Rensselaer Republican, Volume 12, Number 34, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 7 May 1880 — HONE, FARM AND GARDEN. [ARTICLE]

HONE, FARM AND GARDEN.

Graham To a <nurt of graham flour add Mdßeiea* thick, swart cream to make a stiff dough, beat until light, and baht in a moderately hot Hretrno Griddl* Oaks.-—' Throe craps purified middlings, one cap graham floor, one egg, one teaspoonful saleratos, a little salt,- Mix with soar milk. Use a hot griddle and serve immediately. Cocoaxut Dbofa—Bert the whites of two eggs stiff with four ounces of sugar, then stir in four ounces of denies ted ooooanuL If the fresh is used* it most be grated, and dried in a porcelain kettle until like flour; add a third of » cup of fine oraoker crumbs; mold the mixture into small pointed cones, and bake until a light brown on the top and bottom. Stale Bread.—A nice way to use stale bread is to fry it, simply dipping it in oold water before putting it in the battered frying pan. It will brown nicely, and Is liked by many as well as if dipped in beaten eggs. Toe latter makes a nioe change in the bill of fare. I often make a good short-cake and spread with stewed apple sauoe, cranberry sauce or some kind of canned fruit. Serve with' sauoe or sweetened cream. To Clear Black Materials. —Take the article you wish to clean, on the side you intend to make'up as the right side; brush well all the oust out of it; then take a piece of black flannel or an old black woolen stocking (it must always be black); dip it into cold coffee, and sponge well the material all over alike; then fold up each piece or breadth nice and even, and let it remain damp for three or four hours. Iron on the wrong side, and the old dusty, shabby dress will look just as fresh and bright as new.

Broiled Shad.—One shad, two ounces of butter, one half teaspoonful of pepper, one-half teaspoonful of salt Split the shad, when cleaned, directly through the back-bone with a strong sharp knife. Urease the broiler slightly, place the fish between its leaves, and broil over a quick fire for ten minutes. When done, remove quickly from the broiler, dress with the butler, pepper and salt, and send it to the table as hot as possible. The dish may be garnished with lemon quarters and a sprig of parsley at either end. Rock Cream.—Boil a teacupful of the best rice till quite soft in new milk, sweetened with powdered loaf sugar, and pile it upon a dish; lay on it in different places, square lumps of either currant jelly or preserved fruit of any kind; beat up the whites of five eggs to a stiff froth, with a little powdered sugar, and flavor with either orange flower water or vanilla; add to this, when beaten very stiff, about a teaspoonful of rich cream, and drop it over the rice, giving it the form of a rock of snow. This will be found to be a verv ornamental as well as delicious disli for a tapper table. Raising Watermelons. a good piece of ground—sod is the best. Plow it well and then harrow and roll it. Now mark it off twelve or thirteen feet each way- This allows the vines to run only six or six and a half feet each way, which is not too much. The seed should be soaked about twentyfour hours; then planted, putting half a dozen seeds in a hill. They should be thinned afterward to three in a bill. Plow and hoe them well, but do not leave the dirt loose. It should be pressed tight around hill and vine with your feet. When you think the vines have run far enough pinch off the ends. This will cause them to stop running and to bear more.

Painted Floors.—A correspondent of the Country Gentleman writes: I should like to tell how we got our painted floor hard and dry, so that it will stand the wear of a large family. Our floor is made of narrow vellow-pine planks, clear of knots; a splendid floor for a kitchen, and we have always kept it painted. This winter we treated it as follows: As fast as the floor was painted we laid strips one inch square on the painted surface, and on these strips boards were laid snug, using as long boards as the spaces would allow; where the doors interfered very thin pieces of board were laid to step on. At intervals of two weeks a second and third coat was applied. When this was sufficiently dry we covered the floor with heavy sheets of straw-board paper; over this paper a carpet was spread. Now, after two months’ protection we And the painted floor very hard, and ready to stand a long time before it will need repainting. Oil-cloth and Carpets.—A lady says in the Rural New Yorker: I have tried painting old pieces of rag-carpet, and must say they are not worth the oil and paint put on them.' They absorb a great deal of oil and are ’hard to clean. They are not as good as the carpet without the paint, and will not last as long. Without the paint they may be easily cleaned so as to look nioe, by pounding them through good suds and rinse water. If desired to be stiff, they may be starched with flour starch and ironed. Good, thick ootton drilling or thick, firm cloth may be made into oilcloth by stretching on a frame and painting. The cloth should be new and strong, or it will not be worth the trouble. I have tried knitted carpets, as highly recommended a few years since, and must say they are not the carpets needed, and will wear but a very short time. When one wants ragcarpets, it is best to purchase warp and take the rags to a weaver who knows how to weave good rags and warp into substantial carpets; and one will be paid for the labor and expense put on them. Very coarse-threaded rags or tender ones may be cut in strips'from one to two inches wide, braided and sewed together for mats or rugs to place where needed.