boiled, the tail preserves its elasti city if fresh, but 
 loses it as soon as it becomes stale. The heaviest lobsters are the 
 best ; when light, they are watery and poor. 
 
 Oysters . — If fresh, the shell is firmly closed ; when the shells of 
 oysters are opened, they are dead, and unfit for food. The small 
 shelled oysters are the finest in flavor. Larger kinds, called rock oys- 
 ters, are generally considered only fit for stewing and sauces, though 
 some persons prefer them. 
 
 COOKING. 
 
 The culinary science is progressive. Important discoveries are 
 made in it every day, and combinations invented, that add, as it were, 
 a new spice to life's enjoyments. 
 
 Cooking Meat . — Every good housewife feels it a duty that she owes 
 to herself, her husband, and her children, as well as to society at large, 
 
SELECTING AND COOKING MEAT, FISH, FOWL, ETC. 
 
 559 
 
 to prevent waste in every department of the household, whether pro- 
 visions are cheap or dear, whether the husband is rich or poor ; for 
 true economy is one of the wisest, the best, and most ennobling of do- 
 mestic virtues ; while on the other hand, waste is a crime against hu- 
 manity, an insult to the bounteous Hand which “ giveth us all things 
 richly to enjoy.” 
 
 A hundred careful experiments were made in England in reference 
 to roasting and boiling meats, in order to ascertain the respective 
 losses : 
 
 Boasted chickens lost 15 per cent. ; beef ribs and sirloins, 19 per 
 cent. ; geese, 19 per cent. ; boiled mutton legs, 10 per cent. ; boiled 
 beef, 15 per cent. ; boiled shoulder mutton, 28 per cent. ; turkeys, 20 
 per cent. ; mutton legs and shoulders, 24 per cent. ; ducks, 27 per 
 
 cent. ■ 
 
 Boiling beef saves more than four per cent, over roasting. If a leg 
 of mutton is boiled it looses ten per cent. ; if roasted twenty-five per 
 cent! The fatter meat is the greater the loss ; it should be moderate- 
 ly fat to make it tender ; but there is an unprofitable fatness. Eleven 
 pounds of roast rib pieces lose two pounds, and the bones one pound. 
 
 Effects of Heat Upon Meat — We extract the following from Chem- 
 istry of Common Life : A well cooked piece of meat should be full of 
 its own iuice or natural gravy. In roasting, therefore, it should be 
 exposed to a quick fire, that the external face may be made to con- 
 tract at once and the albumen to coagulate before the juice has had 
 time to escape from within. And so in boiling. When a piece of 
 beef or mutton is plunged into boiling water, the outer part contracts, 
 the albumen, which is near the surface, coagulates, and the internal 
 juice is prevented either from escaping into the water by which it is 
 surrounded, or from being diluted or weakened by the admission of 
 water among it. When cut up, therefore, the meat yields much gra- 
 vy, and is rich in flavor. Hence a beefsteak or a mutton chop is done 
 quickly and over a quick fire, that the natural juices maybe retained. 
 On the other hand, if the meat be exposed to a slow fire, its pores re- 
 main open, the juice continues to flow from within, as it has dried from 
 the surface, and the flesh pines and becomes dry, hard, and unsavory. 
 Or if it be put into cold or tepid water, which is afterwards brought 
 to a boil, much of the albumen is extracted before it coagulates, the 
 natural juices for the most part flow out, and the meat is served in a 
 nearly tasteless state. Hence, to prepare good boiled meat, it should 
 be put at once into water already brought to a boil. But to make 
 beef tea, mutton broth, and other meat soup, the flesh should be put 
 
PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 5(50 
 
 into cold water, and this afterwards very slowly warmed, and finally 
 boiled. The advantage derived from simmering, a term not unfre- 
 quent in cook books, depends very much upon slow boiling, as above 
 explained. 
 
 Boiling Meats . — All cooking should be done in vessels full large. 
 Meats, whether salted or fresh, should be put, when they are to be 
 boiled, into saucepans of cold water, that the meat may gradually 
 grow warm as the water increases in heat. The quantity of water in 
 which meat is boiled should be sufficient to cover it, but no more ; 
 and as it wastes away in boiling, the cook should frequently renew the 
 quantity by adding a cup of warm water to it. If she add cold water 
 she checks the boiling of the water considerably, and the time allowed 
 for boiling is thus wasted. Water in which meat is boiling throws up 
 a scum, which must be skimmed off as fast as it rises. If this be not 
 done, the neglect will be apparent in the black streaks which will set- 
 tle on the meat in serving. 
 
 As soon as the water boils, the saucepan or kettle containing it 
 should be drawn off the fire, but placed near enough to keep it sim- 
 mering. Meat is more thoroughly cooked by gentle than by fast boil- 
 ing, which hardens it. 
 
 The allowance of time for boiling meat, and for roasting also, is, in 
 the summer, at the rate of a quarter of an hour to one pound of meat ; 
 m the winter, twenty minutes to the pound. 
 
 Salt and dried meats, such as briskets of beef, hams and tongues, 
 require very slow boiling ; and hence much more time must be al- 
 lowed for them than for fresh meats. Old meats, such as beef and 
 mutton, require a less allowance of time both for roasting and boiling, 
 than do the young meats, such as veal and lamb. 
 
 Stewing Meats . — The water into which meat has been put to stew 
 should be allowed to boil, and should be kept boiling until the scum 
 ceases to rise, and has been carefully removed. The saucepan must 
 then be covered closely and placed near enough to the fire to keep the 
 contents simmering, or to one regular, moderate temperature, until the 
 meat is become as tender as the nature of the dish of which it is to be 
 the basis requires. 
 
 Boasting Meat . — Slow roasting is as desirable as slow boiling ; and 
 that the process should commence gradually, it is desirable to put th<» 
 joint down to roast very soon after the fire has been supplied with the 
 quantity of fuel which the roast in question will require to be con- 
 sumed before it is sufficiently done. By putting down the meat before 
 the whole mass of fuel is ignited, the heat, increasing by degrees, com* 
 
SELECTING AND COOKING MEAT, FISH, FOWL,. ETC. 
 
 561 
 
 municates itself to the meat in the same gradual manner, and in due 
 time reaches the interior of the joint. 
 
 The fire should always be proportioned to the size of the joint to be 
 roasted ; that which is but just sufficient to roast a noble sirloin will 
 parch up a lighter joint. 
 
 Before the meat is put down, the lower bars of the fire should be 
 raked and cleared of every smoky coal in front. 
 
 The distance at which meat should be put from the fire is from nine 
 to twelve or thirteen inches. At the farthest point it should be put 
 at first, and brought closer by degrees. 
 
 The fat, as well as those parts of a joint in which there is no great 
 thickness of meat, should be protected from the full force of the fire 
 requisite for the other parts, by having paper skewered over them, or 
 by covering them with a coarse paste of flour and w T ater, fastened on 
 with paper and string. This latter mode is very commonly employed 
 by professed cooks, and taken off only in time to brown and froth the 
 meat. When a paper cover is used, it should be fastened on with 
 twine, rather than skewers, which, allowing it to start from the meat 
 toward the fire, it becomes scorched, and distastes and colors the sur- 
 face of the joint. 
 
 The time allowed for roasting varies according to circumstances. 
 Old meats, beef and mutton, require less roasting than young. 
 
 F at meat requires more roasting than lean. The usual allowance 
 of time is a quarter of an hour to a pound of meat ; but Dr. Kitchener 
 recommends twenty minutes to be given, and it is desirable to add five 
 minutes to this allowance when cold weather affects meat, or when 
 meat is too recently killed. 
 
 Other details respecting roasting must here be noticed. Basting, 
 browning, frothing, and dredging are each of importance to the suc- 
 cess of roasting, whether of meat, poultry or game. 
 
 Basting is the act of moistening meat, while before an *>pen fire, 
 with certain ingredients which assist the roast, prevent its juices from 
 being dried up, the meat from becoming insipid, and its surface from 
 being scorched. Meat should be basted about every ten minutes at 
 first, and towards the close of the roasting still more frequently. Beef 
 and mutton, while roasting, yield generally sufficient dripping, with 
 which they may be basted. Veal and poultry, being of a dry nature, 
 require an addition of butter, dripping or suet, in order to have a suf- 
 ficient basting for them. 
 
 To some meats flavored bastings are used. Mutton and lamb are 
 sometimes basted with claret and sweet herbs and butter. A hare is 
 36 
 
562 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 basted usually with salt and water, or with milk fo v tne firsj naif 
 hour ; afterward this is poured away, and buttei is substituted. For 
 basting pig, Dr. Kitchener recommends cream and melted butter. For 
 veal and other white meats, the yelks of six eggs, grated biscuits, and 
 the juice of an orange. For all common roasts, butter, clarified suet, 
 or dripping, are the most usual bastings. 
 
 Browning meat should commence when the meat is half done, by 
 stirring the fire and making it brisker. When a good brown is not 
 obtained, the appearance of the joint will be improved by the addition 
 of a glaze. 
 
 Frothing is done a few minutes only before the meat is served. As 
 soon as the steam of the roast draws towards the fire, showing that, 
 the meat is sufficiently roasted, the cook should lightly, but uniformly, 
 dredge with flour the whole surface of the joint, and immediately baste 
 it with butter or dripping. The briskness of the fire should be in- 
 creased by stirring, and in three minutes the meat should be taken 
 down and served. Poultry, game, veal and lamb should be frothed 
 with butter ; for beef or mutton, dripping answers as well. The ob- 
 ject of frothing is to plump up the skin of meat or poultry, by which 
 the appearance of the joint is much improved. 
 
 The dredgings used in frothing are sometimes composed of other in- 
 gredients besides flour, as a means of giving some particular flavor to the 
 meat. Of dredgings, there are, first, flour and grated bread ; second, 
 sweet herbs, dried, powdered and mixed with flour ; third, sugar, fine- 
 ly powdered, and mixed with powdered cinnamon and grated bread ; 
 fourth, lemon peel, dried, pounded, and mixed with flour ; fifth, fennel 
 seed, corianders, cinnamon and sugar, finely beaten, and mixed with 
 grated bread. 
 
 Broiling . — In roasting joints of which the meat is thick, it is desir- 
 able that the heat should be only gradually applied. But in broiling 
 the easels different — the quicker the process the better. Drying up 
 the juices is to be avoided, as it hardens also the fibers of the meat; 
 hence, the degree of intensity of the fire must be attended to, and 
 adapted to the particular kinds of meats about to be broiled. Beef 
 and mutton, for instance, require a brisker fire than veal or pork, fish 
 or poultry. Uniform thickness of the steak or chop is desirable, that 
 the whole may be equally done. Beef steaks should scarcely exceed 
 in thickness half an inch. Mutton may be, without disadvantage, 
 somewhat thicker. 
 
 Salt should not be sprinkled on chops or steaks either before or while 
 broiling, as it draws out the gravy. Pepper may be used, if approved. 
 
SELECTING AND COOKING MEAT, FISH, FOWL, ETC. 563 
 
 When steaks or chops are broiled or fried, they should be turned 
 with steak tongs. If a fork be used it opens courses for the juices of 
 the meat to escape from it. 
 
 In broiling, a fine bed of coals, a clean gridiron, and patience to 
 turn over the slices until nicely done, are indispensable. 
 
 Baking . — Thick paper should be tied over the fat to prevent its 
 wasting. Fowls should be properly skewered and stuffed. Some wa- 
 ter put in the bottom of the pan for beef, pork, mutton, or fowls ; for 
 fish, a little wine and water ; for hares, milk and water. The meat 
 should be very frequently basted in the beginning, and the heat should 
 be stronger in the beginning than afterwards. It prevents the meat 
 shrinking and shrivelling. Nearly all the meats brought on the ta- 
 ble now as roast are really baked. 
 
 Frying. — Frying, like broiling, is a species of quick roasting done in 
 an iron pan : in regard to the uniformity of the thickness of the steaks, 
 and as to the degree of heat to be given to the different meats, nearly 
 the same directions will serve as in broiling. In frying, the pan re- 
 quires to be made hot by boiling in it either dripping, oil, or butter ; 
 the substance to be dressed is put into this boiling liquid, the depth of 
 which should not be sufficient to immerse it, but only to cover com- 
 pletely the bottom of the pan, and to keep moist the surface of the 
 meat. The latter should be frequently turned from one side to the 
 other, and when nearly done, it may be more deeply browned by pres- 
 sing it firmly for one or two seconds against the bottom of the pan. 
 Fish is best fried in oil or lard. Meat is fried in beef dripping or 
 suet. 
 
 Beef A-la.mode. — 1 Take out the bone of a fine round of beef, and 
 prepare a stuffing of bread crumbs, sweet herbs and chopped yelk of 
 eggs. Tie the piece of meat into an oval round form with strong 
 twine. Fill all the crevices with the stuffing. Lard it with cold 
 threads of fat pork. Put some water and wine in the bottom of a 
 pan, and baste and bake slowly. If served hot, reduce the gravy to 
 a nice brown, and serve with it. If used cold, ornament it. 
 
 Meat Pies . — The meat or fowl for these is stewed until tender ; then 
 divested of the fat. The gravy is highly seasoned. With a plain short 
 crust. Bake in a Dutch oven. These are called pot-pies; pieces of 
 the dough are usually put in between the pieces of meat in pot-pies. 
 
 The same preparation of meat or fowl baked in pans in rich puff 
 paste, usually appear in grand dinners, named by the meat they con- 
 tain, or in small pans as patties or pastries. Cold mutton or venison 
 
564 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPEDIA. 
 
 sliced, stewed slightly with a rich gravy, seasoned with wine and spi- 
 ces, is a very nice side-dish for a dinner. 
 
 Marbled Beef. — Take a long thin piece of side or fresh beef. Re- 
 move the skin of -the inside, and strip as a beef steak preparing for 
 the griddle. Sprinkle slightly with salt, and freely with cinnamon, 
 mace, alspice, and brown sugar, mixed ; let it lie thus for twenty -four 
 hours or longer in cold weather. Prepare light bread crumbs, savory 
 herbs and chopped yelks of hard boiled eggs, as for stuffing a fowl. 
 Lay the meat flat on the table and spread thickly with this prepara- 
 tion, which may be moistened with wine. Roll the meat arqund a 
 block of two inches diameter, tie neatly and roast or bake well, bast- 
 ing with wine' and water. When done the stick must be drawn out, 
 and the crevice filled with stiff jelly. If served hot, send its own gra- 
 vy nicely browned to the table with it. But this is usually prepared 
 for lunch or party suppers, and served cold, in which case do not draw 
 out the wooden bolt or cut the string until entirely cold ; then coat the 
 outside as well to fill the central aperture with nice jelly, and other- 
 wise ornament as occasion requires. Cut entirely through in half inch 
 slices, and it presents a pretty marbled appearance, and is very nice 
 to the palate. 
 
 Venison and mutton are both dressed by the same directions. 
 
 Stuffed Beef Steak. — A correspondent of the Agriculturist gives the 
 following : Take a large round steak free from bone ; make a dressing 
 the same as for turkey, and spread it on the meat. Roll it up tight- 
 ly, put it in a cloth and boil for one hour in just enough water to cov- 
 er it. 
 
 Improved Mode of Cooking Salt Pork. — Cut as many slices as may 
 be needed, if for breakfast, the night previous, and soak till morning 
 in a quart or two of milk and water, one-third milk — skimmed milk, 
 if not too near souring, is best ; rinse till the water is clear, and then 
 fry. It is nearly or quite as nice as fresh pork — both the fat and the 
 lean parts. 
 
 Milk Gravy. — The principle food of numerous families in the Uni- 
 ted States, consists of fried pork, pork fat, bread, and potatoes. Fried 
 pork, in particular, mounts the table. Three-fourths of those who 
 use the fat fried out of the pork for gravy, could easily furnish milk 
 and cream, and form a dish much more luxurious, without any addi- 
 tional expense. 
 
 Add cream to your milk, if you have it, and make your gravy ; 
 firstly, take out your pork from the fry-pan, as soon as well done 
 through, and all the fat except about two or three tablepoonfuls. W et 
 
SELECTING AND COOKING MEAT, FISH, FOWL, ETC. 565 
 
 up a large spoonful of flour with cold water. Stir this into the fat 
 while hot, and in a few seconds add your milk, two cupfuls or more, 
 and stir the whole together ; let it boil about five minutes with the 
 pork in it, or not. This makes a healthy and palatable gravy. Clear 
 pork grease is bad for the system when used in daily food. It tends 
 to scrofula. 
 
 Pork Cake. — One pound salt fat pork, and one pound raisins, chop- 
 ped together fine. Two cups molasses. One cup boiling water. One 
 teaspoonful soda. Five and a half cups flour, and plenty of spice. 
 
 The following is highly recommended in the Country Gentleman: 
 Thirteen ounces fat salt pork chopped very fine — pour on one pint boil- 
 ing water ; let it stand till cold ; add one teacup molasses, three tea- 
 cups of sugar, one tablespoonful cloves, one of cinnamon, one of sale- 
 ratus, nine cups flour, one pound raisins. 
 
 How to Cook a Ham. — An ol<J and experienced cook says : “ Never 
 put a ham into a kettle of cold water, and be equally careful never to 
 place one in boiling water. First let the water become luke-warm ; 
 then put the ham in. Let it simmer or boil lightly for four or five hours 
 — five is better than four ; then take it out and shave the rind off. 
 Rub granulated sugar into the whole surface of the ham, so long as it 
 can be made to receive it. Place the ham in a baking dish, with a 
 bottle of prime cider. Baste occasionally with the juice; and let it 
 bake an hour in a gentle heat. A slice from a nicely cured ham thus 
 cooked, is enough to animate the ribs of death.” 
 
 Cleaning Pigs ’ Feet. — Put the feet in cold water to soak over night. 
 With a moderately sharp knife, scrape all parts thoroughly until the 
 skin is clean and white. Hold the lower ends in hot water for a min- 
 ute or two, to part the dew-claws and hoofs, which can then be twisted 
 off with the hand. Singe in a clear flame and they are ready to boil 
 for souce or head-cheese. 
 
 Mutton as an Article of Food. — The American Agriculturist says : 
 “We mean to repeat a thousand times, or at least till what we say 
 have some effect upon our countrymen, that a pound of lean, tender, 
 juicy mutton can be produced for half the cost of the same quantity 
 of pork ; that it is infinitely healthier food, especially in the summer 
 season, and those who eat it become more muscular ; and can do more 
 work with greater ease to themselves than those who eat fat pork. 
 We know nothing more delicious than smoked mutton hams of the 
 Southdown breeds of sheep. Venison itself is not superior. 
 
 Mutton to Eat Like Venison. — Take a loin of mutton and bone it ; 
 lay it on the fat side in a stew pan, with an onion stuck over, with 
 
566 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 cloves until the meat is slightly brown. Then pour over it one pint 
 of broth, a gill of port wine, half a gill of catchup, and let all stew to- 
 gether gently for three hours. Serve with a rich brown sauce. 
 
 The hind quarters of mutton can be roasted the same as beef; if 
 you wish to stuff it, take out the kidney, and stuff under the flank, 
 and skewer down. Hind quarters of lamb can be roasted in the same 
 way. 
 
 Hashed Hutton . — Cut the meat into thin slices, pepper, salt, and 
 flour it according to your palate. Break the bone to suit your sauce- 
 pan, and add water according to the size of your bone — say half a 
 pint. Take two onions sliced, fry them a nice dark brown in a little 
 lard or dripping; mix them with the bone, and a crust of bread roast- 
 ed a dark brown, but not black. Let them stew about half an hour. 
 Strain the gravy, add the meat to it, let it coddle slightly, taste, and 
 add a dust more flour to it if not thick enough ; pepper and salt to 
 fancy. A little lemon peel will improve the flavor, or a little lemon 
 pickle, or any other pickle. A little catchup, a little of Soyer's sauce, 
 and a glass of port wine, separately or united, form a nice seasoning. 
 
 To Boast a Leg of Veal . — Cut out the bone with a sharp carving 
 knife. Fill up the hole with stuffing, and skewer the lappet over to 
 keep in the stuffing. 
 
 Hash . — Hash is cold meat or fowls minced, and stewed with rich 
 seasoning of butter or cream and pepper. 
 
 Salads . — Meat salads are prepared of turkeys, chickens or cold veal. 
 There are also other salads prepared of lobsters, oysters, &c. The 
 last are little used, except on set occasions, save where those things 
 are plenty and cheap. 
 
 For chicken salad, &c., boil done — divest the fowls of skins, bones, 
 and everything else but the breast if you are fastidious, but generally 
 all the lean of a fowl is used. Mince the meat fine ; mix with it fine- 
 ly chopped celery and India pickle, until the taste of both is entirely 
 perceptible. Just before using, incorporate with it the dressing fol- 
 lowing : For two chickens, the finely chopped yelks of eight hard boil- 
 ed eggs, one-fourth pint of pure salad oil or melted butter, two heap- 
 ing teaspoons of mustard, one of pepper and salt, and one teacup of 
 strong celery vinegar. Mix this well, and stir a little of this into a 
 small portion of prepared meat. If any ingredient is lacking, add 
 that one cautiously ; when you find you have it right, mix thoroughly 
 a short time before using. 
 
 Sandwiches . — Slice some best loaf bread thin and evenly. Butter 
 well and spread over some mustard sauce, or simply sprinkle with 
 
SELECTING AND COOKING MEAT, FISH, FOWL, ETC. 567 
 
 mustard, or spread a coat of nice jelly, then a layer of grated ham or 
 tongue, or cheese, or any minced relish. Over this lay another slice 
 of bread, prepared as the first. Lay them neatly on each other until 
 the plate is filled. 
 
 Sandwiches for evening parties : Chop fine some cold dressed ham, 
 say about a quarter of a pound ; put it in a basin with a tablespoon- 
 ful of chopped pickles, and a teaspoonful of mustard, a little pepper or 
 Cayenne ; put about six ounces of butter in a basin, and with a spoon 
 stir quickly till it forms a kind of cream ; add the ham and seasoning, 
 mix all well, have the sandwich bread cut in thin slices ; have already 
 cut, thinly intermixed with fat, either cold roast beef, veal, lamb, mut- 
 ton, poultry, fowls, pheasant, grouse, partridge, &c., either of which 
 lay evenly, and not too thick, on your bread ; season with a little salt 
 and pepper ; cover over with another piece of bread ; when your sand- 
 wich is ready, cut them in any shape you like, but rather small and 
 tastily, and serve. You may keep them in a cold place, if not wanted, 
 as they will keep good under cover for twelve hours. 
 
 Delicate Breakfast Rashers from Cold Boiled Bacon. — Cut the ba- 
 con into slices about a quarter of an inch thick ; grate over them some 
 crust of bread, and powder them well with it on both sides ; lay the 
 rashers on a cheese toaster, and brown them on both sides. 
 
 Excellent to accompany poached or fried eggs, and for a garnish 
 around veal cutlets, or sweet breads, or hashed calf's head, or dishes 
 of green peas or beans. 
 
 Botch Botch. — Make a stock with two pounds of the neck of mutton 
 and four quarts of water. When it boils, have ready, cut in dice, a 
 good quantity of young turnips, carrots, and the tops of cauliflowers, 
 with one or two lettuces cut very small. Put these vegetables, with 
 a pint of full-grown peas, pepper and salt, into the boiling stock. Let 
 them boil for an hour and a half, then add three pints of green peas, 
 and four or six lamb or small mutton chops. Take out the neck, and 
 let it boil for one hour longer, when it will be ready for serving. 
 
 Winter Botch Botch. — Boil for two hours (or more, if not perfectly 
 tender,) one pound of peas ; pulp them through a seive. Put on, in a 
 separate saucepan, one gallon of water, three pounds of mutton chops, 
 some salt and pepper, one and one-half pound of carrots, the same of 
 turnips, cut small. Boil till the vegetables become tender, which 
 may be in about two hours. Add the strained peas to it, and let it 
 boil a quarter of an hour, when it is ready to serve. 
 
 Botch Botch, or Save- All. — Cut hog’s liver in small pieces. To each 
 liver put one pint of sliced onions. Boil them till tender in the 1'quid 
 
568 
 
 PEACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 where head cheese has been boiled. Then add the scraps of leaf fat 
 (the more the better.) Boil all together for ten minutes. Then skim 
 out the contents. Bun it through the sausage cutter. Put it in the 
 liquid again ; stir and season it well with pepper and salt ; dip it out, 
 and put it in pans or jars. When cold, pour a little melted lard over 
 it, and it will keep good until April, unless eaten before. To prepare 
 it for the table, cut it in slices, put in a fryer with a little water, and 
 let it fry a few minutes, and you have a cheap dish, not to be sur- 
 passed. So says one who has fried it. 
 
 To Cook Chickens. — The following is highly recommended : Cut 
 the chicken up, put it in a pan, and cover it with water, let it stew 
 as usual, and when done make a thickening of cream and flour, add- 
 ing a piece of butter and pepper and salt ; have made and baked a 
 pair of shortcakes, made as for pie-crust, but rolled thin and cut in 
 small pieces. This is much better than chicken pie, and more simple 
 to make. The crusts should be laid on a dish, and the chicken gravy 
 put over it while both are hot. 
 
 Chicken Panada. — Boil a chicken till about three parts ready in a 
 quart of water ; take off the skin, cut the white meat off when cold, 
 and put into a marble mortar ; pound it to a paste with a little of the 
 water it was boiled in, season with salt, a grate of nutmeg, and the 
 east bit of lemon peel. Boil gently for a few minutes to the consist- 
 ency you like ; it should be such as you can drink, though tolerably 
 thick. This conveys great nourishment in a small compass. 
 
 White Fricassed Fowl. — Cut up a fowl and put in a stew pan with 
 sufficient water to cover it, add a few grains of whole pepper and a 
 sliced onion, let it stew until tender. Take it up, and add to the li- 
 quor in which it was stewed a teacupful of cream, two tablespoonfuls 
 of flour, butter size of a walnut, and a pinch of salt, well worked to- 
 gether. Boil a minute and pour over the fowl. 
 
 Chicken Pie. — Take a pair of good young chickens, cut them in 
 small pieces, adding a proper quantity of pepper and salt, and small 
 strips of salt pork, and put the whole into a saucepan and cover with 
 water. Boil for half an hour ; add flour and butter to thicken the 
 gravy. Prepare a large dish for baking it, served with paste ; put 
 the whole into the dish and cover again with a good rich paste, and 
 bake the pie half an hour. It is best while fresh from the fire. 
 
 Fried Chicken. — Cut up and dip into a little flour, or first in yelk 
 of eggs, and after in grated cracker or bread crumbs. Fry a nice 
 light brown in butter or lard. Serve with butter or cream gravy. 
 
 A Superior Curry. — Half roast a nice plump chicken, baste it well 
 
SELECTING AND COOKING MEAT, FISH, FOWL, ETC. 569 
 
 with good butter, and fry two large onions a light brown color in the 
 dripping. Then cut the chicken in pieces and put them into a stew 
 pan with the fried onions and one clove of garlic, two dessertspoon- 
 fuls of curry powder, one ounce of butter, four or five blanched al- 
 monds, well bruised in a mortar, and water enough to cover the whole. 
 Let it simmer till the pieces are quite tender, and serve up with a 
 squeeze of lemon and salt to taste. 
 
 Chicken and lurkey Patties . — Mince some cold chicken or turkey ; 
 
 . put to it some of the gravy, or, if you have none, line your pie dish 
 with a paste ; put in your minced meat ; work some flour and butter 
 together, and lay bits all over the meats ; then nearly fill the dish 
 with water ; season with pepper and salt, and, if liked, a little ground 
 mace ; cover with a nice paste, and cook till the crust is done. 
 
 Boast Turkey. — Have the turkey cleaned and washed nicely ; put 
 it in the pan in which it is to roast ; season it with salt and pepper ; 
 fill the body with dressing, as for roast goose, the crop the same as 
 for roast ducks ; place in the p;m back upward ; dredge a little flour 
 over, and one large tablespoonful in the pan, with water sufficient to 
 make gravy, which stir well together before setting in the oven. Baste 
 frequently, and when a nice brown, turn it over, that it may be of an 
 equal color all around. Should the gravy boil away, and not leave 
 sufficient in the pan, a teacupful of hot water may be added, with a 
 little more flour, if necessary; stir it well, and let it simmer two or 
 three minutes, then serve hot. 
 
 Boiled Turkey. — Clean the turkey, wash it well, season the inside 
 with pepper and salt ; dredge a little flour over, and pin it in a clean 
 towel ; put it into a kettle of hot water that has been salted ; let it 
 boil slowly ; when done send it to table hot. This is eaten with oys- 
 ter sauce, or drawn butter, as preferred. 
 
 To Boast a Goose. — Take a young goose, pick, singe, and clean 
 well. Make the stuffing with two ounces of onions, (about four com- 
 mon-sized,) and one ounce of green sage,, chopped very fine. Then 
 add a large coffeecup of stale bread crumbs, and the same of mashed 
 potatoes ; a little pepper and salt, a bit of butter as big as a walnut, 
 the yelk of an egg or two ; mix these well together and stuff the 
 goose. Do not fill it entirely ; the stuffing requires room to swell. 
 Spit it ; tie the spit at both ends to prevent its swinging round, and 
 to keep the stuffing from coming out. The fire must be brisk. Baste 
 it with salt and water at first, then with its own dripping. It will 
 take two hours or more to roast it thoroughly. 
 
 A green goose, that is, one under four months old. is seasoned 
 
570 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 with pepper and salt, instead of sage and onions. It will roast in an 
 hour. 
 
 Sauce for Roasted Goose. — Put into a saucepan a tablespoonful of 
 made mustard, half a teaspoonful of Cayenne pepper, a glass of port 
 wine and a gill of gravy ; mix, and warm, and pour it through a slit 
 in the apron into the body of the goose just before serving. 
 
 To Make a Stuffing for All Kinds of Meat and Poultry. — Take a five 
 cent loaf of stale baker’s wheat bread. Bub it up fine ; save out in a 
 bowl one-quarter part ; put the rest in a pan, and jam it with the po- 
 tato masher ; put in about two ounces o f butter, or fat salt pork, cut 
 fine, two fresh eggs, a tablespoonful of sweet herbs, thyme, sweet mar- 
 joram, and summer savory, equal parts, rubbed fine ; teaspoonful of 
 salt, or to the taste, tablespoonful of flour, and thicken with the dry 
 bread till quite thick. 
 
 To Cook Eggs. — It is stated in a newspaper that this is a sure rule 
 for cooking eggs : “ Put them in cold water ; when the water boils 
 take out your eggs, and they will be found just right, unless you re- 
 quire them boiled hard. If so, let tUbm cook for half an hour, and 
 they will digest much easier, and be found more palatable than the 
 waxy-like eggs generally brought on for hard boiled.” 
 
 To make an Omelet. — Take three teaspoonfuls of milk for each egg, 
 and a pinch of salt to each one also. Beat the eggs lightly for three 
 or four minutes, and pour them into a hot pan in which a piece of 
 butter the size of a walnut has been melted a moment before. The 
 mass will begin to bubble and rise in flakes immediately, and the bot- 
 tom must be lifted incessantly with a clean knife so that the softer 
 parts run in. An omelet should be cooked about three or four min- 
 utes, and made in this way will melt in the mouth. 
 
 For a cheap omelet, if there are no social objections to your eating 
 onions, try the following : Beat up the yelks of three eggs, add half of 
 a good-sized onion, chopped very fine, and a tablespoonful of chopped 
 parsley. The shredding of the onion to a sufficient degree of fineness 
 is very important, as the short time required to fry the omelet would 
 be sufficient to cook the onion. Have ready some butter or nice drip- 
 ping, which should be boiling hot when the beaten egg is stirred in. 
 It should be of a light brown on the under side. It may be browned 
 on the top by holding the pan of the hot shovel over it. 
 
 An omelet is sometimes made in this manner : F our eggs and a cup 
 of sweet milk are beat together, then cooked over a moderate fire, in 
 a skillet, in which a piece of butter the size of a walnut has first been 
 
SELECTING AND COOKING MEAT, FISH, FOWL, ETC. 571 
 
 melted. Parboiled ham cut into small bits and mixed with the omelet 
 when put in the skillet is liked by some. 
 
 French Omelet. — Three eggs, (the yelks and whites beaten separate- 
 ly,) three tablespoonfuls milk, one teaspoonful flour, and a pinch of 
 salt. Stir the flour and milk with the yelks of the eggs. Beat the 
 whites of the eggs to a stiff froth, and mix with the other ingredients. 
 
 How to Test Eggs. — There is no difficulty whatever in testing eggs ; 
 they are mostly examined by a candle. Another way to tell good eggs 
 is to put them in a pail of water, and if they are good they will lay on 
 their sides, always ; if bad, they will stand on their smaller end, the 
 large end always uppermost, unless they have been shaken considera- 
 bly, when they will stand either end up. Therefore, a bad egg can 
 be told by the way it rests in the water — always end up never on its 
 side. Any egg that lies flat is good to eat and can be depended upon. 
 Eggs are good which are diaphanous, or show a faint reddish color, 
 when held in a dark place, toward a candle or other light, when held 
 in the circle made by the thumb and fore finger ; they are bad in pro- 
 portion as they seem black. This is an infallible test. 
 
 How to eat an Egg. — Another newspaper article says : “ By the 
 usual mode of introducing the salt it will not mix or incorporate with 
 the egg ; the result is, you either get a quantity of salt without egg, 
 or egg "without salt. Put a drop or two of water, tea, coffee or other 
 liquid you may have on the table at the time, then add the salt, and 
 stir. The result is far more agreeable, the drop of liquid is not tasted.” 
 
 Fish. — This article, always esteemed a luxury in or out of season, 
 off the coasts and great rivers, is cooked in many ways, but we give 
 but three tfr four leading ones. The fish should be fresh, well cleaned, 
 out and inside, not soaked in water, and if to be kept at all, must be 
 in ice entirely. The gills are red, eyes not sunken, and the whole 
 body elastic, of a fresh fish. 
 
 Baked Fish. — Cut two or three slices of best bread, butter it, and 
 powder with mace and pepper. Dip the bread quickly in some good 
 wine, lay it in the fish and tie it securely. Put some wine and water 
 into the bottom of the pan, and baste the fish with it freely until it 
 bakes quite done. While baking, mix a quarter of a pound of butter 
 with a heaping teaspoonful of flour, to a cream. Stir this into the 
 gravy after you have taken the fish up, and use it for sauce. You 
 may stuff a fish as you would a chicken, and use drawn butter flavored 
 with a pleasant catchup or egg sauce. 
 
 Boiled Fish. — Lay whatever fish you wish to boil on a strainer in 
 the kettle. Let your kettle come to a boil slowly. When you think 
 
572 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 it done, see with a knife whether the spine is loose in the flesh. If 
 done, lift up and drain perfectly. Lay the fish in a clean white nap- 
 kin, fold it over, and send to the table immediately — or pour the sauce 
 hot over the fish, and cover it. 
 
 Broiled Fish. — Cut into nice slices, and over a clear fire of coals pul 
 it on a gridiron until well done, turning it over carefully. Keep a 
 dish with melted butter in it, seasoned with pepper and catchup, and 
 lay the pieces in it ; when done turn them over and cover closely. 
 
 Fried Fish. — Lay small fish or pieces of large fish into a pan with 
 sweet hot lard or butter. Fry brown on both sides. There should 
 be enough grease to cover the fish well, or it will stick and burn. This 
 is a gross dish, and requires some good sauce to molify its strong taste, 
 especially if fried in lard. Some persons dip small fish in corn meal 
 before frying. 
 
 How to Cook Shad. — Shad are excellent when baked, either on a 
 board, which is the best, or by the following mode : Stuff them with 
 a seasoning made of bread crumbs, butter, salt, pepper, and (if agree- 
 able) parsley and spices. Bake from three quarters of an hour to an 
 hour. Shad broiled is also excellent, but it is spoiled by frying , as it 
 loses nearly all its fine flavor. This being a moist fish, it should nev- 
 er be boiled. Those who never eat a baked or broiled shad, know 
 nothing of that excellence which we claim for this fish over all others. 
 
 To broil a shad, scrape and scale it ; split it down the back, wash it 
 clean, wipe it dry, lay the flesh side on to the gridiron, broil ten or 
 fifteen minutes ; then turn it skin down, broil it ten minutes ; dish it, 
 and rub it over with a little sweet butter ; serve hot. 
 
 Oysters. — Oysters are among the most healthful, and nutritious of 
 all the articles furnished for the table. When fresh, they are proba- 
 bly most nourishing when eaten raw ; but they should not be “ bolted 
 down,” as is the custom of some who love this bivalve. They should 
 be thoroughly masticated, or in other words, made to feel the teeth. 
 
 Cooking Oysters. — Oysters have become so common, even in our far 
 western homes, that it falls to the lot of most housewives to cook them, 
 the printed directions on the cans often mislead. It is very rare that 
 you can use much of the liquor of pickled oysters ; it is too salt. Al- 
 most uniformly they should be washed, and if very salt, soaked. After 
 that they may be used as fresh canned oysters, and neither kind may 
 be expected the earnest compliment of a guest from oyster regions, of 
 tasting “ quite like those just from the shell.” 
 
 Stewed Oysters. — Put sufficient water with the liquor from fresh oys- 
 ters to cover them in a dish. Drain the liquor into a kettle, and when 
 
SELECTING AND COOKING MEAT, FISH, FOWL, ETC. 573 
 
 it comes to a fair boil, put in the oysters and cook as much as you 
 like them. Tastes vary extremely on that point. Stir in a cup of 
 sweet cream or fresh milk, with a lump of butter as large as a walnut 
 for a small can of oysters. Season with pepper, salt and a blade of 
 mace, if you like. Some persons use white wine instead of milk. 
 
 A French Method. — This receipt is handed down as the invention of 
 the celebrated Marshal St. Evremont, whose taste was educated in the 
 Court of the Grande Monarque : Take what quantity of oysters you 
 will and wash them in their water ; lay them in a stewpan and strain * 
 their water upon them ; add a good lump of butter, which (when mel- 
 ted) should be half as much as the water, season with salt ; boil smart- 
 ly with the lid on, and when it is half cooked put in some crusts of 
 light French bread and finish the boiling. 
 
 Fried Oysters. — Beat up a couple or three eggs in a cup, and rasp 
 bread crumbs on a plate with sweet herbs powdered, and lemon peel. 
 Dry the oysters, as much as possible, souse them in the eggs, and cov- 
 er them with crumbs. Fry them in plenty of good butter. 
 
 Another Way. — Take large oysters, wash them clean out of the li- 
 quor, wipe them dry, dip them in eggs and crumbs, and fry them in 
 hot fat. Or dip them in a nice batter and fry them in butter. 
 
 Baked Oysters. — Three eggs, half a pint of cream, half pint of oys- 
 ters and a little salt — bake. 
 
 Scalloped Oysters. — Take crackers or rusked bread ; pound fine ; 
 butter a pan, and put in alternate layers of crumbs and oysters, hav- 
 ing a layer of crumbs at the top ; season them with salt and pepper ; 
 and add a little butter and oyster juice sufficient to moisten the whole; 
 bake till brown. 
 
 Oyster Patties. — Prepare a rich paste as for a chicken pie ; line a 
 bake dish or little patty-pans ; set in the stove and bake done, but not 
 brown. Have ready some stewed oysters, with a very rich gravy of 
 butter or cream. Fill the dish or lay a large oyster in each patty, 
 and cover with gravy. You may bake little lids of paste and lay over 
 the patties, but they are usually open. The dish must be covered and 
 baked as a chicken pie if you bake in a pie-pan. 
 
 A dish bottom covered with bread crumbs, then a layer of oysters 
 with a bit of butter on them, and a sprinkle of pepper and salt ; then 
 a layer of crumbs and again of oysters, is a very nice dish when 
 baked well. Layer of crumbs on top. 
 
 Plain Oyster Patties. — Make little round loaves, or take small 
 French rasps ; make a hole in the top of each, and scrape out a portion 
 of the crumb. Put some oysters into a stew T pan with their own 
 
574 
 
 PEACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 liquor, and add to them the crumbs of bread rubbed or grated fine, 
 and a lump of butter ; season with black pepper, and a sprinkle of 
 Cayenne ; stew for five or six minutes, and then put in a spoonful of 
 good cream. Fill the rasps or loaves, and cover with the bits of 
 crust previously cut off ; set them in an oven for a few minutes to 
 crisp. 
 
 Minced veal, lamb, poultry, game, &c., may be done in the same 
 way as for paste patties. 
 
 To Cook Clams . — Take one dozen clams, open, saving juice and 
 meat ; chop the meat fine. Take six eggs, mixing the whites and the 
 yelks ; then mix the clams, juice and meat, with the eggs, and cook 
 over a slow fire, stirring constantly, till the mixture has the consist- 
 ency of stiff cream. Take off and serve. 
 
 To bake them, take four eggs, half a pint sweet milk or cream, 
 twelve clams, and bake fifteen to twenty minutes. 
 
 To Cook Lobsters . — For stewed lobster, take out all the meat and 
 soft part from the body, and cut it into small bits ; put them into a 
 saucepan with two cups of white stock, a little mace, cayenne and 
 salt ; dredge in some flour, some bits of butter, and stew it about ten 
 or fifteen minutes ; stir it frequently, and when done, add a little vin- 
 egar or white wine. 
 
 Lobster Cutlets . — Boil two good lobsters, and take out all the meat, 
 mince it very fine, or pound in a mortar ; put it in a stew pan with a 
 small piece of butter, salt and white pepper, a little lemon juice and 
 sugar. Set it on the fire, and stir until it boils up. Take from the 
 fire, put an egg with it, stir it well, and add another egg if the quan- 
 tity of lobster requires it, and then set to cool. When cold make into 
 the shape of lamb cutlets ; when all are made, have an egg beat up, 
 brush the cutlets, rolling them in bread crumbs ; as you do them, 
 take the small red toes of the lobster for a point to each cutlet ; press 
 them up to where the bone of the cutlet is, and fry with sweet butter 
 of a light brown. F or those who like it, a gravy may be made, brown 
 with cream and flavored with anchovy. 
 
 COOKING VEGETABLES. 
 
 This is the simplest branch of culinary art — one with which much 
 pains should be taken, that our people, especially laborers, might bs 
 
COOKING VEGETABLES. 
 
 575 
 
 tempted to change the unhealthy and expensive habit they have of 
 subsisting so much on meats. As a rule, vegetables should be cooked 
 while fresh. They should be perfect of their kind. Iron pots or tin 
 saucepans should be used in cooking vegetables chiefly. Copper, brass 
 or bell metal discolor and render poisonous articles having acid in 
 them. 
 
 An earthen or stone crock with a lid stews fruit nicely. 
 
 Delicate preparations that would be easily burned, should be put in 
 a china or tin kettle, and placed in a pot of boiling water. Such pre- 
 parations, however, usually belong to what is erroneously termed des- 
 sert — that word meaning, according to English precedent, fruit, 
 nuts, etc. 
 
 Vegetables should be picked and washed clean, and laid in cold water 
 until just ready for cooking. Potatoes, parsnips, and roots generally, 
 should be thrown into cold water as soon as pared, or they turn black. 
 A little salt should be thrown into the water where vegetables are 
 cooked, and green ones should be put in boiling water at the start. 
 
 Only use as much water as will cover them properly ; they are 
 washy if cooked in too much. There are some exceptions to this rule. 
 When turnip greens grow old, to change the water when cooking, ren- 
 ders them milder. Also dry beans and peas should have the water 
 changed after parboiling them. 
 
 Drain all vegetables perfectly. Those to be dressed with drawn 
 butter, should be saturated simply with it. It is not desirable to have 
 them served up with it as you would meat with gravy. 
 
 Use of Salt in Cooking Vegetables . — If one portion of vegetables be 
 boiled in pure distilled or rain water, and another to which a little 
 salt has been added, a decided difference is perceptible in the tender- 
 ness of the two. Vegetables boiled in pure water are vastly inferior. 
 This inferiority may go so far in the case of onions, that they are al- 
 most entirely destitute of either taste or color, though when cooked in 
 salted water, in addition to the pleasant taste, they have a peculiar 
 sweetness and a strong aroma. They also contain more soluble mat- 
 ter than when cooked in pure water. Water which contains 1-420 of 
 its weight of salt is far better for cooking vegetables than pure water 
 because salt hinders the solution and evaporation of the soluble and 
 flavoring principles of the vegetables. 
 
 Potatoes . — The proper cooking of good food is an essential element 
 of good health in all civilized countries. The general use of the pota- 
 to shows that it is palatable and healthful. It has the same amount 
 of nutriment as the egg, thirteen per cent. ; it has twipe the nutri- 
 
576 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 ment of coffee, half as. much as beef. It requires two hours and a half 
 for digestion, raw cabbage two hours, roast beef an hour longer, roast 
 poik an hour longer still. It is claimed that the outer quarter of an 
 inch of the potato contains more nourishment than the entire remain- 
 der. Hence peeling is a waste. They should be cooked, then the 
 very thin skin is easily removed, and the whole nourishment remains. 
 Late in the spring, as the potato prepares for sprouting, the outer 
 portion becomes rank, and it is better to peel before cooking. If kept 
 in a dark place, sprouting is much retarded, and further if the sprouts 
 are rubbed off with the hands. The lighter a potato is, the more 
 mealy and palatable it will be after cooking ; hence the good ones 
 float, while others sink in strong salt water. Boiled potatoes are not 
 digested so easily or so soon as if baked or roasted. 
 
 How to Choose Potatoes . — Observe as a general rule, says Soyer, 
 that the smaller the eye the better the potato, as when they are too 
 full in the eye they are either of an inferior quality or are running to 
 seed. To ascertain if they are sound, nip a piece from the thickest 
 end with ypur finger nail ; if good, the inside will either be of a good 
 white, yellow or reddish hue, according to the sort and quality ; if, on 
 the contrary, they are spotted, they are bad, or getting so ; but 
 though this part may be slightly touched, by cutting a. little off the 
 outside, they may prove fit for boiling. 
 
 COOKING POTATOES. 
 
 Boiling. — The usual way is to put them into cold water, either thin- 
 ly peeled, or with the skin on, and well washed, gradually heating the 
 water and boiling slowly until done, when the water is poured from 
 them, some salt thrown in, a napkin put over them, and then set by 
 the side of the fire to keep hot. 
 
 Dr. Hall advises to put them in cold water with the skin on, and 
 gradually heat the water ; when near boiling, add more cold water ; 
 if thus checked, the skins will not crack until the potato is thorough- 
 ly done ; pour off the water and let the skins become dry, before 
 peeling. 
 
 The Irish nick out a piece of the skin before putting them in the 
 pot. The potatoes of each cooking should be nearly of the same size, 
 that all may be equally done. They should not be covered with more 
 than an inch of water, that they may be just covered at the finish ; 
 they will become waxy and watery if allowed to remain in the water 
 a moment after they are well done. After they are dried they can 
 
COOKING VEGETABLES. 
 
 577 
 
 be kept hot and mealy some time if covered with a napkin. Mod- 
 erate sized potatoes should be done enough in a quarter of an hour. 
 
 A good authority recommends to put potatoes of equal size into wa 
 ter while boiling hot, when done, cover the pot with a coarse cloth, 
 and return it to the fire for five minutes, when they are ready for the 
 table . Even watery potatoes are thus made mealy. 
 
 Daniel Webster, in a letter to his son, promising to dine with him, 
 gives these directions : “Let these potatoes be peeled early and 
 thrown into a basin of cold water till time to cook them. Let them 
 be boiled in a good deal of water. When done, pour off all the water, 
 shake up the potatoes a little, hang on the pot again, and then bring 
 them to the table. I remember when we heard Hannah Curtis shak- 
 ing her pot, we knew that dinner was coming.” 
 
 Potatoes half boiled may be sliced and broiled, or they may be 
 fried until they acquire a nice brown. Potatoes three parts done 
 may be put into the dripping pan to receive the dripping from the 
 meat ; in this way they are excellent, and, at the same time, economy 
 is consulted. 
 
 To Improve Soggy Potatoes . — After they are sufficiently boiled, and 
 the skins taken off, place them in a dry cloth, and express the moist- 
 ure by a slight wringing. They will then appear mealy, and taste 
 
 well. 
 
 Potatoes, when boiled, if either waxy or to be eaten with cold 
 meat, should be peeled and put whole on the gridiron until nicely 
 browned. 
 
 A contributor to the Country Gentleman says : To boil perfectly, 
 take those of the same size, cover them with water, with a little salt, 
 and a piece of lime as big as a hickory nut. When you can stick a 
 fork in them easily, pour off the water, and put them in your oven 
 stove and dry them. 
 
 Baked Potatoes . — The best way to cook a potato is to bake or roast 
 it in an oven; when done, crack the skins open and allow them to dry 
 out for a few minutes before placing them on the table. 
 
 Dr. Hall says : Clean well, nick out a small piece, and roast. A 
 little butter over the skin crisps them. 
 
 Fried potatoes may be cut from raw, half an inch thick ; fry quick- 
 ly in hot fat, let grease drip off, dry, salt and use. 
 
 Cold potatoes fried : Put a bit of cream dripping into a frying-pan : 
 when it is melted, slice in your potatoes with a little pepper and salt ; 
 put them on the fire ; keep stirring them ; when they are quite hot 
 they are done. 
 
 37 
 
578 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 Stewed potatoes, peeled, cut into pieces, and stewed with fat pork, 
 are very eatable, improved with, a little cream. Potatoes should be 
 always boiled a little before putting into stews, as the first water is a 
 little poisonous. 
 
 Potatoes Mashed. — When your potatoes are thoroughly boiled, drain 
 them quite dry, pick out every speck, &c., and, while hot, rub them 
 through a colander into a clean stew pan. To a pound of potatoes 
 put about half an ounce of butter and a tablespoonful of milk ; do not 
 make them too moist ; mix them well together. 
 
 Potatoes Mashed with Onions. — Prepare some boiled onions by put- 
 ting them through a sieve, and mix them with potatoes. In propor- 
 tioning the onions to the potatoes, you will be guided by your wish for 
 more or less of their flavor. 
 
 Potato Pibbons. — Cut the potatoes into slices rather less than an 
 inch thick, free them from the skins, and then pare round and round in 
 very thin and long ribbons. Place them in a pan of cold water, and a 
 short time before they are wanted on table drain them from the wa- 
 ter. Pry them in hot lard or good dripping, until they are quite 
 crisp and browned ; drain and dry them on a soft cloth, pile them on a 
 hot dish, and season them with salt and cayenne in fine powder. 
 
 Potato Flour and Jelly. — Rasp the potatoes into a vessel of cold 
 water, and change it frequently, until the raspings fall to the bottom, 
 like a paste, then dry in the air, pound in a mortar, and pass it 
 through a hair sieve. This is nearly as nutritious and lighter than 
 flour ; hence is better for pastry and puddings for invalids. If kept 
 dry, it will remain good for years, while it is easily converted into a 
 most nutritious jelly by pouring absolutely boiling water on it. When 
 changed into jelly, flavor to taste and use it. 
 
 Concentrated Potatoes. — A bushel of potatoes averages sixty pounds. 
 When all the water is absorbed five pounds of nutritive material arc 
 left, which, when ground, looks like Indian meal. 
 
 Cooking the Sweet Potato. — Sweet potatoes are cooked in all the 
 modes usual for Irish. They are best baked, if large enough. Boiled 
 and sliced, with butter poured on them, and some mixed sugar and 
 cinnamon sifted over them, and then browned, are very nice for din- 
 ner or pic-nics. 
 
 Sweet Potato Pudding. — Wash the potatoes, peel and grate them, 
 (using a large, coarse grater,) then take of the grated potato, eggs, 
 butter, either sugar or molasses, (the latter is best,) and milk sufficient 
 for a batter. Bake in a deep dish without crust ; stir two or three 
 
COOKING VEGETABLES. 
 
 579 
 
 times whilst cooking, and then bake brown. Flavor as desired. This 
 and the following are according to the methods practiced in the South. 
 
 Sweet Potato Custard. — Boil the potatos, skin and mash them — 
 then with the mashed potatoes, butter, eggs, sugar and milk, make a 
 batter and bake with one crust in a shallow dish. Flavor as desired. 
 
 Sweet Potato Pie. — Peel the potatoes, slice — take sugar and water 
 sufficient to make a syrup to cover the potatoes, add a little butter 
 and some spices, and cook until the slices are softened — then make in- 
 to pies with two crusts. I have eaten of this in the south when I 
 thought it was the best pie I ever tasted. 
 
 Fried Sweet Potatoes. — Peel them, slice and sprinkle with a little 
 fine salt, then fry till moderately brown, in butter or lard — if in but- 
 ter, no salt is needed. 
 
 To Cook Cabbage. — Cabbage and the whole tribe of greens belong- 
 ing to it, are usually cooked with pork or bacon, but it is much more 
 delicate dressed with butter. Whatever way the vegetable is used, 
 it should be picked and washed with great care, boiled until stalk and 
 all is entirely soft, and drained to a nicety. If taken up in a collan- 
 der, and fresh water poured over it until cold, and returned to the pot 
 to finish boiling, it is less strong in odor and taste. The inner leaves 
 of a cabbage are sometimes cut out and their place filled with stuffing, 
 like a fowl ; only minced tongue, ham, and chopped yelks of eggs are 
 mixed freely with the bread crumbs and herbs. 
 
 Fried Cabbage. — Take cabbage not quite done by boiling, shear 
 them up tolerably fine, and fry with butter or lard or dripping from 
 very nice pickled pork. 
 
 Slaw. — Cut up the cabbage very fine. For cold slaw pour over vin- 
 egar flavored with mustard, salt and pepper to taste, and cut over it 
 when dished up some hard boiled eggs. For hot slaw, put the cab- 
 bage into a pan after it is sliced up. For two quarts of cut cabbage, 
 beat up six eggs very light, a teacup of melted butter with two ta- 
 blespoons of rich cream mixed in it. Add to this two teaspoons of 
 mustard, one of salt and one of brown sugar. Set the pan of cab- 
 bage in a pot of boiling water, and stir the dressing into it until the 
 egg is cooked and the cabbage scalding hot. As nice as chicken salad 
 if well made. Lettuce is nice thus dressed, but cold. Some minced 
 celery improves its flavor. 
 
 Another method for hot slaw, is to put the cabbage cut very fine 
 into a stew pan with a piece of butter, and salt and pepper to taste ; 
 pour in just hot water enough to prevent its sticking to the pan ; cov- 
 
580 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 er it closely, and let it stew ; stir it frequently, and when it is quite 
 tender, add a little vinegar, and serve it hot. 
 
 7o Cook Sea Kale . — Soak the stalks in water for thirty minutes, and 
 tie in small bundles. Boil them very tender, over a brisk fire, with a 
 little salt in the pot ; drain off the water, and lay them on a slice ©f 
 toast, which has been moistened in the liquor. Dress with melted 
 butter, pepper and salt. 
 
 To Cook Brussels Sjprouts . — Immerse them in clear water for an hour, 
 and cleanse them from dirt and insects. Then boil them quickly for 
 about twenty minutes, using plenty of water. When soft, take up 
 and drain well, and serve up at table, or put into a stew-pan with 
 cream, or a little butter thickened with flour, and seasoned to taste, 
 stirring them thoroughly. They may be served up also with tomato 
 sauce, which greatly heightens the flavor. 
 
 To Cook Kohl Babi . — Select middle sized Kohl Babi turnips. Cut 
 off the roots and large leaves, and pare. Then cut in thin slices, and 
 with all its small leaves put in a pot with a little water and some salt. 
 Boil until soft, then add a small piece of fat and a little pepper. While 
 this is boiling, prepare a little fat mixed with flour and roasted until 
 yellow, which add to the turnip, and also a little sugar and nutmeg. 
 Boil a little while longer aud it is ready for the table. 
 
 Another way is to put sliced turnips and young leaves, together with 
 veal, in a pot ; let it stew until soft, and season with nutmeg and pep 
 per to taste. 
 
 To Cook Green Corn . — Boiled in clear water with a lit\!e salt, i* 
 the most common method of preparing this most popular vegetable. 
 It should be just done when sent in, or it will be dark and shriveled. 
 It is best to cut it down in a pan sitting in boiling water, stir in but- 
 ter and send hot to the table. 
 
 Another way is to trim off the husks and immerse in boiling water, 
 with a little salt. Boil gently half an hour ; then take out the cobs, 
 rub over some butter, pepper, and salt, and brown before a quick 
 fire. 
 
 Another plan, and one which many persons prefer, is to boil as 
 above ; afterwards, cut off the corn neatly, return it to a pan contain- 
 ing a sufficient quantity of milk to cover, throw in a tablespoonful of 
 butter, the same of sugar and salt, to flavor, simmer slowly for fifteeD 
 minutes, and serve up hot. 
 
 A correspondent of the Agriculturist contributes the following : Take 
 two dozen ears of green corn, well clean from the silk, slightly cut 
 off the edge of the kernels with a sharp knife, and scrape the remain- 
 
COOKING VEGETABLES. 
 
 581 
 
 der off. Place in a pot with two teacupfuls of water. When cooked 
 so there is danger of burning, thin with sweet milk. When well done, 
 season with salt, and add butter to your taste. 
 
 Fried Corn. — Cut down and fry in butter or lard. 
 
 Corn Pudding. — Split twelve large ears down each row of grains ; 
 scrape it off the cob ; mix with *t a pint of rich milk, two heaping ta- 
 blespoons of butter, six well beaten eggs ; season with salt and pepper. 
 Bake done and brown. 
 
 Pombolia. — Cut down six ears of corn as for corn pudding ; put it 
 with the cobs into what water will cover them ; also a tea-cup of rice. 
 Boil until well done ; take out the cobs and stir in a spoonful or two 
 of butter and cream, with what salt and pepper you relish. Healthy 
 and nice for breakfast. 
 
 Succotash of two kinds — green and dried corn. For the first, boil 
 the beans first, as. they need more cooking, then shave the green corn 
 off the cob, and boil it with the beans. With dry corn, the corn must 
 be soaked until it is thoroughly swelled out tender, and then treated 
 as the other. 
 
 A rule given is to boil the beans until soft, and add the corn ten or 
 fifteen minutes before bringing to the table. 
 
 A good succotash is made as follows : Cut up equal quantities of 
 green beans and corn ; after they are boiled and drained, mix them 
 together and stew a few minutes with cream and butter. Hominy 
 and dry Lima beans make tolerable winter succotash. 
 
 Preparing Dried Sweet Corn for Table. — Pick and wash it very 
 clean, put it into a tin basin upon the back of the stove, well covered 
 with cold water and the basin covered, two hours before it is wanted. 
 Do not let it boil ; it hardens it; season it with butter and salt. You 
 would hardly know it from fresh corn. 
 
 Corn Oysters. — Eighteen ears grated corn, three eggs, pepper and 
 salt to taste, three tablespoonfuls of flour. Fry in hot pork fat or 
 lard. Serve hot. 
 
 Hominy. — Is Indian corn with the husk beaten or ground off. Soak 
 it for some hours ; put it on a fire and boil very slowly until it mash- 
 es easily. The pot must be replenished, as it falls, with boiling water. 
 Samp, cooked like hominy, requires less butter. 
 
 There are three sizes of hominy. Large hominy requires to be 
 boiled for four or five hours over a gentle fire. It should be washed 
 clean, and put in the stew pan with just enough water to cover it. It 
 is eaten as a vegetable. To cook the smaller hominy, wash it in two 
 waters ; then to one teacupful of hominy add a quart of water and a 
 
582 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPEDIA. 
 
 teaspoonful of salt, and place the dish that contains it in a kettle of 
 boiling water, to prevent it from getting burnt, or else over a very 
 gentle fire. Let it boil for an hour stirring it well with a spoon. It 
 is generally eaten for breakfast. It is excellent sliced and fried after 
 it has become cold. 
 
 Jo CooJc Hice. — Rice is easily injured by poor cooking, and almost 
 spoiled by a little over boiling. Rice should be carefully looked over, 
 and thoroughly washed in two or three waters. The kernel will then 
 have a pearly luster. It should be put into boiling water, in which a 
 little salt has been thrown, and allowed to boil fifteen or seventeen 
 minutes. The water should then be drained off, and the kettle set 
 back from the violent heat of the fire. "When it has steamed in this 
 way for about fifteen minutes it will be perfectly soft, of snowy white- 
 ness, and each kernel will retain its individuality, and not be lost in 
 one solid mass of paste. A pint of rice may be boiled in three quarts 
 of water. 
 
 The following method is preferred by some to the richest rice pud- 
 ding : Slowly simmer the rice in milk three or four hours, or till the 
 grains burst and absorb the milk ;• add a little sugar, put the whole 
 into a wide dish, and bake till slightly brown. Eat it with milk or 
 butter. 
 
 Cracked Wheat. — Take plump, clean winter wheat, if not winter 
 the best quality of spring wheat, grind coarsely in a hand mill, stir 
 into five quarts of boiling water — soft water — one quart of the ground 
 grain — boil moderately for four or five hours, stirring occasionally. 
 When desired to be eaten cold, mold in dishes and serve up with sugar 
 and cream. Lest it should burn, it should be cooked in a tin vessel 
 set into a kettle filled with water. 
 
 A Cheap and Wholesome Dish. — A writer in an agricultural papei 
 says: “My family breakfasted this morning, July 20, mainly on boil- 
 ed wheat. Boiled wheat and milk. Boiled wheat and maple sugar. 
 Not wheat flour, nor wheaten groats, nor cracked wheat, but whole 
 grains of wheat, shelled from the best heads, the larger the better, 
 and soaked in cold water two or three hours, and then boiled in the 
 same water one or two hours or until quite soft, and the water is all 
 absorbed. It should all be cooked while other culinary operations are 
 going on, as it needs to boil or simmer on a slow fire for a good while, 
 and care must be taken at the last that it does not burn. To prevent 
 this, it may be finished off by placing the kettle in a pan of water. 
 
 The Cheapest Food — Beans and How to Cook them. — The cheapest 
 and most nutritious vegetable used for food is beans. P rofessor Liebig 
 
• COOKING VEGETABLES. 
 
 583 
 
 says that pork and beans form a compound of substances peculiarly 
 adapted to furnish all that is necessary to support life. A quart of 
 beans costs in Cambridge, eight cents; half a pound of pork, six cents. 
 This, as every housekeeper knows, will feed a small family for a day 
 with good strengthening food. Four quarts of beans and two quarts 
 of corned beef, boiled to rags in fifty quarts of water, will furnish a 
 good meal to forty men at a cost of fifty cents, one cent and a quarter 
 a man. 
 
 There is an account of a widow having had six children to support, 
 and was entirely without means to procure them food, save eight hens 
 which laid daily. She did not feel willing to make known her neces- 
 sities, or to solicit any assistance. She resolved to try the experiment 
 of sustaining herself and children on these eight eggs. To eat them 
 would do but little beyond maintaining life. To exchange them, 
 therefore, for other food was the plan adopted. Accordingly, she dai- 
 ly exchanged six eggs for beans, and two of them for a small piece of 
 coarse meat, both of which were cooked together for soup, which was, 
 under the circumstances, quite palatable, and in amount sufficient to 
 satisfy hunger. In this way they were all sustained till more ample 
 means were at control ; an instance of management rarely or never 
 excelled. 
 
 To Cook Green Beans . — Green beans, boiled until perfectly done, 
 and dressed as asparagus, are nice. But they are more commonly 
 cooked with pork or middling bacon. Bacon should always be soaked 
 nearly free from salt for cooking purposes. Dried beans or peas are 
 also cooked with pork. 
 
 Baked Beans . — Few people know the luxury of baked beans, simply 
 because few cooks properly prepare them. Beans, generally, are not 
 cooked half long enough. This is our method : Two quarts of mid- 
 dling sized white. beans, two pounds of salt pork, and one spoonful of 
 molasses. Pick the beans over carefully, wash and add a gallon of 
 boiling hot soft water : let them soak in it over night ; in the morn- 
 ing put them in fresh water and boil gently till the skin is very ten- 
 der and about to break, adding a teaspoonful of saleratus. Take them 
 up dry, and put them in your dish, stir in the molasses, gash the pork, 
 and put it down in the dish, so as to have the beans cover all but the 
 upper surface ; turn in boiling water till the top is just covered ; bake 
 with a steady fire four or five hours. Watch them, and add more 
 water from time to time as it dries £iway. Those who prefer may 
 omit the molasses. 
 
 Cooking Peas . — From the Agriculturist : Gather and shell the peas 
 
584 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 at night, and put them in cold water, in which you have previously 
 thrown a handful of salt. In the morning pour off the water and put 
 them in boiling water. Let them stew for thirty-five minutes, and 
 then put in half a cupful of sweet cream, with a ^iece of butter the 
 size of an egg, and a tablespoonful of flour. Stew for five minutes 
 longer. Send to the table hot, and you have a dish fit for an epi- 
 cure. 
 
 Cooking Carrots. — Carrots are mostly used in soups and for orna- 
 menting dishes of meat. Sometimes boiled and sliced, with melted 
 butter poured over. The southerners cook them more eatably by 
 seasoning them, after they are boiled and sliced thin, with cream, su- 
 gar and powdered mace. They are stewed in this for a few minutes, 
 and so quite disguised. 
 
 Cooking Parsnips. — Parsnips may be boiled and sliced, with buttei 
 over them, or stewed with fat pork. The nicer way is to boil them, 
 mash them through a colander, and mix in a quart of them, butter, 
 salt and pepper ; or yet nicer, two spoons of brown sugar, and the 
 yelks of four eggs, beaten well. Bake brown. Better the second than 
 the first day, when cooked thus and warmed over. Skirret and Scor- 
 zonera are cooked similarly. 
 
 Beets. — Boiled beets are usually served as cucumbers, but they 
 may be sliced up when boiled or baked and eaten hot with melted but- 
 ter over them. 
 
 Artichokes , Asparagus , Spinach , Cauliflowers , <%c. — All of these, and 
 greens of delicate flavor, also onions and their tribe, are all boiled 
 in clear water, drained and dressed with drawn butter, salt and 
 pepper. 
 
 Tomatoes. — Persons who have not learned to like tomatoes are los- 
 ing one of the greatest luxuries of life. Like all acquired tastes, the 
 flavor becomes exceedingly attractive, and this esculent adds matera- 
 ally to the pleasures of the table. But it is from its effects that the 
 tomato is most craved by those who are accustomed to its use. It 
 seems to have the property to cause all other food to be assimilated 
 by the system, and gives comfort after dinner, even to dispeptics. 
 
 The most common way of cooking tomatoes is to stew them. They 
 are scalded with boiling water, which loosens the skin so that they can 
 be readily peeled. The peel is then taken off ; the fruit is sliced into 
 a saucepan, with broken cracker or bread, (or without,) and a little 
 salt, and stewed for twenty to thirty minutes. A better plan is to 
 place the mixture in an earthen dish, and set the dish into a hot oven. 
 
 Many persons think that the best way of preparing tomatoes is to 
 
COOKING VEGETABLES. 
 
 585 
 
 pare and slice them cold ; or slice without paring, and sprinkle them 
 with a little fine loaf sugar, to be eaten raw. Some add salt and vin- 
 egar. Others think this no improvement. Some eat with sugar and 
 vinegar alone, others with salt, pepper and vinegar, and no sugar. 
 For eating cold the tomatoes should be pared without being scalded, 
 as the scalding injures the flavor. 
 
 Tomatoes Broiled — Split, lay the skin side on the griddle, sprinkle 
 with pepper and salt, and lay a bit of butter on each. This answers 
 full as well baked in an oven. 
 
 Scolloped. — Put a layer of tomatoes, seasoned as for broiling, then 
 a layer of bread crumbs with bits of butter ; fill a dish with these lay- 
 ers and bake brown. 
 
 Tomato loast. — Pare, slice and cook green tomatoes until very ten- 
 der. Add sweet cream, sweet milk will do, but it will need more but- 
 ter, sufficient to make plenty of gravy. Season with pepper, salt and 
 as much butter as you can afford. Have your bread nicely toasted 
 and placed in a deep dish, and pour the contents of your spider over 
 it. An excellent way to use up dry slices of bread. 
 
 To Cook Squashes. — Squashes, cushaws, &c., are boiled soft, strained 
 free from liquid, reduced to a pulp, and, after mixing in cream, but- 
 ter, pepper, salt, and sometimes a little sugar, stewed very dry. 
 
 Baked Squash. — To bake squash well it needs a long continuation 
 of gentle heat, enough to cook it done, and also dry it considerably. 
 Unlike the potato, it is not best cooked as quickly as possible, and ea- 
 ten as soon as done, but is far better baked slow, the heat evaporating 
 much of its juices, and leaving all of its sugary sweets, just right to 
 tempt the palate. Cut thin, bake and dry until thoroughly done. 
 
 How to cook Rhubarb , or Fie Plant. — Get the Linnaeus rhubarb. 
 It is larger, more tender and better flavored than any other, requires 
 less sugar by one-fourth, and has no skin to be taken off. Do not at- 
 tempt to peel it, but cut in pieces as long as the thickness of the stalk 
 and put them with your sugar in an earthen dish without water ; cov- 
 er it to retain the flavor, and place it in an oven and cook till quite 
 tender without stirring or breaking the pieces. If too much cooked, 
 it assumes a disgusting stringy appearance, and loses all fruity char- 
 acter. The rosy color of the stalks will give your dish an attractive 
 appearance, and the dyspeptic will find in it a powerful aid to di- 
 gestion. 
 
 If the rhubarb stalk has a green spotted surface, it is a kind that 
 may be cut up without peeling ; if the red sort, the peel must be torn 
 off before it is cut up. 
 
586 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 To Cook Dried Rhubarb. — Put in a kettle with water in excess, 
 boil down to a proper consistency, sweeten to taste, and it is ready 
 for use, in pies or with cream, and gives more the flavor of the same 
 article cooked fresh from the garden, than does a dried preparation oJ 
 anything I know. 
 
 Uses of the Rhubarb. — The leaf stalks for tarts, pies and sauce, in 
 the same manner as apples ; also stewed alone, or with rice ; made in- 
 to jellies and other preserves; and when fully grown, the juice ex- 
 pressed, is made into an excellent wine. 
 
 To Cook Celery. — Celery stewed in plain water until tender, exactly 
 like sea kale, is an admirable auxiliary to a mutton chop, &c., and for 
 those who cannot masticate it in a raw state. 
 
 Celery is sometimes dipped in butter and fried. 
 
 This delicious vegetable is not generally appreciated as a cooking 
 vegetable. Wash the stems clean in salt and water, and drain them 
 into boiling water; after boiling twenty minutes, take up the drain; 
 place some toasted bread in the bottom of a dish, lay the celery upon 
 it, and season with butter, pepper and salt. 
 
 Salsify. — Boil soft, drain and boil up with a little butter, vinegar 
 and cream. This way they resemble stewed oysters. If mashed, 
 with butter, pepper and salt, with a little flour to bind, and made into 
 little cakes and fried in butter, they are very nice.. 
 
 How to Cook Asparagus. — Take a bundle and lightly scrape the 
 white part, beginning from the head down, and throw them when 
 done into cold water, then tie them up in bundles of twenty-five each, 
 if an ordinary size, if very large, half that number, keeping the head3 
 together, and putting those of the same length into the same bundle ; 
 throw the bundles into boiling water, add a little salt, and boil briskly 
 fifteen minutes, or till tender ; have a layer of dry toast on your plate, 
 lay the bundles on with the heads at the center, and carefully cut the 
 string ; let the longest bundle form the lowest layer, thus dressing it 
 in the form of a pyramid. Serve very hot, with cream or butter sauce 
 poured over it. 
 
 Another Way. — Cut the stalks when six to twelve inches high, and 
 wash if needed. Some break the stems into short pieces, and others 
 tie them whole in little bundles, a few stalks in each. They are then 
 boiled in water, slightly salted, for twenty-five or thirty minutes, and 
 dipped out and drained. Lay toast in the bottom of a dish, and spread 
 the asparagus over it. Pour over the whole a full supply of drawn 
 butter, or what is better, gravy made of milk and flour — cream in- 
 stead of milk makes it still richer — and salt enough to season it. The 
 
COOKING VEGETABLES. 
 
 587 
 
 good quality of the dish will much depend upon the skill exercised in 
 making the gravy. If eaten im large quantities, asparagus is diuretic, 
 though producing no serious injury. In moderate quantity it is not 
 only palatable and moderately nutritious, but believed to be healthful. 
 
 Another. — Cut it into bits half an inch long ; boil in water enough 
 to cover it ; salt, put in a bit of soda the size of a pea to a quart, and 
 season with butter and cream. New tin is the best to cook it in. 
 
 For Asparagus Toast. — Cook as above, with the addition of an egg 
 or two well beaten; prepare a butter toast, and turn it on. 
 
 Baked Eggs with Asparagus. — Cut twenty heads of asparagus into 
 small pieces, boil them fifteen minutes, put them into a stewpan with 
 half an ounco of butter, set them on the fire for three minutes, season 
 with a little pepper, salt, and sugar ; when done put them in the dish 
 you wish to serve them on, break six eggs carefully over, sprinkle 
 salt and pepper over and put the dish in the oven till the eggs are set. 
 
 To Cook Cauliflower. — This vegetable suffers worse in the hands of 
 the cook, if possible, than in those of the gardener. 
 
 Put a good firm head in a sauce pan of boiling soft water; cover 
 closely and not cook one minute after a fork will pass readily through 
 the stem ; drain and pour over melted butter. 
 
 To Cook Egg Flant. — Take the egg off the vine when soft. Cut it 
 in thin slices. Take three hen’s eggs, beat them well; put on your 
 pan with a spoonful of butter or lard ; then put in your eggs, and salt 
 and pepper to taste ; then pour about half your beaten egg over them ; 
 let them cook a little — turn them, and add the remainder of your 
 beaten egg. Let them cook until soft and they are ready for the ta- 
 ble. Send them to the table hot. Or, 
 
 Slice and sprinkle with salt for an hour before cooking. Then dip 
 in beaten egg and bread crumbs, or in nice batter, and fry brown. 
 
 Another Way. — Parboil it, cut into slices and season very highly 
 with pepper and salt ; fry or boil it (as you do mushrooms,) in a pan 
 with butter. If nicely done, it is very similar in flavor to the mush- 
 room. 
 
 To Cook Apple Pie Melon. — When 'ripe, which can be known by 
 the melon turning yellow, or the seed black, remove the seed, pare 
 and slice the flesh in small pieces, and then stew in water just enough 
 to have it like stewed apples ; when done, add sugar, spices, and a 
 little acid. Tartaric acid or lemon juice, or good vinegar may be 
 used, the latter, however, doos not make as good a pie. A table- 
 spoonful of lemon juice to four pounds of melons is a good proportion. 
 The quantity of sugar must be in proportion to the acid. 
 
588 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 A coi respondent of the Country Gentleman says: Cut and pare as 
 you would pumpkins. Stew until thoroughly done, and if there is 
 too much water in them, turn them into something to drain; and 
 when dry enough use them just as you would stewed apples, adding 
 sharp vinegar or tartaric acid to give the tart. A complete counter- 
 feit apple pie can be made, scarcely to be distinguished from the gen- 
 uine. 
 
 A correspondent of the American Agriculturist recommends half a 
 lemon or half a teaspoonful of tartaric acid added to each pie. For 
 “ apple sauce” to three pounds of the melon prepared for cooking, one 
 pound of sugar, a teaspoonful of tartaric acid and a little extract of 
 lemon are added. Another use for the fruit is to fry it in the same 
 manner as the egg plant. It is also used for preserves and sweet 
 pickles. 
 
 To Make Lettuce Salad. — Select fine heads and shred up finely upon 
 a clean board with a sharp knife, Use a large bowl for preparing it. 
 Put in salt and mustard ; then add the hard boiled eggs, chipped or 
 mashed fine ; then cream (we use cream entirely instead of oil, and 
 find it superior, only it requires more cream than oil,) a little at first, 
 stirring it well ; then more cream until the required quantity is put 
 in ; lastly, add vinegar to suit the taste. Some prefer the cream and 
 others oil. 
 
 Cabbage Salad. — Chop enough cabbage fine to fill a vegetable dish. 
 Heat a coffee cup of strong vinegar, with a piece of butter in it the 
 size of a small egg. Pepper and salt. When hot, beat an egg very 
 light and stir in ; then pour it all on to the chopped cabbage. 
 
 How to Select Mushrooms. — Edible fungi grow usually in elevated 
 and airy places in waste ground ; whilst the dangerous species are 
 found in woods, and in dark damp places. The edible species have a 
 compact, brittle flesh ; while those with a soft and watery flesh should 
 always be rejected. Wholesome fungi have an agreeable odor, al- 
 though this character is also found in some injurious species. A pow- 
 erful and disagreeable odor is the certain indication of noxious quali- 
 ties. We ought at once to reject fungi which secrete a milky juice, 
 and those which present an acrid, astringent, bitter acid or salt taste. 
 We should suspect fungi which have a bright tint, red, green, or blue, 
 of which the gills are colored brown or blue. The flesh of the edible 
 species is in general white; nevertheless, a beautiful red fungus, the 
 orange agarie , is considered as the finest and most delicate species. 
 Wholesome fungi do not change color by contact with the air after 
 being cut ; those of which the flesh then acquires a brown, green, or 
 
COOKING VEGETABLES. 
 
 589 
 
 blue tint, are poisonous. We ought to regard as dangerous those 
 which insects will not touch. 
 
 It is proper to abstain from fungi, whatever may be their apparent 
 qualities, when they exhibit any signs of change ; when even they 
 have been collected more than twenty-four hours — the poisonous 
 properties being capable of development when the fungus dries up. 
 
 There are many mushrooms which are poisonous, and we would ad- 
 vise those who are not very conversant with their characters to abstain 
 from gathering them. 
 
 Cooking Mushrooms . — Mushrooms are stewed or boiled, and are 
 employed in flavoring many dishes. They are also pickled and dried, 
 and when reduced to powder, and kept in this state in close bottles, 
 they are very useful in the season when they do not grow. Catsup, 
 or catchup, is made from mushrooms by mixing salt and spices with 
 their juice. 
 
 MAKING SOUPS, BROTHS AND GRUELS. 
 
 Soups . — Soups while deemed indispensable to a fashionable dinner, 
 are yet one of the most economical forms of food. Not the most di- 
 gestible, however, as used to be deemed when prepared at random for 
 weakly and sick people. It is excellent food for laborers in cold, but 
 too stimulating in warm weather. 
 
 First rate soup, like all first rate articles, requires the best of in- 
 gredients. But the neck, shanks, any good scraps of fresh meat, or 
 old fowls, will make soup as well as the most sightly pieces or young- 
 est birds. Let your meat — beef, mutton, or fowls, or game, be cut in- 
 to small pieces, and the bones cracked up well. Put the pieces into a 
 pot and cover them with as much water as will stew them into rags. 
 This process should be a slow one, and they should be stewed very 
 low ; then pour in some boiling water, and keep the soup boiling to 
 within a few minutes of serving. Skim it entirely free from grease. 
 Take out whatever you wish to set away for the morrow before you 
 put in the vegetables, as they, in warm weather, give it a tendency to 
 sour. Now cut up vegetables (previously cooked by themselves) in it. 
 Slice potatoes, okra, turnips, carrots — any vegetables you like, or rice 
 or barley. If there is any vegetable, for instance onions, cabbage or 
 tomatoes, which you wish to give distinctive character to your soup, 
 
590 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 use that vegetable entirely, or in connection with potatoes and okra, 
 which give consistence without any very discernible taste. 
 
 If your soup lacks richness, a few spoonfuls of drawn butter will 
 help — if consistence, some gelatine may be dissolved in it. A boquet 
 of sweet herbs is indispensable. 
 
 A rich soup is sometimes flavored with wine or catchup. We think 
 it better to offer those articles to each person, as also the castor at the 
 table. 
 
 White Soup. — Take two large fat old chickens ; chop up the pieces 
 and mash the bones. Put in a few slices of boiled ham, if not too 
 strong. Stew slowly until in rags. Then pour on three quarts of 
 boiling water and boil it down to a half gallon. Chop up the chicken’s 
 heart, the yelks of six hard boiled eggs, and stir with a teacup half 
 full of, grated bread crumbs, into a cup of rich, sweet cream ; strain 
 the soup, return it to the kettle with a boquet of herbs, boil five min- 
 utes, stir in the cream, etc., and take it off quickly. 
 
 Soup of any fowl or game may be made in the same way. Instead 
 of the thickening prepared as above, you may boil it in some rice, or use 
 vermicilli or maccaroni, previously simmered until soft. 
 
 Turkey Soup. — The remains of a young turkey make good soup. 
 Put all the bones and little bits left of a dinner, into about three quarts 
 of water. If you have turkey gravy, or the remnants of chickens, 
 add them also, and boil them two hours or more. Skim out the meat 
 and bones, and set the water aside in a cool place till the next day. 
 Then take all the fat from the top ; take the bones and pieces of skin 
 out from the meat and return it to the liquor. If some of the dress- 
 ing has been left, put that in also, and boil all together a few minutes. 
 If more seasoning is needed, add it to suit the taste. 
 
 Gumbo. — Take a large fowl, cut in pieces, beat up and fry very 
 brown, and make with it a highly seasoned and rich gravy. Cut into 
 it a half gallon of tender green okra, as many ripe tomatoes, and pour 
 on three pints of boiling water ; boil until the vegetables are of the 
 softest consistency and chicken in rags. Stir in a heaping tablespoon 
 of young sassafras leaves, dried and reduced to a powder. Strain in- 
 to your tureen hot. When well made, this will almost rope like 
 candy. Pepper, onions, and sweet herbs, are used profusely, in this 
 soup, with salt to savor it. 
 
 Soup from Mince Pie Meat . — The Agriculturist says: “Continue 
 boiling if necessary the liquor in which beef has been boiled until it is 
 strengthened of the superfluous moisture, add vegetables and seasoning, 
 and you have a good dish for the following meal. 
 
MAKING SOUPS, BROTHS AND GRUELS. 
 
 591 
 
 Clear Gravy Soup. — Cut some onions in slices and fry them in a 
 pan in butter, until they are a light brown ; put them into an earth- 
 en vessel or stew pan. Wash an ox-cheek very well, and let it be in 
 water an hour ; then take it out and put it in the pan with the on- 
 ions, some celery, turnips, and carrots, and some herbs tied up in 
 muslin ; fill the pans with water, and let the contents stew gently foi 
 several hours, never removing the cover, but to skim often and well, 
 as on this depends the clearness of the soup ; then strain through a 
 soup-sieve. A good pea soup can be made of the bones and meat af- 
 terwards, with the addition of a hock of ham, or scraps of dry ham, 
 or ham bones. Three pounds of lean beef, cut in slices, will do instead 
 of the ox-cheek. 
 
 Economic Soup. — Get two pounds of leg or shin of beef, cut it into 
 pieces, and boil gently in six quarts of water for about an hour and a 
 half. Then add a pint of split peas, a pound of mealy potatoes, and a 
 head of celery cut small. Slice a few onions and fry them in a little 
 fat, dredging them slightly with flour, till they are nicely brown ; then 
 stir them into your soup, and add salt and pepper to your taste. Let 
 the whole boil until the celery, &c., is thoroughly tender, and the 
 peas well broken in. Then serve up either with or without toasted 
 bread. 
 
 Liebig's Soup. — Liebig, in his Researches on Food, says : “ When 
 
 one pound of lean beef, free from fat, in the finely chopped state in 
 which it is used for beef sausage . or mince meat, is uniformly mixed 
 with its own weight of cold water, slowly heated to boiling, and the 
 liquid, after boiling briskly for a minute or two, is strained through a 
 towel from the coagulated albumen and the fibrine, now become hard 
 and horny, we obtain an equal weight of the most aromatic soup, of 
 such strength as cannot be obtained, even from boiling for hours, from 
 a piece of flesh. When mixed with salt, and the other usual additions 
 by which soup is usually seasoned, and tinged somewhat darker by 
 means of roasted onions or burnt sugar, it forms the very best soup 
 which can in any way be prepared from one pound of flesh.” 
 
 Oyster Soup. — Mix one pint of water with whatever liquor you can 
 drain from two quart cans of fine fresh oysters. When this liquor 
 comes to a full boil, put the oysters in and boil until nearly done ; 
 pour in then a quart of fresh milk. Season with salt, pepper, and a 
 blade of mace, if you like it. If you like this a little thick, powder a 
 half dozen crackers fine, and sift them into it. 
 
 Egg Soup. — Make a rich custard ; instead of sweetening, season 
 
592 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 with salt, pepper and savory herbs. Melt a lump of butter — a piece 
 large as a walnut — to every quart. 
 
 Vegetable Soups. — These may be made of veal, beef, mutton, fowls, 
 or game, the single vegetable you wish being used in it, or you may 
 boil any delicate vegetables, such as corn, peas, asparagus, etc., in 
 water until they are nearly dissolved. Always use with them a little 
 rice. When strained put in a spoonful of cream, mixed with the 
 beaten yelk of one or two eggs, and a piece of butter rolled in flour. 
 
 Soup made of equal quantities of rice and corn is very palatable. 
 
 Potatoes and dry beans each make good family soup in winter. 
 You may use slices of pork or old ham, not too strong, instead of fresh 
 meat. 
 
 Cheap Vegetable Soup. — Peel and slice a quart bowl of potatoes with 
 two or three onions, and boil tender. Stir three tablespoonfuls of flour 
 into cold water, and add to the potatoes, with butter the size of an 
 egg. Pour in water sufficient for four quarts of soup and season with 
 pepper and salt to taste. Add a pint of dry bread or biscuit, boil a 
 few moments and serve. 
 
 A Delicious Soup. — Peel and slice six large onions, six potatoes, six 
 carrots, and four turnips ; fry them in a half pound of butter, and 
 pour on them four quarts of boiling water. Toast a crust of bread as 
 brown and hard as possible, but do not burn it, and put it in, with 
 some celery, sweet herbs, white pepper and salt. Stew it all gently 
 for four hours, and then strain it through a coarse cloth. Have rea- 
 dy thinly sliced carrot, and stew them tender in the soup. If ap- 
 proved of, a spoonful of tomato catchup may be added. 
 
 Another Vegetable Soup. — Take two good sized turnips, one carrot, 
 one parsnip, one sweet potato, two Irish potatoes, one onion, a little 
 parsley, chopped fine, and three tablespoonfuls of rice or pearl barley. 
 Slice the vegetables very thin ; put them into two quarts boiling wa- 
 ter ; let them cook three hours ; then add the rice, and cook one hour 
 longer. 
 
 Vegetable Oyster Soup. — After cleaning, cut into slices a quarter 
 of an inch thick ; boil in plenty of water until tender, with a few bits 
 of codfish ; salt and season with pepper, butter and cream, and you 
 will have a soup almost equal to shell oysters. 
 
 Turtle Bean Soup. — Take one quart of beans, lay in soak overnight 
 in cold water. In the morning pour off the water and add fresh, say 
 three pints or two quarts. Let them cook four and a half hours, add- 
 ing water as it boils away ; then strain them through a sieve, slightly 
 pressing them, as when making pea soup ; for flavoring, take pepper, 
 
MAKING SOUPS, BROTHS AND GRUELS. 
 
 393 
 
 salt and a little whole clove ; use meat if you prefer, either a hone 
 cooked or uncooked. When ready for the table, place thin slices of 
 lemon on the bottom of the tureen, and pour the soup upon it ; add a glasa 
 of wine ; toasted bread to be eaten with it ; and by some it is consid- 
 ered an improvement to add a couple of hard boiled eggs cut in slices. 
 
 Green Bean Soup. — Take one quart of garden or kidney beans, one 
 ounce of spinach, and one ounce of parsley. Boil the beans ; skin and 
 bruise them in a bowl till quite smooth ; put them in a pan with two 
 quarts of vegetable broth : dredge in a little flour ; stir it on the fire 
 till it boils, and put it in the spinach and parsley, previously boiled 
 and rubbed through a sieve. 
 
 Green Peas Soup. Take three pints of peas, three common sized 
 turnips, one carrot, and the shells of the peas. Boil one quart of the 
 largest of the peas with the shells or pods till quite soft; rub through 
 a fine colander ; return the pulp into the pan, add the turnips, a car- 
 rot sliced, and a quart of boiling water ; when the vegetables are per- 
 fectly soft, add the young or smaller peas, previously boiled. 
 
 Split Peas Soup. — Take three pints of peas, three common sized tur- 
 nips, one carrot, and the shells of the peas. Boil one quart of the lar- 
 gest of the peas with the shells or pods till quite soft ; rub through a 
 fine colander ; return the pulp into the pan, add the turnips, a carrot, 
 sliced, and a quart of boiling water ; when the vegetables are perfectly 
 soft, add the young or smaller peas, previously boiled. 
 
 . S P lit Feas and Bar ley Soup.— Take three pints of split peas, half a 
 pint of pearl barley, half a pound of stale bread, and one turnip, sliced. 
 Wash the peas and barley, and steep them in fresh water at least 
 twelve hours ; place them over the fire ; add the bread, turnip, and 
 half a tablespoonful of sugar; boil till all are quite soft; rub them 
 through a fine colander, adding gradually a quart of boiling water ; 
 return the soup into the pan, and boil ten minutes. 
 
 Barley Soup. Take four ounces of barley, two ounces of bread 
 crumbs, and half an ounce of chopped parsley. Wash the barley, and 
 steep it twelve hours in naif a pint of water ; boil slowly in a covered 
 tin pan five hours, and about half an hour before the dish is to be 
 served add the parsley. 
 
 Carrot Soup. To seven pints of soft water put one pound of lean 
 beef, cut thin, half a pint of split peas, one large carrot cut into pie- 
 ces, one or two turnips, some celery and a large onion. Boil all to- 
 gether, until the liquor is reduced to one half the quantity, then strain 
 it through a coarse hair sieve. Have ready three or four large car- 
 rots, half boiled and then grated fine ; put this into your soup. Just 
 
594 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 before it gets to the last boil, take a little fresh butter, about the size 
 of a walnut, rubbed in flour, and put into the soup. Serve it up with 
 fried bread. 
 
 If more soup is wanted, all the ingredients must be doubled, with 
 the exception of the grated carrots, and if they are large, six will be 
 found sufficient for a good sized tureen. 
 
 Spinach Soup. — Take two quarts of spinach, half a pound of pars- 
 ley, two carrots, two turnips, one root of celery, and two ounces of 
 cream. Stew all the ingredients in a pint of water — a few lemon par- 
 ings may be thrown in to flavor — till quite soft ; rub through a coarse 
 sieve ; add a quart of hot water, and boil twenty minutes. 
 
 Corn Soup. — Grate eighteen ears of sweet corn ; boil the cobs in 
 three quarts of water one hour; boil the grated corn in the same wa- 
 ter, with a pint of milk, a tablespoonful of butter, with a little flour 
 braided into it ; pepper and salt to taste. When it boils, set it upon 
 the top of the stove and stir in three eggs. Do not strain it. 
 
 Tomato Soup. — Scald and peel good ripe tomatoes; stew them one 
 hour, and strain through a coarse sieve ; stir in a very little wheaten 
 flour to give it body, and brown sugar in the proportion of a teaspoon- 
 ful to a quart of soup ; then boil five minutes. This is one of the most 
 agreeable and wholesome of the “ fancy dishes.” Okra, or gumbo, is 
 a good addition to this and many other kinds of soup. 
 
 Rice Soup. — Boil one gill of rice in a pint of water till soft ; then 
 add a pint of milk, a teaspoonful of sugar, and simmer gently five 
 minutes. 
 
 A Swiss Soup. — Boil three pounds of potatoes, mash them well, and 
 add slowly some good broth, sufficient for the tureen. Let these boil 
 together, then add some spinach, a little parsley, lemon, thyme and 
 sage, all chopped very fine. Boil together five minutes ; pepper and 
 salt to taste. J ust before taking it off the fire to serve, add two well- 
 beaten eggs. 
 
 BROTHS. 
 
 Vegetable Broth. — This may be made with various combinations 
 and proportions of vegetables. For example, four turnips, two carrots, 
 one onion, and a spoonful of lentil flower. Half fill a pan with the 
 vegetables, in pieces ; nearly fill up the vessel with water ; boil till all 
 the vegetables are tender and strain. 
 
 Barley Broth. — Take four ounces of pearl barley, two turnips, three 
 ounces of Indian meal, and three ounces of sweet cream. Steep the 
 pearl barley, after washing, twelve hours ; set it on the fire in five 
 
MAKING SOUPS, BROTHS AND GRUELS. 
 
 595 
 
 quarts of fresh water, adding the turnips ; boil gently an hour ; add 
 the cream ; stir in the meal ; thin it if necessary with more water, and 
 simmer gently twenty minutes. 
 
 GRUELS. 
 
 Indian Meal Gruel. — Stir gradually into a quart of boiling wate* 
 two tablespoon fuls of Indian meal, boil it slowly twenty minutes. 
 This is often prepared for the sick under the name of “ water gruel.” 
 In the current cook books, salt, sugar, and nutmeg are generally add- 
 ed. Nothing of the sort should be used except sugar. 
 
 Oat Meal Gruel. — Mix a tablespoonful of oat meal with a little cold 
 water ; pour on the mixture a quart of boiling (some say hot, but not 
 boiling) water, stirring it well ; let it settle two or three minutes; 
 then pour it into the pan carefully, leaving the coarser part of the 
 meal at the bottom of the vessel; set it on the fire, and stir it till it 
 boils ; then let it boil about five minutes and skim. 
 
 Wheat Meal Gruel. — Mix two tablespoonfuls of wheat meal smooth- 
 ly with a gill of cold water, stir the mixture into a quart of boiling 
 water, boil about fifteen minutes, taking off whatever scum forms on 
 the top ; a little sugar may be added if desired. 
 
 Farina Gruel. — Mix two tablespoonfuls of farina in a gill of water; 
 pour very gradually on the mixture a quart of boiling water, stirring 
 thoroughly, and boil ten minutes. 
 
 Arrow Root Gruel. — Mix an ounce of arrow root smoothly with a 
 little cold water; then pour on the mixture a pint of boiling water, 
 stirring it constantly ; return it into the pan, and let it boil five min- 
 ites. Season with sugar and lemon juice. 
 
 Sago Gruel. — Wash two tablespoonfuls of sago, and soak it a few 
 minutes in half a pint of cold water ; then boil a pint and a half of wa- 
 ter, and, while boiling, stir in the sago ; boil slowly till well done, and 
 sweeten with sugar or molasses. 
 
 Tapioca Gruel. — Wash a tablespoonful of tapioca, and soak it in a 
 pint and a half of water twenty minutes; then boil gently, stirring 
 frequently, till the tapioca is sufficiently cooked, and sweeten. 
 
 Groat Gruel. — Steep clean groats in water for several hours; boil 
 them in pure soft water till quite tender and thick ; then add boiling 
 water sufficient to reduce to the consistency of gruel. Currants and 
 sugar may also be added. 
 
 Rice Gruel. — Boil two ounces of good clean rice in a quart of water 
 until the grains are quite soft ; then add two tablespoonfuls of sugar, 
 
596 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 and boil two or three minutes. Currants make a good addition to 
 this gruel. 
 
 Currant Gruel. — Add two tablespoonfuls of currants to a quart of 
 wheat meal or oat meal ground, and, after boiling a few minutes, add 
 a little sugar. 
 
 PREPARING AND COOKING FRUIT. 
 
 Cooking Apples and Pears. — Apples and pears cut into quarters 
 and stripped of the peel, baked with a little water and sugar, and 
 eaten with boiled rice, are capital food for children. 
 
 Parisian Mode of Boasting Apples. — Select the largest apples: 
 scoop out the core without cutting quite through ; fill the hollow with 
 butter and fine soft sugar ; let them roast in a slow oven, and serve up 
 with syrup. We have eaten them prepared in this way most delicious. 
 
 A New Method of Cooking Apples. — “ One of the most notable house- 
 wives and best cooks of the state,” says the editor of an agricultural 
 paper, “ has a new way of cooking apples, at least, it was new to me, 
 and will no doubt, be new to many others. She pares the apples and 
 quarters them, placing them in a tin plate with the core side up ; if 
 dried apples, a little water is added; they are then set in the oven, 
 which is always hot at meal time, and roasted ; when done, they are 
 slid on a common plate, and sprinkled with sugar, to be eaten warm, 
 with bread and butter and cakes. 
 
 “ It would require canned fruit of extra flavor to tempt me from 
 the apple-dish, if thus prepared. Strawberries or half-ripe peaches 
 are not to be talked of the same day.” 
 
 A Substitute for Apple Sauce. — A lady communicates the following: 
 “A dish of what I took for preserves was passed to me, which, upon 
 tasting, I was surprised to learn contained no fruit. The ease with 
 which it is prepared, and the trifling cost of its materials, are not ita 
 chief recommondations, for, unless my tasting apparatus deceived me, 
 as it is not usually wont to do, it is emphatically a tip-top substitute 
 for apple sauce, apple butter, tomato preserves, and all that sort of 
 thing. Its preparation is as follows : 
 
 “ Moderately boil a pint of molasses from five to twenty-five min- 
 utes, according to its consistency, when add three eggs thoroughly 
 beaten, hastily stirring them in, and continue to boil a few minutes 
 ’onger, when flavor with lemon or nutmeg.” 
 
PREPARING AND COOKING FRUIT. 
 
 597 
 
 Sorgo Apple Sauce. — Put a pint of sorgo syrup on to boil, and then 
 beat three eggs to a froth. As soon as the syrup boils, pour in the 
 eggs, stirring rapidly all the time. Let it boil three minutes, then 
 pour it into a cool dish, and stir in a little good vinegar, or lemon 
 juiue. When cold it is a good substitute for apple butter. 
 
 Frozen Apples. — It is stated by those who have had the advantage 
 of experience, that if apples which have been frozen are thawed in the 
 dark they are uninjured: but if in the light they very soon become 
 unfit for use. We should suppose the same results would most likely 
 appear if the experiment were tried with potatoes. It is a very sim- 
 ple one. 
 
 Apple Pottage. — Take ripe apples carefully pared and cored, and put 
 them in layers in a stone or earthen jar alternately with layers of su- 
 gar. If the apples are sweet, a little lemon or quince intermingled 
 will give it a better flavor. Cover the whole with wheat paste or 
 dough, and place the jar in the oven for baking. Let it remain all 
 night and it will make a delicious dish for breakfast. 
 
 PeaPies for Tea. — Pare ripe peaches, cut them in quarters, sprinkle 
 well with layers of sugar, and let them stand an hour to extract the 
 juice. Then cover with rich sweet cream, and there is nothing better. 
 
 Peaches a la Strawberry. — Pipe peaches cut in small pieces, in the 
 proportion of three peaches to one apple, mixed with sugar, and left to 
 stand for two or three hours, makes excellent mock strawberries. 
 
 To Ped Peaches. — Peaches are peeled without waste, when fully 
 ripe, by pouring boiling water on them, and let them remain a minute, 
 to cook only skin deep, as, in tomatoes. 
 
 Cooking Quinces. — Quinces baked in sugar and water, or syrup, or 
 simply baked and eaten with powdered sugar, make a good substitute 
 for baked apples. 
 
 Apples or quinces peeled and cored, with the hole made by coring 
 filled with jelly or brown sugar, and baked with a little wine and sugar 
 around, are very nice ; with a custard poured over and baked, they 
 are termed a “ bird's nest.” 
 
 Strawberries for Dessert. — Place your paste on the plate, as for a 
 common custard — and cover with fresh strawberries ; on to this pour 
 your well beaten eggs, with the usual quantities of milk and sugar. 
 When baked, cover with white sugar. 
 
 i 
 
598 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 MAKING BREAD AND CAKE. 
 
 Bread — The Staff of Life . — There is Divine authority for saying 
 that “ bread is the staff of life.” As to food, it is our mainstay; we 
 never get tired of it; it is always palatable when we are hungry, as 
 is cold water when we are thirsty. 
 
 An experienced physician of Attleborough, Mass., says : I find oc- 
 casion every day to observe the results arising from the quality of food 
 consumed by various classes, and the influence it has upon their con- 
 dition in health and disease. The material taken at meals enters di- 
 rectly into the constituencies of the body, and it is no matter for sur- 
 prise that the condition of the human subject should be immediately 
 dependent upon the alimentary substances with which it is fed. The 
 nutrient matter which nature provides is of uniform excellence ; the 
 earth presents it in a perfect form, and it is a matter for the most 
 earnest regret that the subsequent processes to which it is subjected 
 should ever tend to deteriorate the material. Wheaten bread may be 
 made light, nourishing and palatable, and in this manner it goes much 
 further than in a poorer form ; at the same time the process by which 
 it is prepared in this superior manner, is not more difficult, prolonged, 
 nor laborious than to make a dark, heavy, unwholesome loaf. It is 
 much more pleasant to consume good bread, and it yields a larger per 
 cent, of nourishment from the quantity of flour employed. 
 
 In England the bread is uniformly good, and better still in France. 
 Flour is too costly to expend in an uneconomic manner ; and where 
 population follows close upon supply, the principle is too important to 
 neglect. The poorest peasant in France has every day better bread 
 than the average of independent householders in New York; and 
 when the comparison is extended to the greater number of families 
 through New England, the result is vastly to our disadvantage. It is 
 better for us to gain our sustenance principally from bread rather than 
 an excessive use of meat. W e are no vegetarians, however, and would 
 recommend all who can get it to eat meat once a day. This suffices 
 for health and strength. Beside being more salutary in many respects 
 to make bread the staple article of consumption, it is vastly more 
 economical. Beef is the most expensive manner in which grain can 
 be consumed. The corn requisite to fatten an ox would sustain a giv- 
 en number of persons very much longer than the meat it has produced 
 is capable of doing. This is a demonstrated principle in vital phv**'- 
 ology. 
 
MAKING BREAD AND CAKE. 
 
 599 
 
 Theodore Parker, in one of his sermons on the causes of sickness, 
 gave the following playful definition of the unpardonable sin. He 
 said he had sometimes thought that in man it consisted in making 
 bad liquor from good grain ; and in woman, from good flour making 
 bad bread. 
 
 In order to have good bread there are three things very essential — 
 good flour, good risings, and a careful hand. 
 
 Chemistry tells us that the best and most healthful bread is made 
 by mixing flour, water, and yeast, by kneading it so effectually that 
 the yeast and water shall come in contact with every grain of the 
 flour, otherwise the bread will be bad ; holes will be in it, and the 
 crust will be easily detached from the soft part. Bad bread will be 
 made out of the very best materials unless the kneading has been 
 most thoroughly performed. 
 
 Home-Made Bread Cheaper than Bakers'. — A correspondent of the 
 Boston Iranseript makes the following statement : By repeated ex- 
 periments in my family I have found that in making domestic bread — 
 using yeast prepared in the house — a pound of good flour will yield 
 very nearly two pounds of bread. The only addition made to the 
 flour was about a tablespoonful of Indian meal, water and salt, to two 
 three pound loaves. A pound of flour never failed to yield a pound 
 and three-quarters of bread. Then I make this estimate : A barrel 
 of flour of 196 pounds made 343 pounds of bread ; 343 pounds of 
 bread, if bought of the baker, in pound loaves, at five cents, would 
 have cost me $17.15. My barrel of flour cost me at the time of these 
 trials between $7 and $8. This is an argument for baking one’s bread 
 instead of buying it. Even at present prices much money would be 
 saved by baking at home. 
 
 But it used to be rare to find a five cent loaf that weighed over 
 fourteen ounces. Therefore buying bread was still more expensive 
 than my calculation makes it. In these times five cent loaves weigh 
 ten or ten and a half ounces, sometimes less, so that the price a pur- 
 chaser of bakers’ bread actually pays for a barrel of flour is enormous. 
 When flour is even $12 per barrel, the cost of five cent loaves is equal 
 to paying $25, the loaves weighing ten and a half ounces. 
 
 Bread Making. — A woman of much experience as a successful bread 
 maker, gives the following: “To make yeast, take two handfuls of 
 hops, three pints water, six potatoes ; boil all till the potatoes are soft ; 
 pa, re them, mash through a colander, strain the liquid ; then put it 
 in your preserving kettle over the fire, with the potatoes added ; also, 
 one cup sugar, one tablespoon salt, one tablespoon ginger ; then add 
 
600 
 
 PKACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 flour enough io make it the consistency of paste : let it boil five nun 
 utes, stirring it all the time. Turn out, and when partially cool, add 
 half a pint of good yeast. Let this stand until fermentation takes 
 place. In the winter I keep it in a stone pot in the cellar, but in the 
 summer I dry it by mixing it with corn meal, and spreading it on a 
 table and exposing it to the air (no sun.) Now we have good yeast, 
 we will proceed immediately to make good bread. Wash and pare 
 two dozen good sized potatoes ; boil them, with a large handful of salt, 
 till reduced to a fine pulp ; strain through a collander, add three pints 
 sweet milk, and when sufficiently cool to bear your hand in it, stir in 
 as much flour as will make it into a thick batter; to this sponge add a cof- 
 fee cup of the yeast. I always make my sponge at night. In the 
 morning I add six quarts sweet milk and three gills lime water, and 
 knead into a stiff dough. 
 
 “ Some housekeepers use alum, as it makes the bread fairer, but I 
 prefer lime water, as that coagulates the gluten ; and it requires less 
 baking, and retains its moisture longer. And I think it much health- 
 ier than alum, and health is the great desideratum. In two or three 
 hours after you knead your bread, it will be as light and porous as a 
 honeycomb ; knead it down, and when it has again risen,' mold and 
 put it into pans. Let it stand till it rises again, then wash the loaves 
 over with cold water ; this prevents the formation of too hard a crust ; 
 bake in a well heated oven. When baked, wash again, wrapping 
 it up closely in your bread cloth. Wrapping the bread up in the 
 steam till cold, prevents it from becoming hard and dry. If your 
 flour is good, bread made in this way will be equal in appearance to 
 the best bakers’ bread, and in point of sweetness and economy, far, far 
 superior. The quantities I have named make twelve good sized loaves f 
 and my family requires such a baking twice a week. F or many years 
 this plan has given me good bread, and I hope others will try it.” 
 
 Premium Wheat Bread No. 1. — The Chenango Co., N. Y., Agricul- 
 tural Society gave a premium for bread made after the following re- 
 cipe : — One spoonful of hop yeast ; two potatoes boiled ; one pint of 
 water, and make a sponge, and when light or sufficiently raised, mix 
 hard and let rise, and when it is light again mold it over and bake 
 when light. 
 
 Premium Wheat Bread No. 2 . — Crate one-half dozen potatoes; 
 jam, and add one quart of water ; one cup of hop yeast at night, and 
 in the morning when light, add three teaspoonfuls of sugar, and flour 
 to form a dough. Let rise ; when light, put it in tins ; let rise again, 
 ana bake one-half hour. 
 
MAKING BREAD AND CAKE. 
 
 601 
 
 Dry Ytdst Bread. — Put a few cakes of yeast to soak in a half pint 
 of warm water in the evening, letting them soak until the next even- 
 ing. Then set your rising by boiling and mashing fine two quarts of 
 potatoes ; to these add water sufficient for the rising, about milk warm, 
 and a tablespoonful of salt ; then stir in your flour and yeast until a 
 proper consistency ; then set away to rise until morning ; then add 
 flour to the rising, knead it well and set it away to rise ; after rising 
 mold it into loaves and set it to rise a short time again, then bake. 
 During the summer, instead of boiling potatoes, you can boil thick 
 sour milk ; take the whey which separates and set your rising as above. 
 When the yeast cakes are new put them to soak in the morning pre- 
 vious to setting your rising. 
 
 Salt Rising Bread. — Eecipe from the Shaker communtity at Plea- 
 sant Hill, I^y. : Take boiling water and cool it until you can just bear 
 your hand in it. Then stir in flour until it is a thick batter; set it in 
 a warm place and exclude it from the air, and in a few hours it will 
 rise to a sponge ; then take some milk and boil it, and cool with cold 
 water until it is just stinging hot. Then get your flour and make up 
 your bread with this milk. Be careful not to put the rising in until 
 the dough is cool enough to bear your hand in ; work it well after the 
 rising goes in, then set it away in a warm place, and let it rise well ; 
 then mold it into pans, and let it rise again, and when the pans are 
 full and light it is ready for baking. 
 
 Brown Bread. — Take two quarts of corn- meal, two do. of shorts, 
 one tablespoonful of salt, one teacup of molasses. Stew a squash or 
 a good pumpkin in water sufficient to wet this mass ; pour it on boil- 
 ing hot. When cool enough, add a pint of yeast and two quarts of 
 wheat flour; this will make four loaves. When light, bake three 
 hours. 
 
 Superior Brown Bread. — Take of Indian meal and canaille, each 
 three and a half teacupfuls, or three of Indian meal and four of un- 
 bolted wheat — one quart sour milk — half a teacupful molasses — one 
 egg — one teaspoonful saleratus — then steam three hours and bake half 
 an hour. 
 
 Premium Brown Bread. — One quart rye meal ; two quarts Indian 
 meal; two tablespoonfuls of molasses; mix thoroughly with sweet 
 milk ; let it stand one hour, then bake in a slow oven. 
 
 Graham Bread. — One quart of milk; scald one-half of it and pour 
 on one quart of good Graham flour ; then add the rest of the milk warm ; 
 and flour enough to stir as thick as possible with a spoon, adding half 
 
602 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 a cup of good molasses while stirring it — then bake slowly for an 
 hour. 
 
 ‘Another. — Two teacupfuls of sweet milk, two of sour milk, half a 
 cup of molasses, one teaspoonful of soda, Graham flour enough to make 
 a thick batter — bake slowly an hour. This is by most people con- 
 sidered better than the former. 
 
 Graham flour to be good should be made of the best white winter 
 wheat, and great care should be taken by the miller that it be not 
 ground too fine, or it is spoiled, and will not rise well. 
 
 A Wholesome and Economical Bread. — Mix unbolted wheat meal 
 with cold water or milk, to a stiff batter. Dip it with a spoon upon 
 a pan, and bake twenty to thirty minutes in a hot oven. 
 
 Another Economical Bread. — Take scraps of flour bread, break in 
 a pan or deep dish, cover it with milk, let it stand urtfil soft, then 
 mash. If very sour add half the amount of sweet milk, if not add 
 sour milk ; add half a teaspoonful of soda to the quart, two eggs and 
 a little salt; stir in corn meal enough to make a batter; bake in a 
 quick oven. 
 
 Bread from Heated Wheat. — Prof. Nickels, of France, has made a 
 series of experiments with heated wheat, which had been exposed to 
 moisture and a fermenting temperature, and says that good bread may 
 be made from it by adding four ounces of salt to every thirteen pounds 
 of flour. Such wheat has always been considered completely ruined 
 for making bread. Thousands if not millions of bushels of wheat are 
 annually injured by water and heating, when transported in bulk on 
 our lakes and canals. Such wheat sells in New York for a very few 
 cents per bushel. It is chiefly used for making starch. 
 
 New Kind of Bread. — Made of wheat flour and white beets, mixed 
 in equal proportions, costs but very little more than half as much as 
 ordinary bread, is equally nutritious and very palatable. 
 
 Apple Bread. — A French officer has invented and practiced with 
 great success a method of making bread with common apples, very far 
 superior to potato bread. After having boiled one-third of peeled ap- 
 ples, he bruised them, while quite warm, into two- thirds of flour, in- 
 cluding the proper quantity of yeast, and kneaded the whole without 
 water, the juice of the fruit being quite sufficient. When the mixture 
 had acquired the consistency of paste, he put it into a vessel, in which 
 he allowed it to raise for about twelve hours. By this process he ob- 
 tained a very excellent bread, full of eyes, and extremely palatable 
 and light. 
 
 Pumpkin Bread. — Stew a ripe pumpkin until perfectly soft and 
 
MAKING BREAD AND CAKE. 
 
 603 
 
 quite dry ; strew in the usual allowance of salt and some shortening. 
 Mix with the pumpkin as much Indian meal as will make the dough 
 stiff enough to form dodgers. In our childhood we used to see bread 
 thus prepared with ripe apples instead of pumpkin ; it was too sour 
 to please us when simply buttered, but with honey or molasses over- 
 spread, we thought it a famous accompaniment to a mug of milk. 
 
 Pumpkin bread made by the receipt for Indian egg bread, is very 
 nice. Substitute pumpkin for one-half the meal. 
 
 Rice Bread. — Take one teacupful of rice boiled in water until soft 
 (if for breakfast it it should be boiled over night,) or use cold rice left 
 from a previous dinner; mix with it two beaten eggs, a little more 
 than a pint of milk, as much less than a pint of Indian meal as you 
 have over the pint of milk, and two tablespoonfuls of flour. This will 
 fill two middle sized square tins, and requires to be baked nearly an 
 hour. I think every one who appreciates good, wholesome bread, will 
 acknowledge this to be worth recommending. 
 
 Buckwheat Bread . — To one quart buttermilk, add a teaspoonful of 
 soda, and flour enough to make a thin batter — put in an egg if con- 
 venient, and bake in a quick oven. Try it. The contributor of this 
 says it is as good as pancakes, and far less trouble to prepare. 
 
 Test for Bread. — Of pure bread two thousand grains will not yield 
 more than from fifteen to twenty-five grains of ashes ; if more is found, 
 there is fraud in the manufacture. 
 
 To Keep Bread Soft. — A correspondent says : I have had the best 
 success with bread made from the old fashioned hop yeast, scalding 
 the flour and leaving the dough quite soft ; but most kinds of bread, 
 if carefully made, will keep well, if taken proper care of; but if left 
 on a pantry shelf, or exposed to the air anywhere, it will become dry. 
 A small tin chest, shutting tightly, has answered this purpose admir- 
 ably in our family. A stone jar, tightly covered, is also excellent. 
 Either should be kept on the cellar bottom. 
 
 To Make Hop Yeast. — One handful of hops steeped in two quarts 
 of water ; three large potatoes boiled and peeled, and rubbed through 
 a collander with three tablespoons flour, — strain the water upon them 
 while rubbing them through. "W nen not too hot, add one teacupful 
 of yeast, and let it rise till light. Add half a teacupful each of salt 
 and sugar, and bottle for use. Shake well before using, and keep in 
 a cool place. Two-thirds of a teacupful is sufficient for four good 
 sized loaves. • 
 
 Another. — One large handful of hops, three potatoes, two quarts of 
 water — all to be boiled together till the potatoes are very soft ; then 
 
604 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPEDIA. 
 
 masli up, and strain the liquor hot on one quart of sifted flour. 
 Add, after it is cool, one-half pint of yeast. Highly recommended. 
 
 Another Yeast — Boil one pound of flour, a quarter of a pound of 
 brown sugar and a little salt in two gallons of water for an hour. 
 When milk- warm, bottle and cork it close, and it will be ready for use 
 in twenty-four hours. This is said to be highly commended by the 
 general of one of the brigades of our army. 
 
 To Extract the bitter qualities from Yeast. — Bake a small piece of 
 bread quite black and drop into the yeast ; or, if it be very bitter, put 
 a small quantity of bran into a small sieve, and strain the yeast 
 through. These remedies have never been known to fail. Another 
 mode is to pour cold water over the yeast some time before you 
 require it ; the yeast will sink and the bitter quality remain in the 
 water, which pour off. 
 
 Salt Emtyings. — A correspondent of the American Agriculturist re- 
 commends the following : To one pint of warm water add a teaspoon- 
 ful of sugar, half a teaspoonful of salt, and butter the size of a walnut. 
 Thicken them with flour — rye meal is better. Set the dish contain- 
 ing the mixture in warm water. Stir the contents often during the 
 first three hours. Let it stand until light. 
 
 1 Rolls. — Stir a tablespoon of yeast into a teacup of warm water ; 
 work up with it flour into a soft dough, allowing a teaspoon of salt and 
 piece of shortening as large as the yelk of an egg to each quart of 
 flour. When this rises lightly, knead it again until it blisters freely ; 
 make it out in rolls, rise and bake. The Virginia Housewife directs 
 rolls to be risen three times. The first time in a yeast, the second in 
 a sponge, and then after being made out into rolls. 
 
 The Shakers, whose exquisite breads are far famed, use hop yeast, 
 rise twice, and make up large quantities at once. They set away a 
 batch of dough in a cold place, and make from it rolls at any time. 
 The only housewife we have ever known rival them makes up her 
 bread entirely of fresh potato yeast. The time which bread takes to 
 rise varies according to weather or the temperature of the Toom in 
 which the process is undergone. When it worked the first time, and 
 is made into rolls, if it is too fast for you, set them away in a cool 
 place until it is time to use them. They will be ready for breakfast, 
 and may be baked in a dish or in muffin rings, and you will call it 
 Sally Lun, or muffins, accordingly. 
 
 French Bolls. — Add two ounces of butter and a little salt to a pint 
 of boiled milk ; while tepid, sift in one pound of flour, one beaten egg, 
 
MAKING BREAD AND CAKE. 
 
 605 
 
 <jne tablespoonful of yeast ; beat these together well ; when risen, 
 form the rolls with as little handling as possible ; bake on tins. 
 
 Rusks. — The preparatory steps for rusks are the same as foi rolls. 
 When the yeast is ready, mix a quarter of a pound of sugar into a 
 quart of flour, a piece of butter as large as a hen’s egg, and a teaspoon 
 of grated nutmeg. Stir three well beaten eggs into the yeast, mix to 
 a soft dough, knead well, make into little cakes, rise and bake well. 
 Never allow this bread to get cold during the whole process. When 
 done, rub over with the white of an egg, and sift over the cakes some 
 powdered white sugar. 
 
 Biscuit. — When your hard yeast bread is ready to mold up, take a 
 large bowl full of the dough, a teacupful each of sugar and butter, 
 grate in half a nutmeg, knead them together, make them into balls or 
 loaves about an inch and a half in diameter, put them in a tin, let 
 them rise, and bake. 
 
 Soda Biscuit. — Into one quart of flour rub a teaspoon of salt and 
 one of best cooking soda. If you have no sour milk, put with the so- 
 da two teaspoons of cream of tartar. Work it into a smooth, rather 
 soft dough with cream. If you use skim milk, buttermilk or water, 
 you must allow a large spoonful of shortening. 
 
 Raised Biscuit. — Take some of the bread dough when light, knead 
 a piece of butter as large as an egg into dough enough to fill a long 
 tin ; mold into small biscuits ; let them rise again ; bake for twenty 
 minutes. 
 
 Cream Tartar Biscuit. — Take a small milk pan half full of flour, 
 and mix thoroughly in it one tablespoon of cream tartar and two of 
 shortening. Dissolve half a tablespoonful of soda in a pint bowl two- 
 thirds full of sweet milk, mix them hard enough to roll good. These 
 are easily and quickly made. 
 
 Beaten Biscuit. — Work up one quart of flour (with salt as usual,) 
 with thick, sweet cream into a stiff dough. Beat it until entirely 
 smooth and soft enough to roll, and cut into biscuit of half an inch in 
 thickness. If you have not cream, use a tablespoon of best butter, 
 and wet with sweet milk. These, baked slow and hard, so as to be 
 done without browning, make the best home-made crackers we have 
 ever seen. If rolled out as thin as a knife blade, cut into large cakes, 
 pricked thickly and baked a light brown, they are known as “ Quim- 
 inies, ,, nice for tea and dispeptics. If baked in irons, like waffles, but 
 very shallow, they are called wafers. Some of these wafers buttered, 
 and then having sugar and powdered cinnamon sifted over them, with 
 
606 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPEDIA. 
 
 a browning in a brisk oven, are very popular with lovers of sweet 
 breads. 
 
 Premium Biscuit. — Take some of the bread dough, (see premium 
 bread, No. 1,) in the morning, as much as would make a loaf of bread, 
 add one cup of butter; mix well ; let rise, then make into biscuit; one 
 cup of hop yeast ; set the sponge at night ; add flour to the above to 
 make a batter ; in the morning add one-half pint of milk, one cup of 
 sugar, one of butter, one egg, one nutmeg, flour to make it sufficient- 
 ly stiff ; let rise, then roll it out and cut it out ; let rise, then bake. 
 
 Ginger Biscuit. — Rub half a pound of fresh butter into two pounds 
 of fine flour, add half a pound of sifted sugar, and three ounces of 
 pounded ginger. Beat up the yelks of three eggs and take a little 
 milk, with which make the above ingredients into a paste. Knead it 
 all well together, and roll it out extremely thin, and cut it into the 
 form of round biscuits with a paste cutter. Bake them in a slow 
 oven until crisp, taking care that they are a pale brown color. 
 
 Wine Biscuit. — Rub into one pound of dry flour four ounces of but- 
 ter, four ounces of white powdered sugar, one egg and a spoonful or 
 two of thin cream to make it into paste. When mixed, put currants 
 into one half and caraways into the rest. Bake on tins. 
 
 Apple Biscuit. — Boil apples in water until soft, then take them out 
 and rub through a wire sieve, flavor with a drop or two of essence or oil of 
 lemon, and if you like the taste, a drop of the oil of cloves. Add lump 
 sugar equal in weight to the pulp, and grind with it ; roll the sugared 
 pulp into flat cakes about a quarter of an inch thick, and cut them in- 
 to shapes. Finally dry them in a very slow oven, the heat not being 
 strong enough to bake them or melt the sugar ; they may be dried 
 also by the summer’s sun. They often require to be partially dried 
 before they can be rolled out. They may, instead of rolling, be drop- 
 ped on to paper, or put in a ring of paper upon a slightly greased iron 
 plate. 
 
 Milk Biscuit. — Put the yeast in one quart of milk, and set it to 
 rise in the middle of flour. When light, knead it and break it until 
 it becomes solid. 
 
 Orange Biscuit. — Take the grated rind of an orange, six fresh eggs, 
 a quarter of a pound of flour, and three quarters of a pound of pow- 
 dered sugar; put these into a mortar and beat them to a paste, 
 which either put into cases or cut out, and bake them like other 
 biscuit. 
 
 Maple Biscuit. — Take twelve eggs, leaving out the whites of four ; 
 beat the yelk separate from the white. When they are very light, 
 
MAKING BREAD AND CAKE. 
 
 607 
 
 add one pound of fine white sugar, eight drops of lemon, three- 
 quarters of a pound of flour, alternately beaten in with the whites 
 of the eggs. Beat them all together until very light, and then bake 
 them. 
 
 Tea Biscuit. — Two pounds of flour, two spoonfuls of yeast and a lit- 
 tle warm milk. Mix them together adding one-quarter of a pound 
 of melted butter, with milk to make it into a stiff batter. Bake in a 
 quick oven in any shape you please. 
 
 White of Eggs in liaised Biscuit. — The white of an egg kneaded 
 into the dough with the shortening for raised biscuit, makes them 
 nice. 
 
 Sally Lunn. — Take a stone pot, pour in one pint bowl of sweet 
 milk, half a teacup of baker s or other yeast, quarter of a pound melt- 
 ed butter, a little salt, and three beaten eggs. Mix in about three 
 pint bowls of flour. Let it stand several hours, or until quite light ; 
 then put into Turk heads, or other tin pans, in which it should again 
 rise up before being shoved into the oven, to be “ brought out ” and 
 presented to your friends as the beauty and the belle of the evening. 
 
 Another Method. — Melt into one quart of sweet milk a quarter of a 
 pound of butter. Beat six eggs very light and stir into the milk ; 
 also one teaspoonful of salt, and a teacup of fresh yeast. Stir into the 
 mixture as much flour as will make a thick batter, and set it to rise. 
 Bake in pans as egg bread, or in muffin rings. If you bake in pans, 
 split open the cakes and pour over liberally of melted butter. In sum- 
 mer, this bread will rise in the kitchen in three or four hours ; in 
 colder weather, it takes longer. If it should sour, stir in a little 
 soda. 
 
 Another. — A pint of the best new milk lukewarm ; add to it one- 
 quarter of a pound of butter, a little salt, a teacupful of yeast, a pound 
 and a half of fine flour ; mix them together, and let it stand three- 
 quarters of an hour. Bake them on tins nearly an hour. 
 
 Baker's Varnish. — A varnish, such as bakers use, can be made for 
 rusks by beating the yelk of an egg and one teaspoonful of pulverized 
 sugar together. Spread on just before baking. Put them on round 
 pie tins to rise. They look nice on the table. 
 
 Muffins.— Y rom the American Agriculturist : Take one quart of 
 new milk, two eggs, two tablespoonfuls yeast, butter the size of an 
 egg. Warm the milk and mix with other ingredients at night; in 
 the morning, turn into muffin rings, or drop on tins, and bake a ligh t 
 srown. To be eaten with butter for breakfast. 
 
 Cream Muffins. — Also from the Am. Agriculturist. Mix one pint 
 
608 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 sour cream, (but not very sour) one pint flour, three eggs, one tea- 
 spoonful salt, half a teaspoonful soda or salaratus, whites and yelks of 
 eggs beaten seperately. Stir in the whites the last thing. They are 
 much nicer baked in new cups, which can be bought of a cheap kind. 
 Wipe them clean with a dry-cloth, never wet or grease them ; in a 
 short time the muffin will shine like varnish on the side next the 
 cup. 
 
 French Muffins. — A quart of warm water, in which has been dis- 
 solved a quarter of a pound of hard yeast, and mixed with sufficient 
 flour to make rather a stiff batter, set in a warm place for hours, then 
 stir it down and divide it into pieces of a quarter pound each, which 
 mold with hands, and put into wooden trays containing a round bed 
 of flour for each ; let them stand two hours in a warm place, and cook 
 them upon an Iron griddle turning them over when nicely risen. They 
 will be baked in about ten minutes if the stove is sufficiently hot. 
 
 Guyandotte Muffins— Two eggs, three cups of corn meal, three 
 cups of flour , stir in sour milk enough to make a stiff batter, add 
 three teaspoonfuls of melted lard, a little salt and one teaspoonful of 
 soda dissolved in warm water. Pour your rings half full, and bake 
 quick. 
 
 Superior Mush Muffins. — From A. B. Allen, in the Am. Agricultu- 
 rist : Make the mush in the evening. Next morning add eggs af the 
 rate of three to a quart of the mush, also six or seven tablespoor fuls 
 of flour, and two of lard. 
 
 Crumpets. — Mix a quart of good milk with water to make a batter, 
 add a little salt, an egg, and a tablespoonful of good yeast, beat well, 
 cover it up, and let it stand in a warm place to rise. Clean the muf- 
 fin plate, or not having this, a frying pan, while warm over the fire, 
 and rub with a greased cloth, or a little butter tied up in a piece of 
 muslin, pour a cupful of the batter into the pan, or on the plate ; as it 
 begins to bake, raise the edge all round with a sharp knife. When 
 one side is done, turn and bake the other side. Crumpets are gener- 
 ally now poured into proper sized rings of tin, which makes them all 
 of a size and thickness. A little rye flour is an improvement. 
 
 Soda Crackers. — To fourteen cups of flour, add one cup of lard, four 
 teaspoonfuls of cream tartar and two of soda. Rub these" ingredients 
 well into the flour, add three cups of water, water thoroughly and bake 
 quick. Superior to any we ever purchased. 
 
 Tea Buns. — One pound and a quarter of flour, one-half pound oi 
 currants (well washed,) two ounces of butter rubbed in the flour, ah mt 
 a pint of sweet milk warmed, two spoonfuls of yeast, the yelk o r an 
 
MAKING BREAD AND CAKE. 
 
 609 
 
 egg well beaten, carraway seeds to your taste ; mix well these ingre- 
 dients together, and beat them up as for a seed cake ; set them before 
 the fire to rise for an hour, make them up in what shaped cakes you 
 please, lay them on tin pans for awhile before the fire, and feathei 
 them over with white of egg before baking them. 
 
 Drop Short Cake. — One quart of flour ; one teaspoonful soda ; three 
 do. cream tartar. A piece of butter the size of an egg, and the same 
 of lard, to be rubbed in as you would pie crust ; sufficient sweet milk 
 to make them as stiff as pound cake ; drop them on buttered pans. 
 Eecommended as excellent. 
 
 Strawberry Short Cake— By a correspondent of American Agricul- 
 turist : Mix dough as for biscuit ; roll it thin as pie crust and cut in 
 sheets the size of a bake tin. Place one of these on the tin, then a 
 layer of ripe strawberries, then more dough, and so on for three lay- 
 ers of dough, and two of berries. Cut small holes in the top crust, 
 pour in a little water, and lay on a few small lumps of butter, and 
 bake half an hour. Serve with sweetened cream. 
 
 Breakfast Cake. — Take equal parts of wheat flour, buckwheat, and 
 corn meal sifted enough to make a batter with one pint skim milk 
 (sweet,) one pint sour milk, or butter milk, one egg, one teaspoonful 
 each of salt and cooking soda. Bake and serve up the same as buck- 
 wheat cakes. 
 
 Another. — One pint milk, two or three eggs, two teaspoonfuls cream 
 tartar, one of soda, flour sufficient to roll out. Boll quite thin, and 
 cut into round, square, or diamond shape, according to fancy. Fry 
 in hot lard like dough nuts. To be eaten with butter. 
 
 Waffles. — To one quart of milk, quarter of a pound of soft buttei, 
 six eggs well beaten, add salt to season agreeably. We do not prac- 
 tice rising waffles, but it is the way of many good housekeepers, and 
 of course is done with the usual allowance of yeast. 
 
 Another — Two cups sugar, one cup butter, two-thirds cup milk, half 
 teaspoonful soda, one teaspoonful cream tartar, two eggs, and flour 
 enough to thicken. 
 
 Another. — Melt a large spoonful of butter in a pint of sweet milk ; 
 beat three eggs well, and mix in the milk. Sift one quart of flour, 
 rub in it one teaspoonful of salt, and two of cream tartar, and stir it 
 into the milk until a perfectly smooth batter is made. Dissolve one 
 teaspoonful of soda in a tablespoonful of boiling water, and mix in just 
 before baking. Have a clear fire and your irons clean and well greas- 
 ed. Serve with melted butter poured 'over. 
 
 Indian Meal Waffles. — Boil two cups of hominy very soft, and an 
 
 39 
 
610 
 
 PEACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 equal quantity of sifted Indian meal, a tablespoonful of salt, half a 
 teacup of butter, and three eggs, with milk enough to make a thin 
 batter. Beat all together and bake in waffle irons. When eggs can- 
 not be procured, yeast is a good substitute — put a spoonful in the bat- 
 ter, and let it stand an hour to rise. 
 
 COEN BEEAD. 
 
 A bushel of corn contains more nutriment than a bushel of wheat ; 
 but corn meal should not be ground fine, as it will not keep sweet. 
 There is no grain that can be put to so many good uses and served up 
 in so many different ways as corn and corn meal. First we have the 
 green corn, roasting ears and soup in the early, and the dried corn 
 soup and hominy, the balance of the year. These dishes every good 
 housekeeper knows how to prepare, being the most simple in the cu- 
 linary art. And then by grinding it into meal, what visions of deli- 
 cious eating float before the eyes. First we have the corn cake, made 
 of meal and water, and a little salt, if you are too poor to use eggs 
 and milk, mixed into a dough and baked on a griddle. Then corn bread 
 or pone, which can only be made properly by about one housekeeper 
 in ten. Then mush and milk, and fried mush. We have never seen 
 the individual that did not like one or the other. Many fail in making 
 good mush by not boiling it enough. When it is merely scalded it 
 has a raw taste. Then there is a very good corn meal pudding, made 
 by stirring the meal into scalded skim milk till it is as thick as gruel, 
 and when cool, add ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt, and sweetening to 
 suit the taste, and a little fine cut suet, and some raisins or dried 
 peaches and a fine cut apple. It should bake an hour or more, accor- 
 ding to size. This is a good pudding. And then see into how many 
 dishes corn becomes a palatable and favorite mixture. It is the cheap- 
 est and most wholesome food that man can live on, and should be on 
 the table of both rich and poor more frequently than it now is, in some 
 of its many forms. 
 
 To Improve Corn Meal. — Kiln-dry it by spreading it on a dripping 
 pan, and heating it in the oven. Bemember that grinding fine injures 
 the richness of corn meal. 
 
 To Make Corn Bread . — Two quarts corn meal, one quart rye, one 
 quart sweet milk, one quart buttermilk, one teacup of molasses, one 
 spoonful of salt, and one teaspoonful of soda. Beat with a spoon un- 
 til well mixed. The crust, if not burned, will make an excellent sub- 
 stitute for coffee. 
 
MAKING BREAD AND CAKE. 
 
 611 
 
 Another. — A Massachusetts physician says: Corn bread properly 
 made is a most palatable food, but it is not often well made. Too fre- 
 quently it is heavy and disagreeable. Made as it should be it is a re- 
 gal loaf. He then gives the following method practiced by his wife : — 
 
 Mix up with warm water enough to make a thin dough, two quarts 
 Indian meal sifted but just sufficiently to remove the coarse hulls ; add 
 a teaspoonful of salt, one half pint of molasses, one tablespoonful of 
 dissolved saleratus and one quart of rye meal, with water enough to 
 make it of the proper consistency for a loaf. Bake the whole of it in 
 a single iron pan covered with a loose lid to keep the upper crust from 
 burning. Four hours in the oven is none too much, and a common 
 cooking stove with a steady fire is better than a brick oven. This 
 loaf, not costing more than ten or twelve cents, will make several 
 meals for a family. Now, how to eat it : When it is cold, and never 
 before, cut off some slices and lay them lightly in a pan so that no 
 two shall overlap ; put the pan in the stove oven and shut the door. 
 As the bread warms, the vapor prevents it from scorching, if not left 
 in too long ; and when it comes upon the table it is light, porous, 
 equally warmed through without being hardened by the fire, and pal- 
 atable enough for an epicure. 
 
 Another. — For two loaves, take six quarts Indian meal, three quarts 
 wheat flour, half a pint good molasses, one pint good yeast. Add 
 warm water enough to reduce it to a thick batter — pour it into the 
 dishes intended to bake in, and set in a warm place to rise. Bake 
 three hours. Eat warm or cold. The advantage claimed for this over 
 other recipes, are, that it is easier made, as no kneading is required ; 
 no milk, sweet or sour, is required, nor rye meal ; and it makes sweet- 
 er and better bread. It is recommended by a correspondent of the 
 Country Gentleman. 
 
 The Prize Loaf Com Bread Recvpe. — The following is the formula 
 given for making corn bread like the loaf which took the first prize at 
 Orange Judd’s great corn bread show. To two quarts of meal add 
 one pint of bread sponge ; water sufficiently to wet the whole ; add 
 half a pint of flour, and a tablespoonful of salt ; let it rise ; then knead 
 well for the second time, and place the dough in the oven, and allow 
 it to bake an hour and a half. The first premium, $10, was awarded 
 for the above to Mrs. James O’Brien, Carrick, Pa. This recipe was 
 successful among two hundred and twenty competitors. 
 
 A Delicious Corn Bread. — Boil a teacup of rice. While scalding 
 hot pour it on to a little less than a quart of corn meal— four eggs well 
 
612 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPEDIA. 
 
 beaten, a tablespoonful of lard, a teaspoonful of soda, a little salt, and 
 enough sour milk to make a thin batter. 
 
 Ihe best Corn Bread . — Take three pints of corn meal and a quart, 
 more or less, of sour milk, stir well together, forming a thin batter ; 
 add three eggs, a little salt, and a teaspoonful of salaratus ; mix all 
 well by a thorough stirring, then pour the batter pans, half an inch 
 or so in depth, and bake with a quick heat. These quantities will 
 suffice for a family of six or eight persons. 
 
 Another Indian Bread . — Take two quarts of Indian meal, pour on 
 boiling water enough to make the meal quite wet ; when cool, add a 
 quart of flour, half a pint of risings, a little salt, and half a cupful of 
 molasses. Mix altogether, put into large basins and let it rise ; bake 
 for three hours with a slow fire. 
 
 Indian Bread without Yeast . — Three teacupfuls of Indian meal, 
 two of rye or wheat flour, one-fourth of a teacupful of molasses, one 
 teaspoonful of salt, and one and a half teaspoonfuls of saleratus. Mix 
 in one quart of sour milk. Bake two hours. The family that con- 
 tributes this pronounce it excellent, especially when first made. 
 
 Steamed Indian Bread . — A lady at Flockville, N. Y., says she has 
 never seen any corn bread that could come up to the following : “ One 
 pint of buttermilk, one pint of Indian meal, one pint of coarse flour, 
 one cup of molasses, one teaspoonful saleratus. Add a little ginger 
 if you wish. Mix well together these ingredients ; put into a two- 
 quart basin, then set it in a steamer and steam three hours. See that 
 the water does not stop boiling, and avoid lifting the cover to 1 peep 
 in/ When through steaming, set it in the oven for ten or fifteen 
 minutes, so as to form a sort of crust. Try this, and I know you’ll 
 pronounce it good.” 
 
 Corn Batter Bread . — Take six teaspoonfuls of flour and three of corn 
 meal, with a little salt ; sift them, and make a thin batter with four 
 eggs and a sufficient quantity of milk ; bake in small pans in a quick 
 oven. 
 
 Corn Cake . — Take one pint of corn meal, one quart of sour milk, 
 four eggs, well beaten, two tablespoonfuls of sugar, and soda enough 
 to sweeten the milk. Mix all well together, and bake in pans. To 
 have any corn cakes with eggs light, the eggs must be well beaten. 
 
 Another . — One pint of Indian meal, one pint of sweet milk, two ta- 
 blespoonfuls of melted butter, two eggs, one teaspoonful of cream tar- 
 tar, half a teaspoonful of soda, a small handful of sugar. 
 
 Another . — Take one pint of sour milk, put into it a teaspoonful of 
 soda, and beat it as you would eggs. Stir into it a pint of meal, one 
 
MAKING BREAD AND CAKE. 
 
 613 
 
 teaspoonful of cream tartar ; add the milk, stir them up quickly. Bake 
 half an hour in a tin cake pan, 
 
 Corn Meal Cup-caJces. — One quart corn meal, one pint wheat flour, 
 three pints milk or water, one teaspoonful salt, one of lard, one of so- 
 da, two of cream tartar, one-half cup of molasses, one or two eggs. 
 Bake in small patty pans, or old teacups. 
 
 Corn Griddle Cakes. — The following is said to he excellent : Scald 
 at night half the quantity of meal you are going to use, mix the other 
 with cold water, having it the consistency of thick hatter ; add a little 
 salt, and set it to rise; it will need no yeast. In the morning the 
 cakes will be light and crisp. Skimmings wdiere meat has been boiled 
 is best for frying them with. Fry slowly. 
 
 Indian Batter Cakes. — On a quart ^f corn meal pour enough scald- 
 ing water to wet it. Stir hard until if is smooth and nearly cool. 
 Melt into it a large spoonful of melted butter ; mix in six well beaten 
 eggs and a pint of sweet milk, also a handful of wheaten flour ; sprin- 
 kle in a due quantity of salt. Fry your cakes on a clean, smooth, hot 
 griddle. Fry of regular shapes and brown. If the batter needs thin- 
 ning, use a little milk. 
 
 Indian Mush Cakes. — Take one quart of water, and, when boiling, 
 thicken it with meal. Have it about as thick as you would mush. 
 When a little cool, add two tablespoonfuls of melted butter, two of 
 yeast, and enough flour to make it about as stiff as bread dough. Let 
 it stand over night. In the morning, add enough flour to roll out in 
 little cakes, and bake on the griddle. 
 
 Indian Biscuits. — Take one quart of cold Indian mush, or hasty 
 pudding ; put it into a pan containing about the same quantity of eith- 
 er coarse or fine wheat flour, add milk or sweet cream sufficient to 
 make the mush thin, say one-half pint; then mix the flour and make 
 up into biscuits as soft as you can well handle them, and bake in a 
 quick oven twenty minutes. Cold boiled hominy with flour alone, mix- 
 ed and made into biscuits, makes nice breakfast cakes. 
 
 Corn Bread Dodgers. — Sift your meal, allow the usual quantity of 
 salt, work it up with water, (hot we prefer.) into a pretty stiff mass. 
 Better for standing awhile. Grease a hot pan and lay in it longish 
 cakes, about the length of your hand, upon which the said member of 
 your body usually leaves its print. Bake in a quick oven. The 
 crust of a good dodger should be brown, and no thicker than a knife- 
 blade. 
 
 Virginia Corn Dodgers. — From the Agriculturist: Take three 
 pints of unsifted yellow corn meal, one tablespoonful of lard, and one 
 
PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 614 
 
 pint of milk : work all together, and bake in cakes the size of the 
 band and an inch thick. To be eaten hot, with butter, molasses, or both, 
 as preferred. Excellent. 
 
 Indian Pone . — Into one quart of warm water stir a tablespoon of 
 salt and a pint of yeast. 
 
 Having sifted a gallon of meal into a bowl, make a bole in the cen- 
 ter and pour in the yeast water. Knead as much of the meal as the 
 water will wet into a soft mass. 
 
 Sprinkle a teacup of flour over the dough, cover it, and set it to rise 
 in a warm place. When the flour cracks, with as much warm water 
 as will make up the rest of the meal and flour, work it into a stiff 
 dough ; knead it long and bard. Put it into a deep pan and bake it 
 long, until dry and sweet. Strew bran thickly over the crust after it 
 is brown, and you can continue to bake the loaf without increasing the 
 thickness and hardness of the crust. 
 
 This bread is best in large loaves, and is most successfully baked in 
 a Dutch oven. 
 
 Hoe Cakes . — These are made of Indian meal mixed with milk into a 
 dough rather stiffer than batter. They are baked just as batter cakes, 
 and are better for a little shortening. 
 
 Johnny Cake . — This is hoe cake spread on a smooth board and 
 oaked before a clear, brisk fire until well done. 
 
 A Johnny cake to be eaten with meat, should be made as follows : 
 One teacupful of sweet milk, one of buttermilk, a little salt and a lit- 
 tle soda ; stir in meal enough to make a soft batter ; bake forty-four 
 minutes. 
 
 Another . — Three cups sour milk, three cups Indian meal, three ta- 
 blespoonfuls molasses, one egg, with a little flour, salt and saleratus. 
 
 Another . — For those who prefer it without the addition of eggs and 
 flour : One and a half cups sweet cream, five cups buttermilk, one 
 small tablespoonful granulated or other good sugar, two small tea- 
 spoonfuls salaratus, and a little salt. Add corn meal to make a bat- 
 ter as stiff as can be conveniently stirred with a spoon. It should be 
 briskly stirred, turned into a well buttered dripping-pan, and baked 
 in a quick but not too hot oven. 
 
 Another . — One quart of milk, two eggs, four tablespoonfuls of 
 wheat flour, one teaspoonful of salt, and one teaspoonful of salaratus. 
 Indian meal enough to make a thick batter. Butter and bake on a 
 long tin half an hour. Serve hot for tea with butter and sugar. 
 
 Bannocks . — Two cups of Indian meal, two of flour, one tablespoon - 
 ful of molasses, a little salt, one pint of sour milk, one teaspoonful of 
 
MAKING BREAD AND CAKE. 
 
 615 
 
 salaratus. Bake in rings or pan about twenty minutes. Very light 
 and nice. 
 
 Egg JBk'ead. — Beat four eggs very light, and stir into a pint of sweet 
 or sour milk with a little soda in it ; mix in a large spoon of. butter. 
 Over a quart of sifted meal pour enough hot water to scald it, stirring 
 it to a stiff, smooth mass. Mix this into the milk, beat it well, and 
 bake it in a pan or muffin rings. Very good bread can be made by 
 the above recipe without eggs if soda and sour milk are used. We do 
 not vouch for the healthiness of this or any other soda bread. 
 
 Fine Buckwheat Cakes . — Add one-sixth part unbolted wheat flour 
 to the buckwheat. Mix with fresh buttermilk, or cold sour milk. Use 
 soda — no emptyings. More salt is necessary than with emptyings. 
 Bake at once. The pancakes will be white, light and tender, and can 
 in this manner be made on the shortest notice, at any time. 
 
 Another. — A correspondent of the Country Gentleman says : Buck- 
 wheat cakes are better to be mixed with a part milk, even if raised 
 with yeast. But the following is preferred in our family : Take one 
 quart of buttermilk, one quart of water, a teaspoonful of soda, and a 
 little salt : stir in flour sufficient to make a thinish batter, and let it 
 stand over night. In the morning add a half teaspoonful of soda, 
 and flour to make it thick enough to fry. Bake on a hot griddle un- 
 til a nice brown. When done the cakes should be placed in a dish 
 that can be covered without the cover resting upon them, as it has a 
 tendency to make them heavy. A large tureen is the best dish to 
 place pancakes into. 
 
 Another. — Have ready two cups ; put one teaspoonful of tartaric 
 acid in one cup, one teaspoonful of soda in the other cup ; add to each 
 about two tablespoonfuls of cold water ; stir it well. Make one quart 
 of buckwheat meal into a thick batter, with moderately warm water ; 
 add the contents of one of the cups ; stir it well ; then pour in the 
 contents of the other cup ; stir that well also ; add to the whole one 
 tablespoonful of melted butter, and bake on a griddle nicely cleaned 
 and greased with good lard. The batter is ready for use as soon as 
 mixed. 
 
 Another. — To every three bushels of buckwheat, add one of good 
 heavy oats ; grind them together as if they were only buckwheat ; 
 thus will you have cakes always light and always brown, to say noth- 
 ing of the greater digestibility, and the lightening of spirits, which 
 are equally certain. He who feeds on buckwheat may be grum and 
 lethargic ; while he of the oatmeal will have exhileration of the brain 
 and contentment of the spirit. 
 
616 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 lo Prevent and Remedy the Itching from Eating Buckwheat. — W* 
 omon W. Jewett of California, writes to the Country Gentleman : — 
 After eating too freely of them, it often causes a burning and itching 
 sensation, produced by the poison in the grain. The best remedy to 
 counteract this is carbonate of soda, to he used in their rising ; or soon 
 cured by taking internally, as the itching commences, a half teaspoon- 
 ful or more of the soda diluted with water. 
 
 Wheat Flour Batter Cakes. — Mix a quart of milk into a very stiff 
 hatter. Mix into it a teaspoonful of salt, a quarter of a pound of soft 
 butter, and a large spoonful of yeast. When it is well risen, mix 
 into it six eggs beaten very perfectly. Indeed without the yeast and 
 rising these are nice cakes. If not risen it is best to beat the yelks 
 and whites of the eggs separately. Use soda if you choose. Buck- 
 wheat cakes are mixed as above, using a teacup of Indian meal with 
 one quart of flour. Unbolted flour is to many tastes better than buck- 
 wheat. 
 
 Griddle Cakes. — The following is published in the Agriculturist : 
 Unbolted wheat meal mixed with sweet milk so as to form a rathei 
 stiff batter, and baked a little longer than buckwheat, forms not only 
 an excellent substitute, but is in some respects even superior to that 
 article. 
 
 Potato Griddle Cake. — One quart of milk, six cold boiled potatoes 
 grated, two eggs, and flour suffiei'ent to make a batter. 
 
 Pancakes. — Beat four eggs very light; stir them with a little salt 
 and a large spoon of melted butter, into a quart of milk, make of it a 
 thin batter. Fry of the batter very large and thin cakes, a delicate 
 brown. Send them to the table hot, to be eaten with molasses or su- 
 gar and butter. 
 
 Soap stone griddles are held to be superior to iron griddles for fry- 
 ing pancakes. 
 
 Omelet or Egg Pancake. — Two heaping tablespoonfuls of flour, a 
 little salt, and just a pinch of soda, four eggs, and good sweet milk, 
 enough to make a thin batter. The addition of a spoonful of cream, 
 or a bit of butter, is nice, and a tart apple, paired and sliced very thin- 
 ly, is an improvement. In frying, use a long handled pan, and when 
 ready, take a tablespoon half full of lard, and half of butter, when hot, 
 pour the batter in, enough of it to make it a little, thicker than com- 
 mon buckwheat cakes. When it is a delicate brown on the under 
 side, slip it into a plate, for, unless very dextrous with the knife, it will 
 break in turning ; put a few bits of butter and lard over it, and turn 
 the pan quickly upon it, reverse and place over the fire, taking the 
 
MAKING BREAD AND CAKE. 
 
 617 
 
 plate off, or it would be heavy. If baked in thin cakes with jelly be- 
 tween, it makes a nice dessert for dinner. 
 
 Pea Pancakes. — Cook a pint more green peas than you will require 
 for dinner. While hot put them in a wooden bowl, a lump of butter 
 amd a little pepper with them, and mash to a salve with a potato pes- 
 tle. In the morning make up a batter of either wheat flour or corn 
 meal, with eggs and soda as for fritters. Stir in the pea jam until it 
 is thoroughly incorporated with the batter, and cook like any other 
 griddle cakes. They make a beautiful and palatable breakfast dish, 
 as I know by experience. 
 
 Milk Toast. — Place the milk to heat, mix a teaspoonful of flour 
 smoothly with the milk, stir it in, and let it come just to a boil, with 
 a piece of butter the size of an egg to a quart of milk, and some salt. 
 Place your toast in a deep dish, and cover it with this gravy. 
 
 German Toast. — Half a loaf of baker s bread, cut in slices and soak- 
 ed in a custard made by mixing four eggs with a. pint of cold milk — let it 
 soak an hour. Fry the slices on the griddle, brown. To be eaten 
 with a rich sauce. 
 
 Another. — Two eggs — one pint milk, and flour enough to make a 
 thick batter — cut wheat bread into very thin slices, and soak them in 
 sweetened water — cover each side successively with the batter and 
 fry brown with lard. Eat while hot, with butter and white powdered 
 brown sugar. 
 
 Welsh Rarebit. — Take a teaspoonful of mustard, half a cup of milk, 
 and a little salt ; put in a sauce pan, and add half a pound of mild 
 cheese ; put over a brisk fire and stir until the cheese and milk are 
 thoroughly mixed. Pour on a slice of nicely toasted bread, and 
 serve. 
 
 Breakfast Cakes. — Three eggs, three cups of wheat flour, three cups 
 of unbolted flour, a little salt, one quart of milk, Bake quick. Some 
 use sour cream and soda instead of sweet milk. 
 
 A Very Nice Breakfast or Tea Cake. — Half a cup of butter and 
 one-fourth cup sugar stirred together. One cup of milk. Half a 
 pint of flour. Two eggs. Two teaspoonfuls of cream tartar. One 
 teaspoonful soda. A little salt. 
 
 Cookies. — One pound and a quarter of sugar, three-quarters of a 
 pound of butter, one half a pint of warm water, four tablespoonfuls 
 of carraway seed, one teaspoonful of soda dissolved in three of warm 
 water, three pounds of flour. Boll out very thin, and bake in a very 
 quick oven. 
 
 Another. — A lady at Mt. Morris, N. Y., contributes the following : 
 
618 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 One cup of thick sour cream; one cup of sugar; half cup of butter; 
 cinnamon to taste ; soda as usual. My husband thinks they can’t be 
 beaten, so they must be good. 
 
 Another. — One cup of sugar; one of cream; teaspoonful of soda; 
 salt, and spice or ginger. 
 
 Another. — One cup of butter, two cups of sugar, half pint of sour 
 milk, one level teaspoonful of super-carbonate of soda, dissolved in 
 half a wine glass full of warm water. Add nutmeg and cinnamon to 
 your taste. Stir in flour, and treat dough as in recipe for jumble 
 cake. 
 
 Sugar Cookies. — Three cups of sugar, two cups of butter, three 
 eggs, four tablespoonfuls of sour cream, one teaspoonful saleratus. 
 
 Cookies — Extra. — Take one pound white sugar, one pint sour cream 
 half an ounce hartshorn, mix very hard, and roll them. Some add a 
 little salt and nutmeg. 
 
 Ginger Cookies. — Two eggs ; two cups molasses ; half a cup lard ; 
 half cup butter; one teaspoonful soda, dissolved in two tablespoonfuls 
 of water ; one tablespoonful ginger ; flour enough to roll thin. 
 
 Another. — One cup sugar, one cup molasses, one cup butter or lard, 
 one egg, one large teaspoonful soda, a tablespoonful ginger, and one 
 tablespoonful of vinegar. Mix with seven teacups of flour. 
 
 Extra Ginger Cookies. — One teacup of molasses ; half do. sugar ; 
 half do. of shortening; two-thirds do. of hot water; one teaspoon 
 saleratus ; one do of ginger ; just flour enough to roll and no more. 
 
 Fried Cakes. — By Mrs. E. A. Call, Fabius, Onondaga Co., FT. Y. — 
 One teacup thick sour cream, two teacups of sour or buttermilk, two 
 teaspoonfuls of soda, a teaspoonful of salt, and one teacup of sugar; 
 mix well. Boll half an inch thick ; cut in strips, twist and fry in hot 
 lard until done ; season with ground cinnamon or spice. The cakes 
 will be the better for standing an hour or two, after they are mixed, 
 before frying. 
 
 Crullers. — Two teacups sugar, two teacups sweet milk, two large 
 tablespoonfuls of butter, two eggs, two large teaspoonfuls of soda, four 
 do. of cream tartar, 'a teaspoonful of essence of lemon. 
 
 Another. — One cup of butter, two of sugar, one of milk, one tea- 
 spoonful of soda, three eggs, and flour sufficient to roll out with ease. 
 Fry in plenty of good lard. 
 
 Another. — Two thirds of a cup of butter, two cups sugar, one cup 
 sweet milk, four eggs, half teaspoonful soda — a little nutmeg and salt 
 — enough flour to mix well. 
 
 Fancy Crullers. — Mix four eggs, one-fourth pound sugar, one-fourtb 
 
MAKING BREAD AND CAKE. 
 
 619 
 
 pound butter, one teacupful sweet milk, one teaspoonful soda, and two 
 of cream tartar, the last two dissolved in as little water as possible ; 
 add sufficient flour to roll well. Shape by tying two knots and put- 
 ting the ends through. This and the following are taken from the 
 Agriculturist 
 
 Corn Meal Crullers. — Beat four eggs light, and pour on them one 
 quart of sour milk ; (if sweet milk, cream of tartar must be used,) add 
 half a teaspoonful of salt, and a small teaspoonful of soda ; stir them 
 all together, and then stir in sifted corn meal enough to make a very 
 stiff batter. Have ready a frying pan half full of hot lard, into which 
 drop the batter from a spoon ; when nicely browned, turn them over, 
 and when done, lay them on a colander to drain, and send to the ta- 
 ble hot. 
 
 Doughnuts. — Two quarts of flour, half a teacup of butter, two cups 
 of sugar, two teaspoonfuls of cream tartar, one teaspoonful of soda, 
 two eggs, and enough sweet milk to mix well. 
 
 Another. — Take three pounds of flour, one pound of butter, a pound 
 and a half of sugar ; cut the butter fine into the flour ; beat six eggs 
 light and put them in ; add two wine glasses of yeast, one pint of 
 milk, some cinnamon, mace and nutmeg; make it up into a light 
 dough, and put it to rise. When it is light enough, roll out the paste, 
 cut it in small pieces, and boil them in lard. 
 
 Fritters. — Make a stiff batter of milk, eggs and wheat flour ; drop 
 a spoonful at a time, so as to form circular cakes, into a pan of hot 
 lard, and fry until entirely brown. They should be light, crisp, and 
 about an inch thick when done. Used with syrup, or butter and su- 
 gar melted together. 
 
 Another. — Beat ten eggs thoroughly, mix with two quarts cold wa- 
 ter, one teaspoonful of salt. Add flour to make batter the thickness 
 of griddle cakes ; fry by the tablespoonful in fresh hot lard. Excel- 
 lent, especially if eaten with maple molasses. 
 
 Apple Fritters. — Take one pint of milk, three eggs, salt just to taste, 
 and as much flour as will make a batter. Beat the yelks and whites 
 separately ; add the yelks to the milk, stir in the whites with as much 
 flour as will make a batter. Have ready some tender apples ; peel 
 them, cut them in slices round the apple, take the core carefully out 
 of the center of each slice, and to every spoonful of batter lay in a 
 slice of the apple, which must be cut very thin. Fry them in hot lard 
 to a light brown on both sides. 
 
 Bread Cake. — Two cups of dough, one-half cup of sour milk, one- 
 
620 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 half teaspoonful of soda, one cup of butter, two cups of sugar, four 
 eggs, nutmeg, and a few raisins. 
 
 Another. — Three cups of dough, very light, three cups of sugar, one 
 cup butter, three eggs, one nutmeg, a little soda, and raisins or not, 
 just as you please. 
 
 Plain Cake. — Break two eggs into a cup ; fill it up with cream ; 
 one cup of sugar, two of flour, a heaping teaspoonful of cream tartar, 
 an even one of salaratus. 
 
 Another. — F our pounds of flour, two pounds of currants, and half a 
 pound of butter, with clove, caraway, and coriander seeds to the 
 taste, together with lemon-peel grated ; wet it with milk and half a 
 pint of yeast. 
 
 Another. — Nine pounds of flour, three pounds of sugar, three pounds 
 of butter. 
 
 Gingerbread. — Two cups of molasses, one cup of melted butter, one 
 egg, one cup of sweet milk, one teaspoonful of soda, one heaping tea- 
 spoonful of cream tartar, two tablespoonfuls of ginger, and flour 
 enough to make a stiff batter. This should be baked with care, as it 
 burns easily, and if burnt has a bitter taste. 
 
 Another. — One pound flour, half pound butter, mixed in half 
 pound brown sugar, and as much treacle (not melted,) as will roll it 
 into a paste ; add ginger to taste ; pour it thin upon- tins, and bake 
 in a quick oven. 
 
 Hard Gingerbread. — One cup butter, one cup brown sugar, one 
 cup cold water, one cup molasses, one teaspoonful saleratus, or a little 
 soda. Ginger to the taste, and flour enough to roll out easily. 
 
 Another. — Two pounds flour, one half pound butter, one pint mo- 
 lasses, one-fourth pound sugar, one ounce ginger, one-half teaspoonful 
 of cream of tartar. 
 
 Another. — To a pint of West India or other molasses add the size 
 of a hickory nut of butter, half teaspoon of pearlash, ginger to suit 
 the taste. Warm the whole together, stirring well, add your flour, 
 work and cut as biscuit. 
 
 Another. — Bub half a pound of butter into one pound of flour, then 
 rub in half a pound of sugar, two tablespoonfuls of ginger, and one 
 tablespoonful of rose water ; work it well, roll out, and bake in flat 
 pans in a moderate oven. It will take about half an hour to bake. 
 This gingerbread can be kept some time. 
 
 Soft Gingerbread. — One and a half cups molasses, one and a half 
 cups butter, one pint flour, two eggs, two tablespoonfuls milk, two 
 
MAKING BREAD AND CAKE. 
 
 621 
 
 tablespoonfuls water; half teaspoonful saleratus; one tablespoonful 
 ginger. Highly recommended. 
 
 Another. — One pint molasses, one cup butter, half cup milk, two 
 eggs, one teaspoonful cream of tartar, two teaspoonfuls soda, one tea- 
 spoonful ginger, four cups flour. 
 
 Another. — One teacup molasses, one of butter, one of sugar, three 
 eggs, half teaspoon pearlash. Add the flour as in making pound 
 cake, beat the whole to a light batter, pour in pans, bake slow. 
 
 Another. — One cup of Molasses, one of sour cream, three cupfuls 
 of flour, two eggs, one teaspoonful of soda, one of ginger. 
 
 Plain Gingerbread. — To a cup of molasses add a piece of butter 
 the size of a large walnut, the butter being melted, put in one cup of 
 sour milk, and a teaspoonful of soda. Spice with cloves or ginger ; 
 mix in enough flour to make a thick batter, and bake slowly. 
 
 Sugar Gingerbread. — One cup sugar, two-thirds cup of sour cream, 
 two teaspoonfuls of cream tartar, one of saleratus, spice, a little cinna- 
 mon and nutmeg ; bake in sheets ah inch thick. 
 
 Sponge Gingerbread. — One pint of molasses; half pint sweet milk; 
 three tablespoonfuls melted butter ; one do. ginger ; one do. saleratus. 
 Make as stiff nearly as pound cake. This is highly recommended. 
 
 Another. — Melt a piece of butter the size of a hen's egg'; mix with 
 a pint of molasses, a tablespoonful of finger and a quart of flour. 
 Dissolve a heaping tablespoonful of saleratus in half a pint of milk, 
 strain, and mix it with the rest of the ingredients; add sufficient flour 
 to enable you to roll it out easily ; roll half an inch thick, and bake it 
 on flat tins in a quick oven. Gingerbread made in this manner will 
 be light and spongy if baked quick, and made of nice molasses ; but 
 will not keep good so long as hard gingerbread. 
 
 Lemon Gingerbread. — Grate the rind of two or three lemons, and 
 add the juice to a glass of brandy ; then mix the grated lemon in one 
 pound of flour, make a hole in the flour, pour in half a pound of trea- 
 cle, half a pound of butter melted, the lemon juice and brandy, and 
 mix all up together with half an ounce of ground ginger, and quarter 
 of an ounce of cayenne pepper. 
 
 Imperial Gingerbread. — Rub six ounces of butter into three-quar • 
 ters of a pound of flour ; then mix six ounces of treacle with a pint 
 of cream carefully lest it should turn the cream ; mix in a quarter of 
 a pound of double refined sugar, half an ounce of powdered ginger 
 and one ounce of caraway seeds ; stir the whole well together into a 
 paste, cut it into shapes, and stick cut candied orange or lemon peel 
 on the top. r 
 
622 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 Dinah’s Gingerbread. — Two cupfuls of molasses, two cupfuls of wa- 
 ter or sour milk, half a cupful of brown sugar, one tablespoonful of 
 ginger, one do. of melted butter, and one and a half teaspoonfuls of 
 saleratus ; add a little salt ; not very stiff ; bake in two large cakes. 
 
 While stopping a few days at Saratoga, last summer, the excellent 
 gingerbread on the table attracted general notice. I made my way to 
 the kitchen, and learned from Dinah, the cook, her process of making 
 it ; and for want of another name, we call it “ Dinah's Gingerbread.” 
 Carrot coffee I drank in New Hampshire, and like it well. It is said 
 to be very good for those subject to bilious difficulties. 
 
 Another Good Gingerbread. — One and one-half cups of molasses ; 
 one teacup of cream; one do. of buttermilk; two eggs; one and a 
 half teaspoonfuls saleratus ; two do. of ginger, four small teacups of 
 flour. Beat thoroughly and spread on two baking tins. 
 
 Ginger Biscuits. — Bub half a pound of fresh butter into two pounds 
 of fine flour, add half a pound of sifted sugar, and three ounces of 
 pounded ginger. Beat up the yelks of three eggs, and take a little 
 milk, with which make the above ingredients into a paste. Knead it 
 all well together, and roll it out extremely thin, and cut it into the 
 form of round biscuits with a paste cutter. Bake them in a slow oven 
 until crispy, taking care that they are a pale brown color. 
 
 Ginger Calces. — One pint of^molasses. One cup of butter. One ta- 
 blespoonful of saleratus. One teaspoonful of alum, each to be dissolv- 
 ed in a cup half full of boiling water. One tablespoonful of ginger, 
 and flour enough to roll out in little cakes. 
 
 Ginger Pound Cake. — Eight eggs, one pint of molasses, one pound 
 of brown sugar, half pound butter. Beat the eggs, stir into it the 
 molasses, sugar and butter, also one tablespoon of powdered allspice, 
 and two of ground ginger. Thicken with as much flour as will make 
 a rather stiff batter, three pints, we think ; just before putting in the 
 mould, stir in a teaspoon of soda dissolved in a little sour milk. Omit 
 four eggs, and work in flour enough to make it roll, and you have good 
 plain ginger cakes. 
 
 Ginger Sponge Cake. — One cup of molasses, one cup of butter, two 
 cups of sugar, four eggs, three cups of flour, one cup of milk, soda, 
 and ginger. 
 
 Soft Ginger Cake. — Mix one cup of sugar, one of molasses, one egg, 
 butter the size of a walnut, one cup cream (milk or buttermilk will 
 do,) four cups flour, ginger to taste, and a small teaspoonful of soda. 
 It bakes quickly in iron pans. 
 
 Scalded Ginger Cake. — Put one pint of molasses and two spoonfuls 
 
MAKING BREAD AND CAKE. 
 
 623 
 
 of butter in a pan, beat to boiling, then pour it on to one quart of 
 flour. Stir it well and when cool add two eggs well beaten, one ta- 
 blespoonful of soda dissolved in two large spoonfuls of brandy, and 
 one of ginger. Add enough flour to make it thick enough to roll ; 
 work it out thin, and bake in square tins. This and the next prece- 
 ding is extracted from the American Agriculturist. 
 
 Ginger or Cinnamon Tablet. — Melt one pound of loaf sugar or su- 
 gar candy, with a little water over the fire, and put in one ounce of 
 powdered ginger or cinnamon, and keep stirring it until it begins to 
 rise into a froth ; then pour it into a dish which has been first rubbed 
 with a little butter ; before it hardens cut it into the size and shape 
 you approve of for table. 
 
 Ginger Lozenges. — Mix with white of eggs, four ounces of powder- 
 ed ginger, two pounds of white sugar, and one pound of starch. 
 
 GINGER SNAPS. 
 
 Of all the cakes one loves to eat, perhaps 
 None charms the palate like good ginger snaps, 
 
 And if to make the best you’d wish to know, 
 
 Why, study well the rhymes you find below : 
 
 Melt of butter half a pound, also of lard, 
 
 Then add sugar, brown, a half a pound, 
 
 Stir in a quart of ’lasses, not too hard, 
 
 Four tablespoons of ginger, nicely ground. 
 
 Into this mixture sift two quarts of flour, 
 
 (Then to insure the cakes shall not be sour,) 
 
 Dissolve in milk four teaspoonfuls of soda ; 
 
 Saleratus is advised, but I like not the odor ; 
 
 Mix either with milk ; it surely makes no matter, 
 
 So that you strain the milk into the batter : 
 
 Add more flour, and roll out thin the dough, 
 
 Then cut in cakes, but this you surely know. 
 
 Bake them well in an oven, cooks call 11 slow,” 
 
 And when they’re baked they’ll not last long, I know. 
 
 Another. — Two cups molasses, one cup lard, one teaspoonful salt, 
 one teaspoonful ginger, three teaspoonfuls soda. Let these ingredi- 
 ents come to a boil ; then add flour until stiff enough to roll out. 
 Eoll out very thin, and bake in a quick oven. 
 
 Another. — One cup of butter, one cup of lard, one cup of sugar, 
 two cups molasses, one small teaspoonful saleratus, one do. of ginger. 
 They require considerable flour. Eoll them out very thin, and bake 
 quickly. 
 
 Another. — Take two -thirds of a pint of molasses, and fill the pint 
 
624 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 up with sugar ; half a pint of lard and half a pint of buttermilk ; 
 one tablespoonful of ginger, a teaspoonfui of soda, flour to stiffen. Pvoll 
 them and bake quickly. 
 
 Premium Ginger Snaps. — One cup best molasses.; one-half cup 
 sugar ; two-thirds cup butter ; one teaspoonful alum ; two teaspoonfuls 
 saleratus; one-half cup water; one tablespoonful ginger. 
 
 London Snaps. — One pound flour, four ounces butter, one cupful 
 common sugar, half pint molasses, one-third cupful, with a little sal- 
 eratus. 
 
 Cake Without Eggs. — Pour sufficient boiling water over stale bread 
 to soften it; mash it through a colander, and add as much wheat flour 
 as bread, and as much milk as will make it as thick as batter usually 
 is; one teaspoonful soda; two of cream tartar. Bake immediately. 
 
 Cake With or Without Eggs. — One cup of butter, two cups of sugar, 
 one cup of sweet milk, half cup of sour milk, or buttermilk, one tea- 
 spoonful of saleratus, flour to make it thick, and fruit if you choose. 
 
 Economy Cakes. — By a correspondent of the Am. Agriculturist: 
 Take one quart of mashed potatoes, one egg, half teacup of wheat 
 flour, a tablespoonful of butter, and add milk to form a thick batter. 
 Season with pepper and salt. Mix all well together : make into cakes 
 three-fourths of an inch thick, and fry brown where meat was previ- 
 ously fried. They are recommended. 
 
 Diet Cake. — One tablespoonful of butter, two of eggs, one and a 
 half cups of sugar, one of milk, three of flour, one teaspoonful of soda, 
 two of cream tartar. Flavor with essence of lemon. 
 
 Indian Queen Cake — Take three cups of sifted meal, one handful 
 of flour, half cup of molasses, one egg and half a tablespoonful of but- 
 ter, mix thoroughly and stir into a quart of sweet milk till a batter 
 is made of the right thickness ; add a teaspoon of soda and a little 
 salt. 
 
 Cheap Cake. — One half cup of sour cream; one cup of sugar; one 
 of buttermilk ; a heaping teaspoon of soda ; half teaspoonful of cream 
 tartar. Flavor with nutmeg or cinnamon, and put in a little salt. 
 
 Tea Cakes. — Beat four eggs well, stir in it four teacups of sugar, 
 one of butter, a tablespoon of essence of lemon; dissolve a teaspoon 
 of soda in a little sour cream, and grate in a nutmeg. — Work flour in 
 until the dough will barely roll without sticking. Cut out and bake 
 a light brown. If cut with a large cutter, and when fresh baked, 
 rubbed with white of an egg, and sugar sifted over, they are termed 
 sugar cakes. The sugaring should be done while perfectly hot. 
 
 Another. — Mix thoroughly a teacupful and a half of sugar, half a 
 
MAKING BREAD AND CAKE. 
 
 625 
 
 teacup of butter, and balf of a nutmeg. Dissolve a teaspoonful of sal- 
 era tus in a teacupful of milk, strain and mix it with the cakes. Add 
 flour until stiff enough to roll it out about an inch thick ; cut in cakes. 
 Bake them on flat rubbed tins in a quick oven. 
 
 Coffee Cake.-— One cup of sugar, one do. molasses, one do. of but- 
 ter, one do. raisins, chopped fine, one do. lukewarm coffee, with a tea- 
 spoonful of soda in it, one egg, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Flour to your 
 judgment. 
 
 Another . — One coffeecup of sugar, one do. molasses, one do. strong 
 coffee, two-thirds of a cup. of butter, two eggs, and four cups flour, 
 one teaspoon saleratus. Spice with cloves and cinnamon. Add 
 raisins if you choose. The coffee must be prepared as for the table. 
 
 Squash Cake. One quart boiled mashed squash, one coffeecup 
 sweet or sour milk, or buttermilk, one coffeecup flour, three eggs, salt 
 and saleratus if sour milk or buttermilk is used. Fry in butter or 
 lard. If the mixture is poured over sliced apples in the spider it is 
 an addition. 
 
 Citron Cake. Two and a half cups sugar, three eggs, one cup 
 sweet milk, a piece of butter the size of a hens egg, a teaspoonful of 
 cream tartar, one of soda, a little over two cups of flour. Place in 
 a baking dish with layers of citron. A very good cake without, how- 
 ever. 
 
 Lemon Cake. One cup of butter, three of sugar, one of milk, four 
 of flour, five eggs, a teaspoon of soda, juice and grated peel of one 
 lemon. 
 
 Cocoanut Cake. Three cups white sugar, half cup butter, three 
 and a half cups flour, one cup milk, the whites of six eggs, one tea- 
 spoonful extract of vanilla, one teaspoonful salt, one teaspoonful soda, 
 two teaspoonfuls cream tartar, one grated nut. 
 
 Another. Scarcely half a pound of pounded sugar to a large cocoa- 
 nut, grated. Put into a preserving pan till the sugar melts. Form 
 into cakes, put on white paper, They should be well baked in a very 
 cool oven, and when cooked ought to be pure white. 
 
 > Currant Cakes. One cup of butter, three eggs, one cup of water or 
 milk, half a teaspoonful of saleratus, nutmeg, cup of currants. 
 
 Bice Cakes. Having boiled some rice flour into a stiff mush, mix 
 by receipt for Indian batter cakes, with a spoonful of wheat flour 
 mixed in to bind it. You may use one-half of soft boiled rice in pre- 
 paring griddle cakes, by the receipt given for wheaten or Indian 
 batter cakes, and find them quite as good as those prepared of rice 
 lour. 
 
 40 
 
626 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 Ground Bice Cake. — Break five eggs into a stew pan, winch place 
 in another containing hot water ; whip the eggs for ten minutes till 
 very light, then mix in by degrees half a pound of ground rice, six 
 ounces of powdered sugar ; beat it well; any flavor may be introduced; 
 pour into the buttered pan and bake half an hour. 
 
 Seed Cake. — Beat one pound of butter to a cream, adding gradu- 
 ally a quarter of a pound of sifted sugar, beating both together ; have 
 ready the yelks of eighteen eggs, and the whites of ten, beaten sepa- 
 rately ; mix in the whites first, and then the yelks, and beat the 
 whole for ten minutes ; add two grated nutmegs, one pound and a 
 half of flour, and mix them very gradually with the other ingredi - 
 ents. When the oven is ready, beat in three, ounces of picked cara- 
 way seed. 
 
 Corn Starch Cake. — By a correspondent of the American Agricul- 
 turist : Mix one egg, two cups of flour, one cup of milk, one cup of 
 sugar, one teaspoonfal of soda, two of cream tartar, piece of butter 
 half the size of a hen's egg, melted ; bake the same as for jelly cake, 
 in shallow tins, and when cold pile in layers, with a custard between, 
 made as follows : Take one egg, one cup of milk, sugar to taste, two 
 spoonfuls of vanilla extract, one teaspoonful of corn starch. Boil the 
 milk, beat the egg and corn starch together, and stir into the boiling 
 milk, which must previously be sweetened. When cold, stir in 
 the vanilla. The custard must cool before being put with the cake. 
 
 Cream of Tartar Cake. — Half cup butter, two cups sugar, three 
 and a half cups flour, three eggs, two teaspoons cream of tartar, one 
 teaspoonful soda, dissolved in one teacupful milk, one tablespoonful 
 flavoring. Stir together quickly, and bake in a quick oven. 
 
 Another. — One cup of butter, two of sugar, five of flour, three eggs, 
 one cup of sweet milk, three teaspoons cream of tartar, one and a half 
 of soda, nutmeg. (Two cups of chopped raisins if you like.) Bub 
 well the cream of tartar in the flour, stir sugar and butter together, 
 then eggs, then milk, with the soda well dissolved in it. 
 
 Jelly Cake. — One pound sugar, one of butter, three-quarters of a 
 pound of flour, and twelve eggs. Mix as other cakes, and bake in 
 plates. While fresh, spread between layers of marmalade or jelly, 
 and lay up in a pile ; trim evenly, and ice or sift sugar thickly over 
 them. 
 
 Another. — Three cups white sugar, one cup butter, one cup milk, 
 four cups flour, six eggs, well beaten, a little spice. Drop three table- 
 spoonfuls in an ordinary sized cake pan. 
 
 Another. — From Am. Agriculturist : Take one cup of sugar, 
 
MAKING BREAD AND CAKE. 
 
 627 
 
 four eggs, one cup of flour, half teaspoonlul soda, dissolved in a ta- 
 blespoonful of sweet milk, and one teaspoonful cream of tartar, mixed 
 in flour. Bake in one long tin, then spread with jelly, roll up, and 
 cut in slices, 
 
 “An Excellent Cake. 1 ' — Take one cup of butter and three of sugar, 
 well rubbed together ; then take five eggs which have been beaten 
 very light, and stir them by successive portions into the above mix- 
 ture, adding also four cups of flour and a cup of sweet milk. Add 
 nutmeg and a wine glass of rose water, and also add a teaspoonful of 
 solution of soda. Baking about fifteen minutes in a moderately hot 
 oven will be sufficient. 
 
 Scotch Cakes. — From the Am. Agriculturist : Mix one pound 
 brown sugar, half pound butter, one pound flour, two eggs, one 
 ounce cinnamon, and a little soda. Boll them out as thick as jumbles. 
 
 Washington Cake. — From Godey's Lady's Book: Beat together 
 one and a half pound of sugar, and three-quarters of a pound of but- 
 ter ; add four eggs, well beaten, half a pint of sour milk, and one tea- 
 spoonful of saleratus, dissolved in a little hot water. Stir in gradually 
 one and three-quarters pound of flour, one wineglassful of wine or 
 brandy, and one nutmeg, grated. Beat all well together. This will 
 make two round cakes. It should be baked in a quick oven, and will 
 take from fifteen to thirty minutes, according to the thiekness of the 
 cakes. 
 
 Lincoln Cake. — Take one pint of light dough, half a teacupful of 
 butter, a teacupful of sugar, three eggs, a teaspoonful of saleratus, one 
 pound of raisins. Boll and bake. 
 
 Douglas Cake. — Take four pounds of flour, two pounds of white su- 
 gar, one pound of butter, ten eggs, the juice and pulp of one orange, 
 half teaspoonful of soda ; roll out thin. 
 
 Composition Cake. — One pound and a half of sugar, one pound and 
 a quarter of butter, one pound and three-quarters of flour, one cup 
 of milk, one teaspoonful of soda, six eggs, one wineglass of brandy, 
 fruit to your taste. 
 
 Another. — One pound of flour, one pound of sugar, seven eggs, and 
 a gill of brandy. 
 
 Jew's Cake. — Beat four eggs light ; stir in it one pound sugar and 
 one pound of butter, a grated nutmeg, and a teaspoon of soda, dissolv- 
 ed in a little milk. Work in as much flour as will make it roll ; cut 
 out thin and bake quick. 
 
 Schroeder's Cakes. — One pound and a half of sugar, ten eggs, one 
 teaspoonful of pearlash, and cinnamon to your taste. 
 
628 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 Madison Coke. — Mix one pound of butter, two pounds sugar, two 
 pounds flour, - one pound of raisins, one pound of currants, one pint 
 of cream, seven eggs, one teaspoonful cinnamon, one nutmeg, twenty- 
 five drops oil of lemon, one teaspoonful soda, two cream of tartar. 
 From tbe American Agriculturist. 
 
 Macaroons. — These little cakes are much admired, and are a very 
 agreeable addition to the dessert. To a quarter of a pound of sweet 
 almonds, take four teaspoonfuls of orange-flower water, the whites of 
 six eggs, and one pound of sifted white sugar. Blanch the almonds, 
 (remove the brown skin,) and pound them with the orange-flower wa- 
 ter, or some of the white of an egg ; then whisk the whites of the 
 eggs and add them gently to the almonds. It is important that these 
 two ingredients should be carefully added, or they will “oil,” or sepa- 
 rate. Sift the sugar into the mixture until the whole form a paste, 
 not too stiff to drop upon white paper, which should be placed in a 
 tin, or on a plate, and the whole baked in a slow oven till done. 
 
 Marble Cake. — From the Am. Agriculturist : For the white part, 
 mix one cup of butter, three of white sugar, one of sweet milk, five 
 of flour, half a teaspoonful of soda, one of cream tartar, whites of eight 
 eggs, and flavor with lemon extract. For the colored part, take one 
 cup of butter, three of brown sugar, one of molasses, one of sweet 
 milk, four of 4our, one teaspoonful of soda, and two of cream of tar- 
 tar, The yelks of eight eggs, and one whole egg ; season with cinna- 
 mon, nutmeg, and cloves. This alone makes a good spice cake. To 
 make the marble cake, first put in a pan a layer of the spice cake, 
 then of the white, and so on until the loaf is complete, finishing with 
 the spice cake. The above quantity will make two loaves in six quart 
 pans. 
 
 Molasses Cake . — One gallon of molasses, one quart of sour milk, a 
 quarter of a pound of saleratus, and one pound of lard with sufficient 
 flour. 
 
 Molasses Pound Cake. — One pound of flour, one pint of molasses, 
 quarter pound of sugar, six ounces butter, six eggs, a small quantity 
 of pearlash, five drops essence of lemon. 
 
 Mountain Cake . — One pound sugar, one pound flour, half a pound 
 butter, six eggs, one teaspoonful cream of tartar, half a teaspoonful 
 soda, one cup sweet milk. 
 
 White Mountain Cake . — One pound of flour, one pound white su- 
 gar, half pound butter, six eggs, one teacup sweet milk, one small tea- 
 spoonful of saleratus dissolved in the milk, two teaspoonfuls cream 
 
MAKING BREAD AND CAKE. 
 
 629 
 
 of tartar mixed with the flour. Bake in jelly-cake or Washington 
 pie-tins, four in number. 
 
 Frosting. — One sheet Cooper’s izinglass dissolved in a small teacup 
 of boiling water. Stir into it two pounds of pulverized white sugar. 
 Flavor it with lemon, vanilla, or almond, (and put a tablespoonful of 
 the same flavoring you use for the frosting into the cake before baking.) 
 When the cakes are baked, put one upon a plate ; frost the top and 
 side over ; then lay on another, evening off the edges with a knife ; 
 frost that in the same manner, and so on till all are done, and the 
 “ White Mountain ” is finished. It is an excellent ornament for a sup- 
 per table, and a handsome dessert for dinner. It is a French cake 
 and called “ Mont Blanc.” 
 
 This way of making frosting is good for all kinds of cake. 
 
 Measure Cake . — Highly Recommended. — One cup of butter, two of 
 sugar, three eggs, one-half a teaspoonful of soda in a cup of milk, one 
 teaspoonful of cream tartar, and five cups of flour. Stir the butter 
 and to a cream, add the eggs, the whites and yelks beaten separately ; 
 then the soda and milk, and lastly the cream tartar and flour. Flavor 
 as you please. Bake in small tins or in a loaf. 
 
 Number Cake. — From the Am. Agriculturist : One cup butter, two 
 of sugar, and three eggs. Beat the eggs and sugar together, then 
 add one grated nutmeg and one teaspoonful of saleratus. Stiffen 
 with sufficient flour, roll them, cut in rounds, and bake in a quick 
 oven. 
 
 Puff Cake. — From the Am. Agriculturist : Take two cups of white 
 sugar, three eggs, one scant cup of butter, one cup of sweet milk, one 
 teaspoonful of saleratus, two of cream tartar, three cups of flour. Fla- 
 vor to taste. Stir together at once. 
 
 Pound Cake. — Beat ten eggs light, whites and yelks separate. Then 
 add to it one pound best powdered sugar. Bub to a cream a light 
 pound of butter and one pound best flour. Mix all together. A Dutch 
 oven is the best after a baker’s oven. The strongest heat should be 
 at the bottom, but moderate at first to allow the cake to rise. Baking 
 is the part of cake making that requires most skill. Sound your 
 cake ; if done it will give back an audible sound. It will also be elas- 
 tic. Stick a straw in the thickest part ; if it comes out clean, you 
 may conclude it done. Long baking makes dark cake. 
 
 Another Good Pound Cake. — Beat one pound of butter to a cream, 
 and mix with it the whites and yelks of eight eggs beaten apart. 
 Have ready, warm by the fire, one pound of flour, and the same of 
 sifted sugar ; mix them and a few cloves, a little nutmeg and cinna- 
 
630 
 
 PRACTICAL . CYCLOPEDIA . 
 
 mon, in fine powder together ; then by degrees work the dry ingredi- 
 ents into the butter and eggs. When well beaten, add a glass of wine 
 and some caraways. It must be beaten a full hour. Butter a pan, 
 and bake it an hour in a quick oven. 
 
 Pop Overs . — Three cups flour, three eggs, three cups milk, a small 
 piece butter, and a half teaspoonful of salt. Bake in cups. 
 
 Soda Cake. — Two coffee cups sugar, one do. butter, one do. sweet 
 milk, four do. flour, six eggs, two teaspoonfuls cream tartar, two do. 
 -soda ; nutmeg and salt. 
 
 Shrewsbury Cake. — One pound of flour, three-quarters of a pound 
 of sugar, three of butter, four eggs ; beat till very light; bake mod- 
 erately. 
 
 Jumble Cake. — Two cups of sugar, one cup of butter, three eggs, 
 one (level) teaspoonful of saleratus ; flavor with nutmeg to your taste. 
 Stir in sifted flour until the dough can be rolled with rolling pin, (the 
 softer the dough is the better,) then roll, stamp out in small cakes, 
 sprinkle sugar lightly over them while in the pans. Bake quickly. 
 
 Jumbles. — One cup butter. Two cups sugar. Three eggs. A small 
 piece of soda dissolved in three tablespoonfuls of water. Sprinkle 
 white sugar on them before being placed in the oven. 
 
 Another. — One pound of butter, one pound of sugar, four eggs, one 
 pound and a quarter of flour, half a gill of rose water. Beat the but- 
 ter and sugar to a cream, whisk the eggs and add them to the butter 
 and sugar, then the rose water ; lastly, stir the flour lightly through 
 the other ingredients, roll into round slips the thickness of your little 
 finger. Form it into rings the size of half a dollar. Place them on 
 tins about an inch apart, and bake them in a moderate oven. When 
 cold, sift sugar over them. 
 
 Another. — Half a pound of sugar. Half a pound of butter. Half 
 a pound of flour. Flavor with cinnamon. 
 
 Wafer Jumbles. — Three-quarters of a pound sugar. One-quarter 
 pound butter. Three eggs. One-half teaspoonful soda. One tea- 
 spoonful essence lemon. Flour enough to roll out. Boll very thin, 
 bake in a quick oven. 
 
 Cup Cake. — Take two cups full of milk or cream, two of sugar, two 
 of flour, one of rice flour, and one teaspoonful of salt. Put into cups 
 and bake full. 
 
 Another. — Five eggs, four cups flour, three of sugar, one of sour 
 cream, and half a cup butter. Mix up like cake. Dissolve one tea- 
 spoonfnl soda in the milk. This cake makes a good plain dessert with 
 
MAKING BKEAD AND CAKE. 
 
 631 
 
 wine and butter sauce, or with powdered sugar and butter, rubbed to 
 to a cream, and seasoned with wine, sugar and lemon. 
 
 Another . — Three eggs, two cups sugar, one cup milk, one cup but- 
 ter, and three cups flour. 
 
 Ohio Cup Cake. — Five cups flour ; five eggs ; one cup of butter ; 
 three cups of sugar ; one teaspoonful saleratus ; one cup of sour cream, 
 and one nutmeg. 
 
 Strawberry Cup Cake. — Have from six to ten rings, three inches in 
 diameter, two deep, and slightly flaring, soldered at the small end, in 
 two rows, to a sheet of good strong tin. Fill these rings two-thirds 
 full of any of the nice cake material you prefer for the tea table, and 
 set it in a moderately hot oven to bake. While the baking is pro- 
 gressing, pick over and hull a quart of the finest strawberries you can 
 get. Then whip to a froth the whites of three eggs, and thicken with 
 white powdered sugar until you can spread it smoothly with a knife 
 without its running. When the cake is done to a bright brown, re- 
 move them from the oven, spread over the top of them the egg icing 
 an eighth of an inch thick, and set in it, so that they nearly touch each 
 other, the finest of the strawberries, the large end down. Return the 
 form to the oven for ten minutes, and the cakes are ready for the ta- 
 ble. They are ornamental and very nice to eat. 
 
 Premium Molasses Cup Cake. — Two cups of molasses ; two cups of 
 butter; three eggs; one-third cup cold water; one tablespoonful soda, 
 and bake. 
 
 Pice Cups-- From Mrs. Jane Gillet, Prattsburgh, N. Y. Boil rice 
 in water till nearly done, then add milk and a little salt. When cook- 
 ed soft, add a little butter and sugar, and mold in cups. When cold, 
 put in a custard made of the yelks of eggs and milk, in the propor- 
 tion of four yelks to a quart of milk steamed over a dish of boiling 
 water. The custard must be stirred almost constantly while cooking. 
 Season it with lemon or cinnamon. 
 
 Snow Cakes. — Put corn meal into a good sized wood or other bowl, 
 with sugar and salt to the taste ; then add twice or three times its 
 bulk of snow, and stir together with a spoon. When well mixed it 
 appears like so much dry meal or snow ; if too wet to be light, add 
 more meal ; when just right, fry on the griddle in convenient sized 
 cakes, and they will be as light as can be desired. 
 
 Snow Ball Cake. — By a correspondent of the Am. A griculturist : 
 Oze cup of white sugar, half cup of butter, the whites of five eggs, 
 one teaspoonful of soda, and a little nutmeg ; add flour enough to make 
 a stiff batter; bake in patty tins. 
 
632 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 Honey Cake. — One cup of nice sugar, one cup of rich sour cream, 
 one egg, half a teaspoonful of soda, two cups of flour. Flavor to the 
 taste. Bake half an hour. To be eaten while warm. 
 
 Sponge Cake. — 1. — One egg, (beat the white separately to a froth,) 
 one cup of sugar, one cup of milk, one and two-thirds cup of flour, 
 one tablespoonful of butter, two teaspoonfuls of cream tartar, one tea- 
 spoonful of soda ; season with lemon extract or nutmeg. 
 
 2. — Three eggs, one cup of sugar, one cup and a half of flour, one 
 teaspoonful cream of tartar, half teaspoonful saleratus, nutmeg and 
 lemon. 
 
 3. — Three eggs, one cup sugar, one cup of flour, three tablespoon- 
 fuls of cream, two teaspoonfuls cream of tartar, half teaspoonful soda 
 and nutmeg. While warm spread with jelly, cut it in slices, and roll 
 them quick as possible. 
 
 4. — Two cups sugar, one cup milk, two eggs, three teaspoonfuls 
 cream of tartar, one of soda, butter size of an egg. 
 
 5. — Beat ten eggs thoroughly. Stir in and beat hard one pound of 
 best powdered sugar — then three-quarters of a pound of flour. Bake 
 in little tins or a loaf. 
 
 6. — One pound and a half of sugar, three-fourths of a pound flour, 
 thirteen eggs, one lemon. 
 
 7. — Eleven eggs, the weight of eleven in sugar, and the weight of 
 six in flour, and the rind (grated) and juice of one lemon. 
 
 8. — One coffee cup of flour, one do. sugar, one teaspoonful cream of 
 tartar, one-fourth do. saleratus, dissolved in one teaspoonful of hot wa- 
 ter. Particularly recommended. 
 
 9. — One tumbler of white coffee sugar, one do. of flour, three eggs. 
 Stir the mixture thoroughly, bake fifteen minutes, and you have a good 
 cake. 
 
 Berwick Sponge Cake. — Beat six eggs two minutes, add three cups 
 sugar, beat five minutes ; two cups flour with two very small teaspoon- 
 fuls cream of tartar, beat one minute ; half the rind and juice of a 
 lemon, two cups flour, a bit of salt. Bake twenty minutes. 
 
 Mock Sponge Cake. — One-quarter of a pound of butter, one of su- 
 gar, three eggs, one-half a pint of milk, one even teaspoonful of soda, 
 three coffee cups of flour, one heaping teaspoonful of cream tartar, a 
 little salt, and essence of lemon. This will make two loaves. Bake 
 in a quick but not too hot oven. 
 
 “Best Sponge Cake!' — One coffee cup of sugar and four eggs beaten 
 to a cream ; add a piece of soda the size of a pea dissolved in a tea- 
 
MAKING BREAD AND CAKE. 
 
 633 
 
 spoonful of milk, also a little nutmeg and essence of lemon, stir in 
 quickly a coffeecup of flour. Bake in a hot oven. 
 
 Barnard Cake . — Three eggs, two cups and a half powdered sugar, 
 one cup butter, one cup sour milk, rind and juice of one lemon, three 
 and three-fourths cups flour, one even teaspoonful soda, last. Sugar 
 sifted over the top after it is put into the pan. 
 
 Wingate Cake. — Three eggs, two cups powdered sugar, half cup 
 butter, three cups flour, one cup new milk, one teaspoonful soda, two 
 of cream tartar. 
 
 Plain Cheese Cake. — By Soyer : Put half a pint of milk curds, well 
 drained, in a basin, add to it an ounce and a half of butter, stir per- 
 fectly smooth ; put in three teaspoonfuls of sugar, one ounce of washed 
 currants, one egg, half a pint of milk, and any flavor you may like, as 
 lemon, orange, &c. &c. Prepare your paste, fill up with this, bake 
 the same, and serve. 
 
 Perpetual Lemon Cheese-cake. — One pound of loaf sugar, six eggs, 
 leaving out the whites of two, the juice of three fine lemons, and the 
 grated rind of two of them, one-quarter pound of fresh butter. Put 
 these ingredients into a pan, boil them gently over a slow fire until 
 they assume the consistency of honey ; pour into small jars, and tie 
 brandied papers over them. A dessertspoonful is sufficient for each 
 cake. This should be made when eggs and lemons are plentiful, as it 
 will keep two years. 
 
 Nut Cakes without Yeast. — One cup butter, one cup sour milk, two 
 cups sugar, four eggs, a teaspoonful of saleratus, more or less, accord- 
 ing to the sourness of the milk, spice as wanted, and flour enough to 
 roll out like jumbles. Cut them in any shape desired, and fry in boil- 
 ing lard. 
 
 French Loaf Cake. — One pound flour, three-fourths do. brown su- 
 gar, half do. butter, four eggs, one wineglass of sweet cream, one do. 
 wine, one teaspoonful soda, one pound of raisins, one do. currants, 
 half do. citron, spice to suit the taste. 
 
 Light Cakes. — To three-quarters of a pound of fine flour, add half a 
 jfint lukewarm milk ; mix in three spoonfuls of light barm ; cover it 
 over, and set it by the fire for half an hour to rise. Work in the 
 paste four ounces of sugar and the same quantity of butter. Make 
 into tea cakes with as little flour as possible, and bake them in a 
 quick oven. 
 
 Lady Cake, — Half a pound sugar, six ounces flour, three ounces 
 butter, whites of five to seven eggs, well beaten, and flavored with ex- 
 tract of bitter almond. 
 
634 
 
 PEACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 Lady Finger. — To one pint of molasses, one pound of sugar, half a 
 pound of butter, half an ounce of saleratus, dissolved in a half pint of 
 sour milk, a handful of ginger, and two eggs. 
 
 Delicate Cake. — One coffeecup of flour, one of sugar, one teacup of 
 butter, one tablespoonful of cream, the whites of four eggs, flavor to 
 taste. This makes one loaf. 
 
 Cinnamon Wafers. — From the Am. Agriculturist : One pound of 
 sugar, one-fourth pound butter, three eggs, half teaspoonful soda, one 
 tatdespoonful of cinnamon, and flour enough to roll out ; to be made 
 the same as ginger snaps. 
 
 Bachelor Buttons. — These delicious little cakes are prepared by- 
 rubbing two ounces of butter into five ounces of flour ; add five ounces 
 of white sugar ; beat an egg with half the sugar, then put it to the 
 other ingredients ; add almond, flavoring according to taste. Eoll 
 them in the hand about the size of a large nut, sprinkle them with 
 white sugar, and place them on tins with buttered paper. They 
 should be slightly baked. 
 
 Drop Cakes. — One quart of flour, two eggs, half a cup of butter, 
 half a cup of sugar, one teaspoonful of soda, two teaspoonfuls of cream 
 of tartar. Stir butter and sugar together, add the eggs, put the cream 
 of tartar into the flour, dissolve the soda in a little milk, pour in milk 
 enough to make as stiff as pound cake. Put in the soda the last thing. 
 Bake in cups or muffin rings set on tin sheet. 
 
 Water Drop Cake for Dyspeptics. — One pint of water, one egg, one 
 spoonful of salt, not quite a pint of flour. Beat together thoroughly, 
 and put it into the oven without a moment’s delay. 
 
 Bye Drop Cakes. — One pint of milk, three eggs, one tablespoonful 
 of sugar, and a little salt. Stir in rye flour till about the consistence 
 of pancakes. Bake in buttered cups or saucers half an hour. 
 
 Fgg Drops. — Take one quart corn meal ; pour a sufficient quantity 
 of boiling water over it to make a thick batter, then add one table- 
 spoonful of lard, salt to suit the taste, and three eggs. Then stir up 
 well, and drop a tablespoonful in separate places on a griddle or spi- 
 der, previously warmed, and let them cook brown. Excellent. 
 
 Bout Drops. — Mix two pounds of flour, one pound of butter, one 
 pound of sugar, one pound of currants, clean and dry ; then wet into 
 a stiff paste with two eggs, a large spoonful of orange-flower water, 
 sweet wine and brandy ; drop on a tin plate, floured. A very short 
 time bakes them. 
 
 Chocolate Drops. — Reduce two ounces of chocolate to fine powder by 
 scraping, and add it to one and a half or two pounds of powdered su- 
 
tsmsm 
 
 oire miv 
 
 ' f J0A0 
 mbq 
 field 
 welL 
 
 / ,t crop very heavy. Papers are aavjsn. ; 
 
 /o thin out their fruit to prevent the treds from 
 !»ng down. 
 
 A horse-shoe will hold much longer If the clinches 
 are not weakened by the file in finishing. Insist that 
 he file does not touch the end of the nail where 
 juirned down. 
 
 We have received from James Vick, Rochester, N. 
 Y., the “ Floral Guide No. 2” for 1877. It Is very 
 plentifully decorated, and contains much Instructive 
 reading. 
 
 Eleven head— ten bulls and one cow— of Channel 
 Island caule, from the herd of Mr. W. Bolton, lately 
 sold at auction In England, brought an average of 
 5150 per head. 
 
 Since Jan. 1, 1877, the sales of dairy products at 
 the Elgin hoard of trade amounts to $331 ,597 88, a 
 larger amount than the total sale of the first two 
 years of its existence. 
 
 A law of Kansas compels the women of that state, 
 as well as the men, to turn out and kill the grasshop- 
 pers at the call of the road overseers, or pay $1 per 
 day for their absence. 
 
 Latest mall advices from Minnesota are to the 
 effect that but few grasshoppers are hatching, grubs, 
 worms, and bugs having destroyed the major portion 
 of the eges deposited In the fall. 
 
 Mr. Shields, of Mahaska, Iowa, has lately lost eight 
 valuable horses by an unknown disease. They were 
 nearly all Normans or Clydesdales, and among them 
 a large Clydesdale stallion. 
 
 The Kansas co-operative association, Is making ar- 
 rangements to ship their grain direct to another co- 
 operative association in England, with whom they 
 have a reciprocity treaty business. 
 
 The supreme court of Iowa has lately decided that 
 farmers having wheat stored in warehouses and ele- 
 vators along railroads, have to run the risk of fire, 
 and not the owner of the elevator. 
 
 Everyone notices that the horses used for teaming 
 on our street-cars in this city are increasing in size 
 year by year. We throw out this hint to farmers who 
 are raising draft horses for this market. 
 
 Judge Booth, of this city, raised over a bushel of 
 peaches on one tree in his garden last season. Years 
 ago peaches were largely raised in this vicinity but 
 tbe recent severe winters have killed the trees. 
 
 Mr. Lewis, of King William county, Virginia, is 
 planting this year seven hundred acres of tomatoes. 
 As this is one of the eastern counties in Virginia, Mr. 
 Lewis is evidently preparing for a long extra session 
 of congress. 
 
 Joj 
 01 
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 pirn 
 
 p?! 
 
 raw ©I 
 ©oej ©t 
 
 stench 9Tn 
 great cltlC^s it 
 are poison* 6 iu , 
 and people 1 
 the typhoid f ^ ^ t 
 erally genera no ei 
 farmer lives, m m of 
 nea:h the house,'/ 1 ™ 
 allowed to go intJ 1 ^ 
 come from the priv 
 from decaying subshn? 
 
 Not uncommonly, 
 other animals are all 
 ground, unburied, glfojJ 
 Now, it is comparand a© 
 and supplied with pur ^ 9A 
 allowed to remain in i ,^ Tp M 
 The cellar floor should*/ J 0 
 but “ clean dirt” accunio 
 ceiling should be whi? 
 year. This will destroy i-^ st 
 
 keep tbe air pure, ar.? 
 
 Every cellar should be 4ioi 
 better way to secure a \PT<L 
 windows should be left op )a .£l 
 No dead animal or bird si jl 
 on the surface ©f the oinij 
 burled beneath a tree or 
 tfer ground they wiil do mi^ 
 yield of crops, but if left ! 
 taminate the air, often for aoi 
 parattveiy easy to prevent tnamj 
 manure of any kind hv the^hf 
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 should be thrown over the - 
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 say nothing of its benefits ir. sttt 
 men green vitr,ol or copper. 
 hetter substance to use In 
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 mer. It is safe to say that th 
 through imprudence. The L* 
 vesting causes farmers to e : 
 hours to the burning sun when ’o| 
 exhausted. Common prudence 1 j 
 farmers should not expose t J 
 circumstances. It is affirmed 
 country do as much work in th< 
 those in this country. It is far 
 before the sun Is up or . 
 
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MAKING BKEAD AND CAKE. 
 
 635 
 
 gar ; moisten the paste with clean water and heat it over a fire until 
 it runs smooth, and will not spread too much when dropped out ; then 
 drop it regularly on a smooth plate. 
 
 Cocoanut Drops. — Take one cocoanut, grate and dry it a little — 
 then mix with the beaten whites of two eggs and sixteen teaspoonfula 
 of powdered sugar ; make them up in small round halls, and bake 
 quickly. 
 
 White Cake. — One cup melted butter, one cup and a half of white 
 sugar. Stir the butter and sugar together. Half a cup of fweet 
 milk, two teaspoonfuls cream of tartar, and one of soda. One tea- 
 spoonful lemon essence, whites of four eggs beat to a froth. Stir in 
 flour sufficient to make a thick batter. Bake in a quick oven. 
 
 White Sugar Cakes. — Three pounds of sugar, three-quarters of* a 
 pound of butter, quarter pound saleratus, two tablespoonfuls of alum, 
 and one quart of sour milk. 
 
 White Lemon Cakes. — Bub well together six ounces of butter, one 
 pound and a quarter of flour; add one-fourth pint of (well beaten) 
 eggs, one pound pulverized sugar, twelve drops essence of lemon, and 
 two drachms carbonate of ammonia. The ingredients should be mix- 
 ed into a paste, with as little handling as possible, rolled out about as 
 thick as a silver dollar, cut into cakes and baked on buttered tins, 
 with a gentle heat. 
 
 Yellow Cake. — One cup of melted butter and one of good brown 
 sugar, stirred together. Half a Cup of sweet milk, two teaspoonfuls 
 cream of tartar, and one of soda. Yelks of four eggs. Flavor with 
 nutmeg. Add sufficient flour to make a thick batter. 
 
 Black Cake. — Stone and clip up two pounds of raisins, two of Zante 
 currants. Dredge both with flour ; prepare also one pound of citron 
 cut into little slips. Beat one dozen eggs up perfectly ; stir in it one 
 pound of best white sugar. Cream up and mix in one pound of but- 
 ter and the same of flour. Stir in the raisins and currants, and the 
 citron in layers, also two wine glasses of brandy, one tablespoon of 
 powdered cinnamon, mace and nutmegs each. Bake several hours. 
 A well made black cake, like a plum pudding, will drop to pieces with 
 the least touch. This cake keeps any length of time. 
 
 Lady s or Silver or Bride's Cake. — The whites of twentyffive eggs 
 beaten to a stiff froth. Two pounds of powdered sugar beaten into 
 the eggs. Two pounds of flour and one and a half of butter rubbed 
 into a cream. Mix smoothl/ and bake well. 
 
 Another Silver Cake. — The whites of eight eggs, one cup of butter, 
 
636 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 two cups sugar, three cups flour, half a cup sweet milk, one teaspoon- 
 ful cream of tartar, half a teaspoonful soda. 
 
 Another — Highly Recommended. — Stir to a cream one cup butter 
 with two of sugar, add the whites of six eggs beaten to a stiff froth, 
 one cup of milk with one-half a teaspoonful of soda dissolved in it, 
 and flour so as to make it as stiff as pound cake. With the flour stir 
 in one teaspoonful cream of tartar. Flavor as you please with lemon, 
 nutmeg, or rose water. 
 
 Gold Cake. — One cup butter, two of sugar, three of flour, eight 
 eggs, (the yelks,) half cup milk, teaspoonful cream of tartar, half tea- 
 spoonful soda, nutmeg ; mix the flour and cream of tartar together. 
 
 Another — Highly Recommended. — Stir to a cream one-half a cup of 
 butter with two of sugar ; add the yelks of six eggs well beaten, and, 
 if you like, the whole of another ; then add half a cup sweet milk, 
 with half a teaspoonful soda in it. With the flour put in a teaspoon- 
 ful cream of tartar. This should be as stiff as cup cake. A teaspoon- 
 ful of cloves, one of cinnamon, and half a nutmeg, with raisins or cur- 
 rants, or both, is considered by some an improvement. 
 
 Another. — Made in the same way as the second silver cake, except 
 that the yelks instead of the whites of the eggs are used. 
 
 Golden Cake. — Half pound flour, half pound sugar, six ounces but- 
 ter, yelks of seven eggs, yellow of one lemon and juice. Beat butter 
 and sugar together, and add yelks, lemon, flour, half teaspoonful of 
 soda, one of cream of tartar. Bake in flat pans, and ice it while warm, 
 if possible. 
 
 Fruit Cake. — Pour one pint of boiling water on three-fourths of a 
 pound of fat salt pork, chopped very fine, let it stand until it cools, 
 add two cups of sugar and one of molasses, one pound and a half of 
 raisins, two teaspoonfuls of soda, five cups of flour, one tablespoonful 
 of cinnamon, and half do. of cloves. More fruits and spices can be 
 added if wished. This and the following is from the Am. Agricul- 
 turist. % 
 
 Another. — Mix one pound and half bread dough, three-fourths of a 
 pound of sugar, half a pound of butter, four eggs, one pound of rai- 
 sins, one pound of currants, and spice to the taste. 
 
 To make fruit cake cherries may be used for raisins; huckleberries 
 for Zante currants, and plums for citron. 
 
 Another Fruit Cake. — Five cups brown sugar, eight cups flour,- one 
 cup sour milk, one cup molasses, seven eggs, three pounds raisins, 
 stoned and chopped, half a pound citron, half a tumbler of wine, spice 
 to taste. 
 
PIES, PUDDINGS, SAUCES, ETC. 
 
 637 
 
 Hard Times Fruit Cake . — Two cups of dried apples, soaked over 
 night, chopped rather coarse, three cups of molasses, one egg, two- 
 thirds of a cup of butter, one teaspoonful soda, all kinds of spice, flour 
 as you would cup cake. This will make two loaves. 
 
 Frosting for Cake . — Take the whites of eggs, perfectly free from 
 the yelk, and beat it up till it will stand in shape or pile. Prepare the 
 sugar by pounding and sifting through a fine wire sieve ; add a table- 
 spoonful of arrow root or corn starch to the white of each egg. Add 
 the starch and as much sugar as it will receive, not allowing it to run 
 at all ; put on the cake while warm, not hot. Spread it with a knife. 
 Set it back in the oven to dry while the oven is only warm. If this 
 rule is followed you can ornament the cake in any manner you please, 
 as the icing is stiff enough to retain its form. 
 
 Another Icing . — Break the whites of some eggs into a bowl; beat 
 in as much of the finest white sugar as will make it stiff as soft but- 
 ter ; beat long and hard, and put in a little tartaric acid ; spread on 
 smoothly with a knife and dry in the sun. You may roll up of best 
 foolscap paper, little horns, with a very small orifice ; through these, 
 squeeze out the icing in fancy devices. This had best be left undone 
 if your guests have ever seen a real confectioner’s work. 
 
 Soyers Royal Icing . — Have ready one pound of fine white sugar, 
 put it in a basin -with the white of three eggs, beat well together with 
 a wooden spoon, until it hangs in flakes. The juice of half a lemon, 
 or a few drops of the extract, will flavor it nicely. 
 
 PIES, PUDDINGS, SAUCES, ETC. 
 
 PASTRY. 
 
 Plain Pie Crusts . — Take of lard and water equal quantities, and 
 salt the lard if fresh. Then mix it with the flour thoroughly, adding 
 the water afterwards. 
 
 If a richer crust is desired, roll a part of the same thin, and spread 
 with butter, then roll together and use as an upper crust, taking the 
 other half for the under crust. 
 
 Nice Pie Crust . — One qu^irt of flour, three-fourths of a pound of 
 lard ; put in half the flour to half the lard, and with water knead un- 
 til smooth ; roll it out thin three times, touching it each time with 
 
638 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 the lard, sprinkling it with the flour, and rolling it up to be rolled 
 again. 
 
 Crust for Chicken Pie. — Take one pint of buttermilk, one teaspoon- 
 ful saleratus, one do. salt, two tablespoonfuls butter, with flour enough 
 to make a paste sufficiently thick to roll into a thick crust. 
 
 Cream Pie Crust — Take equal quantities of Graham flour, white 
 flour, and Indian meal; rub evenly together, and wet with very thin 
 sweet cream. It should be rolled thin and baked in an oven as hot as 
 for common pie crust. 
 
 Note. — This makes excellent pastry if properly baked. Many pa- 
 tients have said to us they did not see how they could ever again rel- 
 ish the pastry in common use. This is so much sweeter and more 
 palatable, to say nothing of its wholesomeness. This is contributed 
 by Mrs. Mattie M. Jones, matron of the N. Y. Hygenic Institute. 
 If good pastry can be made without lard or butter, the gain to weak 
 stomachs and pockets will be very great. 
 
 To Make Puff Paste. — Rub a quarter of a pound of butter into half 
 a quarter of flour very fine ; make it up into a light paste, using as 
 little cold water as you can work it up with ; then roll it out about a 
 quarter of an inch thick, put a layer of butter all over, sprinkle on a 
 little flour, double it up and roll it out again; double and roll it out 
 thus four or five times, using another half pound of butter; then it 
 will be fit for any pies or tarts that require puff paste. 
 
 Fine Puff Paste. — One pound of fine flour, one pound of best but- 
 ter, a teaspoonful of salt, the yelk of one egg, and a teacup of water. 
 With the water and eggs, and as much butter as it requires, mix up 
 the flour in a smooth mass. Roll it out and spread it over thinly with 
 butter. Fold up the paste, and roll it out again ; repeat this until 
 your butter is exhausted. Roll out rather thin bottoms for your pies, 
 and a half inch thick for your top crusts. Plainer crusts have simply 
 less butter in them. 
 
 For meat pies and boiled crusts, finely prepared beef suet is often 
 used. 
 
 Pastry should be made on a marble slab or slate, or the bottom of a 
 large dish inverted. It should be kept cool, even if you have to lay 
 it on ice between the rollings. 
 
 Magic Pastry. — Two tablespoonfuls of pounded sugar, four ounces 
 of fine flour, two eggs. Mix all together very smoothly, and fry in 
 lard. 
 
 Paste for Dumplings and for a Stew , either Chicken or Veal . — 
 
PIES, PUDDINGS, SAUCES, ETC. 
 
 639 
 
 One pint milk, two teaspoonfuls cream of tartar, one teaspoonful soda, 
 one teaspoonful salt, with flour enough to make a thick paste. 
 
 To make Tripping Crust . — Take half a pound of fresh, clean drip- 
 ping, and work it well up into a pound and a half of flour ; rub it well 
 in, and make it into a paste with water with the chill taken off. If 
 worked well, it makes an excellent crust; some, however, prefer 
 butter, a quarter of a pound of which will be enough for a pound and 
 a quarter of flour. 
 
 Spices . — The Paris correspondent of the 1ST. Y. Commercial Adverti- 
 ser says : Cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, and similar spices, have no lo- 
 cation in a Continental European family, where they never make a 
 pudding, or pie, or cake of any description, and where they would con- 
 sider it the greatest extravagance to eat such things. 
 
 PIES. 
 
 Trying Pumpkins and Making Pies . — Cut them and stew them 
 till they are soft and dry ; pound and strain them through a colan- 
 der ; then grease pie pans and spread it on a quarter of an inch thick 
 and dry it ; roll it up and put it away in a tight box or bag from the 
 insects. Each one of these rolls will make a pie. It is very easy now 
 to make a pie. Put it in sweet milk and let it soak about two hours; 
 put in an egg, a tablespoonful of sugar, a teaspoonful of ginger, and 
 one of alspice ; and if you are lovers of pumpkin pie, as we are, you 
 will pronounce it good. 
 
 Pumpkin Pie . — By Mrs. Mattie M. Jones: Select a pumpkin 
 which has a deep, rich color and firm, close texture. Stew and sift 
 in the ordinary manner ; add as much boiling milk as will make it 
 about one-third thicker than for common pumpkin pie. Sweeten with 
 equal quantities of sugar and molasses, and bake about one hour m a 
 hot oven. 
 
 Note . — Those who will try this method will be surprised to find how 
 delicious a pie can be made without eggs, ginger, or spices of any 
 kind. The milk being turned boiling hot upon the pumpkin causes 
 it to swell in baking, so that it is as, light and nice as though eggs had 
 been used. 
 
 Another . — One quart of milk, with two peeled, boiled and mashed 
 turnips, one pound brown sugar, four eggs, one-half cupful of molas- 
 ses, one half cupful of wheat flour, one spoonful of ginger, and one nut- 
 meg, seasoned and baked as pumpkin pie should be. 
 
 Squash Pie . — By Mrs. M. M. Jones : This is even superior to pump- 
 
640 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 kin, as it possesses a richer, sweeter flavor, and is far preferable. 1 1 
 is made in precisely the same manner as pumpkin pie. 
 
 Pumpkin Apple Pie. — Cut in thin slices the common pumpkin ; 
 steam it till soft ; fill a plate as for apple pie, and if the plate be large 
 put in three tablespoonfuls of vinegar and a cupful of sugar, flavoring 
 with lemon or spice ; then bake slowly. 
 
 This recipe was given by a lady who took the premium for some 
 presented at the Sagadabock County Fair, Me. It is very nice, but 
 not necessary to steam the pumpkin. It can be used raw, like apple. 
 Any one can vary to suit the taste. I prefer four spoonfuls of vinegar 
 and less sugar. 
 
 Sweet Apple Pie. — Pare mellow sweet apples, and grate them upon 
 a grater. A very large grater is necessary for this purpose. Then 
 proceed as for pumpkin pie. From Mrs. M. M. Jones. 
 
 Another. — By a correspondent of the American Agriculturist : 
 Make them precisely the same way as pumpkin pie, omitting the gin- 
 ger, and adding a little lemon, if liked. Pare, cut and stew the ap- 
 ples. If cooked in a covered deep earthen or other dish in the oven, 
 they are better. Strain through a colander ; add a little milk — cream 
 is better. If there be no eggs to spare, stir in a handful of flour, 
 or, about a spoonful to a pie. Sweeten to taste with sugar. A 
 mere trifle will be found sufficient. Bake a good while in a moderate 
 oven. 
 
 Sour Apple Pie. — Take nice, tart apples — spitzenbergs are best, 
 although pippins, greenings, russets, &c., are excellent. Slice them; 
 fill the under crust an inch thick ; sprinkle sugar over them ; add a 
 spoonful or two of water ; cover with a thin crust, and bake three- 
 fourths of an hour in a moderate oven. From Mrs. M. M. Jones. 
 
 Spider Apple Pie. — It may be made plain and cheap, or very rich 
 and costly, and always be good, if it be cooked just right. 
 
 Make a good dough of rye flour, or wheat flour, or Graham flour, 
 which is the best, and prepare it as for biscuit. Prepare the apples 
 as for common pies, and after greasing the spider place the apples in 
 a heap in the spider. See that no apples touch the side of the spi- 
 der. Boll out the crust as thick as your hand, and place it on the ap- 
 ples, pressing it down between the apples and the side of the spider. 
 No under crust. Cut a hole in the top of the crust, and pour into 
 the apples about half a teacupful of water for a spider that will hold 
 about three quarts, and a half teacupful of molasses, and a piece of 
 butter as large as a hen’s egg. Cover it with a close lid, and cook 
 with a moderate fire. Serve when warm, with cream and sugar, with 
 
641 
 
 PIES, PUDDINGS, SAUCES, ETC. 
 
 butter and sugar with rich gravy, or with sorghum syrup, &c. And 
 when satisfied that 
 
 11 Tis not for man’s supremest good, 
 
 To cram himself with loathsome food,” 
 
 take one plate less. 
 
 Substitute for Green Apple Pie. — For one pie of ordinary size, take 
 one-half of a slice of a shilling loaf of baker’s bread, (home-made 
 wheat bread will answer,) one teacupful of hot water, one teacupful 
 of brown or white sugar, one teaspoonful of tartaric acid, and mix to- 
 gether, and season with nutmeg or lemon. Equal if not superior to 
 green apple pie. 
 
 Apple Puffs. — By Mrs. M. M. Jones. — Make a crust the same as 
 for cream pie crust, using rather thicker cream, however ; roll as thin 
 as possible ; cut out in small round cakes with a common biscuit cut- 
 ter; take one of these, wet it around the edge, and place in the center 
 a teaspoonful of apple sauce. Take another, and cut with a small 
 cracker cutter a hole in the center about one inch in diameter ; place 
 the ring which is left upon the first one, and pinch the edges tightly 
 together. Bake in a quick oven. 
 
 Note. — These, if rightly made, are very nice. Any kind of fruit 
 may be used in place of apple sauce, by stewing it and simering down 
 till very little juice remains. 
 
 Another. — Prepare some apples in the same way as for sauce ; while 
 hot, beat them up with a small quantity of butter and a very little 
 sugar; lemon juice and sugar to taste. Take the whites of two eggs, 
 and beat them up with two spoonfuls of wine, one of cream, one of 
 pounded sugar, and one of lemon juice; when beaten to a froth, put 
 it on the apples. 
 
 Peach Pie. — Mellow, juicy peaches, peeled, whole or in quarters, 
 laid in a deep pie plate— on each layer of peaches sprinkle a thick 
 layer of sugar, a tablespoonful of water, and a light sprinkling of 
 flour, and it will need no other seasoning. Cover with a thick crust 
 and bake an hour. 
 
 Another. — Select rich, juicy peaches, of a rather small and nearly 
 uniform size. They should be very ripe ; wash them thoroughly, to 
 remove all the furz ; fill the pie dish with them, sprinkle sugar and a 
 little flour over them, add a tablespoonful of water, cover and bake 
 about one hour. 
 
 Note. — If whole peaches are not very ripe, it is better to pare, stone 
 and slice them. By Mrs. Jones. 
 
642 
 
 PEACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 Plum Pie. — This is made in the same manner as the peach pie. It 
 is not as wholesome, as it requires so much sugar to make it at all pal- 
 atable. 
 
 Cream Pie. — Mix together one egg, one cup sugar, one piece of 
 butter as large as an egg, three cups flour, one teaspoonful cream of 
 tartar, half teaspoonful soda, one cup sweet milk. Pour this on tin 
 plates and bake light brown. When cold, split them open and put in 
 the custard made as follows : Take two eggs, one cup sugar, half cup 
 flour, one pint milk ; flavor with lemon. Beat the eggs, sugar and 
 flour together ; boil the milk, and while boiling stir in the mixture, 
 let it cook a few seconds. The above quantity will make three com- 
 mon sized pies. This and the next one is from the Am. Agricultu- 
 rist. 
 
 Another. — In one pint of sweet cream stir one tablespoonful of flour, 
 half cup of sugar, a little salt ; flavor with nutmeg or extract of lem- 
 on ; make the crust like custard pie. 
 
 Another — Fine. — Half a pound of butter, four eggs, sugar, salt, and 
 nutmeg, to your taste, and two tablespoonfuls of arrow root wet ; pour 
 on it a quart of boiling milk, and stir the whole together. To be 
 baked in deep dishes. 
 
 Cracker Pie. — To a common sized bake tin eight crackers, to be 
 broken fine, one teaspoonful of tartaric acid, one teacup of sugar, with 
 water sufficient to wet the whole — say half a pint or a little more, with 
 spice to suit the taste. Thought by some better than apple pie. Dry 
 light bread or biscuit will also make very good pie, but they will re- 
 quire a little longer to soak. Bake the same as any pie. 
 
 Lemon Pie. — No. 1. One lemon, one teacup of sugar, two eggs, 
 three tablespoonfuls of flour, one teacup of milk. Grate the rind of 
 the lemon ; put the sugar, flour, rind, the juice and the yelks of the 
 eggs together ; add the milk the last thing. Pour this custard into a 
 deep plate lined with a paste, and bake. When done, spread over the 
 top the whites of the eggs beaten to a froth, and sweetened with four 
 tablespoonfuls of powdered sugar ; then return it to the oven and 
 brown slightly. 
 
 No. 2. One large or two small lemons, three cups of sugar, two- 
 thirds of a cup of flour, two cups cold water, two eggs, a piece of but- 
 ter the size of an egg. Put the flour, sugar, and eggs together, then 
 add the juice, grated rind and water, and the butter (melted.) Bake 
 in a deep plate without an upper crust. 
 
 No. 3. One large, fresh lemon, grated fine— the pulp is rinsed in 
 half a tumbler of water, yelks of four eggs beaten thoroughly, six 
 
PIES, PUDDINGS, SAUCES, ETC. 
 
 643 
 
 tablespoonfuls of sugar, one tablespoonful of flour, stirred with the 
 eggs, two tablespoonfuls melted butter, all well beaten together, one 
 crust. Bake until done. Then take the whites of four eggs, with 
 three tablespoonfuls of sugar, well beaten, spread smoothly on the pie, 
 return to the oven until slightly browned. 
 
 No. 4. One lemon, one teacup of sugar, one teacup of sweet cream, 
 
 well stirred. Bake with two crusts. 
 
 No. 5. Take two quart bowls ; in one squeeze three lemons and ex- 
 tract the seeds. In the other, beat three eggs, with three teacups of 
 sugar ; grate in some nutmeg, and set them aside. After mixing the 
 crust which do with half a pound of lard to rather more than a pint 
 of water, sometimes rolling it out and spreading on it a quarter of a 
 pound of butter, at other times omitting most of the butter; put the 
 under crust on two plates ; then mix the contents of the two bowls ; 
 pour it on the crust, cover them with the top crust, and bake imme- 
 diately, as the lemon juice and egg soon harden together. 
 
 If a more simple pie is liked, add a teacupful of boiled corn starch. 
 No milk. 
 
 No. 6. Two lemons, four eggs, two spoonfuls melted butter, eight 
 spoonfuls white sugar. Squeeze the juice and grate the rind. Cover 
 a plate with pastry, pour the mixture in and bake till the pastry is 
 done. Then beat the whites of the eggs to a stiff froth, stir into it 
 four spoonfuls of sugar, put it on the pie and place it into the oven 
 till a delicate brown. This quantity makes two common sized pies. 
 
 No. 7. For one pie, take two good sized fresh lemons ; grate the 
 rind and squeeze out the juice, and mix it with sugar to make it suffi- 
 ciently sweet. Line a deep pie dish with pastry, pour in some of the 
 mixture and cover it with pie crust rolled very thin, (as thin as pos- 
 sible;) then some of the mixture and crust again, till all the mixture 
 is used. 
 
 Cover the whole with a thick crust, and bake in a slow oven, that 
 the juice may not cook out. 
 
 No. 8. One lemon, four eggs, one and a half coffeecups of sugar, 
 two-thirds do. of water, two tablespoonfuls of flour. Take the whites 
 of two eggs you use for them, and, after the pies are baked, make 
 frosting, put it on them, and place the pies in the oven again for a 
 very few moments, only long enough to brown them slightly. . Of 
 course there is no upper crust to these pies. 
 
 No. 9. Three lemons, one pound of sugar, one pint of milk, ten 
 eggs, quarter of a pound of butter. This is richer. 
 
 Mince Pies . — Take a pound of beef free from skin and strings, and 
 
644 
 
 PEACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 chop very fine. Then two pounds of suet ; which likewise pick and 
 chop ; then add three pounds of currants, nicely cleaned and perfectly 
 dry, one pound and a half of apples, the peel and juice of a lemon, 
 half a pint of sweet wine, half a nutmeg, and a few cloves and mace, 
 with pimento in fine powder. Have citron, orange and lemon ready. 
 
 Another . — Contributed to the American Agriculturist by Maria 
 Ray, Suffolk County, N. Y.: Take nine pounds of boiled beef, two 
 pounds suet, six pounds raisins, four pounds currants, four ounces cin- 
 namon, two of alspice, one of cloves, one quart molasses, seven pounds 
 of clean brown sugar, boiled down in two gallons of sweet cider to 
 half the bulk. Mix all well together, and pour the boiling cider on 
 it. Cover close until next day, when it will be fit to be made into 
 pies. This will keep good for at least six months. 
 
 Mince Meat . — There are various opinions as to the result of adding 
 meat to the sweet ingredients used in making this dish. Many house- 
 wives think it an improvement, and use either the under cut of a well 
 roasted sirloin of beef, or a boiled fresh ox tongue for the purpose. 
 Either of these meats may be chosen with advantage, and one pound, 
 after it has been cooked, will be found sufficient. This should be freed 
 from fat and well minced. In making mince meat, each ingredient 
 should be minced separately and finely before it is added to the oth- 
 ers. For a moderate quantity, take two pounds of raisins, stoned, the 
 same quantity of currants, well washed and dried, do. of beef suet, 
 chopped fine, one pound of apples, pared and cored, two pounds of 
 moist sugar, half a pound of candied orange peel, and a quarter of a 
 pound of citron, the grated rinds of three lemons, one grated nutmeg, 
 a little mace, half an ounce of salt, and one teaspoonful of ginger. 
 After having minced the fruit separately, mix all well together 
 with the hand. Then add half a pint of brandy, and the same of 
 sherry. Mix well with a spoon, press it down in jars, and cover it 
 with a bladder. 
 
 Another . — Six pounds of meat, three of suet, six of raisins, seven 
 of sugar, nine of apples, one pint of wine, three gills of brandy, half 
 pint molasses, one pint rose water, essence of lemon, one quart of li- 
 quor of the meat, one cup of salt, one-fourth of a pound of cinnamon, 
 or orange peel, three ounces of cloves, one dozen nutmegs ; add a lit- 
 tle cider if you wish before putting in the oven. 
 
 Another . — Six pounds of currants, three pounds of raisins, stoned, 
 three pounds of apples, chopped fine, four pounds of suet, two pounds 
 of sugar, two pounds of beef, the peel and juice of two lemons, a pint 
 
TIES, PUDluNGS, SAUCES, ETC. 
 
 645 
 
 of sweet wine, a quarter of a pint of brandy, half an ounce of mixed 
 spice. Press the whole into a deep pan when well mixed. 
 
 Another. — Two pounds of raisins, three pounds of currants, three 
 pounds of beef suet, two pounds of moist sugar, two ounces of cition, 
 one ounce of orange peel, one small nutmeg, one pottle of apples chop- 
 ped fine, the rind of two lemons and juice of one, half a pint of bran- 
 dy ; mix well together. This should be made a little time before 
 wanted to use. 
 
 Mince Meat to Keep. — Take a pound and a half of currants ; a 
 pound of best raisins, stoned ; three quarters of a pound of almonds, 
 cut very small; the peel of one lemon, minced small ; the juice of one 
 lemon, three apples, minced small ; a pound of citron minced small ; 
 a pound and a half of suet shred very fine; an eighth of an ounce of 
 nutmeg ; the same of cinnamon ; the same of mace, and the same of 
 cloves. Put the whole into a jar, and keep it dry. When wanted, 
 mix it with either wine or brandy.’ 
 
 Mince Meat Without Meat. — One pound hard apples cut small, one 
 pound currants, half a pound shred raisins, half a pound beef suet, 
 quarter of a pound moist sugar, one ounce lemon and citron peel, 
 quarter of an ounce cinnamon, one drachm mace, the rind of a lemon 
 grated, one glass of brandy and two glasses of sherry. Double the 
 above for a large family. 
 
 Rhubarb Pie. — Strip the skin off the tender stalks of rhubarb, and 
 slice them thin. Put it in deep plates lined with pie crust, with a 
 thick layer of sugar to each layer of rhubarb. A little grated lemon 
 peel may be added. Place over the top a thick crust ; press it tight 
 around the edge of the plate, and perforate it with a fork, that the 
 crust may not burst while baking, and let the juice of the pie escape. 
 Bake about one hour in a slow oven. Bhubarb pie must not be quick 
 baked. Some stew rhubarb before making it into pies, but it is best 
 without stewing. 
 
 Berry Pies. — Take nice ripe berries, wash and pick them over care- 
 fully ; place them an inch or more thick on the under crust ; strew a 
 small quantity of sugar and a trifle of flour over them ; put on the 
 upper crust and bake half an hour. From Mrs. M. M. Jones. 
 
 Grape Pie. — From the Am. Agriculturist : Put the pulps into one 
 vessel and the skins into another. Simmer the pulp a little and run 
 it through a colander to separate the seeds. Then put the skins and 
 pulp together and they are ready for jugging or for pies. Pies pre- 
 pared in this way can hardly be distinguished from plum pies. 
 
 Cider Pie. — From the Am. Agriculturist . Mix one cup of boiled 
 
646 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 cider, one cup of water, one cup of sugar, one egg, two tablespoon fuls 
 of flour, and a little salt. Should the cider be thick, use two-thirds 
 of a cup and fill the cup with water. Bake with single crust like cus- 
 tard pie. 
 
 Vinegar Pie. — From the Am. Agriculturist : Mix two cups of vin- 
 egar, one cup and a half of sugar, two tablespoonfuls of flour, and a 
 piece of butter the size of a walnut. Prepare a paste to receive these 
 ingredients, and bake the same as any ordinary pie. 
 
 Pie-Melon Pie. — To make a good pie-melon pie, take, instead of 
 vinegar, dried pie plant, and boil it by itself. Then boil the melon 
 and let it drain in a colander until all the juice is out, after which boil 
 the pie plant and melon together a few minutes, and you will have a 
 pie equal to one made of apples. 
 
 The apple pie melon makes beautiful preserves, which are far su- 
 perior to the citron. 
 
 Another. — Bemove the seeds, pare, slice up, and stew them as you 
 would pumpkins, just enough to have it like stewed apples. When 
 done, add sugar, spices and a little acid, such as tartaric acid, lemon 
 juice or good sharp vinegar, (the last is not quite as good.) A table- 
 spoonful of lemon juice to four pounds of melon is the best prepara- 
 tion. Do not put the sauce in copper or brass. For a pumpkin or a 
 custard pie, omit the acid, but bring the mass to a proper consistency 
 by adding sugar, milk and eggs. Only a little of these ingredients 
 will be necessary, just sufficient to give color and flavor. A superior 
 preserve is also made of it. 
 
 Coacoanut Pie. — One cup of sugar, butter the size of an egg, 
 whites of three eggs beaten very stiff, half a cocoanut grated, and the 
 milk. 
 
 Corn Starch Pie. — To one quart of milk, put two tablespoonfuls of 
 corn starch, and two eggs, sweeten and season to your taste, line a pie 
 plate with crust, and bake as custard pie. 
 
 Cherry Pie. — A new way. Make a pie of cherries as usual, only 
 put in some ripe currants. Bake gently. 
 
 Carrot Pie. — Wash and scrape the carrots, boil till soft, sift and pre- 
 pare like pumpkin pies ; many think them superior to pumpkins— 
 they may be made with or without eggs. 
 
 Sweet Potato Pie. — By Mrs. M. M. Jones. Boil and sift through & 
 colander, nice, ripe, sweet potatoes, then add boiling milk, and make 
 the same as pumpkin pie. See under Cooking the Sweet Patato. 
 
PIES, PUDDINGS, SAUCES, ETC. 
 
 647 
 
 TARTS. 
 
 Cherry Tart. — Line the sides of a disn (vith good crust ; strew in 
 sugar ; fill it with picked cherries, and put sugar at the top ; red cur- 
 rants may be added, if liked ; cover with crust, and bake. 
 
 Cranberry Tart — Wash the berries in a pan of water, rejecting all 
 the bad ones ; simmer them till they become soft and burst open ; 
 strain through a fine wire sieve, removing all the hulls ; add sugar to 
 the taste. Bake on a thick under crust in a moderate oven. 
 
 PUDDINGS. 
 
 Puddings are baked in dishes prepared for the purpose, or some- 
 times in pie plates, after an under crust is put on. Fine puddings 
 have only a border of paste on the rim of the dish — none underneath 
 it. Apples, quinces, potatoes, cushaws, pumpkins, and any fruit that 
 can be reduced to a fine mass, may be seasoned with sugar, delicate 
 spices, cream or butter, and beaten eggs, and make nice puddings. 
 Allow one egg and two tablespoonfuls of melted butter to each pud- 
 ding. The cream may be used in the same proportion with the but- 
 ter if the substance is dry, but will render juicy fruits sloppy. 
 
 Sauce for Puddings. — One cup of sugar, half cup butter, one tea- 
 spoonful flour, one glass cold water. Boil two minutes. 
 
 Another Pudding Sauce. — One cup sugar, half cup butter ; to be 
 well stirred together, after being heated. Then heat a wineglass of 
 wine. Beat one egg very light , and stir all together. Much liked. 
 
 Another. — One cup sugar, one cup boiling milk, half cup butter. 
 Stir the sugar and butter to a cream. Add a little nutmeg. Be- 
 commended. 
 
 Another. — From Am. Agriculturist : One egg, three-fourths of a 
 cup of butter, one cup and a half white sugar, half glass wine, two ta- 
 blespoonfuls cream. Set a dish containing it in a vessel of hot water, 
 and stir half an hour. 
 
 Another. — Boil the thin rind of half a lemon, one ounce and a half 
 of sugar, and a wineglassful of water, for fifteen minutes ; then take 
 out the lemon peel and mix one ounce of butter with a small quantity 
 of flour, stir them round in the sauce till it has boiled a minute, and 
 then add a glass and a half of sherry. 
 
 Another. — One pint of molasses, lump of butter size of a large hen’s 
 egg, one tablespoonful (heaping,) of brown sugar, one teaspoonful 
 
648 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPEDIA. 
 
 (heaping,) ground cinnamon. Boil about about half an hour. When 
 cooked, pour the sauce on brandy, (one wineglassful.) 
 
 Hard Sauce. — By editor Am. Agriculturist : Beat butter with 
 twice its weight of powdered white sugar until the whole is brought 
 to a smooth mass. It may be followed by stirring in a little wine, 
 some lemon juice with grated rind, or nutmeg. In cold weather, 
 it is necessary to let the butter soften, but not melt, in a warm place. 
 
 Bread Pudding. — Crumble down stale bread in a dish ; boil suffi- 
 cient milk, which pour on to the bread. Cover it up for a quarter 
 of an hour that the bread may swell ; then beat it up to a fine pulp, 
 stirring in a lump of butter. Now beat up three or four eggs, ground 
 cinnamon, ginger, grated lemon peel, and sugar to taste : half a pound 
 of raisins, stoned and chopped, half a pound of currants, picked and 
 washed, with a little salt. Mix this among the bread make it of the 
 consistence of thick batter. Butter the dish, pour it in, and bake for 
 half an hour. 
 
 Bread and Butter Budding. — Cut some slices of thin bread, and 
 butter, and have ready some currants, picked and washed. Butter a 
 dish, and lay slices of the bread and butter on the bottom of it ; then 
 strew some currants over them, then lay another row of bread and 
 mtter, then some more currants until the dish be full. Then beat up 
 our eggs ; add a pint of new milk, a little ground cinnamon, nutmeg, 
 grated lemon peel, four or five bitter almonds, blanched and crushed, 
 and sugar to your taste ; also a very little salt. Mix all these togeth- 
 er, and pour them over the bread and butter. Bake it half an hour. 
 
 Another. — Butter a dish well ; then lay in a few slices of bread 
 and butter. Boil one pint of milk, pour it over two eggs, well beaten, 
 and then on the bread and butter. Bake in a hot oven half an hour. 
 Currants or raisins may be added. 
 
 Batter Budding. — Beat up six eggs, take a quart of milk, six spoon- 
 fuls of flour, eight bitter almonds, blanched and grated, a teaspoonful 
 of salt, and one of ground ginger; mix all together, butter your basin, 
 and pour it in ; tie a cloth over it and boil it an hour and a quarter. 
 When it is done, turn it into a dish, and pour melted butter and su- 
 gar over it. 
 
 Batter Budding without Eggs. — Use a quart of milk, mix six tea- 
 spoonfuls of flour, with a little of the milk first, add the rest by de- 
 grees, with a teaspoonful of salt, two of beaten ginger, and two of the 
 tincture of saffron ; mix all together quite smooth, and boil it for an 
 hour, either in a buttered cloth or basin. 
 
PIES, PUDDINGS, SAUCES, ETC. 
 
 649 
 
 Rice Pudding. — Take a teacupful of rice, and as much sugar, two 
 quarts of milk and a teaspoonful of salt ; bake two hours. 
 
 Another. — Boil the rice until it becomes perfectly soft, then add to 
 it half a pound of butter, the same quantity of sugar, one nutmeg, 
 and as much wine and nutmeg as you prefer ; beat in also four eggs. 
 Bake in a dish. 
 
 Another. — Over cold rice pudding pour a custard, and add a few 
 lumps of jelly, or preserved fruit. The pudding is very nice and very 
 simple. 
 
 Boiled Rice Pudding. — Pick and wash your rice, put it into a clean 
 saucepan with plenty of water, but without a cloth ; let it boil till the 
 grains are swelled and soft, which they will be in about twenty min- 
 utes after it boils ; then drain off the water and set the saucepan on 
 the hob, that the rice may he perfectly dry ; put it into a buttered 
 mold or basin to set ; then turn it out, and pour sweet sauce over it. 
 
 Baked Rice Pudding. — Boil a quarter of a pound of rice in a quart 
 of new milk, and stir it that it may not burn; when it begins to 
 thicken take it off, let it stand till cool, then stir in a lump of butter, 
 sugar to your palate, and some grated nutmeg ; butter the dish, pour 
 it in, and bake it. Baisins, currants, or sliced apples may be stirred 
 in if liked. 
 
 Another. — Butter a dish ; take a gill of rice, wash it clean, add half 
 a teaspoonful of cinnamon, a pinch of salt, half a cup of molasses, and 
 a quart of milk. Bake it three hours. 
 
 Rich Rice Pudding. — Pick and wash a quarter of a pound of rice ; 
 put it on in cold water and let it boil for five minutes, then strain the 
 water off and put the rice on again in as much new milk as it will re- 
 quire to boil it quite soft with a good pinch of salt ; stir it frequently 
 to prevent it burning ; when done, put it into a large basin to cool. 
 Beat up six eggs, a pint of milk and sugar to your taste ; it should be 
 rather too sweet when you make it, as the sweetness goes off in the 
 baking ; add also five or six bitter almonds blanched and crushed with 
 plenty of lemon peel chopped very fine ; mix all well together, then 
 stir it into the rice, taking care to mix it thoroughly, so that there be 
 no lumps. Butter your dish and pour in the mixture ; and then shred 
 about two ounces of beef suet as finely as possible all over the top ; 
 grate over that half a nutmeg, and bake it half an hour in a moder- 
 ate oven. 
 
 Rice Pudding Without Eggs. — Take a teacupful of rice to three 
 pints of cold milk, add a little salt and sugar, and set it into a cool 
 oven soon after breakfast. Let it swell and cook slowly till half an 
 
650 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 hour before dinner ; then lift the slight crust that will have formed 
 and pour in a cupful of cream; when this has come slowly to the scald- 
 ing point, it is ready for the table. 
 
 Excelsior Rice Pudding. — One cup rice swelled, one quart milk, 
 yelks of four eggs, one nutmeg. Sweeten to your taste. Bake the 
 above one hour. Then beat the whites of the eggs to a stiff froth 
 with white sugar and spread over the top. Bake the whole one min- 
 ute. Serve hot or cold as you please. 
 
 A Country Pudding. — Mix the yelks of three eggs smoothly with 
 three heaped tablespoonfuls of flour; thin the batter with new milk till it 
 is the consistency of cream ; whisk the whites of the eggs separately, 
 stir them into the batter, and boil the pudding in a floured cloth or 
 basin for an hour. Before it is served, cut the top quickly in cross 
 bars, pour over it a small pot of raspberry or strawberry jelly or jam, 
 and send quickly to table. 
 
 Cottage Pudding. — Rub together three tablespoonfuls of melted 
 butter with one cup of white sugar, add one egg beaten light, pint of 
 flour, with two small teaspoonfuls of cream tartar sifted, one teacup 
 of sweet milk, with a small teaspoonful of soda mixed in it. 
 
 Another .• — Take three quarts of milk to one quart of flour, one-half 
 of the milk to be put on the fire and brought nearly to a boil, then the 
 other half of the milk with the flour well blended in it — stir into the 
 pot on a slow fire, and keep it boiling for one hour ; or until it is as 
 thick as good paste, when you must add a small teaspoonful of ginger 
 and salt, and pour into shallow dishes to cool ; when it will cut like 
 good jelly, serve up cool with warm milk in winter, or cool milk in 
 summer. If you choose, add a little vanilla or other syrup while 
 warm, and serve with a spread of strawberries, peaches, or jellies, or 
 any of the fruit, butter and cream. Be careful to stir it all the time 
 while cooking. It will keep good five or six days in a cool place. 
 
 Another. — One pint of flour, two teaspoonfuls cream of tartar, one 
 do. of soda, three do. of melted butter, one cup of sugar, one cup of 
 sweet milk, one egg. Mix all together and beat it a little while. 
 Grease a dish, put it in and bake half an hour. Turn it out and serve 
 with wine sauce. 
 
 A Favorite Pudding. — Half a pound of finely shred suet, half 
 pound flour, two or three ounces of moist sugar or treacle, half pound 
 currants or stoned raisins, two or three well beaten eggs, about a cup- 
 ful of milk, and a small quantity of salt. Mix all well together, and 
 bake immediately in a pie dish, for about half an hour. All young 
 people like it, and it eats like a family plum cake. Of course season- 
 
PIES, PUDDINGS, SAUCES, ETC. 
 
 651 
 
 ings may be added, but a healthy appetite is the best spce for young 
 people. Very nutritious. 
 
 Superior Pudding. — From the Am. Agriculturist : Boil two quarts 
 of milk ; rub one egg in flour sufficient to make it dry enough to rub 
 through a sieve. Stir the egg and flour in the boiling milk ; cool, and 
 add four eggs well beaten, and one tablespoonful of sugar. Bake the 
 same as custard. Serve with a sauce of butter and sugar well beat- 
 en ; use any flavoring desired. 
 
 Custard Pudding. — Beat up six eggs, add a quart of new milk, a little 
 lemon peel shred fine, five or six bitter almonds blanched and grated, 
 or crushed, and sugar to your taste ; mix all together, then have ready 
 your dish covered with a good puff paste, into which pour the custard ; 
 grate over it half a nutmeg and bake it, or put it into a basin without 
 paste, tie a cloth over it and boil it. If boiled, serve it with melted 
 butter. 
 
 Another. — Soak some bread in one quart of good milk, then add 
 eight eggs well beaten, some raisins and cinnamon. Pour the whole 
 into a dish, putting in as much sweetening as you like. Butter a few 
 slices of bread, lay them on the top, and bake the pudding in an oven 
 or stove. 
 
 Flake Pudding. — From Am. Agriculturist : Take three eggs and 
 three cups of milk, stir in flour until it makes a thin batter, put a small 
 quantity in the pains to allow for raising, bake*quickly. 
 
 Corn Starch Pudding. — Take six tablespoonfuls of the starch, add 
 sufficient new milk to dissolve it, add one to three eggs and beat thor- 
 oughly together — have one quart of new milk, a little salt, warmed 
 nearly to boiling, then pour in the mixture, stir briskly, and boil three 
 minutes. F or sauce use cream and loaf sugar, or any other pudding 
 sauce. 
 
 Oat meal Starch Pudding. — Take, say, two quarts of oat meal, and 
 pour into it sufficient pure cold water to cover it well, let it stand 
 about two days and then strain it through a sieve or cloth into a clean 
 vessel. To make sure that you get all the substance out of the meal, 
 after the first water is drained off, pour on it more water and rub it 
 well. Let the water stand till well settled, then pour off the top, and 
 at the bottom will be found the starch. To make this perfectly pure 
 and white, after you have turned off the first water, pour in on top 
 of the starch a little more pure water, and after it has swelled pour 
 it off as before ; this operation may be repeated till the starch be- 
 comes perfectly fine and white. It is then fit for cooking. This is 
 done simply by putting a few spoonfuls into a saucepan with fresh 
 
652 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 water, and a little salt. Ji will be done with about four minutes 
 boiling. . 
 
 A Cheap and Good Pudding. — It is at once economical, healthful, 
 nutricious and delicious ; it may be eaten cold or warm. When cold 
 it is a nice substitute for blanc mange. 
 
 Into a nappy that will contain about two quarts, place apples, pared 
 and cut coarsely, until the dish is nearly full ; sprinkle on this six ta- 
 blespoonfuls of sago. Let it bake about two hours. If the upper 
 pieces of apples become too brown, push them down, and others will 
 take their places. 
 
 This pudding should be eaten in deep plates or saucers, with cream 
 or milk and sugar. 
 
 A Plain Pudding. — Six ounces of flour, a half pint of molasses, a 
 half pint of whortleberries in the season for them, or Zante currants ' 
 in winter, one small teaspoonful saleratus, a little salt, and one egg. 
 A piece of suet the size of a small egg, is an improvement, but not 
 necessary to make an excellent pudding ; boil in a cloth an hour and 
 a half, and eat with any sauce that is preferred. 
 
 Another. — A good batter of wheaten flour, with or without fruit 
 mixed in it, boiled, is very good, The pudding bag should be always 
 loose, also wet, and the inside floured to prevent water getting to the 
 batter. 
 
 Apple Pudding. — Make a crust as for common biscuit, — with but- 
 termilk and butter, or cream of tartar and soda, with sweet milk, — 
 then roll out, leaving it one-half or two-thirds of an inch thick, and 
 spread it ove*r a deep dish. Put into it some stewed apples, then over 
 this place a crust similar to the lower one, place it in the oven and 
 bake one-half an hour. Serve with cream and sugar. Salt the apple 
 a little. 
 
 Sweet Apple Pudding. — From the Am. Agriculturist : Pare, core, 
 chop fine and stir the apples into a batter made of sweet cream, eggs 
 and flour, say three eggs to a pint of cream, and flour enough to make 
 it not very thick. Stir well and bake on round buttered tins or pud- 
 ding dishes. This needs to bake two or three hours. The best sauce 
 to eat with it, is sweetened cream ; any other preferred, will do. 
 
 Sago and Apple Pudding Take six ounces of sago, previously 
 picked, five large rich apples, peeled, quartered and cored, and one 
 teacup of sugar. Pour boiling water on the sago, let it stand till cold, 
 then mix in the apples and sugar, and bake about one hour. 
 
 Peach Pudding. — Begin with the peaches. Take half a pint ol 
 nicely pared, sundried peaches. Wash them thoroughly and quickly 
 
PIES, PUDDINGS, SAUCES, ETC. 
 
 653 
 
 in pure, cold water — never put them to soak and soak all the peach 
 out of them. It is the flavor that makes their excellence. Having 
 cleansed the peaches, chop them with chopping knife and Wooden 
 bowl as fine as currants. Then commence manufacturing the pud- 
 ding. 
 
 Have, in a porcelain-lined kettle, over a moderate fire, a quart of 
 new milk, into which has been stirred two thoroughly beaten eggs, 
 three tablespoonfuls of clean brown sugar, a quarter of a pound of but- 
 ter, and any kind of seasoning you prefer, salt being an element, of 
 course. Stir in first a pint of sifted flour, sifting in from the hand 
 gradually, and stirring the while vigorously. Then stir in the peach- 
 es in the same manner, then half a pint of coarse yellow corn meal, 
 and finish the stirring in with a dessertspoonful of broma, or salaratus, 
 dissolved in a half pint of warm water. Continue the stirring mode- 
 rately for ten minutes, and then cover the kettle closely and set it 
 back off the fire, and let the material smother slowly an hour and a 
 half. Serve as a dessert, with cold cream and white sugar. 
 
 An Excellent and Economical Pudding. — Pare and core half a 
 dozen Ehode Island greenings, or other easily cooking apples, chop 
 them into small bits ; dry some bread in the oven — stale is the best — 
 till it is crisp, then roll it into crumbs ; butter a deep dish, and place 
 in it a layer of crumbs ; then put in the apples, with a little sugar and 
 such spices as you like; cover the apples with another layer of 
 crumbs ; add a little beef suet, chopped as finely as possible ; pour 
 in half a pint of milk ; bake till nicely browned, and serve with hard 
 sauce. 
 
 Minute Pudding. — If you have some stale bread on hand, you can 
 make a cheap, quick pudding before breakfast, thus : Put a pint of 
 sweet milk in the frying pan ; cut the bread up in it ; put in a table- 
 spoonful of sugar, and a teaspoonful of alspice ; a little nutmeg will 
 help it ; let it boil. As soon as the bread is soft, stir in an egg, and 
 it is done. 
 
 A quick dinner, and a good one, too — for instance, on washing- 
 days, when the women don’t want to be bothered — is to put a quart 
 of sweet milk on the fire ; mix two or three handfuls of flour in a dish 
 with milk enough to wet it as you would for starch ; make it smooth 
 with a spoon so that there will be no lumps in it ; when the milk boils 
 stir this in ; beat three eggs and stir them in, and two tablespoonfuls 
 of sugar, and it is done. Eat it with butter if you choose. 
 
 Black Pudding. — This most unchristian article of diet is made by 
 stirring corn meal into fresh hog’s blood. It is seasoned with salt, 
 
654 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 pepper and spices, stuffed and cooked as sausage. It is eaten with 
 great gusto by some persons. 
 
 Steam Pudding. — Four teacups flour, one do. sugar, one do. sweet 
 milk, one tablespoonful melted butter, one teaspoonful soda, two do. 
 cream of tartar, two eggs, with any kind of fruit you wish. Steam 
 two and a half hours. Highly recommended. 
 
 Steamed Flour Pudding. — One pint of flour, one pint of milk, and 
 four eggs, and a little salt. Steam it one hour and a half. 
 
 Polled Pudding. — Make soda biscuit crust; roll in currant jam, or 
 any other tart fruit. Let it boil three-quarters of an hour, or steam 
 two hours. 
 
 Biscuit Pudding. — This is a very delicate and nice pudding for an 
 invalid, and is made so simply that it is generally found useful in case 
 of illness. Grate three large Naples biscuits, pour upon them one 
 pint of boiling milk or cream, and cover them down closely. When 
 cold, add the yelks of four eggs, the whites of two, some nutmeg, a 
 little brandy, half a spoonful of flour, and some sugar to taste. Boil 
 this for one hour in a basin or mould, and serve it up with melted but- 
 ter, wine and sugar. 
 
 Hard Times Pudding. — Take half a pint of molasses, half a pint 
 of water, two teaspoons of saleratus, one tablespoon of salt, thicken 
 with flour to a tolerably thick batter. Put in a bag and boil, (better 
 still in a dish and steam ;) boil steadily from two to three hours. It 
 will be good without sauce of any kind ; but a little butter or cream, 
 or butter and sugar, made into a sauce with flour and boiling water, 
 spiced with a little nutmeg, will be found a great addition. Try it. 
 If it isn’t good the first time, try it again ; but be very careful not to 
 lift the lid, or let the water stop boiling. 
 
 Sunderland Pudding . — Eight spoonfuls of flour, three eggs, one 
 pint milk. Bake in cups about fifteen minutes. Wine sauce. Very 
 nice. 
 
 Victoria Pudding. — Six ounces fresh butter worked up to a cream, 
 four ounces of loaf sugar mixed in with the butter, four yelks of eggs, 
 beaten, six ounces bread crumbs, two rinds of lemon, grated. Line 
 the dish with a light crust and a layer of jam or marmalade, then 
 pour in the mixture, and bake in a very slow oven for half an hour. 
 Froth the whites of the eggs with a little loaf sugar, and place them 
 over the pudding, and put in the oven just before serving. 
 
 Hannah Moores Pudding. — Six ounces of apples, chopped fine, six 
 ounces of beef suet, chopped fine, six ounces of bread, grated, six 
 ounces of currants, six ounces of raisins, stoned and chopped, six ounces 
 
PIES, PUDDINGS, SAUCES, ETC. 
 
 655 
 
 ol sugar, six eggs well beaten, three ounces of candied peel chopped, 
 half a nutmeg grated, and a glass of brandy. These ingredients to 
 be well mixed, and boiled in a well buttered quart mould for three 
 hours. This pudding should be mixed the day before it is cooked. 
 It is a rich pudding for company, and not expensive. 
 
 Harrison Pudding . — Four cups flour, two-thirds cup melted but 
 ter, one cup molasses, one cup raisins, one cup milk, one teaspoonful 
 soda. Boil in a bag or tin dish three hours. 
 
 Taylor Pudding. — One cup molasses, half cup chopped raisins, one 
 cup of suet, one cup of sour milk, two eggs, teaspoonful of soda, two 
 teaspoonfuls cream of tartar, spice and salt to taste, flour to make thick 
 batter, steam three or four hours. Cream of tartar omitted when sour 
 milk is used. 
 
 The Prince of Wales Pudding. — Chop four ounces of apple, the 
 same quantity of bread crums, suet, and currants, well washed and 
 picked ; two ounces of candied lemon, orange, citron, chopped fine : 
 five ounces of pounded loaf sugar, one-half a nutmeg grated. 
 Mix all together with four eggs. Butter well and flour a tin, put in 
 the mixture, and place a buttered paper on the top, and a cloth over 
 the paper. If you steam it the paper is sufficient. It will take two 
 hours' boiling. When you dish it, stick cut blanched almonds on it 
 and serve with wine sauce. 
 
 The Farmer's Pudding. — Take four heaping tablespoonfuls of fine 
 corn meal ; three large spoonfuls of wheat rusk, finely pounded, and 
 soaked one or two hours previous to mixing with the meal ; add three- 
 fourths teacupful of good molasses or syrup, a little salt to season, and 
 a cupful of sweet cream, or butter the size of a small hen's egg ; put 
 in carbonate of soda, if at hand, size of a large pea, pulverized. Stir 
 all well together, and just as it goes into the hot oven, pour- in a half 
 pint of sweet milk, and stir again. Water will answer instead of milk. 
 We think you can enjoy this as a dessert. 
 
 Farmer's Own Pudding. — Three pounds of Indian meal, (northern 
 yellow is the best,) one pound of beef suet, skinned and chopped fine, 
 one pound of dried currants, one teaspoonful of super carbonate of 
 soda. 
 
 Ivory Pudding. — One cup raisins, one cup chopped suet, one cup 
 milk, one cup molasses, three cups flour, one teaspoonful soda. Boil 
 or steam three hours. 
 
 Lemon Pudding. — FTo. 1. — The ingredients are : One pound of but- 
 ter and one pound of sugar, beat to a cream, ten eggs beat very light, 
 the rind of one lemon thoroughly grated, the juice of one lemon, one. 
 
656 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPEDIA. 
 
 wineglassful of wine, one of brandy and one of rose water. Beat the 
 ingredients well together, and bake the pudding in puff paste in a 
 quick oven for half an hour. This quantity of material is sufficient 
 for four puddings. 
 
 No. 2. Six ounces butter, six ounces sugar, one lemon, one glass of 
 rose water, four eggs ; beat butter and sugar to a cream ; grate the 
 rind of lemon, and squeeze in the juice; add rose water, and beat all 
 up ; eggs last. 
 
 No. 3. Beat up the whites and yelks of five eggs separately ; mix 
 them and eight tablespoonfuls of powdered sugar, two tablespoonfuls 
 of powdered crackers, sifted , the grated rind and juice of two lemons; 
 put this in a dish lined with thin paste. Milk added before the mix- 
 ture is put in the dish improves it. 
 
 No. 4. Take the yelks of six eggs well beaten, with a quarter of a 
 pound of sugar ; take a quarter of a pound of butter melted in as lit- 
 tle water as possible ; be careful not to oil it ; keep stirring it till cold ; 
 then mix all together with the juice of two lemons, and the peel gra- 
 ted in. Cover your dish with a thin puff paste, pour in the mixture, 
 
 and bake for half an hour. 
 
 * 
 
 No. 5. To be eaten cold without any sauce : Two large lemons. 
 One pound of loaf sugar, or light brown sugar will do very well. 
 Four ounces of butter. One pint of cream or milk. Eight eggs. 
 Grate the rind of the lemons. Squeeze all the juice. Mix the butter 
 and sugar thoroughly together — beat the eggs well, and add the juice 
 the last thing — a little salt. Bake three-quarters of an hour in a 
 moderate oven. 
 
 Rhubarb Pudding .— Select good, fair sized rhubarb stocks ; cut 
 them into lengths, say eight inches long ; remove all that is stringy 
 of the bark, then lay out on the table a clean towel or any white cloth ; 
 place a cut of the plant atone end and roll the cloth over it. Then 
 add another stock, and make another roll. A nd continue until you 
 have rolled up a dozen rhubarb stocks, each one separated from the 
 other by a thickness of cloth. Tie the roll tightly, and boil briskly 
 fifteen minutes, in just water enough to cover. 
 
 Have ready a batch of dough, made up exactly as for short, light 
 biscuit. Boll out a large sheet of the dough as thin as pie crust, and 
 your rhubarb being ready, place a stock of it carefully on the dough, 
 sprinkle it liberally with fine white sugar, and roll the dough over it. 
 Proceed thus until the stocks are all. rolled in just as they were in the 
 cloth. Then you require to have an extra coating of one thickness as 
 an envelope, and place the roll in a wide-mouthed pudding bag, which 
 
657 
 
 PIES, PUDDINGS, SAUCES, ETC. 
 
 tie ; place in a steamer, and steam away as vigorously as you will for 
 an hour and a half. 
 
 The pudding is of course to be served hot, and may he eaten with 
 any of the ordinary sauces. 
 
 Cocoanut Pudding. — The ingredients are : Half a pound and two 
 ounces of sugar, the same quantity of butter beaten to a cream, the 
 white of ten eggs beaten to a froth, half a pound and two ounces of 
 grated cocoanut, one wineglassful of wine, and the same quantity of 
 brandy and rose water. Put the ingredients together, keeping them 
 moderately warm whilst beating them. Bake the puddings in an 
 oven. This recipe is sufficient for three puddings. 
 
 Almond Pudding. — Ingredients : One pound of butter, one pound 
 sugar, half a quarter of a pound of blanched almonds, pounded fine, 
 one glassful of brandy, one glassful of wine, one glassful of rose wa- 
 ter, and five eggs, well beaten. Add half the rose water to the al- 
 monds while bruising them. Bake the pudding in a quick oven. 
 
 Snow Ball Pudding. — Pare and core large mellow apples, and in- 
 close them in cloths spread over with boiled rice, and boil one hour. 
 Dip them in cold water before turning them out. They may be eat- 
 en with syrup, sugar or sweetened milk. 
 
 Transparent Pudding. — Beat six eggs very light, stir into it six 
 cups of powdered sugar and one of butter — set the dish with this mix- 
 ture in a vessel of boiling water, and stir while it cooks until it looks 
 clear. Fill plates with this and bake nicely. There should be paste 
 under or around this. The juice of one lemon or orange to each of 
 these puddings will make it lemon or orange pudding, and with the 
 lemons will be needed more sugar. 
 
 Nunnerly Pudding. One-half pound of raisins chopped, one pound 
 of suet, four tablespoonfuls moist sugar, four ditto flour, and four 
 eggs. To be well boiled and served with wine or brandy sauce. 
 
 Tomato P udding. — Take ripe tomatoes, scald and skin them, pour 
 a little sweet cream in the bottom of a pan, then put in a layer of to- 
 matoes, sprinkle them with sugar, then put over them slices of bread, 
 then over the bread another layer of tomatoes, and so on till the pan 
 is full. Cover the last layer of bread nicely with tomatoes, then bake 
 an hour and a half. To be eaten with sweetened cream if you like. 
 
 Boiled Pudding. — Soak some bread in one quart of good milk, add 
 six eggs, well beaten, a little salt and as much flour as you think will 
 make it thick enough. Put it into a bag and boil it an hour. Eai- 
 sins may be added if you like them. Serve it with whatever sauce 
 you like. 
 
 42 
 
658 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPEDIA. 
 
 Balloon Budding. — To one square baking tin use four eggs and 
 three tablespoonfuls of flour, well beaten together ; a little salt ; then 
 All up with sweet milk. Bake fifteen minutes in a quick oven. Serve 
 with sweetened cream or any sauce von choose. It can be made with 
 three eggs and four spoonfuls of flour. 
 
 Green Corn Pudding. — Grate the green corn from twenty-four ears 
 — to this add one quart of milk and three eggs, one tablespoonful of 
 sugar, half a teaspoonful of salt. Now, this must be varied according 
 to the age of the corn ; if the corn is old add more milk or take less 
 corn. Bake in pie dishes, till of a proper consistency. 
 
 Another. — From the Am, Agriculturist : Take twelve good sized ears 
 of corn, grate or shave it off thin, add it to two quarts of milk, one 
 cup of sugar, a small piece of butter, two eggs well beaten, one tea- 
 spoonful of salt, one of saleratus, and spice with nutmeg. Bake three 
 hours. 
 
 Solon Robinson's Pop Corn Pudding. — Crush popped corn with a 
 rolling pin on a table, and then grind it into coarse meal in a common 
 coffee mill : or in a mill of large size, it may be ground at once with- 
 out rolling. One pint of corn will make about sixteen pints when 
 popped, and this will measure about eight pints when ground. To 
 make pudding : Mix five pints of the meal with four pints of sweet 
 milk, place it where it will warm slightly, and let it soak an hour or 
 two. Then let it cool, and add two eggs, sugar, raisins, and spice as 
 for a rice pudding. Set it on a hot stove and boil a few minutes, stir- 
 ring it several times to get the meal well mixed with the milk. Then 
 bake it about an hour, and serve while hot. 
 
 Indian Pudding. — One-half pint Indian meal scalded by one pint 
 boiling milk, one large tablespoonful flour dissolved in a pint of un- 
 boiled milk, one tablespoonful ginger, one cup molasses, two eggs, one 
 half cup chopped suet. Bake in a hot oven. 
 
 Plain Indian Pudding. — From the Am. Agriculturist : Place two 
 quarts of milk in a vessel over the fire ; into this stir slowly a cup of 
 Indian meal and one cup of molasses, and butter the size of an egg. 
 As soon as it boils pour the whole into a baking pan. When cold add 
 two eggs, well beaten, and bake two hours. 
 
 Boiled Indian Pudding. — Take one quart buttermilk, two eggs, 
 one teaspoonful soda ; add meal enough to make it a thick batter. 
 Tie it tightly in a bag. Drop it in a kettle of boiling water, and let 
 it boil one hour. Eat it with sauce to suit the taste. 
 
 Excellent Indian Pudding. — Take a pint and a half of sweet milk ; 
 pat it on the fire ; when it boils, stir in a pint of meal ; then take it 
 
PIES, PUDDINGS, SAUCES, ETC. 
 
 659 
 
 off; put in a teacupful of sour cream, with half a teaspoonful of soda, 
 galeratus will do ; beat three eggs ; when it is cool enough not to cook 
 the eggs, put them in ; put in a handful of ripe fruit — currants, cher- 
 ries, plums, or something else ; then stir in flour enough for a thick 
 batter, and bake it three quarters of an hour. Either put in three 
 tablespoonfuls of sugar, or eat it with sweetened cream. The former 
 is preferable. An Ohio farmer’s wife warrants this. 
 
 Pound Pudding . — Take half a pound of fresh butter and an equal 
 weight of sugar ; beat the butter to a cream ; then add six very well 
 whisked eggs, half a pound of flour, four ounces of currants, two ounc- 
 es of candied lemon peel, shred fine, and a little lemon juice. Beat 
 all together for a quarter of an hour ; put it into a buttered mould, 
 and boil it for two hours and a half. 
 
 Raisin Pudding . Mix together half a pound each of stoned 
 
 raisins, chopped suet, and bread crumbs ; add four well beaten eggs, 
 a teacupful of milk, a little salt, and a spoonful of grated ginger. Boil 
 it for four hours in a buttered mould or floured cloth. Pour a little 
 brandy over it before serving. 
 
 Vermicelli Pudding . — Boil four ounces of vermicelli in one pint of 
 new milk, with a stick of cinnamon, until it is soft. Then add one- 
 half pint of thick cream, one-quarter pound of butter, one-quarter 
 pound of sugar, and the yelks of four pounds of eggs. Bake in an 
 earthenware dish without paste. 
 
 Plum Pudding . — One teacup of brown sugar or molasses, half a 
 teacup of butter, melted and stirred into the sugar, one teaspoonful 
 of cinnamon, one teacup of milk, sweet or sour, one heaping teaspoon- 
 ful of soda, in the milk, two teaspoonfuls cream of tartar, stirred 
 into the milk, and, when foaming, mix with the sugar and butter. 
 One pint of seeded raisins, and flour enough to make it as stiff a9 
 pound cake. Put in a buttered tin, and steam it two and a half 
 hours. 
 
 Another. — Beat ten eggs very light ; stir in it a teacup of powdered 
 sugar ; mix in one pound of finely shred beef suet, or butter. Soften 
 a pint of finely grated bread crumbs in a pint of fresh milk ; stii 
 them in the batter ; also a half pint of flour, two large tablespoons of 
 powdered cinnamon, mace, and nutmeg, mixed. Lastly, mix in one 
 pound of best raisins, stoned and clipped up, one of Zante currants, 
 dredged with flour. Put into a mould that will allow swelling, and 
 boil or bake. Serve with fine sauce. 
 
 Another. — One pound best muscatel raisins, carefully stoned and 
 chopped a little on the board ; one pound currants, washed and pick- 
 
660 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 ed ; one-fourth pound candied lemon peel, one-fourtli pouM candied 
 citron ; one-fourth pound sweet almonds, blanched and chopped fine, 
 half pound flour, half pound biscuit powder, one pound and a quarter 
 of sugar, nutmeg and mixed spices to taste, half a teaspoonful of car- 
 bonate of soda, eight eggs, well beaten, a gill of old ale. Then take a 
 little milk in a saucepan and put into it half a pod of vanilla. Let it 
 simmer on the hob with the lid closed until the pod is quite soft. 
 Take out the pod and mince it small with a sharp knife, and put it 
 into a mortar with a little of the milk and bray it until reduced to a 
 paste, which return to the milk and pour into the pudding. Just be- 
 fore putting the pudding on give it a good stir, and mix in a full quar- 
 tern of good brandy. Boil it for eight hours. 
 
 Another . — Three cups of bread crumbs, one cup flour, one of brown 
 sugar, one of finely chopped suet, one of chopped raisins, one of milk, 
 a little salt, one teaspoonful of soda, two of cream of tartar. Boil 
 from three to four hours in a cloth or mould. 
 
 Rich Plum Pudding . — Stone carefully one pound of the best rai- 
 sins, wash and pick one pound of currants, chop very small one pound 
 of fresh beef suet, blanch and chop small or pound two ounces of 
 sweet almonds, and one ounce of bitter ones ; mix the whole well to- 
 gether with one pound of sifted flour, and the same weight of crumbs 
 of bread, soaked in milk, then squeezed dry and stirred with a spoon 
 until reduced to a mash, before it is mixed with the flour. Cut in 
 small pieces two ounces each of preserved citron, orange, and lemon 
 peel, and add a quarter of an ounce of mixed spice, quarter of a pound 
 of moist sugar should be put into a basin with eight eggs, and well 
 beaten together with a three-pronged fork ; stir this with the pud- 
 ding, and make it of the proper consistence with milk. Kemember 
 that it must not be made too thin, or the fruit will sink to the bot- 
 tom, but be made to the consistence of good thick batter. Two wine- 
 glassfuls of brandy should be poured over the fruit and spice mixed 
 together in a basin, and allowed to stand three or four hours before 
 the pudding is made, stirring them occasionally. It must be tied in 
 a cloth, and will take five hours of constant boiling. When done turn 
 it out on a dish, sift loaf sugar over the top, and serve it with wine 
 sauce in a boat, and some poured round the pudding. 
 
 The pudding will be of considerable size, but half the quantity of 
 materials, used in the same proportion, will be equally good. 
 
 A Cheap Plum Pudding . — One teacup of chopped suet, one do 
 chopped raisins, one do. molasses or sugar, one do. sour milk, three 
 do. flour, one teaspoonful *salaratus, one tablespoonful ground cinna- 
 
661 
 
 PIES, PUDDINGS, SAUCES^ ETC. 
 
 mon, half teaspoonful ground cloves. Boil it three hours. Highly 
 recommended. 
 
 Another Plum Pudding . — Two pounds of currants, one pound of 
 raisins, two and a half ounces of flour, one and a quarter ounce of 
 beef suet, half a pound of moist sugar, four eggs, one ounce citron 
 and lemon peel each, cinnamon, cloves, and mace, wine and brandy a 
 tumbler full. To be boiled at least nine hours. 
 
 The brandy sauce is made with thick melted butter, to each half 
 pint of which a gill of brandy and two ounces of lump sugar are ad*- 
 ded. Some prefer the sauce made with sherry in the same proportion 
 as brandy. 
 
 Christmas Plum Pudding. — A pound of suet, cut in pieces not too 
 fine, a pound of currants, and a pound of raisins stoned, four eggs, 
 half a grated nutmeg, an ounce of citron and lemon peel, shred fine, 
 a teaspoonful of beaten ginger, half a pound of bread crumbs, half a 
 pound of flour, and a pint of milk ; beat the eggs first, add half the 
 milk, beat them together, and by degrees stir in the flour, then the 
 suet, spice, and fruit, and as much milk as will mix it together very 
 thick ; then take a clean cloth, dip in boiling water, and squeeze dry. 
 While the water is boiling fast, put in your pudding, which should 
 boil at least five hours. 
 
 Old English Christmas Plum Puddiug. — To make what is termed a 
 pound pudding, take of raisins well stoned, currants thoroughly washed 
 one pound each ; chop a pound of suet very finely, and mix with them ; 
 add a pound of bread finely crumbed and just flour enough to chop 
 your suet, three ounces of sugar, one ounce and a half of grated lem- 
 on peel, a blade of mace, half a small nutmeg, one teaspoonful of gin- 
 ger, half a dozen eggs well beaten ; work it well together, put it into 
 a cloth, tie it firmly, allowing room to swell and boil not less than five 
 hours. It should not be suffered to stop boiling. 
 
 A Rich Christmas Pudding. — One pound of raisins, stoned, one 
 pound of currants, half a pound of beef suet, quarter of a pound of 
 sugar, two spoonfuls of flour, three eggs, a cup of sweetmeats, and a 
 wineglass of brandy. Mix well and boil in a mould eight hours. 
 
 Another Good Christmas Puddiug. — One pound of flour, two pounds 
 of suet, one pound of currants, one pound of plums, eight eggs, two 
 ounces of candied peel, almonds and mixed spice according to taste. 
 Boil gently for seven hours. 
 
 A Cherry Stack. — Wash and stone as many good, ripe cherries as 
 the size of your stack will require ; then roll out as nearly round as 
 
662 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 possible, a quarter of an inch thick and six inches in diameter, a sheet 
 of dough, shortened and made up as for pie crust. 
 
 Spread a layer of cherries over the surface of a sheet of dough, 
 leaving a margin of half an inch or so all round the edge. Roll out a 
 second sheet an inch less in diameter than the first, cover the cherries 
 with it, and turn up and lap down the lower sheet over the edge all 
 round of the upper one. Spread with cherries and cover, as in the 
 first instance, diminishing each successive crust, until you have built 
 pp a stack eight inches high and three in diameter at the apex. Draw 
 on over the stack a cotton cap, shaped to fit, place the fabric in a 
 steamer, and cook two hours. Eaten with any of the pudding sauces, 
 the cherry stack is very good. 
 
 DUMPLINGS. 
 
 These are made by enclosing fruit in sheets of pastry, rolled out 
 quite thin. Cut out your paste with a large cutter, and draw up the 
 dough around the fruit. Enclose in little nets, if to be boiled. Or 
 roll out a sheet of crust, spread it with fruit reduced to a pulp, roll 
 up and fasten at each end. You may boil or bake your dumplings. 
 If to be baked, prepare a rich sauce of butter and sugar and pour over 
 he dumpling before you bake it. 
 
 In boiling dumplings, or any kind of paste, the cover should never 
 be removed, nor the water allowed to cease boiling until the paste is 
 done, when it should be taken off before it becomes soaked and heavy. 
 
 Apple Dumplings . — One quart of flour, a piece of butter the size 
 of an egg, three teaspoonfuls cream of tartar, one teaspoonful soda. 
 Mix with sweet milk. Stew some apples. Put in and steam twenty 
 minutes. 
 
 Peach Dumplings should be steamed instead of stewing, as that 
 would break them. Serve with common sauce, or lemon sauce, of 
 one lemon, cut fine, one cup butter, and a large cup sugar. 
 
 Another . — Stew fine, ripe peaches, (yellow preferable,) until thor- 
 oughly tender. Enclose each in a rich paste, rolled half an inch 
 thick. Bake half an hour. 
 
 Currant Dumpling . — Pick and wash a pound of currants, dry them 
 and lay them on a plate before the fire. Chop a pound of suet very 
 small, and put it into eight spoonfuls of flour, with two teaspoonfuls 
 of salt and three of ginger. ISTow add the currants, and mix all well 
 together ; then beat up four eggs with a pint of milk ; add this by 
 degrees to the other ingredients, and make it into a light paste ; roil 
 
PIES, PUDDINGS, SAUCES, ETC. 
 
 663 
 
 it up into balls as large as a turkey’s egg, with a little flour. Flat- 
 ten them a little, and put them into boiling water. Move them 
 gently, that they may not stick together. Half an konr will boil 
 them. 
 
 Yeast Dumpling . — Make a light dough, as for bread, with flour, 
 water, salt and yeast ; cover it with a cloth, and set it before the fire 
 for half an hour. Then have a saucepan of boiling water ; make the 
 dough into round balls the size of a hen’s egg, and put them in ; be 
 sure to keep the water boiling all the time, or they will sink and be 
 heavy. When they are done enough, which they will be in rather 
 less than ten minutes, take them out with a slice, put them into a hot 
 dish, and send up melted butter and sugar in a boat. It will save 
 much trouble if you send to the baker’s for the dough ; you will then 
 have only to boil it in small pieces, as above. 
 
 Apple Slump . — Place stewed apples in a round pie pan an inch 
 thick ; make a crust of flour, sour milk, a piece of lard the size of a 
 walnut, one small teaspoonful of soda. Poll out the crust half an inch 
 thick, place it on the apples, and steam it an hour. Then turn it out 
 on a plate, bottom side up, and serve up with sweeteiled cream or but- 
 ter. Berries may be used in the place of apples. 
 
 Souffle . — Beat one dozen eggs very light ; mix in it one ounce pow- 
 dered sugar, half pound fresh butter, and a pint of cream. Stir in 
 twelve heaping tablespoons of flour. This should rise to an almost 
 airy lightness. Substituting milk for cream, and beef suet for but- 
 ter, makes a famous family pudding. A heaping spoonful of suet will 
 be enough. 
 
 Bath Patties . — Dissolve three ounces butter and three ounces loaf 
 sugar in half pint milk. When cold, stir in three ounces flour ; but 
 care must be taken to have it smooth. Add to it four eggs, well 
 beaten. Butter your cups, but do not put your ingredients into them 
 till the instant before going to the oven. Serve with wine sauce. Some 
 currants may be added. 
 
 GRAVIES AND SAUCES. 
 
 These indispensables to a fine dinner are what chiefly give to fish, 
 meat and poultry their zest. 
 
 Gravy is the juice that exudes from flesh in cooking. It should be 
 carefully skimmed of the clear grease that floats on it, and reduced by 
 stewing down. Meat does not always yield enough gravy, and it is 
 then made of the trimmings from the same dish it is to be served with, 
 
664 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 or many times from some other flesh. The ^ock of beef soup is often 
 used as the foundation of many sauces and gravies. 
 
 The trimmings of beef or veal, and the necks or giblets of fowls are 
 used respectively to make gravy. They are put into a saucepan with 
 a lump of butter and some savory herbs, stewed low, the clippings 
 from the fowl added, and reduced to the desirable quantity and con- 
 sistence. The giblets are hashed up and served in the gravy. If 
 this is stewed until the meat is brown, it is called brown gravy, oth- 
 erwise white sauce. 
 
 Clear gravy is made by boiling the meat a nice brown before stew- 
 ing. Lemon juice, wine, or catchup is often added to rich gravies. 
 They should not be when there is a sauce as well as the gravy accom- 
 panying the meat. 
 
 Drawn Butter. — Rub to a cream an ounce of flour and one of but- 
 ter. Stir in it two tablespoons of water, and continue to stir it on 
 the fire until it has simmered a quarter of an hour. Melt in it now 
 the third of a pound of fresh butter. If it inclines to be oily, stir in a 
 spoonful or two of cold water. This is the foundation of many sau- 
 ces, both for meals and puddings. 
 
 Onion Sauce. — Boil some nice white onions in milk and water, chop 
 them fine, and mix into drawn butter. The sauce should not be 
 sloppy. 
 
 Another. — Mince some large white onions, stew in butter until well 
 colored, stir in a little flour, shake the stewpan over the fire for three 
 or four minutes, pour in only as much gravy as will leave the sauce 
 tolerably thick. Season. 
 
 Young Onion Sauce. — Peel a pint of button onions, and put them 
 in water till you want to put them on to boil ; put them into a stew- 
 pan with a quart of cold water ; let them boil till tender ; they will 
 take, (according to their size and age,) from half an hour to an hour. 
 
 Celery Sauce. — Chop some celery fine, stew until soft, and drain 
 it. Moisten it with drawn butter freely, and season with salt and 
 pepper to the taste. 
 
 Another. — Pick and wash two heads of nice white celery ; cut it 
 into pieces about an inch long ; stew it in a pint of water and a tea- 
 spoonful of salt till the celery is tender ; roll an ounce of butter with 
 a tablespoonful of flour ; add this to half a pint of cream, and give it a 
 boil up. 
 
 Tomato Sauce. — A nice sauce of tomatoes is made by reducing this 
 vegetable to a pulp, and seasoning with butter, sugar, pepper, and 
 salt, and a few corns of alspice. This is served hot with fresh meats. 
 
PIES, PUDDINGS, SAUCES, ETC. 
 
 665 
 
 But the following receipt may be used in preparing winter stores, and 
 it will keep without fail if properly prepared ; 
 
 One peck of tomatoes, one ounce of cloves, one ounce of cinnamon, 
 two tablespoons of salt, two tablespoons of ground black pepper, one 
 quart of vinegar. 
 
 Peel the tomatoes and boil very tender ; then drain them from the 
 juice. Boil the juice with the vinegar and above spices, and five 
 pounds of best brown sugar, until it is very thick ; pour it scalding 
 hot over the fruit, and keep closely covered. 
 
 Mustard Sauce. — Into one quart of vinegar stir a teacup of melted 
 butter, one of good jelly, six well beaten eggs, and two heaping table- 
 spoons of flour of mustard ; pepper and salt to taste. Boil this until 
 it has the consistency of custard. If you use acid jelly, use sugar, al- 
 so, until the biting quality of the mustard is lost. This rule holds 
 good wherever mustard is employed. Mustard sauce is particularly 
 nice for pic-nic and similar uses. It keeps well for some time in 
 winter, or in the ice chest in summer. 
 
 Wine Sauce. — Into one pint of claret, or any wine you like, put a 
 quarter of a pound of butter, a spoonful of whole alspice, a large tea- 
 cup of acid jelly, and a teacup of brown sugar. Stew together until 
 the taste of the spices, if you use several kinds, is perceptible ; strain 
 into a sauceboat and serve hot. 
 
 Fruit Sauce. — These are simply stewed fruit3. Dried fruits are 
 used when fresh are not on hand. Sugar enough to make them 
 agreeable is always used, and they should be stewed low, so that they 
 will not be sloppy, and the juice be thick and rich. Those of no dis- 
 tinct flavor of their own have spices or essences used in them — thus, 
 lemon or orange peel flavors apples very nicely. 
 
 Mint Sauce. — Pick fresh mint from the stalks, mince it fine, mix 
 with it some powdered sugar, and moisten it with the best vinegar. 
 Served with lamb. 
 
 To obtain Mint Sauce at any Season of the Year. — When mint is 
 green and plentiful, cut it up fine, put it into bottles. Fill the bot- 
 tles with vinegar, and cork closely. The sugar can be added when 
 required for use. Ho one can tell the difference of mint so prepared 
 from that newly gathered from the bed. 
 
 F or those who like mint sauce, the above may be eaten with lamb 
 or mutton chops. 
 
 To obtain Herbs of the Finest Flavor. — When herbs are to be kept 
 for flavoring dishes, it is obviously of the first importance that they 
 should be gathered at the right time, and dried in the best manner. 
 
666 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 Herbs should be gathered just before they begin to flower, on a dry 
 day, before • the sun has been long upon them. When intended for 
 preservation they should be cleaned from dirt and dust, and dried 
 gradually in a cool oven. The leaves should then be picked off, poun- 
 ded in a mortar, passed through a hair seive, and the powders be pre- 
 served separately in well stopped bottles. 
 
 Oyster Sauce . — Drain the oysters ; put the liquor from them with 
 sufficient water to stew them in ; add a few blades of mace, a few 
 shreds of lemon peel, and some butter rolled in flour. When the li- 
 quor boils, put in the oysters and stew done ; before taking up, add as 
 much fresh milk as will make up the quantity of sauce. 
 
 Egg Sauce. — Set a saucepan over the fire, with a pint of fresh milk 
 in it, seasoned with a little pepper and salt. When it boils stir in a 
 lump of butter and four half beaten eggs. Allow the eggs to clot if 
 you like, by only occasionally stirring, scraping the eggs from the sides 
 and bottom of the saucepan in the operation — or you may make the 
 sauce smooth like custard, and cut up hard boiled eggs around the 
 fowl after the sauce is poured over it. Egg sauce is oftener made by 
 stirring hard boiled eggs finely minced, into drawn butter or cream, 
 seasoning with pepper, salt and savory herbs. 
 
 Another. — This agreeable accompaniment to roasted poultry, or 
 salted fish, is made by putting three eggs into boiling water, and boil- 
 ing them for about twelve minutes, when they will be hard ; put them 
 into cold water till you want them. This will make the yelks firmer, 
 and prevent their surface turning black, and you can cut them much 
 neater : use only two of the whites ; cut the whites into small dice, 
 the yelks into bits about a quarter of an inch square ; put them into 
 a sauce boat ; pour to them half a pint of melted butter, and stir them 
 together. 
 
 Sweet Egg Sauce. — Put the yelks of four hard boiled eggs into a 
 mortar with an equal weight of fresh butter and sugar ; beat it smooth, 
 then dilute it with a sufficiency of either milk or white wine, as agree- 
 able ; add the grated rind of half a lemon ; give it a boil, and serve. 
 
 Horse Radish Sauce. — Into a teacup of scraped horse radish, mix 
 two tablespoons of powdered sugar, a teaspoon of mustard, and best 
 vinegar enough to cover it. Bottle closely and use with cold meats. 
 Pepper and salt to taste. If you wish it very rich, beat the yelks of 
 a couple of eggs and mix with milk. 
 
 Orange Sauce. — Bub together two ounces of butter and one ounce 
 of flour; then put it into a saucepan with the juice of four oranges, 
 
CUSTARDS, CREAMS AND SWEETS. 667 
 
 the shred rind of half a one, and two tablespoonfuls of loaf sugar. 
 When the butter is melted, it is done. 
 
 Cold Orange Sauce . — Beat to a cream one teacup of butter and two 
 teacups of fine white sugar ; then stir in the grated rind of an orange 
 and the juice of two ; stir until all the orange juice is absorbed ; grate 
 nutmeg upon the sauce and serve in a flat dish. 
 
 Lemon Sauce . — Pare a lemon, and cut it into slices ; divide these 
 into dice, and put them into a quarter of a pint of melted butter. 
 Some cooks mince a bit of the lemon peel (pared very thin) very fine, 
 and add it to the above. 
 
 Mock Caper Sauce . — Cut some pickled green peas, French beans, 
 gherkins, or nasturtiums, into bits the size of capers ; put them into 
 half a pint of melted butter, with two teaspoonfuls of lemon juice, or 
 nice vinegar. 
 
 SALADS. 
 
 Salads may be of lettuce, endive, celery, corn salad, chopped cab- 
 bage, or of cold beef, veal, mutton, or fowl, chopped into small pieces 
 and mixed with some of the vegetables named, or even cold boiled 
 potatoes or beets. Parsley and onions are also used. For dressing 
 use simply vinegar and sugar, or two parts of olive oil, or melted but- 
 ter, to one of good vinegar, adding salt and pepper to taste, and mus- 
 tard if desired, also hard boiled eggs, sliced. 
 
 CUSTAEDS, CEEAMS AND SWEETS. 
 
 CUSTARD. 
 
 Allow four eggs to each pint of fresh milk. Eeserve part of the 
 whites to froth and lay on top. Beat the eggs smooth, stir them in 
 the milk — sweeten with best loaf sugar. Set a bucket with the mix- 
 ture in a pot of boiling water. Stir until done and remove from the 
 fire instantly. The same mixture may be baked. 
 
 Lemon Custard . — Beat the yelks of eight eggs until they become as 
 white as milk, and then add to them a pint of boiling water, and the 
 grated rinds of two lemons. Sweeten to your taste and stir the mix- 
 ture over the fire until it seems to be thick enough for use, and then 
 add in a large wineglassful of rich wine and half the quantity of bran- 
 
66 8 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 d y ; give the whole a scald, and pour it into cups. To be served cold. 
 
 Chocolate Custard. — A quarter of a pound of spiced chocolate, one 
 quart of milk, two eggs, one cup of sugar. Grate the chocolate, and 
 stir into the milk when nearly boiling. When it begins to thicken, 
 add the eggs and sugar. Let it boil a few minutes, stirring it con- 
 stantly. 
 
 Another. — From the Am. Agriculturist: Three ounces chocolate, 
 three pints milk, six eggs, four tablespoonfuls powdered white sugar, 
 and two ditto brown sugar. First prepare a soft custard with the 
 milk, the beaten yelks of six eggs, and the white of one. While this 
 is cooking, grate the chocolate and dissolve by pouring over it a cup 
 of warm water, and then heat it up to the boiling point, and sweeten 
 with brown sugar. When cool, mix it with the custard, and flavor 
 with a teaspoonful of extract of vanilla. Put the whole in a suitable 
 dish and pour over the top the remaining whites of the eggs beaten 
 to a stiff froth and sweetened with white sugar. Brown it lightly in 
 a moderate oven. It should be brought to the table as cold as possi- 
 ble and is excellent. 
 
 Potato Custard. — By N. Anderson, Franklin Co., Pa., in the Am. 
 Agriculturist: One pint mashed potatoes, two cups sugar, one of but- 
 ter or lard, four eggs, nutmeg, thin it with milk, and bake. 
 
 Float. — From the Am. Agriculturist: Take one quart of new milk 
 and five eggs ; beat the whites to a stiff froth, have the milk ready 
 boiling in a skillet and with a spoon place the whites in it, turn them 
 over quickly, then lift them out carefully, and place them on a plate. 
 Now beat the yelks well, add one large spoonful flour, two tablespoon- 
 fuls of sugar and some grated nutmeg or lemon, and two spoonfuls of 
 cold milk ; stir them all together, then pour it into the milk, stirring 
 it to keep it smooth. Let it boil, turn it out in a deep dish, place the 
 whites on it, and it is now ready for use. A few drops of jelly or col- 
 ored sugar on the whites improves the looks. 
 
 Floating Island. — Beat the white of two eggs so light that a spoon 
 will stand in it, and by degrees beat in two tablespoonfuls of some fa- 
 vorite jam, two tablespoonfuls of currant jelly, and five tablespoonfuls 
 of loaf sugar. Drop the float upon the surface of a quart of milk 
 poured into a deep glass or china dish. The milk must be sweetened 
 and flavored with a small portion of wine. 
 
 Blanc Mange. — Dissolve an ounce and a half of gelatine in a pint 
 of sweet cream. Sweeten, flavor and boil it. Put a little in a cup on 
 some ice and salt, and if it will mould, it is done. Color or use white. 
 
CUSTARDS, CREAMS AND SWEETS. 
 
 669 
 
 Another. — To one package of gelatine add two quarts of milk. 
 Season and sweeten to the taste. 
 
 Delicious Blanc Mange. — Put one ounce of Cooper’s izinglass in a 
 little water over the fire until it is dissolved. Then sweeten one quart 
 of cream, add a little lemon or vanilla — whip it. Strain the izinglasa 
 on the cream, wet your moulds in cold water, fill them, and set them 
 away until they congeal. 
 
 Arrowroot Blanc Mange. — Mix three tablespoonfuls of arrowroot 
 in milk, in the same manner as though you were preparing starch. 
 Add afterwards a quart of cold milk, sugar to your taste, a few chop- 
 ped almonds, and some grated lemon peel. Put it on the fire, and stir 
 it until it thickens. Pour into a mould and turn it out when cold. 
 
 Charlotte Busse. — Make one pint of rich custard ; when cold stir in 
 an ounce of izinglass dissolved in a half pint of water and reduced to 
 a stiff jelly ; sweeten with best sugar; mix a glass of wine, the juice 
 of a couple of lemons, and a pint of frothed cream together; stir them 
 into a custard when cool. Mould in blanc mange moulds, or cut out 
 some nice shaped sponge cakes into shells, and pour the mixture in. 
 
 Another. — One ounce of gelatine. Six ounces sugar. Yelk of four 
 eggs. One quart of cream. One pint of milk. Dissolve a little less 
 than one ounce of gelatine in a pint of lukewarm milk — then scald it 
 and put it upon the beaten eggs and sugar — stir them well together — 
 set aside till it becomes lukewarm — then season it well with vanilla. 
 (Some use brandy also.) Whip the cream while the mixture is setting, 
 and skin the froth as it forms. The day before make sponge cake — 
 the weight of eggs in sugar, and half the weight in flour. 
 
 Currant Cones.. — Prepare rice blanc mange, or it will do just as 
 well to cook ric^ in milk until it is so* thoroughly done that being 
 placed in a strong cloth, the material can be squeezed by the hand, in- 
 to a soft pulpy mass having no whole grains in it. This having been 
 done, thin it if necessary, with new milk, to the consistency of a bat- 
 ter made for griddle cakes and then stir in nice, ripe red currants, one 
 quart of fruit to two of batter. Fill the small sized barroom , or other 
 very small bottomed tumblers with the material ; set the tumblers in 
 a dish and the dish into a kettle of water, and boil twenty minutes. 
 Turned out and served either hot or cold on suitable dishes, the cones 
 bottom upwards, you have a very pretty and palatable dessert for the 
 dinner table. 
 
 Scalded Cream. — From the Am. Agriculturist : Steam the milk into 
 tin pans and let it stand ten or twelve hours. Then carefully place it 
 on the stove, or to prevent the milk from burning, on a. pot of boiling 
 
670 
 
 PBACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 water, until it is scalding hot, but not made to boil. Carefully carry 
 it back to the dairy or milk room, and let stand ten or twelve hours 
 longer, skim it, and you will have cream equal to any in Cornwall. 
 This cream finds a ready market in London at the same price as 
 butter. 
 
 Spanish Cream. — Half a pint of cream, same of new milk, three 
 ounces of rice flour, a tablespoonful of orange or peach-flower water ; 
 sweeten it to taste. Boil till it is stiff, stirring it constantly, and when 
 it will leave the side of the pan, put it into a mould which has first 
 been put in cold water. 
 
 Snow Cream. — To one pint of cream add four ounces of sugar, one 
 gill of lemonade, and the whites of two eggs, well beaten ; whisk the 
 whole to a froth, and serve in a cream dish. 
 
 Velvet Cream. — Dissolve half an ounce of isinglass in a teacupful 
 of white wine, one pint of cream, the juice of a large lemon. Sweeten 
 the cream to your taste, and wheg. the isinglass is dissolved, put in 
 the juice to the cream, then pour the wine to that. Stir it frequently 
 until it begins to thicken ; pour it into a mould. 
 
 Strawberry Cream. — Mash the fruit gently, drain it on a sieve, 
 strewing a little sugar on it when well drained, (without being press- 
 ed;) add sugar and cream to the juice, and, if too thick, add a little 
 milk ; whisk it in a bowl, and, as the froth rises, lay it on a sieve, and 
 when no more will rise, put the cream in* a dish and lay the froth up- 
 on it. 
 
 Honeycomb Cream. — Take the juice of one fine lemon and two Se- 
 ville oranges ; make it very sweet ; put it into a glass dish, and set it 
 upon the ground ; boil a pint of cream, and put it into a teapot made 
 very hot. Pour the cream upon the juice, holding the pot as high as 
 possible ; let it remain quite still till cold. A little orange or rose 
 water might be added to the juice. 
 
 How to make Ice Cream. — Ice cream is usually considered a luxury 
 not to be indulged in by farmers’ families. It is set down as a city 
 dish, though most of the articles used in its preparation are obtained 
 from the country. It is not generally known that the best ice cream 
 can be made without a costly freezer in any family where ice and 
 milk are at hand. To make it, proceed thus : Take two quarts of 
 fresh milk — if a little cream be added, all the better, though ice 
 cream as ordinarily made is innocent of cream. Scald the milk, stir- 
 ring in three tablespoonfuls of corn starch or arrow root to give it 
 body. These may be omitted if not at hand. Stir well to keep from 
 burning. Beat up from four to eight eggs, according to convenience. 
 
CUSTARDS, CREAMS AND SWEETS. 
 
 671 
 
 or as a rich dish is wanted, and pour the scalding milk on the eggs, 
 stirring well. When cold, add sugar and essence of lemon, or extract 
 of vanilla to suit the taste. A very little salt also improves it. Pour 
 the cooled contents into a deep tin pail, or can holding about three 
 quarts ; put on the cover, and set in an ordinary wooden water pail. 
 Pound up ice to the size of hen’s eggs and less — some of course will be 
 quite fine — pack it around the tin can, mixing in about one pint of 
 either medium or fine salt. Pack this till it reaches nearly to the top 
 of the can containing the mixture to be frozen, but be careful none 
 enters it. Now move the tin can or pail around by means of its bail, 
 lifting the cover occasionally to scrape off the frozen cream on the in- 
 side, so that other portions may come in contact with the freezing sur- 
 face. From fifteen to twenty minutes will be sufficient, and the dish 
 may be served up at once, or set away, without removing from the 
 wooden pail, in a cool place, for several hours, covering with a flannel 
 cloth. Try it, and see if you need hereafter forego the ice cream be- 
 cause no freezer is at hand. 
 
 Another Way. — Take one quart of new milk, one pint of thick 
 sweet cream, three eggs, beat thoroughly, two tablespoonfuls of ex- 
 tract of any kind you prefer — vanilla, lemon, or any other. Some use 
 the vanilla bean. Have the sugar powdered ; add the sugar to the 
 mixture in such a proportion as will make it sickishly sweet, as a part 
 of it freezes out. Some put in a small quantity of arrow root, or corn 
 starch, but that is unnecessary if you have good cream and plenty of 
 eggs. Put the whole in a preserving kettle, with a vessel of hot wa- 
 ter under to prevent it having a burnt taste ; let it come to a scalding 
 heat ; then strain it into a freezer. Have ice pounded, (snow is bet- 
 ter ;) put a quart of coarse salt with two of snow or ice. Mix the 
 snow and salt well together and press around the freezer. Stir with 
 a wooden spoon until it commences freezing around the sides ; then 
 cover and only stir it occasionally. Put a hot towel around it to take 
 it out ; dip the towel in hot water, and it will slip from the freezer 
 easily. 
 
 To Make Artificial Honey. — If nicely made, it can hardly be distin- 
 guished from the honey of bees. Take of soft water, six pounds ; 
 white moist brown sugar, twenty pounds ; pure bees’ honey, three 
 pounds ; cream of tartar, eighty grains ; essence of roses, twenty-four 
 drops. Mix in a brass kettle ; boil five minutes ; take it off, and add 
 ihe whites of two well beaten eggs. When almost cold, add two 
 pounds more bees’ honey. A decoction slippery elm bark will im- 
 prove the honey if added while cooling. 
 
672 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 Another Way . — To ten pounds crushed sugar, or good coffee sugar, 
 add three pints of water ; scald and skim ; then add three pounds 
 good strained honey, four grains cream of tartar, and ten or twelve 
 drops of the essence of peppermint. Mix the whole intimately and it 
 is ready for use. Some prefer this mixture to pure honey, as it can be 
 eaten by most persons who cannot eat honey without injury. 
 
 Another . — To ten pounds refined sugar add four pounds hard water, 
 place it over a fire, stirring it occasionally until quite hot, then remove 
 it from the fire, and add immediately one pound of honey in the comb. 
 When half cooled, add another half pound, when cold, add ten drop s 
 essence of peppermint — then strain it. 
 
 French Honey . — One pound of white sugar ; six eggs, leaving out 
 the whites of two ; the juice of three or four lemons, and the grated 
 rind of two, and a quarter of a pound of butter. Stir over a slow 
 fire until it is about the consistency of honey. 
 
 To Keep Honey , — Honey fresh from the comb is a clear yellow syr- 
 up, without a trace of solid sugar in it, but upon straining it gradual- 
 ly assumes a chrystaline appearance, and ultimately becomes a solid 
 mass of sugar. Inclose fresh honey in stoppered flasks, and keep it 
 in perfect darkness, and it will remain perfectly liquid. 
 
 Mr. Sands, of Orange Co., N. Y., says in the Scientific American , 
 Heat strained honey to the boiling point, and store it in covered jars, 
 when it will keep without candying. To prevent danger of burning, 
 set the vessel in which it is to be heated into another containing 
 water. 
 
 Dampness will cause honey to becoi e thin and watery. 
 
 SUGAR AS FOOD. 
 
 Puddings and fruit tarts, says Mr. Bridges Adams, the English 
 physioligist, are not simple flatteries of the palate, but digestive 
 agents ; provided, always, they are not themselves made of rebellious- 
 ly indigestible materials. He alludes to the fondness of artizans for 
 confectionery, and patients just discharged from the hospital asking 
 for sweets in preference to good substantial food, as examples of a 
 correct instinct. There is no doubt that in children, in whom the re- 
 quirements of growth call for a rapid and efficient transformation of 
 food into tissue, the demands for sweets is very imperious ; and pa- 
 rents should understand that the jam-pot will diminish the butcher’s 
 bill, and increase the amount of nutrition extracted from beef and 
 mutton. 
 
CUSTARDS, CREAMS AND SWEETS. 
 
 673 
 
 Sugar is an important article in diet, and an aid to digestion. 
 Though the use of sugar as an article of food seems mainly to supply 
 the carbon used in breathing, yet it undoubtedly contributes also to 
 the use of fat, for during the severe labor of gathering the sugar crop 
 in the West Indies, in spite of the great exertion and fatigue, it is 
 said that every negro on the plantation, every animal, even the very 
 dogs will fatten. Sugar lies under a ban, however, for injuring the 
 teeth. 
 
 How Sugar is Made White. — The way in which sugar is made per- 
 fectly white, it is said, was found out in a curious way. A hen, that 
 had gone through a clay mud puddle, went with her muddy feet into 
 a sugar house. It was observed by some one that wherever her tracks 
 were the sugar was whitened. This led to some experiments. The 
 result was that wet clay came to be used in refining sugar. It is used 
 in this way : The sugar is put into earthen jars, shaped as you see su- 
 gar loaves are. The larger ends are upward. The smaller ends have 
 a hole in them. The jar is filled with sugar, the clay put over the 
 top and kept wet. The moisture goes down through the sugar and 
 drops from the hole in the small end of the jar. This makes the su- 
 gar perfectly white. 
 
 To Clarify Sugar. — Take the quantity of fine white loaf sugar you 
 intend to clarify, add to it of very clean warm water half a pint for 
 every pound ; when dissolved add to it the white of one or two eggs, 
 as the quantity may require, well whipped, put it on the fire, and when 
 it comes to a boil, pour into it an ordinary teacupful of cold water ; 
 on its rising again to a boil, remove it and let it settle for twenty min- 
 utes ; skim the scum from the top, pour off the syrup into a clean ves- 
 sel with sufficient quickness to leave all the sediment at the bottom, 
 and such steadiness as to prevent any of the latter rising and mixing 
 with it. 
 
 Home-Made Candy. — From the Agriculturist : To one cup of sugar 
 (New Orleans is best,) add one cup of cider vinegar. If the vinegar 
 be very sour, put in one-third water. Boil fifteen to twenty minutes, 
 then work till white. This is very nice, and when thus made at home 
 you know that it contains no poisonous substance. 
 
 Lemon Candy. — Three pounds of brown sugar and three teacups of 
 water ; set it over a slow fire for one-half an hour ; add a little gum 
 arabic dissolved in hot water ; skim it as long as anything rises, 
 when quite clear try it by taking out a little in a saucer ; if done, it 
 will snap like glass. Flavor with lemon and cut it in sticks. Pep- 
 permint or hoarhound candy may be made in the same way. 
 
 43 
 
674 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 RULES FOR MAKING SORGO MOLASSES. 
 
 1. Plant the crop on a good, firm, dry, upland soil. If very rich, 
 low or mucky, the growth will he larger, more succulent, and the juice 
 poorer and more watery. 
 
 2. Let the land be previously free from the seeds of weeds ; for the 
 sorghum, in its early growth, is very small and feeble, and easily 
 smothered down. 
 
 3. Plant the seed like common corn, but from twice to three times 
 as thick, in rows only one way, the hills being about a foot apart in 
 the row, or the plants may be in. regular drills, but in this case can 
 not be kept clean so easily. A good drill will plant them. The seed 
 should be soaked, so as to come up early. A peck of good seed will 
 plant an acre. 
 
 4. Cultivate well and keep the ground clean till the crop is large 
 enough to shade the ground completely, and prevent the growth of 
 weeds. 
 
 5. Commence the manufacture by the time half the seeds have be- 
 come dark brown or black. If begun much sooner, the juice will be 
 poor and watery ; if left later, there will be danger of freezing before 
 the work is all completed. 
 
 6. Strip off the leaves while the stalks are standing, by striking 
 downwards against them with the tines of a common pitchfork. 
 
 7. Draw the stalks on a common two-horse wagon, furnished with 
 a common wood-rack, place the stalks in lengthwise, with the heads 
 even and projecting over behind. At a convenient place, cut these 
 heads off, and leave them in a heap for feeding cattle, and then draw 
 the stalks to the sorghum mill, which should never be more than two 
 or three miles distant, or the expense of drawing will not pay. 
 
 8. The best mills sold in market are excellent; but good and 
 cheaper ones may be made by turning rollers of hard wood, and fit- 
 ting them with iron gudgeons and cog wheels. The iron mills, when 
 the cylinders press closely, press out too much of the solid matter of 
 the stalks, and make a green juice, producing an abundance of scum. 
 It is better not to press so closely, and the wooden rollers answer well 
 for this purpose. 
 
 9. As soon as the juice is separated, it should be subjected to boil- 
 ing without a moment’s delay, as it ferments rapidly. The boiling 
 process, which reduces the juice in forming molasses to about one- 
 eighth of its previous bulk, should be perfectly completed in less than 
 
CUSTARDS, CREAMS AND SWEETS. 
 
 675 
 
 one hour, and the molasses then quickly cooled. No substance what- 
 ever need be added to purify the juice during boiling. 
 
 10. Excellent pans for boiling may be made of sheet iron, nailed to 
 the lower edges of pieces of plank, each about six inches wide ; the 
 sheet iron, being longer than the plank, may be bent up and nailed to 
 the end of the plank, thus forming the ends of the pan. The iron 
 should be secured to the plank by two close double rows of large- 
 headed nails. Two pans should be placed in succession on a long 
 arch or brick- work, so that the juice may flow from one to the other 
 through a tube and stop-cock ; or a common faucet may pass through 
 the side plank, and be carried to the next pan below by means of a 
 short tin tube or trough placed under the faucet, and secured by nail- 
 ing to the wood of the trough below. The arrangement of the pans 
 may be made according to the full directions given in the article on 
 sugar-making, in the Illustrated Annual Register for 1863. 
 
 11. The skimming, which should be continued without interruption 
 during the boiling, may be easily effected, as follows ; take a strip of 
 thin board a few inches wide and half an inch shorter than the inside 
 breadth of the pan ; bore a hole in the middle, and insert a light han- 
 dle nearly as long as the pan. In using it, draw the scum from one 
 end to the other ; the last mentioned end being made sloping on purpose 
 to draw the scum up and throw it out. The fire may be slackened at 
 any moment by throwing in refuse stalks. 
 
 12. An acre of cane will make two hundred gallons of molasses — 
 in some instances over three hundred have been obtained. One cord 
 of wood will manufacture one hundred gallons of molasses. A one- 
 horse mill and one evaporating apparatus, with three hands in attend- 
 ance, will manufacture twenty-five gallons in a day. If within a rea- 
 sonable distance, one team will easily gather and draw 7 the stalks to 
 feed the mill at the same time. 
 
 Sorgo Sugar . — The Scientific American says : At Berrien, Mich., 
 a barrel of sorgo syrup was stored away some five years ago; it 
 was recently opened, when the contents were found to be dry sugar. 
 
 Sorgo Sauce . — Erom the Agriculturist : Put a pint of sorgo syrup 
 on to boil, and then beat three eggs to a froth. As soon as the syrup 
 boils, pour in the eggs, stirring rapidly all the time. Let it boil three 
 minutes, then pour it into a cool dish, and stir in a little good vine- 
 gar cr lemon juice. When cold, it is a good substitute for apple 
 butter. 
 
 Persimmon Syrup . — A southern paper says : “Put the persim- 
 mons in a vessel and boil until the saccharine matter is fully dissolved, 
 
<576 
 
 PEACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 which can be told by the coagulation of the fruit ; then strain, and 
 boil the liquid to any desired consistency. Superior to sorgo." 
 
 HOW TO MAKE MAPLE SUGAE. 
 
 The following is from the pen of one who manufactures maple su- 
 gar largely in New Hampshire : 
 
 We have been in the practice of making annually, in our sugar es- 
 tablishment, from 2,500 to 3,500 pounds of maple sugar ; and when 
 we could obtain from two to four cents per pound more than the cost 
 of the best loaf and granulated sugars, we have sometimes sold our- 
 selves so short as to buy for home use a barrel or two of the best gran- 
 ulated sugar. Much depends, however, upon the manner in which 
 maple sugar is made. We make our sugar in this way : — Our buck- 
 ets and holders are all thoroughly scalded and rinsed previous to set- 
 ting. Our evaporating pans, of which we use eight, are scraped, 
 washed, and made perfectly clean before use. We then endeavor to 
 gather and evaporate the sap as speedily as possible after it has left 
 the trees, to a consistency a little thinner than molasses. It is then 
 strained and set aside until we are ready to sugar it off. When we com- 
 mence this process, to syrup enough to make forty pounds of sugar, 
 we add one pint of milk and one or tvro eggs well beaten and mixed 
 together. Place the syrup over the fire, and when the scum rises 
 skim it off into a vessel for further use. After the skimming is 
 through remove the syrup from the fire and strain it through flannel, 
 to remove all little curds, which, if suffered to remain, would not only 
 injure the quality, but by settling to the bottom, would endanger burn- 
 ing. Now we wash our evaporating pan, return the syrup, and place 
 it over a brisk fire, and evaporate as quick as possible to the proper 
 consistence. If it is to be caked it must be harder than for tub sugar, 
 or to stir off dry. Keep saleratus and all other drugs out of your 
 sugar, if you desire a pure maple taste and a wholesome article. When 
 the season is through, gather your utensils, and scald and scrub every 
 one perfectly clean, if you wish to continue making good sugar in the 
 future. In this order the evaporating pans are excepted, which should 
 be put away in a dry place with the glazed coating on them, which is 
 the best protection from rust. 
 
 At one of the fairs recently attended, we saw among the domestic 
 productions some very fine maple sugar, both caked and granular, 
 while near it stood a pleasant old man of seventy-five years, appar- 
 ently in charge. Cohesive attraction naturally drew us to the sugar, 
 
677 
 
 CUSTARDS, CREAMS AND SWEETS. 
 
 and the sugar easily led to a short chat with Walter Graves of Lev- 
 erett, the man above referred to, and the chat unconsciously drew out 
 the following information : two hundred and twenty-five maple trees 
 on his farm yield one thousand pounds of sugar annually. The same 
 sugar orchard yields double the sugar that it did twenty years ago. 
 Trees may be tapped so as to destroy them in one year, or they may 
 be made to last one hundred years. One spout to a tree is in the long 
 run better than six. A tree less than about a foot in diameter is not 
 large enough to tap. The proper depth to bore is about an inch and 
 a half, but never in an old hole, or always at The same height. Trees 
 tapped late in the season run most freely, and so do those tapped in 
 alternate years, and also those standing near springs and brooks. 
 Trees in open fields yield the most sugar. Maple sugar needs remelt- 
 ing in the summer to make it nice, and maple syrup needs occasional 
 scalding in warm weather. Sugar exposed to the light retains its 
 color better than that in the dark. Granulated sugar is made by stir- 
 ring the sugar when it begins to grain. Careful attention is requisite 
 to successful sugar making. There are trees on Mr. Graves’ home- 
 stead, in good condition, that have been tapped annually for three- 
 fourths of a century. 
 
 A manufacturer of maple sugar tells us that one of the most im- 
 portant points in making a good article of maple sugar, is to convert 
 the sap into sugar as soon as possible after it runs from th.e trees. It 
 is bad policy to boil the sap over and over, as some do, for twenty-four 
 hours, more or less, as the case may be. 
 
 In olden time very little care was taken to save fuel ; now, upon 
 many farms where sugar trees abound, the saving of fuel in boiling 
 sap is an important consideration. A valuable improvement for this 
 purpose is described by a sugar maker in St. Lawrence County, 1ST. Y., 
 which he thinks should be more generally known. 
 
 Two pans are set in brick or stone work, side by side, one of them 
 a few inches higher than the other, into which the cold sap is put, and 
 when partially boiled, is drawn by a syphon into the lower pan. The 
 furnace door is under one end of the lower pan, and the draft carries 
 the heat to the further end and through an opening in the wall be- 
 tween the pans and along the bottom of that to the chimney, which 
 is j ust by the side of the fire door. By this plan only a small portion 
 of the heat goes up the chimney ; the partially-concentrated sap in 
 the lower pan taking the first, or strongest heat, and the colder sap in 
 the upper pan absorbing most of the remainder. This plan of doubling 
 the fire around in its course under the pans, takes up more heat into 
 
678 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 the sap than it does when two pans are set end to end. The saving 
 in fuel is thirty to fifty per cent. 
 
 A writer says, that every farmer should plant a tenth of his land 
 with sugar maples. Plant in rows ten feet apart, and cultivate them 
 with corn or root crops. 
 
 Who would not plant a maple tree ? Look at what one tree may 
 yield : 
 
 The Chronicle, Warren, Trumbull county, Ohio, states that from a 
 moderate sized tree, standing in open ground, in front of the residence 
 of the Rev. David King, of Vernon, of that county, his wife made 
 thirty-four pounds of very fine sugar this season. It is thought if all 
 the sap had been carefully saved, it would have given forty pounds. 
 Surely, it is worth while to plant such trees as this for shade and or- 
 nament. 
 
 Joel Woodbury, of Springfield, Mass., gives us the following state- 
 ment, which he says may be relied upon : Mr. Olney Bates, of that 
 town, has a single sugar maple tree, standing about a hundred rods 
 from the bank of the Connecticut river, from which he has made this 
 year seventy-five pounds of sugar. This tree is fourteen feet in cir- 
 cumference two feet from the ground, and twelve feet circumference 
 ix feet from the ground. It was tapped with twelve spiles, leading 
 vhe sap into six buckets. One day the yield of sap was ten pailfuls. 
 
 New Maple Molasses . — A correspondent gives the following : Ma- 
 ple molasses, well made and put up in cans right from the kettle, and 
 hermetically sealed, as you would can and seal fruits, will keep as 
 fresh as when first boiled from the sap, and this is decidedly the best 
 plan for keeping, as when made in cakes, if exposed to the air, it will 
 lose some of the peculiarly delightful flavors for which it is so prized, * 
 and is often injured by insects. All this is obviated by canning while 
 hot. To many families who do not make it on a large scale, this need 
 be but little expense, as the cans that have been emptied through the 
 winter can be used until autumn fruits demand them again. Put up 
 your best in this way. Where large quantities are made for market, 
 the buyers must select and can for themselves. 
 
 White Maple Sugar . — To make maple sugar white, the sap should 
 be caught in a very clean vessel, (tin is best,) and boiled down in clean 
 iron kettles, or tin, that the syrup may not be colored ; strain into 
 tin every night, set it in a cool place until you get enough to “ sugar 
 off/’ Let it settle one or two days ; then drain it off, leaving the 
 dregs, and to a pail of syrup add the white of one egg, and five table- 
 spoonfuls of milk, and one-twentieth- of a teaspoonful of saleratua, 
 
PRESERVES, JELLIES AND JAMS. 679 
 
 mixed well together. While boiling, add the above mixture, and stir 
 well half a minute. Let i.t boil gradually till the scum rises ; skim it 
 off, boil down to the thickness of thin honey. After cooling a little, 
 pour it into stone jars ; let it stand open till cool without stirring; 
 cover it with a cloth, put on the cover, set it in a cool place, and let 
 it remain six months or a year. It will crystalize on the sides and 
 bottom. If the remainder sours, turn off the molasses into a kettle, 
 add a little saleratus, boil and skim as before, and it will be sweet. 
 Let it cool, and turn it into the jar. Open-mouthed jars should be 
 used. Take out the crystalized sugar, rinse and dry it, and it will be 
 as white as loaf sugar. 
 
 PRESERVES, JELLIES AND JAMS. 
 
 Preserves are made by taking fruit and sugar, pound for pound, 
 and simply cooking them together until the fruit is done. 
 
 Jellies are made by squeezing and straining out the juice only 
 of the fruit; then taking a pound of sugar for a pound of juice, and 
 cooking until it jells, which is told by taking out a little on a cold 
 plate. 
 
 Jams are made by weighing the whole fruit, washing, slicing, and 
 putting in sufficient water to cook it well ; then when cool, rubbing 
 it through a fine sieve, and with this pulp, putting in as much sugar 
 as there was of the fruit only, and cooking it very carefully until the 
 weight of the jam is the same as the fruit and added sugar ; the wa- 
 ter, you see, is all gone ; and this is easily told by having previously 
 weighed the kettle in which you are cooking it. The jam, if nicely 
 done, contains more of the fruit flavor than the jell, and is as valuable 
 as the jell to put into water as a drink for invalids ; and better for 
 flavoring syrups for soda fountains, &c. Strawberries, raspberries, 
 blackberries, peaches and pine-apples make very nice jams for flavor- 
 ing syrups. Much of the flavor of the fruit resides in the skin, pits, 
 &c. And jams made in this way from the blackberry are good for 
 sore mouth, diarrhea, dysentery, &c. 
 
 JAMS. 
 
 * 
 
 The preserve made from raspberries, huckleberries, blackberries, 
 and other similar berries and fruits, which passes under the name 
 
680 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 of jam, differs from the common sugar preserve more in name than in 
 fact. The berries are mixed with about an equal weight of sugar, and 
 boiled or stewed, and jammed or mashed at the same time till the 
 whole mass has the consistence of thick syrup. As so large a per 
 cent, of sugar is used in the preparation, absolute exclusion of air is 
 not requisite ; and hence a paper cut the size of the jar, and wet with 
 brandy, laid directly upon the jam, and another piece of paper pasted 
 upon the mouth, are found to answer every purpose. 
 
 Raspberry Jam . — Weigh the fruit, and add three-quarters of the 
 weight sf sugar ; put the former into a preserving pan, boil, and break 
 it ; stir constantly, and let it boil very quickly ; when the juice has 
 boiled an hour, add the sugar and simmer half an hour. In this way 
 the jam is superior in color and flavor to that which is made by put- 
 ting the sugar in first. 
 
 JELLIES. 
 
 If, instead of stewing the entire fruit, as in making jam, the juices 
 be pressed out through a strong piece of coarse muslin, we shall have 
 the pulp without the seed or woody fibre. For this reason jellies are 
 much more valuable for the household than jams, as being among the 
 choicest stores for the sick chamber that can be secured. The pre- 
 paration and mode of preservation are the same as those of jams. 
 Apple, currant, grape, blackberry, and raspberry, are among the most 
 valuable jellies. 
 
 To Make Good Apple Jelly. — 1. Take apples of the best quality 
 and good flavor, (not sweet,) cut them in quarters or slices, and stew 
 them till soft ; then strain out the juice, being very careful not to let 
 any of the pulp go through the strainer. Boil it to the consistency 
 of molasses, then weigh it and add as many pounds of crushed sugar, 
 stirring it constantly till the sugar is dissolved. Add one ounce of 
 extract of lemon to every twenty pounds of jelly, and when cold set it 
 away in close jars. It will keep good for years. Said to be superior 
 to currant jelly. 
 
 2. Cut in quarters six dozen fall pippins, take out all the cores, put 
 them into a pan, just cover them with cold water and place them on 
 the fire. Let them boil until they become quite soft, then drain upon 
 a sieve, catching the liquor in a basin, which passes through a clean 
 jelly bag ; weigh out one pound of sugar to every pint of liquor ; 
 boil the sugar separately until it is almost a candy, then mix the li- 
 quor with it, and boil, keeping it skimmed until the jelly falls from 
 the skimmer in thin sheets ; then take it from the fire, put in small 
 
PRESERVES, JELLIES AND JAMS. 
 
 681 
 
 jars, and let it stand a day until quite cold, when put your paper over 
 and put by till wanted. 
 
 3. One pound moist sugar, one pound apples, one lemon — the juice 
 
 of the lemon to be used and the rind added — cut very fine. Boil the 
 whole till it becomes a perfect jelly. Let it stand in a mould till 
 quite firm and cold. Turn out and stick it with almonds; set custard 
 round. If for dessert, use a small mould, plain. ♦ 
 
 4. Slice whole apples, (cores, parings and all,) cook them with just 
 water enough to cover them till reduced to a soft pulp. Take the 
 rind and juice of four lemons : strain this pulp (not squeezing it) twice, 
 add the lemons, measure pint for pound of white sugar ; let it boil 
 for half an hour, and turn into forms. Quince, &c., the same way. 
 
 5. Peel and core the apples — Spitzenbergs are the best — put them 
 in a brass or porcelain kettle, with water sufficient to stew them with- 
 out burning. When soft, press out the juice through a woolen cloth. 
 To one quart of juice add one lemon, and boil ten minutes; then put 
 in one quart of sugar — let it boil until it is thick enough — (you can 
 tell by cooling a little) — then strain through the woolen cloth again, 
 and it is done. 
 
 Quince and Apple Jelly . — Cut small and core an equal weight of 
 tart apples and quinces. Put the quinces in a preserving kettle, with 
 water to cover them, and boil till soft ; add the apples, still keeping 
 water to cover them, and boil till the whole is nearly a pulp. Put 
 the whole into a jelly bag, and strain without pressing. 
 
 Apple Cranberry Jelly . — Take a peck of apples, of good flavor, but 
 if not suitable for cooking or eating out of hand, they will answer ; 
 wash clean, and cut in thin slices and put in a preserving kettle with 
 about a pint of water, and stew until soft, but not to change color. 
 Put the mass in a thin cloth and squeeze out the juice. Treat a quart 
 of cranberries in the same way, and add the juice to that of the ap- 
 ples, and one pound or less of refined sugar, and cook it until it will 
 form a jelly on cooling, which must be ascertained by experiment. It 
 will be found fully equal to currant jelly, and can be made when that 
 cannot be had. 
 
 Peach Jelly . — Peach jelly may be made in the usual way. When 
 very ripe mash and strain through a jelly bag or sieve. Allow a 
 pound of loaf sugar to a pint of juice, half ounce of bitter almond 
 blanched and pounded, or half of the kernels of the stone. If it does 
 not fnrm readily, add izinglass. 
 
 2. Pare well ripened peaches and remove the pits, boil the fruit 
 until quite soft in water enough to cover it, strain through a coarse 
 
682 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 bag and add one pound white sugar to each quart of the liquid, boil- 
 ing down until upon trial it stiffens when cooled. If it does not stiff- 
 en sufficiently, add a little izinglass. Put in jelly glasses, tumblers or 
 bowls, and paste white paper over them. After setting a short time 
 in the sun, preserve in a cool, dark place. 
 
 Currant Jelly. — Pick fine red, but long ripe currants from the 
 stems ; bruise them, and strain the juice from a quart at a time through 
 a thin muslin ; wring it gently, to get all the liquid ; put a pound of 
 white sugar to each pound of juice ; stir it until all is dissolved ; set 
 it over a gentle fire ; let it become hot, and boil for fifteen minutes ; 
 then try it by taking a spoonful into a saucer ; when cold if it is not 
 quite firm enough, boil it for a few minutes longer. 
 
 Easy Mode of Making Currant Jelly. — Squeeze fhe juice out of the 
 currants ; strain and measure it. Put it in a copper or brass kettle, 
 and boil it until the scum ceases to rise ; then, without taking the juice 
 off the fire, stir in one pound of well refined sugar to every pint of 
 juice ; and as soon as the sugar is fully dissolved — which will be in less 
 than a minute — take it off and pour it into the vessels prepared to re- 
 ceive it. This jelly retains the beautiful crimson color of the currant, 
 much better than the old mode. 
 
 Red Currant Jelly. — With three parts of fine, ripe, red currants, 
 mix one of white currants ; put them into a clean preserving pan, and 
 stir them gently over a clear fire until the juice flows from them freely; 
 then turn them into a fine hair sieve, and let them drain well, but with- 
 out pressure. Pass the juice through a folded muslin, or a jelly bag ; 
 weigh it, and then boil it fast for & quarter of an hour ; add for each 
 pound, eight ounces of sugar, coarsely powdered ; stir this to it, off 
 the fire, until it is dissolved; give the jelly eight minutes of quick 
 boiling, and pour it out. It will be firm and of excellent color and 
 flavor. Be sure to clear off the scum as it rises, both before and after 
 the sugar is put in, or the preserve will not be clear. Juice of red 
 currants, three pounds, juice of white currants, one pound : fifteen 
 minutes. Sugar two pounds : eight minutes. An excellent jelly may 
 be made with equal parts of the juice of red and of white currants, 
 and of raspberries, with the same proportion of sugar and degree of 
 boiling as mentioned in the foregoing. 
 
 White Currant Jelly. — White currant jelly is made in the same way 
 as red currant jelly, only it should have double refined sugar, and not 
 be boiled above ten minutes. White currant jelly should be put 
 through a lawn sieve. 
 
 Black Currant Jelly. — To each pound of picked fruit, allow one gill 
 
PRESERVES, JELLIES AND JAMS. 
 
 683 
 
 of water ; set them on the fire in the preserving pan to scald, but do 
 not let them boil ; bruise them well with a silver fork, or wooden 
 beater, take them off and squeeze them through a hair sieve, and to 
 every pint of juice allow a pound of loaf or raw sugar. Boil it ten 
 minutes. 
 
 Strawberry Jelly. — 1 . Express the juice from the fruit through a 
 cloth, strain it clear, weigh and stir to it an equal proportion of the 
 finest sugar, dried and reduced to powder ; when this is dissolved, 
 place the preserving pan over a very clear fire, and stir the jelly often 
 until it boils ; clear it carefully from scum, and boil it quickly from 
 fifteen to twenty -five minutes. This receipt is for a moderate quanti- 
 ty of the preserve. A very small portion will require much less 
 time. 
 
 2. From the Agriculturist: Take ripe perfect strawberries, pick 
 off the husks, place the berries in large, but not deep, dishes, saturate 
 well with refined brown sugar, and set the dishes on the cellar floor 
 to keep them cool. Early the next morning drain off the juice, being 
 careful not to mash the berries. (Make pies of the berries.) Stew 
 the juice over a slow fire until it begins to thicken, then stir in as 
 many cups of sugar as there are of juice ; keep it cooking slowly and 
 well stirred until the sugar is well .dissolved. Some prefer a common 
 stone milk crock to stew it down in. When a little cool put it into 
 glass tumblers, and when cold cover tight with two or more thick- 
 nesses of white paper, and keep in a cool dry place. 
 
 Grape Jelly. — rut the grapes into a jar, and place the jar in an 
 oven, or on the top of a stove to draw out the juice ; then squeeze 
 them through a cloth, and to every pound of juice add one pound of 
 loaf sugar, and boil nearly an hour ; after which pour it into pots, 
 and let it stand till next day ; then cover with paper, and tie up 
 tight. 
 
 Wine Jelly . — Pour one quart of boiling water on half a paper of 
 gelatine ; sweeten, and when cool add two wineglasses of wine. This 
 is well recommended. 
 
 2. One pint of cold water, to be poured on one paper of gelatine* 
 Let it stand an hour ; then add one and a quarter pounds of white 
 sugar, the rind of one lemon, and the juice of three, one pint of wine, 
 (any kind will answer,) one quart of boiling water. Strain it, and set 
 it away to cool and harden. 
 
 Iced Pine- Apple Jelly. — Take off the rind of a pine-apple, and trim 
 the best part equally about the size of a crown piece, but a little thick- 
 er. Boil it in the sugar, adding the juice of a lemon; then put to it 
 
684 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 some clarified isinglass ; drain the slices through a sieve ; strain the 
 juice and sugar through a jelly bag. Put in the mould one-half an 
 inch of jelly, and set it on ice to freeze. When firm, lay the slices 
 over the jelly. When this is frozen, add more jelly to freeze again; 
 then fill the mould. 
 
 Table Jelly . — Eight sheets of isinglass, eight tumblers of water, a 
 pound and a half of sugar, two sticks of cinnamon, some mace, three 
 lemons, cut in slices and the seeds taken out, the whites of three eggs, 
 well beaten. Let it all soak half an hour ; then boil hard for ten min- 
 utes, and strain through a hair sieve into moulds. 
 
 Bread Jelly . — Cut the crum of a penny roll into thin slices, and 
 toast them equally of a pale brown ; boil them gently in a quart of 
 water till it will jelly, which may be known by putting a little in a 
 spoon to cool ; strain it upon a bit of lemon peel, and sweeten it with 
 sugar. A little wine may be added. 
 
 Calf's Foot Jelly. — 1. Having reduced some feet to jelly by boiling, 
 scrape off the fat from the cake when cold. Melt it in a kettle, and 
 before it is warm enough to cook them stir in the broken whites of 
 some eggs. Boil and skim well ; strain through a flannel bag ; re- 
 turn to the kettle with the addition of some brandy, sugar, and deli- 
 cate spices, as much as makes it agreeable to you. Boil until it will 
 readily congeal on ice ; strain it through flannel until perfectly clear ; 
 mould it, or if for glasses, heap it in them in broken pieces. You 
 may flavor calf foot jelly with any fruit you choose. Gelatine is dis- 
 solved in water and prepared by the same process. One ounce to one 
 quart of water in winter ; one and a half ounces in summer. 
 
 2. To four large, well cleaned legs put four quarts of water ; let it 
 simmer slowly till reduced to two quarts ; when the meat is tender, 
 and leaves the bones, take off the kettle and strain the whole through 
 a colander. Let the jelly cool in the same room gradually; when 
 cold, remove with a silver spoon all the top fat ; put the jelly into 
 your preserving kettle, leaving the sediment at the bottom of the dish. 
 Put to the jelly in the kettle the beaten whites and shell of six eggs, 
 the strained juice of three large lemons, the thinly pared rind of one 
 of the lemons, one pound and a half of the best loaf sugar, crushed 
 with a rolling pin, one pint of white wine, a large nutmeg, a teaspoon- 
 ful of ground cinnamon. Allow it to melt gradually, and do not stir 
 it after it has melted. As the scum accumulates on one side, take it 
 off. Have ready two straining bags, made of cotton or linen, sewed 
 on small wooden hoops ; into one bag put a large teaspoonful of brown 
 sugar, if you wish a deep color to the jelly which is to be poured upon 
 
685 
 
 PRESERVES, JELLIES AND JAMS. 
 
 it. Do not squeeze the bags, it will make the jelly muddy. When 
 the jelly is in, cover the aperture of the bags. Should it not run 
 clear, return it to the bag. When the jelly has passed through the 
 bags, let it remain in the same room till it becomes solid. When, 
 cool, fill up glasses with a spoonful from one dish, and from the other, 
 alternately, or, if you choose, keep them in separate glasses. Calf ’a 
 foot jelly looks best broken up in glasses. 
 
 3. By Mrs. Sigourney : — 
 
 Cut in pieces four calves’ feet; 
 
 Put four quarts of water to them : 
 
 Make them subject to a heat 
 That to two quarts shall subdue them. 
 
 Strain the fluid ; let it rest 
 All night long from toil and trouble; 
 Then from foot and forehead take 
 Sediment and oily bubble. 
 
 Lay it in the pan once more, 
 
 4 With a pint of wine to boot, 
 Acid juice of lemons four, 
 
 Sugar that your taste shall suit. 
 
 Beat the whites of twice four eggs 
 To a snowy froth, and then, 
 Watchful at your kitchen range, 
 Boil for minutes three times ten. 
 
 Take it off, and add a cup 
 Of cold water to restore it; 
 Pass it through a flannel bag, 
 And in crystal glasses pour it. 
 
 Codicil : — 
 
 When you compound this jelly, friend, 
 I simply hint to you, 
 
 From motives of economy, 
 
 To make a custard, too. 
 
 For there are yelks of eggs, you know, 
 Which ’twere not well away to throw. 
 
 So beat them all with sugar fine, 
 
 A quart of boiled milk use, 
 
 And when ’tis tepid, stir them in, 
 With flavoring as you choose. 
 
 Then in small cups of China bake it. 
 Or in deep dish a pudding make it 
 
686 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 Fruit in Jelly . — Put in a basin half a pint of calf’s foot jelly, and 
 when it has become stiff, lay in a bunch of grapes, with the stalks up- 
 wards, or fruit of any kind ; over this put a few vine leaves, and fill 
 up the bowl with warm jelly; let it stand till next day, and then set 
 the bowl in water up to the brim for a moment, then turn out care- 
 fully. It is an elegant looking dish. 
 
 Quince Marmalade. — Gather the fruit when quite ripe ; pare, quar- 
 ter and core it ; boil the skins in the water, measuring a teacupful to 
 a pound of fruit ; when they are soft, mash and strain them, and put 
 back the water into the preserving kettle ; add the quinces, and boil 
 them until they are soft enough to mash fine ; rub through a sieve, 
 and put three-quarters of a pound of sugar to a pound of fruit ; stir 
 them well together, and boil them over a slow fire until it will fall 
 like jelly from a spoon. Put it in pots or tumblers, and secure it 
 when cold with paper sealed to the edge of the jar with the white of 
 an egg. 
 
 Peach Marmalade . — Mash to a fine pulp, and add sugar in the pro- 
 portion of the sweetmeats and simmer down ; it should be a smooth, 
 thick mass. Put away in large tumblers. 
 
 Blackberry Flummery. — Stew blackberries, moderately sweetened 
 with sugar or molasses, until soft ; mix a thickening of flour and wa- 
 ter, and stir into the berries. Continue stirring while it boils, until 
 the whole becomes incorporated into a mass just sufficiently thick to 
 pour into moulds ; when cold, turn out for dessert, to be eaten with 
 milk or cream. 
 
 Plum Muss , or Lekwar. — Plums boiled into a mass, no ingredient 
 whatever being added to it — the plums being so sweet in themselves 
 they require no sugar. In Hungary it is used in both cotta ge and 
 mansion, and is a common article of sale in every provision shop. It 
 will keep good for two or three years if carefully stored. It is pleas- 
 ant and wholesome. 
 
 Juice of the Watermelon. — Boil the juice in an iron vessel, then 
 put in apples or peaches, like making apple butter, and boil slowly 
 until the fruit is well cooked ; then spice to taste, and you have some- 
 thing by many preferred to apple butter, or any kind of preserves. 
 Or the syrup may be boiled without fruit down to a very fine mo- 
 lasses. 
 
PRESERVATION OF MEATS. 
 
 687 
 
 PRESERVATION OF MEATS. 
 
 Preservation of food consists in checking or preventing chemical 
 decomposition. There are five methods in most extensive use : 1. By 
 use of salt. 2. By use of sugar. 3. By the aid of heat. 4. By the 
 use of creosote. 5. By exclusion of air. 
 
 In respect to their sanitary qualities, preservatives may be classed 
 as beneficial, inert, or injurious — salt and sugar being in the first 
 class — heat in the second — and creosote, nitre, arsenic, &c., in the 
 third. 
 
 Too great a proportion of salt food results in a scorbutic tenden- 
 cy of the system ; of sugar food, in a tendency to dyspepsia ; of smoked, 
 to both. 
 
 The harder, firmer, whiter, and cleaner, the greater power of sugai 
 to absorb water, and consequently to preserve. 
 
 Chemical action, when once commenced, can never be recovered. 
 It may for a time be checked so as to be harmless, but the process 
 of decomposition once commenced never “goes backward.” 
 
 Preserving Animal Substances . — Putrefaction requires the presence 
 of water ; hence by drying animal substances they are preserved. 
 Putrefaction is impossible above one hundred and eighty- two degrees, 
 or below thirty- two. Freezing acts precisely as drying. Hence bod- 
 ies preserved by frost, and those which remain fresh for years after 
 death on the Arabian deserts, are preserved from the same essential 
 cause. 
 
 To Kee'p Fresh Meat in Summer . — Put the meat into a stone jar, 
 and cover it with sour milk. By changing the milk once or twice, it 
 will keep a week or more. Before cooking, wash the milk from the 
 meat, and lay it in a little soda water a few minutes. It will make it 
 very tender. Or hang the meat in the well. 
 
 Mr. Runge has published the following method for preserving 
 meat : “ In an earthen pot, provided with a good lid, pour an ounce 
 
 of concentrated acetic acid ; place over it, so that it may not touch, a 
 grate of ozier or wood, and on this lay the meat to be preserved, and 
 then cover with the lid. The acid, evaporating slowly, envelopes the 
 meat, and at the end of twelve days or a fortnight, it is both tender 
 and sweet, with an excellent flavor.” 
 
 Pickling Meat. — Prof. Rafinesque strongly denounces the use of 
 saltpeter in brine intended for the preservation of flesh to keep for 
 food. That part of the saltpeter which is absorbed by the meat, he 
 
688 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 says, is nitric acid, or aquafortis, a deadly poison ; animal flesh, pre- 
 vious to the addition of the former, only possesses a nutritious virtue. 
 This is destroyed by the chemical action of salt and saltpeter ; and, as 
 the Professor remarks, the meat becomes as different a substance from 
 what it should be, as leather is from raw hide before it is subjected to 
 the process of tanning. He ascribes to the pernicious effects of this 
 chemical change, all the diseases which are common to mariners and 
 others who subsist principally upon salted meat— such as scurvy, sore 
 gums, decayed teeth, ulcers, &c.; and advises a total abandonment of 
 the use of saltpeter in making pickles for beef, pork, &c., the best sub- 
 stitute for that article being, he says, a small quantity of sugar, which 
 renders the meat sweeter, more wholesome, and equally as durable. 
 
 Smoking Meat. — As bark contains the essential oils of the tree, its 
 smoke is not so desirable as that of wood. That of corncobs is, by 
 many, esteemed very highly; but perhaps the sweetest and purest 
 smoke is obtained from dry hickory sapwood without the bark. 
 
 To Preserve Smoked Meat. — A friend of mine for several years past 
 has preserved his bacon from flies and insects in the following man- 
 ner : When the meat is well smoked, he carefully packs it away in 
 large casks or boxes, thoroughly buried in shelled corn. By this sim- 
 ple process he assures me that he has never failed in preserving his 
 meat in good order until the last piece was gone. It should be 
 placed where moisture will not cause the corn or meat to mold. 
 
 A Belfast (Ireland) paper states that meat, first dried in a current 
 of air, and then hung up in a close chamber, and exposed for twenty 
 or thirty minutes to the fumes of burning sulphur, will keep as long 
 as required. The meat before packing must be further dried, and then 
 covered with some impervious substance. 
 
 The Preservation of Meat by Molasses. — Mr. Marqueritte states in 
 I! Invention, that meat may be preserved by molasses alone in the 
 most perfect manner, and with the following important advantages : It has 
 an agreeable flavor, it produces no scurvy or other disorders which result 
 from the use of salt food, and it may be prepared at a moderate price. 
 
 The process consists simply in cutting the meat into pieces of mod- 
 erate size and dropping them into molasses, such as is obtained from 
 the sugar manufactories or refineries. By a natural process of osmose, 
 the lighter juices of the meat pass out, and the heavier molasses pen- 
 etrates inward to every part of the meat. When the external molas- 
 ses has acquired a certain degree of liquidity from the mixture of the 
 juices of the meat, it is a sure sign that the meat is thoroughly im- 
 pregnated. It is now taken out of the molasses, thoroughly washed, 
 
PRESERVATION OF MEATS. 
 
 689 
 
 and hung in a current of air to dry. After it is completely dry, it 
 miy be packed in boxes and sent all over the world without experi- 
 encing any change whatever. 
 
 Preserving Meats and Vegetables. — Partially boiled or roasted meat, 
 free from all taint, and half dressed vegetables, are introduced into a 
 tin cannister, which is then soldered up, with the exception of a small 
 nole in the lid. The cannister is then placed in a bath of boiling salt 
 brine, which is heated a few degrees above the boiling point of water, 
 and when it is noticed that steam issues copiously from the aperture, 
 the canister is lifted, and the hole in the lid instantly filled with a 
 drop of solder, thus hermetically sealing the vessel. The success of 
 this operation is indicated by the end of the canister becoming slight- 
 ly concave by the pressure of the atmosphere upon it. Meat thus 
 prepared has kept fresh twenty years. Pure butter, melted and 
 brushed over the surface of fresh meat, preserves it from contact with 
 the air, and it will remain unchanged for a much longer period than 
 when exposed to the air. Vinegar, containing a few drops of creo- 
 sote, brushed over fresh meat, will also preserve it from decomposition 
 for several days during warm weather. 
 
 Preservation of Pork. — Pork presents the readiest facilities for 
 preservation. It should not be put down till the animal heat has ful- 
 ly passed off, and it is cold throughout. When packed, with from for- 
 ty to fifty pounds of salt to the hundred of pork, interspersed between 
 the layers, and the barrel filled with soft water so as to fully cover the 
 meat, and left in a cool place, no further care need be taken, except 
 that it must be kept covered with brine. In the colder latitudes it 
 may be kept fresh all winter by being packed in a barrel with snow, 
 or suspended on the north side of a building. Freezing results in no 
 material injury to its qualities. 
 
 Pickled Pork said to be Equal to Fresh. — A correspondent of the 
 Scientific American directs as follows : “Let the meat cool thorough- 
 ly ; cut into pieces four to six inches wide ; weigh them, and pack as 
 tight as possible in the barrel, salting very lightly. Cover the meat 
 with brine made as strong as possible. Pour off a gallon of the brine 
 and mix with it one tablespoonful of saltpeter for every hundred 
 pounds of meat, and return it to the barrel. Let it stand one month. 
 Then take out the meat ; let it drain twelve hours. Put the brine in 
 an iron kettle, add one quart of molasses, or two pounds of sugar, and 
 boil until perfectly clear. When it is cold, return the meat to the 
 barrel, and pour on the brine. Weight it down, and keep it covered 
 close, and you will have the sweetest meat that you ever tasted.” 
 
690 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 Another method that has been recommended is to boil the brine, 
 skim off all the impurities, and pour it on hot. The salt strikes 
 into the meat while hot in a short time, as the pores are enlarged by 
 heat. Tt has been tried by many different persons, and liked. 
 
 The following is also recommended : After the bone and lean has 
 been removed from the broadside, cut in pieces about ten inches 
 square. Place a layer of salt on the bottom of the barrel, and then a 
 layer of pork, with the rind down, and so on until the whole is packed. 
 After standing a day or two, make a strong brine, and turn over the 
 pork enough to cover it. We have always cured our pork in this way, 
 and have never lost any ; it has kept perfectly sweet. 
 
 To Cut up and Cure, Pork . — The directions here given are from 
 the New York Tribune: The first operation is to take off the head, 
 pretty well up to the shoulders, by cutting the flesh with a sharp 
 knife, and the bone with an ax. Cut off the ears as close as possible ; 
 divide the jowls from the upper part of the head, on a line with the 
 mouth, by knife and ax. These are excellent salted and smoked, or 
 they may go into head cheese. This is made of the upper part of the 
 head, with the souse, or else it goes into the oven for baked pig’s head, 
 in which case two inches of the snout must be cut off for souse. The 
 next cut is to sever the ribs close to the backbone along each side, 
 and take out the backbone for roasting. Now cut the leaf fat loose 
 from the ribs forward, and seize it with a strong grip and pull it and 
 the kidneys out, and then, with a knife inserted under the ribs, cut 
 them loose with as little meat as possible. Now cut off both hams, 
 and cut them apart, taking out the tail-piece, wedge-shaped, and trim 
 the hams to a handsome shape, with only a short leg on each. Now 
 cut the shoulders off in the same way, taking out quite a chunk of fat 
 meat of the back between them. Then cut up the sides, if wanted for 
 pickled pork, in sizes to suit ; if intended for side bacon, leave them 
 whole in two pieces. If your pig is not large, and you want fresh 
 roasts, you need not take out the backbone, but cut it with portions 
 of the ribs and sides into suitable sized roasting pieces. If your pig 
 is very fat, and as lard is worth more than pork, trim the joints and 
 sides closely, and cut it up fine for lard. These with the leaf must be 
 put in a kettle over a slow fire, so as not to burn, without water, and 
 cooked till all the water is wholly evaporated, and the scraps thor- 
 oughly cooked. Such lard will keep sweet. 
 
 It will be most convenient for you to dry-salt your bacon. First 
 sprinkle a little saltpeter — four ounces to one hundred pounds of meat 
 — and then rub half a gill to a gill of molasses upon each joint, and 
 
PRESERVATION OF MEATS. 
 
 691 
 
 •a 
 
 let them lay a day or two ; then rub them with fine hot salt — six 
 pounds to one hundred pounds of meat — and lay them upon the floor, 
 or on a table, as many days as a joint weighs pounds, rubbingddiem 
 over once in the time. Salt the side pork in the same way, and after- 
 ward pack it in brine as strong as salt will make it. 
 
 When the joints are ready to smoke, brush off all the loose salt, or 
 rub it off with a wet cloth, but do not put them in water, and sprin- 
 kle them well with red pepper. Smoke them with any sweet wood, 
 and be sure never to heat them, nor to make a smoke in wet days. 
 Let your smoke house be open for the smoke to escape, aud do not 
 hurry the business, and you will have sweet bacon. It will take two 
 or three weeks to smoke a ham of sixteen pounds weight. Never use 
 rotten wood. After your joints are smoked to suit you, put each in a 
 loose cotton bag, and hang up the joint by the string, not by the bag, 
 in a cool, dry room, and your hams will keep for years. 
 
 English Receipt for Curing Bacon . — So soon as the meat comes 
 from the butcher’s hand, rub thoroughly, and fill every crevice with 
 fine salt. Next day scrape off the salt not absorbed, cleanse out the 
 vessel, and salt the pork as before. Eepeat this three days. The 
 fourth day, use pulverized saltpeter with a handful of common salt — 
 one-quarter of a pound of saltpeter to seventy pounds of meat. Then 
 mix one pound of coarse brown sugar, one pint of common molasses, 
 and pour over the saltpeter; repeat this four times a day for three 
 days, and then twice a day for a month. Smoke with maple or hick- 
 ory chips, or clean, fresh corn cobs. 
 
 To Cure Hams . — Curing and keeping ham so as to have it keep 
 sweet and good the year round is a matter which interests every 
 housekeeper and lover of good ham. 
 
 To every one hundred pounds of meat take seven pounds salt, two 
 ounces saltpeter, one ounce Cayenne pepper, five pounds brown sugar, 
 (or two quarts molasses.) In packing the hams, use one-half the salt. 
 The rest of the salt, with the other ingredients, should be put in wa- 
 ter enough to cover the meat ; boil and skim, but let it stand until 
 cool ; then pour it over the hams. Let them remain in this brine six 
 weeks, then rinse and smoke. This method is said to give good sat- 
 isfaction. 
 
 2. A friend, at whose house we have eaten the most delicate fla- 
 vored ham, says : After trying various ways of curing hams, we pre- 
 fer the following as cheapest and best : As soon as the animal heat 
 is gone, rub the hams thoroughly with hot salt, pack them edgeways 
 on a large table in the cellar, let them stand three or four days, and 
 
692 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 repeat the process, and let them stand as much longer. Then smoke 
 and hang them in a cool place. If not used up before warm weather, 
 cut the ham in slices the same as for frying, and fry until nearly done. 
 Pack in a stone jar, and turn the fat fried out over the slices, having 
 as much as two inches thick over the top of the meat. Cover the jar 
 air tight and set in the cellar. 
 
 3. From Prof. Loomis, in the U. S. Agricultural [Report: There 
 is no species of food for which insects seem to have so decided a pre- 
 ference as hams. The pickle for hams may be made in the same man- 
 ner and of the same proportions as that for beef, only that it should 
 not be used hot, as in the case of beef. Sugar or molasses may be ad- 
 ded to this pickle, as fancy indicates. The time of remaining in the 
 pickle will depend on the size of the ham — from one to two months — 
 when it is to be smoked until the curative process is complete. This 
 can only be determined by the amount of pickling it has received. As 
 the preservation is accomplished by the joint effect of two processes, 
 one must respond to the other ; if one has been deficient, the other 
 must make good the loss. After the preservation is supposed to be 
 complete, the usual — perhaps the most effectual — guarantee against 
 insects is to sew the hams up in close sacks and cover them with a 
 solution of lime or whitewash. This also serves as a covering to ex- 
 clude the air. 
 
 4. From John H. Gardiner, Jamestown, It. I., who says : Permit 
 me to give you a recipe that will not only save a ham through the 
 whole year, but will be fit to either boil or fry : 
 
 For such sized hams as can be cut from hogs weighing 250 pounds, 
 average, I take one ounce saltpeter, one ounce saleratus, half pint mo- 
 lasses, and a large handful fine salt, to each ham and shoulder. Mix 
 all together in a tub or half barrel. Then, with a small cloth rub 
 each piece and place in a cask. Do this twice each day for three 
 weeks, and they are ready to smoke. For larger hams increase in 
 proportion. 
 
 Smoking is another process requiring some care. Be careful not 
 to smoke too much. Hams want to be dried as well as smoked. I 
 would recommend a little smoke each day for two weeks, and then 
 take down, roll in Union newspapers, put them in bags, and hang 
 them in an upper room, and you can then have good hams the year 
 round. This is much better than packing in brine, as they will al- 
 ways be too salt. 
 
 5. The Western Christian Advocate publishes the following: To 
 every sixty pounds of ham take one pint of fine salt and one ounce. 
 
PRESERVATION OF MEATS. 
 
 693 
 
 of saltpeter. Pack in a clean oak cask, sprinkling the salt between 
 the layers of meat. Dissolve the saltpeter and pour it over the whole 
 adding sufficient pure water to cover. Soft water is best. Let them 
 he under the brine six weeks, then smoke. 
 
 6. Mr. It. Gr. Pardee said before the American Institute Farmers' 
 Club : — Hams can be made almost as delicate as tender chicken. All 
 hams should be cured by the following compound of articles : To one 
 hundred pounds of hams use eight or nine pounds of rock salt ; two 
 ounces saltpeter ; two pounds of white sugar ; one quart of best syrup ; 
 four ounces saleratus ; one ounce alspice. These materials are boiled 
 and scummed in ten or twelve gallons of water, and the hams packed 
 in a barrel ; and the brine put on cool, adding water if necessary to 
 cover the hams. None but a new oak barrel should be used. Scald 
 the barrel and cool it before putting in the hams. Let them lay 
 three weeks and then take them out and air them twenty-four hours ; 
 put them back again three weeks, and then take them out and dry 
 them thoroughly before smoking, which is done in an airy smoke house, 
 with cobs and maple or hickory chips. It is then a most delicious ar- 
 ticle of food. In smoking, be careful to keep your hams cool ; never*, 
 allow fire enough to heat the meat. 
 
 7. For curing hams and shoulders, a Virginian gives the following 
 receipt, which he thinks cannot be beat : 
 
 Supposing the hogs are killed at daybreak, as is usual among far- 
 mers, they should hang from twenty-four to thirty-six hours before 
 being cut up, or till the animal heat has entirely departed. Upon 
 each joint upon the skin side rub well half a teaspoonful of saltpeter; 
 then rub salt of a good quality on both sides well, leaving the salt 
 about one-quarter inch thick on the flesh side of the piece of meat. 
 After salting they should be packed in a close trough or box, tight and 
 close enough to hold brine ; lay them in the box with the skin side 
 down, taking care that the pieces do not touch each other, being kept 
 separate by the salt. If large hams let them remain in the box un- 
 disturbed for five weeks ; if small size, for four weeks. Take them 
 out, scrape off the salt, rub them all over with hickory ashes, hang up 
 in smoke house hock down ; smoke moderately for four weeks, making 
 only two fires a day, and they are to be made of hickory chips. About 
 the first of March take down the pieces and rub them again with hick- 
 ory ashes, and hang them again in smoke house where they can re- 
 main the whole year. Care must be taken not to let the hams touch 
 each other in the smoke house. If a green mould should appear on 
 the outside it only insures it against spoiling. 
 
694 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 8. Here is a receipt furnished to the Country Gentleman by a cor- 
 respondent, and highly recommended by the editors : — Although it in- 
 volves some more trouble than may be necessary in other receipts, the 
 excellence of the result is thought more than a compensation : One 
 pound and a half of salt, one-quarter of a pound of saltpeter, and one 
 ounce of black pepper. Mix these well together, and rub the ham 
 well ; cover it with what remains; let it be six days without moving; 
 then add one pound of molasses, after which turn the ham every day 
 and sprinkle it with the pickle for five weeks. Then dry it well and 
 hang it up in a temperate heat to dry thoroughly. 
 
 9. We add a receipt published several times by the Germantown 
 Telegraph, which says : After using it for about twenty years, and 
 comparing the hams so cured by a dozen different processes, we are 
 more than convinced of its superiority. It is this : To one gallon of 
 water take one and - a half pounds of salt, half pound of sugar, 
 half ounce of saltpeter, half ounce of potash. In this ratio 
 the pickle to be increased to any desired quantity. Let these be boil- 
 ed together, until all dirt from the sugar rises to the top and is skim- 
 med off. Then throw it into a tub to cool, and when cold pour it over 
 your beef or pork, to remain the usual time, say four or five weeks. 
 The meat must be well covered with pickle, and should not be put 
 down for at least two days after killing, during which time it should be 
 slightly sprinkled with powdered saltpeter, which removes all surface 
 blood, &c., leaving the meat fresh and clean. 
 
 Several of our friends have omitted the boiling to the pickle, and 
 found it to answer equally as well. It will not, however, answer quite 
 as well. By boiling the pickle it is purified — for the amount of dirt 
 which is thrown off by the operation from the salt and sugar, would 
 surprise any one not acquainted with the fact. 
 
 To Cure Hams Without Smolce. — “After trimming hams pork -house 
 style, and rubbing them well with salt, sprinkle salt over a floor or 
 platform, and lay them down flesh side up, in such manner as to econo- 
 mize space. To each ham give a teaspoonful of pulverized saltpeter, 
 then pack on salt as long as it will lay. In this condition leave them 
 until they have taken salt, and before the fly makes its appearance. 
 Then take them up, knock and rub off with a wet cloth, all adhering 
 salt, expose them to the air to dry, and when dried hang them up in 
 a high, dry, dark and airy loft, to cure without smoke. Thus cured 
 they will pass in any market or meet the palate of the most fastidious 
 epicure.” 
 
 lo Keep Smoked Ham or Shoulder Through the Summer. — As soon 
 
/ 
 
 PRESERVATION OF MEATS. 695 
 
 as moderately smoked, cut it up in slices ^s if for the table, and fry 
 until about half cooked ; then pack away tightly in the lard that fries 
 out of it ; if that is not sufficient, adding melted lard until it is entire- 
 ly covered, so that it will not mould. Keep it covered, and in five 
 minutes, at any time, you can finish cooking a few pieces for a hur- 
 ried meal, and you will find it a superior way to any other for preser- 
 ving ham or bacon, salted and smoked just to your taste, as well as 
 the most convenient. 
 
 2. Slice and trim ready for cooking ; pack in a stone jar, alterna- 
 ting a layer of ham and lard ; cover tight, and it will keep perfectly 
 sweet for a year. Or, cut in slices ready to fry, pack snugly in stone 
 jars, and cover with lard barely warm enough to run. Of course, as 
 the meat is used the layers remaining must be covered. 
 
 3. After the hams are smoked, put them back into the brine from 
 which they were taken, if it is in good condition. The hams will get 
 no salter, and, if kept covered with brine, neither the air nor flies can 
 touch them, and they will remain sweet and good until used. 
 
 4. Make sacks for them of a yard square of good sheeting. Put 
 them up befoi^ infected by flies, one in a sack. Cut up sweet hay 
 about one inch long, and put in the sacks around the hams, keeping 
 them from the bag. Tie up and hang up in the smoke-house, or some 
 cool, dry place ; the hay and bag will keep away the flies, and allow 
 the escape of moisture, so that they will not mould. If well cured 
 and thoroughly smoked, one may depend on having good hams as long 
 as they last. 
 
 To Prevent Skippers in Hams . — Mr. W. McWillie, in the Cotton 
 Planter , says : Simply keep your smoke-house dark, and the moth 
 that deposits the egg will never enter it. He keeps hams hanging in 
 his smoke-house till three years old, as free from insects as when first 
 hung up. He also recommends smoking with green hickory, as im- 
 proper wood is liable to destroy the flavor. 
 
 2. A correspondent of the Am. Agriculturist tells us that if smoked 
 hams be washed clean and rubbed well with saleratus, a coating will 
 be formed which insects will not penetrate. 
 
 To give any Ham the Smoky laste. — Mix equal parts of vinegar 
 and tar. Dip the ham into it for a few minutes. Then pour off and 
 broil. 
 
 Preservation of Beef. — At moderate temperatures exposure to a dry 
 currant of cool air will preserve fresh beef quite as long as it can be 
 kep * in an ice chest. The most convenient arrangement is to suspend 
 the meat in a north open window, another window or door being open 
 
696 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCL0P2EDIA. 
 
 so as to create a draught of air. It should not lie in a dish, as the 
 under side will be prevented from drying. Meat once placed upon 
 ice prepares itself to decay at that temperature, and, if removed, spoils 
 quickly. If meat has once been in the marketman’s ice-chest, after 
 being carried home on a hot summer’s morning, it will hardly keep 
 sweet three hours, whether it be on ice or not. 
 
 Dried or Jerked Beef . — In the dry cooler latitude of the Northern 
 United States, this mode may be successfully practiced in almost any 
 season, but usually only in the cooler. For jerking, if the weather be 
 fine, and exposure to wind favorable, little salt may be required ; but 
 for large and heavy rounds, rub the meat thoroughly with hot salt. 
 To meet with success, great care is necessary that the salt be rubbed 
 over every part of the surface, and into every crevice where air may 
 penetrate. This should be repeated once or twice daily for three or 
 four days. Unless the weather be quite cool, success will not be cer- 
 tain with heavy pieces. A surer and less inconvenient method is to 
 place the meat in an ordinary beef pickle until it has had time to be- 
 come thoroughly salted through, say from ten to fifteen days, accord- 
 ing to size. It is then hung where dry air may ha^fe free access. 
 Care is to be used that it be kept cool, or but moderately warm, while 
 drying. 
 
 Salted Beef . — There is little difficulty in keeping salt beef in an or- 
 dinary farm cellar through the summer, but it is quite otherwise when 
 prepared for market or transportation. If salted sufficiently to secure 
 it against changes of temperature, it becomes so salt and hard as to 
 be comparatively unpalatable and worthless. Of this nature must 
 necessarily be “army beef.” The question with the farmer is not 
 whether he can keep beef by salting, but how to salt it so as not to 
 cause the loss of its qualities. The cask must be perfectly sweet. If 
 meat has ever once “taken hurt,” it is impossible ever to render it 
 safe again. The winter pickle should never be retained for sum- 
 mer. As warm weather comes on, a, new, clean brine should be sub- 
 stituted. 
 
 The materials and proportion of the pickle vary much in different 
 localities, and according to the taste of individuals. The following is 
 substantially good : Make the pickle of strength to bear a fresh egg 
 above the surface to the size of a quarter of a dollar ; add one ounce 
 of saltpeter to fifteen to twenty pounds of meat ; one pound of sugar, 
 or one and a half pints molasses in same proportion if desired. After 
 the meat is packed in the barrel, the pickle is turned on boiling hoi . 
 
PRESERVATION OF MEATS. 697 
 
 The spring pickle is of similar proportions, except being without salt- 
 peter, and without being heated. 
 
 2. The editor of the Country Gentleman recommends for corning : 
 Two pounds brown sugar to eight gallons of water, also one quart of 
 molasses, four ounces of niter, and fine salt till it will float an egg. 
 This is enough for two quarters of beef. 
 
 3. A correspondent of the same paper says : For one hundred 
 pounds beef take six gallons water, nine pounds salt, half fine and 
 half coarse, three pounds brown sugar, one quart molasses, three oun- 
 ces saltpeter, and one ounce potash. Put the above ingredients into 
 a kettle, and boiling take off the scum. As soon as the scum ceases 
 to rise, take it off the fire, and, when cold, pour it in the barrel on the 
 beef. The beef should be rubbed with fine salt before packing in the 
 barrel. Mr. Tucker, the editor, recommends this also very highly. 
 
 4. To one hundred pounds meat take eight pounds salt, two ounces 
 saltpeter, two ounces pearlash, one ounce and a half of Cayenne pep- 
 per, two pounds sugar, (or one quart molasses.) In packing the beef 
 use one-half the salt ; the rest of the salt, with the other ingredients, 
 should be put in water enough to cover the meat ; boil and skim, but 
 let it stand until cool ; then pour it over the beef. Let them remain 
 in this brine six weeks, then rinse and smoke. Beef cured this way 
 will keep through the summer, it is said, and not get too salty. This 
 pickle is also recommended for hams. 
 
 5. This is preferred by many : Pack the beef with two pounds salt 
 to the one hundred pounds meat, in tight boxes or barrels ; let it re- 
 main two or three days for the salt to absorb the blood from the meat; 
 then take it out, wash it clean, and pack with seven pounds salt to the 
 one hundred pounds meat, and two ounces saltpeter, in good barrels. 
 Beef cured in this way will keep in the summer on a sea voyage. The 
 meat is rendered harder, however, and not so sweet as when cured ac- 
 cording to the previous recipe. 
 
 6. “For one hundred pounds of beef six quarts of salt, (or ten lbs.,) 
 four pounds of sugar, four ounces of saleratus, two ounces of saltpe- 
 ter. Pulverize the saltpeter, and mix the whole together. Put 
 it on as you pack the beef. Pack close, and put a stone on to keep it 
 down.” 
 
 7. To one hundred pounds beef take four quarts salt, and half an 
 ounce saltpeter, with which rub the beef well, and pack tight in clean 
 barrels. After it has stood a few days, draw off all the brine formed, 
 which is bloody and injurious to the beef. Then cover the beef with 
 
698 
 
 PKACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 a fresh cold brine, strong enough to bear an egg, adding to it half an 
 ounce saltpeter. 
 
 8. For one hundred pounds beef take five pounds salt, one pound 
 loaf sugar, and two ounces saltpeter, which heat slowly until dis- 
 solved in three gallons of water, when skim and pour cold or hot over 
 the beef. 
 
 9. “To one hundred pounds beef eight pounds clean coarse salt, two 
 ounces niter, a pound and a half of sugar, and four gallons water. Re- 
 move the scum, and let the rounds and other drying beef remain in 
 the pickle from nine to fourteen days. Beef is not improved by smo- 
 king. Boiling meat will keep all winter in this pickle." 
 
 10. Said to be excellent : To one hundred pounds of beef, four quarts 
 of salt, two ounces of saltpeter, and one pint of molasses. Mix well 
 in water enough to cover the meat. 
 
 O ( 
 
 To Prepare Beef for Drying . — From the Western Christian Advo- 
 cate : Cut the piece lengthwise of the grain, not too large or too small. 
 Rub each piece separately in cold salt, and place it in a large wooden 
 bowl or dish-pan, or in any suitable vessel that will hold the beef; 
 and then another piece, and so on until it is all nicely packed ; cover 
 it up and set in a moderately warm place ; let it stand a week, then 
 smoke it, and lay a few pieces of it at a time on a dripping pan, aftei 
 it has been well drained, and set in the oven, and let it remain until 
 just heated through; then hang up around the stove, and dry as 
 quickly as possible. 
 
 2. To thirty-six pounds of meat one pound salt, one and a half ta- 
 blespoonfuls saltpeter — one-third rubbed on once a day for three or 
 four days, and they are ready for drying or smoking. Equally goo^ 
 for hams. 
 
 MAKING- AND PRESERVING SAUSAGES, HEAD 
 CHEESE, ETC. 
 
 Chop or grind the meat, and season to taste. Then make into suit- 
 able sized cakes, and fry until thoroughly cooked. While frying, oc- 
 casionally press each cake with a spoon, that all the watery particles 
 may be removed. Then place it closely in stone or earthen jars, one 
 layer after another, until the jar is filled. Then run warm lard over 
 it sufficient to perfectly exclude the air ; fasten a good thick paper 
 over the top, and store them, away to be used when wanted. When 
 
MAKING AND PRESERVING SAUSAGES, HEAD CHEESE, ETC. 699 
 
 desired, the cakes may easily be removed, unbroken and perfect, by 
 warming the jar — then put in a pan until thoroughly heated through, 
 and they are ready for the table, as fresh and nice in mid-summer a3 
 when first made. 
 
 2. To make sausage — wash your sausage meat in tepid water, but 
 do not soak it. See that it is free from bone, sinews, gristle, &c., &c. 
 Cut it up in small pieces ; to three pounds lean meat allow one pound 
 of the leaf fat ; chop, or rather grind it very fine. To this quantity 
 allow three ounces salt, one-half ounce of ground black pepper, one 
 tablespoon of powdered sage. When well mixed, cook and try one 
 of this batch before you season another ; it is easy to add seasoning, 
 impossible to take it out, therefore be cautious in using it. Bemem- 
 ber your sausage becomes more salt as it dries. Add any spice you 
 like. 
 
 3. To thirty-six pounds meat, nine to twelve ounces salt, one ounce 
 and a half pepper, one and a half tablespoonfuls saltpeter ; three ta- 
 blespoonfuls molasses, six handfuls or more of sage. 
 
 4. Excellent : To forty pounds meat, one pound salt, three ounces 
 pepper, half a pint pulverized sage. Wafm without water. For pre- 
 serving put them in muslin bags, about six inches wide, and nine in- 
 ches long, that have been immersed in hot lard and wrung dry. In 
 this way they will keep, it is said, six months if desired. 
 
 5. To thirty pounds of meat add ten ounces of fine salt, three ounces 
 of sage, one ounce and a fourth of pepper, two ounces of cinnamon, 
 md mix well together. Apply it to the meat before chopping. 
 
 6. To thirty pounds of well cut meat, nine or ten ounces of clean 
 well rubbed fine salt, four ounces of pepper, and one ounce of sage, 
 *(f you use a cutter apply the seasoning after the first operation, and 
 then pass it through the machine again. Mix thoroughly. 
 
 7. For twenty pounds of chopped meat, four ounces sage, ten ounces 
 salt, one and three-fourths of an ounce of black pepper, one heaping 
 teaspoonful red pepper, one ordinary teaspoonful saltpeter. The meat 
 should be free from strings, and containing about one-fourth fat — a pro- 
 portion of it leaf fat. This sausage is improved by age — put in cas- 
 ings, and smoked moderately. A Maryland lady says this is one of the 
 best recipes for domestic sausage meat in the whole country. Of course 
 there is no standard of tastes in such matters. Some may think the 
 seasoning too high ; others may think the ingredients too few. Every 
 one, therefore, should try beforeusing any recipe upon too large a scale. 
 
 8. Take fat and lean meat, cut off the rind, and season as follows : 
 To twenty pounds of meat add eight ounces of sage and a teaspoonfu! 
 
700 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 of ground black pepper. Stir well with tbe hand : pack in tin pans ; 
 when full dip a cloth the size of the top of the pan in melted lard, and 
 spread over the pans, and turn them together and place them in a cool 
 place. 
 
 9. For thirty pounds meat, eight ounces fine salt, two and a half 
 ounces pepper, two teacupfuls sage, one teacup summer savory. 
 
 10. For ten pounds meat, two ounces pepper, an ounce and a half 
 of sage, four ounces salt, half ounce cayenne pepper. Mix well, add- 
 ing some warm water to make them fill easy. They should be filled 
 in skins, and linked and dried before cooking. 
 
 11. Very excellent sausages are made with nearly equal parts of fat 
 and lean pork, finely chopped and seasoned with pepper and salt ; but 
 for a superior article the following receipt is particularly recommend- 
 ed : Chop, first separately and then together, one pound and a quarter 
 of veal, free from fat, skin and sinew ; and equal weight of lean pork, 
 and of the inside fat of the pig. Mix well, and strew over the meat 
 one ounce and a quarter of salt, half an ounce of pepper, a nutmeg 
 (grated) and some pounded mace. Turn and chop the sausages until 
 they are equally seasoned through, and tolerably fine ; press them into 
 a clean pan, and leave them in a very cool place. Form them, when 
 required for table, into cakes something less than an inch thick ; flour 
 and fry them for ten minutes in a little butter. 
 
 Sausage Skins . — These are prepared by repeated soakings and wash- 
 ings. Then being turned, they are scraped so free from their slimy 
 coat that when blown up they are perfectly white and nearly transpa- 
 rent. They are again soaked in salt water several days, the water 
 being changed daily, and are then filled with sausage meat by some 
 of the various implements devised for that purpose. 
 
 Bologna Sausage . — Bologna sausage is made by using one-third of 
 lean beef, seasoning more strongly, and boiling after stuffing , before 
 drying. 
 
 2. Bologna sausage may be made of any good lean parts of fresh 
 beef. Chop four pounds of beef, two pounds of fi'esh lean pork, and 
 two pounds of suet. Free from strings, and mix thoroughly. Season 
 with two ounces of salt and as much powdered pepper, and cloves as 
 suits your taste. Stuff these sausages in beef skins nioely prepared. 
 Boil them and then smoke well. They are sometimes dried without 
 boiling, and are used raw. They are a very common resource for 
 travelers who have to be their own commissaries. Sausages made 
 wholly of beef are, a very good article for family use. 
 
 To Preserve Mince Meat . — Mince meat may be packed in stone jars. 
 
MAKING AND PRESERVING SAUSAGES, HEAD CHEESE, ETC. 701 
 
 covered with molasses or lard so as to exclude the air, and kept per- 
 fectly sweet. 
 
 To Keep Cooked Meat from Flies. — If you have no safe put it in the 
 stove oven when it is cold. 
 
 To Preserve Meat Broth, Soups and Gravy. — When broth, soups, 
 or gravy, are preserved from day to day, in hot weather, they should 
 he warmed every day, and put into fresh scalded pans; this renders 
 them less liable to spoil. 
 
 The Moniteur Sdentifique says: Meat broth in a bottle, lightly 
 closed with cotton has been found to keep unaltered for more than a 
 year. 
 
 Preparation and Preservation of Lard. — In the reduction of lard 
 from the tissues in which it is contained some particles of animal fibre 
 are intermixed, which would, if exposed to air, yield to decay ; but 
 being surrounded by the oil and wholly enclosed they are kept inactive, 
 Yet, after some time, if abundant, they may give an odor and taste 
 of decay. This suggests that care should be exercised as to the puri- 
 ty of lard designed to be kept, as w T ell as the exclusion of the air from 
 the vessel. Stone jars (not earthen) are the most desirable vessels. 
 The room should be cool and dry. 
 
 To keep it sweet, it is said, the lard of a hog about a year old, fat- 
 tened upon corn, is the best, and if carefully rendered and packed in 
 stone pots or sound oaken firkins, and kept covered close, will keep in 
 a cool cellar just as long as any farmer’s wife wants to keep it. Lard 
 must be thoroughly cooked in rendering ; if not it grows rancid in 
 warm weather. A cooling room attached to the ice house is an excel- 
 lent place to keep lard in summer. But no matter where you store it, 
 if it was not well cooked in the process of rendering, it will not keep 
 sweet. 
 
 The lard leaf should be tried separately from that which comes off 
 the inwards, and kept for summer use. 
 
 Preservation of Head Cheese. — The more gelatinous portions of the 
 slaughtered pork, such as the head, ears, and feet, being boiled until 
 reduced to the consistence of a jelly, and being seasoned highly with 
 salt, pepper and spices, and pressed into a solid mass, will remain du- 
 ring the cool weather without change. This is perhaps one of the 
 most satisfactory modes of disposing of the odds and ends. 
 
702 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 PEESEEVATION OF FISH. 
 
 Preserving Meat and Fish by Sugar. — To preserve fish by sugar, 
 open them and rub tbe sugar in, in tbe same manner as salt, leaving 
 it there for a few days. If tbe fish be intended for long keeping, dry 
 it after this, taking care to expose new surfaces to tbe air frequently, 
 to prevent mouldiness. Fish preserved in this manner, it is said, will 
 be found when dressed, much superior to what has been cured by salt 
 or smoke. For a salmon of six pounds weight, a tablespoonful of 
 brown sugar is sufficient. 
 
 Preservation of Shad and Lake White Fish. — If immediately dress- 
 ed and packed in ice, these and many other kinds of fish, as halibut, 
 mackerel, haddock, and salmon, will remain from six to fifteen days en- 
 tirely sweet. The preservation by salt is simple, as all fish require a 
 saturated solution of salt, i. e. such a quantity as always to have a 
 quart or two of salt remaining in the vessel. The fish should be kept 
 entirely under the brine, and in a cool room. 
 
 Preserving Herring. — If dressed immediately after being caught, 
 herring can be preserved from November to April by being packed 
 edgewise into tight casks with a half bushel of coarse salt, and pick- 
 led. If to be kept through the warm season, the pickle should be 
 drawn off by perforating the cask and letting it thus remain. The 
 store room should be cool and dry, and protected from the sun and 
 warm air. 
 
 Preservation of Oysters. — Oysters in shell, may be kept a few days 
 in a cool, damp place, especially if some salted water be sprinkled upon 
 them two or three times a day. As soon as the shells open they are 
 no longer good. Eemoved from the shells and immediately put into 
 cans or kegs, and sealed or corked perfectly tight, they may be kept 
 sweet in the coldest weather several weeks. 
 
 Pickled Oysters. — Taken from the shell, they are immersed in their 
 own liquor until they are white and plump. Being removed and cool- 
 ed, they are carefully packed in the jar in layers, with a large sprink- 
 ling of pepper, spice, &c. The jar is then filled with equal parts of 
 the oyster liquor and good cider vinegar ; common merchantable vin- 
 egar will often consume the oysters. Sealed tight, they keep for 
 nonths. 
 
 2. Boil the oysters in their own liquor until they look plump, then 
 take them out and strain the liquor ; add to it wine, vinegar and pep- 
 per to your taste, and pour it over the oysters. 
 
PRESERVING EGGS. 
 
 703 
 
 PBESEBVING EGGS. 
 
 Very many ways are recommended for preserving eggs, such as var- 
 nishing the shell, greasing it, steeping in a weak solution of vinegar, &c. 
 
 The editors of the Scientific American give their opinion that eggs 
 in lime keep better than by any other plan. Slake the lime and put 
 some in the bottom of a jar, then put the eggs in and strew lime over 
 them ; continue putting alternate layers of lime and eggs until the 
 jar is full. Eggs put down in this way will keep good until spring, 
 but they will have a limed flavor towards the last. 
 
 2. Prof. Loomis says : The changes which eggs undergo, arise chiefly, 
 if not wholly, from absorption of air through the shell. To accom- 
 plish exclusion of air, some pack the eggs in corn meal, others in lime 
 water, others in brine. These last two methods are effectual for a 
 considerable time, but the most successful means is to cover the egg 
 with fat, or oil, or butter. Thus prepared, a newly laid egg will re- 
 main six months without perceptible change. 
 
 3. Some writer says : It is advisable to buy eggs for family use 
 when cheap, and preserve them as follows : Mix half a pint of unslaked 
 lime with the same quantity of salt and a couple of gallons of water , 
 the water should be puurc?« <?n cnc lime boiling hot ; when it becomes 
 cold put in the eggs carefully, so as not to crack the shells ; if cracked 
 they will spoil very soon. The eggs should be perfectly fresh when 
 put in, and the lime water no stronger than the above mixture ; if too 
 strong the lime will eat the shells. Another good way is to grease the 
 shells and pack them in salt. Early in the fall is a good time to put 
 down for winter use. 
 
 4. The editors of the Country Gentleman tell us to provide a small 
 cupboard, safe or tier of shelves ; bore these shelves full of holes one 
 and a quarter inches in diameter and place the eggs in them, point 
 downwards. They will keep sound for several months. Other meth- 
 ods such as packing in salt, &c., depend for their success simply on 
 placing their points down ; the shelves are more convenient and ac- 
 cessible. 
 
 5. From the editor of the Am. Agriculturist : (1.) Pack the fresh 
 eggs in a barrel and cover them with clear lime water made by slaking 
 lime to a milk with hot water, stirring up, covering and letting it stand 
 until clear. (2.) Grease the eggs with good lard so as to exclude the 
 air perfectly ; pack in boxes setting them on their ends so that the 
 boxes may be turned over without breaking the eggs. Once in about 
 
704 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 two weeks turn the boxes over. This prevents the yelks coming in 
 contact with the shell and becoming spoiled. (3.) The same mode of 
 procedure may be followed without greasing the shells, with good sue 
 cess, and (4.) the greasing alone has its good effect. 
 
 6. A lady in Venice Centre, N. Y., advises to take equal quantities 
 of salt and bran ; dry it well in the oven. Pack the eggs in it, and 
 cover the top with a thick paper fitted close — on which strew salt to 
 the depth of an inch. Keep in a cool, dry place. 
 
 7. A good authority asserts that the great point in keeping eggs is 
 to have them stand on end — some housekeepers are very sure that it is 
 quite indispensable that the small end should be down ; others are 
 equally sure that they should rest on the large end. Both are very 
 successful. They may be packed in oats, dry saw dust, or any other 
 material that will hold them in this position. They should be 
 kept in a cool, dry room. 
 
 8. Another says : Dissolve some gum shellac in a sufficient quantity 
 of alcohol to make a thin varnish, give each egg a coat, and after they 
 become thoroughly dry, pack them in bran or saw dust, with their 
 points downward, in such a manner that they can not shift about. 
 After you have kept them as long as you desire wash the varnish care- 
 fully off, and they will be in the same state as they were before pack- 
 ing, ready either for eating or hatching. Eggs are imported in this 
 manner for hatching. 
 
 A correspondent of an Irish Agricultural paper says : Bub them 
 all over with fresh butter, immediately when laid, then pack them in- 
 to a cask in regular layers, with the round end uppermost, and fill up 
 all the vacancies with wood ashes, covering the layers about two 
 inches deep with the ashes ; they will come out as fresh six months 
 after as when newly laid; or the crevices may be filled up with 
 lime water ; but they must in this case be used immediately when ta- 
 ken from the cask. The crevices are sometimes filled up with the fol- 
 lowing mixture, viz : To five quarts of cold water add one pound of 
 salt and one ounce of saltpeter; boil together for about twenty- five 
 minutes, and when nearly cold, add four tablespoon fuls of pounded 
 quicklime ; let it stand three days, stirring it twice a day. 
 
 10. Last August, says the Ohio Farmer , we placed a thick layer 
 of salt on the bottom of a large sap bucket ; oiled the eggs with fried 
 meat fat, and placed them in the salt in such a way as to prevent 
 touching each other, little end down ; then a layer of salt, then eggs, 
 till the bucket was full. Set in the cellar. Used the last in May, 
 and found them as fresh as need be — not a bad one among them. 
 
PRESERVING VEGETABLES AND ROOTS. 
 
 705 
 
 11. Mrs. L. W. Slawson, of Kenosha, Wis., has a plan as follows: 
 She pours some wheat into the bottom of a barrel, and places the eggs 
 day by day as they are gathered, standing on the small end in the 
 wheat. When that course is full, she pours another layer of wheat 
 on the eggs, and repeats the process. When the barrel is full, it is 
 covered and placed in a dry cellar. The barrel stands upon the end 
 without turning, and the eggs are taken out as wanted. 
 
 PBESEBVING VEGETABLES AND BOOTS. 
 
 Pack them in dry sand or saw dust, in boxes or barrels, and place 
 them in a cool dry place, and they will keep from autumn to the fol- 
 lowing summer nearly as good as when taken from the ground. Some 
 keep them thus the year round including potatoes. 
 
 Keeping Potatoes . — When potatoes are dug, put them in heaps, 
 say of a cartload each to sweat, covered with tops, and being left 
 three days to a week, then put in the cellar on a bright dry day. They 
 should be dug in fair weather. Those desired for table use should be 
 assorted out and packed in sand, fine dirt or saw dust as above. The 
 cellar should be dry and the potatoes must not freeze. In the spring 
 when they start their sprouts, throw them out, take off the sprouts, 
 and then put them back in the boxes or barrels. To remove the 
 sprouts, put them occasionally in a bushel basket half or two-thirds 
 full, and after giving a good shaking, if the sprouts are long, you will 
 find most of them at the bottom of the basket. It is better however, 
 to sprout them by hand before they have started much. 
 
 Keep potatoes in the dark. Good housekeepers have long observed 
 that the best potatoes always come from the bottom of the bin or bar- 
 rel, where they are most effectually guarded from the light, and often 
 covered with the soil that has sifted down from the upper layers. 
 
 If laid on straw on the ground, and covered with straw and then a 
 layer of earth a foot deep, they will produce shoots near the end of 
 spring ; if two feet, shoots appear at midsummer ; at six feet they 
 cease to vegetate, and will keep for two or more years in a perfect 
 6tate. There should be a trench a foot deep around the hill, unless 
 the soil is very sandy. 
 
 Potatoes may be kept a very long time from rotting, in a cellar pro- 
 tected against frost, by dusting the floor or bin with lime ; then put 
 
 down a layer of potatoes six inches thick; then dust with lime, another 
 • 45 
 
706 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 layer of potatoes, &c. One bushel or more of lime to forty of potiv- 
 toes ; they sprout least in darkness. 
 
 Professor Peed said before the Polytechnic Association that he had 
 seen potatoes brought back from a two year’s whaling cruise which 
 were kept perfectly sound by having been put into molasses. 
 
 Keejping Sweet Potatoes. — 1. A correspondent writes from Glouces- 
 ter Co., N. J., as follows : I will endeavor to give the mode practiced 
 in this, the heaviest sweet potato growing county in the Union. When 
 it is desired to keep but a few, barrels or dry goods boxes are used. 
 Place three by four pieces upon the floor, set the box upon them, a 
 few dry leaves in the bottom of the box, pour in the potatoes, which 
 should be exposed to air only long enough to dry off outside moisture, 
 and all cut and eaten ones taken out. When the box is full, put a 
 few dry leaves on top, cover loosely with the lid, leaving spaces for the 
 moisture to escape. Place another box on top of it, and proceed to 
 fill in the same way. The potatoes should be put at once where they 
 are to remain — not left three or four days and then moved. 
 
 If the desire is to keep a quantity, houses are built of any desirable 
 size, say thirty by thirty-six feet, of frame, two stories high, brick ; 
 paned and plastered — if a very dry situation, a cellar under — the 
 floors not extended out to the walls by four inches — place three by 
 four pieces against the walls in each story ; board up to them five or 
 six feet high ; put dry leaves upon the floors and then pour the pota- 
 toes upon them to the depth of about five feet, and cover over with dry 
 leaves or straw. It is best to have loose boards the whole length of 
 the room, to put up to make bins four or five feet wide, for convenience 
 m putting in and taking out. The lowest story that is used must 
 have dead air spaces under the potatoes, four by five pieces laid down 
 and loose boards laid on them, on which the potatoes must be put. 
 
 The cellar will not keep them well unless very dry. While the 
 house is filling, the door and windows must be kept open and the fire 
 going. As soon as placed in the house, the potatoes will commence 
 “ sweating,” when every effort must be made to keep them well venti- 
 lated and dry. After the sweating process is gone through with, close 
 the windows and shutters, except one window down a little for ven- 
 tilation and kept dark. 
 
 The stove must be placed in the lowest story used ; the heat will 
 flow through the dead air spaces between the walls and the potatoes, 
 so that the upper rooms will be warmer than the lower. The heat 
 should be kept at about sixty degrees. 
 
 Dig the potatoes before touched with frost, although a slight frost 
 
PRESERVING VEGETABLES AND ROOTS. 
 
 707 
 
 to kill leaves will not hurt. Potatoes, to keep well, should be grown 
 on dry land. The chief sources of success are — ventillate well while 
 sweating, keep regular heat, and exclude air and light. 
 
 If you desire to keep but a few for family use, any room in which 
 the temperature is not allowed to fall below forty degrees will an- 
 swer, though there will be some smell from them, especially if they do 
 not keep well. 
 
 2. A writer in the Farmer and Gardener says : Be careful not to 
 bruise them in digging or handling ; after digging let them remain 
 exposed to the sun until they are perfectly dry. Meantime, let your 
 barrels be thoroughly dried by a straw fire inside them or otherwise. 
 When both barrel and potatoes are dry, a thin layer of straw is laid 
 at the bottom of the barrel, and the potatoes laid , not thrown , in, and 
 on top another layer of dry straw, the barrels headed tight, and car- 
 ried , not rolled , to a dry room, whose temperature is never allowed to 
 go below sixty degrees. They are then used as required, care being 
 taken not to disturb them to a greater extent than to obtain wh^Pt are 
 needed for use. They sweat after being barreled. Let them sweat ! 
 it will do no harm. Do not disturb them. The secret is : Do not 
 bruise them ; keep dry and warm. 
 
 3. A correspondent of the Oskaloosa Herald gives his method of 
 keeping sweet potatoes through the winter : 
 
 “ I use dry sand to put them up in. It don’t matter how the sand 
 is dried — in a kiln, in a log heap, or in the sun, so it is dry ; that is 
 all that is required. I prefer drying in a log heap, as it costs at least 
 four times less, and is just as good. Any family that had a little room 
 with a stove in it may keep a box or two of eight or ten bushels with- 
 out much inconvenience. The boxes must be raised six or eight inch- 
 es from the floor, and they must not be nearer than four inches of the 
 wall. Fill the box with potatoes, and then put in sand — cover the po- 
 tatoes with sand. I have also known them kept well in buckwheat 
 chaff. In order to keep potatoes with success, there must be a ther- 
 mometer kept in the room. The mercury must not sink below forty 
 degrees ; if it does, the potatoes will chill and rot ; it also must not 
 rise above sixty degrees, or they will grow. I never lost any of my 
 potatoes only by letting the room get too cold. A thermometer only 
 costs a dollar, and every man ought to have one.” 
 
 Preservation of Green Corn , Beans , Peas , <$*c. — 1. A common meth - 
 od of preserving green corn to make succotash during winter, is to 
 boil it slightly in the ear, then remove the kernels from the cob with 
 a sharp knife, dry them slowly, and pack in air-tight cans. Green 
 
708 
 
 PKACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 corn, Lima beans, peas, &c., may be preserved by drying them slowly 
 at a low beat, until all tbeir moisture has evaporated, after wbicb 
 they are to be packed in stone ware or glass jars, and put away in a 
 dry pantry. A good method is to place the corn or beans in shallow 
 plates or tins, and arrange them around a stove, or in a moderately 
 warm oven, until they are thoroughly dried. When required for use. 
 they should be steeped in warm water for about an hour before they 
 are cooked. Beans and corn are very difficult to preserve in a moist 
 condition in air-tight jars. Some spread the corn, after it is boiled 
 and cut from the cob, on a cloth in a room where the air will circulate 
 freely to dry. It is also kept sometimes, after being dried, in coarse 
 cotton bags, hung near the stove, and occasionally shook up to ensure 
 its being thoroughly dry. 
 
 2. Take sweet corn in the milk, that is, when fully grown and 
 filled with milk, scald it in sufficient water to cover it, covering the 
 pot with the husks. Take it from the cobs with the handle of a spoon . 
 Spread it upon sheets in the sun for three or four days, stirring 
 it very often. It may be covered with a musquito net, to keep flies 
 off. 
 
 3. Boil the ear, and either dry in the cob, or shave from the cob 
 and dry. Or shave from the cob without boiling and dry. Anothe] 
 method, said to be better, is to split the ear lengthwise into halves oi 
 quarters, and then dry cob and all. Or the ear may be broken up 
 into short pieces, and thus dried. 
 
 4. When the corn is in good condition for eating, the grains being 
 fully grown, husk, and, boiled just enough to cook the starch, or un- 
 boiled, spread the ears in an open oven, or some quickly drying place. 
 When the grains loosen, shell the corn, or shell as soon as you can. 
 Then spread upon a cloth to dry in the sun, or on paper in a warm 
 oven ; stir often, that it may dry quickly and not overheat. It more 
 resembles the undried by its being whole, is said to be sweeter, and 
 retains more of its natural flavor by drying faster. When wholly 
 dried, expose it to the wind by turning it slowly from dish to dish ; 
 the wind blows off all the troublesome white chaff. 
 
 5. Green corn may be preserved by packing it tightly in casks or 
 barrels, and covering it with brine strong enough to keep cucumbers. 
 The corn should be taken with the husk on. Corn thus prepared, if 
 kept covered with brine, will keep in good order for a year or more, 
 and will be sufficiently fresh for the table when boiled. 
 
 6. Cut raw from the cob, pack in anything convenient, stone or 
 wood, a layer of corn half an inch in thickness, and a layer of salt not 
 
PRESERVING VEGETABLES AND ROOTS. 
 
 709 
 
 quite so thick, and so on till your dish is full, covering the whole 
 with salt. When wanted for use, soak in clear water twelve or four- 
 teen hours, and cook as in summer. Always handy, and said to be 
 good. 
 
 7. We have received the following, though we cannot say from what 
 source, and, as we have not tried it, we cannot recommend it : Re- 
 move the kernels from the cob, pack in tin cans, hermetically seal, ex- 
 pose to steam or boiling heat about an hour and a half, then puncture 
 the cans, and immediately seal the same while hot, and continue the 
 heat for about two hours and a half longer. Afterwards the cans may 
 be slowly cooled in a room at the temperature of seventy to one hun- 
 dred degrees, Fahrenheit. 
 
 It is stated that " green corn thus packed and treated may be war- 
 ranted to keep in any climate. Being preserved in its natural 
 state, as near as possible, it retains the peculiar sweetness of fresh 
 corn right from the growing field.” Heated and seasoned, and it is 
 prepared for the table, as it is fully cooked in the process of pre- 
 serving. 
 
 8. Navajoe Indian method : When the green corn is fit for use, a 
 pit is dug, from two to three feet in diameter at the top, and, gradu- 
 ally enlarging, is, at bottom, say five feet down, from six to eight feet 
 in diameter. A large fire is then built near by, on which stones are 
 heated, and when red hot, the stones and live coals are shoveled into 
 the bottom of the pit, and sprinkled over with fine loose dirt. The 
 corn is then thrown in with the husks on, just as it is pulled from the 
 stalk, until the pit is nearly full. Then comes a thin layer of loose 
 dirt, then hot stones enough to close the pit, and the whole covered 
 with earth to retain the heat. When the whole cools off, which takes 
 several days, the pit is opened, and the corn is found to be most de- 
 lightfully cooked. When cool, the husks are stripped off and the corn 
 dried in the sun. When thoroughly dried, the corn is shelled off ea- 
 sily, and is then packed away in bags for use. This is said to cure 
 green corn better than any other method. 
 
 To keep Cabbage in Winter. — 1. Cut the heads out with two or three 
 courses of outside leaves upon them, fold close to the head, pack them 
 in barrels or boxes, set them in a cellar, if the cellar is dry, keep 
 outside leaves on top of the cabbage, to exclude enough air to prevent 
 wilting. It is better still to pack the cabbage heads as above with 
 nice damp moss, such as nurserymen use. It will preserve the cab- 
 bage just sufficiently damp and fresh all winter. Beets, carrots, cele- 
 ry, &c., may also be kept finely in this way. 
 
710 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 2. Make a trench the width of a spade and a foot deep, into which, 
 inverting the plant and wrapping the leaves closely, the heads are to 
 oe placed, leaving the stalks above ground. A little straw being 
 thrown over, they are covered to the depth of four to six inches. 
 
 3. As late as the weather will allow, transplant firmly and as close- 
 ly as they will stand together into trenches ; raise a platform eighteen 
 or twenty inches high over them of refuse posts, rails or boards, 
 placing a few bean poles across them, and upon the whole throw a 
 quantity of bean haulms, cornstalks, straw, or any materials of this 
 kind, as a protection against the wet and frost. 
 
 4. Leave out till danger of frost. Then cut off the heads with a 
 few coarse leaves, throw into heaps, and cover with a litter of some 
 kind till winter. Then pile them in a ridge on the ground, three 
 wide for the bottom course, two for the second, and one for the 
 top. Pack them close, the largest at the bottom, the stem ends 
 up. Cover six to eight inches, or more, with earth, without straw. 
 
 5. J. J. H. Gregory, of Marblehead, Mass., says : I have had con- 
 siderable experience in this matter of keeping cabbages in the best 
 condition possible over winter, as my business of seed raising has ren- 
 dered this necessary ; and the subject would yield quite a chapter ; 
 but at present let this suffice : Select a warm location, having a 
 southerly exposure if practicable, under a cliff, where the snow will 
 be likely to bank in winter ; the soil should be light in character, and 
 the ground well drained. Dig a trench six or eight inches in depth, 
 and of width sufficient to take three rows of cabbages. Having strip- 
 ped all but the last layer of leaves surrounding the heads, stand them 
 in the tronch in the same position in which they grew, crowding them 
 as closely together as possible ; then begin a second trench, or rather 
 continue extending the width of the one already dug, throwing the 
 earth taken from it directly on top of the cabbages already planted, 
 and thus proceed with the whole lot to be buried. Do not fill up the 
 open interval which remains between the bottom of the cabbages and 
 the bottom of the trench ; the air is a better non-conductor of heat 
 than the earth, and hence the plants will be better protected with the 
 space open. For this same reason, loosely headed cabbages require 
 less covering than those more completely headed in, the air between 
 the leaves protecting the former. Having completed the planting, 
 tread the earth close against the last row planted, which will tend to 
 keep them upright. Dig a small trench around the bed for draining 
 purposes, throwing the earth on the edges of the bed, as these are 
 most liable to wash, and hence require extra protection. Have a lot 
 
PRESERVING VEGETABLES AND ROOTS. 
 
 711 
 
 of waste litter or seaweed at hand, sufficient, if litter, to cover the bed 
 four or five inches in depth ; if seaweed, three inches will be sufficient. 
 Afier the ground is frozen about through to the cabbages, scatter over 
 the litter or seaweed as may be. If one has plenty of litter about, 
 a foot of this will be sufficient protection without the previous covering 
 with soil. The Savoy varieties require less protection than the drum- 
 head. Six or eight inches of earth will protect as effectually as four 
 feet, as I have proved by experiment.” 
 
 Preservation of Pumpkins. — 1. Decay naturally takes place in the 
 pumpkin soon after the coming of cold weather. Placed on a shelf 
 where they will be exposed to the cool air, but not exposed to frost, 
 they remain some weeks without material change. Boiled until re- 
 duced to a pulp, and the moisture mostly evaporated, and dried in a 
 slow oven until it is quite hard, it keeps well in a closely covered jar. 
 Pared and cut into thin slips, it may be dried in the sun. The strips 
 must be quite thin, the sun clear, and the atmosphere quite dry, to 
 prevent moulding or souring in the process. Pumpkin may also be 
 put up in cans, but success requires more care than in fruits. There 
 being a very limited amount of sugar in pumpkins, it is deprived of 
 the preservative influence of that substance, as occurs in fruits. The 
 boiling must be continued until the moisture is mostly driven off, and 
 the pulp is quite dry. As much sugar added as the taste will allow, 
 greatly promotes security. 
 
 2. The Germantown Telegraph says : Gather with great care and 
 leave an inch or two of stem with the pumpkin. Place on a shelf in 
 a dry cellar, or, which is better, a dark closet, where the temperature 
 is never down to the freezing point. By thus placing it without bruis- 
 ing, you may have pumpkin custard in August. 
 
 3. Select those good and ripe, wash clean, cut up with the rind on, 
 or pare and cut into small pieces, having removed the seeds, &c.; stew 
 soft, mash, and strain through a colander as for pies ; spread thin, less 
 than half an inch, on earthen plates, set in a moderately warm oven, 
 and dry without scorching ; then put it in a bag or jar and keep in a 
 dry place. It is always ready and nice for sauce or pies. Soak over 
 night in a little milk and if you have never tried it you will be sur- 
 prised at its delicious flavor, some think superior to the fresh pump- 
 kin. The flavor is preserved, and being dried very quickly, it is not 
 ft all soured, as is frequently the case when dried without being cook- 
 ed. It is already cooked and needs only sugar, spice, &c., and is rea- 
 dy for use. 
 
 4. Peel and cut as for stewing, then slice very thin and spread on 
 
712 
 
 PEACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 tins or other driers, and put in the stove oven with a moderate heat. 
 It will retain its flavor, and needs only to be soaked in water a few 
 hours, and stewed in the same water. 
 
 Keeping Winter Squashes. — The New York Tribune says : There 
 is just this one simple rule for keeping winter squashes : — Put them 
 in a dry, warm place, and they will not rot. It is a warm, damp at- 
 mosphere, like that in most cellars, that causes decay. A dry stove 
 room, or furnace heated room, which never gets cold, or a closet near 
 the fire place, which never gets cool enough to freeze, are good places 
 in which to winter squashes and pumpkins. They also keep well hung 
 up in baskets and bags overhead in the kitchen, or on a hanging shelf. 
 They should always be stored singly — never in piles — when you wish 
 to preserve them a long time. 
 
 To Preserve Snap Beans and Green Shell Beans : — Prepare as for 
 cooking, throw them into boiling water, let them stand five minutes, 
 then dry in the sun, or, having the oven heated just hot enough to 
 avoid burning or cooking them, spread on tin or earthen dishes, set 
 them in the oven and let them remain till perfectly dry. Keep in 
 bags or jars in a dry place, and you can have succotash in winter al- 
 most as good as in summer Put them to soak over night in warm 
 water and cook as usual. Some dry them without scalding, first in the 
 sun, then in an oven. 
 
 2. Prof. Mapes states that snap beans, if picked in a dry day, and 
 packed in dry, fine salt, will keep in the same condition through the 
 winter. 
 
 Preservation of lomatoes. — They are best kept fresh upon ice or in 
 a cool, damp room. Cold alone is their preservative. The absence 
 of sugar [in them] renders much more boiling necessary, to prepare 
 them for air-tight preservation, than is required in most fruits. The 
 time taken will depend altogether upon the juiciness; three or four 
 hours will probably be requisite to concentrate the juice sufficiently ; 
 add as much sugar as the taste requires a few minutes before the 
 boiling ceases. Sealed tight they keep unchanged through the 
 season. 
 
 For preserving, prepare and treat precisely as brandy peaches, with 
 the exception of using double the amount of sugar, and omit the 
 brandy and water. For catchup, to a gallon add four tablespoonfuls 
 of salt and an equal amount of pepper in kernel, and also of mustard 
 and a little alspice. Boil an hour or more, then strain through a sieve, 
 and put in any ordinary bottle corking tight. For pickling, green to- 
 matoes, they having a bitter acrid taste, should be scalded in salt wa- 
 
PRESERVING VEGETABLES AND ROOTS. 
 
 713 
 
 ter, afterwards cut in two crosswise, washed in cold water, and al- 
 lowed to drain well. They are then treated as any other material for 
 pickling. 
 
 Tomatoes may he dried similar to pumpkin : Scald and skin them, 
 then cook them thoroughly and as dry as practicable without scorch- 
 ing, and dry in the sun or oven on earthen plates. When used they 
 are picked to pieces, soaked in warm water, cooked five minutes, sea- 
 soned, &c. 
 
 For preserves the tomatoes may he sliced thinly and stewed in su- 
 gar, as any other preserves, using the very best kind of sugar, pound 
 for pound. Of course remove the skin first. 
 
 Preserving Rhubarb . — Ehubarb may be canned with perfect suc- 
 cess, thus retaining all the flavor and juices, and having it at all times 
 fresh and ready for use. It is cheaper and much better than dry- 
 ing. 
 
 2. Prepare as for pies, then stew with one pound of sugar to five of 
 rhubarb, and just water enough to keep them from burning until done. 
 Dry on plates same as any fruit, and it will make as good pies or 
 sauce as when green. Tomatoes cut in slices, and dried, mixed with 
 the rhubarb, are fine. 
 
 3. To dry rhubarb, prepare it precisely as for pies, peeling the stalks 
 and cutting in small pieces. Dry it in the sun or a moderately warm 
 oven, being careful not to scorch it. Hasten the drying so as to pre- 
 vent mould or partial decay. When fully dried, rhubarb may be kept 
 in bags or boxes, as dried peaches or apples, and requires a little more 
 time to scald it than when green, but it is easily prepared for use. 
 
 Preserving Celery . — Fill in the stalks taken elsewhere, between two 
 standing rows, being careful to place the stalks upright, and not in 
 contact with other stalks, having dirt well packed in between them. 
 After the whole is prepared, the mound is well spanked with the 
 spade — leaving the tops of the celery just peeping out of the apex ; 
 this is covered with straw or any dry garden haulm, and then a roof- 
 ing of old boards complete the business. 
 
 Another plan is to allow the celery to remain in the rows where it 
 grows, banking it up well and securing as above. The less it is dis- 
 turbed the better ; only protect it against moisture and atmospheric 
 changes. 
 
 To Preserve Herbs . — All kinds of herbs should be gathered on a 
 dry day, just before, or while in blossom. Tie them in bundles, and 
 suspend them in a dry airy place, with the blossoms downwards. 
 When perfectly dry wrap the medicinal ones in paper and keep them 
 
714 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 from the air. Pick off the leaves of those which are to be used in 
 cooking, pound and sift them fine, and keep the powder in bottles cork- 
 ed tight. 
 
 PRESERVATION OF FRUITS. 
 
 In the preservation of fruit the great objects to be secured are the 
 exclusion of air and the prevention of fermentation. Sugar is the 
 chief agent employed as a syrup to exclude the air from the fruit, and 
 it is a powerful antiseptic. 
 
 Peaches, plums, and such like fruit, may be preserved as follows : 
 Sound fruit is first placed in a glass or glazed stoneware vessel, then 
 boiling hot syrup, composed of one pound of white sugar to one pint 
 of water, poured in slowly until it covers the fruit. Air bubbles will 
 rise for a few seconds afterwards ; when these cease, the cover, which 
 should be air-tight, is then put on, and the jar put away in a cool, airy 
 situation. Any number of jars containing fruit may thus be operated 
 upon at the same time. The covers of these may be rendered air- 
 tight by the use of India rubber under the flange, or pieces of cloth 
 coated with wax. Of course the syrup should reach to the lip nearly, 
 so as to avoid an air-space near the top. 
 
 CANNING FRUITS. 
 
 A more economical and superior method of preserving fruit, where- 
 by its original flavor is secured, is as follows : First obtain a requisite 
 number of cans, which may be of glass, or earthenware, or tin, or 
 common wide-necked bottles may be used. Then take the peaches or 
 other fruit to be preserved, peel them, take out the stones or seed, and 
 • prepare them as for eating at the table, with or without sugar, and 
 while hot, fill the cans or bottles with the fruit and instantly seal them 
 up tight. The plans of different persons vary somewhat. 
 
 The Scientific American gives the following method : “ All that is 
 necessary to succeed in preserving fruits in this way is to exclude the 
 air from the jar. This is cheaply effected by boiling. The jars should 
 be of glass, for through it the condition of the fruit can be s&en per- 
 fectly and detected if it ferments, whereas with other material no 
 warning is given until the vessel bursts and the material is wasted, 
 if it has not been well prepared. 
 
PRESERVATION OF FRUITS. 
 
 715 
 
 “Some prefer corks and cement for closing the mouths of the bot- 
 tles or jars. Others prefer those cans which have india rubber gas- 
 kets in the mouths. A cheap and convenient way is to take a piece 
 of stout fine linen, and cover thickly inside and out with a cement 
 made of beeswax and resin. A good substitute for the latter article 
 is a pitch made from coal tar. The fruit should be put in a pot sur- 
 rounded by boiling water, and the jar filled within an inch of the top. 
 If it is fuller, the air below, as it rises, causes the contents to overflow 
 and wet the top of the jar so that the cement does not stick. When the 
 fruit rises to the mouth of the jar, then is the time to apply the cover. 
 Clap on the linen, covered thickly with cement, and tie it tightly. 
 When the fruit is cold, the cover will be depressed an inch or more 
 if there is no air beneath. If the cover lies flat, the air is not ex- 
 pelled, and the fruit will spoil. 
 
 “Another way to test the vacuum is by suddenly turning the jar 
 upside down when cold. If there is much air within, it will be seen 
 escaping in bubbles through the mass to the top (in this case, the bot- 
 tom,) of the jar. There will be some air, at any rate ; it is impossible 
 to get a perfect vacuum in any vessel whatever. If the first trial fails 
 the cemented cover should not he pulled off. Place the jar in warm 
 water again, and bring it to a boil. If there is air below, the cover 
 will rise like a light biscuit. Take a pin and make a small hole in 
 the top, and it will fall; then, just at the moment the juice rises to 
 the opening, or a little before, have ready a lump of cement, and clap 
 it over the pin hole. If this is done dexterously, the operation can- 
 not fail, and when cold the cover will show for itself whether it is 
 tight or not. The necessity for waxing the cloth thoroughly and ty- 
 ing it tightly will be apparent when the pressure it has to sustain is 
 borne in mind; that upon ajar two inches in diameter at the mouth 
 being forty-five pounds. Fruit preserved this way is much cheaper 
 and healthier than by the old-fashioned plan. So far as the palate is 
 concerned, there is no comparison.” 
 
 Another method : ’ Select good, sound, ripe fruit, and put it up as 
 speedily as possible after it is gathered. Peaches, pears, quinces, ap- 
 ples, cherries, sweet pumpkin for pies, tomatoes, and berries of all 
 kinds, can be preserved fresh for years, if the following directions are 
 observed : 
 
 Prepare the fruit by paring and stoning, or coring where necessary, 
 and put it over a moderate fire in a brass or porcelain kettle, (the lat- 
 ter is best, as it does not discolor fruit,) with sugar enough to make 
 sufficient sy»"up to fill all the cavities in the can when the fruit is in. 
 
716 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 Have ready your cans, and, as soon as the mass is thoroughly heated 
 through, skim out the fruit, and put it in cans quite hot, and pack it 
 as tight as practicable. Then pour in syrup till it is as full as it can 
 be, and permit the covering to be soldered on. The fruit will keep as 
 long as the can remains perfectly air-tight. It is necessary sometimes 
 when fruit is not sufficiently juicy to form syrup enough to fill the cans, 
 to add a little water. Tomatoes need no sugar nor water. A wide- 
 mouthed funnel just to fit the cans is convenient in filling; and it is 
 best not to use an iron ladle or skimmer to stir or dip out the fruit, 
 as it will discolor peaches and some other fruit. 
 
 Prepare your cans, if of glass, by filling them two-thirds full of wa- 
 ter, then setting them in a boiler of cold or tepid water, that comes 
 within an inch and a half of their tops, and bring the water to a 
 boiling heat. Introduce the hot fruit while the cans are yet hot. 
 
 It is better to can all such fruits as peaches, plums, cherries, goose- 
 berries, currants, blackberries, strawberries, tomatoes, &c., than to 
 dry them, as drying must injure more or less the flavor of the fruit. 
 And, after a supply of cans is once obtained, the cost of putting up is 
 trifling, and with care the cans will last a long time. For very acid 
 fruits, as pie plant, gooseberries, currants, &c., glass cans are decided- 
 ly preferable. Some kinds of fruit in glass cans should be kept in a 
 dark place, or wrapped with paper. 
 
 Many kinds of fruit require no sugar to preserve them. Peaches 
 are better canned without sugar, though some use four to eight ounc- 
 es to every pound of fruit. Strawberries should have sugar. Peaches 
 should be canned as quick as pared, or they will discolor. To have 
 them very white and nice, some pare them under water. 
 
 It has been recently stated before the Polytechnic Association that 
 the cans should not be sealed while they are hot. After being filled 
 with fruit, they should be set into a vessel of cold water, which should 
 be heated to the boiling point, and be kept gently boiling for twenty 
 or twenty-five minutes, and then set off to cool. As the liquid cools, 
 it will, of course, shrink, and the can is to be filled with liquid which 
 has also been recently boiled, and then it is to be quickly sealed. 
 
 For cement to close fruit cans see chapter on “ Cements.” One 
 thickness of stout cotton cloth, well covered with cement, drawn over 
 the mouth of the can and tied tightly, is a good method, and general- 
 ly sufficient. It is improved by applying another coat of cement after 
 the cloth is tied on, and rendered doubly secure by putting a second 
 waxed cloth over the first, and tying further down the neck of the jar. 
 Stout manilla paper, instead of the cloth, and cement are said to an- 
 
PRESERVATION OF FRUITS. 
 
 717 
 
 swer the same purpose. If *the jar is first closed with a cork, :t will 
 prevent any moisture coming against the paper, in case it is turned on 
 one side. • • 
 
 Cans sealed with cork and cement are opened by using any moder- 
 ately heated iron to melt the cement, or by placing live coals on tho 
 oement, or by inverting the cans in a tin dish on a stove until melted. 
 
 HOW TO KEEP FRUIT, AS APPLES, &C. 
 
 The Worcester (Mass.,) Transcript gives the following hints : First, 
 ft dry rather than a moist temperature, between forty and fifty de- 
 grees, Fahrenheit. Second, complete exclusion of light. Third, ex- 
 clusion of any circulation of air — not absoiutely air-tight boxes or bar- 
 rels, but as nearly so, at least, as such receptacles can be conveniently 
 made. Fourth, an arrangement by which the fruits shall not press 
 one another too heavily, half barrels or covered buckets, for pears es- 
 pecially, being preferable to any thing of larger dimensions. Rooms 
 expressly for storing fruit are constructed on the principle of an ice 
 house, or a refrigerator. That of the London Horticultural Society 
 has double walls, eight inches apart, filled with dry moss. The con- 
 tents of the structure are secure against frost, although the tempera- 
 ture outside may be five degrees below zero. 
 
 At the Russian court fruit is preserved by being packed in creoso- 
 tized lime. The lime is slacked in water in which a little creosote has 
 been dissolved, and is allowed to fall to powder. The bottom of a 
 plain deal box is covered with it one inch high, and over it is a sheet 
 of paper. Upon this the fruit, well selected and cleansed, is arranged; 
 over this another sheet of paper, and on top of this another such stra- 
 tum of prepared lime ; in the corners a little finely powdered charcoal 
 is put. The whole box is then filled in the same manner, and the 
 well fitting lid nailed down. Fruit kept m this manner will remain 
 intact at least one year. 
 
 Two or three “ fruit houses” have been built within a few years in 
 this country for the purpose of preserving fruit by cold, and they ap- 
 pear to have been successful. The temperature is reduced below for- 
 ty degrees, without, however, allowing it to reach thirty- two degrees, 
 which is the freezing point. If kept below forty degrees, it cannot 
 ferment. Above thirty-two degrees, it cannot freeze. By the aid of 
 ice on the one hand, and furnace heat on the other, the temperature 
 is kept within the range of the eight degrees the whole year round. 
 Any excess of moisture is avoided by the use of chloride of caicium 
 
718 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOP JEDIA. 
 
 Excess of light is easily remedied. Nothing more seems to be neces- 
 sary. All kinds of fruit, it is said, are kept perfectly any length of 
 time. 
 
 The first fruit-house of this kind that we know of was built at 
 Greensburg, Indiana, and the next on Kinsman street, Cleveland. The 
 following is the substance of the Report of a Committee appointed to 
 examine the process at Greensburg : — The fruit house is made of dou- 
 ble walls of sheet iron, three feet apart, the space between being filled 
 with dry saw dust. The bottom earth is packed tight, covered with 
 pitch and coal tar an inch thick, and then filled to the floor with dry 
 saw dust. The floor and ceiling are of galvanized iron, and the space 
 between the ceiling and the roof is filled with ice. At the Greensburg 
 house the ice melted about three feet in the year, the water being car- 
 ried off by conductors. 
 
 In the preserving rooms are placd a tier of troughs, placed two in- 
 ches above each other, in which is put chloride of calcium. This is 
 prepared by dissolving marble spalls or common limestone in muriatic 
 acid, thus forming fluid chloride of calcium. This is heated in a large 
 pan of sheet iron until it becomes hard and dry, when it is broken in- 
 to pieces and put into troughs in the preserving room. It has the 
 property of absorbing the moisture in the air, and becoming again 
 fluid. When this occurs it is again dried and broken as before. A 
 carboy of muriatic acid will make chloride of calcium sufficient to take 
 up eighteen gallons of water. The same solution is found in sea wa- 
 ter, in the refuse of salt-pans, and is sometimes allowed to flow away 
 as waste from chemical works. 
 
 The basis of the process is the principle enunciated by Liebig, that 
 il decay is much retarded by the absence of moisture, and by the sub- 
 stance being surrounded by an atmosphere of carbonic acid, which 
 prevents the oxygen of the air from coming in contact with decaying 
 matter.” 
 
 The fruit, such as apples for instance, is placed in bins built one 
 over the other in rows reaching to the ceiling. The dry chloride is 
 placed in troughs to absorb the moisture given out by the fruit, and 
 fans worked by a windmill on top of the house assist in driving the 
 moist air towards the chloride, to be absorbed by it. In a room con- 
 taining six hundred bushels of apples, about three gallons of water 
 per week is taken up by the absorbent. A simple hygrometer is used 
 to ascertain the degree of moisture in the room. It consists of a 
 scales on one side of which is half an ounce of dry chloride of lime, 
 with one ounce of rain water, balanced by a weight on the other. As 
 
PRESERVATION OF FRUITS. 719 
 
 the moisture of the room increases or diminishes the weight of the 
 chloride indicates it. 
 
 Fruit in ripening evolves considerable carbonic acid gas, and when 
 fully ripe absorbs oxygen to an extent that hastens its decay. By the 
 precautions taken to prevent the admission of fresh air, the atmos- 
 phere of the room becomes decomposed and the room is filled with 
 carbonic acid gas to such an extent that an ordinary light will not 
 burn in it. Thus the two conditions required to prevent decay are 
 obtained ; the moisture of the air is withdrawn and the fruit is sur- 
 rounded with carbonic acid gas. In addition the low temperature of 
 34° is maintained. 
 
 The committee found in May quantities of the most delicate varie- 
 ties of apples, as fresh as when first picked, together with large cans 
 of cooked fruits and berries, that had been left open for some time 
 without any evidence of fermentation. Grapes were also exhibited in 
 May as fresh as when they were plucked from the vines. 
 
 GATHERING AND KEEPING APPLES. 
 
 There is scarcely an article of vegetable food more widely useful 
 and more universally relished than the apple. Why every farmer in 
 the nation has not a good apple orchard is one of the mysteries. Let 
 every family lay in from two to ten barrels or more of apples, and it 
 will be the most economical investment in the whole range of culina- 
 ries. A raw mellow apple is digested in an hour and a half ; while 
 boiled cabbage requires five hours. The most healthful dessert which 
 can be placed on the table, is a baked apple. If taken freely at break- 
 fast with coarse bread and butter, with meat or fish of any kind, it 
 has an admirable effect on the general system, often removing consti- 
 pation, correcting acidities, and cooling off frebrile conditions, much 
 more effectually than the most approved medicines. If families could 
 be induced to substitute the apple — sound, ripe and lucious — for the 
 pies, cakes, candies and other sweetmeats with which their children 
 are too often indiscreetly stuffed, there would be, says Dr. Hall, a di- 
 minution in the sum total of doctors bills in a single year, sufficient 
 to lay m a stock of this delicious food for a whole season's use. 
 
 It is becoming a well understood principle that pears are improved 
 by being gathered before fully ripe. Some should approach nearer 
 maturity than others. But early apples should be fully ripe, as a 
 general rule, before gathering. Late fall and early winter apples 
 should not be eatable when picked, and all the late winter varieties 
 
720 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 should be gathered when too hard to yield to the pressure of the 
 thumb, and always before heavy fall frosts. A dry time should be 
 selected if possible. There will be a few specimens not yet mature, 
 but you can afford to throw them out to save the best and the main 
 crop. When a good keeping variety begins to drop freely from the 
 tree, as is sometimes the case, secure the balance of the crop that re- 
 mains on the tree as soon as possible ; but they should not be mixed 
 with those on the ground — not one should be saved with those picked. 
 Windfalls will not keep, for, in addition to the injury sustained by 
 the fall, they become heated by lying upon the ground exposed to the 
 sun and hot air, and the ripening process already commenced, is has- 
 tening it to a rapid decay. 
 
 No matter how hot the weather is, an apple is always cool while 
 upon the tree, and in that condition should be taken care of. 
 
 Heat hastens the ripening, cold retards it. Apples should therefore 
 be kept cool, barely so as not to freeze. A minimum temperature 
 of thirty-four degrees is probably about right, with as little fluctua- 
 tion as possible. 
 
 The cellar should be cool, always dry and dark, and frequently aired 
 when the outside temperature will allow of it. 
 
 A foreign fruit grower says : Fruit to keep over should not be gath- 
 ered till near but not fully ripe. This is best known by lifting up the 
 fruit, and if it separates easily from the tree, the sponer it is carefully 
 gathered the better, choosing the dryest part of the day ; carefully 
 handling it so that it may not be bruised. The fruit should then be 
 placed in thin layers on a dry floor ; if room to place them singly, so 
 much the better. In a fortnight they may be stored away, rejecting 
 any that appear injured. There are many modes of keeping, all good 
 in their way ; some laying them in layers with dry ferns, which is a 
 most excellent mode ; but the best is to wrap each fruit singly in soft 
 paper, and lay them in layers, with plenty of pit or rabbit sand, dried 
 in an oven. All places where fruit is stored should be dry and cool, 
 and the light excluded. Some, after the fruit is wrapped in the pa- 
 per, put them into glazed earthenware jars, packing them in dry sand, 
 with the best effect. 
 
 Professor Loomis says : Apples intended to be kept for a tim<* 
 should be sound, should not be shaken off the tree, nor be permitted 
 to fall naturally, but be carefully plucked by the hand. The bruises 
 they receive in falling against the limbs of the tree, or upon the 
 ground, induce early decay. For the same reason they should not be 
 allowed to drop heavily into barrels or bins. Careful handling is a 
 
PRESERVATION OF FRUITS. 
 
 721 
 
 material element in keeping fruit of all kinds. Barrels are not the 
 best receptacles for apples for the winter. They are apt to “sweat/' 
 and, pressing heavily upon one another, decay is readily communi- 
 cated ; at the same time it is inconvenient ascertaining whether they 
 are keeping or not. It diminishes the chances of decay by contact to 
 separate each layer by a layer of leaves or oat chaff ; but the best 
 means of preservation is believed to be placing them upon open shelves 
 at a distance of one to three feet from the cellar floor, or as near the 
 floor as possible without dampness. They decay less, are not liable 
 to sweat, and can easily be inspected for the purpose of removing the 
 imperfect ones. 
 
 The editor of the Gardeners Monthly says, whenever a quantity 
 of fruit is piled up in a heap it begins, what is called in common lan- 
 guage, to sweat. This sweating brings an oily substance to the out- 
 side. Sweating will also occur without the fruit being piled up as 
 spoken of, but it is more slow ; and if it be thinly on a shelf, it is in 
 its most legitimate way. The sweating coats the skin with a sort of 
 varnish, which resists the action of the atmosphere, and certainly pro- 
 motes the keeping qualities of the fruit. This varnish ought not to 
 be removed by any means, handling being one of the certain means 
 of doing so. Let the fruit, therefore, be placed at first simply on the 
 shelves, and little else will be wanted but looking over and picking 
 out decayed fruit, and the place being kept cool and well ventilated, 
 there is a tolerable certainty of their keeping well, other things also 
 being favorable. 
 
 The editor of the Am. Agriculturist thinks the best method of keep- 
 ing winter apples for home use, also for shipping, is to pack them in 
 barrels in oats, and keep in a close upper room. He says : “With the 
 thermometer at zero out of doors, they will not freeze. If they should 
 be frosted a little, it is drawn out so gradually by the oats that they 
 are not injured. We have never seen any method so satisfactory as 
 this for transporting apples, and none better for preserving them in a 
 good condition until spring.” 
 
 Some pack in nice, sweet hay, cut fine ; some in rice hulls, where 
 they can be obtained ; some in dry hard wood sawdust ; some in dry 
 apple tree or forest leaves ; some in plaster of Paris ; some in buck- 
 wheat hulls ; some in chaff ; some in dry turning shavings. Cotton, 
 coal, clay and paper are also used; but Prof. Mapes says these will 
 extract flavor. Wm. S. Carpenter says : Fine cut hay is good, so are 
 leaves ; rice hulls are the best. Sawdust is not good, as it is apt to 
 impart its flavor to the fruit, and if buckwheat bran is good, it is un- 
 
722 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 like all other bran. Prof. Mapes says, if sawdust is to be used, it 
 should be thoroughly baked. With any of these materials apples are 
 usually packed in alternate layers, separated from the wood and some- 
 times entirely from each other. Oats, hay, leaves, rice hulls, and plas- - 
 ter of Paris appear to be best recommended. Salt barrels for packing 
 apples in have been recommended. Bad cellars and unclean barrels 
 frequently extract the flavor of fruit. 
 
 A writer in the New York Tribune says: “ There is one mode of 
 preserving apples which has been practiced here for many years, and 
 which I have tried with complete success, viz : Place them on a floor 
 in a room, or in any other cold situation, early in the winter, and cov- 
 er them well with some kind of linen, and leave them so through the 
 various changes of winter. I have known them to come out in the 
 spring rather improved than otherwise.” And a correspondent of the 
 same paper says : Winter apples, picked some five or six weeks be- 
 fore the usual time of gathering, will keep sound some months longer 
 than those allowed to ripen on the trees. 
 
 Pre-paring and Keeping Apples for Market — If they are to be trans- 
 ported any distance, the fruit should be picked from the tree by hand, 
 and carefully placed in the barrels, (not poured in,) being packed 
 closely and tightly. The barrel should be clean, and, particularly if a 
 flour barrel, thoroughly washed and scrubbed with a broom till not 
 only the loose flour is removed, but all the flour. If any remains, in 
 the jostling of carts or cars it scatters among the apples, and, adher- 
 ing tb the moist surface, soon moulds and decays, setting up general 
 decomposition throughout. A flour barrel, unless thoroughly free 
 from flour, is one of the most undesirable receptables for fruit or veg- 
 etables of any kind. The barrels and the apples should both be per- 
 fectly dry when packed ; afterwards the barrel should be left open till 
 the immediate time of removal. It should be so completely filled and 
 tightly packed that, when the head is pressed in, there shall be no 
 motion of the apples on one another as the barrel is rolled along or 
 turned upon end. 
 
 In cargoes of ice which have been shipped from Boston to the East 
 Indies, have frequently been placed considerable quantities of apples, 
 which have reached their destination in as good condition as when first 
 shipped. 
 
 Dried Apples. — As success in this case depends solely upon evapo- 
 ration, nothing more is requisite than to secure the greatest amount 
 of sunlight upon the greatest extent of surface. 
 
 Apples in Cans. — They should be boiled about fifteen minutes, if 
 
PRESERVATION OF FRUITS. 
 
 723 
 
 very juicy, half an hour, with a small amount of sugar. They are best 
 kept on the cellar tioor on account of its cool and uniform tempera- 
 ture. It is better not to handle or move the cans until taken for use. 
 
 Apple Sauce and Butter. — Boil unfermented or new cider down six 
 gallons to one. Boil apples and a small proportion of quince and 
 place in the syrup. 
 
 Machine for Quartering Apples. — Take a piece of board — say three 
 feet long and six inches wide, — make a hole through one end four and 
 a half inches in diameter (more or less, as you please.) Break the 
 edge off an old scythe, two inches longer than the hole in the board is 
 in diameter, and have two of these edges. Take an old ax and cut 
 each scythe edge half in two, one from the edge towards the back, the 
 other from the back toward the edge, and cross in the center when you 
 have cut them. Put this knife across the hole in the board, by saw- 
 ing places half through, fasten on a lever eighteen inches long, to 
 press the apple through, and it is done. This is easily made, and 
 works first rate. 
 
 PRESERVATION OF PEARS. 
 
 With very few exceptions this- fruit should be picked before it is 
 perfectly matured. The house-ripened pear is generally infinitely su- 
 perior to that which is allowed to hang too long upon the tree. The 
 fruit should be fully grown and beginning to ripen when plucked, else 
 it will wilt and be insipid. A good rule is derived from the easy sep- 
 aration from the stem. When fruit begins to fall freely it should be 
 gathered. When harvested, the pears should be placed in a dark 
 moderately cool, dry apartment, to be preserved a long time. 
 
 The following is a plan recommended by the Germantown Telegraph 
 as simple and efficacious : Apples and pears should be placed in glazed 
 earthen vessels, each containing about a gallon, and surrounding each 
 fruit with paper. These vessels, being perfect cylinders, about a foot 
 each in height, stand very convenient upon each other, and thus pre- 
 sent the means of preserving a large quantity of fruit in a very small 
 room ; and if the spaces between the top of one vessel and the base 
 of another be filled with a cement, composed of two parts of the curd 
 of sweet milk, and one of lime, by which the air will be excluded, the 
 later kinds of apples and pears will be preserved with little change in 
 their appearance, and without any danger of decay from October till 
 February and March. A dry and cold situation, in which there is 
 little change of temperature, is the best for the vessels ; but the merits 
 
724 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPEDIA. 
 
 of the pears are greatly increased by their being taken from the ves- 
 sels about ten days before they are wanted for use, and kept in a warm 
 room, for warmth at this, as at other periods accelerates the maturity 
 of the pear. 
 
 A writer in the London Horticultural Society’s Proceedings, says : 
 I find bran the best of all substances for packing of late apples and 
 pears in shallow boxes. They want no care afterwards, as all sweat- 
 ing and decay are dried up. A Mr. Kidd of England, who for twenty 
 years has made it his business to transport fruit, says : I have found 
 no better method in all my experience, with all kinds of fruit varying 
 in distance from fifty to five hundred miles, than simply box, soft pa- 
 per, and sweet bran, the fruit carefully wrapped and placed in layers. 
 He says : With neat hands, the bloom is preserved on the grape, and 
 may be sent any distance ; but with clumsy hands, quite the contrary, 
 and often an entire failure. 
 
 Dried Pears . — Pears may be dried in the same manner as apples, 
 either by solar heat or in a slow oven. For preserving in cans or in 
 syrup, pears are one of our best and most manageable garden pro- 
 ducts. The large amount of sugar in its composition renders its dry- 
 ing or preservation very certain. Perhaps the best method for com- 
 mon use is to remove the rind, cut into thin slices, and dry in the sun 
 in the same manner as apples. 
 
 Canned and Preserved Pears . — Being pared and cut into pieces of 
 moderate size, say quarters, they are boiled, with about half weight of 
 sugar, fifteen minutes or so, not enough to reduce the pieces to pulp 
 at all, but sufficiently to cook thoroughly, and put into heated cans 
 and sealed quickly, as previously mentioned. If to be kept as a pre- 
 serve in syrup, a little more sugar may be required. It is said they 
 are very nice preserved with the addition of ginger root, which give 
 them a similarity to East India Preserves. 
 
 PRESERVATION OF PEACHES. 
 
 The peach in its general qualities so nearly resembles the pear that 
 the methods of preservation answer for both. Slight allowance in the 
 time of boiling may be made for the superior juiciness of the peach. 
 
 Canning and Preserving Peaches . — A friend has adopted the follow- 
 ing method : The cans are filled with the fruit cut in halves, then as 
 much cold water is poured in as the cans will hold. The cans are then 
 placed in a boiler with cold water nearly to their tops, and they are 
 left over the fire until the water in the boiler boils long enough to make 
 
PRESERVATION OF FRUITS. 
 
 725 
 
 the peaches hot through, if they do not actually boil. Filling the cans 
 with water prevents the juice being drawn out of the peaches. When 
 the fruit is to be placed on the table, it is taken out of the water and 
 sugar added, the same as if it had not been cooked at all. 
 
 Another, alluding to this method, makes the following remarks : 
 “I prefer doing them with half pound of sugar to one pound of fruit; 
 they are then just right for eating.” 
 
 Another method that has been practiced is as follows : Select good 
 solid peaches, pare and take out the stones ; take one pound of the 
 parings, one pint of water, half a pound of white sugar, boil well to- 
 gether for forty minutes in a brass kettle, then strain through a cloth ; 
 let the syrup cool, fill the jars with the pared peaches, pour in the syr- 
 up and the jars are full. Take a convenient vessel, put a cloth in the 
 bottom, set in the jars, then fill the vessel or the space around the jars 
 with cold water, to come within' three inches of the top of the jars; 
 set on the stove, bring gradually to a boil, boil well for thirty minutes ; 
 take the jars out of the vessel and seal while hot. 
 
 A writer states that, peaches, if preserved whole, should be gather- 
 ed before they are fully ripe, pared and cooked tender in a little water. 
 If in quarters, crack the pits of half the peaches and add to them. 
 Let the syrup simmer down quite thick before adding it to the fruit, 
 and when cold, cover tight and keep free from heat and moisture. 
 
 Dried Peaches . — To dry peaches very nicely, pare and quarter and 
 string on threads so as not to touch each other. Try it. Peaches 
 may be dried without peeling. Make a lye of tolerable strength by 
 boiling wood ashes in water. While the lye is warm, but not so as to 
 cook the peaches, immerse them and rub them in it awhile and then 
 wash them in clear cold water. Every particle of furz will be re- 
 moved, and only a thin skin remain. They can then be cut and dried 
 in the usual manner. They thus lose nothing of their sweetness by 
 peeling, and are said to be of the best quality for all cooking pur- 
 poses. 
 
 Brandy Peaches . — Eemove the skins by pouring on boiling water. 
 Make a syrup of half a pint of water and half a pound of sugar to 
 one pound of peaches. When boiling put in the prepared peaches 
 and boil till tender. Eemoving the peaches to cool, continue the 
 boiling of the syrup until it becomes quite thick, and add an equal 
 amount of brandy. Having placed the cooled peaches in a jar, put in 
 sufficient of the brandy syrup to completely cover the fruit. When 
 cold secure the mouth of the jar as for jams. 
 
 Another way : Wipe, weigh and carefully select the firmest fruit; 
 
726 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 have ready a quarter of their weight in powdered loaf sugar, put the 
 fruit in a vessel that closes tightly, throw the sugar over and cover 
 with brandy. Place a piece of double foolscap under tho cover, and 
 place the jar in a saucepan of water until the water is quite hot, but 
 not boiling ; when cold, tie the cover down tightly so that no air can 
 penetrate. 
 
 PRESERVATION OF QUINCES. 
 
 Tnough a hard, firm fruit, with a glazed and somewhat oily skin, 
 the quince has but feeble powers of endurance. Kept dry and cool, 
 it remains a few weeks or perhaps, under very favorable circumstan- 
 ces, months without decay. It dries well in the sun in the same man- 
 ner as apples, but is most generally used when preserved with sugar 
 as peaches and other fruit. 
 
 Quinces preserved whole : Pare and put into a sauce pan, with the 
 parings at the top ; then fill it with hard water; cover it close ; set it 
 over a gentle fire till they turn reddish ; let them stand till cold ; put 
 them into a clear, thick syrup ; boil them for a few minutes ; set them 
 on one side till quite cold ; boil them again in the same manner ; the 
 next day boil them again until they look clear ; if the syrup is not 
 thick enough boil it more ; when cold, put brandied paper over them. 
 The quinces may be halved or quartered. 
 
 PRESERVATION OF PLUMS. 
 
 This fruit posseses the excellencies of both the pear and the peach, 
 and from its similarity in juiciness and saccharine matter preserves 
 equally well in the various modes by the same treatment. 
 
 A correspondent of the Moniteur Sdentifique says plums may be 
 preserved for months in vessels filled with sand, hermetically sealed, 
 and buried in the ground. 
 
 To preserve purple plums make a syrup of clean brown sugar ; clar- 
 ify it ; when perfectly clear and boiling hot, pour it over the plums, 
 having picked out all unsound ones and stems ; let them remain in the 
 syrup two days, then drain it off, make it boiling hot, skim it, and 
 pour it over again ; let them remain another day or two, then put 
 them in a preserving kettle over the fire, and simmer gently until the 
 syrup is reduced, and thick or rich. One pound of sugar for each 
 pound of plums. 
 
MOTHER S DEPARTMENT 
 
 — T1IE KITCHEN GARDEN. 
 
 151 
 
 officious attendants upon the occasion, and by the mothc^.; 
 perhaps, subsequently, as an indication of hunger or want < 
 food. Consequently, the washing and dressing are scarce 
 completed before the nurse, if present, or some ncwly-mail 
 “auntie,” surcharged with benevolent solicitude, busths 
 about to prepare the repast. And this generally consists 
 molasses and water — that mixture of abominations, as tl < 
 late Dr. Meigs called it — so intimately associated with flat ► S 
 lent colic, or a griping, and necessarily a cross baby at one ! 
 Here the impulses of nature should be obeyed, and her poii • 
 ingsaud promptings should be followed, by placing the infa t 
 to its maternal bosom only, and as soon as she is able to 1 - 
 ceive it. Instead of so doing, the nurse, not unfrequentb, 
 in addition to molasses and water, resorts to pap, or to a pc i- 
 tion of that which has been prepared for the mother, whip 
 usually contains some one of the spices, and sometimes wile j 
 or spirits. By forcing upon the infant thus early su(ti < 
 articles, and continuing their use during infancy, we deprave j 
 
 the appetite, and injure its tender organization at the sane 
 
 time, and incorporate with its very existance a desire fir > 
 these unnatural agents, which desire is apt to strengthen is ' 
 age advances, until the baby-boy, thus trained, if he live to j 
 manhood, is swallowed up in the vortex of intemperance or j 
 dissipation. 
 
 The substances of which this food is generally composed 
 are crackers, rusk or flour ia some form, made into a pup, j 
 and sugared, and no sooner is it received into the stoma U 
 than commences the process of fermentation. The gas which 
 is evolved during this process, being confined within the 
 stomach and bowels, produces flatulent or wind colic, acid 
 eructations, swelling of the abdomen, and sometimes “in- 
 ward fits,” or open convulsions. 
 
 Infants fed upon these unnatural and improper articles, 
 are affected, more or less, with green, watery stools, griping 
 pains, and vomiting, their milk strongly curdled, eto., to 
 correct which a little lime-water, with spiced syrup of rhu- 
 barb, and compound tincture of cardamons, or even ginger- 
 tea, with a little supercarbonate of soda, will answer a better 
 purpose than stronger preparations. 
 
 But if, from exhaustion or other cause, the mother is not 
 able to nurse her infant at once, it is much better to suffer 
 it to rest quietly for six or twelve hours than to feed it with 
 such indigestible articles as above-mentioned. The mother, 
 however, can generally be prevented from falling into this 
 6tate of exhaustion, if properly sustained by some nicely- 
 prepared cream-toast, toasted bread and crackers, steeped in 
 light wine, etc., etc. 
 
 If not, or from any other cause, the infant cannot receive 
 suitable nourishment from its mother, we should use fresh 
 milk from a healthy young cow, and water equal parts, or 
 one part of thin cream and two parts of water, sugared, and 
 but a few teaspoonfuls given at a time, and at intervals of at 
 least two hours. Then, if for the want of the reception of 
 certain saline matters contained in the first milk of the mo- 
 ther, the meconium should not pass from its bowels, it may 
 become pardonable to give ten drops (not a teaspoonful) of 
 castor oil, and repeated, if necessary ; but a small enema of 
 warm water or molasses and w ater, will answer the purpose 
 much better than if put into its stomach. 
 
 THE KITCHEN GARDEN. 
 
 In the Middle States, the work of this month does no vary 
 materially from the month just closed. Cabbage, for winter 
 use, may head if planted at once. Celery, earth up ; plant for 
 later use. Endive, plant. Beans, Bush and Snap, plant; 
 tender “ snaps” gathered late in autumn, may be preserved 
 in strong brine (salt and water) for winter use, and vary but 
 from those freshly gathered. Lettuce , sow in drills to 
 . Peas, sow ; this vegetable is a delicacy in autumn, and 
 more frequently appear at table. Landreth's Extra 
 
 Early, sown latter end of the month and beginning of next, 
 perfect before frost. Spinach, sow for autumn use ; for winter 
 use, tow next month. Radish, sow the Spanish for winter ; 
 Golden Globe and Red Turnii>- rooted for autumn use. Rida 
 Baga, sow without delay, if not already done. Should the 
 ground be dry, work throughly, and sow' in the dust; the 
 seed may vegetate w ith the first show'er; a roller to com- 
 press the soil sometimes promotes vegetation ; but there is 
 this disadvantage— if heavy, dashing rain immediately en- 
 sues, the ground packs and the seed is lost. Pomeranean 
 Globe and Amber Globe Turnips, sow early in the month ; the 
 Early Dutch and Redrtopped, both strap-leaved varieties, may 
 be sown until the first of September, though it may be well 
 to sow at least a portion earlier, as at a late day it is diffi- 
 cult to remedy a failure Read remarks under head of 
 July. 
 
 In the South. — Cabbage, seed sow, to head in November ; 
 Landreth’s Large York is proper; the Early Dwarf Flat 
 Dutch is also an excellent variety to sow at this season. 
 Broccoli and Caidifloioer, sow, and transplant from an earlier 
 sowing. Onions, plant sets for autumn. Carrots, sow. Squash, 
 sow. Rida Baga, sow, to make up deficiencies in J uly sow- 
 ing. Turnips, for table use, sow' at short intervals. Potatoes, 
 plant for winter use. Lettuce, drill for heading. Radishes, 
 sow from time to time. Beets, may be sown for the winter 
 supply. Seeds directed to be sown this month it may be 
 necessary to defer until the next, by reason of heat and 
 drought. Let the young gardener be not disheartened — 
 ultimate success will attend persevering efforts. His first 
 care is to provide reliable seeds, then onword should be his 
 motto. 
 
 HORTICULTURAL. 
 
 Removing Trees. — A correspondent, who lives in a subur- 
 ban village, asks us as to the best time of the year for re- 
 moving trees. Almost any time will do, we answer, except 
 in summer, Even large trees, w'hether evergreens or deci- 
 duous, can be safely removed, and the most of the roots pre- 
 served, if a moist day be selected. In desperate need try a 
 moonlight night. It is the sun that does the mischief. Tree 
 roots stand currents of hot air about as well as fish do. 
 Small trees are better every way— if one can wait. The man 
 who has not yet learned the pleasure of w'atching growth 
 has one pleasure yet in store for him, if he will but put him- 
 self in the way of it. A love of planting comes with the 
 practice of it — like any other virtue. Give the roots plenty 
 of room, and observe the precautions we have mentioned, 
 and your trees will live, w'hile other trees, without these 
 precautions, even if planted in late fall, or early spring, 
 will die. 
 
 OUK NEW COOK-BOOK. 
 
 4Gg=* Every receipt in this Cook-Book has been tested by a prao- 
 tical housekeeper. 
 
 MEATS. 
 
 Beef Pie . — Take cold roast beef or steak, cut it into thin 
 slices, and put a layer into a pie-dish ; shake in a little flour, 
 pepper, and salt ; cut up a tomato or onion, chopped very 
 fine, then another layer of beef and seasoning, and so on 
 until the dish is filled. If you have any beef gravy put it 
 in ; if not, a little beef dripping, and w'ater enough to make 
 sufficient gravy. Have ready one dozen potatoes, well boiled 
 and mashed, half a cup of milk or cream, and a little butter 
 and salt ; spread it over the pie as a crust, an inch thick ; 
 brush it over with egg, and bake it about twenty-five min- 
 utes. 
 
152 
 
 OUR 
 
 N E W 
 
 o o 
 
 K-BOOK. 
 
 Making Hash . — Put a teacupful and a half of boiling water 
 into a sauce-pan, and make a thin paste with a teaspoonful 
 of flour, and a tablespoonful ot water. Stir it, and boil it 
 three minutes. Add half a teaspoonful of black pepper, 
 rather more salt, and one tablespoonful of butter. Then 
 chop the cold beef into a fine hash, removing all tough, 
 gristly pieces ; put the meat in a tin-pan, pour over it the 
 gravy above mentioned, and let it heat ten minutes or so, 
 hut not cook. The reason so many people have poor hash is 
 that they cook it too much, making it hard and unpalatable, 
 or they use tough pieces of cold meat, or they put in too 
 much water, and make it vapid. If preferred, add equal 
 quantities of chopped boiled potatoes ; and if you have the 
 gravy of the meat of yesterday’s dinner, you may U6e that 
 instead of the made gravy, and you will need less salt, and 
 pepper, and butter. 
 
 To Use Cold Chicken . — Two receipts, one is called “fried 
 chicken,” and the other “chicken fritters.” For “fried 
 
 Tomato Sauce . — Take any quantity of ripe tomatoes, put 
 them into an eathen jar, and place them, covered over, in a 
 hot oven till perfectly soft ; then rub them through a fine 
 sieve, to keep out the seeds and skin. To every quart of 
 juice add a clove of garlic, or, if the flavor is preferred, two 
 shallots, bruised, a quarter of an ounce of ginger, and the 
 same quantity of black pepper, and a tablespoonful of salt ; 
 boil for about twenty minutes, and bottle, cork down, and 
 wax it at once. Some like the addition of vinegar or lemon- 
 juice to the same ; others prefer it without. If liked, the 
 juice of two lemons may be added to the above, before boil- 
 ing. 
 
 Baked Com . — Take six ears of field-corn, or twelve ears of 
 sugar-corn. Cut the grain partly off, and scrape the rest ; 
 add one tablespoonful of butter, a tablespoonful of sugar, and 
 a teaspoonful of salt. Rub these well together, and add a 
 pint of new milk. Bake in a dish that you can set on the 
 table without disturbing it. 
 
 chicken,” cut the chickens into quarters, and rub each quar- 
 ter with yolk of egg. Mix some bread-crumbs with pepper, 
 salt, nutmeg, grated lemon-peel, and shred parsley ; cover 
 the chickens with this, and fry them. Thicken some gravy 
 with flour, and add Cayenne pepper, mushroom catchup, 
 and a little lemon-juice. Serve the chicken with this sauce. 
 Chicken Fritters. — Make a batter with four eggs, some new 
 milk, and rice flour; to this add a pint of cream, some 
 powdered sugar, candied lemon-peel, cut small, fresh lemon- 
 peel, grated, and the white parts of a roasted chicken, shred 
 small ; set these altogether on a stove, and stir well for some 
 time. When done, take it off, roll out the mixture, cut it 
 into fritters, and fry them. Put sugar on a dish, lay the 
 fritters on it, strew sugar over, and serve them hot. 
 
 VEGETABLES. 
 
 Cooking New Potatoes. — New potatoes, when they first ap- 
 pear, are considered a delicacy, though not so wholesome as 
 the old, unless they are perfectly ripe, and can be cooked 
 without being made waxy. If they are plainly boiled, a 
 sprig of mint will be found a most pleasant addition. The 
 following is an excellent though more elaborate way of dres- 
 sing them : — Choose the potatoes as nearly of a size as pos- 
 sible ; wash them, and rub off the outer rind ; then wipe 
 them dry with a clean napkin. Put one quarter of a pound 
 ■of fresh butter into a 6tew-pan ; set it on the fire, and, when 
 it boils, throw in the potatoes. Let them boil in the butter 
 till they are done, taking care to toss them every now and 
 then, so that they may all go successively into the boiling 
 butter. They must be carefully watched, because if done 
 too much they shrivel up and become waxy. When the fork 
 indicates that they are done, they must be taken out before 
 they lose their crispness, put into a dish, and some salt 
 sprinkled over them. As soon as they are taken from the 
 boiling butter, a handful of parsley may be thrown in, and, 
 after it has had a boil or two, laid upon the potatoes as a 
 garnish. They must be eaten immediately. This is a beau- 
 tiful dish to serve up with fish, «r it may be eaten alone. 
 The butter in which the potatoes w r ere dressed may be 
 ‘.poured into a jar, and serve again for the same purpose. Old 
 potatoes may be cut into round pieces, about the size of a 
 large walnut, and dressed in the same way. 
 
 Tomato Stow. — Take eight pounds of the plate of beef, put 
 it on to boil in a gallon of water, with a dozen of tomatoes, 
 the same of okras, six potatoes, cut small, two carrots, cut 
 lengthwise, two onions ; season it to your taste with pepper 
 and salt ; let it stew slowly four hours ; skim all the fat off the 
 gravy, and garnish the meat with the potatoes and carrots. 
 
 Tomatoes au Gratin. — This simple and delicious dish is 
 made by cutting some ripe tomatoes in half, putting them in 
 a buttered dish with some bread-crumbs, butter, pepper, and 
 salt, ancM^sking fill slightly browned on the top. 
 
 Com Fritters . — Grate six ears of corn ; add one tablespoon- 
 ful of flour, and two eggs ; pepper and salt to your taste ; to 
 be fried like oysters. 
 
 DESSERTS. 
 
 An Excellent Cream Cheese . — One quart of good cream. Put 
 a quart of good cream aside to become sour and very thick ; 
 then lay a piece of thin calico inside a small hair-sieve, taking 
 care that the calico comes quite to the top, and rather above 
 it, in order that you may be able to pull out the cheese with- 
 out any difficulty. Let the sieve stand upon a dish ; pour 
 the cream into the sieve, and leave it to drain. Pour away 
 the whey from the dish every morning. In about three 
 days the cheese will be a proper consistency, and fit to eat — 
 as thick as butter, and very delicious. If the cream will not 
 go into the sieve at once, pour it in during the day, as the 
 pest sinks from the whey leaving it. At Dieppe, little 
 baskets are sold, heart-shape, for making cream cheeses, 
 and answer the purpose exceedingly well, being very open, 
 so that the whey drains quickly through the calico into 
 the dish. 
 
 Another . — Take three gills of thick cream, stir into it a 
 tablespoonful of salt. Tie up the cream in a cloth, and let it 
 drop for three or four days, changing the cloth every day. 
 It must be hung upon a nail to drip, and when ready, on the 
 third or fourth day, put it into a wooden mould, and press 
 for one hour. It will then be ready for eating. 
 
 Fruit Jelly . — Take two quarts of red currants, two quarts 
 of raspberries, pick and bruise them, and put them into a 
 flannel bag to drain, which should be done the night before 
 they are wanted. The fruit should be quite ripe. Then 
 clarify some isinglass, according to the size of the mould 
 (which must be of earthenware,) have some clarified sugar 
 to make it rich, and put it in ice to cool. 
 
 Gateau de Pommes . — Boil a pound and a half of lump-sugar 
 in a pint of water till it becomes sugar again ; then add two 
 pounds of apples, pared and cored, the peel and a little of the 
 juice of two small lemons; boil it until quite stiff, and put it 
 into a mould. When cold, it should be turned out, and, be- 
 fore being sent to table should have a thick custard poured 
 round it. The cake will keep several months. 
 
 Apple Cream . — Boil twelve apples in water till soft, take 
 off the peel, and press the pulp through a hair-sieve, upon 
 half a pound pf pounded sugar; whip the whites of two eggs, 
 add them to the apples, and beat all together till it becomes 
 very stiff, and looks quite white. Serve it heaped up on : 
 dish. 
 
 Orange Pudding . — Grate the peel of three oranges int 
 pint of good milk, with three ounces of sugar, and the cru 
 of a twopenny loaf, and the yolks of four eggs ; let 
 boil, steam it through a cloth, add the juice of four on 
 and bake it half an hour. 
 
PRESERVATION OF FRUITS. 
 
 727 
 
 PRESERVATION OF CHERRIES. 
 
 Cherries are best kept as a fresh fruit by being placed in an ice 
 chest with little exposure to air. If the skin is not broken, and par- 
 ticularly if the skin is firmly set, they may be kept for several days. 
 Cherries may be dried either in the sun or in a slow oven, having first 
 been boiled a few minutes with one-fourth weight of sugar. In this, 
 as in the following method, the stones should be removed. For pre- 
 serving in cans, add half weight of sugar, heat slowly until it is melt- 
 ed, then boil briskly for fifteen minutes. In the meantime, heat the 
 cans in water up to boiling, and put the fruit into the cans while in 
 the heated water, and seal immediately. 
 
 For bottling cherries, says the London Field , try the following, and 
 you cannot fail to have delicious fruit for tarts through the winter : 
 To every pound of fruit add six ounces of powdered lump sugar. Fill 
 the jars with fruit; shake in the sugar over, and tie each jar down 
 with two bladders, as there is danger of one bursting during the boil- 
 ing. Place the jars in a boiler of cold water, and, after the water has 
 boiled, let them remain three hours ; take them out, and, when cool, 
 .put them in a dry place, where they will keep over a year. We have 
 tried this recipe for several years, and never found it to fail. 
 
 PRESERVATION OF GRAPES. 
 
 The first great requisite for keeping grapes well is to have them well 
 grown and well ripened. The stems should not be green, but full ma- 
 turity indicated by their having become to some degree the same col- 
 or as the grape. The grapes should be full sized, having been grown 
 on well cultivated and well pruned vines. After this, it is not essen- 
 tial how they are kept, provided they are in a cool, rather dry apart- 
 ment, and not placed in large masses in contact. Some delicate vari- 
 eties do better by being hung up, so that the berries may hang apart, 
 and not touch each other. 
 
 Small wires of sufficient stiffness, and a few inches in length, are 
 bent into hooks in the shape of the letter S ; one end is passed into 
 the smaller end of the bunch, and the other placed upon a suspended 
 hoop. 
 
 It is hardly requisite to remind those accustomed to the successful 
 keeping of grapes of the necessity of careful picking, and the removal 
 of imperfect or decayed berries. Most of our American varieties may 
 be easily kept packed in cotton batting or dry maple leavesj Chaff would 
 
728 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 do ; but would be liable to stick to tbe grapes. They should be kepi 
 in a cool place, but a slight frost will not injure them if they have be- 
 come fully ripe. A good way for keeping them is as follows : Place 
 them in broad, shallow boxes, about six inches deep, with a white 
 sheet of unsized paper on the bottom, and between each layer of 
 grapes. Set the box uncovered in a dry, open place for about ten 
 days, till all the surplus moisture has evaporated ; this will prevent 
 future moulding and decay, and is very important. Then cover the 
 boxes with covers which have been previously made to shut tight. 
 Place them in a cool cellar, or in a garret not subject to severe frost, 
 and they will keep till spring as fresh as when packed away. 
 
 A convenient size for the boxes is two feet square and six inches 
 deep. These are rather better than tubs made from barrels cut in 
 two, by allowing the moisture more readily to escape. Baskets for 
 packing should be avoided, as, by yielding, they bruise the fruit. A 
 convenient way for gathering is to suspend a light shallow box, hold- 
 ing about half a bushel or less, by means of a strap to tbe neck, leav- 
 ing both hands at liberty. In this box they may be carried to the 
 place of packing. 
 
 The directions given by Prof. Loomis are as follow^ : In gathering 
 grapes care should be taken that they are perfectly diy. They should 
 be taken off in clusters, handled tenderly, and all unripe, immatured, 
 decayed, or injured berries removed, as well as projecting and surplus 
 portions of the stem. 
 
 They are packed in layers in boxes, having a ptiper over the bottom 
 of the box, a paper between each layer, and one over the top. The 
 bunches are not to be crowded, nor left so loose as to slide about the 
 box when being moved. For market, the box’es contain about fifty 
 pounds ; for keeping for future use, ten pounds. The boxes should ba 
 put in a cool, dry place, free from the sun, and at as even a tempera- 
 ture as possible, and kept closed until opened for use. Cotton has 
 been used instead of paper for packing, but paper is found to answer 
 every requisite. Thus treated, grapes may be kept till the approach 
 of the warm influences of spring. 
 
 Put up in sealed cans with half weight of sugar, grapes keep well 
 throughout the year. Considerable boiling renders the preservation 
 more secure. 
 
 It is said that of grapes packed in boxes, one foot square and six inches 
 deep, admitting three layers of clusters, and kept in a cool, dry cel- 
 lar, so cool during the winter that water standing in a pail would 
 freeze half an inch thick, those packed with alternate layers of grapes 
 
PRESERVATION OF FRUITS. 
 
 729 
 
 and fresii grape leaves kept well until about the last of December ; 
 those packed with alternate layers of grapes and sheet wadding kept 
 tolerably until about the middle of December ; and those packed with 
 alternate layers of newspapers and grapes, by changing the paper 
 and repacking, kept until the fifteenth of March, perfectly plump and 
 fresh, and most of the stems fresh and green, and would have kept 
 much longer. 
 
 It has been stated that “ grapes are very easily preserved all win- 
 ter by packing when thoroughly ripe in a barrel, with kiln-dried saw- 
 dust between the layers of grapes, keeping the barrels in a dry cellar, 
 secure from frost.” 
 
 Mr. Pardee, of New York, says the best method is, to gather the 
 grapes between three and four o’clock in the afternoon of a dry day, 
 taking great care to have them all ripe, and none over-ripe, cutting 
 out all imperfect berries. Then spread them on a floor for a few days, 
 after which they are to be put in boxes with a little cotton, and placed 
 in a cool, dry room. 
 
 Another way is to put the bunches carefully in one gallon stone 
 jars, and bury in trenches in the ground with eight or ten inches of 
 earth over their tops, which are first covered with boards. The 
 bunches must be perfectly sound and ripe, and gathered when the 
 weather is dry, and they will keep without any further trouble. 
 
 The French preserve grapes the year round by coating the clusters 
 with lime. The bunches are picked just before they are thoroughly 
 ripe, and dipped in lime water of the consistency of thin cream. They 
 are then hung on wires, and when dry are dipped the second time, 
 and then hung up to remain. The lime coating keeps out air, and 
 checks any tendency to decay. When wanted for the table, dip the 
 clusters in warm water to remove the lime. 
 
 In the south of Eussia, they are gathered before they are quite ripe, 
 put into large pots, so filled with millet that each fruit is separate, 
 and the pots are covered so as to render them air-tight. They are 
 sent in this way to the markets of St. Petersburg. After remaining 
 thus for a whole year, they are still very sweet, all their sugar being 
 developed by the ripening process in the pots. 
 
 PRESERVING CURRANTS. 
 
 This fruit, from the large size of its seeds, compared with the berry, 
 is not so desirable to can, or as a jam. It is however one of the most 
 valuable of garden products for jelly and wine, which, in addition to 
 
730 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 their edible excellence, hold a high place in the materia medica. Cur- 
 rants, to be dried in the sun, should, like apples, have a good south- 
 ern exposure, with free access of air. The only care needed is that 
 the drying be thorough. Another method of drying is to boil with 
 one-fourth weight of sugar for about half an hour to an hour, then 
 spread on plates, and dry in the sun or in a slow oven. For cans the 
 flavor is improved by adding one-half weight of raisins. The strength 
 of the acids in currants renders the use of tin cans objectionable. Many 
 prefer to can them green. 
 
 Currants may be kept green for any length of time, it is said, in as 
 good condition as when gathered, by the following process : Pick the 
 fruit when fully grown, dry the surface well without shrivelling, and 
 cork tight in glass bottles, covering the corks with sealing wax ; then 
 bury the bottle to the neck in sand or earth in a cool cellar. This 
 may be successfully applied also to the gooseberry. Try it. 
 
 PRESERVATION OF GOOSEBERRIES. 
 
 This fruit is so nearly allied to the currant in size and qualities that 
 it may be subjected to the same treatment. 
 
 The Country Gentleman recommends to take full grown gooseber- 
 ries, before they are ripe, pick them, and put them into wide-mouthed 
 bottles, cork them gently with new soft corks, and put them in an oven 
 from which the bread has been drawn, let them remain till they have 
 shrunk nearly a quarter; then take them out and beat the corks in 
 tight, cut them off level with the bottle, and resin them down close. 
 Keep them in a dry place. 
 
 TO PRESERVE STRAWBERRIES. 
 
 This fruit does not permit its peculiarly rich taste to be trans- 
 mitted to the preserved berry by any means yet tried. For pre- 
 serving in all the various modes, it may be treated in the same man- 
 ner as cherries. 
 
 For canning, take two pounds of fine large strawberries, add two 
 pounds of powdered sugar, and put them in a preserving kettle, over 
 a slow fire, till the sugar is melted ; then boil them precisely twenty 
 minutes as fast as possible ; have ready a number of small jars, and 
 put the fruit in boiling hot. Cork and seal the jars immediately, and 
 keep them through the summer in a cold, dry cellar. The jars must 
 
PRESERVATION OF FRUITS. 731 
 
 be heated before the hot fruit is poured in, otherwise they will 
 break. 
 
 To make the best strawberry preserves, take one pound of fine ripe 
 strawberries and four pounds of good white sugar — place them in a 
 new tin vessel over a gentle fire — stir them till they scald — set them 
 away to cool. When cool put them in a glass jar, and exclude them 
 from the air and you have a superior article fit for use. 
 
 To preserve strawberries or raspberries for creams or ices, without 
 boiling, let the fruit be gathered in the middle of a warm day, in very 
 dry weather ; strip it from the stalks directly, weigh it, turn it into a 
 bowl or deep pan, and bruise it gently ; mix with an equal weight of 
 fine dry sifted sugar, and put it immediately into small wide-necked 
 bottles ; cork these firmly without delay, and tie bladders over the 
 tops. Keep them in a cool place, or the fruit will ferment. The mix- 
 ture should be stirred softly, and only just sufficiently to blend the 
 sugar and the fruit. The bottles must be perfectly dry, and the blad- 
 ders, after having been cleaned in the usual way, and allowed to become 
 nearly so, should be moistened with a little spirit on the side which is 
 to be next the cork. 
 
 Strawberries stewed for tarts : Make a syrup of one pound of sugar 
 and a teacup of water; add a little white of eggs; let it boil, and skim 
 it until only a foam rises ; then put in a quart of berries free from 
 stems and hulls ; let them boil till they look clear and the syrup is 
 quite thick. Finish with fine puff paste. 
 
 To preserve strawberries in wine put a quantity of the finest large 
 strawberries into a gooseberry bottle, and strew over them three large 
 spoonfuls of fine sugar ; fill up with Madeira wine or sherry. 
 
 PRESERVATION OF BLACKBERRIES. 
 
 When fully ripe or slightly overripe, the berry is apt to be broken 
 in taking to market. They should be immediately rinsed by pouring 
 water upon them in a collander or basket and dried in the sun. This 
 will check the tendency to decay. 
 
 For preserving in cans, good sound berries that have not been wet 
 nor soured should be selected. Boil gently ten or fifteen minutes, 
 with sugar sufficient to sweeten. This berry, being small and juicy, 
 may be put up in any ordinary mouthed bottle and sealed. 
 
 For drying mix four pounds of berries to one of sugar, boil gently 
 a few minutes, then spread them on plates and dry around the fire or 
 in a slow oven. 
 
732 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 PRESERVING- RASPBERRIES. 
 
 These may be preserved wet, bottled, or made jam or marmalade 
 of, the same as strawberries. Raspberries are very good dried in the 
 sun, or in a warm oven. They are very delicious stewed for table or 
 tarts. See above under “Strawberries.” 
 
 TO PRESERVE HUCKLEBERRIES. 
 
 This very excellent little berry is preserved chiefly by drying. It 
 can not be long kept in a fresh condition. 
 
 PRESERVING CRANBERRIES. 
 
 For home use, spread upon a floor in a cool, but not freezing tem- 
 perature, they will remain many weeks. For shipping they are put 
 in barrels, which are afterwards filled with water. They thus make 
 the voyage to Europe, the south, and even to the West Indies, in good 
 condition. Cranberries may be preserved perfect for several years 
 merely by drying them a little in the sun, and then packing them 
 closely in clean bottles. 
 
 PROTECTING DRIED FRUITS FROM WORMS, &C. 
 
 Pack them after drying, in empty liquor barrels, and cover tight, 
 or put them in other barrels and add a little whiskey or brandy as 
 you fill them up. 
 
 Another method is to scatter through the dried fruit a few chips of 
 sassafras bark. It is said that dried fruit put away with a little bark 
 (say a large handful to a bushel,) will save for years unmolested by 
 those troublesome little insects, which so often destroy hundreds of 
 bushels in a season. The remedy is cheap and simple, and we venture 
 to say a good one. 
 
 Philadelphia Preserved Pineapple . — Peel and slice the pineapple ; 
 take equal quantities of fruit and sugar ; put a layer of sugar, then of 
 apple till your jar is filled ; then cover it with white brandy. Keep 
 tight from air. 
 
 To Preserve Lemon Juice . — Lemon juice, according to Mr. Schweit- 
 zer, may be preserved from decomposition if ten per cent, of alcohol 
 be added to it. It will be thus rendered perfectly fit for exportation 
 or naval use. 
 
MAKING VINEGAR. 
 
 733 
 
 HOW TO KEEP NUTS — WALNUTS, &C. 
 
 Take two garden pots, one a couple of sizes larger than the other ; 
 stop up the holes and fill them with clean salt and water. When the 
 outside gets wet, you will know that the salt has got through. Then 
 pour out all the salt and water, and open the holes. You may then 
 fill the small pot with nuts, put it on a couple of bricks in a cellar, 
 and whelm the large pot over it. Take care to keep the pot holes 
 open, so that air can get through. Walnuts have been kept fresh in 
 this way till spring. Mind that they are clean before they are put in. 
 
 Shucking Black Walnuts . — Bore a one and a quarter inch hole in a 
 bench, place a basket under it; then put the nuts over the hole with 
 the left hand, and drive them through it with a wooden mallet held 
 in the right. 
 
 To Preserve Hazel Nuts and Filberts . — To preserve hazel nuts and 
 filberts in a fresh and plump state, it is only necessary to prevent their 
 parting with their moisture by evaporation. Burying them in heaps 
 in the earth, putting them in earthen jars in the cellar, and covering 
 them with dry sand are all excellent plans. The hazel nut of Ameri- 
 ca is smaller than that imported, but it possesses a more pleasant taste 
 and might be gathered in large quantities in many places. About 
 182,000 bushels are exported from Spain annually. 
 
 MAKING- VINEGAR. 
 
 All reference to vinegar as a preservative, says Prof. Loomis, must 
 be understood as being made to a pure cider vinegar. Chemical vin- 
 egars, such as are most commonly found in market, having various 
 chemical properties, may either entirely fail to effect a preservation, 
 or wholly consume the substance. For a good vinegar, to three gal- 
 lons of pure apple cider add one gallon of soft water well sweetened 
 with molasses, and expose to the sun or warm air till the acetic fer- 
 mentation is nearly complete, then remove to a cool dry apartment. 
 The cask should always be left uncorked. 
 
 The proportion of a gallon molasses to a barrel of cider, mixed, 
 warmed in a kettle, and put in a cask with a few sheets of brown pa- 
 per, makes a good vinegar. Keep it in a warm place with the bung 
 open, through which a stick is inserted for stirring it, to break the 
 scum and admit the air. The vinegar may be drawn as needed, and 
 
734 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 its place supplied by cider, which in its turn will be converted into 
 vinegar. 
 
 Free access of air to the cider or other juice of fruit, and a tem- 
 perature of from seventy-two to one hundred degrees are requisite for 
 vinegar making. 
 
 The best mode of making good vinegar on a small scale, says C. E. 
 Goodrich, is : 1. Choose a stout, tight cask, if possible one that has 
 
 already been used to contain cider, beer, wine, &c. Saw a square hole 
 in the side around the bung from six to eight inches square. Be care- 
 ful to saw beveling, so that the piece may at a future time be set back 
 in the hole, and not fall in. 
 
 2. Place this cask in the warm weather of spring, in some secure 
 and sheltered place, where it can have the sun and yet be protected 
 from disturbance. 
 
 3. Pour into it a few quarts of good vinegar, warmed a little. Also 
 at the same time a few quarts of good cider, which will soon become 
 vinegar. Continue to add cider according to the heat of the weather 
 and the ascertained progress of the contents of the barrel. In a few 
 weeks all your barrel of cider will thus have become good vinegar. 
 This being accomplished, the whole may be removed to a cold cellar. 
 
 4. The object of the large hole is the admission of the air freely to 
 the surface of the liquid. It will be well, while the vinegar is form- 
 ing, to lay over the hole a bit of millinet or perforated tin, to keep out 
 insects. When it is finished, the original block sawed out may be 
 restored. 
 
 I was taught this mode more than thirty years ago, by a wise house- 
 keeper, and have practiced it with the best success. 
 
 In the absence of cider, weak poor wine, molasses and water, or al- 
 cohol and water may be used. 
 
 Those who manufacture vinegar on a large scale for market, some- 
 times have a process different from the above, which cannot well be 
 used in a small family. 
 
 Remarks on the Sources of Vinegar. — Starch, by the saccharine fer- 
 mentation, becomes sugar or sweet syrup. Sugars, and all sweet j uices, 
 become alcohol by the vinous fermentation. Alcohol becomes acetic 
 acid, that is vinegar, by the acetous fermentation. 
 
 Hence all roots and grains containing starch, and roots and fruits 
 containing sugar or its elements, are capable of being made into vine- 
 gar. In wine growing countries poor wines are often thus used. So 
 poor maple or cane molasses, slops of alcohol, &c., all may be convert- 
 ed into good vinegar. 
 
MAKING VINEGAR. 
 
 735 
 
 I hardly need add that vinegar will be strong in proportion to the 
 richness of the materials used in making it. 
 
 Good vinegar may be kept in heart, and the vessel sustained in 
 quantity, by the frequent additions, in small quantities, of anything 
 that will make vinegar. 
 
 Vinegar is sometimes manufactured in the course of a day or two 
 with great rapidity, by allowing it to trickle through small holes in 
 the bottom of a pan, placed on the top of and fitting a barrel, which is 
 filled with shavings. The vinegar runs down the surface of the sha- 
 vings, and is thus thinly exposed to the air, which causes a rapid 
 fermentation, completing the process, if skillfully conducted, in forty- 
 eight hours. 
 
 D. Lee, of Washington City, states that next to cider the juice of 
 sorghum is the best material for making pure and pleasant vinegar. 
 He says : In converting whisky into vinegar, yeast is mixed with 
 the diluted spirit ; and I use a little yea,st in making sugar cane cider 
 into vinegar. I think it best to boil two barrels of cane juice into one 
 for vinegar. 
 
 In place of shavings, I have hung both pine and chestnut boughs, 
 top down, on rods in barrels, and made cane cider spread over their 
 surface to be transformed into vinegar. The plan does well, but has 
 no advantage over shavings. 
 
 To enterprising young farmers I would say, you can make a large 
 profit by raising cucumbers for pickles, making vinegar from sorghum 
 or sugar beets, and putting your pickles in market ready for the table. 
 The hungry millions will consume an incredible amount of this article 
 if fairly set before them. Pickled tomatoes are a very healthy fruit, 
 and capable of large and cheap production. Vinegar as a preserver 
 of both fruits and vegetables, has an undeveloped value of great im- 
 portance. 
 
 The juice of currants, also of grapes, or the pomace of either, 
 sweetened with molasses, will make good vinegar. So will the juice 
 of tomatoes sweetened. • And the Scientific American says the juice 
 of watermelon boiled down one-half will make a vinegar equal or next 
 to cider vinegar. 
 
 It is said that a great part of the vinegar consumed in Paris is pro- 
 duced by the distillation of vine stalks, and that it is much stronger 
 than that made from wine. 
 
 Over-ripe peaches and waste fruit of any kind, put into barrels 
 containing rain-water, and allowed to remain until the water is strong- 
 ly impregnated with the juice of the fruit, will make good vinegar. 
 
736 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 Draw off into other barrels to ferment. And so will the water in 
 which dried apples have been soaked and washed ; strain it well and 
 add sugar or molasses. 
 
 Mix one pound of honey with a gallon of cider, and expose it to the 
 sun, or keep it where it is warm, and in a few months it will be sc 
 strong that water will be necessary to dilute it. 
 
 A newspaper article says : By following the rules laid down in the 
 following recipe, which I have pursued for many years, any one may 
 make the article on his own premises: “To eight gallons of clear 
 rain-water add three quarts of molasses. Put into a good cask, shake 
 well a few times, then add two or three spoonfuls of good yeast cakes. 
 If in summer, place the cask in the sun ; in the winter, near the chim- 
 ney, where it may be warm. In ten or fifteen days, add to the liquor 
 a sheet of brown paper, torn in strips, dipped in molasses, and good 
 vinegar will be produced. The paper will, in this way, form what is 
 called the ' mother,’ or 'life of the vinegar.’ ” 
 
 A. A. Crumpton, of Illinois, gives his experience, as follows : As I 
 have seen from time to time inquiries for making good vinegar, I will 
 give you the way I made a half barrel some two years ago, which we 
 have been using out of ever since, and is now better than ever, and 
 pronounced by all who have tasted it the best for strength and flavor 
 they have ever tasted — in fact, we never dare use it full strength. In 
 the spring I had left several gallons of a barrel of cider that got too 
 sharp for drinking, to which was added nearly as much soft water, a 
 lot of refuse molasses, the remains of a keg of beer left from the pre- 
 vious harvest — probably another gallon — two handfuls dried apples, a 
 piece of brown paper dipped in molasses, to form the mother, then 
 added a cake of dry yeast, and let it go to work, with a piece of mus- 
 quito bar over the bung. Then, when fruit-canning time came, we 
 had several kinds (raspberries and strawberries,) which, from imper- 
 fect sealing, fermented ; these went into my keg ; then all the apple 
 and peach parings were saved, put down in a stone jar and covered 
 with soft water, and allowed to thoroughly ferment; these strained 
 and the liquor added to my keg, with a little molasses, from time to 
 time, and by the end of summer we had excellent vinegar ; and we 
 have been using, as I said, nearly two years from that same keg, sa- 
 ving apple parings and fermented can fruits to keep up the supply, or 
 sometimes adding water and molasses if it gets down much. There is 
 a fine mother formed in the keg, which acts the same as the celebra- 
 ted vinegar plant, converting everything put in to vinegar. 
 
 Preparation of Spiced Vinegar . — For every pint of spiced vinegar 
 
MAKING PICKLES. 
 
 737 
 
 it is intended to make take one ounce of black pepper, half an ounce 
 of salt, half an ounce of ginger, a quarter of an ounce of alspice, and, 
 if desired to be hot, add also a quarter of a drachm of Cayenne, or a 
 few capsicums. Bruise the whole of these materials in a mortar, and 
 put them into a jar or wide-mouthed green glass bottle, tied over 
 with a bladder. Place this in a saucepan of water, and keep it hot 
 for three days, shaking it now and then. If the maker has an enamel 
 saucepan, this operation can be facilitated by simmering the ingredi- 
 ents together. Spiced vinegar is used hot for walnuts and cold 
 cabbage. 
 
 Raspberry Vinegar. — Put a pound of very fine ripe raspberries in a 
 bowl ; bruise them well , and pour upon them a quart of the best white 
 wine vinegar ; next day strain the liquor on a pound of fresh ripe 
 raspberries ; bruise them also, and the following day do the same, 
 but do not squeeze the fruit, or it will make it ferment ; only drain the 
 liquor as dry as you can from it. The last*time pass it through a 
 canvas bag, previously wet with the vinegar, to prevent waste. Put 
 the juice into a stone jar, with a pound of sugar to every pint of juice*. 
 The sugar must be broken into lumps ; stir it, and, when melted, put 
 the jar into a pan of water ; let it simmer, and skim it ; when cold, 
 bottle ; it will be fine and thick when cold, like strained honey new*- 
 lv prepared. 
 
 MAKING PICKLES. 
 
 The first requisite of pickling is pure vinegar. Success with the- 
 common market vinegars, made of oil of vitriol, acetic acid, or similar' 
 chemical materials, is out of the question. Having a good vinegar, 
 almost any tasteless, tender vegetable or fruit may be used for pick- 
 ling. Thus we have green or unripe grapes, apples, butternuts, to- 
 matoes, peppers, cucumbers, melons, and, in fact, a nameless multitude * 
 of others. In all these cases the general principle is the same, i. e., 
 if the substance possesses any bitter or acrid principle, soak or boil it 
 in water or brine until it is removed. After this, nothing remains- 
 but to immerse it in a pure cider vinegar with condiments to suit. 
 The ordinary mode of greening pickles by the use of copperas is high- 
 ly pernicious from its irritative and poisonous effect of the copperas 
 in the stomach. 
 
 For pickling, kettles lined with porcelain or block tin should be 
 
738 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 used. The former is best. Iron will be likely to discolor them, while 
 brass, copper and bell-metal will poison them, and therefore must not 
 be used. Use cider vinegar, and glass or stone jars — not common 
 earthenware — and a wooden spoon and fork for taking them out of the 
 jar. Keep the jars stopped tight with large flat corks covered with 
 oil cloth or leather, and see that the vinegar always completely cov- 
 ers them — the rule being one-third vinegar and two-thirds pickles to 
 fill the jar. 
 
 To Pickle Cucumbers . — A good method is to pack in crocks, kegs, 
 or barrels, alternate layers of fresh picked cucumbers and salt, with- 
 out adding any liquid. 
 
 We have been told that if for one-half barrel of pickles we make a 
 brine of two quarts of salt, with half a pound of alum, and keep the 
 barrel covered, the pickle will be well preserved, and will require only 
 to be soaked over night to be ready for the vinegar. 
 
 A plan sometimes adopted is to gather full grown but quite young 
 cucumbers, take off the green rind, and slice them tolerably thick ; 
 put a layer in a deep dish, strew over it some chopped onion and salt ; 
 do this until they are all in ; sprinkle salt on the top ; let them stand 
 six hours ; put them in a colander ; when all the liquor has run off, 
 put them in a pot, strew a little Cayenne pepper over each layer, and 
 cover them with strong cold vinegar ; when the pot is full, pour on 
 some sweet oil and tie it up close ; at the end of a fortnight pour off 
 the first vinegar and put on fresh. 
 
 Another method practiced is to choose nice young gherkins, lay 
 them upon dishes, sprinkle salt over them, let them lie a week, drain 
 them off, and put them into stone jars. Pour boiling white vinegar 
 over them, place them near the fire, cover them with vine leaves, and 
 continue doing so until they are a good color. Use wooden spoons 
 with holes to dish all pickles, keeping them always well covered, and 
 free from air getting to them. 
 
 To pickle ripe cucumbers, take them when they have just turned 
 yellow, pare, slice, and take out the seeds. Scald them over night in 
 brine, then lay them in your jar, and to a gallon of vinegar add three- 
 fourths of a pound of brown sugar, and spice to your taste. Pour it 
 on boiling hot, and re-scald occasionally. 
 
 To Pickle Tomatoes . — To pickle green tomatoes, slice them, scald 
 in salt and water, with the addition of a little alum, until they begin 
 to be tender ; skim them out, and put them in a stone jar. Take 
 enough good vinegar to cover them, and to every quart add one pound 
 of sugar and spices. Scald them and pour over the tomatoes hot. 
 
MAKING PICKLES. 
 
 739 
 
 Another method is, to one peck of green tomatoes, allow a handfu- 
 of salt and warm water sufficient to cover them. Let them remain 
 in this twenty-four hours. Put them into a kettle (porcelain lined is 
 the best,) fill up with vinegar and set upon the stove till the vinegar 
 begins to boil, and then set it away to cool. When cold set the kettle 
 again upon the stove, and bring it to the boiling point. Then skim 
 the tomatoes and put them into ajar, fill up with some new cold vine- 
 gar, and flavor with mustard seed, alspice, cloves, &c. The same vin- 
 egar first used, will answer to scald more tomatoes in. 
 
 Another : To one gallon of tomatoes, chopped fine and pressed as 
 dry as possible, add three red peppers and three onions, also chopped 
 — one pint of grated horse radish, a half pint of black mustard seed, 
 two tablespoonfuls of ground cloves, one of ground alspice, and one of 
 black pepper. Put in a jar and cover with cold vinegar. You can 
 leave out the onions if you choose. 
 
 To pickle ripe tomatoes, scald and peel them, sprinkle a thin layer 
 of sugar in the bottom of a jar, then put in a layer of tomatoes, then 
 a layer of sugar, and so on. The small ones put in whole ; larger 
 ones, slice. They will be ready in two weeks, or will keep till toma- 
 toes come again. Or the following plan, which makes superior pickles 
 and vinegar : To one gallon of soft water add a pint of sugar, or sorg 
 hum molasses, stir well, and then add ' nearly a gallon of fresh and 
 ripe tomatoes. Now set the vessel aside, and in a few days you will 
 have the sourest pickles and nearly the best vinegar. 
 
 For sweet pickled tomatoes take nine pounds of ripe tomatoes, 
 (scalded and skinned,) three pounds of brown sugar, and three pints 
 of good vinegar ; put the whole into a kettle, with the addition of two 
 ounces of cinnamon and two of cloves, tied up in a bag — set them 
 upon a moderate fire, stirring them frequently, to prevent them from 
 sticking to the kettle, until they are sufficiently cooked to keep well. 
 A very nice sweet pickle may be made of soft peaches or plums pre- 
 pared in the same way. 
 
 Another : One peck of green tomatoes sliced, six large onions sliced, 
 strew a handful of salt over them ; let them remain over night, drain 
 off in the morning, then take two quarts of water and one of vinegar, 
 boil them in it fifteen or twenty minutes ; after boiling put them in a 
 sieve to drain, then take four quarts of vinegar, two pounds of brown 
 sugar, half a pound white mustard seed, two tablespoonfuls of ground 
 alspice, same of cloves, cinnamon, ginger and mustard, and one tea- 
 spoonful of cayenne pepper, put all in a kettle and cook fifteen min- 
 utes slowly. 
 
740 
 
 PKACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 To Pickle Onions. — Peel the onion, cut it into rings, and spread it 
 upon a dish; then. lightly sprinkle, it with salt; in about half an hour 
 pour off the watery brine, and put the onion into ajar. Now pour on 
 scalding vinegar enough to cover the pickle made. Boil up with every 
 pint of vinegar, before it is used, half an ounce each of whole black 
 pepper and alspice, and a quarter of an ounce each of cloves and gin- 
 ger. Keep the jar on the oven for one or two days, then tie down 
 with a piece of glazed muslin. In a month or so it is fit for use. 
 
 Another method recommended is : Get white onions that are not 
 too large, cut the stem close to the root with a sharp knife, put them 
 m a pot, pour on boiling salt and water to cover them, stop the pot 
 closely, let them stand a fortnight, changing the salt and water every 
 three days ; they must be stirred daily, or those that float will become 
 soft ; at the end of this time take off the skin and outer shell, put 
 them in plain cold vinegar with a little tumeric ; if the vinegar be not 
 very pale, they will not be of good color. 
 
 To Pickle Cabbage — Slice, add spice, and pour cold vinegar over it. 
 
 lo Pickle Radish Pods. — Immerse sprigs of young and tender rad- 
 ish pods two days in strong salt and water, then drain and wipe them. 
 Boil equal quantities of vinegar and water and while hot pour over 
 them in clean stone jars, covering closely to keep in the steam. Re- 
 peat this until they are deep green, which may require several times 
 during the day. Then pour this off and substitute vinegar with a 
 very little alum boiled and poured over them. Add sweet oil, tur- 
 meric, whole pepper and mace in small quantities. Close and keep 
 tight. 
 
 To Pickle Nasturtiums. — Take the green seeds as soon as full grown, 
 pick off the stems, and put the seeds into jars of sufficient pure cider 
 vinegar, cold, to cover them. Stop the jars tight. 
 
 To Pickle Green Beans. — Take them while young and tender, string 
 them, and immerse in salt water two days, stirring frequently. Put 
 them in a kettle adding a lump of alum, and having cabbage or grape 
 leaves over and all round them so that they shall not touch the kettle, 
 cover tight, keep them over a slow fire until they become green. Now 
 take them out and drain them. Put them in a jar and pour over them 
 hot vinegar, in which spices, as whole pepper, ginger root, &c., have 
 been boiled a few minutes tied up in a bag. Tie glazed muslin over 
 the jar. 
 
 To Pickle Poaches. — Select those which are ripe, yet not soft enough 
 to eat, and wipe them carefully. Put a pound of brown sugar to a 
 gallon of vinegar, and boil it up ; skim off the top, and pour it hot 
 
MAKING PICKLES. 
 
 741 
 
 upon the peaches ; add a few cloves and then cover them close. It 
 may be necessary to scald the vinegar in a week or two, after which 
 they will keep any length of time. No pickle can be nicer. Toma- 
 toes prepared in the same manner and put in with the peaches, par- 
 take of their flavor so much they are scarcely inferior to them. 
 
 Some prefer the following method : Take any kind of fine, large 
 peaches that are not too ripe, wipe off the down with a soft flannel cloth, 
 place three or four cloves in each, and lay them whole in a jar. To 
 every gallon of vinegar add one quart of water, five pounds of sugar, 
 a tablespoonful of salt and whole cinnamon. Pour it over the fruit 
 boiling hot, and let them stand in a cool place a week or ten days ; 
 then turn off the liquor and boil as before ; after which they are ready 
 to be set away in the store room for future use. 
 
 This has been highly recommended : Three pounds of sugar to one 
 quart of vinegar. Spice them — pour the vinegar and sugar on cold, 
 then set the jar in a pot of boiling water and keep them there until 
 they boil. 
 
 A lady says the following is the best method for pickling peaches 
 and pears : — Pare the fruit, then add one-half pound sugar to every 
 pound of fruit. Put them in a jar — a layer of fruit and then a sprink- 
 ling of sugar, and let them stand all night. To the juice thus express- 
 ed, add vinegar enough to cover them, cook a short time and they are 
 done. Spice as you please. I learn from a German lady (an excellent 
 housekeeper) that a piece of horse radish root put into the jar with 
 any kind of pickles, will prevent any scum from rising. We have only 
 to try it to prove it. 
 
 Pickling Apples . — A good housekeeper recommends the following 
 and says it is excellent : Take seven pounds of apples, pare, and steam 
 them until you can run a fork through them easily ; then put them in- 
 to a pan with three pints of vinegar, three pounds of sugar, one-half 
 cup of spices, (equal parts cloves, cinnamon and alspice,) and cook 
 them the same as you would preserved fruit, that is, till they are cooked 
 through. Next put them into a jar snugly, and boil the liquid down 
 to a good thickness, pour over the fruit, and when used for the table, 
 serve with liquid just as you do any preserves. I prepare pears, cher- 
 ries, and peaches, in the same manner. 
 
 To pickle sweet apples. — To half a peck of apples make a syrup of 
 two pounds sugar, and one pint of vinegar. Boil the apples in this 
 syrup until tender, then remove them, and make a new syrup of two 
 and a half pounds of sugar and one pint of vinegar. Add one tea- 
 spoonful of cloves and one of cinnamon, tied in a bag. Let the syrup 
 
742 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 boil fifteen or twenty minutes ; then pour it, while hot, over the fruit. 
 The first syrup is good for other sauces. 
 
 To Pickle Plums. — For seven pounds of plums, take four and a 
 half of sugar, one quart of vinegar, four ounces cinnamon, two ounces 
 cloves — put the spices in a bag, scald the sugar, spice and vinegar to- 
 gether, then pour over the plums — cover tight — let them stand on the 
 stove and keep hot — but not boil, for four hours. 
 
 This is sometimes preferred : Seven pounds of plums, four pounds 
 of sugar, one quart of vinegar, one ounce of cloves, one ounce of cin- 
 namon. Boil the vinegar and sugar together, and pour them over the 
 plums, three mornings in succession. The 'fourth morning put them 
 all over the fire — simmer but not boil. Lay the spices in layers with 
 the plums before the vinegar is poured on. 
 
 Pickled Currants. — Take eight quarts ripe currants, four pounds su- 
 gar, one pint vinegar, and ground spices to taste. Boil about one hour, 
 put in jars and cover as other preserves. After a few months it is 
 quite equal to cranberry jelly. 
 
 Pickling Walnuts. — A lady of great experience in such matters, 
 gives the following : Gather the wain uts dry, prick them with a large 
 pin two or three times, put them into salt and water, shift them every 
 three days for a fortnight, put them into a sieve, and let them stand a 
 day in the air, and then put them into an earthen jar. Boil as much 
 vinegar as will cover them well, pour it boiling hot over them, let 
 them stand three days, then put them into a sieve, and let them stand 
 in the air another day ; then take to every quart of fresh vinegar 
 that may be wanted, half an ounce of black mustard seed, half an 
 ounce of horse radish cut into slices, a quarter of an ounce of long 
 pepper, three cloves of garlic, a dozen cloves, four or five pieces of 
 raw ginger, and a few eschalots ; boil these ten minutes, and pour it 
 boiling hot over your walnuts ; let i t stand a fortnight, then put them 
 into bottles corked close, and cover the corks with resin. They will 
 keep for years. 
 
 Pickles Recommended by the Sanitary Commission. — H. M. Way, 
 Agent of the U. S. Sanitary Commission, writes from Memphis, Tenn.: 
 Secure green tomatoes, melons, cucumbers, cabbage and onions, slicing 
 all of these, then cover them with strong brine for thirty-six hours, 
 then pour off the brine and pack very closely in tight barrels, sprink- 
 ling in a plenty of mustard, horse radish or other spices as you have 
 convenient, head and hoop securely, and you have the best of mixed 
 pickles. 
 
 In this way you can make excellent pickles of many things that are 
 
MAKING PICKLES. 
 
 743 
 
 considered useless at home, and they can be put up even after the 
 frost kills the vines. Pickled potatoes have proved to be an excellent 
 anti-scorbutic, but being so unpalatable and indigestible have been 
 used but little and only in extreme ca^es, and in the absence of other 
 vegetables. 
 
 Another says : We recommend to all housewives this excellent re- 
 ceipt for preparing pickles : Take ripe or half ripe cucumbers, melons, 
 cabbage, onions, tomatoes and green peppers ; chop, and add one tea 
 cup of salt for every two gallons of the mixture. Let it stand and 
 drain for twenty-four hours. A flour barrel with holes bored in the 
 bottom we find most convenient for this purpose. 
 
 To twelve gallons add one-half pound black mustard seed and one 
 pint horse radish, chopped fine. Spices of all kinds are a great im- 
 provement. Cover with cold vinegar. 
 
 Piccalilli . — Piccalilli is a mixture of all kinds of pickles. Select 
 pickles from the salt brine of a uniform size and of various colors, as 
 small cucumbers, button onions, small bunches of cauliflowers, carrots 
 to cut in fanciful shapes, radishes, radish pods, bean pods, Cayenne 
 pods, mace, ginger, olives, limes, grapes, strips of horse radish, &c. 
 
 Arrange your selection tastefully in glass jars, and pour over them 
 a liquor prepared in the following manner : To one gallon of white 
 wine vinegar add eight tablespoonfuls of salt, eight of mustard-flour, 
 four of ground ginger, two of pepper, two of alspice, two of turmeric, 
 and boil all together one minute ; the mustard and turmeric must be 
 mixed together by vinegar before they are put into the liquor. When 
 the liquor has boiled, pour it into a pan, cover it closely, and when it 
 has become cold, pour it into the jars containing the pickles ; cover 
 the jars with cork and bladder, and let them stand six months, when 
 they will contain good pickles. 
 
 Piccalilli is an excellent accompaniment to many highly seasoned 
 dishes. If well put up, it will keep for years. If you like oil in the 
 piccalilli, it should be braided with the vinegar, and added with them 
 to the boiling liquor. 
 
 To Detect the Copper in Greened Pickles . — A beautiful and simple 
 experiment within the reach of everybody : Cut a greened pickle in- 
 to small pieces, and put them in a glass of rainwater, adding ten or 
 fourteen drops of sulphuric acid ; put the bright blade of a knife, or 
 any bright steel surface, in the liquid for twenty-four hours, and if the 
 pickle contains copper it will be found upon the steel blade, as though 
 it had been coated by the galvanic process. All pickles greened in 
 brass or copper kettles show this result. The green color comes from 
 
7 44 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 verdigris, which is a deadly poison. The quantity usually taken with 
 pickles does not often kill, but it produces disease. A poisonous 
 pickle may be eaten upon a full stomach, it should never be upon an 
 empty one. 
 
 CATSUPS. 
 
 To Make Tomato Catsup . — Select well ripened and smooth toma- 
 toes ; boil with a very little water until tender ; remove the skin, and 
 rub the contents through a fine sieve to separate the seeds. To each 
 bushel of the fruit add two quarts cider vinegar, two pounds salt, one- 
 fourth pound black and two ounces Cayenne pepper, three grated nut- 
 megs, one-fourth pound alspice, six finely chopped onions, and three 
 pounds brown sugar. Boil the whole for one hour, stirring frequent- 
 ly and thoroughly, and strain through the wire sieve. When cold, 
 bottle and set away in a cool place. It is ready for immediate use, or 
 it may be kept a year. 
 
 Another method is to take a peck of tomatoes, pick out the stems 
 and wash them. Put them on the fire without water, sprinkle on a 
 few spoonfuls of salt ; let them boil steadily an hour, stirring them 
 frequently; strain them through a colander, and then through a 
 sieve ; put the liquid on the fire with half a pint of chopped onions, 
 half a quarter of an ounce of mace, broke into small pieces, and if not 
 sufficiently salt, add a little more ; one tablespoonful of whole black 
 pepper; boil all together until just enough to fill two bottles ; cork it 
 tight. Make it in August, in dry weather. 
 
 Orange Judd, editor of the Agriculturist, directs as follows : Select 
 perfectly ripe, sound fruit, cut in slices, and boil until the pulp is 
 cooked soft. Rub it through a sieve to take out the skins and seeds, 
 and replace it in the kettle for cooking. To each gallon of pulp add 
 three tablespoonfuls each of salt, ground pepper and mustard, and one 
 of ground alspice. Enclose four large sweet peppers and two or three 
 garlics, or one large onion, in a small bag, and boil in the catsup. The 
 garlic or onion may be omitted if the flavor is not relished. Cook it 
 until of the right consistence. It should be just thick enough to run 
 slowly from a bottle. When cool, pour it into bottles, cover them 
 with a»bit of cotton cloth, tied on the neck, and leave it three months 
 to ripen ; then cook and seal. 
 
 The Country Gentleman recommends that the tomato should be 
 
CATSUPS. 
 
 745 
 
 squeezed up in the hand, salt added, and then allowed to stand twen- 
 ty-four hours. After passing through a sieve, add cloves, alspice, pep- 
 per, mace, and whole mustard seed. Then boil it to one-third, bottle, 
 and cool it. A considerable portion of salt and spice is needed to keep 
 the tomato well. 
 
 The Columbus (Ga.) Sun gives the following, as the best receipt for 
 making tomato catsup : To a half bushel of skinned tomatoes add one 
 quart of good vinegar, one pound of salt, quarter of a pound of black 
 pepper, two ounces of Cayenne, quarter of a pound alspice, one ounce 
 of cloves, three boxes of mustard, twenty cloves of garlic, six good on- 
 ions, two pounds of brown sugar, and one handful of peach leaves. 
 Boil this mass for three hours, constantly stirring it to keep it from 
 burning. When cool, strain it through a fine sieve or coarse cloth, 
 and bottle it for future use. It will improve by age, and create and 
 give zest to appetite . 
 
 There is an adulterated or spurious article sold in the market un- 
 der the name of tomato catsup, or tomato catchup. Old, otherwise 
 worthless and musty dried apples, are bought up, ground fine, boiled, 
 flavored and spiced, bottled, labeled and sold. A manufacturer's agent 
 boasted of having twelve tons of such dried apples on hand to be used 
 in this way. 
 
 To Make Cucumber Catsup . — A good method, given by the editor 
 of the Am. Agriculturist , is to select large cucumbers just before they 
 turn yellow, peel and grate them; let the juice drain out through a 
 colander or sieve, then rub the pulp through a sieve to remove the 
 seeds. Half fill bottles with the pulp, and then fill up with moderate- 
 ly strong vinegar. Keep it corked tightly. Add salt and pepper 
 when used at the table. 
 
 Another way is to take ten or twelve fully grown yellow cucum- 
 bers ; having pared off the rind and scooped out the seeds, wipe the 
 melon dry, cut it into narrow strips, a fourth of an inch in width, and 
 chop up each strip into tiny blocks ; to these add six large onions and 
 six green peppers, also chopped into little bits. Mix all together, 
 adding a handful of salt. Put them into a jelly bag and drain for a 
 few hours, until no more juice drops from it. When dry, add to them 
 two ounces each of black and white mustard seeds, put into a stone 
 iar, cover with cold, strong vinegar, and in two weeks the housewife 
 will be repaid for her trouble by some of the most appetizing sauce 
 that ever graced her table. 
 
 To Make Plum Catsup . — Boil together for two hours nine pounds 
 of plums, six pounds of sugar, and three pints of vinegar. Just before 
 
746 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 removing from the fire, add one tablespoonful of alspice, cloves and 
 cinnamon. Keep in small jars, well corked. The same directions will 
 answer for currants or gooseberries. 
 
 To Make Grape Catsup. — From the Am. Agriculturist: Place 
 grapes in a kettle surrounded with boiling water. To each quart al- 
 low a teaspoonful of broken cinnamon, one of mace, and a half tea- 
 spoonful of cloves. Let it simmer over water one hour. Strain the 
 juice and pulp ; add to each quart a pound of sugar, and then boil 
 again until reduced to near a jelly. Thin to proper consistence with 
 vinegar, bottle, cork and seal. 
 
 To Make Elderberry Catsup. — On every pint . of ripe elderberries, 
 stripped from the stalks, pour a pint of boiling vinegar, and let it 
 stand in a cool oven all night. Strain without pressing, and boil the 
 liquor five minutes with half a teaspoonful of salt. To every quart 
 put half a pound of anchovies, half an ounce of mace, half an ounce of 
 whole pepper, half an ounce of ginger, twelve cloves, and four escha- 
 lots. Bottle when cold with the spices. 
 
 Prepared Mustard— Said to be superior to the common w r ay : 
 Powdered astragon, half an ounce ; mustard, one pound ; sugar, one 
 ounce ; salt, one ounce ; black pepper, one-fourth of an ounce ; Cay- 
 enne pepper, one-fourth of an ounce ; olive oil, four ounces ; tincture 
 of alspice, half an ounce ; tincture of garlic, one-fourth of an ounce ; 
 vinegar, a sufficient quantity to make it of a proper consistence. Bot- 
 tle, and let it stand for a few days before using. 
 
 Horse Radish. — Scraped or grated fine, and tightly sealed in bot- 
 tles with good cider vinegar, it will last a long time. 
 
 A Substitute for Horse Radish. — Sam Slick says: “Take a tur- 
 nip, scrape or grate it the same as the radish ; mix it with fresh mus- 
 tard and a little pepper and vinegar, and you can’t tell it from t’oth- 
 er.” If you can’t get horse radish, try it. 
 
 MILK, BUTTER AND CHEESE. 
 
 MILK. 
 
 Scalding Milk Vessels. — Be careful to scald every vessel which has 
 contained milk, having previously let it stand for some time filled with 
 cold water, and never let any other liquid be put into it till it has 
 undergone this process, or whatever you put in will be spoiled. 
 
MILK, BUTTER AND CHEESE. 
 
 747 
 
 Glass Pans for Milk. — An English farmer says, when he first took 
 to dairying on a large scale, he laid out one hundred dollars in glass 
 pans, because they looked so well in a dairy. On further acquaintance 
 with them he has come to the conclusion that they are the cheapest 
 thing (even at one dollar each,) that a farmer can use — they are wash- 
 ed and wiped and kept clean with so little trouble. 
 
 Milk Pan Covers — To Keep out Dust and Insects. — Make hoops of 
 rattan, or willow, a little larger than the tops of the pans, and stretch 
 over them very thin muslin, thin enough to admit some air, but not 
 flies and mites. 
 
 To Keep Milk. — 1. All know that if we can prevent the cream from 
 rising, the milk will be more palatable and healthy, with the particles 
 of cream mixed through it, than skim milk, or than milk fresh from 
 the cow, with the fresh taste and odor. To prepare milk in this way, 
 take it while warm from the cow, set it in a cool place, and stir it 
 continually until all the animal heat is out, and no cream will rise 
 after that operation. Try it, and see how much it will be improved 
 for family use. 
 
 2. Milk is kept longer, if it is boiled, evaporated, condensed, or kept 
 still at a temperature of about forty degrees. If heated three days 
 in succession in summer, and two in winter (as per Guy Lussac’s 
 experiments,) up to the boiling point, it will keep two months without 
 souring. 
 
 3. The best way of keeping milk in summer, is to have a spring 
 house well shaded, and on the north side of a hill, the pans sitting in 
 a stream of running water, protected against currents of air. 
 
 4. Provide bottles, which must be perfectly clean, sweet and dry ; 
 draw the milk from the cow into the bottles, and, as they are filled, 
 immediately cork them well up, and fasten the corks with pack thread 
 or wire. Then spread a little straw in the bottom of a boiler, on 
 which place bottles with straw between them, until the boiler 
 contains a sufficient quantity. Pill it up with cold water ; heat the 
 water, and as soon as it begins to boil, draw the fire, and let the whole 
 gradually cool. When quite cold, take out the bottles, and pack them 
 in saw dust, in hampers, and stow them in the coolest part of the 
 house. Milk preserved in this manner, and allowed to remain even 
 eighteen months in the bottle, will be found as sweet as when first 
 milked from the cows. 
 
 Preserving Buttermilk. — Take a vessel that will contain nearly 
 twice as much as you wish to save. While milk is plenty, fill it two- 
 thirds full of buttermilk, and then fill up with water. Drain off the 
 
748 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPEDIA. 
 
 water and refill with fresh once a week, stirring it well each time after 
 filling, and you will have a good article always ready. 
 
 Solidified Milk. — There is a process by which milk may be solidi- 
 fied and preserved for months, perhaps years : The milkers, as they 
 empty their pails, strain the milk into a large tub into which is already 
 placed the requisite amount of the very best kind of sugar. This is 
 readily dissolved by the milk, which, as soon as the milking is done, is 
 introduced into large shallow pans. Underneath these pans steam is 
 introduced, and the watery part of the milk is, by means of the heat 
 generated by this steam, aided by an artificial current of air made to 
 pass along its surface, rapidly evaporated. In this way is produced, 
 at the end of three or four hours, a powder of nearly a cream color, 
 which, when perfectly dry, is packed into cans for sale or future use. 
 It will be readily seen that this article cannot fail of being of great 
 utility and value, as, for all purposes where milk and sugar are both 
 used, it fully equals the manufactured article, and as it will keep in 
 good condition for a great length of time, it may be used when it 
 would be impossible to obtain milk in any other form. 
 
 Powder of Milk. — The powder of milk added to water, forms an 
 agreeable drink, and an excellent substitute for milk : — Milk, two 
 pints, water one ounce ; sugar, one pound. This mixture then is to be 
 gently heated and constantly stirred. When it is three-fourths evap- 
 orated, the sugar is to be gradually added and the whole briskly stir- 
 red. After it is perfectly incorporated, the mixture is to be removed 
 from the fire, poured into plates, and dried in an oven. When per- 
 fectly dry it is to be finely powdered and kept in well stopped bottles. 
 One or two teaspoonfuls is sufficient for a cup of tea or coffee. 
 
 Concentrated Milk. — Genuine cows milk contains, in a thousand 
 parts, one hundred and sixty of butter, casein, and sugar of milk; 
 the remaining eight hundred and forty parts are water. By evapo- 
 rating the water, (which is accomplished by heat and withdrawing the 
 air,) the residue (only one-sixth of the original bulk of the whole) is 
 a paste that may be put up in cans, sealed and carried any distance, 
 kept sweet any length of time, and reconverted into pure unadulter- 
 ated milk at any moment, by adding the necessary quantity of water. 
 
 Management of Cream in Cold Weather. — For some reason not yet 
 known, cream skimmed from milk in cold weather, does not come to 
 butter, when churned, so quickly as that from the same cow in warm 
 weather. Perhaps the pellicles, which forms the little sacs of butter 
 in the cream, are thicker and tougher. There are two methods of 
 obviating this trouble in a great degree. One is, to set the pan of 
 
MILK, BUTTER AND CHEESE. 
 
 749 
 
 milk on the stove, or in some warm place, as soon as strained, aud let 
 it remain until quite warm — some say, until a bubble or two rises, or 
 until a skim of cream begins to form on the surface. Another mode 
 recommended is to add a tablespoonful of salt to a quart of cream 
 when it is skimmed. Cream thus prepared, will generally come to 
 butter in a few minutes when churned. It is thought the salt acts 
 upon the coating of the butter globules and makes them tender, so 
 that they break readily when beaten by churning. So says the Maine 
 Farmer. 
 
 Proper Temperature for a Dairy. — The temperature of about fifty- 
 five degrees is most favorable for the separation of the cream from 
 the milk. The apartments should be kept perfectly clean and dry. 
 
 Yield of Cream and Milk. — The Agricultural Gazette says : Cream 
 is generally ten per cent, of milk, and an average yearly yield of milk 
 is five hundred and fifty to six hundred gallons per cow. 
 
 The Quantity of Milk for a Pound of Butter or Cheese. — The quan- 
 tity of milk for a pound of butter has been found to average fourteen 
 quarts in this country and in yarious countries in Europe. Same av- 
 verage in Mecklinburg, Prussia, Holland and Great Britain. The 
 American Agriculturist says, one pound of butter requires on an av- 
 verage about fifteen quarts of milk. An average of ten and fourteen- 
 hundreth pounds of milk is required to yield a pound of cheese. This 
 gives from the same quantity of milk about three pounds of cheese to 
 one of butter. 
 
 In a series of seventy-four trials in the butter dairies of Worcester 
 county, it was found that it took twenty-one pounds of milk to make 
 one pound of butter, the trials being made, an equal number in June 
 and September. The cheese factories last year found that it took a 
 trifle over eleven pounds of milk to make one pound of cheese in 
 June, and only about eight pounds on an average, in September and Oc- 
 tober. So that within a fraction, taking the season through, two pounds 
 of cheese will cost about the same as one pound cf butter. 
 
 Milk Without Butter — A Bemedy. — Cow’s milk, otherwise of good 
 quality, sometimes lacks that of making butter. Give the animal two 
 ounces of the sulphur et of antimony, with three ounces of coriander 
 seed, powdered and well mixed. Give it as a soft bolus, followed by 
 a draught composed of half a pint of vinegar, a pint of water, and a 
 handful of common salt, for three successive mornings, on an empty 
 stomach. 
 
750 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPEDIA. 
 
 BUTTER. 
 
 Butter Making . — The amount of the butter crop of the United 
 States is estimated at sixty-five million dollars. Scarcely one firkin 
 in four opens perfectly sweet. This arises not from any real chemical 
 or practical difficulty ; but solely from want of knowledge or want of 
 care in its manufacture. 
 
 The secret of making good butter, and a good deal of it, is, first 
 good cows — second, good winter care and keeping — and third, regular 
 and thorough milking and proper management of milk and cream 
 when obtained. 
 
 There is no product of the farm that presents so much difference as 
 butter. It is caused chiefly by using vessels for holding milk, and 
 utensils in making the butter, which are soured. Milk has a peculiar 
 acid, very easily formed ; which entirely takes away that rich, sweet 
 flavor belonging to good butter. A very little soured milk or cream 
 on vessels rapidly generates enough acid to take it away. To avoid 
 this, great care is requisite. Cleanliness only is not sufficient, in hav- 
 ing the vessels well washed, but they must be carefully washed in 
 boiling hot water, and should be boiled in it also. But as cream is 
 very apt to stick, even in good washings, when the vessels are boiled 
 in water some pearlash or soda should be put in it, which destroys any 
 acidity that may be about the vessels. 
 
 The temperature of the cream is very important in churning. If 
 it is below fifty degrees, the cream may be churned for days without 
 separating the butter, and if much above sixty degrees, a portion of 
 the cream will be mixed with the butter, giving it a white appearance 
 and cheesy flavor. 
 
 A writer in Cosmos says that the time required for the formation 
 of butter varies much with the temperature; that near 54° Fahren- 
 heat, it requires ten times longer than at 68°, but when the tempera- 
 ture is too high the yield of butter is much diminished ; that the best 
 temperature for getting butter from milk is between 60 and 80°. The 
 losses are much less when cream is churned instead of milk. The 
 best temperature for getting the most butter from cream, and in the 
 least time too, is between 57 and 61°. 
 
 Milk absorbs the odor of turnips and other roots kept with it in 
 the same cellar ; it should be kept by itself in a cellar of the most 
 immaculate cleanness, and of uniform temperature. 
 
 Stir cream previously taken off with that skimmed each time. That 
 taken off just previous to churning retain until next churning. 
 
MILK, BUTTER AND CHEESE. 751 
 
 Inducements to Improve the Quality of Butter .■ — We take the fol- 
 lowing from the editorial columns of the New York Tribune : 
 
 It-has often been asserted that much of the butter brought to this 
 market was of inferior quality, and hence its low price. Some of the 
 butter-makers in the country have thought us disposed to cry down 
 the quality to cheapen the price. It is not so. We would gladly say 
 all the butter offered for sale is of superior quality. We cannot say 
 so because it is not so. Listen to a little actual conversation with a 
 butter commission merchant, as it came off this 30th day of January, 
 when we stepped into the store of Miller & Carpenter, where we saw 
 some hundred or more kegs of butter, and said : 
 
 “Mr. Miller, I.want a keg of good table butter. What is it worth?” 
 
 “Such as you would have, thirty cents, but I havn’t a keg that 
 will suit you.” 
 
 “ No ? not among all this ? How is that ? ” 
 
 “ I can’t tell you how, but it is so. I do have a good deal of good 
 butter, but it is snatched up almost as fast as it arrives ; and I have 
 now a standing order for all that may come in, strictly prime, at 
 twenty-eight cents a pound, while the most of this I will sell at six- 
 teen cents.” 
 
 “That is a very great difference — fourteen cents a pound just upon 
 the difference in quality of butter. 
 
 “It is so, but it is the truth.” 
 
 Another commission merchant, hearing the conversation, said : 
 
 “ I have about one hundred packages of the average quality of all 
 but prime butter in this city, which I will sell at fifteen cents to any 
 one who will take the lot off my hands ; and I know a merchant who 
 is offered twenty-six cents a pound for a large dairy which he has on 
 hand holding for twenty-seven cents.” 
 
 “ Is this an unusual season for poor butter ? ” 
 
 “ Well, yes, perhaps it is ; but the proportion of good butter in mar- 
 ket is always very small of the vast amount sent here.” 
 
 Now, that is the fact — not one good keg of butter in a hundred, 
 and a difference of fourteen cents a pound between good and poor. 
 What an immense sum — will the farmers think what a loss, and who 
 it is that the loss falls upon ? 
 
 Requisites for Making Good Butter. — The following rules are prac- 
 ticed by all those who make the very finest article. Their butter is 
 always eagerly taken at several cents above the market price — invari- 
 ably so after they have established the reputation : 
 
752 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 1. A perfectly clean cellar, not only clean from all dirt, but from 
 every bad odor, pure, sweet and fresh. 
 
 2. Perfectly clean, well-aired vessels. Not an infinitesimal speck 
 of any foreign or sour substance adheres to any of them. 
 
 3. Churning before the cream becomes old. 
 
 4. Securing such a temperature that it will require about half aD 
 hour for churning — if performed much sooner, a loss of butter must 
 occur, and it is not so good. 
 
 5. Work all the buttermilk out, which is rarely done, and work no 
 longer, which is still more rarely but sometimes done. 
 
 6. Use the purest salt, and add an ounce to a pound. 
 
 7. Pack the butter in the jars or firkins solid — put as much /Y d 
 small space as possible. 
 
 8. Lastly, and first, also, provide good sweet pasture and plenty of 
 perfectly pure water for the cows at all times. 
 
 Some assert that their vessels are clea n, &c., when, iii fact, they are 
 far from it. 
 
 The following is an extract from the report o^ the Committee on 
 Butter of the Franklin Co. (Mass.) Agricultural Society, made at theii 
 last winter meeting : 
 
 To make the best of butter requires many pre-requisites ; but foi 
 all practical purposes two main points cover the whole, viz : 1st, neat- 
 ness, 2d, skill. If any dairywoman expects to make good butter with- 
 out the most scrupulous neatness, she will find herself greatly disap- 
 pointed. From the moment when the rich and luscious fluid is first 
 drawn from the cow’s udder, to the time when the butter is ready for 
 the table of the connoisseur, the least dirt, the least must or unpleas- 
 ant flavor in the atmosphere of the room, and the least speck of for- 
 eign matter of any kind must be absolutely and perfectly kept from it 
 during all its stages of manufacture. In fact, neatness is the sine qua 
 non of the butter-maker’s art. As well may we suppose that any of 
 the laws that regulate the physical world will be reversed, as to sup- 
 pose that good butter can be made without the most scrupulous neat- 
 ness in every particular. 
 
 The second indispensable qualification of the perfect butter-maker 
 is skill — a word of quite extensive signification when applied to this 
 subj ect. To acquire that skill requires a clear and discriminating 
 judgment, a well educated and experienced mind, and a minute and 
 accurate observance of the physical laws which regulate the various 
 conditions of the milk and cream while undergoing the transformation 
 into butter. To be a successful butter-maker, therefore, requires no 
 
MILK, BUTTER AND CHEESE. 
 
 753 
 
 inconsiderable degree of education, intellect, and ingenuity. Let us 
 then analyze this skill of butter manufacture, and see what are its 
 most important elements. 
 
 To begin, then, we must have good milk, we must have good cows, 
 and to have good cows requires a selection of the best breeds, and of 
 the best milkers from the best breeds for that purpose. But that car- 
 ries us into another department of agriculture which we have no time 
 here to discuss. 
 
 Assuming, then, that we have good milk, the next thing is to place 
 it in shallow pans, (tin is usually preferred,) and in a degree of tem- 
 perature neither very warm nor very cold. About sixty-two degrees 
 of Fahrenheit is supposed to be the state of the air in which cream 
 will rise most perfectly. And here let us remark that every house- 
 wife who aims to make the best of butter, should be a frequent obser- 
 ver of its condition. 
 
 If .milk is kept in a temperature much below sixty-two degrees, the 
 cream will not rise so rapidly and so perfectly. If kept in a state of 
 air much above sixty-two degrees, the milk will become acidulated too 
 quickly, and the quality of the cream will be thus injured. Equaliza- 
 tion of temperature and a free circulation of pure air are among im- 
 portant elements of the butter-maker’s skill. The time requisite for 
 cream to rise naturally and perfectly varies with the temperature 
 from twenty-four to forty hours. As soon as the cream has all risen 
 to the surface, it should be separated from the milk, and with much 
 care, for the less milk that is taken up with the cream the better will 
 be the butter. 
 
 Churning is the next operation, and it is one that determines in no 
 small degree the quality of the butter. If cream is put into the churn 
 in a state much colder than sixty-two degrees of the thermometer, it 
 will require much more time and labor to convert it into butter, and 
 the butter will never be of good quality. Let the cream then be 
 brought to an even temperature of sixty-two degrees, and the often 
 laborious operation of churning, especially in winter, will become 
 comparatively easy. If the cream is much warmer than sixty-two 
 degrees, the butter will be too soft, too white, and in most particulars 
 quite poor. 
 
 As soon as there is a perfect separation of the particles of the cream 
 which make the butter from the more watery parts of the milk, let the 
 butter be taken from the churn, and then comes the quite difficult and 
 delicate operation of working over and salting it, both of which re- 
 quire accuracy and judgment. For if the milk is left and mixed in 
 
754 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 with the butter, one thing is sure — the butter will never have that 
 compact and smooth appearance that is one of the sure indications ol 
 good butter ; and, what is more important, butter left in that condi- 
 tion will not keep long without becoming musty or frowy. Every 
 one that aims at making the best of butter, must separate entirely the 
 particles of the milk from the butter, immediately after churning. 
 Washing the butter with cold water is practiced by some, but the 
 most skillful butter-makers complete the separation of the solid from 
 the fluid portions by manipular labor alone. 
 
 The form in which butter is prepared for the table or for market is 
 one indication of the skill of the maker. Butter put up in small cakes 
 or oval form, and stamped with the device of flowers, leaves, or dia- 
 mond figures, is the most beautiful, and seemingly adds to the good 
 flavor of the article. In order to sell for the highest price, it should 
 always be put up in that form, or in oblong pieces, of about a pound 
 each. 
 
 Such are the main requisites of the skillful manufacture of good but- 
 te'h, without which we venture to assert with great confidence, that 
 the best of butter cannot be made. 
 
 Does any good housewife, when she has read this report, say, “ I 
 knew all that before ? ” If she does, then we ask her, with no small 
 degree of assurance, Madam, do you 'practice all these rules for mak- 
 ing good butter ? If you do, why is it that so large a proportion of 
 the butter that is sent to our markets is so very poor ? 
 
 Prize Butter Making . — Hiram Mills, of Lewis Co., has frequently 
 taken butter prizes at the New York State Fairs, and gives the fol- 
 lowing as his method : 
 
 Milk set in tin pans on rack or slat shelves, (temperature of room, 
 seventy degrees,) and allowed to stand until it is sour, and sometimes 
 until it thickens, but never should be allowed to stand until it turns 
 spotted, as that injures the flavor of the butter. Cream taken from 
 the milk and kept in tin cream pail until enough is obtained for a 
 churning. Use crank churn, propelled by hand. Churn from forty 
 to fifty pounds at a time. After the Tutter has come, draw off the 
 buttermilk, and wash with cold water in the churn, unless the butter 
 comes very hard, when the washing is omitted. Butter taken from 
 the churn and worked thoroughly by hand until it is freed from the 
 milk ; then apply one ounce Ashton salt to one pound of butter, which 
 should be well worked in to prevent the butter from being streaked ; 
 it is then allowed to stand for twenty-four hours, after which it is work- 
 ed with a butter worker, being careful not to injure the grain. No other 
 
MILK. BUTTER AND CHEESE. 
 
 755 
 
 sunstance is used to preserve the butter. Have generally used this 
 kind of salt in making butter ; usually pack in eighty pound tubs, and 
 as soon as one is filled cover with a thin cloth, and then a quantity of 
 salt to exclude the air. Tubs are prepared by soaking in brine. 
 
 Philadelphia Butter. — Dr. Elwyn, of Philadelphia, furnishes the 
 following statement in regard to butter making — the superior butter 
 found in the Philadelphia market : 
 
 After the milk is drawn from the cows it should be strained into 
 pans properly arranged on a bench for the purpose, with a small quan- 
 tity of fresh sour milk in each one, to hasten the raising of the cream, 
 which should on all occasions be taken off from thirty to thirty-six 
 hours after being milked, it being found that, standing longer in a 
 large dairy, more is lost by deteriorating the quality of the butter than 
 is gained in quantity. When the cream is skimmed off of the milk 
 into a large cream pot, it should be put in the butter hole in the 
 spring and let stand one day, then shired off, so as to remove any sour 
 milk that may have settled from it to the bottom of the pot, and 
 should be subsequently stirred every day until churned, to prevent 
 rancidity from taking place on the top of the cream by too long stand- 
 ing, which is the main cause of all the strong butter that is made. 
 The cream should be churned twice in the week during the summer 
 months, and all the year where there is a sufficient quantity to war- 
 rant it. The temperature of the cream and churn should be about 
 sixty-two degrees so as to warrant the butter to come right, and in 
 the proper length of time, which should be about thirty minutes. 
 There is as much danger of having the butter come soft by over- 
 churning as by the atmosphere being too hot. 
 
 In order to regulate the temperature of the cream in the fall, win- 
 ter and spring, it should be set in a tub of hot water until it comes to 
 the temperature above designated— the butter broken in the churn to 
 the size of peas and chestnuts. The buttermilk should be drawn off 
 through a fine hair sieve from the vent of the churn, which should be 
 about an inch hole. A sufficient quantity of spring water should then 
 be put in, and a few revolutions of the churn, when it should be drawn 
 off, and then another quantity of spring water put in and tumbled in 
 the churn until gathered into a mass. The water should all then be 
 drawn off, and the butter cut into cracks as it lays in the churn to 
 receive the salt, which should be a pint for fifty pounds, regulating 
 below that, or above that, according to the quantity churned. The 
 butter should then be tumbled in the churn until the salt is mixed 
 
756 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPEDIA. 
 
 with it, and it will then do to take out in ten or fifteen pounds, 
 and lump into pounds, ready for sponging, which should be done by 
 having a sponge of proper size enclosed in a linen cloth and passed 
 over the lump, by pressure, to absorb the brine and moisture it con- 
 tains, which should then be weighed and printed if intended for the 
 market. 
 
 The butter maker will see the advantage of this mode of salting and 
 working over any other mode, and particularly of the lever or work- 
 er, as it is called, from the fact that less of it is exposed to a warm at- 
 mosphere at a time, as it must necessarily be where fifty or one hun- 
 dred pounds are operated upon on a broad surface, making the butter 
 soft and oily, which is detrimental to its quality, however carefully at- 
 tended to, from the time the milk is taken from the cows. The above 
 plan was perfected by experiment by me, and carried out for a success- 
 ion of years, as thou knowest, with a success as to a quality and sale 
 of my butter not surpassed by any one at the time I was operating. 
 
 How Goshen Bvtter is Made . — Goshen (Orange Co., 1ST. Y.) butter is 
 celebrated all over the country. We annex an account of the process 
 of manufacture from a reliable source : The cellar where the milk is 
 kept, should be cool, well ventillated, and clean. The milk ought to 
 be strained into pans containing ten or twelve quarts. If the weath- 
 er is very warm, the pans ought to be set on the cellar bottom — other- 
 wise on shelves. The milk ought not to be churned until it becomes 
 thick or loppered — the milk and cream are then churned together. 
 Some dairymen skim off the cream and part of the milk and churn 
 that, but the Goshen butter is churned from the milk and cream. The 
 churn used is the common “ dasher churn,” driven by dog, horse, or 
 hand power, according to the size of the dairy. The churn may be 
 half or two-thirds full with milk, and a pailful of cold water added 
 before starting to churn. In cold weather, warm water is put in. The 
 churning should be with a slow regular motion — and to make good 
 solid butter will take from one hour to one hour and a half ; before 
 the churning is done, another pailful of water ought to be put in. 
 When the butter is done, take it out, wash it through one water in a 
 large tray ; then salt the butter, using about one ounce of pure Liv- 
 erpool (Ashton) salt to each pound of butter. Work the salt through 
 the butter — put it in a cool place and let it stand an hour; then work 
 it carefully over, and set it aside for five or six hours ; work it over 
 again, and set it aside in the same cool place until the next morning, 
 when it is packed. In working butter, great care ought to be taken 
 to wc'rk end all the milk , but not to work it too much, so as to break the 
 
MILK, BUTTER AND CHEESE. 
 
 757 
 
 grain and make it salvey. If any milk is left in, the butter will soon 
 become rancid ; and if worked too much, will be greasy or salvey, and 
 not solid. Butter worked just enough, will be solid — sweet — yellow — 
 and the drops of brine on it will be as clear as crystal. 
 
 Orange county butter is packed in white oak firkins — the staves se- 
 lected so as not to leak the brine ; the firkins will weigh about eigh- 
 teen or twenty pounds empty. The firkins are soaked in pure cold 
 water for some days before using, by being filled with water — they 
 hold from eighty to one hundred pounds of butter. When the firkin 
 is lull, a linen cloth is placed over the top of the butter, and on this 
 cloth a layer of salt an inch in depth is laid, made a little damp with 
 cold water. The butter stands until marketed ; then the salt and 
 cloth are taken off, a fresh cloth wet with brine put on, and the firkin 
 headed up. Great care should be taken to have the firkins kept per- 
 fectly clean. The outside ought to be as bright as when turned out by 
 the cooper. No leaky firkin, or any that will filter the least particle 
 of brine ought to be used. This is the way Goshen butter is made. 
 
 To Make Butter in Winter. — You cannot get butter out of milk if 
 there is none in it. Feed the cows well and thus secure good milk, 
 and there is not much trouble in churning even in Winter. Keep the 
 cream in a warm room until it turns somewhat sour. Let the churn 
 be scalded before pouring in the cream, so that it will be heated 
 through and not cool the cream. Let the cream be at a temperature 
 of sixty -five degrees to seveniy-six degrees, and there will not be much 
 difficulty in making the butter come. 
 
 Mow to Make Yellow Butter in Winter. — A cow must have a good 
 supply of hay, that has been made of good grass, cut before the blos- 
 som has fallen, and cured properly without having been wet while it 
 was cured. A few orange carrots daily — not reduced to a fine pulp 
 and mixed with the butter — but fed to the cow in connection with a 
 few pounds of Indian meal, made of yellow corn. A good supply of 
 good corn stalks — not those that have been frost bitten and weather 
 beaten. A good cow with yellow skin about the udder is very essen- 
 tial. A cow in good condition. A good stable well littered, and an 
 abundance of clean water for the cow to drink. Never allow the milk 
 to freeze. With these essentials it is possible to have good yellow but- 
 ter in winter. 
 
 To Color Butter Yellow. — Put in yelk of eggs just before the butter 
 comes, near the termination of the churning. This has been kept by 
 many as a great secret. The substances mostly employed in England 
 and Scotland are the root of the carrot and the flowers of the mari- 
 
758 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 gold. The juice of either of these is expressed and passed through a 
 linen cloth. A small quantity of it is diluted with a little cream, and 
 this mixture is added to the rest of the cream when it enters the 
 churn. So little is necessary that it communicates no peculiar taste. 
 
 To Make JBuiier in Five Minutes Without a Churn. — A correspon- 
 dent highly recommends the following : After straining the milk, set 
 it away for abc at twelve hours for the cream to rise. (Milk dishes 
 ought to have *trong handles to lift them by.) After standing as above, 
 set the milk, without disturbing it, on a stove ; let it stand there until 
 you observe the coating of cream on the surface assume a wrinkled 
 appearance, hut be careful it does not boil, as, should this be the case, 
 the cream will mix with the milk and cannot be again collected. Now 
 set it away till quite cool, and then skim off the cream, mixed with as 
 little milk as possible. When sufficient cream is collected, proceed to 
 make it into butter as follows : Take a wooden bowl, or any suitable 
 vessel, and having first scalded and then rinsed it with cold water, 
 place the cream in it. Now let the operator hold his hand in water 
 as hot as it can be borne for a few seconds, then plunge it into cold 
 water for about a minute, and at once commence to agitate the cream 
 by a gentle circular motion. In five minutes or less the butter will 
 have come, when, of course, it must be washed and salted according 
 to taste, and our correspondent guarantees that no better butter can 
 be made by the best churn ever invented. 
 
 To those who keep only one cow, this method of making butter will 
 be found really valuable : while quite as large a quantity of butter is 
 obtained as by the common mode, the skim milk is much sweeter and 
 palatable. In the summer season it will usually be found necessary 
 to bring the cream out of the cellar — say a quarter of an hour before 
 churning — to take the excessive chill off ; in winter place the vessel 
 containing the cream over another containing water to warm it; then 
 continue to agitate the cream until the chill has departed. 
 
 Before washing the butter, separate all the milk you possibly can, 
 as the butter will be found excellent for tea cake. Butter made in 
 this manner will be much firmer and less oily in hot weather, than 
 when made in the ordinary way. 
 
 To Preserve Butter. — Take two parts of the best common salt, says 
 the Scientific American , one part of sugar and one part of saltpeter, 
 and blend the whole completely. Take one ounce of this composition 
 for sixteen ounces of butter, work it well into a mass and close it up 
 for use. Butter thus cured requires to stand three weeks or a month 
 before it is used. Dr. Allen says : Treat each pound with one ounce 
 
759 
 
 MILK, BUTTER AND CHEESE. 
 
 of the following composition : salt two parts, saltpeter one part, sugar 
 two parts. 
 
 D. E. Smith contributes to the Am. Agriculturist the following di- 
 rections for preserving butter in good condition for any length ot 
 time : — In May or June when butter is plenty, work it thoroughly two 
 or three times, and add at the last working nearly one grain of salt- 
 peter and a tablespoonful of pulverized loaf sugar to each pound of 
 butter. Pack it tightly in stone jars to within two inches of the top, 
 and fill the remaining space with strong brine. Cover the jars tight- 
 ly, and bury in the cellar bottom, -where the butter will keep unhurt 
 for a long time. 
 
 Dr. Hall in his Journal of Health directs thus : When first churn- 
 ed, wash it well in three waters ; work it well again before packing ; 
 put it in large stone jars ; dig a hole under any floor or in a cellar ; 
 leaving the top of the jar just above the ground ; cover the butter two 
 or three inches deep with strong brine, adding more butter until the 
 jar is nearly full. 
 
 Preserving Butter while Using from Firkins. — A writer in the New 
 York Observer furnishes and commends the following mode, given in 
 Mrs. Cornelius’ “ Young Housekeeper’s Friend.” After taking out 
 butter enough to last a week or more, lay a piece of white linen over 
 the firkin, covering it closely around the edges, and then pour on a 
 solution made of two quarts of water, one quart of fine salt, one pound 
 of sugar, and a teaspoonful of saltpeter. Head up the firkin, and if it 
 leaks set it in a wash tub and put in some more, driving down the 
 hoops ; every time butter is taken out, close the firkin in this way. 
 If the salt does not all dissolve in the brine, add a little more water. 
 One recipe will do for one hundred pounds of butter. The above cor- 
 respondent adds — “With this recipe I have kept butter into July, in 
 Brooklyn.” 
 
 On showing this method to an experienced and skillful housekeeper, 
 she said it was precisely the same that she had been familiar with for 
 more than thirty ye*irs as an excellent receipt. Since the high price 
 of sugar, however, she had used only the salt and water, and found it 
 to answer nearly as well. 
 
 To Preserve Butter Without Salt. — It is said that butter may be 
 preserved without salt by incorporating it with honey, in proportion 
 of an ounce to a pound of butter. This has an agreeable taste, will 
 keep for years, and might be useful on long voyages, but, though the 
 proportion of honey is inconsiderable, it may not agree with some con- 
 stitutions. 
 
760 
 
 PEACT1CAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 To Preserve Butter for Cooking. — Butter for cooking may be pre- 
 served a long time by melting it and pouring it into an eartben pot. 
 
 The cause of the tainting of fresh butter depends upon the presence 
 of a small quantity of curd and water. To render butter capable of 
 being kept any length of time in a fresh condition, that is, as a pure 
 salad oil, all that is necessary is to boil it in a pan till the water is re- 
 moved, which is marked by the cessation of violent ebulition. By al- 
 lowing the liquid oil to stand for a little, the curd subsides, and the 
 oil may then be poured off, or it may be strained through calico or 
 muslin into a bottle, and corked up. When it is to be used, it may be 
 gently heated and poured out of the bottle, orr cut out by means of a 
 knife or cheese gouge. This is the usual method of preserving butter 
 in India (ghee,) and also on the Continent; and it is rather remarka- 
 ble that it is not in general use in this country. Bottled butter wil 3 
 thus keep for any length of time, and is the best form of this sub- 
 stance to be used for sauces. 
 
 To Keep Butter Hard and Cool. — Procure a large, new flower pot 
 of sufficient size to cover .the butter plate, and also a saucer large 
 enough for the flower pot to rest in upside down ; place a trivet or 
 meat stand (such as is sent to the oven when a joint is baked) in the 
 saucer, and put on this trivet the plate of butter ; now fill the saucer 
 with water, and turn the flower pot over the butter, so that its edge 
 will be below the water. The hole in the flower pot must be fitted 
 with a cork ; the butter will then be in what we may call an air-tight 
 chamber. Let the whole of the outside of the flower pot be then 
 thoroughly drenched with water and place it in as cool a place as you 
 can. If this be done over night, the butter will be as “ firm as a rock” 
 at breakfast time ; or, if placed there in the morning, the butter will 
 be quite hard for use at tea hour. The reason of this is, that when 
 water evaporates it produces cold ; the porous pot draws up the water 
 which in warm weather quickly evaporates from the sides and thus 
 cools.it, and as no warm air can now get at the butter it becomes firm 
 and cool in the hottest day. 
 
 To Keep Butter Cool Without a Cellar.— A correspondent of the 
 Boston Cultivator says : “ Cover the bottom of a large jar with coarse 
 salt. Put the butter in a bag, place it in the jar and cover it with 
 coarse salt ; place the jar in a north room, and the salt will keep the 
 butter nearly as cool, through the summer, as a common cellar.” 
 
 Butter Pickle. — One gallon of water, one pound of fine salt, one 
 ounce of saltpeter, two ounces loaf sugar, boiled and skimmed cle;«r. 
 Pour on cold and keep two inches above the butter. 
 
MILK, BUTTER AND CHEESE. 
 
 701 
 
 To Sweeten Bancid Butter . — Beat the butter in a sufficient quanti- 
 ty of water, into which has been mixed twenty-five to thirty drops of 
 chloride of lime to two pounds of butter. After having brought all 
 its parts in contact with the water, it may be left for an hour or two ; 
 afterwards withdrawn and washed anew in fresh water. The chloride 
 of lime used having nothing injurious in it, can safely be increased, 
 but the quantity specified will be sufficient. 
 
 To Sweeten Butter Firkins. — Mrs. Arch. Cooper, Bacine Co., Wis., 
 bends the following directions to the Am. Agriculturist: “ Before pack- 
 ing butter into new firkins, put them out of doors in the vicinity of the 
 well, fill them with water and throw in a few handfuls of salt. Let 
 them stand three or four days, and change the water once during that 
 time. Butter firkins should be made of white oak, and this process 
 effectually takes out the acid contained in that wood, and makes the 
 firkins sweet. If the butter is well made and rightly packed, it will 
 keep good all summer, even if the firkin be kept in store above ground. 
 To cleanse old firkins in which butter has been packed and left expos- 
 ed some time to the air, fill with sour milk, and leaye standing twenty- 
 four hours ; then wash clean and scald with brine. This makes them 
 as good as new. 
 
 To Detect Adulteration of Butter. — When beef fat and mutton are 
 dissolved in benzole the former will crystalize at 68° Fahrenheit, 
 while butter will remain soluble until it reaches 53°, when it falls in 
 masses of beautiful velvety crystals. By this method of treating, the 
 adulteration of butter with fat can easily be detected. 
 
 Clarified Butter. — Put any quantity of butter in a preserving ket- 
 tle ; boil it ten minutes ; set it off, and when cold it will be a clear 
 cake. Cut it out, scrape off the caseous sediment, return it to the 
 kettle, and at boiling heat, seal it up in cans as you would fruit. In- 
 ferior but useful in scarce times. So says a correspondent of the Val- 
 ley Farmer. 
 
 CHEESE. 
 
 Cheese Making. — Elisha Peck, of Onondaga Co., FT. Y., recommends 
 the following method : After your milk is already in a large cheese 
 tub, put in the rennet and stir it thoroughly with the hand. Let it 
 stand thirty or forty minutes, and cut it with a long, thin bladed knife. 
 Let it stand about one hour, then dip it into a strainer, lying over a 
 sink, and cut it a few times. Leave it till morning. Take the same 
 course with the morning’s milk as mentioned above. In the morning 
 
762 
 
 PRACTICAL CTCLOFjED'IA. 
 
 cut Loth curds very fine for scalding. Put in the morning's curd first 
 to scald. After that is well warmed up put in your evening’s curd in- 
 to a whey heated a little over blood heat. When you think it suffi- 
 ciently scalded, dip it into a strainer laid over the sink, and let it 
 drain quite dry. Take a common sized teacup even full of fine solar 
 salt, and put one teacupful to every twenty pounds of curd. After 
 mixing the salt well with the curd, put it to press, and let it stand 
 twenty-four hours. Mr. Peck’s cheese is considered the very best. 
 
 A correspondent of the Country Gentleman gives directions as fol- 
 lows : For a cheese of twenty pounds, a piece of rennet about two in- 
 ches square is soaked in a pint of water about twelve hours. As ren- 
 net differs much in quality, enough should be used to coagulate the 
 milk sufficiently in about forty minutes ; no salt is put into the cheese, 
 nor any outside during the first six or eight hours it is being pre- 
 pared, but a thin coat of fine salt is kept on the outside during the 
 remainder of the time it is in the press. The cheeses are pressed 
 forty-eight hours under a weight of seven or eight hundred pounds. 
 Nothing more is required but to turn the cheeses once a day on the 
 shelves. 
 
 Premium Cheese. — The milk strained in large tubs over night, the 
 cream stirred in milk, and in the morning strained in the same tubs ; 
 milk heated to natural heat ; add rennet ; curd broken fine and whey 
 off, and broken fine in hoop with fast bottom, and put in strainer ; 
 pressed twelve hours ; then taken from hoop, and salt rubbed on the 
 surface ; then put in hoop, without strainer, and pressed forty-eight 
 hours ; then put on tables, and salt rubbed on surface, and remain in 
 salt six days for cheese weighing thirty pounds ; the crushings are 
 saved and set and churned to grease the cheese. The above is for 
 making one cheese per day. 
 
 1. No salt to be put into the cheese, but fine salt rubbed on the 
 surface. 2. Remain in press forty-eight hours. 3. Dry, cool cellar, 
 not damp. 4. To make whey, add the rennet while the milk is warm. 
 
 Two Simple Rules in Cheese Making. — 1. To ascertain how much 
 cheese you ought to get from your milk : Multiply the number of 
 pounds of milk by eleven — point off two figures for decimals, and the 
 product is pounds and decimals of a pound of cheese fresh from the 
 press. 2. For ascertaining the quantity of salt for cheese: Multiply 
 the number of pounds of milk by three — point off three places for 
 decimals. Your answer is in pounds and decimals of a pound. 
 
 Quantity of Cheese per Gallon of Milk. — A skillful manufacturer 
 should, during the season, it is claimed, average a pound of presseo 
 
MILK, BUTTER AND CHEESE. 
 
 763 
 
 curd from a gallon of milk, wine measure, or a pound of cured cheese 
 from a gallon of milk, beer measure. 
 
 Nutritive Value of Cheese. — Professor Johnson says that a pound 
 of cheese is equal in nutritive value to two pounds of flesh. The Eu- 
 ropeans seem to be better acquainted with this fact than our own peo- 
 ple. With us, cheese is regarded rather as a luxury, while in Eng- 
 land it is considered one of the substantial articles of food, and it is 
 not uncommon for workmen there to make a full meal on bread and 
 cheese alone. 
 
 To Test and to Keep Cheese. — Bich cheese feels soft under the pres- 
 sure of the finger. That which is very strong is neither very good 
 nor healthy. To keep one that is cut, tie it up in a bag that will not 
 admit flies, and hang it in a dry cool place. If mould appears on it, 
 wipe it off with a dry cloth. 
 
 To Destroy Mites in Cheese. — A piece of woolen cloth should be dip- 
 ped in sweet oil, which should be well rubbed on the cheese. Eepeat 
 as often as they appear, if one application does not destroy them. 
 Wash the cheese shelves with soap and water. 
 
 Coloring for Cheese. — Annetto squeezed through a. cloth until the 
 color suits you. 
 
 Cheese Varnish. — One part beeswax, three parts fresh butter, melt- 
 ed, and seasoned strongly with Cayenne pepper. 
 
 Some dairymen coat each cheese thinly with a varnish made from 
 shellac, dissolved in alcohol, when about to be shipped for market, and 
 say it improves the appearance, and keeps the cheese from losing 
 weight and gathering mould. 
 
 Extract of Rennet. — Fresh rennet, twelve ounces ; fine salt, two 
 ounces ; proof spirits, two ounces ; white wine, one quart. Digest for 
 twenty-four hours and strain. A quart of milk requires two or three 
 teaspoonfuls. 
 
 To make Stilton Cheese. — The following method, described in Mor- 
 ton’s (British) Cyclopaedia, for making the celebrated Stilton English 
 cheese, may be useful to a large number of our readers : 
 
 The night’s milk is set aside to cream, and in the morning it is 
 skimmed, and the cream added to the new milk. The whole is now 
 made of a proper temperature, (eighty-four degrees,) and the rennet 
 then added. The curd should be fully formed in one hour and a half. 
 If formed more quickly, it will be poor and tough ; and if much lon- 
 ger, it requires to be warmed, which is also injurious. The curd is 
 not broken up in the common way, but it is carefully removed in sli- 
 ces by the skimming dish, and placed upon a canvas strainer or sieve. 
 
764 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 When the curd has been placed on the strainer, the ends are tied up, 
 and the whey pressed out by gently twisting round the whole mass — 
 the ends being stationary, and suspended on a stick laid across the 
 cheese tub. It is allowed to drain until next morning, unless the 
 weather is very warm, when the curd should be removed from the 
 strainer, and placed in a clean dish in a cool place, where it is cut in- 
 to thin slices, and put into a hoop made of tin, perforated with holes, 
 and rather larger than the intended cheese. A clean strainer or cloth 
 is put between the hoop and curd ; and, as the slices of curd are laid 
 in, a small quantity of salt is sprinkled between every second or third 
 layer. The hoop containing the curd rests on a clean cloth, and is 
 covered with another, but no weight is applied to extract the whey. 
 Next morning the curd is taken out of the hoop, clean strainers and. 
 cloths are employed ; it is then inverted and placed in the hoop as 
 before, and afterward pricked with iron skewers in the sides to facili- 
 tate the extraction of the whey, and drying of the curd. These pro- 
 cesses are repeated for four or five successive mornings, until the curd 
 becomes firm. During this consolidating process, the cheeses are 
 kept in a warm place, and in cold weather they are set in tins before 
 the fire, or in heated ovens constructed for this purpose. It is neces- 
 sary for the perfect extraction of the whey, that the drying tempera- 
 ture be raised to about one hundred degrees. The utmost cleanliness 
 and care are indispensable during the whole process. The whey should 
 have a free run from the curd, and the strainers should be washed and 
 then dried thoroughly in the open air every time they are taken from 
 the curd. 
 
 When the cheese has become sufficiently firm, it is pared and 
 smoothed. The inequalities in the sides where the slices join are filled 
 up by parings from the projecting parts, and the top and bottom are 
 also smoothed by paring with the knife and lying alternately on a flat 
 board. A strong fillet of canvas, long enough to encircle the cheese 
 two or three times, is then firmly bound round it, and held tightly by 
 strong pins ; a clean, dry cloth is also placed under and above it. 
 The binder and cloths are removed every morning, and all the cracks 
 filled up. These operations are continued until the outside becomes 
 hard and wrinkled, or coated, as it is termed. After this the cheeses 
 are removed to the drying room, where they are regularly turned and 
 cleared from the mites. In warm weather the flies are apt to attack 
 cracks or soft parts of the cheeses ; and when this occurs, the best plan 
 is to scoop out the affected part, fill it up again with the soft part of 
 another cheese kept for the purpose, and cover carefully with cloths. 
 
MILK, BUTTER ANL CIIEESE. 
 
 765 
 
 The same method is pursued in making Cheshire and ' Gloucester 
 cheese. One gallon of milk is allowed for one pound of cheese. 
 
 Smear Case, — Dutch Cheese, — Cottage Cheese, — Cheese Balls. — 1 . Pour 
 over a crock or pan of thick milk sufficient boiling water to cover the 
 surface ; let it stand half an hour in a warm place, or until the whey 
 begins to separate, then pour it into a thin muslin bag, and hang it up 
 in as cold a place as possible, without freezing, until the water and 
 whey are strained off. The milk must be thick, but not old, and 
 should not be stirred before scalding. 
 
 2. Put a pan of fresh thick milk over a moderate fire. Let it re- 
 main until the whey is separated, care being taken that it does not 
 boil. Drain off the whey ; add salt to your taste, also cooking soda 
 in the proportion of the size of a pea to six quarts of milk. Mix with 
 good thick cream, (sweet or sour,) or cream and butter, and make up 
 into balls for the table. The whole process will occupy about fifteen 
 minutes. 
 
 3. A skillful housekeeper, at whose table we have frequently en- 
 joyed well made cottage cheese, furnishes us with the following direc- 
 tions for making the two best kinds. The ball cheese is made as 
 follows : Mix the curdled or loppard milk with an equal quantity of 
 buttermilk, and place them over the fire in an iron vessel. The mix- 
 ture should remain till it becomes hot, but not scalding, for if it is 
 boiled the cheese is spoiled, and the work is foiled. It must be “ se- 
 verely ” watched at this time, and as soon as it begins to curdle and 
 the whey appear, take it from the fire. Put it in a bag and let it 
 drain until the next day. Then mix enough salt with it to give it a 
 proper flavor, and add either cream or butter to give it a proper con- 
 sistency to work into balls — the cream to render it softer, or the but- 
 ter to harden it, as the case may be. This is a good kind of cheese, 
 but the following is better : 
 
 4. Pour boiling water from a teakettle spout into the pan contain- 
 ing the loppard milk, beating it all the time with a spoon, until it be- 
 gins to granulate and the whey separates. About one-fourth of the 
 quantity in hot water is usually sufficient. Then empty it into a col- 
 ander, and let it drain about ten minutes. Pour on a quart or two 
 of cold water, and as soon as this drains off apply salt enough to give 
 it an agreeable taste. Put it in a dish for the table. Some persons 
 prefer the addition of sweet cream when served. This kind of cheese 
 is quite sweet. The first described has some acidity from the pres- 
 ence of the buttermilk, and on this account is frequently preferred by 
 the sick. 
 
766 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 5. After the milk becomes loppered, it should be put in tubs 01 
 barrels near a fire, where it will gradually become warm, when the 
 curd will separate from the whey in the same way as if rennet had 
 been used. The whey is drawn out into a cloth strainer placed in a 
 sink where the whey can run off ; bring the corners of the strainer 
 together around the curd as tight as possible, and place a weight upon 
 it ; after it has drained what it will, place it in a hoop, and press it as 
 you would a cheese ; after pressing two hours, take the cheese out and 
 crumble it to pieces, sprinkle in a little caraway seed, work it over, 
 and make into balls that will weigh a fourth of a pound ; these balls 
 are dried on a shelf for two or three weeks, when they are ready for 
 market. 
 
 Mohawk Cheese . — The milk is permitted to sour, but not to get 
 thick, when it is heated with the cream stirred in, and while hot is 
 salted, spiced, and placed on a very fine hair sieve, or loose linen 
 cloth, until it is thoroughly drained, when it is worked into hard, 
 round balls, about the size of a moderate apple, and in that form is 
 set on the table, morning, noon and night. 
 
 Pot Cheese . — Take a crock or two of thick milk ; put it on the stove ; 
 stir it occasionally ; let it get milkwarm and no more ; take it off and 
 pour it into a thin bag ; hang it up five or six hours, so that the whey 
 will all run off ; then take a bowlful and put on enough sour cream to 
 make it quite soft. 
 
 Cream Cheese. — 1. Take one quart of very rich cream, a little sour- 
 ed ; put it in a linen cloth, and tie it as close to the cream as you can. 
 Then hang it up to drain for two days. Take it down and carefully 
 turn it into a clean cloth, and hang it up for two more days. Then 
 take it down, and, having put a piece of linen on a deep soup-plate, 
 turn your cheese upon it. Cover it with your linen. Keep turning 
 it every day on to a clean plate and clean cloth until it is ripe, which 
 will be in about ten days or a fortnight, or may be longer, as it de- 
 pends on the heat of the weather. Sprinkle a little salt on the out- 
 side when you turn them. If it is wanted to ripen quick, keep it 
 covered with mint or nettle leaves. The size made from a quart 
 of cream is most convenient, but if wished larger they can be made so. 
 
 2. Take a quart of cream, or, if not desired very rich, add thereto 
 one pint of new milk ; warm it in hot water till it is about the heat 
 of milk from the cow ; add a small quantity of rennet, (a tablespoon- 
 ful is sufficient;) let it stand till thick, then break it slightly with a 
 spoon, and place it in a frame in which you have previously put a fine 
 canvas cloth ; press it slightly with a weight ; let it stand a few hours, 
 
MILK, BUTTER AND CHEESE. 767 
 
 then put a finer cloth in the frame ; a little powdered salt may be put 
 over the cloth. It will be ready for use in a day or two. 
 
 3. Put a quart of cream into a clean jug, with half a teaspoonful of 
 salt stirred in, and let it stand a day or two till thickish. Then we 
 fold an ordinary glass cloth about six or eight times and sprinkle it 
 with salt, then lay it in a sieve about eight inches in diameter. The 
 3 ides of the cloth should come up well over the sides. Then pour in 
 the cream, and sprinkle a little salt on it. Change the cloth as often 
 as it becomes moist, and as the cheese dries press it with the cloth and 
 sieve. In about a week or nine days it will be prime and fit to eat. 
 The air alone suffices to turn the cream into cheese. 
 
 4. Take about a half pint of cream, tie it up in a piece of thin mus- 
 lin, and suspend it in a cool place. After five or six days, take it out 
 of the muslin and put it between two plates with a small weight on 
 the upper one. This will make it a good shape for the table, and also 
 help to ripen the cheese, which will be fit to use in about eight days 
 from the commencement of the making. 
 
 5. Take a quart of cream, either fresh or sour, mix about a salt- 
 spoonful of salt and the same quantity of sugar. Put it in a cloth 
 with a net outside, hang it up, and change the cloth every other day; 
 in ten days it will be fit for use. 
 
 Pea Cheese . — There is a very close resemblance between several an- 
 imal and vegetable substances. Thus, animal milk contains a large 
 quantity of casein, which is the principal substance in cheese ; and 
 peas also contain a large amount of the same substance. The Chinese, 
 who have exhibited such an aptitude for domestic economies that they 
 even make soup of birds’ nests, have also found out that cheese can be 
 made of peas. For this purpose, peas are boiled into a thin paste, then 
 passed through a sieve, and an acid added to the pea solution, which 
 becomes curdled like sweet milk by the action of the common rennet 
 upon the latter. The solid part is then salted, pressed into cheese- 
 moulds, and it gradually acquires the taste and smell of cheese. It 
 is sold in the streets of Canton under the name of “ Taofoo,” and when 
 fresh, it is a favorite article of Chinese food. 
 
768 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 BEVERAGES. 
 
 WATER. 
 
 Summer Drinks. — Whatever tempts to drink liquids — even cold 
 water — in hot weather, endangers health and life itself. If a man is 
 really thirsty, there is nothing more delicious, nothing which is more 
 gratefully and perfectly satisfying, than a glass of cool water, with the 
 advantage of its costing nothing, and besides leads to no bad habits. 
 The men in glass manufactories, where the heat is fearful, drink wa- 
 ter only, and that not iced, and remain healthy and vigorous. Field 
 hands on cotton and sugar plantations find a wholesome drink in a 
 drink of molasses and water. This is a safe drink for harvesters ; so 
 also is buttermilk, it being not only cooling and nutricious, but oth- 
 erwise healthful as a liver stimulant. 
 
 Drinking Water. — Half a glass of water, drank in sips, swallowing 
 each sip, with a few seconds interval, will more effectually satisfy 
 thirst, and that without any danger, than a quart taken in the usual 
 manner at one draught. It is greatly safest, while heated , to rinse the 
 mouth only, but to do that to the utmost extent desired, spirting out 
 the water as soon as it becomes warm. Chewing even a stick or peb- 
 ble moderates thirst. 
 
 How to Quench Thirst with Sea Water. — The skin absorbs water 
 enough to quench thirst, but when salt water is used, the salt is strain- 
 ed out and excluded. If persons destitute of fresh water at sea will 
 dip towels in salt water and wear them around the abdomen, re- 
 newing them every hour or two, they will scarcely suffer at all from 
 thirst. 
 
 A Spring that will not Quench Thirst. — Lieut. Whipple, in his me- 
 moir of travels in California, states there is a spring of cool, sweet wa- 
 ter in San Diego county, not far from the desert, which has no power 
 of quenching thirst. 
 
 To Soften Hard Water. — An ounce of quick lime dissolved in nine 
 quarts of water, and the clear solution put into a barrel of hard wa- 
 ter ; the whole will become soft water when clear. 
 
 To Prepare Limestone Water for Those Unaccustomed to Drink 
 it. — One teaspoonful of vinegar in a pint of such water will antagonize 
 all its ill effects on the bowels of those unaccustomed to it. 
 
 To render Surface Waters Wholesome. — Boil, and allow to cool and 
 stand a few hours, stirring it occasionally. 
 
BEVERAGES. 
 
 769 
 
 Purifying Dirty Water. — It is not so generally known as it ought 
 to be that pounded alum possesses the property of purifying water. A 
 tablespoonful of pulverized alum sprinkled into a hogshead of water — 
 the water stirred up at the same time — will, after a few hours, by 
 precipitating to the bottom the impure particles, so purify it, that it 
 will be found to possess nearly all the freshness and clearness of the 
 finest spring water. A pailful containing four gallons may be purified 
 by a single teaspoonful of the alum. Dr. Hall says as much powder- 
 ed alum as will rest on a dime, stirred in a pail of dirty water, will 
 clarify it in five minutes. 
 
 Cooling Water Without Ice. — The following is a simple mode of ren- 
 dering water almost as cold as ice. Let the jar, pitcher, canteen or 
 vessel used for water be surrounded with one or more folds with wool- 
 en cloth or coarse cotton to be constantly wet. The evaporation of 
 the water will carry off the heat from the inside, and reduce it to a 
 freezing point, In India and other tropical regions, where ice cannot 
 be produced, except by artificial means, this is common. 
 
 Earthen Refrigerators. — We believe that refrigerators of porous 
 earthenware may be made and used with satisfaction without requir- 
 ing ice. Of course ice is the most convenient and acceptable cooling 
 agent, but when it cannot be obtained or is too expensive, porous ear- 
 thenware refrigerators may be substituted. The natives of oriental 
 countries keep their water in porous earthenware vessels, from which 
 they obtain cooling draughts. By placing a porous vessel containing 
 ■water in the sunshine, and sprinkling water upon its surface, the wa- 
 ter inside will become almost ice cold. Evaporation produces a cool- 
 ing effect upon surrounding objects; and the water in the porous ves- 
 sel has its heat extracted by the above evaporating process. This is 
 practically the best of all known modes of cooling water, where ice 
 cannot be obtained. The vessel should be set in a current of air, 
 when the evaporation will go on more rapidly. 
 
 A Strange Drink. — An old toper bet that he could, when blindfold- 
 ed, tell each of several kinds of liquor. When brandy, whisky, gin and 
 other drinks were presented to him, he pronounced correctly what they 
 were. At length a glass of pure water was given him ; he tasted it, 
 paused, tasted it again, considered and shook his head. He at last 
 said : “ Gentlemen, I give it up. I am not used to that sort of 
 liquor.” 
 
 National Beverages. — All Europe has chosen its prevailing bever- 
 age. Spain and Italy delight in chocolate; France and Gernany, 
 Sweeden and Turkey, in coffee ; Bussia, Holland, and England, in tea 
 
770 
 
 PEACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 while poor Ireland makes a warm drink from the husks of the cocoa, 
 the refuse of the chocolate mills of Italy and Spain. All Asia feels 
 the same want, and in different ways has long gratified it. Coffee, 
 indigenous in Arabia, or the adjoining countries, has followed the ban- 
 ner of the Prophet wherever his false faith has triumphed. Tea, a 
 native of China, has spread spontaneously over the hill country of the 
 Himalayas, the table lands of Tartary and Tibet, and the plains of 
 Siberia — has climed the Altais, overspread all Bussia, and is equally 
 despotic in Moscow as in St. Petersburg. In Sumatra, the coffee leaf 
 yields the favorite tea of the dark skinned population, while Central 
 Africa boasts of the Abyssinian chaat as the indigenous warm drink 
 of its Ethiopian peoples. Everywhere un-intoxicating and non-narco- 
 tic beverages are in general use, among tribes of every color, beneath 
 every sun, and in every condition of life. 
 
 TEA. 
 
 Tea is said by persons familiar with the subject to be a chosen bev- 
 erage of one-half of the human race, being drank by 500,000,000 
 people. The peculiar principle of tea is a substance called theine. 
 About three pounds of this substance are obtained in one hundred 
 pounds of tea. When taken into the human system it excites the 
 brain to increased activity and soothes the circulating system, so 
 that it prevents too rapid a change of the materials of the body, and 
 thus economizes food. It is no this effect that the value of tea as an 
 article of diet chiefly depends. Should tea, however, be taken too 
 largely, it acts injuriously, producing trembling of the limbs, irritabil- 
 ity of temper, and even wandering of the mind ; these symptoms axe 
 produced if as much as one ounce of tea (which contains about eight 
 grains of theine) be taken in a day. It is said that when these an- 
 noyances have been produced by a continued excess of tea, it is desi- 
 rable to have recourse to cocoa for some days, when the irritable 
 symptoms rapidly subside, and the use of tea may be resumed, care 
 being taken to employ it in moderation. The evil effects of inordi- 
 nate tea drinking do not at all detract from its utility when taken in 
 due moderation. The circumstance that all nations, removed but one 
 degree from absolute barbarism, employ some unintoxicating and un- 
 fermented beverage, is of itself a sufficient proof that there is in the 
 human system a positive want of some such article of diet ; and the 
 singular fact that all the materials so employed, of which the most 
 important are tea, coffee, chocolate, and the peculiar substance called 
 
BEVERAGES. 
 
 771 
 
 mate or Paraguay tea (of which about 8,000,000 lbs, are aunually 
 consumed in South America,) contain a peculiar and almost identical 
 crystallizable substance similar to theine, confirms this supposition. 
 
 Beneficial Influence of Tea. — The beneficial results of the introduc- 
 tion of tea and coffee have been strangely overlooked or underrated. 
 It has been, however, well described as leading '' to the most wonder- 
 ful change that has ever taken place in the diet of modern civilized 
 nations — a change highly important both in a moral and physical 
 point of view. These beverages have the admirable advantage of af- 
 fording stimulus without producing intoxication, or any of its evil 
 consequences. Lovers of tea and coffee are, in fact, rarely drinkers ; 
 and hence the use of these beverages has benefitted both manners and 
 morals. Eaynal observes, that the use of tea has contributed more 
 to the sobriety of the Chinese than the severest law r s, th^ most elo- 
 quent discourses, or the best treaties on morality. 
 
 Tea Brands and their Meaning . — " Hyson” means ' before the rains,' 
 or ' flourishing spring,’ that is, early in the spring, hence it is often cal- 
 led ' Young Hyson.’ “ Hyson Skin” is composed of the refuse of other 
 kinds, the native term for which is 'tea skins.’ Eefuse of still coarser 
 descriptions, containing many stems, is called ' tea bones.’ “ Bohea ” is 
 the name of the hills in the region where it is collected. '' Pekee ” or 
 '' Pecco ” means 'white hairs,’ the down of tender leaves. “Powchong,” 
 ' folded plant.’ " Souchong,” ' small plant.’ " Twankay ” is the name 
 of a small river in the region where it is bought. “ Congo” is from a 
 term signifying ' labor,’ from the care required in its preparation. 
 
 Making Tea. — Water for making tea should be used the moment ii 
 boils. If it is boiled some time, all the gas that is in it escapes w 7 ith 
 the steam, and it will not make tea of the best flavor. Clear, pure, 
 soft water is the best. 
 
 How to Draw Tea. — An article in the Western Christian Advocate 
 says : A few years since the writer took tea with a relative, and was 
 delighted with the quality of the beverage. Upon inquiry, it proved 
 that the article was from the same package used by another friend, 
 whose tea always tasted miserably, and the difference was wholly ow- 
 ing to the methods used in its preparation. The last named person 
 followed the usual plan of pouring boiling water upon the tea, which 
 causes the most of the aroma to escape with the steam. The other 
 adopted the following process, which I have since practiced and 
 1 recommend : Pour tepid or cold water enough on the tea to 
 er it, place it on the stove hearth, top of a kettle, or any place 
 wW - it will be warm, but not enough so to cause the aroma to es- 
 
772 
 
 PKACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 cape in steam. Let it remain about half an hour, then pour on boil- 
 ing water and bring to the table. 
 
 Drinking Tea. — If the milk and sugar are introduced when the tea 
 is first brought, their cooling effect is applied to the cup in its hottest 
 condition, and the reduction of temperature is checked; while if the 
 rapid cooling is allowed to go on awhile first, and then the tempera- 
 ture is reduced by the addition of the cold milk and sugar, the tea is 
 made very cold, and its flavor is ruined. So you see, when I put the 
 milk and sugar into my tea as soon as it is brought, I do it on philo- 
 sophical principles. 
 
 Adulteration of Tea. — It is well known that a great deal of the tea 
 used in this country is spurious. It has not a particle of the real tea 
 in it. Many do not know what good tea is. Mr. Carpenter, of New 
 York, says much of the tea sold in that city is manufactured there, 
 out of the very worst kinds of refuse stuff, worked up to appear like 
 good green tea. Mr. Burgess says that women are constantly going 
 around to houses in London to gather the tea leaves that have been 
 used to make over into tea for the American market. 
 
 The tea plant grows in the Agricultural Garden at Washington. 
 It is said that it makes a finer flavored dish of tea than that usually 
 imported. It is drank without milk, and has a rich oily taste. 
 
 Substitutes for Tea. — Solon Bobinson states that the tea shrub called 
 “ Yupou ” that grows in Virginia and North Carolina, makes a very 
 drinkable tea. Mr. Burgess mentions the Viburnum prunifolia, as 
 the best, probably, of all substitutes for tea. This shrub is known in 
 this country as the Nannyberry. The leaves should be gathered when 
 about half - or three-fourths grown, and prepared somewhat as the Chi- 
 nese prepare tea leaves. 
 
 Making Coffee and Tea. — It is an old, but nevertheless true saying, 
 that there is daily to be heard and seen something new. Good tea 
 and coffee are beverages that all are fond of, and yet how few there 
 are who know how to suit the tastes of those who keenly relish them. 
 The Scalpel reverses the old practice and theory, and says that the 
 true way to obtain good coffee and tea is to put them into cold water, 
 and heat them up to the boiling point, and keep them at that point 
 for a minute or so, in close vessels so as to prevent any escape of 
 steam. Then, while the flavor is diffused through the liquid, pour it 
 out, sweeten and drink it. 
 
BEVERAGES. 
 
 773 
 
 COFFEE. 
 
 How Coffee came to be Used . — It is somewhat singular to trace the 
 manner in which arose the use of the common beverage of coffee, with- 
 out which few persons in any half or wholly civilized country in the 
 world, now make breakfast. At the time Columbus discovered Amer- 
 ica, it had never been known or used. It only grew in Arabia and 
 Upper Ethiopia. The discovery of its use as a beverage is ascribed 
 to the superior of a monastery in Arabia, who, desirous of preventing 
 the monks from sleeping at their nocturnal services, made them drink 
 the infusion of coffee, upon the report of shepherds, who observed that 
 their flocks were more lively after browsing on the fruit of that plant. 
 Its reputation spread through the adjacent countries, and in about two 
 hundred years it had reached Paris. A single plant, brought there 
 in 1714, became the parent stock of all the French coffee plantations 
 in the West Indies. The Dutch introduced it into Java and the East 
 Indies, and the French and Spanish all over South America and the 
 West Indies. The extent of the consumption now can hardly be real- 
 ized. The United States alone annually consume it at the cost, on its 
 landing, of from fifteen to sixteen millions of dollars. 
 
 How to Make a Good Cup of Coffee . — The best coffee is Mocha. 
 The best usually obtained is Java. Maracaibo is a good coffee. Bio 
 coffee is much used. Coffee improves by age. Before burning, re- 
 move all gravel, dirt, imperfect berries, &c. Use a coffee-browner, 
 spider, or frying skillet. They are better than a dripping pan. Let 
 the fire be hot when you put it into the oven. Keep it evenly spread 
 and the oven closed, except when stirring, which should be done quick- 
 ly and every minute, being sure to not let the grains burn on the bot- 
 tom. Twelve, fifteen or twenty minutes should be sufficient. A slight 
 smoke, gradually increasing, then strictest care to prevent burning, 
 until it is the color of a chestnut, when the roasting is completed. Be- 
 move it at once from the oven. If there are any burned or imperfect- 
 ly roasted grains, pick them out. The latter may be roasted further 
 afterwards. The former are spoiled. Put the roasted coffee immedi- 
 ately into a bottle, and keep corked tightly. If roasted as it should 
 be, there will be a coating of oil. If at once bottled and corked tight, 
 time will increase the oil and improve the flavor of the coffee. Other- 
 wise the fine aromatic oil will escape. Grind very fine, and no more 
 than is wanted at the time. Take the white of a fresh egg, and mix 
 just sufficient to moisten the coffee, not enough to make it lumpy. Put 
 it into hot water and boil four or five minutes. Set on the table a 
 
774 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 minute or two before pouring out. Add immediately sweet cream or 
 boiled milk and pure white sugar. Let it stand five minutes, stirring 
 occasionally. Then drink. Do not drink sooner. Follow directions 
 minutely. 
 
 The above is the substance of an excellent article published in the 
 Am. Agriculturist. If any better directions are to be had, we shall 
 be greatly obliged to get them. We shall not look for them. A 
 great many other methods are practiced, a few of which follow : 
 
 Soy ex’s Simplified Mode of Making Coffee. — Put one ounce of ground 
 coffee in a pan, which place over the fire ; keep stirring until quite 
 hot, but take care it does not burn ; then pour over quickly a quart 
 of boiling water ; close it immediately ; keep it not far from the fire, 
 but not to simmer; then fill your cup without shaking it; or pass it 
 through a cloth into a coffee-pot, or it may be made sometime previ- 
 ous and warmed again. The grounds can be kept and boiled for ma- 
 king the coffee of the next day, by which at least a quarter of an ounce 
 is saved. In country places, where milk is good and cheap, I recom- 
 mend that half boiled milk should be used with the coffee. The econ- 
 omy of this plan is fully ten per cent. 
 
 Another Method. — Coffee should be roasted until it has acquired a 
 brown color, but never burned , for in that case the aroma or flavor is 
 n a great measure lost, and the coffee will look black and have a bit- 
 ter, unpleasant taste. 
 
 To Prepare for Use. — Take a quart of water and half a teacup of 
 ground coffee ; into this put the white of one egg, with a little water, 
 and stir the mixture together ; then put it in the pot ; turn on boiling 
 water, and let it boil for half an hour ; then take it from the fire — 
 fill up with boiling water. After this, pour into the coffee a little 
 cold water, and let it stand a few minutes, when it will be ready for 
 use. When eggs cannot be had to settle the coffee with, a very 
 good substitue may be had in the skin of dry codfish, or the rind of 
 salt pork, putting a small piece of either in the pot before putting in 
 the water. 
 
 Another. — To make and clear coffee : Put a sufficient quantity of the 
 coffee into the pot, and pour boiling water on it ; stir it, and place it 
 on the fire. Make it boil, and as soon as four or five bubbles have 
 risen, take it off the fire, and pour out a teacupful and return it ; set 
 it down for one minute, then pour gently over the top one teacupful 
 of cold water ; let it stand one minute longer, and it will be bright 
 and fine. The cold water, by its greater density, sinks and carn^a 
 the grounds with it. 
 
BEVERAGES. 
 
 775 
 
 To Make Clear Coffee. — The Scientific American recommends to stir 
 one egg into half a pound of ground coffee, and set away for use as 
 required. No further substance for settling will be needed, and the 
 egg tends to preserve the aroma. Coffee in roasting loses about six- 
 teen per cent, in weight. 
 
 Another plan, published in the Country Gentleman is to pick, wash 
 and drain the coffee ; roast it of a nice, brown color ; when you can 
 mash it with your fingers it is done. Many people stir in an ounce 
 of butter to a pound of coffee. It is best fresh roasted, but as that is 
 too troublesome in real business families, it is usually prepared once a 
 week, and immediately put in close cannisters. One pound of coffee 
 to a gallon of water is the prescribed quantity, but we think used by 
 few. Mix the ground coffee with the white of an egg ; when the wa- 
 ter boils, stir it in and boil hard for a few minutes ; then set it where 
 it will boil slowly for ten minutes. Coffee should be made just before 
 wanted for use. Before pouring it into the urn, pour a cupful back 
 and forth until it seems clear. You may use a strip of izinglass in- 
 stead of the white of an egg, or you may, when you want the coffee, 
 after it cools, glaze it, using the whites of two eggs to each pound of 
 coffee. 
 
 Economical Mode of Clearing Coffee when Eggs are Scarce. — A cor- 
 respondent says : We have frequently had the whites of eggs left out 
 when making puddings, custards, &c. When they are to spare, beat 
 them to a stiff froth, spread them on clean white paper, which is easi- 
 ly dried in the air or warm oven, after which, roll it into a scroll and 
 put away in a dry place. Before making coffee, cut off a piece two 
 inches square, or larger, according to quantity of coffee, lay it in a 
 gill of cold water till sufficiently moistened to make a slight mucilage, 
 which pour on to your ground coffee, and mix well together — then all 
 to your boiler of water, which should be boiling hard at the time ; 
 your coffee can be made in the usual way. The inside skin of the 
 egg shell answers the same purpose, dried and put away in paper 
 bags; use them in the same way in making coffee. 
 
 To Obtain the Genuine Flavor of the Coffee. — The aroma which re- 
 sides in the essential oil of the coffee berry is gradually dissipated af- 
 ter roasting, and, of course, still more so after being ground. In or- 
 der to enjoy the full flavor in perfection, the berry should pass at once 
 from the roasting pan to the mill, and thence to the coffee pot ; ana 
 again, after being made, should be mixed, when almost at boiling 
 heat, with the hot milk. It must be very bad coffee, indeed, which, 
 
776 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA . 
 
 these precautions being followed, will not afford an agreeable and ex- 
 b derating drink. 
 
 A a Improved Method of Making Coffee . — This is taken from a pa- 
 per of 1787 : “To an ounce of ground coffee add a common teaspoon- 
 ful of the best flour of mustard -seed, previous to the boi mg. To 
 those m.; acquainted with the method it is inconceivable how much it 
 improves ihe fragrancy, fineness, transparency, and gratefully quick 
 flavor of the beverage ; and probably, too, it adds to its wholesome- 
 nets.” 
 
 Adulterated Coffee and other Drinks. — A London professor lectured 
 recently on adulteration of food. He handed round coffee which was 
 pronounced excellent, then told the audience they had been regaled 
 with a mixture of bullocks blood, chicory, sheep’s liver, dried, and 
 old coffee grounds. He gave them capital porter, too, made of spirits 
 of wine, gum arabic and burnt sugar. 
 
 It is pretty well established that there is an enormous quantity of 
 villainously adulterated stuff sold in Hew York, and distributed 
 throughout the country under the name of tea and coffee. Mr. Sel- 
 leck, of Connecticut, says that he saw two wagon loads of chicory 
 hauled to one coffee grinding establishment in Chatham street, New 
 York, in one day. Mr. Carpenter, of that city, says that a farmer 
 can make better coffee of his own materials at home than the vile 
 adulterations that he, as a merchant, knows are made in New York. 
 Mr. Gale, of the same city, says : I know, and so does almost every 
 one that knows anything about the matter, that much of the stuff sold 
 as ground coffee derives not one-fourth part of its substance from the 
 coffee berry. I speak from experience, as a merchant who has dealt 
 largely in tea and coffee in former years, and know what vile cheating 
 is practiced with those two articles of universal consumption. 
 
 Substitutes for Coffee. — Barley, rye, peas and orange carrots make 
 a very pleasant and wholesome beverage, when used in part with pure 
 coffee. 
 
 Carrot Coffee. — Carrots, dried, ground, and mixed with coffee to 
 suit the taste. When clean, cut into pieces about half an inch square, 
 then brown, and dry hard enough to grind easily by putting them in- 
 to a tin under the stove or in the oven, being careful not to let them 
 burn. When ground, -use. about one pound carrot to two parts coffee. 
 Some use a larger proportion of the carrot, and some use the carrot 
 alone. 
 
 2. Scrape and wash the carrots ; then cut in small pieces, like ker- 
 nels of corn, and dry ; brown it the same as the coffee berry ; use a 
 
BEVERAGES. 
 
 77 ? 
 
 quantity sufficient to make it strong enough to suit the taste ; about a 
 tablespoonful for one person, to be used without grinding. S< me mix 
 a small proportion of dandelion root. This is very palatable, and 
 more wholesome than the coffee berry. Care in browning it is very 
 necessary. 
 
 Chiccory Cofee. — Chiccory roots prepared the same as directed for 
 carrot and used alone, or with coffee or dandelion root is very much 
 used. 
 
 Another Good Cheap Coffee. — Take coffee and peas of equal quanti- 
 ties ; roast them well, separately, taking care not to burn them ; grind 
 them together and serve up according to taste. By the addition of 
 the peas, the coffee clears itself, and settles perfectly without any 
 - other addition, and moreover makes a much cheaper and wholesome 
 beverage. 
 
 Another Home-Made Coffee Highly Recommended. — The contributor 
 of this says : I send you a receipt for making coffee, sent to me by a 
 friend from the West. We have used several kinds of home made cof- 
 fee, but found none that gave such satisfaction as this : 
 
 Take one pint of Indian meal, one pint of wheat flour, half a tea- 
 cup of molasses, a teaspoonful of salt, and add water to make it like 
 dough. Then cut it out like yeast cakes. Put them in a pan and 
 dry them in the oven. When thoroughly dry, brown them in the 
 oven to a dark brown, nearly black. To make the coffee, put two of 
 these cakes and a teaspoonful of ground coffee in the coffee pot, and 
 pour on hot water the same as other coffee. Some use a tablespoonful 
 of ground coffee and an egg. 
 
 Other Substitutes for Coffee. — Professor Mapes says that the best 
 substitute for coffee is the seeds of okra. If well prepared, very few 
 persons could tell it from the beverage made from the genuine coffee 
 berry. Solon Bobinson recommends the seeds of asparagus as an ex- 
 cellent substitute for coffee. George H. Hite says the best substitute 
 for coffee he ever saw is made of sweet corn carefully prepared by 
 roasting and grinding, just as you do the coffee berry. If mixed half 
 and half with real coffee, he thinks no one would ever detect the adul- 
 teration. 
 
 CHOCOLATE. 
 
 To Make Good Chocolate. — Scrape up one pound best chocolate and 
 dissolve it in a teacupful of boiling water; then mix with six teacup- 
 
778 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPEDIA. 
 
 fuls of fresh milk ; let it come to a boil. It is then ready fcr the 
 table. 
 
 If you will add eight well beaten eggs to the above preparation, 
 with sugar, and bake it in cups, you will have a nice chocolate pudding. 
 
 ALE. 
 
 To Make Good Home-Brewed . — The art of brewing is very easily 
 to be understood, for it is exactly similar to the process of making tea. 
 Put a handful of malt into a teapot ; then fill it with water — the first 
 time rather under boiling heat. After it has stood some time, pour 
 off the liquor just as you would tea, and fill up the pot again with 
 boiling water. In a similar manner pour that off, and so go on filling 
 up and pouring off till the malt in the pot is tasteless, which will be 
 the case when all its virtue is extracted. The liquor or malt tea must 
 then be boiled with a few hops in it, and when it becomes cool enough 
 — that is about blood heat — add a little yeast to ferment it, and the 
 thing is done. This is the whole art and process of brewing ; and to 
 brew a large quantity requires just the same mode of proceeding as 
 it would to make a tea breakfast for a regiment of soldiers. A peck 
 of malt and four ounces of hops will produce ten quarts of ale, and 
 of better quality than can usually be purchased. 
 
 To Make English Home-Brewed Ale . — The following formula for 
 the manufacture of home-brewed ale of the English yeomanry, will 
 convey a very clear idea of the components and mixture of ordinary 
 ales, which are, however, much more perfectly prepared under the 
 elaborate system pursued in our extensive and well appointed brew- 
 eries. — It is taken from Homan’s Cyclopaedia of Commerce. 
 
 “ Home-brewed ale, as brewed by the middle classes in England, is 
 usually made in quantities of two barrels, i. e. seventy-two gallons. 
 For this purpose a quarter of malt, obtained at the malt house — or, 
 if wished to be extra strong, nine bushels of malt — are taken, with 
 twelve pounds of hops. The malt, being crushed or ground, is mixed 
 with seventy-two gallons of water at the temperature of 160°, and 
 covered up for three hours, when forty gallons are drawn off, into which 
 the twelve pounds of hops are put and left to infuse. Sixty gallons 
 of water at a temperature of 170° are then added to the malt in the 
 m^sh tub, and well mixed, and, after standing two hours, sixty gal- 
 lons are drawn off. The wort from these two mashes is boiled with 
 hops for two hours, and after being cooled down to sixty-five degrees, 
 is strained through a flannel bag into a fermenting tub, where it is 
 
BEVERAGES. 
 
 779 
 
 mixed with one and a half gallons of yeast, and left to work for 
 twenty-four or thirty hours. It is then run into barrels to cleanse, a 
 few gallons being reserved for filling up the casks as the yeast works 
 over. 
 
 Ale from Acorns . — A recent number of the Annales Forestiers con- 
 tains an elaborate article on the merits of acorn ale, said to be not 
 only a very nutritious and agreeable beverage, but also a sovereign rem- 
 edy against endemic fevers, dysentery, and other maladies caused by 
 a residence in marshy regions and insufficient nourishment. This beer 
 is described as being slightly effervescent, easy of digestion, and offer- 
 ering an excellent tonic and febrifuge. It is thus prepared: For a 
 barrel of fifty gallons, prepare sixteen bushels of acorns, by steeping 
 them for a fortnight in water — the water is to be changed every fourth 
 day. At the end of this period, the acorns are placed in a cask with 
 one pound of hops, and the cask is filled with water. The cask must 
 be covered, but not closed, during the fermentation which ensues. At 
 the end of a fortnight the acorn beer is fit for use. For every gallon 
 of beer drawn off from the cask a gallon of fresh water is added, un- 
 til the flavor of the beer is found to be growing weaker, when the cask 
 is emptied, cleaned and dried, and a new brewing is begun. A barrel 
 thus prepared, will furnish beer, it is said, sufficient for five persons 
 during eight months. The acorns destined to this novel manufacture 
 should be gathered before they begin to germinate, and dried in a 
 garret or outhouse, by exposing to the air ; they should then be placed 
 in a new, dry cask, in alternate layers of acorns and oven dried sand, 
 of five or six inches in depth ; this cask must be kept in a very dry, 
 cool place, and covered with dried leaves and earth, carefully dried 
 and pulverized. 
 
 BEER, SODA-WATER, LEMONADE, ETC. 
 
 m 
 
 To Make Beer in Small Quantities . — Infuse five ounces of hops, one 
 ounce of juniper berries, and half an ounce of elder flowers in suffi- 
 cient boiling water to make nine gallons of strained infusion, to which 
 add two pounds of sugar and seven ounces of gum (or dextrine ;) dis- 
 solve the stirrings ; let cool to about eighty degrees, and then mix 
 with one ounce of brewer’s yeast, and fill into a (quarter) keg ; leave 
 it for a day in a medium temperature, with the bung hole loosely cov- 
 ered. After fifteen hours more it must be bottled, and becomes fit to 
 drink after a week. The juniper berries as well as the elder flowers 
 may be omitted to suit different tastes. 
 
780 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 A Cheap Beer . — Prepare a five or ten gallon keg, in proportion to 
 tlie size of tke family — draw a piece of coarse bobinet, or very coarse 
 book-muslin over the end of tbe faucet that is inserted into the keg. 
 to prevent its choking, a good tight bung, and near to that a gimlet 
 hole, with a peg to fit it tight. 
 
 For five gallons : One quart of sound corn, put into the keg, with 
 half a gallon molasses ; then fill with cold water to within two inches 
 of the bung. Shake well, and in two or three days it will be fit for 
 use. Bung tight. 
 
 If you want spruce flavor, add one teaspoonful of essence of spruce 
 — lemon, if lemon is preferred — ginger, or any flavor you prefer. The 
 corn will last to make five or six brewings ; when it is exhausted, re- 
 new it. When the beer passes from the vinous to the acetous fermen- 
 tation, it can be corrected by adding a little more molasses and water. 
 
 This is a simple, cheap beverage, costing but a few cents a gallon. 
 After the beer becomes ripe, it ought to be kept in a cool, place, to 
 prevent it from becoming sour before it is exhausted. 
 
 Small Beer . — For making three gallons of beer, or one pailful, 
 take one quart of West India molasses, one ounce essence of spruce, 
 one ounce essence of wintergreen, half an ounce essence of sassafras; 
 fill the pail with hot water, mix it well, let it stand till it has become 
 blood warm, then add one pint of yeast ; let it remain ten or twelve 
 hours, bottle, and in three hours it will be fit for use and first rate. 
 
 Spruce Beer . — Put into a large kettle ten gallons of water, quarter 
 of a pound of hops, and a teacupful of ginger. Boil them until the 
 hops sink to the bottom. Then dip out a bucketful of the liquor, and 
 stir into six quarts of molasses, and three ounces and a half of essence 
 of spruce. When all is dissolved, mix it with the liquor in the kettle, 
 strain it through a hair sieve into a cask, and stir well into it half a 
 pint of good strong yeast. Let it ferment a day or two, then bung 
 up the 6ask, and the beer may be bottled the next day. It will be fit 
 for use in a week. 
 
 For essence of spruce, two pounds of the outer gruen sprigs of 
 spruce fir, (or hemlock) boiled ten minutes in the liquor, may be sub- 
 stituted. 
 
 Another Spruce Beer . — Boil a handful of hops in two and a half 
 gallons of water, and when it is lukewarm, stir into it a tablespoonful 
 of ground white ginger, a pint of molasses, a tablespoonful of essence 
 of spruce, and half a pint of yeast. Mix all well together in a stone 
 jug, and let it ferment for a day and a half, or two days. Then put 
 
BEVERAGES. 
 
 781 
 
 ii into bottles, with three or four raisins in the bottom of each, to pre- 
 vent any further fermentation. It will be fit for immediate use. 
 
 To make Ginger Beer . — The following is a very delicate, refreshing 
 summer drink, much preferred by many to spruce beer, and more ea- 
 sily made : 
 
 Break a pound and a half of best loaf sugar, and mix with it three 
 ounces of best white Jamaica ginger, broken as fine as possible, and 
 the grated peel of two lemons. Put these ingredients into a large 
 stone jar, and pour over them two gallons of boiling water. When it 
 becomes milkwarm, strain it and add the juice of the lemons and two 
 large tablespoonfuls of yeast. Make this beer in the evening, and let 
 it stand all night. Next morning, bottle it in strong glass or stone 
 bottles, tying down the corks with twine. It is better after standing 
 a few days. 
 
 Another . — “ Take eight gallons of warm water and one gallon of 
 New Orleans molasses, and a small handful of hops, and boil them in 
 a gallon and a half of water, and strain it in with the other warm wa- 
 ter. Then take two large tablespoonfuls of good ginger, and put it in 
 and mix it well, and then put in two tablespoonfuls of good cream of 
 tartar. Next, put in one and a half gallons of good yeast, and mix it 
 all well, and let it stand for six or eight hours, or rather until it has 
 worked a good scum over the top. Take a clean cloth and wash it in 
 warm water, and wring the water out and lay it in a colander and strain 
 carefully ; bottle and cork, and tie up so that the strings will make a 
 cross on the top of the cork. Set the bottle out in the hot sun for 
 two hours, and then put them in a good cold cellar or spring house, 
 and let it get one day old, and then you will have good beer. 
 
 “ Skim before you strain ; also, before you put the ginger and mo- 
 lasses, and the cream tartar and yeast in your water, make it a little 
 ■jool, a little more than milk warm, but no warmer, or else it will kill 
 your ingredients.” These directions, when strictly followed, make a 
 superb drink. 
 
 Another way to make Ginger Beer . — Two gallons of ginger beer may 
 be made as follows : Put two gallons of cold water into a pot upon the 
 fire ; add to it two ounces of good ginger, and two ounces of white or 
 brown sugar. Let all this come to a boil, and continue boiling for an 
 hour. Then skim the liquor, and pour it into a jar or tub along with 
 one sliced lemon and a half an ounce of cream of tartar. When near- 
 ly cold, put in a teaspoonful of yeast to cause the liquor to work. The 
 beer is now made, and after it has worked for two days strain and bot- 
 tle for use. Tie the corks down firmly. 
 
 \ 
 
782 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 To Make Boot Beer . — For roots, get burdock, sarsaparilla, dande- 
 lion, horse radish, and, if you can, wintergreen with leaves and ber- 
 ries. Clean them, but don't wash more than is necessary ; boil in 
 good soft water, with hops and black cherry bark enough to make it 
 pretty bitter. Soak a couple of yeast cakes in water, and stir in flour 
 so that you will have half a pint before rising, one pint after it rises. 
 Strain the liquor from the roots when well boiled, and when milkwarm 
 add the yeast and molasses to suit the taste. Stir well and cover. 
 
 Another. — For Spring : Take a handful each of yellow dock, dande- 
 lion, and sarsaparilla roots, sassafras bark, hops, and a little boneset, 
 and boil till the strength is extracted. To three gallons of the liquor, 
 after it is strained, add one quart of molasses, and when cool enough, 
 three yeast cakes. Let it stand in a warm place eight or ten hours. 
 Then strain and bottle. It will be fit for use the next day if the 
 weather is warm. 
 
 Cream Beer. — Two ounces tartaric acid. Two pounds white sugar. 
 The juice of half a lemon. Three pints of water. Boil together five 
 minutes. When nearly cold, add the whites of three eggs, well beat- 
 en, with half a cup of flour, and half an ounce of essence of winter- 
 green. Bottle and keep in a cool place. Take two tablespoon fuls of 
 this syrup for a tumbler of water, add one-quarter of a teaspoonful ol 
 soda. This is a famed drink for summer, effervescing, but much more 
 slow, and therefore far pleasanter, than soda water. 
 
 Adulterations of Beer. — The principal of the Inland Bevenue De- 
 partment of England has just examined twenty six samples of beer, 
 of which twenty were adulterated. In fourteen of these samples he 
 found the prohibited articles called grains of paradise — grains which, 
 however fit for Eden, are by law unfit for beer. In one of the four- 
 teen he found, besides the prohibited grains, a portion of tobacco ; in 
 two others cocculus indicus was present in large and dangerous quan- 
 tities ; two samples contained capsicum, and two others proto-sul- 
 phate of iron. 
 
 In an article styled “ Garbling," in Hunt’s Merchant’s Magazine, 
 the following articles are enumerated with which lager beer is adul- 
 terated : 
 
 Gentian, flag root, maywort, wormwood, quassia, catechu, heath, 
 broom, the common garden box, pounded oyster shells, egg shell, chalk, 
 marble -dust, whiting, sugar, molasses, beans, liquorice, caraway seed, 
 alspice, ginger, pepper, mustard, grains of paradise, salt, cocculus in- 
 dicus, (poison,) opium, tobacco, henbane, hemlock, oil of vitriol, sul- 
 phate of copper, copperas , alum, strychnine , snake-wood, augustura 
 
BEVERAGES. 783 
 
 bark, and the St. Ignatius bean. There is a compound worse than 
 the witch's broth in Macbeth. 
 
 Haymakers' Brink. — E. F. Scott, of Bethlehem, Conn., says : When 
 I commence haying, my wife takes rye or barley, and burns it just 
 right for coffee, and then adds one-third as much sweet corn without 
 burning, and grinds them together, and makes as much coffee every 
 morning as will be drank through the day, not very strong or sweet, 
 and strains it off into a pail or jug. I take it out to the meadow and 
 set it down in the sun if you prefer it warm, or in the shade, if cool, 
 and it is always ready, will hurt no one, and is victuals and drink, too. 
 I seldom want a lunch when I use it. Molasses I think makes it bet- 
 ter than sugar. Add milk to your liking. 
 
 This I consider the most healthy, the cheapest, and best for me, for 
 beer I cannot drink, and spirits I want nothing to do with. I some- 
 times take a glass of tamarind-ade at noon, or at four o’clock, with my 
 lunch ; this sets a good edge for food, and is recommended by physi- 
 cians as very healthy in hot weather, and I find them to be so, for I 
 have most invariably had a sick spell in haying, in consequence of 
 drinking too much water, until I commenced their use once a day in 
 connection with coffee. 
 
 To make Soda Water . — Take pulverized bi-carbonate of soda and 
 tartaric acid, crush the lumps with a case knife, fill a teaspoon, first 
 with one and then with the other — striking it off with the edge of the 
 knife, as you would a measure of grain — and then throw the contents 
 in separate tumblers one-third full of cold water. If sweetened, let 
 the acid be thrown into the tumbler containing the sugar, and when 
 the powders are thoroughly dissolved, pour the contents of the tum- 
 blers together. Drink at once. 
 
 The quantity of soda and acid may be increased or diminished at 
 pleasure, taking care always to use equal measures of each, so that the 
 acid and alkali will perfectly neutralize each other. 
 
 Another Method . — Add to half a glass of water a quarter of tea- 
 spoonful of tartaric acid, two teaspoonfuls of loaf sugar, and a little 
 lemon juice. Stir it well, and when you wish to drink it, add a quar- 
 ter of a teaspoonful of soda. 
 
 Cream Nectar Recipe . — Take two pounds of refined sugar, four oun- 
 ces of tartaric acid, and four quarts of water ; when warm, add the 
 whites of four eggs, beaten to a froth. Be careful not to let it come 
 to a boil. When cool, strain it, and add a teaspoonful of essence of 
 lemon to flavor. 
 
 Directions for use : Take two tablespoonfuls of the above syrup to 
 
784 
 
 PRACTICA L CYC3 ,OP^DI A. 
 
 a glass filled two-thirds full of water, and add a very small quantity 
 of carbonate of soda, and stir it until it effervesces. Drink immedi- 
 ately. Make the syrup in a brass or porcelain kettle. A gentleman 
 wbo pronounces this tbe most delicious thing be ever drank, gave five 
 dollars for the recipe. 
 
 Raspberry Vinegar. — Express tbe juice from raspberries ; to one 
 pint of juice add a quart of vinegar and one pound of white sugar ; 
 boil it till tbe scum rises, which skim off, and bottle it for use. 
 
 This is not only excellent, but made in a more economical manner 
 than tbe raspberry vinegar for which directions have usually been 
 given. It forms not only a pleasant summer drink when diluted with 
 water, but in its more concentrated state constitutes an excellent med- 
 icine for colds, croup, &c. 
 
 How to make Metheglin. — Dissolve honey in water till it will bear 
 an egg ; boil it until the scum is all removed, then bottle and it is 
 ready for use. 
 
 * Ginger Lemonade. — Boil twelve pounds and a half of lump sugar 
 for twenty minutes in ten gallons of water ; clear it with the whites 
 of six eggs. Bruise half a pound of common ginger, boil with the li- 
 quor, and then pour it upon ten lemons, pared. When quite cold, put 
 it in a cask with two tablespoonfuls of yeast, the lemons sliced, and 
 half an ounce of izinglass. Bung up the cask the next day ; it will be 
 ready in two weeks. 
 
 CIDER. 
 
 To make good Cider. — The editors of the Country Gentleman give 
 the following directions : Gather the apples, clean and dry, when ripe. 
 Grind them fine, about one hundred bushels at a time. Let the pom- 
 ace remain in the vat from twenty-four to forty-eight hours, accord- 
 ing to the season, until fermentation commences, producing little bub- 
 bles on the surface ; then express moderately, or rather let it drain 
 out. Use dry clean straw to lay up the pomace ; after the first run, 
 the cider will be clear, high-colored, rich and mellow in taste. A full 
 barrel of cider as it runs from the press will shake down from two to 
 four quarts ; — this should be well done by shaking and rapping the 
 heads — then again filled to the full, bunged tight, and placed in a cold 
 cellar, and allowed to work or ferment through a spile or gimlet hole, 
 the froth working over. Towards the last, put in the spile gently, 
 and raise it daily to let the wind puff out, putting it in quickly to keep 
 the common air from it, continuing this as long as it requires vent 
 
BEVERAGES. 
 
 785 
 
 After this, keep the cask tight,, and all is done but the drinking of 
 good cider, never hard or sour — there is nothing to make it work and 
 become so. 
 
 Another Method . — A New Jersey cider maker, at Newark, recom- 
 mends the following : The apples should be ripe and sound. Don’t 
 press the cheese until the cider runs clear. After filling the barrels 
 remove them immediately to a cool cellar — let them stand with the 
 bung open until the sediment begins to go down ; then close them, 
 and pretty soon after give it the first racking. About three rackings 
 will remove all the sediment. Bottle before the weather becomes 
 warm enough for the trees to put out ; fill the bottles one-half inch 
 from the corks; let them stand twenty-four hours after filling; then 
 take a bowl of boiling water, dip the ends of cork to go in the bottle 
 in the water ; hold the bottle in the left hand by the neck, and drive 
 the cork in with a piece of fence lath. The bottles are then buried in 
 the sand in the cellar. 
 
 By this process our best Jersey apples will make cider that has often 
 been drank by epicures for champagne wine, and will not change for 
 years, only seeming to get more body. 
 
 Let no water be used on the straw. 
 
 In packing away keep the corks up. 
 
 Another . — The following method of making cider, which is valua- 
 ble and should be followed, is extracted from Mr. W. 0. Hickok’s 
 trade circular : 
 
 There are comparatively few persons who are aware how rich a 
 drink it is when made pure ; free from water, the taste of straw, and 
 all the impurities that, under the old fashioned system of cider making, 
 are incorporated into its composition. 
 
 When pure and well made, it is doubtless far healthier than wine, 
 and for liver complaints it is a sovereign remedy. On this account 
 alone, the portable cider mills that make cider without straw, are a 
 benefit to the community ; and when the farmer will take the same 
 pains with his cider that the vine grower does with his wine, he will 
 find an unlimited demand for it at highly remunerative prices; and if 
 the severe excise tax now imposed on whiskey will turn the attention 
 of the people to cider, it will confer an inestimable benefit. 
 
 Pick all the apples, rejecting those not sound, and wash them clean, 
 and afterwards let them lie and get dry. Grind and press them, using 
 no water or straw, or any substance that will give the cider an nn- 
 pleasant taste, as on the purity and cleanliness of the apples depends 
 the quality of the cider. Strain the juice through a woolen or other 
 
786 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPEDIA. 
 
 close bag, put into clean barrels and set in a moderately cool place, 
 keeping the barrel full all the time, so that all the impurities may 
 work off at the bung. After it has done working rack it carefully off; 
 let it stand a few days and bung it up. As the air tends to sour the 
 cider it is a good plan to provide a bent tin tube, one end fastened in 
 the bung and the other to drop down in a bucket of water. This will 
 let all the gas pass off and not let the air get to the cider. The quick- 
 er the pomace is pressed after being ground, the lighter the color will 
 be ; and darker if not pressed for twenty-four hours after being ground. 
 The cider from the second and third pressing will be the richest — the 
 reverse is the case in making wine. Cider making should be conduct- 
 ed with all the care that wine making is. Most any good sour apple 
 will make cider, but more generally an apple full of juice and not very 
 good to eat, will make the best. The Virginia crab, perhaps excels 
 all other apples for cider making. 
 
 When bottled up with a little rock candy and wired, it will, after 
 standing some time, sparkle like champagne, when opened. To get 
 cider very strong, expose it in a tub in extremely cold weather and 
 remove the ice that forms ; as this can be only water, it leaves the ci- 
 der of additional strength. 
 
 Any substance put in to arrest the fermentation is of doubtful value, 
 as all good cider must be perfectly fermented to be healthy. You had 
 better depend rather on careful and clean making, and bottle tightly 
 at the proper time. 
 
 Preserving Cider . — The main thing in keeping cider is to . have the 
 oarrel clean and sweet, and the cider free from pomace and other im- 
 purities. 
 
 From an article by Prof. L. C. Loomis, M. D., published in the U. 
 S. Agricultural Eeport for 1862, we extract the following excellent 
 instructions : Cider is deteriorated, both from want of care of the fruit, 
 and from impurity of the cask. If the apples are permitted to re- 
 main till there is considerable decay, the taste of decay will be trans- 
 mitted through all the fermentation of the juice. A pure, sweet taste 
 can only be derived from sound fruit ; secondly, sufficient care is sel- 
 dom used as to the cask. Fresh liquor casks are the most desirable. 
 A good mode of treatment for other casks is the following: Soak for 
 one or two days, then rinsing thoroughly ; put in one or two buckets 
 of water with a couple of tablespoonfuls of saleratus. Cork tight, 
 and let remain, with occasional shaking, for twenty-four hours ; turn 
 off the saleratus water, and fill immediately with cider. As the fer- 
 mentation takes place, the object is to cork the cask tightly as soon as 
 
BEVERAGES. 
 
 787 
 
 the pressure will not endanger it. This is a nice point of observation 
 with each barrel. If it be strongly iron-bound, it will bear closing 
 much earlier, thus keeping the cider sweeter and more lively through 
 its entire drawing. The preservation of cider in this condition con- 
 sists in checking by pressure the first fermentation before it is fully 
 complete, and thus preventing the second. The cask should be com- 
 pletely air tight, as any leakage will allow the change to proceed. If 
 bottled at this stage, it will remain indefinitely without change. 
 
 Professor Horsford's Method of Preserving Cider. — Professor Hors- 
 ford, of Harvard University, has published a recipe for improving and 
 preserving cider, by means of which it is claimed the progress of the 
 vinous and acetic fermentations may be arrested at pleasure, and the 
 cider (also wine) preserved in just such a state as may be desired. 
 
 Put the new cider into clean casks or barrels, and allow it to fer- 
 ment from one to three weeks, according as the weather is cool or 
 warm. When it has attained to lively fermentatation add to each 
 gallon three-fourths of a pound of white sugar, and let the whole fer- 
 ment again until it possesses nearly the brisk pleasant taste, which it 
 is desired should be permanent. Pour out a quart of the cider and 
 mix with it one quarter of an ounce of sulphite of lime for every gal- 
 lon the cask contains. Stir until it is intimately mixed, and pour the 
 emulsion into the liquid. Agitate the contents of the cask thorough- 
 ly for a few moments, then let it rest, that the cider may settle. Fer- 
 mentation will be arrested at once, and will not be resumed. It may 
 be bottled in the course of a few weeks, or it may be allowed to re- 
 main in the cask and used on draft. If bottled, it will become a 
 sparkling cider — better than what is called champagne wine. 
 
 Prof. Horsford was the first to use the sulphite of lime for this pur- 
 pose, and to him is due the credit of first calling attention to its use- 
 fulness. It is said to be in no respect deleterious, as the sulphate into 
 which the sulphite is changed by the liberation of sulphurous acid, is 
 entirely insoluble, and remains at the bottom of the vessel. The sul- 
 phite of lime, not the sulphate must be used. 
 
 A writer says he has cider prepared in this way ten years since, 
 which has remained unchanged, and is now a beverage of unsurpass- 
 ed excellence. 
 
 A correspondent of the Country Gentleman says : To a forty gallon 
 cask of pure juice fermented to a point to suit the taste, add one bot- 
 tle of prepared sulphite of lime (cost fifty cents,) stir it briskly and 
 bung tight. Use on draught or draw off and bottle in the spring. It 
 is superior to wine. 
 
788 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 Keejping Cider by Stumming . — There are three stages of fermenta- 
 tion to which cider is subject, viz : the vinous, the acetous and the pu- 
 trefactive. "When cider has passed through the vinous fermentation, 
 if left unchecked it soon runs into acetous, and from this it soon pass- 
 es into the putrescent. Most of the cider put up by farmers passes 
 into the second or acetous fermentation, becoming more or less sour 
 and inebriating, and when drank by many persons, producing a flush- 
 ed face and headache, and what is worse, producing crossness and ill- 
 temper in many of those that use it as a common beverage. It would 
 be far better to convert all such cider into vinegar. 
 
 If new cider is fermented in an open cask, after a time, longer or 
 shorter, depending upon circumstances, all the heavier portions of ex- 
 traneous matter, pomace, &c., will settle to the bottom of the cask, 
 and the lighter floculent matter will rise to the surface, forming a 
 spongy, brown crust. Just as soon as the vinous fermentation has 
 ended, cracks or fissures will appear in the crust. The liquor at this 
 precise time is clear and bright. The grand secret in having a cider 
 equal to pure wine, is to check any further fermentation. If the ci- 
 der is left to itself, the acetous fermentation follows — the sedentary 
 matter at the bottom of the cask rises, and the liquid becomes muddy 
 — this, acting as yeast, produces a second and more violent fermenta- 
 tion, resulting generally in “ hard cider.” 
 
 When the white bubbles begin to appear the crust should be remov- 
 ed, and the liquid drawn off without disturbing the sediment at the 
 bottom of the cask. Pour two or three pailfuls of the liquor into a 
 clean, strong, tight barrel ; then fumigate — that is, have prepared a 
 long tapering bung with a looped wire inserted in the small end of it ; 
 in the lower end fix strips of cotton or linen cloth, dipped in melted 
 sulphur, to form a good sized match, light it, and thrust it into the 
 bung hole of the barrel — the match will burn till the oxygen in the 
 barrel is used up — then withdraw the match, put in a common bung, 
 and tip the cask in “ double quick time” to the right and left, so as to 
 mix, as far as possible, the liquor and gas in the barrel ; then fill it 
 full, put in a tight fitting bung, place it in a cool cellar, and in the 
 course of a year or so there will be a barrel of apple juice that tem- 
 perance ladies and children can partake of “ without a blush or a 
 scowl.” 
 
 Another way in which cider can be managed is : Soon after it comes 
 from the press, strain it through a foot depth of clean washed, coarsish 
 sand ; after being strained, proceed as directed in the stumming, &c. 
 
BEVERAGES. 
 
 789 
 
 Give the casks no vent, but occasionally remove the spile in the vent 
 hole for a moment. 
 
 Filtering Cider . — Cider is very much improved by filtering. In 
 fact, there are those who assert it cannot be made so as to keep sound 
 and not turn into vinegar, without filtering. This should be done 
 when the first fermentation is over, by racking it off into clean barrels. 
 A good plan for a filter was lately described in The Scientific Ameri- 
 can. It says : “ Take a square or round wooden box, made of inch 
 pine plank, three feet in diameter and one foot four inches deep. Make 
 it with a bottom perforated with numerous one- quarter inch augur 
 holes, over which should be laid coarse hemp bagging. Now fill in 
 the box for eight inches with pieces of charcoal (animal charcoal is the 
 best, but it is expensive,) about nut size, and on the top of this place 
 a four-inch layer of clean washed sand, and cover all with a coarse 
 hemp bagging, and you have a cheap and good filter. Any number 
 of such filters may be used, according to the quantity of cider to be 
 operated upon, and the tow cloth can be frequently washed without 
 disturbing the sand and charcoal. Before any cider is filtered through, 
 pass a stream of clear water into the filter for fifteen minutes, so as to 
 remove any fine, loose particles of charcoal that otherwise would be 
 mixed with the cider.” 
 
 Oiling Cider . — Somebody writes for the New York Tribune, “ When 
 a barrel of cider is tapped, it grows hard ; that is, more and more acid, 
 until it gets too hard to drink, if it is kept long on tap. This is occa- 
 sioned by the air, which fills the cask above the cider as fast as it is 
 drawn out. The air cannot be excluded, even if the cask was air-tight, 
 because the cider will not run from the tap if there is no air to press 
 it out. If cider is exposed long to air, it wdll become vinegar. In 
 fact, the way to make vinegar of cider is to expose it to the air a3 
 much as possible. To prevent the cider on tap from becoming acid, it 
 is recommended, as soon as a gallon or two is drawn out, to pour in 
 the bunghole about half a pint of clear sperm oil, or sweet oil if it is 
 preferred. It should be warm when poured in, and it will spread in a 
 thin coat over the surface, and keep spreading as the cider is drawn 
 down, and thus exclude the air, without giving any taste of oil to the 
 cider. 
 
 This plan of preserving cider is worthy of further attention. We 
 have faith in it from knowing that oil-casks are the best we know of 
 for storing cider, imparting no flavor, and keeping it sound as bottled 
 cider for years. Old oil-casks are more valuable for cider-casks than 
 for. any other purpose that we know of.” 
 
790 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 Clarified Cider. — “ Mix one quart each of lime and clean, dry ashes, 
 and two quarts of new milk. Pour them into a hogshead of cider just 
 from the press. In ten hours it is fit to rack.” Contributed to the 
 Country Gentleman. 
 
 Alum in Cider. — Mr. Hillsboro states to the N. Y Farmer’s Club : 
 The best barrel of cider that I ever saw had a handful of alum put into 
 it in November. It did not remain sweet, but the next summer it 
 was a most delicious drink. 
 
 Izinglass in Cider. — N. C. Ely says : Cider may be purified by izin- 
 glass. Dissolve izinglass in warm water, stir it gently with the cider, 
 let it settle, and then carefully draw off the liquor. Treat wine the 
 same way. 
 
 Mustard Seed — one pint to a barrel of cider — will, it is said, keep 
 it sweet several months. 
 
 Heating Sweet Cider to Preserve it. — One writer says : The cheap- 
 est, simplest, most effective way to preserve sweet cider is to scald it 
 previous to fermentation. Heat it until it boils ; then take it from 
 the fire and cool it ; put it in casks, and close them air tight. 
 
 Another says: Heat cider until it boils, then pour into a jug or 
 other suitable glass or earthen vessel which should previously be heat- 
 3d to prevent cracking. Cork tight and seal immediately with ce- 
 ment the same as putting up fruits. It will keep unchanged for years. 
 There need be no doubt of this. 
 
 Another way to keep sweet cider is simply to boil it down to one 
 half or one third. 
 
 Boiled Cider. — The boiling should be conducted with care over a 
 slow fire, to prevent burning and giving an unpleasant taste, and be 
 continued till six gallons are reduced to one. The syrup thus made 
 becomes an important preservative aid. 
 
 To Correct Musty Cider. — By boiling cider and adding to it some 
 pieces of charcoal, its musty taste will be removed. 
 
 WINE. 
 
 In ripe apples, peaches, currants, blackberries, grapes, and similar 
 fruits, there is a small per cent of sugar with little or no starch. The 
 juice is, therefore, so to say, already past the saccharine fermentation, 
 and ready for the vinous. Left to the action of the atmosphere, all 
 these juices in a few days ferment, i. e. change whatever sugar there 
 may be into alcohol, the amount of which will depend entirely upon 
 the amount of sugar before fermentation. Such a juice is, in general 
 
BEVERAGES. 
 
 791 
 
 terms, a cider ; if its percentage of alcohol is increased by adding su- 
 gar before the fermentation, it is a wine. The process of checking 
 fermentation is similar in both, only that in the case of wine great 
 caution is to be exercised not to cork too soon, a3 the energy of the 
 fermentation, being much greater than that of cider, the safety of the 
 corking may be exposed by too early closing. Mashing the fruit but 
 not so as to bruise the seeds, the juice, on being pressed out is mixed 
 with an equal amount of water, and from two to five pounds of sugar 
 to a gallon of the mixture. Grapes usually require about three and a 
 quarter pounds; currants, four pounds; blackberry and raspberry, 
 three and a half pounds ; peach and cherry, the same as grape ; orange 
 wine, the juice of a dozen ora.nges and three pounds of sugar to a gal- 
 lon of pure water ; the sugar in all cases should be the best white 
 lump, or crystalized. After the fermentation has nearly ceased, it 
 must be stoutly corked, and four or five months later bottled tightly. 
 Sealed well, it keeps for years without change. From the invaluable 
 medicinal qualities of grape, currant and blackberry wines, the cer- 
 tainty of their purity, connected with the fact that nearly every wine 
 of commerce is drugged and entirely unfit for the sick chamber, their 
 manufacture for home use is daily becoming more extensive. No port, 
 sherry, or madeira, as commonly found in our market, is at all com- 
 parable to these wines in medicinal excellence. 
 
 Wine as a Medicine . — A celebrated physician, residing at Metz, has 
 written a treatise on the medicinal qualities of wine, in which he 
 states that, considering wine in the point of view of the mineral salts 
 which it contains in large quantity, such as potash, soda, lime, mag- 
 nesia, iron, manganese, chlorides, carbonates, phosphates, the juice 
 of the grape constitutes a real natural mineral liquid, as active, and 
 even more charged with mineral principles than many justly esteemed 
 spirits. 
 
 Row to make Wine from Grapes. — Chas. A. Peabody, Esq., of Co- 
 lumbus, Georgia, a very successful manufacturer of wine, gives the 
 following directions : 
 
 Let the grapes be fully ripe ; gather them in clear, dry weather ; 
 look over the bunches and pick out all imperfect and rotten berries. 
 Now, have the wooden troughs, trays, or tubs perfectly clean and 
 sweet, and mash the bunches on the stems by hand. As the tray is 
 filled, empty the mass into a clean tub, and so continue until all the 
 grapes are mashed ; stir the whole mass together in the tub, and leave 
 it for fermentation. In a few hours bubbles will begin to rise, and in 
 twenty-four to thirty-six hours the mass will become so agitated that 
 
792 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 it will boil like a pot over the fire; watch it closely, now, and as the 
 fermentation subsides, put the mass into strong bags, and by some 
 strong lever power press the juice out; after the juice is all extracted, 
 place it in a clean vessel and try its strength. If an egg will float in 
 it so as to show the size of a quarter of a dollar, the juice will keep 
 without the addition of sugar or brandy ; if the egg sinks, add good 
 brown sugar until it rises. 
 
 Now turn the juice into a sweet cask; five, ten, or thirty gallons, 
 according to the quantity of the liquid; set the cask in a quiet, shady 
 place in the attic or in the cellar. We prefer the attic. Leave the 
 bung out, and from a pitcher of the juice, which should be reserved 
 for the purpose, fill up the cask three, four, or five times a day for 
 eight days ; in the meantime all the impurities in the juice will work 
 out at the bung hole ; after eight days, place the bung slightly in the 
 hole. Let it so remain for eight days longer, then drive it in, and 
 seal up the cask tight as possible. Let the cask remain perfectly qui- 
 et, and any time after the March following it may be drawn off and 
 bottled. It will be no injury to the wine that it remain on the lees 
 for two or three years before it is bottled, as it ripens better and fat- 
 tens upon the lees, but it may be used as soon as the March after the 
 making. 
 
 An Italian Recipe for making GrapeWine. — An American, having 
 written to a friend in Italy for instructions as to making wine, re- 
 ceived the following broken English reply : 
 
 “The way to make wine with grapes is to stomp well them in a tob 
 with a hoi and spicket in the bottum, and put that juse in a barel 
 where has been wine or whiskey, or liquors of some kind, otherwise 
 the wine will stink of wood. Let them boil for forty days meanwhile 
 making the barel full every day for the boiling diminish. Shot up it 
 after the forty days, and longer you let him stay older it comes and 
 better it will be.” 
 
 The word “ boil ” means in this case “ ferment.” The rest is intel- 
 ligible, and those who follow the receipt faithfully will find it a good 
 one. 
 
 Another way to make Grape Wine. — W e find in the Country Gen- 
 tleman , from a correspondent, the following : “To one quart of wa- 
 ter add one pound of moist sugar. Let them be well boiled and 
 skimmed, and to every quart of this liquor put one pint of the juice 
 of the grape. This has been well tried and approved.” 
 
 Another. — By the editors of the Scientific American: Take any 
 quantity of sound, ripe grapes, with a common cider-press press out 
 
BEVERAGES. 
 
 793 
 
 the juice, put it into barrels, cover the bung lightly; after fermenta- 
 tion has ceased cork it ; place it in a cellar or house. In twelve 
 months you will have good wine, which improves by age. Let it stand 
 on its lees. 
 
 Fermenting Wine. — Col. Haraszthy, of California, one of the larg- 
 est vine growers in the country, who is extending his vineyards five 
 hundred acres per year, says : During its fermentation, wine must be 
 excluded from the atmosphere, otherwise it will become sour. He 
 says he closes the fermenting vats perfectly tight, and carries off the 
 gases produced by fermentation by means of a siphon, which termi- 
 nates under water in another vessel. 
 
 Centrifugal Wine Press. — M. A. Rheiler, of Stuttgard, has applied 
 the centrifugal drum, such as has been used for expelling water from 
 sugar in sugar refineries, to extracting wine from grapes. The grapes 
 are placed in a drum, the periphery of which is formed of sheet iron, 
 punched full of small holes, and the drum is then caused to rotate one 
 thousand or twelve hundred revolutions per minute. The centrifugal 
 force drives the wine through the holes, while the skins and pulp are 
 retained within. It is stated that the yield of juice by this process is 
 one-seventeenth more than is obtained by the best presses, that the 
 juice is more perfectly separated from the albuminous matters contain- 
 ed in the grape, that the greater absorption of air causes a more rap- 
 id fermentation, and that the wine becomes clear and ready to bottle 
 much earlier. 
 
 A Simple and Ingenious Wine Press . — A very ingenious, inexpen- 
 sive and simple wine press is made use of at a vineyard near Castle- 
 maine, Victoria. Advantage is taken in the vineyard of a strong 
 overhanging branch of a gum tree, which is used as a fulcrum ; under 
 this a common screw-jack is fastened to a strong frame-work in a 
 hogshead, which hogshead has a false bottom perforated with holes. 
 The grapes are placed over this false bottom, and the screw presses 
 the juice through the holes. A wooden tap is at the bung of the 
 cask, and as the space fills, the juice of the grape is drawn off in 
 buckets. 
 
 To make Currant Wine . — The following is from Mr. Bement, of 
 Poughkeepsie, N. Y., who is regarded as the very best of authority : 
 
 To make a currant wine of first quality, and that which will not 
 sour , it is essential that the currants should be picked in a clear, dry 
 day, and when fully ripe , but not over-ripe. If over-ripe, they are 
 usually shriveled a little, and are then unfit for first quality wine. The 
 juice should be expressed from them as soon as possible after gather- 
 
794 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPEDIA. 
 
 ing, and before fermentation commences, which may occur in one or 
 two days after they have been picked in warm weather. In a small 
 way they may be crushed with the hands, or bruised in a tub, and 
 the juice expressed in a coarse cloth, by squeezing with the hands. On 
 a large scale, they may be crushed in a small portable cider mill, and 
 the juice extracted in a press. A clothes wringer may be used to 
 squeeze the juice from currants, first putting them in a bag. 
 
 To every gallon of the juice add two gallons of clear soft water, and 
 to every gallon of this mixture add four pounds of coffee crushed su- 
 gar. Put this mixture, after the sugar is thoroughly dissolved, into a 
 clean keg or cask, according to the quantity you have, and fill up so 
 the liquid comes up even with the top of the bung hole ; this is to al- 
 low the scum and impurities thrown to the surface during the process 
 of fermentation to escape. You must manage to have left over a lit- 
 tle of the mixture, perhaps a quart will answer, for the purpose of fill- 
 ling up the vessel three or four times a day, as it gradually loses in 
 quantity by the process of ejection at the bung hol-e, and evaporation. 
 Let the fermentation continue about the period before named, then 
 close up the cask before the fermentation has entirely ceased, but af- 
 ter the most violent stages of it have passed by. This can be ascer- 
 tained by placing the ear to the bung hole and listening to the sing- 
 ing of the effervescence, and noting its gradually diminishing action 
 and force. On closing, drive in the bung tight, and let it remain at 
 rest until the February or March following, when, if it is perfectly 
 fine and transparent, it may be drawn off and bottled. If it is not 
 fine, it may be made so by adding to every gallon of the liquor one- 
 quarter ounce of sulphite of lime. Draw a quart or so of the li- 
 quor, and dissolve' the sulphite, and return the same to thp cask, • 
 and mix thoroughly by stirring and shaking. In the course of one or 
 two months it will become thoroughly fine and bright. When, how- 
 ever, everything works favorably, no fining is required. 
 
 The only objection that may be made to wine made after the 
 above is that it may be a little too sweet , but this will wear off by age. 
 
 Another Method . — This is from the editor of the Germantown Tele- 
 graph. We have tried it and found it excellent. We think no bet- 
 ter is needed. The requirements are simple, but must be strictly ad- 
 hered to . 
 
 First crush the currants effectually, then place them in a strong 
 bag, and press the juice out by whatever means will best effect it ; 
 then to each quart of juice add three pounds of pure, sifted, double- 
 refined sugar, and then add as much water as will make one gallon. 
 
BEVERAGES. 
 
 795 
 
 Good brown sugar will answer, but not so well in retaining the fine 
 flavor of the wine. 
 
 To make a ten gallon keg of wine, it will require ten quarts of cur- 
 rant juice and thirty pounds of sugar, filled up with water. Be sure 
 that the sugar is well dissolved, by rolling over and shaking the cask, 
 or in an open vessel, in which it should remain twenty-four hours, and 
 be frequently skimmed. Fermentation will begin in one or two days, 
 the bung being set upon the hole, and will continue some two or three 
 weeks. After it has entirely ceased fermenting, rack off carefully, 
 then thoroughly scald out the barrel, return the wine to the cask, 
 tightly bung up, and leave undisturbed six months before using, when, 
 if preferred, it can be bottled. It requires no clearing substance or 
 spirituous liquors of any kind, as it is much better without either. 
 
 The keg, cask, or whatever vessel it may be made in, should be full, 
 and as fermentation is going on and the extraneous substances thrown 
 out of the bung, the vessel should be kept full by adding sufficient 
 water every couple of days. 
 
 Another . — The following directions are from the Massachusetts 
 Ploughman , and if followed will make an excellent wine : 
 
 Before pressing the juice from the currants pass them between a 
 pair of rollers to crush them, after which they may be placed in a 
 strong bag, and they will part with the juice readily by light pressure, 
 such as a common screw, weights, &c. To each quart of juice add 
 three pounds of treble refined loaf sugar — single refined is not suffi- 
 ciently pure — then add as much water as will make one gallon. Or 
 in other words, suppose the cask intended to be used be thirty gallons. 
 In this put thirty quarts of currant juice, ninety pounds of double re- 
 fined sugar, and fill the cask to the bung with water ; roll it over un- 
 til the sugar is all dissolved. This will be told by its ceasing to settle 
 in the barrel. Next day roll it again, and place it in a cellar where 
 the temperature will be sure to be even, leaving the bung open, a slight 
 noise will be heard, such as may be observed when carbonic acid is es- 
 caping from champagne or soda water. Fermentation will commence 
 in one or two or three days, and will continue for a few weeks, con- 
 verting the sugar, into alcohol. As soon as this ceases, drive the bung 
 in tightly, and leave the cask for six months, at the end of which time 
 the wine may be drawn perfectly clear, without any excess of sweet- 
 ness. 
 
 Another . — By the following method currant wine has been very suc- 
 cessfully manufactured, and sold largely for medicinal purposes : Qual- 
 ity will depend upon proportions of juice, water, and sugar. Currants 
 
796 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPEDIA. 
 
 should he fully but not over ripe; grown with full exposure to the sun, 
 except shade of their own properly-trimmed and well-cultivated bush- 
 es. They should be crushed and the juice expressed immediately after 
 picking, before fermentation may commence. Let the juice be well 
 strained and added to the sugar, then add water until all the sugar ia 
 dissolved. 
 
 Eecipe No. 1. — 10 gallons pure juice, 100 pounds good sugar, watei 
 sufficient to fill 40 gallon cask. 
 
 Eecipe No. 2. — 10 gallons pure juice, 80 pounds good sugar, 20 gal- 
 lons water. 
 
 Mix well, put into very strong cask, (alcohol barrels,) in a cool, dry 
 cellar, and bung up tight, vent hole and all, except the cask is old. If 
 you do not stop the barrel tight, put gauze over the bung hole, to keep 
 out flies, &c. Let the wine remain in the cask three months, then 
 carefully rack into another before moving the first cask. After nine 
 months more it will be fit to bottle, and will grow better every year. 
 It is prescribed by physicians as a tonic. 
 
 Another.* — A correspondent of the Country Gentleman gives the fol- 
 lowing : — “ Take of currants, red, white, or black, separate or mixed 
 in any proportion, four pounds, water one gallon, sugar three pounds. 
 Place the contents, stems and all, in a suitable vessel, as a wash tub 
 or barrel or crock, and as perfectly as possible mash them up with 
 your hands or some implement, as a wooden pestle. Now add the wa- 
 ter, and put the vessel in some moderately cool place. Fermentation 
 will immediately commence, and the skins and stems of the currants 
 will be forced to the top of the vessel, forming a sort of crust. This 
 must be broken down with a stick, and the whole mass stirred up sev- 
 eral times a day, and if any currants not broken are discovered, they 
 should be broken with the hand. 
 
 “ This process must be continued three days, by which time the fer- 
 mentation will have ceased to be very lively. Now drain out the li- 
 quor through a sieve, and squeeze the pulp in a cloth. Put the liquor 
 in a good sound cask; add the sugar and stir till it is dissolved. Fer- 
 mentation will now set in again, and if possible the barrel should be 
 filled, that the yeast which is formed in the liquor may be worked 
 out. If the barrel is not full coarse millinet should be nailed over the 
 bung, which must in any case be left open. 
 
 “ When the fermentation is over, bung up tight, and “leave it ail 
 winter. In the spring rack off before fermentation again sets in 
 and riles all up again. After this fermentation the wine may 
 
BEVERAGES. 
 
 797 
 
 bottled. If it should not work itself clear, it may be fined with the 
 white of eggs, beaten to a froth, and stirred in after it is racked off." 
 
 The editor of the 1 Rural New Yorker says “ the red currant (or 
 red Dutch) for wine making, gives a higher flavor than the white, and 
 is considered a better producer. Three gallons may be obtained from 
 a bushel of good ripe fruit. Make the wine in the same manner that 
 you would a barrel of good sweet cider, with the addition of from 
 three to four pounds of sugar to the gallon, fermenting off the pomace 
 until it is entirely clear, after which it should be racked off into tight 
 barrels and there remain any desirable time to become ripe and 
 firm." 
 
 Maple Sugar for Currant and Berry Wines. — Maple sugar used 
 with the juice of currants and berries makes a superior flavored wine, 
 it is said, to juice treated with cane sugar. If you have plenty of 
 maple sugar, we advise you to try it, especially in blackberry and el- 
 derberry wines. 
 
 Another Recipe for Currant Wine. — The Scientific American says : 
 Use about one pint of sugar to one quart of the juice of the currants 
 and watch the progress of the fermentation, daily, so as to check it at 
 the right point. If you allow it to proceed too far, it will acquire a 
 taste like vinegar flavored with smoke. 
 
 Elderberry Wine. — Mr. Bement, who is said to perfectly understand 
 the art of making wine from currants and common fruits, contributes 
 the following : “ The berries when ripe, are picked by the stems, then 
 stripped with the hands, or trimmed with shears. Next they are 
 mashed fine, which may be done by means of a pounder similar to 
 those used for pounding clothes. Let them remain until the next day 
 when the juice is pressed out in a cheese press, or any other conven- 
 ient way. Next, boil the juice twenty minutes ; skim it, and add four 
 pounds of sugar to the gallon. When milk warm add a small piece 
 of bread crust that has been dipped in yeast. Let it stand three da} T s, 
 remove the crust, and the wine is ready for bottling. Age improves 
 it. Some add spices to the liquor when boiled. This is a great favo- 
 rite with the English." 
 
 Another. — Two quarts of water, one quart of elderberry’ uice, three 
 and a half pounds of brown sugar. Let it stand in a warm place 
 a week or more, until it ferments, then remove it to the cellar, and 
 in a month strain it, rinse the jug or cask and pour it back. It will 
 be fit for use in two or three months, but improves by age. 
 
 Blackberry Wine. — To make a wine equal in value to Port, take 
 ripe blackberries or dewberries, press the juice from them; let stand 
 
798 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPEDIA. 
 
 tliirty-six hours to ferment, lightly covered ; skim off whatever rises 
 to the top ; then to every gallon of the juice add one quart of water 
 and three pounds of sugar (brown will do,) let it stand in an open ves- 
 sel for twenty -four hours ; skim and strain it, then barrel it, let it 
 stand eight or nine months, when it should be racked off and bottled 
 and corked close — age improves it. 
 
 Another . — The Germantown Telegraph says all persons who can 
 conveniently do so, should manufacture enough blackberry wine for 
 their own use every year, as it is invaluable in sickness as a tonic, and 
 nothing is a better remedy for bowel diseases. 
 
 Eecipe. — Measure your berries and bruise them, to every gallon ad- 
 ding one quart of boiling water ; let the mixture stand twenty-four 
 hours, stirring it occasionally ; then strain off the liquor into a cask, 
 to every gallon adding two pounds of sugar. Cork tight and let it 
 stand till following October, and 3 T ou will have wine ready for use, 
 without any further straining or boiling. 
 
 Another . — Over as many quarts as you have berries, pour so many 
 quarts of cold water which has been boiled ; bruise the berries well, 
 and let the whole stand for twenty-four hours, stirring it occasionally ; 
 strain the juice and put a pound and a half of sugar to each gallon of 
 liquid ; stir it until the sugar is dissolved, and put it into a cask with 
 a quarter of an ounce of izinglass to two gallons of liquid. Let it re- 
 main open until the next day, when it should be bunged. In two 
 months it may be bottled off, and will be found a very pleasant wine. 
 
 Raspberry Wine . — Bruise the finest ripe raspberries with the back 
 of a spoon; strain them through a flannel bag into a stone jar ; allow 
 one pound of fine powdered loaf sugar to one quart of juice : stir these 
 well together, and cover the jar closely. Let it stand three days, stir- 
 ring up the mixture every day ; then pour off the clear liquid, and 
 put two quarts of sherry to each quart of juice or liquid. Bottle it 
 off, and it will be fit for use in a fortnight. By adding Cognac bran- 
 dy, instead of sherry, the mixture will be raspberry brandy. 
 
 Rhubarb Wine . — This is made of any of the varieties of rhubarb 
 or pie-plant, fraudulently sold all over the country by dishonest trav- 
 eling agents under the assumed name of “ Wine Plant.” 
 
 The juice of the rhubarb is extracted by the same process as cur- 
 rant, elderberry, or any other juice, and mixing with the juice an equal 
 quantity of water. To each gallon add three and a half pounds of 
 fair quality of New Orleans sugar. Put in barrels or casks, filled full, 
 and fined with izinglass ; being allowed to remain -in the casks until 
 
BEVERAGES. 
 
 799 
 
 spring, and then bottled. By adding or diminishing the quantity of 
 sugar, it will vary the strength of the wine in the same proportion. 
 
 Rhubarb is said to afford a greater quantity of juice than any 
 other plant, and it is also considered by some a better quality than 
 any but grape juice to make domestic wine. We think otherwise. 
 
 Professor Mapes Method. — Prof. Mapes says : A good article can- 
 not be made unless the cane sugar is converted into a cane product 
 resembling grape sugar. This is done by first converting it into rock 
 candy, and then boiling twelve hours in water slightly acidulated with 
 sulphuric acid. The acid is afterward neutralized with the cream of 
 chalk, stirred in as long as it produces any effect. The stalks maybe 
 cut in a common chaffing machine, and pressed in a cider mill. Put 
 eighteen gallons of the juice in a cask of thirty gallons, with ninety- 
 six pounds of the prepared sugar, and fill up with water. It will then 
 ferment seven or eight weeks in a temperature of sixty degrees, when 
 it should be bunged tight and kept till spring before racking off. It 
 must be bottled or drawn into another cask before the weather be- 
 comes warm, else it will take a second fermentation, become turbid, 
 and then cannot afterward be fined. If drawn into a clean cask, it is 
 better to stand until the next autumn before bottling, or it may be 
 kept, as well as any other wine, in the cask. I have some which has 
 stood in my cellar five years, has been repeatedly drawn from, and by 
 many persons is liked better than grape wine. 
 
 Another Way. — Take, for instance, a forty gallon cask. Fill it 
 nearly full of rhubarb juice and water in equal proportions. Then 
 dissolve one hundred and twenty pounds best white sugar, and add to 
 this one tablespoonful of sulphuric acid to over five gallons wine. This 
 converts the sugar into grape sugar. Then fill the cask full, and set 
 it in an equable temperature to ferment, with the bung lightly laid on 
 the hole. Let it stand until fermentation entirely ceases ; then add 
 the beaten whites of eight eggs, and shake the cask well, and keep it 
 open for a week. Then rack it off into . a clean cask and bung it up, 
 or bottle it and let it stand for a year or two, when it will be better 
 and more wholesome than nine-tenths of the foreign wines in the 
 market. I will add that all other domestic wines may be made after 
 this receipt, only adding or decreasing the quantity of sugar and wa- 
 ter, as the first juice is more or less acid than the rhubarb juice. 
 
 Another . — Take one gallon of rhubarb, well bruised, add one and a 
 half gallons of cold water. Let it stand three days, stirring it every 
 day. Then strain it, and to each gallon of the liquid put four pounds 
 
800 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 of loaf sugar. Keep it one or two months, or until it seems to have 
 done working, then bottle it. 
 
 Another. — The following was published in the Irish Farmer s Ga- 
 zette : “ To make one gallon rhubarb wine, take five pounds rhubarb, 
 
 cut it small, and let it stand in water four days, then bruise the rhu- 
 barb, and strain it through a fine sieve or loose towel ; add three and 
 a half pounds good soft sugar ; boil it three-quarters of an hour ; add, 
 when boiling, half pound bruised raisins, the white of an egg, and a 
 little izinglass ; work it in a jar with a little yeast. It will keep for 
 ten years, and improve, if well made. 
 
 Rhubarb Wine to Destroy Taste for Strong Drinks and Tobacco . — 
 The president of the Farmers’ Club, New York, says rhubarb wine is 
 found to have a very powerful effect in destroying the effects of alco- 
 holic drinks. He adds, Nothing is so effective in destroying the taste 
 for both spirits and tobacco as strong acid. 
 
 To Make Cherry Wine . — The juice of the sour Kentish pie-ouerry is 
 used ; one gallon of juice to two gallons of water, with three pounds 
 of refined white sugar. If the flavor obtained from the stones is de- 
 sired, mash the fruit without being careful not to mash the stones, and 
 let it stand one night before pressing. 
 
 Peach Wine. — Take nearly ripe fruit, stone it and bruise to a pulp. 
 Put eight pounds of pulp to one quart of water, and let it stand twen- 
 ty-four hours. Then strain out the juice, and to every gallon add two 
 pounds of sugar. Turn into a cask, and when fermented and become 
 perfectly clear, cork tightly in bottles. 
 
 To make 'pure Wine of Apples. — Take pure cider made from sound ripe 
 apples, as it runs from the press ; put sixty pounds of common brown 
 sugar into fifteen gallons of the cider, and let it dissolve ; then put the 
 mixture into a clean barrel, and fill the barrel to within two gallons 
 of being full with clean cider. Put the cask in a cool place, leaving 
 the bung out for forty-eight hours ; then put in the bung with a small 
 vent, until fermentation wholly ceases, and bung up tight ; and in one 
 year the wine will be fit for use. This wine requires no racking ; the 
 longer it stands upon the lees, the better it is. Wine from currants 
 can be made in precisely the same manner. 
 
 Cider Champagne Wine. — An excellent article may be made by ad- 
 ding three pounds of sugar to each gallon of clarified cider, letting it 
 stand three months to ferment. By bottling the above, and adding to 
 each a small lump of sugar, a new fermentation will be excited. Wire 
 down the corks, and you will soon have, fit for use, proper sparkling 
 cider champagne. 
 
BEVERAGES. 
 
 801 
 
 Another. — Take some late apples, well ripe ; press them into cider ; 
 boil it in a copper kettle for about ten minutes; skim it well while it 
 boils ; then barrel it like common cider, keeping the barrel full. At 
 the end of the winter, before the second fermentation has begun, get 
 enough strong bottles — as strong as possible — large or small — old 
 porter bottles will do as well as any — and bottle all your cider, leav- 
 ing a small space between the cider and the cork, in a long-necked 
 bottle — at least, two and a half or three inches — tie a good string 
 over the cork, and lay them down on a shelf in a cool cellar. 
 
 Cider treated in this way will make a splendid drink in the course 
 of the summer, sparkling like champagne. 
 
 Another. — This is from the American Eclectic Dispensatory, by 
 Prof. King : Take of good cider twenty-eight gallons ; fourth proof 
 brandy, one gallon ;• genuine champagne wine, five gallons ; new milk, 
 one pint ; bitartrate of potassia, half a pound. These are mixed to- 
 gether, allowed to stand for a time, and bottled w^ile fermenting. 
 V/ire down the corks. 
 
 To Fine or Clarify Wines. — Wines of all kinds, if properly man- 
 aged, should be always clear enough to bottle off the lees by March, 
 except grape wine, which then rack into a sweet pure cask. First, 
 burn in it a bit of paper, say one to six inches, coated with sulphur 
 for a half barrel cask. As soon as the paper, ignited and hung into 
 the bung hole by a thin wire, is properly burning, the bung is put on 
 tight, so as to impregnate the wood of the cask with the sulphuric ac- 
 id. In thirty minutes put the wine into the cask, and fill with clean 
 pebble-stones to make the wine come up to the bung hole, and bung 
 up air tight. Then leave it at rest. The cask must be perfectly fast, 
 and not be allowed to move or roll at all until about the first of May, 
 or in a cold cellar the first of June, when it is bottled. If the wine is 
 not perfectly brilliant, (which all wine must be before bottled,) rack 
 it into another cask half full ; stir in well the dissolved izinglass, fill 
 it with all the wine, put on bung slightly, and bottle the third day, 
 when it will be perfectly clear. Always draw from the lees into a 
 clean cask before fining. 
 
 Another Way. — “ Wines should be bottled on the coming of spring. 
 If not fine enough, draw off a jug and dissolve izinglass in it in the 
 proportion of half an ounce to ten gallons, and then pour back through 
 the bung hole. Let it stand a few weeks longer. Tap the cask above 
 the lees at the bottom. For white wine only, mix with the izinglass 
 a quarter of a pint of milk to each gallon of wine. White of eggs, 
 51 
 
802 
 
 PEACTICAL CYCLOPiEDIA. 
 
 beaten with some of the wine — one white to four gallons — makes a 
 good fining.” 
 
 Another. — A person of long experience in the wine trade says : The 
 whites of eggs are superior to any other fining. They should be en- 
 tirely separated from the yelk ; beat only so as to separate them, and 
 not to the frothy condition prepared for cake making. Three or four 
 whites to a quarter cask, adding the shells, pulverized fine, and a ta- 
 blespoonful of fine salt ; mix these well together in a gallon or more 
 of the wine. Pour this into the cask, and see that your measure holds 
 . back none of the fining ; then give it a thorough stirring from the bot- 
 tom with a stout stick put in at the bung hole. If you have more 
 shells, it will be beneficial to use them, especially if the juice appears 
 to partake of strong vinous acid. The eggs should be fresh, and if the. 
 first fining fails, give it a second one, but do not stir from the bottom , 
 or let your stirrer go more than half the depth of the cask ; the bung 
 should be left loose, a faucet put in the head of the cask, and after a 
 while, by a sudden turn of the faucet, a little of the lees drawn off for 
 a few times, and at intervals of some days, until it appears bright in a 
 glass. If the process of fining is very tardy, a small quantity of bran- 
 dy, poured gently in at the bung, and stirred on the surface of the 
 juice, sometimes aids the precipitation of the lees. 
 
 To Detect Artificially Colored Wines. — Mr. Blume gives the follow- 
 ing simple test : Saturate a piece of bread crumb with the wine to be 
 tested, and place it in a plate full of water. If the wine is artificially 
 colored, the water very soon becomes colored reddish violet ; but if 
 the coloring matter is natural, the water after a quarter or half an 
 hour is but very little colored, and a slight opalescence only is per- 
 ceptible. The test depends upon the difficult solubility of the real col- 
 oring matters of wine in water free from tartaric acid. 
 
 COEDIALS, SYEUPS, ETC. 
 
 Blackberry Cordial. — To three pounds of ripe blackberries add one 
 pound of white sugar ; let them stand twelve hours, then press out 
 the juice and strain it; add one-third of good spirits; to every 
 quart add one tea, spoonful of finely powdered alspice ; It is at once 
 fit for use. 
 
 Another. — To one quart of blackberry juice add one pound of whito 
 sugar, one tablespoonful of cloves, one of alspice, one of cinnamon, and 
 of nutmeg. Boil all together fifteen minutes ; add a wineglass of whis- 
 ky, brandy or rum. Bottle while hot, cork tight and seal. This is 
 
BEVERAGES. 
 
 803 
 
 almost a specific in diarrhea. It is said that severe cases of dysen- 
 tery have been cured by it, and that one dose, a wineglassful for an 
 adult, half that quantity for a child, will often cure diarrhea. It can 
 be taken three or four times a day if the case is severe. It is very 
 palatable. No child refuses it. 
 
 Another . — To half a bushel of blackberries well mashed add a quar- 
 ter of a pound of alspice, two ounces of cinnamon, and two ounces of 
 cloves ; pulverize well, mix, and boil slowly until properly done ; then 
 strain or squeeze the j uice through homespun or flannel, and add to 
 each pint of the juice one pound of loaf sugar; boil again for some 
 time ; take it off, and, while cooling, add half a gallon of best cognac 
 brandy. Dose for an adult, one gill ; for a child, a teaspoonful, or 
 more, according to age. It is a delightful beverage, and an infallible 
 specific for ordinary diseases of the bowels. 
 
 Another . — To a gallon of good ripe blackberries add three pounds 
 of cheap clean brown sugar, and a quart of rainwater, scalding hot. 
 Suffer the berries thus treated to stand twelve hours in an earthen 
 crock, and then stew twenty minutes in a porcelain-lined kettle. 
 Squeeze out all the liquid through a close cloth strainer, add to it a 
 quart of Jamaica spirits, a quarter of a pound of whole alspice, and 
 an ounce of essence of cloves. Bottle when cold. It is said that if a 
 spoonful of this is used in a tumbler of water as a common beverage 
 during all the warm weather, it will tend to prevent cholera infantum 
 and summer complaint among children, diarrhea and dysentery 
 among adults. 
 
 Blackberry Root Cordial . — An experienced physician contributes 
 the following : 
 
 Take of blackberry root bark, pounded fine, two ounces ; pure gin- 
 ger root, fine, one-half ounce. Place them in a covered vessel, and 
 pour upon them one-half pint of whisky, and the same of water. Ma- 
 cerate fourteen days. Then strain, adding water so as to make 
 one pint of clear liquor. Then add four ounces of refined sugar, and 
 dissolve. 
 
 The physiological effects of this cordial, in moderate doses, are those 
 of a tonic, stimulant, and astringent, invigorating the vital energies 
 generally, peculiarly fitting it to the treatment of a certain class of 
 diseases. Such are cases of chronic diarrhea and dysentery, general 
 debility, with impaired digestive functions. 
 
 We can safely testify that we have not unfrequently seen confirmed 
 cases of chronic diarrhea and dysentery yield to this cordial, after 
 
804 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 other more potent remedies (so called) had failed, such as calomel, 
 blue pill, sugar of lead, &c. 
 
 The dose is one tablespoonful, repeated according to circumstances, 
 or from three to six times daily. The time of digging the root is im- 
 material. 
 
 Compound Peach Bark Cordial. — Recommended by Dr. A. F. Pat- 
 tee, of Amesbury, Mass. — Take peach bark from the young sprouts, 
 three ounces ; blackberry root bark two ounces ; redberry bark one 
 ounce : ginger root one half ounce ; place the whole in a covered ves- 
 sel, pour upon them one and a half pints of boiling water, let it stand 
 and steep two hours, then strain, and add whiskey one-half pint, re- 
 fined sugar one-half pound. Use and dose the same as the blackberry 
 root cordial. 
 
 Elderberry Syrup. — Take .the juice of elderberry one quart; boil it 
 to one pint ; strain and add two pounds of double refined sugar ; again 
 place it over the fire , so soon as it shall have boiled, remove it from 
 the fire, and when cold, bottle it for use, taking care to have it wel' 
 covered. With a less quantity of sugar there will be danger of its 
 becoming mouldy. As a gentle purgative, this syrup is an excellent 
 medicine, of very pleasant taste, and is peculiarly serviceable to chil- 
 dren who are not easily induced to take common medicine. The dose 
 for an adult is a wineglassful. 
 
 Raspberry Royal. — We find the following in a newspaper : — During 
 the hot summer’s solstice, when appetite fails, and universal lassitude 
 lays hold of the system, do not rush headlong to pulmonic pills, phle- 
 botomy and apothecary practices, but seek to put on muscle with some 
 simple renovator of your own manufacture. Nothing better, I have 
 learned to think, for the purpose, than Raspberry Royal, prepared 
 thus : 
 
 Four quarts of sound ripe berries, placed in a stone jar — pour over 
 them a quart of the best cider or wine vinegar — none of the villian- 
 ous chemical acid abominations will answer the purpose — add a pound 
 of fine white sugar, and beat the berries to a batter with a wooden 
 pestle. Then strain dry as nearly as may be, through a strong linen 
 cloth, and add to the syrup thus obtained a pint of first class pale 
 brandy. Bottle and use two tablespoonfuls in a half pint tumbler of 
 water. 
 
 Blackberry Brandy. — The blackberry has, it is said, been found by 
 the surgeons of the army to be the only sure and sovereign remedy 
 for diarrhea, if taken in due time, even after all other medicines hith- 
 erto known have failed. Only the juice of the berry should be used, 
 
BEVERAGES. 
 
 805 
 
 which may be preserved in the form of jelly, or wine, or blackberry 
 brandy, which, according to the most approved receipts is prepared 
 thus : 
 
 To two quarts of blackberry juice, put one and a half pounds of 
 white sugar, one and a half ounces of cinnamon, half an ounce of nut- 
 megs, quarter of an ounce of cloves, one ounce alspice ; let it sim- 
 mer but for a few moments, and, when cool, add one pint of ^brandy. 
 
 To Make Syllabub . — One quart of rich milk, half a pint of wine, 
 six ounces of loaf sugar. Put the sugar and wine in a bowl. Have 
 the milk lukewarm, and put it in a pitcher ; when the sugar is dis- 
 solved pour the milk in with the wine. Hold the pitcher sufficiently 
 high to raise a froth on the milk in the bowl. Grate nutmeg over the 
 top. 
 
 Cherry Water . — We extract from Miss Johnsons Cottages of the 
 Alps as follows : — We one day saw a decanter upon a table filled with 
 what we supposed to be water, as it was colorless, and we had never 
 seen any stronger liquid without some slight tinge of yellow, red or 
 purple. Being thirsty we thought to help ourselves, and took a gen- 
 erous draught, which in an instant had pervaded every drop of blood 
 in our veins. It was cherry water , but surely deserves a more signi- 
 ficant appellation. It is made by crushing fresh cherries, and pound- 
 ing and pressing them, as the juice is expressed from grapes. They 
 are then kept slightly warm till fermentation takes place, which some- 
 times happens the second, and often not till the fourth week. The tub 
 remains covered, and the pulp is stirred every two days. It can then 
 remain a long time without injury, or be immediately distilled like 
 brandy. So long as it runs clear, it is of the right taste and consis- 
 sistency, when the liquid is thick, it is put back with the pulp in the 
 still. To prevent its taking fire before it begins to boil, it is stirred 
 violently. Like good wine, it improves with age. An imitation some- 
 times made of plums, but can easily be detected by mixing with a 
 few drops of water, when it looks murky, and if rubbed upon the hand 
 has a different flavor. 
 
 ADULTERATION OF LIQUORS. 
 
 An unpleasant development was recently made in Cincinnati, con- 
 cerning Catawba brandy. Responsible vinters declared that the pure 
 article would cost from five to eight dollars a gallon, adding that there 
 was no genuine article of the kind in the market — the quality gener- 
 ally sold consisting of pomace, whiskey, and fusel oil. 
 
806 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 Dr. L. G. Miller, Inspector of Liquors for Wayne Co., Michigan, 
 says : Out of three hundred and eighty cases of whiskey, inspected 
 in and near Detroit, he only found two pure. He did not find a drop 
 of pure French brandy. Of one hundred and four samples of gin, he 
 found but twenty-nine genuine. Out of thirty-two samples of Jamai- 
 ca rum he found but nine genuine. The Irish and Scotch whiskeys 
 were pure generally. Of Port wine, the genuine article is seldom 
 found. 
 
 In order that persons may see what kind of stuffs they drink, we 
 insert the following list of recipes by which adulterated liquors are 
 manufactured, found in possession of a liquor manufacturer : 
 
 To forty gallons whiskey, and in that proportion, more or less, add 
 1J lbs. unslaked lime, f lb. alum, 1 pint spirits nitre ; stand twenty- 
 four hours and draw off. 
 
 Ho. 1. For making Common Brandy. — To 40 gallons whiskey pre- 
 pared as above, 8 ounces dulc. nitre, 1 gallon alcohol, 1 gallon best 
 brandy, add 4 lbs. loaf sugar ; dissolve and color with burnt sugar. 
 
 Ho. 2. For Making Best Brandy. — To 40 galls, whiskey, or pure 
 spirits, add 4 galls, best brandy, 5 oz. tine, kino, 6 oz. spirits nitre ; 
 stand 12 hours. 
 
 Ho. 3. For Making Domestic Gin. — To 40 galls, whiskey, 8 oz. dulc. 
 nitre, 2 oz. oil juniper, 1 oz. anniseed, add 4 lbs. loaf sugar, dissolved 
 in 1 qt. alcohol. 
 
 Ho. 4. For Making Hew England Rum. — To 40 galls, whiskey, add 
 1 gall. Hew England Rum, J oz. belgoin root, 3 oz. orris root, 1 oz. 
 dulc. nitre, J oz alspice. 
 
 Ho. 5. To Make St. Croix Rum. — To 40 galls, whiskey add 4 galls. 
 St. Croix Rum, 1J oz. oil carraway, 4 oz. spirits nitre, J oz. tine, kino; 
 stand 12 hours. 
 
 Ho. 6. Jamaica Rum. — To 40 galls, whiskey, add 5 galls. Jamaica 
 rum, 1J oz. tine, kino, 4 oz. spirits nitre. 
 
 Ho. 7. Holland Gin. — To 40 galls, whiskey, add 4} galls. Holland 
 gin, 1} oz. oil juniper, 6 oz. spirits nitre; oil anniseed to suit the 
 taste ; stand 12 hours. 
 
 Ho. 8. Madeira Wine. — To 25 galls. w T ell worked cider, add 1 lb. 
 cream tartar, 1 qt. milk ; stand 12 hours, and drain off, and to every 
 5 galls, add 1 gall, whiskey. 
 
 Ho. 9. Port Wine. — To 5 galls, of the above, add J lb. logwood, J 
 oz. gum kino, boiled with J gall, cider, down to 1 pint ; strain and 
 put it in. 
 
 Ho. 10. For Various Wines. — To 28 galls, good cider add 1 gall. 
 
BEVERAGES. 
 
 807 
 
 brandy, 1 lb. cream tartar, 5 galls, of the wine you wish to make to 
 flavor it, with 1 pt. milk to settle it ; stand 24 hours and draw off. 
 
 No. 11. Peach Brandy. — To every 10 galls, brandy made by recipe 
 No. 1, add 4 lbs. dried peaches, boiled and strained. 
 
 No. 12. To Prepare Tine. Kino. — To 1 pt. alcohol, add 1 oz. gum 
 kino. 
 
 No. 13. Cherry Brandy. — To every 10 galls, made by recipe No. 
 1, add 3 qts. wild black cherries, beat up, stones and all, and strain. 
 
 No. 14. Baspberry Brandy. — To every 10 galls, brandy, made by 
 recipe No. 1, add the juice of 5 qts. raspberries. 
 
 No. 15. Monongahela "Whiskey. — To 40 galls, common whiskey add 
 1 lbs dried peaches, 2 oz. spirits nitre, 5 lbs. sugar, 2 qts. rye, burned 
 and ground like coffee, J lb. alspice, } lb. cinnamon, J- lb. cloves ; put 
 in the ingredients, and after standing 4 days, draw off and strain if 
 necessary. 
 
 No. 16. Coloring for Port Wine. — For a prime article, substitute 
 for 28 galls. 3 lbs. rattany root. 
 
 No. 17. Blackberry Wine. — To 30 galls, whiskey, add 7 galls, soft 
 water, 60 qts. blackberries, 4 oz. tine, kino, 5 lbs. loaf sugar, 1 gall, 
 good brandy ; stand one week. 
 
 No. 18. Currant Wine. — To 30 galls, whiskey, add 7 galls, soft wa- 
 ter, 6 lbs. loaf sugar, 5 oz. tine kino, 1 gall, good port wine, and the 
 juice of 30 qts. good ripe currants. 
 
 No. 19. Coloring Matter for Liquors. — Take 2 lbs. crushed sugar, 
 put in a kettle that holds 4 to 6 qts., add \ tumblerful of water, boil 
 until it is black, then take off and stir as you pour in water to cool it. 
 
 No. 20. Bead for Liquors. — To \ oz. sulphuric acid, add j- sweet 
 oil, mix together in a glass bottle ; 1 drop is sufficient for 1 qt., and 
 in that proportion for any other quantity. 
 
 No. 21. Domestic Bum. — To 40 galls, whiskey add 8 oz. dulc. nitre, 
 1 oz. oil carraway, 4 oz. tine, kino, 4 lbs. loaf sugar, dissolved in 1 qt. 
 alcohol ; stand ten hours. 
 
 No. 22. Silver Top Drink. — One qt. water, 3 lbs. loaf sugar, 1 tea- 
 spoonful oil lemon, 1 tablespoonful flour, with white of 5 eggs, well 
 beaten up, then mix the above well together, then divide it, and add 
 4 oz. carb. soda in one half, and 3 oz. tartaric in the other half, then 
 bottle for use. 
 
 The rascal said that some of the foregoing receipts cost him one 
 hundred dollars. 
 
808 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 DOMESTIC DYES, 
 
 Colors may be divided into simple and compound. Blue, red and 
 yellow are simple colors. Purple formed by mixing red and blue ; 
 green by mixing blue and yellow ; orange by mixing red and yellow : 
 are compound colors. In dyeing, a ground is sometimes given of one 
 color with the intention of applying another upon it, and thus produ- 
 cing a compound color. It is important that the water used in dye- 
 ing should always be pure. Pain water is best. 
 
 Wool, previous to being dyed, whether in the fleece, yarn, or cloth, 
 requires to be cleansed by scouring. 
 
 Silk to be dyed must be prepared with a cold solution of alum ; if 
 used hot the lustre is apt to be impaired. Silks when dyed must be 
 dried quickly. 
 
 Cotton, before it is dyed, should be well scoured by an alkaline lye, 
 and afterward washed in a stream of water, a-nd dried. Aluming and 
 galling are the next preliminary processes. 
 
 To Dye Black . — To one pound of cotton goods, use one-half ounce 
 blue vitriol, and two ounces extract of logwood. Take an iron kettle 
 containing water enough to cover what you wish to color, bring thf 
 water to a scalding heat, put in the goods for a few minutes, then re- 
 move them from the kettle, drain, and add the blue vitriol. When 
 dissolved, and the water carefully skimmed, put in the goods, let them 
 remain thirty minutes, with a scalding heat, occasionally airing them ; 
 then take out and rinse in rain water. The vitriol water should next 
 be put in a separate kettle, and the extract of logwood dissolved in a 
 sufficient quantity of water, skimmed, and brought to a scalding heat ; 
 then put in the goods, keep the dye at the same heat, and let them re- 
 main thirty minutes ; air frequently ; then take out and drain. Pour 
 the vitriol water into the dye, then put in the goods, letting them re- 
 main fifteen minutes. Cleanse well. 
 
 One ounce extract of logwood to half an ounce blue vitriol is also 
 recommended, and for dying silk and wool as well as cotton. 
 
 To Dye Wool Black . — Boil the wool for half an hour in a liquor in 
 which two ounces of bichromate of potash, and one pound of fustic is 
 used for every eight pounds of wool. Take it out and air it, then boil 
 it for a full hour in logwood liquor containing the extract of three 
 pounds of logwood chips. After this it must be thoroughly washed. 
 If it has a gray or slaty appearance,- it is a sign that it has not re- 
 ceived a sufficient quantity of logwood ; if it is rusty and brown, it is 
 
DOMESTIC DYES. 
 
 809 
 
 a sign that the logwood liquor was too strong. Remove a portion of 
 the logwood by rinsing the wool in very delicate sulphuric acid, and 
 wash well in warm water. 
 
 Another Black Dye for Wool. — It is boiled for two hours in a de- 
 coction of nutgalls, and afterward kept for two hours in a bath of log- 
 wood and sulphate of iron, at a scalding but not a boiling heat. Du- 
 ring the operation it must be frequently exposed to the air. The com- 
 mon proportions are five parts of galls, five of sulphate of iron, and 
 thirty of logwood, for every hundred of cloth. 
 
 Silk is dyed black in the same manner. 
 
 Cloth, before it receives a black color, is usually dyed blue, to ren- 
 der the black more agreeable. If the cloth be coarse, sometimes a 
 brown from walnut peels is substituted. 
 
 Black Dye for Cotton and Linen. — Cotton and linen are not easily 
 dyed a full black. The cloth dyed blue is steeped for twenty-four 
 hours in a decoction of nutgalls, and then put into a bath prepared of 
 acetate of iron, wrung out and dried, and the process is continued till 
 the color is deep enough. 
 
 Another Black Dye. — For three pounds of wool or goods take one 
 pound sulph. copper, boil it with the goods half an hour, take out the 
 goods, wash it well in three or four waters, put it in the kettle again 
 and add one pound extract logwood and two ounces fustic ; boil twenty 
 minutes, and it is done. 
 
 To Dye Saxon Blue — Exceedingly Beautiful. — One part of indigo is 
 dissolved in four parts of concentrated sulphuric acid; to the solution 
 is added one part of dry carbonate of potash, and then this is diluted 
 with eight times its weight of water. The cloth must be boiled in a 
 solution containing five parts of alum and three of tartar for every 
 thirty-two parts of cloth. It is then thrown into a water bath con- 
 taining a greater or smaller portion of the diluted sulphate of indigo, 
 according to the shade which the cloth is intended to receive. In this 
 bath it must boil till it has acquired the desired color. This is for 
 coloring wool and silk. 
 
 Another way is to boil the article in alum, and then dip in a strong 
 solution of chemic blue. 
 
 Another Blue Dye for Wool or Cloth. — Mix and boil one hour in 
 brass or copper one and a half ounce cream of tartar and two and a 
 half ounces alum for a pound of goods. With this, color to the shade 
 you desire, add sufficient warm rain water to cover the goods. Put 
 the goods in and boil a short time in a brass or copper kettle, stirring 
 constantly. Then take the goods out, rinse in clean cold water, and 
 
810 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 hang up to dry. .An hour by this method, is sufficient to produce a 
 very fine blue. 
 
 To Dye Wool a very Dark Blue. — One ounce of the prussiate of 
 potash, half an ounce of the sulphate of iron, one gill of the muriate 
 of tin, and the extract of two pounds of chip logwood to five pounds 
 of wool. Boil all together for three quarters of an hour. 
 
 Another Blue Dye. — Take one pound of oil of vitriol and put one 
 ounce of the best indigo and a small lump of pearlash ; it will fer- 
 ment. When this is done, cork it tight, and it is fit for use. You 
 can graduate the color to your fancy, by adding more or less to the 
 water into which you immerse the goods. 
 
 Another. — For three pounds of goods, take three ounces chemic,. 
 boil it with the goods five minutes, and it is done. Or, equal quanti- 
 ties of indigo and madder makes a pretty blue. 
 
 To Dye Linen and Muslin Blue. — Wash well to remove dressing, 
 and dry ; then dip in a strong solution of sulphate of indigo — partly 
 saturated with potash — and hang up. Dry a piece to see if the color 
 is deep enough, if not, dip again. 
 
 Cotton and linen are dyed blue by a solution of one part indigo, one 
 part green sulphate of iron, and two parts of quicklime. 
 
 To Dye Silk Blue. — Silk is dyed light blue by a ferment of six parts 
 of indigo, six of potash, and one of madder. To dye it dark blue, it 
 must previously receive a ground color ; archiel is used for this pur- 
 pose. 
 
 Blue Color for Stamping. — Take one ounce of Prussian blue, one 
 pound oxalic acid and white sugar. By having a greater or less quan- 
 tity of water mixed with the blue and thickened with gum, dark and 
 light shades will be produced, as may be desired. Bemember that 
 oxalic acid is a poison when tasted. 
 
 To Dye Yellow. — Weld, fustic, quercitron bark and annatto are the 
 principal coloring matters for dyeing yellow. The yellow dyed by 
 fustic is more permanent, but not so beautiful as that given by weld 
 or quercitron. Weld and quercitron give nearly the same color, and 
 the latter is cheapest. 
 
 To Dye Wool Yellow. — Boil it for an hour or more with about one 
 sixth its weight of alum ; then, without rinsing it, plunge it into a 
 bath of warm water containing as much quercitron bark as equals the 
 weight of alum employed as a mordant. The cloth is to be repeatedly 
 turned in the boiling liquid, till it has acquired the intended color. 
 To deepen the color, a quantity of clean, powdered chalk, equal to the 
 hundredth part of the weight of the cloth, is to be stirred in, and the 
 
DOMESTIC DYES. 
 
 811 
 
 boiling to be continued for eight or ten minutes longer. For very- 
 bright golden yellows the oxide of tin must be used as a mordant. If 
 a greenish yellow is wished for, some tartar may be added to the dye. 
 The addition of a little cochineal will give an orange. 
 
 To Dye Silk Yellow. — Take weld or quercitron bark. The propor- 
 tion should be from one to two parts of bark to twelve parts of silk, 
 according to the shade wanted. The bark, tied up in a bag, should 
 be put into the water cold, and the temperature then raised to or^ 
 hundred degrees, when the silk, previously alumed, should be dipped 
 in, and continued till it has acquired the proper color. Chalk or pearl- 
 ash will deepen the tint. 
 
 To Dye Linen and Cotton Yellow. — Use a mordant of acetate of 
 alumina, prepared by dissolving one part of acetate of lead and three 
 parts alum in a sufficient quantity of water. The cloth is to be soaked 
 for two hours in this solution, heated to one hundred degrees, wrung 
 out and dried, and the soaking and drying may be repeated ; it is then 
 barely wetted with lime-water, and dried. If the color is wished to 
 be very bright and durable, the soaking and wetting with lime-water 
 should be repeated several times ; the lime makes the dye more per- 
 manent. The dyeing bath is prepared by putting quercitron bark into 
 cold water with the cloth, then bringing this gradually to a boiling 
 heat ; but after this the cloth must only remain a few minutes, lest 
 the color should acquire a shade of brown. 
 
 Nankeen yellow is dyed by a solution of red sulphate of iron, which 
 is combined with the cloth by carbonate of potash. 
 
 Another way to Dye Yellow. — Take three pounds of turmeric or of 
 any of the coloring materials named above, and one pound alum for 
 four pounds wool or other goods, and put all into an earthen vessel, 
 then pour on hot water sufficient to cover the goods, keep them warm 
 over night, and boil half an hour or so in the morning in brass, after 
 which take out, rinse in clean cold water, and hang to dry. 
 
 Another. — For three pounds goods, take half a pound turmeric, boil 
 five minutes, then add three ounces alum, half ounce muriate of tin, 
 put in the goods, boil ten minutes, and it is done. Or, 
 
 Cut potato tops when in flower, and express the juice ; steep articles 
 in this for forty-eight hours. 
 
 To Dye Wool Red. — The coloring matters chiefly employed for dye- 
 ing red are, kermes, cochineal, archil, madder, carthamus, Brazil 
 wood, lac, and logwood. 
 
 Wool may be dyed red by any of these, according to the shade le- 
 quired. Cochineal gives the brightest crimson : the best mordant is 
 
812 
 
 PEACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 chloride of ‘in. Scarlet is a compound of crimson and yellow; and, 
 to produce a bright scarlet, the cloth must first be dyed yellow by 
 means of any of the yellow dyes, and then plunged into a bath of co- 
 chineal with tartar and chloride of tin. For common crimsons, alum 
 is used as a mordant, and the dye cochineal; or, if pale crimson, a lit- 
 tle madder may be added to some cochineal. 
 
 The most permanent color is obtained from madder. Analine and 
 cochineal reds are more beautiful, but they do not stand washing with 
 soap and exposure to sunlight like madder red. 
 
 To Dye Silk Red. — Silk is dyed red with cochineal, carthamus, or 
 Brazil wood ; madder is not bright enough. Archil is used when the 
 color is to be lilac. Silk cannot be dyed a full scarlet ; but a color 
 approaching to it may be given by first impregnating the silk with 
 murio-sulphate of tin, and afterward dyeing it in a bath composed of 
 four parts cochineal and four of quercitron. Crimson may be given 
 by cochineal alone ; and poppy and rose by an alkaline solution of car- 
 thamus, to which lemon juice has been added. 
 
 To Dye Cotton and Linen Red. — Use madder. The color is called 
 Turkey red. The cloth is first impregnated with oil, then with galls, 
 and, lastly, with alum ; it is then boiled for an hour in a decoction of 
 madder, and plunged into a lye of soda to heighten the color. The 
 application of the mordant is difficult, but the color produced is per- 
 manent. Cotton may be dyed scarlet by means of murio-sulphate of 
 tin, cochineal and quercitron bark, but the color is fading. 
 
 To Dye Madder Red. — Boil the cloth in a weak solution of pearh 
 ash — an ounce to a gallon of water — wash, dry, and then steep in a 
 decoction of bruised nutgalls. After dyeing, it is to be steeped twice 
 in warm alum water, then dried and boiled in a decoction made of 
 three-quarters of a pound of madder to every poilnd of the article. It 
 should then be taken out and dried, and steeped in a second bath in 
 the same manner. When dyed, the articles should be washed in warm 
 soap and water, to remove a dun-colored matter given out by the mad- 
 der. 
 
 To Dye Cochineal Red. — For each pound of goods, take one ounce 
 of cochineal, one ounce muriate of tin, and a small portion of cream 
 tartar, put it in the water with the goods, boil ten minutes. The color 
 can be varied by using more or less muriate of tin. 
 
 To Dye Crimson. — Take two ounces of gum arabic, and for every 
 pound of goods, two ounces of cochineal, and one third of an ounce of 
 agaric, and one ounce of turmeric; mix, and put into your copper, and 
 when they begin to boil, and the gum is dissolved, put your goods in ; 
 
DOMESTIC DYES. 
 
 813 
 
 let it boil two hours, and then it is dyed. Wash it slightly, and dry 
 it in the shade. This is excellent for s ; lk, but should be tested before 
 relied on for other goods. See above. 
 
 To Dye Scarlet. — Solution of tin, four ounces, cochineal and cream 
 of tartar, of each three ounces for three pounds of goods. Powder the 
 cochineal and rub through a bag into sufficient tepid water to cover 
 the goods. While warm add the cream of tartar and let them sim- 
 mer before putting in the solution of tin. Wet your goods in clean 
 soft water, then put them in the dye and let them steep till colored 
 enough. Do not wash the goods until after they are dry. This is 
 said to make an excellent color. See above. 
 
 To Dye Pink. — Steep two ounces of cochineal in warm water until 
 the color is thoroughly extracted, which will take a couple of hours or 
 so, then add half an <§unce cream of tartar, and after wetting the 
 goods in clean soft water and wringing them, put them in the dye, 
 and let them remain in it a few minutes after bringing ib to a scald- 
 ing heat. This will color three pounds of goods. The shade of color 
 can be regulated by using more or less cochineal. 
 
 To Pink Silk Stockings. — Some clean soapsuds should be colored 
 according to the taste of the manipulator by means of “pink saucer,” 
 and the stockings^ after having been dipped into the suds, should be 
 placed on a clean cloth in the air to dry. It is a good plan to rub 
 them with flannel before they are quite dry, taking care that the rub- 
 bing be in one direction only. During this operation, it is as well to 
 let them lie upon flannel until dry. 
 
 To Color Purple. — Purple is blue and red, and comprises lilac and 
 violet, which are different shades of it. Wool is first dyed blue, and 
 then scarlet, in the usual manner. By mixing cochineal with sulphate 
 of indigo, the process may be performed at once. Silk is dyed first 
 crimson by means of cochineal, and then dipped into the indigo bath. 
 Cotton and linen are first dyed blue, then galled, and dyed by oxide 
 of iron. 
 
 Another way to Color Purple. — One bushel of purslane, ten ounces 
 of logwood, five ounces of alum, to four pounds of yarn or goods. Boil 
 the purslane till the strength is out, then dip the articles in it till 
 they are dyed. Scald twenty or thirty minutes. This is said not to 
 spot or fade. 
 
 To Dye a Lilac Color. — The chloride of gold produces a beautiful 
 lilac color on silk. Wool and other goods are colored lilac by boiling 
 a short time in cudbear. 
 
814 
 
 PEACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 To Dye Orange. — Orange, consisting of red and yellow, is produced 
 by a scarlet or a crimson, and then dyeing yellow. Or, 
 
 Take four ounces fustic, one-half ounce cochineal, one-eighth ounce 
 cream of tartar, one-half ounce muriate tin, one ounce alum for three 
 pounds of goods ; boil ten minutes, and it is done. Or dye first with 
 a red dye and then with a yellow. Carthamus gives to silk an orange. 
 
 Dove and Slate Colors. — Take of copperas, a teaspoonful, and of 
 black tea, a teacupful, add sufficient water to cover the goods, and 
 boil in an iron kettle. You can get any shade you want by adding 
 more or less water. 
 
 To Dye Buff. — Take potash, two ounces, annatto, one ounce. Boil 
 in three quarts soft water, stirring constantly. Put in the goods while 
 boiling and stirring, let them boil five minutes, then take them out 
 and put them instantly in cold water. Take *them out of this imme- 
 diately and without wringing hang them to dry. Before perfectly 
 dry take them down and fold them. 
 
 To Dye Brown. — Boil half an hour with quarter of a pound of al- 
 um and two ounces cream of tartar for each pound of wool or goods. 
 Then soak over night, red powder, half a pound, fustic, quarter of a 
 pound, and logwood, two ounces, in warm rain water sufficient to cover 
 the goods. Now take the goods out of the alum water, put them in 
 the other and boil half an hour. To make a dark brown add a table- 
 spoonful of copperas. 
 
 Another Brown Dye. — For three pounds, take one pound camwood, 
 half pound fustic, half pound extract logwood, boil twenty minutes 
 with the goods, then add half pound sulph. copper, and boil twenty- 
 five minutes, and it is done. Or steep in an infusion of green walnut 
 peels, or the root of the walnut tree, birch bark, sumach, &c., separ- 
 ately or in combination. 
 
 Grays, Drabs and Browns. — These are produced, of various shades, 
 by dyeing with oxide of iron, then yellow with quercitron or sumach. 
 A good drab is given by fustic, when the mordant is oxide of iron. 
 
 Butternut Color . — Place alternate layers of butternut bark, (the 
 rough portions being removed,) and wool, yarn or cloth, in any con- 
 venient vessel, as a large trough, fill with water and place a weight 
 on the top. Every day spread the goods in the sun to air. This will 
 set the dye. Or place the bark and yarn in alternate layers in an iron 
 kettle, filled with water, and warm over the fire two or three times a 
 day, airing in the sun each day. The latter method produces the 
 darkest color. 
 
 Green. — Green, being composed of blue and yellow, the wool, silk, 
 
DOMESTIC DYES. 
 
 815 
 
 or linen is first dyed blue, then yellow, by any of the processes de- 
 scribed above. When sulphate of indigo is used, all the ingredients 
 are mixed together, which produces Saxon green. Other shades, as 
 pea green, grass green, sea green, &c., are produced by employing 
 various proportions of yellow and blue dyes, according to the experi 
 ence and taste of the dyer. Or, 
 
 For three pounds of goods, take one pound fustic, boil five minutes, 
 then add three ounces of alum and two ounces chemic, put in the 
 goods, boil five minutes, and it is done. You can vary the color by 
 using more or less chemic. Or, 
 
 Boil the article in alum, and then in a solution of indigo mixed with 
 any of the yellow dyes, until the proper color is obtained. 
 
 Olive . — Olive is obtained by adding blue to orange, or by a blue, 
 yellow, and madder bath. 
 
 Cinnamon Color. — This is produced by dyeing with slight madder 
 color before orange. Silk receives this color by logwood, Brazil wood, 
 and fustic, mixed ; cotton and linen by weld and madder. 
 
 Salmon Color. — Dissolve quarter of a pound each of soap and an- 
 nato in sufficient water to cover one pound of yarn or goods. Rinse 
 the goods in warm rain water and then boil them in the mixture half 
 an hour. More or less annatto may be used according to the shade* 
 wanted. 
 
 Coloring Feathers. — F eathers may be dyed any shade of blue by in- 
 digo, or they may be dipped in the dye for silk. Dye black the same 
 as cloth. For yellow steep in a solution of acetate of allumina, then 
 dip in a bath of weld or turmeric. Feathers may also be dyed yellow 
 by boiling them in a strong decoction of quercitron and a few drops 
 of the muriate of tin. To dye red dip them in a solution of acetate 
 of allumina, then in a decoction of Brazil wood, boiling hot. This will 
 give a deep color. If crimson is wanted, after coloring red as direct- 
 ed, then dip them in a bath of cudbear. 
 
 Feathers may be dyed a scarlet color by boiling them in a clean tin 
 vessel with some water, ground cochineal, a little cream of tartar, and 
 a few drops of the muriate of tin. Put these ingredients into the 
 vessel, and, when boiling, place the feathers therein, and boil for fif- 
 teen minutes ; then take them out and wash them in cold water. This 
 color is permanent, and one ounce of cochineal will dye one pound of 
 feathers, which should be washed in soap before being dyed. Thev 
 are dyed pink or rose color by lemon juice and safflower. 
 
 To Color Kid Gloves Purple. — Sew up the tops to prevent staining 
 the insides, then sponge or brush the outsides twice with two ounces 
 
816 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 logwood and one ounce roche alum boiled in one quart of soft water 
 till more than half is evaporated, strained and cooled before using. 
 Bub off the loose dye with a piece of flannel, and then with a sponge 
 give a coating of the white of egg beat to a froth. The stain on the 
 hands can be washed off with a little vinegar. 
 
 The Warmth of Colors . — Place upon the surface of snow, as upon 
 the window sill, in bright daylight or sunshine, pieces of cloth of the 
 same size and quality, but of different colors, black, blue, green, yel- 
 low, and white ; the black cloth will soon melt the snow beneath it, 
 and sink downwards ; next the blue, and then the green ; the yellow 
 but slightly ; but the snow beneath the white cloth will be the same 
 as at first. 
 
 To Color Ivory . — Boil the bracelet or other article for some time in 
 a decoction of logwood and then steep it in a solution of acetate of 
 iron, and it will be a beautiful deep black. To stain ivory blue, it 
 should be immersed for some time in a dilute solution of sulphate of 
 indigo, partly saturated with potash. Green — Boil it in a solution of 
 verdigris, in vinegar. Bed requires the ivory to be dipped in a dyer’s 
 tin mordant, and then to be put into a hot decoction of Brazil wood 
 (half a pound to a gallon of water) or cochineal. 
 
 CLOTHING, FUBS, BOOTS AND SHOES. 
 
 DRESS. 
 
 Never be above your calling, nor be afraid to appear dressed in 
 accordance with the business you are performing. Bichness of dress 
 contributes nothing to a man of sense but rather makes his sense in- 
 quired into. The more the body is set off, the less the mind appears. 
 The plainer the dress, with greater lustre does beauty appear. Vir- 
 tue is the greatest ornament, and good sense the best equipage. F e- 
 male loveliness never appears to so great an advantage as when set off 
 by simplicity of dress. No artist ever paints angels with towering 
 feathers and grand jewelry ; and our dear human angels, if they would 
 make good their title to that name, should carefully avoid tawdry or- 
 naments, wnich properly belong to Indian squaws and xAfrican princes. 
 A vulgar taste is not redeemed by gold or diamonds. If a woman 
 wishes to be a general favorite with her female acquaintances, she has 
 only to permit them to outdress her. The more intent they are on 
 
CLOTHING, FURS, BOOTS AND SHOES. 
 
 817 
 
 gewgaws and decorations, the more profound will be the respect for 
 her who totally disregards them. Let any one look amongst his or 
 her friends and see if she who is most beloved is not one of less pre- 
 tension to fancy than those around her. 
 
 In the families of many of the nobility and gentry of England, pos- 
 sessing an annual income which itself would be an ample fortune, 
 there is greater economy of dress and more simplicity in the furnish- 
 ing of the dwelling, than there is in many of the houses of our citi- 
 zens, who are barely able to supply the daily wants of their families 
 by the closest attention to their business. They are generally clothed 
 in good substantial stuffs, and a display of fine clothing is reserved for 
 great occasions. The furniture of the mansions, instead of being turn- 
 ed out of doors every few years for new and more fashionable styles, 
 is the same which the ancestors of the families for several generations 
 have possessed ; substantial and in excellent preservation, but plain 
 and without any pretensions of elegance. 
 
 Dress may be neat without being extravagant or foolish. We are 
 almost inclined to think that every person, and especially all young 
 persons, should be encouraged and expected to dress themselves with 
 some degree of fresh care during the after part of each day. It may 
 cost a little time (it certainly should not be allowed to cost much,) but 
 it will be apt to increase a person’s self respect and that comfortable 
 feeling of being allied and equal to the better part of the social world, 
 which is so desirable for all, and especially for the young. Not long 
 since, a lady whose ideas were thought by many to be above her cir- 
 cumstances, would insist on all her children dressing for the afternoon 
 neatly though plainly, but never remaining in their morning attire. 
 To wash, to arrange the hair, and to be always dressed in the after- 
 noon, not for company but for home life, became a habit of all the 
 young people of that house from childhood, not without some remarks 
 from less painstaking neighbors. At last, one of the children, a bright, 
 but rather self-willed girl, remarked, “ I think we all feel so much 
 more inclined to be orderly and good when we are dressed for the af- 
 ternoon.” This remark, made casually to the mother, was, she said, 
 an abundant reward for all the extra trouble and care of the arrange- 
 ment. 
 
 It is not expensive, but rather economical than otherwise, to pay 
 this sort of attention to dress. A little extra washing which it may 
 cost is nothing to what is saved by the habitual carefulness not to soil 
 one’s clothes. The sloven is the most extravagant, generally speak- 
 ing, of any one in dress. So also the time that it may take is noth- 
 52 
 
818 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 ing, compared to tlie habit of order, of system, and of having time for 
 everything. It promotes self respect and pleasant, social feelings. 
 The man, woman or child, who feels habitually worse dressed than 
 near neighbors, will be apt to shrink from society and behave awk- 
 wardly in it. This will make others shrink from them, and produce 
 a sort of warfare and antagonism most undesirable and sure to check 
 the flow of those benevolent and social feelings which are the source 
 of the purest and best earthly joys, and much of all our usefulness. 
 For all this a person must have no thought of care or pride of where- 
 withal they are clothed while in company. 
 
 There are some would-be philosophers who can not see the reason- 
 ableness of all this. Let them watch the effect which the Sunday at- 
 tire has, especially upon the working portion of society, when parents 
 and children all have time and dress for the Sabbath school, the church 
 or the private walk, or the family fireside. Does not all this produce 
 greater mutual respect upon the members of the same family, among 
 neighbors and friends, greater self respect in nearly all and a quiet- 
 contentment and enjoyment of existence, most of all things conducive 
 to order and improvement ? Let those families who neglect all such 
 habits be observed, and they will almost uniformly be found disorder- 
 ly and wasteful of far more than all the cost of attending to such 
 matters. 
 
 We have known of authors who have found it necessary to dress 
 before writing their best things, of ministers who must put on a clean 
 shirt in order to write as well as deliver a good sermon, and of orators 
 who felt all the more able to command their audiences for being neat- 
 ly and exactly dressed. No doubt there are many exceptions to all 
 this. But those who have much to do with public life will have found 
 that success, while not to be attained by fine or expensive clothing of 
 a shiny newness, is yet very greatly assisted by a scrupulous neatness, 
 and all that care and cleanliness which makes and assists a proper 
 self respect. 
 
 Lavater, the man who, long before the birth of phrenology wrote a 
 clever book on physiognomy, gives a good opinion of people who are 
 fond of dressing well, and throws something more than suspicion on 
 ladies who are careless of their apparel. He says : Young women 
 who neglect their toilette indicate in this very particular a disregard 
 of order, a deficiency in taste, and the qualities which inspire love. 
 
CLOTHING, FURS, BOOTS AND SHOES. 
 
 819 
 
 HOW YOUNG LADIES CAN DRESS WELL ON A LIMITED ALLOWANCE. 
 
 Never buy conspicuous articles of dress, or colors which are not 
 likely to harmonize generally with others. Though brilliant colors 
 may be arranged so as to look very beautiful in dress, you will find it 
 wiser to select quiet shades which will never jar with each other. 
 Your dress need not, however, be grim-looking on this account, as a 
 little exercise of taste will show you how to relieve it — by a tiny knot 
 of bright ribbon, a pretty little tuft of gay colored feathers in your 
 black or gray hat, or such like pleasing reliefs. 
 
 Do not spend money on evanescent fashions, or in the various et- 
 ceteras which run away with so many young ladies’ pocket money. 
 Many articles of dress are very graceful and pretty where a girl has 
 money to spend on what will probably be out of fashion next month, 
 or too much run upon to be any longer lady-like. I allude to such 
 things as expensive neck scarfs, fanciful patterns of collars and cuffs, 
 especially lace ones, elaborate bed-room slippers, &c. Your dress need 
 never be unfashionable, but you should not attempt to make yourself 
 conspicuously fashionable. 
 
 Try to have a system in your dress, or what I may almost call a 
 style of your own, modified to some extent by the fashion of the day 
 I have a friend who always makes a rule of wearing plain skirts, even 
 though others are generally being trimmed. I merely mention this 
 as an instance of what I mean. Far from being marked for - dressing 
 poorly, the young lady in question is generally admired for her “ sim- 
 ple but distingue ” style of dress. Be careful to pay for everything 
 when you buy it. 
 
 INFLUENCE OF COLORS UPON THE COMPLEXION. 
 
 Any colored objects, as bonnet trimmings or draperies, in the vicin- 
 ity of the countenance, change its color; but clearly to trace that 
 change we must know what the cast of complexion is. This varies 
 infinitely, but we recognize two general sorts, light and dark, or blonde 
 and brunette. In the blondes or fair-complexioned the color of the 
 hair is a mixture of red, yellow, and brown, resulting in a pale orange 
 brow T n. The skin is lighter, containing little orange, but with varia- 
 ble tinges of light red. The blue eye of the blonde is complementary 
 to the orange of the hair. In brunettes the hair is black, and the 
 skin dark, or of orange tint. The red of the brunette is deeper or 
 less rosy than that of the blonde. Now the same colors affect these 
 
820 
 
 PRACTICAL IfYCLOPJEDIA. 
 
 two styles of complexion very differently. A green setting in bonnet 
 or dress throws its complement of red upon the face. If the complex- 
 ion be pale and deficient in ruddy freshness, or admits of having its 
 rose-tint a little heightened, the green /will improve it, though it 
 should be delicate in order to preserve harmony of tone. But green 
 changes the orange hue of the brunette into a disagreeable brick red. 
 If any green at all be used, in such case it should be dark. For the 
 orange complexion of brunette the best color is yellow. Its comple- 
 mentary, violet, neutralized the yellow of the orange and leaves the 
 red, thus increasing the freshness of the complexion. If the skin be 
 more yellow than orange, the complementary, violet, falling upon it, 
 changes it to a dull pallid white. Blue imparts its complementary, 
 orange, which improves the yellow hair of the blonde, and enriches 
 white complexions and light flesh tints. Blue is therefore the stand- 
 ard color for a blonde, as yellow is for a brunette. But blue injures 
 the brunette by deepening the orange, which was before too deep. 
 Violet yellows the skin, and is inadmissible except where its tone is 
 so deep as to whiten the complexion by contrast. Bose-red, by throw- 
 ing green upon the oomplexion, impairs its freshness. Bed is object- 
 ionable, unless it be sufficiently dark to whiten the face by contrast of 
 tone. Orange makes light complexions blue, yellow ones green, and 
 whitens the brunette. White, if without lustre, has a pleasant effect 
 with light complexions; but dark or bad complexions are made worse 
 by its strong contrast. Fluted laces are not liable to this objection, 
 for they reflect the light in such a way as to produce the same effect 
 as gray. Black adjacent to the countenance makes it lighter. For 
 the above excellent hints we are indebted to Youman’s Hand Book 
 of Household Science. 
 
 HOW TO DRESS FOR A PHOTOGRAPH. 
 
 A lady or gentleman, having made up her or his mind to be photo- 
 graphed, naturally considers, in the first place, how to be dressed so 
 as to show off to the best advantage. This is by no means such an 
 important matter as many might imagine. Let me offer a few words 
 of advice touching dress. Orange color, for certain optical reasons, 
 is, photographically, black. Blue is white ; other shades or tones of 
 color are proportionately darker or lighter as they contain more or 
 less of these colors. The progressive scale of photographic color com- 
 mences with the lightest. The order stands thus : white, light-blue, 
 violet, pink, mauve, dark-blue, lemon, blue-green, leather-brown, drab, 
 
CLOTHING FURS, BOOTS AND SHOES. 
 
 821 
 
 cerise, magenta, yellow green, dark-brown, purple, red, amber, morone, 
 orange, dead black. Complexion has to be much considered in con* 
 nection with dress. Blondes can wear much lighter colors than bru- 
 nettes ; the latter always present better pictures in dark dresses, but 
 neither look well in positive white. Violent contrasts of color should 
 be especially guarded against. In photography brunettes possess a 
 great advantage over their fairer sisters. The lovely golden tresses 
 lose all their transparent brilliancy, and are represented black, whilst 
 the “ bonnie blue e’e,” theme of rapture to the poet, is misery to the 
 photographer, for it is put entirely out. The simplest and most effec- 
 tive way of removing the yellow color from the hair, is to powder it 
 nearly white ; it is thus brought to about the same photographic tint 
 as in nature. The same rule, of course, applies to complexions. A 
 freckle quite invisible at a short distance is, on account of its yellow 
 color, rendered more painfully distinct when photographed. The puff- 
 box must be called in to the assistance of art. Here let me intrude 
 one word of general advice. Blue, as we have seen, is the most readi- 
 ly affected by light, and yellow the least ; if, therefore, you would 
 keep your complexion clear and free from tan and freckles whilst ta- 
 king your delightful rambles at the sea-side, discard by all means the 
 blue veil, and substitute a. dark green or yellow one in its stead. Blue 
 tulle offers no more obstruction to the actinic rays of the sun than 
 white. Half a yard of yellow net, though not very becoming, will be 
 found very efficacious, and considerably cheaper than a quart of kaly- 
 dor. The cause of freckles is simple enough. It is nothing more 
 than the darkening of the salts of iron contained in the blood by the 
 action of light. A freckled face is, therefore, an animated photograph. 
 
 HOW TO PREPARE SAFETY CLOTHING. 
 
 Mrs. Longfellow, wife of the distinguished poet, was seated in her 
 library, at her residence in Cambridge, Massachusetts, in the act of 
 making seals with sealing wax, when a bit of paper lighted and fell 
 upon her dress, which caught fire, and before it could be extinguished 
 she was terribly burned, from which she died after intense suffering. 
 This is only one of thousands of deaths occasioned by accidental burn- 
 ing of ladies’ and childrens’ dresses. The dresses commonly worn m 
 warm weather are composed of muslin, and such like inflammable ma- 
 terials. These fabrics may be prepared at a very small cost to render 
 them safe against such accidents. 
 
 Three salts have been found which may be successfully employed : 
 
822 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPEDIA. 
 
 the phosphate and sulphate of ammonia, and the tungstate of soda. 
 To apply them, the phosphate of ammonia is mixed with half its weight 
 of the hydro-chlorate of ammonia, and twenty per cent of this mixture 
 is dissolved in water, in which the muslin is to be immersed. A so- 
 lution of seven per cent of the sulphate of ammonia produces a simi- 
 lar result, and it is the most economical salt that can be employed for 
 the purpose. But the best solution for dresses, &c., which require to 
 be finished with a hot flat-iron, is that of the tungstate of soda: about 
 twenty per cent of which should be used in the solution. To obtain 
 the best effects, these solutions should be applied to the dresses after 
 they are starched and dried. Acid tungstates, borax, and alum, al- 
 though they render muslins uninflammable, tend to injure the strength 
 of the material. The sulphate and phosphate of ammonia should be 
 employed on cotton and linen fabrics that do not require to be ironed ; 
 the tungstate of soda for those that are to be ironed. The latter there- 
 fore is the safest substance for use in families. 
 
 * TO PREVENT PRINTS FROM FADING. 
 
 The dress should be washed in lather, and not by applying the soap 
 in the usual way direct upon the muslin. Make a lather by boiling 
 soap and water together ; let it stand until it is sufficiently cool for 
 use, and previously to putting the dress into it, throw in a handfull 
 of salt; rinse the dress without wringing it, in clear, cold water, into 
 avhich a little salt has been thrown ; remove it and rinse it in a fresh 
 supply of clear water and salt. Then wring the dress in a cloth and 
 hang it to dry immediately, spreading as open as possible, so as to 
 prevent one part lying over another. Should there be any white in 
 tne pattern, mix a little blue in the water. 
 
 A TEST FOR ARSENIC IN DRESSES. 
 
 Dr. Letheby recommends the following method of detecting the 
 presence of arsenic in wreaths and dresses : 
 
 “ Put a drop of strong liquid ammonia (liquor ammonise, the drug- 
 gist calls it,) upon the green leaf, or dress, or paper, and if it turns 
 blue, copper is present ; and copper is rarely, if ever, present in these 
 tissues and fabrics without arsenic being also present — the green com- 
 pound being arsenite of copper. I have tested papers and dresses in 
 this manner more than a hundred times, and have never failed to dis- 
 cover arsenic when the ammonia changes the green into blue. It is, 
 
CLOTHING, FURS, BOOTS AND SHOES. 
 
 823 
 
 therefore, indirectly, a very reliable test; and if every lady would 
 carry with her, when she is shopping, a small phial of liquid ammonia, 
 instead of the usual scent-bottle, the mere touch of the wet stopper on 
 the suspicious green would betray the arsenical poison, and settle the 
 business immediately.” 
 
 HOW TO FOLD A DRESS. 
 
 Miss S. R. Bowman, of Philadelphia, communicates to the Ameri- 
 can Agriculturist the following: Take the exact quarters of the dress, 
 from the bottom of the skirt to the sleeves, double them together with 
 the bosom out ; then on a bed lay the skirt perfectly smooth, and be- 
 gin at the bottom to fold it up just the width of the trunk or drawer. 
 The waist and sleeves will fold nicely together. 
 
 TO MAKE CLOTH WATER PROOF. 
 
 Dissolve one ounce of alum and an equal quantity of the sugar of 
 lead in one gallon of water, then allow the sediment to fall to the bot- 
 tom of the vessel. Now take the clear liquid, warm it, immerse the 
 cloth in it and hang it up to dry ; after which it will repel water, but 
 air will pass through it freely. It is not so perfectly water proof as an 
 india-rubber composition. 
 
 2. Dissolve one pound of alum in two gallons of hot water, and mix 
 them together, when double decomposition will be effected, and the 
 acetate of alum and sulphate of lead will be formed. This solution 
 will render cloth water proof. Immerse the cloth in the clear liquor 
 after the sediment has settled ; take it out and dry it in a warm room. 
 
 3. Cloth of any description may be rendered water proof thus : Take 
 a quarter of an ounce of yellow soap and a gallon of rain water ; boil 
 it for twenty minutes ; skim, and when cold put in the cloth : let it 
 soak for twenty-four hours; take it out and hang up to drain, and 
 when it is half dry put it into a solution of half a pound of alum, quar- 
 ter of a pound of sugar of lead, dissolved in four gallons of rain water. 
 When the cloth has been thoroughly soaked, hang it up to dry. This 
 will Hot alter the appearance of the cloth and it will resist many hours 
 of r&in. Remember that sugar of lead is poison. 
 
 4. Take one pound of common brown soap, cut it up into small pie- 
 ces t nd dissolve it in hot water. In another vessel dissolve one pound 
 of aJ im in hot water, the quantity of which (in both cases,) should be 
 Buf$ lent to enable the operator to freely handle twenty yards of cot- 
 
824 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 ton clotli. Now immerse tlie cloth in the first liquid, and open out 
 the folds so as to let every part receive its share of the soap. This 
 will take about fifteen minutes handling. The cloth is now lifted and 
 squeezed to press out some of the water ; then it is plunged under the 
 hot alum liquor and handled for about a quarter of an hour, after 
 which it is dried. When dried in a temperature of 150° Fahrenheit, 
 the cloth is superior in quality to that dried in the atmosphere. The 
 alum and soap form an artificial leather — an insoluble compound — in 
 the pores of the cloth. 
 
 5. Another process is as follows : — Take one pound of alum and 
 half a pound of sulphate of copper (blue vitriol) and dissolve them in 
 thirty gallons of boiling water and boil the cloth in this liquid for 
 half an hour ; then take it out and dry in a warm room. Cloth thus 
 treated will repel rain, which will run from its surface like water from 
 a ducks back, and yet perspiration will pass freely through its pores. 
 This is a good method for treating capes of woolen cloth, and it has 
 been used for this purpose in the French army. Oil-cloth and India 
 rubber water-proof clothes soon render the persons who wear them 
 very feeble, because they prevent the escape of carbonic acid gas from 
 the pores of the body. 
 
 6. Boiled linseed oil containing about an ounce of the oxyd of man- 
 ganese, or litharge, to the quart, will make an excellent water-proof 
 coating for cotton or linen cloth. Put on several coats with a brush, 
 and allow each to dry perfectly. 
 
 For Cheap Oil Cloth. — Ochre, mixed with paste, makes a good foun- 
 dation ; it fills up the cloth and makes it better to paint upon. 
 
 WEARING FUR. 
 
 We never see the fur capes, so common in winter, without a shud- 
 der at the mischief we know they are doing. If their warmth is no 
 more than comfortable, then it follows that the ordinary clothing of 
 the vital parts of the body is insufficient, and the system is in a chro- 
 nic. shiver except when the fur cape is on. If suitable winter clothing is 
 habitually worn, then the fur is too heavy an addition, and over heat- 
 ing, followed by dangerous chilliness upon its removal, is the regular 
 consequence of wearing it. Either way the throat and chest suffer. 
 If fur capes, fit only for the coldest weather, were only worn at such 
 times, they would be less injurious ; but everybody knows that if a 
 lady has a handsome set of furs she will sport them, in full equipment, 
 at all times through our variable season, not excepting the mid-winter 
 
CLOTHING, FURS, BOOTS AND SHOES. 
 
 825 
 
 thaw that feels like summer. There are ways enough of wearing fur, 
 the most beautiful and useful of winter luxuries in dress, without thus 
 abusing it. 
 
 The Care of Furs . — To preserve these articles with entire safety, 
 shake them thoroughly in order that any moth already in them may 
 be dislodged, then place them in close cotton or linen bags, and tie the 
 bags as tightly as possible to exclude the miller, and there will be no 
 danger of damage from the moth. Or roll the furs into compact, close 
 bundles, and wrap around them two, three or more wrappings of un- 
 broken paper, in such a manner as to prevent the ingress of the in- 
 sects. If this be properly done, they may be put where most conven- 
 ient, in a dark place or light one, in a tight drawer or on an open 
 shelf, and they may be left undisturbed until wanted, whether that be 
 six months or six years, without danger, unless the egg of the moth 
 shall have been deposited in them before so putting them away. To 
 be secure against this, take proper care of furs early in the season be- 
 fore the moth miller makes its appearance. If furs are washed with 
 a solution of a few grains of corrosive sublimate — say a dozen in a 
 pint of warm water — and then dried, it is said moths will not trouble 
 them. Always label corrosive sublimate “ Poison." 
 
 BOOTS AND SHOES. 
 
 t 
 
 If you want a pair of boots or shoes made to order, says Dr. Hall, 
 and wish to be certain of as easy a fit as that of an old shoe, put on 
 two pairs of thick, woolen socks before your measure is taken. 
 
 Why Boots and Shoes should be Polished . — Brightly polished boots 
 and shoes are cooler in warm weather and warmer in cold weather 
 than dull and dusty ones ; for in warm weather they reflect the sun, 
 which dusty and dirty boots and shoes absorb ; and in cold weather 
 the clean boot does not allow the warmth of your foot to radiate free- 
 ly, whereas the unclean boot does. Clean, bright boots are consequently 
 more comfortable, as well as respectable, both in warm weather and 
 cold. Hot only will different substances, as iron and wood, give out 
 heat or take it in, more or less, but the same substances radiate heat 
 more or less actively as it is bright or dull, rough or smooth. Now, 
 dirty boots are rough as well as dull. They have a surface of many 
 little hills and valleys, so that in truth, there is more surface for the 
 heat to pass through either way. As a rough surface is a larger sur- 
 face, more heat from within and without always passes through dull 
 and dirty boots than polished ones. 
 
826 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 Day and Martin's Blacking . — According to Mr. W. C. Bay, tlie 
 method of making the famous “Bay & Martin’s” blacking is as fol- 
 lows : The bone-black, in a state of powder, is mixed with sperm oil 
 till the two a, re thoroughly incorporated. The sugar or treacle is then 
 mixed with a small portion of vinegar and added to the mass. Oil 
 of vitriol is next added, and when all effervescence has ceased, vine- 
 gar is poured in till the mixture is of a proper consistence. This 
 constitutes the liquid blacking of Bay & Martin. 
 
 Another Method for Liquid Blacking . — Ivory or bone-black, four 
 parts ; treacle, four parts ; sweet oil, one part ; oil of vitriol, one part 
 (all by weight.) Mix the first three perfectly. Then add the oil of 
 vitriol diluted with three times its weight of rain water. Let it stani 
 four hours, then add a quart of water. 
 
 Paste Blacking. — Mix as in the foregoing, bone-black, eight parts ; 
 treacle, four parts ; olive oil, one part ; oil of vitriol, one part — each 
 by weight — using only just sufficient water to form a paste. 
 
 Water-Proof Dressing for Boots and Shoes. — 1. Take oil, five oun- 
 ces ; wax, half an ounce ; Burgundy pitch, quarter of an ounce ; oil 
 of turpentine, half an ounce ; melt together and apply until the leath- 
 er is saturated. 
 
 2. Suet, resin, and beeswax melted and applied. 
 
 3. Besin, four drachms ; lard, one ounce. Mix and melt them to- 
 gether over a slow fire. 
 
 4. One- half pound tallow, two ounces beeswax, two ounces olive 
 oil, four ounces hog’s lard. Melt the materials by a gentle heat. Bub 
 the mixture on the leather a few hours before using. It should be 
 rubbed on new boots or shoes two or three times before using them. 
 By adding a small quantity of lampblack and increasing the quantity 
 of beeswax, an excellent black-ball is obtained. 
 
 5. A solution of two drachms of India rubber. 
 
 6. A correspondent of the Western Christian Advocate recommends 
 to soak the soles of your boots in warm tar till the pores are filled 
 with it, and after filling the uppers with oil or tallow, use as a polish 
 the following : One and a half ounces shellac, one and a half ounces 
 white pine gum, one drachm Venice turpentine, one drachm sweet oil, 
 one drachm lampblack, and one-half pint alcohol. Use for it a pint 
 bottle, and when all is dissolved apply with an old shaving brush. 
 He says this does not injure the leather, is impervious to water, and 
 makes the leather soft and pliable. 
 
 7. A writer in the Mechanics' Magazine, who says he had three 
 pairs of boots last him six years, and thinks he will not require any 
 
CLOTHING, FURS, BOOTS AND SHOES. 
 
 827 
 
 more for six years to come, tells us how he treats them : “ I put a 
 pound each of tallow and resin in a pot on the fire ; when melted and 
 mixed, apply it hot to the boot with a painter’s brush until neither the 
 sole nor upper will soak any more. If it is desirous that the boots 
 should immediately take a polish, dissolve an ounce of wax in a tea- 
 spoonful of turpentine and lampblack. A day or two after the boots 
 have been treated with the resin and tallow, rub over them thi3 wax 
 and turpentine, but not before the fire. Thus the exterior will have 
 a coat of wax alone and shine like a mirror. Tallow and grease be- 
 come rancid and jot the stitching or leather ; but the resin gives it an 
 antiseptic quality which preserves the whole. He adds that boots or 
 shoes should be so large as to admit of wearing cork soles, and the feet 
 will be always warm. 
 
 8. The editor of the Germantown Telegraph says : We have heard 
 of and tested a great many kinds of waterproof blacking for winter 
 boots. Let us tell you what we have tried for two winters, and found 
 to be the best article we know of. When your boots are stiff and you 
 think need oiling, wash them in castile soap suds — oil before the lea- 
 ther dries, (you may use blackball or any kind of grease,) have a sat- 
 urated solution of gum shellac in alcohol — anybody can make it, as 
 all there is to be done is to dissolve in a pint or half pint of alcohol 
 just as much shellac as the liquid will take up — and apply this solution 
 with a sponge to the oiled boots. In two or three minutes the shellac 
 will dry and harden, and you will have a coating on your boots through 
 which the water cannot by any possibility penetrate. 
 
 Water Proof for Boot Soles . — A writer in the New York Tribune 
 says : If hot tar is applied to boot soles, it will make them water 
 proof. Let it be as hot as the leather will bear without injury, apply- 
 ing it with a swab and drying it in by fire heat. The operation may 
 be repeated two or three times during winter, if necessary. It makes 
 the surface of the leather quite hard, so that it wears longer, as well 
 as keeps out the water, Oil or grease softens the sole, and does not 
 do much good in keeping the water out. It is a good plan to provide 
 boots for winter during summer, and prepare the soles by tarring, as 
 they will then become, before they are wanted to wear, almost as firm 
 as horn, and will wear twice as long as those unprepared. It is the 
 pine-wood tar that is recommended, not gas tar. 
 
 India rubber soles for boots and shoes are recommended, both to 
 preserve the leather from wear and from dampness. 
 
828 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 WASHING, SCOURING, AND RENOVATING CLOTHING. 
 
 Washing . — Soiled or foul linen or cotton ought not to remain long 
 unwashed, as the dirt is then more difficult to be removed. Spots of 
 grease or gravy on table linen or napkins should be washed out with 
 soap and water as soon as the cloths are withdrawn, otherwise they 
 are sometimes difficult to remove after the linen has lain long by ; 
 and stains from ink, wine, or fruits should likewise be taken out. The 
 manner of doing this will he pointed out. 
 
 On the afternoon previous to washing day, says an intelligent En- 
 glish laundress, the linen should be put to soak in a weak lye of luke- 
 warm water, having a little soda put into it ; but first it must he well 
 soaped in such parts as are the most soiled ; and this operation should 
 be performed with care, as it contributes much to the facility of the 
 washing by loosening the dirt, and thus saving labor as well as the 
 wear of the linen. For soaping the worst parts, soft soap will be 
 found most economical. No more warm water should be used than is 
 just sufficient to cover the linen when pressed down in it, that the 
 strength of the soap may not be reduced. When washing is required 
 to be done in the best manner, it is the custom with some laundresses 
 besides rubbing the worst parts with soap, to run the whole through 
 water that has had soap dissolved in it by cutting it in slices, by which 
 every part of the linen is sure to be penetrated by the soap, and no 
 part can be missed. Care must be taken that the first washing is not 
 done with water too warm, or it will set in the dirt. 
 
 Some have recommended to mix lime-water with the water in which 
 the linen is soaked, with the view of saving soap and softening the 
 water. The lime-water is made by mixing a pound of quicklime in 
 ten gallons of water, and letting this stand for twenty-four hours ; the 
 clear water is then decanted off from the lime. This practice un- 
 doubtedly has the desired effect of rendering less labor necessary in 
 the subsequent washing, and does save soap ; but, when used too free- 
 ly, there is danger of the linen being injured, owing to the causticity 
 of the lime. Indeed, complaints have been made that household linen 
 has been found to be destroyed in a few weeks after coming home from 
 laundresses who have been in the habit of using lime. To save soap, 
 it is usual now to put some soda into the lukewarm water to render it 
 soft ; the quantity must be determined by experience ; if too much be 
 used it will exhibit its effects upon the hands of the operators. Soda 
 is more particularly useful when the water is at all hard, and will not 
 
WASHING, SCOURING AND RENOVATING CLOTHING. 829 
 
 make a lather : the best way of using it is to have a jug at hand with 
 the soda dissolved in water, and to add a little at a time as the lather 
 becomes weak. Careless washers leave their soap in the w*ater, where 
 it dissolves and is wasted unnecessarily. It is a good plan to provide 
 little wooden bowls with perforated bottoms, placed on saucers, to put 
 the soap into when it is not used ; wood is the best, as not being lia- 
 ble to be broken. 
 
 After the linen is well washed with plenty of lukewarm water the 
 first time, it is to be put into a fresh quantity of water as hot as the 
 hand can easily bear, and washed in this again, examining the- whole 
 carefully to see that no part has been missed ; any such must be again 
 ■washed until the whole is quite clean. 
 
 Boiling . — The next operation after washing is boiling the clothes, 
 in order to produce a good color, and to remove entirely the soap or 
 other detergent matters that have been used, which, if left in, would 
 occasion a disagreeable smell. In the water used for boiling, a little 
 soda is sometimes added in the proportion of half a teaspoonful to a 
 gallon of water. Some enclose the linen in a bag before it is put into 
 the copper to boil, in order to guard it effectually from the scum of 
 the water, which is apt to attach itself. After being boiled for about 
 twenty minutes or half an hour, the linen is taken out, well rinsed in 
 abundance of clean hot water, and afterward in clean cold water 
 which has a sufficient quantity of blue to give the proper tinge. It 
 is then taken out and wrung dry ; and care must be taken that the 
 texture is not injured by the operation. It is then ready to be convey- 
 ed to the place where it is to be hung up and dried. It is necessary 
 to state that, if the operations were commenced by boiling the linen, 
 the dirt would be fixed instead of being removed. .Washing, there- 
 fore, precedes the boiling. 
 
 Washing Woolens . — If you do not wish to have white woolens shrink 
 when washed, make a good suds of hard soap, and wash the flannels 
 in it. Do not rub woolens like cotton cloth, but simply squeeze them 
 between the hands, or slightly pound them with a clothes pounder. 
 The suds used should be strong, and the woolens should be rinsed in 
 warm water. By rubbing flannels on a board and rinsing them in 
 cold water, they soon become very thick. 
 
 It is not the soap suds, nor rinsing waters, that thickens up flannel 3 
 in washing, but the rubbing of it. Cloth is fulled by being “ pounded 
 and jounced” in the stocks of the fulling-mill. Flannel, therefore, 
 should always be washed in very strong soap suds, which will remove 
 the dirt and grease by squeezing, better than hard rubbing will in 
 
830 
 
 PEACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 weak soap suds. It should also be rinsed out of the soap in warm 
 water, and never in cold, as the fibers of the wool do not shrink up 
 as much in warm water after coming out of the warm soap suds. Great 
 care should be taken to rinse the soap completely out of the flannel. 
 This advice will apply to the washing of blankets the same as it does 
 to the washing of flannel. 
 
 To Wash Flannels .—Make two tubs of strong soap suds and wash 
 the pieces while it is as hot as the hands can bear it. Binse in hot, 
 soft water, wring lightly and shake well, and hang where they will 
 dry quickly. Do one piece at a time ; for if allowed to become cold 
 while wet, and then again hot, the flannel will inevitably shrink and 
 become harsh. When nearly dry, fold them very smooth, and press 
 with a hot iron. 
 
 To Wash Prints , DeLaines and Lawns , which will Fade by Using 
 Soap— Make a starch water similar for starching prints ; wash in two 
 waters without any soap, rinse in clean water. If there is green in 
 the fabric, add a little alum to the starch water. 
 
 With respect to printed cottons or muslins, the use of soda is apt 
 to discharge or injure the colors, and is therefore better omitted, using 
 generally soap only. 
 
 To Wash Nankeen so as Pot to Discharge the Color. — Put it to soak 
 for twenty-four hours in cold water into which a handful of salt has 
 been put ; then wash it in warm lye without soap, and do not wring 
 :t. 
 
 To Clean Silk and Other Fabrics. — Silks are best, next the skin, for 
 some persons. Wash them by spreading on a board smoothly; rub 
 on white soap ; brush with a hard brush ; then brush off with cold 
 water applied to both sides. A little alum in the last water prevents 
 colors from running. Grease stains are removed from silks by using 
 equal parts of alcohol and camphene ; never wring silk after washing, 
 because the creases thus made will always remain. While “ burning 
 fluid/’ which is a mixture of alcohol and turpentine removes grease 
 and other stains from light colored silks and gloves, sour milk is good 
 for bleaching linen ; but grease is best removed from carpets with 
 strong cold soap suds, thus avoiding the danger of camphene. Life 
 has been lost by keeping oxalic acid in the house to remove ink and 
 iron stains ; but as it is only suitable for white fabrics (it should be 
 plainly labelled and marked “ poison,” in large letters if kept in the 
 house,) it is better to use the juice of lemons or of sorrel leaves, es- 
 pecially as the oxalic acid eats the fabric, unless immediately and 
 thoroughly washed off. 
 
WASHING, SCOURING, AND RENOVATING CLOTHING. 
 
 831 
 
 Persons have been suffocated by inhaling the fumes of burning sul- 
 phur, when used to bleach out colors and stains of fruits and vegeta- 
 bles particularly, hence the fumes should be conveyed to the stained 
 spot by means of a funnel shaped paper roll; but it is safer to dip 
 stained fabrics in sour milk, then dry in the sun, repeating the opera- 
 tion until the bleaching is perfected. 
 
 A good authority says that the pulp of potatoes scraped into water 
 cleanses the finest kinds of silks without injury to the fabric or color. 
 
 Another way to Clean Silks . — A quarter of a pound of soft soap, two 
 ounces of honey, and a gill of gin: mix these three things well togeth- 
 er, and if too thick add a little more gin. Lay the silk on a board, 
 and with a stiff hat-brush brush it well with the mixture, occasionally 
 dipping the brush in a little cold water to make it froth. Einse it 
 well in cold water, and hang it to drain (without wringing) for a few 
 minutes ; then roll in a towel each piece singly, and iron it wet. 
 
 To Clean Silk Stockings . — Wash your stockings first in white soap 
 liquor, lukewarm, then rinse them in four waters, and work them well 
 in a fresh soap liquor ; then make a third soap liquor, pretty strong, 
 into which put a little stone blue, wrapped in a flannel bag, till your 
 liquor is blue enough. Wash your stockings well therein, and take 
 them out and wring them; let them be dried so that they remain a 
 iittle moist, then stone them with brimstone, after which put upon 
 the wood leg two stockings, one upon the other, observing that the 
 two fronts or outsides are face to face ; then polish them with a glass. 
 
 N. B. — The first two soap liquors must be only lukewarm, the third 
 soap liquor as hot as you can bear your hand in it. 
 
 To take Grease out of Silk . — Eub a lump of magnesia wet over the 
 spot; when dry, brush off the powder, and no grease will be seen. It 
 may be applied to other stuffs. This is an old and well tried remedy. 
 Benzine is the most complete substance to cleanse all fabrics, we have 
 evei seen. 
 
 To Clean whole Silk or Satin Dresses. — Godey's Lady's Book says 
 the safest way to dry-clean a silk or satin dress of any color is to take 
 the body off the skirt and clean each part separately. If the dress is 
 a valuable one take off the sleeves also. When they are cleaned, re- 
 make them ; all the French workmen do it. Have two clean earthen 
 vessels that will hold two gallons each, and put half a gallon of cam- 
 phene in each ; have a smooth board, six feet long and three feet wide, 
 suitable brushes, and four or five clean sheets. Be very particular 
 about the sheets being dry and clean. Your sheeting board is not to 
 be encumbered with all your sheets on it ; have only one on it. Begin 
 
PEACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 8e>» 
 
 by cleaning the body first. Put the body in the first liquor or cam- 
 phene, then lift it on to the board, brush the inside well, and then the 
 outside. When this has been done, put it back in the first liquor of 
 camphene, then in the second, and let it drain over the second a min- 
 ute ; spread a sheet on the board, lay the dress on it, and directly be- 
 gin and rub it dry with clean Indian cotton cloths. While rubbing 
 it, keep it smooth and shape it, so as that, when dry and cleaned, it 
 will look as if it had not been wetted. Take the sleeves next. Clean 
 them in the same manner as the body. The skirt comes next, one af- 
 ter another, and it is to be cleaned exactly in the same manner as the 
 body and the sleeves, by passing it through the two camphene liquors, 
 brushing, and sheeting it up dry before leaving it. Dispatch is the 
 life and soul of this work, as the camphene is of such a drying nature 
 that it requires great expedition in the cleaning. When the dress is 
 done, it must be hung up for some hours in an airy room. The smell 
 of the camphene will come off in a few hours in a very hot stove-room. 
 The best method is to clean the camphene work in the afternoon and 
 hang it in the stove- room all night. 
 
 To Clean Colored Silk Dresses. — Mix six ounces of strained honey 
 with soft soap, then add a pint of gin or whisky. Having taken the 
 
 >ess entirely to pieces, spread each piece on a table, and brush it 
 ov^.T with the mixture, first on one side, then on the other ; use a 
 clothes brush for this purpose, and brush lightly, always straight down 
 the silk. Binse the silk in three different waters, without wringing, 
 and roll each piece in a separate cloth; while still damp, iron on the 
 wrong side with a cool iron. This method will answer for all colors 
 but blue or green. 
 
 To take Stains out of Silks. — Mix together in a phial two ounces of 
 essense of lemon, and one ounce of oil o f turpentine. Grease and other 
 spots in silks are to be rubbed gently with a linen rag dipped in the 
 above composition. 
 
 Another Way . — Salts of ammonia mixed with lime will take out the 
 stains of wins- from silk. Spirits of turpentine, alcohol, and clear am- 
 monia, are all good to remove the stains from colored silks. 
 
 To Remove Stains from Black Silk. — Use spirits of hartshorn. So 
 says a correspondent of the London Pharmaceutical Journal. 
 
 To Restore to Violet Silk the Color Extracted by Acid Juice. — Brush 
 the portion of the fabric with tincture of iodine ; then, after a few 
 seconds, well saturate the spot with a solution of hydrosulphate of soda, 
 and dry gradually ; the color is perfectly restored. 
 
WASHING, SCOURING, AND RENOVATING CLOTHING. 833 
 
 Silk pocket handkerchiefs and deep blue factory will not fade if 
 dipped in salt water while new. 
 
 To Clean Ribbons. — Take equal quantities of alcohol, soft soap, and 
 honey, mix together; spread the ribbon on a table, and rub it on with 
 a cloth or sponge ; it requires considerable rubbing. Rinse it well in 
 several portions of water, till it looks clear. If white ribbon, blue the 
 water. Dry quick, and iron when nearly dry. 
 
 2. To clean ribbons, or silks, take equal quantities of brandy, soap, 
 and molasses ; beat well together ; lay the ribbons on a clean board or 
 table, and rub them well with this upon both sides (till you think they 
 are spoiled ;) rinse in clean rain water till this liquid is all out — then 
 dip them in old (sweet) skimmed milk or glue water, and spread them 
 upon a table to dry. When nearly dry, iron them upon the wrong 
 side with a moderately warm iron, and they will look nearly as well 
 as new. 
 
 3. Take one tablespoonful of brandy ; one do of soft soap ; one do 
 of molasses; mix thoroughly together, place your ribbon upon a 
 smooth board and apply your liquid with a soft brush, after which 
 rinse in cold rain water ; then roll up in a cloth until nearly dry ; iron 
 with a flat not too hot. 
 
 4. Mix equal quantities of alcohol, honey, and soft soap — place the 
 ribbon on a clean white cloth, and rub with a white woolen cloth wet 
 in the mixture. Rinse well in cold soft water. Iron before dry. 
 
 5. Ribbons may b§ washed in cold suds, and not rinsed. 
 
 To Clean Black Veils. — Pass them through a warm liquor of bul- 
 lock’s gall and water ; rinse in cold water ; then take a small piece of 
 glue, pour boiling water on it, and pass the veil through it; clap it, 
 and frame to dry. Instead of framing, it may be fastened with draw- 
 ing-pins closely fixed upon a very clean paste or drawing-board. 
 
 To Restore Old Crape. — A bit of glue dissolved in skim milk and 
 water, will restore old crape. 
 
 Blonde and Lace are among the most difficult things to wash. This, 
 however, may be effected by winding it round a glass bottle in a sin- 
 gle fold, then covering this with two or three folds of muslin. Soak 
 this in clean strong soap suds, and rub and press it through the mus- 
 lin till the dirt is removed. Rinse it well without taking it off, and 
 apply to it a weak solution of gum arabic in water to stiffen it. Dry 
 it nearly by applying to it clean cloths ; and, as it is unrolled, finish 
 by ironing, or glazing with a glass bottle. If the articles are too large 
 for a bottle, a smooth cylinder of hard wood may be used. 
 
 To Raise the Pile on Velvet. — We are sometimes asked “ What is 
 53 
 
834 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPEDIA. 
 
 the best thing to do with a velvet mantle, after it has been in the 
 rain ?” Velvet that is rough and knotty, from rain spots and splash- 
 es, can be rendered smooth again, by thoroughly dampening the back 
 of it, and then passing the back of the velvet over a hot iron — the vel- 
 vet, remember, must be passed over the iron, and not the iron over 
 the velvet. The heat converts the water into steam, which rises 
 through the pile, and so separates every filament. Some contrivance 
 must be made to hold the iron upside down while the velvet is passed 
 over. If rested between two bricks covered with flannel, it will do 
 very well; but if the same pair of hands that carried the umbrella 
 over the mantle when it was out in the rain can be secured for that 
 office, they will be found suitable. 
 
 2. When velvet gets plushed from pressure hold the parts over a 
 basin of hot water, with the lining of the dress next the water ; the 
 pile will soon rise and resume its original beauty. 
 
 To Remove Paint from Silk or Woolen Goods . — Fold some soft 
 cloth several times. Lay the soiled article on it. Wet with benzine, 
 and rub with woolen cloth or sponge. Pour on more benzine and rub 
 again. Repeat as often as may be necessary. The folded cloth will 
 absorb the benzine and grease together. Be careful to prevent spread- 
 ing. Use no more benzine each time than is just sufficient to wet the 
 soiled spot. 
 
 Removing Grease Spots. — A simple agent for removing grease spots 
 from silk and woolen fabrics is very useful. Carbonate of magnesia, 
 saturated with benzole, and spread upon a grease spot to about one- 
 third of an inch in thickness, answers well for this purpose. A sheet 
 of porous paper should be spread upon the benzonated magnesia, and 
 a flat iron, moderately warm, put upon the top of all. The heat of 
 the iron passes through and softens the grease, which is then absorbed 
 by the porous magnesia. The flat iron may be removed in the space 
 of one hour, and the magnesia dust brushed off. Soapstone dust may 
 be used in the same manner and answer nearly as good a purpose. 
 
 If burning-fluid or benzole are used to remove grease or other 
 stains, let it be at least two yards from any blaze of candles, gas, lamp, 
 or fire. Valuable lives are lost every year by neglecting this precau- 
 tion. 
 
 The following method of removing grease and oil spots from silk 
 and other articles, without injury to the colors is given in the Journal 
 des Connaisances TJsuelles: Take the yelk of an egg and put a little 
 of it on the spot, then place over it a piece of white linen, and wet it 
 with boiling water ; rub the linen with the hand, and repeat the pro- 
 
WASHING, SCOURING AND RENOVATING CLOTHING. 835 
 
 cess three or four times, at each time applying fresh boiling water ; 
 the linen is then to be removed, and the part thus treated to be washed 
 with clean cold water. 
 
 To take grease out of velvet or cloth, get some turpentine from the 
 oil shop, and pour it over the place that is greasy ; rub it till quite 
 dry with a piece of clean flannel; if the grease be not quite removed, 
 repeat the application, and when done, brush the place well, and hang 
 up the garment in the open air to take away the smell. 
 
 To remove Grease Spots from Woolen Goods. — One ounce of pulver- 
 ized borax put into one quart of boiling water, and bottled for use, 
 will be found invaluable for this purpose. 
 
 To remove Lamp Oil from Cotton and Woolen Goods. — Bub in thor- 
 oughly with the hand some clean fresh lard ; let it remain for two or 
 three hours, then apply soft soap, and wash in warm water. To be 
 depended on. 
 
 To remove Stains of Oil , Wax, Resin, and Pitchy or Resinous Sub- 
 stances. — Alcohol will wash them out ; so will spirits of turpentine, 
 and generally without injury to colors. The turpentine may after- 
 wards be removed with alcohol, as it is liable to leave a slight stain. 
 Common burning fluid which is a mixture of alcohol and turpentine, 
 (or camphene,) is an excellent solvent of oil, wax, tar, resin, &c., and 
 it soon dries off after use. 
 
 To Clean Woolen. — Flannel shirts or other woolens, should have 
 grease spots removed without fulling them up, thus : Put one ox-gall 
 in three gallons of cold water, in which immerse the garment, and 
 squeeze or pound (not wring) it, until the spots are removed ; then 
 thoroughly wash in cold water, else the odor of the gall becomes very 
 disagreeable. • 
 
 To remove Spots of Grease from Silk or Cotton Dresses without hurt- 
 ing the Color. — An excellent method. Grate raw potatoes into water, 
 so as to form a pulp ; pass the liquid through a sieve into another ves- 
 sel of water, and let the potato subside. Pour the clear liquor from 
 the top, which may be bottled for use. Dip a sponge or small brush 
 in this, and wet the spot till it disappears ; then wash it in clean wa- 
 ter. Be very careful not to wet more than the spot, as there is dan- 
 ger of discharging the color. Spirits of turpentine is, perhaps, the 
 safest thing for this purpose ; apply this with a bit of sponge, and rub 
 it with a clean linen rag; the turpentine will dissolve the grease, and 
 the rag will absorb it. A little essence of lemon will correct the smell 
 of the turpentine. 
 
 Volatile Soap for removing Paint , Grease Spots, <§c. — Four table- 
 
836 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 spoonfuls of spirits of hartshorn, four tablespoonfuls of alcohol, and a 
 tablespoonful of salt. Shake the whole well together in a bottle, and 
 apply with a sponge or brush. 
 
 To take Spots of Oil Paint from Clothes . — The paint may be re- 
 moved before it becomes dry and hard, by brushing the part with soap 
 and water, or more effectually by turpentine or benzine; but after the 
 paint has become dry and hard, soap will not remove it. The spot 
 should then be touched with turpentine applied with a pointed stick ; 
 this should remain for some time, till the turpentine has dissolved the 
 hardened oil and loosened the paint. When the place is dry, it may 
 be rubbed between the fingers, and the color will crumble off in loose 
 powder. The smell of the turpentine will go off in a day or two, but 
 may be removed sooner by laying a piece of brown paper on it, and 
 applying a hot iron, or by spirits of wine. Benzine will remove paint 
 and grease from clothing. 
 
 Pitch or Tar must be removed by spirits of turpentine, either from 
 cloth or from the hands. 
 
 To Remove Fresh Ink Spots .— Cover the part stained with, or sub- 
 merge it under a little warm milk — the newer the better — for from 
 five to ten minutes ; then rinse and wash with soft water. It is a very 
 cheap and simple process, and efficacious. 
 
 Recent Stains of Ink may be nearly removed if, before the ink is 
 dry, the places be washed with plenty of water after a sponge has been 
 used, to take up as much of the ink as possible : if this does not suc- 
 ceed, rub the part with lemon juice, tartaric acid, or purified wood 
 vinegar, and after that wash it with soap and water. 
 
 To take Ink Stains out of Lmen . — There are various chemicals ca- 
 pable of extracting ink stains from linen, but the most simple and con- 
 venient, when the stain is comparatively fresh is the juice of lemons 
 applied to the spots, then washed out with warm water. Some use 
 common salt with the lemon juice, but this is of no use unless the sail 
 is decomposed by the cittiac acid of lemon uniting with the soda of 
 salt, thereby setting its chlorine free, which is a most powerful bleach- 
 ing agent. Lemon juice was long used — and is by some yet — by strav 
 hat bleachers for removing iron stains from Leghorn hats, but oxalic 
 acid has nearly superceded it. The latter is much superior, but is 
 dangerous to keep in families where there are children, as it is a poi- 
 son. Muriatic acid (old spirit of salt) is a more powerful extractoi 
 of ink stains than either cittiac oi oxalic acids, but is unsafe in the 
 hands of others than experts. 
 
 “Salt a Universal Remedy .” — A writer says: “I had just finished 
 
WASHING, SCOURING, AND RENOVATING CLOTHING. 
 
 837 
 
 reading Prof. Johnson’s remarks on Mr. Cleveland’s theory of salt as 
 a 1 universal expounder ’ and a ( universal remedy ’ when over went my 
 inkstand on a beautiful light-drab table cover, to my great consterna- 
 tion, as my wife had often cautioned me against this very thing. I 
 rushed for the salt-cellar, and emptied its contents over the black mass 
 of ink, and in five minutes the stain had wholly disappeared ; I 
 doubted Mr. Cleveland’s theory before, but ought I to doubt it any 
 longer ? 
 
 “ One thing is certain, whether salt be a universal remedy or not, 
 viz : It will surely, if applied immediately, prevent ink stains.” 
 
 To Remove, Rust Stains from Linen or Cotton. — Wash the cloth 
 through one suds, and rinse. While wet, rub ripe tomato juice on tho 
 spots. Expose it to hot sunshine until nearly dry, and wash in anoth- 
 er suds. 
 
 Another Way. — Dissolve oxalic acid in warm water ; spread tho 
 linen in the sunlight and apply the acid to the spot, which will very 
 soon disappear. It will remove many other stains. As the acid is 
 a poison, it must be kept from children’s reach. If too strong, it will 
 injure the fabric itself. It should be well washed out almost as soon 
 as applied. 
 
 For taking out Iron Rust and Yellow Stains. — Dip the articles in 
 a strong solution of Tartaric acid and lay thejn exposed to the 
 sun. 
 
 Stains from Vegetable Substances, as Fruit , Wines, $c., may be re- 
 moved by simple washing, if that can be done before the stain is dry ; 
 but after that the coloring matter adheres with more force, and is some- 
 times difficult to remove. If the stain be recent, it may be destroy- 
 ed sometimes by rubbing on a little alkali, as soda or pearlash ; but a 
 mixture of ammonia and spirits of wine is safer ; the spots should be 
 soaked in it some time. Some faint stains left may be destroyed by 
 moistening the cloth and holding the spots, at a distance, over the 
 fumes of a brimstone match. 
 
 Some recommend putting salt upon the part as soon as the accident 
 has happened, and probably the stain may come out in the washing. 
 Rubbing on the stained part immediately soap and whiting is also 
 recommended ; after which it must be well bleached in the air. Some 
 b tains may be removed by sour buttermilk. 
 
 If the fruit'^stains have been long in, rub the part on each side with 
 yellow soap, then put on thick starch in cold water and rub it well in ; 
 hang the linen in the air, exposed to the sun for three or four days, 
 and, if that is not sufficient, repeat the process. 
 
838 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 To Remove Mildew from Linen. — Moisten a piece of soap, and rub 
 it on the parts affected. Then rub over the parts with whiting ; lay 
 the linen on the grass, and from time to time, as it becomes dry, wet 
 it a little ; or, 
 
 .Dip the articles in soft soap, whether linen or cotton, and spread 
 them in the sun, on the grass ; or, 
 
 Mix soft soap with powdered starch, half as much salt and the juice 
 of a lemon ; apply it to the stain with a brush on both sides of the 
 linen ; let the stained article lay on the grass day and night till the 
 stain comes out. 
 
 Iron Moulds may be removed by dipping the linen in sour butter- 
 milk, and then drying it in a hot sun ; wash it in cold water, repeat 
 this three or four times. 
 
 Stains Caused by Acids may be removed by tying some pearlash up 
 in the stained part ; scrape some soap in cold soft water, and boil the 
 linen till the stain is gone. 
 
 To Restore the Nap in places where clothes have been worn thread- 
 bare, a process may be occasionally resorted to which is employed by 
 dealers in old clothes. They soak the clothes in cold water for half 
 an hour, and then, having laid it upon a smooth board, they raise 
 the nap by rubbing it with a thistle called a teazle, used by man- 
 ufacturers of cloth. The nap is then brushed in one direction to 
 lay it. 
 
 To Sulphur Silks, Woolens, Straw Bonnets, c § e. — The fumes of sul- 
 pher, consisting of the sulphureous acid gas, have a powerful effect 
 in destroying color ; and are therefore, much employed in whitening 
 various substances. The way of manging it is as follows : Provide a 
 large box or cask to hang the clothes in, and on the bottom of the box 
 place a small chafing dish with some lighted charcoal ; upon this strew 
 some brimstone, and cover up the box close, leaving the things to 
 hang for several hours. 
 
 To CleanWhite, Brown, or Fawn- Colored Feathers. — Dissolve some 
 fine white soap in boiling soft water, and add a small bit of pearlash. 
 When the water is just cold enough for the hand to bear it, pass the 
 feathers several times through it, squeezing them gently with the 
 hand. Repeat the same process with a weaker solution of soap, and 
 then rinse the feathers in cold water, beating across the left hand for 
 about ten minutes, to expel the water ; when they are nearly dry, 
 draw each fibre or flue over the edge of a small blunt knife, turning it 
 round in the direction you want the curl to go ; then, if the feather 
 is to be flat, put it between the leaves of a book to press it. 
 
'WASHING, SCOURING, AND RENOVATING CLOTHING. 
 
 839 
 
 Black Feathers may be cleaned with water and some gall, proceed- 
 ing as with the last. 
 
 Wash-Leather Gloves , as their name implies, may be easily washed 
 with soap and water; when nearly dry, the fingers should be stretched 
 with a piece of wood. 
 
 White and Colored Kid Gloves are more difficult to clean ; but it is 
 said they may be cleaned perfectly by laying them on a clean towel, 
 rubbing them with a piece of flannel dipped in a hot, strong lather of 
 white soap, till the dirt is removed, using as little water as possible. 
 Hang them up at a distance from the fire to dry gradually, and after 
 they are quite dry, pull out the shrivels and stretch them on the 
 hand. 
 
 To Clean Gloves lay them on a clean board, and first rub the sur- 
 face gently with a clean sponge and some camphene, or a mixture of 
 camphene and alcohol. Now dip each glove into a cup containing the 
 camphene, lift it out, squeeze it in the hand, and again rub it gently 
 with the sponge, to take out all the wrinkles. After this gather up 
 the cuff in the hand, and blow into it to puff out the fingers, when it 
 may be hung up with a thread to dry. This operation should not be 
 conducted near the fire, owing to the inflammable nature of the cam- 
 phene vapor. 
 
 To Clean Kid Gloves. — The following directions are from Septimus 
 Piesse : It is not white gloves alone that require cleaning ; green, buff, 
 mauve, and light gloves are always fashionable, but they soon soil, 
 and thus lose their beauty long before they are worn out. To clean 
 such gloves : — Take two ounces of white curd soap, or of cold cream 
 soap ; a quarter of an ounce of carbonate of potass ; four fluid ounces 
 of water ; and one drachm of carbonate of ammonia. Cut the soap 
 up fine, and boil it gently in water ; when of a uniform paste, add the 
 ammonia and the carbonate of potass, and stir the mass well together. 
 Then put it into ajar, and when cold it will set. The directions for 
 use are : — Bub the paste on the gloves (upon the hand) with clean soft 
 flannel, and as the dirt disappears use more clean paste and flannel. 
 If the paste gets hard add hot water. 
 
 The Scientific American recommends that when kid gloves are stain- 
 ed with grease and dirt they may be cleaned with a composition of 
 benzole containing a few drops of ether. The gloves are to be laid 
 upon a board, then rubbed with a sponge containing the fluid, after 
 which they are dipped in the fluid, squeezed, rubbed with the sponge 
 dry upon the board, then expanded by blowing into the opening for 
 the hand, and when all the fingers are opened full they are hung up 
 
840 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 to dry. This cleaning operation will not restore faded colors. Com- 
 mon burning fluid, composed of four parts of alcohol and one part of 
 turpentine will answer for cleaning kid gloves nearly as well as the 
 benzole fluid. In using such fluid care must be exercised to conduct 
 the operation at a distance from fire, as the vapor which is generated 
 is very combustible, and will explode if ignited. 
 
 Godey's Lady's Book says kid gloves may be cleaned by placing 
 them on a board, and stretching out their fingers ; then take a mixture 
 of ten parts of alcohol and two parts of turpentine, and rub them with 
 this, using a soft sponge for the purpose, which will remove the grease 
 and dirt, and not injure the color ; all the dirt and liquid must be 
 pressed out of the gloves with the sponge, by squeezing it in the hand, 
 then rubbing it on the gloves to absorb the liquid, till no more can be 
 taken up. Both the outside and inside of the gloves are to be treated 
 thus ; they are to be dried in a moderately dry oven, and the fingers 
 stretched to preven t shrinking. 
 
 To 'Wash a Thread Lace Collar. — Take an empty wine bottle, push 
 it into the leg of a stocking, and tie a string round the stocking at 
 each end of the bottle, so that it will fill the bottle tightly. "Now 
 baste your collar on to the stocking ; the more carefully basted the 
 edges are the greater will be your success. Carry the collar round 
 and round the bottle, allowing it to retain its shape easily. Soap well, 
 and let it soak over night ; rinse with hot water in the morning, and 
 allow it to dry on the bottle ; when taken off it will look as good as 
 new and need no ironing. 
 
 To Clean Gold and Silver Lace, — Sew it in clean linen cloth, boil it 
 in a pint of soft water and two ounces of soap, and wash it in cold 
 water ; if it be tarnished, apply a little warm spirits of wine to the 
 tarnished parts. 
 
 Collars, Under-sleeves and Handkerchiefs, of very fine muslin or 
 lace, will not bear much squeezing when washed. They can be made 
 perfectly white and clean without either, or by the following process : 
 Binse them carefully through clear water, then soap them well with 
 white soap, place flat in dish or saucer, and cover with water ; place 
 them in the sun. Let them remain two or three days, changing the 
 water frequently, and turning them. Once every day take them out, 
 rinse carefully, soap and place in fresh water. The operation is a 
 tedious and rather troublesome one, but the finest embroidery or lace 
 comes out perfectly white, and is not worn at all, where, in common 
 washing, it would be very apt to tear. When they are white, rinse and 
 starch in the usual way. 
 
STARCHING AND IRONING. 
 
 841 
 
 STARCHING AND IRONING. 
 
 Gum Arabic Starch. — Take two ounces of fine white gum arahic 
 powder, put it into a pitcher, and pour on it a pint or more of boiling 
 water (according to the degree of strength you desire,) and then hav- 
 ing covered it, let it set all night. In the morning pour it carefully 
 from the dregs into a clean bottle, cork it, and keep it for use. A ta- 
 blespoonful of gum water stirred into a pint of starch, that has been 
 made in the usual manner, will give always (white, black or printed) 
 a look of newness when nothing else can restore them after washing. 
 It is also good, much diluted, for thin white muslin. 
 
 Starch Polish. — Take equal parts of white wax and spermaceti; 
 melt them together, and run them into thin cakes on plates. A piece 
 the size of a cent added to a quart of prepared starch gives a lustre 
 to the clothes, and prevents the iron from sticking. 
 
 Horse Chestnut Starch. — The Boston Traveler says : Dr. Jewett has 
 left in the counting room of the Traveler , where it may be seen by 
 those interested in the matter, an ounce or two of fine starch, extract- 
 ed from only eight horse chestnuts, picked up in the street. The ex- 
 periment shows this nut to be so abundant in starch, that it may rea- 
 dily be turned to valuable account. 
 
 The Best Starch will keep good in a dry, warm room for some 
 years. 
 
 Glossing Linen. — Inquiry is frequently made respecting the mode 
 of putting a gloss on linen collars and shirt bosoms, like that on new 
 linen. This gloss, or enamel as it is sometimes called, is produced 
 mainly by friction with a warm iron, and may be put on linen by al- 
 most any person. The linen to be glazed receives as much strong 
 starch as it is possible to charge it with, then it is dried. To each 
 pound of starch a piece of sperm, parrafine, or white wax, about the 
 size of a walnut, is usually added. When ready to be ironed the lin- 
 en is laid upon the table, and moistened very slightly on the surface 
 with a clean wet cloth. It is then ironed in the usual way with a flat 
 iron, and is ready for the glossing operation. For this purpose a pe- 
 culiar heavy flat iron, rounded at the bottom and polished as bright 
 as a mirror, is used. It is pressed firmly upon the linen and rubbed 
 with much force, and this frictional action puts on the gloss. “ Elbow 
 grease ” is the principal secret connected with the art. 
 
 Flat Irons. — If they are rough, rub them well with fine salt, and it 
 will make them smooth. 
 
842 
 
 PEACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 SOAPS, WASHING- FLUIDS, POWDEES, ETC. 
 
 Soap should be cut into pieces when first brought in, and kept out 
 of the air for two or three weeks ; for, if it dries quickly, it will crack, 
 and, when wet, break. Put it on a shelf, leaving a space between 
 each piece, and let it grow hard gradually ; thus it will save a full 
 third in the consumption ; but, for coarse washing soap soft will go 
 further than the hard. 
 
 Washing Soap — Two pounds bar soap, one ounce borax. Shave the 
 soap fine. Put that and the borax in one quart of water, and simmer 
 till well mixed. One-fourth of a pound of this compound is sufficient 
 for a washing for six persons. Soak the clothes a few hours, and then 
 put in the soap and boil thirty minutes, and then rinse in two or three 
 waters, and hang out. If the clothes should not be clean enough after 
 boiling, a little rubbing will generally suffice. 
 
 Labor Saving Soap . — To dissolve hard soap, or common soft soap, 
 add caustic alkali made by dissolving soda in water, and adding there- 
 to an equal weight of slacked lime, then stirring the two together, al- 
 low the lime to settle and afterward pour the clear liquor among the 
 soap. One pound of soda is sufficient for two gallons of soap. Good 
 for greasy, waste and coarse cotton articles, but tends to render fine 
 linens yellow in appearance. 
 
 'How to Make Hard Soap . — Take six pounds ^of soda, six pounds of 
 fat, three pounds of lime, and four gallons of water. Put the soda, 
 lime and water in the boiler, and boil them. Then take it out in some- 
 thing to settle ; then put the fat in the boiler and add the water (leav- 
 ing the settlings behind.) Boil about half an hour, or until it is 
 thick. Then take it out to cool, when it is ready to cut as is desired. 
 
 2. The lady who furnishes this says it has been in use in her fami- 
 ly for several years, and she never knew it to fail of producing a su- 
 perior article for all purposes. 
 
 Five pounds of lime slaked in twelve quarts of boiling water, five 
 pounds of sal soda dissolved in twelve quarts of water ; mix it to- 
 gether and let it stand from twenty-four to forty-eight hours. Dip 
 off all the water free from lime ; add to it (the water) three and a 
 half pounds of clean grease ; let it boil up, then add two ounces of 
 resin, and boil the whole till it thickens, which usually takes three or 
 four hours. Have ready a tub, or other convenient vessel, wet ; pour 
 in the soap, and when cold cut in bars, and dry well before using, and 
 I will add that no one need be alarmed at the shrunken and shrivelled 
 
SOAPS, WASHING FLUIDS, POWDERS, ETC. 843 
 
 appearance it assumes during this process, or imagine that it has lost 
 any of its good qualities because it does not look “ as good as new.” 
 
 3. Pour four gallons of boiling water over six pounds of washing 
 soda and three pounds of unslaked lime. Stir the mixture well, and 
 let it settle until perfectly clear. When clear, strain the water and 
 put six pounds of fat with it, and boil two hours, stirring it most of 
 the time. If it does not seem thin enough, put another gallon of wa- 
 ter on the grounds, stir and drain off, and add as is wanted to the 
 boiling mixture. Its thickness can be tested by occasionally putting 
 a little on a plate to cool. Stir in a handful of salt just before taking 
 off the fire. Have a tub ready soaked, to prevent the soap from stick- 
 ing ; pour it in and let it settle until solid. 
 
 4. Take two pounds clear grease to one pound resin ; make this in- 
 to soft soap, and while it is boiling, to every ten gallons of soap add 
 one gallon of salt. Boil one hour after adding the salt. When it is 
 done boiling, the soap will be at the top and the ley at the bottom. 
 Skim off the soap ; keep it and gently stir it in a leaky vessel so that 
 the ley will all run out the same as buttermilk does out of butter ; 
 then work the soap as butter is worked, until it is as thick as hasty 
 pudding ; then set it away to cool. Turpentine or tar will answer 
 instead of resin, but are not so good. Any refuse salt is good enough, 
 or old pickle. 
 
 5. Omit the resin, and make as above. When the soap is skimmed 
 off, and the ley all drained out, add boiling water to the soap, three 
 parts water to four of soap ; stir well together, and continue to stir it 
 gently as long as it is thin enough to settle level. 
 
 6. Four gallons of water, six pounds of washing soda, six pounds 
 of clean fat, three and one-half pounds of stone lime. Put the lime 
 and soda in the water and boil until the soda is dissolved ; then pour 
 it into a tuo and let it settle : then pour off the water gently with as 
 little lime as possible ; then add the fat and boil it until done. Take 
 a little out in a saucer, and if no water remains under when cold it is 
 done. Pour it in deep pans, or a tub, and when cold cut in bars. 
 
 To Make Hard Soajp of Soft . — Heat the soap and add common salt, 
 a little at a time. Take out a little occasionally and try it by cooling 
 in a dish — when sufficiently settled, a thick scum will rise to the sur- 
 face. Allow it to cool in tubs ; some liquid will settle at the bottom, 
 but the greater part will be hard, and can be cut into bars and dried. 
 It improves by age and drying. 
 
 2. Take three pailfuls (twelve quart pails) of common soft soap, 
 add five pints of salt. Heat them together and stir them well and 
 
844 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 thoroughly, Set the mixture aside to cool and harden. Take the 
 hard soap from the top, and put to it one and a half pailfuls of weak 
 lye and two and a half pints of salt. Heat and stir well together, 
 and cool as before. Again remove the soap, melt it and pour it intc 
 any shaped moulds you choose. 
 
 Shaker Flan of Making Soap. — The trustees of Shaker Village, 
 N. H., give to the Scientific American the following easy and cheap 
 method of making soft soap : “ Place a shallow iron kettle, to hold 
 from four to six barrels just out of the wash room, under cover of a 
 shed. Extend half or three-quarters inch pipe for steam to the mid- 
 dle of the bottom, bending it to form of surface, and terminating with 
 open end. Take another pipe to discharge cold water over the top of 
 the kettle. Use the best quality of ‘ first sorts ’ of potash in the pro- 
 portion of six pounds of potash to seven pounds of grease for a barrel 
 of forty gallons. Break up the potash into small lumps and dissolve 
 it in, say, two pails of hot water to twenty-four pounds. It dissolves 
 rather slowly when potash is good. When dissolved, put the solution 
 into the kettle and add the grease quite warm, and stir the mixture 
 together. Allow it to stand over night if convenient. In the morn- 
 ing apply a moderate jet of steam until the mixture appears ropy, or 
 rather, soapy. Shut off the steam and open the cold water valve, stir- 
 ring the mixture as the water runs, until the kettle is full, or the re- 
 quired quantity obtained for the materials used. My man makes an 
 excellent article, and never fails. The materials for forty gallons of 
 soap cost, at present prices, sixty-four cents, the labor nothing, as the 
 man is not hindered by making it.” 
 
 Pure White Soap is composed of fatty acid, and alkali, and water. 
 In one hundred parts of soap there are sixty-three of fatty acid, six 
 and a half of alkali, and thirty and a half of water. The process of 
 making hard soap is not so simple as that of soft soap. White or curd 
 soap is made of the finest tallow or suet only, and boiled to a thicker 
 consistency than other soaps upon a stronger alkaline lye, and before 
 it is put into the frame to cool it requires crutching. This consists in 
 stirring it about in an intermediate vessel between the boiler and cool- 
 ing frame, to break and mix the curd. Nothing but the best materi- 
 als are used for this soap. 
 
 All our common brown soaps contain resin, which, though not gen- 
 erally held to be an adulteration, makes imperfect soap. 
 
 The most convenient and cheap alkali for making soap is sal soda. 
 It must be prepared for use by dissolving it in about five times its 
 weight of water then adding half its weight of fresh slaked lime. The 
 
SOAPS, WASHING FLUIDS, POWDERS, ETC. 845 
 
 carbonic acid leaves the soda, unites with the lime, and forms chalk, 
 which sinks to the bottom of the vessel. The clear liquor is caustic 
 soda lye, fit to be boiled with tallow, oil or fat, to make soap. Any 
 person may make hard soap from soda lye by a very simple appara- 
 tus, viz : a wash tub, and a small tin or iron boiler. Tallow, suet, 
 lard, oils, resin, fat from deceased animals, and boiled bones, are the 
 most common materials employed in soap making. 
 
 Washing Fluid . — Stir equal weights of common soda and fresh 
 slacked lime in water, then allow the sediment to settle to the bottom 
 of the vessel. The clear lye thus made is the well-known “ washing 
 fluid,” and it is the lye that is employed for making hard soap by 
 boiling oil or grease with it for several hours. 
 
 Another . — One gallon water, one pound washing soda, quarter of a 
 pound unslacked lime. Simmer twenty minutes. When cool, pour 
 off the clear fluid into glass or stone ware; it will ruin earthenware. 
 If the clothes are very dirty, put them in soak over night ; wring 
 them out in the morning ; soap them, and put them into the wash 
 kettle, with enough water to cover them. To a common sized kettle 
 or boiler full, put a teacupful of fluid. Boil half an hour, then wash 
 well through one suds, and rinse thoroughly in two waters. 
 
 It is good also for cleaning paint. A very little put in the water 
 will remove grease or fly stains, much better than soap. Too much 
 of it will remove the paint also. 
 
 Another . — The following is a good and economical washing fluid : 
 Dissolve one pound of soda in one quart of hot water, and add to it 
 four quarts of lime-water ; when this settles pour off the clear. Next 
 dissolve three ounces of borax in one quart of boiling water, and add 
 to it the five quarts of clear water. When cold dissolve it in two or 
 three ounces of pulverized carbonate of ammonia. Put it in bottles, 
 and keep it tightly corked. Use half a pint, or less, to about five gal- 
 lons of water ; put it, with some soap, into the tub of clothes the night 
 before washing day, or a short time before boiling the clothes. Many 
 who are in the habit of using washing fluids do not appear to be aware 
 of their nature and specific objects. They are intended to provide a 
 slight excess of alkali to combine with the grease and dirt of the 
 clothes. They should be sparingly used at best, and wholly discarded 
 in washing laces and fine linens. Good soap suds of sufficient strength 
 make the best washing fluid for fine white textile fabrics. The chlo- 
 ride of soda makes an excellent fluid for whitening linen that has be- 
 come yellow in color, and as a washing fluid inferior to none. The 
 use of strong caustic alkalies imparts a yellowish tinge to fine linens 
 
846 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 and tends to injure them, and therefore should be used, if at all, with 
 much caution. 
 
 Washing fluid containing spirits of turpentine is said to be injurious 
 to the health of persons using it, in some instances relaxing and 
 weakening the joints of the hands and arms and affecting the whole 
 system. 
 
 Another. — Take half a pound of unslaked lime, one pound of soda, 
 two quarts of soft soap — slake the lime with two quarts of boiling wa- 
 ter, and let it stand until settled. Dissolve the soda with two quarts 
 of boiling water. Pour off the lime water, being careful not to let 
 any lime go in. Mix the lime water with the soda and soap, and then 
 stir together. Apply this preparation to the clothes, the same as soft 
 soap, and boil them. They will need but little rubbing. This is said 
 to be very superior. 
 
 Washing Powder. — One-quarter of a pound of borax to one gallon 
 of soft soap dissolved in one gallon of water. Apply as usual to the 
 clothes, and soak at least two hours before washing. 
 
 Borax for Washing and Bleaching. — One of the best bleaching and 
 emollient agents that can be employed in washing, either the person 
 or clothing, is common refined borax. It should be dissolved in hot 
 water at the rate of half a pound to ten gallons ; a great saving in 
 soap is effected by its use. The borax should be pulverized first. It 
 may be procured in the form of crystals at any druggists, and can be 
 powdered with a rolling pin, or a hammer ; it will not injure the most 
 delicate fabric; and laces or other fine tissues may be washed in a so- 
 lution of borax with manifest advantage to their color and con- 
 sistency. 
 
 The Lady s Book remarks that the wife of an American Agricul- 
 turist has been experimenting on soaps, and finds that the addition 
 of three-quarters of an ounce of borax to a pound of soap, melted in 
 without boiling, makes a saving of one-half in cost of soaps, and three- 
 fourths the labor of washing, and improves the whiteness of fabrics ; 
 besides, the usual caustic effect is removed, and the hands are left 
 with a peculiar soft and silky feeling, leaving nothing more to be de- 
 sired by the most ambitious washerwoman. 
 
 More about Borax for Washing. — A London paper, The Field , says : 
 The washerwomen of Holland and Belgium, so proverbially clean, and 
 who get up their linen so proverbially white, use refined borax as a 
 washing powder instead of soda, in the proportion of a large handful 
 of borax powder to about ten gallons of boiling water ; they save in 
 soap nearly half. All the large washing establishments adopt the 
 
HOUSEHOLD CLEANING. 
 
 847 
 
 same mode. For laces, cambrics, &c., an extra quantity of the pow- 
 der is used, and for crinolines, required to be made very stiff, a strong 
 solution is necessary. Borax being a neutral salt, does not in the 
 slightest degree injure thfe texture of the linen; its effect is to soften 
 the hardest water, and, therefore it should be kept on every toilette 
 table. To the taste it is rather sweet, is used for cleansing the hair, 
 is. an excellent dentrifice, and in hot countries is used in combination 
 with tartaric acid and bi-carbonate of soda as a cooling beverage. 
 Good tea can not be made with hard water ; all water may be made 
 soft by adding a teaspoonful of borax powder to an ordinary sized ket- 
 tle of water, in which it should boil. The saving in the quantity 6f 
 tea used will be at least one-fifth. 
 
 Soda , by softening the water saves a great deal of soap. It should 
 be melted in a large jug or pail of water, some of which pour into the 
 tubs and boiler. 
 
 Many good laundresses advise soaping linen into warm w T ater the 
 night previous to washing, as facilitating the operation, and less fric- 
 tion being required. 
 
 HOUSEHOLD CLEANING. 
 
 Cleaning the Sides of Apartments . — As oil paint is injured by too 
 frequetft scouring, it is necessary to use every means which may 
 render the scouring of paint rarely needful ; first, by cleaning the 
 walls, edges, and mouldings from all lodgments of dust, frequently 
 sweeping and daily dusting them. Partial washing of spots and stains 
 on oil paint may prevent the necessity of more frequent general scour- 
 ings. Every week examine the paint, and remove with a flannel and 
 soap and water any spots upon it, finger marks, &c., within reach ; 
 having wiped them awav with the flannel, taking care to wipe those 
 parts dry, so as not to leave it visible when the cleaning has been 
 done. 
 
 In washing or scouring paint little soap should be used, the alkali 
 of the soap having a tendency to injure oil paint. But water alone is 
 not sufficient. After scouring with the brush and soap, plenty of wa- 
 ter should be used to wash off what remains of the soap : otherwise, 
 if left on the paint, it will cause its decay. 
 
 The parts of stairs painted in oil which are not covered with carpet 
 should be washed weekly with warm water and two sponges ; one to 
 
848 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 wasli, the other to dry the stairs with ; by using sponges the edges of 
 the stair carpet are not so likely to be injured as by a brush or scouring 
 flannel. 
 
 To Clean Paint — Smear a piece of flannel in common whiting, mix- 
 ed to the consistency of common paste, in warm water. Kub the sur- 
 face to be cleaned quite briskly, and wash off with pure cold water. 
 Grease spots will, in this way, be almost instantly removed, as well 
 as other filth, and the -paint will retain its brilliancy and beauty un- 
 impaired. 
 
 For Cleaning Floor Boards. — By scrubbing them with a mixture 
 made by dissolving unslaked lime in boiling water. The proportions 
 are two tablespoonfuls to a quart of water. No soap need be used. 
 
 To Scour Floor Boards. — Lime one part, sand three parts, soft soap 
 two parts. Binse with clean water, and rub dry. Gives good color, 
 and keeps away vermin. 
 
 To Clean Grease from Floors. — Spread over the stain a thick coat 
 of soft soap, then pass a heated flat iron a few times across it, after 
 which, wash immediately with clean warm water. 
 
 For removing spots of grease from boards, take equal parts of ful- 
 lers’ earth and pearlash — a quarter of a pound of each — and boil in a 
 quart of soft water, and, while hot, lay it on the greased parts, allow- 
 ing it to remain on them for ten or twelve hours, after which it may 
 be scoured off with sand and water. A floor much spotted with grease 
 should be completely washed over with this mixture the day before it 
 is scoured. Fullers’ earth and ox-gall boiled together form a very 
 powerful cleansing mixture for floors or carpets. Spirits of turpentine 
 rubbed for a short time forcibly on grease spots, dissolve the grease 
 in the floor, and make it readily unite with pearlash or soap, with 
 either of which the parts should be afterward washed. Drops of tal- 
 low may be scraped off. 
 
 Stains of Ink Dried in Floors , are difficult to eradicate. Strong 
 vinegar or salts of lemon will remove them* Strong muriatic acid, or 
 spirits of salts, applied with a piece of cloth ; afterwards well washed 
 with water : will take ink out of boards. 
 
 Bed Wine Stains on Boards may be removed by laying on them a 
 strong solution of soda. If this be not sufficient, the chloride of lime 
 or “ bleaching liquid,” will remove them. 
 
 The Droppings from Stove Pipes , where wood is burnt, leave very 
 persistent stains. Oxalic acid will remove the iron, and when tho 
 spot is then well washed, ammonia may take up what is soluble. 
 
 To make Grease Balls. — Shave down half a pound of white soap, 
 
HOUSEHOLD CLEANING. 
 
 849 
 
 and mix it with three ounces of fullers’ earth powdered ; then mix to- 
 gether three ounces of ox-gall and two ounces of spirits of turpentine; 
 with this moisten the soap and fullers’ earth till you have a stiff paste. 
 Mix it thoroughly, and beat it well. Make it into balls with your 
 hands, and place the balls where they will dry slowly. To use it, 
 scrape down a sufficiency, and spread it on the grease spot. Let it 
 rest awhile ; then brush it off, and scrape and apply some more. A 
 few applications will generally remove the grease. 
 
 Cleaning Door Knobs. — To secure the paint around them when 
 cleaning, place a piece of pasteboard with a hole cut to encircle them, 
 and a slit to slip on. 
 
 Care of and Cleaning Furniture. — It is often necessary to clean 
 mahogany and marble, and restore mahogany varnish. Use no soap 
 on them, but wash them in fair water, and rub them till dry with a 
 clean, soft cloth. A little sweet oil, rubbed on occasionally, gives 
 them a polish. Rub furniture with a cloth dipped in oil, then with a 
 clean cloth till dry and polished. Rubbing with sweet oil will restore 
 spots from which the varnish has been removed. White spots in var- 
 nished furniture may be removed by rubbing them with a warm flan- 
 nel, dipped in spirits of turpentine. Ink spots may be removed by 
 rubbing them with a woolen cloth, dipped in the oil of vitriol and 
 water, being careful to touch only the spots with the vitriol ; rinse 
 them with saleratus water, and then with clear water. Mahogany 
 furniture may be beautifully polished thus : rub it with cold drawn 
 linseed oil, then wipe off the oil, and polish by rubbing smartly with 
 a clean, dry cloth. 
 
 To Remove spots from Furniture. — A hot shovel held over . varnish- 
 ed furniture will take out white spots. Spots in furniture may be 
 easily removed by rubbing them with flannel wet with the same thing 
 that took the color out. White spots on varnished furniture may be 
 removed by rubbing them with a warm flannel, dipped in equal parts 
 of spirits of turpentine and sweet oil. 
 
 Oiling Furniture.— A little sweet oil spread over the surface of 
 varnished furniture, then rubbed until the wood is perfectly dry with 
 a piece of soft silk, gives the surface a beautiful gloss}?’ appearance. 
 
 To take Bruises out of Furniture. — Wet the part with warm water; 
 double a piece of brown paper five or six times, soak it, and lay it on 
 the place; apply on that a hot flat-iron till the moisture is evaporated; 
 if the bruise be not gone, repeat the process. Generally, after two or 
 three applications, the dent or bruise is raised to a level with the sur- 
 face. If the bruise be very small, merely soak it with warm water, 
 54 
 
850 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 and apply a red-hot poker near the surface; keep it constantly wet, 
 and in a few minutes the bruises will disappear. 
 
 To take, Stains out of Mahogany. — Spirits of salts, six parts ; salt of 
 lemons, one part. Mix, then drop a little on the stains, and rub them 
 till they disappear. 
 
 To Clean Cane Chairs. — Sponge them until soaked, with soap and 
 hot water. 
 
 To Clean Sofas and Chairs. — If the covers of sofas and chairs are 
 dirty, they may be cleansed without being removed, by first washing 
 them over with warm water and soap rubbed over with a flannel ; 
 then, belore they are dry, sponge them over with a strong solution of 
 salt and water, in which a small quantity of gall has been mixed. The 
 windows of the room should be opened, so as to secure a perfect dry- 
 ing, and the colors and freshness of the articles will in this way be 
 restored. 
 
 Ottomans and Sofas , whether covered with cloth, damask or chintz, 
 will look much the better for being cleaned occasionally with bran 
 and flannel. 
 
 Rosewood Furniture should be rubbed gently every day with a 
 clean soft cloth to keep it in order. 
 
 To Cleanse Feather Beds. — Bub them over with a stiff brush, dipped 
 in hot soapsuds, when clean, lay them on a shed or other clean place, 
 where the rain will fall on them. When thoroughly soaked, let them 
 dry in a hot sun for six or seven successive days, shaking them up 
 well and turning them over each day. They should be covered over 
 with a thick cloth during the night ; if exposed to the night air they 
 will become damp and mildew. 
 
 To Cleanse Mattresses. — Hair mattresses that have become hard and 
 dirty, can be made nearly as good as new by ripping them, washing 
 the ticking, and picking the hair free from bunches, and keeping it in 
 a dry, airy place several days. Whenever the ticking gets dry, fill it 
 lightly with hair and tack it together. 
 
 Straw matting may be cleaned with a large coarse cloth, dipped in 
 salt and water, and then wiped dry. The salt prevents the matting 
 from turning yellow. 
 
 Cleaning Soiled Carpets. — When soiled, carpets may be cleaned after 
 beating with the following mixture : Two gallons of water, with half a 
 pound of soft soap dissolved in it, to which add four ounces of liquid 
 ammonia ; this may be rubbed on with a flannel, and the carpet then 
 rubbed dry with a coarse cloth. Or, 
 
 2. Take a pail of cold water, and add to it three gills of ox-gall. 
 
HOUSEHOLD CLEANING. 
 
 85 J 
 
 Hub it into the carpet with a soft brush. It will raise a lather ; which 
 must be washed off with clear cold water. Rub dry with a clean 
 cloth. Fullers’ earth is used for cleaning carpets, and weak solution 
 of alum or soda are used for reviving the colors. The crumb of a hot 
 wheaten loaf rubbed over a carpet has been found effective. 
 
 In nailing down a carpet after the floor has been washed, be certain 
 that the floor is quite dry, or the nails will rust and injure the carpet. 
 
 Beat a carpet on the wrong side first ; and then more gently on the 
 right side. Beware of using sticks with sharp points, which may tear 
 the carpet. The oftener carpets are shaken, the longer they wear ; 
 the dirt that collects under them grinds out the threads. 
 
 Sweeping Carpets. — Draw the broom to you with short, quick strokes, 
 taking up the dirt every half-yard in a dust-pan, or at each stair, and 
 thus avoid working the dirt into the cleaner parts. Never use tea- 
 leaves, paper, damp grass, or salt, to collect the dust, let the dust-pan 
 do that. 
 
 It is said that persons who are accustomed to use tea leaves for 
 sweeping their carpets, and find that they leave stains, will do well to 
 employ fresh cut grass instead, as it is better than tea leaves for pre- 
 venting dust, and gives the carpets a Vfery bright fresh look. 
 
 Every one knows that the daily dust arising from sweeping care- 
 lessly, causes a permanent injury to furniture, books, pictures — and 
 the lungs. The old plan of sprinkling the carpet first with damp tea 
 grounds, and then sweeping with a bristle brush was much better than 
 the careless sweeping practiced by some ; but latterly we have found 
 it much easier and more convenient to use one of the new revolving 
 carpet-sweepers, which takes up the dust and puts it away in a box 
 without its rising at all, and without using any moistening applica- 
 tion. They are especially suited to libraries, offices, cabinets, <fcc. 
 
 Treatment of Oil-Cloth. — Oil-cloth ought never to be wetted — if it 
 can be possibly avoided — but merely to be rubbed with a flannel, and 
 polished with a brush of moderate hardness, exactly like a mahogany 
 table, and by this simple means the fading of the colors, and the rot- 
 ting of the canvass, which are inevitably attendant upon the oil- cloth 
 being kept in a state of moisture or dampness, are entirely avoided. 
 
 If oil-cloth is to be washed, let it be first swept, then cleansed with 
 a large soft cloth and lukewarm or cold water, but never scrubbed 
 with a brush; and on no account use soap or hot water, as either will 
 bring off the paint. 
 
 To Clean Wall Paper. — Soiled wall papers may be made to look as 
 well almost & s new in most cases, by the following expedient : take 
 
852 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 about two quarts of wheat bran, tie it in a bundle in coarse flannel, 
 and rub it oyer the paper. It will cleanse the whole paper of all de- 
 scriptions of dirt and spots, much better than any other means that 
 can be used. Some, however, use common wheat bread, and claim it 
 is better than the bran. 
 
 It is said that old paper is very much improved in appearance bj 
 simply rubbing it well with a flannel cloth dipped in Indian meal. 
 
 To Clean Brass. — Rub the surface of the metal with rotten-stone 
 and sweet oil, then rub off with a piece of cotton flannel and polish 
 with soft leather. A solution of oxalic acid rubbed over tarnished 
 brass with a cotton rag soon removes the tarnish, rendering the metal 
 bright. The acid must be washed off with water and the brass rubbed 
 with whitening in powder and soft leather. When acids are employed 
 for removing the oxide from brass, the metal must be thoroughly 
 washed afterwards, or it will tarnish in a few minutes after being ex- 
 posed to the air. A mixture of muriatic acid and alum dissolved in 
 water imparts a golden color to brass articles that are steeped in it for 
 a few seconds. 
 
 Brasses , Britania Metals, Tins , Coders, <§c., are cleaned with a 
 mixture of rotten stone, soft soap, and oil of turpentine, mixed to the 
 consistency of stiff putty. The stone should be powdered very fine and 
 sifted ; and a quantity of the mixture may be made sufficient to last 
 for a long while. The articles should first be washed with hot water, 
 to remove grease. Then a little of the above mixture, mixed with 
 water, should be rubbed over the metal : then rub off briskly, with 
 dry clean rag or leather, and a beautiful polish will be obtained. 
 
 For cleaning brasses belonging to mahogany furniture, either pow- 
 dered whiting or scraped rotten-stone mixed with sweet oil and rubbed 
 on with a buckskin is good. 
 
 Clean a brass kettle, before using it for cooking, with salt and vin- 
 egar. 
 
 To Clean Brass Ornaments. — Wash the brass work with roche al- 
 um boiled to a strong lye, in the proportion of an ounce to a pint. 
 When dry, it must be rubbed with fine tripoli. 
 
 To Clean Marble. — First use soap and whitening ; then rub off and 
 polish with a piece of leather. Iron stains may be removed from mar- 
 ble with a solution of oxalic acid; but it renders the surface of the 
 marble rough. 
 
 Another Way. — Chalk, in fine powder, one part; pumice stone, one 
 part ; common soda, two parts ; sift it through a fine sieve and mix 
 together. Wash the spots with this powder mixed with a little water, 
 
HOUSEHOLD CLEANING. 
 
 853 
 
 then clean the whole of the stone, and wash off with soap and wa- 
 ter. 
 
 Another. — Marble may be cleaned by mixing up a quantity of the 
 strongest soap-lees with quick-lime, to the consistence of milk, and 
 laying it on the marble for twenty-four hours ; clean it afterwards with 
 soap a.nd water. 
 
 Marble Chimney-Pieces may be cleaned with diluted muriatic acid, 
 or warm soap and vinegar. 
 
 All kinds of Marble, as well as alabaster, can be cleaned by simply 
 mixing pulverized pumice-stone with verjuice, letting it remain sever- 
 al hours, then dipping in a perfectly clean sponge, a,nd rubbing the 
 marble until it is clean ; after this, rinse off with pure water, and rub 
 it dry with a clean linen cloth. 
 
 To remove Stains from Marble. — First rub it with soap and water 
 to remove all grease, then wash it with a clean sponge and some dilute 
 muriatic or oxalic acid, and use warm water to rub all off. Finally 
 polish down with some fine French whiting. 
 
 To dean Carved Ivory. — Wash with white soap and water, not very 
 warm, and after rinsing it by pouring cold water over it, wipe it slight- 
 ly with a soft cloth, and place it in the sun to dry ; its color will be 
 quite restored, as the rays of the sun have a bleaching effect upon it. 
 
 To Clean Tin and Pewter. — Wash thoroughly clean with warm 
 water, into which a handful of bran and a few slices of soap have been 
 thrown while hot. Dry, and then with some of the best whiting pow- 
 dered, and a little sweet oil, rub well and wipe clean ; then dust them 
 over with some dry powdered whiting in a muslin bag, and rub dry 
 with soft leather. When tin covers come from the table, they must 
 be wiped very dry before they are hung up, or the steam will rust the 
 inside. 
 
 Cleaning Tinware. — Acids should never be employed to clean tin- 
 ware, because they attack the metal and remove it from the iron of 
 which it forms a thin coat. We refer to articles made of tin plate, 
 which consists of iron covered with tin. Rub the article first with 
 rotten-stone and sweet oil, the same as recommended for brass, then 
 finish with whitening and a piece of soft leather. Articles made 
 wholly of tin should be cleaned in the same manner. In a dry atmos- 
 phere planished tinware will remain bright for a long period, but they 
 soon become tarnished in a moist air. 
 
 To Clean Britania Ware. — Britania ware should be first rubbed 
 with a woolen cloth and sweet oil, then washed in water and suds, and 
 
854 
 
 PKACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 rubbed with soft leather and whiting. Thus treated it will retain its 
 beauty to the last. 
 
 To Glean Papier Mache and Japanned Wares. — Tea-boards, either 
 of papier mache or of japanned iron, should never be washed with hot 
 w T ater, because the heat of boiling water is sufficient to crack the var- 
 nish on the surface, upon which the blackened coating of either the 
 papier or iron will begin to peel off. When any liquid dries upon 
 tea-trays or waiters which has in it something of a glutinous nature, 
 water must be employed to wash it off, but whenever simple rubbing 
 with soft linen removes any spots on japanned wares, water should not 
 be used. Tea-boards are easily cleaned by the use of a few tea leaves, 
 when emptied out of the tea-pot ; if tea-boards of japan or papier ma- 
 che appear streaky, as if from grease, a little flour or whiting sprink- 
 led over them, and rubbed off with a soft linen duster, will clean them. 
 The fine polish of these wares is in their manufacture given by the 
 use of olive oil, and the friction of the hand alone ; hence any scratch- 
 es on the surface, so slight as not to penetrate through the coating, 
 may be removed by a similar application and means. 
 
 Another Way. — Bub on with a sponge a little white soap and some 
 lukewarm water, and wash the ware quite clean. Never use hot wa- 
 ter as it will cause the japan to scale off. Having wiped it dry, sprin- 
 kle a little flour over it ; let it rest awhile, and then rub it with a 
 soft dry cloth, and finish with a silk handkerchief. If there are white 
 heat marks on the waiter or other ware, they will be difficult to re- 
 move. But you may try rubbing them with a flannel dipped in sweet 
 oil, and afterwards in spirits of wine. 
 
 Another Way to Clean Papier Mache. — Waiters and other articles 
 of papier mache should be washed with a sponge and cold water, with- 
 out soap, and dredged with flour while damp. After awhile wipe off, 
 and then polish with a flannel or silk handkerchief. 
 
 Cleaning China and Glass Ware. — The best material for cleaning 
 either porcelain or glassware, is fullers’ earth ; but it must be beaten 
 into a fine powder, and carefully cleared from all rough or hard parti- 
 cles, which might endanger the polish of its brilliant surface. It 
 must be understood however that some requires more care and atten- 
 tion than others, for all is not equally well colored or tempered. 
 
 China and Earthenware should be washed in plenty of warm water 
 and soap, rinsed clean in a second bowl of water alone, either warm 
 or cold, should be then turned down to drain, and afterwards wiped 
 dry with linen tea-cloths. Settlings of any liquids which have been 
 suffered to dry up at the botton of earthen vessels may be dissolved 
 
HOUSEHOLD CLEANING. 
 
 855 
 
 generally by a little pearlash and water, or with soda instead of pearl- 
 ash ; either of these will also quickly remove any oiliness which may 
 be on the surface of earthenware or porcelain. Neither porcelain nor 
 earthenware will bear sudden immersion into hot water, when the 
 weather is cold, without great danger of its cracking. 
 
 In Washing Glass the above caution is still more requisite to observe 
 than in respect to china and earthenware. To put glass suddenly in- 
 to boiling water in cold weather would be inevitably to break it. 
 Glass should be washed in water moderately warm ; and the quantity 
 of water used should be abundant, and in proportion to the number 
 of articles to be washed. When taken out of the water, each article 
 should be at first turned down on a table or dresser, that the water 
 may run off from them. Afterward they should be dried with a soft 
 linen cloth, and, before they are placed for use, each should be polish- 
 ed with a clean soft skin of wash leather kept for the purpose. Glass 
 should never be brought to the table with the dull linty surface which 
 negligence in wiping would give it. For cut glass, the use of a soft 
 brush may be requisite to polish it well ; but if any brush or rubber 
 of a harsh nature be applied, glass, which easily receives scratches on 
 its surface, would lose irrecoverably its beauty and brilliance. 
 
 Glass discolored with the settlings of port wine, &c., may require 
 more than common washing. A solution of soda will effect a solution 
 of the coloring matter. A bottle brush is sometimes used to remove 
 the settlings, but is liable to scratch the glass. 
 
 To Clean Plate . — Avoid the use of what are called “ plate pow- 
 ders;” most of them contain quicksilver, wljich is very injurious. Boil 
 one ounce of prepared hartshorn powder in a quart of water ; while 
 on the fire put into it as much plate as the vessel will hold ; let it boil 
 a short time, then take it out, drain it over the vessel and dry it be- 
 fore the fire. When you have served all your plate thus, put into 
 the water as much clean linen rag as will soak up all the liquid. 
 When dry, they will be of great use for cleaning the plate as well as 
 brass locks and the finger plates of doors. When the plate is quite 
 dry, it must be rubbed bright with leather. The use of gritty sub- 
 stances, however fine, should be avoided. 
 
 Plate Powder . — Finely washed whiting is one of the safest plate 
 powders. To prepare this, mix some whiting up with water, and stir 
 it well ; then letting the whole remain a minute or two, pour off the 
 white fluid into another vessel, and suffer the sediment of the pan 
 poured off to settle. This sediment will, when dried, be the fine- 
 washed whiting desired, all the coarse gritty part having been left be- 
 
856 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 hind in the first vessel. Whiting, in general, is fine enough without 
 bmng washed ; but this operation secures it from containing any parti- 
 cles of sand. It is by some persons applied to plate in its dry state, and 
 rubbed on with leather. Others mix it with water, and lay it wet on 
 the plate, and do not rub it off till it is dry. 
 
 Silver and Plated Ware should be washed with a sponge and warm 
 soap suds every day after using, and wiped dry with a clean soft tow- 
 el. Plate should be well cleaned, and have a bright polish; few 
 things look worse than to see greasy looking epergne and streaky 
 spoons. 
 
 Cleaning Silver Plated Articles. — White metal articles electro-pla- 
 ted with silver are now very common and great care is required in 
 cleaning them when tarnished. No powder must be used for this 
 purpose which has the least grit in it, or the silver will be scratched 
 and soon worn off. The finest impalpable whitening should be em- 
 ployed with a little soft water in removing the tarnish. They are 
 next washed with rain water, dried and polished with a piece of soft 
 leather, some rouge powder or fine whitening, then finally rubbed 
 down with the hand, which forms a most excellent polisher. 
 
 All violent rubbing should be avoided, together with the use, in 
 .leaning it, of any ingredient which would wear the silver. 
 
 When tarnished, plated articles may be cleaned with fine washed 
 whiting mixed with sweet oil. Warm water and soap, also, may be 
 safely used. 
 
 Bouge Powder is much recommended by silversmiths ; and though 
 they find it very useful and effectual, yet, if used as often as plate re- 
 quires cleaning in a family, the plate would suffer considerable wear. 
 
 The Sulphur contained in the sulphurete'd hydrogen gas, which 
 exists sometimes in small quantity in the atmospheric air, is 
 constantly acting upon silver, and produces a tarnish. On this ac- 
 count it is very desirable to keep all such articles not in daily use 
 covered with wash leather, or with any soft material, to keep them 
 as much as possible from the air. 
 
 Among the careless practices to be condemned is that of scraping 
 off, with a sharp knife any substances adhering to plate. If in this 
 practice the surface be scratched, the scratches cannot be removed, 
 except by rubbing off the silver around until it is levelled to the in- 
 dentations ; hence the injury to plated goods especially, in which the 
 silver is merely a thin surface. 
 
 To Keep Silver Bright. — Godey s Lady s Booh directs that, silver, 
 .n constant use, should beVashed every day in a pan of suds ma.de of 
 
HOUSEHOLD CLEANING. 
 
 857 
 
 good white soap and warm water ; drying it with old soft linen cloths. 
 Twice a week (after this washing,) give it a thorough brightening with 
 finely powdered whiting, mixed to a thin paste with alcohol ; rubbing 
 longer and harder where there are stains. Then wipe this off, and 
 polish with clean soft old linen. Silver, is cleaned in this manner, at 
 the best hotels. 
 
 Fgg Stain. — To remove the stains on spoons caused by using them 
 for boiled egg, take a little common salt moist between the thumb and 
 finger, and briskly rub the stain, which will soon disappear. 
 
 Medicine Stains may be removed from silver spoons by rubbing 
 them with a rag dipped in sulphuric acid, and washing it off with soap 
 suds. 
 
 To Remove Ink Stains from Silver. — The tops and other portions 
 of silver inkstands frequently become deeply discolored with ink, 
 which is difficult to remove by ordinary means. It may, however, be 
 completely eradicated by making a little chloride of lime into a paste 
 with water, and rubbing it upon the stains. Chloride of lime has 
 been misnamed the “general bleacher,” but it is a foul enemy to all 
 metalic surfaces. 
 
 To Clean Knives and Forks. — Wash the blades in warm (but not 
 hot) water, and afterwards rub them lightly over with powdered rot- 
 ten stone wet to a paste with a little cold water, then polish them with 
 a clean cloth. 
 
 Scouring Knives. — A small, clean, raw potato, with the end cut off, 
 is a very convenient method of applying brickdust to knives, keeping 
 it about the right moisture, while the juice of the potato assists in re- 
 moving stains from the surface. A better polish can be got by this 
 method than by any other, with less labor. 
 
 The ashes of hard coal unmixed with any from wood, are said to be 
 a better article than Bath brick for scouring knives, forks, &c. 
 
 It is said to be a recent and valuable discovery that one of the best- 
 substances for cleaning knives is charcoal reduced to a fine powder, 
 and applied in the same manner as brickdust is used. 
 
 To Remove Stains from Fine Cutlery. — Take the softest side of a 
 razor strop, put rouge powder or crocus on it, and rub the cutlery 
 rapidly with it. If the stains are rusted in, it may be necessary to 
 send the articles to a cutler to be refinished. 
 
 Cleaning Knife Handles. — Ivory handles should be washed with a 
 oit of sponge dipped in soap and water, or with a little spirits of 
 wine and water ; when a red wine or fruit stain shows itself on the 
 
858 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 handles,, it may be scraped off with a sharp knife without injuring the 
 haft. 
 
 Silver and plated handles are cleaned like other plate and plated 
 wares. 
 
 Ebony hafts should be cleaned with a little Florence oil, carefully 
 wiped off. 
 
 When ivory handles turn yellow rub them with nice sand paper or 
 emory ; it will take off the spots and restore whiteness. The sand 
 paper should be very fine. 
 
 Orange or Lemon Juice left upon a knife or other piece of iron, 
 will, in a few days, produce a stain so nearly resembling that caused by 
 blood, as to deceive the most careful observer ; and not many years 
 ago, in Paris, a man was nearly convicted of murder owing to a knife 
 being found in his possession stained with what was pronounced by 
 several witnesses to be blood, but afterwards discovered to be simply 
 lemon juice. 
 
 Do not let knives be dropped into hot dish water. It is a good plan 
 to have a large tin pot to wash them in, just high enough to wash the 
 blades witliout wetting the handles. 
 
 Never put away plate, knives and forks, &c., uncleaned, or sad in- 
 conveniences will arise when the articles are wanted. 
 
 Cleaning Bottles . — There is no easier method of cleaning glass bot- 
 tles than putting into them fine coals, and well shaking, either with 
 water or not, hot or cold, according to the substance that fouls the 
 bottle. Charcoal left in a bottle or jar for a little time will take away 
 disagreeable smells. 
 
 To Clean Wine and Beer Bottles . — Perhaps no mode is so easy and 
 effectual as to use small shot and water, agitating them thoroughly. 
 If the mechanical action of the shot is insufficient to remove the har- 
 dened crust from the interior, as for instance, old port wine bottles, 
 add a small quantity of pearlash or soda to soften the crust. Observe 
 that no shot are wedged fast at the bottom and left in the bottle. 
 
 Decanters are formed of flint glass, which is much softer and more 
 readily scratched than the common kinds, they therefore require a less 
 rough treatment ; in general, warm (not boiling) water, with the ad- 
 dition of a few pieces of coarse brown paper, and if requisite a little 
 soda, will be found effectual; should greater force be required, a small 
 portion of tow wrapped around the notched end of a moderately stiff 
 wire, and used with a little strong soda, will be found sufficient. 
 Sand or ashes should never be employed in cleaning decanters, as 
 they roughen and totally disfigure the brilliant surface of the glass. 
 
HOUSEHOLD CLEANING. 
 
 859 
 
 To Clean Wine Decanters. — Put in a little pearlash or soda, some 
 cinders and add water. Shake them about well till clean, and then 
 rinse them out thoroughly. 
 
 To Dry Decanters or Bottles. — After draining thoroughly, make 
 them slightly warm, and blow in fresh air with a pair of bellows, or 
 draw out the damp air with the mouth through a tube sufficiently long 
 to reach nearly to the bottom. A piece of paper may be rolled up 
 so as to answer for a tube. Many liquids are much injured by being 
 put into wet bottles, and decanters put away wet, after having been 
 cleansed, frequently become musty. 
 
 Cleaning Alabaster. — For this purpose there is nothing better than 
 soap and water. Stains may be removed by washing with soap and 
 water, then whitewashing the stained part, letting it stand some hours, 
 then washing off the whitewash, and rubbing the stained part. 
 
 To Clean Coins. — Use dilute sulphuric acid; one part of acid 
 in ten of water. If there are dates upon them this will bring them 
 out. 
 
 Removing Stains and Marks from Books. — A solution of Oxalic 
 acid, citric acid, or tartaric acid, is attended with the least risk, and 
 may be applied upon the paper and prints without fear of damage. 
 These acids, taking out writing ink, and not touching the printing, 
 can be used for restoring books where the margins have been written 
 upon, without attacking the text. 
 
 Another Way to Remove Ink from Paper. §c. — The process of thor- 
 oughly extracting all traces of writing ink, whether accidently spilt 
 or written in error is to alternately wash the paper with a camel hair 
 brush dipped in a solution of cyanuret of potassium and oxalic acid ; 
 then when the ink has disappeared, to wash the paper with pure wa- 
 ter. By this process cheques have been altered when written on 
 11 patent checque paper,” upon which it was supposed by a recent in- 
 ventor to be impossible to remove writing. 
 
 To Clean Printed Paper and Picture Prints. — F asten the paper to 
 a board with button drawing pins, then wash it with water, in which 
 is dissolved an ounce of carbonate of ammonia to every pint of water. 
 This do with care, employing a camel’s hair brush for the purpose, 
 then rinse the paper well with plenty of fresh water. When dry, re- 
 peat the same process for the reverse side of the paper. Now wet 
 the paper with water made sour with white vinegar. Finally, wet 
 the paper with water containing a little bleaching powder, and again 
 rinse with clean water ; then dry it by exposure to air and sunshine. 
 It will become white, excepting where printed. To stiffen the print 
 
860 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 give it a coat of parchment size. Most valuable prints have been 
 thus “ restored.” 
 
 To Restore Writing. — To restore obliterated writing on parchment, 
 put the parchment into a vessel of fresh drawn spring water, and let 
 it remain about a minute, then take it out and press it between two 
 sheets of blotting paper, to prevent its crumpling. When it is near- 
 ly dry examine it, and if the writing is not restored, repeat the oper- 
 ation two or three times. If the fading is only the effect of time, you 
 will, by this means, restore the writing to its pristine state ; but if 
 the ink has been removed by any chemical process, of course it can- 
 not be restored. 
 
 Removing Ink from Photographs. — A correspondent of Humphrey s 
 Photographic Journal says, that recently he had the misfortune to 
 deluge the photograph of a deceased child with ink, whereupon the 
 sympathizing editor sends the following formula and advice: Our 
 readers may find it useful in similar cases. Make the following solu- 
 tion : — Oxalic acid, one drachm, warm water, one ounce. Dissolve 
 and keep at a temperatur.e of about 100° Fah. Pour water of the 
 same temperature over the photograph several times, until the paper 
 becomes thoroughly saturated and moistened. Next flow it with the 
 above solution and rub it gently with a clean camel's hair pencil. The 
 ink will gradually disappear ; and as it disappears repeat the opera- 
 tion of washing with lukewarm water, and again flow with the acid. 
 With patience and perseverance you will finally have the ineffible 
 pleasure of seeing your little Charlie once more. As soon as the pic- 
 ture has been thoroughly restored and the whites are perfectly bleach- 
 ed, wash very carefully in several waters so as to remove every trace 
 of the acid or the salt which it formed, which, if left, might produce 
 iron molds. 
 
 Cleaning Hair Brushes. — As hot water and soap soon soften the 
 hairs, and rubbing completes their destruction, use soda dissolved in 
 cold water. Soda, having an affinity for grease, cleans the brush with 
 very little friction. After well shaking them, stand their the 
 points of the handles in a shady place. 
 
HOUSE FURNISHING AND HOUSEHOLD FURNITURE. 
 
 86 ] 
 
 HOUSE FURNISHING AND HOUSEHOLD FURNITURE. 
 
 Ilow to Choose a Carpet — In selecting a carpet, the rule should 
 bo followed of selecting small patterns for small rooms. There is 
 economy in this, as well as taste, because small patterned carpets 
 are generally found the most durable. As a rule, a formal geomet- 
 rical pattern is best for a carpet. It should be something which 
 does not appear unnatural to tread upon. It is a mistake to 
 put floweis, trees, or figures of birds or animals, into a carpet, 
 for we do not walk on such things ; far other are their purposes 
 and uses. Sumetimes a carpet is made to represent a picture or land- 
 scape, which is also a mistake, for it offends our notions of propriety 
 to see such objects spread on a floor. In the formal pattern, all these 
 defects are avoided. It is not unusual to walk upon ornamental pave- 
 ments or floors, and we are not displeased at seing varieties of similar 
 ornaments reproduced in a carpet. Those persons who have seen the 
 English House of Lords will remember that the carpet is nothing 
 more than a small amber-colored star, on a deep blue ground, which, 
 simple as it appears, harmonizes admirably with the superb decora- 
 tions of the spacious edifice. 
 
 Another reason why a small pattern should be chosen is, that it 
 suits best with the furniture of a room. The furniture must of course 
 cover some portions of the carpet, so that if the pattern be large, there 
 is so much confusion between what is seen and what is hidden, that a 
 very disagreeable effect is produced. With a small pattern, on the 
 contrary, the concealing of a portion by the furniture does not spoil 
 the effect of that which remains uncovered. In general suitability 
 the Turkey carpet is the best. It is adapted for almost any style of 
 furniture, and no one ever gets tired of it, owing to the perfect nat- 
 uralness and harmony of the pattern. Let it be remembered, that 
 neither on the wall or on the floor should there be any one strong pre- 
 dominating color which injures the effect of everything else in the 
 room. As a rule, the color of the carpet should be darker than that 
 of the walls. Very light patterns are most suitable for bed rooms. 
 
 The size of the patterns should be suited to that of the apartments. 
 Large patterns are only fit for large apartments, and small patterns 
 are more easily mended : those with geometrical figures have this ad- 
 vantage, that pieces may be let in where parts are worn, which is more 
 difficult in irregular patterns. It is also economical to have several 
 
862 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 of tlie carpets in the house of the same pattern, as those of bedrooms, 
 passages, &c., that one may mend another. 
 
 It has been observed “ that Brussels carpet, although estimated by 
 the beauty of its design and coloring, ought to possess another very 
 essential property, viz : durability, a reputation for which it has des- 
 ervedly obtained ; but the depreciating consequences of competition 
 in price have lately somewhat diminished this favorable opinion.” 
 Durability arises more from the quantity and quality of worsted on 
 the surface, than from the ordinary operations of the weaver. In the 
 best qualities, the worsted warp-threads usually appear on the sur- 
 face, in sets of threes ; each set occupying the space between the linen 
 warp-threads or chain, and of which threads there are about seven to 
 an inch ; this closeness of arrangement maintains the loops of worsted 
 nearly upright, giving thereby greater elasticity, with a sustained ac- 
 tual resistence to the effects of pressure and wear. Inferior carpets 
 usually have a reduction in the quantity of surface worsted ; produc- 
 ed by dropping loops, and various other processes tending to the same 
 end. The quality of worsted is not less important than the quantity ; 
 indeed, a carpet made of good worstsd, in a smaller quantity, is to be 
 preferred to one crowded with an inferior material. Good worsted is 
 bright, evenly twisted, free from loose hairy fibre, soft to the touch, 
 and possesses considerable elasticity. The properties of dyes are des- 
 erving of consideration ; but, as they are subordinate to the more im- 
 portant effects of design and coloring, little can be here adduced with 
 advantage. The carpet manufacturers and dealers of the old school, 
 who felt pride in the durability of their fabrics, would never recom- 
 mend a carpet having a preponderance of claret or morone. Never- 
 theless, claret — although the dye is not wholly permanent, and deteri- 
 orates the quality of the worsted — has been found too useful to be 
 dispensed with, and of late it has therefore been extensively preferred. 
 Crimson and scarlet are very durable colors ; Greens are sound ; and 
 brown, buff, and fawn colors may be deemed rather less permanent. 
 
 The color of carpets should be well attended to ; and much taste 
 is required to choose patterns and colors that are the most suitable 
 for the apartments where they are to be put down. In this fashion 
 will generally be followed ; but it is very necessary to consider also 
 the nature and use of the apartment, and style of the furniture. In 
 the richest carpets, intended for the best apartments, the style is 
 usually gay and splendid ; for parlors, the Turkey and Persian pat- 
 terns, having a richness of effect without any conspicuous or distinct 
 figures, are preferred ; and for sitting rooms and libraries, something 
 
HOUSE FURNISHING AND HOUSEHOLD FURNITURE. 
 
 863 
 
 of a quiet, though not too dark character, is preferable. Carpets^ 
 with only two colors are often very elegant; but they easily show any 
 stains on them, and consequently do not wear so well as when there 
 is a sprinkling of a few more colors intermixed, the spots of color as- 
 sisting to disguise those arising from stains. It should be observed, 
 likewise, that some colors are more liable to fade than others. 
 
 Decidedly light colors throughout never have a good effect on the 
 floor, nor look clean and bright after a little use. Many gaudy colors 
 are not now in demand. The colors, all middle tint, that is, neither 
 light nor dark, make a dull dingy looking carpet even when new. 
 White in a carpet in a short time gives a dirty appearance to the 
 whole. 
 
 For a carpet to be really beautiful and in good taste, there should 
 be as in a picture, a judicious disposal of light and shadow, with a 
 graduation of very bright and of very dark tints ; some almost white, 
 and others almost or quite black. 
 
 The most truly chaste, rich and elegant carpets are those where the 
 pattern is formed by one color only, but arranged in every variety of 
 shade. Two colors only, with their dark and light shades, makes a 
 handsome carpet. A very light blue ground, with figure of shaded 
 crimson or purple, looks extremely well ; so does a salmon color or 
 buff ground, with a deep ^reen figure ; or a light yellow ground, with 
 a shaded blue figure. 
 
 If you are buying a carpet for durability choose small figures. In 
 buying a carpet, as in everything else, those of the best quality are 
 cheapest in the end, 
 
 Laying Down Carpets . — In laying down carpets, the most complete 
 way is to fit them into all the recesses of the room ; but this is also 
 the most expensive, since not only the carpet seen when laid down is 
 charged for by the upholsterer, but likewise all that is cut to waste, 
 which in some apartments is a good deal. Where economy is an ob- 
 ject, the carpet may be square or oblong, according to the shape of 
 the room, but not fitted into recesses; and the boards round the sides 
 may be left bare, or be painted in oil, or covered with oil cloth, &c. 
 With respect to the economy of not fitting carpets to rooms when 
 square or oblong, they can have the wrong side turned up for a time 
 to save the other side, which cannot be done when the carpets are fit- 
 ted inq and they may likewise be reversed in their position, which 
 will make them wear more equally. Thus a square carpet may have 
 its position changed eight times, and an oblong one four times ; where- 
 as a carpet fitted to the room can not be altered in its position, ex- 
 
864 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 cept the apartment should be exactly symmetrical, which is seldom 
 the case. 
 
 Care of Carpets. — In the wear of carpets much depends upon the 
 manner in which they are kept clean : if the dust is suffered to accu- 
 mulate too long, they require to be beaten with much force, which 
 breaks the threads. In some cases they are scoured but this is very 
 apt to injure their texture. It is important to the preservation of 
 carpets that the boards of the floor be well laid ; if they have not 
 been properly seasoned when they were laid down, they sometimes 
 turn up at the edges, and occasion ridges, which will cut the carpets, 
 and cause them to wear there soonest. As soon as a carpet begins to 
 wear, its position in the room should be altered, that every part may 
 be worn alike. Thick and heavy carpets do not require to be nailed 
 down ; but those that are thin usually require nailing in sitting rooms, 
 otherwise the edges curl up and are inconvenient; but if they are 
 well nailed at first, and stretched, after a month or two they will lie 
 flat with fewer nails, so that they may be easily taken up to be beaten. 
 The air of a sitting apartment is materially injured by the dust being 
 suffered to accumulate under the carpet. Every time it is swept a 
 cloud of dust arises and mixes with the air ; and, although this is 
 scarcely visible, it proves injurious to the lungs. Carpets in bedrooms 
 are seldom nailed down, and never ought to be, that they may be fre- 
 quently beaten and brushed. 
 
 Stair Carpets. — Stair carpets should always have a slip of paper 
 put under them at and over the edge of every stair, wrhich is the part 
 where they first wear out, in order to lessen the friction of the carpet 
 against the boards beneath. The strips should be within an inch or 
 two as long as the carpet is wide, and about four or five inches in 
 breadth, so as to be a distance from each stair. This simple plan, so 
 easy of execution will, we know, preserve a stair carpet half as long 
 again as it would last without a strip of paper. 
 
 Mending Carpets. — Those who would be thrifty should have their 
 carpets mended with the needle in time, when they begin to wear ; 
 and this may be done somewhat in the manner of embroidery, making 
 use of proper colored worsteds to make out the pattern. 
 
 Floor Oil Cloths. — This is better for being kept for considerable 
 time before it is used, the paint getting harder. 
 
 Tables. -'W hen purchasing, get two alike so that they will exactly 
 match together when one is not large enough. 
 
 To Make Feather Dusters. — Very neat dusters can be made by ta- 
 king the.curved feathers of chickens from the neck and elsewhere, 
 
-HOUSE FURNISHING AND HOUSEHOLD FURNITURE. 
 
 865 
 
 and fastening them neatly to the end of a tapering pen holder, or other 
 handle, and then adding a neat finish with a bit of morocco. By a 
 little tasteful arrangement of the parts, these dusters are not only 
 ussful and ornamental in the house, but may be sold at the shops. 
 
 Corn Husk Beds . — Exclude all the outer and stiffer husks, allowing 
 none to be put into the bed save the softer and smaller ones. Some 
 strip them with a fork, others prefer to use them whole. Running 
 them two or three times through a threshing machine makes them 
 very soft and nice. 
 
 Husks versus Feathers . — The Oneida Community Circular published 
 by the Shakers at Oneida, N. Y., contains the following : 
 
 Reader, did you ever sleep on a husk bed ? ISTo ! Then let me say 
 to you confidentially, that a husk bed is, according to my experience 
 and judgment for many years, just the nicest and cleanest thing in the 
 world to sleep upon. For my own use, I put the husks into two ticks, 
 the upper one not quite as full as the under one, making it much eas- 
 ier to adjust or even up when the bed is made. The under tick can 
 be filled quite full, making it elastic, requiring no daily adjustment, 
 but will remain for months as even as a hair mattress. Once, and 
 sometimes twice a year, I have taken them out and emptied from the 
 ticks upon a clean grass plot, where they are raked open and stirred 
 up, shaking the fine dust from them that naturally accumulates from 
 the friction they undergo in daily use. A sprinkling of water on them 
 while thus spread out will cause them to curl, making them almost as 
 light as feathers. They should be shaken up several times a day, that 
 the action of the sun and air may thoroughly penetrate them. If al- 
 lowed to remain out of doors over night, a heavy dew answers all the 
 purposes of watering them. When thoroughly dried and aired return 
 them to the ticks — which you have probably washed — and you have a 
 bed as good as new once in six months or a year, as sweet as new- 
 mown grass, as comfortable as any feather bed, and decidedly more 
 agreeable to those who appreciate good air in a sleeping room. In 
 making up the bed, a thick comfortable, or something equivalent, 
 should be placed over the bed before the sheets are put on, for the 
 benefit of those whose skin is tender from ill health or other causes. 
 The husks should be entirely free from hard substances. Husk beds 
 thus managed, will last for years, by occasionally adding a few pounds 
 to keep the quantity good. 
 
 I have used nearly all kinds of materials that have been proposed 
 as substitutes for feathers, and must render my verdict in favor of 
 husks. The cost of good clean husks is about one-eighth of the cost 
 55 
 
866 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 of feathers ; and, as to sweetness and healthiness, there is no compar- 
 ison. The animal odor attached to feathers, is very offensive indeed 
 to many. The raising of geese, too, is very troublesome business, to 
 to say nothing of the expense and uncleanly habits of the hissing, 
 mischievous bipeds. 
 
 How to Keep Warm of a Cold Light without enough Bed Clothes . — . 
 Paste enough newspapers together to make a paper sheet or blanket 
 of the size of a bed-blanket, and spread it between any two articles 
 of bed clothing. If you have never tried it you will be astonished at 
 the comfortable difference. Paper, however thin, has no pores ; there- 
 fore, air cannot pass through it ; consequently it retains air much bet- 
 ter than woven sheets or blankets ; it keeps cold air out of the bed 
 and the warm air it retains. 
 
 Straw Beds. — Oat straw is the best for filling beds. It should be 
 changed once a year. 
 
 Beds of Beech Leaves. — These are highly recommended. Sir Thom- 
 as Lander, speaking of husk beds, says : These beds have the advan- 
 tage of being soft as well as elastic, and we have always found the 
 sleep enjoyed on them to be peculiarly sound and restorative ; but 
 the beds made of beech leaves are really no whit behind them in 
 these qualities, while the fragrant smell of green tea, which the leaves 
 retain is most gratifying. The only objection to them is, the slight 
 crackling noise which they occasion when a person turns in bed; but 
 this is no inconvenience at all, or if so, it is an inconvenience which 
 is much overbalanced by the advantages of this most luxurious couch. 
 It is said that they will not harbor vermin. The leaves should be 
 gathered on a dry day, and then perfectly dried before using. 
 
 Our Best Parlors. — On this subject Ik. Marvel very sensibly dis- 
 courses as follows : Don’t keep a solemn parlor, into which you go but 
 once a month, with the parson or sewing society. Hang around your 
 walls pictures which shall tell stories of mercy, hope, courage, faith 
 and charity. Make your living-room the largest and most cheerful 
 in the house. Let the place be such that when your boy has gone to 
 distant lands, or even when, perhaps, he clings to a single plank in 
 the lonely waters of the wide ocean, the thought of the still homestead 
 shall come across the desolation, bringing always light, hope and love. 
 Have no dungeon about your house — no room you never open — no 
 blinds that are always shut. 
 
 The Home of Taste. — How easy it is to be neat and clean. How 
 easy it is to arrange Tooms with the most graceful propriety. How 
 easy it is to invest our houses with the truest elegance. Elegance 
 
HOUSEKEEPING. 
 
 867 
 
 itsides not with the upholsterer or draper; it is not put up with the 
 hanging and curtains ; it is not in the mosaics, the carpeting, the rose- 
 wood, the mahogany, the candelabra, or the marble ornaments ; it ex- 
 ists in the spirit presiding over the chambers of the dwelling. Con- 
 tentment must always be most graceful ; it glows serenely over the 
 Beene of its abode ; it transforms a waste into a garden. The homes 
 lighted by these intimations of a nobler and brighter life may be want- 
 ing in much which the discontented desire; but to its inhabitants it will 
 be a palace far outvieing the oriental in brilliancy and glory. 
 
 HOUSEKEEPING. 
 
 Many true-hearted, valuable women are greatly injured by doing 
 without help. Their husbands are in comfortable, thriving circum- 
 stances ; but they are more than economical — they are avaricious, and 
 virtually compel their wives to become slaves for the sake of saving 
 money ! The husband, worth his thousands, requires the partner of 
 his bosom and the mother of children, much of the time in feeble 
 health, to cook, and wash, and sew for a large family ! With little 
 time for repose, and burdened with care, she drags out a wearisome, mis- 
 erable life, and, perhaps, sinks prematurely into the grave ! The man 
 who exacts or allows this is not a husband — he is an exercrable tyrant. 
 But there are mitigating circumstances in many cases with all the ap- 
 pearances against the man. Perhaps the woman herself is more to 
 blame than he. He may be anxious to procure help when his wife 
 will not consent. From motives of mistaken economy, or from the 
 force of habit, she toils on and rejects all relief. The confinement is 
 none the less real nor objectionable because self-inflicted. She ought 
 not thus to overtax or waste her energies. Careful management and 
 a correct appreciation of her own duty and rights, will enable her to 
 avoid it. If it were true that such unreasonable labor is just econo- 
 my, it would be infinitely better to be worth so much less money than 
 to shorten life or embitter its fleeting hours while they last. But it 
 is evidently not true. She who wastes her strength and destroys her 
 health by excessive labor, is sure to bring upon her family an amount 
 of expense for sickness and loss of time, which will more than equal 
 the sum saved by doing without help. 
 
 The man who loves his wife should promptly terminate this exhaus- 
 ting struggle. The woman who loves her family should immediately 
 
868 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 correct this grave error. Be industrious; scorn no honest, useful la- 
 bor ; but do not compel yourself, for the sake of temporary savings, 
 to work beyond your strength — to work when, from sheer fatigue, 
 you feel as if you could hardly stand upon your feet. Bo not consent 
 to use every moment of your brief and precious life in mere drudgery, 
 when the cultivation of your mind and heart for the proper discharge 
 of your social duties is a matter of so much importance. Do not deny 
 yourself the time to meet your friends and enjoy their company. Let 
 both husband and wife agree that habits of industry and social com- 
 forts shall harmonize, and at any sacrifice arrange domestic affairs 
 accordingly. 
 
 If it is possible you must have help, and the management of servants 
 is a problem. Perhaps more real trouble arises from a want of skill at 
 this point than from any thing else. Here we have only room to say 
 that the safe course lies between the extremes. Undue familiarity 
 will certainly lead to contempt and general disobedience to orders. 
 It is to be regretted that what would otherwise be desirable kindness 
 and deserved sympathy, is so likely to be responded to by impudence 
 and dishonesty. On the other hand, it is most evident that imperious 
 airs, persecuting cruelty, and everlasting fault-finding will make bad 
 servants of good ones — would, indeed, finally ruin the temper of al- 
 most any person, and lead to utter desperation. Real dignity, with 
 reasonable patience and genuine kindness, is the true philosophy. 
 
 But you can not rely upon servants for the results you desire. 
 Many of them we grant are worthy and skillful, but generally it is 
 otherwise. The reasons are various. They have been reared in pov- 
 erty perhaps, amid confusion and selfishness, where neither the means 
 nor instruction required to prepare them for their place could be ob- 
 tained. They have from childhood been negligent of the laws of clean- 
 liness and order. How could they be reasonably expected to reach 
 or at all appreciate the standard you set for them ? But the most 
 serious fact is that they are generally without inducement to make 
 the exertions which a high degree of excellence requires. Their com- 
 pensation is generally small, their treatment frequently contemptuous 
 and severe, and they must utterly despair of the blessings of good so- 
 ciety ! We pity the servants. We would ameliorate their condition, 
 were it possible. It is simply impossible, as a general thing, to secure 
 the neatness, order, and economy so fundamental to domestic happi- 
 ness, by entrusting the kitchen entirely to servants. What, then, 
 remains? 
 
 W e answer, be yourself a practical housekeeper ; understand every 
 
HOUSEKEEPING. 
 
 869 
 
 particular af kitclien labor ; give it your personal attention, and occa- 
 sionally, if not regularly, do some parts of it with your own hands. 
 This will remove the most annoying trials of housekeeping, save you 
 from 3-0 ur severest temptations to bad temper and unbecoming lan- 
 guage, and convert the most ordinary portions of your daily food into 
 ! a turies. It will promote the truest economy and perhaps save your 
 husband from bankruptcy. At least, should any such calamity occur, 
 it will leave the responsibility where it belongs. 
 
 God has made physical labor a necessity. Without it the tone of 
 the whole system sinks, and disease takes the place of health, feeble- 
 ness of strength, softness of firmness, dullness of vigor, indolence of 
 activity. These are stern facts. The sad condition of society is 
 abundant and painful evidence of this. The truth is, that the average 
 period of human life is shortened more by indolence than by disease. 
 Free and thorough action gives health to the circulation, color to the 
 countenance, hardness to the muscle, light to the eye, and endurance 
 to the nerves. Reasonable labor is the very best physician ; it is more 
 salutary against vice than the penitentiary or the gallows ; it allows 
 no time for mischief; it removes the apologies for crime; it educates 
 the self-respect and the self-reliance of man and woman ; it stands up 
 with the Bible and the pulpit, to battle with sin, to purify the moral 
 atmosphere, and realize the idea of God in the creation. 
 
 You have perhaps been taught in the gymnasium that you must 
 exercise every muscle in the body, and the skill of masters has been 
 put to the test to invent methods of muscular action which would most 
 effectually do this ; but we venture the assertion that no inventions 
 have yet, in perfection, reached the adaptation of the kitchen. Only 
 just in proportion as your exercise approaches the methods of honest 
 labor, does it conform to the true ph)^siological laws and accomplish 
 its purpose. 
 
 A good housewife is one of the first blessings in the economy of life. 
 Men put a great value upon the housewife qualifications of their part- 
 ners after marriage, however little they may weigh with them before ; 
 and there is nothing which tends more to mar the felicities of married 
 life than recklessness or want of knowledge in the new housekeeper 
 of the duties which belong to her station. Men admire beauty, and 
 order, and system in everything, and men admire good fare. If these 
 are found in their dwellings, and are seasoned with good nature and 
 good sense, men will see their chief enjoyments at home; they will 
 love their homes and their partners, and strive to reciprocate the kind 
 
870 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 offices of duty and affection. True mothers will not fail to instruct 
 their daughters in the qualifications of married life. 
 
 We will give to intellect, to immortality, to religion, and to all vir- 
 tues, the honor that belongs to them. And still it may be boldly af- 
 firmed that economy, taste, skill and neatness in the kitchen, have a 
 great deal to do in making life happy and prosperous. 
 
 Nor is it indispensably necessary that a house should be filled with 
 luxuries. All the qualifications for good housekeeping can be dis- 
 played as well on a small scale as on a large one. A small house can 
 be more easily kept clean than a palace. Economy is most needed in 
 the absence of abundance. Skillful cooking is as readily discovered 
 in a nicely baked potato, or a respectable johnny-cake, as in a nut- 
 brown sirloin or a brace of canvass backs. 
 
 Domestic economy is a science — a theory of life, which all sensible 
 women ought to study and practice. None of our excellent girls are 
 fit to be married until they are thoroughly educated in the deep and 
 profound mysteries of the kitchen. 
 
 The kitchen of an American lady is her throne room, where she 
 produces the greatest results, with the slightest discomposure. 
 
 The most prominent among the temporal things to make life plea- 
 sant is to be within the walls of a well ordered house — not conspicuous 
 for finery or costliness, but by the fitness, its air of neatness and con- 
 tent to all who enter to enjoy its comforts. The woman who does not 
 make this grand item in her routine of duties, has not learned the true 
 dignity of her station ; does not enjoy the blessings of this life, and 
 indirectly despises her family and the Word of God. “ She looketh 
 well to the ways of her household,” was spoken by the wisest man that 
 ever lived, and will be told as the memorial of all those noble women 
 who have been eminent for “looking well ” to the ways of their house- 
 holds. 
 
 Without good domestic economy there is very little personal com- 
 fort, and not much prospect of happiness, either in one’s self or the re- 
 lations, respectively of husband and wife, parents and children. All 
 success requires order, method, and continued attention to objects and 
 ends ; in fine, well regulated domestic economy. 
 
 The greatest danger to our daughters in the present time is the 
 neglect of domestic education. Not only to themselves, but to hus- 
 bands, families, and the community at large, does the evil extend. 
 By far the greatest amount of happiness in civilized life, is found in 
 the domestic culture and habits of the wife and mother. Let our 
 daughters be intellectually educated as highly as possible ; let their 
 
MISCELLANEOUS FOE HOUSEKEEPERS. 
 
 871 
 
 moral and social nature receive the highest grace of vigor and refine- 
 ment ; but along with these, let the domestic virtues have a very 
 prominent place. 
 
 We cannot say much about our daughters being hereafter wives and 
 mothers, but we ought to think very much of it, and give the thought 
 prominence in their education. Good wives they cannot be, for men 
 of intelligence, without mental culture ; good mothers they cannot be 
 without it ; and more than this, they cannot be such wives as men 
 need, unless they are good housekeepers, without a thorough and prac- 
 tical training to that end. 
 
 Our daughters should be practically taught to bake, wash, sweep, 
 cook, set the table, and do everything appertaining to the order, neat- 
 ness and economy and happiness of the household. All this they can 
 learn as well as not, and better than not. It need not interfere in the 
 least with their intellectual education, nor with the highest degree 
 of refinement. On the contrary, it will greatly contribute thereto. 
 
 Only let that time which is worse than wasted in idleness, saunter- 
 ing and gossip, frivolous reading, and various modern female dissipa- 
 tions, which kill time and health, be devoted to domestic duties and 
 education, and our daughters would soon be all that the highest inter- 
 ests of society demand. 
 
 A benign, elevating influence would go forth through all the fami- 
 lies of the land. Health and happiness would now sparkle in many a 
 lustreless eye, and the bloom would return to beautify many a faded 
 cheek, and doctor’s bills would give place to bills of wholesome fare. 
 
 MISCELLANEOUS FOR HOUSEKEEPERS. 
 
 Kitchen Odor . — A skillful housekeeper says that the unpleasant 
 odors arising from boiling hams, cabbages, &c., is completely correct- 
 ed by throwing whole red peppers into the pot — at the same time that 
 the flavor is improved. We have heard that pieces of charcoal will 
 produce the same effect, but we have not seen it tried. 
 
 Kettles are cleaned of onion and other odors by dissolving a tea- 
 spoonful of pearlash or saleratus in water and washing them. 
 
 Zink and Lead Vessels . — Zinc vessels should never be used for 
 keeping any fluids intended for alimentary purposes, for Vauquilin 
 proved, fifty years ago, that such will contain, after a short time, a 
 considerable quantity of zinc in solution, and it is well known that the 
 
872 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 smallest amount of zinc will cause violent spasmodic vomiting. So is 
 there always danger in the use of lead for culinary purposes. 
 
 Marks of Mot Dishes on Varnished Tables. — Hot dishes sometimes 
 leave whitish marks on varnished tables, when set, as they should not 
 be, carelessly upon them. To remove it, pour some sperm oil upon 
 the spot, and rub it dry with a cloth, and the white mark will disap- 
 pear, leaving the table as bright as before. 
 
 Shut the Door. — Through the open door (one yard wide and two 
 yards high,) of a warm room on a cold day, a cubic yard of warm air 
 passes out per second through the upper half of the opening, and a 
 cubic yard of cold, damp and chilling air comes in per second through 
 the lower half. Sixty cubic yards of warm air lost every minute ! This 
 is better than no ventilation, but we prefer it some other way, and 
 reiterate, “ Shut the door ” 
 
 Creaking Doors. — A bit of soap rubbed on the hinges of doors, will 
 prevent their creaking. 
 
 Ice on Windows. — Windows are kept free from ice by painting the 
 glass with alcohol with a brush or sponge. 
 
 Clothes in Windows. — We may conclude that a housekeeper is a lit- 
 tle too prodigal of his clothes when we see them filling holes in his 
 windows. 
 
 Old Kid Gloves. — An old kid glove makes excellent lacing for se- 
 curing small belts on sewing machines and other places. Cut the 
 gloves in strips half an inch wide and roll them up tight. 
 
 Rags. — Probablyfew know the full value of rags in an economical 
 point of view. Bags of any fabric shred fine like carpet rags, thrown 
 loosely together, and then spread evenly into a tick the desired thick- 
 ness, and tacked like hair, cotton batting, &c., will make a good mat- 
 tress, or cushion for chairs, lounges, cribs, wagon-seats, or even beds. 
 They are almost as good as hair, and better than cotton batting. Care 
 should be taken to spread them so, that they will be the same thick- 
 ness throughout when pressed down. When they are part woolen or 
 heavy rags, spread each kind over the whole surface ; or otherwise, 
 spread the thick ones thinner, as they will not press, down so much as 
 the same bulk of light ones. The remnants after cutting carpet rags, 
 are, a large share of them, generally fine enough, and only need free- 
 ing from dust; this can be done by pouring them slowly from one 
 basket into another, out of doors, in a slight breeze. Heavy hems or 
 seams should be thrown out. The ravelings of old worn-out carpets 
 are good, if only well cleaned. 
 
MISCELLANEOUS FOE HOUSEKEEPERS. 
 
 873 
 
 Linen rags should be carefully saved, as they are very useful in 
 sickness. If they are dirty, wash them and scrape them into lint. 
 
 A Convenient Substitute for a Cork Screw. — When the latter is not 
 at hand, use a common screw, with an attached string to pull the cork. 
 
 Cutlery. — Dampness corrodes, and rust, though removed, leaves a 
 spot on the polish of costly cutlery. 
 
 Mold. — The mold on decayed fruit, stale bread, moist wood, &c., is 
 shown by the microscope to be plants, bearing leaves, flowers and 
 seeds, and increasing with incredible rapidity ; for in a few hours, the 
 seeds spring up, arrive at maturity, and bring forth seeds themselves, 
 so that many generations are produced in a day. 
 
 Size for Attaching Paper to Walls. — None but the best should be 
 used. Many a fever has been caused by the horrible nuisance of cor- 
 rupt size used in paper-hanging in the bed-rooms. The nausea which 
 a sleeper, in such a case, is aware of, on waking in the morning, should 
 be a warning needing no repetition. Down should come the paper at 
 any cost or inconvenience. 
 
 Burglar Alarm. — If you want a burglar to wake you up, put your 
 wash-basin under the door-lock, and draw the key half out ; then the 
 slightest touch from the outside imitates a racket among the crockery, 
 opportune to an extreme. 
 
 To Prevent Burglaries. — A great proportion of the hotel robberies 
 and burglaries on stores and private houses, are committed by pick- 
 ing door locks with a skeleton key, or where the key has been left in 
 the door, by turning it with a nippers or “outsider.” To frustrate 
 the efforts of burglars in these attempts all that is necessary is to sim- 
 ply lock the door, leaving the key in the lock, and passing through 
 the handle of the key both ends of a piece of wire, bent in the shape 
 of an elongated U, and suspended from the door-nob. The key being 
 in the lock prevents the use of a “skeleton,” as does the wire the use 
 of an “outsider.” 
 
 Threading a Needle. — Persons of defective sight, when threading a 
 needle, should hold it over something white, by which the sight will 
 be assisted. 
 
 The Meaning of the Number on Spools of Thread. — It is the num- 
 ber of hanks to the pound ; each hank measuring 840 yards. 
 
 Knitting Mittens. — Cast twenty-six stitches on each needle. Eib 
 two inches two and two. Commence the thumb by taking two stitch- 
 es as seam stitches and widening two stitches between these two seam 
 stitches. Knit three rounds between each widening until you have 
 twenty ; take these twenty off for the thumb make twelve stitches-, 
 
874 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 then decrease every other till only three of the increased stitches re* 
 main. Knit a little more than an inch plain. Now for the finger; take 
 off twenty stitches, make twelve, and knit the same as at the thumb; 
 knit about an- inch and a half plain, then narrow every sixth stitch ; 
 knit six rounds, then every fifth, and five rounds, and so on. Then 
 take up the finger, narrow to twenty-nine stitches, make the finger a 
 little shorter than the mitten ; now the thumb, reducing the stitches 
 to thirty. — Cor. Boston Post. 
 
 To Prevent Articles of Steel or Iron from Busting. — Oxygen is 
 abundant in the composition of water and atmosphere ; and that 
 quicklime has an astonishing affinity for it is evinced by the practice 
 of using a little powdered lime, tied up in muslin, to beat out a minute 
 portion of dust on the surface of polished steel or iron goods, such as 
 fire irons, fenders, and fronts of stoves of a superior quality, when not 
 in use, to prevent their rusting. A more delicate instance is that of 
 the manufacturers of needles, watch springs, cutlery, &c., who gen- 
 erally put a small packet of quicklime in any box or parcel of polish- 
 ed steel goods they may be sending to a distant customer, or with 
 goods which they may put away as not likely to be wanted for some 
 time, as security from rust. The following is very different, yet bear- 
 ing upon the same principle : When bricklayers leave off work for a 
 day or two, as from Saturday till Monday, they push their trowel in 
 and out of the moist mortar, so that the bright steel may be smeared 
 all over with a film of mortar, finding this plan an effectual remedy 
 against rust. 
 
 To preserve bright steel from rusting, smear it over with hot melt- 
 ed mutton suet, and before it cools dust some powdered unslacked 
 lime from a muslin bag over the hot suet. 
 
 Solvent of Putty and Paint. — Soft soap mixed with a solution of 
 potash, or pearlash and slacked lime, mixed with sufficient water to 
 form a paste, is an excellent solvent for old putty and paint. Either 
 of these laid on with an old brush or rag, and left for some hours, will 
 render the putty or paint easily removable. 
 
 HOUSEHOLD OKNAMENTS AND AMUSEMENTS. 
 
 How to Have a Living Window Screen. — Fit a moveable shelf to 
 the window sill, and erect upon that a trellis of sticks and wire of 
 such size and shape as suit the fancy. Place one or two pots of ivy 
 
HOUSEHOLD ORNAMENTS AND AMUSEMENTS. 87 5 
 
 Upon the shelf and train the \ines to the trellis. During summer it 
 may be placed outside. 
 
 To Make a Changeable Fire Screen. — Draw a landscape on paper, 
 with India Ink, representing a winter scene, or mere outline, the fo- 
 liage is to be painted with muriate of cobalt for the green, acetate of 
 cobalt for blue, and muriate of copper for yellow, which, when dry, 
 will all be invisible. Put the screen to the fire, and the gentle warmth 
 will occasion the flowers, &c., to display themselves in their natural 
 colors, and winter be changed to spring. When it cools, the colors 
 disappear, and the effect can be reproduced at pleasure. 
 
 A Beautiful Farlor Ornament. — London Society gives us a beauti- 
 ful device to fill a grate or fireplace in summer — that of a fender bas- 
 ket for moss and flowers. The basket may be of wicker-work to fit 
 the front of the fireplace, like a fender, the ends to rise slightly, and 
 the front low or only rounded up in an ornamental fashion and a zinc 
 or tin tray fitted within it. The space behind it is to be filled with a 
 square of looking glass, which, when the basket has received its bed- 
 ding of moss and groups of flowers, will give all the charm of a cool 
 and watery image. Flower pots, with growing plants, can be set in 
 these baskets, the pots being covered with moss ; lilies, ferns, roses 
 and other bright, sweet plants and blooms will make a cheerful, pret- 
 ty house garden, especially in cities where there is no room out of 
 doors. 
 
 Bulbs in Dishes. — When it is desirable to ornament a stand or ta- 
 ble with bulbs, you may use any deep vessel, such as a salad bowl or 
 tureen, and fill it up two or three inches with sand, and all the rest of 
 it with fine green moss. Place the bulbs half-way down in the moss. 
 Hyacinths, for this purpose, should be selected to grow the same 
 height. La Mu de Coeur, red, and the same name blue, are dwarf. 
 Place them alternately close to the edge, and get an early white for 
 the center, but according to the size of the vessel select your bulbs. 
 Water freely, for they must not dry. When the roots reach the sand 
 they will grow strong ; but they will do without sand if well supplied 
 with water. 
 
 Sweet Potatoes in Place of Hyacinths. — A curious as well as simple 
 and interesting experiment may be performed in the following man- 
 ner : Take a sweet potato, place it in the mouth of a transparent jar 
 sc that it fits loosely, and keep it in its place by putting pins in it. 
 Fill the jar with water and set it where the sun can shine on it, or in 
 a place where the temperature is quite even. Almost any place in the 
 house will do, as in a window where it gets the light. The progress 
 
876 
 
 PKACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 will at first be slow ; replenish the jar with water as the potato ab- 
 sorbs it, keeping the water up to the middle of the potato, and soon 
 roots will appear from the part in the water. From this point its 
 growth is quite rapid, the roots striking downward ; finally it begins 
 to sprout from the top, green leaves appear, and it continues to grow 
 like a climbing vine, attaining a yard in length, and making a fine 
 plant. I have started several in this manner, and now have one doing 
 well. 
 
 Another Beautiful Ornament — A carrot head cut off a little below 
 the top, and put in a basin of water, puts forth leaves, and makes a 
 handsome ornament. 
 
 Ornamenting Boxes, $c. with Leaves. — Prepare a box any shape you 
 desire, put on a coat of black paint, when perfectly dry rub it down 
 with pumice stone until smooth, add two more coats of paint, the last 
 of best carriage paint, letting it stand to dry between each coating. 
 Then line your box according to taste. 
 
 Gather yellow and shades of brown leaves, (no green ones,) place 
 them perfectly flat in a book, or between the folds of paper, put a 
 weight upon them, and keep them thus until the dampness is all ab- 
 stracted. Prepare a solution of gum arabic, gum the leaves and place 
 them upon the box, not in groups as it destroys the effect. Have ready 
 a wad of cotton tied up hard in a piece of black silk, put them on 
 carefully until every part is fastened down. Cut out butterflies from 
 yellow paper, mark them off, and place them among the leaves. 
 When all is done, prepare a solution of izinglass, not too thick, take 
 a soft brush and brush it over, rubbing it all one way. Let stand un- 
 til perfectly dry, then varnish with three coats of the best copal var- 
 nish, letting it stand each time until dry. This makes a very pretty 
 ornament with but little expense. 
 
 To Preserve Flowers a Fortnight. — As much nitrate of silver as 
 can be held between the thumb and finger, if thrown into a vase of 
 water, will, it is said, preserve flowers for a fortnight. 
 
 How to Make the Silver Tree. — Buy five cents worth of oxalic acid 
 and fifteen or twenty cents worth of nitric acid. Fill the jar with 
 water. Cut the sheet iron. Fill and cork air tight. 
 
 An Interesting Experiment. — It is said that if you fasten a nail or 
 key to a string, and suspend it from your thumb and finger, the nail 
 will oscillate like a pendulum. Let some one place his open hand 
 under the nail r and it will change to a circular motion. Then let a 
 third person put his hand upon your shoulder, and the nail becomes 
 in a moment stationary. We have not tried it. 
 
CARE OF GOLD FISH AND CANARIES. 
 
 877 
 
 How to Put an Egg in a Bottle. — To accomplish this seemingly in- 
 credible act requires the following preparation : You must take an 
 egg and soak it in vinegar, and in process of time its shell will be- 
 come quite soft, so that it may be extended lengthwise without break- 
 ing; then insert it into the neck of a small bottle, and on pouring 
 cold water upon it, it will assume its former figure and hardness. This 
 is really a curiosity, and baffles those who are not in the secret to find 
 out how it is accomplished. 
 
 Illustrated Eggs. — Take a common hen’s egg and lay the letters or 
 any design you please on in wax, then place the egg in acid or some 
 substance which eats the shell away from the wax, after which the 
 wax is removed and a very nice raised letter remains. Two minutes 
 :n a bath of hydro-chloric acid will be sufficient. 
 
 Luminous Writing. — Place a small piece of solid phosphorus in a 
 quill, and write with it upon paper. If the writing then be taken to 
 a dark room, it will appear beautifully luminous. 
 
 Italian Shadows. — This very laughable amusement requires nothing 
 in the way of preparation, except a white sheet suspended between 
 the audience and the performers, and a candle or lamp placed upon 
 the floor, so as to illuminate the screen. The performers pass between 
 the lamp and the screen, so as to throw their shadow upon it, and in 
 this manner an infinite variety of grotesque scenes may be exhibited. 
 The assumption of female attire by some of the performers will great- 
 ly increase the ludicrous effect of the shadows. 
 
 CAPE OF GOLD FISH AND CANADIES. 
 
 Gold Fish require great care and but little food. Fresh' river 
 water should be given them every day. Small worms which are com- 
 mon to the water suffice for their food in general. Shaking of the 
 vessel which contains them, strong swells, and even a loud noise, often 
 destroys them. 
 
 Bread crumbs and small flies are usually given for food to gold fish ; 
 a little duckweed may also be placed in the globe. The room these 
 delicate creatures are kept in should be of a genial temperature, as 
 they come originally from a warm climate. The water should be 
 changed daily, and, in cold weather, should not be replaced in a cold 
 state, but be allowed to stand in a warm room for an hour previous- 
 ly; in summer, that precaution is unnecessary. They thrive best 
 
878 
 
 PEACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 when the temperature of the water is about eighty degrees. Some 
 people put a little moss in the globe. 
 
 A correspondent of the Scientific American says : If you will regu- 
 late the number of your fish to the quantity of water, (say two small 
 fish or one good sized one to a gallon of water,) and if instead of 
 cleaning the sides of the tank, allow the green confervae to grow, you 
 will find that nature will provide better food for the fish than anything 
 you can give them. He adds : Such is my experience ; but the wri- 
 ters say that “ feeding is a very important matter;" it should be per- 
 formed twice or thrice a week at least. Bread and hard-boiled eggs 
 are good staple food; but flies, small spiders, and any soft insects will 
 be greedily accepted and demolished in a general scramble. Food not 
 eaten should be immediately removed, or the water may get tainted ; 
 and care should be exercised not to overfeed at any one time, and not 
 to feed too frequently. 
 
 This correspondent states that he uses a common pine tank, keeps 
 it in an exposed situation, and changes the water but twice a year. 
 On the inside of the tank is a green, slimy moss. 
 
 Another says : Gold fish require food, though very little. The best 
 is to take a white wafer of small size, every two or three days, grind 
 it to powder and throw it into the basin. This will be plenty for five 
 or six fishes. A great deal of care ought to be taken not to give more, 
 as it may kill the fish, by their eating too much of it. White wafers 
 are made of flour and water. 
 
 The Chinese, who thoroughly understand the care of gold fish, feed 
 them small balls of paste, also lean pork, dried in the sun, and reduced 
 to a very fine powder. 
 
 Canary Birds. — These pretty little things are like meaner objects, 
 often covered with lice, and may be effectually relieved of them by 
 placing a clean white cloth over their cage at night. In the morning 
 it will be covered with small red spots, so small as hardly to be seen, 
 except by the aid of a glass ; these are the lice, a source of great an- 
 noyance to the birds. Bathe frequently, keep the cage clean, and put 
 sand mixed with anise seed on the floor. 
 
 MUSIC HINTS. 
 
 Use and Preservation of the Piano Forte. — If the piano forte be the 
 instrument of use, bring it out from the wall, so that a free space be 
 
MUSIC HINTS. 
 
 879 
 
 before you when you sing or play. Never sing up against a wall if 
 you can help it, or subject your friends to this sore trial. Moreover, 
 never lumber a piano with music and books ; it is inartistic. Above 
 all keep your piano in tune. If an instrument is worth having, it is 
 worth being kept in good order. You cannot have a piano long out 
 of tune without getting your ear out of tune, and, if a singer, your 
 voice. The Erard grand pianos of New York are all kept in order by 
 one accomplished tuner. For twelve dollars a year he tunes once a 
 month or oftener if necessary. Such an arrangement should be made 
 for pianos of every make. It improves them, and they last the long- 
 er for it. A very awkward accomp'animent for the piano forte is the 
 piano stool. It is clumsy and heavy to move ; has a ‘special facility 
 for upsetting ; the screw is often in a crippled state ; and, at best, it 
 is but an insecure, uncomfortable, and shaky contrivance. A seat of 
 far greater convenience and elegance at the piano, particularly with 
 the present flowing style of ladies’ dresses, is an ottoman shaped seat 
 somewhat long, like an organ bench, but tastefully modelled. It might 
 be upholstered, though it were better not. It should, of course, be 
 made for the purpose, and of the right higlit. The most comfortable 
 off-hand or improvised seat is a cane chair ; and, by the way, let us 
 suggest to gentlemen never to sit on a piano stool. The dignity of 
 but few men is equal to the situation of a perch on such a tripod, 
 with the coat tails hanging down behind ; a chair, by all means ! 
 
 To those about to purchase pianos, we will say that those made by 
 reliable and well known makers, no matter how high their price may 
 be, are in reality the cheapest instruments in the end ; and to those 
 possessing pianos, that freedom from artificial heat, cleanliness in pre- 
 serving them from moths, and regular tuning, are requisite to keep 
 their instrument in good order for enjoyable use. 
 
 Purchase only those pianos made of thoroughly seasoned wood, and 
 of the best quality of materials generally, for such only are the cheap- 
 est pianos, no matter what their first cost may be. 
 
 Keep your piano as much from the influence of the hot air of your 
 house furnace or stove as possible, for it injures the best made pianos, 
 and almost renders those of inferior quality useless. 
 
 We frequently hear the remark that “our piano stands in tune for 
 a year.” Now the truth is, there is not one piano out of a thousand 
 that, with any ordinary use, will stand bearably in use two months, 
 and not one in five thousand that will remain perfectly in tune for 
 three weeks. True pianos will stand sufficiently in tune, to suit an 
 unskilled musical ear for half a year at times, but no cultivated 
 
680 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPEDIA. 
 
 ear can tolerate tlie discord that ensues after a month or two of 
 use. 
 
 Another important thing to be done to preserve a piano in order, 
 is to keep out the moths. Cloth is used wherever there is liability 
 to contact between any of the numerous portions of the instruments, 
 in order to avoid the rattling and noise incident to such contact. Of 
 course when this cloth is destroyed by the moths, the noises referred 
 to ensue. Experience has shown that ntioths generate rapidly where 
 dust is allowed to accumulate, and the best way to keep the pianos 
 free from dust is to use a large feather brush at least once a week. 
 
 Tuning consists simply in tightening and relaxing the strings to 
 the requisite degree, and does not include a general renovation and 
 repair of the instrument, as many people imagine. New pianos re- 
 quire tuning once a month, and none should be allowed to go untuned 
 over three months, for the longer an instrument remains untuned the 
 lower its pitch of tone, and consequently the greater the strain upon 
 the instrument to draw it up to “concert pitch,” and when it is thus 
 raised in tone double tuning is necessary, for the first drawing up 
 causes the case to yield gradually and in a week or two the piano is 
 out of tune. 
 
 The New York Home Journal has the following on this subject 
 The piano should be closed when not in use, in order to prevent the 
 collection of pins, dust, &c., on the soundboard, and also to prevent 
 the strings and “action” from the ill effects or sudden changes of tem- 
 perature. Nothing injures a piano so much as extreme heat, whether 
 arising from a bright fire in front of it, or what is worse, the hot air 
 from furnaces in such general use; few pianos can resist the injurious 
 action of the latter. Care should be taken to prevent moisture of any 
 kind from getting between the keys, particularly when cleaning them, 
 as it will cause them to stick. Moths are very destructive to pianos 
 and should be kept out of them by placing a lump of camphor wrap- 
 ped in paper to prevent evaporation, in the inside corners. Any hard 
 substance placed on a piano will cause a jarring, and if the top part 
 be unprotected by a cloth cover, that also will often rattle. Young 
 pianists would injure the piano less if they would refrain from striking 
 the keys with such force; a light touch, with a judicious use of the 
 loud pedal, will yield a far better and equally as full a tone as if they 
 exerted all the force at their command. Were this fact more attended 
 to, fewer strings would be broken, one cause of the piano not remaining 
 in tune would be removed, and less injury would result to the “action' 
 
HOW TO MAKE ALL KINDS OF INK. 
 
 881 
 
 of the piano. These various annoyances are often attributed to infe- 
 rior tuning, or defective make, when neither is the cause. 
 
 Few are aware of the benefit to be derived from having their pi- 
 anos regularly tuned and kept in order ; every new piano should be 
 tuned at least once a month, and none should be allowed to remain 
 untuned over three. When a piano is half a note below “ concert 
 pitch,” and it is required to be brought up, it should be tuned twice, 
 the second tuning about a month after the first, or it will not stand 
 well in tune. 
 
 To Restore the Color of the Ivory to Piano Keys. — If they are yel- 
 low they may be rubbed carfully with very fine sand paper. 
 
 To Make an AEolian Karp. — Of very thin cedar, pine or other 
 soft wood, make a box five or six inches deep, seven or eight inches 
 wide, and of a length just equal to the width of the window in which 
 it is to be placed. Across the top, near each end, glue a strip of wood 
 half an inch high and a quarter of an inch thick, for bridges. Into 
 the ends of the box insert wooden pins like those of a violin to wind 
 the strings around, two pins in each end. Make a sound hole in the 
 middle of the top, and string the box with small catgut, or blue first- 
 fiddle strings. Fastening one end of each string to a metallic pin in 
 one end of the box, and, carrying it over the bridges, wind it around 
 the turning pin in the opposite end of the box. The ends of the box 
 should be increased in thickness where the wooden pins enter by a 
 piece of wood glued upon the inside. Tune the strings in unison and 
 place the box in the window. It is better to have four strings as des- 
 cribed, but a harp with a single string produces an exceedingly sweet 
 melody of notes which vary with the force of the wind. 
 
 Another Way. — An iEolian Harp can be made by stretching a few 
 threads of silk across a window, just beneath the upper sash, outside, 
 in such manner that they will vibrate freely when acted upon by the 
 atmosphere. There is no rule about the adjustment, and you must 
 keep trying until you hit the happy mean. 
 
 HOW TO MAKE ALL KINDS OF INK. 
 
 Cheap Ink. — The editors of the Country Gentleman say : The best 
 way to have good ink is to make it yourself, and save at least one 
 thousand. per cent, as ink is commonly sold at retail, between first cost 
 and final price. ^ But how shall we make it easily and cheaply ? Thus: 
 
882 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 Buy extract of logwood , which may be had for three cents an ounce, 
 or cheaper by the quantity. Buy also, for three cents, an ounce of 
 bi-chromate of potash. Do not make a mistake and get the simple 
 chromate of potash. The former is orange red, the latter clear yel- 
 low. Now, take half an ounce of extract of logwood, and ten g.rains 
 of bi-chromate of potash, and dissolve them in a quart of hot rain 
 water. When cold, pour it into a glass bottle, and leave it uncovered 
 for a week or two. Exposure to the air is indispensable. The ink is 
 then made ; and has cost five to ten minutes labor, and about three 
 cents besides the bottle. This ink is at first an intense steel blue, but 
 becomes quite black. The vessels must all be perfectly clean, or the 
 ink will be dull or dirty color. If poured into an inkstand that has 
 had other ink in, a little remaining will be sufficient to spoil the 
 whole. This ink is excellent as well as cheap, but it often fails from 
 impurity of materials, or using dirty water or dirty vessels, or pens 
 used in other ink. 
 
 The same authority recommends also eight grains of bi-chromate 
 of potash, instead of ten, to half an ounce pure extract of logwood. 
 A correspondent adds that all ink made out of the extract of logwood 
 is liable to become thick, and ought to be strained through a thick 
 strainer, which there is no difficulty in doing. He says ten cents will 
 buy the materials to make three quarts of this ink as good as that for 
 which you would pay three dollars. And another says it will cost but 
 five cents to make a quart as good as Arnold’s. Another, growing 
 poetical, says : — 
 
 This ink is cheap, and ‘ ‘black as night,” 
 
 It flows superbly while I write ; 
 
 Four cents a quart is the expense, 
 
 And by the gallon just nine pence. 
 
 The Scientific American says, logwood, bi- chromate of potash and a 
 little gum arabic — one ounce bi-chromate of potash to three pounds 
 extract of logwood — dissolved in hot water, will make three gallons 
 of ink. 
 
 The Best Ink. — Dr. Ure says that he has tried a great many re- 
 ceipts for making ink, and he thinks the best is made of sulphate of 
 iron, nutgalls and gum. The other things often added merely modify 
 the shade and considerably diminish the cost to the manufacturer upon 
 a large scale. Many of these inks contain little gallic acid or tannin, 
 and are therefore of inferior quality. To make twelve gallons of ink, 
 we may take twelve pounds of nutgalls, five pounds of green sulphate 
 of iron, five pounds of gum Senegal, and twelve gallons of water. 
 
HOW TO MAKE ALL KINDS OF INK. 
 
 883 
 
 Ink made with nutgalls, logwood and the sulphate of iron, is the 
 most permanent known to us for records that are intended to be kept 
 many years. 
 
 Arnold's Ink. — This, it is said, is made by adding a small quantity 
 of sulphate of indigo to common ink, made of sulphate of iron and 
 nutgalls. 
 
 British Ink Powder. — Extract of logwood, some cam wood, a little 
 picric acid and the bi-chromate of potash. We do not know the exact 
 proportions. 
 
 Another Good Ink Powder. — Sulphate of copper, one ounce; gum 
 arabic, two ounces ; copperas, eight ounces ; nutgalls in powder, thirty- 
 two ounces ; extract of logwood, thirty-two ounces. Or, Sulphate of 
 iron, calcined, six ounces ; powdered nutgalls, two ounces ; powdered 
 gum arabic, two drachms. A teaspoonful to a pint and a half of cold 
 water. 
 
 Ink Plant.' — Prof. Jameson, of the University of Quito, states that 
 the expressed juice of the berries of the coriaria thymifolia is used by 
 him in preference to the ordinary inks because it does not corrode the 
 steel pen. 
 
 Another Very Cheap Ink. — Soft maple bark and willow bark, equal 
 parts — a handful of each boiled in about four quarts of water, reduced 
 to one quart. Take out the bark and add a lump of copperas about 
 the size of a man’s thumb to the first joint. If on writing with it, 
 the ink appears very black, with a gloss on it, add a little water. 
 
 A Good Blue Ink. — Take three drachms of Chinese Blue (ferrocy- 
 anide of iron) and grind it up with one drachm of binoxalate of pot- 
 ash and seven ounces of water. Usually about one drachm of gum is 
 added to these quantities. 
 
 Another Blue Ink. — Chinese blue, three ounces ; oxalic acid (pure,) 
 three-quarters of an ounce; gum arabic, powdered, one ounce; distil- 
 led water, six pints. Mix. 
 
 Another. — Two drachms oxalic acid, two drachms Prussian blue, to 
 be mixed in half a pint of water, make a good blue ink, and is very 
 simple. 
 
 Carmine Ink. — Carmine ink is made with carmine, a little gum 
 arabic and aqua ammonia. If carmine ink is too thick, dilute with 
 aqua ammonia, and it will then flow freely in writing. 
 
 Good Indellible Ink. — A good indellible ink for marking clothes is 
 composed of nitrate of silver half an ounce, distilled water one ounce, 
 and common carmine ink one ounce. If you desire to use thick ink * 
 for marking with a brush, add a little gum mucilage. The carmine 
 
S84 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 ink should contain a little aqua ammonia. This ink will not become 
 black until it is exposed to sunlight. If it is not sufficiently black 
 add some more nitrate of silver — it is the coloring agent. Keep the 
 bottle covered from the light or the ink will be rendered worthless. 
 
 A Very Cheap Indellible Ink — said to be Superior. — Six cents worth 
 of muriatic acid — one tablespoonful of soft water — one drop of vin- 
 egar. 
 
 Indellible Ink for Writing on Paper. — A communication has been 
 made to the French Academy of Science, stating that Indian Ink, 
 dissolved in water slightly acidulated with hydrochlorine or other acid, 
 would prove to be indellible when used for writing on common paper. 
 
 Indian Ink. — Indian ink is a mixture of lamp-black and glue, with 
 the addition of camphor and other substances in small quantities. It 
 is said that the attempts to imitate it in this country and Europe have 
 not been entirely successful. 
 
 Indestructible Ink. — A German scientific journal recommends twen- 
 ty grains of sugar dissolved in thirty grains of water, to which is ad- 
 ded a few drops of concentrated sulphuric acid. Upon heating this 
 mixture the sugar becomes carbonized, and when applied to the pa- 
 per, leaves a coating of carbon which cannot be washed off. This 
 stain is rendered more permanent by the decomposing action of the 
 acid itself upon the paper, and when thus made, it resists the action 
 of chemical agents. The paper should after drying, be passed through 
 a weak alkaline solution to remove excess of acid. 
 
 Sympathetic Ink — Invisible Writing. — Dissolve zaffre in nitro muri- 
 atic acid until the metalic part is extracted. Then dilute with com- 
 mon water and write. When dry expose to a moderate degree of 
 heat, and what was invisible before will suddenly show itself in a fair 
 writing, having a green tint. When the paper is cold the writing will 
 disappear, and when again heated will become visible again. Valua- 
 ble as is this, it is not generally known. 
 
 2. Take diluted muriate of copper and write with it on clean paper 
 with a common pen. When dry no writing is visible, but when the 
 paper is held to the fire the letters become perfectly distinct. 
 
 3. Writing with rice-water is rendered visible by the application 
 of iodine. 
 
 4. It is said that the write their secret letters with sulphuric 
 
 acid freely diluted with spring water, and that held before the fire, 
 the letters turn black. A quill pen is used. 
 
 Gold and Silver Inks. — To prepare gold ink, take honey and gold 
 .eaf, equal parts ; grind together upon a painter’s porphyry slab with 
 
HOW TO MAKE ANY KIND OF INK. 
 
 885 
 
 a muller, until the gold is reduced to the finest possible state of divis- 
 ion, and the mass becomes perfectly homogeneous, when it must be 
 agitated with twenty or thirty times its weight of hot water, and then 
 allowed to settle and the water poured off ; this process must be re- 
 peated with fresh water two or three times, when the gold must be 
 dried and then mixed up with a little weak gum water for use. The 
 brilliancy of writing performed with this ink is considerable, and may 
 be increased by burnishing. Gold ink may also be made by mixing 
 precipitated gold powder with a little gum water. By dissolving in 
 aquia regia and then adding ether, a solution is obtained which, when 
 applied to polished iron, will coat it with a thin pellicle of gold. 
 
 Silver Ink is prepared in the same manner as the gold. 
 
 Marking Ink. — Thin black paint is the only indelible black mark- 
 ing fluid, known to us, for application on boxes with a brush. All 
 the common inks wash out with rain. Nitrate of silver in solution is 
 the common indelible ink sold for writing on linen. 
 
 Ink for Marking Tree Labels. — Take of verdigris and sal ammoniac 
 each two d!rachms ; lampblack one drachm ; water four ounces. Mix 
 well in a mortar, adding the water gradually. Keep in a glass vial 
 securely stopped. Write with the ink in a quill pen, upon clean, 
 bright zinc plates of any desired form. Whefr dry, it may be exposed 
 to the weather, or buried in the ground for years, without obliterating 
 the writing. Shake the ink well before using. 
 
 To Detect Inks. — To distinguish writing made with nutgall ink 
 from that of logwood ink, proceed thus : Immerse the written paper 
 for some seconds in water acidulated with nitric acid (say six to eight 
 drops of nitric acid to an ounce of water ;) the logwood will assume a 
 yellow-red color and afterwards disappear entirely, while the nutgall 
 ink will remain unchanged. 
 
 lo Obliterate Writing Ink. — Writing ink may be obliterated from 
 ordinary paper by chlorinated carbonate of soda ; by a solution of 
 bromide ; by a solution of chloride of bromide ; by chloride of lime ; 
 by bromide of lime ; by a solution of chlorine ; by chromic acid ; or 
 by oxygenated water. 
 
 To Clarify Quills. — Plunge the quills in a kettle of boiling water, 
 in which a small quantity of potash, alum, or common salt is dissolv- 
 ed. As soon as the quills are softened, take them out, and with the 
 back of a knife scratch them. Repeat this operation until the quill 
 becomes transparent, and all the fatty matter that • coated is taken 
 away. Ther. plunge them to soften them, and round them off between 
 the thumb and finger, and immerse them in hot sand or warm ashes. 
 
886 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 These take away tb e last remnant of grease, and make them hard and 
 shining. A mixture of sand and clay is better than ashes. The mix- 
 ture is heated on a sheet of iron or in an iron pot over the fire. The 
 quills are pricked in the mixture, and left for about a quarter of an 
 hour in the hot sand, then taken out and rubbed with a flannel, when 
 they are fit to use for writing. 
 
 Another method is to submit them to the steam of boiling water 
 for twenty- four hours. They are then taken out, the end is slightly 
 opened and the marrow taken out, then rubbed with a flannel, and 
 put to dry in a moderately warm place. The next day they become 
 transparent like glass, and hard as bone without becoming brittle. 
 
 PAPEE, PAECHMENT, TEACING, TEANSFEEEING, &C. 
 
 How to Make Tracing Taper. — A very good substitute for tracing 
 paper may be manufactured with ordinary paper by the help of a little 
 benzole. A sheet of ordinary Bath post moistened with this oil, ren- 
 ders the material perfectly transparent ; the tracing may then be ef- 
 fected, and within a short time the volatile fluid has evaporated and 
 left the paper perfectly opaque and clear as before. The drawing sus- 
 tains no detriment by the operation. 
 
 To Make Transparent Paper and Cloth. — Take a sheet of tissue 
 paper, dip it into a solution of silicate of soda or potash, (soluble 
 glass,) press it gently, and when dry it is complete. Another method 
 is to dip the paper in a thin varnish of pure Canadian balsam, and al- 
 low it to dry thoroughly, when it is ready for use. This latter meth- 
 od also renders fine linen cloth transparent, and capable of being used 
 for tracing drawings. Paper can also be rendered transparent by 
 dipping it in limpid oil, then drying it in a warm situation, but it is 
 not good for tracing paper when made in this manner. 
 
 A Good Paper for taking Impressions. — I have seen paper for trans- 
 ferring impressions of leaves, &c., made as follows : Take a sheet of 
 thin letter or strong tissue paper, and give it a coat of boiled linseed 
 oil; when dry apply dry colors (in powder) with a heavy camel’s 
 hair brush ; enough will adhere to the surface to make a first rate 
 impression. 
 
 A Good Transfer Paper may be made for copying monumental in- 
 scriptions and metalic patterns by rubbing a mixture of black lead 
 and soap over the surface of common silver paper. 
 
PAPER, PARCHMENT, TRACING, TRANSFERRING, <frC. 887 
 
 To Make Vellum Paper , or Artificial Parchment. — Draw a piece 
 of common unsized paper through a mixture of two parts of concen- 
 trated sulphuric acid with one part of water, and then thoroughly 
 wash it in water. If the acid either exceeds or falls below the above 
 named strength, then the quality of the parchment is deteriorated. 
 Paper thus prepared is so strong that a ring of it seven-eighths of an 
 inch in width will sustain sixty-three to one hundred pounds. This 
 paper from its strength and durability is suitable for legal deeds, pol- 
 icies of insurance, &c.; it will receive oil colors, and will answer per- 
 fectly for maps and engravings. 
 
 This process increases the strength of the paper, makes it trans- 
 lucent, and gives it the exact appearance of parchment, which it has 
 in a great measure replaced, from its superior cheapness. According 
 to Professor Calvert, of Manchester, England, the same process ap- 
 plied to cotton cloth very much increases its thickness and strength. 
 The cotton thus prepared is technically known as “blanket.” 
 
 Another Way. — Soak unsized common paper, such as is used for 
 drawing on, in sulphuric acid diluted with half its volume of water, 
 at 60°. Wash this well in cold water, then immerse in a weak so- 
 lution of caustic ammonia, and again wash, when dry it is ready for 
 use. It is indestructible by most acids and does not lose strength by 
 wetting. 
 
 L Tow to Make Paper Impervious to Water. — Take twenty- four 
 ounces of alum and four ounces of white soap, and dissolve them in 
 two pounds of water ; into another vessel dissolve two ounces of gum 
 arable and six ounces of glue in the same quantity of water as the for- 
 mer, and add the two solutions together, which is now to be kept warm, 
 and the paper intended to be made water-proof dipped into it, passed 
 between the rollers, and dried ; or without the use of rollers, the pa- 
 per may be suspended until it is perfectly dripped and then dried. 
 The alum, soap, glue and gum form a kind of artificial leather, which 
 protects the surface of the paper from the action of water, and also 
 renders it some what fire-proof. This is a preparation for water- 
 proofing paper intended for packages exposed to the weather recom- 
 mended by Professor Muschamp of Wurtemburg, Germany . 
 
 To Transfer Picture Prints. — Take any transparent varnish and 
 put a thin coat of it on the box or article on which the transfer is to 
 be made, allow it to become nearly but not quite dry, place the print 
 upon it face downwards and make it adhere perfectly. When it be- 
 comes perfectly dry the paper may be rubbed off by moistening the 
 finger, and the ink forming the print will be left behind adhering 
 
888 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 firmly. Collodion, about the consistency of cream, if applied in the 
 same manner, will answer the same purpose as varnish for transfering 
 prints. 
 
 To Transfer Pencil Drawings to Metal or Stone. — M. Villani — Vil- 
 lanis remarks that if a sheet of paper on which a plan or any draw- 
 ing or writing has been executed with pencil be moistened with acid- 
 ulated water, and afterwards inked, the pencil marks alone will take 
 the ink, and the whole drawing may then be transfered to metal or 
 stone. 
 
 To Fix Pencil Drawings. — The plan generally pursued by artists 
 is to dissolve a piece of gum the size of a pea in a tumbler of cold 
 water, and with a camel’s hair brush pass the solution lightly over the 
 surface of the drawing. Leave it untouched until dry. 
 
 Another Way. — A teacupful of rice boiled in a pint and a quarter 
 of cold water ; this poured off and another pint and a quarter added ; 
 the moment it boils the liquor is to be poured into a jug and left to 
 stand about ten minutes till the sediment sinks to the bottom. This 
 clear liquid is to be kept for use and applied to pencil drawings warm. 
 It may be poured into a tea tray, and the drawing laid upon its face 
 on the liquid, and then pinned by a corner to dry. 
 
 To Preserve Pencil Drawings. — Pencil drawings are preserved by 
 pouring skimmed milk over the surface. A yellow tone can be given 
 to the paper by a decoction of coffee. 
 
 To take the Impression of Leaves of Plants on Paper. — Take a sheet 
 of paper, and rub over it the thinnest possible film of oil ; then hang 
 it up in the air to partially dry the film. Next cover the paper with 
 lampblack soot, or soot from a large tallow candle, by holding it ex- 
 tended over a smoky flame, and pressing it gently, but with care, into 
 the flame, in order to cover the paper with smoke, but of course 
 so as not to set it on fire. Having done this, put it into a damp 
 place to take the curl out, and when cold and flat, lay on the smoky 
 side the leaf intended to be impressed or printed ; then press with a 
 soft wad every part of it, so as to take up a portion of the black ; this 
 finished, place the leaf gently oh a sheet of drawing paper, and put a 
 piece of paper and a weight of books, or pressure, upon it. When 
 the whole is removed there will appear a beautiful black impression, 
 resembling a lithograph, of the leaf so treated, showing its true line, 
 its veins and fibre, quite distinct and true to nature. Fleshy leaves 
 of annuals and similar plants are better to copy than evergreens. 
 
 For a more simple method of taking impressions, which possesses 
 *he advantage that they may afterwards be colored by hand, instead 
 
PAPER, PARCHMENT, TRACING, TRANSFERING, &G. 889 
 
 of lamp smoke and candle smoke, printer’s ink may be used, as was 
 done by Kniphoff in bis celebrated botanical work, which extended 
 to some dozen volumes folio, and was published more than a century 
 ago, and was the first successful attempt at nature-printing on a large 
 scale. Impressions taken in printer’s ink, may be easily colored, and 
 Kniphoff s work was published both plain and colored. 
 
 To Recover Writing on Paper or Parchment — Morids’ process for 
 recovering writing on paper or parchment which has become nearly 
 effaced, is as follows : The paper or parchment written on is first left 
 for sometime in contact with distilled water. It is then placed for five 
 seconds in a solution of oxalic acid (one of acid to one hundred of wa- 
 ter ;) next, after washing it, it is put in a vessel containing a solution 
 of gallic acid (ten grains of acid to three hundred of distilled water;) 
 and finally washed again and dried. The process should be carried 
 forward with care and promptness, that any accidental discoloration 
 of the paper may be prevented. 
 
 Copying Writing. — In the absence of copying book, press and ink, 
 a little sugar may be added to common ink, and a copy of the writing 
 easily taken off by laying a sheet of unsized paper damped with a 
 sponge on the written paper, and passing over it a flat iron moderate- 
 ly heated. Persons accustomed to using a copy press, may in the ab - 
 sence of it obtain a fair copy by preparing the writing and book in 
 the ordinary manner, then placing the copy book on a solid floor, press 
 it by treading it with the feet, taking care to place a newspaper over 
 and beneath the book to prevent its being soiled. 
 
 To Restore Faded Photographs. — The prints should be unmounted 
 by soaking in water for a time, and then immersed in. a saturated so- 
 lution of bi-chloride of mercury, in which they may be left for two 
 or three minutes, and afterwards thoroughly washed. The change 
 takes place directly they are in the chloride solution. 
 
 To Prevent Photographs from Fading. — Photographs are more li- 
 able to fade or change when kept in a portfolio than when under glass 
 and exposed to the action of light. A sulphurized proof, if kept in a 
 perfectly dry place, remains for a very long time without exhibiting 
 any signs of alteration, while in a damp place change is immediately 
 evident. 
 
890 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 PICTURE PAINTING AND TAKING PLASTER OASTS. 
 
 LESSONS FOE THE GRECIAN OIL PAINTING. 
 
 1. Procure a lithograph or engraving for your design to paint ; 
 then fasten the same by pasting or tacking it to a light wooden frarhe, 
 so as to keep it straight while preparing and painting. 
 
 2. Then pour on the back of your picture a sufficient amount of the 
 spirits of turpentine to saturate it well, spreading it gently at the 
 same time with a flat varnish brush. This done continue to saturate 
 it in the same manner, by using the Grecian varnish instead of turpen- 
 tine as often as you see dry spots begin to appear on the surface of 
 the picture, until it becomes clear, glossy, and transparent like glass. 
 Receipt for making Grecian varnish : three ounces of balsam of fir, two 
 ounces of alcohol, and one ounce of spirits of turpentine, mix well 
 together. 
 
 3. This done leave it face down secure from dust, and in two or 
 three days it will be dry enough to paint. After leaving it to dry 
 you must watch it closely and if white spots begin to appear, repeat 
 the process of saturating with the Grecian varnish. 
 
 4. When your picture is well dried, paint it on the back or wrong 
 side, following the boundary line and covering the surface and form 
 of every figure and portion of your design, as designated by your 
 lithograph or engraving — using artists’ colors and brushes. Colors 
 must be used according to the nature of your design and scenery in 
 the picture. Lay your colors on heavy, and mix Demar varnish with 
 your colors before using them. No shading is required as that is all 
 done by your design. 
 
 In painting the figure of a person, first paint the eyes and hair and 
 let them dry ; then the flesh color, which you make as follows : Mix 
 Naples yellow, scarlet lake and silver white, so as to make it resemble 
 the flesh color. Very little of Naples yellow and scarlet lake will do 
 mixed with the silver white. Make the color of the lips and cheeks a 
 little reder than the rest, by mixing a little more of scarlet lake with 
 the flesh color ; dabble the cheeks with your fingers, so as to blend 
 them well. Back grounds and draperies are varied according to the 
 taste of the artist. Colors generally used for back grounds are Van- 
 dyke-brown, raw sietina and white, varied light or dark with more or 
 less white mixed with it. Colors generally used for draperies are as 
 follows: For buff, Naples yellow; for orange, chrome yellow and 
 
riCTUKE PAINTING AND TAKING PLASTER CASTS. 
 
 891 
 
 very little scarlet lake mixed; for white, silver white; for blae, mix 
 white and Persian blue ; for green, chrome yellow and Persian blue 
 (or emerald green) ; for purple, scarlet lake and Persian blue, mixed. 
 Be careful to cover the whole surface of your picture with colors most 
 suitable for your design, and, when finished, varnish on the right side 
 or front of your picture with Grecian varnish. 
 
 6. Explanations. — You must saturate your picture but once with 
 the spirits of turpentine ; after which you must keep it well wet with 
 the Grecian varnish, and be sure not to let it dry spotted, but clear ; 
 you must never commence painting on a picture until it is well dried 
 (clear and transparent.) 
 
 Explanations on Lesson 5th. — In painting the eyes, first paint the 
 white of the eye with silver white ; then the pupil or sight ; you paint 
 for blue with white and little Persian blue, mixed; if you want hazel 
 eves mix yellow ochre and Vandyke brown and a little raw sienna. 
 
 LESSONS FOR THE CRYSTAL OR ORIENTAL PAINTING. 
 
 1. Procure a pattern for copy to paint from, such as flowers, 
 wreaths of the same, vases of fruit, &c. Then, with wafers or other 
 glutinous substances fasten the same to the glass so as to prevent the 
 pattern from moving — the pattern of course being on the under side 
 of the glass. 
 
 2. Then with a fine pencil, brush, or with a common writing pen, 
 trace all the outlines of your picture or pattern, such as flowers, leaves, 
 vines of the same, stems, ornaments, &c., as near as possible on the 
 glass over your picture or pattern — the same as you would trace a 
 pattern for embroidery, only you trace upon the glass instead of upon 
 other paper-using asphaltum varnish and a very little lampblack mix- 
 ed ; adding a little turpentine if too thick. 
 
 3. This done, fill or paint all the background of your picture and 
 spaces not occupied by flowers, leaves, stems, ornaments, &c., with the 
 same material that you traced the lines with, when you want a black 
 back ground ; but if any other color, paint with oil colors, as follows : 
 
 4. For white ground, use silver white; for pink, mix scarlet lake 
 and silver white ; for blue, Prussian blue and silver white, mixed; for 
 orange, mix chrome yellow and very little scarlet pink ; for purple, use 
 blue, white, and scarlet lake, mixed. 
 
 5. When your groundwork is well dried, then paint your flowers, 
 .eaves, stems and ornaments, &c., as near the natural color of the 
 (lowers as possible, using the following transparent colors : For red, 
 
892 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 scarlet lake ; for brown, burnt sienna ; for green, yellow lake and blue 
 mixed ; for purple, scarlet lake and Persian blue, mixed ; for yellow, 
 yellow lake ; for blue, Prussian blue ; for white, silver white ; for pink, 
 scarlet lake and white mixed. 
 
 6. Lay your colors on very thin, and mix Demar varnish with them 
 before using them. Shade with extra coats after the first is dry. 
 With your pink and white you must mix a great quantity of Demar 
 varnish, and lay them on thin as possible, as they are opaque colors. 
 When all is well dried, cover the whole picture with tin or silver foil, 
 which will give it a spangle and pearly appearance. The back board 
 will hold the foil to its place, when the picture is framed. 
 
 LESSONS FOR THE ITALIAN LANDSCAPE PAINTING. 
 
 1. Procure your lithograph or engraving for your design to trans- 
 fer on glass, and cut the margin off around your picture, this done, 
 lay your picture in a pan of clean water till it sinks, after which re- 
 move it and lay it between dry papers so as to absorb the most of the 
 water again, (old newspapers will answer for that purpose.) 
 
 2. This done, clean your glass and wipe it dry, then cover it with 
 Demar varnish,, spreading it at the same time evenly with a flat var- 
 nish brush all over, so that there is no spot left uncovered, this done, 
 lay it away, so that the varnish can flow smoothly. 
 
 3. When your varnish is nearly dry (very little tacky) so that the 
 varnish will not stick to your fingers when touched, but snap when 
 your finger is removed, then lay your picture upon the table or any 
 smooth surface, with the face or front side up and hold your varnish- 
 ed glass on it, with the varnished side down, in the position you want 
 the picture on the glass. Lay the glass down carefully, pressing 
 lightly, this will unite your varnished glass and the face of your 
 picture. 
 
 4. This done, take a piece of dry paper and lay on the back of 
 your picture where you see blisters or air bubbles upon the surface, 
 and press them lightly with your fingers, from the center of the pic- 
 ture outwards ; these must all be pressed out until there are no more 
 to be seen between the surface of the picture and the glass, and you 
 must always keep a dry paper between your fingers and the picture 
 or you will roll up the paper and spoil the picture. 
 
 5. When the blisters are all removed, set the picture aside and let 
 it remain until the varnish is dry and hard (which will require at 
 least twelve hours ;) then wet the paper with water and rub it with 
 
PICTURE PAINTING AND TAKING PLASTER CASTS. 893 
 
 your fingers until nil the paper is removed, but a light film, the print 
 will retain; then let it remain twenty minutes to dry; then varnish 
 it again with Demar varnish and that will render it clear and trans- 
 parent like glass. 
 
 6. When your picture is well dried paint it on the back or wrong 
 side, following the boundary lines and covering the surface and form 
 of every figure and portion of your design, as designated by your 
 lithograph or engraving, using artists’ colors and brushes. Colors 
 must be used according to the nature of your design and scenery in 
 the picture. Lay your colors on heavily ; mix Demar varnish with 
 them before using them. No shading is required, as that is done by 
 your lithograph or engraving. 
 
 7. Explanations. — If you wish to paint the figure of a person or 
 draperies, follow the direction' given in the Grecian oil painting. 
 
 8. Landscapes. — To make trees: make the trunks and branches 
 with Vandyke brown, raw sienna and silver white, mixed; for foilage, 
 mix chrome yellow and Prussian blue, and vary with the browns ; for 
 rocks, mix Vandyke brown, white and raw sienna ; for water, mix 
 Prussian blue, white and a very small quantity of green ; for distant 
 hills, make it a little deeper blue; to make sky, mix Prussian blue 
 and white, applied in the following manner : first paint the portion 
 next to the tops of the hills, trees, &c., with entire white ; then mix 
 a very small quantity of Prussian blue, as you go upwards on the pic- 
 ture. If you want a warm appearance on the horizon, mix a small 
 quantity of scarlet lake, so as to give it a red tinge. 
 
 LESSONS FOR THE CELESTIAL PAINTING. 
 
 You proceed the same as in the first five lessons in Italian Painting, 
 and in the sixth to the exception of one line, which says lay your 
 colors on heavily, and in this lay them on light. 
 
 In painting the figure of a person in a picture, first paint the hair 
 and eyes and let them dry ; then the flesh color, which you make as 
 follows : mix Naples yellow, scarlet lake and silver white together, so 
 as to make it resemble the natural flesh in color — this you can judge 
 of by comparison. You make the lips and cheeks a little redder than 
 the rest by mixing a little more scarlet lake with the flesh color; 
 dabble the cheeks with your fingers so as to blend them well. Back- 
 grounds and draperies varied according to the taste of artist, using 
 the same colors as in the Grecian oil painting. Lay your colors on 
 thin, all except the back grounds and flesh colors, those you lay on 
 heavily, and be sure to mix Demar varnish with them before using. 
 
894 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPEDIA. 
 
 so as to make them dry, and also to make them clear. When your 
 picture is all painted, backgrounds, draperies, &c., &c., let it remain 
 three or four days before framing, to dry. A nd when it is dry, cover 
 the transparent portions of your picture with tin foil, the same as you 
 do the crystal painting. Lay the foil between the glass and back 
 board, so that your transparent colors will look brilliant. 
 
 Explanations. — The following colors are all that are necessary to 
 use in the four different sorts of painting, as given in these lessons : — 
 Naples yellow, chrome yellow, yellow ochre, emerald green, scarlet 
 lake, Prussian blue, burnt sienna, raw sienna, Vandyke brown, ivory 
 black, silver white. 
 
 List of Materials Used. — One pallette board and knife, one flat var- 
 nish brush, three sizes of artists’ brushes, sufficient amount of Demar 
 varnish, and also green varnish and turpentine, for saturating in Gre- 
 cian painting, and for washing brushes in. 
 
 Brushes are worth from 5 to 10 cents each; colors from 10 to 
 12 cents each except the lakes, which are worth 20 to 25 cents each. 
 
 Be careful not to mix too much paint at once, for if you do, it will 
 dry and be good for nothing. 
 
 N. B. Backgrounds can be painted after the other is done, by mix- 
 ing all the different sorts together that are left. 
 
 TAKING PLASTER CASTS. 
 
 To make a cast from a mold so as to have the interior hollow, we 
 will first give an illustration. Take a quantity of melted tallow, and 
 pour it into a glass bottle, cork up the bottle and roll it around so 
 that the tallow shall flow over every part of the surface. It will soon 
 get cool and adhere to the inner surface of the bottle, and the shell 
 of tallow will be only so thick as the quantity of the material will 
 make it. If more tallow were poured in, and the process of rolling 
 it about were resumed, it would increase the thickness of the shell to 
 any required extent. Suppose a mold made for casting a human 
 head, of course it would be made in parts and joined. That mold 
 could be waxed or greased so that the plaster cast would not adhere 
 to it firmly. The parts would be put together and tied so that they 
 should not become displaced, and the plaster would be stirred up about 
 as thick as batter for buckwheat cakes. Of course it is caloined plas- 
 ter, which will harden pretty quickly after being wet up with cold 
 water. This batter or thin plaster is poured into the mold, and the 
 mold turned around and around, so that the liquid plaster will flow 
 over every part of the inner surface of the mold. The operator con- 
 
PICTURE PAINTING AND TAKING PLASTER CASTS. 
 
 895 
 
 tinues to roll the mold till the plaster ceases to flow. If one batch or 
 quantity thus poured in should not be sufficient to make a cast so thick 
 as is requisite, let another quantity be stirred in like manner and pour- 
 ed in, and the mold rolled as before. This will make a second thick- 
 iess, and even a third or fourth thickness can be added. Then lay 
 the mold aside for twenty minutes or half an hour, for the plaster to 
 become set, when the strings may be taken off and the parts of the 
 mold gently loosened and carefully removed from the . cast, when it 
 will stand out in all its whiteness and glory, and be an exact counter- 
 part of the interior surface of the mold, and will be hollow. If it has 
 been skillfully manipulated, every part of the cast will be almost ex- 
 actly alike in thickness. If too little plaster is used, so that the cast 
 is very thin, a longer time would be required for the plaster to harden, 
 so as not to break in taking the mold off. 
 
 It is more trouble to make the mold than it is to make the cast from 
 the mold. To give the method of this we will begin in simple form. 
 If the cast of an egg should be required, take a small dish, or say a 
 clam shell, and fill it with wetted plaster. Take the egg and oil it, 
 and imbed it just half its bigness in the plaster, and let the plaster 
 harden and the egg lie in the plaster. It is presumed that the sur- 
 face of the plaster around the egg will form a straight, clean edge. 
 If it should not, it should be carefully smoothed with a knife. This, 
 by a skillful hand, can be done while the plaster is moist or quite soft. 
 When hardened, take the point of a knife and bore some little flaring 
 holes in the plaster around the egg as it lies embedded in the plaster. 
 These holes may be a quarter of an inch deep, in the form of an in- 
 verted pyramid. Then take oil in a brush and oil the edge of this 
 first half of the mold, especially these little holes ; and oil the top 
 part of the egg. Then mix up more plaster, and with a spoon pour 
 it on the top of the egg, and let it flow down on to the edge of the first 
 half of the mold in which the egg is still imbedded ; and when the 
 egg is completely covered, and of sufficient thickness for the mold, let 
 it get hard, and then take the top part of the mold off, and remove 
 the egg from the under half. Then whittle a place at one end to pour 
 the plaster in ; half the hole being in each half of the mold. The 
 mold will be held in place by little pins or teeth that have been form- 
 ed on the last half and fit into the small pyramidal holes previously 
 bored. Then, the mold being oiled nicely and put together, and fast- 
 ened by a string, the plaster may be poured in, and the mold filled up 
 solid. Precisely one-half the egg having been imbedded in each half 
 of the mold, it will easily come off the cast and reveal the form of 
 
896 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 the original pattern. A slight seam will be seen on the cast, which, 
 with a knife can be carefully removed, and you have the cast of the 
 
 If a human hand were to be cast, it might be imbedded just half 
 way and care taken that the plaster all around rises just to the middle 
 line of the fingers, so that it would draw from the mold without pres- 
 sure, then pour plaster on the upper half in the same manner as upon 
 the upper half of the egg. And when the mold is taken from the 
 hand and put together, the cast of the hand can be made just like the 
 cast of the egg. 
 
 We advise raw hands not to work at taking casts of the head till 
 they have tried eggs and hands and other objects, such as irregular 
 formed potatoes, pears, etc. And there must be as many pieces to 
 the mold as may be required to take the mold off from a solid casting 
 without breaking the mould or the casting. 
 
 In taking the cast of a face, the subject is usually laid on his back, 
 quills are put in the nose to maintain breathing, and something is laid 
 around the head back as far as the ears, and a front-piece made that 
 can be taken off and the edges whittled smooth, the pin holes or dow- 
 el places made, put back on the face with the edge oiled, and the back- 
 head taken in like manner. But the hair must be filled with soap or 
 paste, and laid in solid masses, so as not to stick to the mold or be- 
 come imbedded in it, otherwise there will be a double grief — one for 
 the artist and the other for the luckless subject. When the mold is 
 ready, a cast is taken, generally solid, and the mold broken off in 
 small pieces — the cast finished smoothly, and a new mold made in 
 small parts, so that it can be taken off, and when this is dried and 
 oiled, nice casts of the face and head are made. 
 
 THE WEATHER AND ITS SIGNS. 
 
 There is no subject of more importance, and yet there is none with 
 which men of science, and others, are so superficially acquainted, 
 as that indicated in the above caption. 
 
 The heat of summer and the cold of winter, the rain and the snows, 
 the thunder and the, lightening, the hurricane and the gentle breeze, 
 how many mingled associations of pleasure and grief are connected 
 with these. Our enjoyments, yea, our very existence, it may be said, 
 are dependent on those operations of nature which we call the weather. 
 
THE WEATHER AND ITS SIGNS. 
 
 897 
 
 HOW TO FORETELL WEATHER. 
 
 The reason seamen, Indians, and backwoodsmen can predict the 
 state of the weather for a short time so accurately is. because they 
 have long been accustomed to the observation of all Nature’s signs. 
 Many of these weather signs have become known to others than the 
 classes above named. For example : the darker the color of the sky, 
 when viewed perpendicularly upward, the more it indicates dry weath- 
 er ; and the paler it is, the more it indicates wet weather. Paleness 
 and dulness of the sun and moon indicate wet weather ; and when 
 they are of a bright and clear color, dry weather is indicated. When 
 the horns of the moon are sharp, or when the margin of the moon is 
 well defined, it indicates dry weather ; but when the contrary is the 
 fact, wet weather is indicated. Since these signs have become known, 
 philosophers have had no trouble in explaining them. It is very sim- 
 ple. The more moisture or aqueous vapor there is in the atmosphere, 
 the paler and duller the sky, sun and moon appear, and the dryer the 
 atmosphere, the brighter and clearer they all look. So, when the 
 moon is surrounded by an iris, or “ring,” it indicates rain, because 
 the iris is produced by the moon’s light being reflected by aqueous 
 vapor contained in the atmosphere. Again — supposing no moon visi- 
 ble, if the stars look larger and somewhat paler, less vivid, and at the 
 same time less numerous than usual, it indicates an unusual amount 
 of moisture in the atmosphere, and accordingly foretells rain. On the 
 contrary, when the stars look smaller, more twinkling, and at the 
 same time more numerous than usual, it indicates that there is a less 
 amount of aqueous vapor in the atmosphere, and accordingly foretells 
 dry weather. It is very interesting to observe and study these weath- 
 er signs, and a mastery of them is a useful accomplishment. Any one 
 who has eyes can pursue the investigation, and it will not interfere 
 with any other pursuit. 
 
 Whether clear or cloudy, a rosy sky at sunset presages fine weath- 
 er; a red sky in the morning, bad weather, or much wind (perhaps 
 rain ;) a grey sky in the morning, fine weather ; a high dawn, wind ; 
 a low dawn, fair weather. Soft looking or delicate clouds foretell fine 
 weather, with moderate or light breezes ; hard-edge, oily-looking 
 clouds, wind. A dark, gloomy blue sky is windy ; but a light, bright 
 blue sky indicates fine weather. Generally, the softer clouds look, 
 the less wind (but, perhaps, more rain,) may be expected ; and the 
 harder, more greasy, rolled, tufted, or ragged, the stronger the coming 
 wind will prove. Also, a bright yellow sky at sunset presages wind ; 
 
898 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 a pale, yellow, wet ; and thus, by the prevalence of red, yellow, or 
 grey tints, the coming weather may be foretold very nearly, indeed, 
 if aided by instruments, almost exactly. Small inky looking clouds 
 foretell rain ; light scud clouds driving across heavy masses show wind 
 and rain ; but if alone may indicate wind only. High upper clouds 
 crossing the sun, moon, or stars, in a direction different from that of 
 the lower clouds, or the wind when felt below, foretell a change of the 
 wind. When sea-birds fly out early, and far to seaward, moderate 
 wind and fair weather may be expected ; when they hang about the 
 land, or over it sometimes flying inland, expect a strong wind with 
 stormy weather. There are other signs of a coming change in the 
 weather known less generally than may be desirable, and, therefore, 
 worth notice ; such as when birds of long flight, rooks, swallows, or 
 others, hang about home, or fly up and down or low — rain or wind 
 may be expected. Also' when animals seek sheltered places, instead 
 of spreading over their usual range ; when pigs carry straws to their 
 sty; when smoke from chimneys does not ascend readily, (or straight 
 upwards during calms,) an unfavorable change is probable. Dew is 
 an indication of fine weather; so is fog. Neither of these two forma- 
 tions occur under an overcast sky, or when there is much wind. One 
 sees fog occasionally rolled away, as it were, by wind, but seldom or 
 never formed while it is blowing. 
 
 The following pleasant lines, attributed in an old book to Dr. Jen- 
 ner, contain nearly all the observed signs of rain. It is supposed to 
 have been written as an excuse to a friend for deferring an invitation 
 to a country excursion. Many of these signs may be thought very 
 childish, and perhaps be ascribed to superstition ; but they are really 
 based upon well-known laws, and can all be scientifically explained by 
 a reference to them : 
 
 The hollow winds begin to blow, 
 
 The clouds look black, the glass is low, 
 
 The soot falls down, the spaniels sleep, 
 
 And spiders from their cobwebs creep. 
 
 Last night the sun went pale to bed, 
 
 The moon in halos hid her head, 
 
 The boding shepherd heaves a sigh, 
 
 For see! a rainbow spans the sky. 
 
 The walls are damp, the ditches smell, 
 
 Closed is the pink-eyed pimpernel. 
 
 Hark! how the chairs and tables crack ; 
 
 Old Betty’s joints are on the rack. 
 
 Her corns with shooting pains torment her, 
 
 And to her bed untimely sent her. 
 
 The smoke from chimneys right ascends, 
 
THE WEATHER AND ITS SIGNS. 
 
 899 
 
 Then speeding back to earth it bends. 
 
 The wind unsteady veers around, 
 
 Or setting in the south is found. 
 
 The tender colts on back do lie, 
 
 Nor heed the traveler passing by. 
 
 In fiery red the sun doth rise, 
 
 Then wades through clouds to mount the skies. 
 Loud quack the ducks, the peacocks cry, 
 
 The distant hills are looking nigh. 
 
 How restless are the snoring swine! 
 
 The busy' flies disturb the kine. 
 
 Low o’er the grass the swallow wings ; 
 
 The cricket, too, how loud it sings! 
 
 Puss, on the hearth, with velvet paws, 
 
 Sits smoothing o’er her whiskered jaws. 
 Through the clear stream the fishes rise, 
 
 And nimbly catch the incautious flies. 
 
 The sheep were seen at early light, 
 
 Cropping the meads with eager bite. 
 
 The sky is green, the air is still, 
 
 The mellow blackbird’s voice is shrill. 
 
 The glow-worms, numerous and bright, 
 Illumed the dewey dell last night. 
 
 At dusk the squalid toad was seen, 
 
 Hopping, crawling o’er the green. 
 
 The frog has lost his yellow vest, 
 
 And in a dingy suit is dressed. 
 
 The leech, disturbed, is newly risen, 
 
 Quite to the summit of his prison. 
 
 The whirling wind the dust obeys, 
 
 And in the rapid eddy plays. 
 
 My dog, so altered in bis taste, 
 
 Quits mutton bones, on grass to feast. 
 
 And see yon rooks how odd their flight? 
 
 They imitate the gliding kite; 
 
 Or seem precipitate to fall, 
 
 As if they felt the piercing ball. 
 
 ’Twill surely rain. I see, with sorrow, 
 
 Our journey must be put off to-morrow. 
 
 Some of these ooservations are expressed in the following proverbs : 
 A rainbow in the morning, Gives the shepherd warning. A rainbow 
 at night, Is the shepherd’s delight. Evening red, and next morning 
 gray, Are certain signs of a beautiful day. When the glow-worm 
 lights her lamp, The air is always damp. If the cock goes crowing to 
 bed, He’ll certainly rise with a watery head. When you see gossa- 
 mer flying, Be ye sure the air is drying. When black snails cross 
 your path, Black clouds much moisture hath. When the peacock 
 loudly bawls, Soon we’ll have both rain and squalls. When ducks 
 
900 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 are driving through the burn, That night the weather takes a turn. 
 If the moon shows like a silver shield, Be not afraid to reap your field. 
 But if she rises haloed round, Soon we’ll tread on deluged ground. 
 When rooks fly sporting high in air, It shows that windy storms are 
 near. Crows on the fence, The storm is going hence; Crow on the 
 ground, the storm is coming down. 
 
 The Direction of Wind Indicating the Weather. — The editors of the 
 Scientific American, say : In this region [New York] a south-east wind 
 is almost certain to bring a rain within twelve hours, while a north- 
 west wind always brings fair weather in the course of two or three 
 hours. A north-east wind is generally accompanied by rain or snow, 
 but not always ; we have known the wind to blow from the east for 
 several days in succession, and the sky to continue perfectly clear all 
 the time. With a south-west wind the weather is wholly uncertain, 
 though more likely to be clear than rainy. For the coming of a 
 north-east storm the telegraph is the most trustworthy of all indi- 
 cations. 
 
 A North-east Storm Moves Against the Wind. — Dr. Franklin observed 
 that the north-east storms on the east side of the North American 
 Continent usually commence at the south-west and travel against the 
 wind ; and the fact of this apparently impossible operation has been 
 confirmed by all subsequent observation. So well established is the 
 law, that since the construction of telegraphs, it has been customary 
 in Washington to arrange out-door operations on the telegraphic re- 
 ports of the weather at the south-west. A north-east storm com- 
 mencing in South Carolina, usually reaches New York in from eighteen 
 to thirty-six hours, and continues at the same rate to Boston, Portland 
 and Halifax. 
 
 THE BAROMETER. 
 
 Prof. Marcot, of Geneva, states that of 2.630 changes of weather, 
 the barometer prophesied 1.960 times correctly. This approaches 
 nearly to the proportion of three times out of four. 
 
 To Make a Cheap Barometer. • — T ake a clean glass bottle and put in 
 a small quantity of finely pulverized alum. Then fill the bottle with 
 spirits of wine. The alum will be perfectly dissolved by the alcohol, 
 and in clear weather the liquid will be as transparent as the purest 
 water. On the approach of rainy or cloudy weather, the alum will 
 be visible in a flaky spiral cloud in the center of the fluid, reaching 
 from the bottom to the surface. This is a cheap, simple and beautiful 
 
THE WEATHER. 
 
 901 
 
 barometer, and is placed within the reach of all who wish to possess 
 one. 
 
 The Camphor Storm Glass. — It consists of a glass tube ten inches 
 in length and three-fourths of an inch in diameter, filled with a liquid 
 containing camphor, and having its mouth covered with a piece of 
 bladder perforated with a needle. A tall phial will answer the pur- 
 pose nearly as well as the ten-inch tube. The composition placed 
 within the tube consists of two drachms of camphor, half a drachm 
 of pure saltpetre, and half a drachm of the muriate of ammonia, pul- 
 verized and mixed with about two ounces of proof spirits. The tube 
 is usually suspended by a thread near a window, and the functions of 
 its contents are as follows : — If the atmosphere is dry and the weath- 
 er promises to be -settled, the solid part of the camphor in the liquid 
 contained in the tube will remain at the bottom, and the liquid above 
 will be quite clear ; but on the approach of a change to rain, the solid 
 matter will gradually rise, and small chrystaline stars will float about 
 in the liquid. On the approach of high winds, the solid parts of the 
 camphor will rise in the form of leaves and appear near the surface 
 in a state resembling fermentation. These indications are sometimes 
 manifested twenty-four hours before a storm breaks out. After some 
 experience in observing the motions of the camphor matter in the 
 tube, the magnitude of a coming storm may be estimated ; also its 
 direction, inasmuch as the particles lie closer together on that side of 
 the tube that is opposite to that from which the coming storm will 
 approach. 
 
 Another Rain Glass. — Fill a common pickle bottle with water to 
 within two or three inches of the top ; plunge the neck of an empty 
 oil flask (first cleaning it with soda and warm water,) into the pickle 
 bottle. Before rain the water will rise in the inverted flask — some- 
 times two or three inches in three or four hours. It may stand in or out 
 of doors, in sun or shade, and the water seldom needs changing. 
 
 Another Cheap Barometer. — The following method is said to make 
 a reliable barometer : — Take two sheets of pasteboard of any conve- 
 nient size, say three feet long by two feet wide. Bring the ends to- 
 gether, and glue and paste them tight, each sheet by itself ; and they 
 will look like two pieces of paper stove-pipe. Cut thin, round boards 
 exactly to fit in the ends of these paper cylinders'. Carefully glue or 
 nail them tight. Now you have two air-tight paper drums with wood- 
 en heads. Take a pole of any length you desire — three feet or twelve 
 feet — let one drum be fastened to each end' of the pole. Now balance 
 this pole with the drums on each end, on nice pivots, in the middle. 
 
902 
 
 PKACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 Then bore a gimlet through the end of one drum, and you have a 
 good farmer’s barometer. One drum is air-tight, so there will be 
 more or less air in one drum than there is in the other, according as 
 the surrounding air is dense or rarified. Consequently in dense or 
 heavy air, the tight drum rises, while the one with a pin hole in it 
 goes down. Crosswise through the middle of the bar, or pole, should 
 run a stick as large as one’s finger, a foot long, with wire gudgeons on 
 which the instrument should vibrate or teeter. Let the ends of the 
 pole be slightly lower than the middle that the whole do not make a 
 somerset; smear all with glue or oil, so that no air enter except in the 
 puncture mentioned. Have something you can slide through the bar 
 to keep it nearly level. Mark if you please figures along the pole to 
 show how far you have moved the balancing poise, though for this 
 there is but little need. 
 
 A Very Simple Weather Indicator. — Dr. Hall says : Allow the su- 
 gar to dissolve in your coffee or tea without stirring ; if froth re- 
 mains in the center, durable fine weather is indicated ; but rainy if it 
 settles. 
 
 A Very Novel Barometer. — The Warren (0.) Chronicle says : A 
 gentleman in this place has at his residence a natural barometer, which 
 consists of a live frog, that lives in a glass jar, which is kept half full 
 of water. A small three round ladder is placed upright in the jar, 
 and in dry or fair weather his frogship perches quietly on the ladder, 
 but when the atmosphere indicates a storm he drops to the bottom of 
 the jar and acts as though he felt uncomfortable. Inasmuch as he has 
 a dainty palate and will only eat flies, spiders, bugs and other live in- 
 sects, and as that species of game is scarce at this season, the amphi- 
 bious gentleman is enjoying a protracted fast. 
 
 Leech Barometer. — Put a healthy leech into a clear glass bottle full 
 of water, and renew the latter every second day. If the day is to be 
 wet, it will creep up to the top of the water and remain there till the 
 weather is settled ; if the weather is to be fine, the leech lies motion- 
 less at the bottom of the glass and coiled together in a spiral form ; 
 if we are to have wind, it will move through the water swiftly, and 
 seldom rests quiet till it begins to blow hard ; if a heavy storm of 
 thunder and rain is to succeed, it will lodge for some days before al- 
 most continually out of the water and discover great uneasiness in 
 violent throes and convulsive-like motions ; in frost as in clear sum- 
 mer-like weather it lies constantly at the bottom ; and in snow as in 
 rainy weather, it goes to the very mouth of the phial. The top should 
 be covered over with a piece of muslin. 
 
THE TOILET — COSMETICS, ETC. 
 
 903 
 
 Natures Barometer . — The scarlet pimperdel (Anagallis arvensis,) 
 shepherd’s barometer, or poor man’s weather glass, is the best floral 
 barometer ; because not only does the flower never open on a rainy 
 day, but long before the shower is coming it is conscious of its ap- 
 proach and shuts up its petals. This peculiarity was noticed by Der- 
 ham in his “Physico Theology;” by Lord Bacon, who calls it vinco- 
 pipe, and by Leyden. The chickweed flower is one of the best, and is 
 one of the -commonest indicators of the changes of weather. It has 
 been recommended that the traveler by the roadside should wrap his 
 cloak around him if the flower is not quite closed ; for rain, if not 
 come, is not far off. But if the chickweed flower be fully expanded, 
 he may walk gaily on with a pretty good assurance that for hours at 
 least he may be safe from rain. 
 
 THE TOILET— COSMETICS, ETC. 
 
 Cosmetics . — When we consider the anatomical structure of the skin, 
 and how easily it absorbs substances applied to it, it is evident how 
 careful we should be not to use any deleterious materials for the face 
 and hands, and that we should know accurately the nature and com- 
 position of all substances used. 
 
 The intimate connection between the functions of the skin and those 
 of the stomach were not so well understood formerly as they are in 
 the present day ; and hence many practices were resorted to in the 
 use of cosmetics that are now known to be very improper. Never- 
 theless, all cosmetics are not to be condemned equally ; some are, per- 
 haps, harmless, and others are occasionally useful. We shall illustrate 
 this by a few general remarks. Of paints for the face, which are oc- 
 casionally employed, some, as we shall show, are highly dangerous ; 
 and those which are not so have an injurious effect, if used constantly, 
 in stopping up or clogging the pores of the skin. Those cosmetics 
 which owe their efficacy to vinegar and alum, or any other acids and 
 astringents, are often for a time efficacious, giving a firmness and lus- 
 tre to the skin ; but this effect is merely temporary, for they in time 
 alter its texture, dry it, and produce premature wrinkles ; they are, 
 therefore, better avoided. Mucilaginous cosmetics, such as barley- 
 water, oatmeal, &c, have not this inconvenience ; they render the skin 
 more supple, softer, and more polished. Pastes and ointments some- 
 times produce good effects in certain states o'f the skin. They are 
 generally laid on the face and hands, and remain on all night, contrib- 
 uting to restore the suppleness and elasticity of the skin ; but the fatty 
 
904 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 substances that form their basis ought to be well purified. Some 
 consider the wax that sometimes enters into the composition as too 
 drying and irritating, and recommend fresh cream as better. As a 
 general rule, it is prudent to avoid the use of all cosmetics the com- 
 position of which is a secret or unknown, which will, of course, ex- 
 clude all those which are advertised with high-sounding names. Some 
 of those produce astonishing effects at first, but ultimately ruin the 
 skin, destroying its natural functions, and, consequently, seriously in- 
 juring health. 
 
 All medical men teach that the best way of improving the skin is 
 to improve the health gonerally by temperate living and moderate ex- 
 ercise, and this will be evident by considering its structure. It is 
 well known that the skin consists of the outer or scarf skin called by 
 anatomists the cuticle or epidermis , and the inner or true skin, named 
 dermis. The first is a very thin membrane, transparent, and without 
 blood vessels ; it has no nerves, consequently no sensation, and may be 
 pared or cut with a knife without any pain ; it is that which rises in 
 blisters. The true skin beneath is much thicker, and is entirely filled 
 with nerves, and the extremeties of an infinity of minute blood ves- 
 sels, by which the blood which comes from the heart to the skin re- 
 turns back again, the turn in the circulation being at the surface. 
 That these nerves and vessels are excessively numerous is shown by 
 the prick of a needle in any part giving pain, and by the blood which 
 issues from some very minute vessel having been pierced. The change 
 in a large portion of the circulation taking place, as we have stated, 
 in the skin, it is obvious that whatever impedes in any degree the 
 healthy action of these organs must affect the whole system, so far as 
 the circulation is concerned ; and it is to preserve its most important 
 functions that the use of the bath, friction, and similar processes are 
 resorted to. These minute blood-vessels approach very near to the 
 surface of the skin, and the cutis being transparent, they give the 
 flesh color, which is more ruddy in some places than in others, as upon 
 the cheeks, from their greater size or number in that part; and the 
 want of healthy action in these vessels is indicated by the paleness of 
 the complexion. In the skin there are, likewise, innumerable minute 
 pores, by which the insensible perspiration exudes. 
 
 Under the title of cosmetics may be comprehended all substances 
 or preparations for the purpose of preserving or restoring beauty. 
 Their purpose is to change the appearance of the skin, the hair and 
 the teeth. Perfumery, too, enters into the category. A countless 
 number of preparations are used, yet they are mostly various mix- 
 
THE TOILET — COSMETICS, ETC. 
 
 905 
 
 tures of a comparatively small number of substances. The prepara- 
 tion of cosmetis was at one time a secret art of high repute, and some 
 kinds were sold for almost fabulous prices. 
 
 Pearl White is a preparation of bismuth, which is sold under that 
 name, but which is extremely injurious to the skin. It is also liable 
 to turn black if exposed to the fumes of sulphur, or the sulphurated 
 hydrogen of certain mineral waters. So is pearl powder. On this 
 subject an anecdote is told. A lady thus painted was sitting in a lec- 
 ture room, where water impregnated with sulphurated hydrogen was 
 handed round for the examination of its odor. On smelling the li- 
 quid, the lady became black in the face. Every person was, of course, 
 alarmed at the change, till the lecturer explained the cause of the ac- 
 cident. The lady received no serious injury, but had a salutory 
 lesson. 
 
 Pearl Powder , according to the common acceptation of the term, 
 consists of equal parts of oxide of bismuth and oxide of zinc, with 
 sixteen parts of French chalk. French Blanc is levigated talc 
 passed through a silk sieve. This when well prepared is probably the 
 best face powder made, inasmuch as it does not discolor from cuta- 
 neous exhalation or an impure atmosphere. 
 
 Calcined talc is also extensively used under various names, and is 
 unobjectionable; but it is less unctious to the feel, and more likely to 
 be seen than genuine French blanc. 
 
 Rouges are usually made by mixing coloring matter with either of 
 the above named powders. The finest kinds are made by mixing car- 
 mine with French blanc, in different proportions, say one part of car- 
 mine to from eight to twenty parts of blanc, in order to produce 
 different shades of color for different complexions. Eouges are sold 
 in form of powder, cake, and paste or pomade. Common pink saucers 
 are made by washing safflower (carthamus tinctorious) in water until 
 the coloring matter is removed, and dissolving out the carthamin, or 
 coloring principle, by a weak solution of carbonate of soda. The col- 
 oring is then precipitated into the saucers by the addition of sulphuric 
 acid to the solution. They are applied to the cheeks with a piece of 
 wool. Spanish Wool and Cripon rouge are made by the same process. 
 Preparations containing lead are very dangerous. It has been clear- 
 ly proven by some of the most scientific men in France that the health 
 and lives of many distinguished artists and women of fashion have 
 been sacrificed by the use of poisonous cosmetics. 
 
 Milks and emulsions are nearly allied to paints. Pomades fre- 
 quently contain acetate and carbonate of lead, corrosive sublimate 
 
906 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPEDIA. 
 
 and cinnabar; in which case they possess injurious qualities. Says 
 the prophet Jeremiah : “ Though thou rentest thy face with painting, 
 in vain shalt thou make thyself fair.” Although cosmetics may for a 
 time soften the skin, give gloss to the hair, and tint to the cheek and 
 the lip, the time is but hastened when the lily and the rose give place 
 to a leaden hue, and the lips of carmine to a livid blue. 
 
 Cosmetic Soaps. — Those small cakes of perfumed soap used for the 
 toilet can easily be manufactured by dissolving common bar soap of 
 any kind, and adding perfumed ingredients and coloring matter — if 
 the latter are desired. The bar soap is cut up into thin slices, placed 
 with a small quantity of water in a pa,n over a fire, and is stirred until 
 it is reduced into a paste. The perfumes are then added, well stir- 
 red, and the soap run off into a flat frame or dish, and set in a cool 
 place. In the course of three days it is fit to cut into cakes and 
 stamped with any ornamental figure or name. In establishments for 
 conducting the manufacture of these soaps, the heating is performed 
 in a steam bath, and machinery and apparatus are employed for con- 
 ducting the business with facility and economy. 
 
 Almond Soap. — This is perfumed with two pounds of the otto of 
 almonds added to one hundred and twenty-eight pounds of dissolved 
 bar soap. The heat should be as low as possible. 
 
 Camphor Soap. — This is made by adding one and a quarter pounds 
 of the otto of rosemary and the same amount of otto of camphor to 
 twenty-eight pounds of dissolved bar soap. 
 
 Brown Windsor Soap. — This soap has a distinguished reputation, 
 and sells at a high price. It is made by adding half a pound each of 
 otto of carraway, cloves, thyme, cassia and lavender, to one hundred 
 and sixty-eight pounds dissolved bar soap. Its brown color is pro- 
 duced by roasted sugar — caramel. 
 
 Perfumed Soaps of endless variety can be produced, according to 
 the perfume employed to give them their peculiar odor. Some of the 
 fragrance, however, is always lost by adding the volatile perfumes 
 warm ; therefore another method to produce scented soaps is to add 
 the odoriferous ingredients cold. This is done by shaving bar soap 
 in very thin slices, pounding them in a mortar with a very small 
 quantity of cold soft water, adding the perfumes, and triturating well 
 with the pestal. When well triturated, the soap is taken out and 
 pressed into any desired form of cakes in moulds, and then set to dry 
 in a cool place. 
 
 A very fine fancy soap is made by adding to six pounds of soap sha- 
 vings, eight ounces of oil of citron, half an .ounce of verbena, four 
 
THE TOILET — COSMETICS, ETC. 
 
 907 
 
 ounces of the oil of bergamot, and two ounces of the oil cf lemons. 
 This is an expensive but excellent toilet soap. 
 
 Transparent soap is made by dissolving pure tallow or oil soap in 
 alcohol, then allowing it to dry in a warm situation. The soap is 
 added to the alcohol in fine shavings, and after being dissolved it is 
 formed into cakes or balls, as may be desired. Any kind of perfume 
 may also be added to transparent soaps in the alcohol. 
 
 In the choice of cosmetics, of whichsoever class, those known to be 
 inert should always be preferred to those of doubtful properties, how- 
 ever agreeable to the senses. And it should constantly be borne in 
 mind, that whatever is a foe to health is an enemy to beauty. 
 
 , To Make Rose Water. — Otto of roses, twelve drops ; white sugar, 
 half an ounce ; magnesia, two drachms ; pqre soft water, one ‘quart ; 
 alcohol, two ounces. Hub the otto of roses with the sugar and mag- 
 nesia, and gradually add the water and alcohol, previously mixed, and 
 filter the whole through paper. 
 
 Lavender Water. — One pint of rectified spirit, half an ounce of oil 
 of lavender, four ounces rose water. Mix and filter through filtering 
 paper. 
 
 The common mode of preparing lavender water is to put three 
 drachms of the essential oil of lavender, and a drachm of the essence 
 of ambergris, into one pint of spirits of wine. 
 
 A Perfume Resembling Violets. — Drop twelve drops of genuine oil 
 of rhodium on a lump of sugar, grind this well in a glass mortar, and 
 mix it thoroughly with three pounds of orris powder. 
 
 How to Make Cologne Water. — The following preparation of Cologne 
 water will be found a very cheap substitute for the cologne water of 
 the shops for which three or four hundred per cent, is asked more than 
 the cost of this : 
 
 To one quart of alcohol add sixty drops of lavender, sixty drops of 
 bergamot, sixty drops of essence of lemon, and sixty drops of orange 
 water. To one gallon of alcohol, put two hundred and forty drops of 
 each of the perfumes. 
 
 Either of the following recipes will make a good Cologne water : — 
 
 1. Essential oil of bergamot, of lemon, of neroli, of orange pee 1 
 and rosemary, each twelve drops; cardamon seed, one drachm; recti- 
 fied spirits, one pint. It improves by age. 
 
 2. Essence of bergamot, forty drops; essence of lemon, forty-five 
 drops; oil of rosemary, six; oil of orange, twenty-two; oil of neroli, 
 twelve drops ; highly rectified spirits, six ounces. 
 
 Another. — Take of lemon, bergamot and rosemary, each two drachms. 
 
908 
 
 PEACTICAL CYCLOPEDIA. 
 
 lavender, one drachm, cinnamon and cloves, of each eight drops, al- 
 cohol, a pint and a half. 
 
 An Excellent Cologne . — Rectified spirits of wine four pints ; oil of 
 bergamot one ounce, oil of lemon one-half ounce, oil of rosemary one- 
 half drachm, oil of neroli three-fourths of a drachm, oil of English 
 lavender one drachm, oil of orange one drachm ; mix well and then 
 filter. If these paoportions are too large use smaller ones. 
 
 Toilet Vinegars — Vinaigre Bosat. — Take dry rose leaves, red, one- 
 half pound ; good vinegar, eight quarts. Macerate two weeks, and 
 filter. 
 
 Vinaigre Framboise. — Take crushed fresh raspberries, six pounds ; 
 good vinegar one quart. Macerate one week, strain, and after a few 
 days filter. 
 
 The best vinegar should be used for these articles ; that which is 
 called white wine vinegar made by acidification or oxidation of alco- 
 hol is the best. 
 
 Sachet Powders. — 1. Orris root, four ounces; calamus, two ounces; 
 yellow sanders, four drachms ; cloves, two drachms ; benzoin, four 
 drachms ; dry bergamot, one ounce. Reduce to fine powder, and mix 
 thoroughly. 
 
 2. Dried rose leaves, eight ounces ; cloves, four drachms ; nutmegs, 
 four drachms. 
 
 CARE OF THE FACE AND HANDS. 
 
 Milk of Almonds for Bathing the Face. — Bruise some sweet al- 
 monds in a mortar, and add water by slow degrees in the proportion 
 of a pint to twenty or thirty almonds ; put to this a piece of sugar, 
 to prevent the separation of the oil from the water rubbing assiduous- 
 ly. Pass the whole through a flannel, and perfume it with orange- 
 flower water. 
 
 Saponaceous Cream of Almonds. — The preparation sold under this 
 title is potash, soft soap and lard. It has a beautiful pearly appear- 
 ance, and has met with extensive demand as a shaving soap. It is 
 made thus : Clarified lard, seven pounds ; potash of lye (containing 
 twenty-six per cent, of caustic potash) three and three-quarter pounds ; 
 rectified spirits, three ounces ; otto of almonds, two drachms. Mani- 
 pulation : Melt the lard in a porcelain vessel by a salt water bath ; 
 then run in the lye, very slowly, agitating the whole time ; when 
 
CARE OF THE FACE AND HANDS. 
 
 909 
 
 about half the lye is in, the mixture begins to curdle ; it will, how- 
 ever, become so firm that it connot be stirred. The cream is then 
 finished, but is not pearly ; it will, however, assume that appearance 
 by long trituration in a mortar, gradually adding the alcohol in which 
 has been dissolved the perfume. 
 
 To Prevent the Face from Chapping after Shaving — Immediately 
 afterwards apply a little diluted vinegar or other acid, or Cologne 
 water. 
 
 For Bough, Pimply , or Chapped Face wash in a weak solution of 
 chlorate of potash. It may be had for a trifle at any druggists. 
 Another remedy for pimples on the face has been sent us, for the 
 efficacy of which we cannot vouch, though, it is highly commended. 
 It is as follows : Wash the face, just before going to bed, with sour 
 milk or buttermilk, and when dry rub thoroughly with dry wheat 
 flour. In the morning wash with soft cold water and rub vigorously 
 with a coarse towel. In ten days, it is said, all signs of pimplification 
 will disappear, and your mirror will reflect back a state of things of 
 which you may be justly proud. 
 
 Another remedy which has been sold at a high price and pronoun- 
 ced effectual but which is a very dangerous poison and should never 
 be used, is made simply of one part corrosive sublimate to thirty parts 
 of clear soft water, to which is added a little essence of rose or 
 almonds, or otherwise scented. The directions are to apply it to the 
 face once a day. 
 
 For Removing Sunburn and Tan — We have heard it said that a 
 good article to remove sunburn and tan is made by taking a handful 
 of bran, pouring a quart of boiling water upon it, letting it stand an 
 hour, and then strain. When cold, put in a pint of bay rum, and 
 wash the face with it two or three times every day. It will do no 
 harm. 
 
 For Removing Tan, Blotches, Freckles, Warts &nd Pimples. — Take 
 two gallons of strong soapsuds, add to this one pint of pure alcohol, 
 and a quarter of an ounce of rosemary. Mix these well together, 
 and they are fit for application. Apply with a linen rag. For the 
 same purpose use horseradish, grated 4nto sweet milk, which will be 
 fit for use in about seven or eight hours. 
 
 To Make Court Plaster. — Strain a piece of black silk on a frame, 
 and brush it over with a solution of one ounce of izinglass in twelve 
 ounces of proof spirits, and mix two ounces of tincture of benzoin 
 (Tarlington s Balsam) with it. When dry, repeat the process four or 
 
910 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 live times, finishing off with a coat of tincture black balsam of Peru. 
 For a cheaper kind use common glue instead of izinglass. 
 
 Lip Salve. — This is a preparation extremely useful as a remedy for 
 chapped lips, by applying it freely at bed time. It is made of equal 
 parts of almond or olive oil, and the best white wax, Melt the wax 
 in a clean gallipot, set at the side of the fire, then add the oil. It is 
 customary to color the salve hv addings little alkanet root suspended 
 in a piece of muslin, while the same is hot, and melted, or a little car- 
 mine ; hut this coloring has frequently the inconvenience of redden- 
 ing a cambric hankerchief if accidentally applied to the lips. Some 
 perfume is also generally added, as bergamot, oil of lavender, oil of 
 cinnamon, &c., but it is not essential. 
 
 Another. — Oil of sweet almonds, one fluid ounce ; spermaceti, three- 
 quarters of an ounce. Melt, and when nearly cold, add any essential 
 oil you please. 
 
 Another. — Take hog’s lard washed in rose water, half a pound, red 
 and damask rose leaves bruised, quarter of a pound, work them well 
 together in a mortar, and let them lay two days ; then melt the lard 
 and strain it ; add to the lard the same quantity of rose leaves, let 
 them lay two days as before, simmer in a water bath, and strain, stir- 
 ring in five or six drops of otto of roses. Put into pots or boxes for 
 use. This is a beautiful scarlet salve. 
 
 Razor Raste. — Emery reduced to an impalpable powder, two parts ; 
 spermaceti ointment, one part. Mix together and rub it over the 
 strop. 
 
 How to Make Almond Raste. — Pastes of various kinds, are used to 
 soften and improve the skin of the hands and arms. Almond paste is 
 most generally used. It is made in various ways : One is — Beat in 
 a mortar four pounds of sweet almonds, blanched and dried, with lav- 
 ender or Hungary water. Add to this one pound of white drained 
 honey, two ounces of oil of jessamin, half a pound of the best alum 
 powder, and four ounces of orris powder ; the whole to be well incor- 
 porated. This will keep, if no eggs or milk be added. Almond pow- 
 der is made by extracting the oil from the almonds by pressure, then 
 drying what remains and grinding it. 
 
 Another Way. — Take one pound of sweet almonds, a quarter of a 
 pound of crumb bread, and the yelks of two eggs. Skin the almonds 
 and pound them in a mortar, and sprinkle them with vinegar, that 
 the paste may not turn to oil ; add the crumb of bread and the eggs, 
 and moisten the whole with brandy, diluted with an equal quantity of 
 water ; mix all this well together, set it over a slow fire, and keep 
 
CARE OF THE FACE AND HANDS. 
 
 911 
 
 stirring it all the while, so that it does not burn. Add the brandy 
 and water till the consistence is right. 
 
 Another . — Warm in three seperate vessels two ounces of sweet al- 
 monds blanched and pounded, three drachms of fine white wax, and 
 three drachms of spermaceti. When these are melted, pour them to- 
 gether, and stir them well with a wooden spatula, and throw them 
 into some water ; keep stirring in the water, which you must change 
 frequently till the pomade becomes very white. Keep it in rose wa- 
 ter, or spring water, which must be changed every day. 
 
 Another . — Blanched almonds four ounces; white of one egg ; spirit 
 of wine and rose water* q. s. Beat the almonds to a smooth paste in 
 a mortar, then add the white of egg and enough rose water, mixed 
 with one-half its weight of spirit of wine, to give the proper consist- 
 ence. 
 
 Liquid Almond Paste . — Mix six pounds of honey, six pounds of 
 paste of bitter almonds, twelve ounces of oil of bitter almonds, and 
 twenty-six yelks of eggs. The honey should be heated apart and 
 strained ; then the almond paste kneaded with it; and, lastly the eggs 
 and almond oil by degrees. 
 
 Chapped Hands . — These are very common. Cold weather chilk 
 the surface of the skin and prevents a free circulation of the blood, 
 and consequent warmth, and thus induces or aggravates the difficulty. 
 One of the primary causes of chapping or cracking of the skin is the 
 action of soap. The alkali in this eats away the cuticle or outer skin, 
 and thus destroys the natural covering. In cold weather especially, 
 the hands should always be thoroughly rinsed in clean water after 
 washing them with soap. It will be found highly beneficial to wash 
 the skin in a weak solution of vinegar and water, after using soap, 
 and then rinse in clean water. The acetic acid of the vinegar neu- 
 tralizes the alkali of the soap, and prevents the further action upon 
 the skin, which will take place if the slightest amount of soapy water 
 be left on the hands when they are dried with a towel. 
 
 On washing days it will be a special advantage to have a vessel of 
 water with a little vinegar added, to dip the hands into whenever they 
 are taken from the washing water. In washing the hands, it is usu- 
 ally better to use a stiff brush instead of soap, unless they chance to 
 be covered with oil or tar. A brush is more convenient, more effect- 
 ual, neater, cheaper, and better every w T ay than soap. 
 
 A correspondent of the Scientific American says that after trying a 
 great number of specifics, he has found sweet cream the best remedv 
 for chapped hands. A weak solution of chlorate of potash is excel- 
 
912 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOTiEDlA. 
 
 lent. Wash them in this and they will soon be well. Or apply flesh 
 color court plaster, or collodion. You can get them at any drug store 
 for a trifle. Keep the collodion well corked. 
 
 Three drachms each of camphor gum, white beeswax and sperma- 
 ceti and three ounces of olive oil melted slowly together in a cup on 
 the stove will in a few minutes form an excellent white ointment for 
 anointing chapped hands. Apply before going to bed and put on a 
 pair of gloves. 
 
 Camphor Balls are an excellent remedy for chapped hands. They 
 are used also to prevent chapping and to whiten the skin. Take 
 powdered camphor, two drachms ; white wax, one ounce; spermaceti, 
 two drachms ; oil of almonds, three ounces. Mix and mould into balls 
 in gallipots. 
 
 Or melt three drachms of spermaceti and four drachms of white wax 
 with one ounce of almond oil ; and stir in three drachms of powdered 
 camphor. Pour the compound into gallipots, so as to form cakes, 
 They may be colored with alkanet, etc. 
 
 Another method : Lard, two ounces ; white wax, two ounces ; pow 
 dered camphor, half an ounce ; melt, and proceed as before. 
 
 Camphor Ice , made by melting spermaceti, one drachm, with al- 
 mond oil, one ounce, and adding powdered camphor, one drachm, is 
 another excellent preparation. It is improved by a couple of drachms 
 of glycerine, using as much less of the almond oil. 
 
 Paste for Chapped Hands. — Wash a quarter of a pound of fresh 
 hog’s lard in water, beat it up with the yelks of two new-laid eggs and 
 a large spoonful of honey. Add as much almond paste, or fine oat- 
 meal, as will work it into a paste. 
 
 Oatmeal Paste for Chapped Hands. — Take fresh lard, four ounces ; 
 honey, six ounces ; oatmeal, six or eight ounces ; three yelks of eggs ; 
 gum arabic powder, one ounce. Mix the honey and the gum first, 
 then the eggs ; next the lard, gradually incorporating it in small por- 
 tions ; finally, add the oatmeal, to make the whole into a paste. This, 
 as we know from long experience, is equal if not superior, to the fa- 
 mous Amandine. The original recipe is improved by using half oat 
 and half Indian meal, as Indian is good for whitening the hands. Like 
 the Amandine, it forms with water a creamy lotion, which is not 
 washed off but wiped with a towel. 
 
 Soap for Chapped Hands. — Take one bar of yellow soap ; cut it up 
 small ; add to it the gall of a beef ; put it over the fire until the soap 
 is entirely melted ; then add one ounce of fine pulverized saltpetre 
 and one pint of alcohol ; pour it into a vessel (previously greased,) of 
 
CARE OF THE FACE AND HANDS. 
 
 913 
 
 a size to make tlie soap at least one inch thick. When firm enough 
 to cut, before it hardens, cut it into cakes of a convenient size. This 
 soap is not only a capital preventive of chapped hands, but will be 
 found also excellent for taking grease spots out of woolens, silks, &c. 
 
 Bean Flour an Excellent Detergent for the Hands. — Take half a 
 peck of white and well-dried split horse beans ; having separated them 
 from their shells, or skins, beat them as fine as possible in an iron 
 mortar, or have them well ground in a mill. Pass the powder through 
 a fine sieve. About four pounds of powder will be obtained from the 
 above quantity of beans. 
 
 Cold Cream. — This is very useful for chapped hands or face and 
 softens the face. Any one can prepare it, or it may be obtained at the 
 shops. Melt together in a water bath (that is, a vessel immersed in 
 boiling water, like a carpenter’s glue-pot,) eight ounces of fine neat’s 
 foot oil or almond oil, three ounces of spermaceti, and one ounce and 
 a half of white wax ; when thoroughly melted pour the whole into a 
 pan, which, in winter, must be kept very warm by the fire; then, 
 with a clean flat stick, beat the mass continually until it is uniform in 
 body ; pour, in half a pint of rose or orange-flower water, and one- 
 fourth of an ounce of spirit of bergamot, or any other perfume desired; 
 then beat rapidly again until the whole of the water and spirit is ta- 
 ken up by the unctious portions. If made in winter all the materi- 
 als must be warmed as mixed, or the mass will be lumpy. Lard or 
 sweet oil may be substituted for the almond oil. If care is observed 
 the mass will be as white as snow. 
 
 Warts. — A harmless and sure cure for warts may be had by simply 
 taking two or three cent’s worth of sal ammoniac, dissolve it in a gill 
 of soft water, and wet the warts frequently with this solution, when 
 they will disappear in the course of a week or two. A weak solution 
 of potash applied in the same manner will have a similar effect. If 
 washed two or three times a day for two or three weeks with strong 
 brine, they will disappear. Equally good for warts on animals. Let 
 a small piece of potash stand in the air till it slacks, then mix into a 
 paste with a little pulverized gum arabic, and after paring off the top 
 of the wart, apply for ten minutes, when wash off and bathe freely in 
 sweet oil or strong vinegar until the alkali is entirely neutralized. 
 One application is sufficient. The wart will surely disappear. So 
 will corns under the same treatment. 
 
 To Remove the Unpleasant Odor produced by Perspiration. — This 
 odor is frequently the source of vexation to persons who are subject 
 
 to it. To remove it much more effectually than by the application of 
 
 58 
 
914 
 
 PEACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 such costly unguents and perfumes as are in use, it is only necessary 
 to procure some of the compound spirits of ammonia, and place about 
 two tablespoonfuls in a basin of water. Washing the face, hands and 
 arms with this leaves the skin as clean, sweet and fresh as one could 
 wish. The wash is perfectly harmless, and very cheap. It is recom- 
 mended on the authority of an experienced physician. 
 
 For Breath Tainted by Onions . — Leaves of parsley, eaten with 
 vinegar, will prevent the disagreeable consequences of eating onions. 
 
 CAEE OF THE FEET. 
 
 “ Of all parts of the body,” says Dr. Eobertson, “ there is not one 
 which ought to be so carefully attended to as the feet.” Every person 
 knows from experience that colds, and many other diseases which pro- 
 ceed from colds, are attributable to cold feet. The feet are at such a 
 distance from “ the wheel at the cistern" of the system that the cir- 
 culation of the blood may be very easily checked there. Yet, for all 
 this, and although every person of common sense should be aware of 
 the truth of what we have stated, there is no part of the human body 
 so much trifled with as the feet. The young and would-be genteel- 
 footed cramp their toes and feet into thin-soled, bone-pinching boots 
 and shoes, in order to display neat feet in the fashionable sense of the 
 term. There is one great evil against which every person should be 
 on their guard — we mean the changing of warm for cold shoes or 
 boots. A change is often made from thick to thin-soled shoes without 
 reflecting upon the consequences which might ensue. In cold weath- 
 er, boots and shoes of good thick leather, both in soles and uppers, 
 should be worn by all. Water- tights are not good, if they are air- 
 xights also ; India rubber overshoes should never be worn except in 
 wet, splashy weather, and then not very long at once. It is hurtful 
 to the feet to wear any covering that is air-tight over them, and for 
 this reason India rubber should be worn as seldom as possible. Ho 
 part of the body should be allowed to have a covering that entirely 
 obstructs the passage of carbonic acid gas from the pores of the skin 
 outwaTd, and the moderate passage of air inward to the skin. Life 
 can be destroyed m a very short time by entirely closing up the pores 
 of the skin. Good warm stockings, and thick-soled boots and shoes, 
 are conservators of health, and consequently of happiness. 
 
 To Remove Feted Perspiration from the Feet . — Bathe them regu- 
 
CARE OF THE FEET. 
 
 915 
 
 larly every night. Water and soap are usually sufficient ; a strong 
 solution of carbonate of soda, always. 
 
 To Protect the Feet in Walking. — Take equal parts of gum camphor, 
 olive oil, and pure beeswax, and mix them together, warm until they 
 are united and become a salve. At night wash the feet well, dry 
 them, then apply this salve, and put on clean stockings, and sleep with 
 them on. Next day the feet will be in excellent train for marching. 
 So says a person who claims to have proved its great value in a jour- 
 ney across the plains to California. 
 
 Another Method to Prevent Blistered Feet. — A writer says : — I had 
 for several years two sons at school in Geneva, Switzerland. In their 
 vacations, they in company with their tutor, made excursions through 
 Switzerland, Italy, Germany, &c., on foot ; bearing their knapsacks 
 containing the necessary wants for a month. They were provided 
 with common brown soap, and before putting on their stockings turn- 
 ed them inside out, and rubbed the soap well into the thread of them ; 
 consequently they never became footsore or had blistered feet. 
 
 Remedy for Blistered Hands and Feet. — As a remedy against blis- 
 tering of hands in rowing or fishing, &c., or of feet in walking, the 
 quickest is, lighting a tallow candle and letting the tallow drop into 
 cold water, (to purify, it is said, from salt,) then rubbing the tallow on 
 the hands or feet — mixed with brandy or any other strong spirits. 
 For mere tenderness, nothing is better than the above, or vinegar a 
 little diluted with water. This is both a preventive and curative. 
 
 Cure for Chilblains and Frosted Feet. — Apply common tar to the 
 parts affected, and bind it up with cloth, so as not to interfere with 
 wearing the stocking. Wear this four days or a week. Or dissolve 
 one ounce of white vitriol in a pint of water, and bathe the parts af- 
 fected very often. 
 
 A chilblain ointment that has cured a great many cases is made of 
 two quarts of lard, one pint of turpentine, one-fourth pound of cam- 
 phor, or less in the same proportions. Mix. 
 
 The following is said to be an infallible cure for broken chilblains : 
 The yelk of an egg well beaten up, and a teaspoonful of honey ; keep 
 stirring them together, sprinkling flour on it from the flour-dredge 
 whilst you are stirring it to make it of a thickish consistency ; to be 
 laid cn the wound. I have found this remedy infallible, not only for 
 broken chilblains, but for sores of all kinds. 
 
 Cure for Itching Feet from Frost Bites. — Wash the feet every day, 
 
916 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPEDIA. 
 
 morning and evening, or oftener, with one ounce of hydrochloric acid 
 m eight ounces of rain water. 
 
 Cure for Nails Growing in the Flesh. — When the flesh grows over 
 the nails, the proper course to pursue is, instead of cutting away the 
 corners, to cut a notch in the center of the nail, or to scrape it thin in 
 the middle. Nature, then, in her efforts to remedy this accidental 
 defect, promotes the growth of the nail in the central thin parts, and 
 thus the extremeties, which are imbedded in the flesh, are left to re- 
 cover their former position. This simple and very ingenious plan has 
 been found far more efficacious than removing the nail by a painful surgi- 
 cal operation. Do not fail to persevere in it and you will surely find 
 relief. Cut or scrape as deep as you can bear, and repeat the process 
 every few days if necessary. Then avoid afterwards cutting the cor- 
 ners of the nail too short. The tendency of the nail is to grow most 
 toward the place where it is cut most. 
 
 It is stated by a correspondent of the Medieal and Surgical Journal 
 that cauterization with hot tallow is an immediate cure for in-growing 
 nails. He says : “ The patient on whom I first tried this was a young 
 lady who had been unable to put on a shoe for several months, and 
 decidedly the worst case I had ever seen. The disease had been long 
 standing. The edge of the nail was deeply undermined ; the granu- 
 lations formed a high ridge, partly covered with skin, and pus con- 
 stantly oozing from the root of the nail ; the whole toe was swollen, 
 and extremely tender and painful. My mode of proceeding was this : 
 I put a very small piece of tallow in a spoon and heated it over a 
 lamp until it became very hot, and dropped two or three drops between 
 the nail and granulations. The effect was most magical. Pain and 
 tenderness was at once relieved, and in a few days the granulations 
 were all gone, the diseased parts dry and destitute of feeling, and the 
 edge of the nail exposed so as to admit paring away without any in- 
 convenience. The cure was complete, and the trouble never return- 
 ed. I have tried this plan repeatedly since, with the same satisfactory 
 results. The operation causes little if any pain, if the tallow is prop- 
 erly heated. 
 
 Cure for Corns. — The most effective cure is to be found in the ap- 
 plication of a circular disk of felted wool or of cotton with a hole in 
 the middle to receive the corn. This may sometimes be purchased at 
 drug stores. But you can readily prepare it yourself. It is made to 
 adhere by brushing one surface of the wool with a solution of izinglass 
 or similar preparation. This relieves the corn by removing from it 
 
CARE OF THE FEET. 
 
 917 
 
 the pressure of the shoe : and by persevering in this simple treatment, 
 the corn will, in time, entirely disappear. 
 
 A strong solution of pearlash applied to corns, will soften them so 
 that they may easily be drawn out. 
 
 The application of powdered unslacked lime, made into a paste 
 w ith sweet oil, and spread on a piece of linen rag, every night, and 
 washed off in the morning, is found by some to be very efficacious. 
 Nitrate of silver is strongly recommended by many eminent men for 
 the cure of corns ; but caustic should be used only by medical men, 
 as it may prove highly dangerous in the hands of the unskillful. 
 
 Half a cranberry bound on a corn, it is said, will soon kill it. We 
 have known the application of a red wafer to cure them. When worn 
 off it should be renewed until the cure is complete. To cut off the 
 head gives temporary relief. 
 
 A cure may be accomplished by cautiously digging out the root, 
 which may be thus done by a steady hand : steep the corn in hot wa- 
 ter, and rub it with a coarse towel, or the finger nail will not remove 
 it ; place a small quantity of oil on the corn, and let it soak well in. 
 Then with a pen knife, or what is still better, a sharp bodkin, work it 
 out of its bed as you would a thorn. Not a drop of blood should be 
 shed during the operation, and its success may be tested by finding 
 pressure unaccompanied by pain. Should inflammation have been 
 excited — which may be known by the redness prevailing around it — 
 rest and emmolient applications, such as linseed poultice, or a fig, will 
 be found beneficial. 
 
 A correspondent of the London Field , says : Take a lemon, cut a 
 piece of it off, then nick it so as to let in the toe with the corn, the 
 pulp next the corn, tie this on at night so that it cannot move, and 
 the next morning a blunt knife will remove the corn to a great ex- 
 tent. Two or three applications will cure. 
 
 Bunions . — Produced by pressure on the great toe joint by tight 
 shoes or boots, causing swelling, enlargement of the joint, pain, and 
 sometimes inflammation. The pressure of the boot or shoe must be 
 permanently removed from the bunion until it completely disap- 
 pears. 
 
 Application of tincture of iodine is said to afford great relief. Sub- 
 due the inflammation by soaking the foot frequently in warm water. 
 
918 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 MANAGEMENT OF THE HAIR. 
 
 Of all the natural accessories of human beauty, none, except the 
 eyes, are more important than the hair, and certainly none is so fre- 
 quently abused by the follies of fashion. 
 
 The hair itself always indicates, by the manner of growth, the most 
 becoming way in which it can be arranged or dressed, and this is 
 always simple. A face that is naturally beautiful, or naturally queen- 
 ly, can never be made more so by what is falsely termed “ artistic ” 
 hair dressing ; nor can a face that is naturally plain, or naturally vul- 
 gar, be made the less so by such distortion of the locks. As for the 
 various “ bandolines ” and other glutinous abominations with which so 
 many ladies abuse their hair, they are simply offences against com- 
 mon cleanliness. It may be said with particular truth about the hair, 
 if about nothing else, that “Nature unadorned is adorned the most.” 
 
 So far from being true is it that oils and pomatums increase the lus- 
 tre of the hair, their effect is to diminish that polish which it natural- 
 ly possesses ; while, whatever gloss they may give to the hair which 
 is naturally dull, is false, and, like all other falsities, disgusting. Ab- 
 solute cleanliness, by means of water alone, to commence, followed by 
 brushing in the direction of the hair itself in a dry state, is the true 
 method of giving to the hair all the polish of which it is susceptible ; 
 and it is the effect of oil of all kinds to disturb or injure this; to 
 say nothing of the disgust and necessary dirtiness of greasy 
 hair. 
 
 Curling the Hair . — It is the effect of oils also to prevent it from 
 curling; and this object is most effectually obtained, if without artifi- 
 cial means, by curling it when wet, and suffering it to dry in that 
 state. And as it happens that almost all hair has a tendency to curl 
 in one direction rather than another, it is useful to study that tenden- 
 cy, so as to conform to it in the artificial flexure given. As to artifi- 
 cial applications, the whole ot the so-called curling fluids are mere 
 impositions ; while one, which is really effectual, and at the same time 
 inoffensive, is a weak solution of izinglass, by which a very firm and 
 perpetual form can be given the hair. 
 
 To Preserve the Hair . — As to men, when the hair begins to fall out, 
 the best plan is to have it cut short, give it a good brushing with a 
 moderately stiff brush, while the hair is dry, then wash it well with a 
 suds of castile soap and tppid water, then rub into the scalp, about 
 the roots of the hair, a little bay rum, brandy or camphor water. Do 
 
MANAGEMENT OF THE HAIR. 
 
 919 
 
 this twice a month. The brushing of the scalp may be profitably 
 done twice a week. Damp the hair with water every time the toilet 
 is made. Nothing ever made is better for the hair than pure soft 
 water, if the scalp is kept clean in the way we have named. 
 
 Nothing but pure soft water should ever be allowed on the heads 
 of children. It is a different practice that robs our women of their 
 most beautiful ornament long before their prime. The hair of our 
 daughters should be kept within two inches until their twelfth 
 year. 
 
 Those who must use oils, &c., will find the following some of the 
 most simple, harmless, easily prepared and best : 
 
 Hair Oil. — Take equal parts pure olive (sweet oil) and cold-pressed 
 castor oil, and to each pint of the mixture add one-fourth pint bran- 
 dy, and the same of cologne. Persons who have used this for years 
 prefer it to any other. 
 
 For a Very Fine Perfumed Oil. — Dip cotton wool in to clear olive 
 oil, and, having procured a tall glass vessel, lay the cotton alternately 
 with jessamin or other flowers. In a few days the flowers will have 
 imparted their perfume to the oil, which may then be squeezed out 
 for use ; and the cotton may be employed by laying in band boxes or 
 drawers where perfume is required. 
 
 Another. — Melt together four ounces of spermaceti and one of lard ; 
 add bergamot and rose water. 
 
 Another. — Melt one drachm of white wax, one of spermaceti, and 
 two ounces of olive oil ; add two ounces of rose water, and half an 
 ounce of orange-flower water. 
 
 Another. — Melt together equal parts of almond oil and white wax. 
 Add to the mixture, put in a marble mortar or strong glass basin, a 
 few drops of some perfumed water, as rose, orange, or elder-flower 
 water, and rub them together with a pestle till they are thoroughly 
 incorporated ; then add more and more drops, rubbing all the while, 
 till the mixture when cold, is of the consistence of cream. 
 
 Another — Very simple and very nice .■ — Cocoanut oil melted with a 
 little olive oil and scented as preferred. 
 
 Pomades. — A very good pomade is made of white wax one-half 
 ounce, spermaceti one-half ounce, olive oil six ounces. 
 
 Excellent Pomatum for the Hair. — Melt four ounces of beef mar- 
 row, six ounces of lard, half an ounce of yellow wax. Perfume while 
 cooling with oil of bergamot. 
 
 Pomade Divine — Take of beef marrow three pounds, put it into an 
 earthen vessel and cover it with cold water ; change the water daily 
 
920 
 
 PEACTICAL CYCLOPEDIA. 
 
 for a few days, using rosewater the last day. Pour off and press out 
 the water ; add to the marrow four ounces of strya,x, benzoin, and 
 Ohio turpentine, one ounce of orris powder, half an ounce each of 
 powdered cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg. Set the vessel in hot water, 
 and keep the water boiling for three hours ; then strain. This is one 
 of the best preparations made for softening the skin and hair. 
 
 Common Soft Pomatum . — Melt together equal parts of beef or 
 mutton suet and hog’s lard ; while they are liquid, put to it a little 
 bergamot, or any other perfume that may be agreeable, and heat the 
 whole well together, and then pour the mixture into pots. 
 
 Another Pomatum Soak in water for two or three days half a 
 pound of clean beef marrow and a pound of fresh hog’s lard, changing 
 and beating it every day. Put it into a sieve, and when dry into a 
 jar, and the jar into a sauce pan of water. When melted pour it in- 
 to a basin, and beat it with two spoonfuls of brandy; drain off the 
 brandy, and add bergamot, or any other perfume. 
 
 Another. — An ounce of hog’s lard, one of beef marrow, one of sper- 
 maceti, and a pint of almond oil, melted together ; add the oil of ber- 
 gamot and oil of roses, or any other perfume. 
 
 Hog’s lard alone, perfumed, will serve for pomatum for ordinary 
 purposes, if it be required very soft ; and oil of almonds and sperma- 
 ceti melted together form a useful unguent for the hair ; a little berga- 
 mot may be added. 
 
 Hard Pomatum . — This may be made by melting together beef and 
 mutton suet, the former being the largest proportion, and making it 
 up into rolls with paper around them. 
 
 Pomades Made by Infusion. — Melt together beef suet and hog’s 
 lard ; to this add the petals of roses, orange-flower, or other 
 sweet scented flowers ; let it remain at rest for twenty-four hours ; 
 remelt and stir well ; put into canvas bags and press to separate the 
 solid from the fluid part. Kepeat this process with the same fat per- 
 haps ten or twelve times, till the pomade has enough perfume. It re- 
 quires six pounds of fresh rose petals to make one pound, of good 
 pomade. 
 
 Highly scented pomades are often preferred to scented oils. Dif- 
 ferent sorts of hair often require different treatment; for what agrees 
 with one makes the other harsh and dry. 
 
 Cold Cream is often used : It is made with one-fourth ounce of sper- 
 maceti, and one-quarter ounce of white wax; dissolve by putting the 
 basin into which you are going to mix it in hot water ; then add o~ 3 
 ounce each of oil of almonds and rose water. 
 
MANAGEMENT OF THE HAIR. 
 
 921 
 
 To Make Bandoline — For Glossing the Hair . — 1. Irish or Iceland 
 moss, boiled in water, and the strained liquid perfumed. 
 
 2. Quince seed, half a teaspoonful ; linseed, one tablespoonful, and 
 a pinch of white mustard seed. Boil in a pint of soft water to half, 
 and scent with oil of almonds. 
 
 3. Boil a tablespoonful of linseed oil for five minutes in half a pint 
 of water. 
 
 4. Izinglass, one and a half ounces; water, one pint; proof spirit, 
 two fluid ounces. Dissolve the izinglass in the water by heat, add 
 the spirit and scent with almond oil. 
 
 5. Tragacanth, one ounce; rose water, one pint. Bruise the gum, 
 digest for three days and strain. 
 
 Any of these may be colored with cochineal if required. 
 
 Bose Bandoline . — Take tragacanth, six ounces ; rose water, one 
 gallon ; mix, and after standing two days strain, and add otto of 
 roses to perfume. May be colored with a little cochineal. The al- 
 mond bandoline may be made by substituting the oil of bitter almonds 
 for the otto of rose. 
 
 Cure for Baldness. — A medical journal says that the decoction of 
 boxwood has been successful in cases of baldness. Four large hand- 
 fuls of the stem and leaves of the garden box are boiled in three 
 pints of water, in a closely covered vessel for fifteen minutes, and al- 
 lowed to stand in an earthen jar ten hours or more ; the liquid is then 
 strained and one ounce and a half of Cologne added, and with this so- 
 lution the head is well washed every morning. 
 
 Cause and Remedy of Gray Hair. — An intelligent medical writer 
 has recently asserted that an undue proportion of lime in the system 
 is the cause of premature gray hair, and advises to avoid hard water, 
 either for drinking pure, or when converted into tea, coffee, or soup, 
 because hard water is always strongly impregnated with lime. Hard 
 water may, however, be softened by boiling it; let it become cold, and 
 then use it as a beverage. 
 
 To Preserve Hair from Falling off or Turning Gray. — A correspon- 
 pondent of the Western Christian Advocate gives the following : One- 
 half ounce sugar ot lead, one half ounce lac sulphur, one ounce gly- 
 cerine, one quart rain water. Saturate the hair and scalp with this 
 twice or three times per week, and you will soon have a head free 
 from dandruff and gray hairs, while the hair will be soft and glossy. 
 Better than any of the advertised “hair dyes.” 
 
 Economical Hair Wash. — Take one ounce of borax and half an 
 ounce camphor. Powder these ingredients fine and dissolve in one 
 
922 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 quart of boiling water. When cool the solution will be ready for use. 
 Damp the hair with this frequently. It is claimed for this that it 
 not only effectually cleanses and beautifies, but strengthens the hair, 
 preserves the color, and prevents baldness. 
 
 Another Wash said to thicken the hair and prevent its falling out : 
 Distil as cool and slowly as possible two pounds of honey, a handful 
 of rosemary and twelve handfuls of the curlings or tendrils of grape- 
 vines, infused in a gallon of new milk ; from which about two quarts 
 of wash will be obtained. 
 
 Gen . Twiggs' Celebrated Hair Restorative. — Mix with a gill of rose- 
 water one drachm of milk of sulphur and half a drachm of sugar of 
 lead. For restoring hair to its original color, and to cure baldness. 
 
 Astringent Hair Wash. — Borax, two drachms ; spirits of rosemary, 
 two ounces ; rosemary water, fourteen ounces. 
 
 Hair Dye. — It is not generally known that a liquid that will color 
 the human hair black and not stain the skin, may be made by taking 
 one part of bay rum, three parts of olive oil, and one part of good 
 brandy, by measure. The hair is to be washed with this mixtun'e 
 every morning, and in a short time the use of it will make the hair a 
 beautiful black, without injuring it in the least. The articles must 
 be of the best quality, mixed in a bottle, and shaken well before 
 applied. 
 
 One drachm nitrate of silver, one ounce spirits ammonia, and one 
 ounce soft water make a durable dye for coloring the hair, to be dried 
 in the sun. One ounce nitrate of silver to a pint of rose water, put 
 up in colored bottles is extensively sold in the shops as a vegetable 
 dye. The directions for its use are : the hair to be freed from grease 
 by washing with pearlash water or soda, and when perfectly dry the 
 dye applied by means of a brush. It does not “ strike ” for several 
 hours, but may be hastened by exposure to sunshine. A popular and 
 very fine brown dye is composed of sulphate of copper, ammonia and 
 prussiate of potassa; but it is exceedingly poisonous. 
 
 Lead Combs. — Persons with red hair sometimes use lead combs 
 which darken the hair. A little pomatum used at the same time will 
 help to produce a fine auburn. 
 
 Fine Teeth Combs are injurious as they inflame the tender skin, and 
 split and crush the hair. 
 
CARE OF THE EYES. 
 
 m 
 
 CAE E OF THE EYES. 
 
 Milton’s blindness was the result of over work and dyspepsia. 
 One of the most eminent American divines, who has for sometime been 
 compelled to forego the pleasure of reading, has spent some thousands 
 of dollars in vain, and lost years of time, in consequence of getting 
 up several hours before day and studying by artificial light. His 
 eyes will never get well. Multitudes of men and women have made 
 their eyes weak for life, by the too free use of eyesight in reading 
 fine print and doing fine sewing. In view of these things, it will be 
 well to observe the following rules in the use of the eyes : Avoid all 
 sudden changes between light and darkness. Never begin to read, 
 write, or sew for several minutes after coming from darkness to a 
 bright light. Never read by twilight, or moonlight, or on a very 
 cloudy day. Never read or sew directly in front of the light, or win- 
 dow or door. Never sleep so that on the first awakening, the eye 
 shall open on the light of a window. Do not use the eyesight by 
 light so scant that it requires an effort to discriminate. The moment 
 you are instinctively prompted to rub your eyes, that moment cease 
 using them. If the eyelids are glued together on waking up, do not 
 forcibly open them ; but apply the saliva with the finger — it is the 
 speediest diluent in the world; then wash your eyes and face in 
 warm water. 
 
 Save your eyes by sitting in such a position as will allow the light 
 to fall obliquely over the shoulder while reading or sewing ; by not 
 using the eyes for such purposes by an artificial light, especially gas 
 ’ight; by avoiding the special use of the eyes in the morning before 
 breakfast ; by resting them for half a minute or so, while reading or 
 sewing, or looking at things at a distance or up to the sky. Belief is 
 immediately felt by so doing. Never pick any collected matter from 
 the eyelashes or corners of the eyes with the finger nails ; rather 
 moisten it and rub it away carefully with the ball of the finger. Keep 
 the feet warm, and never cool the head suddenly under penalty of in- 
 flammation of the eyes. It is better to bathe the eyes on the outside 
 at night than morning, but it will not do harm to bathe them both 
 morning and evening. The moment the eye feels tired, the moment 
 you are conscious of an effort to read or sew, lay aside the book or 
 needle and take a walk for an hour, or employ yourself in some active 
 exercise not requiring the close use of the eyes. 
 
 In the London and Edinburgh Philosophical Magazine , is an ac- 
 
924 
 
 PEACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 count of sudden loss of the power of distinguishing colors, produced 
 by over taxing the eyes. A sea captain, who was in the habit, when 
 time hung heavy on his hands, of occupying it by working at embroi- 
 dery, -was one afternoon engaged upon a red flower, and, being anxious 
 to finish it, prolonged his labor until twilight came on, and he found 
 it diffiult to select the suitable colors. To obtain more light he went 
 into the companion way, and there continued his work. While thus 
 taxing his eyes, his power of distinguishing the colors suddenly van- 
 ished. He went upon deck, hoping that an increase of light would 
 restore his vision. In vain. From that time to the present, more 
 than ten years, he has remained color blind. Mr. White Cooper, who 
 brought this case to notice, says that, after the grand Exhibition of 
 1851, several instances came under his notice in which the sensibili- 
 ty of the retina w r as temporarily blunted by the excitement to which 
 it was exposed in that brilliant scene. 
 
 Amaurosis , one of the severest of eye diseases, is now said to be 
 produced by the use of tobacco. The oculist Sichel recently read a 
 paper before the Paris Societe Medico-practique, in which he describes 
 several cases. One of them was a man of forty, who had become 
 quite blind from the use of tobacco, and whose amaurosis, which had 
 resisted all other treatment, was cured by antiphlogistic and deriva- 
 tive regimen, and by giving up the use of tobacco. 
 
 A physiologist of Cincinnati has discovered that wearing moustach- 
 es strengthens the eyesight, and that the removal of these hairy ap- 
 pendages has the effect of causing general diseases of the eye. 
 
 Inflammation of the Eyes . — In all diseases of the eye the diet must 
 be light and unstimulating, no animal food nor pastry, no spirits, no 
 mental or bodily fatigue, nor excitement of any kind, but so far as 
 possible quiet and rest, cheerfulness and content. Bathe the eyes with 
 pure soft water, cold or warm, as may be most agreeable. Keep the 
 bowels open by eating perfect ripe fruits, and if constipation exists 
 use injections of cold water. Drink freely of cold water instead of 
 tea and coffee, and abandon tobacco forever. In nine cases out of ten 
 these simple means will prove more effectual and perform a more per- 
 manent cure than any strong medicines internal or external that can 
 possibly be prescribed. In severe cases the patient must be careful 
 to occupy a dry, well aired, and darkened room. 
 
 If some stronger application is desired, there is nothing better than 
 a little alum boiled in a teacupful of milk, and the curd used as a 
 poultice, or simply a poultice of slippery elm bark, or of raw potato 
 ecraped fine. An eye-water w 7 hich has become very famous as one, of 
 
PRESERVATION OF THE TEETH. 
 
 925 
 
 the best, if not the very best, is made as follows : Take of sulphate of 
 zinc ten grains, sugar of lead twenty grains, rose water one quart. 
 Dissolve each separately, then mix and filter through blotting paper, 
 and it is ready for use. Only a pint of rose water is frequently used, 
 which doubles the strength of the preparation. Pure rain water will 
 answer in place of the rose water. And if blotting paper cannot be 
 had it may be filtered through white flannel. If after the ingredients 
 are dissolved and mixed they can be allowed to stand a couple of days 
 before filtering, shake it occasionally, it will improve the preparation. 
 Wash the eyes with this two or three times a day. 
 
 To Reduce Inflamed Lids. — Tie a small bit of ice in the corner of a 
 thin handkerchief, and pass it back and forth over the closed eye, rest- 
 ing at intervals, when the cold is too intense. This has been found 
 very efficacious. 
 
 Lime in the Eye. — A strong solution of sugar, inserted drop by 
 drop under the eyelids, will completely prevent the caustic action of 
 the lime. It should be done immediately. 
 
 Sty on the Eyelid. — Put a teaspoonful of tea in a small bag ; pour 
 on it just enough boiling water to moisten it; then put it on the eye 
 pretty warm. ,Keep it on all night, and in the morning the sty will 
 most likely be gone ; if not a second application is sure to remove it. 
 
 To give Brilliancy to the Eyes. — Shut them early at night, and open 
 them early in the morning ; let the mind be constantly intent on the 
 acquisition of human knowledge, or on the exercise of benevolent 
 feelings. This will scarcely ever fail to impart to the eyes an intelli- 
 gent and amiable expression. 
 
 PEESEEV ATION OF THE TEETH. 
 
 The causes of caries, or decay, are principally the too free use of 
 acids, alkalies, confectionery and pastry, and the collection of food 
 between and around the teeth. The most destructive of them are 
 acids ; confectionery and fruits being converted into acids when al- 
 lowed to remain in the mouth, are also classed with them. These 
 all act directly upon the teeth. But alkalies used as freely as we use 
 them in our bread, rich pastry, and most kinds of rich food, cause a 
 derangement of the system, and as a consequence a vitiated state of 
 the secretions of the mouth, thereby producing the same effect as the 
 acids, although perhaps not to so great an extent. 
 
926 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 I do not pretend to say that decay can be prevented in all cases, for 
 some teeth are defective in their organization — the effect of disease 
 during their formation — or from some cause still further back. But 
 it is a well established fact that by a proper attention to the kind of 
 food we eat, and a thorough system of cleansing , a perfectly-organized 
 set of teeth may be preserved from decay, and even those that are 
 soft may be saved much longer than if no care or attention is paid to 
 them. Not a particle of food of any kind should be allowed to re- 
 main between them. The brush should be used before breakfast and 
 after each meal. Brush lengthwise of the teeth, or up and down, as 
 well as across. The brush should be of medium stiffness, neither too 
 stiff, nor yet too soft — for the one will wear the teeth in the course 
 of time, and the other will not thoroughly cleanse — and it should have 
 notches cut across it, leaving ridges crosswise, which will the more 
 readily pass between the teeth. Cold water is sufficient in many cases 
 to keep the teeth from stains ; but should that be insufficient, a good 
 reliable dentifrice, or tooth powder, should be used once or twice each 
 day. And should it be necessary to take acids into the mouth, or 
 medicines containing them, a weak solution of carbonate of soda, or 
 soap tooth powder, should be used at once to neutralize the acid. 
 
 Too much cannot be said in favor of cleanliness, or too great care 
 taken to preserve the teeth from decay ; for with the most strict at- 
 tention to their preservation, some teeth will decay, owing to heredi- 
 tary causes or otherwise. Such teeth should be carefully watched, 
 and should be examined two or three times a year by some good, re- 
 liable dentist, whose aim is not to see how much he can manage to do 
 for you, but how long he can make your teeth last. Then when a 
 cavity of sufficient size makes its appearance, have it well filled, and 
 decay will be arrested for years. But unless a tooth is filled well, it 
 may as well not be filled at all ; the filling only covers up the decay, 
 and the patient thinks all is right till after a few weeks or months — 
 the tooth having continued to decay — the filling drops out, exposing a 
 much larger cavity, and in many cases an exposure of the nerve, and 
 consequent loss of the tooth, or a large bill for treatment of the nerve 
 and refilling. 
 
 In a paper read before the American Dental Association recently, 
 Dr. Atkinson stated that perverted habits would account for the prev- 
 alence of dental disease, and that a well-regulated course of life would 
 secure good teeth and the enjoyment of health. He gave the follow- 
 ing rules to be observed: Never expectorate, but swallow saliva, eat 
 regularly and discard lunches ; never eat after weariness and fatigue 
 
PRESERVATION OF THE TEETH. 
 
 927 
 
 before first drinking; never eat to repletion; keep the teeth and the 
 entire body clean ; avoid taking that which is not food ; exercise 
 through the day, and take uninterrupted rest at night. 
 
 TOOTH POWDERS AND WASHES. 
 
 Those who brush their teeth carefully and thoroughly with cold or 
 tepid water and a soft brush generally have no occasion to use pow- 
 der. Should any little incrustation or tartar appear on the sides or 
 at the back of the teeth, which illness and very often the constant eat- 
 ing of sweetmeats, fruit, and made dishes containing acids will cause, 
 put a little magnesia on your brush, and after two or three applica- 
 tions it will remove it. Tartar is an incrustation of a hard, stoney 
 substance which tends to destroy both the teeth and gums. 
 
 Yet when properly constituted, powders assist in preserving a 
 healthy condition of the teeth, and promote healthy digestion. The 
 daily employment of a cleansing dentifrice will not only remove the 
 oftentimes injurious remains of food, but will also generally prevent 
 the accumulation of tartar, or other injurious secretions. Many tooth 
 powders advertised for sale are very pernicious. 
 
 Charcoal, made very fine, forms an excellent powder. It cleanses 
 the mouth mechanically and chemically. Alone it is dusty, and should 
 be mixed with an equal weight of prepared chalk ; and, if requisite, 
 scented with a drop or two of oil of cloves. Charcoal made of burn- 
 ed bread powdered and sifted, a little salt, and orris root, constitute a • 
 good powder. A recent writer recommends every man, woman and 
 child to keep a little pulverized charcoal in their bedrooms, and on re- 
 tiring at night to put as much as can be laid on a sixpence in the 
 mouth, working it about among the teeth with the tongue. 
 
 Septimus Piesse says, By a careful use of the following tooth-pow- 
 der frequent causes of early loss of teeth will be prevented : Take 
 four ounces of burnt horn, two ounces of orris-root powder, one ounce 
 of powdered myrrh, half an ounce of powdered borax, and half an 
 ounce of cochineal. In mixing the ingredients, it is very necessary 
 that the cochineal be thoroughly triturated with the burnt horn, prior 
 to the addition of the other ingredients. This will require nearly an 
 hour’s careful rubbing in a mortar, and it is only complete when the 
 color of the mixture assumes a lavender hue, which color is the best 
 criterion of perfect blending. Finally mix in the other powders, to- 
 gether with one drachm of otto of cloves ; then preserve for use in 
 stoppered bottles. 
 
928 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 But the safest, cheapest, most universally accessible and most effi- 
 cient tooth wash is a piece of white soap, with a moderately stiff brush 
 every morning and evening. 
 
 TOOTH ACHE. 
 
 A remedy pronounced infallible is a mixture of equal quantities of 
 pulverized alum and salt placed in the hollow tooth on a small piece 
 of cotton wet so as to cause the mixture to adhere. Creosote intro- 
 duced into the hollow tooth on cotton gives relief. Crude coal oil 
 possesses the same properties and may be used for the same purpose. 
 Gum copal, dissolved in chloroform, forms an excellent compound for 
 filling the holes of decayed teeth. The application is simple and easy. 
 Clean out the cavity, and moisten a small piece of cotton with the so- 
 lution ; introduce it into the decayed part, and the relief is almost 
 instantaneous. It is said that a roasted onion bound upon the wrist, 
 on the pulse, will stop the most inveterate toothache in a few minutes. 
 Worth trying. 
 
 THE EAB AND VOICE. 
 
 Ear-Ache. — Ear-ache is usually caused by a sudden cold. Steam 
 the head over hot herbs, bathe the feet, and put into the ear cotton 
 wool wet with sweet oil and paregoric. M. Emille Duval, of Lyons, 
 France, says that he has, in person, found relief in severe ear-ache, after 
 other means had been tried in vain from the use of a mixture of 
 equal parts of chloroform and laudanum; a little being introduced on 
 a piece of cotton. The first effect produced is a sensation of cold ; 
 then there is a numbness, followed by a scarcely perceptible pain, and 
 refreshing sleep. 
 
 Accumulation of Wax in the Ear . — To remedy this, which is a very 
 frequent cause of deafness, introduce a small piece of cotton wool, 
 upon which a little oil of almond has been dropped, into the ear, and 
 let it remain there for a day or two. Then syringe the ear with a 
 little warm milk and water, or a solution of soap, or with a solution 
 of common salt in water in the proportion of two drachms of the 
 former to half an ounce of the latter. The solution of salt is the best 
 solvent of accumulated wax in the ear. 
 
 Deafness. — Temporary deafness, arising from cold, sitting in a 
 
HEALTH. 
 
 929 
 
 draught, and other causes, may be relieved and cured by letting fall 
 into the ear ten drops of a mixture of sweet oil and oge of glycerine 
 every night until the duct which leads from the ear to the nose is 
 cleared ; this will be known by the sensation of the fluid passing at 
 once from the ear into the nostril. If, from inattention, the wax be- 
 comes hardened, and thus also induce temporary deafness, then the 
 above mixture is to be applied for two or three days, and followed by 
 thoroughly washing the ear in soap and warm water. No hard probe 
 or pick is to be put into the ear on any account, as it is very liable to 
 injure the membrane. 
 
 How to Cure Stammering . — If you are accustomed to stammer oc- 
 casionally when speaking, you will find it an excellent preventive to 
 speak very deliberately, and never in a hurry ; let each syllable have 
 its own distinct enunciation. 
 
 The following is simple, safe, and said to be certain of doing good, 
 if not making a perfect cure: Let the stammerer begin at once to beat 
 time for every word he utters, either in talking or reading, just as if 
 singing the words. If this does not stop the hesitancy, then try beat- 
 ing time to every syllable, and afterwards gradually run into beating 
 for words, and then for sentences. * The beating can be done with the 
 foot or with a hand, or with one finger of the. hand, or by striking the 
 thumb and finger together. Thus : ‘ When (beat) in (beat) the (beat) 
 course (beat) of (beat) hu- (beat) man (beat) e- (beat) vents, (beat) 
 etc.’ A persistent course of measuring the words until the stammer- 
 er can read and talk straight forward, though slowly, for an hour at 
 a time, will doubtless overcome the habit of stammering. We do not 
 say that this will always effect a perfect cure in the worst cases, 
 where the stammering or habit has been long established, but from 
 the nature of the defect it must be greatly modified, if not cured. 
 
 HEALTH. 
 
 Reason’s whole pleasure, all the joys of sense, 
 
 Lie in three words, — health, peace and competence. 
 
 There is this difference between those two temporal blessings, health 
 and money : money is the most envied, but the least enjoyed; health 
 is the most enjoyed but the least envied ; and this superiority of the 
 
 latter is still more obvious when we reflect that the poorest man would 
 59 
 
930 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA 
 
 not part with health for money, but the richest would gladly part 
 with all their money for health. Every man that has felt pain, knows 
 how little all other comforts can gladden him to whom health is. de- 
 nied. 
 
 Health is the greatest of all bodily pleasures but the least thought 
 of. It is the vital principle of bliss. It is through inward health 
 that we enjoy all outward things. Health is the poor mans riches, 
 and the rich man’s bliss. It is substantially the wealth of individu- 
 als, communities, and nations; or, at all events, the source from which 
 their prosperity must come. No sick man is prosperous, or even hap- 
 py. The surplus proceeds of labor accrue only to those in health, and 
 the daily enjoyment of life to them alone. This being so, then what 
 subserves that important end must not be overlooked or undervalued. 
 
 Says Dr. Wm. E. Cole, in the Boston Medical Journal: The fact 
 that an English woman lives half a century before she begins to wane, 
 while our females reach their prime mostly at little over half that 
 age, and that another lustrum finds them on the decline, ought to 
 strongly arrest our attention, and induce us to examine whether we 
 are right in attributing all this difference to climate, and whether we 
 might not find in some error or habit of early life, at least a partial 
 explanation of the disparity. Health is the natural condition of liv- 
 ing beings. Disease is a state contrary to nature. If you -wish the 
 great happiness and the inestimable blessing of being always in good 
 health down to a serene old age, learn while young to take care of 
 that “good constitution*” with which a benign Creator has intrusted 
 you. It is easier to preserve health, than to recover it ; and to pre- 
 vent diseases, than to cure them. One half the time ordinarily spent 
 in vain efforts to regain lost health would suffice to preserve it. The 
 immutable laws of Divinity never conflict: all of God’s works are in 
 harmony with each other ; His will and His ways are always consist- 
 ent. He made man to be healthy; He made man to enjoy all the 
 necessities of life ; He made man to be happy. Had man never trans- 
 gressed, sickness and suffering would have been unknown; health 
 and happiness would have been universal ; we should never have ex- 
 perienced want ; every need would have been bountifully supplied. 
 God created us in the midst of, and surrounded us with plenty. His 
 laws have not been changed. The same wise provisions that were 
 made for us at the Beginning remain for us still. We have only to 
 regain that wisdom with which we were created and which was lost 
 by man’s fall, to reinstate us into the possession of all the enjoyments 
 the heart could then desire, health, wealth and happiness complete. 
 
HEALTH. 
 
 931 
 
 This we do not expect wholly to do before that final great day; but 
 because we do not expect to attain perfection does not justify us in 
 giving up to despair, nor in abandoning ourselves to disease or pover- 
 ty. Neither is a necessity of nature, but both the inheritance of folly. 
 Had man never sinned sickness and sorrow had never existed. Pover- 
 ty, disease and death, if not directly traceable to actual sin is none 
 the less in consequence of man's original downfall. We can not shun 
 death, nor can we participate in perfect contentment, yet all who ac- 
 knowledge the existence and goodness of God believe, or ought to be- 
 lieve, that the freer we are from sin, the nearer we live in accordance 
 with Nature's laws and the laws of God, the more complete is our 
 welfare, temporal as well as spiritual ; that whatever best promotes 
 the interest of cur soul promotes also most the health of our bodv 
 and comfort of our mind. 
 
 RULES FOR PRESERVING HEALTH. 
 
 1. Pise early, and make it a point to retire at ten o’clock ; seven 
 hours’ sleep should suffice; although less may do in some cases, and 
 in others, more may be required. 
 
 2. Wash your whole body from head to foot, at least once a week, 
 Winter and Summer, and rub well with a flesh-brush or coarse towel, 
 immediately after washing. 
 
 3. Never sleep in a warm room, or in a room that has not been 
 properly ventilated in the day time. 
 
 4. Never sit or sleep in a draft of air ; it is almost always hurtful, 
 and when over-heated or covered with perspiration, exceedingly so. 
 
 5. Dress according to the season ; but be careful not to leave off 
 your Winter clothes before the warm weather has fairly set in. This 
 rule should be particularly observed by persons who are subject to 
 sore throat, bronchitis, chronic cough, and such like weaknesses. 
 
 6. Avoid all kinds of heavy and indigestible food, such as rich 
 pastry, fat, heavy, farinaceous diet, warm bread, spices, mustard, pep- 
 per, &c. 
 
 7. Avoid all stimulating drinks, brandy, beer, wine, and content 
 yourself with cold water, milk, light and unspiced chocolate, weak 
 black tea, and syrups made of currants, raspberries, strawberries, or 
 other kinds of wholesome and unmedicinal fruit. Never use tobacco 
 in any shape, except for medicinal purposes. 
 
 8. Never keep on wet or damp clothes, stockings, &c., and never 
 sleep on damp sheets. 
 
932 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPEDIA. 
 
 9. D,o not expose yourself to keen, sharp winds, and avoid the raw 
 and damp evening air. 
 
 10. Live as nearly as possible in the same temperature ; keep your 
 room moderately warm, and make it a point never to sit near the fire. 
 
 11. Eat your meals at regular hours; eat slowly; chew every 
 mouthful well, and do not swallow it until it is properly mixed up with 
 saliva. If possible, take about an hour for each meal, and never eat 
 so much as to leave the table with, a sense of repletion and oppression, 
 do not forget to clean your teeth with a soft tooth brush after eating, 
 and never indulge in the abominable habit of picking them. 
 
 12. Avoid every kind of food or drink which naturally disagrees 
 with you ; take a little exercise in the open air every day, but not in 
 any kind of weather ; select particularly fine, bracing and balmy 
 weather for a walk or ride ; exposure to rainy, windy, raw or damp 
 weather never does anybody any good. 
 
 RULES FOR WINTER. 
 
 Never go to bed with cold, damp feet. 
 
 In going into a colder air, keep the mouth resolutely closed, that 
 by compelling the air to pass circuitously through the nose and head, 
 it may become warmed before it reaches the lungs, and thus prevent 
 those shocks and sudden chills which frequently end in pleurisy, pneu- 
 monia, and other serious forms of disease. 
 
 Never sleep with the head in the draft of an open door or window. 
 
 Let more cover be on the lower limbs than on the body. Have an 
 extra covering within easy reach in case of a sudden and great change 
 of weather during the night. 
 
 Never stand still a moment out of doors, especially at street corners, 
 after having walked even a short distance. 
 
 Never ride near the open window of a vehicle for a single half min- 
 ute, especially if it has been preceded by a walk ; valuable lives have 
 thus been lost, or good health permanently destroyed. 
 
 Never put on a new boot or shoe in beginning a journey. 
 
 Never wear India rubbers in cold, dry weather. 
 
 If compelled to face a bitter cold wind, throw a silk hankerchief 
 over the face ; its agency is wonderful in modifying the cold. 
 
 Those who are easily chilled on going out of doors should have 
 some cotton batting attached to the vest or other garment, so as to 
 protect the space between the shoulder blades behind, the lungs being 
 
HEALTH. 
 
 933 
 
 attached to the body at that point ; a little there is worth five times 
 the amount over the chest in front. 
 
 Never sit more than five minutes at a time with the back towards 
 the fire or stove. 
 
 Avoid sitting against cushions in the backs of pews in churches ; 
 if the uncovered board feels cold, sit erect without touching it. 
 
 Ne\er begin a journey until breakfast has been eaten. 
 
 After speaking,’ singing or preaching in a warm room in winter, do 
 not leave it for at least ten minutes, and even then close the mouth, 
 put on the gloves, wrap up the neck, and put on cloak or overcoat 
 before passing out of the door. The neglect of this has laid many a 
 good and useful man in a premature grave. 
 
 Never speak under a hoarseness, especially if it requires an effort 
 or gives a hurting or a painful feeling, for it often results in perma- 
 nent loss of voice, a life-long invalidism. 
 
 DR. hall’s PHYSIOLOGICAL APHORISMS. 
 
 1. The foundation of three-fourths of all cases of consumption is 
 laid before the age of twenty-five years; in women, during their 
 teens. 
 
 2. The hereditary element is not of special account as a cause of 
 consumption, as less than twenty -five per cent, of cases are clearly of 
 consumptive parentage. 
 
 3. One of the ruling causes of diseases and premature death in 
 large cities, is found in that exhausting strain of the mental energies 
 in the struggle for subsistence — a death race for bread. 
 
 4. Insanity runs in families, but as in the case of family likeness, it 
 sometimes overleaps a generation or more. 
 
 5. Personal resemblance entails like characteristics of mind and 
 disposition. 
 
 6. A current of the purest air from the poles, for half an hour, on 
 a person sleeping, sitting still, or overheated, is a thousand fold more 
 destructive to health and fatal to life than the noisomeness of a crowd- 
 ed room or vehicle, or the stench of a pig-sty for thrice the time. 
 
 7. To exercise in weariness, increased by every step, is not only not 
 beneficial, it is useless, and worse than useless; it is positively des- 
 tructive. 
 
 8. As no good traveler, after having fed his horse, renews his jour- 
 ney in a trot, but with a slow walk, gradually increasing his pace, so, 
 in getting up to address an assembly for a continued effort, the first 
 
934 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 few sentences should be uttered in a loW, slow tone, gradually inten- 
 sified, otherwise the voice will break down in a few minutes with 
 coughing or hoarseness. 
 
 9. A growing inability to sleep in sickness is ominous of a fatal 
 result ; in apparent health, it indicates the failure of the mind and 
 madness, so, on the other hand, in disease or dementia, any very 
 slight improvement in the sleeping should be hailed as the harbinger 
 of restoration. 
 
 10. No one can possibly sink if the head is thrust entirely under 
 water and in this position a novice can swim as easily as walk, and 
 get to shore readily by lifting the head at intervals for breath. 
 
 11. Intense thirst is satiated by wading in water, or by keeping the 
 clothing saturated with water, even if it is taken from the sea. 
 
 12. Water cannot satisfy the thirst which attends cholera, dysen- 
 tery, diarrhea, and some other forms of disease ; in fact, drinking cold 
 water seems to increase thirst, and induce disagreeable sensations; 
 but this thirst will be perfectly and pleasantly subdued by eating a 
 comparativly small amount of ice, swallowing it in as large pieces as 
 practicable, and as much as is wanted. 
 
 13. Inflammations are more safely and far more agreeably subdued 
 by the application of warm water than of cold. 
 
 14. Very excessive effort in a short space of time, as in running or 
 jumping a rope, etc., has repeatedly caused instant death by apoplexy 
 of the lungs, the exercise sending the blood there faster than it can 
 be purified by the more infrequent breathing on such occasions. 
 
 15. No disease comes without a cause or warning; hence endeavor 
 to think back for the cause, with a view to avoid it in future, and on 
 the instant of any unpleasant bodily sensation cease eating absolutely 
 until it has entirely disappeared, at least for twenty-four hours, if still 
 remaining consult a physician. 
 
 16. The more clothes a man wears, the more bed-covering he uses, 
 the closer he keeps his chamber, whether warm or cold , the more he 
 confines himself to the house, the more numerous and warm his night 
 garments, the more readily will he take cold, under all circumetances ; 
 as the more a thriftless youth is helped, the less able does he become 
 to help himself. 
 
 FURTHER HEALTH HINTS BY DR. HALL — FOLLIES. 
 
 1. To think that the more a man eats the fatter and stronger he 
 will become. 
 
HEALTH. 
 
 935 
 
 2. To believe that the more hours children study at school the fast- 
 er they learn. 
 
 3. To conclude that if exercise is good for the health, the more vi- 
 olent and exhausting it is, the more good is done. 
 
 4. To imagine that every hour taken from sleep is an hour gained. 
 
 5. To act on the presumption that the smallest room in the house 
 is large enough to sleep in. 
 
 6. To argue that whatever remedy causes one to feel immediately 
 better, is “ good for ” the system without regard to more ulterior ef- 
 fects. The “soothing syrup,” for example, does stop the cough of 
 childien, and does arrest diarrhea, only to cause, a little later, alarm- 
 ing convulsions, the more fatal inflammation of the brain, or water on 
 the brain ; at least, always protracts the disease. 
 
 7. To commit an act which is felt in itself to be prejudicial, hoping 
 that some how or other it may be done in your case with impunity. 
 
 8. To advise another to take a remedy which you have not tried on 
 yourself, or without making special inquiry whether all the conditions 
 are alike. 
 
 9. To eat without an appetite, or continue to eat after it has been 
 satiated, merely to gratify the taste. 
 
 10. To eat a hearty supper for the pleasure experienced during the 
 brief time it is passing down the throat, at the expense of a whole 
 night of disturbed sleep, and a weary waking in the morning. 
 
 11. To remove a portion of the clothing immediately after exercise, 
 when the most stupid drayman knows that if he does not put a covei 
 on his horse the moment he ceases work in winter, he will lose him in 
 a few days by pneumonia. 
 
 12. To contend that because the dirtiest children in the street, or 
 on the highway, are hearty and healthy, that, therefore, it is healthy 
 to be dirty ; forgetting that continuous daily exposure to the pure 
 out- door air, in joyous, unrestrained activities, is such a powerful 
 agency for health that those who live thus are well, in spite of rags 
 and filth. 
 
 13. To presume to repeat, later in life without injury, the indiscre- 
 tions, exposures and intemperances which in the flush of youth were 
 practiced with impunity. 
 
 14. To believe that warm air is necessarily impure, or that pure, 
 cool air is necessarily more healthy than the confined air of a close and 
 crowded vehicle; the latter, at most, can only cause fainting or nau- 
 sea; while entering a conveyance after walking briskly, lowering a 
 window, thus while still exposed to a draught, will give a cold infalli- 
 
936 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 bly, or an attack of pleurisy or pneumonia, which will cause weeks and 
 months of suffering, if not actual death. 
 
 FOURTEEN WAYS BY WHICH PEOPLE GET SICK. 
 
 1. Eating too fast, and swallowing imperfectly-masticated food. 
 
 2. Taking too much fluid during meals. 
 
 3. Drinking poisonous whisky and other intoxicating liquor3. 
 
 4. Keeping late hours at night, and sleeping too late in the morning. 
 
 5. Wearing clothes so tight as to impede the circulation. 
 
 6. Wearing thin shoes. 
 
 7. Neglecting to take sufficient exercise to keep the hands and feet 
 warm. 
 
 8. Neglecting to wash the body sufficiently to keep the pores of the 
 skin open. 
 
 9. Exchanging the warm clothing worn in a room during the day, 
 for light costume and exposure incident to evening parties. 
 
 10. Starving the stomach to gratify a vain and foolish passion for 
 dress. 
 
 11. Keeping up a constant excitement, fretting the mind with bor- 
 owed troubles. 
 
 12. Employing cheap doctors and swallowing quack nostrums for 
 every imaginary ill. 
 
 13. Taking the meals at irregular intervals. 
 
 14. Reading the trashy and exciting literature of the day, and going 
 crazy on politics. 
 
 TWELVE WAYS OF COMMITTING SUICIDE. 
 
 1. Wearing thin shoes of damp nights and in cold rainy weather. 
 Wearing insufficient clothing, and especially upon the limbs and ex- 
 tremities. 
 
 2. Leading a life of enfeebling, stupid laziness, and keeping the 
 mind in an unnatural state of excitement by reading romances. Go- 
 ing to theatres, parties and balls in all sorts of weather, in the thin- 
 nest dress. Dancing till in a complete perspiration, and then going 
 home without sufficient over-garments through the cold, damp air. 
 
 3. Sleeping on feather beds in seven by nine bedrooms, without 
 ventilation at the top of the windows, and especially with two or more 
 persons in the small, unventilated bedroom. 
 
 4. Surfeiting on hot and very stimulating dinners. Eating in a 
 
HEALTH. 
 
 937 
 
 harry, without half masticating your food, and eating heartily before 
 going to bed every night, when the mind and body are exhausted by 
 the toils of the day and excitement of the evening. 
 
 5. Beginning in childhood on tea and coffee, and going from one 
 step to another, through chewing and smoking tobacco, and drinking 
 intoxicating liquors, by personal abuse and physical and mental ex- 
 cesses of every description. 
 
 6. Marrying in haste and getting an uncongenial companion, and 
 living the remainder of your life in mental dissatisfaction. Cultiva- 
 ting jealousies and domestic broils, and being always in a mental fer- 
 ment. 
 
 7. Keeping children quiet by giving paregoric and cordials, by 
 teaching them to suck candy, and by supplying them with raisins, 
 nuts and rich cake. When they are sick, by giving them mercury, 
 tartar emetic and arsenic, under the mistaken notion that they are 
 medicines and not irritant poisons. 
 
 8. Allowing the love of gain to absorb our minds, so as to leave no 
 time to attend to our health. Following an unhealthy occupation be- 
 cause money can be made at it. 
 
 9. Tempting the appetite with bitters and niceties, when the stom- 
 ach says “ No,” and by forcing food when nature does not demand 
 and even rejects it. Gormandizing between meals. 
 
 10. Contriving to keep in a continual worry about something or 
 nothing. Giving way to fits of anger. 
 
 11. Being irregular in all our habits of sleeping and eating, going 
 to bed at midnight and getting up at noon. Eating too much, too 
 many kinds of food, and that which is too highly seasoned. 
 
 12. Neglecting to take proper care of ourselves and not applying 
 early for medical advice when disease first appears. Taking celebra- 
 ted quack medicines to a degree of making a drug shop of the body. 
 
 WHY FARMERS ARE HEALTHIER THAN PROFESSIONAL MEN. 
 
 1. They work more and develop all the leading muscles of the 
 body. 
 
 2. They take their exercise in the open air, and thus breathe a 
 greater amount of oxygen. 
 
 3. Their food and drinks are commonly less adulterated, and far 
 more simple. 
 
 4. They do not over-work their brain as mu'di as industrious pro- 
 fessional men do. 
 
938 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPEDIA. 
 
 5. They take their sleep commonly during the hours of darkness, 
 and do not try to turn day into night. 
 
 6. They are not, commonly, so ambitious, and do not wear them- 
 selves out so rapidly in the fierce contests of rivalry. 
 
 7. Their pleasures are more simple and less exhausting. 
 
 SIGNS OF HEALTH AND LONG LIFE. 
 
 The followihg are some of the outward signs of sound health, and 
 indications of long life, as pointed out by Prof. Laycock of Edinburgh: 
 The skin should be healthy; the skin products, whether appendages — 
 as hair, nails and teeth — or secretions, should be normal and healthy; 
 the expressions of the eye should be free from pevishness or irritabil- 
 ity, for these often mark a tendency to shortness of life ; there should 
 be no infiltration of the lower eyelid, or marked vascularity of the 
 upper lid. The complexion may be of any temperament ; but should 
 be good of the kind ; there should be no signs of unhealthy blood. 
 Perhaps the best single criterion of a sound, enduring constitution is 
 to be found in the character of the hair and teeth. Persons tending 
 to longevity have usually sound, well enameled, well set teeth, con- 
 tinuing free from decay until old age, and their hair is thick, not soon 
 gray, nor falling early. In such persons the general powers are vigo- 
 rous, and it is only some visceral disease or acute fever which short- 
 ens life. If to the signs of good health you can add good conduct, 
 and the fact of longevity being hereditary in the family, the individ- 
 ual has a good chance of long life. 
 
 An early or excessive fat deposit is not unfrequently indicative of 
 premature old age. Scrofulous children and youth are apt to be very 
 fat before tuberculosis comes on ; very fat men or women very rarely 
 reach sixty, and all the fat infantile monsters die early. 
 
 SICKNESS. 
 
 Among the manifold misfortunes that may befall humanity, the loss 
 of health is one of the severest. All the joys that life can give can 
 not outweigh the sufferings of the sick. Give the sick man every- 
 thing, and leave him his sufferings, and he will feel that half the 
 world is lost to him. Lay him on a soft, silken couch, he will never- 
 theless groan sleepless under the presence of his sufferings ; while the 
 
SICKNESS. 
 
 939 
 
 miserable beggar, blessed with health, sleeps sweetly on the hard 
 ground. Spread his tables with dainty meats and choice drinks, and 
 he will thrust back the hand that proffers them, and envy the poor 
 man who thoroughly enjoys his dry crust. Surround him with the 
 pomp of kings, let his chair be a throne, and his crutch a world-sway- 
 ing sceptre ; he will look with contemptuous eye on marble, on gold, 
 and on purple, and would deem himself happy could he enjoy, even 
 were it under a thatched roof, the health of the meanest of his ser- 
 vants. 
 
 Disease is not necessarily connected with life. Originally man was 
 made perfect in all his parts. Thousands go through life without ever 
 having experienced any derangement of their principal organization. 
 To them even approaching death brings no illness. They die because 
 the last drop of life's oil in their lamp has been consumed ; they sleep 
 away in sweet weariness, like the reaper in autumn when his daily 
 task is completed. 
 
 If we have not inherited the germs of disease from our parents, it 
 is generally to our own imprudence or thoughtlessness that may be 
 attributed the loss of life’s best gift, — the health of our bodies, — the 
 partial destruction of the instrument through which our souls are to 
 work and do useful service. 
 
 In every case, observe the nature of thy body, and regulate thy 
 life accordingly. Observe its laws in thy nourishment, thy drink, thy 
 pleasures, and thy mode of working in thy vocation. Never forget 
 that one single hour of intemperance may be the parent of long years 
 of suffering. Never forget that one moment of guilty self-forgetful- 
 ness in the midst of joy, suffices to poison thy cup of bliss. 
 
 Man’s body is not his inalienable possession, it is a loan from the 
 hand of God, which we shall one day have to give up, an instrument 
 of the spirit, without which the latter can not fulfil its appointed work 
 on earth. If man deserve punishment for sin, then assuredly he de- 
 serves it when he sins against his own body; for he thereby robs 
 himself of the joy of life, and the capacity for a long time, and per- 
 haps forever of doing as much good as he might otherwise do. 
 
 Not only do we by carelessness of our health, render ourselves in- 
 capable of fulfilling adequately our duties to God, our country, and 
 our fellow citizens, to strangers and to friends, but we may even, 
 though subsequently restored to health, in reality have hastened the 
 approach of the hour of death. The man wanting in moderation — 
 whether it be, that with careless presumption he expose himself un- 
 necessarily to danger, or that by exasperated care he render himself 
 
940 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 over-delicate — may be said to be a self-murderer, though against his 
 will and desire. 
 
 Again the germs of disease are often transmitted from parents to 
 children : the maladies of one generation thus become the ailments 
 and sufferings of a distant posterity. Therefore guard reverently 
 the health of your bodies, that your children may not one day upbraid 
 you with their diseases ; that the follies of one brief moment of your 
 existence may not become a source of misery to your children's chil- 
 dren ! It is this that the Scriptures allude to when they say, the sins 
 of parents are punished unto the third and fourth generation. 
 
 Often place yourself in spirit by the bedside of the sick. It may 
 be to you a school of wisdom. When the sunken eye and deathly 
 pallor of the poor sufferer make you tremble, the resolve will be 
 strengthened in you to avoid every thing that may injure your own 
 health. 
 
 But watch not only over thyself ; watch also over the health of thy 
 companions. Tempt not others to immoderate pleasures ; lead them 
 not into dissipation that may breed disease. What satisfaction will 
 it be. to thee, when thou hast robbed them of the sweet bloom of 
 health, when thou hast become, as it were, the destroyer of their best 
 joy in life ? 
 
 Nevertheless, this is a point in regard to which even good people, 
 without malice and without premeditation, but in the tumult of plea- 
 sure, so frequently err. Their example and their encouragement 
 excite weaker persons to indulge in undue gratifications. In the 
 very endeavor to give their friend a proof of affection, they fre- 
 quently become his poisoner, his destroyer. Neither the malice nor 
 the cruelty of man is so dangerous as his thoughtless levity. 
 
 Honor, 0 Christian, in thyself as in others the sanctity of health ! 
 
 CLOTHING. 
 
 The most healthful clothing for our climate, the year round, is that 
 made of wool. If worn next the skin by all classes, in Summer as 
 well as Winter, an incalculable amount of coughs, colds, diarrheas, 
 dysenteries and fevers would be prevented, as also many sudden and 
 premature deaths from croup, diptheria and lung diseases. Winter 
 maladies would be prevented by the ability of a woolen garment to 
 keep the natural heat about the body more perfectly, instead of con- 
 
CLOTHING. 
 
 94i 
 
 veying it away as fast as generated, as linen and flaxen garments; as 
 also cotton and silk, although these are less cooling than Irish linen, 
 as any one can prove by noticing the different degrees of coldness on 
 the application of a surface of six inches square of flannel, cotton and 
 linen to the skin, the moment the clothing i3 removed. The reason 
 is, that wool is a bad conductor of heat, and linen is a good conductor. 
 
 It is more healthful to wear linen next the skin in summer, because 
 it absorbs the moisture of perspiration so rapidly, as to keep the skin 
 measurably dry all the time. It is curious to notice that the water is 
 conveyed by a woolen garment from the surface of the body to the 
 outerside of the garment, where the microscope shows it condensed 
 in millions of pearly drops ; while it is in the experience of the ob- 
 servant, that if a linen shirt becomes damp by perspiration, it remains 
 cold and clammy for a long time afterwards; and unless removed will 
 certainly cause some bodily ailment. 
 
 In the night-sweats of consumption, or any debilitated condition 
 of the system, a woolen-flannel night-dress is immeasurably more 
 comfortable than cotton or linen, because it prevents that sepulchral 
 dampness and chillness of feeling, which are otherwise inevitable. 
 
 The British government make it imperative that every sailor in the 
 navy shall wear woolen flannel shirts in the hottest climates. The 
 shrinkage of woolen garments in washing, whereby they become hard, 
 impervious and board- like, has prevented their more general use ; 
 but there are three ways of preventing this, to a greater or less ex- 
 tent ; either let about one-fourth of the material be made of cotton ; 
 have it dyed red or some other color before it is woven; or if it is 
 greatly preferred that it shall be white, exercise proper care in the 
 process of washing. 
 
 Woolen flannel is the best protection against taking cold in all sea- 
 sons if kept pliable by proper washing. 
 
 CHANGING CLOTHING. 
 
 It has come within the observation of many a reader that serious 
 and severe illness has been induced, and even fatal sickness caused, 
 by a change of clothing. Injury never comes, perhaps, by putting on 
 more or warmer clothing, but by diminishing the amount inconsider- 
 ately. The first great general rule, and always the safest, is to make 
 the change when you first dress in the morning ; if you wait until 
 you are uncomfortably warm during the day, it is most likely to be 
 in the early part of the afternoon ; in making the change then there 
 
PRACTICAL CYCLOPEDIA. 
 
 9*2 
 
 ’ are two or three causes of disease in operation ; the fact of undress- 
 sing endangers a check of perspiration ; the garments about to be put 
 on may not be perfectly dry, there may be no opportunity, even if 
 they are dry, to warm them up to the heat of the body ; and further, 
 just about the time you have changed, the cool and damps of the af- 
 ternoon and evening begin to come on, increasing until dark, while 
 having been thrown off your guard by the warmth of the morning, 
 you may not feel the necessity of a fire, and by tea time you are sur- 
 prised with a disagreeable chillness running over you ; then the cold 
 has been taken, to settle in the eyes, causing weakness and watering ; 
 or in the head, giving a running at the nose, soiling a handkerchief 
 in an hour ; or in the throat, creating a raw or burning sensation at 
 the little hollow at the bottom of the neck and top of the breast-bone; 
 or on the covering of the lungs, to give the painful pleurisy ; or in the 
 lungs themselves, in the shape of a troublesome bronchitis, or a dan- 
 gerous pneumonia ; or in the bowels, causing weakening diarrhea ; or 
 on the covering of the bowels, inducing peritoneal inflammation, to 
 end probably in death in a few days. 
 
 It is very unsafe in this latitude, to lessen the amount of clothing 
 sooner than the first of May, and then not in quality, but in less thick- 
 ness of the same material ; from a thick, knitted flannel shirt to one 
 of common woolen flannel; then, about the first of June, to a gauze 
 flannel : if this is oppressive to some, then employ Canton flannel. 
 
 THE WARMEST AND BEST CLOTHING. 
 
 Most persons suppose that fabrics made of coarse wool are the 
 warmest and most durable. This is a mistaken idea. Owing to the 
 lower prices of coarse wool, fabrics of this material are usually made 
 heavier than those of fine wool, hence their greater thickness deceive 
 persons respecting their qualities for warmth and wear. There is no 
 heat in the wool itself ; its property of what is called “ warmth ” is 
 due to its non-conducting qualities. If we grasp a bar of iron on a 
 frosty morning, it produces a disagreeable cold sensation because it is 
 a good conductor of heat, and the warmth of the hand is rapidly car- 
 ried off by the metal. On the other hand, a piece of woolen cloth, 
 especially if it has a long nap on it, does not feel cold because it is a 
 good non-conductor, and prevents the heat from passing rapidly from 
 the hand. Now the warmest fabric for clothing is that which is the 
 best non-conductor ; and Count Rumford made a great many experi- 
 ments with different materials in order to find out the best. Accord- 
 
CLOTHING. 
 
 943 
 
 ing to liis observations, the down of the eider-duck which the Esqui- 
 maux use in their clothing, is unrivalled in this respect ; and the fine, 
 the fabric of woolen cloth used, the more imperfectly did it conduct 
 the heat from the human body. As fine woolen cloth is superior to 
 that of coarse wool as a non-conductor, it is therefore the best for 
 clothing in keeping the body warm during cold weather. We are also 
 positive that cloth made of fine wool equal in thickness to that manu- 
 factured from the coarser material will wear much longer. The finest 
 woolen cloth, although dearest at first, is cheapest in the end, because 
 it is more durable and warmer ; and, according to Liebig, so much 
 heat saved is so much meat gained. It must not be overlooked, how- 
 ever, that there may be a very great difference between what is cal- 
 led “firm cloth” and cloth made of fine wool. Fine wool feels plea- 
 sant and soft to the touch; and it has a rich velvety appearance. 
 
 DRESS OF THE ARMS AND LEGS — CHILDRENS’ CLOTHING. 
 
 One of the gravest mistakes in our dress is the very thin covering 
 of our arms and legs. No physioligist can doubt that the extremeties 
 require as much covering as the body. A fruitful source of disease : 
 of congestion in the head, chest, and abdomen, is found in the naked- 
 ness of the arms and legs, which prevents a fair distribution of the 
 blood. 
 
 A young lady has just asked me what she can do for her very thin 
 arms. She says she is ashamed of them. I felt of them through the 
 thin lace covering, and found them freezing cold. I asked her what 
 she supposed would make muscles grow ? Exercise, she replied. Cer- 
 tainly, but exercise makes them grow only by giving them more blood. 
 Six months of vigorous exercise would do less to give those naked, 
 cold arms circulation, than would a single month were they warmly 
 clad. 
 
 The value of exercise depends upon the temperature of the mus- 
 cles. A cold gymnasium is unprofitable. Its temperature should be 
 between sixty and seventy, er the limbs should be warmly clothed. 
 I know that our servant girls and blacksmiths, by constant and vigor- 
 ous exercise acquire large, fine arms, in spite of their nakedness. And 
 if young ladies will labor as hard from morning till night as do these 
 useful classes, they may have as fine arms, but even then it 'is doubt- 
 ful if they would get rid of their congestions in the head, lungs, and 
 stomach without more dress upon the arms and legs. 
 
 Perfect health depends upon perfect circulation. Every living thing 
 
944 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 that has the latter, has the former. Put your hand under your dress 
 upon your body. Now put your hand upon your arm. If you find 
 the body is warmer than the arm, you have lost the equilibrium of 
 circulation. The head has too much blood, producing headache or 
 sense of fullness ; or the chest has too much blood, producing cough, 
 rapid breathing, pain in the side, or palpitation of the heart ; or the 
 stomach has too much blood, producing indigestion ; or the liver has 
 too much blood, producing some disturbance ; or the bowels have too 
 much blood, producing constipation or diarrhea. Any or all of these 
 difficulties are temporarily relieved by immersion of the feet or hands 
 in hot water, and they are permanently relieved by such dress and 
 exercise of the extremities as will make the derivation permanent. 
 
 Again I say, the extremities require as much clothing as the body. 
 Women should dress their arms and legs with one or two thicknesses 
 of knit woolen garments which fit them. The absurdity of loose flow- 
 ing sleeves and wide spread skirts, I will not discuss. 
 
 Do you ask me why the arms and legs may not become accustomed 
 to exposure like the face ? I answer God has provided the face with 
 an immense circulation, because it must be exposed. 
 
 A distinguished physician of Paris declared, just before his death, 
 “ I believe that during the twenty-six years I have practiced my pro- 
 fession in this city, twenty thousand children have been borne to the 
 cemeteries a sacrifice to the absurd custom of naked arms.” When 
 in Harvard, many years ago, I heard the distinguished Dr. J. C. War- 
 ren say, “ Boston sacrifices five hundred babies every year by not 
 clothing their arms.” Those little arms should have thick, knit, wool- 
 en, warm sleeves, extending from the shoulder to the hand. 
 
 Put the bulb of a thermometer in a baby’s mouth, the mercury 
 rises to ninety degrees. Now carry the same to its little hand ; if 
 the arm be bare, and the evening cool, the mercury will sink to fifty 
 degrees. Of course all the blood that flows through these arms must 
 fall from ten to forty degrees below the temperature of the heart. 
 Need I say, when these currents of blood flow back into the chest, 
 the child’s vitality must be more or less compromised ? And need I 
 add that we ought not to be surprised at its frequent recurring affec- 
 tions of the tongue, throat, or stomach ? I have seen more than one 
 child with habitual cough and hoarseness, choking with mucus, entire- 
 ly and permanently relieved by simply keeping the hands and arms 
 warm. Every observing and progressive physician has daily oppor- 
 tunities of witnessing the same cure.” 
 
 The rsascn wty ohildien die, sr.yf Ha’ l’s Journal of Health, is be- 
 
CLEANLINESS. 
 
 945 
 
 cause they are not taken care of. From the day of birth they are 
 stuffed with food, choked with physic, sloshed with water, suffocated 
 in hot rooms, steamed in bed-clothes. So much for in-door. When 
 permitted to breathe a breath of pure air once a week in summer, and 
 once or twice during the colder months, only the nose is permitted to 
 peer into daylight. A little later, they are sent out with no clothes on 
 at all, the parts of the body which most need protection. Bare legs, 
 bare arms, bare necks, girted middles, with an inverted umbrella to 
 collect the air, and chill the other parts of the body. A stout, strong 
 man goes out in a cold day with gloves and overcoat, woolen stock- 
 ings and thick double-soled boots, with cork between and rubbers 
 over. The same day, a child of three years old, an infant in flesh and 
 blood and bone and constitution, goes out with shoes as thin as paper, 
 cotton socks, legs uncovered to the knees, neck bare ; an exposure 
 which would disable the nurse, kill the mother outright, and make 
 the father an invalid for weeks. And why ? To harden them to a 
 mode of dress which they are never expected to practice. To accus- 
 tom them to exposure, which a dozen years later would be considered 
 downright foolery. To rear children thus for the slaughter pen, and 
 then lay it to the Lord, is too bad. We don't think the Almighty 
 had any hand in it. And to draw comfort from the presumption that 
 he lias any agency in the death of the child, is a presumption and 
 profanation. 
 
 CLEANLINESS. 
 
 There is a homely, but very forcible expression (most homely ex- 
 pressions are forcible,) that “cleanliness is next to godliness;" mean- 
 ing thereby that habits of cleanliness tend not only to health of body, 
 but to that state of moral feeling, which becomes man as the chief 
 creature of the Almighty. One of the first acts of mental degradation 
 is neglect of the person ; filth and rags are always associated with 
 misery, and often with vice and crime ; and this remark applies to na- 
 tions as well as individuals. 
 
 Mohammed was wont to say that religion had its very foundation 
 in cleanliness, and he pronounced it “ one-half of the faith, and the 
 key of prayer.” How often he expected his followers to wash them- 
 selves, may be inferred from his exhortation with respect to prayer. 
 They were to pray “ before the rising of the sun, and before the set- 
 
946 
 
 PKACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 ting thereof ; in the hours of the night, and in the extremities of the 
 day ; when the evening overtaketh you, and when you rise in the 
 morning; at sunset, and when you rest at noon.” But we have a still 
 more pointed injunction in these words : “ 0, true believers ! when 
 you 'prepare yourselves to pray, wash your faces and your hands, am* 
 your heads and your feet.” 
 
 “Now, setting aside “ the great unwashed” class in this and othei 
 Christian countries, it might be well for their inhabitants to pattern 
 a little after the Mahommedans, in this respect. It certainly would 
 do them no spiritual harm. To the contrary, it would require but a 
 slight knowledge of physiology to convince any real Christian that it 
 would benefit him spiritually as well as bodily. 
 
 It is noticeable that in poor neighborhoods which have been at- 
 tacked by cholera, fever, and similar diseases, the Jews living there 
 have in an extraordinary manner escaped visitation. The apparent 
 causes of this sanitary fact are w T orthy of attention : 1st. Being most 
 particular in the food they eat. 2d. Intemperance from drink being 
 rare amongst them. 3d. Their religion directs them to use great per- 
 sonal cleanliness — ablutions being frequently made before visiting 
 their synagogues and other occasions. All the above acts are impoi • 
 tant to health, and the good effect of attention to them is evident. 
 
 Count Bumford, the celebrated philosopher, whose writings havt 
 been of greater value to mankind than the abstruse speculations of a 
 host of metaphysicians, thus describes the advantage of cleanliness : 
 “ With what care and attention do the feathered race wash themselves 
 and put their plumage in order; and how perfectly neat, clean and 
 elegant do they appear. Among the beasts of the field, we find those 
 which are the most cleanly, are generally the most gay and cheerful; 
 or are distinguished by a certain air of tranquility and contentment ; 
 and singing birds are always remarkable for the neatness of their 
 plumage. So great is the effect of cleanliness upon man, that it ex- 
 tends even to his moral character. Virtue never dwelt long with filth; 
 nor do I believe there ever was a person scrupulously attentive to 
 cleanliness, who was a consummate villain.” 
 
 Liebig says : “ Give me the amount of soap a people use, and I will 
 make an accurate estimate of their moral condition.” 
 
 As occasional filth is the worst evil of poverty and labor, so should 
 constant cleanliness be the greatest luxury of wealth and ease. 
 
 Cold water is used and prescribed much more than formerly, though 
 many would think a physician not worth sending for who should pre- 
 scribe so simple a remedy. Abernathy's advice to one of his weal thy 
 
CLEANLINESS. 
 
 947 
 
 patients was : “ Let your servants bring to you three or four pailsful 
 of water and put you into it, and from head to foot rub yourself with 
 it, and you’ll recover.” “ This advice of yours seems very much like 
 telling me to wash myself,” said the patient. “ Well,” said Aberna- 
 thy, “it is open to that objection.” 
 
 BATHING AND SWIMMING. 
 
 ’ It is a fact, officially recorded, that during the terrible visitations 
 of cholera, in France, out of sixteen thousand two hundred and twen- 
 ty-eight subscribers to the public baths of Paris, Bordeaux, and Mar- 
 seilles, only two deaths among them were ascribed to cholera. We 
 doubt whether there exists a more effectual preventive to disease of 
 every kind, and a greater promotor of good health at all times, than 
 the practice of bathing. 
 
 It is said that a person who may be in fear of having received in- 
 fection of any kind, as for instance, having visited a fever patient, 
 should speedily plunge into a warm bath, suffer perspiration to ensue, 
 and then rub dry, dress securely to guard against taking cold, and 
 finish off with a cup of strong tea by the fire. If the system has im- 
 bibed any infectious matter, it will certainly be removed by this pro- 
 cess, if it be resorted to before the infection has time to spread over 
 the system. And even if some time has elapsed, the drenching per- 
 spiration that may be induced in a hot bath will be pretty sure to re- 
 move it. But we do not recommend habitual water drinking or warm 
 bathing, for both are weakening if injudiciously practiced. 
 
 Bathing is good for robust people ; but thin, lean, cold people should 
 be cautious and chary in the use of the cold bath. It is weakening, 
 as every one knows from the sensations experienced. Boys often in- 
 jure themselves severely by frequent bathing. It is only good when 
 felt to be bracing and strengthening. It sometimes occasions a deaf- 
 ness, when the water gets into the ear, and cannot be easily expelled. 
 Physicians are very indiscriminate in their bath prescriptions, and 
 very unwise. W e have known many cases in which their advice has 
 proved most injurious. Let every man follow his own judgment, and 
 not blindly follow a rule. Bemember that this is the era of private 
 judgment, and every man is called upon to exercise it. Some are 
 strengthened by bathing, and washing or rubbing with a wet towel 
 is sometimes conducive to health, when bathing is not. Sadt-water 
 bathing is good for some people, and bad for others. Every man 
 must experiment in regard to it for himself. 
 
948 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 The medical authorities of the French Army especially recommend 
 that men inclined to disease of the chest should be continually made 
 to swim. M. le Docteur Dulon, the head of the medical department, 
 attributes the following effects on the organs of respiration to swim- 
 ming : 
 
 “ A swimmer wishing to proceed from one place to another, is 
 obliged to deploy his arms and legs to cut through the liquid, and 
 beat the water with them to sustain himself. It is to the chest, as 
 being the central point of sustentation, that every movement of the 
 limbs responds. This irradiation of the movements of the chest, far 
 from being hurtful to it, is beneficial ; for, according to a sacred phy- 
 siology, the more an organ is put into action the more vigor and ap- 
 titude it will gain to perform its functions. Applying this principle 
 to natation, it will easily be conceived how the membranes of the chest 
 of a swimmer acquire development — the pulmonary tissues firmness, 
 tone and energy.” 
 
 DISINFECTANTS. 
 
 There are three classes of disinfectants : the first removes the of- 
 fensive odors by absorbing them, the second by destroying them, and 
 the third prevent their formation. The most powerful of the first 
 class is charcoal, of the second chlorine, and of the third sulphurous 
 acid. This prevents, or at least retards, the decay of vegetable wetter. 
 
 So far as we now recollect there is not a single substance which on 
 being filtered through charcoal will not be deprived of its flavor and 
 odor. The substance coming next to charcoal in its power of absorb- 
 ing various odors is water. The power of water to act as a disinfect- 
 ant can be made available in many circumstances : it is especially use- 
 ful in chambers of the sick, as a dash of water in any vessel standing 
 in the room will render it inoffensive. Mr. Turnbull, of Glasgow, 
 covered three hundred and fifty dead horses with charcoal, and no un- 
 pleasant odor was emitted from them. He also placed the body of a 
 dog in a wooden box, for more than six months, in which he put 
 layer of charcoal, and covered it over with another layer, of a few 
 inches in depth. The box was left uncovered in his laboratory, from 
 which no offensive smell was ever discovered. The property of char- 
 coal to restore sweetness to tainted meat was shown by Lowitz, when 
 at St. Petersburg, in 1786. Charcoal is the best known substance 
 
DISINFECTANTS. 
 
 949 
 
 Tor absorbing foul gases and preventing feted smells arising from 
 sewers. 
 
 During warm weather decaying organic substances near dwellings 
 emit offensive and unhealthy gases. In situations where the putrid 
 substances cannot be removed, disinfectants should be employed for 
 neutralizing their effects. The common gas which is emitted from 
 sinks and sewers is sulphuretted hydrogen. It has a peculiar nauseous 
 fetid odor, resembling that of rotten eggs, and produces nausea, head- 
 ache, faintness, and loss of appetite, when inhaled for a moderate 
 length of time. The chloride of lime is a most convenient substance 
 to use a*, & disinfectant. It may be sprinkled in the solid state among 
 the decaying substances, or it may be placed where the chlorine will 
 evaporate into the atmosphere, and combine with the feted gas, or it 
 may be mixed with water and sprinkled over floors or poured into 
 sinks. Chloride of zinc has also been used extensively. One pint of 
 the liquor 01 chloride of zinc, in one pailful of water. This is per- 
 haps the most effective of anything that can be used, and when thrown 
 upon decayed vegetable matter of any description, will effectually 
 destroy all offensive odors. Fresh slaked lime is also used as a disin- 
 fectant, but for families to use in sinks copperas is about the best sub- 
 stance that can be employed. Three or four pounds of copperas, (sul- 
 phate of iron) dissolved in a pailful of water will, in many cases be 
 sufficient. Any of these will be found efficacious in removing offen- 
 sive smells from damp, mouldy cellars, yards, pools of stagnant water, 
 decaying vegetable matter, &c., while their cost is but a trifle. 
 
 A very cheap disinfecting powder is now in use in France, and 
 French physicians say it is a perfect deodorizer of sinks and other 
 foul-smelling places, and also of all the wounds, or sickening odors of 
 the hospital. It is composed as follows : To one hundred parts of 
 powdered gypsum (plaster Paris) add one to three parts of coal tar 
 (from the gas works,) and thoroughly mix the tar and plaster in a 
 mortar or hand mill, or by any other convenient means, and make 
 ready for use in powder or solution. Two pounds of the powder are 
 sufficient to dissolve in twenty gallons of water, and from one to two 
 pints each day of this water, it is stated, will completely deodorize all 
 the fecal matters of a small family. A mere morsel of the powder 
 will render a pint of feted water fit for use. A sprinkling of the 
 powder or solution deodorizes a stable or a pile of decaying vegetable 
 matter. Such are the statements published of this cheap disinfector, 
 The truth of its value is certainly worth inquiring after, by practical 
 experiment. 
 
950 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 It is also said that as a disinfecting agent, to scatter around premi- 
 ses affected with any unpleasant odor, nothing is better than a mix- 
 ture of four parts dry ground plaster of Paris to one part fine charcoal, 
 by weight. All sorts of glass vessels and other utensils may be 
 effectually purified from offensive smells by rinsing them with charcoal 
 powder after the grosser impurities have been scoured off with sand 
 and soap. 
 
 The London Medical Gazette says that coffee i? the most powerful 
 means not only of rendering animal and vegetable effluvia innoxious, 
 but of actually destroying them. The best mode of using the coffee 
 as a disinfectant, is to dry the raw bean, pound it in a mortar, and 
 then roast the powder on a moderately heated iron plate, until it as- 
 sumes a dark brown tint, and it is fit for use. Then sprinkle it in 
 sink or cesspools, or lay it on a plate in the rooms which you wish to 
 have purified. Coffee acid or coffee oil acts more readily in minute 
 quantities. Coffee dried and pulverized then sprinkled on an iron 
 shovel or plate not quite red hot will fumigate a room of all animal 
 effluvia in half a minute. 
 
 A saucer full of chloride of lime, moistened with a few drops of 
 vinegar and water, will purify the atmosphere of a sick room in a few 
 moments. The effluvia of a sick room, if not of a contagious charac- 
 ter, may be removed by placing on a shallow dish on the floor two or 
 three sliced onions and changing them every three or four hours. 
 
 THE BODY AND THE MIND. 
 
 By the exercise of a very little reflection we shall discover that the 
 mind and body are both dependent on each other. The mind, more 
 especially, upon the physical structure ; for without stimulant from 
 bodily vigor, the brain refuses to work and thought is paralyzed. 
 These are trueisms, and are not put forth as embodying any new and 
 startling doctrine. They are so true that all thinking men know the 
 force of the remarks, even if they fail to take any steps to practice 
 what is suggested by them ; for when a man is told that his mind is 
 weak, it implies bodily waste, and he must of necessity recruit the 
 one to improve the other. This article is no plea for gymnasia, or 
 other similar institutions ; in fact we look upon these as the last re- 
 sort for restoring lost animal strength, and invigorating the wasted 
 tissues and muscles of the body. Bather do we seek in these lines to 
 
THE BODY AND THE MIND. 
 
 951 
 
 impress upon every person engaged in sedentary pursuits, the abso- 
 lute need that exists for sensible and diverting bodily activity. 
 
 How does the case stand ; how do men in general spend the few 
 hours they can spare from business ? Let the reader look around 
 among his acquaintance, or ask himself, and he can see clearly that 
 but few persons give the attention they ought to this subject. One 
 individual for instance stands all day in his store, bends over his desk, 
 and wearies out his body and mind by close attention to business. 
 Possibly, at five o’clock he goes home, because he can’t stand the 
 strain any longer : what does he do then ? He plays five minutes 
 with his baby, or else dozes in the corner over a newspaper, all doubled 
 up like a jack-knife. Still other men of business snatch a hasty min- 
 ute to dine, and come home at night, only to pore over ledgers and 
 business accounts without end. These plans may be very excellent 
 ones to get riches by, but there are demands of the body to be atten- 
 ded to, which neglected, all the wealth in the world cannot compen- 
 sate for. The obvious remedy is to give each function and organ of 
 the body its proper degree of care. The millionaire will not consent 
 that his horses shall stand idle in the stable, for he knows that by so 
 doing they lose in beauty and spirit; yet he denies to his own body 
 what he recognizes as indispensable for the animal, and suffers his en- 
 ergies to waste for want of use. The mechanic who has an overabun- 
 dance of muscular exercise, requires intellectual food, that his brains 
 may develop and his ideas be enlarged : while the reverse is true of 
 literary men. 
 
 In the beginning of this article we mentioned gymnasia, and their 
 influence ; we think that one great feature in developing our frames 
 is too often overlooked, and that is the degree of interest or sympathy 
 an individual has, in his efforts to become robust. Most persons will 
 concede that if a man forces himself to walk about in a pen, open to 
 air and sunlight, for a certain period, he will not necessarily present 
 a picture of health : and that mere tramping over a stated number of 
 miles may not always bring him in sight of the fountains of youth. 
 But let nature inspire the heart of man with all her beautiful sights 
 and sounds ; let him feel the sweet influences of the landscape filling 
 his heart with joy and gratitude ; and then a walk of half a mile is 
 better for his body than five miles under other circumstances. It is 
 not so much what we do for the restoration of lost physical energy, 
 as how we do it. Active exercise is in fact only another name for re- 
 creation, and that this is imperatively necessary to a healthy body all will 
 admit. Outraged nature inflicts sore present punishment upon men 
 
952 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 for the neglect of this law, as future unhappiness, in a line of degen- 
 erated and figuratively emasculated descendants. 
 
 EXERCISE. 
 
 The wide-spread fallacy that if a person be able to live without 
 work it is his right and privilege to lead an inactive life, is an error 
 as fatal in its effects on health as it is fallacious in principle. 
 
 Providence has s o ordered it, that a state of rest and inaction, how- 
 ever it may flatter our indolence, should be productive of many incon- 
 veniences; that it should generate such disorders, as may force us to 
 have recourse to some labor, as a thing absolutely requisite to make 
 us pass our lives with tolerable satisfaction ; for the nature of rest is 
 to suffer all the parts of our bodies to fall into a relaxation, that not 
 only disables the members from performing their functions, but takes 
 away the vigorous tone of fibre which is requisite for carrying on the 
 natural and necessary secretions. 
 
 At the same time, that, in this languid and inactive state, the nerves 
 ire more liable to the most horrid convulsions, than when they are 
 ufficiently braced and strengthened. Melancholy, dejection, and 
 despair, and often self-murder, is the consequence of the gloomy view 
 we take of things in this relaxed state of the body. 
 
 The best remedy for all these evils is exercise or labor; and labor is 
 a surmounting of difficulties, an exertion of the contracting power of 
 the muscles ; and as such, resembles pain, which consists in tension or 
 contraction, in everything but degree. Labor is not only requisite to 
 preserve the coarser organs in a state fit for their functions; but it is 
 equally necessary to the finer and more delicate organs, on which, 
 and by which, the imagination, and perhaps the other mental powers 
 act. 
 
 Throughout all nature, want of motion indicates weakness, corrup- 
 tion, inanimation, and death. Trenck, in his damp prison, leaped 
 about like a lion, in his fetters of seventy pounds weight, in order to 
 preserve his health ; and an illustrious physician observes: “ I know 
 not which is most necessary for the support of the human frame — food 
 or motion. Were the exercise of the body attended to in a corres- 
 ponding degree to that of mind, men of learning would be more 
 healthy and vigorous — of more general talents — of more ample practi- 
 cal knowledge — more happy in their domestic lives — more enterp 
 
EXERCISE. 
 
 953 
 
 sing and attached to their duties as men. In fine, with propriety it 
 may be said, that the highest refinement of mind, without improve- 
 ment of the body, can never present anything more than half a human 
 being.” 
 
 Exercise consists of the regular and successive activity of every 
 organ and function. 
 
 “To build up a good constitution,” says Dr. Hall, “we must take 
 good care of what we have, and add to it, by pretty hard work and 
 moderate thought, until the age of forty-five ; then there should be 
 less work and more thought. Bodily labor consolidates the constitu- 
 tion up to forty-five ; then, mental labor preserves it, keeps it good to 
 the verge of fourscore years, if the bodily activities are very moder- 
 ate. As witness Humboldt, who was a great traveler in early life ; 
 but from fifty to ninety a great student. Many similar instances will 
 occur to intelligent minds. The general idea is of great practical im- 
 portance. Work hard until forty-five; think hard after, and all the 
 while be 1 temperate in all things.’ This is the way to live long.” 
 
 Judge Bates, of Missouri, who came very near being a candidate 
 for the Presidency, recently made the following statement: “For 
 nearly forty years I have made it a rule to work from one to three 
 hours each day in the open air, and I find myself in a good state of 
 health, at an advanced age, which I attribute in a great measure to 
 this exercise.” 
 
 Dr. Merwin, in his book on mental diseases, says : “ Lately, I con- 
 versed with a veteran in literature and years, whose powers of mind 
 no one questions, however they may differ from him in speculative 
 points. This gentleman has preserved the health of his body and the 
 soundness of his mind, through a long course of multifarious and often 
 depressing circumstances, by a steady perseverance in the habit of 
 walking every day. He has survived, for a long period, almost all 
 the literary characters who were his cotemporaries at the time when 
 his own writings excited much public attention; and almost all of 
 them have dropped into the grave, one alter another, while he has 
 continued on in an uninterrupted course. But they were men of far 
 less regular habits, and I am obliged to add, of much less equanimity 
 of mind. Yet the preservation of his equanimity has, I verily be- 
 lieve, been insured by the unvaried practice to which I have referred, 
 and which in others would prove equally available, if steadily pur- 
 sued.” 
 
 Three principal points in the manner of taking exercise are neces- 
 sary to be attended to : 1. The kind of exercise. 2. The proper time 
 
954 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 for exercise. 3. The duration of it. With respect to the kinds 0 ) 
 exercise, the various species of it may he divided into active and pas 
 Rive. Among the first, which admit of being considerably diversi- 
 fied, may be enumerated walking, running, leaping, swimming, riding, 
 fencing, the military exercise, different sorts of athletic games, &c. 
 Among the latter, or passive kinds of exercises, may be comprised, 
 riding in a carriage, sailing, friction, swinging, &c. 
 
 The first, or active exercises, are more beneficial to the middle- 
 aged, to the robust in general, and particularly to the corpulent and 
 the plethoric. 
 
 The second, or passive kinds of exercise, on the contrary, are better 
 calculated for children ; old, dry, and emaciated persons of a delicate 
 and debilitated constitution ; and particularly to the asthmatic and 
 consumptive. 
 
 The time at which exercise is most proper depends on such a varie- 
 ty of concurrent circumstances, that it does not admit of being regu- 
 lated by any general rules, and must, therefore, be collected from the 
 observations made on the effects of air, food, drink, &c. 
 
 With respect to the duration of exercise, there are other particu- 
 lars, relative to a greater or less degree of fatigue attending the dif- 
 ferent species and utility of it, in certain states of the mind and body, 
 which must determine this consideration as well as the preceding. 
 
 That exercise is to be preferred, which, with a view to brace and 
 strengthen the body, we are most accustomed to, as any unusual one 
 may be attended with a contrary effect. Exercise should be begun 
 and finished gradually, never abruptly. Exercise in the open air has 
 many advantages over that used within doors. To continue exercise 
 until a profuse perspiration, or a great degree of weariness takes place, 
 is far from being wholesome. In the forenoon, when the stomach is 
 not too much distended, muscular motion is both agreeable and health- 
 ful ; it strengthens digestion, and heats the body less than with a full 
 stomach, and a good appetite after it, is a proof that it has not been 
 carried to excess. But at the same time, it should be understood, that 
 it is not advisable to take violent exercise immediately before a meal, 
 as digestion might thereby be retarded. Neither should we sit down 
 to a substantial dinner or supper immediately on returning from a fa^ 
 tiguing walk, at a time when the blood is heated, and the body in a 
 state of perspiration from previous exertion, as the worst consequen- 
 ces may arise, especially where cooling dishes, salad, or a glass of cold 
 drink, is begun with. Exercise is always hurtful after meals, from its 
 impeding digestion, by propelling those fluids too much toward tha 
 
EXEKCISE. 
 
 955 
 
 surface of the body which are designed for the solution of the food in 
 the stomach. 
 
 As a caution against violent physical exercise I will quote the chief 
 medical lecturer of London, whose practice lies very much amongst 
 the upper classes. He says that almost all aristocratic young men who 
 have been to Oxford or Cambridge, and especially those who have 
 meddled much in pulling at boat races, have returned from their Uni- 
 versity, affected with diseased blood vessels, and very many with dis- 
 eased or dilated heart, brought on by the undue excitement of the cir- 
 culation, induced by pulling at these boating-matches. 
 
 For persons predisposed to consumption, and whose lungs are al- 
 ready weak, we should recommend exercises less violent than those of 
 the gymnasium. Pure air by night and day, well-cooked, nutritious 
 food, cheerful company and gentle exercise, seem to be the most hope- 
 ful remedies. Ho drugs. Drugs are the bane of weakly constitu- 
 tions. If you cannot save your life without them, you cannot prolong 
 it with them. Natural exercises are incomparably superior to artifi- 
 cial, for the purposes of physical education, because of the greater de- 
 gree of spirit and vigor with which the student engages in them. It 
 appears that in nearly all the educational institutions in England, the 
 gymnasium has been deserted for the play-ground. 
 
 Every lady who can possibly do it, ought to walk in the open air 
 from one to two hours every day. If suitable clothing were worn, 
 and especially if the feet were properly protected, a daily walk, even 
 in winter, would be more conducive to health and loveliness than all 
 the panaceas or prescriptions ever concocted. It would give elasticity 
 to the step, bloom to the cheek, brilliancy to the eye, gay spirits, 
 brightness of intellect, sound slumbers. Vitality would be strong and 
 high ; the deficiency of which, in most cases, is the beginning of con- 
 sumption. The lungs, too, would have needful play, for no one can 
 go out on a bracing winter morning without inflating the lungs to the 
 fullest, and the air at such times is always the purest. 
 
 Walking, for young and active people, i-s by far the best exercise ; 
 riding is good for the elderly, the middle aged, and invalids. The 
 abuse of these exercises consists in taking them when the system is 
 exhausted more or less by previous fasting or by mental labor. Some 
 persons injudiciously attempt a long walk before breakfast under the 
 belief that it is conducive to health. Others will get up early to work 
 three hours at some abstruse mental toil. The effect in both instan- 
 ces is the same ; it subtracts from the powers of exertion in the after 
 part of the day. A short saunter or some light reading before this 
 
956 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 meal, is the best indulgence of the kind ; otherwise the waste occa- 
 sioned by labor must be supplied by nourishment, and the breakfast 
 will necessarily become a heavy meal, and the whole morning’s com- 
 fort sacrificed by a weight at the chest from imperfect digestion of 
 food. These observations apply especially to elderly persons, who are 
 prone to flatter themselves into the persuasion that they can use their 
 mental or bodily powers in age as in youth. 
 
 The invariable prescription of one of the most celebrated English 
 physicians, to an invalid, was, “live in the saddle.” “ My physician 
 has always been a horse” was the answer of Rowland Hill, when 
 asked by a medical friend what physician and apothecary he employed 
 to be always so well. He rode a great deal, and by exercise preserved 
 vigorous health. 
 
 The best stimulant in the world is oxygen. The way to take it is 
 by introducing it into the blood. This can be readily done by taking 
 large quantities of pure air into the lungs. Exercise promotes breath- 
 ing; and breathing oxygenates the blood, and stimulates the brain to 
 the highest activity. 
 
 The way to keep warm in Winter is the best way to keep cool in 
 Summer — by exercise, sufficient to keep up a free circulation and a 
 liberal perspiration. It is warmer to sit in the shade, drinking iced- 
 juleps and fanning one’s self, than it is to work in the sunshine, and 
 refresh the inner man by drinking tepid water. Any haymaker or 
 harvester can tell you that. If you don’t believe it, try the experi- 
 ment and you will find out. 
 
 We advise that no person should go to work or take exercise in the 
 morning on an empty stomach; but if it is stimulated to action by a 
 cup of coffee, or a crust of bread, or apple, or orange, exercise can be 
 taken not only with impunity, but to high advantage, even in aU chill 
 and fever localities. 
 
 EATING. 
 
 Americans as a people are prone to eat too much and too fast. The 
 advantages of temperate living are well set forth in the following: 
 Solomon tells us that the glutton shall come to poverty ; warns us 
 not to be among riotous eaters of flesh; and even bids us to put a 
 knife into our throats if we be men given to appetite. Jefferson says 
 that “ No man ever repents eating too little.” Sir Isaac Newton 
 
EATING. 
 
 957 
 
 very often dined on a ‘penny’s worth of bread. Abernethy cured his 
 indigestion and regained his flesh by “ going into the country, where 
 he was able to get good milk and eggs, and living upon three ounces 
 of baked custard taken three times a day, with no drink but ginger- 
 water. On this quantity of food he regained his flesh and uniformly 
 got better.” Marion said his men waxed strong and valient with no 
 food but sweet potatoes, no drink but water, and no shelter but the sky. 
 Besides brown bread, the Greek boatmen subsist almost solely upon their 
 native fruits — figs, grapes and raisins. They are the most nimble, active, 
 graceful, cheerful, and even the merriest people in the world. Grant Thor- 
 burn attributed his cheerful old age to the fact that he “ never eat 
 enough,” and thousands of his countrymen are wearing out their bodies 
 not so much by the excess of business or the multiplicity of cares, as by 
 the over-work that they crowd upon them in digesting surplus food. 
 
 Lord Byron once told a companion that if some demi-god would dic- 
 tate to us just how much we ought to eat, it would put an end to half 
 the miseries of the race. A Spanish proverb says : A little in the 
 morning is enough ; enough at dinner is but a little ; but a little at 
 night is too much. If you wish for anything like happiness in the 
 fifth act of life, says a writer, eat and drink about one-half what you 
 could eat and drink. Always rise from the table with an appetite, and 
 you will never sit down without one. 
 
 Hall's Journal of Health says that the most common way to a pre- 
 mature grave is down a man’s throat. Abernethy used to tell his pu- 
 pils that all human diseases sprang from two causes — stuffing and 
 fretting. So long as men are imprudent in their diet and business, 
 doctors and lawyers will ride in carriages. Surfeits are the physi- 
 cian’s agents. So are all irregularities. 
 
 The habit of eating fast and carelessly is supposed to have paralyzed 
 Napoleon on two of the most critical occasions of his life — the battles 
 of Borodino and Leipsic, which he might have converted into decisive 
 and influential victories by pushing his advantages as he was wont. 
 On each of those occasions he is known to have been suffering from 
 indigestion. On the third day of the battle of Dresden, too, the Ger- 
 man novelist, Hoffman, who was present in the town, asserts tnat tne 
 Emperor would have done much more than he did, but for the ejects 
 of a shoulder of mutton stuffed with onions. 
 
 Henry Ward Beecher says, I have been asked, sometimes, how f 
 could perform so large an amount of work with apparently so little 
 diminution of strength. I attribute my power of endurance to a long 
 formed habit of observing, every day of my life, the simple laws of 
 
958 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPEDIA. 
 
 health ; and none more than those of eating. It ceases any longer to 
 be a matter of self-denial. It is almost like an instinct. If I have a 
 severe tax on my brain in the morning, I cannot eat heartily at break- 
 fast. If the whole day is to be one of exertion, I eat very little until 
 the exertion is over. I know that two forces cannot be concentrated 
 in activity at the same time in the body. I know that when the 
 stomach works, the brain must rest, and when the brain works, the 
 stomach must rest. If I am going to be moving about out of doors 
 a great deal, I can give a full swing to my appetite ; which is never 
 exceedingly bad. But if I am engaged actively, and necessarily in 
 mental labor, I cannot eat much. And I have made eating with reg- 
 ularity and with reference to what I have to do a habit so long, that 
 it ceases any longer to be a subject of thought. It almost takes care 
 of itself. I attribute much of my ability to endure good work, to good 
 habits of eating, constant attention to the laws of sleep, physical ex- 
 ercise, and general cheerfulness. There is one thing more to be said 
 in this connection. It is not a matter of epicureanism that a man 
 should be dainty concerning the food he eats. On the contrary, I 
 hold that a civilized man ought to be civilized in his cookery. I sup- 
 pose one of the infallible signs of the millennium will be & better reg- 
 ulated kitchen ; a kitchen that sends out food that will not mako 
 Christian men sick. 
 
 If too much food is taken the stomach cannot convert it into a per- 
 fect blood material, hence no perfect blood is made, and that being 
 mixed with the other blood in the body makes the whole mass of blood 
 impure; hence, after an over-hearty meal a person “ feels bad all 
 over.” If the over-eating is habitual, there is always some uncom- 
 fortable symptom complained of. Such persons are never well, and 
 although they may eat heartily, they do not get strong nor fill up in 
 flesh; it is because the stomach has been over- taxed, and has not the 
 power to extract the nourishment from the food. 
 
 When persons do not get strong, although they eat a great deal, 
 they will get stronger by eating one-half less; as a sickly servant in 
 attempting to do a large amount of work, does none of it well, where- 
 as, if the task were a light one, the whole of it would have been thor- 
 oughly done. When any uncomfortable feeling is experienced after 
 eating, it is because some article does not “ agree with the stomach,” 
 that is, cannot be digested by it. This always arises from quality or 
 quantity, generally' the latter. In such cases take less and less until 
 no discomfort is produced ; if no special change is observed, it is be- 
 cause the quality is unsuited to the condition of the stomach, or the 
 
EATING. 
 
 959 
 
 general system does not require it. An article may not agree with 
 the stomach to-day, but may agree with it very well in a few days, 
 weeks or months afterward, because its distinctive elements may then 
 be needed in the system. Most persons instinctively turn away from 
 roast pork in midsummer — it would make them sick — but in winter 
 time, when the thermometer is near zero, large quantities are eaten 
 with a relish, and no specific discomfort follows. As a general rule, 
 instinct is the best guide, and that which is mostly relished is the 
 thing which should be eaten ; but if some discomfort invariably fol- 
 lows, it should be omitted, at least until a change of air, season or oc- 
 cupation. It is a physical and moral wrong to take a single mouthful 
 when really it is not wanted. 
 
 The finer food is divided or cut up before swallowed, the sooner, the 
 easier, and more perfect is it digested, for like ice, it is dissolved from 
 without, inwards, and the smaller the pieces, the sooner they are melted. 
 
 “ Bread and butter,” and milk, are the only two articles of food 
 which have all the elements of nutrition ; hence from childhood to 
 extreme old age, we are never tired of them. 
 
 Much of our conduct depends, no doubt, upon the character of the 
 food we eat. Perhaps, indeed, the nature of our meals govern the 
 nature of our impulses more than we are inclined to admit, because 
 none of us relish well the abandonment of our idea of free agency. 
 Bonaparte used to attribute the loss of one of his battles to a poor 
 dinner, which, at the time disturbed his digestion ; how many of our 
 misjudgments — how many of our deliberate errors — how many of our 
 unkindnesses, our cruelties, our acts of thoughtlessness and reckless- 
 ness, may be actually owing to a cause of the same character ? We 
 eat something that deranges the condition of the system. Through 
 the stomachic nerve that derangement immediately affects the brain. 
 Moroseness succeeds amiability ; and under its influence we do that 
 which would shock our sensibility at any other moment. Or, per- 
 haps, a gastric irregularity is the common result of an over-indul- 
 gence in wholesome or a moderate indulgence of unsuitable food. 
 The liver is afflicted. In this affliction the brain profoundly sym- 
 pathises. The temper is soured ; the understanding is narrow- 
 ed; prejudices are strengthened; generous impulses are subdued; 
 selfishness, originated by physical disturbances which perpetual- 
 ly attack the mind’s attention, becomes a chronic, mental disor- 
 der ; the feeling of charity dies out; we live for ourselves alone; 
 we have no care for others. And all this change of nature :s the 
 consequence of an injudicious diet 
 
960 
 
 PEACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 The two objects of eating as to men and women are to give vigor 
 to the body and to keep it warm ; hence all food contains two princi- 
 ples in greater or less proportions, according to its quality — to wit, 
 nutrition and warmth. We need nourishment all the year round, 
 hence we must all the year round eat food which contains nourishment, 
 that is, the flesh- forming principle ; but in warm weather the food 
 which contains the most mere fuel, should be to a certain extent cur- 
 tailed, otherwise we will create too much heat within us, and that is 
 fever, whose victims are counted by millions every year, this excess 
 of heat, this fever, being generated by eating food which contains more 
 warmth, more fuel, called carbon by chemists, than the season of the 
 year requires. To a certain extent nature regulates the demand and 
 supply by diminishing the appetite as the warm weather approaches; 
 but many misinterpret her endeavors, and because they find, as Spring 
 comes on, their appetites are not as vigorous as they were a few weeks 
 earlier, begin to take alarm, think they are going to get sick, unless 
 they can get up the appetite of kind Winter. The general lessons 
 for Spring are, eat only when you are hungry, and to the extent of 
 satisfying an unstimuiated appetite ; eat less of carbonaceous food, 
 such as meats, fats, oils, syrups, &c., and more of cooling articles, 
 such as green salads, vegetables, berries, fruits and whatever has a 
 natural tartness or acidity, there being little or no carbon or heat in 
 them ; but they contain as much nutriment as the system requires. 
 
 Be cheerful at your meals. The benefit derived from food taken, 
 depends very much upon the condition of the body while eating. If 
 taken in a moody, cross, or despairing condition of the mind, digestion 
 is much less perfect and slower than when taken with a cheerful dis- 
 position. The very rapid and silent eating, too common among Ameri- 
 cans, should be avoided, and some topic of interest introduced at 
 meals that all may partake in, and if a hearty laugh is occasionally 
 indulged in, it will be all the better. Mirth is a medicine. It is not 
 uncommon that a person dining in pleasant and social compan’y can 
 eat and digest well that which when eaten alone and the mind absorb- 
 ed in some deep study or brooding over cares and disappointments, 
 would be long undigested in the stomach, causing disarrangement and 
 pain, and if much indulged in, become the cause of permanent and ir- 
 reparable injury to the system. 
 
 HOW TO KEEP THE CHILDEEN HEALTHY. 
 
 The American Agriculturist says : “ The mortality among the chil- 
 
EATING. 
 
 961 
 
 dren in our cities, as well as in the country, is sad to contemplate. 
 Is there any necessity of this ? Are all these children sent into the 
 world to be thus early cut down ? Are not nine out of ten of these 
 early deaths the result of ignorance ? What parents ever lost a child 
 except by accident, without thinking, “ If I had treated it differently, 
 it would not have died?” The loss of our own three first-born has 
 led us to think much upon this topic, and three almost always healthy 
 living ones are evidence that our studies on the subject have not been 
 in vain. A few hints on the topic may not be without use. 
 
 “Elsewhere, we have given some hints on the sleep of children. 
 Next to securing a plenty of sound sleep, or rather before it, we place 
 the proper preparation of food. The kind of food they eat is not of 
 half so much consequence as the manner of its preparation. Give a 
 child a hard apple and let him swallow it in pieces from the size of a 
 large pea upward. The result will be, that the lumps will be partly 
 worn off by the coats of the stomach, and partly dissolved by the gas- 
 tric juice; but after a time, the remaining portion of the lumps will 
 be forced down into the intestines and go through the whole length 
 of fifteen to twenty feet, producing at least griping and irritation all 
 the way, if not diarrhea or dysentery. But first scrape or mash the 
 apple to a fine pulp, and it may then be eaten with impunity, and 
 with benefit, if ripe or nearly so. 
 
 “Feed a child on boiled potatoes cut up, or on potatoes coarsely 
 mashed and fried in fat, and you will be pretty sure to find more or 
 less of lumps of potatoes remaining undigested. How can it be other- 
 wise than that these lumps must have produced irritation in the intes- 
 tines? But mash these same potatoes finely before feeding them, and 
 then the fine material will be digested and afford nutriment instead of 
 giving uneasiness and pain, “ under the apron.” 
 
 “The same holds true of most meats. Cut up fine — as fine as shot 
 almost — they will be digested and produce nourishment ; while if fed 
 in coarse pieces, they will lie in the stomech, like a meat poultice on 
 the outside, the cause of uneasiness if not of partial inflammation. 
 Feed raisins and nuts to children, and unless very strong and vigor- 
 ous, the chances are that they will induce immediate sickness ora 
 weakened system, liable to be affected by the first change of heat and 
 cold. 
 
 “Chop these same raisins or nuts finely, reducing them almost to 
 pow T der, and they may be eaten in moderate quantity with impunity. 
 These remarks apply to all kinds of food, and, in a measure, to grown 
 
 people as well as children. 
 
 61 
 
962 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 “ Many persons are over nice or anxious as to what their children 
 eat, and otten reduce them to skeletons, or unfit them for a vigorous 
 resistance of colds and malaria diseases by feeding them on toast or 
 rice, weak gruel, &o. Give them rather a fair supply of hearty food 
 so finely reduced that it will be quickly digested in the stomach , and they 
 will grow vigorous and be able to withstand the changes of climate, 
 and the exposures to which they are ever liable. Mothers, consider 
 these things, and see if they are not true and in accordance with 
 reason.” 
 
 If we will train up our offspring in the free and early use of fresh 
 meat, says Graham, and accustom them to high-seasoned food and 
 richly prepared dishes, and learn them to drink tea, coffee and wine, 
 and effeminate their bodies with feather beds and tight and enerva- 
 ting dress, we shall be more indebted to their want of opportunity to 
 sin than anything else, for the preservation of their bodily health and 
 chastity. 
 
 FRUITS AS FOOD. 
 
 Halls Journal of Health recommends apples as a healthful article 
 of food, and says that if taken freely at breakfast, with coarse bread 
 and butter, without meat or flesh of any kind, they have an admirable 
 effect on the general system, often removing constipation, counteracting 
 acidities, and cooling off febrile conditions more effectually than the 
 most approved medicines. Solomon says “Comfort me with apples.” 
 
 By an arrangement of Providence, as beautifnl as it is benign, the 
 fruits of the earth are ripening during the whole Summer. From the 
 delighful strawberry on the opening of Spring, to the luscious peach 
 of the Fall, there is a constant succession of delightful aliments; 
 made delightful by that Power, whose loving kindness is in all his 
 works, in order to stimulate us to their highest cultivation, connect- 
 ing with their use also, the most health-giving influences. 
 
 It is a beautiful fact that while the warmth and exposures of Sum- 
 mer tend to biliousness and fevers, the free use of fruits and berries 
 counteract that tendency. Artificial acids are found to promote the 
 separation of the bile from the blood, with great mildness and cer- 
 tainty ; this led to the supposition, that the natural acids, as contain- 
 ed in fruits and berries, might be as available, and being more palat- 
 able, would necessarily be preferred. Experiment has verified the 
 theory and within a very late period Allopathic writers have sugges- 
 
EATING. 
 
 963 
 
 ted the use of fresh, ripe, perfect, raw fruits, as a reliable remedy in 
 the diarrheas of summer. 
 
 How strongly the appeiite yearns for a pickle, when nothing else 
 could be relished, is the experience of most of us. It is the instinct 
 of nature pointing to a cure. The want of a natural appetite, is the 
 result of the bile not being separated from the blood, and if not rem- 
 edied fever is inevitable, from the slightest grades to that of bilious, 
 congestive, and yellow. “ Fruits are cooling," is a bye- word, the truth 
 of which has forced itself on the commonest observer. But why they 
 are so, they had not the time, opportunity, or inclination to inquire 
 into. The acid of the fruit stimulates the liver to greater activity in 
 separating the bile from the blood, which is its proper work, the re- 
 sult of which is, the bowels become free, the pores of the skin are 
 open. Under such circumstances, fevers and want of appetite are 
 impossible. 
 
 To derive from the employment of fruit and berries all that health- 
 ful and nutritive effect which belong to their nature, we should, first , 
 use fruits that are ripe, fresh, perfect, raw ; second , they should be 
 used in their natural state, without sugar, cream, milk or any other 
 item of food or drink ; third , fruits have their best effects when used 
 in the early part of the day, hence we do not advise their employment 
 at a later hour than the middle of the afternoon ; not that, if perfect 
 and ripe, they may not be eaten largely by themselves, within two 
 hours of bed time, with advantage, but if the sourness of decay should 
 happen to taint them, or any liquor should inadvertantly be drank af- 
 terwards, even cold water, acidity of the whole mass may follow re- 
 sulting in a night of distress, if not actual or dangerous sickness. So 
 it is better to not run the risk. To derive a more decided medicinal 
 effect, fruits should be largely eaten soon after rising in the morning, 
 and about midway between breakfast and dinner. 
 
 An incalculable amount of sickness and suffering would be prevent- 
 ed every year if the whole class of desserts were swept from our tables 
 during the summer, and fresh, ripe, perfect fruits and berries were 
 substituted, while the amount of money that would be saved thereby, 
 would in some families, amount to many dollars, enough to educate an 
 orphan child, or support a colporteur a whole year, in some regions 
 of our country. 
 
964 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 SLEEP. 
 
 There is no fact more clearly established in the physiology of man 
 than this, that the brain expends its energies and itself during the 
 hours of wakefulness, and that these are recuperated during sleep ; 
 if the recuperation does not equal the expenditure, the brain withers 
 — this is insanity. 
 
 Thus it is that, in early English history, persons who were condemn- 
 ed to death by being prevented from sleeping, always died raving 
 maniacs ; thus it is, also, that those who are starved to death become 
 insane; the brain is not nourished, and they cannot sleep. The prac- 
 tical inferences are these : 
 
 1. Those who think most, who do most brain work, require most 
 sleep. 
 
 2. That time saved from necessary sleep is infallibly destructive to 
 mind, body, and estate. 
 
 3. Give yourself, your children, your servants — give all that are 
 under you — the fullest amount of sleep they will take, by compelling 
 them to go to bed at some regular early hour, and to rise in the morn- 
 ing the moment they awake ; and, within a fortnight, nature, with al- 
 most the regularity of the rising sun, will unloose the bonds of sleep 
 the moment enough repose has been secured for the wants of the 
 system. 
 
 This is the only safe and sufficient rule— and as to the question how 
 much sleep any one requires, each must be a rule for himself — great 
 nature will never fail to write it out to the observer under the regu- 
 lations just given. 
 
 If you find yourself inclined to wake up at a regular hour in the 
 night and remain awake, you can break up the habit in three days, by 
 getting up as soon as you wake, and not going to sleep again until 
 your usual hour for retiring ; or retire two hours later and rise two 
 hours earlier for three days in succession ; not sleeping a moment in 
 the day time. 
 
 By all means sleep enough, and give all in your care sleep enough, 
 by requiring them to go to bed at some regular hour and to get up at 
 the moment of spontaneous waking in the morning. Never waken 
 up any one, especially children, from a sound sleep, unless there is 
 urgent necessity ; it is cruel to do so. To prove this we have only to 
 notice how fretful and unhappy a child is when waked up before the 
 nap is out. If the brain is nourished during sleep it must have most 
 
SLEEP. 
 
 965 
 
 vigor in the morning; hence the morning is the best time for study, 
 for then the brain has most strength, most activity, and must work 
 more clearly. It is the midnight lamp “ which floods the world with 
 sickly sentimentalities, with false morals, with rickety theology, and 
 with all those harum scarum dreams of human elevation, which abne- 
 gate Bible teachings.” 
 
 Let parents make every possible effort to have their children go to 
 sleep in a pleasant humor. Never scold, or give lectures, or in any 
 way wound a child’s feelings as it goes to bed. Let all banish busi- 
 ness and every worldly care at bed-time, and let sleep come to a mind 
 at peace with G-od and all the world. 
 
 Children should never be allowed to go to sleep with cold feet ; the 
 thing to be last attended to, in putting a child to bed, should be to see 
 that the feet are dry and warm ; neglect of this has often resulted in 
 dangerous attack of croup, diptheria, or fatal sore throat. 
 
 Young people should sleep on hair pillows two inches thick. Thick- 
 er pillows, or none at all, are unhealthful. Much of that ugly push- 
 ing forward of the head among girls is produced by thick pillows. 
 
 It is better to go to sleep on the right side, for then the stomach is 
 very much in the position of a bottle turned upside down, and the 
 contents of it are aided in passing out by gravitation. If one goes to 
 sleep on the left side the operation of emptying the stomach of its 
 contents is more like drawing water from a well. After going to sleep 
 let the body take its own position. If you sleep on your back, espec- 
 ially soon after a hearty meal, the weight of the digestive organs, and 
 that of the food, resting on the great vein of the body, near the back- 
 bone, compresses it, and arrests the flow of the blood more or less. 
 If the arrest is partial the sleep is disturbed, and there are unpleasant 
 dreams. If the meal has been recent and hearty the arrest is more 
 decided ; and the various sensations, such as falling over a precipice, 
 or the pursuit of a wild beast, or other impending danger, and the 
 desperate effort to get rid of it, arouses us, and sends on the stagna- 
 ting blood ; and we wake in a fright, or trembling or perspiration, or 
 feeling exhausted, according to the degree of stagnation, and the 
 length and strength of the efforts made to escape the danger. But. 
 when we are not able to escape the danger — when we do fall over the 
 precipice — when the tumbling building crushes us — what then ? 
 That is death! That is the death of those of whom it is said, when 
 found lifeless in the morning — “ That they were as well as they ever 
 were the day before,” and often it is added, “ and ate heartier than 
 common ! ” This last, as a frequent cause of death to those who have 
 
966 
 
 PEACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 ^one to bed to wake no more, we give merely as a private opinion. 
 The possibility of its truth is enough to deter any rational man from 
 a late and hearty meal. This we do know with certainty, that waking 
 up in the night with painful diarrhea, or chctlera, or bilious cholic, 
 ending in death in a very short time, is properly traceable to a late 
 large meal. The truly wise will take the safe side. For persons who 
 eat three times a day, it is amply sufficient to make the last meal of 
 cold bread and butter, and a cup of some warm drink. No one can 
 starve on it ; while a perseverence in the habit soon begets a vigorous 
 appetite for breakfast so promising of a day of comfort. 
 
 To make sleep refreshing : 1. Take sufficient exercise in the open 
 air during the day. 2. Eat light suppers, always two or three hours 
 before retiring. 3. Avoid tea and coffee, and all unnatural stimu- 
 lants. 4. Retire early. All animals, except those that prowl at night, 
 retire to rest as soon as the sun goes down. The early hours of sleep 
 are the most sweet and refreshing. 5. Eschew feather beds ; sleep 
 on hair or husk or spring mattresses, with a light covering of bed- 
 clothes. 6. Be sure and have your room well ventilated. 
 
 Reds should be well covered in winter; it is better to sleep too warm 
 than too cold. 
 
 How to get sleep is to many persons a matter of great importance. 
 Nervous persons, who are troubled with wakefulness and excitability, 
 usually have a strong tendency of blood on the brain, with cold ex- 
 tremities. The pressure of blood on the brain keeps it in a stimula- 
 ted or wakeful state, and the pulsations in the head are often painful. 
 Let such rise and chafe the body and extremities with a brush or tow- 
 el, or rub smartly with the hands, to promote circulation, and with- 
 draw the excessive amount of blood from the brain, and they will fall 
 asleep in a few moments. A cold bath, or a sponge bath and rubbing, 
 or a good run, or a rapid walk in the open air, or going up or down 
 stairs a few times just before retiring, will aid in equalizing circulation 
 and promoting sleep. These rules are simple and easy of application 
 in castle or cabin, mansion or cottage, and may minister to the com- 
 fort of thousands -who would freely expend money for an anodyne to 
 promote “Nature’s sweet restorer, balmy sleep.” 
 
 An hour’s sleep before midnight is worth two after. 
 
DISEASES AND DOMESTIC KEMEDIES. 
 
 967 
 
 DISEASES AND DOMESTIC EEMEDIES. 
 
 HEADACHE. 
 
 The best thing for headache is cold baths in the morning and strict 
 attention to diet and the bowels. If constipation exists use cold in- 
 jections except in cases of menstruation, when bathing the feet in 
 warm w T ater will be useful. Dr. Beach says bathing the crown of the 
 head every morning in cold water has proved a sovereign remedy. 
 
 DIZZINESS OF THE HEAD. 
 
 Lie down in a cool quiet place, and apply cold water to the head. 
 
 SICK HEADACHE. 
 
 Is sickness at stomach, a tendency to vomit, combined with pain in 
 some part of the head, generally the left side. It is caused by there 
 being too much bile in the system, from the fact that this bile is man- 
 ufactured too rapidly, or is not worked out of the system fast enough, 
 by steady, active exercise. Hence sedentary persons, those who do 
 not walk about a great deal, but are seated in the house nearly all the 
 time, are almost exclusively the victims of this distressing malady. 
 It usually begins soon after waking up in the morning, and lasts a 
 day or two, or more. There are many causes ; the most frequent is, 
 derangement of the stomach by late and hearty suppers ; by eating 
 too soon after a regular meal — fiveVhours should, at least, intervene; 
 eating without an appetite ; forcing food ; eating after one is conscious 
 of having had enough ; eating too much of any favorite dish ; eating 
 something which the stomach cannot digest, or sour stomach. Any 
 of these things may induce sick headache; all of them can be avoided. 
 Over-fatigue, or great mental emotion of any kind, or severe mental 
 application, have brought on sick headache, of the most distressing 
 character, in an hour ; it is caused by indulgence in spiritous liquors. 
 When a person has sick headache, there is no appetite ; the very sight 
 of food is hateful; the tongue is furred ; the feet and hands are cold, 
 and there is a feeling of universal discomfort, with an utter indisposi- 
 tion to do anything whatever. 
 
 A glass of warm water, into which has been rapidly stirred a heap- 
 ing teaspoonful of salt and kitchen mustard, by causing instantaneous 
 vomiting, empties the stomach of the bile, or indigested sour food, a 
 grateful relief is often experienced on the spot; and rest, with a few 
 
968 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 hours of sound, refreshing sleep, completes the cure, especially if the 
 principal part of the next day or two is spent in mental diversion and 
 out-door activities, not eating an atom of food — but drinking freely 
 of cold water or hot teas — till you feel as if a piece of plain, cold bread 
 and butter would “taste really good.” 
 
 Nine times in ten the cause of sick headache is in the fact that the 
 stomach was not able'to digest the food last introduced into it, either 
 from its having been unsuitable, or excessive in quantity. When the 
 stomach is weak, a spoonful of the mildest, blandest food would cause 
 an attack of sick headache, when ten times the amount might have 
 been taken in health, not only with impunity but with positive ad- 
 vantage. 
 
 Those who are “ subject to sick headache ” eat too much and exer- 
 cise too little, and have cold feet and constipation. A diet of cold 
 bread and butter, and ripe fruits or berries, with moderate continuous 
 exercise in the open air, sufficient to keep up a very gentle perspira- 
 tion, would, of themselves, cure almost every case within thirty-six 
 hours. Two teaspoonfuls of pulverized charcoal, stirred in half a glass 
 of water, and drank, generally gives instant relief. Java coffee, made 
 very strong, taken clear, and in very small quantities every few min- 
 utes, is believed an infallible remedy. It should be taken, however, 
 before the stomach becomes much riled, otherwise it will become 
 ejected, and of course unavailing. 
 
 NEURALGIA. 
 
 From two Greek words, Neuros, nerve, and Algos, pain ; means 
 nerve-pain ; but as there is no pain except in connection with the 
 nerves, every pain or ache in the body is really “neuralgia.” Ail- 
 ments are generally named from the part affected, or the nature of the 
 malady. “ Headache,” because the pain is in the head. “ Pleuritus,” 
 or pleurisy, because there is an inflammation, too much arterial blood 
 in the pleura, or covering of the lungs. 
 
 Neuralgia is always caused by bad blood ; bad, because too poor or 
 too much of it ; too poor, because there is not exercise and pure air 
 enough to secure a good digestion, and the person is thin and pale ; 
 too much blood, because there is too much eating, and the bowels not 
 acting every day, more is taken into the system than passes from it, 
 and it is too full. The person may be fleshy enough, and does not ap- 
 pear sick at all. For a week, live on cold bread and butter, fruits, 
 and cold water. Take an enema of a pint, or more, of tepid water. 
 
DISEASES AND DOMESTIC REMEDIES. 
 
 969 
 
 daily, and spend tlie whole of daylight in active exercise in the open 
 air, and the neuralgia will be gone in three cases out of four — the feet 
 being kept warm, and the whole body most perfectly clean. 
 
 There are two kinds of neuralgia, sharp and dull ; both caused by 
 there being too much blood in or about the nerve. Perhaps arterial 
 blood gives the sharp, venous blood the dull or heavy pain. In either 
 case the pain is of all forms of intensity, from simple discomfort to an 
 agony almost unendurable. In the more fleshy parts, the pain is less 
 severe, since the soft flesh yields before the distending nerve ; dis- 
 tended by more and more blood getting into it, till it is occasionally 
 three times its usual size ; but when the nerve is in a tooth, or be- 
 tween two bones, or passes through a small hole in the bone, as in the 
 face, or “ facial neuralgia," which is neuralgia proper, or the Tic Dol- 
 ereux of the French, the suffering is fearful, because there is no room . 
 for distension, and every instant, the heart by its beating, plugs more 
 blood into the invisible blood vessels of the nerves. But in any such 
 case, open a blood vessel in the arm, or elsewhere, till the person is on 
 the very point of fainting, and the most excruciating neuralgia is gone 
 in an instant, because the heart ceases to send on blood, and the blood 
 already in a part as naturally flows out of it, as water naturally flows 
 out of an uncorked bottle, on its side. 
 
 Hence a skin kept clean by judicious washings and friction, helps, 
 by its open pores, to unload the system of its surplus; the bowels kept 
 free by fruits, berries, coarse bread, and cold water, is another source 
 of deliverance of excess. While these articles of food supply but a 
 moderate amount of nourishment, in addition, active exercise still 
 more rapidly works off the surplusage of the system, and the man is 
 well ; not as soon as by the bleeding, but by a process more effective, 
 more certain, more enduring, and without harm or danger. Hence 
 there is no form of mere neuralgia which is not safely and permanent- 
 ly cured in a reasonable time by strict personal cleanliness, by cool- 
 ing, loosening food, as named, and by breathing a pure air in resting 
 in our chambers at night, and in moderate labor out of doors during 
 the hours of daylight. Those who prefer uncertain physic or stimu- 
 lants to these more natural remedies, are unwise, and ought to have 
 neuralgia — a little. 
 
 Burdock leaf, applied externally, is said to be an almost infallible 
 cure. F or neuralgia or toothache bind to the face, or wherever the 
 pain is, bruised horse-radish roots, or the leaves bruised. It is said 
 that neuralgia is cured in Paris simply by an application of brass or 
 copper. 
 
970 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 The following has been tried in several cases, every time effecting 
 an immediate cure : Half a drachm of sal ammonia in an ounce of 
 camphor-water, to be taken a teaspoonful at a dose, and the dose re- 
 peated several times, at intervals of five minutes, if the pain be not 
 relieved at once. In one c<~5e, the sufferer, a lady, had been affected 
 for more than a week, and her physician was unable to alleviate her 
 sufferings, when a solution c/ sal mmonia in camphor-water relieved 
 her in a few minutes. 
 
 RHEUMATISM. 
 
 Make a poultice of strong mustard, mixed with garlic, vinegar, 
 and a few crumbs of bread or meal. Go to bed, have plenty of 
 clothes placed over you to induce perspiration, and have this poultice 
 placed about a quarter of an inch thick close to the hollow of your 
 feet (no cloth between it and the skin ;) keep it on for ten or fifteen 
 hours, then take off the poultice, and the cure is complete. There 
 is no doubt that this has performed numerous cures in difficult cases. 
 
 Professor Turner says, For rheumatism, pains in the side, shoul- 
 ders, back and joints, croup, sore throat, bruises, strains, cuts and 
 lacerations of all sorts on men and animals, apply coal oil to the parts 
 and rub it in. Having tried this for croup in the case of a child of 
 our own, also in other cases with great satisfaction, we can recoi* - 
 mend it. 
 
 Lemon juice is relied on by the physicians of London, for curing 
 rheumatism. Three tablespoonfuls per day is a dose for a man. 
 
 Mr. William Boswell, a gentleman of Louisville, Kentucky, was 
 afflicted with rheumatism for years, and was in fact a cripple. He 
 had had the best medical advice but received no benefit. Finally a 
 Paris physician whom he met recommended the following, and he tried 
 it. It effected an entire cure. It has now been years since he has 
 had an attack : Get one ounce of the iodide of potassa, put it in a 
 quart bottle of soft water, and take for a dose two- thirds of a common 
 sized stem wineglass three times a day, a half hour before meals. 
 Avoid strong drink and gross diet. Should the glands of your neck 
 get sore you must reduce the dose. You must take rest, and take 
 four bottles of the medicine before you stop, and then quit it for two 
 weeks. Then take two bottles more, which will in all probability 
 complete the cure. You must keep your bowels open. 
 
 Another remedy is half an ounce of pulverized saltpetre, put in 
 half a pint of sweet oil ; bathe the parts affected, and a sound cure 
 
DISEASES AND DOMESTIC REMEDIES. 
 
 971 
 
 will speedily be effected. Or bathe the parts affected with water in 
 which potatoes, with the skins, have been boiled, as hot as can be 
 borne, just before going to bed ; by the next morning the pain will be 
 much relieved if not removed. One application of this simple rem- 
 edy has cured the most obstinate rheumatic pains. 
 
 A lady sends the following : After suffering for two years, day and 
 night, an application of the lotion removed all pain in twenty-four 
 hours. Take equal quantities each of spirits of wine, turpentine, 
 sweet nitre, and oil of juniper. Mix these well together. Let the 
 lotion be well rubbed in on the part affected. Ten drops may be ta- 
 ken at bed time in a glass of cold water. 
 
 The following is recommended as an invaluable remedy : Take a 
 half pint of spirits of turpentine, to which add half an ounce of cam- 
 phor, let it stand till the camphor is dissolved, then rub it on the part 
 affected, and it is said it will never fail of removing the complaint. 
 Flannels should be applied after the part is well fomented with tur- 
 pentine. Eepeat the application morning and evening. It is said to 
 be equally available for burns, scalds, bruises and sprains, never fail- 
 ing of success. 
 
 F or rheumatic pains or even pleurisy we would strongly recommend 
 trying a hot bag of salt , placed upon the suffering part. We have 
 known acute pain to be easily removed by one application only, though 
 it is well worthy a persevering trial. 
 
 A popular and efficient remedy is composed of one ounce each of 
 oil rosemary, oil cloves, oil origanum, spirits turpentine, spirits am- 
 monia, tincture cantharides, and alcohol. Mix in a light glass-stopper 
 bottle, and shake up when used. Heat a saucer on embers, pour a 
 little in the saucer, and rub it on the part affected, with the hand, 
 previously warmed by the fire, so as to encourage absorption. Said 
 to be also good for sick-headache. 
 
 INFLAMMATORY RHEUMATISM. 
 
 Wet three or four thicknesses of cotton or linen cloth — say as large 
 as the palm of the hand — in the oil of hemlock. Apply it to the 
 hollow of the feet as a draft. Moisten as often as it gets dry. It 
 often gives relief in twenty-four hours. 
 
 GOUT. 
 
 There is generally thought to be a great deal more pleasure in 
 
972 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPEDIA. 
 
 bringing on the gout than in bearing it. An application of cold wa- 
 ter upon its first approach and repeated frequently has been produc- 
 tive of excellent results. Pour the water on the affected part, or 
 plunge it in the water. Salt may be added to it. In case of severe 
 pain a poultice made by simmering together slippery elm bark and 
 vinegar should be applied. Abstain from spirits, wine, and flesh, 
 take light and early suppers, go early to bed and rise early, and grad- 
 ually, regularly, and perseveringly increase your exercise from day to 
 day until the disease is entirely eradicated. 
 
 DYSPEPSIA. 
 
 Were the question to be asked, “What disease is most prevalent 
 among mankind? ” a countless multitude of haggard, pallid, and mel- 
 ancholy faces would answer, “ Dyspepsia.” In all lands to which civ- 
 ilization has extended, this disease exists, but in this country the num- 
 ber of dyspeptics is larger, in proportion to the population, than in 
 4 any other on the face of the earth. It is unquestionably one of the 
 greatest of human afflictions, inasmuch as it not only breaks down the 
 physical system, but depresses the mental and moral faculties to the 
 verge, in many instances, of positive imbecility. 
 
 The complaint takes many shapes, ranging from a temporary ail- 
 ment to protracted, exhaustive disease, unfitting the sufferer alike for 
 the business and the pleasures of life, and rendering existence a bur- 
 den. In fact, not a few of the suicides committed in this country and 
 in Europe are due to the mental depression caused by Dyspepsia. 
 One of the most unpleasant circumstances connected with the malady, 
 is the want of consideration shown by the healthy for those who suf- 
 fer under its agonies. The patient is too often thought to be the vic- 
 tim of many fancies, which the exertions of a little energy would 
 speedily dispel. But it should be remembered that the energy sup- 
 posed to be required has been in most cases literally crushed out by 
 the disease. 
 
 The causes of dyspepsia are various. Want of exercise in the open 
 air, rapid eating, over-eating, privation and exposure, exhaustive man- 
 ual, or mental labor, the excessive use of tobacco, and extremes of 
 heat and cold, are among the most prominent. Grief and anxiety 
 may also be mentioned as tending strongly to aggravate the com- 
 plaint. 
 
 Its symptoms are almost as varied as its causes. The dyspeptic has 
 serious physical evils to contend with — such as pain in the chest and 
 
DISEASES AND DOMESTIC REMEDIES. 
 
 973 
 
 other parts of the body, especially the left side, the pit of the stomach 
 and across the sternum or breast-bone. The muscles of the body be- 
 come soft and flabby, manifesting soreness on the least unusual exer- 
 tion. There is tenderness in the touch in the region of the stomach 
 and hips. The feet and hands are sometimes cold and rigid, sometimes 
 hot and burning. The skin is dry, rough and pale. Night does not 
 bring repose to the patient. Broken sleep and unpleasant dreams 
 render the hours when nature should recruit her energies more unen- 
 durable than the day. These symptoms, however, are continually 
 changing, old ones vanishing, and new ones equally distressing make 
 their appearance. Palpitation of the heart, dizziness, faintness, ring- 
 ing and other sounds in the ears, cough and nervous tremors, are 
 among the unpleasant visitations of the unfortunate invalid. 
 
 But the mind suffers even more acutely than the body. Everything 
 is seen through a gloomy atmosphere. Imaginary misfortunes cast 
 their shadows over the future. Hope is almost extinguished, and an 
 irritability sometimes bordering on insanity renders the dyspeptic in- 
 considerate and unkind to all with whom he has to do. 
 
 Upon the whole, it must be admitted that the disease in its con- 
 firmed and chronic form is physically, mentally, and morally, one of 
 the most afflictive in the long catalogue of human ailments. 
 
 Treatment . — The objects to be kept in view in the treatment of dys- 
 pepsia are first, to obviate the several exciting causes of it. Second, 
 to relieve the urgent or distressing symptoms, and third, to improve 
 the tone and energy of the stomach. 
 
 The most important thing in this disease, in order to remove the 
 exciting cause and effect a cure, is to pursue a rigid course of diet 
 and regimen. Indeed, it is useless to prescribe medicine without a 
 strict adherence to such measures. Strict and undeviating attention 
 must be paid to diet, both in quality and quantity. Meals should be 
 taken at regular hours, and only a small quantity eaten at a time, 
 with very little drink. Excess and dissipation of all kinds must be 
 avoided, also late hours, indolence, wine and ardent spirits, hot bread, 
 pastry, food cooked in fat, &c. Bise early, exercise in the open air, 
 and take a shower bath frequently, rubbing the surface well after- 
 wards, with a coarse towel. And remember that when once the stom- 
 ach has been weakened by disease, it is only by a slow process that it 
 ever resumes its lost functions. 
 
 There are some general principles applicable to all, and which will 
 seldom fail of high advantage. 
 
974 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 1. The entire body should be washed once a week with soap, water 
 and a stiff brush. 
 
 2. Wear woolen next the skin the year round, during the daytime 
 only. 
 
 3. By means of ripe fruits and berries, coarse bread, and other . 
 coarse food, keep the bowels acting freely once in every twenty-four 
 hours. 
 
 4. Under all circumstances, keep the feet always clean, dry and 
 warm. 
 
 5. It is most indispensable to have the fullest plenty of sound, reg- 
 ular, connected, and refreshing sleep in a clean, light, well-aired cham- 
 ber, with windows facing the sun. 
 
 6. Spend two or three hours of every forenoon, and one or two of 
 every afternoon, rain or shine, in the open air, in some form of inter- 
 esting, exhilerating, and unwearying exercise — walking with a cheer- 
 ing and entertaining companion, is the very best. 
 
 7. Eat at regular times, and always slowly. 
 
 8. That food is best for each which is most relished, and is followed 
 by the least discomfort. What may have benefitted or injured one 
 is no rule for another. This eighth item is of universal application. 
 
 9. Take but a teacupful of any kind of drink at one meal, and let 
 that be hot. 
 
 10. Confine yourself to coarse bread of corn, rye or wheat — to ripe, 
 fresh, perfect fruits and berries in their natural state — and to fresh 
 lean meats, broiled or roasted, as meat is easier of digestion than veg- 
 etables. Milk, gravies, pastries, heavy hot bread, farinas, starches, 
 and greasy food in general, aggravate dyspepsia by their constipating 
 tendencies. 
 
 11 . It is better to eat at regular times as often as hungry, but so 
 little at once as to occasion no discomfort whatever. 
 
 12. Constantly aim to divert the mind from the bodily condition, 
 in pleasant ways ; this is half the cure in many cases. 
 
 It is always desirable to effect a cure if possible without recourse to 
 medicine, but in cases where that can not be accomplished, persons may 
 obtain further information to their advantage by addressing us on the 
 subject. 
 
 LIVER COMPLAINT. 
 
 For this excessively prevalent disease which so severely depresses 
 the lives of multitudes, the very best recommondations that can be 
 given are the same as for dyspepsia, which see above. Diet and regi- 
 
DISEASES AND DOMESTIC REMEDIES, 
 
 975 
 
 men are the all important means for effecting a cure. Medicine should 
 not be resorted to if it can be avoided. If it must be had, those who 
 address us with regard to it wi] 1 be referred to the simplest and best. 
 
 DROPSY. 
 
 Lemons are recommended for dropsy in a Russian medical journal, 
 and are said to be beneficial in the most hopeless cases. The first day 
 one lemon was given, after taking the peel off, and cutting it up into 
 small pieces in sugar ; the two following days three were given, and 
 afterwards eighteen every day. For nourishment, meat was given. 
 In every case the water came off on the seventh day. 
 
 PALPITATION OF THE HEART. 
 
 Motherwort tea drank freely is considered one of the best reme- 
 dies. The patient should lie down on the back. A tea of mother- 
 wort and skunk-cabbage is excellent. 
 
 HEARTBURN. 
 
 Saleratus and water, or magnesia and water will relieve it — say a 
 teaspoonful dissolved in half a tumbler of water and drank at once. 
 
 BILIOUS COLIC. 
 
 Constant application of cloths wet with hot water, to the belly, or 
 fomentation of lobelia, or mayweed, or dog fennel, or boneset, or hops, 
 or stramonium or Jimson leaves, or mullen, or wormwood, are among 
 the best remedies. At the same time give warm injections every ten 
 or twenty minutes until the bowels operate. 
 
 COMMON OR WIND COLIC. 
 
 Any emetic may be given. Then a warm tea of any of the follow- 
 ing : Ginger, cloves, essence of peppermint, spirits of camphor, sweet 
 flag or calamus root, spearmint, peppermint, horse radish, pleurisy 
 root, angelica, caraway, black pepper, red pepper, or any other aromatic 
 drink, or whisky, or brandy, &c. Rub the bowels with the hand. And 
 an injection may be given. Apply cloths wet with hot water. 
 
976 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPEDIA. 
 
 THE BOWELS. 
 
 The man whose bowels are regular, and whose blood is puvs, is al- 
 ways healthy. When a good constitution is inherited, it only needs 
 moderate care and proper obedience to organic laws to insure health ; 
 but as such obedience involves occasional self-denial, the abandonment 
 of objectional pleasures, and the vigorous performance of duties, it 
 is necessarily the exception, while disobedience is the rule, and sick- 
 ness the consequence. 
 
 Health oonsists of one action of the bowels in each twenty-four 
 hours — less, is disease ; more, is disease. A daily evacuation of the 
 bowels is indispensable to bodily health, vigor and endurance ; this is 
 promoted in many cases, by stirring a tablespoonful of Indian meal in 
 a glass of water, and drinking it on rising in the morning. Loose bow- 
 els, namely, acting more than once a day, with a feeling of debility 
 afterward, is the first step toward cholera ; the best remedy is instant 
 and perfect quietude of body, eating nothing but boiled rice with or 
 without boiled milk. It is an excellent remedy, the very moment 
 you experience any uncomfortable sensation about the bowels, to bind 
 around them tightly a piece of woolen cloth of any kind, to support 
 them and keep them warm. 
 
 Bowel affections are said to be cured, if at all curable, by drinking 
 from one-half to four half pints of tea made of the inner bark of the 
 sweet-gum tree, boiled until the taste and color of strong coffee, with 
 or without sugar, cold or hot. The tree abounds southward. 
 
 COSTIVENESS, DIAREHEA AND DYSENTERY. 
 
 Diarrhea is when the bowels act too often, from two to twenty times 
 in twenty-four hours. But it is not actual diarrhea unless a man feels 
 after a passage as if he would like to sit down, feels weak, feels as if 
 he would like never to get up again. The passages are large and thin 
 almost as water, there is no pain, no blood, and each passage gives 
 relief, with increasing disposition to sit or lie down ; every human de- 
 sire, every human ambition is comprised in the one privilege, to be 
 able to lie down and rest ; it seems to be a luxury to every muscle in 
 the whole body, and there are upwards of five hundred of them. 
 
 Dysentery, or bloody flux, on the other hand, is something between 
 costiveness and diarrhea ; something between a too infrequent and a 
 too frequent action of the bowels, for it is a great and frequent desire 
 to discharge something, but cannot, except a little blood. The desire 
 
DISEASES AND DOMESTIC REMEDIES. 
 
 977 
 
 is intense and sudden, with a feeling as if it would give perfect relief, 
 but when the effort is made, it produces a sensation which the ancients 
 expressed by “ Tormina” or torment. 
 
 Costiveness is less than one stool a day. Diarrhea is more than one 
 stool a day. Dysentery is a constant desire and yet an inability to 
 stool. Costiveness gives hard, bally, and scant stools. Diarrhea 
 gives thin, frequent, and copious stools. Dysentery gives a frequent 
 but unavailing desire to stool. Costiveness may or may not give pain. 
 Diarrhea gives grateful relief. Dysentery gives intense suffering, al- 
 ways and under all circumstances. Costiveness may have a little 
 blood. Diarrhea never has any. Dysentery always has blood ; un- 
 less it has blood at almost every discharge it can not be dysentery at 
 all. Costiveness unchecked, leads to a thousand different forms of 
 disease, generally lasting a long time. Diarrhea unchecked, leads to 
 cholera and a speedy death. Dysentery unchecked, leads to inflam- 
 mation, and a death certain and painful, ending in mortification of the 
 bowels. 
 
 CONSTIPATION. 
 
 Costive bowels have an agreeable remedy in the free use of tomatos 
 at meals — their seed acting the way of white mustard or figs, by stim- 
 ulating the coats of the bowels over which they pass in their whole 
 state, to increased action. A remedy of equal efficiency in the same 
 direction is cracked wheat — that is, common white wheat grains, bro- 
 ken in two or three pieces, and then boiled until it is as soft as rice, 
 and eaten mainly at two meals of the day, with butter or molasses. A 
 fresh egg beat in a gill of water and drank on rising in the morning, 
 and at each meal, for a week or two, has been a most effective cure. 
 A tablespoonful of Indian meal drank in a glass of water every morn- 
 ing at rising, has also cured most obstinate cases. 
 
 DIARRHEA. 
 
 Slippery elm bark is in many cases one of the speediest remedies. 
 Chew the bark and swallow the mucilage — the more the better. A 
 tea made of the bark of the sweet gum tree is said to be “ the most 
 certain remedy for diarrhea, and all similar complaints of the bowels, 
 that ever was applied to man.” The inside bark of a large tree is 
 preferable, and a pint cup half-full of bark, steeped in a cup full of 
 water till it is of the color of strong, clear coffee, will effect a cure in 
 
978 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPEDIA. 
 
 all ordinary cases, if taken in the first stage; and most severe cases 
 of dysentery have been repeatedly cured in six hours. Dr. Wm. P. 
 Peck, of New Jersey, says of its use in the army, “In every case of 
 diarrhea or dysentery where it has been used, and where I have been 
 able to get a report of its effects, it has invariably effected a speedy 
 cure.” 
 
 One teaspoonful of salt and one tablespoonful of sharp vinegar mixed 
 with water to be repeated within a few hours if necessary, is said to 
 be an effectual cure for diarrhea. Ordinary diarrhea is now very 
 successfully treated abroad, according to Dr. Markham’s method — 
 five grains of compound ipecacuanha powder in a teaspoon of gruel 
 after each loose motion. 
 
 For chronic diarrhea, to one-quarter of a pound of hops add two 
 quarts of water, and simmer down to about a quart ; strain it upon 
 one pound of loaf sugar; when cold, add one pint of genuine Jamaica 
 rum ; it must he pure. Bottle and take a wine glass full three times 
 a day. It is said to be equally good in dysentery. 
 
 DYSENTERY. 
 
 Dr. Page of Washington City, communicates to the Republican of 
 that city the following remedy, long known in family practice, and 
 which was recently tried in the camp of the New York 22d regiment, 
 where there were from eighty to one hundred cases daily, and with 
 rapid cures in every case : In a tea-cup half full of vinegar dissolve as 
 much salt as it will take up, leaving a little excess of salt at the bot- 
 tom of the cup. Pour boiling water upon the solution till the cup is 
 two-thirds or three-quarters full. A scum will rise to the surface, 
 which must be removed, and the solution is allowed to cool. Table 
 spoonful three times a day till relieved. 
 
 The rationale of the operation of this simple medicine will readily 
 occur to the pathologist, and in many hundred trials I have never 
 known it to fail in dysentery and protracted diarrhea. 
 
 CHOLERA. 
 
 The “ Asiatic cholera,” as first known in this country in 1832 and 
 1833, is chiefly a disease prevailing in warm weather, or rather in a 
 warm atmosphere, for it can be created at any season, and in the cold- 
 est latitudes, by combining the proper degrees of the three essential 
 requisites ; namely, moisture, vegetable decay, and a regular heat, 
 
DISEASES AND DOMESTIC EEMEDIES. 
 
 979 
 
 exceeding eighty degrees. The great and distinguishing feature of 
 cholera is a copious, frequent, and painless discharge from the bowels 
 of a substance almost as thin as water, with a whitish tinge, as if rice 
 had been washed in it, or as if a little milk had been dropped in it. 
 When this occurs the patient soon begins to perspire profusely, the 
 skin assumes a leaden hue and shrivels up, the nails become blue, in- 
 sufferable cramps come on, and the victim's death occurs in a few 
 hours with the most perfect calmness, in the fullest possession of all 
 the faculties, and absolute freedom from every pain. 
 
 Three things ought to be known, in reference to cholera, by every 
 human being. 
 
 First — The writer has never known a case in which it was not pre- 
 ceded, for one, two, or more days, by the bowels acting twice, or oft- 
 ener, in every twenty-four hours; universally . styled “ the premoni- 
 tory symptoms." 
 
 Second — A cure is impossible under any conceivable circumstances, 
 without absolute quietude of body, on a bed, for days together ; the 
 time of confinement being shortened, in proportion to the promptitude 
 with which the quietude is secured, after the first action of the bowels 
 has taken place, which gives a feeling of tiredness, and, on sitting 
 down, a sensation of rest and satisfaction. 
 
 Third — When the patient ceases to urinate he begins to die, and its 
 resumption is a certain index of recovering health, always and infal- 
 libly. 
 
 One of the usual attendants of an attack of cholera is an unconquer- 
 able tendency to vomit. The very instant anything reaches the stom- 
 ach, even, if it is but cold water, it is ejected; the mildest food meets 
 the same fate in such cases, much less will medicine find a lodgment, 
 except one, and that it is impossible to vomit up if it once reaches its 
 destination ; that medicine has no taste, it is small in bulk ; will re- 
 tain its virtues for a quarter of a century, as the writer knows by per- 
 sonal experience and repeated observation. Unless it is in the very 
 last stages, it is believed capable of arresting the disease in nine cases 
 out of ten — a pill made up of ten grains of calomel with a little gum- 
 water ; if the symptoms do not abate in two hours, double the dose, 
 and let it work itself off; do nothing else, but let the patient be quiet 
 and eat all the ice he can possibly want. 
 
 Cleanliness and temperance are its best, and hitherto its only, known 
 prophylactics. 
 
 It is said that among those men who have devoted themselves to 
 the study of that department of medical science which relates to the 
 
980 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 cure of disease — thereapeutics — the most eminent are two Frenchmen, 
 Pierre Charles Alexandre Louis and Alfred Armaud Louis Marie Vel- 
 peau ; and the latter says of cholera : “ In a word, the malady almost 
 alwa} 7 s commences by characteristic symptoms, such as premonitory 
 diarrhea. The preventive treatment is easy, and it is for each person 
 to guard himself. Excess of every kind should be carefully avoided, 
 and the rules of salubrity attentively observed. The means of arrest- 
 ing the malady at its outset are very simple. My advice is this — 
 pour from three to four drops of laudanum on a lump of sugar, and 
 swallow it. Repeat in two hours afterward, and so on, until the colic 
 and vomiting pass away. Take also very small injections of starch, 
 poppy flowers with six, seven, eight or ten drops of laudanum. This 
 treatment will almost always suffice to stop the diarrhea, and will be 
 a guaranty against the malady/' 
 
 Cholera is, in all cases, ushered in by “ premonitory symptoms,” 
 which, if promptly attended to on general principles, are as easily, as 
 safely, and as certainly removed, as the very commonest disease 
 known ; in fact, if a man seeing himself have two or three actions of 
 the bowels in twenty-four hours, in cholera times, will only go to bed 
 and keep quiet in body and mind in a cool, clean, well-aired room, the 
 disease will be averted and the man be well in a day or two without 
 a single atom of any kind of medicine whatever. This great fact is 
 incontrovertible. 
 
 The great predominant symptom of cholera, that which overshad- 
 ows all others, and which is always present, never absent in one sin- 
 gle case, is the “ looseness ” or the light-colored watery passages. 
 
 As means of prevention, all irregularities should be avoided. Late 
 hours and revels, unwholesome food and intoxicating drinks are all of 
 them but invitations to the monster to visit you. The history of former 
 visitations of this disease proclaim it almost invariable to drinking 
 men. Let him who loves his life abandon his cups. 
 
 General health is intimately connected with the state of the skin. 
 It should therefore be kept clean and in a good condition. Frequent 
 ablutions and rubbing are essential — we mean of the entire person. 
 No one is washed who simply cleanses his hands and face and feet. 
 What would be thought of a laundress who returned a man his shirts 
 with collar, bosom, and wristbands washed to snowy whiteness, but 
 the rest of the garment untouched! Yet this is a parallel to the only 
 bath that thousands enjoy. 
 
 A like caution should be exercised in regard to the premises we oc- 
 cupy. Every yard and cellar should be cleansed, all standing watei 
 
DISEASES AND DOMESTIC REMEDIES. 
 
 981 
 
 drained from our lots, all decaying vegetable or animal matter every- 
 where removed, lime freely used both for whitewashing and as a dis- 
 infectant. All around us should be seduously guarded against any- 
 thing that can encourage pestilence. 
 
 Not the least important is a calm and quiet mind. An unexplaina- 
 ble connection of body and mind seems to create that which we appre- 
 hend. One always thinking of his lungs is apt to fall into consump- 
 tion; of his liver, into jaundice, etc. The thought seems to turn the 
 fluids to the part and generate that which is feared. Banish fear. 
 The disease is not so terrific as many others that are constantly among 
 us. Taken in time it rarely need be fatal. No disease is more man- 
 ageable if taken at the proper stage. 
 
 CHOLERA MORBUS. 
 
 Take half a tablespoonful of fresh burnt, finely powdered charcoal, 
 ind a like quantity of powdered loaf-sugar, fifteen drops of pepper- 
 mint; moisten with water, take, and in two hours repeat the dose. 
 
 COLDS. 
 
 A large number of fatal diseases result from taking cold, and often 
 from such slight causes, apparently, as to appear incredible to many. 
 But, although the causes are various, the result is the same, and arises 
 from the violation of a single principle, to-wit, cooling off too soon 
 after exercise. Perhaps this may be more practically instructive if 
 individual instances are named, which, in the opinion of those subse- 
 quently seeking advice in the various stages of consumption, were the 
 causes of the great misfortune, premising that,. when a cold is once ta- 
 ken, marvelously slight causes serve to increase it for the first few 
 days — causes which, under ordinary circumstances, even a moderate- 
 ly healthy system would have easily warded off. 
 
 Rachel, the tragedienne, increased the cold which ended her life, 
 by insufficient clothing in the cars, in traveling from New York to 
 Boston ; such was her own statement. 
 
 The immediate cause of the last illness of Abbott Lawrence, the finan- 
 cier and philanthropist, was an injudicious change of clothing. 
 
 An eminent clergyman got into a cold bed in mid-winter, within 
 fifteen minutes after preaching an earnest discourse ; he was instant- 
 ly chilled, and died within forty-eight hours. 
 
 A promising young teacher walked two miles for exercise, and on 
 
982 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 returning to his room, it being considered too late to light a fire, sat 
 for half an hour reading a book, and before he knew it a chill passed 
 over him. The next day he had spitting of blood, which was the be- 
 ginning of the end. 
 
 A mother sat sewing for her children to a late hour in the night, 
 and noticing that the fire had gone out, she concluded to retire to bed 
 at once, but thinking that she could “ finish ” in a few minutes, she 
 forgot the passing time, until an hour more had passed, and she found 
 herself “ thoroughly chilled,” and a month’s illness followed to pay 
 for that one hour. 
 
 A little cold taken after a public speech in Chicago, so “little” that 
 no attention was paid to it for several days, culminated in the fatal 
 illness of Stephen A. Douglass. It was a slight cold taken in mid- 
 summer, resulting in congestion of the lungs, that hurried Elizabeth 
 Barrett Browning to the grave within a week. A vigorous young 
 man laid down on an ice-chest on a warm summer’s day, fell asleep, 
 waked up in a chill, which ended in confirmed consumption, of which 
 he died three years later. A man in robust health and in the prime 
 of life, began the practice of a cold bath every morning, getting out 
 of bed and standing with his bare feet on a zinc floor during the whole 
 operation ; his health soon declined, and ultimately his constitution 
 was entirely undermined. 
 
 Many a cold, cough, and consumption are excited inter action by 
 pulling off the hat or overcoat as to men, and the bonnet and shawl as 
 to women, immediately on entering the house in winter, after a walk. 
 An interval of at least five or ten minutes should be allowed, for how- 
 ever warm or “close” the apartment may appear on first entering, 
 it will seem much less so at the end of five minutes, if the outer gar- 
 ments remain as they were before entering. Any one who judicious- 
 ly uses this observation, will find a multifold reward in the course of 
 a lifetime. 
 
 A cold is not necessarily the result of high or low temperature. A 
 person may go directly from a hot bath into a cold one or into snow 
 even, and not take cold. On the contrary, he may take cold by pour- 
 ing a couple of tablespoonfuls of water upon some part of his dress, or 
 by standing in a door, or some other opening where one part of the 
 body is colder than another. Let it be kept in mind uniformity of 
 temperature over the whole body is the first thing to be looked after. 
 It is the unequal heat upon the different parts of the body that pro- 
 duces cold, by disturbing the uniform circulation of some part. If 
 you must keep a partially wet garment on, it would be as well perhaps 
 
DISEASES AND DOMESTIC REMEDIES. 983 
 
 to wet the whole of it uniformly. The feet are a great source of colds, 
 on account of the variable temperature they are subjected to. Keep 
 these always dry and warm, and avoid drafts of air, hot or cold, wet 
 spots on the garments, and other direct causes of unequal tempera- 
 ture, and keep the system braced up by plenty of sleep, and the es- 
 chewing of debilitating food and drinks, and you will be almost proof 
 against a cold and its results. 
 
 Some persons can almost tell in an instant when they have taken 
 cold, generally by the disagreeable feelings of chilliness and the diffi- 
 culty of getting comfortably warmed. Sometimes a person after ex- 
 ercising actively finds himself a little chilled before he knows it. In 
 both cases an available, instantaneous, and almost always efficient 
 remedy is at hand — simply walk, run, or work until free perspiration 
 is produced, the sooner the better, and when the exercise is over, go 
 to a room of seventy degrees Fahrenheit, or drink several cups of hot 
 drink, taking care, if not in a warm room, to cease exercising by de- 
 grees. 
 
 If you are caught in a drenching rain, or fall in the water, by all 
 means keep in motion sufficiently vigorous to prevent the slightest 
 chilly Sensation until you reach the house ; then change your clothes 
 with great rapidity before a blazing fire, if possible, and drink in- 
 stantly a pint of some hot liquid. To allow the clothes to dry upon 
 you, unless by keeping up vigorous exercise until thoroughly dried, is 
 suicidal. 
 
 If a man begins to cough, as the result of a common cold, it is the 
 result of nature herself attempting the cure, and she will effect it in 
 her own time, and more effectually than any man can do, if she is 
 only let alone, and her instincts cherished. What are those instincts? 
 She abhors food and craves warmth. Hence, the moment - a man is 
 satisfied that he has taken a cold, let him do three things: 1st, eat 
 not an atom ; 2d, Go to bed and cover up warm in a warm room ; 
 3d, drink as much cold water as he wants, or as much hot herb tea as # 
 he can, and in three cases out of four, he will be almost entirely well 
 within thirty-six hours. If he does nothing for his cold for eighty- 
 four hours after the cough commences, there is nothing that he can 
 swallow that will, by any possibility, do him any good, for the cold, 
 with such a start, will run its course of about a fortnight, in spite of 
 all that can be done, and what is swallowed in the meantime, in the 
 way of physic, is a hindrance, and not a good. “Feed a cold and 
 starve a fever,” is a mischievous fallacy. A cold always brings a 
 fever ; the cold never begins to get well until the fever begins to sub- 
 
984 
 
 PBACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 side ; but every mouthful swallowed is that much more fuel to feed 
 the fever, and, but for the fact that as soon as the cold is fairly seat- 
 ed, nature, in a kind of desperation, steps in and takes away the ap- 
 petite, the commonest cold would be followed by very serious results, 
 and in frail people would be almost always fatal. These things being 
 so, the very fact of waiting forty-eight hours, gives time for the cold 
 to fix itself in the system, for a cold does not usually cause cough until 
 a day or two has passed, and then to wait two days longer, gives it 
 its fullest chance to do its work before anything at all is done. 
 
 Cider syrup, made by boiling down cider, is considered excellent 
 for colds and coughs. Some families use nothing else for their chil- 
 dren in even- the very worst cases. 
 
 COUGHS 
 
 F or coughs, colds and hoarseness, pulverized licorice, cubebs, sugar, 
 and hoarhound, made into a lozenge, are a cheap and excellent reme- 
 dy. Public speakers and singers will find it particuiarly useful to 
 clear and strengthen the voice. These four articles form the basis 
 of nearly all patent medicines advertised for these purposes, though 
 in some instances morphene and cicuta are used. The principal thing 
 s the cubebs combined with the licorice, sugar and mucilage. Cicuta 
 and morphia are very powerful agents, and may do well in the hands 
 of the physician, but should not be used without knowledge. 
 
 Flaxseed Syrup . — This excellent remedy for a cough is made thus : 
 Boil one ounce of flaxseed in a quart of water for half an hour ; strain 
 and add to the liquid the juice of two lemons, and half a pound of 
 rock candy. If the cough is accompanied by weakness and want of 
 appetite, add half an ounce of powdered gum arabic. Let this sim- 
 mer for half an hour, stirring it accasionally. Take a wineglassful 
 when the cough is troublesome. 
 
 Another mixture for a cough or cold highly prized is made as fol- 
 lows : Take one teacupful of flaxseed and soak it all night. In the 
 morning, put into a kettle two quarts of water, a handful of licorice 
 root split up, one quarter of a pound of raisins broke in half. Let 
 them boil till the strength is thoroughly extracted; then add the 
 flaxseed, which has been previously soaked. Let all boil half an hour 
 more, watching and stirring, that the mixture may not burn. Then 
 strain and add lemon juice and sugar. 
 
 For making the best cough syrup, take one ounce of thoroughwort, 
 one ounce of slippery elm ; one ounce of stick licorice and one ounc-* 
 
INDIVIDUAL RIOI ILL 
 
 FOR MAKING AND USING THE 
 
 Great American Fire & Waterproof Paint. 
 
 FH.IOE $2.00. 
 
 Mode of Preparing the Great American 
 Fire and Water-proof Paint. 
 
 TO MAKE TWO GALLONS. 
 
 Take One Gallon of Soft Water— filtered; l\vo Ounces of Sal. Soda; On' 
 and a half Ounces of Borax. Put these in a metallic kettle, and heat steadily 
 until thoroughly dissolved. Stir often; then pour in One-half Gallon Linseed 
 Oil, and mix thoroughly. When cold add sufficient White Lead to make it 
 the required consistency. This Paint can be made any required color by 
 using less white lead, or more of the compound, and mixing in the color 
 wanted. 
 
 The ingredients named above can be obtained at any country store, and 
 any one can make it without any trouble. 
 
 Please fill out the following blank and hand to the agent, or send direct t< 
 us by mail. 
 
 Tear hetv>. 
 
 Know all Men by these Presents, 
 
 That Mr. 
 
 Of the Town of _ 
 
 State of 
 
 Has this day purchased of F. A. Ells‘& Co, or their authorized agent, this 
 INDIVIDUAL RIGHT for manufacturing and using the Great American 
 Fire and Waterproof Paint, on his own dwelling and out-buildings, or 
 any other matter belonging to him, and used upon his own premises, and in 
 no other place whatever. The said 
 
 hereby binds himself, not to divulge the art of making this Paint to any living 
 person in any way, either directly or indirectlv. Should this be done in any 
 eas^ then this article shall be declared void. 
 
 Name of Party. 
 
 Dated this 
 
 day of. 
 
 1 8 73. 
 
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 Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1873, by F. A. ELLS & CO., in the 
 Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington, I). C. 
 
DISEASES AND DOMESTIC REMEDIES. 
 
 985 
 
 of flaxseed; simmer together in one quart of water until the strength 
 is entirely extracted. Strain carefully, add one pint of best molasses 
 and half a pound of loaf sugar ; simmer them all well together, and 
 when cold bottle tight. This is the cheapest, best, and safest medicine 
 now or ever in use. A few doses of one tablespoonful at a time will 
 alleviate tne most distressing cough of the lungs, soothes and allays 
 irritation, and if continued, subdues any tendency to consumption ; 
 breaks up entirely the whooping cough, and no better remedy can be 
 found for croup, asthma, bronchitis, and all affections of the lungs and 
 throat. Thousands of precious lives may be saved every year by this 
 cheap and simple remedy, as well as thousands of dollars which would 
 otherwise be spent in the purchase of nostrums which are both useless 
 and dangerous. 
 
 One teaspoonful of liquid camphor, one do. lobelia, one do. lauda- 
 num, and two tablespoonfuls of honey or loaf sugar are a good reme- 
 dy, to be given one teaspoonful at night and morning, or when the fit 
 of coughing is very severe. 
 
 Another good remedy is to smoke dried mullen leaves. But per- 
 haps the best cough mixture of all is a suit of warm clothing, mixed 
 with plenty of air and exercise. 
 
 WHOOPING COUGH. 
 
 The thoroughwort, slippery elm, licorice and flaxseed preparation 
 recommended for coughs is the best remedy that can be given in tin. 
 whooping cough. 
 
 A correspondent of the A". Y. Evening Post recommends the best 
 kind of coffee prepared as for the table, and given as a common drink 
 to the child as warm as it can be drank ; and a piece of alum for the 
 patient to lick as often as it may wish. Most children are fond of 
 alum, and will get all they need without being urged, but if they dis- 
 like it, they must be made to taste it eight or ten times in the course 
 of the day. It will effectually break up the worst case of whooping 
 cough in a very short time. To adults or children in the habit of ta- 
 king coffee, the remedy is good for nothing. 
 
 CONSUMPTION. 
 
 Dr. Adams, a prominent physician in the city of Toronto, says that 
 consumption is not, as is generally supposed, a disease of the lungs, 
 but rather disease of the blood, which from becoming disordered in 
 
986 
 
 .PRACTICAL CYCLOPEDIA. 
 
 time affects the lungs ; therefore, he maintains that by keeping the 
 blood in a pure and healthy condition, by careful attention to diet, 
 abstinence from all stimulants, with plenty of out- door exercise, and 
 pure air, even those whose constitutions may be predisposed to con- 
 sumption, may effectually overcome the tendency. He speaks in 
 strong terms of condemnation of the use of coffee, tea, liquors, and 
 tobacco, and says that thousands annually are rendered victims of 
 consumption by the use of such stimulants. 
 
 The essential, the fundamental, the all-controlling agency in arrest 
 of any case of consumptive disease, and a return to health for any 
 considerable time, says Hall's Journal of Health , is an active, coura- 
 geous, and hopeful out-door life, in all weathers, and in any latitude, 
 with some rousing motive, other than regaining the health, beckoning 
 them on to do and to dare. 
 
 Eat all that the appetite requires of the most nourishing food, such 
 as fresh beef, lamb, oysters, raw eggs, fruit, vegetables, and three 
 times a day take a glass of egg-nog, made as rich as the patient can 
 bear. Avoid all other alcoholic drinks. Bathe twice a week in water 
 made agreeably warm, and in a warm room ; after bathing rub the 
 body and limbs with sweet cream or sweet oil. Exercise in the open 
 air ; walking is the best. Stand erect, exercise the arms and lungs 
 freely, keep the mind cheerful ; take freely of the best cough syrup 
 recommended for coughs, and consumption will be a stranger to your 
 household. 
 
 Dr. Chamberlin reports to the French Academy of Sciences that 
 cane sugar is frequently hurtful in cases of consumption. He recom- 
 mends honey or a decoction of licorice as a substitute. 
 
 ASTHMA OR PHTHISIC. 
 
 One of the best remedies is to drink freely of an infusion of bruised 
 sunflower seeds. Infuse in hot water four or five hours. 
 
 Persons subject to attacks of spasmodic asthma will receive some 
 relief during the paroxysms, by inhaling fumes given off from burn- 
 ing paper prepared with saltpeter. The paper should be loose and 
 white, the same as, that used for absorbing ink blots, and it should not 
 contain any fibres of wool. Four ounces of saltpeter, dissolved in a 
 pint of water, makes a solution of sufficient strength for the purpose. 
 The paper is soaked in this for a few minutes, then taken out and 
 dried thoroughly. It is then cut into pieces four inches square, and 
 one or two pieces burned when required. Paper prepared in this 
 
DISEASES AND DOMESTIC REMEDIES. 
 
 987 
 
 manner gives out a considerable amount of free oxygen gas when it 
 is burned. 
 
 Some of the most eminent British physicians are recommending 
 the Turkish bath as a great restorative. 
 
 BRONCHITIS. 
 
 The following remedy will be found as excellent as it is simple : — 
 Take common mullen leaves, dry and rub fine, and smoke them three 
 or four times a day in a new pipe, taking care to draw the smoke well 
 into the throat. 
 
 A writer in the Baltimore Sun, who has been afflicted severly in 
 his family by this distressing disease, has found relief from the fol- 
 lowing : Take honey in the comb, squeeze it out, and dilute with a 
 little water, and wet the lips and mouth occasionally with it. It had 
 never been known to fail in cases where children had throats so swol- 
 len as to be unable to swallow. It is certainly a simple remedy, and 
 
 may be a very efficacious one. 
 
 1 
 
 DIPTHERIA. 
 
 Diptheria is now a familiar household word; within a very few years, 
 indeed, it had never been heard of by one in a million of the masses. 
 
 The three most universally prevalent symptoms in the child are, 
 1st, general prostration of the whole system ; 2d, an instinctive car- 
 rying of the hand to the throat ; 3d, an offensive breath. 
 
 Children are almost exclusively attacked with diptheria because it 
 is a disease of debility — a disease which depresses every power of life 
 — hence the weaker the subject is, the more liable to an attack. An 
 adult has only to maintain himself, the child has to do that and to 
 grow also ; hence it has a double call for a constant supply of strength ; 
 and a very little deficit in that quality of the air which gives vitality 
 to the blood is sufficient to make a subject for a diptheritic attack. 
 The few grown persons who have diptheria have invariably some scrof- 
 ulous or other weakening element. Neither a man or a child in really 
 vigorous health is ever attacked with it ; they only suffer who are at 
 the time deficient in stamina — have not the proper resisting power 
 against the inroads of disease. 
 
 There is no evidence whatever that diptheria is “ catching.” When 
 several members of a family are attacked, it is not because it is de- 
 
988 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 rived one from another, but because of similarity of constitution, 
 of habits of life, eating, drinking, air, and other surroundings. 
 
 The treatment is a well-ventilated room, sustaining nourishment, 
 and strengthening remedies. 
 
 In the early stages of the complaint, which is always accompanied 
 by a soreness and swelling of the throat, let the patient use a simple 
 solution of salt and water, as a gargle every fifteen minutes. At the 
 same time moisten a piece of flannel with a solution of the same kind, 
 made warm as the patient can bear it, and bind it around his throat, 
 renewing it as often as the gargle is administered, and in the mean- 
 while sprinkling fine salt between the flannel and the neck. Use in- 
 wardly some tonic or stimulant, either separately, or if the prostra- 
 tion be great, use both together. The treatment, as may be seen, is 
 extremely simple, and if used in the earlier stages of the disease, will 
 effect a complete cure. 
 
 The following is from a physician who says that of one thousand ca- 
 ses in which it has been used, not a single patient has been lost. The 
 treatment consists in thoroughly swabbing the back of the mouth and 
 throat with a wash made thus : Table salt, two drachms ; black pep- 
 per, golden seal, nitrate of potash, alum, one drachm each. Mix and 
 pulverize, put into a teacup which half fill with boiling water, stir 
 well, and then fill up with good vinegar. Use every half hour, one, 
 two and four hours, as recovery progresses. The patient may swal- 
 low a little each time. Apply one ounce each of spirits turpentine, 
 sweet oil, and aqua ammonia mixed, every four hours to the whole of 
 the throat and to the breast bone, keeping flannel to the part. 
 
 Diptheria is said to be speedily arrested and cured by swallowing 
 lumps of ice, continuously until relief is afforded ; let them as much as 
 possible melt in the throat. Common sore throat is cured in the same 
 way, sometimes. The German physicians of Europe advise the garg- 
 ling of the throat every morning before eating, and every evening be- 
 fore retiring, with the brine of Holland herring, (which can be pro- 
 cured at almost any German grocery,) as a preventive. This as a 
 preventive to the spread of the disease is recommended on high au- 
 thority, and when the disease is prevalent, should be adopted as a pre- 
 caution. 
 
 It has been suggested that a cause of diptheria is a want of salt in 
 the blood, and it is said that investigations have shown such to be in 
 reality the case, that in thirty families in which diptheria has pre- 
 vailed, food containing but little salt had been used for some time pre- 
 
DISEASES AND DOMESTIC REMEDIES. 
 
 989 
 
 vious, and that blood from children affected with the disease showed 
 a deficiency of the preserving element. 
 
 CROUP. 
 
 Those who have passed nights of agony at the bedside of loved 
 children will appreciate these simple remedies as invaluable treasures. 
 One of the most dangerous of all the diseases of young children, often 
 destroying life in’ a few hours, is the croup, and may be cured simply 
 by applying cold water — ice water if possible — suddenly and freely to 
 the neck and chest, with a sponge. The breathing will at once be 
 more free, and the difficulty relieved. Soon as possible let the little 
 sufferer drink as much as it can, then wipe dry and cover it up warm, 
 and soon a quiet slumber will relieve the parents’ anxiety, and lead 
 the heart in thankfulness to the Power which has given to the pure 
 gushing fountain such medical qualities. 
 
 Or instead of cold water, have boiling water, with two or three 
 cloths in it, to be applied alternately to the throat, as hot as can be 
 borne with the hand, the feet and hands to be kept warm ajl the time, 
 the whole body also being wrapped up warm, and the water not being 
 allowed to drip on the clothing; this to be continued until the cough 
 is loosened and the little patient breathes easy and falls to sleep. 
 
 The following is recommended by a correspondent of the N. Y. 
 Evening Post , who says it will cure the patient in two hours : A piece 
 of fresh lard, as large as a butternut, rubbed up with sugar, in the 
 same way that butter and sugar are prepared for the dressing of 
 puddings, divided in three parts, and given in intervals of twenty 
 tninutes. 
 
 Prof. J. B. Turner says, “ Rub the throat of the child with coal 
 oil.” We have tried this once with a child of our own and it effected 
 a speedy cure. Therefore we can heartily recommend it. 
 
 HICCOUGH OR HICKUP. 
 
 This may often be removed by pressure upon the collar bones, or a 
 pinch of snuff to cause sneezing, or holding the breath as long as it 
 can be done, by swallowing a piece of bread, by sudden fright, or by 
 a draught of cold water or other weak liquid. When it arises from 
 heat and acidity in the stomachs of children, a little rhubarD and chalk 
 will remove it. Should it proceed from irritability of the nerves, take 
 a few drops of sal volatile, with a teaspoonful of paregoric elixer. If 
 
990 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 it still continue rub on soap liniment, mixed with tincture of opium, 
 or a plaster may be put on the pit of the stomach, or sipping a glass 
 of cold water with a little carbonate of soda dissolved in it. 
 
 Dr. Pretty, an English physician, claims that it is sufficient to 
 squeeze the wrist, preferably that of the right hand, with a piece of 
 string, or with the forefinger and thumb of the other hand. 
 
 HOARSENESS. 
 
 Sup frequently of a tea made of wheat bran sweetened with honey, 
 or use some of the remedies recommended for coughs. 
 
 CANKER SORE MOUTH. 
 
 Take the bark off of the root of black Haw, leaves and stems of 
 Privet, and leaves and blossoms of Thoroughwort, (Boneset) — make a 
 tea of -each separately, and take of each as follows : one cup full of 
 black Haw, the same of Privet, and one-third of a cup full of Thor- 
 oughwort, and one-third of a cup full of honey — shake well, and it is 
 ready for use. Alum, the size of a pea, pulverized, is considered a 
 help. Wash the mouth from six to twelve times a day, and swallow 
 a little each time. Baby's mouth can be swabbed with a soft linen 
 swab, or put half or one teaspoonful into the mouth, and turn its head 
 so that the wash will pass all through the mouth. It must be fre- 
 quently used, and it will certainly cure. Keep in a cool place or it 
 will sour. 
 
 PILES. 
 
 Inject cold water once a day, and apply an ointment made of Poke 
 leaves and lard, or of Mullen leaves and lard, or of Stramonium leaves 
 and lard. Boil the leaves in water until very strong, then strain and 
 add the decoction to the lard; or, boil the leaves thoroughly in the 
 lard, then squeeze the lard through a cloth. Apply twice or three 
 times a day by rubbing in, and insert well within the bowel. These 
 are all excellent. Or, introduce simply fresh lard into the rectum 
 three times or more per day, and persevere in the application. Per- 
 fectly pure and fresh tallow is better. And the very best mutton tal- 
 low is better still. 
 
 A very strong thick decoction of the inner bark of White Oak, mixed 
 vvith the oil of old strong bacon, and thoroughly simmered together, is 
 
DISEASES AND DOMESTIC REMEDIES. 
 
 99 ; 
 
 said to be a sure cure, if applied well up the rectum daily and perse - 
 veringly . 
 
 The following is a cheap, simple, and it is said, most infallible cure, 
 having been used with complete success in old and inveterate cases 
 where individuals had spent scores of dollars in medical advice. It 
 is equally useful as a preventive. Mix one tablespoonful of sulphur 
 with half a pint of milk, to be taken every day until favorable symp- 
 toms appear, and then occasionally as the case may require. 
 
 SORES 
 
 Of a great many cures for both man and beast, I have never met 
 with one equal to wild black cherry bark steeped in water, for sores. 
 It is remarkable for cleansing and healing. 
 
 Dr. Schreber, of Leipzic, recommends the use of clay as the most 
 “ energetic, the most innocent, the most simple, and the most eco- 
 nomical of palliative applications to surfaces yielding foul and moist 
 discharges.” He moreover considers that it has a specific action in 
 accelerating the cure. Clay softened down in water, and freed from 
 all gritty particles, is laid, layer by layer, over the affected part to 
 the thickness of about a line. If it becomes dry and fall off, fresh lay- 
 ers are applied to the cleansed surface. The irritating secretion is 
 rapidly absorbed by the clay, and the contact of air prevented. The 
 cure thus goes on rapidly. This clay-ointment has a decisive action 
 in cases of foeted perspiration of the feet and arm-pits. A single layer 
 applied in the morning will destroy all the odor in the day. It re- 
 mains a long time supple, and the pieces which fall off in fine powder 
 produce no inconvenience. 
 
 As a general rule, the less a healing sore is interfered with, the bet- 
 ter ; and certainly when it is dressed, merely the superabundant pus 
 should be wiped away, not from the sore itself but from its vicinity. 
 
 FEVER SORE. 
 
 Make a thin bread and milk poultice, and thicken it with the bark 
 of Sassafrass root dried and pulverized very fine. Apply this regu- 
 larly every eight hours for twenty days. Then apply a salve made 
 of honey thickened with wheat flour until entirely healed. 
 
 It is claimed by some who say they have tried it that a fresh field 
 turnip scraped and applied very frequently, say every three or four 
 hours, night and day, will ultimately heal a fever sore. 
 
992 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 CANCER. 
 
 Melt three pounds of lard and two ounces of beeswax, and stir into 
 this one pound of Scotch snuff and two ounces of Verdigris. Several 
 excellent physicians say they have known the constant and regular 
 application of the above to effect absolute cures. 
 
 Sheep sorrel is said to be one of the most valuable agents in the 
 cure of this dreadful disease. One method of applying it is to let the 
 juice evaporate on a pewter plate in the sun, to the consistence of a 
 thick extract, and apply this to the cancer, renewing it every six or 
 eight hours, for a week or ten days, until the whole cancer turn? black, 
 with matter around it, when it may be easily removed, body and 
 roots, by means of a pair of tweezers. The use of this plaster causes 
 excessive pain, and requires resolution in the patient, and sometimes 
 the aid of a dose of morphine. Reduce the inflammation with a 
 poultice of slippery elm, and heal with any good salve or ointment 
 for the purpose. 
 
 Another method of using the sheep sorrel is to dissolve it in water, 
 and allow it to settle, when this deposit, after soaking for some time, 
 is spread on the cancer, and renewed frequently. Sometimes yellow 
 dock root and poke leaves are used with the sorrel in equal quanti- 
 ties according to either of the above methods. Good authorities say 
 that poultices of yellow dock root alone, scraped and applied, have 
 certainly effected cures in bad cases. A very strong decoction of the 
 yellow dock is sometimes applied in place of the poultice. The same 
 sweetened with honey should be drank freely at the same time, wheth- 
 er the decoction or poultice is applied, and good results may be looked 
 for with confidence. So has the juice of poke berries dried upon a 
 pewter plate to the consistence of a salve been most highly recom- 
 mended, to be applied the same as the sheep sorrel. 
 
 SCROFULA. 
 
 The best remedies are plenty of fresh air, exercise, perfect cleanli- 
 ness, bathing in salt water, and drinking salt water to keep the bow- 
 els gently open. 
 
 The following outward application, given by the late Nicholas Long- 
 worth of Cincinnati, he recommends in the strongest terms as having 
 effected many extraordinary cures. He says : “ I have never known 
 it to fail to cure the worst case of Scrofula. It relieves pain, and can 
 in no instance do injury.” 
 
DISEASES AND DOMESTIC REMEDIES. 
 
 993 
 
 u Put in a tumbler, or cup, one ounce of aquafortis ; put in two 
 copper cents ; there will be a strong sparkling. When the sparkling 
 ceases, put in two ounces of pure, strong cider vinegar. Leave the 
 coppers in. Apply it to the sore twice per day, with a soft rag. It 
 will and should give pain. If too severe, add a little more warm wa- 
 ter. Between each application wash the sore with water, a little warm 
 er, with a soft rag." 
 
 He adds, “ I am compelled to believe it a cure for old sores. A 
 Kentucky lawyer wrote me, that twenty years before, he had a fall 
 and severely bruised his leg. For twenty years he had walked with 
 a crutch and a cane. His leg lessened in size, and still sore. He tried 
 the remedy. Found a speedy change. His leg had regained its size, 
 and was cured ; that he had thrown aside his crutch and cane, and 
 walked as brisk as ever." 
 
 Prof. Turner, who seems to have almost unbounded faith in the 
 uses and applications of coal oil, says it will cure scrofulous sores. 
 Wm. R. Prince, the nurseryman of Long Island, says that ten ounces 
 of the root of a plant known as Indian Physic will cure every man- 
 ner of scrofulous disease, and quotes Dr. Ogden as “ an eminent phy- 
 sician" who resided there, having stated in his Memoirs, “that twelve 
 ounces of the root of this plant, taken in four doses, will restore the 
 blood of an adult to the purity of that of an infant. 
 
 ERYSIPELAS, OR ST. ANTHONY’S FIRE. 
 
 Keep the bowels open, the skin of the whole body clean, drink of a 
 strong tea of elder flowers, and poultice with slippery elm bark pul- 
 verized and mixed with milk, cream or buttermilk. The authority 
 referred to under Scrofula says Indian Physic root will cure erysipe- 
 las. White lead paint as recommended for scalds and burns has been 
 used succeesfully it is said. One or two applications of a poultice 
 made of cranberries, have in some cases arrested it at once and effect- 
 ed a complete cure. 
 
 RINGWORM. 
 
 This annoying disease is readily cured in many cases by a mixture 
 of equal parts of castor oil and train oil applied daily. Or boil tobac- 
 co leaves and mix with strong ley and vinegar. Wash the eruption 
 with this. There is nothing better. Or moisten with saliva and then 
 apply the ashes of a cigar, repeating frequently until cured. Or wash 
 
994 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 frequently with Castile soap. And in the absence of other remedies 
 try repeated applications of mutton tallow. Or with a pin scratch 
 the skin entirely around the affected part. 
 
 ITCH. 
 
 This is caused by a microscopic insect which burrows in the skin, 
 and is cured, if not permitted to run too long, simply by annointing 
 the skin affected frequently with sulphur mixed in lard. If any con- 
 siderable portion of the body is annointed particular care should be 
 observed not to take cold, as persons have sometimes lost the use of 
 their limbs by taking cold while using a sulphur ointment. If the 
 disease is of long standing or much extended over the body a mixture 
 of sulphur, cream of tartar and molasses should be taken internally. 
 
 For Barber's Itch take yellow dock root, pulverize it, mix it with 
 good cider vinegar, and wet the parts with this frequently. 
 
 For Seven Years Itch take strong soft soap. Wash with this two 
 or three times a day until cured. It is said there is nothing better. 
 
 PRICKLY HEAT. 
 
 Mix a large portion of wheat bran with either cold or lukewarm 
 water, and use it as a bath twice or thrice a day. Children who are 
 covered with prickly heat in warm weather will be thus effectually 
 relieved from that tormenting eruption. As soon as it begins to ap- 
 pear on the neck, face, or arms, commence using the bran water on 
 these parts repeatedly through the day, and it may probably spread 
 no farther. If it does, the bran water bath will certainly cure it if 
 persisted in. 
 
 BOILS. 
 
 % 
 
 The skin of a boiled egg is one of the most efficacious remedies 
 that can be applied to a boil. Peel it carefully, wet and apply it. 
 It will draw off the matter, and relieve the soreness in a few hours. 
 One or more coatings of white lead paint applied as directed for scalds 
 and burns is a good application. 
 
 INFLAMMATION. 
 
 Dr. Benoist, of Nieuville, in France, says that inflammations on 
 
DISEASES AND DOMESTIC REMEDIES. 
 
 995 
 
 the body are “fed” and aggravated by contact with the air. He paints 
 the inflamed sores in erysipelas and other diseases with collodion, by 
 which means recovery is soon brought about. 
 
 SMALL POX — VACCINATION. 
 
 To discover small pox in its early stage, as soon as the eruption ap- 
 pears, by pressure with the point of the finger may be distinctly felt 
 the small, hard substance, precisely as if a small fine shot had been 
 placed under the cuticle of the skin. This peculiar appearance be- 
 longs to no other eruptive disease. While it is and has been known 
 to a few physicians, it is not mentioned in any of the standard au- 
 thorities. It is an unfailing diagnostic symptom. 
 
 A new remedy for the small pox, the plant known as Saracenia per- 
 purea, or Indian Cup, sometimes called Ladies’ Saddle, also Water 
 Cup, a native of Novia Scotia, having been mentioned as the specific 
 used by the Indians against this disease, is said to allay the fever and 
 irritation caused by the formation of pustules, which are rapidly dried 
 up, leaving but slight, if any traces of the malady. It is given in 
 the form of a tea made of the root. 
 
 In a letter addressed to the American Medical Times, Dr. F. W. 
 Morris, President-physician of the Halifax Visiting Dispensary, states 
 that this Saracenia papaveraceous plant will cure small pox in all its 
 forms within twelve hours after the patient has taken the decoction. 
 “ However alarming and numerous the eruptions,” he says, “ or con- 
 fluent and frightful they may be, the peculiar action of the medicine 
 is such that very seldom is a scar left to tell the story of the disease. 
 If either vaccine or variolous matter is washed with the infusion of 
 the Saracenia, they are deprived of their contagious properties.” 
 
 In the State Almshouse in Massachusetts, where this remedy was 
 used, out of about sixty cases but one fatal result has occurred, and 
 that was a man who was taken to the house from the neighboring 
 town in the last stage of the disease. 
 
 A great discovery is reported to have been recently made by a 
 surgeon of the English army, in China, in the way of an effectual 
 cure for small pox. The mode of treatment is as follows : When the 
 preceding fever is at its height and just before the eruption appears, 
 the chest is rubbed with croton oil and tartaric ointment. This causes 
 the whole of the eruption to appear on that part of the body to the 
 relief of the rest. It also secures a full and complete eruption, and 
 thus prevents the disease from attacking the internal organs. Thi3 
 
996 
 
 PEACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 is said to be now tbe established mode of treatment in the English 
 army in China, by general orders, and is regarded as a perfect cure. 
 
 A Scotch physician, Dr. Smart, has announced an invention which 
 he asserts, has never failed in his practice to prevent the disfigurement 
 consequent in small pox known as “pitting." The application con- 
 sists of a solution of india-rubber in chloroform, which is painted over 
 the face (and neck in women) when the eruption has become fully de- 
 veloped. When the chloroform has evaporated, which it readily does, 
 there is left a thin elastic film of india-rubber over the face. This the 
 patient feels to be rather comfortable than otherwise, inasmuch as the 
 disagreeable itchiness, so generally complained of, is almost entirely 
 removed, and, what is more important, “pitting,” once so common, 
 and even now far from rare, is thoroughly prevented wherever the so- 
 lution has been applied. 
 
 The Surgeon-Major of the Royal Horse Guards writes to the Lon- 
 don Times, that the root of the Pitcher Plant is a specific for this 
 disease. An ounce of the root is sliced, infused in a quart of water, 
 allowed to simmer down to a pint, and given in doses of two table- 
 spoonfuls every four hours, while the patient is well nourished with 
 beef tea and arrow root. A tea made of the Black Cohosh or Rattle 
 Root is considered almost a specific. 
 
 It should be distinctly borne in mind that vaccination is an almost 
 perfect preventative of small pox until the age of puberty (say fifteen,) 
 but after that time it becomes less and less efficacious until twenty- 
 five, when the system becomes less susceptible to the disease up to 
 thirty-five, when the predisposition to small pox seems to die out al- 
 together. The specific inference is that every child ought to be re- 
 vaccinated on entering the fifteenth year. M. Depaul, reporter of the 
 Vaccine Committeee of the French Academy says that in spite of the 
 opposition raised to the vaccination of new-born children, the re- 
 searches of the committee tend to show that this operation is not 
 more dangerous in very early life than at the second or third month ; 
 and adds that “ if all children were vaccinated within the first two 
 or three days after birth, small pox, already rare now in comparison 
 with what it was formerly, would, we are convinced, completely dis- 
 appear. 
 
 FEVEES. 
 
 It is little known, perhaps, that cranberries and barberries, stewf i 
 even with molasses, are remedies in fever, and as purifiers of the 
 blood. They will keep in the form of sauce for a long time. They 
 
DISEASES AND DOMESTIC REMEDIES. 
 
 997 
 
 are most useful in hospitals, as they neutralize the effects of salt 
 
 pork. 
 
 A good drink for fever is made as follows : Put a little tea-sage, 
 two sprigs of balm, and a little wood sorrel into a stone jug, having 
 first washed and dried them ; peel thin a small lemon, and clear from 
 the white, slice it, and put a bit of the peel in, then pour in three 
 pints of boiling water. Sweeten and cover it close. 
 
 TYPHUS FEVERS. 
 
 The British Parliament paid a London physician £5000, for making 
 public the following method of preventing infection in this disease : 
 Put three-fourths of an ounce of saltpeter in a teacup and set it on a 
 red hot shovel. Take the same weight of oil of vitriol, and add it to 
 the saltpeter, one-sixth at a time, stirring it with a pipe stem. Avoid 
 the fumes as they rise from the cup. This is the quantity for a room 
 fourteen feet square. Larger or smaller rooms of course need more 
 or less accordingly. There is no danger in breathing the air of the 
 room. 
 
 TYPHOID FEVER. 
 
 A Parisian physcian admits air freely to the invalid’s bedroom, to 
 which plan he attributes many remarkable cures. He says there can 
 be no infection in the open air — fresh air moreover enables a patient 
 to take stimulants which he could not otherwise bear. 
 
 SCARLET FEVER. 
 
 A very skillful physician says : My whole practice is this — when the 
 fever first comes on, and the patient is hot from fever, I have him 
 sponged with cold water ; and continue the treatment as long or as 
 often as it is agreeable, or relieves the suffering. Afterwards as he 
 becomes weaker, the water is gradually made warmer; the sensations 
 of the patient being the guide. At the same time, he is allowed to 
 drink all the cold water he wants — which he will never do in large 
 quantities (as he should not) at a time, if it is always within his reach. 
 I have known some to drink in this way by small portions, a quart in 
 an hour. After a while this produces more or less perspiration, which 
 greatly relieves the symptoms. This is my whole treatment. Nothing 
 is more pernicious than the practice of giving powerful medicines in 
 this disease. The fact is, many scarlet fever patients are drugged out 
 of existence. We learned that this physician with a long and exten- 
 sive practice, never lost but two patients with this disease. 
 
998 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 We copy from the Rochester (N. Y.) Advertiser the following: The 
 readers of this paper know that we do not often endorse specific reme- 
 dies for diseases, but as that scourge of the younger portion of the 
 human race, scarlet fever, does not appear to yield rapidly to medical 
 treatment, and is now prevailing extensively, it may do no harm to 
 give the following as a remedy, upon the authority of one who has 
 seen it tried repeatedly and without a failure in a single instance. He 
 says that a poultice made of the root of the common burdock boiled 
 in milk, and applied to the neck of the patient, will cure scarlet fever. 
 The earlier it is applied the better, but he assures us that it has ef- 
 fected a cure in cases where physicians had abandoned the patient as 
 beyond hope of cure. 
 
 FALL FEVERS. 
 
 All forms of Fall fevers, says Dr. Hall, in his Journal of Health ; 
 have been escaped in many instances by whole families, who have at 
 sunrise and sunset had bright fires kindled in their family rooms. 
 
 FEVER AtfD AGUE. 
 
 Onions used freely, particularly uncooked, are considered a preven- 
 tive against this disease so common in some regions. It is even said 
 that a raw onion eaten several mornings in succession, before break- 
 fast, will cure the disease entirely. 
 
 Maury's Prevention of Fever and Ague: Plant plenty of Sun Flow- 
 ers on the side of your house most exposed to malarious atmosphere. 
 
 A gentleman who was with the army on the Upper Potomac, where 
 the ague is quite prevalent, says that an extract of the common white 
 plantain, made by steeping the leaves in whisky, and taken before 
 breakfast, a dozen mornings in succession, is even more certain than 
 quinine in curing this fever. Soot coffee is a great remedy in some 
 districts. A spoonful of soot from the chimney (not from the stove- 
 pipe,) steeped in water, settled and seasoned like genuine coffee, is 
 drank with every meal until it effects a cure. 
 
 MIASM. 
 
 On the wings of the viewless winds in September, the sickliest 
 month of the year, says HalTs Journal of Health, there is wafted an 
 agency of disease and death, so etherial in its nature, so intangible to 
 mortal sense, so insinuating, so all-pervading, that no alembic can de- 
 
DISEASES AND DOMESTIC EEMEDIES. 
 
 999 
 
 tect its presence, no prison-bar or palace-gate prevent its entrance. 
 It is called “ Miasm it is an emanation from the surface of the earth 
 wherever there is vegetation, moisture, and heat equal to eighty de- 
 grees, and is the fruitful cause of many diseases which ravage whole 
 communities at a time, such as agues, fevers, diarrhea, dysentery, 
 cholera, pestilence, and plague. But its laws are known, and its de- 
 structive agencies can be averted by avoiding exposure and fatigue 
 in the out-door air for the hours including sunrise and sunset, at 
 which time a hot breakfast and supper should be eaten, by a good fire, 
 in all prairie, flat, water course, and lake and sea-shore situations. If 
 the people can only be induced to take these simple, easy, practicable, 
 and comprehensible precautions, these diseases will be prevented as 
 epidemics, or arrested in their progress, as certainly as that fire can 
 prevent the firing of a town, and that water will put it out. These are 
 the teachings of science, and experiment has demonstrated their truth 
 beyond a cavil. 
 
 It is said that if those who are exposed to malaria will put as much 
 quinine as will lie on the point of a penknife in their coffee every 
 morning, the probability is that they will escape chronic diarrhea, 
 fever and ague, and bilious fever. 
 
 FELON. 
 
 A strong solution of steeped yellow dock as hot as can be borne, 
 will instantly cure the pain of a felon. It might need two or three 
 applications to cure it ; cover the vessel with flannel while bathing 
 the felon. Strong ley, as hot as can be borne, is also an effectual 
 remedy, if used in time. Soak the affected part in it for half an hour 
 three times per day. Equal parts of bar soap and common salt, soft- 
 ened by turpentine, may then be applied. Or this may be used at 
 first. 
 
 White lead paint, applied as directed for scalds and burns, is con- 
 sidered an effectual remedy. A piece of rennet soaked in milk is 
 said, by one who has often tried it, to be effectual. The application 
 is to be renewed at brief intervals until relief is found. A powerful 
 remedy, which some skillful physicians have adopted, and which I 
 have never known to fail, if applied early, is a poultice made of the 
 strongest decoction of tobacco mixed with tar. It “ draws ” tremend- 
 ously, and requires some “grit” to endure it long enough, but it is 
 eminently efficient. 
 
 The following remedy is well vouched for as a certain thing : Make 
 
1000 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPEDIA. 
 
 a thin mortar of soap and lime — take a thimble with a top to it, fill il 
 with mortar, and place it directly over the part afflicted — bind it on, 
 so as to exclude the air, and renew it, once in two or three hours, till 
 it eats through the skin. After that, apply a poultice made of flax- 
 seed and Indian meal, till the inflammation has subsided. Then dress 
 it with a salve of white-pine turpentine, mutton tallow and beeswax, 
 equal parts. It has also been recommended in the following manner : 
 “ Take a pint of common soft soap and stir in air-slacked lime till it 
 is of the consistency of glazier’s putty. Make a leather thimble; fill 
 it with this composition, and insert the finger therein. A cure is 
 certain. 
 
 One of the most reliable remedies is Tincture of Lobelia. As soon 
 as the part begins to swell, wrap the part affected thick with a cloth, 
 saturate it thoroughly with the Tincture, and the felon is dead. An 
 old physician says he has known this to cure in scores of cases, and 
 that it never fails if applied in season. 
 
 A poke root poultice is excellent, whether applied before or after 
 matter is formed. The sooner the better. Or scrape Garget root, 
 and apply it after warming a little (not to cook it.) Change it often 
 and the cure will be effectual in most cases. Clay from an old log 
 house softened and kept wet with camphor is good. 
 
 WHITE SWELLING. 
 
 Take the bark of the root of Bitter-Sweet, and steep it in water 
 until the strength is extracted, then put in hog’s lard and mutton tal- 
 low, equal quantities ; simmer until the water is out ; afterwards 
 strain through a cloth. Its application must be made on the first ap- 
 pearance of the white spot, previous to the swelling. Its tendency 
 is to scatter the inflammation. 
 
 CRAMPS. 
 
 4 
 
 Bub the part with the naked hand or a rough towel, with or with- 
 out some stimulating application as whisky, or spirits of champhor, 
 &c. For cramps in the leg or arm, tie a strong bandage tight over 
 the knee or elbow. 
 
 CHAFES. 
 
 For chafes in the groin and on other parts, on going to bed wash 
 
DISEASES AND DOMESTIC REMEDIES. 
 
 1001 
 
 the parts clean with cold water and simply sprinkle well with flour, 
 or finely powdered starch; or finely pulverized clay. 
 
 GRAVEL. 
 
 Eat plenty of radishes, and the gravel will dissolve and relieve the 
 pain. Eating of onions is also beneficial. A gill of the juice of red 
 onions drank twice a day for a few days will dissolve the stone. 
 
 HYPOCHONDRIA AND HYSTERIA 
 
 No medicine is needed, but open air and exercise, light and unstim- 
 ulating diet, coarse bread, as of oat or corn meal, or unbolted wheat, 
 and perfect ripe fruits. In a hysteric fit let the clothes be loosened, 
 plenty of fresh air admitted, and a little cold water sprinkled in the 
 face. Apply the hartshorn or camphor bottle to the nose occasionally. 
 
 Mr. Marsh says that the best cure for the hysterics is to discharge 
 the servant girl. In his opinion, there is nothing like work to keep 
 the nervous system from becoming unstrung. He says some women 
 think they want a physician when they only need a scrubbing-brush. 
 
 CURE FOR DRUNKENNESS. 
 
 There is a famous prescription in use in England, for the cure of 
 drunkenness, by which thousands are said to have been assisted in re- 
 covering themselves. The receipt came into notoriety through the 
 efforts of John Vine Hall, father of the Rev. Newman Hall, and Cap- 
 tain Vine Hall, commander of the Great Eastern steamship. He had 
 fallen into such habitual drunkenness, that his most earnest efforts to 
 reclaim himself proved unavailing. At length he sought the advice 
 of an eminent physician, who gave him a prescription which he fol- 
 lowed faithfully for seven months, and at the end of that time, had 
 lost all desire for liquor, although he had been for many years led 
 captive by a most debasing appetite. The receipt, which he after- 
 wards published, and by which so manv other drunkards have been 
 assisted to reform, is as follows : Suipnate of iron, five grains ; magne- 
 sia, ten grains ; peppermint water, eleven drachms ; spirit of nutmeg, 
 one drachm ; twice a day. This preparation acts as tonic and stimu- 
 lant, and so partially supplies the place of the accustomed liquor, and 
 prevents that absolute physical and moral prostration that follows a 
 sudden breaking off from the use of stimulating drinks. 
 
1002 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPJEI/IA. 
 
 Sugar as a Dissipator of Drunkenness. — Dr. Lecoeur, of Paris, in 
 an article on drunkenness, after showing the' good effects of ammonia 
 in dissipating the fumes of alcohol, states that white sugar will pro- 
 duce the same effect. When the individual commences to feel the 
 influence of liquor, he should eat six, eight or more pieces of sugar, 
 of the size usually served on the table. 
 
 CURE OF APPETITE FOR TOBACCO. 
 
 A clergyman who for many years was addicted to the chewing and 
 smoking of tobacco, resorted immediately to fresh drawn water when- 
 ever the appetite craved indulgence, and after drinking what he de- 
 sired, continued to hold water in his mouth, throwing out and taking 
 in successive mouthfuls, until the craving ceased. By a faithful ad- 
 herence to this practice for about a month, he was cured, and for thirty 
 years the appetite never again returned. 
 
 We find the following in the New York Evening Post: A friend 
 of mine overcame the habit of chewing tobacco by substituting a bit 
 of cracker for his accustomed quid. He had previously tried camo- 
 mile flowers and other means, without success^ and adopted the cracker 
 upon the recommendation of a casual coach companion some years 
 ago. His hankering for tobacco was soon overcome, and he has never 
 had a relish for it since. He gave up the use of the cracker also in a 
 few weeks, and as his adviser had also been cured by the same means, 
 I am induced to offer the remedy for publication. 
 
 SELF-ABUSE. 
 
 Let no youth of intelligence ever consult a man at a distance for 
 the ailments alluded to. It is a thousand times better to consult the 
 family physician at home ; him you can trust with safety, as to body 
 and reputation ; a thing which is never to be done by men who send 
 books free of charge, which treat of any form of disease. 
 
 As to symptoms and debilitations of the early morning, and which 
 have such a depressing influence on mind and body, second only to 
 those of dyspepsia, nothing can be more certain than that there is no 
 remedy, safe and efficient in drugs ; but it must be sought in the dil- 
 igent following out of some active industrial pursuit, force of will, and 
 the cultivation of a high and manly moral power, which looks with 
 angry and impatient contempt on all that is vicious, corrupting, and 
 degrading, whether in deed or word or thought; this is the onlv effi- 
 
ACCIDENTS AND EMERGENCIES 
 
 1003 
 
 cient, the only infallible remedy, and is worthy of the matin e reflec- 
 tion of every high-minded and generous-hearted youth. 
 
 ACCIDENTS AND EMERGENCIES. 
 
 LOCK JAW — TETANUS. 
 
 To prevent this very dangerous affection, he careful that any wound, 
 especially in the palm of the hand or bottom of the foot, and partic- 
 ularly if made by any pointed instrument, as a nail for instance, shall 
 not be allowed to heal immediately. When any one runs a nail or 
 sharp iron into any part of the body, take a common smoke pipe, light 
 it well after filling with tobacco, then place a cloth or silk handker- 
 chief over the bowl, and blow the smoke through the stem into the 
 wound. Two or three pipesfull will be sufficient to set the wound dis- 
 charging. Or insert into the wound a piece of nitrate of silver the 
 size of a grain of wheat and allow it to remain until it makes a sore, 
 then poultice. 
 
 Lock jaw has been frequently cured by injections to keep the bow- 
 els open and poultices of soft soap and Scotch snuff to the wound, the 
 patient drinking freely of red or black pepper tea. Bathing the 
 wounded part morning, noon, and night, an hour each, in ley as hot 
 as can be borne, then poulticing with slippery elm bark mixed in ley 
 and applied warm has effected cures. We have heard a great deal 
 about the medicinal value of a poultice made of grated beet roots, and 
 now we find the following statement, which we consider worthy of at- 
 tention. The remedy is easily applied. A young lady ran a nail in- 
 to her foot, which produced jock jaw of such a malignant character 
 that her physicians pronounced her recovery hopeless. An old nurse 
 applied a poultice of pounded beet roots, renewing it often, and the 
 result was a complete cure. 
 
 FROST BITES — FROZEN LIMBS, &C. 
 
 Whether the whole body or only a small part be frozen it must be 
 restored gradually, and by interior not exterior heat. Frozen limbs 
 should never be rubbed. The juices of the fleshy tissues, when fro- 
 zen in their minute sacs or cells, at once become in each of these en- 
 closures crystals, having a large number of angles and sharp points ; 
 
1004 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 and hence rubbing the flesh causes them to cut or tear their way 
 through the tissues, so that when it is thawed, the structure of the 
 muscle is more or less destroyed. The proper mode of treatment is 
 as follows : When any part of the body is frozen, it should be kept 
 perfectly quiet till it is thawed out, which should be done as promptly 
 as possible. As freezing takes place from the surface inwardly, so 
 thawing should be in the reverse order, from the inside outwardly. 
 The thawing out of a portion of flesh, without at the same time put- 
 ting the blood from the heart into circulation through it, produces 
 mortification ; but by keeping the more external parts still congealed 
 till the internal heat and the external blood gradually soften the more 
 interior parts, and produce circulation of the blood as fast as thawing 
 takes place, most of the dangers are obviated. « 
 
 A popular error exists — almost universal — that a frozen part is to 
 be restored by rubbing it with snow. If the snow which is applied be 
 colder than the frozen flesh, it will still further abstract the heat and 
 freeze it worse than before. But if the snow is of the same tempera- 
 ture, it will keep the flesh from thawing till the heat from the rest of 
 the body shall have effected it, thus preventing gangrene. Water, in 
 which snow or ice has been placed, so as to keep its temperature at 
 thirty-two degrees Fahrenheit, is probably better than snow. 
 
 The following is the method of making Wahler’s Frost Salve, so 
 long known and valued in Germany, but the receipt for which has 
 been kept secret till recently purchased by the government of the 
 kingdom of Wurtemburg, and made public : Twenty-four ounces 
 mutton tallow, twenty-four ounces hog's lard, four ounces peroxyde 
 of iron (red iron rust,) four ounces Venice turpentine, two ounces oil 
 of bergamot, two ounces bole armenian, rubbed to a paste with olive 
 oil. Heat together the tallow, lard, and iron rust, in an iron vessel, 
 stirring with an iron spoon constantly till the mass assumes a perfect- 
 ly black color ; then add gradually the other ingredients, stirring till 
 well mixed. It is applied upon linen, daily, and its effect upon even 
 the most painful frost sores is most extraordinary. In all probability, 
 for other wounds it would also be an excellent application. 
 
 Kaw cotton and castor oil have restored frost-bitten limbs when 
 amputation was thought to be necessary to preserve life. The cure 
 is said to be infallible. 
 
 To cure the intolerable itching that follows frost-bitten toes, it is 
 necessary to totally exclude the air from the affected part. If it is 
 not accompanied with swelling, gum shellac, dissolved in alcohol, ap- 
 plied so as to form a complete coat, is an easy remedy. It dries soon. 
 
ACCIDENTS AND EMERGENCIES 
 
 1005 
 
 and does not adhere to the stockings, and generally lasts until they 
 are well. If the flesh becomes swollen and painful, plasters of good 
 sticking salve are of great service, but if highly inflamed any mild 
 poultice that will exclude the oxygen of the air from the diseased 
 part, and keep it moist, allowing the recuperative powers of nature to 
 do the rest. Burns and scalds may be treated successfully the same 
 way. 
 
 To Avoid Great Chilling from Falling into Winter Water all that 
 need be done is to make a quick squeeze or rub down to press the 
 excess of water out of the clothes, then set to running as briskly as 
 you can, but not ride. This exercise will be difficult for a few steps 
 at first, but will succeed. If the weather is cold, your outward cloth- 
 ing will soon stiffen and freeze, and protect that which is under from 
 further cooling by the air, while that next your person will warm 
 from the heat of your body, generated by the exercise. If you reach 
 a house in half an hour you will be safer than if you reached one in 
 five minutes ; for, when a person so immersed is immediately changed 
 in a house, he is heated almost in vain from without — he will, in this 
 case, continue chilly for several days after on the least exposure, even 
 in a house ; but if warmed from within outwardly, by exercise, he 
 may then be changed, and escape future accidents, congestions, &c. 
 
 BURNS AND SCALDS. 
 
 Multitudes are annually perishing by scalds and burns, nearly all 
 of whom might be preserved from a fatal result, if some of the simplr 
 remedies which we give were adopted immediately after the accidents. 
 We hope that every individual will at once become perfectly familiar 
 with the following instructions, that there may be no hesitancy in 
 knowing just what to do when occasion requires. For these as well 
 as other cases we give different remedies so that persons may select 
 which they prefer, or the one that may be most convenient. 
 
 The instant you are burned or scalded, place the part in cold water, 
 this gives perfect relief in a second, then get some flour and cover 
 the burned part completely, an inch thick if possible, and let it remain 
 until it is well. Cures of frightful burnings have been performed in 
 this way, as wonderful as they are painless. If the burn or scald is 
 extensive or severe, eat nothing until improvement commences, ex- 
 cept some dry bread softened in weak tea of some kind, and drink 
 nothing but water. 
 
 Baw cotton, spread out or carded, and laid on in considerable quan- 
 
1006 
 
 PEACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 tity directly over the burn, has been found very effective, if the burn 
 or scald is not very deep, or the skin is not broken, though it may be 
 blistered some. Bind it on slightly, and let it remain some time. 
 Simple as it may appear, this is one of the best applications to be 
 had. 
 
 A coating of colodion is excellent. The white of an egg has proved, 
 of late, one of the most efficacious remedies for burns. Seven or eight 
 successive applications of this substance will sooth the pain and effec- 
 tually exclude the burned parts from the air. This simple remedy 
 seems far superior to colodion or even cotton. 
 
 It is said that an Indian meal poultice, covered with young hyson 
 tea, softened with hot water, and laid over burns, as hot as can be 
 borne, will relieve the pain in five minutes. Becommended also for 
 frost bites. The effect of pulverized charcoal and oil applied imme- 
 diately to either scalds or burns is said to be miraculous. Lamp oil 
 will do ; but linseed oil is better. A French paper says that by acci- 
 dent charcoal has been discovered to be a sure cure for burns. By 
 laying a piece of cold charcoal upon a burn the pain subsides immedi- 
 ately. The remedy is cheap and simple and deserves a trial. 
 
 White lead paint applied immediately in several successive coatings 
 has been recommended for all cases of burns and scalds except those 
 which are very extensive or very deep. Dip either a brush or feather 
 into the paint and draw it gently over the injured part, extending the 
 coating an inch or so beyond the margin of the inflamed surface. 
 When the first seems quite thin or cracks, apply a fresh coating. In 
 a week or so it will peel off. Equal parts of raw linseed oil and lime 
 water applied to the injured part five or six times a day is also re- 
 commended. Many families keep this liniment prepared and on hand 
 all the time. 
 
 The skin of hog’s lard applied immediately to keep the air out is much 
 used. Oiled silk is a good substitute, v 
 
 When the burn degenerates into an ulcer, and becomes difficult to 
 heal, in consequence of proud flesh, sprinkle over it occasionally a 
 little powdered burnt alum, and dress it with salve, or a bread and 
 milk poultice, the same as any common sore. 
 
 If your clothing takes fire, slide the hands down the dress, keeping 
 them as close to the body as possible, at the same time sinking to the 
 floor by bending the knees; this has a smothering effect on the flames; 
 if not extinguished, or a great headway is gotten, lie down on the 
 floor, roll over and over, or better, envelop yourself in a carpet, 
 
ACCIDENTS AND EMERGENCIES. 
 
 1007 
 
 bed*cloth, or any garment you can get hold of always preferring 
 woolen. 
 
 BURNING TO DEATH. 
 
 This is a terrible calamity, yet it is a daily occurence, and is almost 
 always the result of gross carelessness, recklessness or ignorance. The 
 number of persons burned or scalded to death in England, from 1848 
 to 1861, is officially stated at 39,927, or an average of eight a day. 
 Of the whole number, 1,344 were infants under one year of age ; 
 4,500 were children of one and under two years, and 9,777 were be- 
 tween two and four years of age. Between the ages of five and fifteen, 
 6,255 girls and 3,750 boys were burned to death. 
 
 Loss of life from the clothing taking fire may occur any hour in 
 any family. The prevention and the remedy are matters of per- 
 sonal interest, at least to all parents ; and certainly every school teach- 
 er in the land should know how to act in the premises. Dresses can 
 be made so that they will not readily take fire. The most available 
 plan, the most economical and the most accessible is to soak the cloth- 
 ing in strong salt water just before wringing it out. There are other 
 preparations used, such as a solution of sulphate of ammonia, tung* 
 state of soda, etc., but the advantage of common salt is, that while it 
 is as efficacious as others, it is not sociable to injure the colors of the 
 dress. The next best thing is to know how to act in case of the dress 
 taking fire. The beautiful and accomplished wife of a great name 
 lately died, within the hour, by her dress having taken fire from a bit 
 of blazing sealing wax falling on it, while she was affectionately 
 amusing her sweet little children at the sewing table. Her husband 
 was in an adjoining room and was instantly at her side, but either had 
 not the knowledge or presence of mind to arrest the progress of the 
 flames. Perhaps three persons out of four would rush right up to 
 the burning individual and begin to paw with their hands, without any 
 definite aim. It is useless to tell the victim to do this or that, or call 
 for water. In fact, it is generally best to say not a word, but to tear 
 up the carpet, or seize a blanket from the bed, or a cloak, or any 
 woolen fabric — if none is at hand, take any woven material — hold the 
 corners as far apart as you can stretch them out higher than your 
 head, and running boldly to the person, make the motion of clasping 
 in the arm, most about the shoulders, this instantly smothers the fire 
 and saves the face; the next instant throw the unfortunate on the 
 floor; this is an additional safety to the face and breath, and any 
 
1008 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPEDIA. 
 
 remnant of flame can be put out more leisurely. Immediately im- 
 merse the burned parts in cold water, and all the flame will cease with 
 the rapidity of lightning, then get some common flour, and the mo- 
 ment the burned parts are removed from the water cover them with 
 the flour as thick as possible. Put the patient to bed, and let the 
 flour remain until it falls off of itself. Unless the burns are deep, no 
 other application is needed. The dry flour, like the water, causes in- 
 stant and perfect relief from pain by totally excluding the air from 
 the injured parts, and is one of the most admirable remedies known. 
 
 POISONS AND ANTIDOTES. 
 
 Prompt application of the simple antidotes here recommended would 
 every year save thousands of valuable lives from the fatal effects of 
 poison. As you value your own life, as you love the devoted wife and 
 dear children whom God has given you, we beseech you treasure in 
 your mind and teach to every member of your household of sufficient 
 years, the simple but invaluable directions which we here give. Let 
 every one be made perfectly familiar with them at once, so that in case 
 of need there shall be no unnecessary delay, and consequent sacrifice 
 of life. 
 
 If any poison is swallowed, drink instantly a glass of water with a 
 heaping teaspoonful each of common salt and ground mustard stirred in- 
 to it; this vomits as soon as it reaches the stomach ; but for fear some 
 of the poison may still remain, swallow the white of one or two raw 
 eggs or drink a cup of strong coffee, these two being antidotes for a 
 greater number of poisons than any dozen other articles known, witn 
 the advantage of there being always at hand ; if not, a half pint of 
 sweet oil or lamp oil, or “ drippings,” or melted butter or lard are 
 good substitutes, especially if they vomit quickly. Two teaspoonfuls 
 of mustard in place of one each of mustard and salt will answer, 
 though they are not as good. And sweet milk or cream may be used 
 instead of the coffee if that cannot be had. 
 
 The antidote of a poison is that which renders it instantly harmless ; 
 this it does by converting the elements or ingredients of the poison 
 into new compounds, which are wholly innocuous. But in all these 
 cases, the benefits to be derived from the employment of an antidote ; 
 are proportioned to the instantaneousness of the application ; the im- 
 portance of this is very generally understood, but it serves to deprive 
 friends of all presence of mind ; they are thrown into such a flurry, 
 as to be incapable of connected thought, or efficient action. It may 
 
ACCIDENTS AND EMERGENCIES. 
 
 1009 
 
 therefore save many a human life, if the reader will impress upon his 
 mind two or three general principles. It is true, that 11 every bane 
 has its antidote,” but as there are hundreds of poisons, and the mem- 
 ory would be over- taxed with an antidote for each, it is agreeable to 
 note that some substances are perfect antidotes against a dozen poi- 
 sons ; and it is fortunate, too, that these substances are almost always 
 at hand, even in the poorest households. Strong coffee ; salt and 
 mustard ; white of eggs ; any kind of domestic oil, lard or grease — 
 these four things antagonize almost all ordinary poisons. If the read- 
 er will bear this in mind, he can be happily and efficiently calm, under 
 almost any circumstances of poison, in which he is likely to be placed. 
 
 1. Prevention is best. No poisonous substance should be allowed 
 in any household for one single instant, after it is out of the hand ; 
 whatever has been left after use, should be at once thrown into the 
 sink, or carried out into the street or road, broken, poured out or scat- 
 tered. 
 
 2. The very moment you see anything in a paper or bottle or other 
 vessel, without a mark showing what it is, empty it without a mo- 
 ment s delay into the sink ; this is safer than throwing it into the fire, 
 for it may be inflammable or explosive, and cause much mischief. 
 
 3. Never take, taste, or give anything, whether powder or fluid in 
 the dark, or without looking deliberately at the label, in a clear light, 
 although you may have put the vessel or paper down with your own 
 hand, a minute before. 
 
 But from inattention, recklessness, or design, poisons will sometimes 
 be swallowed, and the truly wise will inform themselves beforehand, 
 as to the best means of procedure. 
 
 1. Send for a physician. Meanwhile, remember that the effect of 
 administered poison is instantaneous, or comes on slowly. If instan- 
 taneous, the patient immediately cries out with the sensation of heat 
 or burning, or scalding at any point from mouth to stomach ; the pre- 
 sumption then is, that some corrosive poison has been taken ; some- 
 thing which eats or destroys or disorganizes the muscles or fleshy 
 parts of the tongue, mouth, throat, stomach, etc ; most poisonous sub- 
 stances of this sort are acids, and the first best remedy likely to be at 
 hand, is common soap dissolved in water, or soda or saleratus or mag- 
 nesia; but in the hurry of inexpert hands the remedy may be made 
 so strong as to become of itself another poison, hence it is best to take 
 the simplest thing which is most likely to be at hand, and which can 
 not injure in any quantity or strength in which it can be taken ; 
 hence for poisons which, cause an instantaneous sensation of burning 
 
101C 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 in the throat, etc., drink a teacupful of sweet oil or lard or grease of 
 any sort; the most that can happen from an over amount is that it 
 will be vomited up, and this brings more or less of the poison out of 
 the stomach ; then you can more leisurely drink magnesia-water or 
 strong soap-suds, or a tablespoonful of wood-ashes, put in half a pint 
 of lukewarm water, stir, let it settle two minutes, pour it off and drink. 
 
 If a powder has caused the urgent sensations, the most generally 
 applicable antidote is to swallow one or two raw eggs ; the white is 
 the efficient part, but there may not be time to, separate the yelk; 
 this is best in poisons from arsenic, corrosive sublimate, verdigris, 
 creosote, etc. 
 
 If the effect is not instantaneous, and time may be taken, the first 
 best thing to be done in all cases is to get the poison out of the stom- 
 ach instantly, by swallowing every five minutes a tea cup of warm 
 water into which has been stirred a full teaspoon each of common salt, 
 and ground kitchen-mustard ; there is vomiting almost as soon as it 
 reaches the stomach; then drink a cup or two of very strong coffee, 
 which is the best remedy for all anodyne poisons, as opium, morphine, 
 laudanum, etc., etc. In short, if the sufferings are instantaneous and 
 urgent, drink sweet oil or soapsuds; if gradual or causing drowsiness, 
 mustard emetic, strong coffee or white of eggs. 
 
 For Poison Vines, Ivy, etc . — It is said that persons liable to be thus 
 poisoned may escape by washing previous to exposure with lye from 
 wood ashes. Washing thoroughly soon after in cold water is said to 
 be a preventive. The sooner the better. Washing in hot water soon 
 after contact with the ivy, &c., is regarded as a perfect preventive. 
 The application of a paste made of gunpowder, or sulphur x with milk, 
 is an effectual remedy. Benew night and morning, until cured. Live 
 on gruel, soups, rice, and other mild food, having the bowels to act 
 twice a day. A newspaper correspondent says, I have twice cured 
 myself when poisoned with ivy, by immersing the poisoned parts in 
 soft soap for thirty minutes. The first time I tried this I merely put 
 my feet in the soap because it made them feel better. The second 
 time, it being on my hands, I put them in soap to cure them, and it 
 did it. It is the three leaved ivy that is p'oison. The five leaved va- 
 riety is innocent, and it is said a perfect antidote for the poison of the 
 three leaved variety. Chew the leaves of the five leaved ivy and rub 
 the juice on the poisoned parts. It has been known to stop the itch- 
 ing at once and effect a permanent cure. 
 
 Poisoned Atmosphere. — Dr. Kichardson, an English chemist, says 
 that iodine, placed in a small box, with a perforated Ud ; destroys or- 
 
ACCIDENTS AND EMEBGENCIES. 
 
 1011 
 
 ganic poison in rooms. During the continuance of an epidemic small 
 pox in London he saw the method used with benefit. 
 
 POISONOUS BITES AND STINGS. 
 
 If there is no sore about the mouth or lips suck the poison out of 
 the wound as soon as it is made, and spit it out, for some minutes in 
 succession ; or, better still, wash the parts most freely with spirits of 
 hartshorn, (an ounce vial of which should' be considered one of the 
 indispensables in traveling,) because that is an alkali, and the bites 
 and stings of reptiles and insects are acid, hence are nullified by the 
 strong alkali. If there is no hartshorn at hand, make an alkali by 
 wetting fresh wood ashes with water and apply it to the wound as a 
 poultice, renewing it every half-hour until relieved. Strong alkaline 
 washes instantly applied are believed to be a perfect preventive of 
 serious harm from all bites and stings, except from a mad dog or 
 rabid creature. 
 
 Snake Bites . — Turpentine is said to be a sure cure for the bite of a 
 snake. It should be put in a bottle, and the mouth being placed over 
 the spot, the liquid brought directly in contact with the wound by 
 inverting the bottle, which should be held there until relief is ob- 
 tained. A complete alleviation of pain has been known to ensue in 
 less than a quarter of an hour. Plantain leaves and lobelia leaves 
 are considered an antidote for the bite or sting of venomous animals 
 — twice as much of the former as the latter mixed with boiling water, 
 and when cool, bound on the affected part. A toad after being bitten 
 by a snake was seen to immediately eat of the plantain leaf — the toad 
 being repeatedly bitten as often resorted immediately to the plantain, 
 when the plantain being removed and the toad again bitten, it sought 
 the leaf and not finding it almost instantly died. 
 
 Bite of a Rattlesnake Cured in two Hours . — The Petersburg Ex- 
 press publishes the following from a reliable correspondent : “ A car- 
 penter, while engaged in pulling down an old house, and in removing 
 some of the rotten timbers near the ground, was bitten by a rattle- 
 snake. In a few moments his finger was swollen to four times its nat- 
 ural size, and a red streak commenced running up his hand and wrist. 
 A deadly languor came upon him, and his vision grew dim, clearly 
 indicating that the subtle poison was rapidly approaching the citadel 
 of life. But a remedy was tried merely by way of experiment, which 
 to the surprise of all present, acted like a charm, the component parts 
 of which were, onions, tobacco and salt of equal parts, made into a 
 
1012 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPEDIA. 
 
 poultice and applied to the wound, and at the same time a cord was 
 bound tightly about the wrist. In two hours afterwards he had so 
 far recovered as to be able to resume his work. I knew an old negro 
 who cured a boy that had been bitten by a mad dog, by the same ap- 
 plication.” 
 
 Bee Stings . — First pull out the sting, then bathe the place with ice 
 water, or spirits of hartshorn, or acetate of lead. A paste made of 
 saleratus and water, or a strong solution of potash, or of the carbonate 
 of soda applied immediately and repeated so as to keep the part moist, 
 will allay the pain in a few seconds of time. Those handling bees 
 should keep one of these preparations at hand so as to apply it in- 
 stantly. 
 
 Bites of Venomous Flies . — The venom of fly bites proceeds from the 
 virus the flies absorb in feeding upon putrescent animal matter. If 
 neglected these sometimes prove even fatal. Make a poultice of 
 bread, softened with a strong decoction of mallows, and when it is 
 ready to put upon the bite, pour upon it two teaspoonfuls of the oxy- 
 chloride of sodium, and apply immediately. The cure is effectual. 
 
 Bite of Mosquitos, §c . — Oil of pennyroyal, rubbed on the face, 
 hands, and parts exposed, is said to be a preventive for the bite of 
 gnats and mosquitos. It should be properly diluted with some sort 
 of spirits, as if used in its concentrated state, it will cause the skin to 
 smart for a while. This preparation seems to be highly offensive to 
 their gnat and mosquitoships, and they leave in disgust. 
 
 TO EEMOVE INSECTS FEOM THE NOSE AND EARS. 
 
 Insects are removed from the nose and ears by spirting in water 
 from the mouth ; sweet oil with a syringe is as good, if at hand. 
 
 HYDROPHOBIA. 
 
 No person who has seen a case of hydrophobia can ever forget the 
 painful scene. Of all the maladies to which human beings are ex- 
 posed, this is perhaps the most mysterious, and it is surrounded with 
 a dreadful interest. As there is a great deal of popular fallacy afloat 
 respecting it, every item of reliable information and every gleam of 
 light which can be thrown on the subject, deserve to be collected and 
 placed before the public. 
 
 Many current ideas on this malady are not only inaccurate, but 
 dangerously wrong. For example : it is commonly believed that ra^ 
 
ACCIDENTS AND EMERGENCIES. 
 
 1013 
 
 Lies in dogs is peculiar to the warm months — the “ dog days ” — but 
 the dog days have no more to do with rabies than the moon with lu- 
 nacy. In the veterinary schools of France, the records kept respect- 
 ing the cause of hydrophobia show that a majority of cases have oc- 
 curred not in the hottest, but wettest months. In April, November 
 and December double the number of cases occurred as compared with 
 J uly and August. It is also supposed that all mad dogs foam at the 
 mouth, and that they, run about snapping at man and beast, manifest- 
 ing great ferocity. There is only one stage of rabies in dogs in which 
 they foam at the mouth, while healthy dogs foam frequently. Gentle 
 dogs, when affected with rabies, are generally gentle to their masters, 
 but they will then snap at other dogs ; it is only the ferocious dog that 
 shows very great fierceness when rabid. It is also a popular belief 
 that dogs attacked with rabies are afraid of water ; hence, the name 
 hydrophobia (horror of water,) has been given to the malady. This 
 is a misnomer, and the popular notion respecting it is a dangerous er- 
 ror. A burning thirst is one of the characteristic symptoms of rabies 
 in its earlier stages, and when a dog laps water or plunges into it, it 
 is no sign, as some suppose, that he has not the disease. In man, 
 during the latter stages of the disease, there is an undefinable dread 
 of water, and hydrophobia is not inappropriate when applied to him ; 
 but in dogs, a dread of water does not show itself in one out of fifty 
 cases. 
 
 All who are in charge of a dog may, by a little attention, discover 
 the early symptoms of rabies, and prevent any mischief by sequestra- 
 ting the animal in time. Is he fidgety and sullen ? Does he, when 
 first ill, manifest importunate affection? Is he affected with halluci- 
 nation ? Does he exhibit ardent thirst ? Does he scratch his ear 
 violently ? and does he paw the corners of his mouth without keeping 
 his mouth permanently open ? Does he refuse his natural food, and 
 exhibit a depraved appetite ? Is he insensible to pain, and his voice 
 strangely altered ? Any one of these symptoms should awaken sus- 
 picion, and a close observation will soon discover the true state of the 
 case. We advise all our readers to commit this information respect- 
 ing the symptoms to memory, as it may be of paramount importance 
 at some future period. 
 
 The poison of rabie, is not communicated by contagion, but innocu- 
 lation with the saliva. One mysterious feature connected with this 
 poison, is that after being bitten it may remain in the system for 
 nearly a year before it develops itself. How it thus remains inert is 
 unknown. When a person is bitten by a dog supposed to be mad, 
 
1014 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 the only safe course to pursue is to cauterize the wound at once. It 
 is a consoling fact that only one out of every three persons bitten by 
 mad dogs have become affected with hydrophobia ; still the malady is 
 so terrible and treacherous that every caution should be used at all 
 seasons of the year to prevent it. 
 
 Treatment . — Medical authorities agree that the only certain pre- 
 ventive, in case of a bite from a rabid animal, is cutting out and cau- 
 terizing the wound. Any one bitten by a dog suspected of rabies, 
 should immediately burn or cut out the affected part. It is best to 
 employ a skillful physician or surgeon to perform this. And it should 
 be done with the least possible delay. While the surgeon is being 
 called, let the wound first be thoroughly washed out with Aqua Am- 
 monia, or if that is not at hand, and there is no drug store near where 
 it may be obtained, then use strong ley, or a strong solution of sale- 
 ratus. 
 
 Various antidotes have been recommended, yet we can not vouch 
 for their efficacy. A new cure has been discovered, in England, in 
 the common nitrate of silver. It is said to decompose the saliva, and 
 neutralize the virus. The best form of application is to introduce the 
 solid substance into the wound as soon as possible after the bite. 
 
 It is also said that a strong decoction of the bark of the Black Ash 
 tree (that of the root is best,) drank freely as soon as possible, and 
 frequently, is an effectual remedy with man and animal for bite of 
 mad dog ; also for bite of the rattlesnake. The bark of the White 
 Ash root to be used in the same manner is said to be equally effective. 
 
 The Liepsic, Germany, Journal publishes the following antidote for 
 the bite of a mad dog, which, it says, was an exclusive secret with a 
 Saxon forester, but who growing old was unwilling to let it die with 
 him, and therefore procured its publication. He is said to have used 
 it for fifty years, and rescued many human beings and cattle from the 
 fearful death of hydrophobia. Take immediately warm vinegar or 
 tepid water ; wash the wound clean therewith, and then dry it ; then 
 pour upon the wound a few drops of hydrochloric acid, because miner- 
 al adds destroy the poison of the saliva, by which means the latter is 
 neutralized. 
 
 A French paper notices a new remedy for hydrophobia — simply hot 
 water. A German veterinary surgeon of Madgeburgh, named Hilde- 
 brand, has ascertained that hot water has the effect of decomposing 
 the virus, and if applied in time renders cauterization unnecessary. 
 He says that all that ls to be done, after well bathing the part, is to 
 
ACCIDENTS AND EMERGENCIES. 
 
 1015 
 
 apply a solution of caustic potash to the wound with a brush, and af- 
 terwards annoint it with antimony ointment. 
 
 It is claimed that a man was cured of hydrophobia in Italy lately 
 by swallowing vinegar, in mistake for a medicinal potion. A physi- 
 cian at Padua heard of this, and tried the remedy on a patient, he 
 gave him a pint of vinegar in the morning, another at noon, and a 
 third at sunset, which cured him. 
 
 TREATMENT OF WOUNDS. 
 
 “ The wound,” said Lord Bacon, “is not dangerous, unless we poison 
 it with our remedies,” This has a very general, if not a universal ap- 
 plication. Nine times out of ten, a wound will heal quicker if done 
 up in its own blood, than in any other way. 
 
 First, When the skin is smoothly cut through with any sharp tool, 
 carefully close the wound immediately by wrapping a suitable cloth 
 around it, and be sure to not wet or disturb it for one week, and if it. 
 is not a very severe wound it will be entirely cured. This is termed 
 “ healing by first intention.” 
 
 Second, If the flesh is torn as by a saw or rasp, then be sure to 
 pare off every particle of loose skin and flesh, close the wound by ap- 
 plying a plaster of egg salve made as follows : — beat the yelk of an 
 egg with warm lard until well mixed. If it be a bad wound it will 
 need a careful washing once or twice a day with a very soft rag or 
 sponge, using Castile soap. These wounds need to heal by what is 
 termed “ inflammation, suppuration and granulation.” 
 
 Third, If the skin is but slightly torn, be sure to remove, as in the 
 preceding case, every particle of loose skin, and you need not tie it 
 up, neither will any trouble be experienced from it, especially if a 
 little ear wax (what every person has at hand) is rubbed over it 
 carefully and thoroughly. I have never found any other dressing 
 equal to this. 
 
 Fourth, If the finger or toe nail is torn loose from the flesh by a 
 splinter or anything else, pare the nail till the last separated particle 
 is taken off, and it will soon get well if it is tied up so as to keep the 
 dirt and air from it. 
 
 Fifth, If the nail is mashed so as to make a blood blister under it, 
 then carefully cut or bore through the nail into the blister, so as 
 to let out the bruised blood, and it will give relief and soon get well. 
 
 Sixth, If the nail grows into the flesh, rasp or scrape the nail all 
 over so as to make it as thin as possible and keep it so until the nail 
 
1016 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 grows as long as the toe ; having once got the nail on the surface, 
 keep it so by never paring it only even with the end of the toe. While 
 the nail is growing, a wad of cotton or tow may be placed between 
 the toes a little back of the sore part. 
 
 The above should be strictly observed. 
 
 The most universally safe position, after all stunnings, hurts and 
 wounds, is that of being placed on the back, the head being elevated 
 three or four inches only ; aiding more than any one thing else can do, 
 to equalize and restore the proper circulation of the blood. 
 
 To Stop Bleeding . — This is the first thing to be done. The best 
 thing to stop the bleeding of a moderate cut instantly, is to cover it 
 profusely with cobweb, or flour and salt, half and half. It is new to 
 many, yet not to all, that a handful of flour bound on to a wound will 
 prevent the blood from flowing. Thousands of men who have bled to 
 death on the battle field, would have been saved if they had had a 
 handful of flour in their sacks, and bound it on their wound with their 
 handkerchief. 
 
 The nap from a wool hat applied to a wound will stop its bleeding. 
 
 Take the finest dust of tea, or the scrapings of the inside of tanned 
 leather, and bind it close upon the wound, and blood will soon cease 
 to flow. These articles are at all times accessible, and easy to be ob- 
 tained. After the blood has ceased to flow, laudanum may be advan- 
 tageously applied to the wound. Due regard to these instructions will 
 save agitation of mind, and running for the surgeon, who would 
 probably make no better prescription, if present. 
 
 Punk, found in old trees, and obtained by splitting the wood that 
 has it in, and peeling it off with the fingers, when rubbed up with the 
 hand, and applied s to wounds, will stop the blood immediately, and 
 without pain or irritation. 
 
 Take dried and pulverized leaves of common tall wild sun-flower — 
 helianthus giganteus. Sprinkle a small quantity into a wound, and 
 the blood will cease to flow almost instantly, unless an artery is sev- 
 ered. The plant grows to the height of six or eight feet. Continued 
 pressure with a bunch of lint or cotton, a piece of linen, or a soft 
 sponge frequently checks bleeding. Cold water applied freely is often 
 sufficient. A solution of salt or alum' in water is perhaps better. A 
 decoction of white oak bark is also useful. 
 
 F our or five drops of perchloride of iron will check completely the 
 flow of blood from all except the largest arteries ; half a teaspoonful 
 will arrest even their bleeding. 
 
 If from any wound the blood spirts out in jets, instead of a steady 
 
ACCIDENTS AND EMERGENCIES. 
 
 1017 
 
 stream, be spry, or the person will be dead in a few minutes, because 
 an artery is severed, and that takes the blood directly from the foun- 
 tain of life. To stop this instantly, tie a handkerchief or other cloth 
 very loosely between the wound and the heart ! put a stick between 
 the handkerchief and the skin, twist it round until the bleeding ceases, 
 and keep it thus until the doctor comes ; if in a position where the 
 handkerchief cannot be used, press the thumb on a spot near the 
 wound, between the wound and the heart ; increase the pressure until 
 the bleeding ceases, but do not lessen that pressure for an instant, un- 
 til the physician arrives, so as to glue up the wound by the coagula- 
 tion or hardening of the cooling blood. 
 
 If the blood flows in a slow, regular stream, a vein has been pierc- 
 ed, and the handkerchief must be applied on the other side of tho 
 wound from the heart ; that is, below the wound, and there is no need 
 of so great hurry. 
 
 A Sovereign Remedy for Wounds is recommended in the following 
 as a certain means of allaying inflammation, extracting the poisonous 
 effect of iron, steel, etc., preventing lock-jaw, mortification, and the 
 necessity for amputation. Saturate small pieces of rags of woolen 
 material, (raveling of hose or flannel,) with grease, (lard or sweet oil,) 
 which place upon ignited wood, coal, or charcoal, in an iron kettle, so 
 that they smoke without blazing. Hold the wound over the smoke 
 if convenient, covering the whole with a blanket to condense the 
 smoke upon the wound. The kettle should be in or near a chimney, 
 or the windows open at the top to prevent the deadly effect of inhal- 
 ing the smoke. 
 
 “ I cut my foot with an ax,” says a correspondent of the Country 
 Gentleman , and the lady of the house, seizing the foot while it was 
 yet bleeding freely, held it over a pan containing smoking taglocks. 
 In a few minutes the bleeding stopped, and the smoke was removed 
 and a bandage applied to protect it from accidental blows. The wound 
 never suppurated, and consequently never pained me. I have seen 
 the remedy tried in many similar cases, and always with the same re- 
 sult. Let the reader bear in mind that no liniment or salve, drawing 
 or healing, should be applied. You have merely to smoke the wound 
 well and nature will do the rest. I suppose the smoke of burning 
 wood would produce the same results, but it would not be so manage- 
 ble. There is a principle in the smoke of wool which, when applied 
 to the flesh coagulates the albumen, thus rendering it unsusceptible 
 of putrefaction. The same principle stops bleeding by coagulating 
 
1018 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 the blood. It promotes healing, and may be applied with decided 
 benefit to ad ulcers, wounds and cutaneous diseases.” 
 
 Tobacco Smoke as a Remedy. — The Louisiana Baptist recommends 
 tobacco smoke as a highly valuable remedial agent in the treatment 
 of flesh wounds, lock-jaw, etc., the smoke to be blown upon the affec- 
 ted part through a pipe stem. Many persons are aware of the heal- 
 ing virtues of tobacco when applied moist to a wound. 
 
 Coal Oil for Wounds. — An assistant surgeon in the army writing 
 from James River says, that what water is to a wound in an inflamed 
 state, coal oil is in a suppurating state — it dispels flies, expels vermin, 
 sweetens the wound, and promotes a healthy granulation. He states 
 that he has seen two patients, whose wounds had been dressed 
 with it, asleep before he was through with the third. This is a reme- 
 dy easily applied in our hospitals. If it serves to keep away flies it 
 will add materially to the comfort of the wounded as well as their 
 cure. 
 
 Gangrene. — An ointment composed of equal parts of lard and ex- 
 tract, of logwood, is said to have been employed with extraordinary 
 success in removing fetid odors, and bringing about healthy action in 
 sloughing and gangrenous wounds. Recent demonstrations have shown 
 oxygen to be an effectual remedy for gangrene. 
 
 A Good Healing Ointment for Wounds is made as follows: Take a 
 quarter of an ounce of white wax, and half an ounce of spermaceti, 
 and put them in a small basin by the side of the fire, till the wax and 
 spermaceti are dissolved. When cold, the ointment is ready for use. 
 This is an article which it is much better to make than to purchase. 
 When you make it yourself, you know that it has no irritating or in- 
 ferior material in it. 
 
 To Unite Deep Wounds an adhesive plaster may be used in place 
 of stitches, made of white resin, mutton tallow and beeswax, in the 
 proportion of fourteen ounces of the former to one ounce each of the 
 latter, melted together, poured into cold water, then pulled and work- 
 ked, and rolled into sticks. 
 
 HEMORRHAGE OF THE LUNGS. 
 
 To stop hemorrhage of the lungs, stir quickly a large tablespoonful 
 of fine salt into half a glass of cold water, and once in every five 
 minutes drink a swallow. At the same time cool the chest, with ap- 
 plications of cloths wrung out of cold water, and keep quiet, breath- 
 ing regularly, and as gently as possible. An erect posture is gener- 
 
1019 
 
 ACCIDENTS AND EMERGENCIES 
 
 I 
 
 ally preferable. A teaspoonful of dry salt taken occasionally is some- 
 times sufficient. Bathing the feet in warm water, and sponging the 
 whole body with either warm or cold water, adding gentle friction, are 
 beneficial. 
 
 NOSE BLEEDING. 
 
 The best preventive is keeping the feet warm and head cool. Bath- 
 ing the feet in warm water is a remedy. Applying cold water to the 
 back of the neck, or a cold pebble just taken from the bottom of a 
 stream, at the same time snuffing water up the nostrils, is another 
 remedy. Fill the nostril full, as far up as possible, with very dry, 
 hard smoked beef grated to a fine powder is a never failing remedy, 
 for the secret of which a gentleman in New York paid five hundred 
 dollars. 
 
 It is said that, extraordinary as it may appear, by placing a small 
 roll of paper or muslin above the front teeth, under the upper lip and 
 pressing hard on the same, bleeding from the nose will certainly be 
 arrested ; also that if a piece of paper be put in the mouth and chew- 
 ed rapidly it will stop the bleeding. Doubtless any substance would 
 answer the same purpose as paper. 
 
 Dr. Negler, a French surgeon, says that the simple elevation of a 
 person’s arm will stop bleeding at the nose. He explains the fact 
 physically, and declares it a positive remedy. It is certainly easy of 
 trial. 
 
 SUN STROKE. 
 
 Avoid hearty meals and spirituous liquors before being exposed to 
 a hot sun. Then sun stroke may be prevented by wearing a silk 
 handkerchief in the hat, a few green leaves, a dampened sponge, or a 
 white linen hood hat-cover, extending like a cap over the neck and 
 shoulders. Or retire to the shade frequently and keep the head wet 
 with cold water as much as possible. The remedy for sun stroke is to 
 restore the equilibrium of the circulation as soon as possible by imme- 
 diately loosening the clothes about the neck, removing the patient in- 
 to a cool shade, pouring cold water on the head, a little and gently at 
 first, gradually increasing it, and bathing the feet in water as hot as 
 can be borne, or if that cannot be had, whipping the soles of the feet 
 smartly with the sole of the shoe, to determine the blood in that di- 
 rection. 
 
1020 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 FAINTING. 
 
 If a man faint away, says Hall's Journal of Health, instead of yel- 
 ling out like a savage, or running to him to lift him up, lay him at 
 full length, on his back, on the floor, loosen the clothing, push the 
 crowd away so as to allow the air to reach him, and let him alone. 
 Dashing water over a person in a simple fainting fit, is a barbarity. The 
 philosophy of a fainting fit is, that the heart fails to send the proper 
 supply of blood to the brain ; if the person is erect, that blood has to 
 be thrown up hill ; but if lying down, it has to be projected horizon- 
 tally, which requires less power, as is apparent. 
 
 Apply spirits of hartshorn or camphor to the nose. 
 
 BRUISES AND SPRAINS. 
 
 For bruises, mix beef’s gall and whisky, equal parts, and apply 
 it freely, and it will not only kill the pain, but cause it to heal 
 speedily. 
 
 For sprains, put the white of an egg into a saucer, stir it with a 
 piece of alum until it becomes a thick jelly ; apply a portion of this on 
 a piece of soft linen rag, large enough to cover the sprained part ; 
 change it for a fresh ‘one as often as it becomes warm or dry ; the 
 limb should be kept in a horizontal position by placing it in a chair. 
 There is but one thing that is better and that is simply cold water. 
 
 The means of treating sprain, recently revived by Mr. Gerard, is 
 frequently had recourse to by M. Nelaton, the eminent surgeon of 
 the Clinique Hospital, Paris, with complete success, both in recent and 
 old standing sprains. A case recently presented itself, in which a man 
 sprained his ankle while leaping. Cold water was immediately ap- 
 plied, but he remained unable to walk for three weeks, when he came 
 under FTelaton’s care; It having been ascertained to be an example 
 of simple sprain, one of the internes slid his fingers under the foot, 
 and having greased the two thumbs, pressed these successively with 
 increasing force over the painful parts for about a quarter of an hour. 
 The application was repeated several times, and in the course of the 
 day the patient began to walk, and the next day left the hospital. 
 This is a most simple cure for a very frequent accident, and can be 
 applied by the most inexperienced. 
 
ACCIDENTS AND EMERGENCIES 
 
 1021 
 
 DROWNING. 
 
 Let every reader become perfectly familiar with the following means 
 of resuscitation. In every case of apparent drowning : 
 
 1. Send instantly for a medical man, and while he is coming, place 
 the patient in the open air, unless the weather is very cold ; expose 
 the face and chest especially to the breeze. 
 
 2. To clear the throat — Place the patient gently face downward, 
 with one wrist under the forehead, in which position all fluids will 
 escape by the mouth, and the tongue itself will fall forward, leaving 
 the entrance into the windpipe free. Assist this operation by wiping 
 and cleansing the mouth. If there be breathing, wait and watch ; if * 
 not, or if it fail, then, 
 
 3. To excite respiration — Turn the patient well and instantly on 
 the side, and 
 
 4. Excite the nortrils with snuff, hartshorn, volatile salts, or the 
 throat with a feather, etc., and dash cold water on the face, previous- 
 ly rubbed warm. If there be no success, lose not a moment, but in- 
 stantly begin, 
 
 5. To imitate respiration — Keplace the patient on his face, rais- 
 ing and supporting the chest well on a folded coat or other article of 
 dress. 
 
 6. Turn the body very gently on the side and a little beyond, and 
 then briskly on the face, alternately ; repeating these measures de- 
 liberately, efficiently, and perse veringly, about fifteen times in the 
 minute, or every four seconds, occasionally varying the side. [By 
 placing the patient on the chest, its cavity is compressed by the 
 weight of the body, and expiration takes place ; when turned on the 
 side, this pressure is removed, and inspiration occurs.] 
 
 7. On each occasion that the body is replaced on the face, make 
 uniform but efficient pressure with brisk movement on the back, be- 
 tween and below the shoulder-blades or bones, on each side, removing 
 the pressure immediately before turning the body on the side. 
 
 8. After respiration has been restored, promote the warmth of the 
 body by the application of hot flannels, bottles or bladders of hot wa- 
 ter, heated bricks, etc., to the stomach, the arm-pits, between the 
 thighs, and to the soles of the feet, to induce circulation and warmth. 
 
 9. During the whole time do not cease to rub the limbs upward, 
 with firm,. grasping pressure, and with energy, using handkerchiefs, 
 flannels, etc. 
 
1022 
 
 PEACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 10. Let the limbs be thus warmed and dried, and then clothed, the 
 bystanders supplying the requisite garments. 
 
 Cautions. — 1. Send quickly for medical assistance and for dry cloth- 
 ing. 2. Avoid all rough usage and turning the body on the hack. 
 3. Under no circumstances hold up the body by the feet ; 4. Nor roll 
 the body on casks; 5. Nor rub the body with salts or spirits; 6. Nor 
 inject tobacco smoke or infusion of tobacco. 7. Avoid the continuous 
 warm bath. 8. Be particularly careful, in every case, to prevent per- 
 sons crowding around the body. 
 
 General Observations . — On the restoration of life, a teaspoonful of 
 warm water should be given ; and then, if the power of swallowing 
 has returned, small quantities of wine or brandy and water, warm, or 
 coffee. The patient should be kept in bed, and a disposition to sleep 
 encouraged. The treatment recommended should be persevered in 
 for a considerable time, as it is an erroneous opinion that persons are 
 irrecoverable because life does not soon make its appearance, cases 
 having been successfully treated after persevering several hours. 
 
 In endeavoring to rescue a drowning person, take him by the arwj 
 from behind, between the elbow and the shoulder. A good swimmer 
 can, by “ treading water,” catch both arms thus, and keep the per- 
 son from going under for an hour, the very struggles of the victim 
 aiding in buoying him up, for his feet then are mainly engaged, and 
 he also, to that extent, “treads water.” If a drowning person is 
 seized anywhere else, he is pretty sure to clutch with a death-grip, 
 and both perish. 
 
 Any one can remain for hours in water, whether he can swim or 
 not, by clasping his hands behind him, throwing himself on his back, 
 so as to allow only his nose to be out of the water ; a very little pres- 
 ence of mind, force of will, and confidence, will enable any one to as- 
 sume this position. 
 
 LIGHTNING STEOKE. 
 
 In a thunder storm you are safer wet than dry, and safer amongst 
 tall, dry, and rotten or mechanical substances than' alone, provided you 
 are not very close to them. Within doors you are safest on a feather 
 bed, drawn out from the wall, and away from the chimney, also from 
 the window. If sitting upon a chair it is safest to be in the middle 
 of the room with your feet on the rounds. A dark room is safer than 
 a light one. But all precautions may fail. People are nowhere 
 
ACCIDENTS AND EMERGENCIES. 
 
 1023 
 
 more safe than in the street. The chimney-tops are their lightning 
 rods. 
 
 In a case of apparent death from lightning, dash cold water upon 
 the head and along the back the whole length of the body. Do this 
 immediately and almost continuously for considerable time. 
 
 ANTIDOTE TO CHLOROFORM. 
 
 A distinguished physician in Paris, Dr. Robert De Lambelle, an- 
 nounces that a shock of electricity given a patient dying from the ef- 
 fects of chloroform, immediately counteracts its influence, and restores 
 the sufferer to life. Another Parisian doctor claims to have discov- 
 ered that brandy or rum is the best antidote for chloroform, and that 
 it will at once counteract the effects of an overdose. 
 
 AIR-DAMP. 
 
 A workman descending a well which had been excavated, was over- 
 powered by the noxious gas, and became insensible. A light was let 
 down, and as immediately extinguished from the same cause, when 
 one of his comrades proposed to descend to his assistance, but was 
 prevented by the foreman, who wisely remarked that one man could 
 be rescued more easily than a couple. As speedily as possible he 
 procured a quantity of unslacked lime, which he cast into the pit, and 
 then dashed down a pail of water. The good effect was evident in a 
 brief space of time, for a pull at the rope was felt, and the man was 
 drawn to the surface, having fortunately escaped any ill consequences 
 from the remedy which had been used to dispel the carbonic acid gas. 
 
 ESCAPING FROM FIRE. 
 
 Human life has been often thrown away from persons not taking 
 the precaution to accustom their minds to dwell at times on the proper 
 method of acting in emergencies ; from want of this, many rush into 
 the very jaws of death, when a single moment’s calm reflection would 
 have pointed out a certain and easy means of escape. It is the more 
 necessary to fix in the mind a general course of action in case of being 
 in a house while it is on fire, since the most dangerous conflagrations 
 occur at dead of night, and at the moment of being aroused from a 
 sound sleep the brain is apt to become too confused to direct the bodily 
 movements with any kind of appropriateness, without some previous 
 
1024 
 
 PRACTICAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 
 
 preparation in the manner contained herein. In case the premises 
 are on fire : 
 
 1. Be careful to acquaint yourself with the best means of exit from 
 the house, both at the top and bottom. 
 
 2. On the first alarm, reflect before you act. If in bed at the time, 
 wrap yourself in a blanket or bedside carpet. Open no more doors 
 than are absolutely necessary, and shut every door after you. 
 
 3. There is always from eight to twelve inches of pure air close to 
 the ground; if you can not, therefore, walk upright through the 
 smoke, drop on your hands and knees, and thus progress. A wetted 
 silk handkerchief, a piece of flannel, or a worsted stocking, drawn 
 over the face, permits breathing, and, to a great extent, excludes the 
 smoke. 
 
 4. If 3 r ou can neither make your way upward nor downward, get 
 into a front room ; if there is a family, see that they are all collected 
 here, and keep the door closed as much as possible, for remember 
 that smoke always follows a draught, and fire always rushes after 
 smoke. 
 
 5. On no account throw yourself, or allow others to throw them- 
 selves. from the window. If no assistance is at hand, and you are in 
 extremity, tie the sheets together, having fastened one side to some 
 heavy piece of furniture, and let down the women and children one 
 by one, by tying the end of the line of sheets around the waist, and 
 lowering them through the window that is over the door, rather than 
 one that is over the area. You can easily let yourself down after the 
 helpless are saved. 
 
 6. If a womans clothes catch fire, let her instantly roll herself over 
 and over on the ground. If a man be present, let him throw her 
 down and do the like, and then wrap her up in a rug, coat, or the 
 first woolen thing that is at hand. 
 
 Of the preceding suggestions, there are two which cannot be too 
 deeply engraven on the mind, that the air is comparatively pure 
 within a foot of the floor, and that any wetted silk or woolen texture 
 thrown over the face excludes smoke to a great extent ; it is often 
 the case that the sleeper is awakened by the suffocating effects of 
 the smoke, and the very first effort should be to get rid of it, so as to 
 give time to compose the mind, and make some muscular effort to 
 escape. 
 
GENERAL INDEX 
 
 Page. 
 
 Accident!? and Emergencies 1003 
 
 Accounts, Farm 252 
 
 Acorns, Ale from 779 
 
 Action.. 195 
 
 Actions - 116 
 
 Adulterated Coffee and other Drinks. . . 776 
 
 Adulterations of Beer 782 
 
 of Butter, To Detect 761 
 
 of Liquors 805 
 
 ofTea 772 
 
 ASolian Harp, to Make 881 
 
 Agricultural Improvement, To Secure. 350 
 
 Ague and Fever 998 
 
 A Hint to Youth 70 
 
 Air-Damp 1023 
 
 Alabaster, Cements for 313, 314 
 
 Ornaments, to Make Weatherproof 325 
 
 To join 314 
 
 Alarm, Burglar 873 
 
 Ale from Acorns - 779 
 
 To make English Home Brewed. .. 778 
 
 To make good Home Brewed 778 
 
 Almond Paste, How to make 910, 911 
 
 Pudding 657 
 
 Soap 906 
 
 Alum in Cider 790 
 
 Amaurosis 924 
 
 Ambition, The Farmer’s 349 
 
 Amos Lawrence’s Maxims 233 Arnold’s Ink 
 
 Amusements, Household 874 Arrowroot Blanc Mange 
 
 Angel on Earth, The 61 
 
 Animals, Average Period of Gestation in 515 
 
 Daily Exercise of 455 
 
 Kindness to 478 
 
 Sick, Oat Straw as food for 475 
 
 Sprains in 460 
 
 To Produce either Sex at Will 473 
 
 Antidotes to Chloroform 1023 
 
 to Poisons 1008 
 
 Ants, Remedies for 520 
 
 Apartments, Cleaning Sides of 847 
 
 Appetite for Tobacco, Cure of. 1002 
 
 Apple Biscuit 606 
 
 Bread 602 
 
 Cranberry Jelly.... 681 
 
 Dumplings 662 
 
 Fritters 619 
 
 Jelly 680, 681 
 
 Pie 640 
 
 65 
 
 Page. 
 
 Apple Pie Melon, To Cook 587, 588 
 
 Pie, Pumpkin 640 
 
 Pie, Green, Substitute for 641 
 
 Pottage 597 
 
 Pudding 652 
 
 Puffs 641 
 
 Sauce and Butter 723 
 
 Sauce, A Substitute for 596 
 
 Slump 663 
 
 The 424 
 
 Tree Borer 527 
 
 Trees, Catterpillars in 527 
 
 Trees. To Destroy Bark Lice on... 528 
 
 Apples, Cooking 596 
 
 Dried 722 
 
 Frozen 597 
 
 Gathering and Keeping 719 
 
 How to Keep 717 
 
 in Cans 722 
 
 Long Keeping 427 
 
 Machine for Quartering 723 
 
 Picking 741 
 
 Preparing and Keeping for Market 722 
 
 To Make Wine of 800 
 
 Application 211 
 
 Aquariums 511 
 
 Architecture 245 
 
 Argument 96 
 
 Arms and Legs, Dress for 943 
 
 ■" “ ' . . 883 
 
 .. 669 
 
 Gruel 595 
 
 Arsenic in Dresses, A Test for 822 
 
 Artichokes, Cooking 584 
 
 Artificial Parchment, To Make 887 
 
 Asparagus, Cooking 584, 586, 587 
 
 Cultivating 397 
 
 Asthma or Phthisic 986 
 
 Atmosphere, Poisoned 1010 
 
 Ax, How to hang 333 
 
 Bachelor Buttons 634 
 
 Bacon, English Curing 691 
 
 How to Choose 557 
 
 Baked Fish 571 
 
 Potatoes 577 
 
 Baker’s Y arnish 607 
 
 Baking Meat 561 
 
1026 
 
 GENERAL INDEX. 
 
 Page 
 
 Baldness, Cure for 921 
 
 Balloon Pudding. 658 
 
 Bandolines, To Make 921 
 
 Bank Notes, to Detect Counterfeit and 
 
 Spurious 339 
 
 Lost, To find 243 
 
 Bannocks 614 
 
 Barley, Average yield per Acre. 372 
 
 Broth 594 
 
 Soup 593 
 
 Time required to germinate 375 
 
 Barnard Cake 633 
 
 Barn, The Cheapest 273 
 
 Barns, Tight 273 
 
 Barometer, The 900 
 
 Barrel of Flour, Quantity of wheat for. 514 
 
 Bathing and Swimming 947 
 
 Batter Cakes, Indian 613 
 
 Wheat flour 616 
 
 Pudding 648 
 
 Bean Flour for the Hands 913 
 
 Soup 592, 593 
 
 Beans, Average yield per acre 372 
 
 Baked 583 
 
 How to Cook 582 
 
 Lima, Cultivation of 388 
 
 Preserving Green. 707 
 
 Snap and Green Shell, To Preserve 712 
 
 Time required to germinate 375 
 
 To Cook green 503 
 
 To Cure 389 
 
 To "Pickle green 740 
 
 Bed Bugs 523 
 
 Clothes, Substitute for 866 
 
 Bedrooms, Size and Ventilation 257 
 
 Beds, Corn Husk 865 
 
 Feather, To Cleanse 850 
 
 of Beech Leaves 866 
 
 Straw 866 
 
 Beech Leaves, Beds of. 866 
 
 Beef, A la Mode 561 
 
 Dried or Jerked 696 
 
 How to Choose 555 
 
 Preservation of 695 
 
 Salted 696 
 
 Steak, Stuffed 564 
 
 To Prepare for drying 698 
 
 Beer, A Cheap 780 
 
 Adulterations of 782 
 
 and Wine Bottles, To clean 858 
 
 Cream 782 
 
 Ginger, To Make w... 781 
 
 Root, To Make * 782 
 
 Small, To Make 780 
 
 Spruce, To Make 780 
 
 To make in small quantities 779 
 
 Bee Hives, How 
 
 robbed 508 
 
 Painting 507 
 
 Size and Shape of. 506 
 
 Bee Pasturage 507 
 
 Stings 1012 
 
 The Queen 506 
 
 Bees, Effects of Chloroform on 50!) 
 
 Feeding 509 
 
 Hiving 507 
 
 Management cf 506 
 
 Page. 
 
 Beesj Remedies for robbing .-... 507 
 
 To preserve from Moths 538 
 
 Wintering 508 
 
 Beets, Cooking 584 
 
 How to grow 390 
 
 Time required to germinate 375 
 
 Beginnings 214 
 
 Belts, Crossed 332 
 
 Berry Pies 645 
 
 Beverages 768 
 
 National 769 
 
 Bible, The 73 
 
 Bilious Colic 975 
 
 Birds, Spare the 539 
 
 To prevent Cats killing...; 540 
 
 To protect Fruit from 539 
 
 Biscuit 605 
 
 Indian 613 
 
 Pudding 654 
 
 Bite of Mad Dog 1012 
 
 Bites and Stings, Poisonous 1011 
 
 of Venomous Flies 1012 
 
 Blackboards, To make 297 
 
 Blackberries, Preservation of 731 
 
 Blackberry Brandy 804 
 
 Cordial 802 
 
 Cultivation of the Soil 442 
 
 Flummery 686 
 
 Kinds recommended 444 
 
 Preparation of the Soil 442 
 
 Profitable yield 444 
 
 Pruning 443 
 
 Root Cordial 803 
 
 Time and Manner of planting 442 
 
 Wine 797, 798 
 
 Black Cake 635 
 
 Blacking, Day and Martin’s 826 
 
 for Harness 367 
 
 Liquid, 826 
 
 Paste 826 
 
 Black Pudding 653 
 
 Silk, To Remove Stains from 832 
 
 To Dye 808. 809 
 
 Walnut, Imitation of. 298 
 
 Walnuts, Shucking 733 
 
 Blanc Mange 668, 669 
 
 Bleaching Wood 297 
 
 Bleeding at the Nose 1019 
 
 To stop 1016 
 
 Blind Staggers in Hogs 449 
 
 Blistered Hands and Feet, Remedies for 915 
 
 Blonde, To wash 883 
 
 Bloody Milk in Cows... 472 
 
 Murrain in Cattle 480 
 
 Blotches, For Removing 909 
 
 Blue Color for Stamping 810 
 
 Ink, To make 883 
 
 To Dye 809, 810 
 
 Body and Mind 950 
 
 Vermin 524 
 
 Boiled Cider 798 
 
 Fish 571 
 
 Pudding 657 
 
 Boiler Maker’s Cement 318 
 
 Boiling Clothing 829 
 
 Meats 560 
 
 Potatoes 576 
 
GENERAL INDEX. 
 
 1027 
 
 Boils 994 
 
 Bologna Sausage 700 
 
 Bone, Cement for 316 
 
 Bones, Glue in 322 
 
 How to Dissolve and make super- 
 phosphate 359 
 
 Bonnets, To Sulphur 838 
 
 Borax, for Washing, Bleaching, <fcc. 846 
 
 Book Farming 349 
 
 Books, To remove stains and marks from 859 
 
 Boots and Shoes 825 
 
 Cement for thei Soles of. 316 
 
 Water proof Dressing for 826 
 
 Why should be Polished 825 
 
 Boot Soles, Waterproof for 827 
 
 Boquet, To Preserve 402 
 
 Bottles, Cleaning 858 
 
 To Dry 859 
 
 Bots in Horses 460 
 
 Bowels. The 976 
 
 Boxes, Ornamenting with Leaves 876 
 
 Boy, An Honest, Industrious Wanted. . 68 
 
 Father of the Man, The 67 
 
 that is Respected, The 68 
 
 The Pretentious 67 
 
 Boys, Give them Tools . . 69 
 
 To 65 
 
 Brandy, Blackberry 804 
 
 For Making 806, 807 
 
 Brass Letters, Cement for Sticking to 
 
 Window Glass 317 
 
 Mountings for Lamps, Cements for 315 
 
 Olive Bronze Dip for 305 
 
 Tinning 334 
 
 To Blacken 299 
 
 To Clean 852 
 
 Bread and Butter Pudding 648 
 
 Cake 619 
 
 Corn 610 
 
 Egg . 615 
 
 Home-Made cheaper than Baker’s. 599 
 
 Jelly 684 
 
 Making 598, 599 
 
 Pudding 648 
 
 Test for 603 
 
 The Staff of Life 598 
 
 To keep Soft... 603 
 
 Breakfast Cakes 617 
 
 Breath Tainted by Onions 914 
 
 Brick and Building 267 
 
 houses, to Protect against Damp.. 268 
 
 Induration of. 269 
 
 Making 268 
 
 Bridle Bits in Cold Weather 458 
 
 Bridles, Cleaning 368 
 
 Bright Side 205 
 
 Britania Metals, To Clean 852 
 
 Ware, To Clean 853 
 
 British Ink Powder 883 
 
 Broiled Fish 572 
 
 Broiling Meats 560 
 
 Bronchitis 987 
 
 Bronzes 305 
 
 Broom Corn Brush, To Bleach 323 
 
 Broth, Meat, To Preserve 701 
 
 Broths 594 
 
 Making 589 
 
 Page. 
 
 Brown Bread 60 1 
 
 To Dye 814 
 
 Windsor Soap 906 
 
 Brushes, Hair, Cleaning 860 
 
 Bruises and Sprains 1020 
 
 To take out of Furniture 849 
 
 Brussels Sprouts, To Cook 580 
 
 Buckeyed Cattle 482 
 
 Buckwheat as an Exterminator 381 
 
 Average yield per Acre 372 
 
 Bread 603 
 
 Cakes, Fine 615 
 
 Buff, To Dye 814 
 
 Bugs, To Protect Vines from 533 
 
 Building Houses 247 
 
 Materials 2(17 
 
 of Stone and Brick 267 
 
 Buildings and Building Materials 243 
 
 Bulbs in Dishes 875 
 
 Bunions, Cure for. 917 
 
 Buns, Tea 608 
 
 Burglar Alarm 873 
 
 Burglaries, To Prevent 873 
 
 Burning Fluid 552 
 
 to Death 1007 
 
 Burns and Scalds 1005 
 
 Bushel, Legal Weight of Agricultural 
 
 Products in different States 513 
 
 Measure, What is a 513 
 
 Number of Seeds in 514 
 
 Business 236 
 
 Men, Education of 81 
 
 Precepts, Hunt’s 230 
 
 Rules. 231 
 
 Butter, Clarified 761 
 
 Drawn. 664 
 
 Firkins, To Sweeten 761 
 
 How Goshen is Made 756 
 
 How to Make Yellow in Winter. . . 757 
 Inducements to Improve the Quali- 
 ty of. 751 
 
 Making 750 
 
 Making, Prize 754 
 
 Philadelphia 755 
 
 Pickle 760 
 
 Preserving while using from Firkins 759 
 
 Quantity of Milk for a pound 749 
 
 Requisites for Making Good 751 
 
 To Color Yellow 757 
 
 To Detect Adulteration of 761 
 
 To keep Cool without a Cellar 760 
 
 To keep Hard and Cool 760 
 
 To Make in Five Minutes without 
 
 a Churn 758 
 
 To Make in Winter.. 757 
 
 To Preserve 758 
 
 To Preserve for Cooking 760 
 
 To Preserve Without Salt 759 
 
 To Sweeten Rancid 768 
 
 Buttermilk, Preserving 747 
 
 Butternut Color 814 
 
 Buying Tools 331 
 
 C 
 
 Cabbage, Cultivation of 387 
 
 Plants, How to Raise 398 
 
GENERAL INDEX. 
 
 1028 
 
 Page. 
 
 Cabbage, Protecting from lice <fc worms 535 
 
 Salad 588 
 
 Salt for 387 
 
 Storing 387 
 
 Time Required to germinate 375 
 
 To Cook 579 
 
 To keep in Winter 709 
 
 To Pickle 740 
 
 Cake, Breakfast 609 
 
 Drop Short 609 
 
 Making 598 
 
 Pork.. 565 
 
 Strawberry Short 609 
 
 With or Without Eggs 624 
 
 Caked Udder of Cows, To Cure 472 
 
 Calcined Talc 905 
 
 Calfs Foot Jelly 684 
 
 Calmness 202 
 
 Camphor Balls 912 
 
 Ice 912 
 
 Soap 906 
 
 Storm Glass 901 
 
 Calves, Management of. 473 
 
 To Prevent Sucking Cows and each 
 
 other 473 
 
 To Teach to Drink 473 
 
 Canada Thistle, How to Kill 542 
 
 Canary Birds . 878 
 
 Cancer... 992 
 
 Candles and Oil, Cost of Compared 550 
 
 How to Improve 553 
 
 Lighting 553 
 
 To Make Hard from Soft Tallow. . 553 
 
 To Make of Lard 553 
 
 To Refine Tallow for 552 
 
 Candle Wicking, To Improve 553 
 
 Candy, Home Made -i 673 
 
 Lemon 673 
 
 Cane Chairs, To Clean 850 
 
 Canker Sore Mouth 990 
 
 Canning and Preserving Peaches 724 
 
 Apples 722 
 
 Fruits 714 
 
 Pears 724 
 
 Canvass, Flexible Paint for 292 
 
 Caponizing Chickens, Turkeys, &c 504 
 
 Care of the Face and Hands 908 
 
 of the Feet 914 
 
 of the Eyes 923 
 
 Carmine Ink 883 
 
 Carpet, How to Choose 861 
 
 Carpets, Care of 864 
 
 Cleaning 850 
 
 Laying Down 863 
 
 Mending 864 
 
 Stair 864 
 
 Sweeping 851 
 
 Carriage Harness, Blacking for. 367 
 
 Carrot Coffee 776 
 
 Pie..... .... 646 
 
 Soup 593 
 
 Carrots, Average yield per acre 372 
 
 Medical Qualities of. 390 
 
 Casts, Plaster, Taking 894 
 
 Cast, To Take of Plaster of Paris of a 
 person’s face 325 
 
 Cats, To prevent Killing Chickens and 
 
 Birds 540 
 
 Catsup 744 
 
 Cucumber 745 
 
 Elderberry 746 
 
 Grape 746 
 
 Plum 745 
 
 Tomato 744 
 
 Catterpillars in Apple Trees 527 
 
 Cattle, Allowance of Salt per day 476 
 
 Care and Management of 465 
 
 Cure for Wens on 479 
 
 Difference between Live and Dead 
 
 Weight 514, 515 
 
 Diseases and Remedies 478 
 
 Economy in Grazing 473 
 
 Licking Paint 482 
 
 Liniment for Swellings on 479 
 
 Nursing Sick 478 
 
 Oat Straw as Food for Sick 475 
 
 Remedy for Scurf or Mange 479 
 
 To Cure Warts on 479 
 
 To Estimate Weight of by Measure- 
 ment 514 
 
 To Kill Insects on 536 
 
 To Prevent Unruliness of 478 
 
 To Produce either sex at Will, 473, 483 
 
 Use of Salt in the Food of 475 
 
 Water for 477 
 
 Wintering 474 
 
 Cauliflowers, CookiQg 584, 587 
 
 Caution * 204 
 
 Ceiling, Cheap 262 
 
 Celery, How to Raise 397 
 
 Preserving 713 
 
 Sauce 663 
 
 To Cook 586 
 
 Celestial Painting, Lesson for # 893 
 
 Cellars * 263 
 
 Whitewashes for 294 
 
 Cement, Boiler Maker’s 318 
 
 Cheap 320 
 
 Fire and Water Proof 317 
 
 Fire, Water and Weather Proof. .. 317 
 
 Floor, To Make 265 
 
 for China, Ivory, <fcc 314 
 
 for Glass, Lamps, &c 315 
 
 for India Rubber 316 
 
 for Ivory, Mother of Pearl, &c 316 
 
 . for Joints of Steam Pipes 319 
 
 for Knife Handles 318 
 
 for Leather 318 
 
 for Paper and Tin 317 
 
 for Porcelain, Marble, Alabaster... 313 
 
 for Rooms 320 
 
 for Sealing Fruit Cans 31 5 
 
 for Soles of Boots and Shoes 316 
 
 for Steam Pipes and Water Cisterns 318 
 
 for Sticking Brass to Glass 317 
 
 for Stone Ware 319 
 
 for Stone Work 318 
 
 for Stopping Leaks 318 
 
 for Stoves 321 
 
 for Uniting Bone 316 
 
 for Wall Paper 873 
 
 for Wood and Glass 315 
 
 Glue 321 
 
 Hard 320 
 
GENERAL INDEX, 
 
 1029 
 
 Page. 
 
 Cement, Hydraulic lor Walks 319 
 
 Improved 318 
 
 Pipe 319 
 
 Stove. 318 
 
 WaterProof 317 
 
 Water Tight 317 
 
 Cements and Glues.... 313 
 
 Cereals and Seeds 373 
 
 Chafes . 1000 
 
 Chairs and Sofas, To Clean 850 
 
 Cane, Cleaning 850 
 
 Chambers, Size and Ventilation 257 
 
 Champagne Wine, Cider 800, 801 
 
 Changing Clothing 941 
 
 Chapped Face, Remedies for. 909 
 
 To Prevent 909 
 
 Hands 911, 912 
 
 Character 100 
 
 Charlotte Russe 669 
 
 Charring, Preserving Wood by 308 
 
 Cheap and Good Pudding 652 
 
 Cake 624 
 
 Cement 320 
 
 Cheerfulness 105 
 
 Cheese Balls.. 765 
 
 Cake 633 
 
 Coloring for 763 
 
 Cottage 765 
 
 Cream 766 
 
 Dutch 765 
 
 Making 761 
 
 Making, Two Simple Rules in 762 
 
 Mohawk 766 
 
 Nutritive Value of. 763 
 
 Pea 767 
 
 Pot 766 
 
 Premium 762 
 
 Quantity of Milk for a pound of. . . 749 
 
 Quantity of per Gallon of Milk 762 
 
 Stilton, To Make 763 
 
 To Destroy Mites in 763 
 
 To Test and to Keep 763 
 
 Varnish 763 
 
 Cherries, Preservation of 727 
 
 Cherry Pie 646 
 
 Stack 661 
 
 Tarts 647 
 
 Water. 805 
 
 Wine, To Make 800 
 
 Chicken, Fried 568 
 
 Panada 568 
 
 Patties 569 
 
 Pie 568 
 
 Stew, Paste for 638 
 
 Chickens, Caponizing 504 
 
 Cure for Gapes in 500 
 
 Hatching by Steam 500 
 
 Rearing 500 
 
 To Cook 568 
 
 To Prevent Cats Killing 540 
 
 Chicory Coffee 777 
 
 Chilblains, Cure for 915 
 
 Childhood, An Innocent Error of. 61 
 
 Children 59 
 
 Duties of Parents to 58 
 
 How to keep them Healthy 960 
 
 Management of 45 
 
 Pago. 
 
 Children, Occupation of 60 
 
 Precocious ...» 62 
 
 Children’s Clothing 943 
 
 Chilling from Falling in Winter Water. 1005 
 
 Chimney-Piece, To Clean 853 
 
 Chimney, To Construct 262 
 
 To Cure of Smoking 263 
 
 To Put out Fire in 545 
 
 China and Earthenware, To Clean 854 
 
 and Glassware, To Clean 854 
 
 Cement 314 
 
 To Mend . . . 314 
 
 Chloroform, Antidote to 1023 
 
 Chocolate Custard 668 
 
 Drops 634 
 
 To Make Good... 777 
 
 Cholera 978 
 
 in Hogs 493 
 
 Morbus 981 
 
 Christmas Pudding 661 
 
 Christ the Model Man 75 
 
 Cider, Alum in * 790 
 
 Boiled 790 
 
 Champagne Wine 800, 801 
 
 Clarified 790 
 
 Filtering 789 
 
 Heating to Preserve 790 
 
 Izinglass in 790 
 
 Keeping by Stumming 788 
 
 Mustard Seed in 790 
 
 Oiling 789 
 
 Pie ... 645 
 
 Preserving 786 
 
 Prof. Horslord’s Method of Preser- 
 ving 787 
 
 To Correct Musty 790 
 
 Cinnamon Color, To Dye 815 
 
 Tablet 623 
 
 Wafers 634 
 
 Cisterns, To Calculate the Number of 
 
 Barrels in 517 
 
 Cement for 318 
 
 Cheap and Simple Filter for 281 
 
 Filtering. 279 
 
 To Cleanse 279 
 
 To Examine the Bottom of 274 
 
 To Keep the Water Pure 279 
 
 Wells, Filters, Ice Houses 274 
 
 Citron Cake 625 
 
 Clams, To Cook 574 
 
 Clarified Gall 326 
 
 Cleaning Alabaster 859 
 
 Black Veils 833 
 
 Bottles 858 
 
 Brass 852 
 
 Brasses, Britania, Tin, Copper, &c 852 
 
 Britania Wdre 852, 853 
 
 Cane Chairs 850 
 
 Carved Ivory 853 
 
 China and Earthenware 854 
 
 China and Glass Ware 854 
 
 Coins 859 
 
 Decanters 858, 859 
 
 Door Knobs 849 
 
 Feather Beds . 850 
 
 Feathers 838, 839 
 
 Floor Boards 848 
 
1030 
 
 GENERAL INDEX, 
 
 Page. 
 
 Cleaning Furniture 849 
 
 Gloves 839 
 
 Gold and Silver Lace 840 
 
 Grease from Floors 848 
 
 Hair Brushes 860 
 
 Household 840 
 
 Ink Stains from Floors 848 
 
 Knife Handles 857 
 
 Knives and Forks 857 
 
 Coffee, Substitutes for 776 
 
 To Make Clear ' 775 
 
 To Obtain the Genuine Flavor 775 
 
 Coin, Debased Gold 338 
 
 Test. 338 
 
 Coins, Cleaning. .... 859 
 
 Cold Cream 913, 920 
 
 Frames 395 
 
 Colds 981 
 
 Marble 852, 853 ' 
 
 Mattresses 850 
 
 Oil Cloth 851 1 
 
 Ottomans and Sofas 850 
 
 Paint 848 i 
 
 Papier Mache and Japanned Wares 854 1 
 
 Plate 854 < 
 
 Printed Paper and Picture Prints. . 859 
 
 Ribbons 833 
 
 Saddles 368 
 
 Sides of Apartments 840 
 
 Silk and Other Fabrics 830, 831 
 
 Silver and Plated Ware 856 
 
 Sofas and Chairs 850 
 
 Soiled Carpets 850 
 
 Stove Pipe Droppings 848 < 
 
 Tin and Pewter 853 
 
 Wall Paper 851 
 
 Wine Stains from Boards 848 
 
 Cleanliness 945 
 
 Clothes in Windows 872 
 
 To Restore the Nap to 838 
 
 To Take Spots of Oil Paint from. . 836 
 
 Nothing 940, 941, 942, 943 i 
 
 Furs, Boots and Shoes 816 
 
 Safety, To Prepare 821 
 
 Washing, Scouring and Renovating 828 
 
 Cloth, To Make Transparent 886 
 
 To Make Water Proof 823 
 
 Coal and Wood 546 
 
 Consumers, Important to 548 
 
 Economizing 547 
 
 Fire, How to Kindle 547 
 
 Oil 550 
 
 Oil, To Detect Explosive 550 
 
 Tar for Painting 291 
 
 Tar for Preserving Wood... 308 
 
 Goals, To Carry Live in the Hand 549 
 
 Cockroaches, Remedies for 521 
 
 Cocoanut Cake 625 
 
 Drops 635 
 
 Pie 646 
 
 Pudding 657 
 
 Codfish, How to Choose 558 
 
 Coffee, Adulterated 776 
 
 and Tea Making 772 
 
 An Improved Method of Making.. . 776 
 
 Cake • 625 
 
 Carrot 776 
 
 Chicory 777 
 
 Economical Mode of Clearing 775 
 
 Good Cheap 777 
 
 Home Made 777 
 
 How Came to be Used 773 
 
 How to Make a Good Cup 773 
 
 Other Methods of Making 774 
 
 Other Substitutes for 777 
 
 Soyers’ Mode of Making 774 
 
 Colic 975 
 
 in Horses, Cure for 469 
 
 Collar Galls in Horses 460 
 
 Thread Lace, To Wash 840 
 
 Collars, Washing 840 
 
 Cologne Water, To Make 907, 908 
 
 Color, Effect Upon Health 250 
 
 for Concrete Houses 291 
 
 for Stamping, Blue 810 
 
 Ivory, To 816 
 
 Kid Gloves Purple, To 815 
 
 Purple 813 
 
 To Restore to Yiolet Silk 832 
 
 Scarlet on Wood 298 
 
 Yellow for Butter 757 
 
 Coloring, Black for Garden Wall 292 
 
 Feathers 815 
 
 for Cheese 763 
 
 Gold 336 
 
 Colors 808 
 
 Dove and Slate 814 
 
 Influence of on Complexion 819 
 
 Warmth of 816 
 
 Colts, Scours in 460 
 
 Combs, Lead 922 
 
 Commerce 238 
 
 Complexion, Influence of Colors on 819 
 
 Composition Cake 627 
 
 for Buildings to Resist W eather and 
 
 Fire 290 
 
 for Modeling 325 
 
 for Welding Cast Steel 331 
 
 Compound Peach Bark Cordial , 804 
 
 Concrete for Underground Walla 265 
 
 Houses, To Color 291 
 
 Constipation ...976, 977 
 
 Consumption 985 
 
 Contentment 159 
 
 Contracts 240 
 
 Cookies 617, 618 
 
 Cooking 558 
 
 Apples and Pears 596 
 
 Fruit 596 
 
 Meat 558 
 
 Oysters 572 
 
 Salt Pork, Improved Mode 564 
 
 To Preserve Butter for 760 
 
 Vegetables 574 
 
 Cooling Mixtures 285 
 
 W ater without Ice 769 
 
 Copper, Coating Iron With 334 
 
 Silvering Powdbr for Coating 335 
 
 Coppers, Cleaning 852 
 
 Copying Writing 888 
 
 Cordial, Blackberry 802, 803 
 
 Blackberry Root 803 
 
 Compound Peach Bark . . 804 
 
 Cordials, Syrups, &c 802 
 
GENERAL INDEX, 
 
 1031 
 
 lork Screws, Substitute for 873 
 
 Corks in Horses, Treatment of 460 
 
 Corn, Average Yield per Acre 372, 378 
 
 Bread, To Make 610, 611, 612 
 
 Cake 612 
 
 Cobs for Fuel 648 
 
 Dodgers 613 
 
 Fried 681 
 
 Green, Pudding 658 
 
 Green, To Cook 580. 
 
 How much Pork a bushel will Make 492 
 
 Husk Beds 86, 
 
 Meal Crullers 618 
 
 Meal, To Improve 610 
 
 Preserving Green 707 
 
 Pudding 581 
 
 Saving Seed 376 
 
 Shrinkage of in Drying 513 
 
 Soup 594 
 
 Starch Cake 626 
 
 Starch Pie 646 
 
 Starch Pudding 651 
 
 Testing Seed 377 
 
 To Estimate in the Crib 512 
 
 To Prevent Crows Pulling 539 
 
 Corns, Cure for 916 
 
 On Horses, Remedy for 461 
 
 Cosmetics, &c 903 
 
 Cosmetic Soaps 905 
 
 Costiveness, Diarrhea and Lyuentery.. 976 
 
 Cottage Cheese 765 
 
 Ridding 650 
 
 Cotton Ball Worm 535 
 
 Goods, To Remove Lamp Oil 835 
 
 Coughs 984 
 
 Counsels . .... 235 
 
 Counterfeit Bank Notes, To Detect 339 
 
 Country Pudding 650 
 
 Courage 154 
 
 Court Plaster, To Make 909 
 
 Cows, Breaking for Milking 470 
 
 Cost and Profit of Keeping 467 
 
 Fall, Winter and Spring Feed for. 468 
 
 Good . .. 466 
 
 How to Improve Stream of Milk. . . 471 
 
 Management of 465 
 
 Milking 469 
 
 Points of Good -465, 466 
 
 Remedy for Sore Teats 1 . . 472 
 
 Stabling 468 
 
 To Bring into Heat 473 
 
 To Cure of Caked Udder 472 
 
 To Prevent Calves Sucking. 473 
 
 To Prevent Holding Up Milk 470 
 
 To Prevent Kicking 470 
 
 To Prevent Sucking Themselves. . . 471 
 To Remedy Leaking Teats 472 
 
 Pjige. 
 
 Cream Beer 782 
 
 Honeycomb 670 
 
 Management of in Cold Weather.. 748 
 
 Mullins 607 
 
 of Tartar Cake 626 
 
 Pie 642 
 
 Scalded 669 
 
 Snow. 670 
 
 Spanish 670 
 
 Strawberry 670 
 
 Velvet 670 
 
 Creams 669 
 
 Custards and Sweets 667 
 
 Cress, Time Required for Seeds to Ger- 
 minate . . 375 
 
 Crimson, To Dye 812 
 
 Crops, Average Yield per Acre 372 
 
 Croup 989 
 
 Crows, To Prevent Pulling Corn 539 
 
 Crullers 618, 619 
 
 Crumpets 608 
 
 Crust for Pies 637, 638 
 
 Crystal or Oriental Painting 891 
 
 Cucumber Catsup, To Make. 745 
 
 375 
 
 with Sore Teats, To Milk 471 
 
 Cracker Pie. 642 
 
 Crackers, Soda 608 
 
 Cracks, Paint for Stopping 292 
 
 Cramps 1000 
 
 Cranberries, Preserving 732 
 
 Cranberry Tarts 647 
 
 Crape, Old, To Restore 833 
 
 Cream and Milk, Yield of 749 
 
 Cheese 766 
 
 Cucumbers, Forwarding.. 396 
 
 To Pickle 738 
 
 Cultivating Asparagus 397 
 
 Celery 397 
 
 Vegetables 382 
 
 Cultivation of Cabbage 387 
 
 of Lima Beans 388 
 
 of Peas 390 
 
 Culture of Orchard Fruits 422 
 
 of the Locust 418 
 
 Cup Cake 630, 631 
 
 Corn Meal 613 
 
 Curoulio, Remedies for 435, 529 
 
 Cure for Drunkenness 1001 
 
 of Appetite for Tobacco 1002 
 
 Curling the Hair 918 
 
 Currant Cakes 625 
 
 Cones 669 
 
 Cultivation of 444 
 
 Dumplings 662 
 
 Gruel 596 
 
 Jelly :... 682 
 
 Wine. Maple Sugar for 797 
 
 Wine, to Make 794, 795, 796, 797 
 
 Worms, To Repel. 531 
 
 Currants, Cooking 584 
 
 Preserving 729 
 
 To Pickle 742 
 
 Curry, Superior 568 
 
 Custard Pudding 651 
 
 Sweet Potato 579 
 
 Custards, Creams and Sweets. .. 667 
 
 Cutlery 873 
 
 To Remove Stains from 857 
 
 Cuttings, Propogating by 424 
 
 Cut Worm 536 
 
 Cypher Message. New w^to Send 329 
 
 J 
 
1032 
 
 GENERAL INDEX. 
 
 D 
 
 Page. 
 
 Dahlia Roots, Care of 399 
 
 Dairy, Points of a good Cow for 466 
 
 Proper Temperature for 749 
 
 Daisies, White, To Destroy 543 
 
 Damp Houses, To Protect 268 
 
 Deafness 928 
 
 Decanters, Cleaning 858, 859 
 
 To Dry 859 
 
 Deer Skins, Tanning 311 
 
 De Laines, To Wash 830 
 
 Delicate Cake 634 
 
 Detecting Counterfeit Bank Notes 339 
 
 Diamond Cement 318 
 
 Diamonds, Testing 337 
 
 To Detect Imitation of 339 
 
 Diarrhea 976, 977 
 
 Costiveness and Dysentery 976 
 
 in Cattle 480 
 
 in Sheep 488 
 
 Diet Cake 624 
 
 Diptheria 987 
 
 Dirty Water, Purifying 767 
 
 Diseases and Domestic Remedies 967 
 
 and Remedies of Sheep 487 
 
 of Cattle and Remedies 478 
 
 of Hogs and Remedies 493 
 
 of the Horse , 459 
 
 Disinfectants 948 
 
 Ditches, Cheap Method of Cutting 356 
 
 Dizziness of the Head 967 
 
 Dodgers, Corn Bread 613 
 
 Dogs, To kill Fleas in 541 
 
 To Prevent Going Mad 541 
 
 Domestic Dyes 808 
 
 Remedies for Diseases 967 
 
 Door Knobs, Cleaning 849 
 
 Shut the 872 
 
 Doors, Creaking 872 
 
 Douglass Cake 627 
 
 Doughnuts 619 
 
 Dove Color 814 
 
 Dr. Hall’s Aphorisms 933 
 
 Drab, To Dye 814 
 
 Draining 356 
 
 Drain, Obstructed, To Clean 356 
 
 Dress 816 
 
 for a Photograph, How to 820 
 
 How to fold a 823 
 
 of the Arms and Legs 943 
 
 Well on Limited Allowance 819 
 
 Dresses, A Test for Arsenic in 822 
 
 Colored Silk, To Clean 832 
 
 To Clean Whole Silk or Satin 831 
 
 Dressing Fur Skins. 312 
 
 Dripping Crust 639 
 
 Drink, Haymaker’s 783 
 
 Strange 769 
 
 Drinking, Tea 772 
 
 . Water 768 
 
 Drinks, Summer 768 
 
 Drop Cakes 634 
 
 Droppings from Stovepipes, ^o Remove 848 
 
 Drops 634 
 
 Dropsy 975 
 
 Drawing 1021 
 
 Pago. 
 
 Drunkenness, Cure for 1001 
 
 Ducks, How to Choose 557 
 
 Dumplings 662 
 
 Paste for 638 
 
 Dunning 241 
 
 Dusters, Feather, To Make 864 
 
 Dutch Cheese 765 
 
 Duties of Parents to School Children.. . 58 
 
 of Parents to Schools 57 
 
 Dyes, Black 808, 809 
 
 Blue 809, 810 
 
 Brown 814 
 
 Butternut 814 
 
 Cinnamon Color 815 
 
 Crimson 812 
 
 Domestic 808 
 
 Dove and Slate Colors 814 
 
 Grays and Drabs 814 
 
 Green 814 
 
 Lilac 813 
 
 Olive 815 
 
 Orange 814 
 
 Pink 813 
 
 Purple 813 
 
 Red. 811, 812 
 
 Salmon Color 815 
 
 Scarlet 813 
 
 Yellow 810, 811 
 
 Dysentery 976, 977 
 
 Dyspepsia 972 
 
 Dyspeptics, Water Drop Cakes for 634 
 
 E 
 
 Ear Ache 928 
 
 and Voice, The 928 
 
 Early Obscurity and Future Eminence. 217 
 
 Rising 212 
 
 Ears, To Remove Insects from 1012 
 
 Earthenware, To Clean 854 
 
 Eating 956 
 
 Economical Pudding 653 
 
 Economy 109 
 
 Cakes 624 
 
 Farm 353 
 
 in Grazing 473 
 
 Edge Tools, Sharpening 333 
 
 Education 79 
 
 Advantage of to Laborers . 79 
 
 Home Rules for. 56 
 
 of Business Men 81 
 
 Egg Bread 615 
 
 Drops 634 
 
 How to Eat 571 
 
 in a Bottle 877 
 
 Pancake 616 
 
 Plant, Cooking 580 
 
 Sauce 666 
 
 Soup 591 
 
 Stains on Spoony To Remove... v. 857 
 
 Eggs, Baked with Asparagus 587 
 
 How to Have Plenty in Winter,... 497 
 
 How to Test 57] 
 
 Illustrated 877 
 
 Preserving 703, 705 
 
 Sex of 500 
 
 To Cook 570 
 
GENERAL INDEX. 
 
 1033 
 
 Tage. 
 
 Eggs, White of in Raised Biscuit 6“7 
 
 Eight to Sixteen 55 
 
 Elderberry Catsup, To Make 746 
 
 Syrup 804 
 
 Wine 797 
 
 Emergencies and Accidents 1003 
 
 Eminence, Obscurity and 217 
 
 Employment 196 
 
 Emulsions 905 
 
 Endorsing 241 
 
 Energy 19 J 
 
 English Home Brewed Ale 778 
 
 Error of Childhood 61 
 
 Errors of Farmers 351 
 
 Erysipelas 993 
 
 Escaping from Fire 1023 
 
 Evergreens, Planting and Pruning 416 
 
 Example 210 
 
 Excellent Cake 627 
 
 Exchange, Sterling, Mysteries of 344 
 
 Exercise 952 
 
 Extract of Rennet 763 
 
 Eye, Lime in 925 
 
 To Remove Film from of Cattle... 482 
 To Remove Film from of Horses. . . 461 
 Eyes, Care of. 923 
 
 P 
 
 Face and Hands, Care of 908 
 
 Faded Photographs, To Restore 889 
 
 Fainting 1020 
 
 Fall Fevers 998 
 
 Family, The 7 
 
 Worship 54 
 
 Farina Gruel 595 
 
 Farm Accounts 352 
 
 Economy 353 
 
 Implements, Care of 364 
 
 Management 352 
 
 Farmer, The 345 
 
 Farmer’s Ambition 349 
 
 and Science 349 
 
 are Healthier than Professional 
 
 men 957 
 
 Errors to Avoid 351 
 
 Home 348 
 
 Own Pudding 655 
 
 Pudding 655 
 
 Wife 347 
 
 Farming, Book 349 
 
 On 345, 346 
 
 Rules for Making Profitable 351 
 
 Tools and Implements 364 
 
 Father, The 35 
 
 Fattening Hogs 490 
 
 Feather Beds, To Cleanse 850 ! 
 
 Dusters, To Make 864 
 
 Feathers, Coloring 815 
 
 Husks versus 865' 
 
 To Clean 838, 839 
 
 Feed for Cows 468 ' 
 
 Feeding Sheep 483 
 
 Feet, Care of 914 
 
 To Prevent Blistering 915 
 
 To Protect in Walking 915 
 
 Felon.... 999 
 
 Page. 
 
 Female Adviser, Value ot 27 
 
 Fence, A Cheap and Durable 363 
 
 Posts, to Preserve 307, 361 
 
 Fences and Fencing 361 
 
 Method of Preserving. 306 
 
 Fertilizing and Fertilizers 357 
 
 Fever and Ague 998 
 
 Fevers 996 
 
 Fever Sore 991 
 
 Fig, The 456 
 
 Filberts, To Preserve 733 
 
 File, To Drill Through 332 
 
 Files, To Make Old Equal to New 326 
 
 Filtering Cider 789 
 
 Material, The Best 281 
 
 Filters 274 
 
 and Filtering Cisterns 279 
 
 for Cisterns 281 
 
 The Cheapest 281 
 
 Fire and Lights 544 
 
 Composition to Resist 290 
 
 Escaping from 1023 
 
 How to Kindle 547 
 
 in Summer 549 
 
 Precautions Against 544 
 
 Screen, Changeable 875 
 
 To Extinguish 545 
 
 To Protect Staircases from 545 
 
 To Put Out in Burning Chimney.. 545 
 
 Fire-Proof Paint and Wash 291 
 
 Wash for Shingles 271 
 
 Firewood, Best Mode of Piling 546 
 
 Splitting. 546 
 
 Fish 571 
 
 How to Choose 554, 555, 558 
 
 Pond, How to Make 509 
 
 Preservation of 702 
 
 To Stupefy 511 
 
 Fistula in Horses 463 
 
 Flake Pudding 651 
 
 Flannels, To Wash 830 
 
 Flat Irons 841 
 
 Flea, To Protect Plants from 533 
 
 Fleas, Remedies for 523 
 
 Flies, Remedies for 524 
 
 To Keep Cooked Meat from 701 
 
 Float 668 
 
 Floating Island 668 
 
 Floor Boards, Cleaning 848 
 
 To Scour 848 
 
 OilCloth 864 
 
 To Make of Cement 265 
 
 Floors, Echoing 261 
 
 Paint for 292 
 
 To Clean Grease from 848 
 
 Flour Paste 321 
 
 Potato 578 
 
 Quantity of Wheat for Barrel 514 
 
 Flower Beds, Arranging 398 
 
 Garden and House Plants 398 
 
 Flowers, Annuals 400 
 
 Biennials 400 
 
 in Windows 404, 405 
 
 List of 401 
 
 Perennial 400 
 
 Preserving 402, 404, 409 
 
1034 
 
 GENERAL INDEX. 
 
 Page. 
 
 Flowers. The Perfume of 408 
 
 Seeds, Bags for Saving. . 400 
 
 Time and Mode of Cutting 402 
 
 To Crystalize 403 
 
 To Obtain Fresh in Winter 403 
 
 To Preserve a Fortnight '876 
 
 To Produce Double from Single... 399 
 
 To Revive Fading 403 
 
 Wild , 400 
 
 Fluid, Quantity Discharged 517 
 
 Flummery, Blackberry 686 
 
 Food and its Influence 555 
 
 On ........ .... .... .... .... . .... 554 
 
 for Hogs, Cooked and Uncooked... 491 
 
 Fruits as 960 
 
 Preservation of 687 
 
 Foot Ail in Cattle 479 
 
 Fortitude 183 
 
 Founder in Horses 464 
 
 Fourteen Ways to get Sick 936 
 
 Fowls, Average Period of Incubation. . 515 
 
 How to Choose 557 
 
 Productiveness of 496 
 
 Selecting and Cooking 554 
 
 Foxes, to Prevent Killing Lambs 541 
 
 Freckles, For Removing 909 
 
 Freedley, Hon. John's Motto 233 
 
 French Blanc 905 
 
 Fricassed Fowl, White 568 
 
 Fried Cakes 618 
 
 Fish '. 572 
 
 Fritters 619 
 
 Frost Bites, Frozen Limbs, &c 1003 
 
 Frosted Feet, Cure for 915 
 
 Frosting - 629, 637 
 
 Fruit as a Medicine 422 
 
 Cake 636, 637 
 
 Cans, Cement for 315 
 
 Early Care of Trees 424 
 
 How to Secure an Abundance 426 
 
 How to Keep 717 
 
 How to Produce Large 425 
 
 in Jelly 686 
 
 or Wood 424 
 
 Planting Trees 423 
 
 Picker 435 
 
 Preparing and Cooking 596 
 
 Sauce 665 
 
 Stains, To Remove 837 
 
 Stamping 427 
 
 To Obtain in New Places 425 
 
 To Protect from Birds 539 
 
 Trees and Mice 526 
 
 Near Barn Yards 425 
 
 To Destroy Catterpillars on. . 428 
 To Prevent Rabbits Gnawing 527 
 
 To Prevent Splitting 431 
 
 To Save Girdled ... 428 
 
 Wash for 427 
 
 Wounded 431 
 
 Fruits, as Food 962 
 
 Dried, Protecting from Worms 732 
 
 Preservation of 409, 714 
 
 Canning 714 
 
 Orchard, Culture of. 422 
 
 Small, of Garden and Vineyard 436 
 
 Fuel, Corn Cobs for. 548 
 
 Page. 
 
 Fuel, Economy of. 546 
 
 Fur Skins, Dressing 3L2 
 
 Wearing 824 
 
 Furs, Leather, Hides, Tanning and 
 
 Dressing 308 
 
 The Care of 825 
 
 Furniture, Care of and Cleaning 849 
 
 Furnishing 861 
 
 Oiling 849 
 
 Rosewood, Care of 856 
 
 To Remove Spots from 849 
 
 To Take Bruises out 849 
 
 Fusible Metal 335 
 
 G 
 
 Gall, Clarified 326 
 
 Galls on Horses, Treatment of. 460 
 
 Galvanize, To 335, 336 
 
 Game, To Tell the Age of 505 
 
 Gangrene 1018 
 
 Gapes in Chickens, &c 1 500 
 
 Garden and Vineyard Fruits 436 
 
 Best Site for 392 
 
 Flower. 398 
 
 One Acre 392 
 
 The Vegetable 391 
 
 What can be done 392 
 
 Gardening 391 
 
 Gardens, Indoor 406 
 
 Garget in Cows, Remedies 472 
 
 Gas, Blowing Out 552 
 
 Meters, To Protect from Frost 552 
 
 Gate, Cheap Home Made 363 
 
 Gentleman 167 
 
 Geese, How to Choose 557 
 
 Gilding 335 
 
 Gild Letters on Glass, To 336 
 
 Without Gold, To 336 
 
 Gin, For Making 806 
 
 Ginger Beer, To Make 781 
 
 Biscuits 622 
 
 bread 620, 621, 622 
 
 Cakes 622 
 
 Cookies 618 
 
 Lemonade 784 
 
 Lozenges 623 
 
 Snaps 624 
 
 Tablet 623 
 
 Glass, Cements for 313, 314, 315 
 
 Partitions and Windows. 262 
 
 To Drill Holes in 327 
 
 To File 327 
 
 To Gild Letters on 336 
 
 Ground, To Imitate 327 
 
 Ware, To Clean ,854, 855 
 
 Glossing Linen 841 
 
 Gloves, Kid, Coloring Purple 815 
 
 Old Kid 872 
 
 To Clean 839 
 
 Glue 322 
 
 and Cements 313 
 
 Cement 321 
 
 in Bones 322 
 
 Marine 322 
 
 Prepared Liquid 322 
 
 : Preserving 322 
 
GENERAL INDEX. 
 
 1035 
 
 Page. 
 
 Glue, Water Proof 322 
 
 Goblets, How Made 327 
 
 Gold and Silver Inks 884 
 
 and Silver Lace, To Clean 840 
 
 Cake 636 
 
 Coin, Debased 338 
 
 Coloring 336 
 
 Fish and Canaries, Care of. 877 
 
 Powder, To Make 336 
 
 Testing 337 
 
 Goshen Butter, How Made 756 
 
 Gooseberries, Preservation of. 730 
 
 Cultivation of 444 
 
 To Protect from Mildew 532 
 
 Worms, To Repel 531 
 
 Goose, Roast, Sauce for. 570 
 
 To Roast 569 
 
 Gout 971 
 
 Grafting Wax 429,430, 431 
 
 Grafts, Preserving 429 
 
 To Revive Dried Cions 429 
 
 To Transmit Cions by Mail 429 
 
 Graham Bread 601, 602 
 
 Grain, Average Yield of 372, 378 
 
 Growing, Insects in 532 
 
 Stored, Insects in 532 
 
 To Estimate Crops per Acre 511 
 
 To Measure in the Bin 513 
 
 Graneries, To Keep Vermin from 532 
 
 Grape, American Wine 450 
 
 Catsup, To Make 746 
 
 Culture 445 
 
 Grafting the Vine 448 
 
 Jelly 683 
 
 Making Raisins 450 
 
 Pie 615 
 
 Profits of Growing 449 
 
 Pruning 449 
 
 How to Grow Cuttings 446 
 
 To Prevent Mildew 449 
 
 To Propagate from Single Eyes... 448 
 
 To Stop Bleeding of Vines 449 
 
 What Soil is Best for 446 
 
 Wine, How to Make 791, 792 
 
 Grapes, Preservation of 727 
 
 Grass and Good Husbandry 369 
 
 Pastures, Meadows, &c 368 
 
 Preserving 404 
 
 Seed, Sowing 368 
 
 Grates 548 
 
 Gravel, Remedies for 1001 
 
 Gravies and Sauces 663 
 
 Gravy, Milk 564 
 
 To Preserve 701 
 
 Soup 591 
 
 Gray Hair, Cause and Remedy 921 
 
 Grays, To Dye 814 
 
 Grazing. Economy in 473 
 
 Grease Balls, To Make 848 
 
 To Clean from Floors 848 
 
 To Take Out of Silk 831, 835 
 
 Spots, Removing 834, 835 
 
 Spots, To Take Out of Cotton 835 
 
 Spots, Volatile Soap for..*. 835 
 
 Grecian Oil Painting’ 890 
 
 Green Beans, To Pickle 740 
 
 Corn, To Cook 580 
 
 Page 
 
 Green, To Dye 814 
 
 Green Corn, Beans, Peas, &c., Preser- 
 ving 707 
 
 Griddle Cakes 013, 616 
 
 Grindstones, Attach a Treadle 365 
 
 To Make Artificial 328 
 
 Groat Gruel 595 
 
 Ground Glass, To Imitate 327 
 
 Gruels - 589, 595 
 
 Gumbo 590 
 
 Gun Barrels, To Bronze. 305 
 
 Gutta Percha, Solvents of. 333 
 
 H 
 
 Habit 122 
 
 Hair Brushes Cleaning 860 
 
 Management of 918 
 
 Oils 919 
 
 Restorative 922 
 
 Washes 921, 922 
 
 Ham, How to Cook 565 
 
 To Give any the Smoky Taste 695 
 
 Hams, To Cure 691, 69* 
 
 To keep through Summer 694 
 
 To Prevent Skippers in 695 
 
 Handkerchiefs, To Wash 840 
 
 Hands and Face, Care of 908 
 
 dannah Moore’s Pudding 654 
 
 Hares, Howto Choose 557 
 
 Hard Times Pudding 654 
 
 dard Water, To Soften 768 
 
 Harness, Blacking for 367 
 
 Care of 366 
 
 Oil for 367 
 
 To Protect from Mice 368 
 
 Harrison Pudding 655 
 
 Hash 566 
 
 Hat Hooks, Bronze Dip for 305 
 
 Hay, Average Yield per Acre 372 
 
 Making - 369 
 
 Preservation of 371 
 
 Shrinkage of in Drying 514 
 
 To Estimate Weight of 514 
 
 Haymaker’s Drink 783 
 
 Hazel Nuts, To Preserve 733 
 
 Headache 967 
 
 Head Cheese, Making 698 
 
 Preservation of 698, 701 
 
 Health 902 
 
 and Long Life, Signs of. 938 
 
 Effects of Color on 250 
 
 Hints by Dr. Hall — Follies 934 
 
 Heartburn 975 
 
 Heaves in Horses ...; 464 
 
 Hedges , 363, 419 
 
 Hemorrhage of the Lungs 1018 
 
 Hens, How to Set .' 499 
 
 Mischief 505 
 
 Laying Soft Shelled Eggs 498 
 
 To Economize Time With 500 
 
 To Make them Lay 496 
 
 To Prevent Eating Eggs 498 
 
 Herbs, To Obtain Best Flavor of. 665 
 
 To Preserve 713 
 
 Herrings, How to Choose 558 
 
 Hiccough or Hickup 989 
 
1036 
 
 GENERAL INDEX. 
 
 Page. 
 
 Hides, Leather, Furs, &c 308 
 
 To Preserve 313 
 
 Heifers, Breaking for Milking 470 
 
 Hoarseness 990 
 
 Hoe Cakes 614 
 
 Hog Cholera 493 
 
 Hogs, Cooked and Uncooked Food for. 491 
 
 Diseases and Remedies 493 
 
 Fatten Early 490 
 
 Gross and Net Weight of 515 
 
 Keeping them Clean 489 
 
 Raising and Fattening 488 
 
 Hollow Horn in Cattle 479 
 
 Home 11 
 
 Brewed Ale 778 
 
 Education, Rules for 56 
 
 Have a Permanent 348 
 
 Music at. 48 
 
 of Taste, The 866 
 
 The Farmer’s 348 
 
 Hominy 581 
 
 Honesty 171 
 
 Honey Cake 1 632 
 
 French 672 
 
 To Keep 672 
 
 To Make Artificial 671 
 
 T o Remove Boxes of. 508 
 
 Honor 175 
 
 Your Business 237 
 
 Hoofs, Artificial for Horses 462 
 
 Hope 209 
 
 Horn Ail in Cattle 479 
 
 To Soften 323 
 
 Horns of Oxen, To Direct Growth of. . . 478 
 
 Horse and Man Powers 516, 517 
 
 Care and Management of. 450 
 
 Radish 746 
 
 Radish Sauce 666 
 
 Substitute for 746 
 
 Raising 451 
 
 Horses. Age for Breeding 452 
 
 Allowance of Salt per Day 476 
 
 Artificial Hoofs for 462 
 
 Blinkers, Rarey’s Opinion of 459 
 
 Bots in 460 
 
 Bridle Bits in Cold Weather 458 
 
 Cost of Keeping 454 
 
 Cure for Colic 459 
 
 for Founder 464 
 
 for Heaves 464 
 
 for Lockjaw 464 
 
 for Rubbing the Tail 461 
 
 for Sweeney 463 
 
 Daily Exercise of 455 
 
 Diseases and Remedies 459 
 
 Feeding and Watering 453 
 
 Foot, To Remove Wart from 461 
 
 For Fistuta or Poll Evil 463 
 
 How to Treat Nervous 453 
 
 Keeping Feet and Legs in Order. . 456 
 
 Lampas 464 
 
 Points of a Good 450 
 
 Remedy for Catching the Rein. 457 
 
 Remedy for Corns on Hoof 461 
 
 Scours in Colts 460 
 
 Scratches 461 
 
 Shoeing for Winter Travel . 455 
 
 Tage. 
 
 Horses, Spavin . 462 
 
 Sprains 460 
 
 Stable, The _ 454 
 
 String Halt 462 
 
 Taming Vicious 452 
 
 To Accustom to Gun or Umbrella. 458 
 To extricate from burning Building 457 
 To Prevent Breaking the Halter... 456 
 To Prevent Chafing Under Collar.. 456 
 
 To Prevent Flies from Teasing 537 
 
 To Prevent Interfering of Feet 456 
 
 To Prevent Jumping 457 
 
 To Prevent Overreaching 456 
 
 To Protect Feet from Tenderness 
 
 and Slipping 458 
 
 To Recover Stolen 458 
 
 To Remove Film from the Eye 461 
 
 To Start Baulky 457 
 
 To Stop a Runaway 457 
 
 To Teach to Lay Down 458 
 
 Treatment of 452 
 
 Treatment of Ringbone. ... 461 
 
 Treatment of Wounds, Corks, Col- 
 lar Galls, <fcc 460 
 
 Tying 457 
 
 Value Compared with Oxen 477 
 
 Washing Legs 456 
 
 Worms in 459 
 
 Horticultural Waifs 410 
 
 Hot Bed, A Cheap 394 
 
 Beds, Paper for 395 
 
 Beds, Varnish for Cloth for 395 
 
 Hotch Potch : 567 
 
 Hot Dishes on Varnished Tables 872 
 
 House, Disadvantages of Large 246 
 
 Furnishing and Furniture 861 
 
 How to Select 246 
 
 Lighting 247 
 
 Plants, A pretty Experiment 404 
 
 Hardy, List of 401 
 
 Insects Infesting .407 
 
 Keeping Clean 406 
 
 Soil for 406 
 
 Watering 405 
 
 Household Cleaning 847 
 
 Ornaments and Amusements 874 
 
 Housekeepers, Miscellaneous for 871 
 
 Housekeeping 867 
 
 Houses 243 
 
 Building 247 
 
 How to Finish Rooms 261 
 
 to Foretell Weather 897 
 
 to keep Children Healthy 960 
 
 to Obtain a Pension. 242 
 
 to Select a House 246 
 
 Huckleberries, Preserving 732 
 
 Humble Origin 217 
 
 Husbands 23 
 
 Husks versus Feathers 865 
 
 Hydrophobia 1012 
 
 Hypochondria 1001 
 
 Hysteria. 1001 
 
 I 
 
 Ice, Artificial 285 
 
 IceCream, How to Make 670, 071 
 
GENERAL INDEX, 
 
 1037 
 
 • Page. 
 
 Ice Houses and Storing Ice... 282, 283, 284 
 
 Filling with Snow 284 
 
 Ice, Melted 284 
 
 On Windows 872 
 
 Icing 637 
 
 Illustrated Eggs 877 
 
 Imitation of Diamonds, To Detect 339 
 
 Implements and Tools, Farming 364 
 
 Impressions, A good Paper for Taking. 886 
 
 of Leaves on Plants, To Take 888 
 
 Improvement, Agricultural, How to Se- 
 cure 350 
 
 Indellible Inks 883, 884 
 
 Indestructible Ink . 884 
 
 Indian Bread 610, 611, 612 
 
 Ink 884 
 
 Meal Gruel 595 
 
 Pudding 658 
 
 Queen Cake 624 
 
 India Rubber, Cements for 316 
 
 Solvents of 333 
 
 To Cut 323 
 
 Industry 118 
 
 Inflamed Eye Lids 925 
 
 Inflammation 994 
 
 of Liver in Cattle 481 
 
 of the Eyes 924 
 
 Inflammatory Rheumatism 970 
 
 In-Growing Nails, Cures for 916 
 
 Ink Dried in Floors, To Remove 848 
 
 from Photographs, Removing 860 
 
 How to Make all Kinds of. 881, 885 
 
 Powder 883 
 
 Stains on Silver, To Remove 857 
 
 Stains, To Remove 836, 837 
 
 To Detect 885 
 
 To Remove from Paper 859 
 
 Writing, To Obliterate 885 
 
 Insanity and Novel Reading 93 
 
 Insects, General Remedies for. 525 
 
 Infesting House Plants 407 
 
 in Nose and Ears, To Remove 1012 
 
 Integrity 201 
 
 Interesting Experiment 876 
 
 Invisible Writing 884 
 
 Iron, Protecting and Preserving 305 
 
 Articles, To Prevent Rusting 874 
 
 Cast, To Bronze 305 
 
 Cement 319 
 
 Coating with Copper 334 
 
 Coating with Tin or Zinc 334 
 
 Immersed in Water, To Protect... 330 
 
 Moulds 838 
 
 Paints for 292 
 
 Polished, Care with 332 
 
 Prevention of Rust. : 328 
 
 Rust, For Taking Out 837 
 
 To Perforate Instantly 331 
 
 To Sever a Bar Instantly 331 
 
 Utensils, To Remove Rust from. . . 330 
 
 Ironing and Starching 841 
 
 Italian Landscape Painting 892 
 
 Shadows 877 
 
 Itching Feet, Cure for 915 
 
 from Eating Buckwheat, To Pre- 
 vent and Remedy 616 
 
 Itch or Mange in Hogs 494 
 
 Page. 
 
 Ivory, Carved, To Clean 853 
 
 Cements for 314, 316 
 
 Pudding 655 
 
 Staining 299 
 
 To Color 816 
 
 to Piano Keys, to Restore Color of. 881 
 
 Ivy, Remedy for Poison of 1010 
 
 Izinglass in Cider 790 
 
 J 
 
 Jamaica Rum, To Make 806 
 
 Jams, Jellies and Preserves 679 
 
 Japanned Wares, To Clean 854 
 
 Japanning Old Tea Trays 304 
 
 Japan, Transparent 304 
 
 Jellies, Jams and Preserves 679 
 
 Jelly Cake 626 
 
 Potato 578 
 
 Jews’ Cake 627 
 
 John Randolph’s Letter 233 
 
 Johnny Cake 614 
 
 Jumble Cake •. 630 
 
 Jumbles 630 
 
 K 
 
 Kerosene Oil Lamps, Cement for 315 
 
 Kicking, To Prevent Cows. 470 
 
 Kid Gloves, Coloring Purple.... 815 
 
 Old 872 
 
 To Clean 839 
 
 Kidney Worm in Hogs 494 
 
 Kindness 16 
 
 to Animals 478 
 
 Kitchen Odor 871 
 
 Slops, Use of 360 
 
 Knife Handles, Cement for 318 
 
 Cleaning 857 
 
 Knitting Mittens 873 
 
 Knives and Forks, To Clean 857 
 
 Scouring 857 
 
 Knowledge 81 
 
 Kohl Rabi, To Cook 580 
 
 Kyanizing, &c 361 
 
 L 
 
 Labels, Tree, Ink for Marking 885 
 
 Labor 162 
 
 Laborers, Education of 79 
 
 Lace Collar, To Wash 833, 840 
 
 Gold and Silver, To Clean 840 
 
 To Wash 833 
 
 Lockers 304 
 
 Ladders, Securing Foot of. 365 
 
 Lady Finger 633 
 
 Lady’s Cake 633, 635 
 
 Lamb, How to Choose 566 
 
 Lambs. To Prevent Foxes Killing 541 
 
 Lampas in Horses . ... 46* 
 
 Lamp Chimnies, To Prevent Cracking. 552 
 
 Oil, To Remove from Goods 835 
 
 Wicks, Kerosene 552 
 
 Lamps, Blowing out Kerosene 551 
 
 Burning Turned Down 851 
 
 Cement for 315 
 
1038 
 
 GENERAL INDEX. 
 
 Page. 
 
 Lamps. Smoking 552 
 
 Land Measure 511 
 
 Lard, To Prepare and Preserve 701 
 
 Lavender Water 907 
 
 Lawn and Trees 411, 421 
 
 Best Trees for 415 
 
 Clipping the 421 
 
 Seeding a 420 
 
 Sodding a 420 
 
 Trees, Planting 421 
 
 W atering and Manuring 421 
 
 Lawns, To Wash 830 
 
 Lawrence’s Maxims, Amos 233 
 
 Lead and Zinc Vessels 871 
 
 Combs 922 
 
 Pipes, How to Substitute for Logs. 275 
 
 Method of Mending 275 
 
 Rendered Harmless 275 
 
 Leaking Teats of Cows, To Remedy... 472 
 
 Leaks, Cement for Stopping 318 
 
 in Roofs, To Stop 271 
 
 Learn, Never too Old to 213 
 
 Leather, A Preparation for Preserving. 309 
 
 A Substitute for 309 
 
 Cement for. 318 
 
 Effect of Age on 308 
 
 Enameled, To Polish 310 
 
 Hides, Tanning, &c 308 
 
 Patent, To Polish 309 
 
 Scraps 310 
 
 To Render Vermin Proof 309 
 
 Leaves of Plants, To Take Impressions. 888 
 
 Ornamenting Boxes with 876 
 
 Legs and Arms, Dress of 943 
 
 Lekwar, or Plum Muss 686 
 
 Lemonade, Ginger 784 
 
 Lemon Cake 625, 655 
 
 Cheese Cake 633 
 
 Custard 667 
 
 Gingerbread 621 
 
 J uice on Knives 858 
 
 To Preserve 732 
 
 Pie 642 
 
 Pudding 655 
 
 Letter from John Randolph 233 
 
 Lettuce Salad 588 
 
 Time Required to Germinate 375 
 
 Liebig’s Soup 591 
 
 Light and Sunshine 247 
 
 Cake 633 
 
 More — Trap for Sunbeam 250 
 
 Lighting a House 247 
 
 Lightning Rods 323 
 
 Stroke 1022 
 
 Lights, Fire and 544 
 
 Cost of Oils for Compared 549 
 
 The Economy of 549 
 
 Lilac Color, To Dye 813 
 
 Lime in Transplanting Trees 417 
 
 Mortar, To Make 266 
 
 Limestone Water, To Prepare 768 
 
 Lincoln Cake. . 627 
 
 Linen, To Take Ink Stains out 836 
 
 Liniment for Swellings 1 . . 479 
 
 Lip Salve 910 
 
 Liquid Almond Paste 911 
 
 Liquors, Adulterated, How Made 806 
 
 Page. 
 
 Liquors, Adulteration of. 805 
 
 Bead for 807 
 
 Coloring Matters for 807 
 
 Little Things 224 
 
 Liver Complaint 974 
 
 Inflammation of in Cattle 481 
 
 Loaf Cake, French 633 
 
 Lobster Cutlets . 574 
 
 Lobsters, How to Choose 558 
 
 To Cook 574 
 
 Lockjaw 403 
 
 in a Horse. 464 
 
 Looking Glasses, To Repair Silvering of 335 
 
 Lost Bank Notes, To Find 243 
 
 Lozenges, Ginger 623 
 
 Lubricator, India Rubber. 366 
 
 Luminous Wriving 877 
 
 Lungs, Hemorrhage of 1018 
 
 M 
 
 Macaroons „ 628 
 
 McDonald’s Rules 232 
 
 Mackerel, How to Choose. . . 558 
 
 Mad Dog Bite 1012 
 
 Madison Cake 628 
 
 Magnets 1 326 
 
 Mahogany, Imitation of 298 
 
 Stain 298, 299 
 
 To Darken 298 
 
 To Take Stains Out of. 850 
 
 Mail, Sending Money by 242 
 
 Making Pickles 737 
 
 Tea and Coffee 771, 772 
 
 Vinegar 723 
 
 Management of Children 45 
 
 of Farms 352 
 
 of the Hair 918 
 
 Mange or Itch in Hogs 494 
 
 or Scurf in Cattle 479 
 
 Manners 149 
 
 Manure Maxims 361 
 
 Spreading on the Surface 358 
 
 Manures, Liquid 358 
 
 Manuring the Lawn 421 
 
 Maple Sugar for Wines 797 
 
 How to Make 676 
 
 Marble, Artificial, To Make 269 
 
 Cake 628 
 
 Cements for 313 
 
 To Clean 852, 853 
 
 To Remove Stains from 853 
 
 Marbled Beef. 564 
 
 Mares, Age for Breeding 452 
 
 Marine Glue 322 
 
 Marketing, Rules.for 555 
 
 Market, Produce 354 
 
 Marking Ink 885 
 
 Marks of Hot Dishes on Tables 872 
 
 Marmalade, Quince 686 
 
 Mattress, To Cleanse 850 
 
 Mats, Sheepskins for 311 
 
 Maxims for Poultry Keepers 495 
 
 of Amos Lawrence 233 
 
 Precepts and Rules 229 
 
 Meadows, Mossy 369 
 
 Measure Cake 629 
 
GENERAL INDEX. 
 
 1039 
 
 Page 
 
 Measure, Liquid 517 
 
 Meat, Cooked, To keep from Flie3 701 
 
 Effects of Heat Upon 559 
 
 How to Choose 555 
 
 Pies - 563 
 
 Preservation by Sugar 702 
 
 Selecting and Cooking 554, 558 
 
 Soup from 590 
 
 To Keep Fresh in Summer 687 
 
 Meats, Boiling 559 
 
 Preservation of 687, 702 
 
 Roasting 560 
 
 Stewing 560 
 
 Medical Qualities of Carrots 390 
 
 Medicine, Fruit as a 422 
 
 Stains on Spoons, To Remove 857 
 
 Melon, Apple Pie, To Cook 587, 588 
 
 Time Required to Germinate 375 
 
 Melons, How to Have Early 388 
 
 Mending Carpets 864 
 
 Metheglin, How to Make 784 
 
 Miasm 998 
 
 Mice and Fruit Trees 525 
 
 Remedies for 518 
 
 To Protect Harness from 368 
 
 Mildew, To Remove from Linen 830 
 
 Milk and Cream. Yield of. 749 
 
 Biscuit 606 
 
 Butter and Cheese 746 
 
 Concentrated 748 
 
 Glass Pans for. 747 
 
 How to Improve Stream of 471 
 
 of Almonds for the Face 908 
 
 Pan Covers 747 
 
 Powder of. 748 
 
 Quantity for pound of Blitter or 
 
 Cheese 749 
 
 Quantity of Cheese per Gallon 762 
 
 Solidified 748 
 
 Toast 617 
 
 To Keep 747 
 
 To Prevent Cows Holding Up 470 
 
 Vessels, Scalding 746 
 
 Without Butter, Remedy for 749 
 
 Milk Weeds 543 
 
 Milking a Cow with Sore Teats 471 
 
 Breaking Heifers for 470 
 
 Cows 469 
 
 To Prevent Cows Kicking 470 
 
 Milks and Emulsions 905 
 
 Mince Meat 644, 645 
 
 To Preserve 700 
 
 W ithout Meat 645 
 
 Pies 643 
 
 Mind and Body 950 
 
 Mint Sauce 665 
 
 Minute Pudding 653 
 
 Miscellaneous 323 
 
 for Housekeepers 867 
 
 Mites in Cheese, To Destroy 763 
 
 Mittens, Knitting. 873 
 
 Mixtures, Cooling 285 
 
 Mock Caper Sauce 667 
 
 SpongeCake 632 
 
 Model Manner of Settling an Estate 240 
 
 Mohawk Cheese 766 
 
 Molasses Cake 628 
 
 Page 
 
 Molasses Cup Cake 631 
 
 Preservation of Meat by 688 
 
 Sorgo, Rules for Making. 674 
 
 Mold 873 
 
 Moles 642 
 
 Money, Lost. Finding 243 
 
 Sending by Mail 242 
 
 More Light 250 
 
 Maxims 235 
 
 Mortar, Lime, To Make 261 
 
 Mosquitos, Bite of. 1012 
 
 Remedies for . 522 
 
 Mother of Pearl, Cements for 316 
 
 The 36 
 
 Mothers, To 40 
 
 Moths, Remedies for 521 
 
 Motto of Hon. John Freedley 233 
 
 Mould, Iron, To Remove . 838 
 
 Mountain Cake 628 
 
 Muffins 607 
 
 Mule, The 464 
 
 To Prevent Breaking the Halter. . . 456 
 
 Mush Cakes, Indian 613 
 
 Mushrooms, Cooking 589 
 
 How to Select 588 
 
 To Have in Winter 391 
 
 Music at Home 84 
 
 Hints 878 
 
 Mustard, Prepared .. 746 
 
 Sauce 665 
 
 Seed in Cider 790 
 
 Time Required to Germinate 375 
 
 Mutton as an Article of Food 565 
 
 Hashed 566 
 
 How to Choose 556 
 
 To Eat like Venison 565 
 
 N 
 
 Nails Growing in the Flesh, To Cure.. 916 
 
 How to Drive into Hard Wood 330 
 
 Number of by Count per Pound. . . 517 
 
 Nankeen, To Wash Without Fading — 830 
 
 Naple Biscuit 606 
 
 Nap, To Restore to Old Clothes 838 
 
 Nasturtions, To Pickle 740 
 
 National Beverages 769 
 
 Needle, Threading a 873 
 
 Neuralgia. 968 
 
 Never Too Old to Learn 213 
 
 New England Rum, For Making 806 
 
 Newspapers and their Value 88 
 
 Nitrate of Silver, To Remove.... 328 
 
 Nose Bleeding 1019 
 
 To Remove Insects from 1012 
 
 Novel Reading 91 
 
 and Insanity 93 
 
 Number Cake 629 
 
 Nunnerly Pudding 657 
 
 Nursing Sick Cattle 478 
 
 Nut Cakes 633 
 
 Nuts, How to Keep 733 
 
 Rusty, To Loosen 330 
 
 Screwing on 330 
 
1040 
 
 GENERAL INDEX, 
 
 O 
 
 P 
 
 Page. 
 
 Oat Meal Gruel 51)5 
 
 Paste for Chapped Hands 912 
 
 Starch Pudding 651 
 
 Oats, Average Yield per Acre 372 
 
 When to Sow 381 
 
 Obscurity and Future Eminence 217 
 
 Observation. 128 
 
 Occupation 190 
 
 of Children. 60 
 
 Odor from Perspiration 913 
 
 Kitchen 871 
 
 Oil and Candles, Cost Compared 550 
 
 and Coal Tar protecting Iron and 
 
 Wood 308 
 
 Cloth, Floor 864 
 
 For Cheap 824 
 
 Treatment of 851 
 
 Economy of Kerosene 540 
 
 for Harness 367 
 
 To Remove Stains of 835 
 
 Oiling Cider 789 
 
 Oils, Cost of for Light Compared 549 
 
 Old Putty and Paint, Solvents for 328 
 
 To Remove 328 
 
 Olive, To Dye 815 
 
 Omelet, To Make 570, 571, 616 
 
 Onion Sauce 664 
 
 Worms, Remedies for 534 
 
 Onions, Average Yield per Acre 372 
 
 For Breath Tainted by 914 
 
 To Pickle 740 
 
 Opportunity... 130 
 
 Orange Biscuit 606 
 
 Juice on Knives 858 
 
 Sauce 666, 667 
 
 To Dye 814 
 
 Orchard Fruits, Culture of 422 
 
 Orchards in Grass 425 
 
 Productiveness and Profit of 426 
 
 Oriental or Crystal Painting 891 
 
 Ornaments, Household 874 
 
 of Ivory, Cements for 314 
 
 Plaster and Alabaster 325 
 
 To Clean 852 
 
 White Composition for 325 
 
 Ottomans and Sofas, Cleaning 850 
 
 Oxen and Horses, Comparative Value. 471 
 
 Quantity of Food for 477 
 
 To Direct Growth of Horns 478 
 
 To Prevent Sore Necks 478 
 
 Whipping 478 
 
 Oyster Patties. 573 
 
 Sauce 666 
 
 Soup 591 
 
 Oysters 572 
 
 Baked 573 
 
 Corn 581 
 
 Fried 573 
 
 Howto Choose 558 
 
 Pickled 702 
 
 Preservation of. 702 
 
 Scalloped. 573 
 
 Stewed 572 
 
 Paint and Putty, Old, Solvents lor 328, 874 
 
 Brush, To Soften 328 
 
 Cattle Licking 482 
 
 To Clean 848 
 
 To Remove from Clothes 834, 835, 836 
 
 Volatile Soap for Removing 835 
 
 Painting Houses, Best Time 287 
 
 with Coal Tar 291 
 
 Paints and Painting 285, 292 
 
 Palpitation of the Heart 975 
 
 Pancakes 616, 617 
 
 Paper Impervious to Water, To Make. . 887 
 
 for Taking Impressions 886 
 
 Parchment, &c 886 
 
 Printed, To Clean 859 
 
 To Make Adhere to Tin 317 
 
 Papier Mache, To Clean 854 
 
 Paraffine Lamps, Cement for 315 
 
 Parchment, Artificial, To Make 887 
 
 Parents and Teachers, To 77 
 
 Duties of to School Children 58 
 
 to Schools. 57 
 
 Parlor Ornament 875 
 
 Parlors, Our Best 866 
 
 Parsnips. Cooking 584 
 
 Partridges. How to Choose 557 
 
 Paste for Chapped Hands 912 
 
 for Dumplings and Stews 638 
 
 Flour. ... 321 
 
 for W r all Paper 873 
 
 Pastry 637 
 
 Pasturing , * 369 
 
 Patent Leather, To Polish 309 
 
 Patience 143 
 
 Patties, Bath 663 
 
 Chicken and Turkey 569 
 
 Oyster 573 
 
 Pea Cheese 767 
 
 Pancakes 617 
 
 Soup 593 
 
 Peach Bark Cordial, Compound 804 
 
 Dumplings 662 
 
 Jelly 681 
 
 Marmalade 686 
 
 Pie 641 
 
 Pudding - 852 
 
 Tree Borers, Grub, &c 518, 528 
 
 Trees, Care and Cultivation... 433, 434 
 
 Curl in 434 
 
 Pruning 434 
 
 Wine, To Make 800 
 
 Worm 528 
 
 Peaches A-la-Strawberry 537 
 
 Brandy 725 
 
 Canned — . 724 
 
 Dried 725 
 
 for Tea 597 
 
 How to Grow Every Year 434 
 
 in Pots 434 
 
 Preservation of 724 
 
 To Peel 597 
 
 To Pickle 740 
 
 Pear Culture, Profit of 431 
 
 Tree Blight 432 
 
 Pearl Powder 905 
 
GENERAL INDEX. 
 
 1041 
 
 Page. 
 
 Pearl White 905 
 
 Pears, Lest Varieties 451 
 
 Canned and Preserved 724 
 
 Cooking 596 
 
 Dried 724 
 
 Preservation of 723 
 
 Ripening 432 
 
 Worms in 529 
 
 Peas, Average Yield per Acre 372 
 
 Cooking 583 
 
 Cultivation of 390 
 
 Preserving Green 707 
 
 Pencil Drawing, To Fix 888 
 
 To Preserve 888 
 
 To Transfer to Metal or Stone 888 
 
 Pension, How to Obtain 242 
 
 Perfumed Soaps 906 
 
 Perfume of Flowers 408 
 
 Resembling Violets 907 
 
 Perspiration, Fetid, To Remove — 913, 914 
 
 Pests and their Remedies 518 
 
 Petroleum 450 
 
 for Preserving Wood 307 
 
 Petrify Wooden Objects, To 334 
 
 Pewter and Tin, To Clean 853 
 
 Philadelphia Butter 755 
 
 Philosophy and Science 82 
 
 Photograph Bank Notes, To Detect. . . . 339 
 
 How to Dress for a 820 
 
 Faded, To Restore 889 
 
 Removing Ink from 860 
 
 Phthisic or Asthma 986 
 
 Physiological Aphorisms 933 
 
 Piano Forte, Use and Preservation of.. 878 
 
 Keys, To Restore the Color to 881 
 
 Piccalilli 743 
 
 Pickles, Making All Kinds of 737, 743 
 
 To Detect Copper in 743 
 
 Pickling Meat 687 
 
 Picture Painting and Plaster Casts 890 
 
 • Prints, To Clean 859 
 
 To Transfer 887 
 
 Pie Crusts 631, 632 
 
 Melon Pie 646 
 
 Plant Pie 645 
 
 How to Cook 585, 586 
 
 Sweet Potato 579 
 
 Pies, Puddings, Sauces, &g 637 
 
 Pigeons, How to Choose 557 
 
 Pigs and Pork 490 
 
 Feet, Cleaning 565 
 
 Raising and Fattening 490 
 
 Piles 990 
 
 Pimply Face, Remedy for 909 
 
 Pine Apple Jelly, Iced 683 
 
 Preserved 732 
 
 Pink Saucers 905 
 
 To Dye 813 
 
 Pitch, To remove from clothes <fc hands 836 
 
 Plain Cake 620 
 
 Pudding 652 
 
 Plants, Frosted 407 
 
 Hardy, List of 401 
 
 How to Water 395, 399, 405 
 
 Insects Infesting 407 
 
 in Sleeping Rooms 408 
 
 Page. 
 
 Plants. Parlor, Soil for 4u6 
 
 Pots for 394 
 
 Propogating by Cuttings 424 
 
 Sweet Potato, Setting 386 
 
 To Destroy Insects on 532 
 
 To Protect from Garden Flea 533 
 
 Transplanting 394 
 
 Plaster Casts, Taking 325, 894 
 
 Ornaments, To Weather Proof 327 
 
 Substitute for Paint over 292 
 
 Plate Powder. 855 
 
 To Clean w 855 
 
 Plated Ware, To CleaD 856 
 
 Pleuro Pneumonia in Cattle 480 
 
 Plowing, Draining, Fertilizing, &c 355 
 
 Plows, To keep Bright.. 365 
 
 Plum Catsup, To Make 745 
 
 Muss, or Lekwar 686 
 
 Pie 642 
 
 Pudding 659, 666, 661 
 
 Trees, Black Knot, Curculio 455 
 
 Plums, Preservation of 726 
 
 Save Your 529 
 
 To Pickle 742 
 
 Pocket Piece of Hon. S. Allen 229 
 
 Poisoned Atmosphere 1010 
 
 Poisonous Bites and Stings 1011 
 
 Poisons and Antidotes 1008 
 
 Poison Vines, Remedies for 1010 
 
 Polish for Enameled Leather 309 
 
 for Patent Leather 309 
 
 Poll Evil in Horses 463 
 
 Pomades or Pomatums 905, 919, 920 
 
 Pombolia 581 
 
 Pone, Indian 614 
 
 Pop Corn Puddings 658 
 
 Overs 629 
 
 Porcelain, Cements for 313 
 
 Pork Cake 565 
 
 How much a Bushel of Corn will 
 
 make 492 
 
 How to Choose 556 
 
 Improved mode of Cooking- 564 
 
 Pickled equal to Fresh 689 
 
 Preservation of 689 
 
 To cut up and to Cure 690 
 
 Posts and Piles, To prevent Rotting 306 
 
 Driving 363 
 
 To Preserve 307, 361 
 
 Splitting 362 
 
 Potato Bug 535 
 
 Custard 668 
 
 Most Profitable V ariety 382 
 
 Rot, Remedies for 383 
 
 The best Early 382 
 
 Potatoes, Average yield per acre 372 
 
 Cooking 575, 576, 577 
 
 Earthing up . 384 
 
 Exposed to Sun poison 383 
 
 How to Choose 576 
 
 How to have Early 382 
 
 Keeping 705 
 
 Sort out the Small 383 
 
 Tanbarkfor 384 
 
 To improve Soggy 577 
 
 What sized best to plant 382 
 
 Pot Cheese 766 
 
1042 
 
 GENERAL INDEX, 
 
 Poultry, Fattening 
 
 How to Choose 
 
 Keepers, Maxims for.. 
 
 Management of 
 
 Preparation for Spring. 
 
 Productiveness of 
 
 Profits from 
 
 To make Hens lay 
 
 To rid of Vermin 
 
 Pound Cake 
 
 Page. 
 
 502 
 
 .555, 557 
 
 495 
 
 495 
 
 495 
 
 496 
 
 496 
 
 496 
 
 538 
 
 629 
 
 Ginger 622 
 
 Molasses 628 
 
 Pudding 658 
 
 Powder, Gold, To make 336 
 
 Power of a Man 517 
 
 Precepts, Maxims and Rules 229 
 
 Precocious Children 62 
 
 Prepared Liquid Glue 322 
 
 Preparing and Cooking Fruit 596 
 
 Preservation of Beef 659 
 
 of Blackberries 731 
 
 of Cheese . 763 
 
 of Cherries 727 
 
 of Fish 702 
 
 of Food, Meat, &c 687 
 
 of Fruits 714 
 
 of Gooseberries 730 
 
 of Grapes 727 
 
 of Fay 371 
 
 of Head Cheese 701 
 
 of Lard 70J 
 
 of Peaches 724 
 
 of Pears. 723 
 
 of Plums 726 
 
 of Pumpkins 711 
 
 of Quinces 726 
 
 • of Strawberries 730 
 
 of the Teeth 925 
 
 ofTomatos 712 
 
 Preserved Pine Apple 732 
 
 Preserve the Hair, To 918 
 
 Preserves, Jellies and Jams 679 
 
 Preserving a Boquet 402 
 
 Animal Substances 687 
 
 Brotn, Soups and Gravy 701 
 
 Butter 758, 759, 760 
 
 Buttermilk... 747 
 
 Cabbage 387, 709 
 
 Celery 713 
 
 Cider 786, 7137 
 
 Cranberries 732 
 
 Currants 729 
 
 Eggs 702, 705 
 
 Fence Posts 361 
 
 Flowers 404, 400, 876 
 
 and Fruit 409 
 
 Glue 322 
 
 Gxass and Flowers 404 
 
 Green Corn, Beans, Peas, &c 707 
 
 Head Cheese and Sausage 698 
 
 Herbs 713 
 
 Hides and Skins 313 
 
 Huckleberries 732 
 
 Leather 309 
 
 Lemon Juice 732 
 
 Meats and Vegetables 639 
 
 Meat and Fish 702 
 
 PllgC. 
 
 Preserving Milk 747 
 
 Mince Meat 700 
 
 Nuts 733 
 
 Pencil Drawings 888 
 
 Raspberries 732 
 
 Rhubarb 713 
 
 Seeds Pure 373 
 
 Squashes 712 
 
 Vegetables and Roots 705 
 
 Wood 306, 307 
 
 andiron 305 
 
 Prickly Heat 994 
 
 Prince of Wales Pudding 655 
 
 Principle and Right 152 
 
 Printed Paper, To Clean 859 
 
 Prints, To Wash 822 
 
 To Prevent from Fading 822 
 
 Produce Market, The 354 
 
 Products of different States 371 
 
 Promptitude 153 
 
 Property 241 
 
 Protecting dried Fruit from Worms 732 
 
 Wood and Iron 305 
 
 Prudence 184 
 
 Pruning Evergreens 416 
 
 When to Prune 428 
 
 Puff Cake 629 
 
 Paste 638 
 
 Pudding, Corn 581 
 
 Sauce 647 
 
 Sweet Potato 578 
 
 Puddings 647 
 
 Pumpkin Apple Pie 640 
 
 Bread.. 602 
 
 Pie 639 
 
 Pumpkins, Drying 639 
 
 Preservation of 711 
 
 Pumps, Frozen, To Thaw out 276 
 
 To prevent Freezing 276 
 
 Purchasers of Real Estate, To 242 
 
 Purchases 239 
 
 Purifying Dirty Water 769 
 
 Purple, To Color 813 
 
 Purpose 136 
 
 Putty and Paint, Solvent of. 874 
 
 To Remove old 328 
 
 Q 
 
 Quince and Apple Jelly 681 
 
 Marmalade 636 
 
 Quinces, Cooking 597 
 
 Preservation of 726 
 
 Quills, To Clarify 885 
 
 R 
 
 Rabbits, How to Choose 557 
 
 To prevent Gnawing Trees 527 
 
 Radishes, Time required to Germinate . 375 
 
 To protect from Grub 535 
 
 Radish Pods, To Pickle 740 
 
 Rags 872 
 
 Rain Glass 901 
 
 Raisin Pudding 659 
 
 Raisins, Making .'. 450 
 
 Randolph’s (John) Letter 233 
 
GENERAL INDEX. 
 
 043 
 
 Fage. 
 
 Rarebit, Welsh 617 
 
 Rashers from Cold Bacon . 567 
 
 Raspberries, Preserving 732 
 
 Raspberry, Cultivation of. 444 
 
 Jam 680 
 
 Royal . . 804 
 
 Vinegar 737, 784 
 
 Wine 798 
 
 Rasps, To make old equal new 326 
 
 Rattlesnake bite cured in two hours 1011 
 
 Rats and Mice, Remedies for. 518 
 
 Raw Hide, The use of 310 
 
 To Dress 310 
 
 Razor Paste 910 
 
 Reading, Novel 91 
 
 What and how to Read 85 
 
 Real Estate, To Purchasers 242 
 
 Red, To Dye 811, 812 
 
 Refrigerators, Earthen 769 
 
 Remedies, General for Insects 625 
 
 for Diseases of Cattle 478 
 
 of Sheep _ 487 
 
 of the Horse 459 
 
 of Hogs 493 
 
 for Pests 518 
 
 Rennet, Extract of. 763 
 
 Renovating Clothing 828 
 
 Resin, To remove Stains of 835 
 
 Rheumatism 970 
 
 Rhubarb, How to Cook 585, 586 
 
 Pie 645 
 
 Preserving. 713 
 
 Pudding 656 
 
 Uses of. 586 
 
 Wine 798, 799, 800 
 
 Ribbons, To Clean 833 
 
 Ricardo’s Rules 232 
 
 Rice Bread 603 
 
 Cakes 625, 626 
 
 Cups 631 
 
 Gruel 595 
 
 Pudding 649, 650 
 
 Soup 594 
 
 To Cook 581 
 
 Right 152 
 
 Ringworm 993 
 
 Roasting Meats 560 
 
 Roast Turkey 569 
 
 Rocks, Clearing Off 543 
 
 Rock Work 401 
 
 Rolled Pudding. 654 
 
 Rolls 604 
 
 Roofing Compositions 272 
 
 Tile 273 
 
 Roofs, To stop Leaks 271 
 
 Rooms, Cement for 320 
 
 How to Finish 261 
 
 Whitewashes for 294, 296 
 
 Root Beer, To Make 782 
 
 Roots and Vegetables, Preserving 705 
 
 Roses, Cultivation of. 399 
 
 List of. 401 
 
 Rose Water, To Make 907 
 
 Rosewood Furniture, Care of 850 
 
 Stain 298 
 
 Rothschild’s Rules 231 
 
 Rouge Powder for Plated Ware 856 
 
 Page. 
 
 Rouges 905 
 
 Rout Drops 634 
 
 Royal, Raspberry 804 
 
 Rules for H ome Education 56 
 
 for Making Farming Profitable 351 
 
 for Marketing. 555 
 
 for Preserving Health 931 
 
 for Selling Sheep 487 
 
 for Winter 932 
 
 in Cheese Making 762 
 
 Maxims and Precepts 229 
 
 to Promote Harmony in the Family 10 
 
 Rum, For Making 806 
 
 Rusks 605 
 
 Rusting, Tools, To Prevent 329 
 
 Rust in Iron andSteel, To Prevent. 329, 874 
 Stains in Cotton or Linen, To Re- 
 move 837 
 
 To Remove from Iron 330 
 
 To take out of Steel 380 
 
 Rusty Nuts and Screws, To Loosen 330 
 
 Ruta Bagas, Average yield per Acre. . . 372 
 
 Rye, Average yield per Acre 372 
 
 Drop Cakes 634 
 
 S 
 
 Sachet Powders 908 
 
 Saddle, Cleaning 368 
 
 Safety Clothing, To Prepare 82 L 
 
 Sago and Apple Pudding 652 
 
 Gruel 595 
 
 Salad, How to have Early 398 
 
 Salads 566, 588, 667 
 
 Sally Lunn 607 
 
 Salmon Color, To Dye 815 
 
 How to Choose 558 
 
 Salsify, To Cook 586 
 
 Salt, Allowance per day for Cattle 476 
 
 A universal Remedy 836 
 
 Emptyings ' 6<)4 
 
 Use of in cooking Vegetables 575 
 
 in Food of Cattle 475 
 
 Sandstone, To prevent scaling off. 269 
 
 Sandwiches 566 
 
 Saponaceous Cream of Almonds 9()8 
 
 Satin Dresses, To clean whole 831 
 
 Sauce for Puddings 617 
 
 for roasted Goose 570 
 
 Sorgo 675 
 
 Sauces and Gravies 663 
 
 Sausage, Bologna 700 
 
 Skins 700 
 
 Sausages, Making and Preserving 698 
 
 Save All 567 
 
 Saving 186 
 
 Seeds 375, 376 
 
 Saw, Circular, What will do 516 
 
 Scab in Sheep 487 
 
 Scalds and Burns 1005 
 
 Scarlet Fever 997 
 
 To Dye 813 
 
 Schroeder’s Cake 627 
 
 School Children, Duties of Parents to.. 58 
 
 Schools, Duties of Parents to 57 
 
 Science and Philosophy 82 
 
 Farmers and 349 
 
1044 
 
 GENERAL INDEX, 
 
 Page. 
 
 Scouring Floor Boards 848 
 
 Knives 857 
 
 Scours in Colts 460 
 
 in Sheep and Lambs 488 
 
 or Diarrhea in Cattle 480 
 
 Scotch Cakes 627 
 
 Scratches in Horses 461 
 
 Screws, Rusty, To Loosen 330 
 
 Scrofula 992 
 
 Scurf or Mange on Cattle 479 
 
 Sea Kale, To Cook 580 
 
 Water, To quench thirst with 768 
 
 Sealing Wax, To Make 323 
 
 Seed Cake . 626 
 
 Corn, Saving 376 
 
 Testing 376 
 
 Early Sowing 393 
 
 Grass, Sowing 368 
 
 Planting Locust 418 
 
 Wheat, quantity to the Acre 379 
 
 Selecting and Mixing 380 
 
 Seeding a Lawn 420 
 
 Seeds 373 
 
 Bags for Saving 400 
 
 How to Clean 376 
 
 How to have-good 375 
 
 Method of preserving Pure 373 
 
 Number in a bushel 514 
 
 Saving 375, 376 
 
 Testing 373 
 
 Time required to Germinate 375 
 
 Vitality of 373 
 
 Self Abuse 1002 
 
 Reliance 97 
 
 Sending Money by Mail 242 
 
 Settlements 240 
 
 Settling an Estate 240 
 
 Shad, How to Cook 572 
 
 Preservation of 702 
 
 Shadows, Italian 877 
 
 Sharpening Edge Tools 333 
 
 Sheep, Allowance of Salt per day 476 
 
 Care of 486 
 
 Dead, and Live Weight of. 515 
 
 Diseases and Remedies 487 
 
 Fattening in Winter 484 
 
 Feeding 483 
 
 Management of 482 
 
 Marking 487 
 
 Objects in Growing 486 
 
 Production of Sexes 483 
 
 Remedy for Ticks on 538 
 
 Rules for Selling 487 
 
 Shall they be Washed 485 
 
 Shearing 485 
 
 Shedding Wool 483 
 
 Size of for Profit 483 
 
 Skins for Mats 311 
 
 To Cure with Wool on 311 
 
 To Manage 486 
 
 Water for 485 
 
 Shingles, and how to lay them. 269 
 
 Fire-Proof Wash for. 271 
 
 Preserving 270 
 
 Shoeing Horses for Winter travel 555 
 
 To prevent Interfering 456 
 
 To prevent Overreaching 456 
 
 Pago . 
 
 Shoes and Boots 825 
 
 Water Proof Dressing for 826 
 
 Why should be polished 825 
 
 Cement for the soles of. 316 
 
 Shrewsbury Cake 630 
 
 Shrubs and Plants, Hardy, List of 401 
 
 Evergreen 416 
 
 and Trees, Transplanting 417 
 
 Silicate of Potash for protecting Wood. 308 
 
 Sick Headache 967 
 
 Sickness 938 
 
 Signs of health and long life 938 
 
 of the Weather 896 
 
 Silk and other Fabrics, To clean.. 830, 831 
 Dresses, Colored, To clean. . . ... 832 
 
 To clean Whole 831 , 
 
 Stockings, To Pink 813 
 
 To remove Paint from 834 
 
 To restore Color to 832 
 
 to Sulphur. 838 
 
 To take Grease out of 831 
 
 To take Stains out of 832 
 
 Silver and Gold Inks 834, 835 
 
 and Plated Ware, To clean 855, 856 
 
 Cake 635 
 
 Lace, To clean 840 
 
 Spoons, To remove Egg stain 851 
 
 To remove Medicine stains 857 
 
 Testing 337 
 
 To keep bright 856 
 
 Top Drink 801 
 
 To remove Ink stains from 857 
 
 Tree, How to make 876 
 
 Silvering by Powdered Tin 335 
 
 Galvanizing, Gilding, &c 335 
 
 Glass 335 
 
 of Looking Glasses, To repair 335 
 
 Powder for coating Copper. 335 
 
 Singing, The benefit of 83 
 
 Size for attaching Paper to Walls 873 
 
 Skins, Deer, Tanning 311 
 
 Fur, Dressing 312 
 
 Sheep for Mats .' 311 
 
 To cure with Wool on 311 
 
 Tanning with the Fur on 313 
 
 To Preserve 313 
 
 Skunks 541 
 
 Slate Color 814 
 
 Slaw - 579 
 
 Sleep - 364 
 
 Sleeping Rooms, Plants in 408 
 
 Small Beer 780 
 
 Pox — Vaccination 995 
 
 Smear Case 765 
 
 Smoke, Chimney that will not 262 
 
 Smoked Meat, To preserve 688 
 
 Smoky Chimney, To cure .262, 263 
 
 Smoking Meat 688 
 
 Smut in Wheat, To prevent 38o 
 
 Snake Bites 1011 
 
 Snap Dragon, To Eradicate 543 
 
 Snaps, Ginger 624 
 
 London 624 
 
 Snipes, How to choose 557 
 
 Snow Ball Cake 631 
 
 Pudding... 657 
 
 Cakes 631 
 
GENERAL INDEX. 
 
 1045 
 
 Page. 
 
 Soap for Chapped Hands 912 
 
 Hard, How to make 842. 843 
 
 Labor Saving 842 
 
 Pure White . 844 
 
 Shaker plan of making 843 
 
 Should be seasoned 842 
 
 Volatile for removing paint, <fcc... 835 
 
 Washing 842 
 
 Soaps, Cosmetic 905 
 
 "Washing Fluids, Powders, &c 842 
 
 Soda Biscuit 605 
 
 Cake 630 
 
 Crackers 608 
 
 for Washing 847 
 
 Water, To make 783 
 
 Sofas and Chairs, To clean 850 
 
 and Ottomans, Cleaning 850 
 
 Soil, Fineness of 393 
 
 for Parlor Plants 406 
 
 Solders and Soldering 324 
 
 Solvents of Gutta Percha and India 
 
 Rubber 333 
 
 Sore Mouth.. 990 
 
 Necks of Oxen, To prevent 478 
 
 Teats of Cows, Remedy for 472 
 
 To Milk 471 
 
 Sores 991 
 
 Sorgo Apple Sauce 597 
 
 Molasses, Rules for making 674 
 
 Sauce 675 
 
 Sugar. 675 
 
 Souffle 663 
 
 Sound, To prevent transmission through 
 
 Glass 262 
 
 Soups, Making 589, 590 
 
 To Preserve 701 
 
 Sows. Age for breeding 48s 
 
 To prevent killing their Pigs 489 
 
 Spanish Wool 905 
 
 Spavin in Horses 462 
 
 Speculation 239 
 
 Spiced Vinegar 639 
 
 Spices 639 
 
 Spider Apple Sauce 640 
 
 Spinach, Cooking 584 
 
 Soup 594 
 
 Time required to Germinate 375 
 
 Spirits 210 
 
 Sponge Cake 632 
 
 Gingerbread 621 
 
 Spools of Thread, Meaning of number. . 871 
 
 Sprains and Bruises 1020 
 
 in Animals. 460 
 
 Spruce Beer 780 
 
 Spurious Bank Notes, To detect 339 
 
 Squash Cake 625 
 
 Pie 639 
 
 Plant a Vine 388 
 
 Squashes, To Cook 585 
 
 Winter, Keeping 712 
 
 Squirrels 541 
 
 St. Anthony’s Fire 993 
 
 St. Croix Rum, How made 806 
 
 Stable, The Horse 454 
 
 Stabling Cows 468 
 
 Staggers in Hogs, Blind 494 
 
 Staining Wood 297, -299 
 
 Page. 
 
 Staining Wood and Ivory 29.1 
 
 Stains and Marks on Books, To remove 859 
 
 Caused by Acids, To remove 838 
 
 Egg on Silver Spoons, To remove. . 857 
 
 Ink on Silver, To remove 857 
 
 Medicine on Spoons, To remove 857 
 
 of Ink in Floors, To remove 848 
 
 of Ink, To remove 836, 837 
 
 of Oil, Wax, Resin, &c., To remove 835 
 of Red Wine on Board, To remove. 848 
 
 of Rust, To remove 837 
 
 on Marble, To remove 853 
 
 To remove from Fine Cutlery 857 
 
 To take out of Mahogany 850 
 
 To take out of Silks 832 
 
 Vegetable and Fruit, To remove.. 837 
 
 Stair Carpets 864 
 
 Starch 841 
 
 Starching and Ironing 841 
 
 States, Average yield of Crops in 372 
 
 Leading products of. 371 
 
 Steam Boilers and Hard Water 332 
 
 Pipes, Cement for. 318, 319 
 
 Pudding 654 
 
 Steamed Flour Pudding 654 
 
 Steel Articles, To prevent Rust on 874 
 
 Cast, Composition for Welding 331 
 
 Hardened, How to cut 331 
 
 Melting as easily as Lead 332 
 
 Polished, Caution 332 
 
 Preventive of Rust in 329 
 
 To take Rust out of 330 
 
 Sterling Exchange, Mysteries of 344 
 
 Stewed Oysters 572, 573 
 
 Stewing Meats 560 
 
 Stilton Cheese, To make 763 
 
 Stings and Bites, Remedies for 1011 
 
 Stockings, Silk, To Pink 813 
 
 Stone, Building 267 
 
 Houses, To protect from Damp 268 
 
 Induration of. 269 
 
 To prevent scaling off 269 
 
 Ware, Cement for 319 
 
 Work, Cement for. 318 
 
 Storm Glass 901 
 
 Stove Pipe stains on Floor 848 
 
 Stoves 548 
 
 Cement for 318, 321 
 
 To keep Bright 548 
 
 To prevent from Rusting 548 
 
 To remove Clinkers from 548 
 
 To stop the Cracks of 548 
 
 Straw Beds 866 
 
 Strawberries, Planting and Cultivating 436 
 
 Preservation of ' 733 
 
 Dessert of 597 
 
 Sex of 440 
 
 Soil and Fertilizers for 439 
 
 To Hybridize 441 
 
 Strawberry Cup Cake 631 
 
 Jelly 683 
 
 Short Cake 609 
 
 Straw Bonnets, To Sulphur 838 
 
 Stretches in Sheep 488 
 
 String Halt in Horses 462 
 
 Strong Drinks, To destroy taste for 800 
 
 Stuffing for all kinds of Meat & Poultry 570 
 
1046 
 
 GENERAL INDEX, 
 
 Page. 
 
 Stumps, Blowing up 544 
 
 Sty on the Eyelid 925 
 
 Subsoiling 355 
 
 Substitutes for Coffee 776, 777 
 
 for Tea 772 
 
 Success 170 
 
 Succotash . . 581 
 
 Sugar, Maple, How to make 676 
 
 White, How to make . . 673 
 
 Preserving Meat and Fish by 702 
 
 Sorgo 675 
 
 To Clarify 673 
 
 Suicide, Twelve ways of Committing.. 936 
 
 Sulphate of Copper for preserving wood 307 
 
 Summer Drinks 768 
 
 Sunbeam, A trap to catch 250 
 
 Sunburn and Tan, To remove 909 
 
 Sunderland Pudding 654 
 
 Sun Stroke 1019 
 
 Super-phosphate, How to make 359 
 
 Surface Waters, To render wholesome.. 768 
 
 Sweeney in Horses 463 
 
 Sweet Corn, Preparing for Table, Dried 581 
 
 Cider, Heating to preserve 790 
 
 Potato, Average yield per Acre 372 
 
 Cooking the 578, 579 
 
 Culture 384 
 
 in place of Hyacinths 875 
 
 keeping the 706 
 
 Pie 646 
 
 Page 
 
 Tea Drinking 772 
 
 Making 771 
 
 Substitutes for 772 
 
 Teachers and Parents, To 77 
 
 Why Fail 77 
 
 Telegraph Posts, To preserve 307 
 
 Teeth, Preservation of. 926 
 
 Test, Coin 338 
 
 for Arsenic in Dresses 829 
 
 for Bread 603 
 
 for Butter 761 
 
 for Cheese 763 
 
 for Inks 885 
 
 for Wines „ 802 
 
 Testing Gold, Silver and Diamonds 337 
 
 Seed Corn 377 
 
 Seeds 373 
 
 Tetanus or Lockjaw 1003 
 
 Tile Roofing 273 
 
 Timber, Oak, Shrinkage of. 516 
 
 Soaking in Blue Vitriol 387 
 
 Time to Cut 308 
 
 To prevent dry rot in 308 
 
 Tin and Tinware, Cleaning 852, 853 
 
 Coating Iron with 334 
 
 Powdered, Silvering by 335 
 
 To make Paper adhere to 317 
 
 Tinning 334 
 
 The benefit of Singing 83 
 
 Bible 73 
 
 Plants, Setting 386 
 
 Sweets, Custards, Creams and 667 
 
 Swellings on Cattle 479 
 
 Swimming and Bathing 947 
 
 Swiss Soup 594 
 
 Syllabub, To make 805 
 
 Sympathetic Ink 884 
 
 Syrup, Elderberry 804 
 
 Persimmon 675 
 
 T 
 
 Table Jelly 684 
 
 Tables, Selecting, &c 864 
 
 To remove marks of Hot Dishes... 872 
 
 Valuable 511 
 
 Tablet, Ginger or Cinnamon 623 
 
 Tallow, To refine for Candles 552 
 
 To Whiten 553 
 
 Tan and Sunburn, To remove 909 
 
 Tanning and Dressing, Leather, Hides 
 
 and Fur 308 
 
 Deer Skins 311 
 
 Skins with the Fur on 313 
 
 Tapioca Gruel 595 
 
 Tar on Clothes or Hands, To remove. .. 836 
 Tarts 647 
 
 Taste for strong drinks and tobacco, To 
 
 Destroy 800 
 
 Taylor Pudding 655 
 
 Tea 770 
 
 Adulteration of. 779 
 
 and Coffee, Making 772 
 
 Beneficial Influence of. 771 
 
 Brands and their meaning 771 
 
 Buns 608 
 
 Cakes 617, 624 
 
 Body and the Mind 950 
 
 Boy Father of the Man 67 
 
 Boy that is Respected 68 
 
 Family..., 7 
 
 Father 35 
 
 Houses we live in 243 
 
 Mother 36 
 
 Pretentious Boy 67 
 
 Skin, To remove Nitrate of Silver. . 328 
 
 True Gentleman 167 
 
 Warmest and Best Clothing 942 
 
 Worth of a True Wife 28 
 
 Thirst, ASpring that will not quench. 768 
 
 How to quench 768 
 
 Thread, Meaning of Number on Spools 873 
 
 Threading a Needle 873 
 
 Threshing, Protection from dust. 381 
 
 Toads 542 
 
 Toast, Asparagus 587 
 
 German 617 
 
 Milk 6 J 7 
 
 Tomato 585 
 
 Tobacco, Cure of Appetite for. 1002 
 
 Smoke, Remedy for Wounds 1018 
 
 To destroy taste for 800 
 
 Worms, Remedy for 535 
 
 To Boys 65 
 
 Find lost Bank Notes 243 
 
 Husbands 23 
 
 Toilet — Cosmetics, <fcc 903 
 
 Vinegars 90S 
 
 Tools and Implements, Farming 364 
 
 Buying 331 
 
 Care of 364 
 
 Give the Boys 69 
 
 Sharpening 333 
 
 To prevent from Rusting 329 
 
GENERAL INDEX. 
 
 1U47 
 
 Fage. 
 
 Tooth Ache 928 
 
 Powders and Washes 927 
 
 Tomato Catsup, To make 744 
 
 Pudding 657 
 
 Sauce 664 
 
 Seeds. How to clean 376 
 
 Tomatos, Cooking and Preparing. .584, 585 
 
 Preservation of 712 
 
 Ripening 396 
 
 To get Early 395 
 
 To Pickle 738 
 
 To Mothers 40 
 
 Parents and Teachers 77 
 
 Purchasers of Real Estate 242 
 
 Wives 32 
 
 Young Ladies 72 
 
 Tracing Paper, How to make 886 
 
 Transfer Paper, To make 866 
 
 Transferring Pencil Drawings to Metal 
 
 or Stone 888 
 
 Picture Prints 887 
 
 Transparent Paper and Cloth 886 
 
 Pudding. 657 
 
 Soap 907 
 
 Transplanting Boxes 394 
 
 Evergreens 416 
 
 Trees and Shrubs 417 
 
 Nut-bearing Trees 418 
 
 Vegetables and Annuals 394 
 
 Treatment of Wounds 1015 
 
 Tree Labels, Ink for marking 885 
 
 Trees and Lawn 411 
 
 and Shrubs, Transplanting 417 
 
 Best for Shade and Lawn 415 
 
 Botanic names of. 419 
 
 Culture of Locust 418 
 
 Fruit, Barren 426 
 
 Care of 424 
 
 Planting 423 
 
 Near barn yards 425 
 
 or Wood 424 
 
 Insects on 527 
 
 Plant. 411 
 
 Planting 415 
 
 Lawn 421 
 
 Walnut Grove 418 
 
 Propogating by Cuttings 424 
 
 Removing Large 418 
 
 ’ Renovating old 426 
 
 Sulphate of Iron for 427 
 
 To prevent Dry Rot in 426 
 
 To prevent Frost injuring Fruit. . 426 
 
 To prevent Rabbits gnawing 527 
 
 Transplanting 417 
 
 Evergreen 416 
 
 Nut-bearing 418 
 
 Water proof Varnish for 431 
 
 Wind-Breaks 419 
 
 Trifles 224 
 
 Turbot, How to choose * 558 
 
 Turkey, Boiled 569 
 
 How to choose 557 
 
 Patties 569 
 
 Roast 569 
 
 Soup 590 
 
 Turkeys, Caponizing 504 
 
 Turnin Fly, Reim aies for 535 
 
 Page. 
 
 Turnips, Average yield per Acre 372 
 
 Twelve ways of committing Suicide 936 
 
 Typhoid Fever 997 
 
 Typhus Fever 997 
 
 U 
 
 Under Draining 356 
 
 Underground W'alls, Concrete 265 
 
 Under Sleeves, To wash 840 
 
 Unruliness in Stock, To prevent 478 
 
 V 
 
 Vaccination 995 
 
 Value of a Female Adviser 27 
 
 Varnish, Amber 301, 302 
 
 Best clear for Maps, Drawings, &c. 301 
 
 Black Asphalt 302 
 
 for Flexible Surface 299 
 
 for Leather. 299 
 
 for Rifle Sights 302 
 
 Pattern, wood and iron 300 
 
 Carriage 303 
 
 Crystal. 302 
 
 for Cheese 763 
 
 for Cloth for Hot Bed 395 
 
 for coarse Castings 303 
 
 for External use 303 
 
 for Iron 303 
 
 for Iron Chains 303 
 
 for polished Metals 303 
 
 for Prints and Maps 303 
 
 for Rough Castings 303 
 
 for Water Color Paintings 300 
 
 French Polish 303, 
 
 Furniture 303 
 
 Good black for Iron 302 
 
 Japanees. 302 
 
 Lac 300 
 
 Lunig’s Colorless 300 
 
 Picture 300, 303 
 
 WaterProof. 302 
 
 White 300 
 
 Hard 303 
 
 Varnishes, Additional 303 
 
 Veal, How to Choose 555 
 
 Stew, Paste for 638 
 
 To Roast a leg of. 566 
 
 Vegetable Broth 594 
 
 Garden, Best site for 392 
 
 The 391 
 
 Oyster Soup 592 
 
 Soup 592 
 
 Stains, To Remove 837 
 
 Vegetables and Roots, Preserving 705 
 
 Cooking 574 
 
 Cultivating 382 
 
 Transplanting 394 
 
 Veils, Black, To clean _ 83,3 
 
 Vellum Paper, To make 887 
 
 Velvet, To raise the Pile on 833 
 
 Venison, How to choose 557 
 
 Ventilation 25] 
 
 of Chambers and Bed Rooms 257 
 
 Vermacelli Pudding. 659 
 
 Vermin, To protect Leather from 309 
 
1048 
 
 GENERAL INDEX. 
 
 Pfl ^6, 
 
 Victoria Pudding 654 
 
 Vinaigre Framboise and Rosat 908 
 
 Vinegar Making 733 
 
 Pie * 646 
 
 Raspberry 737, 784 
 
 Sources of. 734 
 
 Spiced, Preparation of. 736 
 
 Vinegars, Toilet 908 
 
 V ines, Forwarding 396 
 
 To protect from Bugs 533 
 
 Vineyard and Garden Fruits 436 
 
 Voice and Ear, The 928 
 
 W 
 
 Wafer Jumbles 630 
 
 Wafers, Cinnamon 634 
 
 Waffles 609 
 
 Wagons 365 
 
 Wagon Wheels, To keep Tires on 366 
 
 Walks, Hydraulic Cement for 319 
 
 To destroy worms in 533 
 
 Wall Paper, Cleaning 851 
 
 Size for 873 
 
 Walls, Garden, Coloring for 292 
 
 Concrete for Underground 265 
 
 Walnut, Imitation of. 298 
 
 Walnuts, Howto keep 733 
 
 Warts on Cattle 479 
 
 For removing 409 
 
 Remedy for 413 
 
 Wash, Fire Proof 291 
 
 for Buildings 296 
 
 for Shingles, Fire Proof. 271 
 
 Washing 828 
 
 and Bleaching, Borax for 846 
 
 Collars, Undersleeves and Handker- 
 chiefs 840 
 
 Fluid 845, 846 
 
 Glass 855 
 
 Knives and Forks 857 
 
 Powder 846 
 
 Scouring and Renovating 828 
 
 Soap 842 
 
 Woolens 829 
 
 Washington Cake 627 
 
 Water. 768 
 
 Cisterns (See Cisterns) 277 
 
 Cisterns, Cement for 318 
 
 Cooling without Ice 769 
 
 Drinking 768 
 
 for Sheep 485 
 
 for Stock 477 
 
 Hard, To soften 768 
 
 How our Soldiers carried 277 
 
 Limestone, To prepare for drinking 768 
 
 Pipes, Method of mending 275 
 
 The best 276 
 
 Proof Cement 317 
 
 Cloth 823 
 
 Dressing for boots and shoes. . 826 
 
 for boot soles 827 
 
 Glue. 322 
 
 Proofing wood 305 
 
 Purifying dirty 769 
 
 Sucking up from Sand 277 
 
 Surface, To render wholesome 768 
 
 Water Tight Cement 
 
 To make Paper impervious to 
 
 To obtain by well and siphon 
 
 To prevent freezing in Pumps 
 
 Troughs 
 
 Watering and Manuring the Lawn 4 
 
 Window Plants .... 4i 
 
 Watermelon, Juice of 686 
 
 Wax in the Ear ; 928 
 
 To remove stains of 835 
 
 Weather and its Signs 896 
 
 Howto Foretell 897 
 
 Proof Cement 317 
 
 Weeds 542 
 
 Weights and Measures 516 
 
 of the bushel of all Agricultural 
 
 Produce 513 
 
 Welding Cast Steel, Composition for... 331 
 Wells, Cisterns, Filters and Ice Houses 274 
 
 Putridity in 274 
 
 To examine bottom of 274 
 
 To Purify 274 
 
 Wens on Cattle 479 
 
 Wheat, Average yield per Acre 372 
 
 Boiled 582 
 
 Bread 600 
 
 Cracked 582 
 
 Germinating, How to treat 380 
 
 Heated, Bread from 602 
 
 Hulled 381 
 
 Meal Gruel 595 
 
 Plant, Marvels of 378 
 
 Quantity for a barrel of Flour 514 
 
 Quantity of Seed to the Acre 379 
 
 Selecting and mixing Seed 380 
 
 Time required to Germinate 375 
 
 To prevent Smut in 380 
 
 Whisky, Adulterated, To make 807 
 
 White Cake 635 
 
 Lemon Cake 635 
 
 Mountain Cake 628 
 
 Sugar Cake 635 
 
 Swelling 1000 
 
 Whitewash for Buildings 296 
 
 that will keep 295 
 
 The best 295 
 
 Whitewashes, <fcc -- 293 
 
 Whooping Cough 985 
 
 Why Farmers are healthy 937 
 
 Wife, A True, The Worth of 28 
 
 The Farmer’s 347 
 
 Wild Fowl and Game, To tell the age of 505 
 
 Wind-Breaks 419 
 
 Windlass, Working a.. 3i2 
 
 Window Flowers 405 
 
 Glass, To stick Letters to 317 
 
 Plants, Watering 405 
 
 Screen, Living. 874 
 
 Windows, Clothes in 872 
 
 Ice on.- 872 
 
 To prevent sound through 262 
 
 Wine 790 
 
 American Grapes for 450 
 
 and Beer Bottles, To clean 858 
 
 as a Medicine 791 
 
 Blackberry 797, 798 
 
 Biscuit 606 
 
general index. 
 
 1049 
 
 Page 
 
 . 80i 
 
 Tom » ke SOOlWood, 
 
 loring for g 0 y 
 
 . .Currant, Making *793 797 
 
 .Decanters, To clean. ’ ok q 
 
 •Elderberry 777"* JfjJj 
 
 Fermenting ygg 
 
 Grape, How to make. ..." ... " 791 
 
 «7~- - 683 
 
 Maderia, Port, <fcc. 
 
 OAP 
 
 Maple Sugar for. . 707 
 
 “ f ' A w ,ieB loo 
 
 JPo&ch,. oaa 
 
 Presses. 
 
 ??fp be r7 70s 
 
 “i::::::::::::;;;! 98 :” 9 : S3 
 
 Stains, To remove. .... __ 337 g 4 g 
 
 Wines, To detect artificially colored.. .’ 802 
 
 To fine or clarify. 801 g n9 
 
 Wingate Cake ’ So 
 
 Wintering Cattle 
 
 Winter, Rules for 44 
 
 Wire Worms, To destroy. 
 Wisdom 
 
 932 
 
 536 
 
 82 
 
 95 
 
 wit.. ; 
 
 Witch Balls in Cattle’ am 
 
 Wives, To 
 
 W ood and Coal !77 7 ’ * * 546 
 
 and Iron, Protecting &, Preserving. 305 
 Bleaching and Staining.. 997 
 
 Cement for 315 
 
 for Fences, Preserving 306 
 
 m damp places, To preserve. . 306 
 
 Induration of. " ‘ 269 
 
 in the ground, To preserve. . . 306 
 
 Relative heating value of different 
 kinds 
 
 Splitting... 1!';/ 7 5 46 
 
 Strengthening . 
 
 305 
 
 ’age. 
 
 297 
 
 297 
 
 29? 
 
 291 
 
 29| 
 
 29? 
 
 To stain Blue 
 
 Black 
 
 Mahogany 
 
 Red...... 777 
 
 Rosewood 
 
 Yellow 
 
 Woodcocks, How to choose... 
 
 Woods, Spare the -------- 
 
 Woolen Goods, To remove Oil, Paint 
 
 and Grease qqa oqn 
 
 Woolens, To Sulphur ’ ggg 
 
 Washing ooq* O o n 
 
 Wool, To test the quality of.. ’ 437 
 
 in Horses 77*77! 459 
 
 Protecting Dried Fruits from 739 
 
 Wounds in Horses 
 
 Treatment of 7*. im* 
 
 Writing, Copying fi o Q 
 
 Ink, To obliterate..::; .I:; 885 
 
 Invisible 
 
 Luminous 
 
 To Recover 7 
 
 To Restore 
 
 884 
 
 877 
 
 889 
 
 859 
 
 Yeast Dumpling 
 
 To extract the Bitter of, 
 
 To make 
 
 Yellow, To dye 
 Young Ladies, How' Dress,* Ac!!. 71^! 819 
 
 Men, A Hint to 77*!.* 70 
 
 663 
 
 604 
 
 599, 603, 604 
 -810, 811 
 
 Zinc and Lead Vessels. 
 
 Coatinglron with.!.* oil 
 
 Meltin & 7777!! 324 
 
UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS-URBANA 
 
 3 0112112080574