Ladies' Department.

LADIES' DEPARTMENT.

HINTS TO HOUSEKEEPERS.

Old Lady's Diary, June 20th.-Having at length finished my preparations, given my last directions to my faithful Betsey, and a farewell look at closets and store-room, I determine to begin my journey tomorrow, and as my path will lie through by-roads and farming districts, I hope to gain many useful

hints for the future.

353

worm state all winter. The period of the pupa state varies from eleven to sixteen days. Cleanliness, therefore, both in doors and out is the only remedy for this domestic torment.

My hostess has received the information most kindly. The good man was called in, and has prothe farm work is over, the yard is to be well mised to lend his aid, and as soon as the hurry of scraped, and the litter to be burned, that the fleas, young and old, may be effectually destroyed; the dog-kennel is to be removed to a greater distance, and a fence made to keep the sheep at a respectful distance from the house. I was then taken into the household councils, and received, in return, put in practice on my return; the cream cheese was useful hints and valuable recipes which I mean to

21st. The day has been unusually fine, and the country beautiful beyond description. Wherever the eye rests it is charmed by the busy scene, the hay harvest is in full progress, and every field tells of hopes fulfilled. We have stopped for the night at a good-looking farm-house, claiming on a sign swinging near the door, to be "The Traveller's particularly good, and as it is the most economical Rest,"blessed promise, for a long day's ride, here. To a quart of sour milk curd, drained to the and easiest recipe I have ever met with, I copy it however agreeable, will bring fatigue, and the tra- consistence of soft butter, add a quart of thick rich

veller hails a clean room and comfortable bed as

domestic comfort and cleanliness.

God's own benison, which should be gratefully re-cream; beat them well together until they are ceived; everything in my own room appears com- fine salt; fold a napkin in four folds, and lay it thoroughly mixed, then add a table-spoonful of fortable, and invites repose; but from sundry indications around the house, such as patches of chick- then fold another napkin and lay it on the top-the in a large soup plate, into which pour the cream, en feathers that have been carelessly thrown out Set the plates in after the chickens had been picked, a pile of old mixture will make three or four. shavings where a dog and some sheep have been a cool place for twenty-four hours; change the reposing, and also two or three pigs running rather napkins and plates every morning for four or five too near the house for my liking, creating suspi-days, when the cheese will be fit for use. cions that those daring and troublesome domestic Returning from my visit to the spring-house, 1 familiars-yclept fleas, may, and will, intrude in was attracted by a nice intelligent looking girl the house, which otherwise appears a pattern of busily employed mending gum elastic shoes; she was filling up a leisure hour, and preparing for her too valuable to be lost. Cut some scraps of gum early walks to the spring-house; her directions are elastic very fine, and put them into a wide-mouthed Vial, on which pour enough oil of sassafras to cover the gum, then stop it tight and leave it until the um is dissolved, which it will be in two or three days if the mixture is stirred frequently. Wash the gum shoe quite clean, inside and out, and dry it thoroughly, then smear the edges of the slit and the inside of the shoe near it, with the dissolved larger than the slit, prepared in the same manner, gum; have a patch of thin gum elastic a little and place it over the hole on the inside of the shoe, and press it firmly down, placing a weight in the shoe for three or four hours, when the patch will adhere firmly to the shoe.

22d.-Morning has dawned at length; my suspicions were, alas, too true, and I have been in the power of the tormentors all night. Traveller's Rest! it can only be so to an armadillo or rhinoceros. What the house should be called I leave travellers to decide. I will amuse myself until breakfast time by writing the history of my tormentors, and give it as a hint to my kind entertainers, who, I have no doubt, err only through ignorance.

The flea (Pulex irritans), in its perfect state, is too well known to need much comment; their eager ness for blood and their powerful muscular activity, enable them to leap to an amazing distance, while their sharp lancet-like tongue renders them a dread

visit next year, provided they get rid of the fleas.
I then took my leave, promising to pay them a

and torment to all within their reach. The female flea deposits from ten to a dozen eggs, of a rounded form and white color; she places them in obscure places, such as cracks in the floor, shavings, sawdust, or hairs of rugs where dogs are accustomed to GOD REWARDS VIRTUE AND MAN KNOWLEDGE.lie. From these eggs are hatched long worm-like grubs, destitute of feet, with thirteen distinct segMiss M. E, H., of Poughkeepsie, in leaving the ments; the last furnished with two hooks. These Albany Female Institute, received a gold medal larvæ are very active, twisting about in all direc-upon which was inscribed the following beautiful tions, and feeding upon the fleshy particles of fea- and appropriate motto:— thers, congealed blood, scraps of raw meat left by the dogs near their kennels, and some say, the blood of animals, but this is doubtful, as they are not A READY MODE OF REMOVING SPERM, TALLOW, found on them. In about twelve days they are OR OIL FROM CLOTH.-Hold the cloth or garment as fully grown, and ready to enclose themselves in a near as possible to the fire without burning, and the small cocoon of silk, often covered with dust, and sperm or oil will immediately evaporate away. If attached to adjoining substances, and should the a fire is not at hand, light a small roll of paper and weather be hot, they pass through the change hold it for half a minute or so, close to, and directly without the silk cover. The eggs that are not over, the oil intended to be removed, and the subhatched until the end of summer, continue in the stance in like manner disappears.

Dieu récompense la vertu et les hommes savoir.

854

FOREIGN AGRICULTURAL NEWS.

FOREIGN AGRICULTURAL NEWS.

By the arrival of the steamer Caledonia, we are in receipt of our foreign journals up to October 4th. MARKETS. Ashes were brisk of sale at an advance of 1s. 6d. per cwt., and a prospect of still higher prices. Cotton a shade higher, with large sales. The stock on hand at Liverpool on the 1st of October, was 655,000 bales, against 957,000 same period last year. Beef, Pork, and Lard, no change. Cheese, a limited supply, and much wanted. Butter of a choice quality the Hemp scarce at an increased price. Flour an advance of 3s. per barrel. Indian Corn an advance. Naval Stores in good demand, with an upward tendency. Tar scarce. Rice, large sales. Tallow very

same.

To

scarce, and an improvement of 1s. 6d. per cwt.
bacco in fair request. Wool firm, at an advance.
Money remains unchanged. Rate of discount 3

per cent.

I

and Ireland, or Recipes for making Various Articles of Food, of Indian Corn Meal," containing all the recipes received before leaving home from our kind female friends in different parts of the Union-heaven bless them! I have had 2,000 of these Olive Leaves struck off, and intend, in the first place, to send a copy to every newspaper in the realm. Í shall have a thousand, all of which I shall put into the hands of those I meet on the road. I have resolved to make it a condition upon which only I consent to be any man's guest, that his wife shall serve up a johnny-cake for breakfast, or an Indian pudding for dinner. I was invited yesterday to a tea party which comes off tonight, where about 30 persons are to be present. I accepted the invitation with the johnny-cake clause, which was readily agreed to by all parties. So tonight the virtues of corn meal will be tested by some of the best livers in Birmingham.

Crops-The spread of the potato disease has been signally arrested, owing to the uncommonly fine autumnal weather. Many more will be saved than was anticipated. Turnips prove a great crop, and will almost entirely supply the place of potatoes for feeding cattle. The latter math of grass and clover is also very abundant. With the exception of last year, the old stock of wheat on hand is larger than it ever has been since the autumn of 1837. The present wheat crop of England is an average one. Taking all these things into consideration, the American mer chant should be very cautious about making speculations in grain. Imports of American Flour and Indian Corn into Eng-scending this, Birmingham, with all its towering facland. There were imported into Liverpool this year from America, 877,659 barrels of flour, and from Canada, 246,276, in all, 1,123,935 barrels. The increase of Indian corn is remarkable. In 1845 the import was 37,000 quarters-in 1846 192,000 quarters. The stock at present in Liverpool, is 340,000 barrels of flour, free and in bond, and about 200,000 quarters of wheat, free and in bond. The other grain may be estimated at 100,000 quarters. Thus we perceive what a trade the corn trade in Liverpool is likely to be.

Free Importation of Grain into Frankfort.-The senate of the free city, Frankfort, has just published a proclamation allowing the importation of corn duty free, into the territory of the republic..

Rise of Bread.-On Monday, the full-priced bakers in the metropolis advanced the price of the 4lb. loaf to 81d., an advance of one halfpenny.

Monday, July 20th.-Wrote like a steam engine till noou, to clear from my hands a peck of letters which had accumulated in the course of a day or two, under the auspices of penny postage. After dinner I mounted my staff, and knapsack, to open my pedestrian campaign with an afternoon's walk towards Worcester, which lies twenty-five miles south of Birmingham. Good Joseph Sturge accompanied me a short distance, then bidding me God speed in all the benevolence of his great heart, left me, like Bunyan's pilgrim, to go on my way rejoicing. In a few minutes I had reached the summit of an eminence, upon which Edgebaston Hall stands half hidden and half revealed in the solemn shade of its "ancestral oaks." Detory-chimneys, disappeared, and I found myself surrounded by the beauty and magnificence of the country scenery of England, in its summer portraiture, and summer music; for the very foliage of the trees, that in some cases over-arched the road, seemed to be vocal with the music of singing birds, of the merriest mood. The little things--they must have been small, else I should have seen some of them-owed nature and art all the melody of their throats for such a beautiful world to sing in. In these lovely groves and hedges, and along the green borders of the meadowbrooks, they were out of the reach of the "villainous saltpetre," and of truant schoolboys, affected with the mania of speculation in speckled eggs. So the wee, twittering songsters may sing right on, without a semiquaver of apprehension from these sources of trouble and interruption. Haying time is about half over, and the wheat harvest has just commenced, and the reapers are on the road, sickle in hand, to gather in the crops. What with stopping occasionally to talk with the hay-rickers, or walking a little way up

Produce of a Bushel of Wheat and other Grain in Scotland. The following shows the average produce of a bushel of wheat weighing 60 pounds, manufactured at the water of Leith Mills:-25 lbs. of fine flour; 221 do. of seconds; 1 do. of pollard; 10 do. of bran--the narrow lanes walled with "living green," to see loss 1 lbs.

A Table of the quantity of Flour and Bread from Grain.
Weight
per
Bushel
in lbs.

Weight Weight
of Flour of Bread
in lbs. in lbs.

an unique cottage through the meshes of its ivy veil;
or with looking through a hole in the hedge, at a herd
of sleek, mottled cows feeding or ruminating grace-
fully in a new-shorn meadow, I was four hours in
I reached the "Rose and
making eight miles.
Crown" about eight o'clock, where I found everything
in keeping with the rigid simplicity of an English
country inn. The hostess-for whether married or
not, she is the most visible and vigorous person about
such an establishment-a neat, ruddy Englishwoman,
in a few minutes served up tea with accompaniments
of romantic frugality. One of these articles is worthy
of notice, as it is common to every table which I have
seen thus far in this country. It is a shaving, not a
slice of buttered bread, not much thicker than a shav
ing which a fore-plane would take at a stroke from a
straight-grained board of pine. A hungry man would
eat a square-yard of these buttered bread-shavings at
a meal without much impairing his appetite for sub-
stances less superficial.

Editor's Table.

the whole theory of dyeing, calico-printing, &c., to the utmost simplicity and accuracy. We have hitherto had no work of a purely practical character in these A BRIEF COMPEND OF AMERICAN AGRICULTURE. important arts. In the present production, this is the -By. R. L. Allen. Saxton & Miles. Pp. 437, 12mo. leading idea of the author--himself many years a Price $1. We announced this work as in press, in practical dyer; and from the vast accumulation of our August number, and now have the pleasure of material which he has brought to his aid, it is believed adding that it has appeared, and is for sale at most of more has been accomplished for the practical purthe book-stores. It is a condensed Encyclopædia of poses of those engaged in these departments of comAgriculture. The whole subject of soils, manures, merce than has ever before been attempted. In addicrops, and animals, is treated in as full and compre- tion to a prodigious variety of useful, new, and inhensive a manner as the space will permit. The most prominent points are clearly yet succinctly stated, and all is expressed in a style at once concise, and readily comprehended. The author has been a practical farmer and stock-breeder, from boyhood, and consequently understands what he is writing about. He avoids all the fanciful theories of the present day. while he treats of the best practices of husbandry, based upon well authenticated principles, as developed and adopted by the most enlightened modern agriculturists. The work treats fully of Southern as well as Northern agriculture, and will be found equally adapt- EUROPEAN AGRICULTURE-By Henry Colman, ed to any latitude of America. It is emphatically a from personal observation. We are in receipt of Part work for the million, and should be in the hands of VII. of Vol. II. of this work. Draining, plowing, irrievery farmer. It is neatly got up, and does the pub-gation, rotation of crops, soiling, &c., are the contents, lishers credit.

MANUAL OF ROSES; Comprising the most complete History of the Rose, including every class, and all the most admirable varieties that have appeared in Europe and America; together with ample information on their culture and propagation.-By William Robert Prince, Proprietor of the Linnæan Botanic Garden and Nurseries, at Flushing, L. I. New York: Saxton & Miles. Pp. 262, 12mo. The author remarks in his preface, that " During the last ten years the acquisitions made to the Family of Roses, have been so remarkable for their splendor, fragrance, and other qualities, that the public attention has been awakened to their culture in a degree almost unprecedented in the annals of Floriculture. This general regard has given rise to several publications on the subject, in France, England, Belgium, and America, and it has, at the same time, imparted an increased impetus to the culture of the Queen of Flowers.' The most prominent of the publications referred to, is from the pen of Mr. T. Rivers, Jr., of England; and it has been the desire of the writer of the present little volume, to combine in its pages, every item of knowledge that is comprised in that estimable work, and to extract from every other source, whatever additional information was attainable; thus forming a concentration of all the information existing in Europe on this interesting subject, and presenting the toute ensemble of European attainment as the starting point for American advancement, adding thereto whatever information was existent here in the present stage of the Rose Culture, and which has been derived more particularly from the labors and experience of his father and self, and some few others." The subject the author has chosen is an interesting one, and as far as we are able to judge, the work will prove useful to amateurs and others engaged in floriculture.

structive matter, the work comprises over six hundred original patents, or new inventions, principally of foreign origin, which alone must ever constitute the book, one of singular value and permanent utility. PORTRAITS OF THE PRESIDENTS.-Philadelphia: C. S. Williams. Large folio. This work is well got up, in lithography, in the form of an Atlas, giving accurate portraits of all the Presidents of the United States, from the commencement of the Government down to the present Administration. For sale by Saxton & Miles, 205 Broadway, N. Y. Price $2.50.

and are well and practically treated.

PICTORIAL HISTORY OF ENGLAND.-We have received No. 9 of this excellent work most beautifully illustrated. Harper & Brothers. Price 25 cents. To be finished in about 40 numbers. It is highly useful and agreeable reading.

THE STATESMEN OF THE COMMONWEALTH; with a treatise on the Popular Progress in English History. By John Forster. Harper & Brothers, 82 Cliff Street. Price 25 cents per number, to be completed in five numbers. This republication is embellished with portraits of distinguished persons figuring in the history, and elucidated with valuable notes by the Rev. J. O. Choules. It is a work of great merit, and particularly commends itself to the American Reader, as it describes a series of events which had no little influence in the early settlement of our country, and its subsequent career. Some of the actors in this history, like Sir Harry Vane, the Younger, were at one time residents, and held official stations in New England, and other American colonies.

THE NEW ENGLAND AGRICULTURAL ALMANAC for 1847.-Published by F. Trowbridge, New Haven, Conn. This is prettily illustrated, and well filled with useful matter to the farmer. We can say the same of the American Cultivator's Almanac, published by C. F. Crossman, Rochester, N. Y.

LECTURES TO WOMEN ON ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY, with an Appendix on Water Cure. By Mary S. Gove. Pp. 301. Price 50 cents. Harper & Brothers, 82 Cliff Street. This work should be carefully read by every woman; for nothing is more true than what the fair authoress asserts, that whoever shall convince mankind of the necessity and importance of the study of Anatomy and Physiology, and those laws which govern life and health, will do more toward promoting the general good and happiness of our species, than he would if he gave us priceless

-This came off on the 17th, 18th, and 19th of September, in Flushing. We understand there was a good display of fruits and flowers. Owing to imperative engagements elsewhere, we were deprived of the pleasure of attending it.

A PRACTICAL TREATISE ON DYEING AND CALICO PRINTING; including the latest Inventions and Im-gems, and gold without measure," provements; also, a Description of the Origin, Manu- LONG ISLAND HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY SHOW. facture, Uses, and Chemical Properties of the Various Animal, Vegetable, and Mineral Substances employed in these Arts. With an Appendix, comprising Definitions of Chemical Terms; with Tables of Weights, Measures, Thermometers, Hydrometers, &c. By an experienced dyer, assisted by several scientific gen- SOMETHING OF A SQUASH.-The Batavia Times tlemen. With Engravings on steel and wood. New has sen a squash, grown in the garden of J. A. Clark, York: Harper & Brothers. Pp. 704. 8vo. $3.50. of that village, which measures six feet and six The object of this work is to systematize and reduce inches in circumference, and weighs 150 1-2 pounds.

LIST OF PREMIUMS.