It may be to have one ruffle less; to tuck more sparsely the flounce of even the innermost petticoat, or to sew one yard less edging on a baby’s shirt. But whatever and wherever the lesson, I pray you begin it at its A B C; and as it advances, I have faith to believe that headaches will be lessened, “prostrations” less nervous, appetites and sleep more regular, and women lift their heads like the flowers after the rain, glad and grateful. We had something to say of the injury done to our little children by this early training in devotion to fashion; but we must leave that for another time. LXVIII. PICKLING AND PRESERVING. IN the preliminary steps to almost all new enterprises there are “lions in the way,” from which it is very natural, at first, to shrink back with at least a partial discouragement; and, as a general thing, the two most formidable “lions” which cross the young housekeeper’s path are _pickling_ and _preserving_; that is, if she has not, before marriage, taken part in this work, under her mother’s supervision. We hear more complaints and repining in this direction than in any other. Time, strength, and money, it is affirmed, are spent in earnest endeavors to succeed; but the time and strength are given in vain, and the money is wasted; so their failures compel them to believe. The pickles become slimy and moldy; the jelly won’t harden; the sweetmeats ferment; the canned fruit turns sour. In short, “the troubles and trials,” writes one, “incident to this portion of housekeeping are enough to make young girls forswear matrimony, and go into a convent; only they never will believe in these trials until they are bound; and then, instead of a convent, a boarding-house would seem the only alternative, if they would escape manifold vexations; for if a young housekeeper do not succeed in all her duties, but particularly with her pickles and preserves, ‘Mrs. Grundy’ is sure to go prying about, and expose every failure, and these failures are attributed to shiftlessness, instead of misfortune.” We have great sympathy for any one in her first attempt to manage this portion of fall labor, unless able to secure the support of some judicious friend familiar with all the minutiæ necessary to accomplish it creditably. Courage, self-reliance, and a resolute will are of very great advantage, and can usually carry one successfully through most difficulties; but experience is, after all, a wonderful assistant in securing success,--in “making crooked places straight, and the rough places smooth” and easy. Our household journals and papers are full of instructions and receipts for preparing every kind of pickles and preserves; but with all these valuable aids, it will require several experiments, in most cases, before a beginner can feel that the difficulty is mastered, and this work stripped of all mystery; once successfully done, however, it becomes as simple as making bread, pastry, or cake.