Part 5

BANANAS AND OTHER FRUITS.—There are two varieties, the red from Cuba, and the yellow from Jamaica and the Spanish Main. The latter are the better. Bananas are in market all the year, but the season is from March to August. PINEAPPLES are exquisitely flavored fruit, much used sliced for the tea table. The season is from May to August. COCOANUTS are used grated, for making pies and puddings; they are delicious, but rather indigestible. DESSICATED COCOANUT is the meat of cocoanuts ground and dried, and mixed with powdered sugar; sometimes, also, rice, flour, or corn starch is added. It comes in packets, cans, etc.

FRESH VEGETABLES.

In the Spring and Summer months the appetite craves fresh vegetables; and their free use, especially in those seasons, will be found excellent for the general health of the family. Spinach, for instance, is said to be beneficial in kidney complaints; Dandelion greens are good for biliousness; Tomatoes act upon the liver; Celery upon the nerves; Onion soup restores a debilitated stomach, etc., etc. In fact, it would be easy thus to go through the whole vegetable list and find each one possessing some special mission of healthfulness.

Where Early Vegetables Come From.

The Bermudas send annually about $400,000 worth of potatoes, onions, beets and tomatoes to New York, during the months of March, April and May. Florida garden produce finds its way North very early in the Spring, and later, in regular order, Georgia, South and North Carolina, and Virginia, wheel into line with their numerous productions, until, finally, our home gardeners have their season. During all this time our vegetables on sale are improving in freshness as they are drawn from sources nearer home, and prices are falling.

The Varieties.

POTATOES.—The heavier ones are more mealy and nutritious than those which are waxy and soft. There are many favorite varieties. Some are early but less mealy, others prolific but lacking in flavor, etc.—hence prices vary. SWEET POTATOES.—There are two varieties—the red and yellow—with but little difference in price. CABBAGE.—A standard vegetable the year round; the heaviest are the best. CAULIFLOWER, best from April to December; the large, creamy white, solid heads are preferred; dark or soft spots indicate staleness. ONIONS are very nutritious; their powerful odor is due to a strong smelling, volatile, sulphurized oil. There are the white or silver skinned, yellow and red. Spanish Onions are milder, and much eaten raw. GARLIC, a pungent species of the onion tribe, and very healthful; used for flavoring. LEEKS and CHIVES are allies of the onion. Leeks have large leaves, a thick stalk and small root; Chives, used as salads, have small, spine-like leaves. CARROTS, TURNIPS, BEETS and PARSNIPS are standard vegetables to be had throughout the year; frost improves the latter.

ASPARAGUS.—A choice and health giving vegetable. Season begins in March, and it grows fibrous in July. CELERY is improved by frost, and is in its prime and cheapest during the winter months, after which it becomes tougher and stringy. CUCUMBERS.—A pleasant, cooling vegetable, but difficult of digestion, and containing little nourishment. TOMATOES are excellent food for people with weak stomachs or liver difficulties; is a vegetable that could ill be spared. Millions of bushels are canned every year, and if properly put up are nearly as good as the fresh article. PEAS.—The smaller varieties are best, should be purchased in the pods, which should be cool, crisp and green. A black spot on the pea indicates that it is too old to be at its best. BEANS, shelled and string.—The former embrace the Lima sorts. The Neapolitan or snap is considered best of the String beans. GREEN CORN comes from the South in May, and the home supply lasts till October. Ears should be well filled and milky, and not too old. Green sweet corn is the best.

RHUBARB.—Much used for sauce and pies. The leaves are said to contain oxalic acid, and must not be eaten. RADISH, said to be difficult of digestion itself, but helps to digest other food. There are two varieties, the small bulbous, or round, and the long. ARTICHOKE, a tuber like the potato; is pickled, used as a salad and as a vegetable. SQUASH.—The summer squash is in market from April to September. Winter squash is more substantial but less delicate. OYSTER PLANT has a grassy top, and a long, tapering, white root like a carrot; its flavor suggests that of oysters. EGG PLANT, called GUINEA SQUASH at the South, should be firm, hard, and rather under ripe, it also tastes somewhat like an oyster; the large, purple, oval shaped, is the better variety. OKRA or GUMBO.—The green seed pods are much esteemed for soups and stews, especially in the South, and are growing in favor at the North. The long green variety is considered best. LETTUCE, SPINACH, BRUSSELS SPROUTS, KALE, BEET-TOPS, DANDELION LEAVES, ETC., are used as salads and for greens.

MELONS.—MUSK-MELON, the stronger the musk odor, the finer it is; but if it appears quite ripe all over, it is over ripe and decomposing. If it has no odor, it is only fit for cattle. WATER-MELON, if pressed near its center, should yield a little, and the indentation disappear when the finger is removed. If no indent can be made, the melon is too green, if the depression remains, the melon is over ripe.

BEANS, PEAS, and LENTILS.—These leguminous seeds are very nutritious and palatable, and rank high among strength-giving foods. They contain vegetable casein in place of gluten, and hence are not suitable for making bread; all these articles are more digestible if eaten with fat, and the American staple dish of Pork and Beans is really the marriage of two articles which agree very well with each other. Dried PEAS, split, or ground into meal, are much used for soups. LENTILS, which are round seeds like flattened peas, are excellent used as a vegetable, but are comparatively little known. The most popular varieties of the white beans are the Marrow, Kidney and Pea beans. There are also _Frijoles_ or black beans, Lima beans, etc.

DRIED FRUITS.

The chief consideration with articles in this line is, that they should be as fresh as possible, and free from vermin and traces of vermin. Worms in dried fruits are never in sight, even though they may swarm below the surface. DRIED APPLES should be light colored, plump and acid. Evaporated fruit (by the Alden process, etc.) is preferred to sun-dried. It is often bleached in the fumes of sulphurous acid, which has a tendency to keep the fruit free from worms, and does not injure the flavor. DRIED PEACHES should be pealed, clear and dark. DRIED PLUMS should be pitted, clear and bright. DRIED BERRIES—the chief danger is from worms.

Raisins.

Raisins are dried grapes. The finest are the Dehesa “Layers;” next are the CLUSTER, or BUNCH raisins, and the “LOOSE,” which are without stems. They are better in proportion to the number of crowns in the brand, as 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 Crowns. The small seedless raisins are called “SULTANA,” and come from Smyrna. VALENCIAS are the common cooking raisins. CALIFORNIA RAISINS (Muscatel) are excellent, very fast growing in popular favor, and are the coming summer raisin. The best raisins are of the “Last crop.” Age tends to crystallize the grape sugar in raisins, and they are also liable to the attacks of vermin.

DRIED CURRANTS are the small dried grapes of the Ionian Islands. The “_Vostizza_” come in cases, and are considered better in proportion as they are larger in size. There are a number of varieties of currants. They should be bright and clean.

FIGS are said to be easier of digestion than any other dried sweet fruit, and are slightly laxative. “_Eleme_,” signifies superior, or hand picked. Generally the last crop “Layers” (as distinguished from those in kegs) are the best; they should be fresh, moist, thin skinned, semi-transparent, and free from vermin. There are many varieties, and they are put up in all sorts of packages.

PRUNES are dried plums, or “French plums,” as they are sometimes called. They are extensively raised in the valley of the Loire, in France; also in Germany, and about Bosnia, in Turkey. California prunes are also excellent, and very popular wherever they are known. The largest and freshest prunes are the best. They come in bottles, tins, bags, boxes and casks.

DATES.—This “Bread of the Desert” is the sun-dried fruit of the date palm, and is both nourishing and palatable. Dates were formerly packed in frails, but now come usually in boxes. Among the best varieties of Persian and Egyptian dates are the “Hallowee” and the “_Sair_;” some are large, yellow, moist, and little wrinkled, others are smaller, dark in color, with small pits; some are very sweet and insipid, and others almost aromatic in flavor.

TAMARINDS are the pods of a tree, growing in the East and West Indies, gathered when ripe, and preserved in sugar or molasses. They are acid, pleasant, healthful, and cooling. They come in bottles, stone jars and kegs.

NUTS.

ALMONDS are of two kinds, the sweet and bitter; the latter are only used for making extracts. Among the edible varieties are the Tarragona, Valencia, “Jordan,” a corruption of _Jardin_ (garden), etc. There are hard, soft, and “paper shell” almonds, and almond meats freed from their shells. FILBERTS are cultivated hazel nuts and come mainly from Sicily. PECANS come from Texas. WALNUTS from Italy, France, and Chili. BRAZIL NUTS grow along the Amazon in clusters on high trees. They are oily and rich. PEANUTS come from Virginia, and CHESTNUTS from Italy and our own Northern States.

TOBACCO.

The active principle of tobacco is the alkaloid nicotine, but it cannot be said that the effects of tobacco are solely due to this substance, for some varieties, as the Syrian, etc., contains little or no nicotine, yet are considered strong. The quantity of nicotine varies much in tobacco, or from one-half of one per cent. to eight per cent. As a rule, the finer the quality and flavor, the less nicotine the tobacco contains.

There are many varieties of tobacco, as those of Virginia, Kentucky, Maryland, etc., which are used mainly for chewing, while the Cuban, Turkish, Connecticut, Sumatra, etc., are considered better for cigars. All these tobaccos may vary again in species, as, for instance, there are the Orinoco, Cienfuegos, White Stem, One Sucker, Isabella, White Barley, Fiji Orinoco, Cubani, and many others. Havana or Cuban tobacco has long held the palm over all the world for making the most exquisitely flavored cigars. The aromatic principles on which its value depends can only be developed under a warm, moist climate.

Chewing Tobacco

Is used both in the “PLUG” form and as “FINE CUT,” and in some localities preference is given to the one, while little of the other is sold. The New England and some of the Western States take their chewing tobacco largely in plugs, while the Middle States take more kindly to the fine cut. Detroit has a national reputation for the manufacture of fine cut tobaccos, which are extensively sold in tin foil and paper packages, and in bulk, in pails, etc. There are many hundreds of brands of chewing tobacco, both plug and fine cut. Some are the natural leaf, while others are sweetened; so that the most diversified tastes may be satisfied.

Smoking Tobacco.

North Carolina, Virginia, and Kentucky are foremost among the States in the manufacture of the smoking tobaccos, which are almost infinite in variety and sold in all sorts of packages. Among them are the “Long” and “Short cut,” “Navy Clippings,” “Granulated,” “Nigger Head,” “Sweet Spun Roll,” “Golden Cavendish,” “Durham,” “Fruits and Flowers,” “Seal of North Carolina,” “Seal of Virginia,” and many others, besides imported varieties, as Persian, Latakia, Havana, etc. In addition to smoking tobaccos, many grocers keep a full assortment of PIPES, from the common clay up, through all kinds of briar and applewood pipes to the genuine meerschaum goods of every style and quality.

Cigars.

The value of a cigar depends not only on the quality of the leaf, but largely also on the mode of manufacture. If rolled too hard or too loosely, it will burn badly.

Why a Cigar Should Burn Well.

The best burning leaves must be used for wraps; if not, the air has no access to the inside burning parts, and the empyreumatical substances are volatilized without being decomposed. Such cigars make much smoke and smell disagreeably. If the cigar burns well, more of the nicotine is consumed and decomposed. Cigars, therefore, which contain little nicotine and burn poorly, are more narcotic in their effects than well burning cigars which contain a greater quantity of nicotine. Hence, the leaves of the Connecticut or “Seed leaf” tobacco, which burn freely and well, are much used for wrappers for cigars filled with Havana tobacco. Within recent years, however, the handsome leaved Sumatra tobacco is quite largely used for wrappers upon medium priced cigars, as it burns better than Cuban tobacco.

Quality of Cigars.

The real excellence of a very high-priced cigar is not in proportion to its cost, which depends largely on its size and the fancy of the buyer. For instance, a 50-cent cigar will burn no better nor be much, if any more fragrant than a 25-cent cigar. It may be larger, and the large Havana leaves, free from veins and suitable for use as wrappers for fine, large cigars are so scarce and high, as to enhance their cost out of all proportion to that of an equally well flavored, though smaller cigar. In fact, 10 or 15 cents should procure as good a medium sized cigar as average people care to smoke. The dude’s dollar cigar is not much, if any better, except as fancy makes it so.

Many of the 5-cent cigars sold so extensively, contain a large proportion of Havana tobacco, and make a fairly fragrant and pleasant smoke. It is said that there are upwards of 100,000 open and proprietary brands of cigars on the market.

CIGARETTES.—The sale of these little paper tubes filled with tobacco, has grown enormously within a few years and is still increasing. It is whispered that the ladies even, sometimes seek to find in them a whiff of the solace and comfort their brothers and husbands find in the pipe or cigar. There are many favorite brands on the market.

SNUFF.—This article which is made from the stems and refuse of the tobacco, or largely so, is comparatively little used in this country; but in some sections, and especially in the South it is sold to a considerable extent. It comes in bulk and in jars, bottles, bladders, and packets. Among the varieties are “Carolina Sweet” and plain Scotch Snuff, Maccaboy and coarse French Rappee, scented or plain.

SOAP.

Soap is made by boiling down oils or fats in a water solution of caustic soda or potash. Through the acid properties of the fats, the oleine, stearine, margarine, etc., which they contain, combine with the alkali to produce the saponified compound.

Hard soap is made with soda; soft soap with potash. The more oleine in the fat, the softer the soap; the more stearine the harder. Rosin is also largely used, sometimes to the extent of one-third the weight of the soap. It increases its hardness, makes it dissolve easier in water and forms a more copious lather.

The Most Economical Soap.

Soap may be two-thirds water and still remain solid. Even dry, hard soap contains 20 or 25 per cent. of moisture. An excess of water causes soap to waste or dissolve too freely in use; hence, as soap is perpetually losing water by evaporation, the most economical to buy is that with some age and moderately dry, yet not so much dried that it will not dissolve readily and make a good lather or suds.

Effects of Strong Soap on Fabrics.

Soap must not be strong enough to injure fabrics or discharge colors, yet sufficiently powerful to render grease and dirt soluble, so that it may be washed away in water. Rosin soap hardens the fibers of wool, and alkalies, if used to excess, shrink woolen fabrics. Hard water, or that containing lime or magnesia, more or less decomposes soap, and it floats on the surface as a greasy scum. But if an oily film rises to the top of soft water, it shows that the fat in the soap is not all saponified. Soft water is better than hard for fabrics.

What Soaps Are Made Of.

COMMON YELLOW BAR SOAP contains soda with fat and rosin. WHITE SOAP consists of tallow and soda. CASTILE SOAP is made of olive oil and soda. COMMON FANCY SOAPS are mainly ordinary soap colored and scented. Real BROWN WINDSOR SOAP is made of goat tallow, olive oil and soda. TRANSPARENT SOAPS are those which have been dissolved in alcohol. FINE TOILET SOAPS are made with as little alkali as possible, of almond, palm or olive oil, suet, lard, etc., colored and perfumed.

SHAVING SOAPS and CREAMS are made either with soda or potash, of fine tallow or cocoanut oil, which has the property of making a strong lather. MOTTLED SOAPS owe their variegations of color to the use of iron oxides. It is said that these cannot be effectively applied if the soap contains an excess of water, and that more skill is required to make good blue mottled soap than any other. The more any soap is worked over, or remelted, cooled, etc., the better it becomes.

A Wide Range of Choice.

There is a great variety of soaps upon the market, and language has been ransacked to find appropriate names for them. Among them are “FAMILY,” “LAUNDRY,” “IVORY,” “BEST SOAP,” “ELECTRIC,” “OZONE,” “BORAX,” “SAND SOAP,” “SILVER SOAP,” “SAPOLIO,” etc., and many scouring and detergent articles, as “PEARLINE,” “SOAPINE,” “SCOURENE,” “WASHING COMPOUND,” “WASHING CRYSTAL,” etc.

In Toilet Soaps there is an equally wide range of choice, embracing every color and variegation of color, and every perfume that is agreeable to the smell. Soaps are also charged with disinfecting substances, as carbolic acid, etc., and variously medicated with sulphur, camphor, glycerine, and other materials for softening and healing the skin.

STARCH.

Laundry starch is mostly made from corn. The grain is crushed and fermented to a degree, when the starch is washed out and allowed to settle in large vats. The best qualities are washed and settled again and again; the number of washings grading the strength, purity and cost. Potato starch is more costly than corn starch, and, as it gives a softer finish to fabrics, is chiefly used by manufacturers. Corn starch for culinary purposes is thoroughly washed, purified and deodorized. Laundry starch should never be eaten.

The best laundry starch is in large, hard, flinty crystals; such indicate a stronger starch, containing less moisture than that with small or soft crystals. Laundry starch comes in bulk or boxes, and in paper packages. There are many fancy proprietary brands of starch, as “IVORY,” “IVORINE,” “GLOSS,” “SATIN GLOSS,” “SILVER GLOSS,” “GLOSS POLISH,” “ELASTIC,” etc. Some of them are powdered, and contain borax, wax, or gum, etc., and are scented with winter-green, etc. Such come higher than the better grades of laundry starch in crystals, but it is a question if they are proportionately superior for family use. STARCH POLISHES are preparations of spermaceti, wax, or paraffine.

Blueing (Laundry).

This article may be had in balls, powders, or in a liquid form. There are a goodly number of proprietary brands, some of which give a tint which appears somewhat greenish when placed by the side of a pure and delicate blue. The coloring principle is usually indigo, Prussian blue, or the favorite ultramarine. The most satisfactory laundry blueing is that which is really and intensely blue in tint, and which is most completely soluble in water, so that it will be well distributed and not make the clothes look streaked.

Candles.

In some sections, candles form an important article of trade. They are now made in a great variety of exquisite tints by the use of analine colors of various sizes and weights, and with patent self-fitting ends. The more costly kinds are made of spermaceti, wax, stearine, paraffine, etc., down to the pressed, adamantine, and common tallow candles. Some carry embossed and handsome decalcomania decorations and are either white, blue, green, pink, yellow, red, etc., or assorted. There are “BOUDOIR,” “PIANO,” “CLEOPATRA,” “CABLE,” and “FLAG” candles, wax “NIGHT LIGHTS,” “CHRISTMAS TREE CANDLES,” and wax “GAS LIGHTERS,” warranted not to drip.

BRUSHES.—No domestic article is in more common use than the brush in its various forms. The best bristles come from the wild hog of Russia and Poland. The whitest and finest are used for paint, tooth, hat, hair, and clothes brushes. Some brushes are made with one tuft only, like the paint brush, others with many. The best are “Wire drawn;” that is, the tufts are bent double to form loops through which wires are passed, to draw and hold them firmly into the holes of the base. Others have the tufts wedged or glued in. Brushes are made with long and short handles, and of every conceivable form and quality, from “Sink scrubs” upward.

BROOMS.—The finer the corn the better the broom. A natural green color indicates toughness and flexibility, and such corn is better than that which is of a sickly yellow or lemon color. But the latter is often given the desired green tint by artificial colorings. Plain or unpainted handles are best, good brooms weigh 25 to 30 pounds to the dozen, but extra large and heavy ones are made weighing 40 to 50 pounds.

WASHBOARDS.—There are fifty or more varieties of these “Monday Morning Pianos.” Metal scrubbers are preferred to wood, which is liable to splinter, wound the fingers, and tear the clothes. And a plain crimp is better for fabrics than a rougher crimp, although the latter may extract the dirt quicker. A favorite variety have adjustable chest protectors. CLOTHES PINS are of two kinds, the old fashioned and the spring clasp. The latter are little used.

MOPS.—There are two kinds in the stores; one of twisted twine, which is generally thought to be most durable, the other of cotton and less expensive.

STOVE POLISH.—This is chiefly plumbago or black lead. Among the favorite brands are “DIXON,” “RISING SUN,” “A. B. C.,” etc. There is also a liquid preparation or “Enamel,” said to give a good polish without dust or smell, and with little labor.

BLACKING.—The best is that which will, without injury to the leather, most easily and quickly give a handsome and durable polish. Besides the excellent domestic varieties, there are the French Marcerou, and Jacquot’s, in tin boxes, which are reliable and but little more expensive, and the old time Day & Martin’s blacking in stone jugs. For ladies’ use there are many domestic and imported SHOE DRESSINGS in liquid form, which require no rubbing.

MATCHES.—Common sulphur matches are made both square and round, and come packed in various kinds of boxes and papers. PARLOR MATCHES, of American, Swedish, and other foreign manufacture, are made without sulphur; and chloride of potash, antimony, etc., are often used instead of phosphorus. The splints are sometimes soaked in oil or paraffine to make them burn freely. SAFETY MATCHES have the phosphorus on sand paper and the other materials on the ends of the splints, and neither can be ignited except by friction with the other. There are many kinds of WAX TAPERS, “FLAMING LIGHTS,” etc.

SEEDS.—The raising of seeds has become a large industry. Leading producers make careful tests of all their seeds, and even offer valuable prizes for the best vegetables and flowers grown from them. Some grocers lay in every season a fresh and full supply of all the seeds used in the garden or field, and they are almost always reliable.

BIRDSEED, FOOD, ETC.—Canary seed comes both in bulk and pound packages, either alone or mixed with millet, German rape seed, etc.; many packages contain a piece of cuttle fish bone. There are BIRD GRAVEL, BIRD PEPPER, MOCKING BIRD FOOD in bottles, etc.