The Owosso times., 1881-08-05
THE HOUSEHOLD.

roses for winter blooming, apropos to
this $ the following:
European horticulturists have late
ly adopted a mode of making rose cut
tings root with more, certainty, by
bending the shoot and inserting both
ends into the grot-l; leaving a single
bud uncovered at the middle and on
the surface of the ground. The cut
tings are about ten inches long and are
bent over stick laid fiat on the ground,
holes being dug on each side of the
stick for the reception of the ends of
the shoot. The roots form only at the
lower end of the shoot but the other
end being buried prevents evaporation
and drying up
Tea roses are the best for blooming,
such as Bon Silene, Safrano, and Isa-
bella sprouts.
Those ladies who requested a receipt
for crystallizing grasses &C., will find
the following method successful.
Put 18 ounces of alum into quart
3f water Creeping the same proportion
for greater or less quantity. aud dis
solve it by simmering it gently in
close, Lined vessel over moderate fire,
stirring it frequently with a wooden
spoon. When the alum has dissolved
1t must be poured into deep glazed
jar; as it cOOls, the subject intended to
be crystallized should be suspended in
it by piece of thread or twine from q
stick laid across the mouth of the jar,
where they must be allowed to remain
"a hours. When taken out of the solu-
ton they are to he hung up in a shady,
cool place until perfectly dry. The
solution must be neither too hot nor
quite cold, or the crystals will not be
pretty. The nests of small birds con-
tanning eggs are handsome crystalliZed,
and then placed on branch on brack-
ct. Bunches of hops, small ears Of
corn, furze blossoms, linchens and moss
es, as well as dried grasses, crystalline
finely. Spiders, beetles and grasshop-
pers are good subjects for crystalliza-
tiOn. ..,.,,.,t,. .,...,-.....-
MAKING GOOD PIOKLEs.+-TOl secure
good pickles, the great. consideration
is in having good vinegar, which will
never "eat up,' as some call it, or soft
en- the pickles. "A correspondent de-
sires to know how to prevent the salt
from whitening the pickles. This Is
just the thing desired, and unless the
brine is kept strong, enough for the
purpose, they are apt to become soft
and worthless. The whitening is
caused by the salt extracting the water
out of them, which is to be replaced
by vinegar, when they will resume
their original size. 0 To add,vinegar to
them when they are full Of water pre-
vents the thorough absorption of the
vinegar, and the extraction of the wat
er by the vinegar renders it too, weak
to protect them from becoming soft.
and in due time rotten, unless the vim
egar is very strong, which is not the
case with nine-tenths of it found In
stores, much of which will not keep
itself, much less the pickles with all
their water in them. In the absence
of good vinegar, substitute salt as u
shrinker or witherer, and then, when
they are restored to their former shape
by the sucking in of the vinegar, they
are likely to keep an indefinite period.
All spices, owing to their aromatic oil,
act a good part, along with the vinegar,
in protecting them from mould, the
commencement of their destruction.
The spices that act well for such pur-
pose are cloves, allspice, ginger, garlic.
and cinnamon, all OF which are pleas
ant to most persons when used in prop
er proportions. W 40 i'.tA'NSt
A good plan is to throw away the
first brine when it becomes weak by
drawing the water from the pickle. and
add fresh brine. This will llmake I hem
rather too salt for use, but by using a
weak vinegar to draw the salt, and
then removing them to stronger vine
gar, the difficulty is removed, and you
will have a pickle that can be depend.
ed upon, and will be enjoyed BY all
who ale fond of good pickles. siFisI