The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1879-05-21
FARM, GARDEN AND HOUSEHOLD
Household Hints.

FARM, GARDEN AND HOUSEHOLD
Household Hints.
To remove machine oil, wash the spots
in cold water, using soap; must be done
before wet in anything else.
When color on q fabric has been de-
stroyed, sponge it with acid-ammonia.
ai.er which an application of chloroform
will restore the original color.
To make starch polish, take two
ounces Of spermaceti, two Of white wax,
and melt them together with gentle heat;
add one teaspoonful to one pint of starch.
To remove mildew from light kid
gloves without injuring them, first dry
the gloves thoroughly; stretch, rub the
spots well with moderately stiff brush,
then with small quantity of egg albu-
men or flour-paste.
whitewashed walls or dirty walls.
Wash them thoroughly and wipe them,
and then wash them in water in which
you have put ammonia, vinegar, strong
borax or soda. Let them be perfectly
clean.
To clean zinc, take oxalic acid, dis
solve in soft water; wet a cloth with it,
rub the zinc all over, and Immediately
follow with dry, soft cloth. Care must
be taken not to get the acid on the
clothes, as it will spot them.
Clothes can be bleached by putting
six cents worth of oxalic acid into a
gallon of boiling water and pouring over
them. Stir them up and let them re-
main in it till the water is cold, and then
lay them out on the grass to bleach.
They will soon be white as snow.
A simple way to remove iron-rust
from any white cotton or linen fabric is
to soak it for several days in sour milk.
This rarely fails, but if it should, phos-
phoric acid Ciquid) may be applied sue
cessfully and without injury: No pro-
cess is required but to touch the spots
with the acid and let it dry.
To clean engravings, put the engrav-
ings on smooth board, cover it thinlly
with common salt, finely powdered;
squeeze lemon-juice upon the salt so as
to dissolve q considerable portion of it;
elevate one end of the board so that it
may form an angle of about forty-five or
fifty degrees with the horizon. Pour on
the engraving boiling water from tea
kettle until the salt and lemon,juice are
all washed off; the engraving will then
be perfectly clean and free from stains.
1t must be dried gradually on the board
or on some smooth surface, Icing secured
by drawing or other pins. If dried by
tile fire or in the sun, it will be tinged
with a yellow color.
Tree.Planting.
As the time is at hand when thousands
of dollars are invested in fruit trees. and
rs claim to have some little experience
in planting trees, I will give my simple
mode:
First. dig the holes full large to re-
ceive the roots nicely spread out; from
twelve to fourteen inches deep; throw
the op soil and subsoil on different piles.
Then fill in enough of the top soil to re-
ceive the tree about the same depth it
stood in the nursery, no deeper. Be
careful to cut all the bruised roots back
to sound wood, and by all means cut the
tops back. as the sap is all in the tree to
make it grow, and by leaving all on, the
sap will soon be exhausted and large
per cent. will die. Put the tree in and
ill the balance of top soil in around the
roots, then fill in the subsoil, and give
them good mulch Of barnyard manure
before dry weather comes. By this rule
l have nearly all my trees to grow right,
along. Do not accept any trees of your
agent, like the Irishman's pig, which
was "little but DID," but have them
thrifty if they are small; also, be careful
not to get tie roots frosted before plant
ing, as they will not grow if the tree is
ever so thrifty. The bark on the roots is
black after being frosted.-D. E. s., IN
Practical Farmer.
salsify-Do You Grow It!
Satisfy is often called oyster-plant.
We wish it wasn't, for many VINO live
fur inland do not like oysters, and the
name prejudices these against one of the
greatest delicacies of the garden. 1t is
indeed choice vegetable, but one within
the reach of every one, as it requires no
more care in cultivation than parsnip.
It's requirements are precisely those of
the parsnip-a deep, rich soil and early
sowing of fresh seed, the seed being quite
uncertain if not of the growth of the pre-
vious season. Make the rows fifteen
inches apart, and SOW as soon as the soil
is dry enough to work; the seed, being
long and narrow. is not sown readily in
machine, and it is safer to sow by hand.
The root is rarely over an inch through.
TO get the largest possible, thin to three
or four inches and keep free of weeds.
Scorzonera, or "black salsify," is
related plant, grown in the same manner
and for the same uses. The root has Il
dark exterior. BY some the flavor of
this is preferred; try both. Both are
hardy, and, if desired, part of the crop
may be left in the ground until spring,
the winters supply being stored like
other roots. Uses: The roots are to he
scraped and thrown into water at once,
else they turn black. They are cut into
small pieces, stewed and served with
sauce of butter thickened with flour;
the are boiled whole until soft, then
dipped into butter and fried; or are
mashed after boiling and made into
cakes, which are dipped into butter and
fried. 1t is surprising that so excellent
Il vegetable should be so little known
.4nacrican Agriculturast.