St. Landry democrat. (Opelousas, La.) 1878-1894, 1880-04-10
FARM AND FIRESIDE.

rev or them over the asparagus bed, tt
force an early growth.
Try making compost heap thi.
year. Use the refuse vegetable matter
and whatever will decay Pile it in {
heap, soak it SO as to assist fermenta
ton, and the result will be valuable
lot of utilizing material.
To start cucumbers and melons
cut grass sods six inches deep and SIX
inches square, invert them, and plant
the seeds in them, and place in cold
frames. When ready to plant out, lift
the sods, and plant in the hills where
the melons are to grow. This is better
than potting.
-Cauliiower is the most delicate and
delicious of the cabbage family, and
grows and heads best in warm, damp
weather, with cold lights. To keep the
head from sprouting or spreading, draw
the larger leaves over it, and lay stone
on top to keep them in place.
-Orchardists endeavor to train their
fruit trees low, allowing their branches
to grow out about foot above the
ground, in a pyramidal shape. The
leaves shade the stock from the heated
rays of the midsummer sun. The bark
is not so apt to crack and get wormy.
1t is easy to pick the fruit. The tree is
well balanced, and is not easily toppled
over by strong winds.
1t is not impossible to get rid of
ticks on sheep. Take fine dust tobacco,
put in box such as ground spice is sold
in, making openings with an awl in the
cover to suit; part the wool just behind
the fore legs, around the body, and dust
ring around the sheep quite thick. DO
the same also in different places on the
body wherever the ticks are most likely
to congregate.
If oil Or grease has been spilled on
marble or stone, get fuller's earth or
pipe clay, well dried and finely pulver-
lied, make it into thin paste with
strong I've, put it quite thick over the
spot, and place warm-not too hot
tlat-iron on the paste until quite drv,
then wash it off, and If the stain has not
entirely disappeared, apply the paste
and warm iron onceor twice more. One
application, washed off with strong
soapsuds, quite hot, is usually sufficient,
unless the stain is of long standing and
has soaked in. In that case it may re-
quire to be applied two or three times
Summer Plum Pudding. -One pint
of bread-crumbs, one half pound of
currants, one-half pound of raisins,
twelve ounces of moist sugar, three
ounces of butter, two ounces of candied
lemon, orange, and citron; eight eggs,
and one teacupful. of apple sauce, or
half a teacupful Of milk. Rub the but
ter into the bread-crumbs add the fruit,
sugar, candied fruit, and spices; then
the eggs, well beaten, and mix the whole
together. After standing twelve hours,
add the apple sauce Or milk, and boil it
in buttered mold for four hours; let it
stand for some time in the water. Serve
with cream or sauce.
Ham Omelet: Beat up three or four
eggs with heaped tablespoonful of
ham or bacon, half lean and half fat,
cut up to the size of very small dice;
add pepper to taste, and salt if necessa-
~. Put piece of butter, the size of
an egg, into frying-pan; as soon as it
is melted pour in the omelet mixture,
and, holding the handle of the pan
with one hand, stir the omelet with the
other by means of a spoon. The mo-
ment it begins to set cease stirring, but
keep on shaking the pan for minute
or so; then with the spoon double up
the omelet and keep shaking the pan
until the under side of the omelet has be-
come of golden color. Turn it out on
a hot dish and serve.
A thoroughly good housekeeper
says that when washing black calico, or
all goods whose colors will not look
clear wnen dried, she first washes the
goods clean, rinses thoroughly, and then
puts them into a tub of clear, cold water
and lets the articles remain soaking in
this water several days, changing it
once or twice day. She says she has
kept these goods, if at all inclined to
fade or run, in this clean cold water ten
days or a fortnight, changing the water
daily, and in the end they came out fresh
and bright as if direct from the store.
There is no trouble in this except the
extra work Of changing the water. 9th
ers boil plain black calico or muslin in
vinegar before putting it in water at all,
and then it will never fade or turn
brown or rusty. This seems risky ex-
pertinent; but if at all skeptical about
the result, take small piece of the
goods and experiment on it before ven !
turing on the whole dress.
Fish Balls: One pound of cold +
boiled fish, one pound of raw potatoes, =
two ounces Of butter, two eggs, four !
heaped tablespoonful of bread crumbs, ,
one grain of cayenne, one teaspoonful 9
of salt, one-half teaspoonful of pepper. g
Separate the skin and bone from the .
flesh with two forks, and put the fish, q
cut in irregular pieces, into a large +
bowl. Boil the potatoes, putting little i
salt into the boiling water, place sieve
over the bowl containing the fish, put
the potatoes while hot into the sieve, 3
and rub them through over the fish with .
the back of a wooden spoon. The pep y
per, salt, and cayenne should now be n
added, drop in also the yelks of the =
eggs, and the butter, mix together +,
thoroughly, and form into round fiat !,
cakes. Beat the whites of the eggs r
sufficient to break the albumen, dip the
cake therein, place the bread-crumbs
upon a sheet of kitchen paper, and roll t,
the cakes separately in it. Then throw ii
them into hot clarified fat or lard, and d
cook for three minutes, when they may b
n two, cfn 70 II II l. !