This section is from the book "Our Homes And Their Adornments", by Almon C. Varney. Also available from Amazon: Our Homes and Their Adornments.
Ladies who admire beautiful bouquets of grasses, will appreciate the following recipe: -
Take one and one-half pounds of rock alum, pour on three pints of boiling water; when quite cool put into a wide-mouthed vessel, hang in your grasses, a few at a time. Do not let them get too heavy, or the stems will not support them. You may 'again heat alum and add more grasses. By adding a little coloring matter it will give pleasing variety.
 
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