Rensselaer Union, Volume 10, Number 21, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 7 February 1878 — HOME, FARM AND GARDEN. [ARTICLE]

HOME, FARM AND GARDEN.

—Nearly all farmers follow their vocation as labor and pot as a study. It is both.— Exchange. —The object of the farmer should be to raise, from a given extent of land, the largest quantity of the most valuable produce tit the least cost, in the shortest period of time, and with the least permanent injury to the soil. —The lowa Sfote Register says a farmer should throw so much intelligence into all his operations as to almost make the plowshare a living idea, his hoe-handle a calculator, and imbue his spade with the spirit of philosophical investigation ana research. —Yankee Cake. —One and one-half cupfuls sugar; one egg; bit of butter size of an egg; one cupful of sweet milk; one teaspoonful of soda and two of cream of tartar; one pint of Hour, flavor to taste. This cake I always bake in a four-quart pan. —There is use in beauty. It makes home attractive, its exterior more respectable, our lives happier, our dispositions sweeter, and our social and domestic intercourse more refined. By all means plant some little thing of grace to temper the rugged surroundings of the front yard.— lowa Stale Register. —Meat Pies.—A good very dry crust, one pound of flour, half pound of butter, naif pound of lard; after making the paste, proceed in the usual way. After rolling in the butter and lard once, let it stand a half hour; then roll as above, and let it stand ten minutes in a very cool place. Roll in the remainder twice without letting it stand. —Wheat Griddle-Cakes. —In using sour milk for griddle-cakes, care should be taken to have the milk just “ lopperod;” if it is too old, the cakes will be sticky in spite of all you can do; if not sour enough the taste of the soda will be perceptible before sufficient can be put in to make the batter light. This can be remedied.by using a small quantity of cream of tartar, or, instead, enough vinegar to counteract the effect of the alkali; it is better, however, to have the milk just nicely “ clabbered.” Into a quart of this stir the same quantity of sifted flour and a tablespoonful of corn-meal; add salt to taste, and mix all into a smooth batter. Put in a tablespoonful of melted butter, add two tablespoonfuls of soda dissolved in a little hot water. The mixture must be beaten until it is perfectly smooth and light, theri dropped in spoonfuls on a hot griddle, baked to a beautiful golden brown, and served immediately. Two eggs added to the above will make them still nicer; the whites should be beaten separately and stirred in the last thing. Buttermilk can be used in place of sour milk, in which case a little more shortening will be needed to make the cakes tender, and care must be taken not to put in too much soda. To use sweet milk, mix the batter in the same proportions, but instead of soda sift one teaspoonful of bakingpowder with, each cup of Hour used, and add two eggs for every quart of milk. — Prairie Farmer.