on the wrong side, then sew the breadths together and tack down like a carpet. Matting should never be washed with any thing except moderately- warmed salt and water, in the proportion of a pint of salt to a half pail of soft water. Dry quickly with a soft cloth. A bed-room matting should be washed twice during the season; a room much used, oftener. In this room there should be a medicine closet, high above the reach of children, where are kept camphor, hot drops, mustard, strips of old linen, etc., for sudden sickness or accident. There should also be a large closet, a part of which is especially set apart for children’s use, with low hooks where they may hang their clothes, a box for stockings, a bag for shoes, and other conveniences, which will help to teach them system and order. The bedding sheuld. be the best that can be afforded. The inner husks of corn make a good under- bed. Oat straw is also excellent. Hair mattresses are best and, in the end, most economical. Mattresses of Spanish moss are cheaper than hair, but soon mat down. Those made of coarse wool are objectionable at first on account of the odor, but are serviceable and less costly than hair. When the woven-wire bed is used, a light mattress is all that is needed; and this - combination makes the healthiest and best bed, because it affords the most complete exposure of the bedding to air. The best covering is soft woolen blankets. Comforters made of cotton should be used with great caution, as they need to be frequently exposed to sun and air. The best comforter is made of delaines, which may be partly worn, with wool instead of cotton quilted in. Beds are almost always made up too early. The thrifty house- keeper likes to have rooms put to rights in the morning, but it brings up the old adage of “the white glove”’ which ‘‘hides a dirty hand.’’’ The bed should lie open for several hours every morning, and at least once a week all the bedding should be thoroughly aired. . Air pillows in wind, but not in sun. THE GUEST-CHAMBER. The bed of the guest-chamber, as well as in all sleeping-rooms, should stand so that when one opens the eyes in the morning the light from the - window will not be directly upon them, as it is trying to weak eyes, and unpleasant to strong ones. Keep the bureau where the sun’s rays will never strike the mirror, and where it will not be heated by the stove, as either will granulate the amalgam. Chambers should always be provided with tran- -soms over the doors, and windows arranged so as to lower easily from the top. A light feather-bed, covered with a case like a pillow, may be either used over the mattress, or a comfort may be used over it, and the feather- beds under it. Tacked on the inside of the washstand-doors, two crotcheted -pockets are nice for bathing sponges, and there should be plenty of towels, especially of those coarse, rough ones which make a morning bath such a luxury. A broad oil-cloth in front of the washstand is also a protection to the carpet in bathing, and is needed when there is no bath-room up stairs, HOUSE-CLEANING. When mother earth summons the stirring winds to help clear away the dead leaves and winter litter for the coming grass and flowers, every house HOUSEKEEPING. 375

AI-modernized reading of the original text

on the wrong side, then sew the breadths together and tack down like a carpet. Matting should never be washed with any thing except moderately warmed salt and water, in the proportion of a pint of salt to a half pail of soft water. Dry quickly with a soft cloth. A bed-room matting should be washed twice during the season; a room much used, oftener. In this room there should be a medicine closet, high above the reach of children, where are kept camphor, hot drops, mustard, strips of old linen, etc., for sudden sickness or accident. There should also be a large closet, a part of which is especially set apart for children’s use, with low hooks where they may hang their clothes, a box for stockings, a bag for shoes, and other conveniences, which will help to teach them system and order. The bedding should. be the best that can be afforded. The inner husks of corn make a good underbed. Oat straw is also excellent. Hair mattresses are best and, in the end, most economical. Mattresses of Spanish moss are cheaper than hair, but soon mat down. Those made of coarse wool are objectionable at first on account of the odor, but are serviceable and less costly than hair. When the woven-wire bed is used, a light mattress is all that is needed; and this - combination makes the healthiest and best bed, because it affords the most complete exposure of the bedding to air. The best covering is soft woolen blankets. Comforters made of cotton should be used with great caution, as they need to be frequently exposed to sun and air. The best comforter is made of delaines, which may be partly worn, with wool instead of cotton quilted in. Beds are almost always made up too early. The thrifty housekeeper likes to have rooms put to rights in the morning, but it brings up the old adage of “the white glove”’ which ‘‘hides a dirty hand.’’’ The bed should lie open for several hours every morning, and at least once a week all the bedding should be thoroughly aired. . Air pillows in wind, but not in sun. THE GUEST-CHAMBER. The bed of the guest-chamber, as well as in all sleeping-rooms, should stand so that when one opens the eyes in the morning the light from the - window will not be directly upon them, as it is trying to weak eyes, and unpleasant to strong ones. Keep the bureau where the sun’s rays will never strike the mirror, and where it will not be heated by the stove, as either will granulate the amalgam. Chambers should always be provided with tran- -soms over the doors, and windows arranged so as to lower easily from the top. A light feather-bed, covered with a case like a pillow, may be either used over the mattress, or a comfort may be used over it, and the featherbeds under it. Tacked on the inside of the washstand-doors, two crotcheted -pockets are nice for bathing sponges, and there should be plenty of towels, especially of those coarse, rough ones which make a morning bath such a luxury. A broad oil-cloth in front of the washstand is also a protection to the carpet in bathing, and is needed when there is no bath-room up stairs, When mother earth summons the stirring winds to help clear away the dead leaves and winter litter for the coming grass and flowers, every house HOUSEKEEPING. 375

Buckeye cookery