Part 32

NEW POTATOES.--Have them as freshly dug as may be convenient; the longer they have been out of the ground the less well-flavored they are. Well wash them, rub off the skins with a coarse cloth or brush, and put them into boiling water, to which has been added salt, at the rate of one heaped teaspoonful to two quarts. Let them boil till tender--try them with a fork; they will take from ten or fifteen minutes to half an hour, according to size. When done, pour away the water, and set by the side of the fire, with the lid aslant. When they are quite dry, have ready a hot vegetable dish, and in the middle of it put a piece of butter the size of a walnut--some people like more--heap the potatoes round it and over it, and serve immediately. We have seen very young potatoes, no larger than a marble, parboiled, and then fried in cream till they are of a fine auburn color; or else, when larger, boiled till nearly ready, then sliced and fried in cream, with pepper, salt, a very little nutmeg, and a flavoring of lemon juice. Both make pretty little supper dishes.

POTATOES ROASTED UNDER THE MEAT.--These are very good; they should be nicely browned. Half boil large mealy potatoes; put into a baking dish, under the meat roasting; ladle the gravy upon them occasionally. They are best done in an oven.

POTATO RIBBONS.--Cut the potatoes into slices, rather more than half an inch thick, and then pare round and round in very long ribbons. Place them in a pan of cold water, and a short time before wanted drain them from the water. Fry them in hot lard, or good dripping, until crisp and browned; dry them on a soft cloth, pile them on a hot dish, and season with salt and cayenne.

POTATO ROLLS.--Boil three lbs. of potatoes; crush and work them with two ozs. of butter and as much milk as will cause them to pass through a colander; take half a pint of yeast and half a pint of warm water; mix with the potatoes; pour the whole upon 5 lbs. of flour; add salt; knead it well; if too thick, put to it a little more milk and warm water; stand before the fire for an hour to rise; work it well and make it into rolls. Bake it half an hour.

POTATO RISSOLES.--Boil the potatoes floury; mash them, seasoning them with salt and a little cayenne; mince parsley very fine, and work up with the potatoes, adding eschalot, also chopped small. Bind with yolk of egg, roll into balls, and fry with fresh butter over a clear fire. Meat shred finely, bacon or ham may be added.

POTATO SAUTEES.--These are even more agreeable with meat than fried potatoes. Cold boiled potatoes are sliced up, and tossed up in a saucepan with butter, mixed with a little chopped parsley, till they are lightly browned. Pure goose or other dripping is by many cooks preferred to butter for this purpose.

POTATO SOUFFLES.--The delicious blistered potatoes are prepared as follows: The potatoes, if small, are simply cut in halves; if large, cut in three or more slices; these are fried in the usual way, but are taken out before they are quite done, and set aside to get cold; when wanted they are fried a second time, but only till they are of a light golden color, not brown.

TOMATOES.--Cut ripe tomatoes into slices, put them in a buttered dish with some bread crumbs, butter, pepper and salt, and bake till slightly brown on top.

FORCED TOMATOES.--Prepare the following forcemeat: Two ounces of mushrooms, minced small, a couple of shalots, likewise minced, a small quantity of parsley, a slice of lean ham, chopped fine, a few savory herbs, and a little cayenne and salt. Put all these ingredients into a saucepan with a lump of butter, and stew all together until quite tender, taking care that they do not burn. Put it by to cool, and then mix with them some bread crumbs and the well beaten yolks of two eggs. Choose large tomatoes, as nearly of the same size as possible, cut a slice from the stalk end of each, and take out carefully the seeds and juice; fill them with the mixture which has already been prepared, strew them over with bread and some melted butter, and bake them in a quick oven until they assume a rich color. They are a good accompaniment to veal or calf's head.

TO MASH TURNIPS.--Boil them very tender. Strain till no water is left. Place in a saucepan over a gentle fire, and stir well a few minutes. Do not let them burn. Add a little cream, or milk, or both, salt butter and pepper. Add a tablespoonful of fine sugar. Stir and simmer five minutes longer.

TO BOIL OR STEW VEGETABLE MARROW.--This excellent vegetable may be boiled as asparagus. When boiled, divide it lengthways into two, and serve it upon a toast accompanied by melted butter; or when nearly boiled, divide it as above, and stew gently in gravy like cucumbers. Care should be taken to choose young ones not exceeding six inches in length.

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HOW TO CALCULATE.

PRACTICAL RULES, SHORT METHODS, AND PROBLEMS USED IN BUSINESS COMPUTATIONS.

Rapidity and accuracy in making estimates and in figuring out the result of business transactions is of the greatest necessity to the man of business. A miscalculation may involve the loss of hundreds or thousands of dollars, in many cases, while a slow and tedious calculation involves loss of time and the advantage which should have been seized at the moment. It is proposed in the following pages to give a few brief methods and practical rules for performing calculations which occur in every-day transactions among men, presuming that a fair knowledge of the ordinary rules of arithmetic has previously been attained.

ADDITION.

To be able to add up long columns of figures rapidly and correctly is of great value to the merchant. This requires not only a knowledge of addition, but in order to have a correct result, one that can be relied upon, it requires concentration of the mind. Never allow other thoughts to be flitting through the mind, or any outside matter to disturb or draw it away from the figures, until the result is obtained. Write the tens to be carried each time in a smaller figure underneath the units, so that afterwards any column can be added over again without repeating the entire operation. By the practice of addition the eye and mind soon become accustomed to act rapidly, and this is the art of addition. Grouping figures together is a valuable aid in rapid addition, as we group letters into words in reading.

862 \ 538 / 674 \ 843 / ____ 2917

Thus, in the above example, we do not say 3 and 4 are 7 and 8 are 15 and 2 are 17, but speak the sum of the couplet, thus 7 and 10 are 17, and in the second column, 12 and 9 are 21. This method of grouping the figures soon becomes easy and reduces the labor of addition about one-half, while those somewhat expert may group three or more figures, still more reducing the time and labor, and sometimes two or more columns may be added at once, by ready reckoners.

Another method is to group into tens when it can be conveniently done, and still another method in adding up long columns is to add from the bottom to the top, and whenever the numbers make even 10, 20, 30, 40 or 50, write with pencil a small figure opposite, 1, 2, 3, 4 or 5, and then proceed to add as units. The sum of these figures thus set out will be the number of tens to be carried to the next column.

6^{2} 2 8 3 5^{2} 4^{1} 2 8 4 9 6 2 7^{2} 1 8^{2} 8 3^{2} 5 5 2 7 1^{1} 3 2^{1} 5 8 8 _________________ 5 0 2 8

SHORT METHODS OF MULTIPLICATION.

For certain classes of examples in multiplication short methods may be employed and the labor of calculation reduced, but of course for the great bulk of multiplications no practical abbreviation remains. A person having much multiplying to do should learn the table up to twenty, which can be done without much labor.

To multiply any number by 10, 100, or 1000, simply annex one, two, or three ciphers, as the case may be. If it is desired to multiply by 20, 300, 5000, or a number greater than one with any number of ciphers annexed, multiply first by the number and then annex as many ciphers as the multiplier contains.

TABLE.

5 cents equal 1/20 of a dollar. 10 cents equal 1/10 of a dollar. 12-1/2 cents equal 1/8 of a dollar. 16-2/3 cents equal 1/6 of a dollar. 20 cents equal 1/5 of a dollar. 25 cents equal 1/4 of a dollar. 33-1/3 cents equal 1/3 of a dollar. 50 cents equal 1/2 of a dollar.

Articles of merchandise are often bought and sold by the pound, yard, or gallon, and whenever the price is an equal part of a dollar, as seen in the above table, the whole cost may be easily found by adding two ciphers to the number of pounds or yards and dividing by the equivalent in the table.

_Example_. What cost 18 dozen eggs at 16-2/3c per dozen?

6)1800 _____ $3.00

_Example_. What cost 10 pounds butter at 25c per pound?

4)1000 ----- $2.50

Or, if the pounds are equal parts of one hundred and the price is not, then the same result may be obtained by dividing the price by the equivalent of the quantity as seen in the table; thus, in the above case, if the price were 10c and the number of pounds 25, it would be worked just the same.

_Example_. Find the cost of 50 yards of gingham at 14c a yard.

2)1400 ----- $7.00

When the price is one dollar and twenty-five cents, fifty cents, or any number found in the table, the result may be quickly found by finding the price for the extra cents, as in the above examples, and then adding this to the number of pounds or yards and calling the result dollars.

_Example_. Find the cost of 20 bushels potatoes at $1.12-1/2 per bushel.

8)2000 250 ----- $22.50

If the price is $2 or $3 instead of $1, then the number of bushels must first be multiplied by 2 or 3, as the case may be.

_Example_. Find the cost of 6 hats at $4.33-1/3 apiece.

3)600 4 ------ 24.00 2.00 ------ $26

When 125 or 250 are multipliers add three ciphers and divide by 8 and 4 respectively.

To multiply a number consisting of two figures by 11, write the sum of the two figures between them.

_Example_. Multiply 53 by 11. Ans. 583.

If the sum of the two numbers exceeds 10 then the units only must be placed between and the tens figure carried and added to the next figure to the left.

_Example_. Multiply 87 by 11. Ans. 957.

FRACTIONS.

Fractional parts of a cent should never be despised. They often make fortunes, and the counting of all the fractions may constitute the difference between the rich and the poor man. The business man readily understands the value of the fractional part of a bushel, yard, pound, or cent, and calculates them very sharply, for in them lies perhaps his entire profit.

TO REDUCE A FRACTION TO ITS SIMPLEST FORM.

Divide both the numerator and denominator by any number that will leave no remainder and repeat the operation until no number will divide them both.

_Example_. The simplest form of 36/45 is found by dividing by 9 = 4/5.

To reduce a whole number and a fraction, as 4-1/2, to fractional form, multiply the whole number by the denominator, add the numerator and write the result over the denominator. Thus, 4 X 2 = 8 + = 9 placed over 2 is 9/2.

TO ADD FRACTIONS.

Reduce the fractions to like denominators, add their numerators and write the denominator under the result.

_Example_. Add 2/3 to 3/4.

2/3 = 8/12, 3/4 = 9/12, 8/12 + 9/12 = 17/12 = 1-5/12. Ans.

TO SUBTRACT FRACTIONS.

Reduce the fractions to like denominators, subtract the numerators and write the denominators under the result.

_Example_. Find the difference between 4/5 and 3/4.

4/5 = 16/20, 3/4 = 15/20, 16/20-15/20 = 1/20. Ans.

TO MULTIPLY FRACTIONS.

Multiply the numerators together for a new numerator and the denominators together for a new denominator.

_Example_. Multiply 7/8 by 5/6.

7/8 x 5/6 = 35/48. Ans.

TO DIVIDE FRACTIONS.

Multiply the dividend by the divisor inverted.

_Example_. Divide 7/8 by 5/6.

7/8 X 6/5 = 42/40. Reduced to simple form by dividing by 2 is 21/20 = [Transcriber's Note: The original text reads '1^{1}'] 1-1/20. Ans.

TO MULTIPLY MIXED NUMBERS.

When two numbers are to be multiplied, one of which contains a fraction, first multiply the whole numbers together, then multiply the fraction by the other whole number, add the two results together for the correct answer.

_Example_. What cost 5-1/3 yards at 18c a yard?

18c 5-1/3 --- 18 x 5 = 90 18 x 1/3 = 6 --- 96c

When both numbers contain a fraction,

First, multiply the whole numbers together,

Second, multiply the, lower whole number by the upper fraction;

Third, multiply the upper whole number by the lower fraction;

Fourth, multiply the fractions together;

Fifth, add all the results for the correct answer.

_Example_. What cost 12-2/3 pounds of butter at 18-3/4c per pound?

18-3/4 12-2/3 ------- 18 X 12 = 216 12 x 3/4 = 9 18 X 2/3 = 12 3/4 X 2/3 = 6/12 = 1/2 ------- $2.37-1/2

Common fractions may often be changed to decimals very readily, and the calculations thereby made much easier.

TO CHANGE COMMON FRACTIONS TO DECIMALS.

Annex one or more ciphers to the numerator and divide by the denominator.

_Example_. Change 3/4 to a decimal. Ans. .75.

We add two ciphers to the 3, making it 300, and divide by 4, which gives us.75. In the same way 1/2 =.5, or 3/4 =.75, and so on. When a quantity is in dollars and fractions of a dollar, the fractions should always be thus reduced to cents and mills.

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TWENTY THOUSAND THINGS WORTH KNOWING.

RELATIVE HARDNESS OF WOODS.

Taking shell bark hickory as the highest standard of our forest trees, and calling that 100, other trees will compare with it for hardness as follows:

Shell Bark Hickory 100 Pignut Hickory 96 White Oak 84 White Ash 77 Dogwood 75 Scrub Oak 73 White Hazel 72 Apple Tree 70 Red Oak 69 White Beech 65 Black Walnut 65 Black Birch 62 Yellow Oak 60 Hard Maple 56 White Elm 58 Red Cedar 56 Wild Cherry 55 Yellow Pine 54 [Transcriber's Note: The original text reads 'Chesnut'] Chestnut 52 Yellow Poplar 51 [Transcriber's Note: The original text reads 'Buternut'] Butternut 43 White Birch 43 White Pine 30

Timber intended for posts is rendered almost proof against rot by thorough seasoning, charring and immersion in hot coal tar.

The slide of Alpnach, extending from Mount Pilatus to Lake Lucerne, a distance of 8 miles, is composed of 25,000 trees, stripped of their bark, and laid at an inclination of 10 to 18 degrees. Trees placed in the slide rush from the mountain into the lake in 6 minutes.

The Alps comprise about 180 mountains, from 4,000 to 15,732 feet high, the latter being the height of Mount Blanc, the highest spot in Europe. The summit is a sharp ridge, like the roof of a house, consisting of nearly vertical granite rocks. The ascent requires 2 days, 6 or 8 guides are required, and each guide is paid 100 francs ($20.00). It was ascended by two natives, Jacques Belmat and Dr. Packard, August 8, 1786, at 6 a.m. They staid up 30 minutes, with the thermometer at 14 degrees below the freezing point. The provisions froze in their pockets; their faces were frost-bitten, lips swollen, and their sight much weakened, but they soon recovered on their descent. De Saussure records in his ascent August 2, 1760, that the color of the sky was deep blue; the stars were visible in the shade; the barometer sunk to 16.08 inches (being 27.08 in Geneva) the thermometer was 26-1/2 degrees, in the sun 29 degrees (being 87 degrees at Geneva). The thin air works the blood into a high fever, you feel as if you hardly touched the ground, and you scarcely make yourself heard. A French woman, Mademoiselle d'Angeville, ascended in September, 1840, being dragged up the last 1,200 feet by guides, and crying out: "If I die, carry me to the top." When there, she made them lift her up, that she might boast she had been higher than any man in Europe. The ascent of these awful solitudes is most perilous, owing to the narrow paths, tremendous ravines, icy barriers, precipices, etc. In many places every step has to be cut in the ice, the party being tied to each other by ropes, so that if one slips he may be held up by the rest, and silence is enforced, lest the noise of talking should dislodge the avalanches of the Aiguille du Midi. The view from the mountain is inexpressibly grand. On the Alps the limit of the vine is an elevation of 1,600 feet; below 1,000 feet, figs, oranges and olives are produced. The limit of the oak is 3,800 feet, of the [Transcriber's Note: The original text reads 'chesnut'] chestnut 2,800 feet,of the pine 6,500 feet, of heaths and furze to 8,700 and 9,700 feet; and perpetual snow exists at an elevation of 8,200 feet.

On the Andes, in lat. 2 degrees, the limit of perpetual snow is 14,760 feet; in Mexico, lat. 19 degrees, the limit is 13,800 feet; on the peak of Teneriffe, 11,454 feet; on Mount Etna, 9,000 feet; on the Caucasus, 9,900 feet; in the Pyrenees, 8,400 feet; in Lapland, 3,100 feet; in Iceland, 2,890 feet. The walnut ceases to grow at an elevation of 3,600 feet; the yellow pine at 6,200 feet; the ash at 4,800 feet, and the fir at 6,700 feet. The loftiest inhabited spot on the globe is the Port House of Ancomarca, on the Andes, in Peru, 16,000 feet above the level of the sea. The 14th peak of the Himalayas, in Asia, 25,659 feet high, is the loftiest mountain in the world.

Lauterbrunnen is a deep part of an Alpine pass, where the sun hardly shines in winter. It abounds with falls, the most remarkable of which is the Staubbach, which falls over the Balm precipice in a drizzling spray from a height of 925 feet; best viewed in the morning sun or by moonlight. In general, it is like a gauze veil, with rainbows dancing up and down it, and when clouds hide the top of the mountain, it seems as poured out of the sky.

In Canada, the falls of Montmorenci are 250 feet high, the falls of Niagara (the Horse Shoe Falls) are 158 feet high and 2,000 feet wide, the American Falls arc 164 feet high and 900 feet wide. The Yosemite Valley Falls are 2,600 feet high, and the Ribbon Falls of the Yosemite are 3,300 feet high. The waterfall of the Arve, in Bavaria, is 2,000 feet.

THE PERIODS OF GESTATION are the same in the horse and ass or eleven months each, camel 12 months, elephant 2 years, lion 5 months, buffalo 12 months, in the human female 9 months, cow 9 months, sheep 5 months, dog 9 weeks, cat 8 weeks, sow 16 weeks, she wolf from 90 to 95 days. The goose sits 30 days, swans 42, hens 21, ducks 30, peahens and turkeys 28, canaries 14, pigeons 14, parrots 40 days.

AGES OF ANIMALS, ETC.--Elephant 100 years and upward, Rhinoceros 20, Camel 100, Lion 25 to 70, Tigers, Leopards, Jaguars and Hyenas (in confinement) about 25 years, Beaver 50, deer 20, wolf 20, Fox 14 to 16, Llamas 15, Chamois 25, Monkeys and Baboons 16 to 18 years, Hare 8, Squirrel 7, Rabbit 7, Swine 25, Stag under 50, Horse 30, Ass 30, Sheep under 10, Cow 20, Ox 30, Swans, Parrots and Ravens 200, Eagle 100, Geese 80, Hens and Pigeons 10 to 16, Hawks 36 to 40, Cranes 24, Blackbird 10 to 12, Peacock 20, Pelican 40 to 50, Thrush 8 to 10, Wren 2 to 3, Nightingale 15, Blackcap 15, Linnet 14 to 23, Goldfinch 20 to 24, Redbreast 10 to 12, Skylark 10 to 30, Titlark 5 to 6, Chaffinch 20 to 24, Starling 10 to 12, Carp 70 to 150, Pike 30 to 40, Salmon 16, Codfish 14 to 17, Eel 10, Crocodile 100, Tortoise 100 to 200, Whale estimated 1,000, Queen Bees live 4 years, Drones 4 months, Working Bees 6 months.

The melody of singing birds ranks as follows: The nightingale first, then the linnet, titlark, sky lark and wood lark. The mocking bird has the greatest powers of imitation, the robin and goldfinch are superior in vigorous notes.

The condor of Peru has spread wings 40 feet, feathers 20 feet, quills 8 inches round.

In England, a quarter of wheat, comprising 8 bushels, yields 14 bushels 2-1/2 pecks, divided into seven distinct kinds of flour, as follows: Fine flour, 5 bushels 3 pecks; bran, 3 bushels; twenty-penny, 3 bushels; seconds, 2 pecks; pollard, 2 bushels; fine middlings, 1 peck; coarse ditto, 1 peck.

The ancient Greek phalanx comprised 8,000 men, forming a square battalion, with spears crossing each other, and shields united.

The Roman legion was composed of 6,000 men, comprising 10 cohorts of 600 men each, with 300 horsemen.

The ancient battering ram was of massive timber, 60 to 100 feet long, fitted with an iron head. It was erected under shelter to protect the 60 or 100 men required to work it. The largest was equal in force to a 36-lb. shot from a cannon.

Pile Driving on Sandy Soils.--The greatest force will not effect a penetration exceeding 15 feet.

Various Sizes of Type.--It requires 205 lines of Diamond type to make 12 inches, of Pearl 178, of Ruby 166, of Nonpareil 143, of Minion 128, of Brevier 112-1/2, of Bourgeois 102-1/2, of Long Primer 89, of Small Pica 83, of Pica 71-1/2, of English 64.

Wire ropes for the transmission of power vary in size from 3/8 to 7/8 inch diam. For from 3 to 300 horse power; to promote flexibility, the rope, made of iron, steel, or copper wire, as may be preferred, is provided with a core of hemp, and the speed is 1 mile per minute, more or less, as desired. Tho rope should run on a well-balanced, grooved, cast iron wheel, of from 4 to 15 feet diam., according as the transmitted power ranges from 3 to 300 horse; the groove should be well cushioned with soft material, as leather or rubber, for the formation of a durable bed for the rope. With good care the rope will last from 3 to 5 years.

Cannon balls go furthest at an elevation of 30 degrees, and less as the balls are less; the range is furthest when fired from west to east in the direction of the earth's motion, which for the diurnal rotation on its axis, is at the rate of 1,037 miles per hour, and in its orbit, 66,092 miles.

The air's resistance is such that a cannon ball of 3 lbs. weight, diameter, 2.78 ins. Moving with a velocity of 1,800 feet per second, is resisted by a force equal to 156 lbs.

Bricklayers ascend ladders with loads of 90 lbs., 1 foot per second. There are 484 bricks in a cubic yard, and 4,356 in a rod.

A power of 250 tons is necessary to start a vessel weighing 3,000 tons over greased slides on a marine railway, when in motion, 150 tons only is required.

A modern dredging machine, 123 ft. long, beam 26 ft., breadth over all, 11 ft., will raise 180 tons of mud and clay per hour, 11 feet from water-line.

In tanning, 4 lbs. of oak bark make 1 lb. of leather.

Flame is quenched in air containing 3 per cent, of carbonic acid; the same percentage is fatal to animal life.

100 parts of oak make nearly 23 of charcoal; beech 21, deal 19, apple 23.7, elm 23, ash 25, birch 24, maple 22.8, willow 18, poplar 20, red pine 22.10, white pine 23. The charcoal used in gunpowder is made from willow, alder, and a few other woods. The charred timber found in the ruins of Herculaneum has undergone no change in 1,800 years.

Four volumes of nitrogen and one of oxygen compose atmospheric air in all localities on the globe.