may be given every hour. This is a very good substitute for Peruvian
bark in fever-and-ague.

923. _Sage Tea._--Night sweats have been cured, when more powerful
remedies had failed, by fasting morning and night, and drinking cold
sage tea constantly and freely.

924. _Gentian-root Infusion._--Gentian-root, half an ounce;
orange-peel, pounded, two drachms; hot water, one pint. Let these
stand an hour. This will be found useful in debility of the digestive
organs. A wine-glassful may be given every two or three hours.

925. _Infusion for Rheumatism._--One ounce of gum-guaiacum must be
bruised and put into a pint of French brandy, in which it must remain
for at least thirty hours. When the gum is dissolved, shake the
bottle, and pour a little of this infusion into rather more than a
wine-glassful of tepid water; take this at bed-time, for three nights.

926. _Mixture for Rheumatism._--One ounce of salad mustard must be
simmered in a pint of soft water, till the liquor is reduced to half
a pint; strain it through muslin, and add a pint of milk, fresh from
the cow. Let it boil only two minutes, and take a small tea-cupful,
milk-warm, night and morning.

NUTRITIVE DRINKS.

927. _The best Method of obtaining pure Soft Water for Medicinal
Purposes, without distilling it._--Place an earthen pan in the
fields, at a considerable distance from the smoke of any town, to
catch the rain as it falls. People living in the country, can easily
save this clean, pure rain-water. Set it for an hour in a cool
cellar, or put ice into it, and it is the most reviving drink for a
thirsty invalid.

928. _Toast and Water._--Toast thin slices of bread on both sides
carefully; then pour cold water over the bread and cover it tight for
one hour; or use boiling water, and let it cool.

929. _Waters for cooling Draughts of Preserved or Fresh Fruits--Apple
Water, Lemon Water, &c._--Pour boiling water on the preserved or
fresh fruits, sliced; or squeeze out the juice, boil it with sugar,
and add water.

930. _Barley Water._--Take pearl barley, two ounces; wash it, till it
be freed from dust, in cold water: afterwards boil it in a quart of
water for a _few_ minutes, strain off the liquor, and throw it away.
Then boil it in four pints and a half of water, until it be reduced
one half.

931. _Laxative Whey._--Take of the dried buds of the damask rose, one
ounce; rennet whey, one quart. Let them stand together twelve hours,
then strain off the liquor, and add of crystals of tartar, and white
sugar, a suitable proportion, to render it more active, and at the
same time more palatable.

932. _Wine Whey._--Wine whey is a cooling and safe drink in fevers.
Set half a pint of sweet milk at the fire, pour in one glass of wine,
and let it remain perfectly still, till it curdles; when the curds
settle, strain it, and let it cool. It should not get more than
blood-warm. A spoonful of rennet-water hastens the operation. Make
palatable with loaf-sugar and nutmeg, if the patient can bear it.

933. _Lemon Syrup, for a Cough._--To a pint and a half of water, add
two large poppy-heads, and two large lemons. Boil them till they are
soft, press the lemons into the water, strain the liquor, and add
half a drachm of saffron, and half a pound of brown sugar-candy,
pounded. Boil all together till the sugar-candy is dissolved; stir
the whole till you perceive it will jelly; strain it a second time,
and take the seeds from the poppies.

934. _Turnip Syrup, for a Cold or Affection of the Lungs._--Roast
twelve or more fine turnips in an apple roaster, press the juice from
them, and add sugar-candy to your taste. Take a tea-cupful at night
and in the morning.

935. _Rose Gargle._--Take of red rose-buds, dried, half an ounce;
boiling water, two pints; diluted vitriolic acid, three drachms; mix
these together, macerate for half an hour, and draw off the liquor.
Sweeten with an ounce of honey.

936. _Detergent Gargle._--Borax powder, two drachms; rose-water, six
ounces; honey of roses, one ounce. Mix together. To be used in the
thrush.

937. _Common Gargle._--Honey-water, seven ounces; honey of roses, six
drachms; vinegar, half an ounce; tincture of myrrh, two drachms. Mix
these together.

938. _Starch Injection._--Take of the jelly of starch, four ounces;
linseed oil, half an ounce. Mix them over a gentle heat, and add
forty drops of tincture of opium. To be used in alvine fluxes, to
allay the irritation which occasions constant tenesmus.

939. _Spermaceti Ointment._--Take of spermaceti, half an ounce; white
wax, two ounces; olive oil, four ounces. Melt them together over a
slow fire, and keep stirring till cold.

940. _Elder-flower Ointment._--Gather the buds or earliest flowers of
the elder-bush; simmer these in fresh butter, or sweet lard; it makes
a healing and cooling ointment for the skin, in cutaneous diseases.

941. _Elder-flower Poultice._--A poultice of elder-flower tea and
biscuit, is good as a preventive to mortification.

942. _White-bean Poultice._--Nothing is so good to take down
swellings, as a soft poultice of stewed white beans, put on in a thin
muslin bag, and renewed every hour or two.

A FEW SIMPLE MIXTURES, &c.

943. _Squill Mixture._--Take of the milk of ammoniacum, four ounces;
syrup of squills, three ounces; mix them together. Dose, two large
spoonsful every sixth hour. It is efficacious in coughs, asthma, and
oppression on the chest.

944. _Chalk Mixture._--Take of prepared chalk, one ounce; double
refined sugar, six drachms; gum arabic, in powder, one ounce; water,
two pints. Mix them together.

945. _Camphor Mixture._--Take of camphor, one drachm; rectified
spirit of wine, a few drops. Rub them together. Add half an ounce
of double refined sugar and one pint of boiling distilled, or rain
water. When cold, strain off the liquor.

946. _Infusion of Senna._--Take of senna leaves, one ounce and a
half; ginger, in powder, one drachm; of boiling distilled, or rain
water, one pint. Macerate for an hour. When cold, strain off the
liquor.

947. _Cordial Julep._--Take of peppermint water, four ounces; pimento
water, two ounces; compound spirit of ammonia, tincture of castor, of
each two drachms. Mix them together. Dose, two large spoonsful.

948. _Mucilage of Quince Seed._--Take of quince seeds, one drachm;
rain or distilled water, half a pint. Boil over a gentle fire, until
the liquor becomes thick and viscid.

949. _Lime Water._--Take of quick lime, eight ounces; rain or
distilled water, twelve pints. Suffer them to stand together one
hour, then decant the liquor.

950. _Alum Whey._--Take of alum, two drachms; cow's milk, one pint.
Boil them together, until the curd be formed; then strain off the
liquor, and add spirit of nutmeg, two ounces; syrup of cloves, one
ounce.

It is employed with advantage in diabetes, in uterine and other
fluxes.

951. _Whortleberries._--Whortleberries, commonly called
huckleberries, dried, are a useful medicine for children. Made into
tea, and sweetened with molasses, they are very beneficial, when the
system is in a restricted state, and the digestive powers out of
order.

952. _Blackberries._--Blackberries are extremely useful, in cases of
dysentery. To eat the berries is very healthy; tea, made of the roots
and leaves is beneficial; and a syrup made of the berries is still
better. Blackberries have sometimes effected a cure when physicians
despaired.

953. _Method of causing Children to cut their Teeth easily._--Feed
them with an ivory spoon and boat--to be made thick, round, and
smooth at the edges. Ivory being of the same hardness and texture as
the jaws and tender teeth, the gums are not hurt or injured, but,
when they are thus pressed, facilitate the teeth in their progress;
whereas, the silver implements, being of a hard texture, and the
edges made thin, bruise and wound the gums, and make a hard seam; so
that the teeth cannot make their way direct, and, if they do cut,
come irregularly; so that the operation of lancing is frequently
absolutely necessary, which, of course, must prejudice the teeth, as
some are exposed before the time they are fit to cut.

By this method, fevers, convulsions, &c., owing to the teeth being
not able to find their way through the hard seam, may be prevented.
It must be often observed, that children cry much when feeding, as if
ill, or disgusted with their food; whereas it is frequently owing to
quite the contrary; for, being hungry, and over eager to take their
food, they press hard, through eagerness, on the boat and spoon,
which, being sharp, bruises and cuts the gums, and consequently
causes great pain, which, by the ivory implements, will be prevented.
Those who cannot afford ivory, may have horn or wood, or even pewter
is greatly preferable to silver, provided the edges are made thick,
round, and smooth. The wooden sort, unless they are kept very sweet
and clean, on that very account, are the least eligible, and should
be made, however, of box, or such hard and close-textured wood as is
the least liable to be tainted by the milky food.

954. _Rules for the Preservation of the Teeth and Gums._--The teeth
are bones, thinly covered over with a fine enamel, and this enamel is
more or less substantial in different persons. Whenever this enamel
is worn through by too coarse a powder, or too frequently cleaning
the teeth, or eaten through by a scorbutic humor in the gums, the
tooth cannot remain long sound, any more than a filbert-kernel can,
when it has been penetrated by a worm.

The teeth, therefore, are to be cleaned, but with great precaution;
for, if you wear the enamel off faster by cleaning the outside than
nature supplies it within, your teeth will suffer more by this
method, than perhaps by a total neglect.

955. _Stammering._--Impediments in the speech may be cured, where
there is no mal-formation of the organs of articulation, by
perseverance, for three or four months, in the simple remedy of
reading aloud, with the teeth closed, for at least two hours in the
course of each day.

956. _Of Preservers, and Rules for the Preservation of
Sight._--Though it may be impossible to prevent the absolute decay of
sight, whether arising from age, partial disease, or illness, yet,
by prudence and good management, its natural failure may certainly
be retarded, and the general habits of the eyes strengthened, which
good purposes will be promoted by a proper attention to the following
maxims:--

1. Never sit for any length of time in absolute gloom, or exposed to
a blaze of light. The reasons on which this rule is founded, prove
the impropriety of going hastily from one extreme to the other,
whether of darkness or of light, and show us that a southern aspect
is improper for those whose sight is weak and tender.

2. Avoid reading small print.

3. Never read in the dark; nor, if the eyes be disordered, by
candle-light. Happy those who learn this lesson betimes, and begin
to preserve their sight before they are reminded by pain of the
necessity of sparing them. The frivolous attention to a quarter of
an hour in the evening, has cost numbers the perfect and comfortable
use of their eyes for many years; the mischief is effected
imperceptibly--the consequences are inevitable.

4. The eye should not be permitted to dwell on glaring objects, more
particularly on first waking in the morning; the sun should not, of
course, be suffered to shine in the room at that time, and a moderate
quantity of light only be admitted. It is easy to see that, for the
same reasons, the furniture of a bed should be neither altogether of
a white or red color; indeed, those whose eyes are weak, would find
considerable advantage in having green for the furniture of their
bed-chamber. Nature confirms the propriety of the advice given in
this rule; for the light of the day comes on by slow degrees, and
green is the universal color she presents to our eyes.

5. The long-sighted should accustom themselves to read with
rather less light, and somewhat nearer to the eye than what they
naturally like; while those that are short-sighted, should rather
use themselves to read with the book as far off as possible: by
this means, both would improve and strengthen their sight; while a
contrary course will increase its natural imperfections.

There is nothing which preserves the sight longer than always using,
both in reading and writing, that moderate degree of light which
is best suited to the eye: too little, strains them--too great a
quantity, dazzles and confounds them. The eyes are less hurt by the
want of light, than by the excess of it: too little light never does
any harm, unless they are strained by efforts to see objects to which
the degree of light is inadequate; but too great a quantity has,
by its own power, destroyed the sight. Thus, many have brought on
themselves a cataract, by frequently looking at the sun or a fire;
others have lost their sight by being brought too suddenly from an
extreme of darkness into the blaze of day. How dangerous the looking
on bright, luminous objects, is to the sight, is evident from its
effects in those countries which are covered, the greater part of the
year, with snow, where blindness is exceedingly frequent, and where
the traveller is obliged to cover his eyes with crape, to prevent
the dangerous and often sudden effects of too much light: even the
untutored savage tries to avoid the danger, by framing a little
wooden case for his eyes, with only two narrow slits. A momentary
gaze at the sun will, for a time, unfit the eyes for vision, and
render them insensible to impressions of a milder nature.

957. _The Feet_--Should be washed in cold water every morning, and
wiped very dry. Stockings, if too small, cripple the feet as surely
as small shoes. Always be careful to give the foot room enough, and
you will be rarely troubled with corns. When the toe-nails have a
tendency to turn in, so as to be painful, the nail should always
be kept scraped _very thin_, and as near the flesh as possible. As
soon as the corner of the nail can be raised up out of the flesh, it
should be kept from again entering, by putting a tuft of fine lint
under it.

958. _For Sore Feet._--The thin white skin which comes from suet, is
excellent to bind upon the feet, for chilblains. Rubbing with Castile
soap, and afterwards with honey, is likewise highly recommended.

959. _A Vapor-Bath at home._--Place _strong_ sticks across a tub of
water, at the boiling-point, and sit upon them, entirely enveloped
in a blanket, feet and all. The steam from the water will be a
vapor-bath. Some people put herbs into the water. Steam-baths are
excellent for severe colds, and for some disorders in the bowels.
They should not be taken without the advice of an experienced nurse
or physician. Great care should be taken not to renew the cold after;
it would be doubly dangerous.

RULES FOR WOMEN SERVANTS.

960. _Of the Cookmaid._--When a young woman undertakes the situation
of cookmaid in a family, where only one or two other servants are
kept, she will have many duties to perform, besides preparing and
dressing the provisions, although that is her principal business.
What those duties are, will, of course, depend very much upon the
habits of the family with whom she lives; and whether there is a
man-servant or a boy kept; as, if not, the cleaning of knives, shoes,
and various things that would be done by them, become the business of
the cook-maid.

961. _General duties of the Cookmaid._--The part of the house in
which her chief work lies is the kitchen; but she is also expected
to clean the passage or hall, the stone door-steps, the bell-pull,
name-plate, knocker, and all things outside the house which are kept
cleaned; also, the kitchen stairs, pantry, servants' offices, and
areas; and, in many families, the dining-room as well as the kitchen
windows, and the light over or at the sides of the hall door. It is
her place to scour the dresser, table, shelves, &c., in the kitchen
and pantry, and to keep both places clean and in order; to wash the
plates and dishes, to keep the saucepans and all other vessels used
in cooking, or for keeping eatables in, perfectly clean, so that they
may always be ready for use; to wash and keep the pudding-cloths
sweet and clean; to sweep the carpet, and clean the grate, fender,
fire-irons, and hearth, in the breakfast-parlor; to clean the kitchen
candlesticks; to assist the housemaid in making the beds after they
have been laid open to air; to answer the door to the trades-people;
and, if there is no man-servant, nor boy kept, to brush the clothes
and shoes of the gentlemen of the family.

It is of great importance that the cookmaid should be cleanly in
her person, as well as in her cooking; and that she should never be
seen with dirty hands, which may be easily prevented by using thick
gloves, when blacking a stove or doing any other dirty work, and
always washing her hands as soon as she has finished. Nothing can be
more disagreeable than to see the person who prepares one's meals
with dirty hands or apron.

962. _Arrangements for Work in the Kitchen._--The cookmaid should
always be furnished with her own pails, brushes, flannels, and
everything she requires for her own work, and should never use the
housemaid's pails or brushes, nor suffer the housemaid to use hers. A
strict attention to this rule prevents much discomfort and confusion,
and the work is sure to be done with more regularity, and much time
saved.

963. _Work in the Breakfast-room._--Your work in the breakfast-room
generally is to light the fire, clean the stove, fender, fire-irons,
and hearth; take up the ashes, sweep the carpet, shake the
hearth-rug, and lay it down again; but this is sometimes varied in
different families. If you find there are more cinders than you can
use for lighting the fire, you should take them down to burn in the
kitchen.

964. _Of Neatness in the Breakfast-room._--In order to avoid soiling
the carpet in the breakfast-parlor, while you are lighting the fire
and cleaning the stove, you should have a piece of drugget, about a
yard wide and two yards long, or cloth of some kind, to lay down; but
whichever you use, always use it the dirty side upwards. Without this
precaution, the most careful person cannot prevent the carpet from
getting dirty before the fire-place.

965. _Punctuality in Servants._--Punctuality is a very essential
quality in a cookmaid, who ought to regulate her work so that the
dinner should always be ready at the appointed time; and to avoid
any mistake in this particular, she should know precisely the length
of time required to cook each kind of food, according to the taste
of those for whom she cooks, and then she should allow herself about
fifteen to twenty minutes more, to take up the dinner, and for any
little hindrance that may occur, she will be tolerably exact. The
best means of being punctual is to keep everything in its proper
place, and fit for use, so that no time may be lost in looking for
this thing or that, or in having to clean any utensils that may be
wanted for cooking.

966. _Economy in the Kitchen._--Never waste anything, but have places
and purposes for all articles in your keeping. Habits of economy
are easily acquired, and the cookmaid would do well to consider
how much more valuable she must be to her employers, and how much
more she will be respected, if she be careful, and make the most of
the property that is intrusted to her charge, than if she uses it
wastefully.

967. _Cleaning the Hall, &c._--If you are quick with the
breakfast-parlor work, you will, very likely, have time to clean the
door-steps and passage before breakfast, which is much better than
leaving them till afterwards: but this will, of course, depend on the
breakfast-hour, as you must not, on any account, neglect to see that
the water in the kettle is boiling, the urn-iron hot, and everything
ready to take up the moment it is wanted.

968. _Making Breakfast._--If you have toast to make, or bacon to
cook, take care to have a clear fire, so that it may be done quickly,
when wanted, and not before; for both toast and bacon should be hot
from the fire, and not suffered to stand after they are done. Dry
toast should be thin and crisp; to keep it so, set it on its edge in
the toast-rack, directly it is made.

Never boil eggs by guess; if you have no clock in the kitchen, you
should have a sand-glass or egg-boiler, for in guessing at the time,
it is not possible to be quite exact, and half a minute too much
or too little will spoil an egg. It is the duty of the cookmaid to
prepare the breakfast; and that of the housemaid to carry it up to
the breakfast-parlor.

969. _Cold Meats at Breakfast._--In some families, whatever cold meat
or cold poultry may have been left from the previous day, is served
up at breakfast; in which case it is the cookmaid's duty to send it
up, laid out neatly on clean and rather small-sized dishes, with
breakfast plates and small clean knives and forks; sometimes it will
require a little putting to rights, by trimming, and garnishing with
a few sprigs of parsley, which, of course, she will attend to.

970. _To arrange for Children, &c._--If the children of the family
breakfast in the nursery, or require to go to school early, you will,
most probably, be expected to cut their bread and butter, and get
their breakfast ready for them; or, at all events, assist in doing
so. It is your place also to get the kitchen breakfast ready for
yourself and the housemaid, &c.; and it will materially add to the
comfort of your situation, if you take care to keep your table-cloth
clean, and neatly folded, so that it may not have an untidy
appearance when spread upon the table; and let the knives, and all
the things you use for yourself and fellow servants, be clean like
those you send up to the table of the family.

971. _Taking Directions for Dinner._--In most families, it is the
custom of the lady of the house, to go into the kitchen every
morning, to make arrangements with the cook about the dinner, and to
give out from the store-closet such things as may be required for
the day's use, either by the cookmaid or housemaid. You must then
remember to ask for whatever you will want, so that you may not have
to give trouble a second time. Some ladies prefer that the cookmaid
should come into the parlor, to receive directions. Should this be
the custom, you should make it a rule to wash your hands, and put on
a clean apron, before you go in. There are some foolish servants,
who have a mistaken notion that a lady should not trouble herself
much with her kitchen; but every one ought to have the good sense to
know that it is the province and duty of a mistress to superintend
the order and management of every part of her household; and those
servants who are conscious that they waste not, and perform their
duties to the best of their ability, will never feel an objection;
but, on the contrary, will be pleased that their mistress should see
that they do so.

972. _Making Beds, &c._--When you have taken orders about dinner,
you should go up into the bed-rooms, to assist the house-maid in
making the beds--having already washed your hands, and put on your
clean bed-apron. It is very proper to keep a bed-apron entirely for
this purpose, one that will wrap quite round you, and tie together
behind; and to take it off, and fold it up, as soon as the beds are
made. It will serve for a week, with care; therefore, if you make
a rule to put on a clean one every Monday morning, the bed-clothes
and furniture will never get soiled by rubbing against your gown or
clothes. Attention to such little niceties as these is so easy, that
it is surprising any one should neglect them, particularly as they
make all the difference between a good servant and a bad one.

973. _Arrangement of the Dinner-Table._--Always have the salt-cellars
filled with fine clean salt, and the cruets and cruet-stand dusted;
and that each of the cruets are about half-full of vinegar, oil,
pepper, sugar, &c., such as they are intended to hold; and although
this is the housemaid's duty, it is only kind in the cookmaid to
give the housemaid all the information she may require or ask for;
a good dinner will look very unhandsome, unless the housemaid takes
care that the salts and cruets are clean, and sufficiently filled
to accompany it to table. The housemaid should also see that the
mustard-cruet is quite clean, before it is put on the table; for if
the mustard is dried on the edges, or on the spoon, it has a very
disagreeable appearance, and betokens an untidy servant.

974. _The Dinner-Hour, and its Duties._--In order more surely to be
correct to the dinner-hour, allow yourself from fifteen to twenty
minutes for taking up the dinner, and for any hindrances that may
occur; and take care to have the fire made up in proper time for
cooking--regulating the size of it according to what you have to
cook. It should be stirred as little as possible while you are
cooking; indeed, a good cookmaid stirs her fire only once during her
roasting, and that is when she turns the meat, or alters the hanging
of it, at which times she takes the meat and dripping-pan away from
the fire, as stirring creates both dust and smoke; but as dust or
coal may, by accident, fall into the dripping-pan, keep ready a
dish-cloth, to wipe it out directly. Be mindful, also, to keep in the
house a stock of the things that are commonly wanted, such as flour,
salt, pepper, spices, &c.; but always make a point of using up what
you had, before you begin upon the fresh supply; and be sure to put
them away into their proper places, as you receive them--as mustard,
pepper, spices, tea, coffee, &c., will spoil, if kept in the papers
they are sent home in.

975. _Of Re-cooking._--In cities, where the master of the house is
often engaged in business until late in the day, the dinner-hour may
be as late as four or five o'clock; in that case, there is an early
dinner for the children and servants, for whom a pudding is usually
to be made. It is a very material part of your business to know
how to dress over, nicely, anything left from the preceding day's
dinner, so that it may be used in the kitchen, if not required in the
dining-room. For this purpose, you should, when a joint is brought
down from the dining-room, put it on a clean dish, and pour the gravy
into a small basin or jelly-pot, and you will find it very useful in
making nice, savory dishes of cold meat, or to put into hashes and
stews, or warming up for gravy.

976. _Hot Plates for Dinner._--Before sending up dinner, take care
that you have enough hot plates. It is better to heat a few more than
the exact number, lest an extra one may be wanted.

977. _Serving up Dinner._--Whilst the dinner is being served up, the
cook-maid may be required to assist, by taking the dishes to the door
of the dining-parlor; also, in some families, by taking them from the
housemaid, or from the outside of the dining-room door, when they are
done with, that the housemaid, if she waits at dinner, may not have
to leave the room. And the cookmaid will save herself much time and
trouble, if she gets her dish-tub, in the sink, half filled with hot
water, so that she may put the dishes and plates into it the moment
they are brought from the dinner-table.

978. _Washing Dishes._--The dirty dishes and plates should be put
into a dish-tub of warm water, immediately they are taken from the
dinner table; for, by this means, half the trouble of washing-up
will be saved, as it will prevent the gravy, mustard, juice, &c.,
from cooling and drying on the plates and dishes. When you commence
washing them, add sufficient boiling water to make it hot enough to
wash them in, and with a dish-cloth wash them clean on both sides,
one at a time. Rinse them immediately, in a pan full of cold water,
part of which should stand under the tap, which should be turned a
little on to keep it full. The reason for keeping the pan full of
water and running over, is, that any grease, &c., which may rinse
off the plates and dishes, may swim over into the sink in the act of
rinsing, otherwise it would remain on the water, and make those you
rinse, after the first few, look greasy, instead of clean and bright.

979. _Washing Saucepans, Kettles, &c._--When you have washed all the
dishes and plates used at dinner, as above directed, and put them
in the rack to drain, the saucepans and kettles which have been
used for cooking, should next be cleaned. The proper plan is to fill
them with cold water as soon as the food has been taken out of them,
as, by this means, whatever may hang about the sides cannot stick
close, nor dry on hard, and they will clean much more readily. If
the insides are discolored or dirty, a little soda or wood-ash is
the best thing to clean them with; or, if they are very dirty, the
wood-ashes, or some soda, must be boiled up in them. They should
afterwards be well rinsed with boiling-hot water, wiped, and made
perfectly dry, by being placed for some time bottom upwards, before
the kitchen fire. The upper rims of saucepans, and the rims and
insides of the lids, must be kept quite clean. If tin saucepans are
not completely dry, they will soon get rusty, and if copper ones are
not perfectly cleaned and dried, they become poisonous. Never leave
food of any kind in a saucepan to become cold.

980. _Washing Pudding-cloths, &c._--Pudding-cloths should be washed
as soon as possible after the puddings are taken out of them. They
should be washed in clean warm water, without soap, rinsed and
thoroughly dried before being folded and put in the kitchen drawer,
otherwise they will give a musty smell to the puddings that are next
boiled in them. The paste-brush, egg-whisk and sieves must also be
washed, first in cold and then in warm water, and put away clean and
dry, or they will spoil whatever you use them for afterwards. All
things through which eggs are strained, should be washed, first in
cold and then in hot water.

981. _Cleaning the Sink._--First, wipe into one corner and take up
all the little bits of gristle, fat, or vegetables, or whatever else
may have collected in the sink; and, if you live in or near to a
town, throw it on the back part of the top of the kitchen fire; for,
if thrown into the dust-bin, it will either entice rats or other
vermin, or else cause an offensive and unwholesome smell. If forced
down the sink holes, the same unpleasant consequences will follow,
besides stopping-up and destroying the drains. But if you live in the
country where a pig is kept, it may be thrown into the pig tub with
the dish washings.

You must next clean the sink, which, if of stone, is best done with
a hard brush and a little soda; or, if of lead, with the following
mixture:--One pennyworth of pearlash, one pennyworth of soft-soap,
and one pennyworth of fuller's-earth, (the fuller's-earth dried,)
mixed together in a pipkin, or something of the kind, with a quart
of water. About a table-spoonful of this on a piece of flannel will
clean the leaden sink.

982. _Cleaning the Spit, Frying-pan, &c._--The spit, if one is used,
must also be always perfectly cleaned when done with. A little
dripping rubbed on a hot frying-pan or gridiron, after cleaning it,
will greatly remove the smell and taste of fish; but some persons
rub a little salt well about the inside of a hot frying-pan, with a
piece of clean paper, which also removes the taste of fish or onions.
If these things are put away into damp places, they will soon become
unfit for use.

983. _Cabbage-water to be thrown away._--Always remember that green
water, that is, water in which cabbage, or any other vegetable is
boiled, should be thrown down the sink the moment the vegetables are
out of it, while it is quite hot, and then a pailful of cold water
thrown after it, will prevent the unhealthy smell arising from green
water; but if it be left till it is cold, or nearly cold before you
throw it away, twenty pails of water thrown after it will not prevent
the smell.

984. _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.

985. _Cleaning Bread-pans, &c._--Your pan for keeping bread should be
wiped out every day, and scalded once a week; in the same way clean
the cheese-pan, or both your bread and cheese will become mouldy and
musty; and cheese should always be kept standing on its _rind_; and
the rind should be scraped before it is sent to the table.

986. _Keeping Beer._--You should not let beer stand in a pot or
jug; but, if there be any left, put it into a clean bottle, with a
tea-spoonful of sugar, and cork it tightly.

987. Never suffer two things to be put together, which would give
to each other a disagreeable taste or flavor. Never cut bread, or
butter, or meat, with a knife which has been used for cheese or
onions, or the bread, butter, or meat will taste of them. Therefore,
you should put the knife which you have used for these purposes, in
some place separate from the other knives, and never allow it to be
put with them until it has been properly cleaned.

988. _Washing Pickle and Preserve-Jars._--Whenever pickle or
preserve jars are empty, wash them well in cold water--dry them
thoroughly--and put them in a dry place. If you wash pickle or
preserve-jars in hot water, it will crack their glazed surface, and
make them porous, which spoils them for use, as pickles and preserves
require to have the air kept from them.

989. _Cleaning Dish-Covers._--Dish-covers should always be wiped
and polished as soon as they are removed from the table. If this is
done whilst they are warm, it will be but little trouble; but, if
the steam be allowed to dry on them, you will find much difficulty
in getting the tarnish off from the insides. When they are wiped and
polished, hang them up in their places immediately.

990. _Of the Paste-Board, Rolling-Pin, &c._--After making puddings
or pastry, wash your rolling-pin and paste-board, without soap, and
put it away quite dry. Never use, nor allow others to use, any of the
family dinner or tea-service, in the kitchen; as, if one thing be
broken, it would perhaps spoil a valuable set; but, always use for
cooking, the plates, dishes, and cups, provided for that purpose,
which are usually plain, and though of course equally clean, are much
less expensive. Keep the bread, cheese, butter, flour, dripping,
milk, eggs, and every thing else you may require in cooking, in their
distinct and separate places; and be careful to put them away as soon
as you have done with them.

991. _Of keeping Hot Water._--It is highly necessary that you should
keep a plentiful supply of hot water, by constantly filling-up the
boiler whenever water is taken out of it. A self-acting boiler does
not require to be filled, as it fills itself as fast as the water
is drawn out; but you must be very careful in frosty weather, to
watch whether the water continues to run; for if the water in the
pipes becomes frozen, and you allow the boiler to get empty, the
consequence is almost sure to be, that when the frost melts, the cold
water comes suddenly into the hot boiler, and splits it. The damage
can only be repaired by having a new boiler, which costs, perhaps,
from ten to twenty-five dollars; so you may see how important it is
that you should prevent so serious an accident.

992. _Of Ventilating Rooms._--Do not keep your kitchen always hot,
and be sure you let in fresh air. If the attention of every master or
mistress of a family turned to the ventilation of their dwelling, it
would be greatly the means of insuring health. One single ventilator
in the uppermost staircase window, would effect a great deal. Great
attention ought to be paid to letting the chamber-windows down from
the top, frequently through the day, particularly where the family
sits.

993. _Of preparing Tea._--When the tea-time arrives, it is your duty
to cut the bread-and-butter, or make the toast. You should never send
up more than one or two rounds of buttered toast at once, according
to the number to partake of it, that it may be hot and fresh when it
is handed round. You must cut off the crusts as close as you can,
after it is made and buttered. If a tea-urn is used, it will be your
duty to get it ready in time, and put in the boiling water when it
is wanted: you must also remember to make the urn-iron red-hot, by
putting it into the kitchen fire after dinner, or at least for an
hour before tea-time. When you use the tea-urn, be careful to do as
follows:--

Take care that the water boils, and that the urn-heater is red-hot;
then, in the first place, dust the urn, and put the boiling water
into it, before you put in the heater; and, to prevent giving an
unpleasant taste, or spoiling the boiling water by dust, or particles
of the hot iron, (which may rub off the heater as you are putting it
into its place,) be careful to put on the round rim, or ring, before
you put in the red-hot heater; and be sure, also, to avoid pouring
any water into the place where the heater goes; otherwise, when the
iron is put in, the steam may fly up in your face, and scald you
seriously. Taking the urn up into the parlor or drawing-room, is the
housemaid's business; and she should not forget the rug to place it
on, or the heat issuing from it will certainly spoil the polished
table: and it is also the housemaid's business to empty the urn when
done with, which she must be careful to turn upside down, to drain.

994. _Taking care of the Fire._--The cookmaid's last duties of the
day, are--to take great care that the kitchen fire is so nearly out,
as to be quite safe; and that nothing is left hanging before the
fire-place; then she must see that the kitchen windows and shutters
are fastened, and lock and bolt all the doors and windows that have
not been fastened earlier in the evening.

995. _Cleaning Knives, Forks, &c._--If a lad or man-servant is kept,
he cleans the steel knives and forks, as well as the shoes and boots;
and also brushes the gentlemen's clothes: but, in that large number
of families who keep no boy nor man, it becomes the business of the
cookmaid to clean the steel knives and forks. [See the best manner of
preparing the knife-board, &c., in another part of this book.]

996. _Care of Table-Knives._--Be careful to keep a good edge to your
knives, and do your utmost to preserve them from notches, especially
the carving-knife, otherwise a hot joint may get cold while the knife
has to be sent from table to be sharpened. A keen edge may be given
by cleaning alone, if care be taken, in passing the knife from you,
not to let the edge lean on the board, but, in drawing it towards
you, to lean with a little pressure on the edge.

The knives which are not in daily use, should, after being wiped with
a dry cloth, be put into the cases, or wrapped in very dry brown
paper, and so placed as not to touch each other, the same way as
the cutlers keep them. Great care should be taken that the place in
which they are put is perfectly dry--as all articles made of steel
have a tendency to contract rust, that metal having the property of
extracting damp from the atmosphere, or from anything moist near to
it. If the ivory handles of the knives and forks get stained, or
become discolored, mix a table-spoonful of water with a few drops of
spirits of salt--rub it well on with a little bit of clean rag--wash
it off with cold water--and wipe them perfectly dry.

997. _Of cleaning Boots and Shoes._--Where no man-servant is kept,
the cook or housemaid must clean the shoes and boots. First, scrape
the dirt off the shoe with a wooden knife, or piece of firewood, cut
to something of an edge. When the worst of the dirt is thus taken
off, use your hard brush to remove the remainder, or the leather
will never be bright. Stir the blacking with a short fine sponge,
tied round one end of it; and, with this, put some blacking on the
blacking-brush, and black the shoe all over; use the polishing-brush
directly, while it remains damp, and rub it lightly, yet briskly,
till the shoe shines perfectly bright. When boots or shoes are laid
down before a fire to dry, let them be placed at a good distance, or
the leather will harden and shrink, and the shoes get out of shape.

998. _Of cleaning Candlesticks._--It is the duty of the cookmaid
to clean the chamber candlesticks used by the servants, and the
candlesticks belonging to the kitchen (those used by the family
in the parlors, drawing-rooms, and best bed-rooms, belong to the
housemaid's work). Before you commence, have a sheet of thick brown
paper laid on a table, or on whatever else you intend to clean them,
to save making a grease. Then scrape off the grease on to the brown
paper with a piece of firewood, and put all you scrape off into your
kitchen-stuff. The candlesticks should then be put, upside down, in
the deepest candlestick, at a little distance from the fire, so that
all the grease may melt, and drain into one. This grease should also
be put into the kitchen stuff, and the candlesticks wiped perfectly
clean with the candlestick-rag, or with a cloth kept for that
purpose. The polishing should be done with a little dry rotten-stone,
or dry whiting, put on a leather. The cookmaid has usually a
candle-box provided for her, into which she puts all the pieces of
candle, for kitchen use. This box should be lined with white paper,
which should be frequently renewed, or the candles will become very
dirty, and be unpleasant to burn, from bits of the snuff sticking to
them. Always set the candles in the candlesticks in the fore part of
the day, that they be ready when wanted, and that all the dirty work
may be done before cooking commences.

999. _Washing-Day._--If the washing be done at home, the cookmaid
will have to assist; and the changes of linen, and the kitchen
things, usually fall to her share. She generally folds and irons
all but the fine things and the dresses. It is usual also for her
to fill the copper; and for the housemaid to sort the clothes ready
for the wash. Much time as well as labor will be saved by preparing
the clothes for the wash the day before the washing-day; that is by
putting them in soak, the fine things and coarse things in different
tubs, after having examined, and rubbed with soap such places as
are most dirty, such as the collars and wristbands of shirts, the
parts of table-cloths cloths which are most soiled, and any place in
the different articles which would require more than usual rubbing.
Indeed, everything should be prepared the day before; the copper
filled with soft water, the tubs rinsed and wiped, inside and out
(taking care that they do not leak). The best way to prevent the tubs
from leaking, is to turn them bottom upwards after using, and keep
the bottom filled with water, without which they will not only leak
but fall to pieces, in summer weather.

1000. _Care of Clothes-lines, &c._--Clothes-lines, when done with,
should be wiped quite clean, and put away dry in a bag, for future
use, or they will dirty the clothes. A bag should also be kept for
the pegs; and both bags should be kept in a dry place.

1001. _Folding and Mangling._--Before you begin to fold the clothes,
let the board be quite clean and dry, and a clean linen cloth
placed upon it. Separate those things which are to be mangled, and
those which are for rough-drying. Turn shirts, shifts, night-gowns,
pillow-cases, petticoats, &c., the right side outwards; fold them
very smoothly, and sprinkle them to a proper dampness for ironing.
If the collars, wristbands, and frills, or pleated front of a shirt,
be dipped in a little starch, then into water, and rolled up without
squeezing, it will bring the whole of the shirt to a proper dampness,
when it has lain for some time.

The articles usually mangled are, sheets, towels, table-linen,
pillow-cases, and other straight things; but if there be any folds,
they will not look well when mangled. Pearl-buttons will break in the
mangle, and cut the cloth, therefore, all things with buttons, and
even pillow-cases, if they have buttons, should not be mangled.

1002. _Of Ironing._--The ironing-blanket should be made of a thick
kind of flannel, called swan's-skin, and a coarse cloth should be
spread between it and the board. When you are ironing, be careful to
try your iron first upon some coarse article, or one of little value,
for fear of its soiling or singeing the better clothes. Let the heat
be in proportion to the article you are about to iron, and be sure
to make every part perfectly smooth.

After they are ironed, the things should be hung upon the horse
to air. The cookmaid is now done with the washing, as it is the
housemaid's business to air them, and to place them in the drawers,
when aired; but in many families, the putting of them away is done by
the mistress of the house, or by some of the young ladies.

In ironing the skirts of dresses, it is best and most proper to have
a board about thirteen inches wide and four feet long, on which
fasten, with tapes, an ironing-blanket; place one end of it on a
table, and the other end on the dresser, or something that is firm,
of the same height as the table. In using this board, pass it through
the skirt, taking care that the wet part of the dress falls into a
clothes-basket, or a cloth, which you must first put on the floor,
under the middle of the board, to save the skirt from being soiled;
and turn the skirt of the dress round the board, as you iron it.

1003. _Save the Rags._--All rags of cotton or linen should be saved
by the cookmaid; they should never be thrown away because they are
not clean. Mop-rags, lamp-rags, all should be washed, dried and put
in the rag-bag. There is no need of expending soap on them; just boil
them out in the suds after you have done washing.

Linen rags should be carefully saved; for they are extremely useful
in sickness. If they have become dirty and worn by cleaning silver,
&c., wash them, and scrape them into lint.

PART VI.

SOME HINTS ABOUT AGRICULTURE, GARDENING, DOMESTIC ANIMALS, ETC.

  _Of Soil, Hay and the Grains--Of Vegetables--Destroying
  Ferrets, Reptiles, Rats and other Vermin--Flowers, Fruits,
  Trees--Timber--Buildings._

1004. _Advantage of Knowing something about Agriculture._--In a work
designed, chiefly, for women, it may seem odd to find farming treated
of, as though they needed such information. But while far the greater
portion of American men[B] are tillers of the soil, it would be
questioning the good sense as well as affection of their wives and
daughters to suppose them indifferent to such pursuits.

The husband will work with more pleasure, when feeling his wife takes
an interest in his employments. The daughter of a farmer should be
ready to read her father's books and papers on agriculture, whenever
he desires it, and assist in the garden, orchard, and among domestic
animals, when such cases are suitable for her.

So, trusting you have a garden-hoe and pruning-knife for your own
use, and can assist in transplanting flowers and shrubs, I shall give
rules for these, and also a few hints on other matters connected with
country life and the economy of farming. These rules are selected,
chiefly, from British authorities. England is famous for its
agricultural science and modes of gardening, and planting trees. Such
knowledge and taste are much needed in our land. But be careful, fair
girl and comely matron, and do not expose your health or injure your
personal appearance while _helping_ in out-door work. A _sun-bonnet
or broad-brimmed straw hat and thick gloves_ should always be worn,
when engaged in such employments.

1005. _Important Fact in Agriculture._--Whatever may be the nature
of the soil, or of the crop cultivated, it should always be the aim
of the farmer to grow full crops. Partial and sometimes extensive
failures will even then but too often occur; but to neglect making
the best known preparations, or only to prepare for half a crop, has
a direct tendency to unprofitable farming.

1006. _Manure for Clover._--Some farmers make it a rule to spread
about fifty bushels per acre of ashes over their clover in March,
which they find, from long experience, to be a good manure for this
grass. Wood-ashes will be useful on any soil; coal-ashes chiefly on
stiff clays. On the stiff soils of some parts of Buckinghamshire,
ashes of all kinds are much esteemed, and have risen to a high price.

1007. _How to preserve Manure._--Put it in heaps, and cover it with
earth two feet deep. Never leave manure in the barn yard; put it all,
year by year, on your land.

1008. _Dr. Taylor's Easy Method of ascertaining the Qualities
of Marl, Lime Stones, or Quick Lime, for the purposes of
Agriculture._--This was a communication by Dr. Taylor to the
Manchester Agricultural Society; the general use of marl and lime as
manures, having prompted him to point out the importance of an easy
and certain method of determining the qualities of different earths
and stones, and ascertaining the quantity of calcareous earth in
their composition; their value, in agriculture, commonly increasing
in proportion to the greater quantity of it which they contain. The
process recommended is thus described:--The marl or stone being
dried, and reduced to powder, put half an ounce of it into a half
pint glass, pouring in clear water till the glass is half full;
then gradually add a small quantity of strong marine acid, commonly
called spirit of salt, and stir the mixture well together. As soon
as the effervescence thus excited subsides, add a little more marine
acid; thus continuing the operation while any of the earthy matter
appears to dissolve; and till the liquor, after being well stirred
and allowed to stand for half an hour, appears sensibly acid to the
taste. When the mixture has subsided, if the liquor above it be
colorless, that marl or lime-stone is the best which leaves the least
in quantity of sediment or deposit in the bottom of the glass. This
experiment is sufficient to determine which of the samples tried is
the most proper for the uses of agriculture: as pure calcareous earth
or lime, which is the earth useful in agriculture, will be entirely
dissolved; but clay or sand will not be sensibly acted on by the
acid. Where great accuracy is required in determining the experiment,
lay a soft spongy paper, of which the weight is exactly taken,
in an earthen colander--for no metallic vessel, or implement for
stirring, &c., must be used in any part of the process--and, pouring
the saturated mixture of earth and acid on it, let all the liquor
filter through, then pour a little clear water over the earthy matter
remaining on the filter; and, when that water has also filtered
through, dry the paper with the earthy matter on it which remains
undissolved, when the deficiency found, on weighing them, from their
original weight, will discover what portion of the marle or lime has
been dissolved in the acid. What quantity of earthy matter has been
dissolved may be made evident to the sight, by gradually adding,
to the liquor which has been filtered through the paper, a clear
solution of pearl-ashes, or ashes of burnt wood; this will occasion a
precipitation of the contained lime or calcareous earth to the bottom
of the vessel, which precipitate must be dried and weighed.

1009. _To preserve Seeds, when sown, from Vermin._--Steep the grain
or seed three or four hours, or a sufficient time for it to penetrate
the skin, or husk, in a strong solution of liver of sulphur.

1010. _Striped Grass recommended for Hay._--The Indian striped or
riband grass, which is cultivated in gardens, would answer admirably
for hay. In rich grounds plants are frequently four feet high;
what a burden of hay would a field so cropped produce! Cattle are
exceedingly fond of it; the seeds are easily saved, so that a person
might soon have enough for a rood, and from that save again and
again, for as many acres as he might choose. It is probable that the
crop might be much too large to be made on the field where it grew;
but if so, it would be worth while to carry part into another field.

1011. _When to cut Rye-grass for Hay._--Rye-grass, if mown for hay,
should be cut when in blossom, and not green. The hay made from it
does not heat or sweat so much, and is very good for horses, but not
for sheep and cattle. If it is suffered to stand too long before it
is cut, the seeds rob the plants of their juices, and leave it no
better than wheat or rye-straw.

1012. _To prevent the Smut in Wheat._--The means (to prevent smut)
are simple; and no other than immersing the seed in pure water, and
repeatedly scouring it therein, just before it is sown or dibbled
in. Whether well, spring, or river water be used, is indifferent;
but repeated stirring and change of water is essential to remove the
possible particles of infection that may have imperceptibly adhered
to the seed; thus purified, the subsequent crop will be perfect in
itself, and seed successively so likewise, if there be no adjacent
fields from whence this contamination may be wafted.

The addition of any alkaline or earthy salt, by increasing the
specific gravity of the water, is of advantage in floating off the
unsound grains, and after the seed is washed, it should be dried
immediately by rubbing it with newly slaked lime.

1013. _Fertilizing Steeps for Turnips, Wheat, or Barley._--Steep
turnip-seed twelve hours in train oil, which strain through a fine
sieve, and immediately thoroughly mix the quantity of seed you would
wish to sow on an acre, with three bushels of dry loamy earth, finely
sifted, which drill (or sow) as soon as possible; and when the plants
begin to appear, throw a small quantity of soot over them.

1014. _Steep for Wheat, Barley, or other Grain._--Put a peck and a
half of wood-ashes, and a peck of unslaked lime, into a tub that will
hold forty gallons; then add as much water as will slake the lime,
and render the mixture into the consistence of stiff mortar. In this
state it should remain ten or twelve hours; then add as much water as
will reduce the mortar to a pulp, by thorough stirring. In this state
fill the tub with water, and occasionally keep stirring for two or
three days. After which, draw off the clear lye into an open vessel,
and gradually put the grain into it: skim off the light grains; and,
after the corn has been steeped three hours, spread it on a clean
floor to dry, when it will be sufficiently prepared for drilling or
sowing. The lye will retain its full virtue, and may be repeatedly
used.

_Remark._--It has been doubted whether steeps are of any use, except
so far as they facilitate the separation of the light grains, and
wash off the seeds of the parasite plants, which are thought to
occasion _smut_, &c. In the best-cultivated parts of Scotland,
seed-wheat is steeped in stale urine, or in a brine made with common
salt, which, by increasing the specific gravity of the water, floats
the unsound grains. The seed is well washed, and then dried, by
mixing it with fresh slaked lime, and rubbing it briskly with a
wooden shovel. The quick-lime and rubbing is thought to assist in
cleansing the seed; but, independent of that, the mere drying the
seed quickly is convenient.

1015. _To sow Wheat to advantage, without laying on Manure._--It has
been found expedient sometimes to sow wheat without laying on any
manure; and, in the beginning of February, to collect twenty bushels
of lime, unslaked, for every acre, and forty bushels of sand, or the
rubbish of a brick-kiln; then, about the end of the month, to slake
the lime, which doubles the measure, and mix it well with the sand,
and, immediately afterwards, to scatter it by way of top-dressing
over the green wheat. As rain generally succeeds, it is soon washed
down to the roots of the plants, and gives them a vigor and strength,
which, to those who never made the experiment, is astonishing. The
lime, sand, and rubbish, are particularly useful in breaking the
tenacity of stiff clays. In a clay soil, where coal was very cheap,
the clay was slightly burned in the field, and spread over the
surface, as the cheapest way of subduing the coarseness and stiffness
of the soil. The refuse or rubbish from mines in the neighborhood has
been burned, and applied with advantage on the same principle.

1016. _Approved method of sowing Wheat on narrow ridges._--The
seedsman should walk up one side of the bed and down the other side,
always keeping his face, and the hand with which he sows, towards
the bed he is sowing; his eye must be continually on the edge of the
opposite interfurrow, and deliver his seed principally on the side
of the bed next to it: as he returns, the sides will of course be
reversed, and the beds become evenly seeded.

1017. _Great utility of sowing Buckwheat._--In light lands, buckwheat
may be raised to great advantage, as a lucrative crop. When
green, it is a fine feed for milch-kine; and when ploughed, is a
fine preparation for the land. It fattens pigs with great economy,
and, passed through the mill, is, with carrot, a capital feed for
work-horses. The seed is excellent food for poultry, and, when
ground, makes good bread.

1018. _To keep Crows from Corn._--Take a quart of train oil, and as
much turpentine and bruised gunpowder; boil them together, and, when
hot, dip pieces of rags in the mixture, and fix them on sticks in the
field. About four are sufficient for an acre of corn.

1019. _Proper Soil for the Culture of Turnips._--Sandy loams, in good
heart, are most favorable to their growth, though they will thrive
well on strong loams, if they are not wet; but, on clayey, thin, or
wet soils, they are not worth cultivating; for, though a good crop
may be raised on such ground, when well prepared and dunged, more
damage is done by taking off the turnips in winter, in poaching the
soil, than the value of the crop will repay.

1020. _Instructions for raising Potatoes to advantage._--The earth
should be dug twelve inches deep, if the soil will allow it; after
this, a hole should be opened about six inches deep, and horse-dung,
or long-litter, should be put therein, about three inches thick; this
hole should not be more than twelve inches diameter. Upon this dung
or litter, a potato should be planted whole, upon which a little more
dung should be shaken, and then the earth must be put thereon. In
like manner, the whole plot of ground must be planted, taking care
that the potatoes be at least sixteen inches apart. When the young
shoots make their appearance, they should have fresh mould drawn
round them with a hoe; and if the tender shoots are covered, it will
prevent the frost from injuring them: they should again be earthed
when the shoots make a second appearance, but not covered, as, in all
probability, the season will be less severe.

A plentiful supply of mould should be given them; and the person who
performs this business should never tread upon the plant, or the
hillock that is raised round it, as the lighter the earth is, the
more room the potato will have to expand.

A gentleman obtained from a single root, thus planted, very near
forty pounds' weight of large potatoes; and, from almost every other
root upon the same plot of ground, from fifteen to twenty pounds'
weight; and, except the soil be stony or gravelly, ten pounds, or
half a peck, of potatoes, may almost be obtained from each root, by
pursuing the foregoing method.

1021. _Use of the Dandelion._--This is an excellent salad, and a good
green. Where it grows as a weed, cover it early in the spring, with
rotten tan, or decayed leaves; it will soon come up.

1022. _Preparations for Carrots and other winged Seeds._--Take two
bushels of dry loamy earth, finely sifted; to which add one bushel of
bran, and a sufficient quantity of carrot seed, cleaned from stalks,
and well rubbed between the hands; all which thoroughly mix together,
and drill (or sow). The carrot seed will stick to the bran, which,
with the earth, will be regularly discharged.

1023. _To raise a Salad quickly._--Steep lettuce-seed, mustard,
cresses, &c., in aqua vitæ. Mix a little pigeon's dung with some
mould, and powdered slaked lime. In forty-eight hours the salad will
be produced.

1024. _Important Discovery relative to the Preservation of
Grain._--To preserve rye and secure it from insects and rats, nothing
more is necessary than not to winnow it after it is thrashed, but
merely separate it from the straw, and to stow it in the granaries,
mixed with the chaff. In this state it has been kept for more than
three years without experiencing the smallest alteration, and even
without the necessity of being turned to preserve it from humidity
and fermentation. Rats and mice may be prevented from entering the
barn, by putting some wild vine or hedge plants upon the heaps; the
smell of the wood is so offensive to these animals, that they will
not approach it. The experiment has not yet been made with wheat and
other kinds of grain, but they may probably be preserved in the chaff
with equal advantage. It must however be observed, that the husks and
corns of rye are different from most other grain. It has been sown
near houses where many poultry were kept, for the purpose of bringing
up a crop of grass, because the poultry do not destroy it, as they
would have done wheat, oats, or even barley in the same situation.

1025. _To preserve Grain in Sacks._--Provide a reed cane, or other
hollow stick, made so by gluing together two grooved sticks; let
it be about three feet nine inches long; and that it may be easier
thrust down to the bottom of the corn in the sack, its end to be made
to taper to a point, by a wooden plug that is fixed in, and stops the
orifice. About one hundred and fifty small holes, of one-eighth of
an inch in diameter, are to be bored on all sides of the stick, from
its bottom for about two feet ten inches of its length; but no nearer
to the surface of the corn, lest too great a proportion of the air
should escape there. By winding a packthread in a spiral form round
the stick, the boring of the holes may be the better regulated, so
as to have them about half an inch distant towards the bottom, but
gradually at wider distances, so as to be an inch asunder at the
upper part; by which means the lower part of the corn will have its
due proportion of fresh air. To the top of the stick let there be
fixed a leathern pipe ten inches long; which pipe is to be distended
by two yards of spiral wire, coiled up within it. At the upper part
of the pipe is fixed a taper wooden faucet, into which the nose of a
common household bellows is to be put, in order to ventilate the corn.

If wheat, when first put into sacks, be thus aired, every other or
third day, for ten or fifteen minutes, its damp sweats which would
hurt it, will, in a few weeks, be carried off to such a degree, that
it will afterwards keep sweet with very little airing, as has been
found by experience.

By the same means other kinds of seeds, as well as wheat, may be kept
sweet either in sacks or small bins.

1026. _To preserve Oats from being musty._--Richard Fermor, Esq. of
Tusmore, in Oxfordshire, has in his stable a contrivance to let oats
down from a loft out of a vessel, like the hopper of a mill, whence
they fall into a square pipe, let into a wall, about four inches
diagonal, which comes into a cupboard set into a wall, but with its
end so near the bottom, that there shall never be above a desirable
quantity in the cupboard at a time, which being taken away, another
parcel succeeds; by this motion the oats are kept constantly sweet
(the taking away one gallon moving the whole above), which, when laid
up otherwise in great quantities, frequently grow musty.

1027. _Easy Method of destroying Mites or Weevils in Granaries._--A
very sagacious farmer has succeeded in destroying weevils, by a
very easy process. In the month of June, when his granaries were all
empty, he collected great quantities of the largest sized ants, and
scattered them about the places infested with the weevils. The ants
immediately fell upon and devoured every one of them; nor have any
weevils since that time been seen on his premises.

_Remark._--The large, or wood-ant, feeds entirely on animal
substances; of course it would not destroy the corn.

1028. _To preserve Carrots, Parsnips, and Beets, all the Winter._--A
little before the frost sets in, draw your beets or parsnips out
of the ground, and lay them in the house, burying their roots in
sand to the neck of the plant, and ranging them one by another in a
shelving position; then another bed of sand, and another of beets,
and continue this order to the last. By pursuing this method, they
will keep very fresh. When they are wanted for use, draw them, as
they stand, not out of the middle or sides.

1029. _To preserve Turnips from Frost._--The best way is to stack
them up in straw in the following manner:--One load of any sort of
dry straw is sufficient for an acre of fifty tons' weight. Pull up
the turnips, top and tail them, then throw them in a sort of windrow,
and let them lie a few days to dry.

First, lay a layer of straw next the ground, and upon it a layer of
turnips about half a yard thick; then another layer of straw; so go
on alternately with a layer of straw and a layer of turnips; every
layer grows narrower, till it comes to a point at the top, like a
sugar-loaf. The last layer must be straw, which serves to keep all
dry. You must observe always when you have laid a layer of turnips,
to stroke or lap over the ends of the under layer of straw, in order
to keep them close or from tumbling out. The heap should be as large
as a hay-cock; the tops may be given to sheep or cattle as they are
cut off.

1030. _Another._--Turnips placed in layers, though not thick,
have been found, after a few weeks, to rot. In some places the
following method is adopted. Lay the turnips close together in a
single layer, on a grass field, near the farmyard, and scatter some
straw and branches of trees over them; this will preserve them from
sudden alternations of frost and thaw. They keep as well as stored
turnips can do. The bare grass is of no value in winter, and may
rather perhaps receive some benefit from the shelter of the turnip.
An immense quantity may thus be stored on a small extent of grass
ground. It is chiefly useful for small farmers, in soils unfit for
the turnip, but who are forced to raise it for milk-cows, or to
support, in the winter, the sheep they feed in the summer on the
commons, and which they keep, perhaps, principally in the night,
on the fields they have no other means of manuring. But it may be
useful, even on proper turnip soils, to save the latter part of the
crop from the sudden frosts and sunshine in the spring, or in an open
winter, which rot so great a portion of it; perhaps a fourth or third
part of what is then on the ground.

1031. _The good effects of Elder in preserving Plants from Insects
and Flies._--1. For preventing cabbage and cauliflower plants from
being devoured and damaged by caterpillars. 2. For preventing
blights, and their effects on fruit-trees. 3. For preserving corn
from yellow flies and other insects. 4. For securing turnips from the
ravages of flies. The dwarf elder appears to exhale a much more fetid
smell than the common elder, and therefore should be preferred.

1032. _The use of Sulphur in destroying Insects on Plants, and its
Benefit for Vegetation._--Tie up some flower of sulphur in a piece
of muslin or fine linen, and with this the leaves of young shoots of
plants should be dusted; or it may be thrown on them by means of a
common swans'-down puff, or even by a dredging-box.

Fresh assurances have repeatedly been received of the powerful
influence of sulphur against the whole tribe of insects and worms
which infest and prey on vegetables. Sulphur has also been found to
promote the health of plants, on which it was sprinkled; and that
peach-trees, in particular, were remarkably improved by it, and
seemed to absorb it. It has likewise been observed, that the verdure,
and other healthful appearances, were perceptibly increased; for
the quantity of new shoots and leaves formed subsequently to the
operation, and having no sulphur on their surfaces, served as a kind
of comparative index, and pointed out distinctly the accumulation of
health.

1033. _Method of stopping the Ravages of the Caterpillars from
Shrubs, Plants, and Vegetables._--Take a chafing-dish, with lighted
charcoal, and place it under the branches of the tree, or bush,
whereon are the caterpillars; then throw a little brimstone on the
coals. The vapor of the sulphur, which is mortal to these insects,
and the suffocating fixed air arising from the charcoal, will not
only destroy all that are on the tree, but will effectually prevent
the shrubs from being, that season, infested with them. A pound of
sulphur will clear as many trees as grow on several acres.

Another method of driving these insects off fruit-trees, is to boil
together a quantity of rue, wormwood, and common tobacco (of each
equal parts), in common water. The liquor should be very strong.
Sprinkle this on the leaves and young branches every morning and
evening during the time the fruit is ripening.

In the Economical Journal of France, the following method of guarding
cabbages from the depredations of caterpillars is stated to be
infallible, and may, perhaps, be equally serviceable against those
which infest other vegetables. Sow with hemp all the borders of the
ground wherein the cabbage is planted; and, although the neighborhood
be infested with caterpillars, the space inclosed by the hemp will be
perfectly free, and not one of these vermin will approach it.

1034. _To prevent the Increase of Pismires in Grass Lands newly laid
down._--Make a strong decoction of walnut-tree leaves, and after
opening several of the pismires' sandy habitations, pour upon them a
quantity of the liquor, just sufficient to fill the hollow of each
heap: after the middle of it has been scooped, throw in the contents
from the sides, and press down the whole mass with the foot, till
it becomes level with the rest of the field. This, if not found
effectual at first, must be repeated a second or a third time, when
they infallibly will be destroyed.

1035. _To prevent the Fly in Turnips._--From experiments lately
made, it has been ascertained that lime sown by hand, or distributed
by a machine, is an infallible protection to turnips against the
ravages of this destructive insect. It should be applied as soon
as the turnips come up, and in the same daily rotation in which
they were sown. The lime should be slaked immediately before it is
used, if the air be not sufficiently moist to render that operation
unnecessary.

1036. _To prevent Mice from destroying early sown Peas._--The tops of
furze, or whins, chopped and thrown into the drills, and thus covered
up, (by goading them in their attempt to scratch,) is an effectual
preventive. Sea-sand, strewn pretty thick upon the surface, has the
same effect. It gets into their ears, and is troublesome.

1037. _Another._--In the gardens in Devonshire, a simple trap is used
to destroy mice. A common brick, or flat stone, is set on one end,
inclined at an angle of about forty-five degrees. Two strings, tied
to a cracked stick, stuck in the ground, with loops at the ends of
the strings, are brought round to the middle of the under part of the
brick, and one loop being put into the other, a pea or bean, or any
other bait, makes the string fast, so as to support the brick. When
the animal removes the bait, the loops separate, and the brick, by
falling, smothers the animal.

1038. _To Destroy Beetles._--Take some small lumps of unslaked lime,
and put into the chinks or holes from which they issue, it will
effectually destroy them; or it may be scattered on the ground, if
they are more numerous than in their holes.

1039. _Another Method._--The simplest and most effectual way of
destroying beetles is by means of red wafers. As it has become usual
to substitute vermilion for red lead in the composition of wafers, it
will be necessary to ask particularly for such as have been made with
red lead. Strew these in the neighborhood of the crevices from which
these insects issue, and their future incursions will be speedily
prevented. Cockroaches may be destroyed by the same means.

1040. _For Destroying Bugs and Worms in Wood._--An eminent physician
has discovered that by rubbing wood with a solution of vitriol,
insects and bugs are prevented from harboring therein. When the
strength of this remedy is required to be increased, there need only
be boiled some coloquintida apples in water, in which, afterwards,
vitriol is dissolved, and the bedstead, with the wood about them,
and the wainscoting, being anointed with the liquor, will be ever
after clear of worms or bugs. The wall may be likewise rubbed with
the composition, and some of it may be dropped into the holes where
these insects are suspected to be harbored. As to the walls, they
require only to be washed over with the vitriol water.

1041. _To Destroy Insects on Wall Fruit Trees._--Take an old tin
watering-pan, or any similar vessel, and make a charcoal fire in it;
add a tube or pipe, made of either tin, leather, or stiff paper, to
the spout, which may be of any sufficient length; then strew some
brimstone, tobacco-dust, fine shreds of leather, &c., upon the fire,
in the pan, and cover the top; having a pair of bellows ready, hold
the wind-flap over the tube or pipe to receive the smoke, which it
will do very effectually when you use the bellows. By this means the
suffocating vapor may be directed through the bellows to any part
of the tree with the greatest ease and facility, and the tree soon
cleared of all vermin.

1042. _To Destroy the Insect which attacks the Apple Tree, commonly
called the White Blight, or American Blight._--To a strong decoction
of the digitalis or foxglove, add a sufficient quantity of fresh
cow-dung, to give it such a consistence as may enable you to apply it
with a painters' brush to those parts of the bark of the tree, which
afford a harbor for this destructive insect. The insect is generally
destroyed by the first application, though in some instances it may
be necessary to repeat it. It has been remarked that the insect never
returns in future years to those parts of the tree which have been
thus treated.

1043. _For Destroying Caterpillars on Gooseberry Bushes._--Take one
Scots pint (two English quarts) of tobacco liquor (which may be made,
where it cannot be purchased, by infusing any kind of tobacco in
water till all the strength be extracted) which the manufacturers of
tobacco generally sell for destroying bugs, and mix them with about
one ounce of alum; and when the alum is sufficiently dissolved, put
this mixture into a plate, or other vessel, wide and long enough to
admit of a brush, like a weaver's brush, being dipped into it; and as
early in the season as you can perceive the leaves of the bushes to
be in the least eaten, or the eggs upon the leaves (which generally
happens about the end of May), and which will be found in great
numbers on the veins of the leaves on their under side; you are then
to take the preparation, or liquor, and after dipping the brush
into it, and holding the brush towards the under side of the bush,
which is to be raised and supported by the hands of another person;
and by drawing your hand gently over the hairs of the brush, the
above liquid is sprinkled, and falls in small drops on the leaves;
the consequence of which is, if the eggs are there, they never come
forward; and if they have already generated worms, in a minute or two
after the liquor touches them, they either die or sicken, so as to
fall off the bush; at least they do so upon giving it a little shake.
If, upon their thus falling off, they shall not appear completely
dead, the bush should be held up, and either a little boiling water
from a watering-pot thrown over them, or a bruise given them by a
spade or shovel; or the earth, where they lie, turned over with a
hoe. This preparation does not in the least injure the bushes.

1044. _To Preserve Flowers, Leaves, and Fruit, from
Caterpillars._--These depredators are destroyed by oils, which close
the lateral pores by which they breathe. For this purpose it is
advised, that on the approach of spring, a cloth, dipped in train
oil, be laid on such parts of the tree in which there is the least
appearance of them.

1045. _Method to destroy or drive away Earth Worms, and other
Insects, hurtful to Fields and Gardens._--Three parts of quick-lime,
newly made, and two parts of soap-boilers' ley or potash dissolved in
water, will produce a somewhat milky liquor sufficiently caustic, and
highly hostile and poisonous to earth-worms and other small animals;
for as soon as it touches any part of their bodies, it occasions in
them violent symptoms of great uneasiness. If this liquor be poured
into those holes, in which the earth-worms reside under ground, they
immediately throw themselves out as if driven by some force, and,
after various contortions, languish and die. If the leaves of plants
or fruit-trees, frequented by the voracious caterpillars, which are
so destructive to them, be sprinkled over with this liquor, these
insects suddenly contract their bodies and drop to the ground. For,
though nature has defended them tolerably well by their hairy skins,
from any thing that might injure their delicate bodies; yet, as
soon as they touch with their feet or mouths the leaves which have
been moistened by this liquor, they become, as it were, stupefied,
instantly contract themselves, and fall down.

1046. _To destroy Earwigs and Wood Lice._--A very simple way of
ensnaring them, and by which they may be taken alive in great
quantities, is to place four inch-cuts of reeds, bean-haulm, or
strong wheat-straw among the branches, and also lay a number on the
ground, at the bottom of the wall. In these the insects take refuge
at day-break, as they depredate chiefly in the night; and any time
through the day they may be blown into a bottle with a little water
in it, and so be drowned. Or, a cheaper way is to burn the straw, and
scatter fresh on the ground.

1047. _To destroy Fleas on Dogs._--Rub the animal, when out of the
house, with the common Scotch snuff, except the nose and eyes. Rub
the powder well into the roots of the hair. Clear lime-water destroys
the whitish flea-worm without injuring the skin or hair. Oil of
turpentine will likewise do so; but if there be any manginess, or the
skin be broken, it will give the animal much pain.

1048. _To clear Gardens of Vermin, by Ducks._--Ducks are excellent
vermin-pickers, whether of caterpillars (such as are within their
reach), slugs, snails, and others, and ought to be turned into the
garden one or two days every week throughout the season. Never keep
them longer in than two or three hours at a time, else they become
indolent. While here, they should have a little water set down to
them, if there be no pond or stream in the garden.

Never turn them into the garden in the time of heavy rains, or in
continued wet weather, as in that case, and particularly if the soil
be stiff, they patter and harden the surface, to the great injury of
small crops and rising seeds.

1049. _The use of Garlic against Moles, Grubs, and Snails._--Moles
are such enemies to the smell of garlic, that, in order to get rid
of these troublesome and destructive guests, it is sufficient to
introduce a few heads of garlic into their subterraneous walks. It is
likewise employed with success against grubs and snails.

1050. _To prevent the destruction of Field Turnips by Slugs._--A few
years since, a considerable farmer, near Bath, observing the turnips
in one of his fields strongly attacked by something, discovered, by
accident, that the enemy was really a slug; and immediately prevented
farther damage by well rolling the whole field, by night, which
killed all the slugs.

N. B. This was the grand secret which was advertised for two thousand
subscribers, at one guinea each, by W. Vagg, _for destroying the fly_
in turnips--which it will _not_ do!

1051. _Method of destroying Insects on Fruit Trees._--Make a strong
decoction of tobacco, and the tender shoots of elder, by pouring
boiling water on them; then sprinkle your trees with the same (cold)
twice a week, for two or three weeks, with a small hearth-brush,
which will effectually destroy the insects, and the leaves will
retain their verdure until the fall of the year.

If used early, as soon as the bud unfolds itself, it will probably
prevent the fly. The effect of tobacco has been long known, and
elder-water frequently sprinkled on honeysuckles and roses, has been
found to prevent insects from lodging on them.

The quantity to be made use of, is one ounce of tobacco to one gallon
of water, with about two handfuls of elder. You may, however, make it
as strong as you please, it being perfectly innocent to the plants.

1052. _To destroy Insects prejudicial to Apple-Trees._--To one
hundred gallons of human urine, and one bushel of lime, add cow-dung
to bring it to the consistence of paint. With this composition anoint
the trees. The month of March is the proper season for applying it.
If the white efflorescence-like substance in which the insects are
lodged, has made its appearance, it should previously be brushed off.

1053. _To destroy wasps on Fruit-Trees._--Wasps, about the month
of July, will begin to swarm about the early fruits; and for their
destruction, phials should be hung about the branches, half-filled
with honey and water, or with sugar and small-beer. These should be
emptied and replaced once in two or three days, otherwise they do not
take so well--these little animals being extremely sagacious, and
disliking the appearance of their own species, when dead.

1054. _Another._--Winter is the proper season to apply the following
solution. The juices are then determined to the root.

Soft soap, two pounds; leaf or roll tobacco, one pound; nux-vomica,
two ounces; and turpentine, half an English gill: boil them in eight
English gallons of soft or river water, to six; and use it milk-warm.

Unnail or untie all the branches from the wall or trellis; brush
every part of the tree clean with a soft brush, such as is used for
painting; then, with a sponge, carefully anoint every branch, root,
and bud; and be sure to rub it well into every joint, hole, and
angle, as it is there the eggs or larvæ of the insects are chiefly
lodged. The rails, spars, &c., of the espalier or trellis, should
also be anointed as above.

This operation should be repeated every winter, some time between
the fall of the leaf and the first of February, as may be most
convenient. The solution is effectually destructive to all kinds of
insects, their eggs or larvæ.

1055. _To kill Reptiles._--Twelve ounces of quick-lime in powder,
two ounces of Scotch snuff, two ounces of basket salt, two ounces of
sulphur vivum, dissolved in ten gallons of water, and thrown on the
insects, either in the liquid or powder, will destroy them.

1056. _To prevent Slugs from getting into Fruit-Trees._--If the trees
are standards, tie a coarse horse-hair rope about them, two or three
feet from the ground. If they are against the wall, nail a narrow
slip of coarse horse-hair cloth against the wall, about half a foot
from the ground, and they will never get over it; for if they attempt
it, it will kill them, as their bellies are soft, and the horse-hair
will wound them.

1057. _To destroy Snails._--Snails are great enemies to wall-fruit;
and any dewy morning you may easily find where they most delight to
breed; but the best way is to find out their haunts in a hard winter,
and then destroy them: they lie much in holes of walls, under thorns,
behind old trees or old and close hedges. If you pluck not the fruit
they have begun to devour, but let it alone, they will finish their
repast on this, before they begin another.

1058. _To destroy the Red Spider, so troublesome in dry
seasons._--The red spider makes its appearance in hot, dry weather,
and is always found on the under sides of the leaves, generally on
roughish leaves, but not always so. It preys on the apple, cherry,
fig, peach, pear, and plum--seldom on the apricot. It is among the
smallest of the acari, and is sometimes not distinguishable without a
microscope. If the back of the leaf be viewed through one, it appears
full of its webs; and if many abound on it, the leaf appears full of
punctures, becomes discolored, and brown on the upper surface, fades,
and falls off.

This insect is more troublesome in dry seasons than in moist ones,
and is wonderfully encouraged by heat--insomuch, that hot-houses of
every description are sadly infested with it. Water, and water only,
is its bane; and the syringe, or the force-pump, the engine of its
destruction. It is not a mere sprinkling that will do; it requires a
forcible dashing to and fro, and that often repeated, to be effectual.

1059. _To destroy Vermin in Granaries and other Outbuildings._--Cover
completely the walls and rafters, above and below, of the granaries,
&c., which are infested with weevils and other vermin, with
quick-lime slaked in water, in which trefoil, wormwood, and hyssop
have been boiled. This composition ought to be applied as hot as
possible.

1060. _To destroy Worms in Gardens._--Water your beds with a strong
decoction of walnut-tree leaves where there are worm casts; the worms
will immediately rise up out of the earth, and you may easily take
and cut them to pieces, and fatten your poultry therewith, or feed
fish in ponds with them.

By laying ashes or lime about any plant, neither snails nor worms
will come near it. As the moisture weakens it, you must, more or
less, continue to renew the lime or ashes.

1061. _To destroy Worms in Gravel Walks, &c._--Pour into the holes a
ley, made of wood ashes and lime; this will also destroy insects, if
trees are sprinkled with it. Salt and water will do as well.

1062. _Usefulness of the Wren in destroying Insects._--As a devourer
of pernicious insects, one of the most useful birds is the house
wren. This little bird seems to be particularly fond of the society
of man, and it must be confessed that it is often protected by his
interested care. It has long been a custom, in many parts of the
country, to fix a small box at the end of a long pole, in gardens,
about houses, &c., as a place for it to build in. In these boxes they
build and hatch their young. When the young are hatched, the parent
bird feeds them with a variety of different insects, particularly
such as are injurious in gardens. An intelligent gentleman was at
the trouble to observe the number of times a pair of these birds
came from their box, and returned with insects for their young. He
found that they did this from 40 to 60 times in an hour, and in one
particular hour, the birds carried food to their young 71 times. In
this business they were engaged the greater part of the day; say
12 hours. Taking the medium therefore of 50 times in an hour, it
appeared that a single pair of these birds took from the cabbage,
salad, beans, peas, and other vegetables in the garden, at least 600
insects in the course of one day. This calculation proceeds upon the
supposition that the two birds took only a single insect each time.
But it is highly probable they often took several at a time.

1063. _To destroy Rats and other Vermin._--Sponge, if cut in small
pieces, fried or dipped in honey, and given to vermin, distends their
intestines, and effectually destroys them. The addition of a little
oil of Rhodium will tempt them to eat.

A better method would be to feed them regularly two or three weeks
in any apartment which they infest. The hole, by which they enter,
being first fitted with a sliding door, to which a long string may be
added; any apartment might thus be turned into a gigantic rat-trap.

1064. _Another Method of Destroying Rats._--Lay bird-lime in their
haunts, for though they are nasty enough in other respects, yet being
very curious of their fur, if it is but daubed with this stuff, it is
so troublesome to them that they will even scratch their skins from
off their own backs to get it off, and will never abide in a place
where they have suffered in this manner.

1065. _To destroy Rats or Mice._--Mix flour of malt with some butter;
add thereto a drop or two of oil of anise-seeds; make it up into
balls, and bait your traps therewith. _If you have thousands_, by
this means you may take them all.

1066. _A Mouse Trap, by which forty or fifty Mice may be caught in
a Night._--Take a plain four-square trencher, and put into the two
contrary ends of it a large pin, or piece of thick knitting-needle;
then take two sticks about a yard long, and lay them on your dresser,
with a notch cut at each end of your sticks, placing the two pins,
stuck on the corner of the trencher, on the notches of the two
sticks, so that one corner of your trencher may lie about an inch
upon your dresser or place that the mice may come to; then let the
corner that lies opposite to this be baited with some butter and
oatmeal, plastered fast on, and when the mice run off the dresser to
the butter, it will tip them into a vessel full of water, which you
must place under the trencher, in which they will be drowned.

That your trencher may not tip over, with a little sealing-wax and
a thread seal the string to the dresser and trencher, and it will
remain in good order for weeks or months.

1067. _New, simple, and effectual Method of destroying Rats._--A
few years ago, the corn-mill at Glossop was very much infested with
rats. A quantity of barley, which lay on the chamber floor was hourly
visited by some of them. The miller one day going to drive them
away as usual, happened to catch one of them under his hat, which
he killed; he then singed all the hair off its body, &c., until
its skin, tail, and legs, became stiff by the operation. In this
condition he set it upon its feet by the side of a heap of barley,
where it stood, with pricked-up ears and tail, for some time; after
this, no rat dared to come near it; and in a short space of time the
mill was cleared of those depredators, and has continued so ever
since.

1068. _To prevent the Burrowing of Rats in Houses._--Rats may be
effectually prevented from burrowing under the foundation of houses,
by making an offset of stone or brick, about two feet in breadth, and
eighteen inches below the surface; and by carrying up a perpendicular
wall from the edge of this offset, to within a few inches of the
ground. The adoption of the same plan _inside_ will prevent the
burrowing of these animals in cellars; for rats always burrow close
to a wall; and finding their perpendicular course impeded, they take
a horizontal direction, as far as the offset continues, when they are
again stopped by the outside wall. Thus baffled, they ascend, and go
off.

Those persons who have suffered in their granaries, ice-houses, and
in the cellars of their dwelling-houses, by the depredations of
rats, will probably deem this one of the most valuable articles of
the present work.

1069. _To keep Ponds and Artificial Pieces of Water free from
Weeds._--At the Marquis of Exeter's seat, near Burghley, there is an
artificial piece of water, about a mile in length, which used to be
so over-run with weeds, that three men were employed constantly, for
six months in every year, to keep them under; in which they never
perfectly succeeded. About seven years ago, two pair of swans were
put on the water: they completely cleared away all the weeds the
first year, and none have appeared since, as the swans constantly eat
them before they rise to the surface.

1070. _Usefulness of Mowing Weeds._--In the month of June weeds are
in their most succulent state; and in this state, especially after
they have lain a few hours to wither, hungry cattle will eat greedily
almost every species. There is scarcely a hedge, border, or nook, but
at this season is valuable, and it must certainly be good management
to embrace the transient opportunity; for in a few weeks they will
become nuisances.

1071. _On the great Increase of Milk from feeding Milch Cows with
Sainfoin._--The quantity of milk produced by cows fed by sainfoin
is nearly double to that of any other food. The milk is also much
richer, and will yield a larger quantity of cream. The butter will
also be better colored and flavored than any other.

1072. _Parsnips productive of Milk in Cows._--Parsnips cause cows
to produce abundance of milk, and they eat them as free as they do
oil-cake. Land, 7_l_. an acre in Guernsey, is sown with parsnips to
feed cattle, and the milk is like cream.--Sheep, when lambing, fed
with them, produce much milk. They are improper food for horses,
subjecting them to blindness.

1073. _Most proper Food for Milch Cows._--Milch cows are infinitely
more profitable kept in the house than out of doors, but they must be
trained to it, otherwise they do not thrive.

The best food for them are clover, lucern, potatoes, yams, turnips,
carrots, cabbages, peas, and beans.

Such cows as those in the neighborhood of London, kept in the house,
and properly fed, ought to yield nine gallons per day, for the first
four months after calving.

1074. _Additional Quantity of Milk to be gained by keeping Milch
Cows in the House._--In the management of cows a warm stable is
highly necessary; and currying them like horses not only affords them
pleasure, but makes them give their milk more freely. They ought
always to be kept clean, laid dry, and have plenty of good sweet
water to drink. Cows treated in this manner have given two gallons of
milk at a time, when within ten days of calving.

1075. _Utility of Carrots as Food for Horses and other stall
Beasts._--Carrots are excellent food for horses, either given alone,
or along with hay, likewise for fattening stall beasts. They make
them eat straw, and very indifferent hay, greedily. If the same be
given to cows, the milk will have a much less offensive taste and
smell than when they are fed on turnips.

_Remark._--It must be noted, however, that carrots, though very
excellent, are a very expensive food. They would not enable a farmer
to pay his rent.

1076. _Excellent Method of rearing Calves, and of preserving the
Cream, and a great Part of the Milk during that Time._--Put some
water on the fire, nearly the quantity that the calf can drink.
When it boils, throw into it one or two handfuls of oatmeal, and
suffer the whole to boil for a minute. Then leave it to cool until
new-milk-warm. Then mix with it one or two quarts of milk, that has
stood twelve hours, and has been skimmed: stir the whole, and give it
the calf to drink. At first it is necessary to make the calf drink
by presenting the fingers to it, but it soon learns to do without
this help, and will grow incomparably faster than by the old method.
This new method is not only a theoretical truth, but its success is
confirmed by experience.

The economical advantages resulting from it are as follows. According
to the old method, a calf intended for slaughter is made to suck for
three weeks, and those intended for agriculture, from six to eight
weeks. Supposing the cow gives only a moderate quantity of milk, the
value of it will amount, in three weeks, to nearly the value of the
calf. If, on the contrary, we rear a calf according to this method,
we consume during the three weeks only three quarts of oatmeal, at
most, and the skimmed milk.

Calves that have been brought up by this method have been always
healthy and strong, and not subject to disease. They are not suffered
to suck at all, but to have the pure milk of the mother to drink
for the first four days, because it has been observed, that the
separation, after four days, is more painful to the mother than when
the calf is taken from her soon after its birth.

1077. _Rules for Milking Cows._--Cows should be milked three times
a day, if fully fed throughout the summer, and great caution should
be exercised by the persons employed, to draw the milk from them
completely, not only to increase the quantity of produce, but to
preserve its quality. Any portion which may be left in the udder
seems gradually absorbed in the system, and no more is formed
than enough to supply the loss of what is taken away, and by the
continuance of the same mode, a yet farther diminution of the
secretion takes place, till at length scarcely any is produced. This
last method of milking is always practised, when it is intended that
a cow should be rendered dry.

1078. _Proper Temperature for a Dairy._--The apartments appropriated
for dairy purposes should, if possible, possess a moderate
temperature throughout the year, and should be kept perfectly
clean and dry. The temperature of about fifty-five degrees is most
favorable for the separation of the cream from the milk. The utensils
of the dairy are best made of wood; lead and copper are soluble in
acid, and highly pernicious; and though iron is not injurious, the
taste of it might render the produce of the dairy unpalatable.

1079. _Method of making excellent Butter from the Milk of Cows
fed upon Turnips._--Let the bowls, either lead or wood, be kept
constantly clean, and well scalded with boiling water, before using.
When the milk is brought into the dairy, to every eight quarts mix
one quart of boiling water; then put up the milk into the bowls to
stand for cream. By keeping strictly to this method, you will have,
during the winter, constantly sweet and well-tasted butter from the
milk of cows fed upon turnips.

1080. _Improved Method of making Butter._--If the dairy consists
of three or four cows, they should be milked in the summer thrice
a day; in the morning, at noon, and in the evening. Each milking
must be kept by itself, in flat wooden vessels, to cool in like
manner; and thus in succession for two or three days, according to
the temperature of the air, the milk thickens, and thence is fit for
churning, soonest in the warmest weather. The quantity of butter will
be generally in the proportion of a pound (twenty-two ounces) for
each ten pints, or five English gallons of milk. In winter, the cows
are to be milked only twice a day, and the milk is to be put into the
churn warm from the cow, where it must stand a day or two longer than
in summer before it becomes sufficiently thick; although to promote
the coagulation, it is sometimes brought near the kitchen fire,
particularly on the preceding night before it is churned; and, in
intense cold, it will be necessary to add a small quantity of boiling
water. The operation of churning is performed with the plunge-churn,
from two to three hours, for thirty or forty pints of milk; and at
the last stage of the process, a little cold water thrown in has the
effect of promoting the separation of the butter from the milk. This
method of making butter has long been practiced in England; it may be
worth trial in America.

N.B.--The dairy-maid must not be disheartened if she does not succeed
perfectly in her first attempt.

1081. _To prevent Cows from contracting bad Habits while
Milking._--Cows should always be treated with great gentleness, and
soothed by mild usage, especially when young and ticklish, or when
the paps are tender, in which case the udder ought to be fomented
with warm water, before milking, and touched with the greatest
gentleness, otherwise the cow will be in danger of contracting bad
habits, becoming stubborn and unruly, and retaining her milk ever
after. A cow never lets down her milk pleasantly to the person she
dreads or dislikes. The udder and paps should always be washed with
clean water before milking; but care should be taken that none of
that water be admitted into the milking pail.

1082. _To mark Sheep, without injury to the Wool._--To thirty
spoonfuls of linseed oil, add two ounces of litharge and one ounce
of lamp-black: unite them together by boiling, and mark the sheep
therewith.

1083. _To improve the Wool of Sheep, by Smearing._--Immediately after
the sheep are shorn, soak the roots of the wool that remain all over
with oil or butter and brimstone; and three or four days afterwards,
wash them with salt and water. The wool of next season will not only
be much finer, but the quantity will be in greater abundance. It
may be depended upon, that the sheep will not be troubled with the
scab or vermin that year. Salt water is a safe and effectual remedy
against maggots.

1084. _To preserve Cattle from Disease in the Winter._--When cattle
are kept out in the winter, it is recommended as an useful practice
to rub some tar at the root of the horn, which prevents the wet from
getting between the root and the skin, and, it is said, contributes
to preserve the health of the animal, and to keep it free from
various diseases to which it may otherwise be liable.

1085. _How to Promote the Health of Farm Animals._--All domestic
animals should be abundantly furnished with salt. A supply kept
within their reach, whenever it can be done, is recommended. Horses
and pigs should occasionally have ashes given them in their food; and
pigs ought at all times, when confined in pens, to be supplied with
charcoal, as, besides being a medicine, it is a cheap and valuable
food.

1086. _Parsley recommended to Farmers to be sown with Rape-seed, as
a preservative against the Resp in Sheep._--A correspondent of the
"Chester Chronicle" recommends to all farmers who sow rape-seed, to
sow with it a small portion of parsley at the same time; this he
pronounces an infallible preservative against the malady well-known
by the name of _resp_, in sheep: he also advises to sow parsley on
turnip land at the time of hoeing turnips. The above correspondent
asserts, that he has pursued this plan upwards of twenty-five years,
and during that time he has never lost one sheep, either in rape or
turnip land.

_Remark._--In some counties, parsley is sown with clover, on the
supposition that it prevents cattle from being bursten, or hoven.

1087. _How to catch Sheep._--Never seize them by the wool on the
back; it hurts them exceedingly, and, in some cases, has been known
to kill them, particularly in hot weather, when they are large and
fat. The best way is to avoid the wool altogether; accustom yourself
to take them by the hind leg, or what is still better, by the neck,
placing one hand under the jaws, and the other at the back of the
ears. By lifting up the head, in this manner, a child may hold almost
any sheep, without danger to the animal or himself.

1088. _Mr. Bakewell's Liquid for the cure of the Foot-rot in
Sheep._--Dissolve four ounces, each, of vitriol and common alum,
three ounces of verdigris, an ounce and a half of white mercury, and
an ounce of white copperas, all finely pulverized, in a quart of
white-wine vinegar.

1089. _Mr. Culley's Red Salve, to cure the Rot in Sheep._--Mix four
ounces of the best honey, two ounces of burnt alum, reduced to
powder, and half a pound of Armenian bole, with as much train or
fish oil as will convert these ingredients into the consistence of a
salve. The honey must first be gradually dissolved, when the Armenian
bole must be stirred in; afterwards the alum and train oil are to be
added.

1090. _A profitable way of fattening Pigs._--Put four pigs in a
sty, for they feed best in company; but if there are too many, they
are apt to quarrel: feed them moderately the first week; and thrice
during the second week, mix with their barley-meal as much antimony
as will lie on a shilling; and the third week, twice give them the
same quantity. I need scarcely observe, it is in powder.

This purifies the blood, gives them an appetite, and makes them
thrive apace.

1091. _New mode of fattening Pigs._--A pig lately gained, by feeding
on Indian corn, in the course of six weeks and three days, the
enormous weight of fifteen stone. This mode of feeding has long been
known to the Neapolitans, whose pigs are so fat, as hardly to be able
to move.

GARDENING.

1092. _Proper situation for a Green-House._--The aspect of a
green-house may be at any point from east to west, following the
course of the sun; or, it may even be a little to the north of east
or west; but only a little, and the less the better, otherwise the
plants will not generally thrive in it, nor will the flowers acquire
their natural colors. A south aspect is to be preferred.

1093. _On preserving Seeds of Plants in a state fit for
Vegetation._--Seeds of plants may be preserved, for many months at
least, by causing them to be packed, either in husks, pods, &c.,
in absorbent paper, with raisins or brown moist sugar; or, a good
way, practised by gardeners, is to wrap the seed in brown paper or
cartridge paper, pasted down, and then varnished over.

1094. _To facilitate the Growth of Foreign Seeds._--Mr. Humboldt has
found, that seeds which do not commonly germinate in our climate,
or in our hot-houses, and which, of course, we cannot raise for
our gardens, or hope to naturalize in our fields, become capable
of germinating, when immersed for some days in a weak, oxygenized
muriatic acid. This interesting discovery has already turned to
advantage in several botanic gardens.

1095. _To plant and make Edgings._--Edgings of daisies, thrift,
violets, gentianella, &c., should be planted in February; but those
of box succeed better, if planted in April or August.

1096. _To train Evergreen and other Hedges._--Evergreen hedges may be
clipt about the beginning, but not later than the middle of April, as
by that time they will begin to grow--and it is proper that this work
should be previously performed. Some content themselves with clipping
but once a year, in which case the end of July, or first of August,
is a better time.

In trimming these, or indeed any hedge intended as a close fence,
they should be dressed up to a thin edge at top, as otherwise they
are apt to get full of gaps below; and the cause is obvious, that the
under part, in square or cut hedges, is too much shaded by the upper
part. Now, by sloping the sides, every part of the hedge is freely
exposed to the air; nor is any part over-dropped by another. A hedge,
intended merely as a fence, need seldom be more than five feet high,
or at most six. Screen hedges may be allowed to run to any height
thought necessary for the purpose; neither is it requisite to trim
them so often as fence-hedges; once a year, or in two years, may be
sufficient.

In the training of any hedge, it should not be topped or shortened,
till it has arrived at a full yard in height; but it may then have
a little taken off the points, in order to make it bush the better,
and shoot afterwards of a more regular height; the sides, however,
should be trimmed from the second or third year of planting, that it
may grow the more complete and close below, for therein consists the
excellence of any fence. It should not in topping, at any time while
in training, be much cut in, as that would make it push the stronger
to the top, to the detriment of the sides. When fence-hedges outgrow
their limits, they must, of course, be cut either wholly or partly
down; but if they be tolerably well kept, it is seldom necessary to
cut them down more than half to the ground.

1097. _How to cut Box Edgings._--Box edgings should be cut about the
beginning of April, or in the end of July. They should, however, be
cut once a year, and should be kept two inches in breadth at bottom;
being tapered up to a thin edge at top; for nothing looks so ill as a
large, bushy edging, especially to a narrow walk. The use of edging
is to separate the earth from the gravel; and the larger they are
allowed to grow, the less effectual they become; getting the more
open below, as they advance in height. Such also harbor snails, and
other troublesome vermin.

1098. _A sure method of curing Gravel-Walks._--Three parts pond-water
to one of brine, from the salting-tub in a family, poured with a
watering-pot upon gravel-walks, will not only kill the moss upon
them, but drive away the worms which make so many holes in them,
and also prevent weeds springing up. This a gentleman lately tried,
who has several gravel-walks in a grove near his house. Since he
moistened his walks with brine--which is now four years ago--they
are incommoded neither by moss, weeds, nor worms. Every autumn he
causes them to be well watered with the brine and pond-water, during
a whole week, to prevent moss; and a week in the spring, to guard
against weeds and worms; besides giving them a sprinkling every now
and then, in the summer-season, when they seem to want it.

1099. _Proper method of laying Carnations._--In summer, towards the
latter-end of June, or any time in July or beginning of August, when
the shoots of the year are advanced to a proper growth, being from
four, five, or six, to seven or eight inches long, which are to be
laid as they grow on the plants, and to remain affixed thereto till
rooted on the ground.

Thus far observed, begin the work by first clearing away all weeds
about the plants, and loosen the earth a little around them, and
if the surface is low, add some mould thereto sufficient to raise
it high enough to receive the layers easily; then begin laying the
shoots one by one; strip off the lower leaves so as to have some
inches of a clear shoot below; and trim the top leaves shorter and
even, and then slit or gash the shoot on the under side; in doing
which, fix on a joint about the middle of the shoot underneath,
and with your sharp knife cut half through the joint, and slanting
upwards; so as to slit the shoot up the middle half an inch, or but
little more; which done, directly lay it, by bending it down to the
earth with the gash or slit part open, making an opening in the
earth, and peg it down with one or two of the small-hooked sticks,
and earth over the body of the layer an inch or two deep, still
keeping the slit open and the top raised gently upright, pressing the
earth moderately upon them; and in this manner proceed with laying
all the shoots on each plant; and when all are laid, give a gentle
watering to settle the earth close about the layers, and repeat it
frequently in dry weather.

They will soon emit roots at the gash or slit part, generally at the
bottom of the tongue, and in five or six weeks will often be rooted
fit for separating and planting off from the parent, so that when
they have been about five, six, or seven weeks laid, you will examine
the progress they have made in rooting, by opening the earth gently
about some of the layers; and as soon as they appear to be tolerably
rooted, let them be cut off from the old plant with a sharp knife, in
order to be timely planted out in nursery beds, that they may root
more abundantly, and get due strength before winter; observing, in
cutting them off from the mother plant, to open the ground so as to
take them up with all the roots they have made, and cut them clean
off beyond the gash; afterwards trim off any naked woody part or
bottom, but preserve all the roots, and trim the long tops a little,
then plant them in nursery rows, six inches asunder, or you may
prick some in small pots, one layer in each, giving water directly
at planting, and repeat it often in dry weather till they take good
root, and grow freely, keeping them clean from weeds.

Those in the nursery beds will, by October, be good strong plants.
The choicest sorts may then be planted in pots, to move under
occasional shelter in time of severe frost, and for which purpose,
either use small pots (32) to contain them all winter, or plant them
in large pots (24 or 16) to remain to flower, observing to take them
up out of the nursery beds for potting, &c., with a garden trowel,
each layer with a good ball of earth about the roots; and having the
pots ready, place a shell over the holes at bottom, and put some
good light rich earth therein; plant one layer with its ball about
the roots entire in each pot, fill up with more earth, and give
some water; you may also at the same time plant some of the more
ordinary or common sorts into flower-borders or beds, to stand the
full weather all the year; but the choicer sorts in the pots may,
in November, be placed close together, either in a garden-frame, to
have occasional protection of the glasses, or mats, in severe frost,
and have the full air in all open weather and mild days, or may be
plunged in a raised bed of any dry compost, raised some inches above
the common level, and arched over with hoop arches, in order to be
protected with occasional covering of garden mats when hard frosts
prevail; but in either method, be sure to expose them fully in all
open weather, as aforesaid.

In the spring, such as have remained all winter in small pots
should, in February or early in March, be turned out with the ball
of earth about the root, and planted into larger pots, to remain for
flowering, giving proper waterings; and those which were potted at
once into larger pots in autumn should now have the earth stirred at
top, taking out some, and fill up with fresh good earth, and give a
little water.

The layers planted in the common borders of the pleasure and flower
garden require no other care than keeping them clean from weeds, and
tying up the flower stalks to sticks when they are advanced long
enough to require support.

1100. _To remove Herbs and Flowers in the Summer._--If you have
occasion to transplant in the summer season, let it be in the evening
after the heat is past; plant and water the same immediately, and
there will be no danger from the heat next day; but be careful, in
digging up the earth, you do not break any of the young shoots, as
the sap will exude out of the same to the great danger of the plants.

1101. _New Method of raising Cucumbers._--From the best seed that can
be got of the common prickly cucumber, raise plants on a moderate
hot-bed, not hurrying them too much in their growth. In May, when
the danger of the frost is nearly over, familiarize the plants, by
degrees, to the air, and towards the latter end of the month plant
them in the open ground against a south wall. Take care not to give
them too much water, as that will injure the fruit. When they have
run up about five feet, they will send forth blossoms, and the fruit
will begin to show itself soon after. The flesh of cucumbers raised
in this manner will be thicker and firmer, and the flavor vastly
more delicious, than those raised from the same seed, but planted in
the ordinary way, and the runners suffered to trail on the ground.
Though a south wall in most gardens, is too much appropriated to
other things, to give room for cucumbers in general, yet in every
garden a few plants may be so trained by way of rarity, and to save
seed, which is found to be greatly improved by this method, so as to
produce much better cucumbers in the common way of raising them. One
or two plants, so raised, will supply a sufficient quantity of seed
for a large garden.

Laying a cucumber or melon-bed with tiles, is also of particular
service in improving the fruit, and giving it a proper flavor.

1102. _To prevent the irregular Growth of Melons._--It is well known
that melons frequently, in certain situations, lose their circular
form, and grow larger on one side than the other, and that those
misshapen fruits are always bad. To remedy this, take a small forked
stick, in proportion to the size of the melon, and thrust it in the
ground as nearly as possible to the tail of the fruit, taking the
precaution to lay a little moss between the two prongs, and suspend
the melon to this fork. In a few days the melon will resume its form,
when the fork may be removed, and the operation is finished. The
quality of the fruit remains unchanged.

1103. _Easy Method of producing Mushrooms._--If the water wherein
mushrooms have been steeped or washed be poured upon an old bed,
or if the broken parts of mushrooms be strewed thereon, there will
speedily arise great numbers.

1104. _To obtain a good Crop of Onions._--In order to obtain a good
crop of onions, it is proper to sow at different seasons, viz., in
light soils, in August, January, or early in February; and in heavy
wet soils, in March, or early in April. Onions, however, should not
be sown in January, unless the ground be in a dry state, which is
not often the case at so early a period of the season; but if so,
advantage should be taken of it.

1105. _The Advantage of sowing Peas in Circles instead of straight
Rows._--It is a great error in those persons who sow the rows of
tall-growing peas close together. It is much better in all those
sorts, which grow six or eight feet high, to have only one row, and
then to leave a bed ten or twelve feet wide for onions, carrots, or
any crops which do not grow tall.

The advantages which will be derived are, that the peas will not be
drawn up so much, be stronger, will flower much nearer to the ground,
and in wet weather can be more easily gathered without wetting you.

But instead of sowing peas in straight rows, if you will form the
ground into circles of three feet diameter, with a space of two feet
between each circle, in a row thirty feet long, you will have six
circles of peas, each nine feet, in all fifty-four feet of peas,
instead of thirty, on the same extent of ground.

If you want more than one row of circles, leave a bed of ten or
twelve feet before you begin another.

For the very tall sorts, four feet circles will afford more room for
the roots to grow in, and care must be taken, by applying some tender
twigs, or strings, to prevent the circles from joining each other.

This method is equally applicable for scarlet-beans.

1106. _To raise Peas in Autumn, and to prevent Mice from eating them
when sown._--The purple-flowered peas are found to answer best for
a late crop in autumn, as they are not so liable to be mildewed as
many of the other sorts, and will continue flowering till the frost
stops them.

Those peas may be sown in July, August, or so late as the first week
in September, if sown in a warm, sheltered situation, and in a soil
inclining to sand.

Soak the peas in warm milk, and after you have drawn the drills,
water them before you sow the peas; it is best to sow them towards
the evening. If the autumn should prove very dry, they will require
frequent watering.

When peas are sown before winter, or early in spring, they are very
apt to be eaten by mice.

To prevent this, soak the peas for a day or two in train oil before
you sow them, which will encourage their vegetation, and render them
so obnoxious to the mice, that they will not eat them.

1107. _Method of cultivating Radishes for Salad, so as to have them
ready at all seasons of the year._--Take seeds of the common radish,
and lay them in rain-water to steep for twenty-four hours; then put
them quite wet into a small linen bag, well tied at the mouth with
packthread. If you have steeped a large quantity of seeds, you may
divide them into several bags. Then expose the bags in a place where
they will receive the greatest heat of the sun, for about twenty-four
hours, at the end of which time the seed will begin to grow, and
you may then sow it in the usual manner, in earth well exposed to
the heat of the sun. Prepare two small tubs to cover each other
exactly. These may be easily provided, by sawing a small cask through
the middle, and they will serve in winter; in summer one will be
sufficient for each kind of earth that has been sown. As soon as you
have sown your seeds you must cover them with your tub, and at the
end of three days you will find radishes of the size and thickness of
young lettuces, having at their extremities two small round leaves,
rising from the earth, of a reddish color. These radishes, cut or
pulled up, will be excellent, if mixed with salad, and they have a
much more delicate taste than the common radishes which are eaten
with salt.

By taking the following precautions, you may have them in the winter,
and even during the hardest frosts: After having steeped the seeds
in warm water, and exposed them to the sun, as already directed, or
in a place sufficiently hot to make them shoot forth, warm the two
tubs; fill one of them with earth well dunged; sow your seeds, thus
prepared, in one of them, and cover it with the other tub; you must
then be careful to sprinkle it with warm water as often as may be
necessary. Then carry the two tubs closely joined, taking care they
cover each other, into a warm vault, or cellar, and at the end of
fifteen days you may gather a fine salad.

1108. _To preserve Strawberry Plants from the Heat of the Sun,
&c._--Sir Joseph Banks, from a variety of experiments, and the
experience of many years, recommends a general revival of the now
almost obsolete practice of laying straw under strawberry-plants,
when the fruit begins to swell; by which means the roots are shaded
from the sun, the waste of moisture by evaporation prevented, the
leaning fruit kept from damage by resting on the ground, particularly
in wet weather, and much labor in watering saved. Twenty trusses of
long straw are sufficient for 1800 feet of plants.

1109. _Directions for managing Strawberries in Summer._--On the
management of strawberries in June and July, the future prosperity of
them greatly depends; and if each plant has not been kept separate,
by cutting off the runners, they will be in a state of confusion, and
you will find three different sorts of plants.

1. Old plants, whose roots are turned black, hard, and woody.

2. Young plants, not strong enough to flower.

3. Flowering plants, which ought only to be there, and perhaps not
many of them.

Before the time of flowering is quite over, examine them, and pull
up every old plant which has not flowered; for, if once they have
omitted to flower, you may depend upon it they never will produce any
after, being too old, and past bearing; but to be fully convinced,
leave two or three, set a stick to them, and observe them the next
year.

If the young plants, runners of last year, be too thick, take some of
them away, and do not leave them nearer than a foot of the scarlet,
alpines, and wood, and fifteen or sixteen inches of all the larger
sorts; and in the first rainy weather in July or August, take them
all up, and make a fresh plantation with them, and they will be very
strong plants for flowering next year.

Old beds, even if the plants be kept single at their proper distance,
examine, and pull all the old plants which have not flowered.

When the fruit is nearly all gathered, examine them again, and cut
off the runners; but if you want to make a fresh plantation, leave
some of the two first, and cut off all the rest. Then stir up the
ground with a trowel, or three-pronged fork, and in August they will
be fit to transplant.

If you have omitted in July, do not fail in August, that the runners
may make good roots, to be transplanted in September; for, if later,
the worms will draw them out of the ground, and the frost afterwards
will prevent them from striking root; the consequence of which is,
their not flowering the next spring; and you will lose a year.

1110. _To cultivate the common Garden Rhubarb._--It is not enough to
give it depth of good soil, but it must be watered in drought; and in
winter must be well covered with straw or dung. If this is attended
to, your rhubarb will be solid when taken out of the ground; and your
kitchen, if a warm one, will soon fit it for use.

1111. _Method of cultivating and curing Turkey Rhubarb from
Seed._--The seed should be sown about the beginning of February, on a
bed of good soil, (if rather sandy, the better) exposed to an east or
west aspect in preference to the south; a full sun being prejudicial
to the vegetation of the seeds, and to the plants whilst young.

The seeds are best sown moderately thick, (broad cast) treading them
regularly in, as is usual with parsnips and other light seeds, and
then raking the ground smooth. When the season is wet, make a bed
for sowing the rhubarb seeds upon, about two feet thick, with new
dung from the stable, covering it near one foot thick with good soil.
The intent of this bed is not for the sake of warmth, but solely
to prevent the rising of earth-worms, which in a moist season will
frequently destroy the young crop.

If the seed is good, the plants often rise too thick; if so, when
they have attained six leaves, they should be taken up carefully,
(where too close), leaving the standing crop eight or ten inches
apart: those taken up may be planted at the same distance in a fresh
spot of ground, in order to furnish other plantations. When the
plants in general are grown to the size that cabbage-plants are
usually set out for a standing crop, they are best planted where they
are to remain, in beds four feet wide, one row along the middle of
the bed, leaving two yards' distance between the plants, allowing an
alley between the beds about a foot wide, for conveniency of weeding
the plants.

In the autumn, when the decayed leaves are removed, if the shoveling
of the alleys is thrown over the crowns of the plants, it will be
found of service.

1112. _Cultivation of Turkey Rhubarb, by offsets._--Slip off several
offsets from the heads of large plants; set them with a dibble about
a foot apart, in order to remove them into other beds; and, in the
autumn, they will be in a thriving state.

1113. _Method of curing Rhubarb._--The plants may be taken up, either
early in the spring or in autumn, when the leaves are decayed, in dry
weather, if possible: when the roots are to be cleared from dirt,
(without washing,) let them be cut into pieces, and, with a sharp
knife, freed from the outer coat, and exposed to the sun and air for
a few days, to render the outside a little dry.

In order to accelerate the curing of the largest pieces, a hole may
be scooped out with a pen-knife; these and the smaller parts are then
to be strung on packthread, and hung up in a warm room, where it is
to remain till perfectly dry. Each piece may be rendered more sightly
by a common file, fixing it in a small vice during that operation;
afterwards rub over it a very fine powder, which the small roots
furnish in beautiful perfection, for this and every other purpose
where rhubarb is required.

An easier and simpler method of drying rhubarb is, after cutting the
root into handsome pieces, to wrap up each separately, in one or more
pieces of whitish-brown paper, and then to place them on the hob of a
common Bath stove. Lemon and orange-peel dry beautifully in this way.

1114. _Proper Soil for the culture of Turnips._--Sandy loams, in good
heart, are most favorable to their growth, though they will thrive
well on strong loams, if they are not wet; but on clayey, thin, or
wet soils, they are not worth cultivating; for though a good crop may
be raised on such ground, when well prepared and dunged, more damage
is done by taking off the turnips in winter, in poaching the soil,
than the value of the crop will repay.

1115. _Preservation of Succulent Plants._--Green succulent plants
are better preserved after a momentary immersion in boiling water,
than otherwise. This practice has been successfully used in the
preservation of cabbage and other plants, dried for keeping; it
destroys the vegetable life at once, and, in a great degree, prevents