W.W. Donovan has a way to avoid (temporarily, at least) being inconvenienced by a dead battery cell. Mr. Donovan—a Floridian who resides in Titusville—says the following "fix" works about 90% of the time. Using a hydrometer, he first finds which cell is dead, and adds one teaspoon of Epsom salts to that "empty pocket". Next, W.W. tops off all the cells with water and places the battery on a charger. If no charge can be measured, he adds another teaspoon of Epsom salts. Then if—after three such applications—no charge is noticed, the battery falls in the 10% failure category. However, the Sunshine Stater says this cure should carry most batteries through a few more months (perhaps until you can afford to buy a new one).

May and June are often considered "wedding months", and if your spring calendar includes a few of these nuptial celebrations, you might want to take this tip from Norma Sizemore of Lima, Ohio. When the reception ends with the traditional custom of throwing rice at the bride and groom, Mrs. Sizemore collects the small pieces of leftover netting (which held the grains) and carries them home. She's found that they're the perfect size to cover her sprout jars, and-when held in place with a rubber band—they'll keep even the tiniest alfalfa seeds in the jar!

A MOTHER-reader from Hernando, Florida recommends that automobile owners drop an expired driver's license down inside one of the window wells of their vehicles. According to Thelma Mahoney, this practice could help prove you own the car in the event that it's stolen.

When Virginia McQuitty was a child, her grandmother's table was often loaded with mountains of food and lots of special goodies (like homemade pickles!). Virginia recalls that her grandma always kept a "spoon jar" on the table to be sure to have enough utensils to handle the feasts. Today, the Delbarton, West Virginia MOTHER-reader keeps a wide-mouth pint jar filled with "odds and ends" of spoons and forks on her kitchen table. The practice eliminates the need to jump up for extra silverware for coffee, jellies, pickles, desserts, cereals . . . orspoon-dropping kids!

While polishing up an old brass fire extinguisher, Ron Bradshaw noted the chemical properties of the very expensive metal cleaning solution he was using. The Louisville, Kentucky resident decided that the liquid looked and reacted much like dilute sulfuric acid, more commonly known as "battery acid". Well, Ron just happened to have some of that corrosive chemical on hand . . . having used the solution previously for tanning hides. He applied the dilute acid to the brass and discovered that it worked quite well, and cost about one-sixteenth as much as the original cleaner. (Naturally, Ron warns users to exercise caution when handling this solution.)