Rensselaer Union, Volume 6, Number 34, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 14 May 1874 — FARM AND HOUSEHOLD. [ARTICLE]

FARM AND HOUSEHOLD.

—Frosting—A Good Recipe.—Five tablespoonfuls of white sugar for every egg, beat up together, then put it over a kettle of boiling water, stirring all the time until it gets thick enough. Let the cake cool before putting It on. —Cheap Fruit Cake.—One cup molasses, one and one-half cups sugar; three and one-half cups of flour, one of butter; two pounds English currants, one teaspoonful all kinds of spices, one teaspoonful of soda, two of cream Of tartar, one cup of sweet milk, yolks of three eggs (saving the whites for frosting). Bake slowly; when cool frost. i —To Boil Eggs.—When you select eggs for boiling, test their freshness by putting them in a pan of cold water. Those that sink are the best Always let the water boil before putting your eggs in. Three minutes will boil them solt; tour minutes the whites will be completely done, and in six minutes they will be sufficiently hard for garnishing salads and dishes requiring them. —Sour milk, buttermilk, and whey are excellent for poultry of all ages, and at all seasons, especially in winter. Milk is a very good substitute for the insect forage they are deprived of at that season, and we believe it is much more profitable to' give it to them than to swine. Unless it is allowed every day it is best not to give fowls all they will drink, for they will become purged by the excess, so that more harm than good will be done. A good way is to mix the corn-meal dough with milk. —lfyiral Messenger. —Hay Tea for Calves.—A farmer who had a calf of value and no milk to give it was advised to give it hay tea. He did so and the calf is reported as doing finely though it has neither received hay nor meal since he got it. He cuts the best and finest hay he has about two inches long and pours boiling water over it; lets it stand until cooled to about the heat of milk from the cow, when the teals given to the calf and the hay to the cow. Both calf and cow thrive on their feed. We have fed a great deal of hay tea to calves, with good results. —Rural New Yorker.

—Early Melons.—Gardeners general ly find it difficult to get as early melons as they would like, for the reason that they will not bear transplanting. I have tried a way by which they can be started early and transplanted when wanted. Save all the pasteboard paper boxes, and fill them with the best soil. Any kind of boxes will do; they can be made of wood with bottoms tacked on. After warming the soil, plant the seed, about five to the box. They can now be sunk in the hot-bed, or, if you do not have one, they can be kept in the house by the stove. When the young plants are large enough they can DC transplanted. After making the ground mellow, make a hole the size of the box; then slip out the bottom, and the earth with the plants will slip through without being disturbed. This plan will do for other plants besides melons, as cucumbers, etc., the tender egg plant, and some varieties of flowers. By starting plants early in this way several weeks can be gained.— Corr. of Prairie Farmer.