TO CORRESPONDENTS.

Auckland Star, Volume LXIV, Issue 88, 15 April 1933, Page 3 (Supplement)

TO CORRESPONDENTS.

Inquirer wishes to know how to get rid of silver fish and ants. In the case of the latter the most successful remedy is to powder equal quantities of borax and sugar and spread it on pieces of paper in their haunts. This has proved the most successful remedy that the writer has tried. Destroying Silver Fish. —Make a thick boiled starch paste, and poison it liberally with arsenic. Spread this on bits of cardboard and let them dry. Slip the bits of cardboard into crevices where the pest has been noticed. Care, of course, must be exercised not to put them in places in which children or animals might find them. Methods recommended by readers of these columns are: (1) Sprinkle insectbane freely wherever the silver fish have been seen. Lift up the edges of carpets and rugs and sprinkle insectbane underneath, as the silver fish often take refuge there. (2) Brush over the backs of pictures, photographs and books, and paint the skirting boards, the edges of carpets and an inch or two of the floor next the wall with spirits of turpentine. The silver fish have a special liking for wallpapers and the backs of books and pictures on which starch or flour paste have been used. Where the pest'is very bad only drastic fumigation is of any use, and this must be done by an expert. Where silver fish are not present in large numbers various methods are used for getting rid of them. Flour paste mixed with a little arsenic and spread thinly on bits of cardboard may be placed about their haunts. Powdered borax sprinkled freely in places where they come will help to keep them away. Worcester Sauce. —Ingredients: A pint of Indian soy, loz black pepper, loz mace, loz s pounded cloves, $oz cayenne pepper, ioz garlic, loz onion, two quarts of vinegar. Method: Place all the ingredients in a large jar, cover and let stand for two weeks. Stir daily. At the end of the fortnight pour all into a saucepan and boil for 20 minutes. Strain and bottle. Peanut Butter. —Eoast the peanuts uniformly brown. Cool, remove the red skins and the tiny hearts or germs, as this makes it bitter, grind, add the salt and grind again twice so as to have the salt well distributed. Pack into small jars, fill as full as possible, pressing butter in so that na air bubbles arise. Care- should /be taken not to leave any space between the top of the peanut butter in the jar and the lid. The aim in grinding peanuts for making butter is to break the oil cells apart rather than to crush them, as if the nuts are ground too fine or mashed in making the butter, it will stick to the roof of the mouth when eating. Paper which is not attacked by oil should be used for sealing the jars. Another inquirer asked for a recipe for wine from beetroot. Beetroot or Mock Port.—This mock port is made thus: —Take 41b of beetroot, and after washing well, cut into thiji slices as quickly as possible. Put the beetroot into cold water, allowing one quart to every pound, boil till tender, strain and add to every quart of liqnor Alb Of sugar, the juice of one lemon, a few cloves and a piece of ginger. Stir until the sugar is 'dissolved, cover over, and leave for a month. Bottle and cork lightly until working ceases. A little isinglass will clear the wine if necessary. A reader inquires if any reader could supply details of how to make a man's Balaclava cap, as she lias tried in vain for twelve months to get a reliable pattern.