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SHAKING HANDS.
There is an art in shaking hands
Not everybody understands;
And as they go through life untaught,
The simple act expresses naught.
The fingers limp within our own
Awaken no responsive tone
From the electric wires, that send
The hearty greeting to a friend.
But, oh, there is a simple touch,
Gentle and soft, that means so much ;
The pulses of our soul are stirred,
As if we heard the spoken word.
The outstreched hand, the hearty grasp,
The fingers locked in loving clasp,
Fresh strength and courage have bestowed
To many a one along life’s road.
Hold a hot shovel over furniture to re
move white spots.
To extract ink from wood, scour with
sand wet with water and ammonia. Rinse
with strong salaratus water.
To give a good oak color to a pine floor,
wash in a solution of one pound of copperas
dissolved in one gallon of strong lye.
To whiten the hands, melt an ounce of
camphor gum, half on ounce of glycerine,
and one pound of mutton tallow, and ap
ply every night.
Salt and water will prevent the hair
from falling out, and will cause new hair
to grow. Do not use so strong as to leave
white particles upon the hair.
To restore gilding to picture frames, re
move all dust with a soft brush and wash
the gilding in warm water in which an
onion has been boiled; dry quickly with
cloth.
Mildew is easily removed by rubbing
common yellow soap on the article, and
then a little salt, and starch on that. Rub
all well on the article and put in the sun
shine.
A good cement tor mending a stove that
has a crack in it may be made by mixing
silicate of potash or soluble glass with
wood ashes. This cement will not bear
moisture.
Mahogany furniture should be washed
with warm water and tine soap; an appli
cation of bees-wax and sweet oil upon a
soft cloth, and polished with chamois, gives
a rich finish.
A new device for a brooch is in the
shape of a gold or silver shield studded
with diamonds. The brooch at the back is
embellished by a number of implements of
warfare—a spear, ax, arrow, sword, and
rifle in solid metal matching the shield.
When the face is constantly pale, bathe
it in cold or tepid water, rub briskly with
a soft towel, and apply daily this prepara
tion : One ounce of diluted liquid ammo
nia, two ounces of glycerine, and four of
water. Rub well into the skin for about
three minutes, then carefully wipe with a
soft towel. It any irritation is felt, in
crease the glycerine.
A free application of soft soap to a fresh
burn almost instantly removes the fire
from the flesh. If the injury is very severe,
as soon as the pain ceases apply linseed oil,
then dust over with fine flour. When this
covering dries hard, repeat the oil and flour
dressing until a good coating is obtained.
When the latter dries, allow it to stand till
it cracks and falls off, as it will do in a day
or two, and a new skin will be found to
have formed where the skin was burned.
Man is not a bundle-carrying animal.
He can tuck a few stray parcels in his
pocket, to be sure, and lug a package under
his arm, perhaps, but on the whole as a
common carrier he is a failure. But a wo
man! Well, we should hate to say any
thing that wasn’t absolutely true; at the
same time a woman can carry parcels
enough into a horse-car to fill up one side
of it, and pick them all up in one arm when
she gets off at a crossing, and lead a pair
ot twins, carry an umbrella, and hold up
her skirts with the other hand.
The nickel on a stove can be kept bright
by wiping often with a dry, clean cloth.
When a stove is taken down for the sum
mer always be sure to rub the nickel well;
then wrap in paper, always taking care
not to let the hand touch the nickel after
it has been rubbed, for the place so touched
will generally be found to have rusted—in
the fall.
It is better always when cleaning zinc
under a stove never to wet it, but rub of
ten with a dry, clean cloth. When neces
sary to wash it avoid using soap.
Every house-keeper ought to have one
of the convenient mending bags, which
are very easily made. Take a strip of goods
fifty inches long and eleven and a half
deep, and bind the upper edge with worsted
braid. Arrange this in the form of pockets
on another strip, twenty-three inches and
seventeen and a half inches deep. It will
make six pockets, and there should be a
row of machine stitching between each
one. Gather at the bottom, and join this
and the inner bag to a circular piece of the
goods eigeteen inches in circumference. If
this round piece is slightly stiffened with
linen canvas and lined, it will look better.
Bind this with braid, and make an inch
wide, hem in the longest bag, and use
braid for draw-strings.
Such a bag can be made of cretonne,
chintz, or gray linen.
Many housekeepers of the present day
are entirely ignorant of the appearance of
their kitchen, and leave the care of it in
the hands of incompetent servants, who
frequently neglect keeping it clean and i
tidy, which an occasional visit of inspec
tion from the mistress would often obviate.
There is no doubt in the world that a thor
oughly clean kitchen is one of the health
iest and cherriest places to be found. Every
house ought to be clean from cellar to roof,
but the kitchen should be particularly so.
It is the place where the food that is to
maintain the human body is prepared. Any
dust or cobwebs or vile odors about the
kitchen are sure to get into the food and so
help to poison the human victims fed
thereon. But the breath of a kitchen fire
and of healthy cooking are as invigorating
as anything short of an ocean breeze.
A WORD FOB THE TOM-BOY.
The tom-boy is sometimes an eager,
earnest, impulsive, glad-hearted, whole
souled specimen of genus feminine. If her
laugh is too frequent and her tone a trifle
too emphatic, we are willing to overlook
these for the sake of the true life and exult
ing vitality of which they are the expres
sion ; and, indeed, we rather like the high
pressure nature which must close off its
superfluous jollity in such ebullitions. The
glancing eye, the glowing cheek, the fresh,
balmy breath, the lithe, graceful play of
the limbs tell a tale of healthy and vigor
ous physical development, which is nature s
best beauty.
The soul and the mind will be developed
also in due time, and we shall have before
us a woman in the highest sense of the
term. When the tom-boy has sprung up
to a healthful and vigorous womanhood,
she will be ready to take hold of the duties
of life, to become a worker in the great
system of humanity. She will not sit down
to sigh over the work given her to do, to
simper nonsense or to fall sick at heart, but
she will ever be ready to take up her bur
den of duty.
In her track there will be sound philoso
phy, in her thoughts boldness and origi
nality, in her heart heaven’s purity, and
the world will be better that she lived in it.
To her allotted task she will bring health,
vigor, energy and spirits, these will give
both the power and the endurance without
which her life must be, in some respects,
at least, a dreary failure.
Reflect upon your present blessings, of
which every man has many, not on your
past misfortune, of which all men have
some.
MRS. J. S. K. THOMPSON, SPARTANBURG, S. C.
WORK FOR MAY.
In May the energetic gardener has com
paratively a breathing spell, provided he
has been industrious and kept abreast with
his work. This presupposes he has followed
the directions closely as given in previous
issues of “Woman’s Work.” If in your
beds and walks all weeds are not destroy
ed—not only in rows, but between them—
wage war now vigorously against them.
The three best implements I have ever
used for this purpose is the scuffle or push
hoe, back of a steel rake, and Hasteltine’s
Hand Weeder. The first two are known
to every one. The hand weeder is a new
invention, formed of a steel blade one inch
wide, twelve inches long, sharp on both
edges and bent to form three sides of a
square, with a short handle five inches
long. This implement, dexterously used,
makes rubbish of every tiny weed that has
thrust its unwelcome head above the
ground. Weeds are so easily kept down
if destroyed before they are one-fourth to
one-half inch high, and have then done
but little harm, but only wait six or eight
days longer and the same weeds will have
grown like “Jack’s bean stalk,” and it will
require four times as much work to destroy
them.
Let me advise every gardener who is
able to, to invest in a garden hand plow.
It comes furnished with three or four
plows, subsoiler, twister and bull tongue,
and does work exactly similar to field
plows, only in so much more contracted
pace; plows without injury between rows
of vegetables not eight inches apart. Not
only this, but one man can accomplish as
much work with it as six hands can with
hoes, and one can be operated by a boy
fourteen years old My rule is to have
the whole garden gone over with this plow
one day each week, and with this rule
kept up, weeds can be made an unknown
factor in the garden. Onion and celery
seed planted broadcast will require hand
weeding, also a careful and patient work
man. A careless boy or girl will pull up
as many vegetables as weeds.
As soon as grapes have set their fruit,
pinch out the terminal shoot of each fruit
bearing branch three or four leaves beyond
the last cluster of fruit. This induces sap
to flow into the fruit, making it larger and
better, and stops the growth of vine into
a direction not desired. Allow in old es
tablished vines, some six or eight shoots
near the surface of the ground, to remain
unpinched. This to form fruiting vines
for next year’s bearing.
If desired, onion seed can be planted
until August, and then make sets as large
as necessary; to hasten ripening of the
sets, you can either tread over the bed
with the feet or roll a barrel across it. This
bruises the top and hastens the ripening.
Snap beans must never be worked when
either wet with dew or rain, it causes rust
on the leaves, why, I cannot explain. On
the contrary, cabbage should always be
worked whilst dew or rain is on them.
When heads begin to form, sprinkle a
handful of soot among the leaves and then
fold two or three of the outside leaves over
the head and keep in place by a clod of
earth or a stone.
Hoe tomatoes often, and when three first
clusters of blooms have formed fruit, pinch
out top bud of the plant. This stops
growth and throws entire strength of the
plant into maturing fruit already formed;
by this means ripe tomatoes can be secured
full ten days in advance of the “let alone”
system. Some gardeners advocate staking,
others to let lie on the ground. I try both
plans, but staking is so much the neatest
that all careful gardeners will resort to it.
One bed of my tomatoes are on a three-foot
wide space, on the west side of boundary
fence. Opposite each post of this fence I
put in the earth, on the front edge of the
bed, stakes four feet high (pine wood in
four feet lengths, split to about two and a
half to three inch thickness), sharpened at
one end and driven securely in. To these
and the posts nail slats of either plasterers’
laths or narrow plank. These run across
the beds. Let the first lath be one foot
from the ground, the second on top of
stake; across this lay lengthwise of the
bed long'slender poles of any wood con
venient. The vines then grow up and
over and cling to these poles. This gives
ample and cheap support, and allows one
to gather the fruit without the usual back
ache. I also plant on a long narrow bed
with a narrow walk on each side, support
ing them with stakes as in the first.
If beets stand too thick in the row, thin
out and transplant into fresh rows and fill
up vacancies where seed did not come up.
Some advocate pinching of roots but I
deem it unnecessary.
After a good rain cultivate your Irish
potatoes deeply between the rows, drawing
the soil to the potatoes and then mulch
heavily with damp leaves. After this the
potatoes will take care of themselves. Po
tatoes form above the tuber planted, and
will bear new potatoes up to the surface
of the soil covering them. Hence the de
sirability of deep planting and heavy
mulching.
Plant now tomato seed for late summer
and fall crop. In most localities tomatoes
of the first planting make a good early
crop and then die. Late plantings always
yield heavily in the fall until frost. When
frost is impending pull up those vines well
set with fruit and hang in some sheltered
spot—dairy, well-house or basement. By
this method you can have tomatoes fresh
at Christmas.
Thin out okra to two feet apart, leaving
only one plant at a place.
Sprinkle growing squash, cucumber and
melon vines with soot when wet with dew
in the morning. This effectually kills lady
bugs so destructive to these plants. I
know no remedy for the squash borer.
As from the row, set a
wat. earth to
the plant.
Where radish were planted and have
been used, plant as a succession any crop
desirable—beans, cabbage, canteloupes, etc.
As soon as peas are plentiful, cease cut
ting asparagus, allowing the rest of shoots
to remain t strengthen the root for next
seasons crop, too long and continuous cut
ting destroys the prolifleness of the bed
and finally kills it out entirely.
If room is abundant, plant about twenty
rows of Dhuora or Kaffir corn or millo
maize for your cows and horses. If heav
ily fertilized and deeply and cleanly culti
vated, it will yield an abundance of green
forage the entire season until destroyed by
frost. Several years ago I had a bed 45x45,
with twenty rows planted, cutting one row
each day. When the twentieth row was
finished the first had grown large enough
to cut a second time.
From seed bed of sunflowers transplant
to convenient places. Any odd corner will
grow it and it serves two useful purposes—
first, as an absorbent* of malaria, and sec
ond, the seed are used for poultry as a sub
stitute for the meat diet now considered by
poultry fanciers as an essential of the well
being of their birds. Again, planted four
feet apart in beds, and lima and poll beans
in the same hill, the sunflower serves as an
admirable support to the beans.
ADVICE TO MOTHERS.
Mrs. Winslow’s Soothing Syrup should
always be used when children are cutting
teeth. It relieves the little sufferer at
once; it produces natural quiet sleep by
relieving the child from pain, and the lit
tle cherub awakes as “ bright as a button.”
It is very pleasant to taste. It soothes the
child, softens the gums, allays all pain, re
lieves wind, regulates the bowels, and is
the best known remedy for diarrhoea,
whether arising from teething or other
causes. Twenty-five cents a bottle. Be
sure and ask for “ Mrs. Winslow’s Sooth
ing Syrup,” and take no other kind.