French Furniture Polish.
This is the best article that can be made for restoring the luster and color of furniture:
| Butter of antimony3 | fluid ounces. |
| Linseed oil12 | fluid ounces. |
| Alcohol6 | fluid ounces. |
| Shellac2 | ounces av. |
| Oil of turpentine10 | fluid ounces. |
| Hydrochloric acid1 | ounce. |
Dissolve the shellac in the alcohol and add the linseed oil and turpentine; then add the hydrochloric acid and butter of antimony, which has been previously mixed, and thoroughly mix all together. Apply with a tuft of cotton, and finish by rubbing down hard with Canton flannel or a woolen rag.
Maple Syrup and Sugar.
[ARTIFICIAL.]
It is an astonishing fact that nine-tenths of the so-called maple sugar and maple syrup sold as the genuine articles are nothing more than clever imitations. The method of making the best quality of these imitations—and which really defies detection of a majority of dealers and consumers—is very cheap and simple, a gallon of the syrup costing about fifty cents and the sugar simply the cost of ordinary, cheap sugar. We were told by a Mr. Baldwin of Kentucky, a son of the reputed discoverer of the secret for producing the maple flavoring, that various manufacturers of imitation maple sugar and syrup in the large cities had paid his father thousands of dollars in royalties for his discovery.
Procure a quantity of the rough outside bark of what is known as scaly-bark hickory tree. Take about 3 or 4 pounds of the bark and boil in one-half gallon of water until it is reduced to a quart, then strain and add 5 pounds of common brown or yellow sugar; heat again until thoroughly dissolved and it is ready for use. To make imitation maple syrup simply boil the syrup until it is reduced back to sugar again, and when it is made properly the flavor and appearance of the genuine article is obtained.