The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1879-06-04
FARM, GARDEN AND HOUSEHOLD.
Household Hints.

FARM, GARDEN AND HOUSEHOLD.
Household Hints.
Always water plants with a sponge.
Get the large, coarse kind and you will
save yourself much annoyance and spat-
tered walls.
When the hams are taken down they
should be dampened all over with thick
starch; then receive complete coat OF
black pepper; rub it on till they are
black with it and every crevice filled up.
Then hung up in a dark smoke-house
nothing will ever modest them.
The Partisan method of cleaning black
silk is to brush and wipe it thoroughly,
Law it on a fiat table, with the side up
which is intended to show, and sponge
with hot coffee strained through muslin.
Allow it to become partially dry, then
iron.
The prudent housewife who, on ac-
count of /" hard times" has decided not
to repaper the sitting-room, as desira-
BILE, will find the old paper very much
improved in appearance by simply rub
bing it well with flannel cloth dipped
in oatmeal.
Never carpet the kitchen floor. 1t
catches all the dirt, grease and odors of
cooking. Stain or paint the floor, then
spread down pieces of carpet in front OF
the lounge, table and wherever peces-
sary. These should be bound like a rug.
They can easily be taken up, shaken and
aired.
Fruit spots are removed from white
and fast-colored cottons by the use of
chloride of soda. Commence by cold
soaping the article, then touch the spot
with a hair-pencil or feather dipped in
the chloride, dipping it Immediately into
cold water to prevent the texture of the
article being injured.
To remove grease from silk, take a
lump of magnesia, and rub it wet over
the spot; let it dry, then brush the
powder off, and the spot will disappear;
or, take a visiting card, separate it,
and rub the spot with the soft internal
part, and it will disappear without TAX
ing the gloss off the silk.
A Notwithstanding tincture is made
as follows: One ounce of gum cam
phor and one ounce powdered shell of
red pepper are macerated in eight ounces
of strong alcohol for seven days and then
strained. With this tincture the furs or
cloths are sprinkled over and rolled up
in sheets. This remedy is used in
Russia under the name of "Chinese
tincture for moths" and is found very
effective.
Planting Grnpevines.
One would suppose that so simple a
thing as planting a grapevine would not
need writing about; and yet the number
of people inquiring "How shall we
plant?" is so great that a few words to
these inquiries may well be pardOned by
those who think they already know
enough about the matter. The rule is to
plant the roots shallow. If they are
long when we have transplanted them,
instead of setting them deep we lay them
along about four or five inches beneath
the surface. It is of course very neces-
sary to press the soil very hard and firm
over the roots; that is: if the earth is
tolerably dry, though in truth no vine
should be planted except the earth is in
this good condition.
1t is very useful in planting grape
vine to cut it closely in. Unless the last
years growth be very vigorous it may
be almost all cut away. This is the way
to get a good strong cane for bearing
next year, which is the most that one
ought to expect vine to do. "1mme-
diate bearing" is a delusion and a snare.
Many person spends dollar anda half
extra on vine which he is told by the
seller will "bear this year." when for
that amount of money he could buy
treble the quantity Of grapes it will bear
for him, even if it bears at all. Still we
like to plant good strong healthy grapes.
The little crow-quills which come out as
rare grapes at high prices, seldom give
much satisfaction. Indeed, 1t Is more
likely that the immense failures which
generally follow all these introductions
are as much owing to the way their propa-
CATION is forced. rs to any inherent ina
bility in the varieties to become adapted
to soils and climates s.-Gern,a7atooOn Iele-
qraph.
How to Make Dyes.
A German writer tells US that num-
ber of excellent dyes can be obtained
from the berries of common plants, by
boiling them in water so rs to produce
u strong decoction. The whortleberry
and the blueberry, when boiled down.
with an addition of a little alum and
copperas, will make fine shade of dark
blue. The same treatment, with So
luton ofnut gals added to it, will make
u handsome brown; while, by adding
alum, verdigris and sal ammoniac to the
berries, several shades of bright purple
and red can be obtained. The juice of
elderberries boiled in water with little
alum will also produce a shade of blue.
The berries of the privet, when over-ripe,
will yield, by mixture of little salt,
a scarlet red and the seeds of the burn
ing bush, when treated with sal am
moniac, make beautiful reddish-pur-
pie. The juice of the currant, with a
little alum, will dye a bright shade of
red; and the bark of the bush, treated in
the same way, makes good brown.
Yellow can be obtained from the bark of
the elm, the poplar, the ash and the apple
tree, boiled down strong and mixed with
alum water. The tassels of broom corn,
treated in the same way, produce good
shade of green.
Raising Geese.
Why is the interest IN raising geese so
small? How can sspoultry yard be COM
plete without them? / raised three
broods of fgoslings from one goose last
year. The same goose has laid thirty
two eggs this year. Her time for hatch
ing tile second setting is up now. The
first setting was destroyed by new
man on my farm. who shook the eggs,
thinking they were added, not knowing
that they need four days longer than
usual in December and January. Cos
lings raised last July are Matching now.
Every batch of four geese should have
one gander with them. I find that when
there is only one gander to six geese
there are too many infertile eggs. I've
had only two eggs Of that sort that failed
to be detected by testing, since l began
keeping geese: My geese are Of a pure
breed-grayish brown, knuckle:bi
Chinese birds, with large bodies. l con-
slider them a profitable addition to the
poultry-yard. Unlike the Toulouse and
white geese, they are not roamers.-R~-
raj NeW Yorker.