HOW TO SHELL BEANS EASY.—­Pour upon the pods a quantity of scalding water, and the beans will slip very easily from the pod.  By pouring scalding water on apples the skin may be easily slipped off, and much labor saved.

HOW TO CLEAN BED-TICKS.—­Apply Poland starch, by rubbing it on thick with a cloth.  Place it in the sun.  When dry, rub it if necessary.  The soiled part will be clean as new.

HOW TO WASH CARPETS.—­Shake and beat it well; lay it upon the floor and tack it firmly; then with a clean flannel wash it over with a quart of bullock’s gall mixed with three quarts of soft, cold water, and rub it off with a clean flannel or house-cloth.  Any particular dirty spot should be rubbed with pure gall.

HOW TO CLEAN CARPETS.—­Before proceeding to sweep a carpet a few handfuls of waste tea-leaves should be sprinkled over it.  A stiff hair broom or brush should be employed, unless the carpet is very dirty, when a whisk or carpet-broom should be used, first followed by another made of hair, to take off the loose dust.  The frequent use of a stiff carpet-broom soon wears off the beauty of the best carpet.  An ordinary clothes brush is best adapted for superior carpets.  When carpets are very dirty they should be cleaned by shaking and beating.

Beat it well with a stick in the usual manner until all the dust is removed, then take out the stains, if any, with lemon or sorrel-juice.  When thoroughly dry rub it all over with the crumb of a hot wheaten loaf, and if the weather is very fine, let hang out in the open air for a night or two.  This treatment will revive the colors, and make the carpet appear equal to new.

TO REMOVE SPOTS ON CARPETS.—­A few drops of carbonate of ammonia, and a small quantity of warm rain water, will prove a safe and easy antacid, etc., and will change, if carefully applied, discolored spots upon carpets, and indeed, all spots, whether produced by acids or alkalies.  If one has the misfortune to have a carpet injured by whitewash, this will immediately restore it.

HOW TO REMOVE INK SPOTS ON CARPETS.—­As soon as the ink has been spilled, take up as much as you can with a sponge, and then pour on cold water repeatedly, still taking up the liquid; next rub the place with a little wet oxalic acid or salt of sorrel, and wash it off immediately with cold water, and then rub on some hartshorn.

CLEANING AND SCOURING OF CLOTH.—­The common method of cleaning cloth is by beating and brushing, unless when very dirty, when it undergoes the operation of scouring.  This is best done on the small scale, as for articles of wearing apparel, etc., by dissolving a little curd soap in water, and after mixing it with a little ox-gall, to touch over all the spots of grease, dirt, etc., with it, and to rub them well with a stiff brush, until they are removed, after which the article may be well rubbed all over with a brush or sponge dipped into some warm