Martinsburg independent. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1875-1900, 1881-09-24
Farm and Household


pick up lat least the bulk, il not the
whole Of their living. That may he
true, but unfortunately they pick up
a large part of it at the expense of
your neighbor, unless a man owns
pretty much all the land next to
him. In this picking.up business
they run down and destroy a great
deal of grass and grain, and toward
fall any quantity of fruit, cab
bage and turnips. Turkeys have
merits, but they are as lawless rs
Indians, tramps or robbers in their
picking UP rropensities.
A simple insecticide can be made
rs follows: Place quantity of Wa
ter sufficient for use in Kettle to
boil; put in the amount of alum 1t
will dissolve; when boiling hot with
brush apply the solution to all
cracks, closets, bedsteads and other
places where insects are found.
Ants, bedbugs, cockroaches aud
creeping things are killed by it,
while there is no danger of poison
ing the family or injuring the prop
erty,
A correspondent in one of the
western newspapers writes: Il have
been in the habit of giving horses a
strong decoction of sage, well sweet
ened, which had the effect of expell-
ing the bots. 1t was supposed when
| was a boy, that sage tea, acted as
cathartic, and the bots were fond
of sweet, and would let 90 to take a
sip OF tea. and while slipping would
be carried along the intestinal can
ais and the horse would be relieved.
TOMATO CATsUP.-One half peck
ripe tomatoes, six large onions, four
red peppers; add two cups sugar,
four cups vinegar, a tablespoonful
each of salt and ground mustard,
two tahlespoonsfull cinnamon, all
spice, ginger, nutmegs and cloves;
boil three hours; strain the bottles
for use, leave out sugar If you pre-
fere; this will keep for years.
The following is a good recipe for
an easy washing liquid: Four ounces
of soap, one teaspoonful of turpen-
tine, and two of ammonia, mixed i'm
ten gallons of water, is not In any
way injurious to the person using it.
The effect is to more easily dissolve
the dirt in the clothes and to render
the washing much easier There is
nothing in it to injure the clothes.
Remember that tablespoonful of
black pepper will prevent gray or
buff linen from spotting, il stirred
into the first water in which they
are washed. 1t will also prevent
the colors running, when washing
black or colored cambricks or mus
Inns, and the water is not injured 10y
it, but just as soft as before the pep
per was put in.
For hoarseness take the whites of
two eggs, beat them with two tea
spoonsful of white sugar, CRATE in
little nutmeg, then add pint of
lukewarm water; stir well, drink Of
ten, and it will cure the most obsti-
nate case of hoarseness in a short
time.
Remember that lemons can be
kept sweet and fresh for months by
putting them into a clean cask or
jar, and cover with cold water. The
water must be changed as often
as once every other day, and the
cask kept in cool place..
To take grease from floors, rub
soft soap on the spots, then press
with a hot iron.A
To take grease from silk, moisten
the spot with chloroform, then rub
with a cloth until perfectly dry. 1t
will not injure the most delicate
color.
If rats or mice infest any part of
your house find their holes and stuff
them with rags dipped in a strong
solution OF cayenne pepper. No ro-
dent will take second nibble at
that rag.
The yellow stain made by the oil
used on sewing machines can be re-
moved if, before washing in soap
suds, the spot be rubbed carefully
with a bit of cloth wet with ammo
mia.
When washing fine laces do not
use starch at all; the last water In
which they are rinsed put in a little
fine white sugar, dissolve it thor
oughly and the result will be pleas
ing.
Mix little carbonate of soda with
the water in which flowers are i'm
mersed, and it will preserve them for
fort night. Common salt is a good
preventative.
Red ants may be banished from a
pantry or a store room by strewing
the shelves with small quantity
of cloves, either whole or ground,
the former not being so likely to get
into food placed upon the shelves.