Our excerpt is a lengthy one, because of its innate interest, from her 1854 book: The New Household Receipt-book, which includes among its many topics: pest control. What follows is alternately astounding, astute, and amusing.
To drive away Fleas.—Sprinkle about the bed a few drops of oil of lavender, and the fleas will soon disappear.
Fumigation with brimstone, or fresh-leaves of penny-royal sewed in a bag, and laid in the bed, will have the desired effect.
Liquor for Destroying Caterpillars, Ants, and other Insects.—Take a pound and three quarters of soap, the same quantity of flower of sulphur, two pounds of champignons, or puff-balls, and fifteen gallons of water. When the whole has been well mixed, by the aid of a gentle heat, sprinkle the insects with the liquor, and it will instantly kill them.
To Destroy Rats —Cut a number of corks or a piece of sponge as thin as sixpences; stew them in grease, and place them in the way of the rats. They will greedily devour this delicacy, and will die of indigestion.
To Kill Rats—another way.—There are two objections to the common mode of killing rats, by laying poison for them; first, the danger to which it exposes other animals and even human beings; second, the possibility that the rats may cause an intolerable stench, by dying in their holes. The following method is free from these objections, and has proved effectual in clearing houses infested with these
Oil of amber and ox-gall in equal parts, add to them oat-meal or flour sufficient to form a paste, which divide into little balls and lay them in the middle of a room which rats are supposed or known to visit. Surround the balls with a number of vessels filled with water. The smell of the oil will be sure to attract the rats, they will greedily devour the balls, and become intolerably thirsty, will drink till they die on the spot.
To Expel Rats.—Catch one in a trap; muzzle it, with the assistance of a fellow-servant, and slightly singe some of the hair; then smear the part with turpentine, and set the animal loose ; if again caught, leave it still at liberty, as the other rats will shun the place which it inhabits. It is said to be a fact that a toad placed in a cellar will free it from rats.
Rats may be expelled from cellars and granaries simply by scattering a few stalks and leaves of mullen in their paths. There is something very annoying in this plant to the rat. It affords, therefore, a very easy method of getting rid of a most perplexing evil, and much more economical and less troublesome than gunpowder, "rat exterminator," cats, or traps.
To Destroy Fleas and other Vermin on Animals.— To destroy them on dogs, rub the animal, when out of the house, with the Common Scotch snuff, except the nose and eyes. Rub the powder well into the roots of the hair. Clear lime-water destroys the fleaworm without injuring the skin or hair.
Oil of turpentine when applied to animals, which were covered with insects, destroyed the insects, without hurting the animal.
To Destroy Bugs.—Mix half a pint of spirits of turpentine and half a pint of best rectified spirits of wine, in a strong bottle, and add in small pieces about half an ounce of camphor, which will dissolve in a few minutes. Shake the mixture well together; and, with a sponge or brush dipped in it, well wet the bed and furniture where the vermin breed. This will infallibly destroy both them and their nits, though they swarm. The dust, however, should be well brushed from the bedstead and furniture, to prevent, from such carelessness, any stain. If that precaution is attended to, there will be no danger of soiling the richest silk or damask. On touching a live bug with only the tip of a pin put into the mixture, the insect will be instantly deprived of existence, and should any bugs happen to appear after using the mixture, it will only be from not wetting the linen, &c., of the bed, the foldings and linings of the curtains near the rings or the joints, or holes in and about the bed or head board, in which places the vermin nestle and breed; so that those parts being well wetted with more of the mixture, which dries as fast as it is used, and pouring it into the joints and holes, where the sponge and brush cannot reach, it will never fail totally to destroy them. The smell of this mixture, though powerful, is extremely wholesome, and to many persons very agreeable. It exhales, however, in two or three days. Only one caution is neccessary; but that is important. The mixture must be well shaken when used; but never applied by candle light, lest the spirits, being attracted by the flare of the candle, might cause a conflagration.
Kitchen Cloths.—The four kinds of cloths requisite for the kitchen, are knife-cloths, dusters, tea and glass-cloths. Knife-cloths should be made of coarse sheeting. Dusters are generally made of mixed cotton and linen. The best material for tea and glasscloths, is a sheet which has begun to wear thin.
Besides the above cloths, are knife-tray-cloths, house-cloths for cleaning, pudding and cheese-cloths, and towels.....
Just a few of her books are mentioned below, parts of which appeared no doubt in her magazine:
Northwood (1827)
Sketches of American Character (1831)
Traits of American Life (1835)
Dictionary of poetical quotations (1850)
And she wrote a poem we all know: "Mary Had a Little Lamb"(1830).
Traits of American Life (1835)
Dictionary of poetical quotations (1850)
No comments:
Post a Comment