Windows, to Crystallize.—Dissolve epsom-salts in hot ale, or solution of gum arabic, wash it over the window, and let it dry. If you wish to remove any, to form a border or centre-piece, do it with a wet cloth.
Wax for Bottling.—Rosin, 13 parts; wax, 1 part; melt and add any color. Used to render corks and bungs air-tight by melting the wax over them.
Whitewash.—Slack half a bushel of lime with boiling water, and cover the vessel to retain the steam. Strain the liquor, and add one peck of salt previously dissolved in warm water, 3 lbs. of rice boiled and ground to a paste, Spanish whiting, 8 oz.; glue, 1 lb.; mix and add hot water, 5 gallons; let it stand a few days, and apply hot. It makes a brilliant wash for inside or outside works.
To Purify Water for Drinking.—Filter river-water through a sponge, more or less compressed, instead of stone or sand, by which the water is not only rendered more clean, but wholesome; for sand is insensibly dissolved by the water, so that in four or five years it will have lost a fifth part of its weight. Powder of charcoal should be added to the sponge when the water is foul or fetid. Those who examine the large quantity of terrene matter on the inside of tea-kettles, will be convinced all water should be boiled before drunk, if they wish to avoid being afflicted with gravel or stone, etc.
To Purify the Muddy Waters of Rivers or Pits.—Make a number of holes in the bottom of a deep tub; lay some clean gravel thereon, and above this some clean sand; sink this tub in the river or pit, so that only a few inches of the tub will be above the surface of the water; the river or pit water will filter through the sand, and rise clear through it to the level of the water on the outside, and will be pure and limpid.
Method of Making Putrid Water Sweet in a Night's Time.—Four large spoonfuls of unslacked lime, put into a puncheon of ninety gallons of putrid water at sea, will, in one night, make it as clear and sweet as the best spring-water just drawn; but, unless the water is afterwards ventilated sufficiently to carbonize the lime, it will be a lime-water. Three ounces of pure unslacked lime should saturate 90 gallons of water.
To Keep Apples from Freezing.—Apples form an article of chief necessity in almost every family; therefore, great care is taken to protect them from frost; it being well known that they, if left unprotected, are destroyed by the first frost which occurs. They may be kept in the attic with impunity throughout the winter, by simply covering them over with a linen cloth; be sure you have linen, for woolen or other cloth is of no avail.
To Preserve Grapes.—Take a cask or barrel which will hold water, and put into it, first a layer of bran, dried in an oven, or of ashes well dried and sifted; upon this place a layer of grapes well cleaned, and gathered in the afternoon of a dry day, before they are perfectly ripe; proceed thus with alternate layers of bran or ashes and grapes, till the barrel is full, taking care that the grapes do not touch each other, and to let the last layer be of bran or ashes; then close the barrel so that the air may not penetrate, which is an essential point. Grapes thus packed will keep for nine or even twelve months. To restore them to freshness, cut the end of the stalk of each bunch of grapes, and put it into red wine, as you would flowers into water. White grapes should be put into white wine.
To Increase the Laying of Eggs.—The best method is to mix with their food, every other day, about a teaspoon of ground cayenne pepper to each dozen fowl. Whilst upon this subject, it would be well to say, that if your hens lay soft eggs, or eggs without shells, you should put plenty of old plaster, egg-shells, or even oyster-shells broken up, where they can get at it.
To Preserve Meats.—Beef to pickle for long keeping. First, thoroughly rub salt into it, and let it remain in bulk for twenty-four hours to draw off the blood. Second, take it up, letting it drain, and pack as desired. Third, have ready a pickle prepared as follows: for every 100 pounds of beef use 7 pounds salt; saltpetre and cayenne pepper each, 1 ounce; molasses, 1 quart; and soft water, 8 gallons; boil and skim well, and when cold pour over the beef.