Butler citizen. [volume] (Butler, Pa.) 1877-1922, 1879-09-17
Farm. Garden and Household.
A COTTAGE wATER-FTLTER.

filter may easily make one. Stuff a
piece of sponge in the hole of flower
Dot. place above this layer of peb-
bles, then layer of coarse sand, and
above this layer of pounded charcoal
three or four inches in depth. Another
layer of pebbles should be placed above
the charcoal to prevent it from being
stirred up when the water is poured IN:
The contents of the flower pot should
be occasionally renewed. But by
small addition to this cottage filter
NAV be made which, for practical use,
is quite equal to the most expensive
filter of corresponding size. 1t consists
Of two flower pots, one above the other,
the lower one fitted with sponge and
filtering layers as above described, and
the upper one with a sponge only.
The upper pot should be the largest,
and if the lower one is strong the
upper one may stand on it, or piece
of wood With a hole to receive the
upper pot may rest on the brim OF the
lower one The two pots thus ar
ranged are placed upon three-legged
stool with hole in it, through which
the projecting part of the lower sponge
passes, and the water drops into jug
placed below. The upper part serves
rs reservoir, and the sponge stops
the coarser impurities, and thus the
filtering layers of the lower one may
be used for two or three years without
being renewed if the upper sponge be
occasionally cleaned. Care must be
taken to wedge in the upper sponge
tightly enough to prevent the water
passing through the upper pot more
rapidly than it can filter through the
lower one.-Leisure Hours.
MAKING PICKLES.
give the method commonly used
by farmers around Boston for picking
cucumbers, beans, onions, caulifiowers,
&c. Provide good tight casks or bar
rels. Empty beef or pork barrels are
excellent !; molasses hogsheads will
answer, though more apt to be leaky.
Take out one head from each cask, and
mount them on the other head upon
blocking high enough to admit of draw
ing off the brine from hole near the
bottom. A light cellar is the best
place to mount the casks. Provide
also for each cask loosely fitting head
about half an inch smaller than the
chine Of the cask. When the vegeta-
bles are brought in from the field they
are assorted, if it is desired to market
them separately, or are picked together
il to be marketed as 'mixed pickles."
They are then well washed in cold
water, and placed in the casks, and i'm
mediately covered with brine made
strong enough to float potato. The
loose head is placed over them and
loaded with stones, to keep the pickles
under the brine. After few days a
fermentation takes place; the scum
which rises to the surface should be
removed every day or two, and at the
same intervals the brine should be
drawn off at the bottom of each cask
and poured over the pickles again.
This process will equalize the strength
of the brine, and prevent its becoming
too fresh at the surface. When the
fermentation subsidies, the pickles will
need no farther care, except to keep |
them constantly covered with brine.
A few days before marketing, take
them from the brine with a dip net,
and place them in fresh cold water,
which should be changed three or four
times day, till the pickles are quite
fresh. They are then taken out of the
water and placed in strong "white
winen otherwise called "whisky')
vinegar, spiced to suit the taste with
pepper, allspice and cloves, and after
standing over night are ready for sale.
The old-fashioned style of scalding the
vinegar is unnecessary, and the prac-
tice Of "greening" the pickles in a
copper kettle is very deservedly grow
ing unpopular. The green color of all
pickles is due to the small amount of
copper absorbed from the copper kettle,
and has nothing whatever to do with
their freshness Pickles prepared as
above described are of dull yellowish-
brown color, and are sometimes made
little brighter yellow by the harmless
addition of turmcric.- W. ID. Phil
brick, in the Country Gentleman.
GREEN GRAPE JELLY.
Scald, mash and strain the juice
from your grapes, as you do currants.
Allow a pound of nice dry sugar to a
pint; boil and skim the juice, then add
the sugar and let it boil once. Remove
Immediately from the fire and put in
jelly glasses cover when cold with
poper moistened with white of egg.
WHEN TO SKIM MILK.
The NeW England Farmer replies
to the inquiries of a correspondent,
when is the proper time to skim milk,
and whether it is always desirable to
remove the cream while the milk is
sweet. Now, this is difficult question
to answer in few words, partly be-
cause there are so many other condi-
tions connected with butter making all
of which may have an important bear
ing on the question. Under certain
conditions we would prefer to have
cream sour when taken from the milk,
or certainly very soon afterward There
is probably no month in the year when
dairymen are so much annoyed by bad
behavior in cream as in November, and
at time, too, when the milk may be
kept an indefinite length of time with
out souring. We might answer that
when milk inclines to keep sweet for
long time, we would prefer to have the
conditions changed so that it should
sour, and when it sours too readily,
we should endeavor to keep it sweet
In July and August, milk set in open
pans without ice, and in warm room,
inclines to sour too soon, before the
cream has time to rise completely. At
this time we should change the condi-
tions so that it should keep sweet
longer. In cold weather the cream
rises so slowly that it often becomes
bitter in the pans. Here more heat is