Rensselaer Union, Volume 6, Number 21, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 12 February 1874 — USEFUL AND SUGGESTIVE. [ARTICLE]

USEFUL AND SUGGESTIVE.

Bago Gruel.—Take three tablespoonfuls of sage and wash in cold water; thenadd one quart of boiling hot milk and’ boil for twenty minutes; sweeten and flavor -with lemon peel, or a tablespoonful ofbrafldy. » • Tapioca Jelly.—W’ash a teacupful of tapioca—soak it for three hours in cold water—turn oft the water and pour over it one quart of boiling water. Add the grated peel of onelemon; sweeten to taste, and boil for one hour. Linen that is placed immediately after being ironed near the stove or in the hot sun is stiffer when dry than if it is permitted to dry slowly. It is a good plan to lay collars and small articles on a waiter, and then set them on a kettle or other support on the stove till they are quite dry. An excellent cement; we read, may be made from rice flour. It is only necessary to mix the rice flour intimately with cold water and gently simmer it over a fire, when it readily forms a delicate and durable cement. When made of the consistence of plaster, models, busts, relievos, etc., may be formed from if. Thick, greasy hair should be well and repeatedly washed, and dried by friction with warm towels and by fanning. Do not scrape the scalp with a fine comb, but gently remove the loose dandruff with a soft brush. Avoid puncturing the scalp with hair pins, and do not confine the heat of the head by wearing dead hair, jute, or any other abominable contrivance. As soon as any soreness is felt in the ear, .let three or four drops of the tincture of arnica be poured in, and the orifice be filled with a little cotton to exclude the air, and in a short time the uneasiness is forgotten. If the arnica is not resorted to until there is actual pain, then the cure may not be as speedy, but just as certain, although it may be necessary to repeat the operation. It is a sure preventive against gathering in the ear, which is the usual cause of earache.— Exchange. Treatment of Gold Fish.—ln cases where gold fish are kept in vessels in rooms, etc., they should be kept in spring water. This will require to be changed according to the size of the vessel or the number of fish kept therein, but it.is not well to change the water too often. A vessel that will hold a common sized pail of water, two fish may be kept in by changing the water once arfbrtnight, and so on in proportion. If any food is supplied them, it should be a few crumbs of bread dropped in the water once or twice a week. Borax— fok in theHedical Record cites a number of cases in which borax has proved a most effective remedy in certain forms of colds. He states that in sudden hoarseness or loss of voice in speakers and singers, from colds, relief for an hour or so, as by magic, may be often obtained by slowly dissolving and partially swallowing a lump of borax the size of a garden pea, or about three or four grains, held in the mouth ten minutes before speaking or singing. This produces a profuse secretion of the saliva, or “watering” of the mouth and. throat—probably restoring the voice or tone to the dried vocal cords, just as “wetting” brings back the missing notes to a flute when it is too dry. Skillful French cooks have discovered, it is said, 365 methods of cooking eggs. Surely American ingenuity should be able to devise something near, an equal number of different w-ays of cooking apples—a kind of fruit which is healthful, appetizing and nourishing. There are scores of recipes for making apples into puddings, pies, tarts, cake and preserves; for mingling them with flour, etc-, and forming thus very agreeable compounds; but perhaps there is no more palatable way of serving apples on the table than by baking them, and adding sugar and cream when they are eaten. Each family can easily choose its favorite method of cooking apples; but in some form they will be round a most desirable substitute for preserves, sw-eetmeats and other condiments. The first office of food is to supply the wear and tear of life, and to build up the body of animals when they are growing. Growing animals naturally appropriate a larger portion of the-nutriment given to them than other animals whose growth has ceased. A full grown animal requires about the same amount of daily food to maintain it in store order as would,have served to keep it growing up to about the period-of full growth, which suggests the inexpediency of delay when that stage has been reached. While the work of building up the body is going on the material employed is rigidly economized and devoted to the object of enlargement,Tfhd when 411 the parts Of the body have gained growth one source of profit to the feeder is at once closed. It is always desirable that young animals which are expected to get through the business of their lives in less than two years, and to keep in good health so as to make the best use of their time, should be kept in spacious apartments.—W. Y. Herald.