Rensselaer Union, Volume 8, Number 49, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 24 August 1876 — HOME, FARM AND GARDEN. [ARTICLE]

HOME, FARM AND GARDEN.

—A California man grafted a slip of a da* red bobc bush on an oak, and the result is a black rose. Brown rcses were got from a graft on a locust. —The question whether fanning pays is a question as to whether labors pay which are intrinsically healthful to the individual and useful to society,.and whose sure reward is independence and competence. To this there can be but one answer. —The lemon plant, or sweet-scented verbena, is highly regarded as an herb in Spain. Every leaf is treasured and dried for winter use, and it is regarded as one of the best cordials in the world. It is taken in two ways, either as a decoction drank cold with sugar, or with a cup of tea. A sprig of lemon verbena put into a tca-cup and the tea poured over it makes, it is said, a delicious beverage. • —Don’t allow your carriage to rattle like a threshing machine. Washers of sole leather on tne spindles or axletrees will stop the clatter caused by too much play; a piece of rubber put in between the trill iron and clip will silence matters; apd a little ooal oil on the circle or fifth wheel will stop its squeaking. Where nuts work loose, cut a thread In front of them with a cold chisel after screwing them up tight. —New England black cake is thus made:. Take three pounds butter; three pounds sugar; three pounds flour; three pounds raisins; six pounds currants; one pound citron; twelve eggs; one gill of molasses; one c ince Cinnamon ; one ounce mace; one ounce nutmeg. A light-brown sugar is best. Beat well together the sugar and butter; add the yolks of the eggs; have the currants well washed and thoroughly dried; the raisins seeded and chopped; add in the flour and spices; stir in the whites of the eggs well beaten the last thing. It will make twenty pounds. I divide the mixture into three loaves. Paper and butter the pans; make the thickness you wish, for the cakes do not rise any; but bake smoothly over, as they take a long time to bake, fhenfrost, and put away for some great occasion.— Cor. Chicaqo Tribune.

—There is an objection to the commfn way of boiling eggs which people do not understand. It is this; the white under three minutes’ rapid cooking becomes tough and indigestible, while the yelk is left out. When properly cooked, eggs are done evenly tlirough like any other food. This resiilt may be obtained by putting the eggs into a dish with a cover, as a tin pail, and then pouring upon them boiling water, two quarts or more to a dozen eggs, and cover and set them away from the stove for fifteen minutes. The heat of the water cooks the eggs slowly and evenly and sufficiently, and to a jelly-like consistency, leaving the center or yelk harder than the white, and the egg tastes as much richer and nicer as a fresh egg is nicer than a stale egg, and no person will want to eat them boiled after frying this method once. —Boston Transcript. —To destroy roaches, take dry red lead, mix with thin molasses to a consistency of thin cream; then take pieces of glass and broken plates, etc., spread it on about as thick as thin window glass. Where roaches are veiy numerous, give them plenty of the mixture, as they eat veiy greedily of it. I think the general failure with roach poisons is this: The poison is so qtltck In sickening the roaches that they will not eat enough ,of it to kill them, fofcthey are slow eaters. The red lead being s\pw in its effect on them, they will get a gcKid quantity into them before it will sicken them. I have noticed when afiy’ef them would happen to be trampled upiori it would appear that they were entirely filled with the red lead. Place the lead where the roaches can get at it most conveniently. If the lead should become too dry and hard, mix a little more lead and molasses with the old to freshen it up again, and place it in other places.—Prairie Farmer.

—ln nutting up pickles, anure, strong and palatable vinegar forms the most essential part of the programme. There is nothing in the world so aggravating to a thrifty housewife as to find, on opening her pickle jar, that instead of the firm, crisp and refreshing pickle, so much desired and looked forward to, she has for all her trouble, time and money, simply a mass of soft, tasteless and insipid rubbish that has been rendered so by the use of vinegar lacking proper strength, or containing all sorts of mineral acids and deleterious substances. The following recipe will prove a success: Pour boiling salt water over the pickles, using a handful of salt to one gallon of water; let them stand ovCr night, theft drain them off thoroughly and cover them entirely with good vinegar (that known as white wine vinegar is generally considered the best for this purpose) ; let them stand a few days; thpn scald with the vinegar, pour it off and cover thefii again with fresh vinegar, cold; spice to taste; a small piece of alum may be added to improve the color; keep your pickle jar well covered and you will have fine and crisp pickles for years. — Exchange.