NOTES AND QUERIES.

Otago Witness, Issue 3525, 4 October 1921, Page 39

NOTES AND QUERIES.

Questions for reply in coming Issue to be n* oeived not later than SATURDAY night. Questions will NOT be replied to through the post. Postage.—A paper registered for transmission by post at G.P.0., Sydney requires one penny postage. Travel, Oteka-ike. —Weather conditions, Vancouver to Montreal, in April are generally somewhat cold; a month later would be better; while the Panama route offers but small variation, and is genial tropical weather, and in April should be pleasant enough. Amateur asks the record time for the amateur mile walk in New Zealand. —— The New Zealand amateur record for the mile walk is 6min 27 2-s«ec. Fenella asks for a recipe for fruit salts. 2oz Epsom salts, 2oz cream of tartar, 2oz magnesia, 2oz tartaric acid, 2oz bicarbonate soda, 4c z powdered loaf sugar, Joz ground ginger. The ginger can be omitted if not liked. Mix thoroughly, and keep in a closely-corked bottle. Dose for an adult, a dessertspoonful in a tumbler of water. J. C.. Ashburton, asks: (1) Flow to pronounce the word queue? (2) Io Allan Wilkie the son of Ellen Terry? v, i > Queue is pronounced ku—the u pronounced as in tube. (2) No. (3) See Legal Queries for replies to your other questions. Te Pukeite asks how to get rid of borer in a house. This is a big proposition. There arc several preparations being sold for the above purpose. Esitol, procurable from irenmogers or the agents in Dunedin. If the cost of removing the boards affected is prohibitive it is suggested that the affected wood should be sprayed in November, December, and January three times with a mixture of benzine and creosote —five parts benzine to one of Another method is to brush the wood; with a .-elution made by slowly adding loz of sulphuric acid to a pint of water in which 2oz of copper sulphate hasbeen dissolved. Do not pour the water or y<:;i will have an accidc n . Jf the bo:era arc very deep-seated for the above treatm nt to he effective — though it will require more than one application to make it penetrate —sprinkle the affected parts wi'h quicklime and with n brush move it about to cause some of the lime to penetrate tlie small holes. Then spray ammonia, water over the part. Ammonia b instantly disengaged by tin Quicklime, and this gas is very destructive to insect life. Hugo.— 1- Not at present; will probably do so at the end of the pre-son i year. (2) Not essential that the MS. should be typ'd if the writing is goo-d, and due attention paid to punctuation and tho uso of capital letters.

Constant Reader asks how to make L) honey mead, (2) honey beer, (3) hop beer, (4) chilli beer. (5) treacle beer. (1) Boil 14lb of honey in six gallons of water for half an hour, breaking into it four eggs. Add some small bunches of marigoram, balm, and sweet briar, £oz each of cinnamon, cloves, mace, and bruised ginger, and boil it for quarter of an hour longer. Pour it out to cool. Toast a large slice of brown bread, spread it- over with fresh yeast, and put it into the liquor. Let it ferment for one day, then put it into a cask, which keep open till fermentation ceases, then bung close. It may be bottled! in a month, but the corks must be well wired. (2) The following recipe is slightly different:—Mix well the whites of six eggs in 12gal of water, and to this mixture, when it has boiled for half an hour arid been thoroughly skimmed, add 361 b of finest honey, with the rinds of two dozen lemons Let them boil together for some little time, and when the liquor sufficiently cools work it with a little ale yeast. Put it, with the lemon peel, into a seasoned barrel, which must be filled up as it flows over with some of the reserved liquor. When the hissing nois-e made by the liquor ceases, drive the bung close. When it has stood six months, bottle it. (3) Hop beer. —To lOgal of rain water add Mb hops and Mb bruised (not ground) ginger; let it come do the boil, stirring occasionlly. Mark the time it commences to boil, and when 20 minutes have elapsed add 9lb sugar (light brown). Stir till dissolved, and immediately take up without its boiling again. It is in the long boiling of hops that all their delicate aroma escapes, while all their bitterness is brought out; boiling the sugar causes muddiness. Strain into an open wooden vessel and leave until milk warm, then add a quart of yeast and cover it with a thick woollen cloth and let it work for 24 hours. In the meantime loz of tartaric acid and loz brewers’ isinglass should,' be soaked in a quart of cold water, and at the end of the 24 hours should be added to the beer to clear it. It will be ready to bottle the next day, and should stand for a week. The bottles should be washed at least the day before and leftupside down to drain, and they must be perfectly dry before being used. The corks should be soaked in some of the hop beer and left with a weight on them until wanted. If brewers’ isinglass cannot be procured save up all the eggshells used for a week for baking -and take the whites and shells of two fresh eggs, beat them all together, and add with the ounce of acid. Tie the corks down tightly, and when the beer is put away throw a damp blanket ever and around" the bottles to ensure a cool and pleasant drink. (4) Chilli beer. —Boil 30 chillies in four quarts of water for 20 minutes, .allowing the water to boil before putting them in. Strain it over 2cz cream of tartar and 3lb sugar. Add eight quarts of cold water, one tablespoonful of essence of lemon, two tablespoonfuls of bakers’ yeast, and the whites of two eggs beaten to a stiff froth. Bottle at once, and use after three days. (5) Treacle beer.—To a quarter of a peck of sweet w»heat bran add three handfuls of hops and lOgal of water. Boil the whole together till the bran and hops sink to the bottom. Strain through a hair sieve into a cooler, and when lukewarm add two quarts of treacle. This will be sufficient for a nine-gallon cask. Before you pour the liquor into the barrel, which must, be done as scon as the treacle is melted, put two tablespoonfuls of good! yeast into the barrel. When fermentation has subsided bung the cask up close, and in four days it will be fit to use. This beer is much improved by bottling after the four days in the cask, and will be ready to use in six or seven days after bottling. Medico asks for the scores in the card game ! of S(X). The Avon a Idle schedule, considered the best and most modern, gives the scores . as follows:—6 tricks in spades 40, 7 tricks 140, 8 tricks 240, 9 tricks 340. 10 tricks 440. Six tricks in -clubs 60. and in all suits, as above, an additional 100 for each declaration above 6. Six tricks in diamonds 80; 6 tricks in hearts 100; 6 tricks in notrumps 120. If tho bidder fulfils has contract or makes any greater number of tricks fewer than 10, lie scores the number of points according to his declaration, and no more. For instance, if lie declares 6 hearts and takes 8 tricks lie scores 100 only, and gets, nothing for the tricks over 6. If he takes all 10 tricks lie scores a minimum of 250, but if his score exceeds 250 lie also scores no more than liis declaration. Each opponent of the bidder scores 10 points for every trick he wins. Anxious, Nightcaps.—Perhaps (says '‘Agricola”) there is nothing simpler or better for killing lice on a- cow than raw linseed oil. Brush oil into hair along affected parts, usually neck, shoulders, and around tail and rump. Use a brush with rather softer bristles than a scrubbing brush, x*. few minutes will be enough to sort up a cow. Do not rub skin too vigorously when applying oil. Keen cows away from strong sunlight for fully 12 hours after applying oil, do not exercise the animal after treatment. Do not use refined or boiled oil. Bellona asks for the Maori word for “peace.”—There are several words from which you may take your choice. All designate peace, and are as follows: Waimarie, Rangimarie, Moai.