Magic Copying Paper (Black Paper)

Lamp black mixed with cold lard to form a thick paste. Apply to the paper with a bit of cloth. Then take a flannel cloth and rub until the color ceases to come off.

Red Paper

Venetian red, [mixed with lard. Apply in the game way.

Blue Paper

Prussian blue mixed with lard. Apply in the same way.

Green Paper

Chrome green, mixed with lard. Apply same way.

These sheets, any of them, alternated with writing paper, and the first sheet of writing paper written on in the usual manner with a solid pen, will produce two or three copies of a letter at once.

Paste For Scrap Books

1½ teaspoonfuls of pounded alum dissolved in 1 pint of cold water. Rub a tablespoonful of flour smooth in a little water. Bring the alum water to a boil and stir in the flour, let boil up, add a few drops of oil of cloves, or a few whole cloves. The alum prevents souring, the oil of cloves does away with mold. This is better than mucilage, as it does not injure the paper.

Boiled flour paste, plain, may be made with red pepper tea instead of pure water, and will be free from the depredations of mice and insect pests.

Mucilage (Home-Made)

Boil the gum that exudes from cherry trees in soft water until it is the proper consistency. This is preferable to that for sale.

How To Clean Hair-Brushes

Wash in borax water. Do not wet the frame. Rinse and hang up to dry by a string tied to the handle. Water with a teaspoonful of ammonia in is still better. Rinse and hang up.

How To Keep Cranberries

Put in a keg of water and they will keep all winter.

How To Keep Lemons

Put in water. Change once a week. Will keep a long time.

How To Prepare Wooden Fails For Use

Give the inside of a new wooden pail 8 coats of copal varnish before using, and it. ■will not water-soak nor give a disagreeable flavor to water kept in it.

How To Remove Taste From New Wooden Vessels

Scald with boiling water; dissolve some pearl-ash or sal-soda in lukewarm water; wash well with the solution. Scald again before using.

How To Preserve Gilt Frames

Cover them when new with a coat of white varnish. All specks can then be washed off with water without injury. This is an invaluable idea.

How To Harden The Soles Of Boots And Shoes

Apply a coat of gum-copal varnish; let dry and give two more. This will double the wearing power of the sole-leather. Give an occasional coat as it seems to wear. For heavy boots two or three coats of gas-tar will render them almost impervious to damp, besides toughening and hardening the leather.

Liquid Glue, (Always Ready)

Fill a glass jar with broken glue of the best quality; then fill up with acetic acid. Set the jar in hot water for a few hours until the glue melts. The result will be an excellent glue, always ready.