ll pots.

* * * * *

TO MAKE SOAP.

Put on the fire any quantity of lye you choose that is strong enough to
bear an egg--to each gallon, add three quarters of a pound of clean
grease: boil it very fast, and stir it frequently--a few hours will
suffice to make it good soap. When you find by cooling a little on a
plate that it is a thick jelly, and no grease appears, put in salt in
the proportion of one pint to three gallons--let it boil a few minutes,
and pour it in tubs to cool--(should the soap be thin, add a little
water to that in the plate, stir it well, and by that means ascertain
how much water is necessary for the whole quantity; very strong lye will
require water to thicken it, after the incorporation is complete; this
must be done before the salt is added.) Next day, cut out the soap, melt
it, and cool it again; this takes out all the lye, and keeps the soap
from shrinking when dried. A strict conformity to these rules, will
banish the lunar bugbear, which has so long annoyed soap makers. Should
cracknels be used, there must be one pound to each gallon. Kitchen
grease should be clarified in a quantity of water, or the salt will
prevent its incorporating with the lye. Soft soap is made in the same
manner, only omitting the salt. It may also be made by putting the lye
and grease together in exact proportions, and placing it under the
influence of a hot sun for eight or ten days, stirring it well four or
five times a day.

* * * * *

TO MAKE STARCH.

Wash a peck of good wheat, and pick it very clean; put it in a tub, and
cover it with water; it must be kept in the sun, and the water changed
every day, or it will smell very offensively. When the wheat becomes
quite soft, it must be well rubbed in the hands, and the husks thrown
into another tub; let this white substance settle, then pour off the
water, put on fresh, stir it up well, and let it subside; do this every
day till the water comes off clear--then pour it off; collect the starch
in a bag, tie it up tight, and set it in the sun a few days; then open
it, and dry the starch on dishes.

* * * * *

TO DRY HERBS.

Gather them on a dry day, just before they begin to blossom; brush off
the dust, cut them in small branches, and dry them quickly in a moderate
oven; pick off the leaves when dry, pound and sift them--bottle them
immediately, and cork them closely.