are proper materials for cleaning brasses. If
wiped every morning with flannel and New England rum, they will not
need to be cleaned half as often.

If you happen to live in a house which has marble fire-places, never
wash them with suds; this destroys the polish, in time. They should be
dusted; the spots taken off with a nice oiled cloth, and then rubbed
dry with a soft rag.

Feathers should be very thoroughly dried before they are used. For
this reason they should not be packed away in bags, when they are
first plucked. They should be laid lightly in a basket, or something
of that kind, and stirred up often. The garret is the best place to
dry them; because they will there be kept free from dirt and moisture;
and will be in no danger of being blown away. It is well to put the
parcels, which you may have from time to time, into the oven, after
you have removed your bread, and let them stand a day.

If feather-beds smell badly, or become heavy, from want of proper
preservation of the feathers, or from old age, empty them, and wash
the feathers thoroughly in a tub of suds; spread them in your garret
to dry, and they will be as light and as good as new.

New England rum, constantly used to wash the hair, keeps it very
clean, and free from disease, and promotes its growth a great deal
more than Macassar oil. Brandy is very strengthening to the roots of
the hair; but it has a hot, drying tendency, which N.E. rum has not.

If you wish to preserve fine teeth, always clean them thoroughly after
you have eaten your last meal at night.

Rags should never be thrown away because they are dirty. Mop-rags,
lamp-rags, &c. should be washed, dried, and put in the rag-bag. There
is no need of expending soap upon them: boil them out in dirty suds,
after you have done washing.

Linen rags should be carefully saved; for they are extremely useful in
sickness. If they have become dirty and worn by cleaning silver, &c.,
wash them, and scrape them into lint.

After old coats, pantaloons, &c. have been cut up for boys, and are no
longer capable of being converted into garments, cut them into strips,
and employ the leisure moments of children, or domestics, in sewing
and braiding them for door-mats.

If you are troubled to get soft water for washing, fill a tub or
barrel half full of ashes, and fill it up with water, so that you may
have lye whenever you want it. A gallon of strong lye put into a great
kettle of hard water will make i