What It Was, When It Was, The Way It Was (Part 3)

Hello, as I promised here is the next segment of that very old book I have been putting on my blog. This book dates back to 1914. I hope you find it as interesting as I do. If you don't, breath easy there are only about four more segment of this particular section. As before this is intended to entertain and enlighten. User beware! I hope you enjoy.


"WHAT TO-DO." AND "HOW TO DO IT."Including Various Recipes of All Kinds." We have gathered a posie of other men's flowers And nothing but the thread which binds them is ours."

56. To Remove Old Paint and Varnish.—A mixture of two parts of
ammonia and one part turpentine will soften old paint and varnish so that they may easily be scraped off.
57. To Wash Painted Surfaces.—Wash painted surfaces with milk.
58. Piano Polish.—Rub well with a piece of flannel cloth saturated with a mixture of equal parts of turpentine, linseed oil and vinegar. Polish with a piece of chamois skin. This treatment will entirely remove the dingy appearance from fine woods.
59. To Loosen Screws.—Hold a red hot poker on the head of a rusty screw for two or three minutes and it may be easily removed with a screwdriver. '
60. To Clean Blackened Silver.—Add a teaspoonful of ammonia to a cup of water 'and use a little of this to make a paste with whiting. Apply the paste to the silverware with a soft chamois and polish it, using another chamois to dry it. :
61. To Remove Soot.—Should soot fall upon the carpet cover it with dry salt and it may be swept up without leaving smears.
62. To Remove Tea Stains.—Tea stains may be removed by washing the fabric with milk. After the milk has dried the grease may be removed with benzine or naphtha.
63. To Frost Window Panes.—Dissolve some epsom salts in beer and apply with a brush and you will have the best window frosting known.
64. To Dry Woolens Without Shrinking.—A large manufacturer of woolen goods says that woolen garments should be hung on the line dripping wet and not wrung out at all. If dried in this way the shrinkage will be almost unnoticeable.
65. Moths.—Moths will not lay their eggs where fine-cut tobacco has been scattered.
66. Moths.—Sprinkle furs and woolens and the drawers and boxes in which they are kept with spirits of turpentine and the moths will not bother them.
67. Moths.—Camphor gum is a preventive of moths. Goods packed in a cedar chest will be kept free from moths. Exposing clothes and furs occasionally to the light and air and beating and shaking them is probably the best treatment, however.
68. To Keep Away Mice.—Mice -do not like the smell of camphor gum and if it is placed in drawers or trunks they will keep at a distance. Seeds may also be protected by mixing small pieces of camphor gum with them.
69. To Drive Rats Away Without Killing.—Put plenty of pulverized potash in their holes and places they frequent and they will leave the premises.
70. To Drive Rats Away.—Put some copperas in whitewash and paint the places they visit. Also scatter the crystals of copperas in their holes and runways and over the floors and the rats will look for another home.
71. To Drive Away Rats.—Scatter either sulphur or sage about the places they frequent and you will get rid of the troublesome pests.
72. A Preventive for Red Ants.—Pour a quart of boiling water over half a pint of tar in an earthen vessel and set the vessel in the closet and you will not be troubled with red ants.
73. To Get Rid of Flies.—It is said that you will not be troubled with many flies if you keep geraniums growing in the house. Then why not have more flowers and fewer flies?
74. To Prevent Bites from Mosquitoes and Flies.—Mix three ounces of Sweet oil and one ounce of carbolic acid and when mosquitoes are troublesome apply to the face and hands every half hour. After it has been used two orthree days and the skin is saturated it may be used less frequently. Be careful not to get it in the eyes. It is very effective and not harmful to the skin. ,
75. Mosquitoes and Flies.—Apply to the face and hands a mixture of six parts of sweet oil, one part pennyroyal and one part creosote and you will prevent bites of mosquitoes and flies. Do not allow it to get in the eyes.
76. To Clean Jewelry.—Wash the jewelry in soap suds, rinse it well in diluted alcohol and lay it in sawdust to dry. Fine for gold chains and all kinds of ornaments.
77. To Clean Silver.—Rub the silver with alcohol and ammonia, then polish with a little whiting on a soft cloth. Even frosted silver may be made clear and bright with this treatment.
78. To Purify Water.—A large spoonful of pulverized alum will purify a hogshead of water. It should be thoroughly stirred in and it will be very effective in killing microbes.
79. To Make Hard Water Soft.—Fill the boiler with hard water and set on the stove. Then put half a cup of wood ashes into a woolen bag covered with cotton cloth to prevent the sifting out of the ashes and hang the bag in the water until the water is warm.
80. To Clean Tinware.—Take the fine, soft coal ashes which collect in the pipe and under the pan; mix these with soft soap and scour with a flannel cloth. Afterwards polish with a clean flannel.
81. Gem Washing Fluid.—Put three quarts of rain water over the fire and add one pound of salsoda, one ounce salts of tartar and one ounce of borax. After it is taken from the stove and is cold add one ounce of ammonia. Put one cup of this into the boiler when boiling clothes.
82. Hard Soap.—Put seven pounds of tallow, three pounds of rosin and two pounds, of potash into six gallons of water and boil for from three to five hours; pour into a wash tub and let it stand over night. In the morning cut it into bars and lay in the sun for two or three days to harden.'
This will last an ordinary family a year and save many a quarter that is spent for soap.
83. Soft Soap.—To six gallons of soft water add three pounds of best hard soap (finely cut), one pound of salsoda and four tablespoonfuls of harts-­horn ; boil until it is entirely dissolved; pour into convenient vessels and when cold it will be ready for use. This makes fifty pounds of fine soft soap.
84. To Remove Scorches from Cloth.—Spread over the scorched places a mixture of the juice of two onions, two ounces Fuller's earth and one-half pint of vinegar. These ingredients should be mixed, thoroughly boiled and cooked before using.
85. To Remove Stains Caused by Scorching.—Often all that is re­quired to whiten scorched linen is to wet it with soap suds and lay it in the hot sun. Another method is to boil the linen in a gallon of milk in which 'is dissolved a pound of white soap.
86. To Remove Mildew.—Dip the article in sour buttermilk, lay it in the sun to whiten and wash in clean water. Another method is to apply a mixture of soap, starch, salt and the juice of a lemon. Use half as much salt as starch,
87. To Remove Linen Stains.—Rub the stains with soft soap, apply a starch paste, dry in the sun and wash out in cold water. Repeat several times if necessary.
88. To Clean Gilt Frames.—Take chloride of plaster or soda, one ounce; white of eggs, two ounces; mix thoroughly and apply with a soft brush after blowing the dust from the frames.
89. To Keep Butter for Winter Use.—Into six pounds of fresh butter work a large spoonful of salt and a tablespoonful each of saltpeter and powdered white sugar. Pack in a crock that is perfectly clean and cover with salt.
90. To Prevent Rust.—Melt together one part of rosin and three parts of lard and apply a thin coating to stoves, grates, plows, etc. It is equally good when used on brass, steel, copper and other metals. This also makes a good water-proof application for boots and shoes.
91. Cement for Wood, Ivory, Stone, Porcelain, Leather, Silk, Woolen or Cotton.—Melt together in an iron vessel one part, by weight, of gutta percha and two parts of common pitch and you will have one of the best cements made. It is not affected by water and is thus especially valuable for certain purposes.
92. Cement for Rubber or Leather.—Dissolve two ounces of gutta percha in a pound of chloroform. Thoroughly clean the parts that are to be cemented, cover each part with the mixture and let them dry for nearly half an hour, then warm each part in a candle flame and press firmly together until dry.
93. Diamond Cement.—Dissolve thirteen ounces of white glue in a pint and a half of soft water, then stir in three ounces of white lead and boil until it is thoroughly mixed; remove from the stove and when cool add half a pint of alcohol; bottle at once and keep tightly corked.
94. Weights and Measures.—
One pound of soft butter is equal to a pint.
Ten eggs are equal to a pound.
A pound of brown or white sugar, powdered or loaf sugar,
broken, equals a pint.
A pound and two ounces of either wheat flour or corn meal is
equal to a quart.
Eight large tablespoonfuls are equal to a gill.
Thirty-two large tablespoonfuls equal a pint.
A common sized wine-glass holds four tablespoonfuls, or half a
gill.
A common sized tumbler holds half a pint or sixteen large table-spoonfuls.
Four ordinary teacups of liquid equal a quart.
95. To Clean Coat Collars and Remove Gloss from Seams and Elbows.— Rub the parts with a clean flannel dipped in either benzine or aqua ammonia or a solution made by dissolving a piece of carbonate of ammonia the size of a walnut in a cup of warm water. These are inexpensive and will not change the color Do not use benzine in a room where there is a light or fire.
96. Liquid Glue.—Dissolve glue in nitric ether and it will be twice as adhesive as that dissolved in hot water. The glue cannot be made too thick as the ether will dissolve only a certain amount of glue and will be of about the consistency of molasses. If a few bits of India rubber are dissolved in it the glue will be all the better and will stand moisture better.
97. Cement for Broken China.—Dissolve gum arabic in water until it is quite thick and then stir in plaster of Paris until it makes a sticky paste. Apply with a brush, stick the pieces together and after three days you cannot break the china in the same place.
98. Fire-Kindler.—Soak corn-cobs in kerosene oil; when needed put a cob in the stove, set fire to it and put on the fuel.
99. To Loosen Covers of Fruit Jars.—Place the cover in hot water for two or three minutes and it may then be easily unscrewed.
100. To Wash Calicoes, Cambrics and Muslins.—Before washing, soak them in water in which has been dissolved one or two tablespoonfuls of salt to each pail of water.
101. To Wash and Dry Flannels.—Wash flannels with as little rubbing as possible. Pull them both lengthwise and crosswise while drying rapidly.
102. Washing Black and White Calicoes.—Soak them first in water to which has been added one or two cups of weak lye to each pail of water.
103. Washing Pink and Green Calicoes.—It is best to use one or two tablespoonfuls of vinegar to each pail of water.
104. Washing Purple or Blue.—Use one or two tablespoonfuls of either salsoda or borax to each pail of water.
105. To Wash Ribbons.—Ribbons should be washed in cold suds and should not be rinsed.
106. To Remove Paint Spots from Windows.—Dissolve an ounce of salsoda in a pint of soft water. Use it hot. Tie a flannel on a stick, dip into the liquid and apply until the paint is softened, then wash off with hot water.
107. Washing Windows.—Add a tablespoonful of either powdered borax or ammonia to a gallon of warm water and wash the windows, using a chamois to dry and polish them.
108. China and Glass Cement.—Mix one pint of milk with one pint of vinegar; take out the curds and to the whey add the whites of five eggs; beat well together and add enough finely sifted quick lime to make a thick paste. This cement is fine for mending glass and china as it is affected by neither fire nor water.
109. Grafting Wax.—Melt together two pounds of rosin and a half pound each of tallow and beeswax. Mix thoroughly, cool in cold water and work until it is pliable. It will keep, for years.
110. To Destroy Currant Worms and Rose Slugs.—Spray the bushes with a solution of one pound of powdered hellebore to twenty-five gallons of water.
111. Cabbage Worms.—Spray the cabbages with a mixture of six quarts of water, one ounce of yellow soap and one pint of kerosene, and you will kill the worms without injuring the plant. This mixture should be kept well mixed while applying.
113. Treatment of New Cooking Utensils.—Iron pots should be boiled out first with wood ashes and cold water and then thoroughly washed. They are then ready for use. Griddles, skillets, waffle irons and iron gem pans should be greased and allowed to burn off once or twice before they are used for cooking.
113. To Wash Greasy Skillets.—Greasy skillets are best cleaned when hot. The addition of a little soda to the first water will make them more easily cleaned.

That wraps up this segment for tonight. How times have changed when you don't know what some of the ingredients are or have even heard of them before. To me it is still very interesting, sleep tight for all is well down on the farm.

The Old Farmer