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PRICE TWO SBZLZJNGS, STBRLHTO (50 CENTS.) /^ TOEONTO: PUBLISHED BT LOVELL & GIBSON, TONOE STREET. 1862. ■r;;<-" '■'. \ ! .y\^ '•f rf f r i-' ^\ .■^^ ^_j^ I '«'•>, 1 V t ■« t (T- ",',,''»»| CONTENTS, • 4. f Jl!.»W 1 n*» ' ^ PAO« Applet, b«8t wrt of 19 Appi6*piO •••• •••• •••• •••• • •••• •••• •••• XI Apples, dried 28 Ague, a few words about T 129 Auens, Daturaliiation of Bread, iastructions about 46 Biscuits 61 Buckwheat 68 Beans, Lima 78 Beer 81 Bacon, how to cure 94 Beef, essence of. 97 Bees .... 188 Oburoh 10 Oherries 82 Cranberries 41 vAKcB •«•• •••• • ••• • ■••• •••• •••• ••■• •••• •••• vo Corn, Indian 00 Oom Starch 68 Cucumbers 76 Coffee, substitute for 78 Carpets, Rag 112 Carpets, Woollen 114 Cheese 122 Currency and Sterling Tables 186 Crown Lands, list of, and prices 189 " names of agents 188 Daughters, address to 4 Ducks, wild, «'jiatf,'«--jjiaAiTf>» m.'uu.iff.AU nnit i^>- J I ,' * ;ji;t?»rT??'i.V"- fTv.ft fei^^h'w ox .11. i iIWroduotoky remarks. •5i>r.- i ■!..'■ 1' rv BsFOKbB thd master of the household fully decides upon taking so important a step as leaving his native land, to become a settler in Canada, let him first commune with himself and ask the important question. Have I sufficient energy of character to enable me to conform to the changes that may await me in my new mode of life ? Let him next consider the capabilities of his Sartner — her health and general temper ; for a sickly, peevish, tseonicntcd person will make but a poor settler's wife, in a country where cheerfulness of mind and activity of body are very essential to the prosperity of the household. In Canada, persevering enei^ and industry, with sobriety, will overcome all obstacles, and in time will place the very poorest family in a position of substantial comfort that no per- sonal exertions alone could have procured for them elsewhere. To the indolent or to the intemperate man. Canada o£Pe* ' no such promise ; but where is the country in which such a pc* jn will thrive or grow wealthy? He has not the elements of succoss within him. It is in vain for such a on6 to cross the Atlantic ; for he will bear with him that fatal enemy which kept him poor at home. The active, hard-working inhabitants who are earning their bread honestly by the sweat of their brow, or by the exer- tion of mental power, have no sympathy with such men. Ca- nada is not the land for the idle sensualist. He must forsake the errors of his ways at once, or he will sink into ruin here as he would have done had he stayed in the old country. But it is not for such persons that our book is intended. Note. — A copiout table of contents mU h$ found at tht end of this book. Kn' 3 SHS OXmJLDIAX HOUaXKEBPJU'l OUIOB. TO WITZB AND SAUOHTEB8. As soon as the fitness of emigrating to Canada has been fully decided upon, let the females of the family ask God's blessing upon their undertaking ; ever bearing in mind that " uiJesn the Lord build the house, their labour is but lost that build it ; un- less the Lord keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain." In all their trials let them look to Him who can bring all things to pass in His good time, and who can guard them from every peril, if they will only believe in His promises, and commit their ways to Him. As soon, then, as the resolution to emigrate has been fixed, let the females of the house make up their minds to take a cheer- ftd and active part in the work of preparation. Let them at once cast aside all vain opposition and selfish regrets, and hope- iiilly look to their future cotmtry as to a land of promise, soberly and quietly turning their attention to making the neces- saij arrangements for the important change that is before them. Let them remember that all practical knowledge is highly va- luable in the land to which they are going. An acquaintance with the homely art of baking and making bread — which most servants and small housekeepers know how to practice, but which many young females that live in large towns and cities, where the baker supplies the bread to the family, do not — is ne- cessary to be acquired. Cooking, curing meat, making butter and cheese, knitting, dressmaking and tailoring — for most of the country people here make the every-day clothing of their husbands, brothers or sons — are good to be learned. By ripping to pieces any well-fitting old garment, a suitable pattern may be obtained of men's clothes ; and many a fair hand I have seen occupied in making garments of this description. For a quarter of a dollar. Is 3d, a tailor will cut out a pair of fine cloth trousers ; for a coat they charge more ; but a good cloth is always better to have made up by a regular tailor : loose summer coats may be made at home, but may be bought cheap, ready-made, in the stores. My female friends must bear in mind that it is one of the settler's great objects to make as little outlay of money as pos- sible. I allude to such as come out to Canada with very little available capital, excepting what arises from the actual labour of 'ffjjV-:? ^^^ -. ,-.}.! .r-- i; !n M'.nij-j 'iSHHA 'eili'Mt Iv" »x :M iiyc--^ .' 'c-a-^^* I ■ 'f A A / THK OAlTADIAir H0U8XKSXPEB • OVIDX. I 1^ 1 ■,f .,fl %■ - their own hands, by which they must realize the means of pay- ing for their land or the rental of a farm. Everything that is done in the house, by the hands of the family, is so much saved or so much earned towards the paying for the land, or building houses and boms, buying stock, or carrying on the nrcessary improvements on the place: the sooner this great object is accomplished, the sooner will the settler ond his family realize the comfort of feeling themselves independent. The necessity of becoming acquamted with the common branches of household work may not at first be quite agreeable to such as have been unaccustomed to take an active part in the duties of the house. Though their position in society may have been such as to exempt them from what they consider menial occupationis, still they will be wise to lay aside their pride and refinement, and apply themselves practically to the acquirement of such itseful matters as those I have named— if they are des- tined to a life in a colony — even though their friends may be so well off as to have it in their power to keep servants, and live in ease and comfort. But if they live in a country place, they may be left without the assistance of a female servant in the house, a contingency which has often happened from sudden illness, a ser- vant's parents sending for her home, which they will often do, without consulting either your convenience or their daughter's wishes ; or some act on the part of the servant may induce her to be discharged before her place can be filled : in such an emer- gency, the settler's wife may find herself greatly at a loss, with- out some knowledge of what her family requires at her hands. I have before now seen a ragged Irish boy called in from the clearing, by his lady-mistress, to assist her in the mystery of making a loaf of bread, and teaching her how to bake it in the bake-kettle. She had all the requisite materials, but was igno- rant of the simple practical sd of making bread. Another, who knew quite well how to make a loaf and bake it too, yet knew nothing of the art of making yeast to raise it with ; and so the family lived on unleavened cakes, or dampers, as the Australians call them, till they were heartily tired of them : at last, a settler's wife, calling in to rest herself, and seebg the flat cakes baking, asked the servant why they did not imtke raised bread : ** Because we have no yeast, and do not know how to make any here in these horrible back- woods ; " was the girl's reply. The neighbour, I dare say, was astonidied at the ignorance of both mistress and maid ; but she ' r' 6 TBI OAXtkDlX^ KOuaxKixriii • OVIOC. \ gave them some hops and a little bftrm, and told the girl how to make the -yeast called hop-rising; and thia valuable piece of knowledge stood them in good stead : from that time they were able to make light bread, the girl Lhnewdly renuurking to her mistress, that a fittle help was worth incir^.tban a deal of pity. As the young learn more quickly than the old, I would advise the daughters of the intending enugrant to acquire whatever useful arts they think likely to prove serviceable to them in their new country. Instead of suffering a .false pride to stMid in their yroy of acquiring practical housohold knowledge, let it be their pride — their noble, honest imde — .to ftt themsc4ve« for the state which they will be ci^ied upon to fill — a part in the active drama of life ; to put in pmotioe that whicn they learned to repeat with their lips in cbildho9d as a portion of the Catechism: '* To do my duty in that staj^ of life, unto which it may please Qod to call me." Let theim earnestly believe that it is by the will of Ood that they ore called to share the f<»tunea of their parents in the land they haye chosen, and that — aa that ia the state of life they are called to by Hia will — they are bound to strive to do their auty in it with cheei^ulness. There should therefore be no wavering on their part ; no yielding to prejudices and pride. Old tl^^iga are passed away. The greatest heroine in life is iihe who, knowing her duty, resolves not only to do it, but to do it to the best of her abilities, with heart and mind bent upon the ^ork. I address this passage more espqoifdly to the daughters c^ the emigrant, for to them belongs the task of cheering and upholding their mother in the trials that may await her. It ia often in consideration of the future welfare o( their children, > that, the parents are, after many pai9ful struggles, induced Ut' quit the land of their birth, and the home that was endeared-' to them alike by their car^s and their joys ; ai;id though the ' children mav not know this to be the main-spring that urgiM them to make the sacrifice, in lopst cases it is so ; aiid thia' \ consideration should have its Ml weight, and induce the ^ children to do all in their poorer to repay iheir pareota $at > the Ipye that urges them to such a decision. ^ Thi^ young learn to cotnfprin giore readily to change at"^* CQiQitry than the old. Novelty has for them a great charm: > and tj^n hope is niore lively in t^e young heart than in the "^ ol^. To them a field of heathy /E^nteirprise is open, which '^ the^ ^y^e oijdy to enter upon W},%k a .chsorful ]b£art and plea^ -^ / t . ■ /\ ■r " ' f — . r«9 TBI CAifADIAN HUUSEKKBFIR'i OUIDB. >r e r e rt n d it » In J le it it M at id 10 f' h fl, of d • m of determination, and they will hf^y fail of reaching • reRpectable state of independence. The wives and daughters of the small fhrmen and of the working clans should ^el the difficulties of a settler'i life far less keenly than any other, as thej^r habits and general know- ledge of rural affairs have fitted them for the active labours that may fall to their lot in Canada. Though much that they have to perform will be new to them, it will only be the manner of doing it, and the difference of some of the materiali that they will have to make use of : inured ft-om childhood to toil, they may soon learn to confirm to tlieir change of life. The position of servants is much improved in one respect: their services are more valuable in a coyintry where there is less competition among the working c^lass. They can soon save enough to be independent. The^ have the cheering prospect always before them : — It depends upon ourselves to oetter our own condition. In this coimtry honest industry always commands respect : by it we can in time raise ourselves^ and no one can keep us down. Yet I have observed with much surprise that there is no class of emigrants more discontented than the wives and daughters of those men who were accustomed to earn their bread by the severest toil, in which they too were by necessity obliged to share, often with patience and cheerfulness under privations the most heartbreaking, with no hope of amend- ment, no refuge but the grave from poverty and all its miseries. Surely to persons thus situated, the change of country should be regarded with hopeful feelings ; seeing that it opens a gate which leads from poverty to independence, from present misery to iViture comfort. At first the strangeness of all tUnga around them, the loss of fiuniliar faces and famiKar objeeta, and the want of all their little household conveniences, are sensibly felt ; and these thing? moke them uncomfortaMe and peevish: but a little reasoning with themselves would show that suoh inconveniences belong to the nature of their new position, and tl^at a little time will do away witii the evil they com- plfunof W ' After a whale, new fe^ngs, nev attaettmeata to penons and things, come to fill up the void : they begin to take an interest in the new duties that are before 4hem, and by degrees con- form to l^e change; and an era in ^eir life commences, ■"•■ ■— ■ ■ ' -i-- - '. - •'^•-■-■^ - ■ "^ ' w i THE CAKADIAK HOTTSEKEEFEB 8 GUIDE. which is the beginnirg to them of a better and more pros- perous state of things. It frequently happens that before the poor emigrant can settle upon land of his own, he is obliged to send the older children out to service. Perhaps he gets employment for himself and his wife on some farm, where they can manage to keep the younger members of the family with them, if there is a small house or shanty convenient, on or near the farm on which they are hired. Sometimes a farmer can get a small farm on shares; but it is seldom a satisfactory mode of rental, and often ends in disagreement. As no man can serve two masters, neither can one farm support two parties, unless both are, which rarely happens, quite disinterested, and free from selfishness, each exacting no more than his due. It is seldom these partnerships turn out well. SEBVANTS. There is an error which female servants are very apt to fall into in this country, which, as a true friend, I would guard them against committing. This is adopting a iree and easy manner, often bordering upon impertinence, towards their employers. They are apt to think that because they are entitled to a higher rate of wages, they are not bound to render their mistresses the same respect of manners as was usual in the old country. Now, as they receive more, they ought not to be less thankful to those that pay them well, and should be equally zealous in doing their duty. They should bear in mind that they are commanded to render '' honour to whom honour is due." A female servant in Canada, whose manners are respectful and well-behaved, will always be treated with consideration and even with affection. After all, good-breeding is as charming a trait in a servant as it is in a lady. AN' ere there more of that kindly feeling existing between the upper and lower classes, both parties would be benefited, and a bond of union established, which woiild extend beyond the duration of a few months or a few years, and be continued through life : how much more satisfactory than that unloving strife where the mistress is haughty and the servant insolent. But while I would recommend respect and obedience on the part of the servant to her employer, I would say, treat your Hsrvant with considsratiQ!! : if vqu resnect her she will .* ^ 1 iose be aU, lin a sars, (tory land on kreat XHZ CANADIAN housekeeper's 0X7I.T>£. 9 olso respect you ; if she does her duty, she is inferior to no one living as a member of the great human family. The same Lord who sayp by the mouth of his apostle, " Servants obey your masters," has also added, " and ye masters do ye also the same, forbearing threatening ; knowing that your Master also is in heaven, and that with him there is no respect of persons." Your servants, as long as they are with you, are of your household, and should be so treated that they should learn to look up to you in love as well as reverence. If they are new comers to Canada, they have everything to learn ; and will of course feel strange and awkward to the ways of the colony, and require to be patiently dealt with. They may have their regrets and sorrows yet rankling in their hearts for those dear friends they have left b^ind them, and require kindness and sympathy. Remember that you also are a stranger and soj^utner in a strange land, and should feel for them and bear with them as becomes Christians. Let me add yet a few words ere we part, on a subject that, doubtless, is very dear to you — I mean your Church. If your lot be cast as a resident in any of the towns or villages, of which now there are so many, or in the long-cleared and populous por- tions of the province, you will find churches and ministers of every denomination, with ready access to Simday-schools, for the better instruction of your children : in the cleared townships services are held at stated times, in the school-houses, of which there are one rr more in each section of every township : but you may be far from a church, and your opportunities may be few and far between, of attending divine worship. Neverthe- less, suffer not your God to be forgotten in the lonely wilder- ness, for you have need of his fatherly care over you and yours. His ear is ever open to hear, and his holy oAa stretched over ytiu to save. He is at hand in the desert, as well as in the busy city : forsake him not, and bring up your children in his love and in his ways ; so shall his blessing be upon yourselves and your substance. The first church in which I bent my knee in heartfelt thank- fulness to the Almighty, for his saving care over me and my husband, in preserving us from the perils of the great deep, was in a log church of the rudest description ; and subsequently, it was in a barn, where two of my elder children were baptized by the good rector of Peterboro', long since called away ( 1 1 rill u, io Pv- TBX CASTADlilSf HOVSBKBBPitiars OUIDE. Irbm liis pastoral laboui^1l)y bis Heaye^y ]Biiasier. fifiif t^ere ^^s no lack of reverence anion^ the little flook in the wilderness, who were gathered together that day ; ibr tliey f^li that tliie rudest itnilding can be made holy ^ tlie invisible presence -of ^Itat Great uod who has said, *' Wher^ two or tWe ^are gathewd together in my name, there am I in {he miilst ol^ them. On that very spot, or within a few yards of it, the #atls pf a stone churcn. are raised, and it wit! not be withoiit a missionary of the Church, to administei: the holy tijrdinances: 80 you see that while we were yet but a little flock; scattered too without ^quent means of obtaining religious instruction, there were those wh6 cared for the spiritual destitufion of the poor colonists of the Bacl^wbods ; and many liWal dona- tion^ were sent from the mother-dountry for tne erection of this church: many otbera, in like maimer, have t)een biiilt by funds supplied from Bngland, and tliis fact witl^ I Kojie, encourage and c|ieer those whose first settlement may tie made in remote and less-favoui^ecl siluations. It' is also encouraging to the poor Canadian emigrants to know that kind and pious hearts care for them. And nov , farewell ; and I trust you will find kind hearts *anH friends, and much prosperity, ih tlie land of your adoption ; never forgetting tkat you stiil belong to that land, which is the gloiy of all lands, and are subjects to a mild ajad i^erciful Sovereign, whp is no less beloved in l^er province of Canada, than she; is by her loyal people of l^iitaia. ,|j r / 5«i&#ir- 0-' ' ixW ..^^. vniair roa a chusch amd schoou y-. :< I .JMtli.! ^■^^vMfa^ji W4w-«^iit «ai5-».:< ms. .''■t^Tt''^rff^' y . i'-*^ r'-,i'*j'*''rx...' i* THE V ' CANADIAN HOUSEKEEPER'S GUIDE. — — — ift-^ KATCBAL PRODUCTIONS OP THE WOODS— HOW M ADB AVAILABLE 10 THE SETTLER. ^ When the Backwoodsman first beholds the dense mass of dark forest which his hands must clear from the face of the ground he sees in it nothing more than a wilderness of vegetation which It IS his lot to destroy ; he does not know then how much that is essential to the comfort of his household is contained in the wild forest. Let us now pause for a few minutes while we consider what raw material is there ready to be worked up for the use of the Emigrant and his family. Here is timber for all purposes; for building houses, bams, sheds, fencing and firewood. The ashes contain potash, and the ley added to the refuse of the kitchen is manufactured by the women into soap, both hard and soft; or if spread abroad in the new fallow, it assists in neutralizing the acid of the virgin soil, rendering it more fertile and smtable for raising grain crops. From the young tough saplings of the oak, beech and ironwood, his boys by the help of a common clasp knife, can make brooms to sweep the house, or to be used about the doors.— The hickory, oak and rock-elm supply axe handles and other useful articles. From the pine and cedar he obtains the shingles with which his log-house is IS roofed. The inner bark of the bass-wood, oak and many other forest trees can be made into baskets and mats. Dyes of all hues are extracted from various barks, roots and flowers. The hendock and oak fiirnish bark for tanning the shoes he wears. Many kinds ot wdd fruits are the spontaneous growth of the woods and wilds. The forest shelters game for his use; the lakes and streams wild fowl and fish. The skins of the wild animals reward the hunter and tranner trom the birch a thousand useful utensils can be made,' 'and 1 ^* vr ■ ft*," /- ' m \ \ 19 THE OANAPIAM HOUSEKBEPER's GUIDE. .^.'. the light canoe that many a white settler has learned to make with as much skill as the native. Indian. Nor must we omit the product of the sugar-maple, which yields to the settler its luxuries in the shape of si^gar, mola^^ef a^d vinegppTi These are a tew of the native resources of the forest. True^ they are not to he obtained without.toil, neither is the costly pro- duct of the silkworm, the gems of the mine, or even the coarsest woollen garment made without labou,r and care. A FEW HINTS ON GARDENING.— Owing to the frosts and chilly winds that prevail during the month of Aprils and q^xx iatO) the early part of May, very litue work is done m the gardea, excepting it be in the matter of planting out trees and busW ; , grafting and pruning, and preparing the ground by rough digging: or bringing in manure. The second week in May is generally the' time for putting in all kinds of garden seeds : any time from the first week in May to the last, sowing may be carried on. Kidney beans are seldom quite secure from frost before the d5th. I have seen both beans, melons, and cucumbers cut off in one night,^ when they were in six or eight leaves. If the season be warm Sd showery early sowing may succeed, but unless guarded, by iss, or oiled-paper frames, the tender vegetables should hurdly Se put in the open ground be^re the 18th or SOth May : com ia never safe before that time. The coldness of the ground and the shanpness of the air, in some seasons, check vegetation, so that the late sowers often succeed better than they who put the seeds in early. Having given some directions in various places about planting com, potatoes, melons^ and some other vegetables, I shall now add a few memoranda that may be useful to the emigrant- ; gardener. If you wish to have strong and early cabbage-plants, sow in any old boxes, or even old sugar-troughs, putting some manure at the bottom, and six or eight inches of good black leaf> mould on the top, and set in a sunny aspect. The plants tlius Bown will not be touched by the fly. If sown later in May, set your trough on some raised place, and water them from time to time. Or you may sow on the open ground, and sprinkle wood- ashes or soot over the ground : this will protect the plants. — ^The fly also eats off seedling tomatoes, and the same sprinkling will be necessary to preserve them. In sowing peas, single rows are better in this country than double ones, as unless there be a good current of air among the plants, they are apt to bemildewed. , .. _ i.: *( • P {:.'■ \\. \ ' ^ < I t 8 THE CANADIAN HOUSEKEEPERS GUIDE. u ro- BtS es;, the iney lave rjytm by aiy ia ihe Ithat ieeds [bout kome fleaf- Ittius set le to tood- l-The the ■ ''Lettuces sotv themselves in the Fall, and you may plant th9pai •otit eaiiy lu a bed, when they will have the start of those sown in the middle of May. i.;'if !.. . 7 •" Those who have a root-hous^ 6t cellar usually k'tore their cab* bages in the following way : they tie several together by the stemt near the root, and then hang them across a line or pole Kead downwards : others put them head downwards in a pit in the earth, and cover them first with dry straw and then with earta above that. Ilie stem with the root should be stored by till spring* Tfiien if planted out, they will afford good, early, tender greens, at a season when vegetables are not to be had. There are many substitutes for greens used in Canada. The most common one is the Wild Spinach, better known by its Ipcal i^ame of LamVs-quarter. It grows spontaneously in all garden gtounds, and may be safely used as a vegetable. It is tender, and when thrown into boiling water with a little salt, and cool^ed for five minutes, and drained, and sent to table like spinach, iji much esteemed by the country people. ^ ' The Mayweed, a large yellow ranunculus that grows in marshy, ■wet places, is also freely used : but be careful to use no wild plieuit unless you have full assurance of its being wholesome, and that BO mistake has been made about it. There is another wild green oidled Cow-cabbage that is eaten, but this also requires an expe^ rienced settler to point it out. ^ is It is always well to save your own seeds if you can. A few h^e carrots should be laid by to plant out early in Spring for #eNftd. Onions the same, also beets, parsnips, and some of the best cabbages. Seeds will always fetch money ^t the stores, if good' and fresh, and you can change with neighbours. r i!f you have more than a sufficiency for yourself do not be- girudge a Iriend a share of your superfiuous garden seeds. In a new country like Canada, a kind and liberal spirit should be en- couraged ; in out-of-the-wny, country placeis people are dependent upon each other for many acts of friendship. Freely ye will re- ceive, freely give, and do not forget the advice given in the scrip- tures, " Use hospitality one to another," and help one another when you see any one in distress; for these are opportunities ^ !*1 ^ THB CANADIAN H0U8EKEBFSR8 OUIOS. vrithout a bottom, put over a good plant, or a fraTO of an old bfa» will make the stalks very tender and less acid. The Giant Khurt t>arb is the bf!st kind to plant A bed of Caraways should always find a place in your garden; it is always useful, and the seeds sell well, besides being valuable as a cattle medicine. A good bed of pot-herbs is essential. I would bring out seeds of Balm, Thyme, and Sw^eet Basil, for these are rarely met with, here. — Sage, Savoury, Mint and Peppermint, are easily got. Sweet Marjoram is not commonly met with. I would also- bring out some nice flower-seeds, and also vegetable seeds of goodt kinds, especially fine sorts of cabbage. You should learn to sow your ONvu seeds. Good seeds will meet with a market at the stores. The following plain, practical hints on the cultivation of ordi* nary garden vegetables will be found useful to many of our. readers : — Most kinds of seeds grow more freely if soaked in soft water from twelve to forty-eight hours before sowing ; seeds of hard nap ture, such as Blood Beet, Mangel and Sugar Beets, Nasturtium, &C., ofti>n fail from want of attention to this circumstance. Rolling the ground after sowing is very beneficial, and will assist in making the seeds vegetate more freely ; when a roller is not at hand, it may be done with the back of the spade, by flattening the earth, and beating it lightly. — Kidney or French Beans may be planted: any time in May, in drills, two inches deep, the beans two inches from each other, the drills about eighteen inches apait. If a re« gular succession is required, sow a few every few weeks from the-, §rst of May to the first July. For climbers the best sorts are tho< White Lima, Dwarf White Haricot, Bush Bean and Speckled Red*. Broad or Windsor Beans do not succeed well in this climate, the Summer heat coming on them before they are podded, which; causes the blossoms to drop off. The best soil to grow them in is a rich, stiff clay, and on anor>< thern border, shaded from the mid-day sun : sow in drills, twO; feet apart, two inches deep, and the seeds three inches asunder. Blood Beet, Long and Short Turnips, may be sown in a good,, rich, deep soil, about the first week in May. Draw drills about- one foot apart, and one inch deep; sow moderately thick: when the plants are up strong, thin them out the distance of six inches from each other in the rows. Brocoli and Cauliflower require a deep, rich soil, of a clayey nature, and highly manured. To pro> curt) Cauliflower or Brocoli the seed ought to be sown, in a not*- J- . * . . 1 '.*■ // ',\- \ 1 ' 1 ^„ r u g f' h d t» iO' 1. 10 uti ent a ro- ot- I •vf. I, i w ) v»'!^ THE dAkA^IAM S0U8BKSBPBR8 OUIOB. IS bed, early in March ; when the plants are quite strong and healthy, they may be planted out in the garden about the middle «f May. Mant in rows, two feet square. The kinds that will do well in this climate are the Early London and French CauU* flower, Purple Capo and Walcheren Brocoli. Cabbage, both early and late, may be sown any time in May. The best situation'IbrYtiising the plant is a rich, damp piece of ground, shaded. Seed sown in a situation of thisliind is not so ukely to be destroyed by the fly. When the plants are strong they may be planted in rows, and managed the same as directed for Cauliflower. (•iThe best kinds for Summer use are the Early York, Battersea and Vannack : for Winter use the Drumhead, Large Bergen and Flat Dutch. Cucumbers may be sown in the open ground any time in May. They require a good rich soil. Sow in hills, four feet apart, leav* ing only four plants on each hill. The Cucumber and Melon Vines are liable to be attacked by a yellow fly or bug. Soot, charcoal-dust or soap-suds applied to the plants, will assist in keeping them off. Musk Cantaloupe, Nutmeg and Water Melons may also be sown at the same time, taking care to sow the diffe* lent kinds a good distance apart from each other, as they are apt to mix. Plant in hills three feet square, leaving only three plants ■on each hill. When the plants have grown about six inches, stop ■m pinch the leading shoot, which will make the plants throw out aide shoots, on which you may expect to have fruit. Carrots. — The most suitable ground for growing Carrots is a deep, rich soil, that has been well manured the previous year. Sow any time in May, in drills one foot apart, and one inch deep. When the Carrots are up thin them out, four inches apart, and keep them free of weeds. The kinds that are generally sowp in the garden are the Early Horn, Long Orange and Red Surrey: for field culture the White Belgian and Altringham. The pro- duce of one acre of field Carrots, when properly cultivated, mar be rated at from five hundred to eight hundred bushels. In cul- tivating them on the field system the drills ought to be two feet apart, and the Carrots thinned out at least twelve inches asunder. , Cf.lery. — ^This vegetable is much esteemed as a salad. To have early Celery the seed should be sown in a hot-bed, in the month of March ; ibr Winter Celery the seed may be sown anr time before the middle of May. Sow on a small bed of fine, rim earth : beat the bed a little with the back of the spade ; sift a I *^ 16 rUK OANJ^DI^ |^)II^]|JC£^BB'.8 OUIDB. little fine earth over the seed ; shade the hed with a mat or board till the seeds begin to appear. Celery plants ought to be picked out into a nursery-bed, as soon as they are two or l|»ree inches high. Cut their roots and tops a little, before planting ; water tfa^kn well, and shade them from the sun, until they begin to grow. Let them remain in the nursery-bed for one month, alter which< they will be fit td transplant into the treauhms, ^' r As a corrective to the sourness of very damp, rich, new soil, a light spirinkling of wood ashes is very useful. Leeched ashes ara very good on some oil. Hie ipost splendid cabbages I ever saw irete raised on ground where the spent ashes from a leech barrel had been ploughed into the soil. The kinds grown were the Conical Cabbage and Portugal Ivory^stenfimed. The plants wer« trom new seed from the Cniswick Gardens, and my Cabbages caused quite a sensation among the country gardeners. Hops. — ^This most useful plant no settler's house can dispense with : they aire genei^ly^rown about the fences of the garden^ around the pillars of tke verandah or porch of Uie dwelling-hous^ or in hills in the garden. When in open ground the Hop must be supported with poles. at least ten or Ul'teen feet high, set firmly in the ground. The Hop must be planted in very rich mouldy and early in the Spring, that is before the sprouts begin to shoot above the ground. Two good bu<^s at least ore required for every root tliat you set. The Hop $elclom is of much benefit the first year that it is planted, though if the ground be very rich, and the roots strong, the vines will produce even the first year. A little stirring of the mould, and a spadeful or two of fresh manure thro>vn on the plant in the Fall, when the old runners have been cut down, will ensure ypu a fine croip the second year. Hops will always sell well if carefully harve^ted. In another part of the book I mention that they should be gathered fresh and green : dull, faded, frost-bitten Hops are of little worth. When plucked they should be carefully picked from leaves and stalks, and spread out on a clean floor, in a dry chamber, and when quite dry packed closely into bags and hung up in a dry place. Many persons con- tent themselves with cutting the vines long after they are ripe for gathering, and thrc^wing Uiem into a lumber-room, there to be l^ucked as they are required ; but this is a very slovenly ^ay. Children can pick up Hops at the proper season, and store them by when dry, without much labour, jaud just as well as the mothw could do it herself. , ,,;;;',o ',^^1^^ y^ >gl)\ nit The following article I have selected from the Old CounerynuH^ ^ a ponnlar and useful Canadian paper v — <:( t \\ \ '■I 7*> TBB OAMADXAH HOOSEKEEPER's GUIDE. H M * '., ]\ , I '.I ' '* OarDbmino. — ^We feel bound constantly to urge upon th« •attention of oar readers the profit and importuncu of a good gar> ■den. Its influence is good every way. It spreads the table with {)alatable and nutritious food, and fills the dessert dishes with uxuries, and thus saves the cash which mu&t otherwise be paid for beef, ham, veal and lamb; besides promoting the health and spirits more than the meat would. Th^n a good garden is a civi- lizer. The garden and orchard beautify' the home wsrouderfully, amd kindle emotions which never die out of the heart. But we must say a word or two on individual plants, and first of—' AsPABAQUS. — This is a delicious vegetable. What the old bed requires in the Spring is to cut oil' the last year's stalks, just above the ground, and bum them ; loosen the earth about th« I'oots, and clean up the whole bed. As the sweetness and tender- ness of this plant depends upon its rapidity of growth, tlie sOil should be made very rich. <■ Beans should be planted as soon as you feel secure from frost. TJ]^ey are ornamental when planted in hills, two or more feet apart, with birch sticks stuck about the edge, and tied together at the top. Then there are Peas and Beets of two or three kinds, Parsnips,' Carrots, Lettuce, Radishes, Cucumbers, Rhubarb, Pepper-grass, Spinach, Salsify, Parsley, Tomato, Turnips, Celery, eariy Corn, early Potatoes, Melons, Onions, summer Squash, and Cabbage, all affording the proper summer nutriment, and requiring a similar soil for their production. Sow and cultivate well a few of each, and you will find your account in it. Small Fruits. — Set red and white Raspberries, Tlnmbleberries, black and white, also Currants and Goosel)erriu». They are cheap and wholesome food, and as easily raised as Potatoes. Aiiy home will have charms for children where these dre plentifiilly grown. Ornamental. — Do not allow the lusty teams and the broad Acres, the Grass, the Grain, and the Tree to occupy all your time, but give a thought and an eye occasionally to the beautiful. Spread out a sunny space for the daughters, where the boys will cheerfully assist them with the spade. What a charming spot ! Here are the mixed Balsams and Garhations, the Mignionette» Mourning Bride, and Columbine ; there, Love-lies-bleeding, and^ in the corner, Love-in-a-mist, the Candy-tuft, and Canterbury Bell. W'hy, you resume your youth here. Time almost ceases to make its mark. Old scenes come thronging to the soul, such as when you sat on the rustic seat in tlieigarden, and dissected 18 TBB CANADIAN HOUSEKEEPERS OUIDB. flowers with hfer who is now the mother of these beautiful and happy daughters. Such are the influences of the flower garden. We need not go to the books for poetry, it is nature everywhere, but especially ui such a group as this — ,, |,„„, ,yl,«siK^„ , 'There's beenty all around onr path*, lit'': .tjiiu^U t . I If bat our watobful eyee .jv.^d ^ i-wi Hoi | Oaa traoe it midit fiuniliar tbingt, :v,tli •nQu' tYnu^'^ , g And ihroagh their lowly guiBe.' ■ uT .'foi^n We insist upon it, tliat there is time with all to be ^?en to tna ornamental. It will make you richer, better, happier, more cheer* ful, and enable you to die easier, and will have the same inHu- ences upon your family, by creating something of the beautiful around you." The new settler will be surprized nt the facility with which in the open ground, he can raise the finest sorts of Melons, with an little labour bestowed upon the plants as he has been accustomed to give to Cabbages, Lettuce or any of the commonest Pot-herbs. The rich black mould of the virgin soil, and the superior heat of the sun in a climate where the thermometer often ranges from 80 ® to 96 ® for many days together during the summer months, brings both vegetables and fruit to perfection very rapidly. In the Western part of the country, or that portion lying between the great lakes Ontario, Erie and Huron, fruit is grown and ripened that is with difficulty perfected east of Toronto, where the heat is not so ardent, and late and early frosts nip the fair promise of the wall fruit. The Peach, Apricot and Grape, with many oUier kinds are rarely met with in the Eastern portion of the Provhice, unless trained on South walls, and protected during the cold season. Pears, however, will grow well ; Apples of the finest quality, and many other fruits in Uie townships between Toronto and Montreal. I have heard that the Apples of tne Lower Province are considered by horticulturists to be of the finest quality. There are several sorts of Apples in great repute in our orchards, and should be cul- tivated by those who are planting trees — " Pomme-gns," " Canada- red," " St. Lawrence" and " Hawley's Pippin," with some others of excellent reputation ; but as 1 have devoted a separate section to Apples and the Orchard, I need say no more on this head in this place. With a little attention and labour, the vegetable garden may bo carried to great perfection by the women and children, with a little assistance from the men at the outset, in digging the ground, and securing tlie fences, or any work that may require strength to s % ''•^S^ J»l TillB CANADIAN UOUBEKKEPKB'a OUIDB. 19 QflTect. In th^ new ground the surface in often enoumberod with large stones, and these must either remain a blot on the fair feft* tui-es of the garden plot, or be rolled away by the strong arm of the men, aided by the lever. These surface stones may be made ? Tery serviceable in filling up the lower part of the fence, or piled ) in large heaps, be rendered ornamental by giving them the effect > of rockwork. I know many gardeners whose rustic seats, over> arched by climbing plants, have been made both useful and oma* mental with these blocks of granite and limestone forming the seat. 8tone-crop, Orpine, and many other plants, set in a little soil among the crevices, have transformed the unsightly masses into an inter* esting and sightly object. The Wild Cucumber, Orange Gourdt Wild Clematis, and a number of other shrubby climbing-plants, will thrive and cover the rocky pile with luxuriant foliage. Thus by the exertion of a little ingenuity, the garden of the settler may be rendered not only highly useful, but very ornamental. A little tastti displayed about the rudest dwelling, will raise the inmates iu the eyes of their neighbours. There are very few persons to- tally insensible to the enjoyment of tho beautiful, either in nature or art, and still fewer who are insensible to the approbation of their fellow men ; this feeling is no doubt implanted in them by the Oreat Creator, to encourage them in the pursuit of purer, more intellectual pleasures than belong to their grosser natures. As men cultivate the mind, they rise in the scale of creation, and become more capable of adoring the Almighty through the works of his hands. I think there can be no doubt but that whatever elevates the higher faculties of the soul, brings nan a step nearer to his Maker. How much pleasanter is the aspect of a LOuse surrounded by A garden, nicely weeded and kept, than the desolate chip-yard, unre- lieved by any green treo or flower, that is so often seen in the settlements in Canada. What cheerful feelings can such a bar- ren spot excite ; what home-affections can it nourish in the heart of the emigrant wife ? Even though she may have to labour to rear it with her own hands, let her plant a garden. APPLES. — The planting of an orchard, which is a matter of great importance to tho future comfort of the settler's family, is often delayed yenr after year, and that is done last which should have been attended to at the outset. Not only are Apples valuable as a most palatable and conve- nient article of diet, but also as one of the most wholesome. In a climate where great heat prevails during the summer months. / \ \ ftltf f^^laf V iii He Full, the ( f -fng aeid of fruit becomes eeboor illttly «»owssary for tiie pios^M'Vfttiou of healih. " fWitinj^ the lirst years of iho euiigmnt i hi. , this want is pain* Tiuly flit liy tlioso who settle down iu the backwooJ« ; and a suppijr jUlg, il' ^ l)e |ji f)vided for as tm \v as possible, by planting trees in §H5 (T.^H or second year of the ^ettlemeiit. I cvJJtlliit I /'> forcilily impress upon i\\e ^migrant the advanta^u lio will dfnvt) Krotn thus securing to his household the uumforta, 'I might almo'^t say the blessing, of an orchard. 1 would therefore advise him to fence iu securely the first aontit or even half-aia'e of (deared ground about the house, and plant U •with young Apple-trees. In all the towns now he will find nur* •Beries, where the choicest and best sorts of Apples, Pears, ChorrieH Und I'inins can be bought. ';''l'"or good root-grafted Apples of good character, which will-b^ ^n to Iruit in three years from the planting, the usual price la Is :U (a (|uarter-dollar). Penrs, Plums and budded Chun ies, ul' good sorts, are dearer, say 2s 6d the tree. Ungrafted Apple- ^rees, or seedlings of three years* growth, cost i^d (or a Yorii shilling). These last will bear good kitchen fruit, and by uhaucQ, if well eared for, a very tine table Apple may be found amui^g thorn ; but those who can afford to lay out a few dollars iu secur- ing Apples of the first quality, will be wise to do so. But there may be some who are unable to make even this small outlay, aQ4 cairhardly venture to purchase the un«.;tuited trees. Let sueh isow eveiy apple-pip they can obtain on a bed, set apart iu the gftrden em losnre, for that purpose. The Fall is the best time to put the pips in the ground ; they will come up iu the following 4)pring : but if you sow them iu Spring they rarely come up tiU 'the following season, while those sown lu the Fall come up iu the 'tosuiug Spring. "When these nurslings are well up in six or eight leaves, weed -them cai» ully, by Imnd, or with an old knife. The pips should 'lie sown ) t) drills, a foot apart ; the seeds six or eight inches .apart ; but as ground is no object, and the young trees wiV ,9 Irivice as strong and straight with roonn allowed to grow in, { ^oold rather weed them out so that each sapling stood eig'..'x'er "inches apart each way ; you may plant out those you remove, and they will be none the worse for the resetting. fey the third year these young trees may be grafted, or els© i!hey may be ?uove4 to the situation in the garden or orchard they are meAui < ocupy ; and alter this removal good, well- • i« . v:V.. ■"■■■• ' /. THl CANADIAN HOUSE kEKPER's OUIDV. 91 I ( *l formed branrhes may boencoiiragt I. but spnrs and Bprouta are better kept from filling irp the mid .it f the tree. Seedlings thus managed, and the routs kept well worked holes deep, that a good bed of friable, sandy loam may be spread at the bottom to set the trees on. It makes a great difference on what soil the roots are bedded. Let the tree be held up by one person, while another carefully arranges the roots, so tl)at they he in a natural way in contact with tlie soil ; then lightly strew in the earth, with the hands, and fill up the hole with good soil, pressing the earth down ; when planted, a quantitv of half-decaved litter should be placed round the tree, as far as the roots extend; this is called by the gardeners mulching, and serves to keep the ground moist and mellow. If you think it needful to support the tree from the action of the wind, tie it to a stake, but place a bit of old cloth between tlie H THE CANADIAN HOUSEKEEPERS GUIDE. stake and the young tree, to keep the bark fiom being rubbed. •' In most cases," says a skilful American lioi iiculturist, " it is better to thin out, than to shorten the branches of the newly taken-up trees ; leaves are necessary to the formation of roots, arid if you deprive the young tree of all its boughs, you stop its resources for root-growth." There are two seasons for orchard planting ; in the Fall and the Spring. Now I am, myself, rather in favour of the Fall planting if it be not put off too late. Many persons plant late, and lose their trees. October is the usual time, and I think it should be done as early in the month as p ule. My own idea is, that just at the season when the leaf begins to turn yellow, is the safest time for transplanting. If it be put off till the frosts harden the ground, injury to the tender nurslings must follow. In Spring the ground is often too wet and cold, and the trees get too forward to be removed safely. April is the Spring month for transplanting, and October in the Fall. I will no^, as well as I can, give you some simple directions altout grafting, which is an art often practised by the female band, as well as that of the professed gardener, " Gut the stock or branch which you design to graft upon, smooth and even, with a sharp knife, or if too large for the knife, "W^h a small fine-toothed pruning saw ; with your knife make a cleft of about an inch deep, through the crown of the stock, divid- iftg it clean through the bark on either side, into which cleft iu- sisrt'the handle of a budding-knife, which is smooth, and wcdge- shlaped ; or if you are without this useful instrument, have ready a'tiarrow wedge of wood, which will aiswer all the purposes ; this i^ -to keep the cleft open, while you insert the scions or grafts. Select your grafts from any good sorts ; from healthy trees, the new or youngest growth of wood being chosen. Most grafters cut the scions some days or even weeks before. With a sharp knife pare away the wood on each side, taking care to leave a ridge of bark on your scion, as on this simple circumstance depends the life of the fjfr&tt The graft should be about a finger's length, with three distinct buds ; one, from the base of which you begin to shape the lower part or wedge, which is to be introduced into the cleft. Two grafts, one on each side of the stock, are gene- rally inserted, unless it be in Seedling Apples, when one will be sufficient. I have seen as many as four scions on the large limbs, but one or two good grafts are better than none. With your graf'ting-wa.\ at hand, (for clay does not answer in THE CANADIAN HOUSEKEEPERS GUIOM. 9S iJjijiacoviiitry as in England,) insert your scions at the edge of t^ Q}eft, so that the strip of bark left on it fills up the opening \iko A sleiider gore let into the stock, taking care to bring the edges of the bark of the cleft and the bark of the graft close together ai;i4 even, so that neither one shall project beyond the other; Proceed in like manner to your other graft, and then remove the Awedgp from the centre of the stock ; the crack will close, and hold your scions tight : then apply the wax to the sides, covering ^yery part of the seam and a little below, where you see the crack- ing of the bark ; also round the part where the lowest bud resta Q^ the stock: do this effectually, and spread the wax over th» crapk, on the crown of the stock, bringing a little of it all round the edge of the bark, to keep it from drying up. Some wind i^ ^trip of cloth or thread round, to secure the graft from being< npiaved by an accident : others leave it to chance. You can do sa' if ypia like, only there is an old proverb in favour of the bindings " Safe bind, safe find." I have only described one method of grafting, but there are many equally simple and safe, which any one conversant with the prao* tice of grafting will describe; or what is still better, cut a branch apd a scion and show you the process. I learned to graft fr^md^ C^Jiadian lady in her own parlour. I vnll now give you the r»r ceipt for preparing the grafting wax. Grafting Wax is made in the follovnng proportions: on». part of common beef-tallow, two parts bees' wax, and fom' ]^&rt>s resin. Melt the whole together; pour into a pajl <^f cold water ; rub a little of the grease on your hands, to. pi^ ve^t the wax from sticking, and then as it coola work it weJl with your hands, first in the water and then on a bit of boardi, till it is thoroughly kneaded, and it will be soft and plastic, withoiiiti adhering to the fingers or running thin. This wax is spread oviec the sawn limb and round the graft, and down the wounded bark, 80 as to exclude the air and moisture ; if too soft, add a little more wax, or if too hard a little more tallow. Some use cobbler's wax, some apply pitch, and the common tun pentine from the pines ; but the wax is neatest, cleanest, and best.. Clay is of little use, as it either dries with the sun, or cracks with the frost. Some use bass bark, to bind round the grafts. The tools used by those persons who make grafting a businessv or have large orchards, are a grafting-saw, a pruning-knife> a wedge-handled knife, a small hammer, with an axe at one end^ for making clefts in the large boughs, and a bag |br the tools, ■■ f-\. 80 THE CANADIAN HOUSEKEEPERS GUIDE. Trith a strap to pass about the shoulder, and a box for the wax, with string, or a coil of wet bass or cedar bark for binding ; but many trees are grafted with only a knife, a saw, and the wax. Tiiose who know how to graft should early sow the seeds of Apples, Pears, Plums and Cherries in a nursery bed, that they may have good, vigorous stocks to graft upon. Not long since, I met with an old-fashioned book on orchard- planting, where the following directions are given : — *' Sow Apple-seeds in a ring, at distances of twenty-five feet from ring to ring, on a space intended for an orchard. When your young trees are up, thin out to two feet apart, keeping them stirred with the hoe, and free from weeds. At the end of three years graft your young stocks. The following year remove all but one healthy tree from each ring, choosing the very best to become your standard. The rest of your young grafted trees may be set out in suitable places or sold, but you will find the advantage of never having transplanted your seedling, by the superior growth and vigour of your graft over the young stocks that have been checked by transplantation from the native soil." As a manure for orchard-trees, wood soot, wood ashes, and a small quantity of lime is strongly recommended, especially in wet soil. A dead level, unless drained, is not so favourable for Apple trees, as the side of a hill facing South or West. Soap-suds are recommended to wash or scrub the bark of Apple and Pear trees^ to prevent scaly bark, and remove moss. In the Fall, a careful person should examine all the trees, and remove the nests of the caterpillars, which will be found adhering to the yoimg twigs, like a gummy swelling of the bark. These are easily taken off like a brittle, varnished crust. Early in Spring search the trees again; if any escape they will show themselves in the leafing time, and unless the webs which they spin for a shelter, are removed in time, these caterpillars will injure the crop and tree, by devour- ing the foliage and blossoms. Having given you some directions for the management of your Orchard-trees, I will now furnish you with a list of the most highly approved sorts to select fur planting, ss the names differ much from those you have been accustomed to see in the English Orchards. America is famous for the excellence of her Apples, and those that are the natives of the climate, are always most hardy, prolific, and best adapted for Orchard planting in Cami- dian soil. SuMMBB APf UBS. — ^Early Harvest, Yellow Harvest, Early Joe^ THE CAj^AUUN HOUSEKBEPERS GUIDE. »7 Samper Queen, Sweet Bough, Summer Bellflower, (good cooking apple,) Suinmer Permain, Canada Red, Snow Apple ; this last is not ripe till September, but can be used for pies or puddings much earlier ; it is a great bearer, and the thinning out is no real sacrifice, as it improves the size of those left to ripen. It is known in the Lower Province as La Fameuse ; it is a great bearer, and a fine, sweet, juicy apple. Autumn Apples. — Autumn Strawberry*, Fall Pippin*, Hol- land* (kitchen apple), Red Astracan*, Hawley's Pippin*, Twenty- ounce apple*, Burassa* (late Fall), Baldwin, St. Lawrence, Non- pareil Russet, Golden Russet*, York Quiney, Hawthomden*, Gravestien*. Winter Apples. — Winter Strawberry*, Northern Spy*, Ram- bo, Baldwin*, Roxbury Russet*, Swaar*, Winter Pippin*, Rhode Island Greening*, Ribstone Pippin*, Newtown Pippin*, Pomme Grise, Spitzenburg*, White Winter Pearraain, Yellow Bellflower, Ladies' Sweeting. These are all choice sorts. There are many other capital apples, but these are the most celebrated, and therefore I have selected them. Those marked with a star are the best quality, but all are good. The mulching the trees as before noticed, is of great utility, but not too deeply. Or if much litter be laid round in the Fall, remove it in the Spring, and stir the ground with the hoe ; covering the roots too thickly keeps the sun from warming the earth about them. Having done with the planting, I wiU now give some good recipes for the cooking, and end vdth some remarks on the stor- ing of apples. Apple-pie. — ^Every one knows how to make a common apple- pie or pudding. But in case there may be a few among my emi- grant friends, who have been unused even to this simple process in cooking, I will say — ^peel and core your apples; good acid cooking-apples are better than sweet ones ; drop them into a pan of clean water as you pare them ; in tlie pie-dish place a tea-cup, turned bottom upwards ; put in a large table-spoonful of sugar, and two or three cloves, or a bit of lemon peel, if you have these things at hand ; fill your dish with the cored apples ; a very small quantity of water — a large table-spoonful will suffice ; add two or ^ree more cloves, and more sugar ; cover with your paste, rolled thin ; finally crimp the edge, and scallop with your finger and the edge of the knife. A few delicate leaves, cut and marked to re- semble apple leaves, placed in the centre, give a pretty look to the dish; but this is a mere matter of taste. If you have any 39 THE CANADIAN UUUUEiiiSlSPEAa OUIDI;,. s> ?. cause to think that the fruit is not quite soft, when the crust is baked, set the dish on the top of one of your stove griddles, and let it simmer awhile. Some persons stew the apples first, season and put them into the dish, and when cool, cover and bake ; but I think the apples never taste so well as when baked in the old way. The reason for inserting a cup in the pie is this — the juice and sugar draws under the cup, and is thus kept from boiling out ; paling tlie apples into the dish of water prevents them from turning brown or black, and the moisture they imbibe renders no other water necessary, or very little. The Canadians season their pies with nutmeg and allspice, making them sickly tasted ; they stew the apples till they are an insipid pulp, and sweeten them till the fine acid is destroyed. A good, juicy, fine-flavoured apple-pie is a rare dish to meet with in hotels and among the old CanacUan and Yankee settlers. Dried Apples. — The drying of apples is a great business in the houses of the Canadian farmers, where they have orchards, or live near those who have large orchards, who will sell the in- ferior fruit very cheap, as low as 7^d. a bushel, if you gather them yourself. Those who revel in an abundance of this useful fruit, often call their young friends together to an Apple-paring " Bee". Bushels and bushels of apples are pared, cored and strung on Dutch thread, by the young men and maidens, and the walls of the kitchen festooned round with the apples, where they hang till dry and shrivelled. They should be dipped into boiling water as they are hung up ; this preserves the colour. Some ex- pose them to the action of the sun and wind, on the walls of the house, or spread them on clean boards or trays ; when thoroughly dry, they are stored in bags, and hung in a dry place, out of the dust. These dried apples find ready sale at Is. 6d. per lb., and even higher, if the season be far advanced, and apples scarce. When required for use, they are steeped for some time in hot water. Stewed till tender, with a seasoning of cloves, these apples form a delightful preserve, and rarely need any sugar ; but if too sour, a small quantity is easily added. Some add molasses. Tarts, pies and many pleasant dishes are made with these dried apples ; a delicious fever drink is made by pouring off the liquor after the Apples have boiled a few minutes. By this simple pro- cess of drying, you may have apples to make use of all tho year round, long after the fruit has decayed, and lost its flavour, in the apple chamber. In England this process of drying apples might be adopted to advantage. W THE OAMADIAN UOUUKhiCBPJSiiS Ubi^. QO l\ v., Pbesbbvbd Apples. — Take equal quantities of good browix cagar and of good boiling apples ; i. e. a pound to a pound ; cut the apples up fine, put on your skillet, and to every tliree pounds of sugar allow a pint of water ; scum the syrup as it boils up, add the apples, with a little essence of lemon, or lemon peel; a few cloves, or a bit of ginger ; boil till the apples are tender and look clear. The small American crabs will be excellent, done the same way. For common everyday use, half the quantity of sugar will do. Apple Jellies. — Allow a pound of crushed sugar (this is an inferior sort of loaf sugar, which sells at 6d. a pound) to a pound of chopped apples, boil the sugar to a syrup, with a few cloves and a stick of cinnamon ; throw in the apples, and boil till the fruit is dissolved. If you wish to have it coloured, add in, while boiling, a shce or two of blood beet ; this will give a beautiful rich tint to the jelly ; or a little saffron steeped in a cup of boihng water, which will tinge it a deep yellow ; strain the jelly through a coarse sieve of net or fine canvas. When potted, cut paper dipped in spirits, and lay on the top, the size of the inner rim of the jar ; have a larger round cut, so as to cover the outer rim ; beat up the white of an egg, and with a feather brush this paper over ; press the edges close to tlie jar ; to do this well, snip the edge with the scissors, which will make it form to the shape of the jar. Preserves thus secured from the air, do not mould as in the ordinary mode of tying them up, and the trouble is not more than tying with string. Apples in Syrup. — ^Make a thin syrup with sugar and water, season with spice or lemon peel ; pare some small-sized apples, whole, and let them boil till tender, but do not let thorn break if you can help it. Set the apples and syrup by in a deep dish till cold. This makes a cheap dish to eat, with bread, at tea. It is easily prepared, and is very agreeable, besides being very wholesome. Apple Butter, or Apple Sauce. — This is often made in the houses of settlers where there is an abundance of apples, on a large scale ; several bushels of pared apples being boiled down, either in cider or with water, for several hours, till the whole mass is thoroughly incorporated. Great care is nesdful to keep it stirred, so as to prevent burning. There are several ways of mak- ing this apple-butter ; some make it with cider, otliers without, some use sugar, others do not ; and some boil sliced pumpkin with the annlea. if the latter otp. verv ftnid- It is a Rtandinff dis': in most American houses, and is very convenient. 80 THE CANADIAN H0C8EKEBPER8 GUIDE. Akotheb Method. — Take three pails of cider, and bbil'down into one ; have ready a quantity of sweet apples, pared, and qctta' tered, with the peel of one or two lemons ; tnrow the apples itiio the cider, and as they boil down, add more, till your cider Will boil down no more ; keep the apples stirred well from the bottotn of your skillet, to prevent burning ; it will take some time to boil down quite smooth, say three or four hours ; when done put it iiito a clean wooden or stone vessel, and keep covered in a dry place. You may take out some of this pulp and spread on disnes or tins, and dry in the sun or before the tire, and pack away ; it makes a nice dry sweetmeat, or, steeped and boiled up, a delicious wet presei*ve. The Canadians who have large orchards make as much as a barrel of this apple-sauce for daily use. Cider. — Some persons have cider presses, which forms a part of their business in the Fall. The usual charge for making cider is Is. per barrel for the use of the press, you finding the labour, &G., and, of course, the baiTels and fruit. Cider sells at from $21 to $3, if uood. Where a farmer hfts an extensive orchard, the house should be well supplied with this cooling beverage. In harvest time it supplies a valuable drink : in a country where beer is not brewed in private families, and where the exhaustion and waste on the system, by excessive heat and labour, must require a supply of moisture, cider is very use- ful. The grateful acid must be preferable to the spirits, which are often mixed with the water, or drunk in fiery drams in the harvest field. Red Apple Jelly. — Take the small scarlet American crab apples, and boil down with a small quantity of water. The bdst plan is to put the apples, with a little water, into a jar with a lid to it, and set it into a pot of boiling water ; let it remain in this water-bath till the apples are quite soft ; pulp them through a sieve, and add one pound of fine sugar to each pint of the apple- pulp, with a stick of cinnamon and a few cloves ; boil for half an liour, or till the jelly will stiffen when cooled on a plate ; put in jars or glasses, and when cold pour a teaspoonful of spirits on the top. Wet a paper with white of egg, and fasten down, so as to cover the edges of the jar quite tight. When well done, this jelly has the most beautiful transparency, and a lovely scarlet colour. Apple-paring Machine. — This useful invention saves much time and labour : it is an American invention, and can be bought in the hardware stores for 6 s. Note — I strongly recommend to the attention of any onjB " ;t , : THE CANADIAN HOU8BKEIPEB8 OUIDX. 'i& W . who' tftkes an interest in orchard culture, a small volume called The American Fruit Book : it contains the hest practical advice for the management of all the common fruits of Canada and the States. It is to be found in most of the district libraries. A small book and a cheap one, but a treasure to the inexperienced fhiit grower. \ Apple-trees are subject to a disease of the bark which is pro- duced by the small scaly insect called bark-louse (or cocus): it re- sembles a brown shell, or a seed of flax, though hardly so lar^e ; young seed apple-trees are rendered sickly and stinted by this affection : to remedy the disease and destroy its cause use — one part soft soap, four of water, and a little fresh-slacked lime : ap- ply in the month of June, or indeed at any season ; it may be used without injury to the tree. For removing the webs of cater- pillars situated on high branches, tie some woollen rags to a tall staff ; wet this mop in water or suds, and apply it to the branch, and by giving a twirl to the stick, you will remove the nest and its contents. Apples for making cider should be well ripened and picked, free from decay, wood and leaves ; if left in a heap to sweat for a week, they are the better, as they mellow and ripen, but they must not lie long enough to decay. I copy a few directions for preserving and gathering apples, from the " American Fruit Book," which may be useful : — " The fruit," says the author, " is of a finer quality for remain- ing on the tree till well ripened, though it will often keep better by gath(3ring before quite or over ripe. Some, in the warm parts of the country, gather in the last week in September^ otliers. in October. " Gather your apples in dry weather, and pick Winter or keeping fruit and dessert fruit by hand, carefully^ Some persons ate so careful as to line the fruit-baskets with cloth; or cotton, td prevent bruising. Do not let your fruit lie out in heaps, ex- posed to the weather, nor yet stand in barrels in the sun. " In packing in barrels settle the fruit gently, and headuipfbll, pressing the head in carefully, so as not to injure the fruit. " After barrelling, apples are generally left in an open shed on their sides, till the frost is beginning to set in, when they may be removed to a cool dry cellar. Apples will bear any degree of cold above freezing point, and headed up in barrels, even ten or Wrelvfl degrees below freezing point." Bbtne pack apples in bnuj, sawdust, dry sand, moss, fern, and r^-f- i -r H fiiiit CA.NAL>iAll HOUSSKUIPIiH'ii QVIDM. luuny other substances. I have generally preferred laying rerf light layers of dry straw, and layers of apples, alternately. I have not tried it, but I think fresh wood-ashes would preserve apples from frost. Heat and moisture, united, are destructive to apples, inducing bitter rot. I lost several barrels of lovely apples by allowing them to remain in a warm kitchen for a month after gathering. PEARS. — Pears are beginning to be largely cultivated all through the country, and though some sorts are more tender than the apple, others will thrive well, and in good situations produce abundance of delicious fruit. A good, deep, yellow loam, on an inclined plane, sheltered from the north, may be considered the best situation for planting pear-trees. Like the apple, the ungrafted seedlings, well-cared for, will bear fruit. The seedling pear and the quince are the best adapted to grafting upon, though the native thorn is some- times used for grafting the pear upon. It would be advisable to buy good grafted trees to begin with, of the most approved kinds. After they have been proved, you can increase your stock by grafting, yourself. I will now select a few of the most approved pears for you to choose from. Ss. 6d is the price usually charged for grafted pears, cherries and plun , of the best varieties : this is double the price of the best apples. For Summer Pears: — Madeline, Bartlett, Summer, Frank- real, Belle of Brussels. Fall : — Belle Lucrative, Flemish Beauty, Seckel, Louise, Vin de Jersey, Virgalien, Maria Louisa, White Dozenne, Vicar of Wakefield, Beurre Diel. Winter Pears : — Easter Beurre, Winter Nelis Charmontel. ^ Many of these are very beautiful both to eye and taste, and if YOU are at any loss which to select, consult the salesman, or some honest nursery-gardener, to choose for you. The names should be cut on a lead or a tin ticket, fastened to a limb of the tree by a copper wire, as it is provoking not to know the name of a favourite fruit. If insects, as the slug, attack the leaves of the pear, dust with ashes or sulphur, which will kill them. " CHERRIES. — The cherry thrives w^ll in Canada, in spite of the frosty Winters. There are many excellent sorts sold at the nursery gardens, as Tartarian Black, Black-heart, Bigaroux, Maydiilce, and many others. There is a red cherry that grows and bears very freely from seed : it ripens in July, is middle- W ■ .■i£d.^rkiiit THS OAMADIAM H0U8KKEKPBH8 OUIUK. w sized, of a full dark red, not black, but rather crimson; sends up a rast number of shoots, which will bear in a few years abundauce of fruit, if set out, trimmed up, and kept in order. Suckers should be removed from the roots, as soon as tney appear, as they weaken the larger trees, and absorb the nourishment that is required to perfect the fruit PLUMS. — ^The native or wild plum, if introduced into tho garden, and kept in order, produces a very useful fruit for pre- serving, but is not so good for general purposes as the Gages and Damascenes, Orleans, or several others of the cultivated sorts ; it will, however, grow where the better sorts will not — in wet marshy ground, in hollows, and near water courses. Owinff to some causes which ]^am not able to explain, the plum is short-lived, and often perishes from diseasi's that attack the sap-vessels, or from insects that cause blight to the blossom, ren- dering the fruit useless, or utterly preventing its forming. Still, with care, much of this may be prevented, and in some situations plums are healthy, and yield abundantly. The Green-gage, Blue-gage, Yellow-gage, Golden-drop, Egg Pluni, Imperial Gage, Washington, and the common Blue Damson PJnni are among the best sorts. The soil may be light, rich loam, not too drv. WILD FRUITS.— In the long-cultivated districts of Canada, especially in townships lying west of Toronto, where the seasons are warmer, and the winters comparatively mild, great pains are now taken in planting orchards of the choicest fruits. Apples, pears, plums, cherries, peaches, and even grapes ripeu and come to perfection, as well as the small summer fruits. Exten- sive orchards of all these fruits, are attached to most of the old farms, west of Toronto ; but in the more northerly portions of Canada this is not yet the case. Orchards are, it is true, now generally planted, and gardens are more cared for than they were some years ago, but those who settle down in newly- surveyed townships, and far from the vicinity of large towns, which the hardy and adventurous emigrants, eager to secure a larger quantity of land, still do, must secure this advantage by early planting. The absence of fruit from their diet would be most severely felt, were it not that Nature has bounteously scattered abroad some of these blessings in the shape of wild fruits, which are met with in many situations, and often brought as it were almost miraculously to the settler's very door, springing up without his care or culture. The year or two after a fallow has been chopped, and logged. ^' THE CANADIAN aOO^EkUlf.Pkft'fe UUIDM. and cropped, in all the oornen of^ts rdil fence, and'1>j tie rude road thut he has hewed out to his dwelling, spring up the Red nispbi^rry, black raspberry, the blackberry, and often the strawberry. The wild gooseberry, both smooth and prickly, is, seen on upturned roots, at the edge of the clearing* wild,' currants, both black and red, are found in mois^ swampy spots . here also are often to be found vrild plums and ' chokc-chcrries, (the last not very fit to eat ;) and a tanji;led growth of Wild- grapes, near creeks and lakes; fox and irost grapes ontwin» the trees, near the shores of lakes and rivers ; while the hig)i' bush cranben-y shows its transparent clusters of scarlet berries, from among the fading foilagc, or on the utterly leafless bough. On open lands, as on those parts called Plains, the abundance of wild fruits is yet greater than on the forest clearings Here the ground is purple with the sweet and wholesome fruit of the huckleberry, the luscious bilberry; and strawberries of the most delicious flavour carpet the ground. — Tho May apple in moist rich soil springs up, both in the bush »i.id on any shady' lands. On summer fallows on these plains, and in the first and second years' ploughed lands, the strawberries attain a size thai is remarkable for wild fruits of this kind, and quantities^ are gathered for home consumption, and also carried into the towns for sale. — ^There are, besides the eatable fruits that I have named, many other small berries, that are wholesome, and eateni freely by the Indians, but which require a knowledge of their nature and growth, to be ventured upon by any but the natives, and botanists whose knowledge of the structure of plants enables them fearlessly to venture upon using the wild fruits, and roots and leaves of plants, that would be dangerous to be used as food by the unlearned. This is indeed the main use of botany as a study, though many persons foolishly despise it, because they are really not aware of the value of the science, and the benefit that mankind has derived from it. It is easy to see how useful these wild fruits are to the settler, in the absence of the cultivated sorts; and though the earliest efforts should be made for planting a garden and orchard, yet supposing r'ccumstances should have prevented the obtaining of good trees, irin<;B ; by forent i oaidH and wastes ; in open spotN, and the edgcH of btV «* THS CANADIAN HOUSEKEEPEBS GUIDE. «T would make a formidable edge, if any one would plant it ; but few will take the time and trouble. — Some of our English labourers from the wooded counties in the East of England, where the culture of the thorn hedges is much attended to, might try the plan for a garden hedge. The long winter in Canada, the great value of labour, and the continued pressure of work in the open seasons of the year, are bars to many experiments of this kind being carried into effect. But hedge or no hedge, I recommend the hawthorn as an ornament for your garden. On old grassy clearings, which have once been burned and cropped, strawberries spring up in abundance, of several kinds ; among which may be found a very pretty, delicate, trailing plant, with liq^ht crimson berries, in grains of a fine acid : these are known k^y the name of creeping raspberry : — they aro thomless, and trail in delicate wreaths upon the ground. The black raspberry makes fine pies : it is richer and sweeter than the red ; the branches are long and weak, the bark red, with a whitish bloom on them. They are something between the raspberry and blackberry of the English hedges. The Canada blackberry or thimble-berry, is not so deadly sweet as the fruit of the common bramble, but is a very pleasant berry, and lately has been cultivated in gardens, and maile to produce a fruit snpei ior in quality to the mulberry. The huckleberry is, among all the wild fruits, one of the most wholesome ; eaten as they come from the bush, or stewed with, or without sugar, they are a nice dish ; but with a few red currants added, they are much better, the tartness of the currant improving the sweetness of the huckleberry. A pudding, or pie, or preserve, made with equal parts of red currants, huckleberries, and the fruit of the bush bilberry, is delightful, the bilberry giving an almond-like flavor, and increasing the richness of the other fruits. The bilberry grows on high bushes, the large fruited from six feet to ten feet high, the fruit being the size and colour of small smooth red gooseberries : the dwarf kind seldom exceeds three or lour feet in height, and the tall bilberry, or Juneberry, is a beautiful-growing shrub, with reddish bark, elegant white blossoms, and rose-coloured fruit, smaller in size than the other two, though the bush attains the height of fifteen and twenty feet. These bushes grow cniefly on dry gravelly, or sandy soil ; seldom in the rich black soil of the dense forest. I am particular in noticing these peculiarities of soil, and M m iilK CANADIAN UOUiiEKBEPEB 8 aqiUK. ha]l>its^, ia describing the wild ftuits, that you may not look, for them in situations foreign to their natures, and feel disappointed if you do n(»t find on your own immediate locality every ones of the native fruits that I have described and recommended to your | notice. Every spot has it(i peculiar vegetables, flowers, and; flniits, and we must recollect in counting our blessings, whatanj ol4 poet says :— ' .■. ■■'■.■! 'in •* Who least has some, V bo most, has never all." It is our wisest part to receive with gratitude that which our Heavenly Father has prepared lor us, and not weary him hy discontented repinings, remembering in humbleness of heart, that we are unworthy even of the least of his mercies. Of wild cherries there are miiny diflferent species, but they are more medicinal than palataMe : steeped in whiskey, with syrup added, the black cherry is used as a flavour for cordials ; and the inner bark made into an extract, is given for agues, and intermitti'nts, and also in cht st diseases. All these wild cherry trees are beautiful objects, either in flower or fruit, especially the red choke-cherry, with its bright transparent fruit; but the excessive astringency of the juice causes a spasmodic contraction of the throat, which is painful, and to delicate persons almost dangerous, from whence its name of choke- cherry. — The bark is tonic and bitter: when steeped in whinkey it is given for ague. No doubt it is from this that the common term of " taking his bitters," as applied to dram-drinking, has been derived. Bitter indeed are the eflPects of such habits upon the emigrant. The reason why the native plants often fail to grow and thrive when removed to the garden, arises from the change in the soil and situation ; to remove a plant from deep shade and light rich soil, to sunshine and common earth, without any attention to their previous habits^ is hardly reasonable. A fine leaf mould, water, and shelter should be afforded till the tender stranger has become inured to its change of soil and position: those that neglect to observe the habits and natures of wild plants, rarely succeed in their attempts to naturalize them to the garden, and improve them by domestic culture. I will noNv give some recipes for drying and preserving the native fruits : — Dkied Apples, /"m* thai ArticleJ. Dried Greek Oaoeb, \NY KIND OP Plvbcs. — Gather vniir T — » «-.4 plums WudS not «oo iUK CANADIAN HOUSEKEKPEB S GUIDE. %l ripe ; split with a knife, and remove the stone : put a little filie Bugar into the cavity, and set your plums on a dish, or tray, to dry in the sun, or below the kitchen-stove. At night put theim into a cool stove, or into a brick oven, after the bread has been withdrawn. If you have neithor stove nor oven let them dry in a sunny window of a warm room. "When quite dry, pack in paper-bags or boxes. In some stores, there are sold nice round white wooden boxes with a lid and handle, which are excellent for keeping cakes, sugar or dried fruits : they are cheap, and very convenient. Tl f » dried plums are very little, if at all, inferior to the dried i'ortugal plums, and are excellent either as a dry sweet- meat, or, steeped aud boiled up, as a preserve. Plums or any other fruit, crushed and spread out on a flat pan to dry, with a little fine white sugar sifted over them, arc also good, and economical, as they take little sugar. Huckleberries, Raspberries, Cherries, or ant small Fruit, — may be dried either in a cool stove, or before the fire, or in a warm, sunny window; but fire heat is the best, as the sun is more apt to di-aw the flavour from the fruit, and increase the acJ lity. Boil hucklebeiries, currants, and bilberries for half an hour, or longer ; spread them out on tin pans, and let them dry in the oven, or below the stove, or out of doors ; cut into squares, When dry enough to move ; turn the pieces and let them dry on the under side ; sift a little white sugar upon each piece, and pack by pressing the fruit-oakes closely : keep in dry bags or boxes : stew down one or more of these cakes as you want them for use. These dried fruits are very useful in sickness : a portion of one of the cakes put into a jug, and boiling water poured on, makes a delightful acid drink : black currants cured this way, are very good. The drink taken warm is a fine remedy for a cold or sore throat. Many persons use the dried fruit of currants or huckle- berries, as a substitute, in cakes and puddings, for the Zante Currants. Wild Gooseberries. — ^Tbf^se are not often dried, as they become hard and flavourless ; but either green or ripe, they can be used as pies or puddings, or boiled down to jam. The wild green gooseberry, or thornberry, is often beset with real sharp thorns; not on the branches, for they are i ini- 1 1 «0 THE CANADIAN HOUSEKEEPEBS OUIDB. the fruit, you must pour boiling water on them : let them lie in it a minute ; then rub tiiom in a coarse clcr»n dry cloth on the table : this will remove, or soften the spines so that their rough- ness will be taken away : make into pies, und sweeten with maple-sugar or molasses. I'o make either the unripe or ripe gooseberries into jam, boil them down vill soft, in a water-bath first, closely covered : when quite soft, add half a pound of sugar to each pint of fruit, and boil one hour longer. Some allow to eight pints of fruit, six pounds of 8r^,iir. Haspberiues. — ^This fruit is most abunrl'^'^*^^ in Canada where a clearing has once been made. The birdt> t>ow the seeds. The raspberry seems to follow the steps of the settler, and spring up in his path as if to Dupply the fruit which is so needful to his health and comfort. Ripening in July, the raspberry affords a constant and dally supply for his table, till the begin- ning of September. 1-arge quantities of this fruit are sold in the towns by tiie bush-settlers' wives and childi'en, who get from 4d. to 5d. a quart for the berries. A dish of raspberries and milk, with sugar, or a pie, gives many an emigrant iamily a supper. The black raspberry makes the best pie, and this fruit dries better than the red, as it is sweeter and richer in quality : it can be greatly improved by culture. Kaspberry Vinegar, too, is a cheap luxury to those who have home-made vinegar and home-made sugar. Kasfberry ViNfcGAR. — To evcry quart of good vinegar put two quarts of raspberries : let them stand for twenty-four hours; drain them off through a sieve, but do not squeeze them; Add the same quantity of raspberries to the strained vinegar a second time ; let them stand as before ; drain and add a third quantity : when you have drained the fruit off a third time, measure the liquor into a stone covered jar, and to each pint of juice add a pound of lump sugar : set the jar In a pot of boiling water, and let the vinegar boil for ten minutes, stirring it to mix the sugar well through : when cold, bottle it for use : it is all the better for standing for some months before being used. iji A cheaper sort might be made with fine moist sugar, or with crushed sugar, but must be well scummed. Raspberry vinegar makes an e.xcellent fever drink, a small quantity being mixed in a tumbler of cold water : it is very refreshing in hot weather, and is made in considerable quantities by those who have wild i( )UU CANADIAN HOUSEKEEPERS GUIDE. 41 ■Ji ra.s])berries growing near the clearings, and plenty of sugar at command. Plum Jam. — ^Take any quantity of the red plums, and put them into a stone jar : set this into a pot of water, having first tied a piece of clean cloth over the top of the jar ; bladder is best if you have it at hand. Let your fruit-jar remain till the fruit it soft ; remove all the stones that you can find ; measure your pulp into a preserving pan, and to every six pints of fruit add four pounds of good soft sugar : break some of the stones, and add the kernels to the fruit : boil all up for nearly an hour, and put by in jars ; cover when cold with papers dipped in white of egg. Cbanbebries. — The low-bush cranberry is not to be found about your clearings, or in the woods: it is peculiar to low sandy marshes, near lakes and river-flats. The Indians are the cranberry gatherers : they will trade them away for old clothes, pork or flour. This fruit is sometimes met with in stores ; but it is of rare occurrence now : formerly we used to procure them without difficulty. The fruit is, when ripe, of a dark purplish red; smooth and shining ; the size of achampaigne gooseVprr); oblong in form. I have never seen the plants growing, but have a dried specimen of the blossom and leaves: they are very dehcate and elegant, and must be beautiful either in flower or fruit, seen covering large extents of ground known as cranberry marshes. — At Buckhorn-lake, one of the chain of small lakes to the northwest of Peterboro', they abound ; and at the back of Kingston, there is a large cranberry marsh of great extent. It is in such localities that the cranberry in its native state is to be looked for. The cranberry will keep a long time just spread out upon the dry floor of a room, and can be used as required, or put into jars or barrels in cold water. This fruit is now cultivated to some extent in the United States : directions for the culture are given in " The Genesee Farmer," published in Rochester at one dollar per annum. Cranberry Sauce. — A quart of the ripe picked berries, stewed with as much water as will keep them from drying to the pan, closely covered : a pound of soft sugar must be added when the fruit is burst ; boil half an hour after you add the sugar, and stir them well. When quite stewed enough, pour them into a basin or mould : when cold they will be jellied so as to turn out whole in the; form of the mould. Thi jam 1 io usually served with roooMiu vcitiovu, ei^y\4] **'^*^?C'\*^ UlUWM/lt «tiu i4a TH£ OASrADIAN HOUBEKEJBFXR's OUIDB. beef. It makes rich open-tarts, or can be served at tea-table in glass plates, to eat with bread. The Indians attribute graat medicinal virtues to the cranberry, either cooked or raw : in the uncooked state the berry is harsh and very astringent: they use it in dysentery, and also in appli* cations as a poultice to wounds and inflammatory tumours, with great effect. HiGH-BUSH CiiANBERRY. — This ornamental shrub, which is the single guelder-rose, is found in all damp soil near lakes, and creeks, and rivers : it is very showy in blossom, and most lovely to behold in fruit ; it boars transplantation into gardens and shrubberies, but a low and shady situation suits its habits best, and in this only it will tlirive and bear fruit to perfection. The flat seeds render the fruit less proper for jam ; but it is so fine as jelly, and so little trouble to make, that I shall give directions for it as follows : — Cranberry Jelly.— Gather the fruit as soon as the frost has touched it, any time in October or November : pick the berries into a jar, and set the jar on the stove, or in a vessel of boiling water, covered down, till they burst ; pass the fruit through a sieve or colander ; tlie seeds being large, will not go through : boil the juice up, with a pound of sugar to a pint of juice : if you want it for immediate use, a smaller quantity of sugar wiU be sufl&cient, as it jellies very readily ; but any fruit jeUy that has to be kept for weeks and months, requires equal quantities of sugar and fruit to preserve it from fermentation. Strawberry Jam. — Boil as many pounds of sugar as you have pints of ripe fresh fniit, with a pint of water ; boil and scum the sugar ; then add your fruit, and boil well for an hour: if ycu use white sugar, three-quarters of an hour will do. The fine colour (f the fruit, and its delicate flavour, are injured by coarse sugar, and too long boiling. I have lately heard that adding a pound of sifted sugar to every pint of whole fruit, merely strewing the sugar with the fruit as you pack it in the jars, will make a fine preserve, without boiling at all. Raspberry Jam. — Pursue the same plan as directed for straw- berries ; but for family use, raspberries may be boiled into jam, with brown or even maple sugar : boil an hour after adding them to the syrup. Some persons mix currants and raspberries toge- ther : tLis improves both. Currant Jam. — String the currants and boil with equal parts of sugar, as directed for raspberry jam. t I c I € t a t a d a u n tl OJ ai \\ ZB£ CAMADIAN UOV8BKSEPEB4S OIMSB. 4» CuBBAKT Jelly. — To evety pint of (dear juice add % pound lof Itttnp sugar : boil together for an bour« or till the mixture tnU jelly when cold. Raspberry-jellj id made in tlie same way. Cold- currant-jelly is made oy mixing one pound of juice, and mer^ stirring weU together. The process of jellying commences at the bottom of the vessel, uid of course is slower, buft equally efiectual as boiling would be. Try it ! j,,^ Currant Vinegar. — Gather ripe red or white currants, string them, and put them into a ve».3el : to four quarts of the fruit allow a gallon of w^at^er ; let them stand in a warm kitchen to ferment for some days, stirring the fruit with a stick to prevent mould gathering on the surface ; whr^' the fermentation has continued for some time, strain off the li luor from the fruit ; bruise the latter, or squeeze it well with your hands, while straining. Add two pounds of coarse sugar to each gallon of liquor, and put it into a cask or any suitable vessel, and let it remain in a warm room , I had in six weeks strong fine-coloured vinegar, fit for pickling, with only one pound of sugar to the gallon. Black Currants. — This useful fruit maybe dried whole, or boiled down and spread on tin plates and dried, with or without sugar ; made into jam or jeUy, or mere, y stewed with a little sugar, sulficient to sweeten, not preserve them. The convenience of this method is very apparent. In Canada, preserves are always placed on table at the evening meal, and often in the form of tarts. This- method enables any one who has ripe fruit to prepare an agreeable dish at a small expense, and very little trouble, if a pai'ty of friends arrive unexpectedly to tea. Currants and Sugar. — This is a favourite dish to set on at tea-time — ripe currants strung into cold water, from which they are drained immediately, and sugar, brown or white, strewn over them. A rich natural syrup is thus formed, which improves the acidity of the currants, besides giving a bright fresh look to the dish of fruit which is very agreeable to the eye. Currants and Rice. — Prepare rice as in the directions for apple-rice pudding, using ripe currants instead ; boil in a cloth or mould, and serve with sugar and butter. Baked Currant Pudding. — ^Make a fine batter with eggs and milk and flour sufficient to thicken to the consistency of cream : throw in a pint of ripe red currants, and a little finely-shred suet, or some small bits of butter, on the top of the pudding ; hike and serve with soft sugar. An ludian-meal pudding, with ripe currants, either baked or ,11 '! * .1 44 THB OANAJDIAN HOUSEKEEPEB's OUIPB. boiled, is rery nice ; if boiled and tied in a cloth, it requires long . boiling — two or three hours, if large; Mandrake, or Mat-apple. (Ripe in August.) — This was the > 5 first native fruit that I tasted, after my arrival in Canada. It ' attracted my attention as I was journeying through the woods to ' . my forest-home. The driver of the team plucked it for me, and told me it was good to eat, bidding me throw aside the outer rine, ' which he said was not fit to be eaten. The May-apple when ripe is about the size of an egg-plum, which it resembles in shape and' colour. The pulp of the fruit is of a fine sub-acid flavour, but it ' is better not gathered too ripe : it shdiftld be allowed to ripen in a sunny window. The time of its ripSiing is in August ; the rich moist lands at the edge of the fores.tJ[alf& just within its shade, is the place where the May-apple aBoimds. In the month of May, it may be seen breaking the bla«k^soil, the leaves folded round - the stem like a closed parasol, '^niie fruit-bearing plant has two large palmated leaves, i. e., leases spread out like a hand ; the ' stalk supports the leaf from the centre ; in the fork formed by the leaves a large rose-shaped flower, of a strong scent, rises. Verj fragrant at a little distance it ii,''Hut rank and overpowering when held too near. The colour of the blossom is a greenish white. The May-apple makes a delicious preserve. Gather the fruit ' as soon as it begins to shew any yellow tint on the green rind : lay them by in a sunny window for a day or two ; cut them in quarters and throw them into a syrup of white sugar, in which ginger sliced, and cloves, have been boiled ; boil the fruit till the outer rind is tender : take the fruit out, lay them in a basin, sift a handful of pounded sugar over them, and let them lie till cold. Next day boil your syrup a second time, pour it over the fruit, and when cold put it into jars or glasses, and tie down. It should not be used till a month or six weeks after making ; if well spiced this preserve is more like some foreign fruit. It is very fine. Some only make use of the soft acid pulp, but though the outer part is not fit to be eaten in a raw state, it is very good when preserved, and may safely be made use of, boiled with, sugar and spices. This fruit might I think be introduced into garden-culture, and prove a valuable addition to /our tables ; but in event of planting it m the garden, a very rich light mould must be given to feed the plant, which grows by nature in the rich vegetable leaf-mould. FERMENTATIONS FOR BREAD.— The making and bak- ing of good, nourishing, palatable bread, is perhaps one of the most important duties of the practical housewife ; so much of the comfort ■ THB CAKADIAN BOUSXKXXPXB's OUIDX. U M «Dd health of a family depends on the constant supply of this most essential article of diet, that I shall give it a first place in the in< structions that I am about to furn* \ to my female readers. Many of the settlers' families for whom this little volume is in- tended, may have emigrated from large towns or cities, where the baker's shop supplies all the bread that is daily consumed by the inhabitants ; or it may be placed in the hands of one, who from her position in Ufe has been totally unacquainted with labour of any kind, and who may be glad to pfofit by the directions I am about to give. Even to the active, industrious wife, or daughter of the labourer, well skilled in the mystery of making bread, both brown and white, something new may be gleaned from these pages, for there is a great difference in the materials she will have to make use of, and in the managing of them. First then I shall say something about the different modes of fermenting, or raising the bread, and give directions for making the various kinds of barm that are used in Canadian houses ; that in circumstances where one fails, another may be adopted. To those who reside in towns, and have no garden of their own in which hops can be cul- tivated, it is better, if they wish to make their own rising, to buy hops at the store, which can be got good at from Is. 6d. to 2s. 6d. per lb., varying in price as the previous season has been good or bad for the supply. Country people will often sell hops as low as Is. or Is. 3d., but they are not so good as those you buy at the stores, few persons knowing the right time to gather them. This should be done when the hop is full blown, and when the yellow dust, at the base of each of the fine thin leaves that make tho blossom, is well formed, of a bright yellow colour, and a littlo glutinous to the touch. If the hop begins to lose its colour and fade, much of the fine bitter flavour is gone : it is over npe. Some .persons prefer having recourse to brewer's yeast or dis- tiller's yeast ; the latter is not so good or sure, and obtaining the former is uncertain, as the demand is often greater than the supply; while if you make your own hop-rising, you are not subject to dis- appointment, unless you are careless and let your stock run out For a penny or three half-pence you may obtain about half-a-piut of fresh beer-yeast at the brewer's. Hop-rising. — Boil down two large handfuls of hops, in three quarts of water, till the hops begin to sink to the bottom of the vessel, which they do after an hour's fast boiling. Put about a quart of flour in an earthen pan, or any convenient vessel, not too shallow, and strain the liquor, boiling off the fire, into tht ffHK GAMADIAll toOVSBKEEPBR'S OVIDB. i I iour, Btining t)ie batter quickly as you do so. The flour will thicken up Hke paste : stir it as smoothly as you can, then let it itand till blood warm ; mix in a tea-cupful of the old stock of barm, and let the vessel stand covered up near th^ fire till it begins to show that fermentation has taken pUce. In summer Tou need only cover the jar or pan ; it wiH rise in a few hours ; but new barm is not so good as after it has worked for some days. A large earthen pitcher tied down from the air, or a stone jar with a cover, is host for keeping the rising in. The vessel should be well cleaned before refilling. Hop-YEA^T WITH POTATOES. — Pare and wash a do/.on good- sized potatoes ; set them on with about a quart or thAoe pints of water, with a heaped tea-spoonful of salt ; boil till they are soft enough to mbi through the water like gruel. Pour into your rising- jar or pan, and mix in, as smoothly as you can, flour enough to make a thick batter ; have your hops boiling, as in the former re- ceipts, stir the strained liquor into your potato and flour batter, add a large spoonful of sugar, and mix all smoothly ; when cooled down, add a couple of large spoonsful of rising, to work it. After it has worked, it is strained into a bottle, and set by for use. A large cupful will raise about ten pounds of flour. Some per- sons give the preference to this potato-barm, but either of tha recipe* is good for fermenting bread. SuoAR-YEAST. — Boil two haudfuls of hops in a gallon of water for an hour ; strain off and add two table-spoons of salt ; mix in one pound of flour and two pounds of soft sugar ; stir all together when milk warm ; add two spoonsful of good yeast ; let it rise for two days, then bottle and cork lightly, and put in a cool cellar ; a large cupful will raise about ten pounds of flour, or more. This recipe I have not tested myself, but I am told it is good, and has the advantage of fermenting itself, without the addition of other barm to set it to work. Leaven Cakes. — Boil three ounces of hops in three gallons of water, till reduced to a quart : while boiling hot strain the liquor into one quart of rye-meal, stirring it well. Let it cool : add a cupful of good yeast : when it has begun to work well, stir in as much Indian-meal as will thicken the mass to a stifl" dough; knead it upon a board well, roll it into cakes about an inch in thickness, and let them dry on a clean board in the sun, for two or three days ; do not leave them out after sunset. Two inches square of this yeast oake dissolved in warm water, and thickened with a table-spoonful of flour, will raise one or two good-sized loaves. If hung up in if /i THE CAMASIAM H0tTSBKB£PBB*8 001^*. Wr t> k bags in a dry room, this leaven will keep good fbr many monVM. The above is from an American receipt-bodi, and I have been told it is a f^ood receipt. Butter-milk Cakes. — You may raise rtiCd light cakes, to be tatcn hot \fith butter, by putting into a quart of buttermilk as much soda or salaratus as will make it eflbrvoscd or foam up like new yeast. It is better to dissolve the soda in ^ cap of hot \^ater, And bruise the lumps well before you nut them into the water, iii that the whole be thoroughly dissolvea ; any bits that are left ah- melted will make a distasteful spot in your cake ; mix your dougii very lightly, kneading it only just stiff ehough to roll out into cakes about an inch in thickness ; put them at dnce into H hot oven : the oven should be preity hot, or your cakes will not be ^ li^ht. This sort of bread is very convenient ; it ileeds no shorten- ing, nor any other seasoning than a little salt with the floilh A teaspoonful of sal volatile in powder (that is the ammbnii «sed as smelling salts), with two teaspoonsful of (Jt«am of tartdcf, mixed very thoroughly with the flour, before it is wetted, will raiflft nice light plain buns, to be «aten hot. I will also recommend " Durkee's Baking Powder"; it is Wtld i/A aU Canadian stores and drug-shops, at 7^d. the sealed packet, bii which are printed directions for using it. This powder imparts lid ill taste to the bread or cakes ; producing a very light cake with ho trouble. Emigrants should provide an article of this kind ahioh^' other sea-stores, as a convenient and wholesome substitute for raided bread, for the use of themselves and little ones; The use of these acid and alkaline salts in fbrmentitig fldnr fbod ►»afl become very general of late years, they have the advantk^^ of obnvenience 'n their favour, and are regarded by many persohs aii being more wholesome than bread raised with yeast, which Has it tendency to turn sour, especially on the stomachs of young chil- dren and persons of weak digestion. Owing to the superior dryness of the atmosphere in Cariadjk; Inread seldom turns mouldy, or takes a fermentation, after it Hk* been kept many days, as is often the case in moisi hot Wfeather in the old country. During my long sojourn in Canada, I ha^ never seen or tasted a piece of moulc!y bread. Salt-rising. — This sort of barm is much used among the old' Gainadian and Yankee settlers. It has this advantage over other kinds 01 rising : it requires no addition of any other yeast to stimulate it into active fermentation. Those who axb in the eoh?' stant habit of using it, make excellent bread with it. I di^likts turn OARADIAH HOUSXKXIPXB ■ OUIDB. the peculiar flavour it imparts, and if it is not really well managed, it is neither pleasant nor wholesome ; but many persons prefer it to all other modes of fermenting bread, so I shall furnish the in< ftructions for making it. Take one teaspoonful of salt, one pint of warm water or new milk, rather more than blood-heat, thicken with as much flour as will make a batter the thickness of good cream, mix in a iug that will hold about a quart, set the jug in a pan or pot half filled with water, warm, but not too hot, cover your mixture close, and set it in a warm place near to the stove or fire : in about four hours bubbles will begin to rise on the surface, and in about two more the yeast will begin to rise in a fine soft creamy head. The nice point in making salt-rising bread, is to know when the yeast is risen enough : after a certain time it goes down, and will not raise the bread, or turn it sour. Experience will guide you after one or two trials. But we will suppose the yeast is risen nearly to the brim of the jug ; then take as much flour, say four quarts, as will make you two loaves, or one good bake-kettle loaf; make a hole in the flour, add a little salt, and pour your barm in ; mingle it thoroughly, and knead your dough smoothly and well with your hands, as you would make up any other loaf : let your bake-can be well greased before putting your loaf in ; cover it with the lid. In baking in the bake-kettle, do not fill it much more than half full, that your dough may have room to swell ; many a good loaf is spoiled by being crowded into too small a space. Set the pan with your loaf at a moderate distance from the fire, covered up ; when it rises, which you see by its occupying a larger space, and cracking on the top, you may advance it nearer the fire, turning the bake-kettle round gradually from time to time, till every side has felt the influence of the heat. When within two inches of the top, put a scattering of coals (live wood-embers) below the kettle and on the lid ; or heat the lid on the fire, but not too hot at first, and then add live coals. You must keep your kettle turned gra< dually, that the sides may brown, and do not put too many hot coals below at once. You will soon learn the art of baking a shanty-loaf: a little attention and care is the main thing. When Che crust is hard and bears pressure without sinking in, the bread is done. Many a beautiful loaf I have eaten, baked before a wood fire in a bake-kettle. The bush-settlers seldom can afford to buy cooking* •tOTes during the first few years, unless they are better oflf than the labouring class usually are when they come to Canada. ^ I TBI 01XJL1>IJM HOVMXUrXR'l OUIOK. 4» ^ BREAD. — Having given you a chapter on the diiYerent modet of making yeast, for the raising of your bread, colle<;ted fruui the best sources, I shall now proceed to the making and baking of the bread. I can hardly furnish a more excellent receipt for pood bread, than that which is used in my own house ; which indeed I can recommend to all housekeepers, as fine in quality and appearance, while at the same time it is decidedly economi- caL It can be made purely white; or brown, by the addition of two or three handsful of coarse bran. Should the quantity here mentioned prove too large in proportion to the number of the family, a little experience will enable the person who attends to the making of tne bread, to reduce it one-half or one-third. Mas. Traill's Bread. — Wash and pare half a pail of potatoes, taking care to remove all dark specks ; throw them into a vessel of clean water as you pare them, as they are apt to acquire a brownish colour, which spoils the white and delicate appearance of the bread. Boil the potatoes till reduced to a pulp, bruising any lumps smooth with a wooden beetle or pounder: it wiU then have the consistency of thick gruel : when cool enough to bear your hand in it, stir in as much flour as will make the mixture the thickness of thick batter ; add a good handful of salt, and two cupsful of your hop barm or any good rising that you may have. A deep, red earthen pot, or a wooden pail, will be a good vessel to contain your sponge. It is a wise precaution to stand your vessel in a pan, as it is apt to flow over. If set to rise over-night, it will be risen time enough • worn up in the morning early : in summer we seldom maki this potato-bread, on account of the potatoes then not being -o fit for the purpose, for, while young, they will not boil down sw smoothly ; but from the month of August till May, it may be made with great advantage. The quantity of spongn, above, will raise two large milk-dishes of flour, or about twenty pounds of flour. If you have a large kneamng-trough, you can mix the whole at once, and knead it well and thoroughly ; but if your trough be too small for con- venience, divide your sponge, and make two masses of dough, working it very stiff on your board, scoring the top with a knife, and cover it up by the fire with a clean cloth ; or you may make only half the quantity, using, of course, less potatoes and water. In about two hours, or may-be longer, you will have a light dough, like a honeycomb, to make into loaves. When baked, take your bread out of the pan, wet the crust of your loaves over .:U •>♦ THB OAMADIAM UOTiSBHHtPMlrB ^fM^B. with clean water or milk, and wrap thei^ it «<)k4«ni detti, sedMShg them up on one side against a eh^ till ^leid. Thi6 pktt kefep» tlie bread from becoming hard and dry. For lagihtnese, »Weetn^si# and economy this is the best bread I b»6#, resembliftg feal\j I good baker's bread in texture and look. I (Mi^ife^^ pecoittln««td lit to the attention of the Canadian hottsewifo. Indian-meal Bread. — ^Add six pG«ftd«» of sifted Indi^ti^meiitl ' to six pounds of wheaten flour} one gaQon df WMter, ^attf, boiling hot, on the Indian-meal; whm cool enott^ td Wer^ with thfr hand, mix in the wheaten-floitl', and a cup ef ;feast, With H little Mlt ; knead the mass, and set it to i^ise ne^ir the fii! wkok^Mne bread may be made by pouring water, either WM^m ot cold, oil i^ bran, stirring it up, and leaving it to steeip for an hour ; iSkeA Jtrain the bran off through a sieve or strainer, presfsitig till the moisture out. There should be liquor emough to mix yottr brea(^, without any water, unless it be too cold, and a little hot water kt required to raise the temperature ; add thie usual quantities of salt and yeast, and mix and knead as in other bread. The ftiestr wholesome and nutritive parts of the htam will thus be preset ved; and added to your bread. Cobbett recommends this bread, and I have proved its good An4 wholesome qualities myself. All the fine fkmr and bran that passes through the sieve, should be put into your bread, along with the liquor, for this constitutes part of its excellence. If yoii wish for broumer bread, throw in a handful of dry sweet bran, and mik with your flour, in addition, but not that from which the gluten and fijae sugary particles have been extrac»ted by the water. I have now given the best simple receipts for making breads that I am acquainted with. There are methods of making iig^t bread without using the yeast to ferment flour. I will now give an American receipt for unfermented bread, nthaeh I have not myself tested : — Excellent Bread without Yeast. — Scald about two hands* hi. of Indian-meal, into which put a teaspoonful of salt, and M much cold water as will reduce the mixture of meal to blood-heat; then stir in wheaten flour fill it is as thick as liasty-pudding, and set it before t e fire to rise. In about half an hour it generally begins to thin and look watery on the top. Sprinkle in a littlA i \ XBX OAHADUm BetmCKSBPEB s auisB. a I more flonf , aoul mind and keep the pot turaed from time to tinM^ taking care not to let it be too liear the fire, or it will bake at tha sides before it is risen. la about four hours it will rise and ' ferment, as if you had set it with hop-yeast ; when it is light ! enough, mix iu as much flour as will make it into a soft dough : grease a pan, put in your loaf^ and let it rise, covering it up warm, and turning it so that the heat effects it equally ; in less than an hour it will be ready for the oven : bake as soon as it is risenu Some bake in a Dutoh-oven before the fire. — From Mrs. CkiUfi Frugal Housewife. ExcELLKNT HoT Tka-caxbs. — One quart of fine flour: two ounces of butter : two teaspomsful ci cream of tartar, mixed dry through the flour : one teaspoonful of salaratns or soda: moistea the latter in mtlk or water till dissolved : mix with sweet milk at cold water. These cakes to be rolled, and cut out with a tumbler, about aa inch in thickness, served hot and buttered. •, Brown Cakes. — Mingle a handful of fine flour, with as mnch of the coarse shorts as will make a baking of cakes for tea, say about three pints of tiie ooa/rsej to half a pint of the fine: • little fine flour must also be used in kneading on the board, and rubbing the dough from your hands. — Rub a good bit of shorten* ing into your dry flour, as if yom were going to make short cakes: dissolve a teaspoonful of salaratus or soda, in a cup of hot water; add this to as much butfaenrmilh, or sour milk, as will mix tfaO flour into a light doo^ : do not omit salt, and do not knead the mass too stiff; only stiff enough tor- enable yon to roll it out aboul an inch thick ; cut into rounid or square cakes, and bake in • quick oven. Eaten hot, with a 'Ittle batter, these are good, plain, household tea-cakes ; with molasses aind ginger tihey are very good. BISCUITS. — An (^ceUent, cheap, useful biscuit can be mad^ as follows :^ — llub into a ((uart of fine ilour, about an ounce of butter or lard, and a little salt ; mix with cold water into a stil^ smooth paste ; roU it out, ntnd strew dry flour on the paste ; work this flour well in with the toling-pin, fold it together, knead it and roll it aj^ain, throwing over it more dry flour, working it witk the roUing-pin till tiw flour is incorporated ; and do this several ^mes, or as lofiig as you cam knead it smooth ; break it into small pieces, and roll in your band, about the size of a large walnut^ then roll with the pin into thin biscuits, prick them with a fork, iiuL bake aa a ^t pan in a bniek 0¥en : if the oven be cool, thf^ : . 09 THE OAHAOIAN H0U8BESXPEB8 QUIDS. will be tough : the more dry flour you can work into the dough, the better will be the biscuit. These are useful if you have no eakes at hand, and are good for the sick; rolled fine, make capital pap for weaned babies. 1 learned to make them, under the direction of a physician, as food for a delicate infant ; many persons I have taught to make these biscuits, and they will be found very useful where the fer* mented bread causes acidity, and soda-biscuits and American crackers are not at hand, or the housewife too poor to buy them. Soda Biscuits. — Six ounces of butter : six ounces of sugar : one teaspoonful of soda, dissolved in one pint of milk : flour enough to form a stiff dough : melt the butter in the milk, and also the ■ugar, which should be white. Knead and roll out several times, till the mass be quite smooth ; roll in thin sheets about a quarter of an inch thick, cut into square cakes, and bake in a brisk oven. Abebnetht Biscuits. — Seven pounds fine flour ; three- quarters pound of butter, rubbed well into the flour; one-and-a-half pound of loaf sugar dissolved in a quart of cold water ; half an ounce caraways, and a teaspoonful of salt. Well knead this dough, divide, and make four dozen biscuits. This quantity can be reduced to one-half, at the convenienc« •f the baker. Those who have a stone or brick oven, can make their biscuits much finer and crisper, besides giving them the real biscuit flavour, by putting them into an oven after the bread, pies, &c. have been baked, and leaving them for some hours on the oven floor, while any warmth remains. Thus they are twice baked, •nd will keep for weeks and months. Bread of any kind does not mould, as in the damper climate of Britain ; even in very hot weather, bread, cakes, and other flour food will keep uninjured for many days. I have rarely seen mouldy bread or cake, during twenty years' sojourn in Canada. Next to biscuits there is nothing better than rusks ; some call them " tops and bottoms," others " twice-baked cakes." American Crackers. — ^The American crackers are sold in many of the stores at 7^d. a pound, but they can be home mado almost as well. RUSKS. — Half-a-pound of butter or lard (butter is best), or half the quantity of each, dissolved in a pint of hot milk, six ^gs well beaten, a little salt, as much yeast as will raise theso ingredientij ; add as much flour as will stiffen into a very thick iMitter ; cover warm, and when risen, stiflen just enough to admit < < 1 I I 6 8 I I THE CANADIAN HOUSRKEEFEB's GUIDE. J of rolling lightly, about an inch in thickness ; cut out Trith a tumbler or small round cutter : set to rise a few minutes ; bake, but nci overhake, cut them in two pieces, or, if very thick, make three slices with a sharp knife : return to the oven and bake till each piece is crisp. Some lay on the top of a stove, turning > them twice or thrice. Hard Rusks. — Dissolve half a pound of butter, or lard, (the latter will do) in boiling water, with a little salt : mix with a spoon as much flour as you can stir into the water and lard smoothly ; as the mixture will be scalding hot, you must wait till it cools down low enough to admit of your hand, working in a tea> cup not quite full of yeast ; then knead the mass thoroughly, and cover it down near the fire till it rises. When light, roll out, and cut into thin cakes, not quite an inch thick ; bake and split them ; return to the oven, and when dry, lay them out to cool; when cold, put by in a bag or canister for use. These rusks are as sweet as if sugar had been mixed with the flour : they will keep for weeks, and are excellent grated down for pap or panada for Uie sick ; or a gruel road'- bv boiling them, adding a teaspoonful or two of new milk, and ^ ing with spice, for a sick person, where bread, however go ', -aid be rejected. CAKES. — Excellent Gingerbread. — Take three pounds of flour, one and a-half pound of brown sugar, one pound of butter, six eggs, two tablespoonsful of ginger, and a teaspoonful of salt : roll very thin and bake on tin sheets. Common Gingerbread. — Treacle one and a-half pound, seconds flour two pounds, butter 2 ounces, ginger one ounce, spices two ounces, pearl-ash one dessert spoonful ; mix, with milk warmed, into a dough : let it stand till it rises, bake on tins, and cut in squares. Ginger Cup-cake. — Five eggs, two large cups molasses, the same of rolled soft sugar, two ditto butter, one cup of new milk, five cups of flour, half a cup of ground ginger, and a small tea- spoonful of peari-ash dissolved in vinegar or cider. Cut up the butter in the milk, warm sc as to melt ; also warm the molasses, stir it into the milk and butter, stir in the sugar, and let it cooL Beat the eggs light, stir in alternately with the flour, add the ginger and other spices, with the pearl-ash ; stir the mass well : butter tins to bake it in. Ginger Bread. — To a pint of molasses add half cup butter, three eggs, half cup sour milk, one teaspoonful salaratus, one ditto cream of tartar, two cups flour, and two table-spoonsful of ginger. 1 m THB OAKADIAH HOUSBKSX»B's OUIDK. ;, jiPLviw Plitu-oake. — One pound of flour, quarter pound ragi^, ^jiiArter pound butter, balf pound currants or raisins, three eggs, kaLf a pint of milk or sour cream, and a small teaspoonful earb^ nate of soda : spice to taste. i Lemox Case. — One tea-cupful of butter, three of powdered j sugar, beat together to a cream ; stir in the yolks of five eggs, I wM beat€«i ; disi . Ive a teaspccnfui of soda in a tea-cup of milk, 1 and add to the above ; also the juice and grated peel of eue iemou, the whites of three of the eggs, beaten to a froth, and four «ups of flour : bake in two pans about half an hour. Cheap Family Cj^ke. — ^To one egg and four ounces of butter, well beaten together, add a teaspoonful of allspice, half a tea- spoonful of pepper, a pint of molasses, a teaspoonful of salaratus 4is85lved in a cup oi cream or milk, fj.ad. flour enough to make it tile consistence of fritters : set in a warm place to rise, and whaa perfectly Hght bake moderately. SiLvsK Cake. — (Ftoin the " Maple-Leaf." J — One pound of crushed sugar, three-quarters of a pound of dried and sifted flour, OX ouuces of butter, mace and citron, and the whites of fourteen «gg8 ; beat the sugar and butter to a cream ; add the whites, cut to a stifl* froth, and then the flour. It is a beautiful-looking cake. GULDEN Cake. — This and silver cake should be made together, to use both portions of the eggs, Take one pound of flour dried, one pound white sugar, three-quarters of a pound of butter, the yolks of fourteen eggs, the yeUow part of two lemons, grated, and the ju "A also. Beat the sugar and butter to a cream, and add the yolks well beaten and strained ; then add the lemon-peel and Mour, ^>nd a tea-spoonful of sal- volatile dissolved in hot water : beat it well, and, just before putting in the oven, add the lemon- juice, beating it in thoroughly. Btdce in square flat pans, ice it thickly, and cut in square thick pieces. It looks nicely on a p^te ^th silver cake. Ladt Cake. — Five ounces butter, half pound sugar, the whites of eight eggs, half pound of flour : flavour with almonds— one ounce bitter, two sweet. Soda Cake. — One pound of flour, four ounces of butter, six (Minces sugar, three eggs, one spoonful of sour cream, with one of salaratus, spices and fruit to taste. Bake in a very slow oven at first. Lemon Cake. — Six eggs, five «ups of flour, three cups of sngar, one cup of butter, one cup of milk, one teaspoonful of salaratus, and the peel and juice of a lemon. w V ..:.:../ i'MK CANADIAN B0U8BK8EPZA9 ^UIDl* IRt Bough '--jt". — Three pounds flour: one peond sugar: f n butter ; four eggs : 1^ pint of milk : nutmeg and cimunmoii, par teaspoonful : two large tablespooneful of barm : knead lighUj ; cut in strips, and twist and throw into boiling lard ; when thejr are of a fine light brown, take the dough-nuts out : sift sugar oyer them while hot. Common Bush Tba-cakes. — Scrape down a large cupful of maple-sugar, and dissolve in warm water, into which also put a teaspoonful of salaratus, well powdered ; rub into two baaina of flour, a good bit of butter, or some lard or dripping, and throw in a few carav/ays, or any spice you may have, and a teaspoonful of salt : knead lightly, cut out with a tumbler, the lid of an old tin t*-ii-^ ot, or any other convenient cutter, and bake befoia tiie fire in the frying-pan, or in the bc've-pan. The frying-pan ia often used in the backwoods, for baking cakes or bread. In Canada they are generally made with a very long handle, in which there is a loop, thrr-jgh which a strong cord is passed, which is again passed ever a nail in the chimney-board ; or % machine called a pan-jack, is placed behind it, with notches which allows the cook to raise or lower the pan to the fire. A few hot embers are placed below the pan, to heat the bottom. This is a shanty-oven, often made use of in the backwoodsman's house. Canadian Croquets. — Sift a teaspoonful of white sugar through a bit of muslin ; add to the sugar three or four drops of essence of lemon, or almonds : beat up two eggs with the 8Ugar» and to these add as much very-fine flour as will make the egg9 into a stiff paste. It is better to work it with a epoon till it m smooth and stiff enough to handle : knead it, and roll it out as thin as paper. With a sharp penknife cut out leaves and shells, and roses ; or, twist narrow slips into braids, cutting the veiuinga of the leaves and the edgings. . ;ji ;- Have ready a clean tin-pan, half full of boiling lard : you ean try the heat by throwing in a little bit of your paste; if hot enough, it vdll rise directly to the surface, and become stiff in about a minute or two. Throw in your croquets, one or two at a time ; two minutes will cook them : take them out vnth a slice, drain and lay them on a dish, sift a little fine white sugar on them as you take them out. — From these materials you wiU have a heaped dish of most elegant-looking cakes, at a very small costi Sweet Fruit-cake. — This is made by rolling out a fine short crust very thin, and spreading about an inch thickness of apple marmalade^ made by boiling down dried-apples to a pulp ; over I' ■4 m 1 I i \ v^ 16 THl OANADIAM HOUSCKEBPEB 8 <}OII)8. t . this laj another thin crust of pastry: it shoul'' ? haked in shallow tin-pans, and, when quite cold, cut into squares, or Vandyke* shaped pieces, by cutting squares from comer to comer. This is sold by the confectioners under the name of mince-pie, and pie- cake. INDIAN mCE. — Indian Rice is a wholesome and nourishing article of diet, which deserves to be better known than it is at present. It «^rows in vast beds, in still waters, in a depth from three to eight feet, where there is a great deposit of mud md sand. In many places where there is little current, these beds increase so as to materially fill up the shallow lakes, and impede the progress of boats on their sui'face. When the rice begins to shew its tender green blade above the water, you would think the lake was studded with low verdant islands. In the ironths of July and August, the rice comes in flower, and a very beautiful sight it is for those who have an eye to enjoy the beauties of Nature. The leaves, Vkhich are grassy, attain a great length, and tioat upon the surface of the water ; I have se^n the leaves of the rice measured to the amazing exteni of eleven, twelve and thirteen feet. The deer come down at night to feed on the rice beds, and there the hunter often shoots them. The Indians track them to their feeding-places, and shoot them by torchlight. In the month of September is the Indian's rice harvest : by that time it is fully ripe and withered. The squaws collect it by paddling through the rice-beds, and with a stick in one hand, and a sort of sharp -edged, curved paddle in the other, striking the ripe heads down into the canoe, the ripe grain falling to the bottom. Many bushels are thus collected. They then make an enclosure on a square area of dry ground, by sticking branches of pine or cedar close together, to form a sort of hedge ; in the centre of this place they drive in forked sticks, in a square of several feet, across which they lay others, and on this rude frame they extend mats of bass or cedar, for the manufacture of which the Indian women are renowned : they light a Hre beneath this frame, and when reduced to hot, glowing coals, the rice is spread on the mats above the fire : the green enclosure is to keep the h?at from escaping : the rice is kept stirred and turned with a wooden shovel or paddle, and, after it is dried, the husk is winnowed from it m large open baskets, sbaken in the wind. This is the mere drying process of the green rice. The parched Indian-rice is heated in pots over a slow fire till <( \, i-u: \ THB OAMADUN HODSEKSBPER'b OUIDB. «T it bursts and shows the whKe floury part within the dark skin. This sort is eaten by the Indians in soups and stews, and often dry, by handfiUs, when on journeys, as the parched corn of the Israelites. ^ ^ Indian-rice is sold in the stores at 10s. a bushel : it affords a great quantity of food. The Indians sow it up in mats or coarse birch-bark baskets : it is dearer now than it used to be, as the Indians are indolent, or possibly, employed in agricultural pursuits or household work. In appearance this rice is not the least like the white rice of commerce, being long, narrow, and of an olive-green colour outside, but when cooked, is white within. The gathering of wild rice is a tedious process, and one rarely practised by the settlers, whose time can be more profitably employed on their farms ; but I have nevertheless given this description of harvest- ing it, as it is not devoid of interest, and, should this book foil into the hands of any person, who by accident was reduced to having recourse to such expedients as the wild country afforded, for food to keep themselves from starving, they might be able to avail themselves of the knowledge. Men who have gone up lumbering, on the shores of lonely lakes and rivers, far from the haunts of riviUzed men, have sometimes been reduced to worse shifts than gathering wild riee to supply their wants. I will now give the most approved recipes for cooking the Indian rice. ■'. WiLD-KicB Pudding. — A basinful of Indian-rice carefully washed and picked; Ehould be aoaked for some hours ; the watcv being poured off twice during that time. Put it on in a covered vessel, with plenty of water, which should be drained off after it has boiled for half an hour, as there is a weedy, fishy taste with the rice, unless this is done. Milk may now be added in place of the water, with a little salt, and the rice simmered for an hour or more, till every grain has burst, and the milk is absorbed. Now add, when cool, four eggs, a bit of butter, sugar, and a little nutmeg or cinnamon. This makes an excellent baked or boiled pudding : and, leaving out the sugar, and spice, and eggs, and adding more salt, is a good vegetable dish. Indian-hice in Soup. — ^The Indians use the parched rice in their soups and stews, which are chiefly made of game, venison and wild fowl. As an ingredient in fresh soup it is very '* .)fl /^ (HI Vas OAVADUN UOV6EKBBFBB's ouuxb. I \ If if / * good, but m«8t be well soaked and careftillj picked. ICaSiy poMons prefer the wild ziee to the white Carolina rice, inveniaoA •cmp. BUCKWHEAT.— This grain is grown in Canada for the fin* flour which is used as an article oi' ibod in the form of pancakes. It is the same grain that at home is known by the name of Fiwnch-wheat ; and in some counties of England, by the nam« of Braack. In England it is chiefly ^own for feeding fowlt and game. In France I have heard it is used by the peasant! IP bread, probably in the way that the Canadians use it, as pan- cakes. Buckwheat is of easy culture : it is sown late, ' 1 cot •arly. Hogs are fed with it, in the straw: sometimes it is sown by tne farmer to enrich the soil, by being ploughed down whilst in flower. When intended a» a crop for harresxii^, it ji cut and bound in aheaves, thrash^ and ground into flour, which must be sifted with a fine sieve, as the husky part is qmte black, and any portion mixing with the flour would render it unsightly. I will now give the best receipt for cooking. Buckwheat Pancakes. — ^The usual mode of preparing this favourite article of food, which the Americans and Canadians consider a national dainty, is as follows : — Take about a quart or three pints of the finely-sifted flour, mix to a batter with warm milk or water, a teaspoonful of salt, and half a teacupful of good bai'm: beat it well for a few minutes, till it is smooth, and leave it in a warm place all night, covered in an earthen pot or tin-pail, with a cover. In the morning have ready your griddle or frying-pan, wiped clean, and some lard or butter, made quite hot ; into this drop a large spoonful or small teacupful at a time, of your light batter, till your pan be full, but do not let them touch : if the lard be very hot, the pancakes will set as you pour tbem in, and be well shaped, and as light em a honey-comb : fry of a light brown, and turn them ; lay them on a hot plate, and serve quite hot, with maple molasses., treacla or butter. If the batter have worked sour, melt half a teaspoonful of salaratus or soda, and stir in. i ^ i-'> :>^f^-- The buckwheat pancakes should be served hot and hot to table. Buckwheat pancakes are a favourite breakfast-dish with tV hand : the outside handle serves for the dropper t^^ steady tho : basket. ^ ae person should open the earth slightly , .h the hoe, ' into which four grains of com are dropped, in a square of about two inches, as near as possible, from each other : the person who hoes, then draws the earth over the com. Some merely let the grains fall on the surface, while the other covers them with earth, forming a slight hill over them : others again draw a fiuTow, and plant the corn in rows, at certain distances. These things are better learned by experience, and the advice of old settlers — sound, practical men, who have no interest in mislead- ing the inexperienced emigrant. xhe distance in planting corn, when it is the usual hill culture, is three feet from hill to hill, and three feet from row to row. Some allow a few inches more, considering that the plant having more space and air, repays them by an increase of luxuriance, 'llie first hoeing generally takes place when the plant in about a foot high, when the earth is drawn towards the stems of the plants, and stirred well about them. The next hoeing should he before the plant begins to run up to flower. Where the fields are free of stumps, a one-horse plough is generally preferred to the hoe, as being a great saving of labour, and equally efficacious in. earthing up the com. Some cross-plOugh, but I do not think this is very often practised. Women and children take great part in the culture of the corn-crop, especitdly in the bush-farms, where the roots and stumps obstruct the plough, and the hoe alone can be made use of. Pumpkins ore usually planted along with Indian-corn : the broad leaves of the pumpkin spreading over the ground, serves to shade it, and retain its moisture for the benefit of the Indian-corn, acting as a sort of wet-nurse to I he tender plant. The pumpkin-seed is planted in every other hill, and in every other row ; which allows free space for the plants to run oyer the ground, without choking each other. Some farmers remove the unfruitful shoots and suckers f^om the stem of the plants, that are thrown up ; while others, who regard the fodder for their cattle as a matter of importance, think that they lose more than they gain. As soon as the grain begins to fill with milk, and has acquired I TRE CANADIAN HOnSBKBKPXB't OUIDM. f| some auhstonce, it is fit for the tabl« ; but the white, iweet, gaorden-corn is best for cooking, and should be cultivated for that purpose, instead of robbing your field-crop. The first week in October is the usual time for harvesting Iiidia,n-oprn, which is done by cutting it near the root, or pulling it : it is then set round in bundles, so as to form a large circular stook, which is tied with a band at the top, and these stocks are left to dry in the field till the fanner has Ipifiure to house them. The common way is then to pull the cobs off the stalk, .and throw them in heaps, when they are carted home to the bam or com- The corn-crib should be raided from the ground, and made of l/vgs or boards, close enough to keep out squirrels, but so as to admit the air, which is essential to its keepiug well. The crib is made small at bottom, and wide at top, and roo£ed over. hefore thrashing, it is necessary to husk the com, which U simply stripping off the fine sheathing that surrounds the cob or ear; to effect this, " Husking Bees" are often called. Neigjh- bpurs and friends, especially young folks, meet and sit roupd, and pull off the husk. — ^The meetii^ usually ends in an eve xu^ frolic, a dance and supper. — This is seldom had recours . to ei^qepting by the small farmers. The choicest cobs should be selected for seed : these are only Partially husked ; the husk that remains is turned back, and the 4K>bs are braided together in ropes, ^d hung across a pole or beam, to be kept against the sprmg. When rasping your i»cod com, break off about an inch or more from the cob, i^ the grains at the end of the oob are not so fine, or fit for planting, as the tliere are various ways of thrashing Indian-corn, but t^e usual method is simply with the flail ; some tr^d it out; ^J^th horses, on the bam flour. This is an ancient ma a of tljrashing, practised in the East, and also in Portugal and o^ <;m. Tbe;fir«t crop of Indian-corn I ever saw, was rasped by means of a bit of iron-hoop, set in the edge of a barrel ; but this was. a slow -pro- cess. In the States there are machines on purpose for rasping com, that WQivk very expeditiously, and are a great iiaviqg of Four qutirts of good seed will plant an acre of bush land,\Yith the stumps on it : six quarts are allowed for old land, where the ground is not encumbered by stiunps or trees. Ihave been particular in describing, as minutely as I omnd. u 64 THE CAHADIAN HOUSEKSBFEB S OOIDE. all these things relating to the cultivation of this crop, so uni- versally grown in Canada ; for though it is not often left to the management of females, yet such things have sometimes occurred through sickness or accident befalling the head of the family, that the work, or the direction of it, has fallen upon the wives and daughters of the farmers. I have known women in Canada, who have not only planted and hoed the com, but have also harvested it. I knew the wife of an officer, who had settled on a government grant in the backwoods ; she was a young woman who had never been accustomed to any other work than such light labour as the most delicate female may take pleasure in, such as the culture of flowera, and making pastry and preserves, and such matters ; but of laborious work she knew nothing. Well, it so happened, that her female servant, her husband, and also the man-servant, all fell sick with intermittent fever : in a few days both the man and the maid went home to their own friends, and this young wife, who was also a mother, and had a baby of ten months old, was left to nurse her sick husband and the child, and do all the work of the house. At first she was inclined to fret, and give up in despair ; but when sae looked upon her sick husband and her helpless babe, she remembered that duty re- quired better things from her than to lie down and weep, and lament : she knew that other women had their trials, and she braced up her mind to do what was before her, praying to God to give her strength to do her duty, and she went on cheerfully and with a brave spirit. The spot where these people lived was very lonely ; it was a new clearing in the forest, and there were not many settlers near them : it is now full eighteen years ago, and emigrants were not as well off then as they are now in their settlements, and often had to put up with great privation, and encounter great hardships. Besides a few acres of fall wheat, they had half an acre of Indian com, on which they depended in part for food for the household, and also for fattening some pigs for winter meat. The com was just ripe^ for it was the last week in September; the great golden pumpkins showed like gigantic oranges on the ground, between the rows of ripening com ; but, alas ! the fence was not veiy secure, and the hogs of a settler about a mile off, came through the woods and destroyed the com. The blue jays, and the racoons from the forest, came to sua» \ XHS OAHADIAK HOUSEKEEFEB S OUIDB. 06 I ■ In tlie spoil : the grain was fast diminishing, which was to have done so'much for the support of the little household. The poor wife looked at her fever-stricken husband, and at her baby boy ; neither could help her, and at first she hesitated before she could decide upon which plan to pursue. However she left plenty of cooling drink by the bedside of her sick partner, and with baby in her arms she set out to the field ; fortunately it was close at hand, just beside the garden. She spread a shawl on the ground at the foot of a pine tree that stood on the clear- ing, and setting up an umbrella to shade the little one from the heat of the sun, she set to work on her task of gathering the com. She soon became interested in the work, and though her Boft hands, unused to hard labour, were blistered and chafed, in a few hours she had stripped the cobs from a large portion of the com, and thrown them into heaps, running back from time to time to speak to her baby, and amuse him by rolling towards him the big yellow golden pumpkins, with which in a short time she had effectually fenced him round ; while the little fellow, shouting with joy, patted and slapped the cool rind of the orange- coloured fruit with his fat white hands, and laiighed with infant glee. Between gathering the com, playing with the baby, and going to visit her sick husband, she had enough to do. She next brought out some large Indian baskets, into which she gathered up her com. At sxmset she dragged her little one home, mounted in great state on the top of the loads ; weary enough she was in body, but well satisfied in mind, at her day's work. In this way she harvested and housed her first crop of Indian com. Her husband was well enough to aid in storing the pumpkins by the time her task was finished. In after years she has often with honest pride related to her children, how she gathered in the first Indian corn crop that was raised on their bush farm. Possibly this very circumstance gave a tone of energy and manly independence of spirit to her chil- dren, which will mark them in their progress in after-life. I will now proceed to giving some improved recipes for the cooking of Indian corn. SuppoBNE. — This is a thick sort of porridge, only it is made from Indian meal, very similar to oatmeal porridge, only it is boiled rather longer. The sifted Indian meal is sprinkled into the boiling water, and stirred quickly, — ^rather more salt is \l I 66 TflE OANADTAJT HOlTSXKeiEi^ieil's (OtTtDB. tban for oatmeal porridge, — and wbi^n bbUed aboiit twenty minutes, is taken up in a dish, and is ^ten witjti milk, sugar, butter, or any other seasoning that is prepdr^d. If there be ai^y left from the breakfast or supper, it ni^y be ettt (for It'becdmes quite solid when cold) in slices an inch! ^Vick,' and Mied 'for breakfast, and buttered hot, or eaten with 'inieat gra,Vy. Suppome to the Americans and Can^di^ins'is ^hat oatme^ porridge is to the Scotch and Irisli. It is tbel national^sh, and very good and wholesome food ii'makes. One buslierbf^Jndian meal will so as &r as two of flour in puddings aUd ica^es^ breiiid and porridge, as it absorbs a great deal mote water or muk, i^wetls in bulk, and satisfies the appetite sooner. "Supporne is better 'for long boiling. Indian Meal Pancakes. — Make abat'ter with one part flour, and three parts Indian meal, a little salt, and somie warm, (not hot) water or milk, half a tea-spoonful of salaratus dissolvied in butter-milk if you have any, if not milk will do, if sour so much the better ; stir into your bowl or pan with the batter, and beat it a few minutes ; heat your griddle or frying .pan qtiite bot, wiib butter or lard, and drop in your pancakes. As soon as browned on one side turn them : keep them from burning by adding a little more fat or melted butter, ^trew sugar on the surface as you lay them on the dish. Some butter them hot, a^d sift sugar also. These pancakes are far lighter for the ^omach than flour pancakes. It is a simple dish — easily made — ^very economical — and makes a wholesome variety at diimer or supper. A handful of currants strewn in, or a few ripe garden currants makes them nicer, or eaten with preserved apples where you have an orchard, and fruit of this kind is plentiful. Indian Meal Puddinq with Meat.— This is a good sub- stantial dinner when you have fat meat in the spring, and no vegetables. Mix Indian meal, seasoned with salt, to a thick batter with hot water or cold milk, add a little tea-spoonful of soda, but it is not ind'^^pensable ; grease your bake-kettle or stove-pan, pour in your batter, stirring it well, slice some ham or fat bacon, pepper them, (a grate of nutmeg is an improvement if you have it at hand,) and lay them on the batter. Your slices of meat must not be very thin : half an inch thick at least. When the meat is brown on one side, turn the slice, and if done too quickly, remove to a hot dish and keep them covered up till nuddinar is done. Some do not nut the meat in till the b "^^li TTtE CANADIAN housekeeper's GUIDK. 67 well get, but the ptidding is best when both are done together. The Indian meal absoi'bs the fat from the meat without tasting J greasy, and a very savoury and relishing dish is made out of very homely ingredients. Fresh meat, a small joint of mutton I or beef, can be thus cooked, the pudding making an excellent addition to the dinner ; and by this mode of cooking a small por- tion of meat will give an ttmifle provision for a large family. Indian Pound Cake.— Mght eggs, beaten, 1 pint of powder- ed sugar, 1 pint of sifted Indian mesd, ^ a pint of fine flour, ^Ib. of butter; stir the butter and sugar to a cream, beat the e^s apart, stir the meal and flour to the eggs and sugar and butt^, add nutmeg and lemon peel, or essence of lemon, with a glass of wine and brandy ; butter a flat pan or little tart tins, and bake. This may be eaten the same day or as soon as cold. Indian Tea-gakr. — A pint basinful of Indian-meal sifted, four well-beaten eggs, a tea-cUpful Of butter melted, a cupful of sugar, and a table-spoonful of treacle or molasses, (but if ^ou have none, this last Oan be omitted ; the cake will be good with- out, though it looks richer,) a tkble-spoonful of caraway seeds, or a cupful of currants ; a tea-spoonful each of ginger and nut- meg giated, and half a tea-fepobnful of salt. Dissolve a tea- spoontul of soda orsalaratus, in sOtne m^, and mix these ingre- £ents to a pretty thick batter ; bake in a stove pan, in a brisk oven. When done, cut ^he (iake into squares; it should be about two inches thick' wh to baked. This is a very nice c^ke, ^uiekly made, and is rich and light, without injuring the digestirtn. A fine cake can be nl^deof Indian-meal, ^gs, butter, molasses and ginger, with S(7da and sour milk or cream. Allspice makes a good seasoning for a plain cake ; and dried garden currants or huckleberries are good put in. Indian-mealBreakfast-cakes. — Onequart of sifted Indian- meal, one handful of fine flour, three eggs well beaten, a cup of yeast, one teaspooriful of salt, one quart of milk made pretty hot ; put in the yeast, eggs and salt, aud then stir in your meal. Mix into a batter overnight, adding in the morning a little pearl-ashy or soda or salaratus, just' before baking, but be carefiil to roll and dissolve before putting it to your batter, and stir it well through. Pour the batter on a hot, buttered griddle, and turn when browned on the under side ; serve hot. Johnny-cake.— One quart of Indian-meal ; two tablespoons- ful of molasses, or a cHip Of coarse sugar; one cup of butter 68 THE CANADIAN HOUSESESPEB 8 OUIDB. melted, a teaspoonfnl of salt, and one of ginger ; two eggs : make these ingredients into a batter with scalding water or milk : pour the batter into a flat pan, and bake brown : cut in squares, and serve hot with butter or preserves. Baked Indian Meal Pudding. — Scald a quart of milk, and stir in seven or eight table-spoonsful of Indian meal, a little salt, sugar or molasses to sweeten it, a cup of beef or veal suet, nicely shred, a teaspoonful of ginger or any spice you prefer, a tea- cupful of currants or chopped apples, and four eggs beaten to froth ; sprinkle a little fine suet on the top and grate a little nutmeg. Plain Indian Pudding. — ^The same as above, only omitting the eg^s and fruit. The same pudding may be boiled instead of baked, but the cloth must be tied so as to allow of the meal swelling, and requires to be bulled two or three hours. Indian Meal Yokkbhire Pudding. — Make a batter of Indian meal, with milk and two or three eggs, and pour into the pan, when you are roasting beef, pork, mutton, or any fresh meat ; it absorbs the gravy, and is very nice. It is as well to pour off some of the gravy before you put your batter in with the meat, as it is apt to rob the meat of all that runs from it. When you serve the meat, pour over it the reserved gravy, made hot. CoKN Starch. — ^This is a most truly valuable article of diet, as well as being used in the dressing of fine linen. It is prepared in the United States, and sold in all Canadian stores, in packets, on which are printed directions for using it. It is quite as palatable as arrow-root — ^much cheaper — and as easily prepared. As diet for the sick, it is very valuable ; and also for young children. It would form a most admirable sea- store for emigrants. A half pound packet of this fiue light powder costs T^d., or a York -shilling. It makes delightful custards and puddings. Cv-RN-STBAW Beds and Mats. — ^The sheathing which enve- lopes the grain of the Indian com is often used for filling beds, or loose matlrasses, to put below feather beds ; and is preferred by many people to stra w or any other material. The best method of preparing it is this : — after the com has been husked, or the cob stripped of the dry sheath that protects it, take a few nails and drive them quite through a piece of board — the bottom of an old box will do for the purpose : the nails must project so as to present the points on inch or two beyond the surface^ and V. THE CANADIAN HOUSEKEEPERS OUXDB. 09 ,,„,r.. several, say six or eight, must be driven in so as to form a sort of comb, having a double row of teeth. Gather up a handful of the dry husks, aad draw them quickly across the nails so as to tear them into strips ; with a little practice this work can be carried on very quickly. A bag of coarse brown linen, ^vith an opening in the middle seam, large enough to admit of a person's hand, and furnished with strings or large buttons, is the befit receptacle for the straw. The person who makes the beds stirs the contents of these mattrasses by putting in her hand. Mats forlayicg under beds are also made by braiding the sheathing into thick ropes, and sewing them together with a wooden needle or a large iron needle, with an eye large enough to admit of a single blade of the husk being threaded through it. This is then tied ; but those who do not care for the trouble of constantly threading and tying, use twine, or the tough inner part of the cedar tree. Bound and oval mats are made for the doors, of the com sheathing. The rough ends of the husk are left projecting about an inch. The braid is made in this fashion : — ^you take nine blades of the sheathing and tie them at the top, to keep your work ftt>m comingundone : the braid is the simple three ply ; but you use throe blades together, instead of one. To make it thick enough, every time you come to the left side, insert there a fresh blade, leaving a little bit of the end to project at the edge. About twenty yards is sufficient for a door mat : it is sown together with the big needle, and twine or bark. Children can be taught to make these things ; and they cost nothing but the time, and can be made of an evening or on wet days, when other work cannot be attended to. This is one among the many uses to which this valuable plant can be applied : even the cobs themselves are of service after the grain has been taken from them. They make excellent corks for bottles ; and a bag of them of all sizes should be kept for Buch purpose. Burnt slowly in the smoke-house, the corn-cob is in nigh repute, as affording the finest flavouring for hams and bacon; and burnt to fine white ashes, they afford a very excellent alkali for raising ginger-bread, and other cakes. I have seen Canadian housewives make a pure white ley of the ashes, for that purpose. POTATOES. — ^The most common method of plant:' ;j potatoes in the new soil, is in hills : on the older farms, in ridges, earthed np by the means of a single-horse plough. The potato is set all through the muuth of May and the early part of Jxme, and even i : ■ !" 70 » y THB OANASIAN f ; OUSEKBEPEB 8 OUIDB. later tb'!r\ tils; but the earlier they are planted, the better chanee you will , 7e of a fair crop. ' In the budh-fanns potatoes are generally planted in hillfl : the method is simple. One pereott drops the seed on the gromd/M I a'distahce of sixteen or eighteen inches apart, and two ieeS; ^f*- ) tween the rows : another folio ys, and with a hoe, draws tiia es ; ill 1 each way over the set : some llatten the top of lh«} hill with tho ' hoe, and shape them Hke little mole-hUls. W\ien tl-.e dhobi breialcs the ground, and the leaves expand, the e^rth is L*pAa drawn up to the plant. In the fresh virg? .? soil, once hoeirig'is a!l the crop receives ; but in ejav^iens, "wa -jhe the potatoes a s«Kn>ud, and sometimes a third hoeing. The hilla are preferiM in nevf clearings, where the roots and stumpfi would prev^ent tJie 2'i(%:-f' from being straif'bt, and interrupt the ploaghin^:. Th'3 tnkh plan of hKv-beds if> sieldom practised in Caiada, imlc^r^'it he to ijupiove ^ pit^ce of iiirfy or weedy soil. Th« field-crop v)f potatoes ?s selt , ;r:. ftt '-^ • use hdcve August, but earlier sorts may bo planted m the gard,!;: fnr tabic, which will be fit in July. The sorts usually set tn ?/,My kidneys, for garden culture. Pirik- eyes, the conuiion waite and red apple potato; rough-skinhefd ptirple, ai;d cups, for the main ctop. There are many others thW I ebiild name. I woald advise any settler coming out early in the Spring, to bring a small quantity of good potatoes for seed, in' a box of diA sand. New seed will fetch high prices, and pay well if the crop ;>ucceeds. There ia always an eagerness to obtain new «Qrts of an approved potato, especially early kinds. iTie month of October is the general one for storing the field potatoes, which should be taken up in dry weather. I feel fte- suh-ed that a vast deal of loss, bodi in quantity and quality, is cauf^sd by storing potatoes wet. The cellar, the root-house, and pits in tho ground, are the stor- ing pliaces. There are Objections to the cellarage, as the cellat^, which are, for 'he most part* pits dug under the flooring of the feitchcn-part of the log-house, are often too warm, and the potiito heats, or exhausts itself, by throwing out sprouts, besides, in the Bprirg, causing a bad smell and impure air, very injurious to the health of the inmates of the dwelling. The root-house is better, but requires to be constructed with olue attention for excluding the frost. In pitting potatoes, the mode obsei'ved by some of the most careful farmers, is th- . : — -the potatoes are suffered to lie spread on the ground, to dry \ ■: le stln and wind, as long as possible, during the day ; they thien i TII& CASAUlAh . UOUtUt>X£SPSB,8 aOiKfiPt n er chance hnisrtlie prc.md, kt i teei; \^'-' 5 1 with tfei? ' tl>.tf ahobi I is i'gahi hoeidg'ts potatoes a prefeTitfd evettt tli9 msj. Th'3 , unlt^f^'it ilfl-crbj* v>f sorts J nay Fuly. The •e. Pirik- ;h-8kmtie(d iihera thW jrly in the seed, in' a 1 pay lif ell >btaln b«fw r the field I feel tls- juality, is e the stM"- le cellai<8, ing of the the potato ies, in the jurious to icted -with atoes, the. ;h- : — the •e stln thien gathered in large heaps, ou a dryis^t, sandy, if 'pos8i1^]ie« aj|td[t||f ground slightly iucliuiug towards the south, or east ; no pit ip dug — the potatoes lie on the ground only ; over the heap is spreft4 a good quantity of dry litter or straw; on thi^: earth is thrpwOk about a foot in depth ; on this more straw or thQ djry stalks of th9 potatoes, and another banking of earth. A few boards plao€id slanting, so as to throw off the rain, is sometimes added ; but the f frost seldom penetrates the second layer of straw. Those who hftv^ a good safe root-house, or large ceUeu's, seldom pit ; but if dt is unr avoidable, tbe way I have recommended is the best, for seeuring this valuable root from the severe frosts of a Canadian winter.* Ma i!ED Potatoes. — Pare the potatoes very free from spots; throw mem into cold salt-and- water as you pare them ; when aU are done, put them into clean, cold w ater, and boil till soft, care- fully skimming the pot : pour off dry ; then mash fine, adding a cup of milk or thin cream, and a little more salt, or you may put in a bit of butter : dish, and smooth the potatoes on the top and sides, and put into the oven or before the fire to brown. Ckd4 mashed potatoes, cut in slices an inch thick, and browned in the oven hke toast, and buttered, is a nice dish for breakfast. Potato Soup. — Set on the fire, bones of beef, or any fresli meat, with a gallon of water, into which slice onions, carrots, and turnips ; a litUe salt and pepper : boil till the vegetables are so^ Have ready, potatoes finely mashed — a quart basin full: ad4 them to the soup, from which the bones may now be removed; boil au hour, slowly; pass the soup through a colander; if too thiol;, add a httle boiling water or hquor in which meat has been boiled ; return the soup after straining it to the pot ; shred in a little green parsley and savory ; give it a boil up, and serve it with toasted bread. If you have no meat, a piece of butter rolled in flour, will do to enrich the soup instead. Potato Fish-cakes. — This is an excellent dish. If salt cod, or fish of any kind, suited or fresh, be left cold, remove the bones and skin carefully ; pound the fish in a clean pot with the beetle, till every piece is separated ; if too dry, add a little hot water or •Note. — ^A liigHy intelligent Scotchman, in onr vicinity, tells me that he has found from long experience, tlie following plan is the best for preserring the quality of the potato : — ^whun taking up the crop, he lays the roots in heaps of eight or ten bushelfc oi tie surface, covers them with dry haom and earth, but Icba :- r, vcai- or npa.>^ at the lop, vdth no earth on it, to allow the steam that r'- 'w irom the pjl^toes to escape, till the cold weather comes on, v.I.en the . I,o are either removwu to the root-house or cellar, or secoxed by an addit';..; ual quantity ■, i'.>r^5fi^^^ w^ ■ '1 ' T. * \\ > \ 7ft THI OAMAOIAlf HOUSBKBEPER's GUIDE. melted bntter ; when thoroughly reduced, and well picked from the bones, add mashed potatoes, nicely seasoned wiUi pepper — ■ome add cayenne, but as children dislike such hot seasoning, it is better omitted in the mas^ ; pound the fish and potatoes till fhey are well mixed ; throw a httle flour on a clean board, and taking out a small ^rtion, mould it with your hands into a round cake ; flatten on the top, and roll it in the flour. When you have a dishful made, fry the fish-cakes in hot dripping, butter, or lard, on a brisk fin; : when neatly made and nicely browned, this is a nice way of cooking fish. If fresh fish is used, you must season with a little salt ; some persons add an epfg and a little finely chopped parsley, when poundnig the potatoes and fish. The same preparation put in a deep dish, and browned before the fire or in the oven, is, I believe, called Chowder by the American cooks ; it is less trouble, but the fish-cakes both look and eat better. PoTATO-CAKEs. — A Very favourite cake with the Irish. They are simply made with potatoes boiled very soft, and kneaded with flour and a little salt ; rolled thin, cut in squares, and baked quickly. The goodness of this cake depends on the making and baking ; some persons use twice as much flour in making them as others. A nicer potato-cake is made by adding a litde cream to moisten the potatoes and flour, making the dough stiff and rolling it thin, and working a piece of butter in, as in making pastry; bake lightly in the oven, or fry, and sift over them a little nne sugar. All potato-cakes are best eaten hot. a • PoTATO-sTABCH. — As I have before observed, it is a great object with the Canadian settlers to manufacture everything they con- sume, if it be practicable. The careful emigrant's wife buys no starch ; but makes all she uses, either from potatoes or bran. Potato starch is the fine flour that is obtained from the potato by grating it down in water. si'"* Pare some large potatoes ; white skinned are preferable to red or purple ; grate them down to pulp on a coarse rasp, or the large- holed side of a bread grater ; let the pulp fall into a pan of clean cold water. When you have reduced all your potatoes by grating, stir the mass well up with your hand ; lay a clean coarse cloth in your colander over a vessel, and strain the whole mass ; squeezing it till the pulp is quite dry. The liquor that remains after the straining must then be left to settle for an hour or more, or till it looks clear, and shows a sediment at the bottom. It may then be poured off, and a second water put on ; stir this, and leave it again for some hours. A third water should be added ; pouring off the / THE OAMAOIAK HOUSEKBEPKB's GUIDE. m former one as before : thr j waters is generiaUy sufficient The last time you pour the water off, you will perceive a slightly dis- coloured crust on the top of your starch, or some of the fine fibrous matter that has passed through : remove it with a clean spoon, and the pure, spotless, white substance below is the starch. This must be taken out, and spread to dry in a warm, sunny place, stirring it very frequently, till the whole is perfectly dry. It may then be put in paper bags, and hung up in a dry room. Be sure that it is quite diy before bagging it. Not only does this make the clearest and best of starch for mus- lins and linens ; but is a good substitute for arrow-root, boiled in milk, either for invalids or babes ; and is valuable in places where -delicacies for sick persons cannot easily be procured. Corn Starch. — This is an American preparation of Indian com, which is sold in small packets, in most of the Canadian stores. It is used not only for starching clothes, but as an article of diet ; for puddings, custards, and mixed with milk for pap, for very young children. I should think a similar preparation could be made by steeping com, tiU it be swelled and fermented ; bruis- ing it, and pourinq off the white floury sediment, as in potato starch ; bleaching it, and drying. .1 if*f-i 1 '*' - PUMPKINS. — This vegetable, or rather firuit, is extensively grown in Canada ; being always planted with Indian com. It is given in the Fall of the year to tne cattle and swine, which feed upon it eagerly : it is fattening and nourishing, and imparts no bad flavour to the milk, as turnips are apt to do. Among the old-fashioned setUers, the pumpkin is much esteemed for pies, and a sort of molasses, which they prepare from the fruit by long boiling. When properly made, there is not a better dish eaten tuan a good pumpkin-pie. Now I must tell you, that an English pumpkin-pie, and a Canadian one, are very differently made, and I must give the preference, most decidedly, to the Ame- rican dish ; which is something between a custard and a cheese- cake, in taste and appearance. I will now give you a recipe for Pumpkin-pie.* — Select a good, sweet pumpkin, fully ripe : tc |;3'a8certain if it be a sweet one, for there is a great difference in this respect, cut a piece of the rind and taste it, or cut several, and then you can judge which is best. The sweetest pumpkins $:ureqmre less sugar, and are much richer. 'f'^'^B-'^ "^^^'^ "'-^l «<^"?^JJ w * I had this recipe from a Canadian lady who is celebrated for ihe excellflxuM of her pnmpldn-pi4W UOUHJfJUlijiU'Kim U4)1DE. Parf and cut the fruit into slices, removing the seeds and alflo the fibrous, spongy part, next to the seeds. (Jut it into small pieces, and put it on the fire with about a pint of water, covering the pot close : you are not to ^mme or stir it. Should tlio water boil away so as to endau^/ < •' )le lc any other spice for pmnpkin-pies. The milk must not be t;ufficient to thin the pumpkin too much : it should be about the consistence, when ready for the oven, of finely mashed turnips : if too thin you will need more eggs to set it ; but it ab- sorbs a great deal of milk, and is better to stand some little time after the milk is added, before being baked. Make a nice light paste ; line your dishes or plates, and ther put in vour mixture. These pies are always open ; not with oover of paste over them. A yety rich pumpkin-pie may be made by adding cream, lemon- peel, the juice of a lemon, and more eggs. A finer dish, than a good pumpkin-pie, can hardly be eaten : aj[id it is within the power of any poor man's family to enjoy this Iwury. If you do not grow thisi fnait, any neighbour will give jpu one for tiie asking. SQUASH. — This i; ^ veget* ble of ^ae gourd tribe of plants, and is in much repute with many of tue Canadians. It grows very luxuriantly in the new bush-soil without any need of manure. The seeds are either set n' " hollow basin, one or two in a place, or on hills ; but hollowis are considered' preferable, as the loose soil dries too much. The same may In; observd with resn^ct tc cucumbers and melons in new gardens. Squashes are of various kinds > id qi green, like the vegetable marrow, m milk nnd pepper and salt. Squa!>. , y pies, in the some manner as pumpkms. ualities, and are boiled bed like turnips, with 3tt ripe, are made into i^ TUB CANADIAN |^0U8£J< KB 8 OUIOB. 70 md also o Bmall ;overi]ig le water ) buttom It will trowoish ting the t turned carefully , tbrough" or three inllmake Qamon ia eimun are ilk must hould be f mashed but it ab- itUe time and thep ot with , . n, lemon- )e eaten : injoy this will give of plants. It grows manure. a a place, the loose resppct to ixe boiled lips, with uade into In old gardens manure is necessary for the growth of all this tribe of plants. A good hot-bed for squashes or cucumbers may be made by piling the weeds and rubbish, dried leaves and stalks of vegetables, and covering the mound with several inches of fine mould. On this set your seeds, and you will have a fine crop ; besides covering an unseemly object, and making an excellent bed, of the finest soil, for flowers or vegetables of any sort requiring good, rich, mould. CUCUMBERS AND MELONS.— /'Plant, if in open ground, from ISth to 25th May.) — Both theso fruits can be raised in Canada without the trouble of making hot beds, and yheltering them with frames, provided your soil be rich enough, and the young plants are protected from the late frosts, which will some* times, even in the latter end of May, cut both com and the tender leaves of the melon. It is not commonly the case, but it has happened even in the early part 4 June. In general the seeds are put in about the 20th of M: , and if you wish to bring them on safely, place a square of bricks about each plant : on tnis lay a pane of glass. Qlass costs very little in Canada. This wiU sewe as a frame-light, and you may open and close it at wiU.— Water your plants, and keep the glass over them at night, or till your plants no longer require such care. Spread a little fine hay over the ground between the plants: this wul keep in moisture to he roots, an i I Av to ripen the fruit. A bit of slate or glass is some- li aes laid leaui the fruit to attract the sun's ray. I have seen splendid melons — musk, cantalupe, rock, and nutmeg-melons brou!.(ht to great perfection in the open groxmd, on new soil. If the citramer and Fall are bright and sunny, which is generally the case in 'Canada, you may reckon on having ripe melons in plenty wu little care. The endfc )f the shoots, of both melons and cucumbers, should be nipped as soon as the plant shows for bloom, this increases the size of the fruit very considerably. There is a plan that I have seen recommended in horticultural books for growing cucumbers : this is on a frame of sticks, placed tloso together, slanting like the pickets of a ha-ha fence. On this the vines are trained, and suffered to grow, stopping the Itiiiglh of the end shoots, to keep them from trailing beyond the frame : or the top of a bush set in the ground for them to climb, has also been recommended : tha for aer plan, if more trouble, is certainly the neatest. Mexoks Pbesebved. — Cut a ripe musk or cantalupe melon in F 'H THE OANAOIAN HOOBBKEBPEB'b OUIDB. slices, — remove the seeds, — sprinkle a little white sugar on the fruit, and let it stand for an hour. To erer^ pound of fmit allbw , three-quarters of a pound of sugar, white, it should be ; a dozen ^ cloves, and some ginger, sliced. Now pour off the juice that has ' run from your fruit, — put it along with the rest of ^our sugar «nd t spioe into a clean skillut or preserving-pan, and boil it up. Wh^n ■ boiling put in your melon and boil for naif an hour. The pdel of a lemon, thinly piired and cut in strips, may be added. The juice of two, squeezea in, greatly improves the preserve, but it may be omitted. This makes a very beautiful-looking preserve, of a fine apricot colour. It is very rich ; but rather too luscious for some tastes. .The Citron-melon is grown especially for preserving; and is a very elegant-lookiug dish on a supper-table. TOMATOES. — Canada produces this fruit in great perfection. The culture is simple — a bed of light rich mould should be pre- pared, on which the seed should be sown in the early part of May; : a light dressing of wood ashes sprinkled over the bed saved the . young plants from the attack of the fly which is very apt to i^Ure the first seed leaves unless guarded against. The tomato is very '. hardy and bears transplanting well, as the plant grows very large and bushy in a good soil. You must not set out your tomatbes nearer than three or four feet of each other ; a border is oest, as . the sun and light have better access to them than when platited ' on a bed. I copy a passage from the ** Rochester Horticulturist," which may be useful to the Canadian gardener. The correspondent of the 'Horticulturist' says, " A trellis on which to train the tomato is easily made by setting stakes behind the row of plants, slanting very (Considerably backwards; on I these laths may be nailed a foot apart, or wir6s may be stretchied. Each branch of the tomatoes will need to be tied at first, but ' afterwards it will be sufficient to run twine from stake to stake in front of them. Mine have been trimmed and trained in that way for manv years. The top buds should be shortened to check their growth. The fruit thus treated is remarkably fine in quality and abundant in quantity." The tomato is used in many different ways, as a dinner vege- table, as a sauce, and even as a tart and wine. I will now add ^ the best receipts for dressing it as a vegetable, and for catisup. An ExcELLiENT Tomato Sauce. — Wash eight dozen ripe ! tomatoes, place them in an earthen pan, having divided them in one or two pieces, carefiilly removing any stalk that may adhere. n ; TPIB CANADIAN B0DSKKBSI>|I;B 8 0UU3B. 'fT or any blackened or decayed part ; orer each layer strew some salt, and let them stand for two days : put them in a preserving pan with the liquor, and boil well tor firteen minutes ; then pass the pulp tlirougn a colander or coarse sieve to separate the skins from the pulp: to this strained juice add 4oz. mustard seed, d oz. whole pepper, 1 ripe red pepper, having removed the seed, 9 oz. whole ginger, 2 oz. allspice, several cloves of eschalot : boil all together till Uie pulp is reduced to nearly half the quantity, rub it through the colander and press it with a spoon ; a gill of vinegar to wash the pulp clean through from the spices, at last, may be added ; bottle when cold, and cork tight down. Those who can afford it, put a teaspoonful of white wine into each bottle the last thing. Preserved Tomatoes. — To three pounds of fresh ripe toma- toes, add the juice, and finely-cut peeling of two lemons ; boil together with some sliced ginger for one hour, then add 4 tbs. of lump sugar, and boil half an hour longer. Tliis looks like a fine West India preserve. Tomato uatsup. — Pick the ripest fruit, break them up, and strew a good haadful of salt among them, let them stand by for a day and a night, boil them with black pepper, cloves, allspice, . a red pepper, and a little onion, or eschalot ; when the tomatoes are reduced to pulp, let them be poured out to cool in an earthen pan. ,f,. When the tomatoes are cold put them through a coarse sieve and bottle them for use. The coarser parts may be put with the spice into ajar, and vinegar poured over them. They will make ft good sauce for cold meat, or seasoning for soup and stews. :.. Fasten down your bottles with paper dipped in white of egg, which will exclude the air. Green Tomatoes are often put into jars of pickles, and I have been told will make tarts, but I think the rank flavour would not be agreeable or even wholesome. Tomato catsup is used as a sauce for fish or meat, and also as a seasoning to soups and hashes. ,/ When I make Tomato catsup myself, I allow a tablespoonful of strong vinegar to every quart of juice, but most persons make it without vinegar. Any one who has a good cellar may have a supply of the fresh fruit for use, by taking up the plants before they are ripe, and hanging them on a pole head downwards. They can be ripened in a sunny window, or used green. \ \ »8 THE OANADIAK HOUSEKEEPER S GUIDE. LIMA BEANS.— /'7tm« to sow, ISth to 26th Jtfay.— There are no beans that are more truly valuable to cultivate than the white lima bean ; it is a climber, and requires poles to cling to. It is better to be set in hills three feet apart, about four seeds in each hill ; three slender poles, seven or eight feet in height, set so as to meet at the top, should be put in at the same time as the seed. With a small hoe earth up the plants when in six or eight leaves, and your labour is done. This bean bears profusely ; the crop continues in succession till the oldest beans are ripe. The isfreen beans are very large, and very tender; in moist rich ground they are excellent. The ripe beans are of a pure ivory white colour, fiat and kidney-shaped. These beans form a favorite article of vegetable diet in America. The manner of preparing them is as follows : — Stewed Beans. — Steep the beans, say a quart, in hot water for about twenty-four hours, or even longer; boil them, and remove the skins ; tlie water should be changed, and the beans when soft enough, drained and seasoned with pepper, salt and butter. They take three hours to boil soft. Anower way is to parboil a bit of pork, and put it to boil with the beans : then remove the beans to a deep pan or dish, put the po'^k in the middle, and brown all together in the oven. Beanc ure a good ingredient in soup, and also as a pudding, made in a similar qaanner to pease-pudding. SUBSTITUTES FOR TEA AND COFFEE.— It some- times happens to persons living at a distance from towns, that their stores of tea and coffee have been exhausted, before a fresh supply can be procured; or the want of ready-money for purchasing these necessary luxuries, has left the poor emigrant to such resources as the herbs of the field ofiier. Among the old Canadians there are persons intimately acquainted with the virtues of various plants which they frequently make use of instead of tea, and consider them more wholesome than the more palatable Chinese leaf, which we are so accustomed to regard as indispensable to our comfort. Necessity, no doubt, has taught the old settlers, both in the States and Canada, to adopt certain leaves, roots and berries, as a substitute for the genuine article; and habit has reconciled them to the flavour. Some attribute valuable medicinal proper- ties to their simple infusion , and, possibly, not without reason. The Indians boil the chips and bark of tlie sassafras, or spice- wood tree, as a luxury, as well as a medicine, and bring it from THE OAITADIAK HOUBSKBBPXB's GVIBB. 79 distant parts of the country. I once tasted the decoction, and found it very pleasant, hesides tasting the hark, which had a fine aromatic flavour, like the nutmeg. .7, > ,,* Tinctures, essences, and fermented drinks are in high repute, I have been told, in the States : the sassafras is regarded as a fine purifier of the blood. There is a species of fern, known by the country people by the name of sweet-gale, and sweet fern : it is woody, growing in a slight, waving bush, about three or four feet from the ground : when the leaves are rubbed they give out a delightful, aromatici^ spicy odour, which soon goes off. When boiled, it has a slightly resinous taste, with a bitter flavour, that is not very unpleasant. This sweet-fern is in high repute among the Yankee and old Canadian housewifes, as a diet-driuk : they attribute to it many excellent virtues, and drink it as we do tea. It grows only on very light, sandy soil, by wastes on the road side, or at the edge of pine woods. At dewfall, at night, or early in the morning, this shrub gives out a delightful perfume : it is very elegant in form, and in quality tonic and astringent : it has been recommended as a specific for ague. The botanical name is Oomptonia asplenifolia. Cbanothers. — New-jersey Tea. — Mountain Sweet. — ^These are the names of another very pretty and fragrant shrub, with white feathery flowers, that have the scent of the flower we used to call Meadow-sweet, and. Queen of the Meadows. It does not grow in the thick forest, but on open plain-lands, such as the Rice-Lake, Brantford, Monaghan and other open, shrubby lands. The natives use the leaves of this plant as a substitute for tea. There is nothing injurious in this plant ; and like the former one, it is tonic and astringent. I have never tasted the tea made from the leaves of this shrub, but I intend to cure some as a trial oi its flavour, adopting the method, as near as T can, practised i)y the Chinese in drying their teas, heating the leaves m a pan for a few minutes, rolling them with the hand, and letting them cool, and heating them again. The lumbermen use the New-Jersey tea, when out at their work, and also the Labrador-tea. Ledum Latifolium. — ^Labrador Tea. — ^This very pretty and singular shrub grows chiefly on the low level banks ot swampy, half dried-up lakes. There are two kinds ; one that is called marsh rosemary, the leaves bearing a strong resemblance to the shrub rosemary : it has pale, lilac flowers, and bluish-coloured, 80 Tfib OJLS3k3itAit' »)«8£ttttSPBBS OOIDB. hoi'd -benfies, resitibus in tasCe; not unlik(d juniper-berrieB in taste and appearance) ; but it is thid broader-leaved that is used as tea by the lumberers. The under side of the leaves of this plant, are bf a deep rust colour, and soft and cottony : the outer surface is hkrd and dry, of a deep, dull green : the flowers are white, and very prickly : the whole plant has an aromatic scent, which is rather too powerful in the decoction, for it must be boiled for a few minutes. — Some people highly approve of this beverage. I have tasted it, but disliked the resinous flavour. Dandelion Coffee. — Dr. Harrison, of Edinburgh, recom- mended the use of this root, many years ago. It possesses, he says, all the flavour and exhilarating properties of coflee, without any of its deleterious eflects. — The plant being of a soporific nature, the coffee nlade from it, when taken in the evening, produces a tendency to sleep, instead of exciting wakefulness, and may be safely used as a substitute for the Arabian berry, (he adds,) "being equal in substance aud flavour to the best Mocha coffee." This is going too far : it is the best substitute that has been found, but certainly not equal in flavour to really fine coffee. I will now give my sister, Mrs. Moodie's recipe for preparing the dandelion-root, and her method of cooking it. "The roots should be carefully \ ashed, but not so as to remove the fine, brown skin which covers them, and which contains the aromatic flavour. The roots, when dry, should be cut up into small pieces, about the size of a kidney-bean, and roasted either in a Dutch-oven, before the fire, or in the stdve, stirring them from time to time, to prevent burning : when they are brown through, and crisp, like frt)shly-roa8ted coffee, remove them, and let them cool ; grind like coffee. Put a small cupful into the coffee-pot, and pour over it a quart of boiling water, letting it boil again for a few minutes: drink with sugar and cream, this preparation is very little inferior to good coffee." "Experience," she sayS, "taught me that the root of this valuable plant was not so good in the Spring as in the Fall. In new clearings this herb abounds, and grows most luxuriantly in the fine new soil. — The best season to collect it is in the month of October, when the potato-crop is being taken up. To persons residing in the bush, to whom tea and coffee may happen to be an expensive article of consumption, the knowledge of this yaluabie property in a plant spread so abundantly over their fields, may be very useful." I can speak to the excellence of the dandelion-coffee, having THE CAITADIAN B>OVVVVSfi^Sli^U, OUID^^ 81 often drunk it, though I do not think I ever succcede4|in making it myself, so well as my sister did, I;bejieve t]ia,^,I have scraped as well as washed the root, and thu^ injure,^ instead or improving the flavour. The addition oi^ a small quantity of good coffee would be an improvement, and would be very econpmical, as the difference would then hardly be detected, betweeif^ the substitute and the genuine article. The small haricot-bean, browned, and a small quantity of cofiee added to it, gives a respectable imitation. The acrons of the white oak, browned an^ [ground, are also used. Before I leave the subject of the dfindelion, let me observe that it is sometimes blanched, and used as a salad, instead of endive ; or boiled as a vegetable. Coffee. — The best coffee, or what is here called so, sells at Is. 3d. per ft., in the country stores ; but a better article may be goi at Is. per ft., in any of the larger towns, and at lOd., unroasted. " The reason," says an agricultural joum^il now before me, " that coffee is seldom well made, is, first, the berries are too hastily roasted, or roasted too much : a light crimson is their proper colour. Secondly, the coffee is ground too fine ; and thirdly, it is often boiled too much ; by which the bitter principle is extracted, and the finer flavour flies off; and fourthly not enough coffee is allowed in the pot," A FEW REMARKS ABOUT BEER.— There is nothing that the new settler complains more feelingly of than the want of good beer and ale. Nobody brews beer in their own houses in Canada. Beer can be got in all towns, it is true ; I»ut it is not, as the emigrants say, hke the sweet, well-flavoured, home-brewed beer of the English farm-houses. The reason why so few of the Canadians brew their own beer, arises from several causes : first, that there are so few maltsters ; that barley is not very generally grown as a rotation crop : and then the want of vessels and con- veniences for brewing, is an obstacle which h ofteu takes years to overcome ; and by that time, the ta^te for beer has often un- happily been superseded by that of whiskey. I f^el assured that if there were more private families who brewed be^rj there would be a thousandfold less whiskey drank in this colony. As there is no prohibition in Canada, against people malting their own barley, I think it would be wise for every farmer to grow a small quantity of this useful grain, and learn the practice of malting it : they might not, perhaps, produ(!e at first as fine a flavoured m«|| as what they had been accustomed; t;> purcljiase a.t home, 89 THB CANADIAN HOUBKKEEPEB's OUIOB. from the maltster ; but one that would supply them with a vei,)- palatable beer, and at a very little cost : the hops they can grow m their own garden : every one cultivates this plant on account of it, being an indispensable ingredient in making barm for rising the household bread, besides shading and adorning their veran- dahs, by its luxuriant foliage and graceful flowers. The bush- settler has, however, little time to attend to malting and brewing; but those who reside upon old cleared farms, would find no great difficulty in supplying themselves with beer of their own manu- facturing, at a small expenditure of time and trouble. Many of the cotters' wives in Suffolk, used to make a cheap sort of beer ^^ fur the use of their families, from treacle, hops, bran and water, '^ with yeast to ferment it. This they might also make in Canada. During the very hot weather, some cooling and strengthening -^ beverage is much required, by men who have to work out in the heat of the sun ; and the want of it is often supplied by whiskey ' diluted with water, or by cold water, which, when drunk in large quantities, is dangerous to the health, and should, if possible, be avoided. '* Instead of the usual allowance of strong beer and harvest ' cakes, at four o'clock in the afternoon ; tea or coffee, with bread and butter, pancakes or cakes, are carried out into the field as a refreshment. They have supper on their return, at seven or eight at night. There are no han'est frolics held here m in England. The ^ practice seems altogether laid aside. No gleaners are ever seen in Canadian harvest-fields. Perhaps this very circumstance will show that the poor man does not require such a means of increasing his store : he reaps his own field, and his own hogs and fowls are the gleaners that gacher up that which his own hand has scattered. Tbeacle-beer — To a five-gallon cask allow four pounds treacle : boil a large handful of hops in a gallon of water, for an hour : strain the liquor off the hops into your cask: add the treacle: fill up with water, to which put one pint of yeast : in two days bottle it, but do not cork till the third : it will be fit to drink in two days after corking. Maple-beer. fSee that ArticU.j — Beet Beer. — Clean and '' well scrape and wash six sugar or white beets : cut them in slices, and boil for two or three hours in six gallons of anring water : when the liquor is as sweet as beer-wort, strain into a small cask: add to this the liquor in which you have boiled down a good U: .'r..- ,.ti*' 1^-t ■'i,r^.»,^ -.ii'-' ¥*;■ Q grow ' iccouht /^ : rising ''^ veran- 1 3 bush- ?^ ewing; ^! great ^ rnanU' ^ lany of . of beer '^^ . water, ^^' )anada. ihening ^ t in the U vhiskey ^^ in large iible, be ' ■a harvest i h bread ' 3ld as a ' leven or * ' :.. The er seeii Qce will Bans of rn hogs bis owtt ^ •'y,^. « t.r treacle : 1 hour : treacle: vo days Irink in «■■ fc.W r; ■- •/ i' iA-*''- !■?■"*■ ■■^i ;■» / ' '*-' -#^;!.v> t *\^ll:';^j^ ■,/ 5 ■* :> ^n ao#^ n alicef, % water :'•' ill cask: a good *- i I B < s s m g THE CANAiyiAM' H008KKBEPBR8 OUIDB. tH* hAfidM of hops : when: cooled to blood-heat, add a teaoupM of good rising : set your cask in a warm place, till the fermentation takes pliace : when the beer has worked for two or three days, fill up the cask, and set it in a cool ceUar : it will be ready in a week < or ten days for drinking. Beet-vineoar. — This is made in tlife same way ; only, instead of stopping, let the fermentation go on, and keep the vessel open in a warm place near the fire, for some weeks, and you will have a beautiful vinegar of a fine colour. MAPLE-SUGAR.— This little volume would be incomplett; unless it contained some instruction on the making of maple sugar, though the manufacturing of this Canadian luxury, is no longer considered so important a matter as it used formerly to be : the farmer, considering that his time can be more profitably employed in clearing his land, will not give his attention to it, for maple sugar is less an article of trade than it used to be. The West India sugars are now to be bought at 4d. per ft., or if you pay a dollar you can get 14 fts. of good soft sugar. The price of maple sugar is never less than 8d., but 5d. for many years, was the standard price if it were good, now there is little call for maple sugar, muscovado being quite as cheap. Still there are situations and circumstances under which the making of maple- sugar may be carried on with advantage. There will always be a dass of emigrants who, for the sake of becoming the proprietors of land will locate themselves in the backwoods, far from the vicinity of towns and villages, who have little money to expend, tmd who are glad to avail themselves of so wholesome and so necessary a Itlixury at no greater cost than their own labour. With the assistance of the children and the females of the house, a settler may, if he have a good sugar bush, make several hundred weight of sugar in a season, besides molasses and vinegar. Many a stout boy of fourteen or fifteen, with the aid of' the mother and young ones, has made sugar enough to supply the family, besides selling a large quantity. In the backwoods the women do the chief of the sugar making; it is rough work, and fitter for men ; but Canadians think little of that. I have seen women underbrushing, and even helping to lay up and bum a fallow, and it grieved me, for it was unfit for them. We will suppose that the settler has resolved upon making sugar. The first thing is to look out for a good sugar bush, where he can be sure of a hundred or two hundred of good trees stand- ing not very far from each other. In the centre of his bush he 86 TUB GANADIAir HOVBBKXXPXB's OUIDB. I I ; I should fix upon a boiling place : a fallen pine, or any large tree ahould ))9 chosen : if there be not one ready felled, he must cut one down, as he needs a good lasting back log against which to build his fire at the boiHng time ; but there are other requisites j to be attended to : a certain number of troughs, hollowed out of .• small pine, black ash, basswood, and sundry other kinds of wood ; j one or more troughs to each tree ; if the trees be large, two, and even three troughs are placed, and so many incisions made in the bark with the axe, into which spills of cedar are inserted ; these are made with a hollow sort of chisel ; but some do not take much pains, and only stick a flat slip of shingle, slanting from the gash in the bark, to direct the flow of the sap to the trough. The modes of tapping are various : some use the auger and bore a hole, which hurts the tree the least ; some cut a chip out across the bark, and cut two sweeping lines down so as to give the sap two channels to flow in ; others merely gash the bark with a slanting cut, and insert the spill. My brother, Mr. Strickland, in his work on Canada, gives very good instructions on this subject. There should be a large trough hewed out almost as big as an Indian canoe, or barrels, placed near the boihng place for a store trough ; into this the sap is collected : as fast as the smaller ones fill, the boys and women empty their contents into pails, and the pails into the large receptacle. The boiling place is made by fixing two large stout forked posts into the ground, over which a J)ole is laid, stout enough to support the kettles ; ironwood is good or this purpose ; on this the kettles are hung at a certain height above the fire. A hoop, with a piece of clean coarse serge or flannel sewed over it, serves for a strainer ; the edge of the pots should be mbbed with clean lard to prevent the sap from boiling over. It is a common plan, but I think by no means a nice one, to keep a bit of pork or fat bacon suspended by a string above the sap kettles : when the boiling sap reaches this it goes down : but I think my plan is better, and certainly more dehcate. If possible have more than one kettle for boiling down ; a constant change from the pots facilitates the work : as the first boiling decreases, and becomes sweeter, keep adding from the others, and filling them up with cold sap. A ladleful of cold sap thrown in at boiling point, will keep it down. Attention and care is now all that is required. The one who attends to the boiling should never leave his business ; others can gather the sap and collect wood £»r the fiies. When thoi j is a good run, the b<»ling down iUK CANADIAN H0U8BKBEPEB8 GUIDE. 87 ia often carried on far into the night. If heavy rain occurs, it is better to empty the sap-troughs, as the sap would bo too much weakened for boiling. The usual month lor sugar-making is March, though I hav 'mown some years in which sugar was made in February, ijy ihe middle of April the aap is apt to get sour if kept many hours, and will not grain. If you have sap kept rather long, put salaratus in till it foamo a little ; but it is seldom that good sugar is mad a from acid sap. A handful of quick-lime, some prefer to cure sour sap. The best run of sap occurs when a frosty night is followed by a warm sunny day. If cold weather set in after the trees have been tapped, it is some- times necessary to tap them a second time. After the sap has been boiled down to thin molasses, it is then brought in to be sugared off. The syiup must be carefully strained through a woollen strainer ; eggs are then beaten up, with the shells, and poured into the cold syrup, which is now ready for boiling into thick syrup, or for sugaring off. Where the sugar bush is far from the house, some persons prefer having a small shanty put up, of logs, and thatched with bark ; it may be built so as to enclose a large stump, to which may be affixed a wooden crane, by means of a socket, in which the upright part of the crane can be made to move ; to the cross beam of the crane the pots can be hung, and a fire, with a few large stones or a great log at the back, fixed, lighted beneath. The advantage of the crane is this : that if the syrup boil too fast to be kept down, by aid of a wooden hooked stick, or a bit of chain affixed to the upper limb, it can be moved forward in an instant from the fire. Care must be taken to watch the syru; ladle .ui hand, till the scum is seen to rise in a thick mass, which it does just a minute or two before boiling commences ; this ucum is then to be taken off with a skimmer or ladle, and if this part of ^he business be well done, the sugar will be good and bright, and clear-looking. It is the want of care in clarifying the sugar, that gives it the dark look and bitter taste that many persons object to in maple sugar. Keep removing the scum, as it rises from time to time ; if it has been well scummed the ^yrup will look as clear as the finest Madeira wine. Rub the edge of the kettle with clean lard or butter when you first set it over the fire, but do not depend on this preventive for boiling over, as whrn near sugaring, the liquid is very thick, and rises rapidly. It m prudent always to keep a little cool stuff by you to throw in, shs Towarols the close of the boiling, the greatest care and watchful- ness is reauired. When '1.^ yrup boils in thick yellow foam, and the wnole pot seems nothing but bubbles, the sugar is n^ ily come ; it then aroga ropy from the ladle, and experienced Kt.fjur 'makers can tell by blowing it off the edge of the ladle, if it be ' done ; it then draws into long, bright threads that easily stiffen ' when cool. Others drop a htde into a pail oi cold water, when, if it hardens, thoy say it is ready to pour out into pails or pans, or any convenient vessel. Most persons grease the pans or moulds before they pour the syrup into them, that it may turn out easily. Much maplo sugar is spoiled in its quality by being over-boiled. It is true it hardens more readily, but ltv>v!s in excellence of grain and colour. In the course of two or three days the sugar will be formed into a solid cake, and may be turned out ; but if you wish to have a good fine grained sugar, after turning it out of the moulds, pierce the bottoms of the cakes, and set them across sticks, over a clean vessel ; a sugar trough will do, and the wet molasses will drain out, which will improve the look of your sugar, render it easier to break up for use, and removes any coarse taste, so that you may nut it as a sweetener into cakes, puddings, tea, or coffee, and it will be as nice as the best muscovado. The larger coarsf grai led maple sugar, which looks Uke sugar- oandy, is made by not over-boiling the syrup, pouring it into shallow pans, au ' .t{U.t i^g it dry slowly in the sun, or a warm room. Thiu I Uke better than the cake sugar, but it is not so convenient to store. To those who have few utensils or places to put things in, as a sweetmeat for eating, the dark heavy-looking sugar is liked the best, but I prefer the sparkling good grained sugar, myself, for all purposes. The Indian sugar, which looks dry and yellow, and is not sold in cakes, but in birch boxes, or mowkowks, as they call them, I have been told, owes its peculiar taste to the birch bark vessels that the sap is gathered in, and its giain to being kept constantly stirred while coohng. I have been told that a small bit of lime put into the syrup whitens the sugar. Milk is used to clarify, whon eggs are not to be had, but I only made use of eggs. Four eggs I found enough for one boiling of sugar. As I know of no better authority for the process of making sugar than that of my brother. Major Strickland, I shall avau myself of his directions, and abridge from his last volume, 18th t r THE OANAOIAK HOUSEKEFPKR'a OUtdB. 80 ni. whi( a ' h roads wide oxen, should the fire, from a liable to accidents. "f t ,' ' chapter, such passages as mav add to the settler's knowledge, '■'What I have already collected from my own ex^terience, and other " sources. He says, "The settler having selected lii 'ugftr-bush, should I underbrush, and clean the surface of the p'-ouiid, by removing all /'rotten legs, and fallen trees. It ahould b(> > muded by a fence, to hinder the cattle from drinkir"? the s -p, j upsettiug the sap "troughs, which they are very api ^o ' to tb* -reat loss and annoyance of the sugar-boiler. 1 ne ., ni. should be as Hear to the centre of the bush as po? blf enough to admit of the movements ( be cut in every direction." " Settlers commonly suspend the buiii thick pole, by means of iron chains; but tl. J'Ke best plan is to build the sugar kettles into an arch, either m the open air, or in a small shanty built for the purpose of "sugaring off." "A store trough should be made from the trunk of a large white pine, capable of holding from fifty to one hundred pails of sap. This should be placed near the boilers, and any empty* casks or barrels may also be mustered in case of a good run." "In a good season from eight to twelve hundred pounds of / sugar and molasses can be made with five hundred sap troughs. '" Let the troughs be taade of pine, black ash, cherry, or butternut, ' 'capable of holding three or four gallons each." " No sap wood should be left in making the troughs as it is ';" «ure to rot them. As soon as the season is over, let the boys -collect all the troughs, and set them upon end, against the North side of the tree, which preserves them from cracking with the "sun." "If the farmer desires, as of course he willl, to preserve his , ' sugar bush, the best way is to tap the tree on the South, or sunny , side, with an inch and quarter auger, and use hollow spills. ' . Care must be taken to set the trough direOtly under the drop, ,'* and as level as possible. Many use the axe omy, in tapping, hut i this soon kills the tree. " The sap runs best after a frosty night, followed by a warm sunny day, and brisk westerly wind. The tap shoMd be made in the early part of the season, on the South, and when it requires removing later, on the North. "The most expeditious way of gathering thef'^api^ to drive through the roads with the ox sled, on"vVhich a' yirtfch^a or ■■\\ 'Hi J IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) ..V 1.0 I.I 1.25 1^ US I »£ 112.0 U4 1.8 U IIIIII.6 III 'n f 7. w >^ 7 Photographic Sciences Corporation 23 WEST MAIN STREET WEBSTER, N.Y. 14580 (716) 872-4503 ^ 90 SHX OANASIAM HOUSEKXEPEBS OUIDB. I I [. .ai Itanrel is securely fixecT; in the bunghde of this receptaclfd, ft wooden tun-dish should be inserted, laxgo enough to hold a pail of sap ; in the hollow of this a bit of tm or iron punched full of holes is inserted to act as a strainer. " As soon as a sufficiency of sap has been stored, and the kettles filled, the fires are lighted, and boiling begins, and should now be kept up night and day, till a sufficiency for a batch of sugar has been boiled down into thin molasses. It is then allowed to cool, and settle, and should be poured into the sugaring vessel, free of the sediment. Eggs are then beaten up — six will clarify fifty pounds of sugar. The beaten eggs are stirred into the cool liquor, the pot slung on the crane, and (U it rises to the boil, the thick black scum, must be instantly removed. If properly scummed, the liquor will be bright and clear as white wine. " Great (Attention must now be paid by the sugar-boiler ; he must not leave his station, unless his post be taken by a careful hand. The liquid, as it thickens, is continually rising to the surface, and unless watched with care, would boil over ; it is well to keep a little always cooling at hand to dash in in case of a sudden rise." " To the uninitiated, the greatest difficulty is to know when the liquid has attained a sugaring point. When it boils in one continued yellow froth, throwing up jets and puffs of steam, it is not far from being ready ; but to try this, take a thin bit of wood, in this make a narrow hole an inch long, and an eighth of an inch wide, if this is dipped into the molasses, a fine thin film will fill the hole, which, if blown, throws out a long shaped bubble, if the sugar is sufficiently boiled. Some can teU by olowing a thread of it from the edge of a ladle, or by dropping it on the snow, when, if hard, it is done, and the sugar may be poured out into pans to granulate." " Sugar-making," adds the writer of the above, " is one of the most laborious occupations, while it lasts, yet a vast quantity of mpple sugar is yearly made in the back woods by the joint opeiutions of the settlers' wives, and their children ; and though it takes place at the most changeable and unpl.^asant season of the year, when the frosts and thaws are alternate, and the work is done hi the wet snow, it is very rarely that you hear of ague attacking the sugar-makers. March and April are not the seasons lor ague ; it is in the hotter months this disease prevails." MIflb Stbtjp.— This beautiful addition to the table is simply A portion of the vjrap, taken out when it begins to thicken to tM ceptadjd, ft old a pail lied fall of d, and the emd should a batch of len allowed ring vessel, ■wm clarify ito the cool ^he boil, the [f properly I wme. r-boiler; he )y a careful sing to the r; itiswdl n case of a Dw when the foils in one steam, it is bit of wood, h of an inch Urn will fill abble, if the ng a thread 1 the snow, red out into one of the quantity of / the joint and though it season of Qd the work ear of ague the seasons ails." leis simply iokentothe THE OXSAmMJX H0U8SKBKPBB 8 OniOB. ■ , ' ■ . ■•:■■.•■-■. If. M I in ^' ■. ' ■ .goiiisistenoy of yir^ honey. It sells at ninepence oif t^penee arquart rciadily ; if for use in your own family, boil it rathor longer, end '^rk it tight, setting it by in a cool cellar to keep it from fermentation. It is used as sauce for pancakes, puddingPr and to eat with bread. Those persons who do not think it worth their while to make sugar, wiU often make a gallon or two oi' molasses. Some call it maple honey, and indeed it comes nearer ^to honey in taste, and consistency, tiian to treacle. . . Maple Suoab Sweeties. — ^When sugaring oS, take a little of ihe thickest syrup into a saucer, stir in a very little fine flour, and a small bit of butter, and flavour with essence of lemon, p^permint, or (pncrer, as you like best ; when cold, cut into little pncks about an inch in length. This makes a cheap treat for ^ihe httle ones. By melting down a piece of maple sugar, and ,ftddinpf a bit of butter, and flavouring, you can always give them fweeties, if you think proper to allow them indulgencies of this Jnrt. * Maple Yineoab. — Those persons who make maple sugar generally make a keg of vinep^ar, which, indeed, is hiffhly advisable ; no house should be without it ; it is valuable bou as an article of diet, and medicine; and as it is easily made, and costs nothing but the labour, I shall give directions how to 4inakeit. . At the close of the sugar-making season, in the month of , April, the sap loses much of its sweetness, and when boiled down,, wul not make sugar, but it will make good vinegar : — for this purpoBe it will onfy be necessary to reduce five pails of sap to one or boiling ; twenty-five gallons of sap, boiled down to five, will fill your fittle five gallon keg ; but it is better to>boil rather more, as you will need some after the fermentation is over to fill up the vessel. This is the common proportion, five pails reduced io one ; but I do not think that six to one would be too much to allow in ..boiling down. While blood-warm, strain the liquor into the vessel, and pour in hiedf a tea-cupfol of rising ; set the cask in the chmme^ comer, or at the back of the stove, and let it work • as long as it will, then lay a bit of glass over the bunghole to keep out dust, and let it stand where it will keep moderately warm ^r weeks. It will be fit for use by the summer ; if it is too^mk put a little more sugar to it. In the hot weather a nice cooling drink can be made with a , quart of hot water, a large spoonful of maple-syrup, and as much vinegar as will sharpen it ; when quite cold, grate a little nutmi^ ¥fiE OAlfADXAN ttOTJSEKEEFEB'S OUIDB. '^6A'ik/ot d^op a little essence of lemon, to fiayour it lliiflrfo tiny ^i^^lf^shing in harvest weather. '''of'i^'^ce, others braised ginger. "^'mAThE WINE. — Boil down six pails of sap to one, in |>i'6poi1ion . to the quantity ^ou wish to make. Set it to ferment with a little 'iVeast, and stop it soon : let it stand in a cool cellar after it is wdged. It may be drunk in a few weeks, as it has not much '|[ibdj,,and would soon sour. A finer wine may be made with 'sap» ^iled down, addinff a quarter of a pound of raisins split. ' '. ' ; 'l)hi^ wine shoula be made when the sap is at its best ; it ifi/iidt '^rudeint to d^er it till the end of the season. Birch wine can be "niadein the same way, only it requires sugar, as there is miich ^ liess'sweetness in the sap of the birch, than in that of the Isugar- maple. From the soft, or swamp-maple, no sugar can be made ; Iptii a sti^ong black ink is made from boiling the bark, and setting f-Ae colour with Cop^'eras ; a little sugar is necessary, or a siiiiaU '/•^lieihtity of gfini-arabic,' tl6 ,^ve it ^oss and consistency : many "|dttleii9 useno ink biltthat Which t^ey manufacture themselves. ^- iOtJRING OF MEAT.—The cutting up and salting of meat . is attended to in most farm-houses by the m^n, but sometimes it ^ yife tb thei lot'of the^sfe^eri^* We^- and it is necessary that they 'iiHBtilil pbssesd some krioWl!edge of the prcicess^ as circum^ait^^es 'feay oblige them td kke ttii active part in th6 bti&ihe 'give ''.dii'ectidns to their serv^ts^ 6!$ the case may be. The meat should \i6 hiih|^ in a cool place till it is stiff :' It i|i)ay then be cut up foi 6alting. liie u9uai way of dividing the hog is t6 take o# ttiehiBad ; cut dii^lfbd hams, and ibi% legs, ham shape ; ' '^A. divide' thfe rest of tl)[e carcass ii^ pieceSj which arfe qui iifliite ''ttii'oUgh^' chm^' fashion. These are rubbed and packed in crisan '';',ialt, as l^ht as th!e barrel pan be paicked, and the barrel lis ^len 'b&ed up with strong brine. A barrel of pork, containitl^ libthing T Uiit the sid6 Jdebes Should contain two cwt. oipork. This s^llsat ] tli^ liigh^st mkrkiet price, and goes by the name of " Mess Pork." '*'Tjfime mess"" cohtains the hams and shoulders, as weU as sides, and setis for less. And " Peime," which is the whole hog cut up indiscrimately, is the lowest in market value ; but a barrel' of either mu^t We^gh two cwt. of meat. Hams are sometimes sold f iiri^toately at M. to Jd. per* lb, dried or smoked. Pigs are often - Wilt to mkJket, or to the stores, ift a froien state, and'soM t)jr the W THE CANADIAN HOUSKKBBPBB 8 GUIDE. hiflistlBXy theJiooM intii a little after it is I not mucli le with'sapt )lit. St; itisnot wine caii be lere is miicb if the sugar- ui be maae ; :, and setting , or a BtiiLaU »ncy r taixij hemselves. Iting of ineat sometime^ it ary that they ircumstai^es ine give stiff: it ipay ng the hog is ,ham'6bia|)e; arfe qtit auite jkedin clban jarrel is tlien initig libthing Thi^Msat IMESS PoTlK." well as sides, kle hog cut up tt a barrel' of ^metimes sold 'igs are often idsoMbjrthe iewt. In purohasing a barrel of pork, it is necessary to ascertain bthe sort of meat you are buying, and not to pay for " Prime," or f Prime Mess" Uie same as for " Mess." As the emigrant, on ; first commencing housekeeping, is obliged to provide stores of this sort, it is well that he should be on his guaid against impo- untion. And when the storekeeper sees that his customer is not ; ignorant o£' these matters; he will be less disposed to take unfair i-advantage of him. Always endeavour to make your dealings with -persons of respectability of character. And now to return to the ucuring of the meat for household use. PioKLE FOB Hams, Cheeks, and Shoulders. — *Fourteen lbs. iof good salt, half a Jiound of saltpetre, two quarts of molasses, or Ifour pounds of coarse broAvn sugar, with water enough to dissolve the salt, and a pint of good beer, or of vinegar, if you can com- , xnahd eitheri Bring this hquor to a boil, and squn^ off all the I impurities that may rise to the surface. When cold, pour this lOver your hams, which should be cold, but not frozen* The addi- .>^on. of pepper/ allspice and cloves, is made by some who like a (high flav:our to their hams. The hams should remain in this pickle iflixorttght weeks ; being turned and basted every .two or three , days, and then hung in the smoke-house. The best woods for Umoking are,— rsugar-maple cliips, hickory, birch, corn-cobs, white ash, and beech. When removed from the smoke-house, sew each thatvoi iA any old linen or cotton cloth, and if you giv^ this covering ^ coating of whitewash, with a whitewash brush, it will preserve ^it from the flies. There is a small dusky beetle, jwith two dull poured on to cover it. A pint of the drippings from the stove-pipe joints added to the : brine will also restore meat, and give it the flavour of smoke,— -or a small quantity of pyroligneous acid. Where the brine has been allowed to stand in barrels too long, the burning of cedar- bark in them will purify them for use. A bad cellar may be purified by the same means, care being taken to secure the build- ing from danger of fire. Where roots have been kept in a cellar for any time, such purification is very essential in the spring of the year. Prize Ham.— Rub your ham, which should be of fine-grained, well-fed pork, when quite cold, with fine salt, to which add a little red pepper, and half a ]>int of molasses. Let it remain in the pickle, basting and turning it for six weeks. Then hong it up, and smoke for six weeks. About the first week in April take it down ; wash it in cold water, and rub it over with unleached ashes. If you have any number of hams, let them lie for a week, heaped together ; then hang them in a cool room, having sewed them in canvas or old cotton covers. (Hamilton prize ham.) To BOIL Ham. — Soak it over-night in soft water ; wrap a lock of sweet hay about it, and boil in plenty of water, three, or if very large, four hours : let the ham remain in the water to cool gra- dually. Next day remove the skin, and trim all unsightly parts away : the ham will retain its flavour and juice much better than if skinned hot. This of course can only be adopted when you do not require to serve the joint up hot to table : in that case skin it ; grate crumbs of bread over the surface, and let it stand a few minutes in the oven to crisp the bread brown. c >>?:■ Bacon — to prepare for smoking or drtino. — Having taken off the hams from a side of pork, chop the rib-bones close to the back, so as to remove the back-bone the entire length of the side. With a sharp knife, raise all the small long bones from the meat, and trim all rugged portions carefully away. Then mix a pound of coarse sugar to two ounces of saltpetre, and four pounds of salt. Bub this well over the meat on all sides ; two sides of bacon will not be too much for the above quantity. Gut them in two pieces, ^^ and lay each piece above the other, the rind downward, and strew the remainder of the salt mixture over the last piece. A shallow >" THE OANAOIAM HOnSBKXXPBB'f OUIDK. vi| wooden trough or traj, with a hole and p^ at the bottom, ia the best to salt your bacon in : it should oe placed a little sloping forward. Every second day, draw off the hquor that runs m>m the meat, into a vessel, and carefully pour it over the meat again, having first shifted the bottom pieces to the top. In six weeks time, take them out : rub with bran, and lay on the rack to dry, or smoke them : this process makes excellent meat. Here is an excellent recipe, furnished by a gentleman, who considers it the best in use : I have eaten excellent meat at his table thus treated. Pickle for Beef or Pork. — ^To three gallons of pickle, strong enough to float an egg, add ^th. of alum, 1 qt. of treacle, 1 oz. of potash ; mix Ihem well together ; pack the beef or pork, and pour the pickle on it ; cover it close : in about three weeks it will be fit for use. T%t meat must not be ealted, but packed as it comes from the butcher, and the pickle poured over it. ' LARD. — This is made from the inner or kidney-fat of the hog. It should be cut up in small portions, and boiled down on a slow fire. Let the fat boil till all the oil is extracted ; but be careful not to let it bum. When it has ceased to make a noise, be on the watch : it is ready to strain off into dean, dry jars. The best, are the stone-jars, with covers to them : these can be bought in any of the stores : they are made in this country, or in the States. The coarse red pottery is very cheap. It is manufactured in large quantities, in many parts of the Province; and is used in dairies, and for all kinds of household purposes. lo Lard sells at 6d. and 7d. per tb. in the market at Toronto : it used formerly to be much cheaper. It is now used as a substitute for oil, in parlour lamps. VENISON.— -They who live in the backwoods, often have TenisoQ brought in, either by their own people or by the Indian hunters, who gladly exchange it for salt-pork, flour, or vegetables. A few hints as to the best method of dressing this meat may not he quite unacceptable to the Canadian settler s wife. To Boast Vemison. — The best joints to roast are the haunch and the loins, which last should be cut saddle fashion, viz., botib loins together. . /i» If the deer be Uit and in good season, the meat vnll need no other basting than the fat which runs from it ; but as it is often lean, it will be necessary to use lard, butter, or slices of fat bacon to assist the roasting. Venison should be cooked with a hzvik fire— basted often — and a little aalt thrown over it: it is better i:;;-;,'Jv;i&» 90 X THI CAITASIAK H0U8EKBKPER B OUXDK. \ M not overdone. Being a mieat very opein in tlie grain and teiider». it readily paH» with its juides, and takes less time to roast than any other meat. Brown FatCASSEE of Vemison. — Fry your steaks quite brown, in hot dripping ;' put them in a stew-pan with a very Bttle water, a bunch of sweet herbs, a small onion, a clove or two, and pepper and salt. When it has boiled for a few minutes, roll a bit of Dutter in flour, with a table*spoonful of catsup or tomato-sauce, and a tea'spoonful of vinegar ; stir this into the fricassee^ and dish it quite hot. Fbied Vekisoit. — Gut your meat in suitable pieces: dust them with flour, and season With pepper and salt ; fry in bd grated^ or if dried, cUt in thin 8haTin&s,'as ia reiith, wiu bread and Imttor, for tea or breakfkit, with^sdlkd. Jerked' venisoak is the fledi kat in atr^^ and dried in ikt opoi ■/■ BBfiF.-^Beef needs to' be ' ^11^ "pix^iA m tiie btfRel^ and « ! ! THB OANADIAN H017SB|CSBP«B't aiTIDX., m tfooA deal of salt strewn at the bottom. Strew a handful of salt between each layer of mieat, and then make a brine that will , float a middle-siaed potato. To this a^d a quarter of a pound of * saltpetre, which always improves the colour of pickled meat, and .! four pounds of coarse sugar. BoU your brine ; scum it, and , when cold, pour over tout beef : it should be quite covered, and a lid put on the barrel. Unless you need beef for immediate use, say a week or ten days, no salt need be rubbed on. If you want dried beef, r^ove a joint — ^the halMeg ^ best-^from the pioklov after a month's time, and hang it up to dry ; or, season a leg ^th the same pickle as you use for hams, adding 2oz. allspiee, io^ of cloves, and 2oz. of black ^epp^r to your pickle. Let it be turned and basted daily, for six weeks, then hai^ it to Hxy and smoke. This is usui^ly 8h9.ve4« a^ ea^ witj^ po 91^^ .^ cooking than what the drying procesA gives. ESSENCE OF BEEF.— 11»8 excellent form of nourishm^ni for sick persons, is jpropured by cutting up some lean beef In ., small pieces, and puttmg it into a covered jar, which is then pet ,^ into a pot of boiling water, and suffered to remain ior some time, , till the juices of the meat are quite extracted. A single tea- spoonful of this extract, given from time to time, contains more,;! actual strengthening matter than a pint of t>eef tea or broth, ', nuMle with water, in the usual way:. For sick, infant^, w;h9 htfve been reduced tp greftt debility by ague or dysentery, afe>r drops* ., from time to time, have restored tib^m more.rapidly[than SiUy other sort of food would have done The juices of any meat maj; ^ be obtained in the same way, an4, a littlq seasoning a4cied, if re- . quired' In oases of great debility, when the 8toma£hi8 too weal^to bear the weight of ordinary food, tbis essenc^of ,beei^i(i. .. of great value, and is so easily manufactuire^ thfU It , is with)\,i the reao^ of the most common cook,toobl4mit,h^w^ve^,unski]|^^ fill in the culinary art she may be. CANADIAN PARTRIDGES.— These bird^whxc^ai^ of tw/?;,; di^brent varieties— the spruce partridge.and the ru^ed grpu8e--rr,r are mote like the pheasant than the^dj^ partridge, the m^t.,] beiim^ -white instead of brown ; but the^, have not ih^ high gamyl>, flavpufi of either the partridge or ph^a^t. They j^f), when i|^,,^ sespen^, very good eating ; but t^bout tKe iend of tl^e lyinf^^ert.tV flesh becomes dry and bitter. This arisej|,from.^tl^e nature c^^^^ th^ffood, whidli, in the thiok woods, consist ;eoif^ of the rch siqw^ihiudtQf .the spruce, the ,bark and.bu<^s pf the bi^cly an^,,^ so^lf^theKries, which they find beneath the sr^^w:; with; va^pvi|,,, /^ ^ ^\ THB OANADIAN HOUSEKEEPERS ODIDB. je» and liohenx which give an astringent taste to the flisk. At all other seasons they are very good and fleshy, and are ex- cellent roasted and stuifed with fine bread crumbs, pepper, salt, a little butter, and sweet herbs. They require much basting, as they have no fat in themselves. Half an hour, with a good fire, will cook a partridge. To stew them, out them up, dust with a little flour, pepper, salt, and stew gently with a small quantity of water ; thicken with a little cream, flour, and a little nutmeg, grated; serve with toasted bread cut as sippets, at the edge of the dish, PIGEONS. — During the spring and summer months numben of pigeons linger to breed in the Canadian woods, or pass over in straggling flocks, when they are shot in numbers by the settlers. These birds are good any way you cook them : roasted or in pies. „ 'J'*''ftl'" '■^i--''' v,i'-i>HWi Roast Pigeons. — Pluck and draw yonr birds; mix bread crumbs with a little parsley, chopped fine, some butter, pepper, and salt ; put a little into the body of each bird ; lard and ro^t them : twenty minutes, with a good fire, is long enough. The basting will serve for gravy, or, add a little butter, and a very little boiling water after you have taken up the birds, and heat it in the pan your pigeons were roasted in. imm^ Pigeons in Cbttst. — Stuff your birds as above, and cover each one with a thin crust of short pastry ; bake half an houz. ' PioEON Pie. — Season your pigeons well with pepper and salt ; as many as will lie in your pie-dish ; dust a little nour on, thin; add a cup of hot water; cover your pie, and buke an hour. Pot Pib. — Pigeons stuffed, larded, and cooked in a bake- kettle, are very nice ; and are tenderer, and more savoury than when baked in the stove. To make a pot-pie of them, line the bake-kettle with a good pie-crust; lay in your birds, with a little butter put on the breast of each, and a little pepper shaken over them, and pour in a tea-cupful of water—do not fill your pan too full ; lay m a crust, about naif an inch thick ; cover your lid with hot embers, and put a few below. Keep your bake- kettle turned carefully, ad£ng more hot coals on the top, till the crust is cooked. This makes a very bavoury dish for a &mily. ^^) Pigeons are best for table just after wheat harvest: the young birds are then veir fat. BLACK SQUIRRELS —These little animals are often found in great numbers in the beech and oak-woods in Canada, and are oonsidered very delicate food, being free from any itrtmg flavour* TT THK CANADIAN HOD8EKKBPER8 OUIDI. ft They are ronsted like rabbits, or cut in pieces and fried, fricai- seed, or made into stews or pies. Some people object to them* simply because they have not been accustomed to see them ^ brought to table, or even to hear of their being used as an artiole I of food, and others consider them as insipid. This last objectioil is, perhaps, the moat weighty ; but by seasoning them well, it may be overcome. Nothing can be more cleanly than the habiti of these little creatures, their food consisting entirely of grain, or fruits, or vegetables. When fresh meat is scarce, as it often is in the woodn, the black and even the red squirrel may bo eaten, as a wholesome change of diet. The lumberers and hunteit will use the musk-rat, porcupine, and beaver for food; and even the wood-chuck or ground-hog, which is a species of marmot. But though its food is vegetable, it is very fat and oily, and doet not make pleasant meat. The bear is also made meat of by the baekwoodHman. The meat when cooked, either roasted cr boiled, is like coarse beef, and would pass for such if a person was nol told to the contrary. The bear » certainly a more cleanly feeder than the pig. The hams, when well cured, are considered very excellent. CANADIAN HARE.— This is another of the native wild animals. It is not so well-flavoured as the English hare, or so large, being in size and colour more like a white rabbit. Tho colour in spring and summer is brown, but it ^irows white at tho approach of the cold weather. They are taken by snares, set among the bushes, in their run- ways, which are easily detected in the snow. They frequent cedar-swamps, and also abound on, the Plains-lands. The meat is dark-coloured, like the oommoa hare. They are inferior to that animal, but make a pleasant variety to the salt meat, and may be cooked either roasted liko rabbits, stewed, fried, or made into pies. The fur of the Canadian hare is very worthless : it is loose, and comes off at a touch. The snipe and woodcock are r.ockcd the same as in otheSP countries ; and the quail, which iD^bounds in some districts, maj be dressed like the partridge. WILD DUCKS.— Wild fowl of this kind abounds on tha shores of lakes and rivers, or any open, marsy spots. Some of these birds are excellent, others fishy. The best are : the caa* vass-back, the red-headed duck, the swamp or blue-billed duek; the ring-necked, the mallaro, the winter duck, the wood-daokt and blue- winged teal, are rnnong the best; but there are maajT others that can be eaten. The usual mode of cooking, and tfafT best, is to roast them. m TBI OAMAOIAM HOUSEKKBPIB B OUIDI. 'iiT The feathers and down of all these water birds are raluahle, and should not be thrown awav, as they sell well, and are of grtMit value in a household, for beds and pillows. It is best to put- them in paper bags, and hang them in a dry place, till you ho^' collected enough for putting in cases. WILD QEESE.— Sometimes the flesh of the wild goose is fishy and oily, and it is best to parboil them for a few minutes, to extract the superfluous oil. They may then be stufibd with bread-crumbs, sage, onion, and a good deal of pepper and salt, and roasted. The fat is sufficient for roasting them, without any addition of lard or butter. The liver, head, pinions, and giszard should be well parboiled ; the water put on, and fresh added ; and gravy made by boiling them a lonff time, with a few rings, i of enion, a crust of browned bread, and pepper and salt ; pour inttf ' the dish when the goose is served up. Mbst excellent pies may be made of the blackbirds of Canadtt^- whiieh come in great flocks upon the fields of ripe grain, in the Butttmer, and commit great ravaees on those farms in the vicinity, of fresh lakes and rivers, where they assemble to breed, and bring up their young. They are of good size, fat and tender, and kra de!tci6us eating at the harvest season, and make a dainty dish, either roasted or baked in a pie. They fly in large flocks, and ar^ often mixed with the rice-bunting, redwing, and others of th^ same family. I have often seen ttiese birds dressed for sick pe^bns — ^who could bear no rich meats — who found themn li(j^1ibr, and more nourishing even than chickens. The Canada robih is also eaten. These birds are the size of a blackbird or« std»i% FISH'.'^To those who live near the shores of lakes or rivers» < fi^'forms an important article of diet, in Canada. So plenti- fufi^'St^pplied are the waters of this fine coimtry with fish of the finest quality, and largest size, that they can be procured with, little 'trdtibte by the most inexpert angler. In the months of A^Hl and' May, the lakes and rivers swarm with myriads of)-, perch, of al^ sizes, fr:om an ounce to two or three pounds weight ; suiiit-iishV^a small flat fish, of splendid colours — gold, and blue, and fed*!' pink roach, a very dehcate, silver-scaled fish — not very lar^? hik y^etf delibate ; with rock bass, and black bass. These last^ur^ very fine , fish — are taken near the shores with a hook > and 'line; whil^ the larger sorts, such as masquinonge, whielif vd^^'fr^ a few to thirty pounds in weight, are either speared, by^^^ifeh'light, or caught with a trolling line. As soon as the ( THB CANADIAN HOUBBKKKPER's OUIOB. 101 ioe breakfl up od the lakun, the dark night* are illumined by the lights tiaed by the fisheni, to aid them' in tpearing these noble fish, which furnish a dolictous meal when fresh, either fried or boiled, and may be salted, dried, and smoked for future use ; while those to whom money is on object of importance, sell the •urplus, for which, if they live near a town or village, there ia always a ready market. There is one thing more to mention — this is, that there are no laws restricting the poor man from casting his line into the waters, or launching his night-canoe or skiff upon the lake, to supply his family with the blessings which God has bestowed upon all, alike, in this free and happy land of plenty But now having told you how easily your husbands and sons can obtain this moHt excellent article of diet, it is necessary for me to give you a little instruction in the best modes of dres- sing it for the table. MAsauiNoif OS. — Scale and clean your fish, if possible before the skin becomes dry and hard ; but shoijld it not come to your hands for some time after being taken out of the water, lay it on some clean stones, in a cool place, and throw over it a bowl or two of cold salt and water : this will render the scales less diffi- cult to- remove. With a sharp knife remove the gills and the inside. Few people cook the head of the masquinonge, unless the fish is to be boiled, or baked whole, when the head and tail are tied and skewered so as to form a circle. Be careful, in cleaning this fish, not to >vound your flesh with his sharp teeth or fins, as the out is difficult to heal. Take out the roe, and throw it into salt and water. It should be floured, peppered, and salted, and fried as a garnish to the dish, but requires to be thoroughly -done thvough : if it be soft and jelly-like, it is not sufficiently eooked. If you design to fry the fish, it must be cut in pieees, quite through the thickness of the fish, about three inches in width ; dry on a board ; flour the pieces, and sprinkle with salt and pepper ; or, beat up an egg, dip the pieces in the egg; and strew crumbs of bread, and lay tnem in the boi'ling ]St^\ this is the best way. Hut sometimes the Canadian house- wife may be obliged to resort to a more homely method, that of frying some slices of fat pork, to obtain the dripping in which to cook her fish ; and if well attended to, even thus, her fish will be no despicable dish for a hungry family. To BOIL MAJ9QUIN0NGB. — Havirg cleaned your fish, strew il' handful of salt within side, and let it lie all night. Tie the tail and heftd together, and place your fish in a shaUow pan — a fish- i! 103 THE CANADIAN HOUSBKBBPBB's OUIDB. ketUe if you have one, of course, is best ; cover it with cold water — the water should just cover it and no more ; let it come to a boil, and be careful to remove all scum. If your fish be any size, let it boil slowly for five or ten minutes ; but when the fish ; has boiled five minutes pass a clean knife in the thick part, near I the back-bono, and if it parts from the bone, and looks white / and flaky, it is cooked enough ; but if soft, and has a pinky look, ! and adheres to the bone, let it simmer loneer, but not long enough to break the fish : a little salt thrown in, when boiling, helps to preserve the firmness, and improves the flavour. A very thick, heavy fish will require a longer time to cook ; but by trying it as I have directed, you can ascertain the time it wiU talre. There is nothing more unwholesome than under-done fish. Melted butter, and any fish-sauce, may be served with masqui- nonge ; but where persons are unprovided with such luxuries, vinegar and mustard may be eaten with it. To the poor man, no sauce seasons his dish so well as a good appetite, which mak«B every dish savoury. Fish-soup. — In the month of May, the lakes and rivers abound with perch, sunfish, and many other kinds, which are caught by childreu with the simplest of all tackle — a stout thread and a small perch hook, tied to a wand cut from some green sap- ling on the lake shore. Any bait will be seized : a bit of meat, a worm, n fish cut up in small pieces, wiU give your little angler as many fish as you can cook at two or three meals. When you have abundance of the smaller sorts of fish, there is no better way of CAoking, than making them into soup. To do this, lay aside the larger ones, and boil down the small fish till they are broken to pieces ; strain Ihem through a colander, and put on the liquor, with a crust of bread, into your stew-pan ; season with pepper, salt, parsley, savory or thyme, and a few green chives cut up, or a young onion. Have ready about a dozen, or two dozen of the largest sized fish, ready cleaned and scaled ; put these into your soup ; mix a teaspoonful of fine flour, a slice of butter, and a tablespoonful of tomato catsup, if you have it by you, and mix with a cup of thick cream or milk. When the soup boils up, stir this mixture in, and remove the pot from the fire. Your dish is now ready, and requires nothing more than a little toasted bread and a good appetite, to be found an excellent meal, at a very small expense, and far more whole- some than salted pork or beef. The roes of the fish should be boiled in the soup to thicken it, or fried by themselves. ir. I : but b with cold let it oome Ksh be any en the fish part, near ! toks white / inky look, ! not long n boiling, Avery ne it will -done fish, h masqui- L luxuries, poor man, ite, which ,ud rivers which are rat thread preen sap- t of meat, tie angler ish, there oup. To imall fidi colander, tew-pan; id a few r about a anedand of fine atsup, if or milk, love the nothing be found e whole- lioken it, I THE CAJ«ADIAN HOUSEKBEPEB's GUIDE. 103 A few slices of fct bacon will serve to fry any of the small fresh fish, when lard or butter are not plentiful. In frying fish, the fat should be quite hot, and the fish, or pieces of fish, dry, when put into the pan. As sauces arn not BO easily procured in country places, and by those who are too poor, or too prudent, to spend money upon such luxiuies, it is common to season fried fish with pepper and salt whilst frying them, and many serve them with gravy made with a little butter rolled in flour, half a teacupful of water, a table-spoonful of vinegar, and pepper and salt, heated in the pan, and poured into the dish with the fish. For boiled fish, melted butter with mustard, vinegar, and an e^ boiled hard and chopped fine, may be used. Tomato sauce is served with fish, as mushrooms nre not as common in the rewly-cleared lands as on old farms, or as tliey are in the old country. The morel, which is often found in old beech woods partly cleared, is a very good substitute and quite wholesome, but not so high-flavoured as a good mushroom. They are conical in shape, of a pale brown colour, and covered with hollow cavities like a honey-comb, on the outside. They are good, fried in butter with pepper and salt, and may be manufactured into catsup. FisH-FiE. — Boil fresh bass, masquinonge, or white fish, till it will readily part from the back-bones, which must be carefully removed ; pound the fish fine, adding as you do so a pint of cream, a small bit of butter rolled in flour, a table-spoonful of walnut, mushroom, or tomato catsup, a table-spoonful of vinegar, a little parsley boiled and chopped fine, and the yolks of two eggs bruised fine ; smooth in a pie-dish, and bake naif an hour. A large masquinonge, trussed, with the head and tail tied or skewered together, and stufled with bread-crumbs, butter, pepper, salt, and sweet herbs, and moistened with a couple of beaten eggs, with butter sufficient to baste the fish, if put into the oven or before the fire and baked, is a most excellent dish. To try if it be cooked, pass a knife in near the back-bone : if it parts directly, and the flesh looks white, it is ready ; but if it adheres, and is soft and clear, it requires longer cooking. Potted Fish. — Boil any sort offish — not too much; remove the bones from the back and fins : — this can be done by running a knife along the edge of the back, and laying back the meat, first on one side and then the other, breaking it as little as you can help. You can easily separate the fins ; any other bones 104 THE OANADIAK HOUSEKEEPER 8 GUIDE. are not' of mucb consequence, nnless your fish be of the larger Bprts. As you cut yoiir fish, lay the pieces in a deep dish or pot, and sprinkle between each layer, pepper, salt, a little ^yennc, a few cloves, and -whole allspice. When your dish is .mU» pour on good vinegar, as much as will cover the fish, and ;' set it in a slow oven aU night, or for some hours, covering the iftidx close with a plate or a ooai'se crust of dough, just to keep in r the steam. This potted fish should stand for several days : it may then be used as a breakfast or supper dish, with bread. Salt Herbinos potted. — Steep them for twenty-four hours; cutoff the heads, tails, and back-bones ; skin them and lay them, |^Usked closei, in a pan ; pour boiling vinegar over them, in wJiIph you hiaye boiled whole pepper, auspice, and ginger : let the, pan bei covered closo. dnd stand in the oven for an hour ; ,;lirhen not very hot, set aside, and use as required : it will keep for w^eks or months. '.' Eels. — The eels caught in the Canadian waters are of a very laxf^e size, and very rich, but C09.rse. The best way of cooking iil^em is, first, to parboil them, then open, and carefully remove the oily fat which lines the back-bone ; cut out the bone the whole length, and also the tail and head ; Wash the fish clean, i^d spread it open ; strew over the whole inner surface plenty o|. chopped parsley and thyme, or summer savory, pepper and salt, with a little aUdpice ; then, beginning at the tail end, roll Ijhjo fish tight into a bolster, and bind it well with tape or bits gf. calico ; over this fold a piece of clean dothi and tie it at each end ; put it into boiling salt and water ; (a handful of salt will be ^pugh) ; boil slowly for four or five hours, if your fish be .)|urge and the roll thick : do not remove the binders till the fish is quite cold; poux over it half a pint of vinegar, and when jscrycid cut it in slices : garnish with parsley. ! jo DRT Masquinongb OB SALMON. — Split thcfish down and ^remove the backbone ; having gutted and scaled it, wipe it dry, ,but do not wash it ; lay it on a board, and strew salt on the inner side ; let it lie for two days, turning it each day ; then wash the inside from the salt, string on a willow wand, and hang up in the sun an^ wind to dry for several days ; smoke it, but not too much. . Tlie Indians use but little salt in drying their fish, and smoke ,them with the wood or bark of red cedar ; but this fragrant wood is not common, and other wood will answer. Some merely dry them in the sua, without smoking. Corn-cobs burnt give a .At: THE OANAO^KN HOUSEOIBPER S ODIDE. 'oiL05 le lai^er ) dish or a little ' dish is Ush, and ring the to keep ■al days : bread, ir hours; lay them, them, in iger : let an hour ; will keep of a very t' cooking y remove bone the sh clean, ce plenty spper and end, roll e or bits it at each salt will ur fish be H the fish md when lown and )e it dry, dt on the ay; then Etnd hang Ee it, but d smoke fragrant le merely nt give a , (ijlir i''-M '0 ; r ^e flavour either to zu u or fish, and should be laid aside for ' iv%ch purposes. .'When required for the table, soak for a few hours in warm ^'^' '"Water, and boil or firy. ".*./" WHITE Pish. — ^Tliis is, by most peop^le, considered as the '\ iH^chest and finest of all our fresh water fish, and abounds in the ^'^ lake Ontario. Vast quantites are caught every year, and salted r'for sale ; when they may be bought by the barrel. A. few years jii^, a barrel of white fish could be bought for three dollars ; but now the price is much increased. ' llie fretsh white fish are so rich, that they require no other fkt than that which they contain to fry them. i. , "'ijggfore dressing the salted white fish they must be steeped inany hours, and the water twice changed. Most persons par- "' liioil them before frying them, apd season them with pepper : — plightly salted, dried and smoked, they are very fine, and are ^^'^teeined a great dainty. ' ' " ' BiilCK Bass.— There are two kinds of bass — ^the rock^bass iuld the black bass — ^the latter are the largest^ but both are d. The black bass may be taken with a hook and line*, in feep water ; the rock-bass, nearer to the shore. They vary, fi»m ^ 1iali-a-p6und to three, four, and even five or six poimds weight. |^^^'*thejfiesh is firm and sweet : by many people the flesh is!:pre- '^'^feired to the masquinonge. The usual way of cooking these fish "is ifrying ; but they are excellent broiled or boiled. " ' iThe hest fish that are bred in our Canadian waters are the salmon-trout, the masquinonge^ white fish, and black bass. ' ' One W the most nutritious of all dishes is fish-soup ^ but this ^ ')xaode of cooking is very rarely adopted. Any fi^ may be dres- '!'«ed according to the recipe given for the small fish, and will be '*.^fe)und excellent. ,;•..,? . ..v>,i ic/ '"SOAP MAKING. — Soap is made from a union of the lie of ** irood ashes and any sort of grease, the refuse of the kitchen; * ''6Ven bones are boiled down in strong lie, and reduced. The lime 'Vbf the bones are by many soapmakers thought to improve' the ■ quality of the soap. The careful Canadian housewives procure *'^'d, large portion of their soap-grease from the inside and entrails '^'of the hogs, and other beasts that are killed on the farm. No- **■ thing in this country is allowed to go to waste, that can be , turned to any good account. Before I give you directions re- **''6pecting the manui'acture of soap, it will be as (Well to say *,lew "'words about the ashes, and setting of the Leijchibarrcl.j:, f: 'jii ! ; \ 100 THB OAMABIAV HOUSEKXBPXB's OUIDX. Thb Lbeoh. — ^The ashes made use of for soap-making slibuld be from hardwood, such as oak, maple, beech, hickory, and the like ; the ashes of none of the pine tribe, or any other soft woods are to be made use of, such as pine, hemlock, spruce, larch, or loft maple ; swamp maple, bass-wood, and some others are also not good. Too much care can hardly be taken with respect to storing ashes. An old iron or tin vessel, pot or pan is the safest thing to remove the hot ashes in from the hearth, as live coals are often taken up with them, which might bum any wooden utensil, and if left on a verandah or floor, endanger the safety of the house. Most persons put up a small covered hut, made shanty form, in which the ashes are stored. This building should be apart from any of the house offices. The careful soap-maker never allows sweepings of the house to be mixed with the ashes for soap making. The ash barrel is usually any old flour barrel, or a hollow log that has been burned out, leaving only a shell ; this is sawn into the proper length, and set upon a sloping board, raised from the ground high enough to admit of a trough or pail standing be- neath it, to receive the lie : at the bottom of the leech, sticks of split lathing dr twigs, are placed across each other ; a handful of dry straw is next laid over the twigs, and about a pint of un- (dacked lime scattered upon that. Two quarts or more of good lime are allowed to each barrel of ashes. The lime has the effect of neutralizing some of the salts, which are prejudicial to the good qualities of the soap. If a barrel is used for the leech, it will be necessary to bore three or four holes, with a half-inch auger, at the edge of the bottom of the barrel, in the direction of that part which will be sloped towards the front of the stand. You may support this stand with logs or stones ; or put legs of wood into holes bored, the two front legs being shorter than the hinder ones, to give a proper inclination for the lie to run ofi'into the trough below. If you can manage to have two barrels set up, so as to collect a larger quantity of lie, it is better, especially if you have much grease to boil down. Do not be afraid of your lie being too strong : the stronger the better for consuming the grease. More soap IS spoiled by weak lie than any thing else ; neither let the dark colour of the lie deceive you: the colour is not strength. The ashes should be put into the leech barrel, and pounded 4own with a long beetle. You may distribute the lime as yon fill it up, or dissolye the lime in a pail of boiling water, and pour XH£ CANADIAN H0U8EK££P£B 8 QUIDS. 107 ^ing sHdidd ry, and the > soft woodf le, larcli, or ers are also ti respect to is the safest IS liye coals any wooden ;he safety of 1 hut, made Iding should the house to a hollow log is sawn into Lsed from the standing be- ech, sticks of • a handful of a pint of im' noLore of good lime has the prejudicial to [ssary to bore I edge of the /hich will be support thu holes bored, les, to give a ■ough below, to collect a iu have much lie being too Tease. More [either let the k strength, and pounded |e Ume as you iter, and pour on after the barrel is filled up, and you commence running the lie. Make a hollow in the top of the ashes, and pour in your water; as it soaks in keep adding more ; it will not begin to drop into the trough or tub for many hours ; sometimes, if the ashes are packed down tight, lor two or three days : but you must keep the hollow on the top of the barrel always supplied with water. Soft water is best, if you are near a creek, or have a rain water tank (which is a great convenience to a bouee) ; and the water you run your leech with should be hot at first. Remember that you should be careful to keep any wet from getting to your ashes, while collecting them, previous to making your lie, as that weakens and destroys its effect. I have been told that twelve pounds of grease will make a barrel of soft soap, but I do not vouch for it. Some say three pounds of grease to a pail of strong lie is the proportion; but experience is the best teacher. Of one thing you may be sure — that the strongest lie will take up the most grease ; and after boiling several hours, if there be a thick scum still upon the soap, you may know that the lie has taken up all that it is capable of boiling in ; or, if it should happen that your lie is not strong enough to consume the grease, add more strong lie. This is the advantage of having two barrels of ashes, as it affords you the chance of increasing the strength of the ley, if required ; but if the soap, after long boiling, does not thicken, and no scum is on the top, of any account, add more grease. To try if the soap is too strong, for it will not thicken suffi- ciently if it be so, take, with an iron spoon, a small quantity, say two spoonsful, in a saucer, add one of water, and beat it. If it wants water, it will thicken the soap : add more water as long as it makes it thicker. If it thickens well with one spoonful of soap to one of water, then your soap, when poured into tho soap barrel, may have as many vaih of water added as you have pails full of soap ; if very good lie has been used, a double quantity of water may be added ; but it is better not to thin it too much. To try the lie, float an egg or a potato : it should be buoyed half up. You can always lessen the strength after the soap is made, by adding water. A pint of pure turpentine, such as runs from saw logs, or from a gash cut in a large pine, may be boilcjl in with your soap ; or some resin, but the tiupentine is best. ,^^^■ So much depends on the size of your pot and quantity of a •'7^ loa THE OANADIAK HOUBKEBEPERB OUISV. 1^ ' grease, that it would be difficult to tell you how much to wA ia with your lie, when about to boil off; but as the lie will only boil in so much grease, according to its strength, you need not mind having a good deal of grease, as it can be scummed off after the soap is done boiling, and is aU the better for boiling down when you have a fresh supply of lie. No tin vessel should be used in soap-making, as the lie eiktii off the tinning : iron to boil the soap in, and wood to keep it in, answers best. Ha.rd Soap. — ^This is made from good soft soap. I have not made it myself, but I give the directions of an experienced house-keeper on the subject. If the soft soap be good, there is little difficulty in making it into good soap. When you find the soap of a good thickness, take two or three good handsful of salt, and stir into your pot OF kettle : if it be a large kettle, you may put in six or seven hnndsful : let it boil tUl you see the soap separating : boil it about ten minutes longer, and set by till the next day, when the soap will have formed a thick cake on the top of the vessel, aad the lie have separated and remain below, a dark reddish-brown fluid. Remove this cake of soap, and put it into a pot on the fire, adding to it a pint of turpentine or resin. When the soap begins to boil up> add more salt ; if the soap cuts like soft putty when you put it into the pot, several handstful of salt will be required; but if it cuts firm, one or two wiU be enough — 'but experience must be your guide, or seeing the process, which is better than learning from books. When the soap is boiled a few minutes after the salt has. been stirred in, pour it into a flat wooden box or mould, about three or fbur inches deep : it may be cut into bars, or square pieces, when perfectly cold, and set up on a shelf, in some dry pLaoe, to harden. A washing board is always used in Canada. There are several kinds. Wooden rollers, set in a frame, are the most common, but those made of zinc are best. These last do not cost more than the wooden ones, wear longer, and being very smooth, in*^ jure the fabric of the clothes less. In Canada no servant will wash without a washing-board. MANAGEMENT OP WOOL.— The usual time of shearing the sheep in Canada is about the latter end of May, if the wea- ther is warm and dry. The sheep having been washed, are left in open dry pastures fbr a day or two, Uiat the fleece may be THE OAKAOTAN HOUSEKEBPEr'^ OUIOB. lOD will only need not amedoff eep it in* have not perienoed making it thickness, o your pot X or seven ag: boil it ', when the vessel* and dish-brown on the firct soap begin* putty when (B required; experience better than alt has been about three aare pieces, Iry piaoe, to are several Hst commont >t cost more smooth, in- lervant will of shearing if the wea- led, are left maybe trell dried before shearing : the wool being removed, is left for itbme little time, and then carefully picked and sorted by the women and children : all dirty wool is thrown aside, and those , who are very carefVtl will sort the coarse from the fine in sepa- rate parcels. The wool when picked is then greased with hufd, oil, or refuse butter, which is first melted and then poured ove* the wool, and rubbed and stirred about with the hands till it is all greased : about three pounds of grease is allowed to seven it of cop- are many y expedi- ; comforts he thrifty aerchant. ro, out of 1 a warm, ' her log- she was d-flannel >me new« tear and they are rork, and do with ssors be- f an inch wide, not wider ; and indeed the narrower the strip the better. She did not out quite through, when she came to the end, but left just as much as would serve to hold it together with the next strip, turning the piece in her hand, and making another out ; and so she went on cutting or tearing, till that piece was dis* posed of ; she then proceeded to a second, having first wound up the long strip : if a break occurred, she joined it with a needle and thread, by tacking it with a stitch or two. Some- times she eot a bit that would tear easily, and then she went on very quickly with her work. Instead of selecting her rags all of one shade, for the ball, she would join all kinds and colours and materials. " The more lively the contrast, the better the carpet wouid look," she said. Some persons, however, wind all the different colours separately, in large balls, and then the carpet will be striped. A white and red ball, wound together, makes a pretty chain pattern, through dark stripes. My friend continued to cut and tear, join the strips, and wind up, till she had a ball as big as a baby's head ; and I continued to watch her, still puzzling my brains to think how these big balls could be turned into a carpet, till she lightened my dark- ness, by telling me that these balls, when there was a sufficient weight of them, were sent to the weavers, with so much cotton- warp, which should be doubled and twisted on the spinning- wheel. If you double and twist the warp yourself the weaver will charge six-pence a yard for the weaving, but if he doubles and twists, he charges eight-pence. A pound nnd a half of rags will make one yard of carpet, with the warp. Many persons dye the warp themselves : lie of wood ashes, with a little coppei-os, makes a deep yellow : logwood and copperas makes a black, and indigo and ley from the house, gives a full blue. Made up with the coloured warp the carpet looks better, and does not dirty so soon. The white cotton rags are better washed clean, and then dyed with any of these dyes. Those who do not care to take this trouble, use them as they are, but they soil soon. The best sort of rag-carpet is made by intermitting the colours as much as possible ; cutting the strips through, instead of turn- ing the corners : you have more work in joining, but the etfect is better, and there are no unsightly ends on the surface of the carpet. Bits of bright red flannel, of blue, green or pink mous* selin-de-laine, or stufis of any bright colour: old shawls and handkerchiefs, and green baize wiU give you a good, long-endux* m §krfiMk1f ■(^trSBKKKPEB't OVIDI. m 1 1 i V i ^ ■ ' : i 1 ^ B :■ 1 • 1 m ■ w K 1 ft] ing ivfbno, that >vi\M llilt for eight of ten ^ears, with care. Chf'%on can be taught to cut the ragM, u«d join and wind into balhf , ready for the weaving. To iifc ,nore wealthy cLss thia humble manufacture may seem a yftry contemptible affair ; but it is not for the gay and luxuri- ous xWii nu'M things ore suitable ; tbivigh I have seen them in the houseb u( wme of our best settlers, nrho M-ere wise enough, like the wife of the rector, to value whatever was comfortable, and save buying. When well assorted, I assure you, these rag- carpets make by no means a despicable appearance, on the rough floors of a Canadian farmer's house. I would recommend the settler's wife to keep a baf«ket or box, into which all scraps of woollen and cotton, and any worn-out clothes can be put. A rainy day may be chosen for the cutting and winding. Another box may be appropriated for the recep- tion of the balls when wound up. The thinnest cottons, and even muslins, can be used for the purpose, only that the latter articles may be cut half an inch wide. To wash a rag-carpet let it be ripped into breadths, and taken to a creek or river, and flounced up and down, and then laid out to dry : no rinsing is required : the ed<{e8 should be well bound with a broad strip of cloth. Thirty pounds of ngs will make about twenty yards of carpeting ; and when you consider that you can buy no sort of carpet wort>i making up under lour shillings a yard, in any of the couiiiry stores, this simple sub- stitute, made out of refuse materials, is not to be despised. WOOLLEN HOME-SPUN CARPETS.— Those farmers who keep a good many sheep, and whose wives and daughters are well skilled in the homely but valuable art of spinning on the big wheel, often turn tlie coarser wool to good account by spin- ning a stout yam, dyeing it of various gay colours, and sending it to t.):/) weavers to be woven into carpeting. The warp and woof arc of wool, and if well done, make a handsome appearance : a dark green ground, with checkers of red, yellow or blue, look well ; or sheep's-grey and checked with red, like a ^: (j-'get, looks neat and unpretending on the flo^r of a log-house. Among the emigrants into whose hands this little I -^y go, there may be some who have followed weaving as a trade : to them no instruction is requisite on the simple art of weaving druggets , .nd let me tell such an one, that many a poor settler has become, i-h by setting up his loom in the back woods of Canada, ii. Uv o /a bf'Hiie, or in the small villages. Blankets, THE CANADIAN HODHEKf'.KPF.R S OUIDR. m •hawls, plaids, cloaking, the country flannel, both white and l^rey, una carpctH «uch as I have di scribed, will give plenty of employment to the industrious man, wliile his souh carry on the labours of the farm. Women otten weave, and mak« i good living ; and I have heard a very respectable farmer'n dauj^hter say, that she coiJd weave from ten to twelve yards ot plain fla nel a day Soma* times she wove the wool on shares. Carding is not so often done In the settlers' houses as it used to be, HO many cardf-.ig m*. 'chines now being in operation, and mill>> A ,11 he towns for fulliLg and carding ; but many years back i tiu ,rk was chiefly done by hand. Neither uax nor hemp are much grown in Canada at present ; cuUb c^uently there is little home manufacture of that kind. The big wheel is generally substituted for the small spinning-wheel, as being more suitable for wool ; though for fine yam, perhaps, the latter is as good. i KNirriNG.— If you do not understand this useful art, I strongly advise you to turn your attention to it as soon as pos- sible : children cannot learn to knit too soon. Those who are not already able to knit a sock or a mitt, will find some kind neighbour ready and willing to teach them ; it will be nice work on the voyage out ; a few pounds of coloured or white yam is no ill store, for your boys and husband will reei plenty of wool- len socks and mitta in Canada. There is no country where there is so much knitting work done as in Canada ; for when the household of the settler is sup- plied with socks, stockings, mitts, and gauntlets, (these are long thick mitts, that come half-way up the arm, and are used in driving), the surplus yarn meets with ready sale at the stores, when manufactured into socks, &c. Men's socks sell at one shilling and sixpence to two shillings and threepence, according to their goodness: the best article in Canada, as elsewhere, fetches the best price. The second or even third-rate wool, knitted up, can be made more profitable than the best wool sold in the fleece, and children and women will earn many a dollar if they are industrious, in the evening, between twiUght and candle-light. I knew a settler's daughter who knitted seventy-five pairs of socks one year, to provide clothes for her marriage, — and a com- plete wardrobe she made up, without any cost to her parents ; for she had been given an ewe-lamb, and. this in due time pro>! 110 XB£ OAKADIAN HOUSBKEEFZB'S OT7IDE. duc6d ail increase, so that she had a little flock of her ovrn, and clothed herself from the wool, which she could card, dye, spin, and knit herself. Every young woman is prized in this country according to her usefulness ; and a thriving young settler will rather marry a clever, industrious girl, who has the reputation for being a good spinner and knitter, than one who has nothing but a pretty face to recommend her. This is as it should be ; and I would bid the young daughters of the emigrant to hear the fact in mind, if they wish to become the wives of steady young men, and wish to prosper in the world. Nor do I confine my advice, on this head, to the daughters of the poorer class of emigrants. In the new country to which they are going, knowledge of the simple art of knitting must form one of the occupations of the females of the higher or more educated class, who reside in the agricultural portion of the colony. A family who are too proud or indolent to work in Canada, will sink into absolute poverty : they had better never have crossed the Atlantic. To the mind of the well-regulated female, there is no disgrace in so feminine an occupation : she is kept in countenance by ladies of her own rank ; and indeed would be considered as a very useless and foohsh person, if she despised that which every one here practises. Here, as in Germany and Holland, young ladies take their knitting-bag out with them, and carry it to the house of a friend when they go out : it is certainly a very sociable employment. The earlier children learn to knit, the better ; those who learn late in life, seldom acquire the same quickness, as those who learn in childhood. Many persons knit cradle-quilts, and large coverlets for beds, of coloured yams, and among the town-bred young ladies, cur- tains, tidies for sofas, and toilet covers, of all sorts and patterns, are manufactured with the knitting-needles, and cottons of suitable qualities. Because store goods are now lower than they used formerly to be, and socks can be bought cheap, let not the farmer's daughter despise the useful art of knitting and spinning : they belong to her station in life, in this country, and few grow rich who abandon this homely occupation. THE DAIRY. — The following remarks, on the management of the dairy, were published last year, under the title of an " Essay on Butter-Making ; " and for which a prize was awarded to the authoress by the members of the '* Hamilton Agi*icultural Asso- IHB 0A1«ADIA)« HOT}8SK££PRR's OUIDK. tvr dfttion, and Farmers' Club." It was copied by fidVeral agricul- tural periodicals and weekly papers, which induced me to giv4) it, in an abridged fbrra, for the benefit of the female emigrant, its usefulness having received the sanction of many practioail Canadian settlers. The want of succulent food during the long winter, is on© of the causes of a deficiency in the butter-producing qualities of the milk. Where roots, such as good sound turnips, cannot be had, the deficiency might be supplied by boiling oats, in a good quan- tity of water ; a quart of oats, thus given, morning and night, will keep a cow in good order, with her ordinary food, and greatly increase th(! quality of her milk ; or bran mashes made thin with boiling water, left to cool dovm twice a-day, with a handful of salt, once a-week, will tell well. Some of the careful small farmers will take the trouble of boiling a lock or two of hay with water, sufficient for a drink ; but I should think the boiled oats, or the bran, or a handful or two of Indian meal, boiled in water, would be preferable, affording nourishment as well as milk. Having thus far spoken in behalf of the treatment of the animals, as respects their food and general comfort, I would next observe, that regularity in the time of milking is of great importance. In the moniing, as early as possible, the milking hour should be established, that the cow may go forth to feed while the dew yet lies fresh upon the herbage. This is of great consequence, in the hot, dry summer weather : it is soon after sunrise, in the early spring time of the day, while the grass is wet with the clear refreshing dew of night, that the beasts of the field shake off their slumbers, and rise to feed ; they then can aftord time to lie down during the noon-day heat to ruminate and digest their food. The wise man will consider this, and will derive advantage from studying the natural habits of the animals under his care. Those persons whose occupation is too small to admit of keeping their cows in constant pasture, would find it an advantage to make an enclosure, even if the ground be but scantily provided with grass, as a night-yard. The early milking will enable them to be let out to food. I allude to such cows as roam at large in the woods and wastes, and on the plain land. A little occasional fodder, giveti to encourage them to return to the usual milking place, will gcnorally ensure their coming home, and they should not be kept waitiii dations, and the walls of squared cedars, placed upright, form- ing a solid compact building, the windows latticed, and each window supplied with a wooden shutter, which could be lowered at pleasure, to exclude the sun, wind, or rain. By this simple arrangement, the sun's rays need never have access to the dairy. A porch, with shelves, and a bench, on which the empty pans, trays, pails, &c., can be set up to dry after scouring, are great convenicncies. Pans of thick glass are much used in home dairies ; also pans lined with zinc, and a species of enamel, such as the iron-stone pan and preserving pans are coated v.ith ; trays of wood, about four inches in depth, with peg-holes for letting off the milk, used to be much the fashion, but I think wooden-ware is liable to crack and warp during hot weather, and less easily cleansed from the sour particles of the milk. With respect to the churn, a small volume might be written on the kinds : in my opinion the simpler the machinery the better. The old-fashioned upright churn, worked with the staff and cross-dash, may be as effective in the end, but it imposes a greater amount of labour than such as are wrought with a winch. The simplest churn, and one that I have heard praised by every good dairy-woman, is a box-churn, the sides of which are sloped, so as to leave no acute angles and comers, always difficult to keep clean : the sides are provided with dashers, and a dasher also is affixed to the beam of the handle, which passes through the chum : this can be unscrewed, and the buttermilk is drawn off by means of a plug-hole, near the bottom of the churn. This churn may be bought at a cooper's for ISs 6d. I have also seen a chum with an iron wheel, turned with a winch, which is very easy to work. There is the old barrel-chura, which is also simple and effective, the advantage of this last being that the butter can be washed before being removed from the chum, ready for salt- ing. Earthenware pots, or good stoneware jars, are best for storing the cream in. With each jar there should be a clean, smooth, wooden staff, for stirring the cream : this is a matter that dairy-maids pay little attention to here, and yet it is of some importance, in thoroughly mixing the cream together, so as to prevent any sour milk or whey from settling below, thus gi\'ing a disagreeable taste to the whole ma&s of butter. In cool weather, scalding the cream just before churning, greatly facilitates the operation, and obviates the necessity of putting hot water into the /ivaoTYi a rwaM'tna in voi"w /»nmmAn nan Viiif iwHinVl T hpllAVA ia VArv ^/AX'MI.*.. 190 THS OkVkMAH HOUSBKBSPBB's OTTIDB. ii^jurious to the richness and good colour of the butter, giving it a white, greasy, poor appearance. In the winter season the cream jaics should be brought into a warm room over night, which wiU thicken the cream, and biiug it to the required temperature for churning. Frozen cream will make frothy butter, or no butter will be obtained, after much labour. In hot weather the chum should be allowed to stand some time with clear cold water in it» . and if the weather be very hot, immerse the chum in water: if a pluugerchum be used, it can be placed in a tub of cold water, during the churning. Many excellent dairy-women are in favour of churning crenm and the strippings, while others prefer the cream only. I think myself that the richest butter is produced from the cream nlont, but possibly a larger return may be ob- tained from the i'onui i practice. Where cows are fed on turnips, a small quantity of saltpetre, dissolved in a little warm water, and mixed with the cream before churning, is said to remove the flavour of the turnips from the butter. I knew a farmer's wife who always practised it in the winter season. This same person, who was celebrated in the part of the country where she lived, for good butter, used, during the hot weather, to put half a pint of cold spring water into each of the milk pans or trays, to raise the cveaxfi ; and in winter she put the same quantity of boiling water to raise the temperature, for the same purpose. Many approve of the Devonshire and Comish plan of scalding ths milk, but careless servants are apt to let the milk get over- heated, which decidedly injures the flavour of the butter ; but very good butter is no doubt made by heating the milk, and the largest amount of cream is thus raised. The milk should stand some hours before it is heated. It has another advantage, that of keeping the skimmed milk sweet for the use of the family. Ija a North-Lancashire paper, I saw the following advice to dairy^women, which, as it is easily tried, I will insert. — " Heat two pans of the same size with boiling water, let them stand a^ few minutes, then pour off the water, and pour in the new milk ; cover the pan that has the milk in it, with the empty heated pan ; this will raise the cream in less time, and in larger quantity than if put into cold pans. — Try it. Some persons never wash their butter, but absorb the buttermilk in the following way : they place a lump of butter in a coarse linen cloth, and beat against the sides of the chum, wringing the cloth from time to time in oold salt and water, repeating the process until the milky par- ii THX OUXADTAX HOUSBKEXFXR'b GUIDE. 181 tdoles are completely removed. The famous Epping butter is thus treated : this butter has the character in London of being ti)e finest in England ; very little salt is used for seasoning it ; but as the sale of it is so rapid, probably the keeping properties have hardly been tested. The thorough extracting of the milky particles, and the work- ing of the salt well through the mass cannot be too much insisted on. Attention to cleanliness, coolness in summer, and a moderate temperature in winter, are the three most important matters for securing good marketable butter. The following recipe was given me by an old country farmer's wife, who was celebrated for the excellent quality of her butter, both for flavour and keeping : — To thirty-two pounds of well-washed butter she allowed the following mixture : — Two and a half pounds of finely-rolled salt, six ounces of saltpetre, and half a pound of fine, rolled lump sugar ; these materials were well ground together, and worked into the mass of butter, which was then ptu^ked into a stone jar : over the top of the butter she poured a strong clear brine, suffi- cient to cover the whole surface two inches in depth ; a white cloth was then laid over the jar, and above this the stone lid pressed tightly down. This butter, she said, would be as good at the end of the second year as the first. Those cows that get their living all spring and summer roam- ing at large through the forest, often feed upon the wild leeks, which spring up in the rich leafy soil of the woods : the flavour imparted to the milk by this sort of food is very odious. The milk is almost useless, excepting for the feeding and fattening of oalves; but while this circumstance annoys the settler not alittle, there is one advantage that makes amends, in some measure, fbr the leek diet, which is, that the cattle that are poor and weak, and often in a diseased condition, from poor feed, during the long winters, are restored to health and good condition very speedily, by feeding upon the green leeks. A small piece of saltpetre dissolved in the cream, I have been told, will remedy the ill flavour, but of this I cannot speak from experience. There are other plants also on which cows feed in the woods, that give a rank, weedy taste to the milk. These evils are confined to those who, having settled on the new land, cannot command pastures for the cattle to feed on. During the chopping season the cattle browse a good deal upon the shoots of th(! felled trees, particularly upon the sugar maple, isa THE CANADIAN UOUSEKEEPEH S GUIDE. i the bass, elm, beech, and other hardwood trees. It used formerly to be the practice to let the calves run with the cows, but this is a very unwise one ; and now it is more usual to take the calf from the mother before it has suckud at all, and feed it by finger: in a few days it may be taught to drink out of the pail, and is then put into some small enclosure where it can pick a little grass. A month's new milk is all that is allowed ; then a suffi- ciency of skimmed milk all the summer. Many calves are killed by being given sour milk in hot weather. A little very thin flour gruel, with a little milk in it, is sometimes given, when there is a scarcity of its proper nourishment. Salt is necessary for cattle and sheep in Canada, to keep them in health ; it also induces them to return home. In winter, wood-ashes and clay are left near the feeding places, for the use of the sheep and cows. Warm yards are of as much use as good feeding, and this is a point often miserably neglected by the small holders. The Irish- man, however miserable his own dwelling may be, will generally take care that the cow and the pig are warmly housed. I actually once saw a patchwork quilt pegged up in front of the shed where the cows were stabled, though from the appearance of the dwel- ling-house, I should have supposed it could ill have been spared from the childrens' beds, but the cow must be sheltered whoever else suffered from the cold wind and snow. A want of attention to the comfort of the cows also imposes much discomfort upon the females who have to milk them — exposed to the biting blast of cold and frost, and drifting snow. Men should bear this in mind, and provide as well as they can, against such evils : it is bad policy, as well as cruelty. A dairy- woman cannot execute her task perfectly with hands benumbed by cold. The excuse for the want of attention to these things is : " We have so much to do, clearing land, and fencing, and build- ing, cropping and harvesting, that we have no time to make and fence in cattle-yards." The same thing is said about making gardens : — " We really have no time for these things." But a wise man would rather clear an acre or two less land, and take the time for adding to the comfort and health of the family. I notice this error as a friendly hint to husbands and masters of families, which I hope they will act upon. CHEESE. — ^It is only of late years that much of the attention of the Canadian settler has been turned to the subject of cheese- making. The reason of the neglect of this valuable portion of THE CANADIAN HOUSEKEEPERS GUIDE. 183 srmerly I this is the calf 'finger: L, and is a little I a suffi- re killed tiin flour there is ;ep them g places, this is a 'he Irish- generally [ actually led where the dwel- bn spared |l whoever imposes them — ing snow, they can, Adairy- jenumhed things is : md build- to make it making ' But a and take amily. I nasters of attention of cheese- portion of daiiT produce is evident. During the process of clearing wild land, the want of a sufficiency of pasture for the cows obliges the prudent farmer to hmit this branch of his stock according to his supply of fresh grass or dry provender for their support; conse- quently, for some years, he is unable to keep cows enough for die profitable manufacturing of cheese as well as butter; but now that the country is opening out on every side, and there are many fine cleared farms of long standing, and under good culti- vation, dairies are increasing everywhere, and the farmer's wife is beginning to see the great advantage of making good cheese, for which an excellent market can always be obtained. Good rich cheese will sell at T^d per lb ; inferior fetches 6d. Now this is of course encouraging, and it is well worth taking pains to make a superior article, when it meets with a remune- rative price. I will condense as much plain instruction on the subject of cheese-making as will afford a general knowledge of the subject, for the benefit of such of my female readers who may be strangers to the process of making cheese, with a few hints on various sub- jects, which may prove useful to the bush settler's wife, whose operations are confined to making cheese upon a very limited scale ; and first, let me give directions as to the common method of preparing the rennet. The Rennet is prepared from the first stomach or maw of the eucking calf. Any milk-consuming animal vnll, I believe, answer the same purpose for curdling milk, such as the lamb, kid, and even the sucking pig ; but the calf s maw, alone, is used in the dairy work of cheese-making. The calf s maw, being emptied of the curd and slime, is care- fully turned, and well and thoroughly washed with clean water, then thrown into a brine of cold salt and water, for about twelve hours ; it is then rubbed well with salt, and stretched upon a flexible stick, by bending it, and holding both ends in one hand: over this the bag is drawn, and tied at the open end, near the ends of the stick ; it may then be hung up to dry, in the house, or in the sun, on the house-wall in the open air, till quite hard ; then take out the stick, and put the rennet bag into a paper bag, and hang up in a cool place : it is better for keeping a year, I have been told, but it may be used in a few weeks or months. Some persons, after washing, picking, and salting the bag, put it into a strong brine, in an earthen vessel, and tie it close down ; others fill the bag quite full of salt, tie. and hang it up. In the 134 THE CANADIAN HOUSEKEEPEBS GUIDE. second plan, a spoonful or two of the brine only is used ; but if the rennet is dried, as in the first and last instance, a snuful pieico is cu. ofT, and steeped in warm water for some hours beJ^OM putting it to the milk. Whether cheese is made or not in ft family, the rennet should be preserved, as it is convenient to have a little sweet curd and whey, as an addition to the dinner ox 9upper table, especially with a little ripe fruit : it makes a nio^ dish for the children. If the rennet brine be good, a dessert 8jpoonful will set a good dish of milk : the milk should be as warni as when first drawn from the cow ; if too hot, the curd wiU be tough ; if cold, not firm enough to separate from the whey. To MAKE Good One-meal Cheese. — This cheese is made entirely of the morning's new n;ulk, strained into a well-cleanefl cheese-tub. If the milk be too much cooled, in its transit from the milking yard to the daiiy, a portion of it must be heated, but not boiled, in a clean vessel, ou the fire or stove, and returned to the tub, pouring in as much as will make the whole quantity the same heat as new milk just drawn from the cow: some add « amsM portion of hot water for bringing the milk to a right tem- perature, and say that the water comes off in the whey, without impoverishing the curd : it is certainly less trouble. The Wilt- shire cheese, I have been told, is done so, and even has scalduig water thrown upon the curd. The rennet is then stirred in : if good, half a teacupful shomld curdle a good-sized cheese. In about twenty minutes or half aix hovir the curd will be formed, and with a saucer, a small wooden dish, or a wooden cheese-knife, the curd may be cut across in several directions, till the whey rise clear between the gashes yam have made on the curd. It may thien be broken lightly, and left for a few minutes longer. Have ready a cheese-basket : this is a loose, square or round basket, without a handle. Set it acroais youjr tub, on a wooden frame, called a cheese-ladder, which is a simple contrivance : two long sticks, and two or three short bits, nailed across, to support the basket or vat : a thin cloth being laid in, the basket being la^ge enough to admit of the edges hanging over the sides ; the curd is laded out of the tub, and to aid in the draining off the whey, from time to time bring the ends and sides of the cloth gently together, so as to give an increase of pressure. When the curd is well drained bring your vat beside the basket ; have a fresh cloth laid in it ; remove the curd into the vat, breaking it up as you put it in; mingle in it a little salt, not very much, and continue to fill tUl the vat is full ; THE CANADIAN HOUSEKEEPEB'S GUIDE. 1S» ; but if a smtvtt rs before not in 9> t to have linneroi ; ea a uioe [ a dessert , ! as "wann ^ fd wiUbe is made ill-cleaneii uisit frosa eated, but eturned to lantity tbe ome add ft right tenx- 5y, \iathout The Wiljb. is scaLdiiig dM shomld or half an gil wooden across i» gashes yw y, and left t : this is a let it acroae which is a short bits, cloth being f the edges tub, and to e bring the ^ to give an ' bring your i remove the , iuglein it a 3 vat is full ; fold over the sides of the cloth, and turn it in the vat with cart ; tuck the sides and ends neatly in a little way, and set your cheese in the press, not putting on the full power or weight at first: slow pressure is best, till you again cloth your cheese. Some break the curd up fine the second removed, and increase the pressure. At the end of sixteen or eighteen hours, the cheese may be removed to a shallow tray : a little fine salt is sprinkled over the upper surface. Some make a brine in which they lay the cheese, aim turn it, after eight or ten hours' time, washing the sides with the brine, before removing it to the shelf. If very rich, a linen binder, the full depth of the cheese, may be fastened round to prevent the cheese from cracking and bulging. Care is required in turning these rich cheeses at first, but in a few daya the rind begins to harden, and it can be moved with less diffi- culty. A Rich Cheese. — This is made by adding the night's milk with the cream, waimed to the heat of new milk, to the morn- ing's milk, instead of making it of new milk alone. This cheese is generally considered richer than the new milk cheese, and is, I believe, the mode used in Cheshire. The larger the quantity of milk the better will be the quaUty of the cheese made. To make the fine, blue moulded cheeses, so much admired by some cheese-fanciers, sprinkle a little fine fiour in between the layers of curd, when putting it into the vat. This was a secret told me by a dairy-woman, famous for the manufac- ture of the blue cheeses. Cream Cheese. — Take one quart of rich cream ; when well soured, put it in a linen cloth, and tie it as close as you can, as you would a batter-pudding ; hang it upon a hook, with a pan below it, to drain for two days ; then turn it into another clean cloth, and let it drain for another two days, till it becomea solid ; then lay it on a clean fine cloth, spread on a plate, fold the cloth neatly over on each side, and turn it over in the cloth on the plate, lay another smaller plate over it, turning every six hours ; sprinkle a little finely-powdered salt, and lay vine leaves over and under to ripen : it is fit to eat in a few days, when slightly coated. POULTRY. — ^In these days, when fldl the world is running after Cochin China and Shanghai, Bantams and Dorkings, Dutch, Spanish, and Poland fowls, the omission of a chapter on the poultry-yard would, I fear, be regarded as a grave neglect in a work that is chiefly devoted to instruction on points of rural economy. 190 THE CANADIAN HOUSEKEEPKIl 8 GUIDE. Ill Of the management of the rarer breeds of poultiy, I have had no experience myself at present, but I have been assured by those who Imve been most successful in their rearing of Shanghai and Cochin China fowls, that they have had no more trouble with them than with the common barn-door fowls. The want of having good fowls and plenty of eggs seems simply to consist in attciilion to their being well supplied with good food, clean water, ashon, lime, rubbish and charcoal ; a clean, airy pen in summer, and a warm, sheltered roost in winter. A supply of animal food soems greatly to promote vigor in fowls. Where fewer dogs are kopt, the fowls come in for much valuable food, which tells well upon the richness and increase of their flesh and eggs. Those persons who succeed best with poultry, are careful to cater well for them, and will boil up all sorts of refuse vegetables, especially potatoes, carrots, parsnips, and other roots to mix with their grain. Boiled Indian com, or crushed corn, steeped, makes very satisfying food for fowls. In this country, fowls in general, are left very much to take care of themselves. Thej have the run of the barn-yard, and are even allowed by some of the improvident small growers, who are seldom the most economical managers, to have the run of the bam itself. That such a plan is a very wasteful one, it hardly needs any one to declare. Not only is there a vast and unneces- sary expendif re of valuable grain, but a considerable deal that is injured, arid made unsaleable. By a little cnre of tl c dross and refuse com, the fowls would be equally well fed without that woeful waste which the want of a proper system of management produces. I have known this plan pursued even among farmers who were careful in other matters, but whose wives were so short- sighted as to persuade them into the belief that because they were able to sell a few dozen of eggs at ten-pence or a shilling ■A dozen, in the early part of the season, that this was clear gain, quite forgetful of the loss and injury to the valuable grain. Fowls fed with scalded bran, or the coarse part of the flour, generally known here as sharps or canaille, mixed with potatoes or other vegetables, any scraps of meat or refuse grain, and milk scalded so as to harden the curd, with access to ashes and gravelly substances, will ensure plenty of eggs, without giving them access to the bam or granary. Besides the eggs consumed in the family, since the commence* ment of the laying season, my children have sent to market upwards of one hundred dozen eggs, which have been sold at THK CANADIAN HOUSBKEEPXB'b OTJIDB. 197 vre had by those hai and ale with if having ittfiiLion r, ashos, 3r, and a [)d 8(!em9 ire kopt, rell upon ) persons tor them, potatoes, i. Boiled latisfying h to take I, and are , who are in of the it hardly unneces- deal that dross and hout that nagement [g farmers e so short- lause they a shilling 3lear gain, ain. the flour, h potatoes Train, and ashes and out giving commence* to market len sold at S rices varj'ing from one shilling to seven-pence halfpenny per ozen. The fowls have received little grain, and not much atten- . tion : in number they were about thirty-five. They were shut I out from the bam, and had no access to the seed in the fields. I With more attention we might have had a still larger return, I but this is sutllcient to prove that fowls are well worthy of the ' attention of the Canadian housewife. During the grain-sowing season, and if there be any wheat fields near t1u> furm-yard, it will be advisable to confine the fowls within an enclosure — a green yard, with a high picket fence round, is tbo best sort of fowl-yard. A coarse thread, of common dutch twine, tied from post to post, will effectually prevent any fowl from attempting to fly over the fence. A shelter at one end of this enclosure, for roost and laying place ; plenty of dust and ashes in a heap, for them to roll in, with a trough of water, will be all-sufficient : a tree makes a good summer roost, and a few bushes, for shelter from the great heat of the sun, is also advis- able, for the comfort of this fowl-yard. The confinement need not last long at either season, and it is well worth the trouble of having such a convenience made to prevent loss and vexation of spirit. When once made it lasts for years, and would soon repay the farmer for the outlay of a few days labour, and a few nails, for fastening up the pickets. The vonng chickens are seldom cooped for more than a few days : if the weather be fine aud warm, they will thrive as well abroad, or in the enclosed yard. For the rearing of geese and ducks with profit, they should have acct?38 to a creek or pond of water, mill-dam or lake. On the rice-beds geese fatten finely, and do well ; but as the goslings are hatched in tlio spring, a season which is usually very change- able, more care is requited for keeping the tender goshngs from the cold and wet, than is usually bestowed on the chickens, which come later and are more hardy. The goose is usually cooped in a large coop, and this is surrounded with a fence, enclosing several square yards of green turf. A flat pan, with some stones in it, is given for the goslings to wash in : the stones enable them to stand and keep tliemselves dry while drinking, as too much wet is bad for them during the first week or ten days. Scalded bran, curds and crumbs, or soaked and crushed Indian com mar be given them, which, with the grass in their yard, will be all- sufficient. At a fortnight's end, if the weather be diy, they maj^ be let out. 13B THE CANADIAN HOUSEKKXPBBS OUIDB. Geese are often found great depredators in the voung wheat fields. The old gander and brooa geese are treated with a yoke 6t neck-rinff : this is simply an oblong piece of shingle, shaped into an oval form, with a hole in the centre. This is drawn over the head of the goose, and effectually keeps it from breaking into the fields througn the rail fences. A goose is never at the trouble of climbing, so the remedy is always effectual. To make geese profitable, the farmer's wife plucks them twice and sometimes thrice in the season; but the quills are not touched, so that the animal suffers but little from the operation. The head of the goose or gander is put into the bag (an old sock ie sometimes used); this is tied about the neck: the darkness keeps the creature quiet, and the feathers are plucked into a basket. A still day and a warm one is chosen ; and in the moulting season the feathers fall easily, and perhaps the loss of them may be a relief from the heat of such a tnick covering. Turnips chopped small, raw and boiled potatoes, with the run of the barn-yard, is the goose's fare in the winter Alow log-shed, with a door, to shut them in at night, is necessary They also, as all fowls do, require lime and ashes in their house in winter. The ffoose begins to lay in March or April, but if the season be at all mild, in the latter part of March. The egg should be brought in as soon as layed, as the frost chills it very quickly, dlftced in a box of bran or sawdust till the goose is ready to sit The goose must be given water, or let out to wash and feed once ft day: she sits thirty days. It is better to remove the earlv- hatched goslings, when strong enough, to a basket, but I would not feed uiem ; return them at night to the mother, and you will most likely have the rest of the family by the following noon, Laterhatched goslings are often allowed to go abroad, under the care of the old ones, without any shelter, and in some dry sea- sons they will succeed as well as those that have had a great fussi mwle about them ; but in cold, wet springs, care and shelter are I'equisite to ensure the lives of the little family. If the cock be remarkable for his tender care of his wives, the gander is no less a^irable, as a father, in protecting and cherishing his young ones. There is much that is interesting and admirable to be learned in the poultry-yard, by the careful observer ; and many a pleasant, cheeriul hour may be passed in the care of the domestio birds about the farmer's yard : children learn lessons of care and kindness, and many a moral lesson the wise mother may incul- cate, even from so homely a creature as the common hen. I TUB CANADIAN HOUSEKEEPERS QUITE. 1A9 In auittiblo lucalitio^ ihu duck is uasily managed ; but th«j Deed ft oojostant auj)i>ly of water, and will not thrive unloss they l^ave free awes to a stream or pond. The little ducklings require to be cooped with the mother, and fed with curds, bran, or some 0oft fovd for a few Nvepks. They are very useful in freeing a gar- den from iwst^!tSj aiid thrive well in dry weather, while very young. Neof kko8 and raill-ponds they get their own living q& the weeds and 8);;LeU-ii8h, but where no water is they require a great deal of feeding. Tfee turkey breeds well in Canada ; but the young ones are great ramblers, and do much hurt to the young grain, and for lis reason the fanner is shy of breeding them. Some manage to confine them by tethering the hen to a stoke, when the yoim^ will not ramWe far from her. A FEW WOIIDS ABOUT AGUE.— Every one consider^ Cejoada as a healthy country : it is so, generally speaking ; but theie are diseases, s^uch as ague and rheumatism, which are more coronaon here than in Britain. Dysentery in children prevails dwriiig the hot months, especially among very young infants; ond erysipelas, among persons exposed to the great heat of the 8UD in summer, having tne perspiration suddenly checked by cold birthing, drinking very cold water, or being suddenly chilled by clbsnge of atmospnere. These, however, are chances which only happen to the fiew. The same causes would produce sinpii^ effpcts in any countrj'. Many years ago it was a rare thing to hear of colds, eou^fhs at induenzas ; now it is very common, and I believe, with many Xne^ical men, that the stoves have to answer for these disorders* People heat their rooms like ovens, and go out into the sharp, frosty air ; they return again from the keen frosty air into heated rooms : their tender organs of respiration are not fitted to stand finch reverses, and pulmonary disease, and colds in the head are the result, which not unfrequently end in consumption. For- merly open fire-places were seen in every house, and the inmates of tliem were healthy ; now they have stoves in every part of th9 dweljhng, even in the bed-rooms, and the result is sickness and loss of complexion. The largest log-fires, in an open fire-place, will not produce the same general heat, but it will be far more conducive to health. A Canadian house may be kept veiy comfortable, without being over heated, by means of a good hall- stove, and fire-places in the sitting rooms. A porch, enclosing the outer doore, also helps to keep the house warm in winter. 180 THE CANADIAN HOUSEKZSFER's GUIDE. The inhabitants of the lower province, where the cold is moro intense, and the winters of longer duration, understand the art of warming their houses better, and constructing them so as to keep out the cold better than we do in Upper Canada. The com- monest log-house should have a verandah (no matter how homely tile construction); if only made with unbarked poles of cedar, and shingled, it will add not a little to the comfort of the family. It makes the house cooler in summer, and wanner in winter: it saves much work, as the house is kept cleaner: it serves for a Bummer eating-room : its pillars, wreathed with hops, give a pleasant, rustic look to the otherwise unsightly log-house, and keeps off the glare of the sun, through the long summer's day. At the kitcheu-end of the house, the stoop serves for a summer kitchen, and it is there that the housewife keeps her pails and pots and pans, her washing tubs and barrels. The want of this convenience is often sorely felt by the females; and I would advise every settler who builds, by no means to omit this addition, if he has any regard for the comfort and tidiness of his house, And here I must observe, that it is the total inattention to the comfort and convenience of women, that often makes them im< happy and discontented in their new homes. Like the captives of Israel, they are often expected to make bricks without straw. Let the men do all they can to make the house as convenient as circumstances will admit of their doing ; and the females must, on their part, put up with those wants that are the result of this new order of things. Let each comfort and cheer the other, and bear the privations and trials that befal them as cheerfully and as hopefully as they can, and thus the burden will fall lighter upon all. , Ague is the disease most dreaded by new settlers ; and to many persons it has proved a great drawback, especially such as go mto the uncleared lands. They who live in the long-settled parts of Canada seldom have ague : it arises from the exhalations of the vegetable soil, when opened out to the action of the sun and air. As long as the soil is unbroken, and the woods uncleared, no such effect is felt. I have heard some of the hardy old trap> pers sav that they never had ague in the woods ; but on the newly-cleared land, or by lakes and swamps, where the sun had access, there they would have ague. Some people never have ague ; others, only the first or second year after coming to the eountry ; but some seldom pass a year without an attack of it. A eiugular error prevails amo] ong Gcms of the old settlerSj ^at thosa tBE CANADIAN HOUSEKI.KPEr's GUIDE. 181 i is more 1 the art L 80 as to rhe com- w homely edar, and Doily. It rinter: it fves for a ?, give a )use, and aer's day. I summer pails and ,nt of this , I would \ addition, [lis house, ion to the them un> e captives )ut straw, renient as lies must, ult of this )ther, and rfully and ill lighter d to many iich as go ttled parts ilations of e sun and uncleared, y old trap- ut on the e sun had lever have dng to the tack of it th&t those who put a stbp to the disease, when it first attacks them, will be subject to it for life. Believe it not ; but use vigorous means to check it as soon as, or before, it is confirmed. Remedies for the ague are as plentiful as blackberries ; but the following mode of treatment, I believe, to be the best of any : I have experienced its efficiency in my own family, and as it was the prescription of a slulful physician, well acquainted with the diseases of the country, I do not hesitate to give it : — Ague. — For an adult female, divide six grains of calomel into three doses : take one of these doses every two hours : at the end of the sixth hour take a large tea-spoonful of Epsom Salts. On the following day, take a wine-glassful of the following tonic mixture : dissolve twenty grains of quinine in a pint of water, to which add four drachms of diluted sulphuric acid : if too acid, add more water to reduce it. Take the dose at seven in the morning, at eleven, and again at four, as long as the bottle lasts. When you have finished it take a dose of senna and salts, and in most cases the ague will cease, but it generally returns at the end of twenty-one days. As it is sure to give you notice of its approach, have recourse to the same doses of calomel and salts as before, followed by the quinine and sulphuric acid ; or you may take three grains of calomel the second time, divided into two doses : it seldom fails of curing. Should the disorder show anj- symp« toms of returning the third time, do not wait for a confirmed fit, but take a few doses of the tonic mixture, diminishing the quan« tity from two doses to one, till you leave it off altogether. Rest is essential for ague patients : total rest from labour, if possible, and good nourishing diet, that is not hard to digest, and change of air, if the patient can leave home. Poor diet is one of the causes of ague : those who can afford to live well seldom suffer from ague, unless in low marshy situations. There is an Indian remedy sold in all drug stores in Canada ; it is called Indian Cologne : it is very nauseous, but I have been told it is very effectual as a cure. The inner bark of the wild black cherry, steeped in whiskey, is also taken as a tonic for ague ; but I have more reliance upon the treatment of the disorder, as I have given above. For a man the dose of calomel is seven grains in three doses ; and for a child three grains, at intervals of two hours between each grain{ and a dessert spoonful of castor oil, at the end of the third dose ; a tea-spoonful of the tonic mixture, diluted with 8. ♦ nin/ I have lOunu tiie ut uiucu icuevcu *" 133 THE OANADXAN H0U8ZKSXPEB8 OUIOB. ! ' yuung child, by putting it into a warm bath, and wrapping it in wami blankets, and giving it a few drops of antimonial wine, in warm drink, to promote perspiration. An emetic is often admi> nistered previous to taking any other medicine. DYSENTERY IN CHILDREN.— This disease is often fatal to young children — frequently bafiSing the skill of the most experienced physician. I lost two infants, who were under the care of the most skil- ful medical men, but saved another by the use of a wild herb, tliat was given me by a Yankee settler's wife. A plant called spikenard (or spignet, as she called it), that grows in the forest, with a long spindle root, scraped, and a small quantity boiled in milk, thickens it, as if flour had been put in : it has a sweet, astiingeut taste, slightly hitter. A tea-spoonful given thrice in one day, cured the child, who was wasting fast under the disease. This spikenard belongs to the same family of plants as the sar* saparilla : it bears black berries, not unlike the elderberry in size and taste. There are many of the old settlers who know the plant. No one should use the vnld herbs without the experience of a careful person, to whom their sanitary or hurtful qualities are well known. The old Canadian settlers are often well skilled in the use of the native plants. They may possibly have learned the value of them from the Indians, or from long experience, taught by necessity, in a country where, formerly, educated doctors were far from being as commonly met with, even in the towns, as they now are. Possibly, in those days, there were fewer diseases to cure, and the simple medicines that the forest afforded were sufficient for all curative diseases. In lonely places, where the aid of a medical man is difficult to be obtained, even severe wounds are healed, and simple fractures are reduced by the inhabitants themselves. Some one among them, who has more nerve or more judgment than the rest is consulted upon such occasions, and faith goes a great way with many patients in effecting a cure. When emigrants first arrive in this country, they are apt to fall iU : the change of diet, of air, and many other causes, pos- sibly the want of comfort on board the vessel, may operate upon them to induce disease. A little care, and some doses of simple medicine, will often save themselves and children from fevers or other serious complaints. Timely attention to health, on landing, is very advisable, and it would save many from much sufTering if they went at ouce to a skilful medical man, and procured medi« VHx OANASiAir hottsskbepsb's oxtibx. 138 ig it m ine, in iadmi> m fatal i most st skil- id herb, t called 3 forest, loiledin a, sweet, hricein disease, thesar* y in size now the perience qualities U skilled p learned t)erience, ducated n in the ere were le forest ly places, led, even luced by who has ted upon atients in sjre apt to uses, poi- rateupon of simple fevers or II landing, ufTering if iredmedi* one and advice, which is often supplied to the poorer class of ^ emigrants free of all cost. I BEES. — Of late years the long-established settlers have begun j to turn their attention to the cultivation of bees. In the eastern 1 or lower part of Canada honey has long been a source of com* '' mercial profit to the farmer. As an article of luxury, it stands unrivalled at our tables. As a medicine it is invaluable in its soothing, purifying, healing qualities ; nay, even moral lessons have long been associated in tile mind of the young child with the labours of the " Busy Bee." It is a pity that the cultivation and profitable management of the bee is so little attended to, in a country where nature has strewn the wilderness with flowers for their sustenance. If the Lower Canadians are able, with a little care, to cultivate the hive to advantage, there can be no doubt but that the inha- bitants of the Western Province might derive a considerable profit from the proceeds of this stock. Why should we import either honey or wax, if by our own labours we could raise those valuable articles on our own farms ? The British peasantry generally contrive to keep bees, and understand the management of the hives. I mean the practical part ; that of housing the young swarms, and abstracting the honey from them, at the close of the season. They would require to pay some attention to the difference of seasons. The extreme cold of the long Canadian winter must of course be taken into consideration, when removing the comb. The shortness of the flowering season must also be taken into account, and proper shelter provided for the hives during the cold weather. Those cultivators, from whom the stock is bought, will not refuse to impart their experience, which has the great value of having been acquired after many losses and vexatious failures : they will be your best guides and advisers, in the management to be adopted. I know at present of no simple practical work that has been written by the bee-keeper in Canada, for the instruction of the public ; unfortunately, I have no experience of my own to offer on the subject. >"V. 134 •■: .{■ ' ■i■■U^ n it: ■Ji. ■r> I . v.; THE SETTLER'S aUIDE TO OAN\A.DA. Published by authority Tenth Edition, considerably enlorged. Price 5s. post paidj pp. 220. WITH VARIOUS MAPS, ILLtSTRATIONS, &c. " This work has received the approval of a large portion of the Canadian and British press, as well as the following grati« fjing testimonials, which the Author has been authorised to publish : — From Field-Marshal Lord Sexton, formerly Governor-Gene- ral of Caaada, who writes that " he is persuaded that it con- tains the fullest information interesting to a settler in Canada, and that a more useful book for his guidance could not have been published."— Oc^ 2S, i860. Prom Sir Francis Bond Head, Bart., also formerly Governor General of Canada, — "The information contained in your Canadian Settler's Guide will, I think, not only be useful to emigrants, but will demonstrate to them the advantages which, as regards climate, soil, institutions, and society, they will gain by settling in Canada instead of the United States." — Nov. 23, 1860. From the Eight Hon. Sir Edmund "W. Head, Bart., Gover- nor General of Canada, — "This work evidently contains a vast amount of information for the guidance of those who are about to emigrate, and I think it calculated to do much good, by making known the advantages and resources of the colony — Nov. 22, 1860. His Excellency Lord Viscount Monck writes, " I have read with much interest Mrs. Traill's " Canadian Settler's Guide," which you were good enough to leave with me some days since. My short experience of the country does not enable me to form an opinion as to the accuracy of the information contained in the work, but, assuming that point, I know enough of emigra- tion to be able to say that it supplies exactly the hind of know- ledge which an Emigrant arriving in this Province would be most likely to require, and as the opinions delivered in the book are the result of practical experience, they must of course carry the more weight and be more useful to those for whose benefit they are intended. — ^Believe me to be, your's very faith- fully, MONOK. Quebec, Nov, 21, 1861. ■■■•w 135 \ i. Value of Engush Coin thbouohout Oakaoa« r " U ■gcd. cc. artion of ig grati- nrised to OT-Grehe- it it con- L Canada, not have Q-overnor in your useful to es which, they will tatea." — Gover- ontaioB a hose who do much es of the have read Guide," ays since. [\e to form ntained in if emigra- i of know- would he red in the of course for whose very faith- MOHOK. One Sovereign equal to One Crown ,, One Half-Crown ,, One Shilling ,, One Sixpence „ Currency. Dollars. £ 8. d. $ eta. 14 4 4 85 6 1 1 20 3 60 13 24 7i 12i Equivalent Value op Cubrbnoy and Cents, from Onji Cent to one Dollar. Currency. Cents. Currency. Cents. Currency. 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The roads in Upper Canada aro styled : — 1st. The Ottawa and Opaongo Road.— This road runs East and West, and will eventually be 171 miles in length, and connect the Ottawa Biver with Lake Huron ; about 62 miles are now finished, and 286 settlers already located thereon. Resident Agent, T. P. Fbknou, Clontarf, Town- •hip of Sebastopol, 2nd. Addlngton Road, running North and South, 61 miles long, and starting from the settlements in the county of Addington.'uutil it intersects the Opeongo Road ; the number of settlers on this road is 178. Resident Agent, E. Pebby, Tarn worth. 3rd. The Hastinga Road, running nearly parallel to the Addington Road, 68 miles long, and coDnecting the county of Hastings with the Ottawa and Opeongo Road ; there are 806 settlers on this road. Resident Agent, M. P. Hates, Village of Madoc. 4th. The Bobcaygeon Road, running from Bobonygeon, between the counties of Peterbourough and Victoria, north, and intended to be con- tinued to Lake Nipissing; 86 miles are already completed, and there are 168 settlers on the line; the number of the family of each settler on the above roads averages about four. Resident Agent, R. Hcuiies, Bobcaygeon. 5th. The Frontenao and Madawaska Road, of which 83 miles are completed. Resident Agent, J. Spike, Harrowsmitb. 6th. The Muakoka Road, of which 21 miles are completed; this road runs from the head of the navigation of Lake Coucbiching to the Grand Falls of Muskoka, where it will intersect the road called Peterson's Line, which will eventually meet the Ottawa and Opeongo Road now gradually opening westwardly, and by it the intending settler, arriving at Toronto, can, in one day's journey from that city, reach the very centre of the country. Resident Agent, R. J. Olivkr. Orillia. 7th. The Sault Ste, Marie Hr i^, intended to run from Sault Ste. Marie to Goulais Bay, and of whir .nt of these conditions will cuuie the immediate loss of the land, which will be sold or given to another. The lands thus opened up, and gratuitously offered by tlie Oovernment for s ttlement, are chiefly of excellent quality, and well adapted, in respect of soil and climate, to all the purposes of husbandry. All Emigrants requiring information as to the best routes and cheapest rates of conveyance, to any of the above Districts, should apply to the undermentioned Agents, who will also direct those in want of employment to places where they will be most likely obtain it. QUEBEC A. 0. BUCHANAN, Chief Agent. MONTREAL J. H. DALEY. OTTAWA W.J.WILLS. TORONTO A. B. HAWKE, Chief Agent for O.W. HAMILTON WILLIAM GILLESPY. KINGSTON JAMES MoPHERSON. NOTICE. — Emigrants arriving at Quebec, holding Througli Tickets for their inland transport, and desiring to obtain information, may delay their journey for that purpose, as the Railway or Steamboat Company to whom fhey are addressed will take charge of their luggage until they are ready to proceed. A. C. BUCHANAN, OovBBNUEMT EMIGRATION Offiob, ) Chief Agent Quebec, August, 1861. ) GAME LAWS. No deer or fawn, elk, moose, or cariboo, shall be hunted, taken, or killed between the first day of January and the first day of September in any year. No wild turkey, grouse, partridpre, or pheasant, shall be hunted, taken, or killed, between the first day of February and the first day of September in any year. No quail shall be taken or killed between the first day of February and uit3 first day of October in any year. No woodcock shall be taken or killed between the first day of March and the fifteenth day of July in any year. No wild swan, goose, duck, widgeon, or teal, shall be hunted, taken, or killed, between the first day of April and the first day of August in any year. No deer, wild turkey, grouse, partridge or pheasant, qnail or woodcock, shall be trapped or taken by means of traps, nets, snares, springs, or other means of taking such birds, other than by shooting, at any time whatever. GENEEAL NOTICE. SALMON FISHERIES OF LOWER CANADA. The following are the names of Rivers still open to proposals for leasing: — The Rivers Esquim.iux, Ste. Augustine, Little Mecatinna. Etamanra^ Olomanoshsieboo, Washeecootni, Musquam, Kegashka, Natashgulan, Little Wathscheeshoo, Great Watsheesboo, Romaine, Mingau, Maniton, St. Johns, 145 'Ifagple, JnpHagfln, Ste. Margenrite, CaluTiiet, Trinity, Beescie, MiBtassitini, Bereimis, Nipimsweoawnan, Portneuf, Escoumain, Murray, Du Qouffre, '8te. Ana, Troia Snumou, Ouelie, M6tia, Matanne, Ste. Anne, Mont liouis, MaKdelaine, Booaventore, Little Caacapedia, Grand Oascapedia, and Mata- pedia. Appliontions should be Addressed to the Fisheries Bitinch of the Depart- ment of Crown Lands, Quebec. DBPAETMENT OF CROWN LAND8» FISHERIES BRANCH. QiTEBEO, 2ind May, 1861. THE following Regulation, in amendment to the existing Fishery Rego- lations for Lower Canada, has been adopted by the Qovernor General in Council, pursuant to certain provisions of the StHtute 22nd Vic. Cap. 62. "The receipt, gift, purchise, sale or possession of ajy fish had in con- traventiiin of these Regulations, shall be punishable according to Law ; that all fish tnketi in contravention of the said Act and of these or any other Regulations made or to be made thereunder; and all nets, materials and other apparatus in whose possession the said fish, nets, materials end other apparatus may be found, shall be forfeited to Her Majesty : and the fishing or taking of fish in contravention of this Act or of the Regulations aforesaid, shall be deemed and taken as a separate and distinct offence on each and every day on which the same shall take place." P. M. VANKOUGHNET, Commissioner. THE TIMBER RESOURCES OF CANADA. The principal descriptions of Timber found in the forests of Canada are : —White, Yellow, and Red Pine; White and Black Spruce; Tamarac; White, Rim, and Black A «li ; Grey, Red, Soft, and Rock Elm ; Bird's Bye, White, and Red Oak ; Birds Eye, Curly, and Soft Maple ; Black and Grey Walnut; Smooth and Rough Bark, Hickory; Ironwood; Red Wild Cherry ; Basswood ; Beech ; Red and White Cedar ; Hemlock, Fir, Poplar, Chesnut, Buttonwood, and Whitewood. For furniture and ornamental purposes the luxuriant beauties of our Orotrhed, Wavy, and Mottled Black Waluut are well known, both here and in Europe ; also the beauties of our Bird's Eye and Curly Maples, as well as of our Curly Birch, Crotched White Oak, and Red Wild Cherry. The superior qualities of our White, Red, and Yellow Pine are fully acknow* ledged in the markets of Europe. Our Oaks, Elms, and Tamarac rank high for ship-building and general purposes ; — in fact, all our woods are suscepU' ble of beiug utilized in the arts and manufactures. Canada exports annually about 30,000,000 cubic feet of Timber in a rough state, and about 400,000,000 feet, board measure, of sawed Lumber. The revenue derived by the Province during the year 1860 for Timber cut in the public forests amounted to about 600,000 dollars, or £125,000 oorreuoy. 146 i ADVANTAGES OF THE TIMBER RESOURCES OP CANADA TO EMIGRANTS AND SETTLERS. The emigrant viU have on his own lot an unlimited supply of the best fuel ; the timber neceseai/ 'or his house, out-buildings, and all kinds of farming implements and household articles, usually made of wood ; more- over he obtains this supply in the process of clearing bis lot. The Govern* ment conditions of sale allow him to out and sell from hia lot whatever timber he thinks proper, and apply the value of it in payment of the pur- chase money due by him. Thus the settler can pay for his lot with the crop planted by nature on it. As mentioned elsewhere, even in burning the timber which he does not sell, the ashes can be converted into Potash, which will meet a ready sale at from £7 to £9 currency per barrel. TIMBER LICENSES. Woods and Fokests. Notice is hereby given that purchasers of public Innds (not under license) being actual settlers, with certain improvements, can obtiiin license from the respective Crown land, or Crown timber agents, to cut and dispose of the timber growing on the lots purchased by them (provided the viUue of the timber cut and so disposed of is applied in payment of the purchase money due the Crown,) on their complying with the conditions mentioned below. IMPROVEMENTS REQUIRED. A dwelling house of not less than sixteen by twenty feet. At least five acres of every hundred acres, cleared and put under crop, or made ready for putting under crop. CONDITIONS OF OCCUPATION, &o. Actual residence on the lot at leatt six months, immediately previous to the date of application for license, and continuing to reside on the lot, and to clear and put under crop annually the number of acres specified in the conditions of purchase from the Crown, (if those conditions have not been already fulfilled) or in any case the lot was sold not subject to settlement duties, continuing to clear and put under crop annually at least two acres for every hundred acres. MODE OF OBTAINING LICENSE, &c. Sending to, or fyling with, the Crown Timber Agent, when application is made to that Officer, the certificate of purchase of the lot from the Crown Land Agent, or exhibiting to the agent the original receipt given on the sale of the lot. Making application for license under the hand of the purchaser, or of his recognized assignee, in the printed form. No. 15, B, accompanied by an affidavit of the truth of the facts stated in said application ; or by the certificate of two actual settlers residing in the locality, or by the certifi- cate of a clergyman, or of the township assessor, (or valuator,) or of the township clerk, (or secretary-treasurer, ) or of an authorized forest ranger, or of n. Provincial Land Surveyor, confirming the truth of the facts. Transmitting with the application the sum of four dollars for the license RETURN OF TIMBER CUT, Ac. Every licentiate must furnish to the local Crown Timber Agent, on of before the 81st day of May, in each year, a sworn statement in the printed 147 fADA TO )f the beat 1 kinds of od ; more* be Govern- ; whatever if the pur- t with the ia burning ito Potash, rrel. Forests. ier license) cense from 1 dispose of 16 vftlue of e purchase 1 mentioned t least five lade ready )reviou9 to be lot, and fied in the ) not been settlement t two acres plication is the Grown 'en on the r, or of his lied by an or by the )be certifi- or of the est ranger, cts. be license ent, on or he printed form. No. 18, E, of the c^uantity, description, and value of the timber cut* together with the other information required by the said form, and pay, or oaase to be paid, to the Commissioner of Grown Lands, or to his autho- rized agent the value of said timber. In case the value is not paid, or that the ot.'ier conditions required are not complied with, the timoer out will be seized as if cut in trespass. To facilitate the carrying out of the present regulation, printed forms will be furnished forthwith to the Grown Land Agents, Grown timber agents, post masters, and custom officers, throughout the Provinces, also to all township assessors, (or valuators,) and township clerks, or (secretary treasurers.) All timber cut without the authority of license on lots sold, will be subject to <)eizure and confiscation. , P. M. VANKOUGHNET, Commissioner of Crown Lands. DEPARTMENT OF GROWN LANDS. Notice is hereby given that the Lands in the Townships of Rose, Lefroy, Fatten, Thompson, Esten, Spragge and Salter, situated on the North Shore of Lake Huron (East of the Bruce Mines,) will be open for sale, upon the usual condition of actual settlement thereon, on and after the Fifteenth day of Mat next, upon application to Joseph Wilson, Esq., Grown Land Agent, at Sault Ete. Mane. Price Twent} "pt-*- an acre — one fifth to be paid down, and the remain- der in four equJ A instalments, with interest. ANDREW RUSSELL, Qrtebee, 15th Marea, 1881. Assistant Gommissioner. MINING LOGATIONS-PUBLIO NOTICE, Grown Land Department, Quebec, Ibth March, 1861. HIS ExoELtBKOT THE GOVERNOR GENERAL, by Order in GouncU, has been pleased to direct— Ist.— I^at for mining purposes, tracts comprising not more than four hundred acres each, be granted to parties applying for the same, at the rate of one dollar per acre, to be paid in full on the sale, the applicant furnishing a plan and description of the locality to this Department, and on condition that such Mineral Location be worked within one year from the date of said grant ; 2nd.— That no Patent therefor issue until two years from the date of the purchase, and then only upon proof that the purchaser or his assignee has continued to work said location bona fide for at least one year previously; 8rd. — That the fee of one hundred dollars for permission to explore now charged, be abolished ; 4t£.— That locations be sold to the first applicant agreeing to the terms specified above ; That these Regulations shall not apply to Mines of Gold and Silver. P. M. VANKOUGHNET, Commissioner. 14a POSTA.L ARRANGEMENTS. ■ V^ ■ ; Letters poBted in Canada, addressed to any place within the Proyineo^^ pafi0, if pre-paid, for 5 centb per | oz. ; but if posted unpaid, such letters are charged 7 cents per ^ oz. On letters to Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Prince Edward's Island, the rate is 6 cents the ^ oz. — pre^paj nent optional. On letters to tho United States, the i ta is 10 cents the { )z., except California and Oregon, to which the rate is 16 cents the ^ oz. The rate on letters to the United Kingdom is, by Canadian Packet : — Not exceeding ^ oz 12| cents Exceeding -^ oz., and not exceeding 1 oz 25 " And so on, increasing t'n:'^ rates for every additional ounce ; and by British (Cunard) Packet, 1*7 cents per ^ ounce, &c. &e. &o. Letters for the United Kingdom must be pre-paid, or they will bo charged a fine of 6d. sterling on delivery. REGISTRATION CHARGES. For the registration of a Letter addressed to any place in British North America, the charge is 2 cents. For the Registration of a Letter to United Kingdom 12^ " " " " '• United States 5 " The charge on Books and other printed matter, by Book Post to Eng- gland, is 7 cents on packets not exceeding 4 ounces in weight; 12^ cents exceeding 4 ounces, and not exceeding ^ lb., and 12^ cents for each addi- tionnl ^ lb. These charges must be pre-paid. Newspapeifs published in Canada may be sent by post from the office of publication addressed to any place in Canada, at the following rates, if paid quarterly in advance by either the publisher at the post office where the papers are posted, or by the subscriber at the delivering post office : -"••r a Paper published 3 times a week, 40 cents per quarter. «< 3 .1 20 " " M M 2 . " 18 " " " " 1 '• 6i " " When the above rates are not paid in advance by either publisher or aub- Bcriber, such papers are charged one cent each on delivery. TRANSIENT NEWSPAPERS. Transient Neiospapers — that is to say, Canadian Newspapers posted otherwise than from the office of publication , and American or British Papers posted or re-posted in Canada, must be pre-paid I cent eat-h, by postage stamp, or they cannot be forwarded — except only British JVewa- papers distributed to regular subscribers by Canadian Booksellers or News Agents — such papers pass free as they would do if received in the GanAdiOiD Packet Mails. NEWSPAPERS BY MAIL FROM ENGLAND OR UNITED STATES. Newspapers received from England by the Canadian Packet Mails are delivered free. Newspapers from England by the Cunard Packet Mails are charged 2 cents each on delivery. (Tiiis is the American triusit charge.) United States Newspapers, brought by Mail into Canada, are charged ppe cent each ou delivery. 149 Proyia 160 Lkttebs. NxWBFAPIBB. N •44 •^ ^ ^i 1 ■*» o a o ■s a c o 1 a § 1 - •4* 1 1 i O 3 rHH. 1^ "V. 13 1 '■'•'., 1 ' ; M « ? « « V V {^ ^ « >■ ^ (>■ > > > oo ■s i i .2 i i s t 1 9. d. s.d. ^ -< -t) < < H Via United Sates 1 s.d B.d. s.d. 8.d. s.d. 8.d. e.d by British ! Packet. 1 " Cork. \.'j8 8 I 4 1 4 2 8 2 6 2 8 1 4 6 a: Id. each. " Galway. By Oaoadian Packet V. 6 6 1 1 2 2 2 1 6 Id. eaob. By United States Packet V. 1 2 ] 2 2 4 2 4 4 8 4 8 4 8 2 4 6 a. Id. each. Note. — If letters for Canada be unpaid wholly or in part, they are oo delivery charged with Sixpence each in addition to the portage. i: ^ V. denotes that pre-payment is voluntary ; a. means that letters, newspa 8, Ac, are liable to an additional charge on delivery of One Penny. Nel^papers and books must be pre-paid. 1.JI HFSSELL'S HOTEL AND PALACE STREET, UPPER TOWN, ST, LAWRENCE HALL, FAULT HOTEL AHD BOARDING HOUSE, GREAT ST. JAMES STREET, MONTREAL. Xi ^^. ,^