The best scales for the purpose are those obtained from the sheep-
head and the red fish. Wash well in cold water, add a little spirits of
ammonia, and put out to dry. Cut a pattern of a leaf, place it upon the
scale, letting the end of the leaf opposite the stem fall on the edge, and
cut one side thin, the other with a single clip of the scissors.
All is pure white, but if desired a slight tint may be given by a thin
coat of transparent oil paint. For pink, use rose madder; for blue,
Prussian blue ; yellow, yellow lake ; for green, mix together the last two
colors ; reddish brown, for shading, burnt sienna, and for violet, mix
crimson lake or rose madder with Prussian blue.
Pierce two holes with an awl, one about the center, the other almost
at the edge of the leaf ; put a bit of silver wire through and twist the
ends together for about one-half inch ; then place another leaf on one
end of the same wire, and twist the wire as before ; then put another
on the opposite wire. You can stem fern leaves in the same manner.
The flowers are formed in almost the same way, except you place a
small pearl bead in the center. Tendrils can be made by coiling the
wire round a No. 6 needle. These are quite pretty interspersed among
the leaves and flowers ; also make pretty stamens. The flowers and
leaves are fastened together with wire and white sewing silk, as hair
flowers are.
When completed and made up into sprays they are finished with a
coat of white demar varnish, which will give additional brilliancy to the
scales.
Those intended for the breastpin are bound to a pin, and the ear-
rings have a bit of wire bent back from the flowers like a hook. The
roses, the pansies, and the phloxes are the prettiest ones to imitate.
For embroidery : Vein your scales and leaves with a fine steel needle %r
do it slowly, bearing on hard to give clearness ; the leaves are now
ready. Stretch a piece of red velvet tightly in an embroidery frame;
place the pattern which you intend to copy before you, and imitate it by
sewing the scales on carefully. The effect of these glistening scales on
velvet is very beautiful and has the appearance of pearls.
FLOWERS. 91
FLOWERS.
PREPARING THE SOIL.
The only difficult part of making a garden is the deep digging and
the enriching necessary to produce fine flowers. On alluvial river lands
this is a light task, but a serious one on poor, sandy soil or stiff clay
lands.
When the ground is very poor it should be spaded out and carted off,
and its place filled with better. This may seem an arduous task at the
time, but it will fully repay for the trouble before the year is out. A
mixture of leaf mould, barn-yard manure, leached ashes, soot and a
very little salt spaded into the soil will make any clay hill or the pine
barren blossom like the rose. Low, wet lands require an addition of
sand, particularly where bulbous and tuberous-rooted flowers are to be
planted. The different concentrated manures now sold everywhere are
valuable, but must be used sparingly, or they exhaust the soil and cause
it to burn up in summer. There is no necessity for any one living in
the country to buy fertilizers, when, with a little care, a compost heap,
made of decayed leaves and chips, ashes, rich dirt from under wood
piles, bits of coal and soap-suds, may always be ready to supply all the
wants of the gardens.
Page 80
Presented as published in 1886. Historical recipes may not meet modern food-safety standards. Cook from the modern interpretation, not the original instructions.
AI-modernized reading of the original text
The best scales for the purpose are those obtained from the sheephead and the red fish. Wash well in cold water, add a little spirits of ammonia, and put out to dry. Cut a pattern of a leaf, place it upon the scale, letting the end of the leaf opposite the stem fall on the edge, and cut one side thin, the other with a single clip of the scissors.
All is pure white, but if desired a slight tint may be given by a thin coat of transparent oil paint. For pink, use rose madder; for blue, Prussian blue ; yellow, yellow lake ; for green, mix together the last two colors ; reddish brown, for shading, burnt sienna, and for violet, mix crimson lake or rose madder with Prussian blue.
Pierce two holes with an awl, one about the center, the other almost at the edge of the leaf ; put a bit of silver wire through and twist the ends together for about one-half inch ; then place another leaf on one end of the same wire, and twist the wire as before ; then put another on the opposite wire. You can stem fern leaves in the same manner. The flowers are formed in almost the same way, except you place a small pearl bead in the center. Tendrils can be made by coiling the wire round a No. 6 needle. These are quite pretty interspersed among the leaves and flowers ; also make pretty stamens. The flowers and leaves are fastened together with wire and white sewing silk, as hair flowers are.
When completed and made up into sprays they are finished with a coat of white demar varnish, which will give additional brilliancy to the scales.
Those intended for the breastpin are bound to a pin, and the earrings have a bit of wire bent back from the flowers like a hook. The roses, the pansies, and the phloxes are the prettiest ones to imitate.
For embroidery: Vein your scales and leaves with a fine steel needle or do it slowly, bearing on hard to give clearness ; the leaves are now ready. Stretch a piece of red velvet tightly in an embroidery frame; place the pattern which you intend to copy before you, and imitate it by sewing the scales on carefully. The effect of these glistening scales on velvet is very beautiful and has the appearance of pearls.
PREPARING THE SOIL.
The only difficult part of making a garden is the deep digging and the enriching necessary to produce fine flowers. On alluvial river lands this is a light task, but a serious one on poor, sandy soil or stiff clay lands.
When the ground is very poor it should be spaded out and carted off, and its place filled with better. This may seem an arduous task at the time, but it will fully repay for the trouble before the year is out. A mixture of leaf mould, barn-yard manure, leached ashes, soot and a very little salt spaded into the soil will make any clay hill or the pine barren blossom like the rose. Low, wet lands require an addition of sand, particularly where bulbous and tuberous-rooted flowers are to be planted. The different concentrated manures now sold everywhere are valuable, but must be used sparingly, or they exhaust the soil and cause it to burn up in summer. There is no necessity for any one living in the country to buy fertilizers, when, with a little care, a compost heap, made of decayed leaves and chips, ashes, rich dirt from under wood piles, bits of coal and soap-suds, may always be ready to supply all the wants of the gardens.