San Marcos free press. [volume] (San Marcos, Tex.) 1877-1892, 1878-12-21
Home and Farm Brerities.

Home and Farm BreUities.
To clear cistern water, add two ounces
of powdered alum and two ounces OF
borax to a twenty-barrel cistern OF rain
water that is blackened or oily, and in
a few hours the sediment will settle,
and the water be clarified and fit for
washing.
Borax is used in washing, but it is
also used in starcl It stiffens the starch,
prevents the iron sticking, and produces
finer finish. It should be used by dis
solving half teaspoonful in little boil
ing water, and mixing it with about
three pints of starch.
If any farmer will stop and estimate
the actual cost in time, in letting down
and putting up single pair of bars be-
tween his lane and the barnyard during
a period of twelve months, he will, if
his time is worth anything to himself,
go straightway and build substantial
gate for such spot.
When the editor of the Atlanta Con-
stitution says that old papers are bet
ter than straw to put under carpets, he
writes himself down as one without phil
osophy. The dust which works through
the carpet will be held by the papers,
and continually grind away at the lower
side of the carpet, while the straw lets
the dust through and prevents any
wear.
COLD LAw:-Beat two eggs ten min
utes, and add two gills of vinegar and a
little mustard; stir until it boils, when
it will be thick like custard; cut the cab
huge fine, just before dinner, and throw
IL little salt over it; add to the cold sauce
gill of milk; mix it, pour it over the
cabbage, which should be in the dish in
Which it is to be served. The cabbage
should not lay long after it is cut, as it
willis.
PoTTED PIGEONS After cleaning
and washing the pigeons, put very lit
tie water in kettle and put in the pig
cons; let them simmer gently until ten
der; then remove the pigeons, keeping
them hot, and if there is not enough
gravy in the kettle, add little more
water; put in piece Of butter large as
an egg, salt, pepper and sweet marion
am; let all these boil together; thicken
with little busting of flour; then put
back pigeons, and let all boil for o few
minutes so as to season them; have some
pie-crust cut into diamonds, put them
around the edge of platter, and pour
birds and gravy in the center.
A lady sends a receipt for "hour pud
ding" which she says she considers
good. Set one and one-half pints of
milk to scald; stir five tablespoons of
flour in one pint of cold milk, and when
the first boils stir it in; and salt, sugar
and nutmeg to taste; when cool add sew
en- eggs and two teacups Of raisins, and
bake one hour. Use sauce of butter
and sugar stirred to O cream, favored
with nutmeg and currant wine. I also
made a steamed pudding, which is nice
and economical: Take pieces of dry
cake of any and all kinds; soak them in
sour milk until they are soft; mash rs
fine as possible, and if there is no fruit
in your cake, add few raisins and soda
enough to sweetcn the milk; turn into
a pudding dish and steam one hour;
make thin sauce of boiling water, sugar,
and wine, and thicken with little -four.
You can make this pudding out of dry
bread in the same way by adding one or
two eggs, spice, and fruit; canned fruit
is nice stirred into this pudding, and
the strip OF the fruit can be used instead
of the wine in the sauce.
Cotton Statement.