Jasper Republican, Volume 1, Number 26, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 12 March 1875 — FARM AND HOUSEHOLD. [ARTICLE]

FARM AND HOUSEHOLD.

—A Pretty Ornament.—An exceedingly beautiful effect is produced by simply placing a handful of the heads of wheat in a vase of water. Each grain will send out bright leaflets and continue to replace the old ones for many weeks together. —A good walnut stain for wood is composed of water, one quart;washing soda, one and one-half ounces; Vandyke brown, two and one-half ounces; bichromate of potash, one-fourth ounce. Boil for ten minutes and apply with a brush, either hot or cold. —Rye Biscuit—Make a dough with one pint of milk, flour and yeast, and one tablespoonful of melted butter, and three tablespoonfuls of sugar. Stir as stiff as a spoon can make it with the flour. Rise it over night and drop it into “ gem pans” or biscuit tins the next morning. Bake for half an hour in a hot oven. —Care of Canaries. —Occasionally place in the water a small piece of extract of licorice, and put between the wires at one end of the center perch a piece of white sugar. The seed-boxes should contain sufficient seed for the day. A mixture of canary, rape and hemp seed is usually given, but hemp seed is too fattening. We have always found canary and rape the best food, with occasionally a little German millet added. —Dressed Mutton.—To have it as it should be the dish must be lined with mashed potatoes, the mutton nicely minced and properly seasoned, placed in the dish, a little stock added, and then covered over with mashed potatoes roughed with a fork and placed before the fire till the little dish assumes the appearance of a nicely-browned hedgehog. The hotter served the better it will be relished, provided it has only been allowed to simmer and not to boil. —Another Cure for Chilblains. —I send you my recipe, hoping and trusting it ( will cure the afflicted, lor we have used it for years, and it always gives relief. Here is the recipe: Take two goodsized cabbage stumps, pare off the hard outer rind, then take the pith or inside and slice very thin, put into a spider with one teacup of good sweet lard, and cook slowly till there is nothing left but a soft mess of the cabbage, strain off the lard, and after soaking the feet and wiping them dry grease them thoroughly with this lard, and heat in by the fire — grease them every night, and heat them as hot as can be borne, and, my word for it, his chilblains will soon disappear.— Cor. Cincinnati Times.

—A correspondent of the Country Gentleman, in writing how to cook salsify, has the following: Leave it ground all winter. As it is better after freezing, our men often cut it out of the frozen ground with an old ax, and we think it is better than at any other time, as freezing makes it tender. To cook it, cut off the toj s and wash clean; put in a stew pan, with water enough to cover it; let it boil till tender; then take it out, scrape off thq skin, and cut the roots in slices one-fourth of an inch thick; put in a pan with fresh water, let it come to a boil, add a pint of fresh milk, a little butter, pepper and salt, and you will have the kind of soup we enjoy very often on cold winter evenings, and, with good crackers, a dish fit for a King. You can make patties of it by cooking tender, mashing it and frying in butter.