Rensselaer Union, Volume 5, Number 30, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 17 April 1873 — FARM AND HOUSEHOLD. [ARTICLE]

FARM AND HOUSEHOLD.

—C’rulhfs. —One cup of sugar, one of sour or buttermilk, one egg, one-large tablespoonful of butter, one large teaspoon, fill ol sodn; nutmeg.' Be sure and havf the lard hot be/ore trying 1o fry them. —French Grout.—Cut’tlie cabbage fine; add for seasoning one tablespoonful of ground mustard, the same of ground pepper, salt, two eggs beaten, one teacup sweet cream, one of white sugar, and one of vinegar; warmed before stirring if. —Apple Cake.—Two cups of apple preserved in two cups of molasses, one cup of cream, one cup of sugar, one-half cup of butter, one teaspoonful of saleratus, four cups of flour, and spice to suit the taste. —The depth to 'which potatoes should lie planted depends upon the kind of soil and tlie condition of tlie lartd. If the ground is light and porous, plant deep. If it is dry, plant deep; but if the soil is compact mid bard, put the seed down about three inches and heap the earth on top about two or three inches. When the ground is dry and the soil light, such as sand or gravel, place the seed down beneath the surface at least six inches, and step .sai top of the hill or press it down with a hoe. When the ground is wet, do not press it, but leave as light as possible. —To Make Soft Soap.—For one barrel of soap, take thirty pounds of grease, free from salt, rinds or bits of lean’ meat, and lye from two barrels of good ashes. Put one quart of fime in tlie bottom of each barrel of ashes. Put boiling w ater on to leach with; have ready the soap barrel where it is to stand. When the lye begins to run, melt the grease in a Buie. Iyer-and pour it in the barrel. Heat tjic lye and (ill it full, stirring frequently until cold. I always Use the stove kettle, as that is free from rust, which makes while clothes yellow. Soap made in this way will be "\Vrj liglil colored’ and thick, and requires’ but little labor in making. If the lye is not strong enough to eat the grease, boil it a while. —Wherever we go we sec (lie cucumber in tlie open air suffered to run on the ground. This is no doubt a relic of European culture. There it is necessary. Tlie climate is not Hot enough, and tlie plants have to be started, if not grown altogether, in low, flat glass frames. But where the cucumber grows wild, it spreads over bushes and trees, and tlie growth and product are enormous. Ail plants with tendril*; prefer to ramble in this way'. The. grape vine,' it is well known, seotibS fairly -to. rgitacgavlicn ituan find a large mass of -twiggy hru-K-to vambie- wm- ns it wills., and so does the cucumber. No one who lias not tried can have arty idea of tlie luxurious growth of a cucumber when trained to a stake which has a set of stubby side branches left along its length. A great advance in the style of culture is that tlie plants occupy far less ground than when perntnM to spread-over the surface in tlie usual way. —This is it great gain to small gardens—and to large ones, for that matter, foi'-if w e have. land ehough ahd to sparejfew of us have time to waste in preparing more of it than is necessary to the perfection of a crop.— Gardener's 'Monthly.