FARMERS' INSTITUTES. 



125 



stir ill eiioiiiih flom- to make a pretty stiff batter, so that it can be well beaten. At 

 this point I ^ive it a good beating to mix the yeast thoroughly. The yeast has been 

 mixed in lukewarm water anrl put into the batter. Stir until tiny bubbles of air 

 appear, then add more tlour at once— enough to make a stiff dough— and knead it 

 until it is elastic to the touch. Put it in a bowl or pan and let it stand near the 

 stove, with a damp cloth over it— something to keep out the dust, 'and moist to 

 avoid' a crust forming over the top. but which is not absolutely air tight. Then 

 when the dough has risen to twice its original size I take it out and simply roll it 

 •enough to shapen it and put into the pans. Then allow it to double its size again. 

 It is ''best to bake this in two pans, so as to get as much crust as possible. Allow 

 about forty-five to fifty minutes for baking a small loaf: forty to forty-five minutes 

 for baking- biscuits. This takes about six hours, if it is kept in a warm place so 

 that it will rise quickly. 



Mrs. Kennedy: I would like to ask a question in regard to whole wheat flour. 

 I understood Miss Rushmore to say that the cheaper foods are the best foods. 



Miss Rushmore: I said that the cheaper foods were the best foods, provided 

 that they were equal in nutriment. I can most certainly recommend the use of 

 whole wheat flour, and it is better to pay a little more for the whole wheat flour, 

 and get as much nourishment as possible out of it. Our ordinary flour contains 

 eight to ten per cent of the protein. It is wise to buy whole wheat flour. It is 

 more nourishing than graliain flour or the ordinary flour. 



THE MOTHEE'S GEEATEST NEED. 



MRS. IRMA T. JONES, LANSING. 



Home-making is the most important profession. If there be any class 

 which more than another needs enconragement, and the aid 'of all possible 

 enlightenment for the duties of its arduous vocation, it is^ the mothers 

 of the world. The home has been called the soul of the nation, and the 

 responsibility of caring for that soul rests upon American motherhood. 

 This is 'no insignificant trust committed to women when if is considered 

 that ^'just government, pure politics, honest commerce, wholesome liter- 

 ature, good citizenship^ even genuine religion, all depend for their exist- 

 ence and continuance upon the home." 



How essential, then, that home-makers understand that 



THE HOME IS THE TRUE UNIT OF SOCIETY; 



that the child must be prepared to become a useful factor in the world's 

 work; and also what the home should stand for in the training of future 

 ■citizens and home-makers of the republic. 



Every heart enshrines a mother. Hers is the first influence to call a 

 responsive smile from dawning intelligence; hers the last memory to 

 soothe the weariness of the dying. Sooner or later the cry of every 

 human heart takes up the poet's refrain: 



"Backward, turn backward, O, Time, in your flight. 



Make me a child ag-ain, .iust for tonight; 

 ■ Mother, come back from the echoless shore; 



Fold me again to your heart as of yore." 



Humanity's supreme need is better mothering, aye, and better father- 

 ing, too. For the needs we are to consider are those which relate to 

 fathers as well as mothers. It is a fatal fallacy to exempt fathers from 

 the humanizing care of little children, or from that education and culture 

 which prepares them for the divine grace of fatherhood. With Dr. 

 Hervey, I believe that mothers have no monopoly of the privilege of sing- 



