The Portland daily press., 1899-04-01
THE HON E,
SUCCESS WITH CANNAS.


Canna-seed may be sown now and the
seedlings potted and kept growing until
the season Cor planting them out. Before
sowing, soak the seed in quite warm
water for twelve to twenty -four hours
or file away portion of the hard ssell
of the seed in several places to assist ger
animation. This shell must not DO filed
entirely through nor punctured, but
simply made thin. Two or three weeks
after sowing, II any of the seeds have
failed to terminate, dig them up and file
the shell little more, after which they
may start. Sow the seed in shallow boxes
containing two and one-hai or three
inches of sand, and cover them about an
inch deep. During the process Of germi-
nation the box should be kept in tenn
perature of about seventy, and senough
water applied to keep the sand quite
moist ut all times.
When the seedlings have become about
four inches high they may be removed
from the seed boxes and potted, using
u rich, porous soil. During the blooming
season mark such plants as produce flow
ers of q desirable color or size, and in
crease them the following season by divis-
Ion Oh Ln6 TOOl5, lubt pldutluk OuLt
which is a more satisfactory method of
propagation than by seed, in that one
knows what to expect, while from seed
the results are quite uncertain. Woman 8
Home COMPANION.
NATURES PROVISIONS.
The bread fruit tree of Ceylon is very
remarkable. Its fruit IL baked and eaten
as we eat bread, and is equally good and
nutritious. In Barbatu, South America,
is tree which by piercing the trunk pro-
duces milk with which the Inhabitants
feed their children. In the intsrior OF
Africa Is a tree which produces excellent
butter. 1t resembles the American oak,
and its fruit, from which the butter is
prepared, is not unlike the olive. Park,
the great traveller, declared that the but
ter surpassed any made in England from
cows milk. At Sierra Leone Is the
cream.fruit tree, the fruit of which is
quite agreeable in taste. At Table Bay,
near the Cape of Good Hope, is small
tree the berries of which make excellent
candles. 1t is also found in the Azores.
The vegetable tallow tree also grows in
Sumatra in Algeria and in China. In
the island of Chusan large quantities OF
oil;and tallow are extracted from its fruit
which is gathered In November or Decem-
ber, when the tree has lost all its leaves.
The bark of a tree in China produces a
beautiful soap. Trees of the sapindus or
SOAP berry order also grow in the North
Africa. They are amazingly. :prolific,
and their fruit contains about thirty
eight per cent of saponin.-April Ladies
Home Journal.
VALUE OF BUTTERMlLK.
The housewives who always use sweet
milk and baking powder in articles where
such ingredients or their equivalents are
called for little guess the superior results
which may be obtained from the use OF
sour milk or buttermilk and soda. II
sour milk is used 1t must be freshly
soured, not stale; hence, the best time to
use it is in the summer time. Butter
milk is preferable ell the year round.
Biscuits, gridled-cakes, waffles, corn
breads, mullins, gems, gingerbread, cook
les, etc. ara all of themlmore tender, deli
cate and probably more wholesome (since
the majority of baking powders are adul-
terated If they are made of buttermilk
and soda. A general rule is one level tea
spoonful Of soda TO one pint Of buttermilk
or freshly soured milk. The coda must
be inst pulverizeG by rubbing with a
knife on the table or bread board, then
added to the -four, to be SLICED with 1t. 1t
is even well to sift the -four. soda and
salt together two or three tjipss ~ insure