_Flour Bread_ should have a sponge set the night before. The sponge
should be soft enough to pour; mixed with water, warm or cold,
according to the temperature of the weather. One gill of lively yeast
is enough to put into sponge for two loaves. I should judge about
three pints of sponge would be right for two loaves. The warmth of the
place in which the sponge is set, should be determined by the coldness
of the weather. If your sponge looks frothy in the morning, it is a
sign your bread will be good; if it does not rise, stir in a little
more emptings; if it rises too much, taste of it, to see if it has any
acid taste; if so, put in a tea-spoonful of pearlash when you mould in
your flour; be sure the pearlash is well dissolved in water; if there
are little lumps, your bread will be full of bitter spots. About an
hour before your oven is ready, stir in flour into your sponge till it
is stiff enough to lay on a well floured board or table. Knead it up
pretty stiff, and put it into well greased pans, and let it stand in
a cool or warm place, according to the weather. If the oven is ready,
put them in fifteen or twenty minutes after the dough begins to rise
up and crack; if the oven is not ready, move the pans to a cooler
spot, to prevent the dough from becoming sour by too much rising.
Common sized loaves will bake in three quarters of an hour. If they
slip easily in the pans, it is a sign they are done. Some people do
not set a soft sponge for flour bread; they knead it up all ready to
put in the pans the night before, and leave it to rise. White bread
and pies should not be set in the oven until the brown bread and beans
have been in half an hour. If the oven be too hot, it will bind the
crust so suddenly that the bread cannot rise; if it be too cold, the
bread will fall. Flour bread should not be too stiff.

Some people like one third Indian in their flour. Others like one
third rye; and some think the nicest of all bread is one third Indian,