CHAPTER XXI.
ON THE CARE OF ROOMS.
In selecting the furniture of parlors, some reference should be had to correspondence of shades and colors. Curtains should be darker than the walls; and, if the walls and carpets be light, the chairs should be dark, and _vicè versa_. Pictures always look best on light walls.
In selecting carpets for rooms much used, it is poor economy to buy cheap ones. _Ingrain_ carpets, of close texture, and the _three-ply_ carpets, are best for common use. _Brussels_ carpets do not wear so long as the three-ply ones, because they can not be turned. _Wilton_ carpets wear badly, and _Venetians_ are good only for halls and stairs.
In selecting colors, avoid those in which there are any black threads; as they are usually rotten. The most tasteful carpets are those which are made of various shades of the same color, or of all shades of only two colors; such as brown and yellow, or blue and buff, or salmon and green, or all shades of green, or of brown. All very dark shades should be brown or green, but not black.
In laying down carpets, it is a bad practice to put straw under them, as this makes them wear out in spots. Straw matting, laid under carpets, makes them last much longer, as it is smooth and even, and the dust sifts through it. In buying carpets, always get a few yards over, to allow for waste in matching figures.
In cutting carpets, make them three or four inches shorter than the room, to allow for stretching. Begin to cut _in the middle_ of a figure, and it will usually match better. Many carpets match in two different ways, and care must be taken to get the right one. Sew a carpet on the wrong side, with double waxed thread, and with the _ball-stitch_. This is done by taking a stitch on the breadth next you, pointing the needle toward you; and then taking a stitch on the other breadth, pointing the needle from you. Draw the thread tightly, but not so as to pucker. In fitting a breadth to the hearth, cut slits in the right place, and turn the piece under. Bind _the whole_ of the carpet with carpet-binding, nail it with tacks, having bits of leather under the heads. To stretch the carpet, use a carpet-fork, which is a long stick, ending with notched tin, like saw-teeth. This is put in the edge of the carpet, and pushed by one person, while the nail is driven by another. Cover blocks or bricks with carpeting like that of the room, and put them behind tables, doors, sofas, etc., to preserve the walls from injury by knocking, or by the dusting-cloth.
Cheap footstools, made of a square plank, covered with tow-cloth, stuffed, and then covered with carpeting, with worsted handles, look very well. Sweep carpets as seldom as possible, as it wears them out. To shake them often is good economy. In cleaning carpets, use damp tea leaves, or wet Indian meal, throwing it about, and rubbing it over with the broom. The latter is very good for cleansing carpets made dingy by coal-dust. In brushing carpets in ordinary use, it will be found very convenient to use a large flat dust-pan, with a perpendicular handle a yard high, put on so that the pan will stand alone, This can be carried about and used without stooping, brushing dust into it with a common or small whisk broom. The pan must be very large, or it will be upset.
When carpets are taken up, they should be hung on a line, or laid on long grass, and whipped, first on one side, and then on the other, with pliant whips. If laid aside, they should be sewed up tight in linen, having snuff or tobacco put along all the crevices where moths could enter. Shaking pepper, from a pepper-box, round the edge of the floor, under a carpet, prevents the access of moths.
Carpets can be best washed on the floor, thus: First shake them; and then, after cleaning the floor, stretch and nail them upon it. Then scrub them in cold soap-suds, having half a tea-cupful of ox-gall to a bucket of water. Then wash off the suds with a cloth in fair water. Set open the doors and windows for two days or more. Imperial Brussels, Venetian, ingrain, and three-ply carpets can be washed thus; but Wilton and other plush carpets can not. Before washing them, take out grease with a paste made of potter’s clay, ox-gall, and water.
Straw matting is the best for chambers and summer parlors. The checked, of two colors, is not so good to wear. The best is the cheapest in the end. When washed, it should be done with salt water, wiping it dry; but frequent washing injures it. Bind matting with cotton binding. Sew breadths together like carpeting. In joining the ends of pieces, ravel out a part, and tie the threads together, turning under a little of each piece, and then, laying the ends close, nail them down, with nails having kid under their heads.
In hanging pictures, put them so that the lower part shall be opposite the eye. Cleanse the glass of pictures with whiting, as water endangers the pictures. Gilt frames can be much better preserved by putting on a coat of copal varnish, which, with proper brushes, can be bought of carriage or cabinet makers. When dry, it can be washed with fair water. Wash the brush in spirits of turpentine.
Curtains, ottomans, and sofas covered with worsted, can be cleansed by wheat bran rubbed on with flannel. Dust Venetian blinds with feather brushes. Buy light-colored ones, as the green are going of fashion. Strips of linen or cotton, on rollers and pulleys, are much in use, to shut out the sun from curtains and carpets. Paper curtains, pasted on old cotton, are good for chambers. Put them on rollers having cords nailed to them, so that when the curtain falls the cord will be wound up. Then, by pulling the cord, the curtain will be rolled up.
_House-cleaning_ should be done in dry, warm weather. Several friends of the writer maintain that cleaning paint, and windows, and floors in _hard_, _cold_ water, without any soap, using a flannel wash-cloth, is much better than using warm suds. It is worth trying. In cleaning in the common way, sponges are best for windows, and clean water only should be used. They should be first wiped with linen, and then with old silk. The outside of windows should be washed with a long brush made for the purpose; and they should be rinsed, by throwing upon them water containing a little saltpetre.
When inviting company, mention in the note the day of the month and week, and the hour for coming. Provide a place for ladies to dress their hair, with a glass, pins, and combs. A pitcher of cold water and a tumbler should be added. When the company is small, it is becoming a common method for the table to be set at one end of the room, the lady of the house to pour out tea, and the gentlemen of the party to wait on the ladies and themselves. When tea is sent round, always send a tea-pot of hot water to weaken it, and a slop-bowl, or else many persons will drink their tea much stronger than they wish.
Let it ever be remembered that the burning of lights and the breath of guests are constantly exhausting the air of its healthful principle; therefore avoid crowding many guests into one room. Do not tempt the palate by a great variety of unhealthful dainties. Have a warm room for departing guests, that they may not become chilled before they go out.
A parlor should be furnished with candle and fire screens, for those who have weak eyes; and if, at table, a person sits with the back near the fire, a screen should be hung on the back of the chair, as it is very injurious to the whole system to have the back heated.
Pretty baskets, for flowers or fruits, on centre-tables, can be made thus: Knit, with coarse needles, all the various shades of green and brown, into a square piece. Press it with a hot iron, and then ravel it out. Buy a pretty-shaped wicker-basket, or make one of stiff millinet, or thin pasteboard, cut the worsted into bunches, and sew them on, to resemble moss. Then line the basket, and set a cup or dish of water in it, to hold flowers, or use it for a fruit-basket. Handsome fire-boards are made by nailing black foundation-muslin to a frame the size of the fire-place, and then cutting out flowers from wall-paper and pasting them on the muslin, according to the fancy.
Mahogany furniture should be made in the spring, and stand some months before it is used, or it will shrink and warp. Varnished furniture should be rubbed only with silk, except occasionally, when a little sweet-oil should be rubbed over, and wiped off carefully. For unvarnished furniture, use bees-wax, a little softened with sweet-oil; rub it in with a hard brush, and polish with woolen and silk rags. Some persons rub in linseed-oil; others mix bees-wax with a little spirits of turpentine and rosin, making it so that it can be put on with a sponge, and wiped off with a soft rag. Others keep in a bottle the following mixture: two ounces of spirits of turpentine, four table-spoonfuls of sweet-oil, and one quart of milk. This is applied with a sponge, and wiped off with a linen rag.
Hearths and jambs, of brick, look best painted over with black-lead, mixed with soft soap. Wash the bricks which are nearest the fire with redding and milk, using a painter’s brush. A sheet of zinc, covering the whole hearth, is cheap, saves work, and looks very well. A tinman can fit it properly.
Stone hearths should be rubbed with a paste of powdered stone, (to be procured of the stone-cutters,) and then brushed with a stiff brush. Kitchen-hearths, of stone, are improved by rubbing in lamp-oil.
Stains can be removed from marble by oxalic acid and water, or oil of vitriol and water, left on fifteen minutes, and then rubbed dry. Gray marble is improved by linseed-oil. Grease can be taken from marble by ox-gall and potter’s clay wet with soap-suds, (a gill of each). It is better to add, also, a gill of spirits of turpentine. It improves the looks of marble to cover it with this mixture, leaving it two days, and then rubbing it off.
Unless a parlor is in constant use, it is best to sweep it only once a week, and at other times use a whisk-broom and dust-pan. When a parlor with handsome furniture is to be swept, cover the sofas, centre-table, piano, books, and mantel-piece, with old cottons, kept for the purpose. Remove the rugs, and shake them, and clean the jambs, hearth, and fire-furniture. Then sweep the room, moving every article. Dust the furniture with a dust-brush and a piece of old silk. A painter’s brush should be kept to remove dust from ledges and crevices. The dust-cloths should be often shaken and washed, or else they will soil the walls and furniture when they are used. Dust ornaments, and fine books, with feather brushes, kept for the purpose.
ON THE CARE OF BREAKFAST AND DINING ROOMS.
An eating-room should have in it a large closet, with drawers and shelves, in which should be kept all the articles used at meals. This, if possible, should communicate with the kitchen by a sliding window, or by a door, and have in it a window, and also a small sink, made of marble or lined with zinc, which will be a great convenience for washing nice articles. If there be a dumb-waiter, it is best to have it connected with such a closet. It may be so contrived, that, when it is down, it shall form part of the closet floor.
A table-rug, or crumb-cloth, is useful to save carpets from injury. Bocking, or baize, is best. Always spread the same side up, or the carpet will be soiled by the rug. Table-mats are needful, to prevent injury to the table from the warm dishes. Tea-cup-mats, or small plates, are useful to save the table-cloths from dripping tea or coffee. Butter-knives for the butter-plate, and salt-spoons for salt dishes, are designed to prevent those disgusting marks which are made when persons use their own knives to take salt or butter. A sugar-spoon should be kept in or by the sugar-dish, for the same purpose. Table-napkins, of diaper, are often laid by each person’s plate, for use during the meal, to save the table-cloth and pocket-handkerchief. To preserve the same napkin for the same person, each member of the family has a given number, and the napkins are numbered to correspond, or else are slipped into ivory rings, which are numbered. A stranger has a clean one at each meal. Table-cloths should be well starched, and ironed on the right side, and always, when taken off, folded in the ironed creases. _Doilies_ are colored napkins, which, when fruit is offered, should always be furnished, to prevent a person from staining a nice handkerchief, or permitting the fruit-juice to dry on the fingers.
Casters and salt-stands should be put in order, every morning, when washing the breakfast things. Always, if possible, provide _fine_ and _dry_ table-salt, as many persons are much disgusted with that which is dark, damp, and coarse. Be careful to keep salad-oil closely corked, or it will grow rancid. Never leave the salt-spoons in the salt, nor the mustard-spoon in the mustard, as they are thereby injured. Wipe them immediately after the meal.
For table-furniture, French china is deemed the nicest, but it is liable to the objection of having plates so made that salt, butter, and similar articles, will not lodge on the edge, but slip into the centre. Select knives and forks which have weights in the handles, so that, when laid down, they will not touch the table. Those with riveted handles last longer than any others. Horn handles (except buck-horn) are very poor. The best are cheapest in the end. Knives should be sharpened once a month, unless they are kept sharp by the mode of scouring.
ON SETTING TABLES.
Neat housekeepers observe the manner in which a table is set more than any thing else; and, to a person of good taste, few things are more annoying than to see the table placed askew; the table-cloth soiled, rumpled, and put on awry; the plates, knives, and dishes thrown about without any order; the pitchers soiled on the outside, and sometimes within; the tumblers dim; the caster out of order; the butter pitched on the plate, without any symmetry; the salt coarse, damp, and dark; the bread cut in a mixture of junks and slices; the dishes of food set on at random, and without mats; the knives dark or rusty, and their handles greasy; the tea-furniture all out of order, and every thing in similar style. And yet, many of these negligences will be met with at the tables of persons who call themselves well bred, and who have wealth enough to make much outside show. One reason for this is, the great difficulty of finding domestics who will attend to these things in a proper manner, and who, after they have been repeatedly instructed, will not neglect nor forget what has been said to them. The writer has known cases where much has been gained by placing the following rules in plain sight, in the place where the articles for setting tables are kept.
RULES FOR SETTING A TABLE.
1. Lay the rug square with the room, and also smooth and even; then set the table also square with the room, and see that the _legs_ are in the right position to support the leaves.
2. Lay the table-cloth square with the table, _right side up_, smooth and even.
3. Put on the tea-tray (for breakfast or tea) square with the table; set the cups and saucers at the front side of the tea-tray, and the sugar, slop-bowls, and cream-cup at the back side. Lay the sugar-spoon or tongs on the sugar-bowl.
4. Lay the plates around the table at equal intervals, and the knives and forks at regular distances, each in the same particular manner, with a cup-mat or cup-plate to each, and a napkin at the right side of each person.
5. If meat be used, set the caster and salt-cellars in the centre of the table; then lay mats for the dishes, and place the carving-knife, and fork and steel by the master of the house. Set the butter on two plates, one on either side, with a butter-knife by each.
6. Set the tea or coffee-pot on a mat, at the right hand of the tea-tray, (if there be not room upon it.) Then place the chairs around the table, and call the family.
FOR DINNER.
1. Place the rug, table, table-cloth, plates, knives and forks, and napkins, as before directed, with a tumbler by each plate. In cold weather, set the plates where they will be warmed.
2. Put the caster in the centre, and the salt-stands at two oblique corners, of the table, the latter between two large spoons crossed. If more spoons be needed, lay them on each side of the caster crossed. Set the pitcher on a mat, either at a side-table, or, when there is no waiter, on the dining-table. Water looks best in glass decanters.
3. Set the bread on the table, when there is no waiter. Some take a fork and lay a piece on the napkin or tumbler by each plate. Others keep it in a tray, covered with a white napkin to keep off flies. Bread for dinner is often cut in small junks, and not in slices.
4. Set the principal dish before the master of the house, and the other dishes in a regular manner. Put the carving-knife, fork, and steel by the principal dish, and also a knife-rest, if one be used.
5. Put a small knife and fork by the pickles, and also by any other dishes which need them. Then place the chairs.
ON WAITING AT TABLE.
A domestic who waits on the table should be required to keep the hair and hands in neat order, and have on a clean apron. A small tea-tray should be used to carry cups and plates. The waiter should announce the meal (when ready) to the mistress of the family, then stand by the eating-room door till all are in, then close the door, and step to the left side of the lady of the house. When all are seated, the waiter should remove the covers, taking care first to invert them, so as not to drop the steam on the table-cloth or guests. In presenting articles, go to the left side of the person. In pouring water, never entirely fill the tumbler. The waiter should notice when bread or water is wanting, and hand it without being called. When plates are changed, be careful not to drop knives or forks. Brush off crumbs, with a crumb-brush, into a small waiter.
When there is no domestic waiter, a light table should be set at the left side of the mistress of the house, on which the bread, water, and other articles not in immediate use can be placed.
ON CARVING AND HELPING AT TABLE.
It is considered an accomplishment for a lady to know how to carve well at her own table. It is not proper to stand in carving. The carving-knife should be sharp and thin. To carve fowls (which should always be laid with the breast uppermost,) place the fork in the breast, and take off the wings and legs without turning the fowl; then cut out the merry-thought, cut slices from the breast, take out the collar bone, cut off the side pieces, and then cut the carcass in two. Divide the joints in the leg of a turkey.
In helping the guests, when no choice is expressed, give a piece of both the white and dark meat, with some of the stuffing. Inquire whether the guest will be helped to each kind of vegetable, and put the gravy on the plate, and not on any article of food.
In carving a sirloin, cut thin slices from the side next to you, (it must be put on the dish with the tenderloin underneath;) then turn it, and cut from the tenderloin. Help the guest to both kinds.
In carving a leg of mutton or a ham, begin by cutting across the middle to the bone. Cut a tongue across, and not lengthwise, and help from the middle part.
Carve a fore-quarter of lamb by separating the shoulder from the ribs, and then dividing the ribs. To carve a loin of veal, begin at the smaller end and separate the ribs. Help each one to a piece of the kidney and its fat. Carve pork and mutton in the same way.
To carve a fillet of veal, begin at the top, and help to the stuffing with each slice. In a breast of veal, separate the breast and brisket, and then cut them up, asking which part is preferred. In carving a pig, it is customary to divide it, and take off the head, before it comes to the table; as, to many persons, the head is very revolting. Cut off the limbs, and divide the ribs. In carving venison, make a deep incision down to the bone, to let out the juices; then turn the broad end of the haunch toward you, cutting deep, in thin slices. For a saddle of venison, cut from the tail toward the other end, on each side, in thin slices. Warm plates are very necessary with venison and mutton, and in winter are desirable for all meats.
ON THE CARE OF CHAMBERS AND BEDROOMS.
Every mistress of a family should see not only that all sleeping-rooms in her house _can be_ well ventilated at night, but that they actually are so. Where there is no open fire-place to admit the pure air from the exterior, a door should be left open into an entry, or room where fresh air is admitted; or else a small opening should be made in the top and bottom of a window, taking care not to allow a draught of air to cross the bed. The debility of childhood, the lassitude of domestics, and the ill health of families, are often caused by neglecting to provide a supply of pure air. Straw matting is best for a chamber carpet, and strips of woolen carpeting may be laid by the side of the bed. Where chambers have no closets, a _wardrobe_ is indispensable. A low square box, set on casters, with a cushion on the top, and a drawer on one side to put shoes in, is a great convenience in dressing the feet. An old Champagne basket, fitted up with a cushion on the lid, and a valance fastened to it to cover the sides, can be used for the same purpose.
Another convenience, for a room where sewing is done in summer, is a fancy jar, set in one corner, to receive clippings, and any other rubbish. It can be covered with prints or paintings, and varnished, and then looks very prettily.
The trunks in a chamber can be improved in looks and comfort by making cushions of the same size and shape, stuffed with hay and covered with chintz, with a frill reaching nearly to the floor.
Every bed-chamber should have a wash-stand, bowl, pitcher, and tumbler, with a wash-bucket under the stand, to receive slops. A light screen, made like a clothes-frame, and covered with paper or chintz, should be furnished for bedrooms occupied by two persons, so that ablutions can be performed in privacy. It can be ornamented, so as to look well anywhere. A little frame, or towel-horse, by the wash-stand, on which to dry towels, is a convenience. A wash-stand should be furnished with a sponge or wash-cloth, and a small towel, for wiping the basin after using it. This should be hung on the wash-stand or towel-horse, for constant use. A soap-dish, and a dish for tooth-brushes, are neat and convenient, and each person should be furnished with two towels; one for the feet, and one for other purposes.
It is in good taste to have the curtains, bed-quilt, valance, and window-curtains of similar materials. In making feather-beds, side-pieces should be put in, like those of mattresses, and the bed should be well filled, so that a person will not be buried in a hollow, which is not healthful, save in extremely cold weather. Feather-beds should never be used except in cold weather. At other times, a thin mattress of hair, cotton and moss, or straw, should be put over them. A simple strip of broad straw matting, spread over a feather-bed, answers the same purpose. Nothing is more debilitating than, in warm weather, to sleep with a feather-bed pressing round the greater part of the body. Pillows stuffed with papers an inch square are good for summer, especially for young children, whose heads should be kept cool. The cheapest and best covering of a bed, for winter, is a _cotton comforter_, made to contain three or four pounds of cotton, laid in bats or sheets, between covers tacked together at regular intervals. They should be three yards square, and less cotton should be put at the sides that are tucked in. It is better to have two thin comforters to each bed, than one thick one; as then the covering can be regulated according to the weather.
Few domestics will make a bed properly without much attention from the mistress of the family. The following directions should be given to those who do this work:
Open the windows, and lay off the bed-covering, on two chairs, at the foot of the bed. After the bed is well aired, shake the feathers, from each corner to the middle; then take up the middle, and shake it well, and turn the bed over. Then push the feathers in place, making the head higher than the foot, and the sides even, and as high as the middle part. Then put on the bolster and the under sheet, so that the wrong side of the sheet shall go next the bed, and the _marking_ come at the head, tucking in all around. Then put on the pillows, even, so that the open ends shall come to the sides of the bed, and then spread on the upper sheet, so that the wrong side shall be next the blankets and the marked end at the head. This arrangement of sheets is to prevent the part where the feet lie from being reversed, so as to come to the face, and also to prevent the parts soiled by the body from coming to the bed-tick and blankets. Then put on the other covering, except the outer one, tucking in all around, and then turn over the upper sheet, at the head, so as to show a part of the pillows. When the pillow-cases are clean and smooth, they look best outside of the cover, but not otherwise. Then draw the hand along the side of the pillows, to make an even indentation, and then smooth and shape the whole outside. A nice housekeeper always notices the manner in which a bed is made; and in some parts of the country it is rare to see this work properly performed.
The writer would here urge every mistress of a family who keeps more than one domestic to provide them with single beds, that they may not be obliged to sleep with all the changing domestics, who come and go so often. Where the room is too small for two beds, a narrow truckle-bed under another will answer. Domestics should be furnished with washing conveniences in their chambers, and be encouraged to keep their persons and rooms neat and in order.
ON PACKING AND STORING ARTICLES.
Fold a gentleman’s coat thus: Lay it on a table or bed, the inside downward, and unroll the collar. Double each sleeve once, making the crease at the elbow, and laying them so as to make the fewest wrinkles, and parallel with the skirts. Turn the fronts over the back and sleeves, and then turn up the skirts, making all as smooth as possible.
Fold a shirt thus: One that has a bosom-piece inserted, lay on a bed, bosom downward. Fold each sleeve twice, and lay it parallel with the sides of the shirt. Turn the two sides, with the sleeves, over the middle part, and then turn up the bottom, with two folds. This makes the collar and bosom lie, unpressed, on the outside.
Fold a frock thus: Lay its front downward, so as to make the first creases in folding come in the side breadths. To do this, find the middle of the side breadths by first putting the middle of the front and back breadths together. Next, fold over the side creases so as just to meet the slit behind. Then fold the skirt again, so as to make the backs lie together within and the fronts without. Then arrange the waist and sleeves, and fold the skirt around them.
In packing trunks for traveling, put all heavy articles at the bottom, covered with paper, which should not be printed, as the ink rubs off. Put coats and pantaloons into linen cases, made for the purpose, and furnished with strings. Fill all crevices with small articles; as, if a trunk is not full, nor tightly packed, its contents will be shaken about and get injured. Under-clothing packs closer by being rolled tightly, instead of being folded.
Bonnet-boxes, made of light wood, with a lock and key, are better than the paper bandboxes so annoying to travelers. Carpet-bags are very useful, to carry the articles to be used on a journey. The best ones have sides inserted, iron rims, and a lock and key. A large silk traveling-bag, with a double linen lining, in which are stitched receptacles for tooth-brush, combs, and other small articles, is a very convenient article for use when traveling.
A bonnet-cover, made of some thin material, like a large hood with a cape, is useful to draw over the bonnet and neck, to keep off dust, sun, and sparks from a steam-engine. Green veils are very apt to stain bonnets when damp.
In packing household furniture for moving, have each box numbered, and then have a book, in which, as each box is packed, note down the number of the box, and the order in which its contents are packed, as this will save much labor and perplexity when unpacking. In packing china and glass, wrap each article separately in paper, and put soft hay or straw at bottom and all around each. Put the heaviest articles at the bottom, and on the top of the box write, “This side up.”
ON THE CARE OF THE KITCHEN, CELLAR, AND STORE-ROOM.
If parents wish their daughters to grow up with good domestic habits, they should have, as one means of securing this result, a neat and cheerful kitchen. A kitchen should always, if possible, be entirely above-ground, and well lighted. It should have a large sink, with a drain running under-ground, so that all the premises may be kept sweet and clean. If flowers and shrubs be cultivated around the doors and windows, and the yard near them be kept well turfed, it will add very much to their agreeable appearance. The walls should often be cleaned and whitewashed, to promote a neat look and pure air. The floor of a kitchen should be painted, or, which is better, covered with an oil-cloth. To procure a kitchen oil-cloth as cheaply as possible, buy cheap tow cloth, and fit it to the size and shape of the kitchen. Then have it stretched, and nailed to the south side of the barn, and with a brush cover it with a coat of thin rye paste. When this is dry, put on a coat of yellow paint, and let it dry for a fortnight. It is safest to first try the paint, and see if it dries well, as some paint never will dry. Then put on a second coat, and, at the end of another fortnight, a third coat. Then let it hang two months, and it will last, uninjured, for many years. The longer the paint is left to dry, the better. If varnished, it will last much longer.
A sink should be scalded out every day, and occasionally with hot ley. On nails, over the sink, should be hung three good dish-cloths, hemmed, and furnished with loops—one for dishes not greasy, one for greasy dishes, and one for washing pots and kettles. These should be put in the wash every week. The lady who insists upon this will not be annoyed by having her dishes washed with dark, musty, and greasy rags, as is too frequently the case.
Under the sink should be kept a slop-pail; and, on a shelf by it, a soap-dish and two water-pails. A large boiler, of warm soft water, should always be kept over the fire, well covered, and a hearth-broom and bellows be hung near the fire. A clock is a very important article in the kitchen, in order to secure regularity at meals.
ON WASHING DISHES.
No item of domestic labor is so frequently done in a negligent manner by domestics as this. A full supply of conveniences will do much toward a remedy of this evil. A swab, made of strips of linen, tied to a stick, is useful to wash nice dishes, especially small, deep articles. Two or three towels, and three dish-cloths, should be used. Two large tin tubs, painted on the outside, should be provided; one for washing, and one for rinsing; also, a large old waiter, on which to drain the dishes. A soap-dish, with hard soap, and a fork, with which to use it, a slop-pail, and two pails for water, should also be furnished. Then, if there be danger of neglect, the following rules for washing dishes, legibly written, may be hung up by the sink, and it will aid in promoting the desired care and neatness.
RULES FOR WASHING DISHES.
1. Scrape the dishes, putting away any food which may remain on them, and which it may be proper to save for future use. Put grease into the grease-pot, and whatever else may be on the plates, into the slop-pail. Save tealeaves, for sweeping. Set all the dishes, when scraped, in regular piles; the smallest at the top.
2. Put the nicest articles in the wash-dish, and wash them in hot suds, with the swab or nicest dish-cloth. Wipe all metal articles as soon as they are washed. Put all the rest into the rinsing-dish, which should be filled with hot water. When they are taken out, lay them to drain on the waiter. Then rinse the dish-cloth and hang it up, wipe the articles washed, and put them in their places.
3. Pour in more hot water, wash the greasy dishes with the dish-cloth made for them; rinse them, and set them to drain. Wipe them, and set them away. Wash the knives and forks, _being careful that the handles are never put in water_; wipe them, and then lay them in a knife-dish to be scoured.
4. Take a fresh supply of clean suds, in which wash the milk-pans, buckets, and tins. Then rinse and hang up this dish-cloth, and take the other; with which wash the roaster, gridiron, pots, and kettles. Then wash and rinse the dish-cloth, and hang it up. Empty the slop-bucket and scald it. Dry metal tea-pots and tins before the fire. Then put the fire-place in order, and sweep and dust the kitchen.
Some persons keep a deep and narrow vessel, in which to wash knives with a swab, so that a careless domestic _can not_ lay them in the water while washing them. This article can be carried into the eating-room, to receive the knives and forks when they are taken from the table.
KITCHEN FURNITURE.
_Crockery._—Brown earthen pans are said to be best for milk and for cooking. Tin pans are lighter, and more convenient, but are too cold for many purposes. Tall earthen jars with covers are good to hold butter, salt, lard, etc. Acids should never be put into the red earthenware, as there is a poisonous ingredient in the glazing which the acid takes off. Stone ware is better and stronger, and safer every way than any other kind.
_Iron Ware._—Many kitchens are very imperfectly supplied with the requisite conveniences for cooking. When a person has sufficient means, the following articles are all desirable: A nest of iron pots, of different sizes, (they should be slowly heated when new;) a long iron fork, to take out articles from boiling water; an iron hook with a handle, to lift pots from the crane; a large and small gridiron, with grooved bars, and a trench to catch the grease; a Dutch oven, called also a bake-pan; two skillets, of different sizes, and a spider, or flat skillet, for frying; a griddle, a waffle-iron, tin and iron bake and bread pans; two ladles, of different sizes; a skimmer; iron skewers; a toasting-iron; two tea-kettles, one small and one large one; two brass kettles, of different sizes, for soap-boiling, etc. Iron kettles lined with porcelain are better for preserves. The German are the best. Too hot a fire will crack them, but with care in this respect they will last for many years.
Portable charcoal furnaces, of iron or clay, are very useful in summer, in washing, ironing, and stewing, or making preserves. If used in the house, a strong draught must be made, to prevent the deleterious effects of the charcoal. A box and mill, for spice, pepper, and coffee, are needful to those who use these articles. Strong knives and forks, a sharp carving-knife, an iron cleaver and board, a fine saw, steelyards, chopping-tray and knife, an apple-parer, steel for sharpening knives, sugar-nippers, a dozen iron spoons, also a large iron one with a long handle, six or eight flat-irons, one of them very small, two iron-stands, a ruffle-iron, a crimping-iron, are also desirable.
_Tin Ware._—Bread-pans; large and small patty-pans; cakepans, with a centre tube to insure their baking well; pie-dishes, (of block-tin;) a covered butter-kettle; covered kettles to hold berries; two saucepans; a large oil-can, (with a cock;) a lamp-filler; a lantern; broad-bottomed candlesticks for the kitchen; a candle-box; a funnel; a reflector for baking warm cakes; an oven or tin-kitchen; an apple-corer; an apple-roaster; an egg-boiler; two sugar-scoops, and flour and meal scoop; a set of mugs; three dippers; a pint, quart, and gallon measure; a set of scales and weights; three or four pails, painted on the outside; a slop-bucket with a tight cover, painted on the outside; a milk-strainer; a gravy-strainer; a colander; a dredging-box; a pepper-box; a large and small grater; a cheese-box; also a large box for cake, and a still larger one for bread, with tight covers. Bread, cake, and cheese, shut up in this way, will not grow dry as in the open air.
_Wooden Ware._—A nest of tubs; a set of pails and bowls; a large and small sieve; a beetle for mashing potatoes; a spade or stick for stirring butter and sugar; a bread-board, for molding bread and making pie-crust; a coffee-stick; a clothes-stick; a mush-stick; a meat-beetle, to pound tough meat; an egg-beater; a ladle, for working butter; a bread-trough, (for a large family;) flour-buckets, with lids, to hold sifted flour and Indian meal; salt-boxes; sugar-boxes; starch and indigo boxes; spice-boxes; a bosom-board; a skirt-board; a large ironing-board; two or three clothes-frames; and six dozen clothes-pins.
_Basket Ware._—Baskets of all sizes, for eggs, fruit, marketing, clothes, etc.; also chip-baskets. When often used, they should be washed in hot suds.
_Other Articles._—Every kitchen needs a box containing balls of brown thread and twine, a large and small darning-needle, rolls of waste paper and old linen and cotton, and a supply of common holders. There should also be another box, containing a hammer, carpet-tacks, and nails of all sizes, a carpet-claw, screws and a screw-driver, pincers, gimlets of several sizes, a bed-screw, a small saw, two chisels, (one to use for button-holes in broadcloth,) two awls, and two files.
In a drawer or cupboard should be placed cotton table-cloths for kitchen use; nice crash towels for tumblers, marked T T; coarser towels for dishes marked T; six large roller-towels; a dozen hand-towels, marked H T; and a dozen hemmed dish-cloths with loops. Also two thick linen pudding or dumpling cloths, a jelly-bag made of white flannel, to strain jelly, a starch-strainer, and a bag for boiling clothes.
In a closet should be kept, arranged in order, the following articles: the dust-pan, dust-brush, and dusting-cloths, old flannel and cotton for scouring and rubbing, large sponges for washing windows and looking-glasses, a long brush for cobwebs, and another for washing the outside of windows, whisk-brooms, common brooms, a coat-broom or brush, a whitewash-brush, a stove-brush, shoe-brushes and blacking, articles for cleaning tin and silver, leather for cleaning metals, bottles containing stain-mixtures and other articles used in cleansing.
CARE OF THE CELLAR.
A cellar should often be whitewashed, to keep it sweet. It should have a drain to keep it perfectly dry, as standing water in a cellar is a sure cause of disease in a family. It is very dangerous to leave decayed vegetables in a cellar. Many a fever has been caused by the poisonous miasm thus generated. The following articles are desirable in a cellar: a safe, or movable closet, with sides of wire or perforated tin, in which cold meats, cream, and other articles should be kept; (if ants be troublesome, set the legs in tin cups of water;) a refrigerator, or a large wooden box, on feet, with a lining of tin or zinc, and a space between the tin and wood filled with powdered charcoal, having at the bottom a place for ice, a drain to carry off the water, and also movable shelves and partitions. In this articles are kept cool. It should be cleaned once a week. Filtering-jars, to purify water, should also be kept in the cellar. Fish and cabbages in a cellar are apt to scent a house, and give a bad taste to other articles.
STORE-ROOM.
Every house needs a store-room, in which to keep tea, coffee, sugar, rice, candles, etc. It should be furnished with jars having labels, a large spoon, a fork, sugar and flour scoops, a towel, and a dish-cloth.