ANEMONES, The Cultivation of. — These plants are particularly
valuable on account of their flowering late in autumn and during the
spring. They require a rich, light, loamy soil with a slight mixture of sea-
sand. The single varieties are multiplied by seed. As this, like carrot-
seed, hangs together in knots, it is usual to mix it with a good proportion
of moist sand, rubbing it well between the hands. It is then sown broad-
cast in May or June, and covered with a slight stratum of light mould.
The double kinds are propagated by division of the roots. Take them up
at the end of four or five years, directly the leaves are quite withered,
divide the roots, and replant at once in fresh soil. If the old bed is lightly
raked and a fresh coating of loam given, new plants will in due time spring
up from the fragments of tubers left in the ground.
ANISE-SEED, To Choose. — The seed should be chosen fresh,
large, plump, newly-dried, of a good smell, and a biting, aromatic taste,
without any bitterness. Used, when infused, as a cure for flatulence.
Dose, one teaspoonful and a half.
ANOTTA, To Prepare. — Throw into a wooden bowl the contents
of the fruit or capsules of the South American tree known as the bixa, and
pour upon it as much hot water as is necessary to suspend the pulp. After
the colour is drawn out, remove the seeds, leaving the wash to settle ; then
pour off the water, dry the sediment in the shade, and make it into balls or
cakes. Used for colouring butter, cheese, and chocolate, and also by dyers
for staining articles a buff colour.
ANTS, To Destroy. — After having discovered the aperture of their
nests, surround it with soft clay formed into the shape of a funnel, and
pour in boiling water. Where they are in the habit of infesting a floor or
room, lay down thin slices of raw liver, upon which the ants will soon con-
gregate in large numbers. Throw the meat as it becomes covered into hot
water, shake it dry, and lay it down to collect more. A damp sponge,
sprinkled with dry white sugar, may likewise be used. The ants will go into
the cells of the sponge after the sugar, and can be destroyed in hot water.
ANTS, To Prevent them Climbing. — Rub a good thick coating of
chalk round the tree or whatever it is desired to protect ; the ants cannot
walk over the chalk. It must be renewed every few weeks. Another good
remedy is to soak a flannel in castor oil and tie it round the stem. They
will not pass over this.
ANTS (WHITE), To Preserve Matting, &c., from. — Take two or
three ounces of corrosive sublimate and dissolve it in a hand-basin (not
metallic) full of water. Turn the matting wrong side uppermost, and with
a cloth wet it all over with the solution. When dry it is ready for use.
Corrosive sublimate being a deadly poison, care should be taken not to let
it lie about within reach. Emmets have a great dislike to indigo, and will
seldom touch anything dyed in it. They have also a great aversion to
salt.
APHIDES, OR PLANT-LICE, To Destroy. — Syringe re-
peatedly the leaves and stems of the infected plants with a solution of
5
tobacco, lime-water, or gas tar-water. Ladybirds should at all times receive
protection, as they destroy large quantities of aphides.
Page 4
Presented as published in 1891. Historical recipes may not meet modern food-safety standards. Cook from the modern interpretation, not the original instructions.
AI-modernized reading of the original text
ANEMONES, The Cultivation of. — These plants are particularly valuable on account of their flowering late in autumn and during the spring. They require a rich, light, loamy soil with a slight mixture of seasand. The single varieties are multiplied by seed. As this, like carrotseed, hangs together in knots, it is usual to mix it with a good proportion of moist sand, rubbing it well between the hands. It is then sown broadcast in May or June, and covered with a slight stratum of light mould. The double kinds are propagated by division of the roots. Take them up at the end of four or five years, directly the leaves are quite withered, divide the roots, and replant at once in fresh soil. If the old bed is lightly raked and a fresh coating of loam given, new plants will in due time spring up from the fragments of tubers left in the ground.
ANISE-SEED, To Choose. — The seed should be chosen fresh, large, plump, newly-dried, of a good smell, and a biting, aromatic taste, without any bitterness. Used, when infused, as a cure for flatulence. Dose, one teaspoonful and a half.
ANOTTA, To Prepare. — Throw into a wooden bowl the contents of the fruit or capsules of the South American tree known as the bixa, and pour upon it as much hot water as is necessary to suspend the pulp. After the colour is drawn out, remove the seeds, leaving the wash to settle ; then pour off the water, dry the sediment in the shade, and make it into balls or cakes. Used for colouring butter, cheese, and chocolate, and also by dyers for staining articles a buff colour.
ANTS, To Destroy. — After having discovered the aperture of their nests, surround it with soft clay formed into the shape of a funnel, and pour in boiling water. Where they are in the habit of infesting a floor or room, lay down thin slices of raw liver, upon which the ants will soon congregate in large numbers. Throw the meat as it becomes covered into hot water, shake it dry, and lay it down to collect more. A damp sponge, sprinkled with dry white sugar, may likewise be used. The ants will go into the cells of the sponge after the sugar, and can be destroyed in hot water.
ANTS, To Prevent them Climbing. — Rub a good thick coating of chalk round the tree or whatever it is desired to protect ; the ants cannot walk over the chalk. It must be renewed every few weeks. Another good remedy is to soak a flannel in castor oil and tie it round the stem. They will not pass over this.
ANTS (WHITE), To Preserve Matting, &c., from. — Take two or three ounces of corrosive sublimate and dissolve it in a hand-basin (not metallic) full of water. Turn the matting wrong side uppermost, and with a cloth wet it all over with the solution. When dry it is ready for use. Corrosive sublimate being a deadly poison, care should be taken not to let it lie about within reach. Ants have a great dislike to indigo, and will seldom touch anything dyed in it. They have also a great aversion to salt.
APHIDES, OR PLANT-LICE, To Destroy. — Syringe repeatedly the leaves and stems of the infected plants with a solution of
tobacco, lime-water, or gas tar-water. Ladybirds should at all times receive protection, as they destroy large quantities of aphides.