t you may know where to go
when you want one.

Run the heels of stockings faithfully; and mend thin places, as well
as holes. 'A stitch in time saves nine.'

Poke-root, boiled in water and mixed with a good quantity of molasses,
set about the kitchen, the pantry, &c. in large deep plates, will kill
cockroaches in great numbers, and finally rid the house of them. The
Indians say that poke-root boiled into a soft poultice is the cure for
the bite of a snake. I have heard of a fine horse saved by it.

A little salt sprinkled in starch while it is boiling, tends to
prevent it from sticking; it is likewise good to stir it with a clean
spermaceti candle.

A few potatoes sliced, and boiling water poured over them, makes an
excellent preparation for cleansing and stiffening old rusty black
silk.

Green tea is excellent to restore rusty silk. It should be boiled in
iron, nearly a cup full to three quarts. The silk should not be wrung,
and should be ironed damp.

Lime pulverized, sifted through coarse muslin, and stirred up
tolerably thick in white of eggs, makes a strong cement for glass
and china. Plaster of Paris is still better; particularly for mending
broken images of the same material. It should be stirred up by the
spoonful, as it is wanted.[2]

[Footnote 2: Some think it an improvement to make whey of vinegar and
milk, and heat it well up with the eggs before the lime is put in. I
have heard of iron mended with it.]

A bit of isinglass dissolved in gin, or boiled in spirits of wine, is
said to make strong cement for broken glass, china, and sea-shells.

The lemon syrup, usually sold at fifty cents a bottle, may be made
much cheaper. Those who use a great quantity of it will find it worth
their while to make it. Take about a pound of Havana sugar; boil it
in water down to a quart; drop in the white of an egg, to clarify it;
strain it; add one quarter of an oz. of tartaric acid, or citric acid;
if you do not find it sour enough, after it has stood two or three
days and shaken freely, add more of the acid. A few drops of the oil
of lemon improves it.

If you wish to clarify sugar and water, you are about to boil, it is
well to stir in the white of one egg, while cold; if put in after it
boils, the egg is apt to get hardened before it can do any good.

Those who are fond of soda powders will do well to inquire at the
apothecaries for the suitable acid and alkali, and buy them by
the ounce, or the pound, accord