To Make Maple Sugar without Maple Trees.—Though the secret I am about to reveal may seem very simple (when explained), I believe there are few who would discover it of their own accord. The value of the maple sugar crop is considerable, and there is ready sale for all that can be made. I was led by curiosity to boil down a little butternut sap, one time, with an equal quantity of maple sap, and the result was, a sugar which I could not distinguish from pure maple. I experimented further and found that if a little common (cane) sugar was added to the sap of the butternut, it would do as well as an addition of maple sap. I found that the sap of birch and several other trees would also make, when a very little cane sugar was added, a sugar which in looks and taste exactly resembled maple. To be able to make “maple” sugar from trees not heretofore deemed valuable for the purpose is just so much clear profit.
Traveller’s Ink.—White blotting paper is saturated with aniline black, and several sheets are pasted together so as to form a thick pad. When required for use a small piece is torn off and covered with a little water. The black liquid which dissolves out is a good writing ink. A square inch of paper will produce enough ink to last a considerable writing, and a few pads would be all that an exploring party need carry with them. As water is always available the ink is readily made. This is a perfectly original and new recipe. Any enterprising man can make a large income out of its manufacture.
Violet Ink.—1 oz. best violet aniline; dissolve it in one gill of hot alcohol, stir, and when thoroughly dissolved add one gallon of boiling hot water; dissolve in the hot water 1 1/2 oz. white gum arabic. This will make the most rich and beautiful ink of this color in existence; will not fade or corrode steel pens, and is not injured by freezing. An addition of 1 lb. of sugar and 1/2 lb. glycerine will make an excellent copying ink. This ink is usually sold at $2 per pint bottle, $1 for half pint and 50 cents for gill bottle. It is worth an enterprising man or woman $1,000. Do not bury it—use it and make money out of it.
New York Barber’s Star Hair Oil.—Castor oil, 6 1/2 pints, alcohol, 1 1/2 pints, oil of citronella, 1/2 ounce, lavender, 1/4 ounce. Mix well, put in 4-ounce bottles; retail at 25 cents each.
Furniture Polish.—Equal parts sweet oil and vinegar, and a pint of gum arabic finely powdered. Shake the bottle and apply with a rag. It will make furniture look as good as new.
Artificial Gold.—This is a new metallic alloy which is now very extensively used in France as a substitute for gold. Pure copper, one hundred parts; zinc, or, preferably, tin, seventeen parts; magnesia, six parts; sal-ammoniac, three-sixths parts; quick-lime, one-eighth part; tartar of commerce, nine parts, are mixed as follows: The copper is first melted, and the magnesia, sal-ammoniac, lime and tartar are then added separately, and by degrees, in the form of powder; the whole is now briskly stirred for about half an hour, so as to mix thoroughly; and when the zinc is added in small grains by throwing it on the surface, and stirring till it is entirely fused, the crucible is then covered, and the fusion maintained for about thirty-five minutes. The surface is then skimmed, and the alloy is ready for casting. It has a fine grain, is malleable, and takes a splendid polish. It does not corrode readily, and for many purposes is an excellent substitute for gold. When tarnished, its brilliancy can be restored by a little acidulated water. If tin be employed instead of zinc, the alloy will be more brilliant. It is very much used in France, and must ultimately attain equal popularity here.
Baking Powder.—The following receipt is the same as used in the preparation of the standard baking powders of the day, and if put up attractively will sell readily at the usual prices. Take 1 pound of tartaric acid in crystals, 1 1/2 pounds of bi-carbonate of soda and 1 1/2 pounds of potato starch. Each must be powdered separately, well dried by slow heat, well mixed through a sieve. Pack hard in tinfoil, tin or paper glazed on the outside. The tartaric acid and bi-carbonate of soda can, of course, be bought cheaper of wholesale druggists than you can make them, unless you are doing things on a very large scale, but potato starch any one can make; it is only necessary to peel the potatoes and to grate them up fine into vessels of water, to let them settle, pour off the water and make the settlings into balls, and to dry them. With these directions any one can make as good a baking powder as is sold anywhere; if he wants to make it very cheap, he can take cream of tartar and common washing (carbonate of) soda, instead of the articles named in the recipe, but this would be advisable only where customers insist on excessively low prices in preference to quality of goods.
Babbit’s Premium Soap.—Five gallons of strong lye, five gallons of water, five pounds of tallow, two pounds of sal soda, half a pound of rosin, one pint salt, one pint washing fluid. Let this water boil, then put in the articles, and boil half an hour. Stir it well while boiling, and then run it into moulds: it will be ready for use as soon as cold. The above is for 100 pounds of soap.
Royal Washing Powder.—Mix any quantity of soda ash with an equal quantity of carbonate of soda—ordinary soda—crushed into coarse grains. Have a thin solution of glue, or decoction of linseed oil ready, into which pour the soda until quite thick. Spread it out on boards in a warm apartment to dry. As soon as dry shake up well so that it will pack easily into nice, square packages. Label neatly. Pound packages cost 7 cents, retail for 25 cents.
Patent Starch Polish.—Take common dry potato or wheat starch, sufficient to make a pint of starch when boiled. When boiled add one-half drachm spermaceti, and one-half drachm of white wax, then use it as common starch, only using the iron as hot as possible.