READERS' EXCHANGE

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXVI, Issue 23263, 4 February 1939, Page 7 (Supplement)

READERS' EXCHANGE

KEEPING MOSQUITOES AT BAY

A reader who has "done" the Milford Track, where the sandflies are notoriously large, numerous and venomous. has kindly sent the following splendid recipe for a lotion which she and other tourists found to be the only thing that really did keep these pests and % mosquitoes from attacking. Mix together 3 parts camphor, 3 parts salol, and 4 parts petroleum, and smear the lotion on the exposed parts of the skin. This is a remedy worth knowing and 1 advise others to keep it. Yellow Newspaper Clippings According to M.H., discoloration occurs in cuttings when the paper is continually exposed to sun, light, heat, air or weathering. To prevent this keep the papers in a closed dry tin as airtight as possible and store in a cool place, or keep them stored in a room or cupboard where sunlight never reaches, and where lights are never kept burning. It must, in addition, be drv so as not to cause decay. When referring to them, do not keep them out in the light longer than can be helped, but return them to their dark store. If you can do no more, keep them from all light, artificial and natural, hv keeping them wrapped in several thicknesses of brown paper. Making Short Pastry Mrs. K.M. sends her thanks to H.McL. for a recipe for short pastry made with dripping, but wants to know if the tablespoon required should be level or heaped, as the results of her cooking according to the recipe were uneatable and she does not know in what way she failed. Requests Blackberry Vinegar: "Enid" would be grateful for a recipe for this, or for directions for preserving the juice for winter use.

Waterproofing unbleached calico; J.A.S. has made a car cover out of this material and would much appreciate a good reliable recipe for waterproofing it —preferably with linseed oil and soft soap, or at any rate, something that would not crack when folded every day. Bottling Peaches. would like a really reliable recipe for bottling peaches, as her efforts in this direction have been previously unsuccessful. As the humid climate of Auckland makes it very difficult to keep this fruit successfully, there mll # be many readers who will appreciate practical hints on the subject, so 1 hope expert fruit-servers will write promptly and not "wait for someone else to answer," as so often happens. Should the peaches in particular, bo left on the trees till quite ripe?