The Placer herald., 1874-09-12
HOUSE AND FARM.

How TO MAKE Coon BED.-Perhaps
housekeepers would like to know how they
can make an Inexpensive, and at the same
time good and durable bed, or mattress and
bolster. And then, perhaps, those same
housekeepers, after reading this article, will
throw il aside with the remark, "merey
whim." That is what my friends said
when | told them what was doing. Zone
of your whims,' but it did not discourage
me; persevered, and the result shows that
the swhim" was not a bad one. | have
bed that will with good usage) last life
time. 1t is merely tick, the same as for
straw, or husks, with openings in the upper
side to insert the hand for stirring, and filled
with cut paper. Now, reader, do not throw
asids the paper with disgust, but, if for
nothing but curiosity, finish the article; it
will do no harm; possibly you may be in
duced to make one. The work Of cutting
the paper is not such big job as you would
think. Take any kind of clean paper Tex
cept straw wrappings) and fold it or roll, 80
that it can be cut with one clip of the shears,
and then cut it; you need not be particular
as to the width, although the narrower it is
cut the better it is. These clippings are like
little curls or rings of paper, and lie almost
as light as feathers; after using the bed they
will not break up and grow fine and dusty;
but are clean, and can be stirred as light as
when first used. ! have heard people who
have slept on them say "they are the best
beds they ever slept on" prefer them to
feathers or common mattresses; hair mat
tresses are nicer Of course; but few OF us
farmers wives can afford to buy them !;
whereas the Iaper bed we can have without
cost except the work, and in that the small
est child who can use a pair OF shears will
help you, and if not kept busy too long at
time, will think it but play. The same ma
terial makes nice pillows for lounges, chair
cushions, cradle ticks, etc. have box to
keep waste paper in, which is out of the
way, and at the same time handler than
the rag box; and when it is full | cut them
into another box, and put them into the tick.
Iuse the same ticks that | have used for
straw; wash them and sew up the openings,
go they are just large enough for the hand
to pass through readily; three openings are
sufficient. t.-Agriculturis.
The VALUE OF AsHEs-It is a common
practice, even with good farmers, to let the
wood ashes made during the Winter season
either go to waste or sell them for q mere
tri0c to the soap maker, who sends around
his team to collect them. Their value as a
manure, to apply to grass or fruit trees, is
scarcely known. Usually they are sold from
five to ten cents per bushel, when their real
value for manurial purposes, if kept stored
away in dry place till they can be applied
to the land, it is not less than forty cents
per bushel. TO the fruit-g grower they are
worth even more If the ashes have been
used for soapmaking, and the potash thus
contained in them thus extracted, they are
then of little manural value, though still
worth the trouble of spreading on the soil,
for the sake of the mechanical effects pro-
duced, which is to make hard clay more
compact. Mixed with plaster Of Paris, at
the rate of bushe of ashes to fifty pounds
of plaster, the manurial value of the COM
bined materials, to pastures or meadows in
tended for hay, is fully double that of the
plaster alone. In fact we consider the ad
dition of unleached ashes--especally if made
of hard wood-o the plaster, greatly in
creases its manurial action by assisting de-
composition, and as it were, makes three
values out of two. In the compost heap
for garden use, or the manuring of fruit
trees, unleached ashes play an important
part, both in assisting to decompose the
vegetable matter that goes to make up a
large portion of such compost, and in giving
what all plants need, and without which
cannot thrive, viz, potash. For fruit trees,
especially when they are set in grass and it
is not thought desirable to break up the soil
about the roots, there is nothing to equal a
good coat of ashes spread half an inch over
the surface of the ground about them; but
not piled up about the trunk as we have
seen. This is concentrating too much just
where it is not needed, or can be of little
material value. Old orchards are particu-
larly benefited by liberal surface dressing
of unleached ashes, whicl, in addition to
aiding as manure to the trees, also destroys
great many of those insect enemies that
harbor in the soil. -Agricuiurist.
HoME.-1 never saw garment too fine
for man or maid; there never was u chair
too good for cobbler, or cooper, or king to
cit in; never a house too fine to shelter hu-
msn head. These elements about us, the
gorgeous sky, the imperial sun, are not too
good for the human race. Elegance fits man.
But do we not value these tools of house
keeping a little more than they are worth.
and sometimes mortgage home for the
mahogany we would bring into it. had
rather eat my dinner off the head of barrel
or dress after the fashion of John the Bap-
tist in the wilderness, or sit on a block all
my life, than consume all myself before l
got to home, and take so much pains with
the outside that the inside was as hollow as
an empty nut. Beauty is great thing,
but beauty of garments, house and furniture