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HINTS TO HOUSEKEEPERS. 113

Candles.

Weigh the tallow, then you can judge how many candles
you can make; six and eight candles to the pound
do very well for working and reading by; ten to the
pound does to use in the kitchen or carry about the
house; put the wicks on the rods the day before you
expect to make candles, and dip them in a little melted
tallow, you can then straighten them out. Have
a large pot nearly half full of hot water; melt the tallow
in another pot and fill it up, and keep more tallow at the
fire to fill in, as it is used out; put coals under the pot
to keep it at a proper heat. Have poles set on stools
about a foot apart, to support the rods; dip the rods in
the pot, alternately, until they are as large as you wish
them. Wax makes candles burn longer, but turns them
yellow; the best way is, to put in two pounds of wax,
when you first begin to dip, and it will be used up before
they are dipped the last time; when they are done,
cut off the ends, and put them in boxes. Most good
managers in the country make enough candles at a time
to last a year. If you have not enough tallow to dip
candles, you can mould some; mutton tallow is very
good for this purpose.

Soap.

It requires some care and experience, to have good
soap; but when you once get beforehand, it is easy to
keep up the supply if the ashes are good. The ley-stand
should be made of cedar or pine boards, in the shape of
a mill-hopper; have four posts planted in the ground to
support it; let it be high enough for a small tub to set
under, and have holes bored in the bottom for the ley
to run through.

If you cannot have it under a shed, there should be a
tight cover of boards to protect it from the rain; put
some sticks in the bottom of the ley stand, and some
straw, and pack m a bushel of ashes, then half a peck of
lime, and when it is half full of ashes, put in two buckets
of water, and another when you get near the top;
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