“All this sounds very pretty; but when we come to the reality,—the big stitches, the long stitches, the puckers and gathers, the mistakes and vexatious carelessness,—how many yards of cloth will be wasted before one inch of decent sewing can be accomplished by a little child?”
Not one. Cut out a little block of patchwork. Tell the child that she may make a quilt for her doll’s bed just as soon as she can do it well. Use pretty, bright colors. Take her on your lap, and show her how a stitch must be taken, making merry, gentle speeches to her as the work goes on. “See, pet, you must take up two of these threads on that side, and put your needle through two more on the other side, then pull the needle through; that’s one stitch; mamma did that. Now let’s see the little girl take one just like it. No, no; let mamma hold your hand steady. There, that’s right. Now you may try again. See, you have taken up a leetle too much on that side. We’ll just pull that out, I think, and try again. It was pretty well, but a little bit longer than the last, and I guess Dolly won’t quite like it; so we’ll pull it out, and be very careful next time. There, that’s my little woman! You have made three nice stitches, and we will put up the sewing now, and run out doors to play. When papa comes home, mamma will have to show these pretty stitches, and he will be very much pleased.” In this way, it will not be many weeks before the square for Dolly’s small bed will be finished, and you will say, “My little daughter has done it so very nicely, I think we will have to make another, and piece the two together to make a bigger quilt.” Before a year passes, we are sure you will have a quilt large enough for your little girl’s own bed, every stitch well done, and both mother and child drawn closer together and made happier by each day’s lessons. It is, we think, a great mistake while teaching a child to sew, to pass over very poor work, simply because you think after awhile she will learn to do better; and you will throw the few early attempts aside, rather than be at the trouble of picking out imperfect stitches. Only a half-inch, or three or four stitches a day, well done, is a great gain. Be gentle, but very firm. Do not drill the child till it becomes weary, and will shrink from a second trial; but yet, let it be well understood that every stitch must be perfect before it will be accepted, and then be lavish of praise when the effort is successful. Do not destroy the child’s first work, thus carefully done. It will give you much pleasure when your daughter has become a woman, and be invaluable to her as an evidence of your faithful teachings when you are forever hid from her eyes.
XLIV.
THE CARE OF POULTRY.
WE make no pretense to any great skill or experience in raising poultry, and may not be able to furnish satisfactory answers to questions which have been sent by some of our readers who appear wellnigh discouraged by repeated failures; but we venture a few suggestions which, if acted upon, will, we think, in part at least, overcome some portion of their difficulties and perplexities, and may be acceptable to others in their first attempt.
The agricultural papers are filled with descriptions and recommendations of many fanciful, and, no doubt, very excellent, heneries and poultry-yards. We have very little acquaintance, however, with these modern improvements. The few we have seen do not excite our enthusiasm, and we cannot see that the income or gain in any degree compensates for the extra expenditure. We do not learn that Nero’s horses were much benefited when fed on golden oats and shod with shoes of the same precious metal; nor do we believe hens sheltered in sumptuous palaces will be more productive than our Leghorns and Cochins. But each one has a right to his own peculiar fancies; we are speaking now to those who have not yet found time or means to build fancy heneries, but content themselves with more simple arrangements.
We think it important, if possible, to have a good yard and commodious hen-house, in which laying, setting, and roosting apartments can be kept separate. These conveniences cannot always be secured as ample and pleasant as is desirable; but however simple the accommodations may be, it is indispensable that the building be kept scrupulously clean if you would insure success. The roost requires the most care. It should be swept out once a week, the poles and sides being well brushed off with a stiff broom, and the loose feathers and droppings from under the poles collected in barrels, removed from the hen-house, and kept dry. It is an excellent manure or guano, and very valuable when well composted.
The same care is needed in the laying and setting rooms. It is wise, once a week, to take all the straw from the nests, brush the boxes out clean, and replenish with fresh straw. A little ashes or a few bits of charcoal put under the straw helps to keep the nests sweet. The old straw and filth should be put on the compost heap. In the setting apartment the nests must not be disturbed till the eggs are all hatched, and the little chicks, with their mother, removed. Then the box must be emptied, well washed, dried, and whitewashed, ready for a new occupant.
It takes time and some trouble to keep the hen-house and yard always clean; but it well repays the trouble, and, if well done every week, will really take less time than to have a grand clearing up once or twice a year. These clearing days in dwellings or outbuildings are great nuisances and torments, making every one cross and uncomfortable; but if in each department it is understood that everything must always be put into its appropriate place, and that once a week the whole is to be tidied up, the most careless, if once tempted to try the experiment, would be astonished at the increased ease of the labor, and the pleasure would certainly be fourfold.
Every fall and spring and once at least during the summer the birds should all be turned out of the house and yard, that the inside of the building may be well smoked with sulphur, and then thoroughly whitewashed, to secure the destruction of the vermin and the good health of the occupants. A day should be selected when no hens are sitting, and then some charcoal must be kindled in an old tin or pan kept for the purpose in each compartment, and some bits of sulphur sprinkled over the coals when well burning. This done, shut the doors and windows tightly, and leave the sulphur to burn out, which it will do in a few hours; then throw open the doors and windows and let in the air. After this, every part must be well whitewashed, filling all cracks, holes, or corners with the wash,—particularly the nests or boxes for the laying and sitting hens. Sprinkle a few small bits of charcoal in the nests, when dry, to keep them sweet; fill them with fresh straw, and recall the fowls to their clean home.
A box or bin of wood-ashes should be placed in one corner of the roosting apartment, and kept always filled, and free from filth, for poultry to roll in and free themselves from vermin as far as possible.