Rensselaer Union, Volume 1, Number 48, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 26 August 1869 — FARM AND HOUSEHOLD. [ARTICLE]

FARM AND HOUSEHOLD.

USEFUL RECIPES ETC. Ik you wish to become. bulil-lictuled, wear a hat or cap all the time. Sleep In a close iiiglit-Cap, and keep the hair well sopped with any fntty oil or tallow you can buy. To expedite matter*, bathe «;ith licpiors, bay rum, (fca; but beuuire of dean \cutcr and noap. Aix decently-inclined persons should use a tootlebrush daily. ■ Nothing can be more conducive to health. We have heard people brag thnt they “ never cleaned their teeth in their lives. Such an admission is just as creditable to themselves as an assertion that they never washed their toes, nor small-toothed their hair.—Eiclutnge. Blackher.ry Wine.—Pour boiling water over your berries; let them stand until cold; then mash the berries, strain through a cloth, and add two pounds of sugar to every gallon ; mix sugar and juice thoroughly and let it stand for eight days; tlien strain again; dissolve an ounce* of isinglass to six gallons wine, and mix in before setting away for use.— Exchnntje. Preserving Corn. —A lady sends tho following recipe to the Farmers' Club: "My method is to cut from the cob and put it down in large stone jars, two fourths corn and one of salt, by measure; mix well. We have no trouble at all in keeping it good all the yeilr round in that way." Another contributor says: “ There is as much diiferc'uce between corn scraped from the . cob and thatcut from the cob as there is between corn-starch and an ordinary hastypudding. I have tried several ways, and tfnd it really delicious only when it is scraped from tho cob immediately after it is husked. Then pttf it in dishes about the stove and ovens and dry as soon as possible."

To Manage a Hearing Horse.—Whenever you perceive a horse’s inclination to rear, separate your reins and, prepare for him. The instant lie is about to rise slacken one hand and bend or twist his head with the other, keeping your hands low. This bending compels him to move a bind leg, and of necessity brings his fore feet down. Instantly twist him completely round two or three times, which will confuse him very much, and completely throw him off his guard. The moment you have finished twisling>him around, place his head in the direction you wish to proceed, apply the spurs and lie will not fiul to go forward. Crushing aSd Drawing Strokes.— Every edge-tool will operate most effectively w hen it is wielded with a druwing stroke. A person may press bis bare hand on the keen edge of a razor without cutting the skin. But let the hand or tiie razor be drawn on a trifle, while pressure is being applied, aniltbe cutting edge will enter with far less pressure. As many cutting instruments must be worked with a crushing stroke, it is of great iiuporance that the cutting edge be brought to as perfect an edge as practicable, by means of a tine-gritted oil-stone. Axes, chisels, planes, and the knives of most straw-cut-ters, are all operated with a crushing stroke. Consequently, after such edgetools have been ground on a course grindstone, the edge should be rubbed up with an oil-stone until the cutting edge is as sharp as the edge of an- excellent knife.— Hearth and Home.

To Preserve Quinces,— The orange quince is the best to preserve. Peel and core the quinces, weigh a pound of crushed sugar to a pound of qujiicqs; put the peel and cores into'a kettle with just water enough to cover them. Let this simmer about two hours; then strain the liquor, put it back into the kettle, and put in as many quinces as tiie liquor will «over; boil them until they are totuler, take them out and put them on a Hat disk to cool;. put in more until they are boiled, then put the sugar in, and let it boil until it becomes a syrup; then put in as many quinces as tiie syrup will cover; let them boil about thirty minutes; put them on a flat dish to cool; and then more until they are all ooiled; then boil the syrup until all the water is boiled out of it. When the quinces arc cool, put them into the jars and strain the syrup while it is hot through a yery tine sieve on the quinces.— Mr*. Putnam'* Recipe Rook. Piaster. —Abraham Broad, of New Jersey, furnishes the Farmers’ Club with the following biy of experience: “One of my farmers planted corn in a field, forty rows "of which nearest the building I planted myself." The night before I planted I put the seed to soak in warm water and rolled it in plaster while planting. I remember of getting an ear last March, near Newark, of a friend. I planted the ear dry Without plaster, planting directly across the forty rows, arid where the ground was as good as any. This morning I called the attention of the farmer to it. There liad been lio plaster put upon any since planting, and we decided that tliero was almost half difference, that which was rolled almost twice as large, of a good healthy color, the other having a sickly yellow shade. The soil is a heavy clay loam.”

Changing the Color of Flowers.— Our young readers will find much interest and pleasure in the following experiment for the above purpose: Take a teaspoonful of flour «f sulphur, place it in an old saucer, and set fire to it with a common match; when it gets fairly burning, take some high-colored flower—double ones are the best, such as a double Dahlia or double Zinnia —and hold it above it, at such a distance as to prevent* its being burnt by the flame of the sulphur, and the tips of the petals will' be changed into another color; for instance, a double purple Dahlia will have the petals tipped with white, ora double red one will become tipped with yellow, and if the flower is exposed long enough, the whole flower will become changed in color. Care must be had not to inhale the fumes of the sulphur, nor should it be done in the house, for it may fade the color of the curtains, paper-hangings, or furniture, besides filling the house with unpleasant fumes. On the piazza or some sheltered place in the open air is the best place for doing it. —Hearth and Home.