Ladies'Column. Hints for Housewives.

Waikato Times, Volume XXIV, Issue 1985, 28 March 1885, Page 2 (Supplement)

Ladies' Column. Hints for Housewives.

So much information about everything is now so easily obtainable that there is little excuse forcndurin" many of the small domestic worries to which housekeepers and others are often subjected. Why, for instance, need any one be inconvenienced by damp cupboards, when we read that a bowl of quicklime placed therein will speedily absorb the moisture? Some of us are nervoua about beds not being well aired, and yet we have only to fill a large stone bottle with boiling water and put it into the bed, pressing the bolster and pillows round it in a heap. By this simple contrivance, it is comforting to learn, no one need fear giving a friend a damp bed, even if this is done only once a fortnight. Fhca aro a familiar nuisance ; but we are told of a foreign remedy in laurel oil, which, better than glass fly-catchera and others, will not only rid us of these pests, but preeerves looking glasses and picture-frames when coated with it. Jane the ' help ' should derive satisfaction from tho assurance that beetles may be effectually got rid of by sprinkling once or twice on the floor a mixture of pure carbolic acid and water, one part to ten. It is not frequenters of restaurants only who wonder why the simple precaution of throwing red pepper pods or a few pieces of charcoal into the pan— said to prevent odours from boiling-ham, cabbage, (to.— is not oftener observed. Cook* are further reminded that in roasting meat, salt could should not be put upon the joint before it is put in the oven, as palt extracts tho juice ; and that limewater will improve the condition of old potatoes in boiling Eggs could be purchased with greater confidence if the German method of preserving them by means of silioate of aoda wai penerally followed. A small quantity of the clear Byrup solution is smeared over the surface of the fhell. On drying, a thin, hard, plassy film remains, which serves as nn admirable protection and substitute for wax, oil, gums, &c. Economy in housekeeping would be facilitated by the better observance of what are known in common parlance a3 ' wrinkles.' For example, why purchase inferior nutmegs, when their quality can be tested by pricking them with a pin ? If they are good, the oil will instantly spread around the puncture. It is worth recollecting that bar ="oap should be cut into squarp pieces, and put in a dry place, as it lasts better after shrinking. If we wish to keep lemons fresh for some time, we have only to place them in a jar of water and change it every morning. In selecting flour, we are advised to look to the colour. If it is white with a yellowish tint, we should buy it ; but if it is white with a bluish cast, or with black specks, we should refuse it. Broken china can be mended with a useful qlutine made with a piece of old cheese mixed with lime ; and the wooden palinga of the garden may be preserved from the weather by coating them with a composition of boiled linseed oil and pulverised charcoal, mixed to the consistence of paint. In this way wood can bo made to last longer than iron in the ground. If we consult our health, we should plant the garden with odoriferous plants, puch ag wall-flowers, mignonette, and other eld English flowers and herbs, which have a remarkable power of developing ozone and puntying the atmosphere from miasmatic i)ni-,onp. x'v*"atpur joiners nm; derive comfort from the knowledge that nails and screws, if rubbed with a little soap, are easily driven into hard wood. The same household commodity, of a five white quality, if rubbed over new linen will enable it to be more easily embroidered, as it prevents the threads from cracking. A deal of breakage amongat glass and crockery can be prevented by the simple pre caution of placing lamp-chimneys, tumblers, and such articles in a pot filled with coid water to which some common table-salt has been added. Boil the water well, and then allow it to cool slowly. When the articles are taken cut and washed, they will resist any sudden changes of temperature.