128 STATE BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



at once." Now when a man undertakes cooking or any branch of house- 

 work, he makes it — a "Business ;" he realizes the dignity and importance 

 of his work and his own as well ; as a cook he calls himself a chef, and 

 charges accordingly. On the other hand, women look upon a knowledge 

 of housewifery as their birthright ; they expect it to come by inheritance 

 or intuition. They think any woman knows enough to keep house, and 

 the idea that they need any special training, such as they would need 

 in any other branch of work, seems to them absurd. When we realize 

 the dignity and importance of our work we shall understand the neces- 

 sity of special training for it. 



The scientific housekeeper knows well that mere soap and water clean- 

 liness is not enough, that a daily or weekly stirring up of the dust in her 

 rooms is not enough. She knows that she and her family must have 

 clean air to breathe, and she will see to it that sleeping or waking, 

 summer or winter, they are supplied with fresh, vitalized air, air upon 

 which the sun has had a chance to exercise its life-giving influence. She 

 will see to it that there are no dark, damp corners in her house and that 

 the sunshine is allowed to enter everywhere. She knows that danger 

 lurks in poorly constructed drains and in cesspools, and she sees to it 

 that drains are properly constructed and that garbage and other waste 

 product's are disposed of in a sanitary method; all this means that she 

 must have at least a fair knowledge of housebuilding, ventilation and 

 sanitation. 



The scientific housekeeper understands the machinery of the human 

 body and the value of different kinds of food for supplying the fuel for 

 keeping the machinery in good running order. She knows that children 

 and old people are not equally benefited by the same kind of food; in 

 fact, that which is beneficial to one is harmful to the other; she knows 

 that those of her family who are following sedentary occupations do not 

 need and cannot assimilate the hearty, abundant food that she ought 

 to furnish for the active workers. She knows that the perfectly nourished 

 and otherwise well-kept members of her family can brave the fiercest 

 storms and snap their fingers in the face of pneumonia, consumption and 

 contagious diseases, and she believes it is far less trouble and much 

 cheaper to prevent disease than to cure it. This requires some knowl- 

 edge of physiology and the chemistry of foods. 



The scientific housekeeper knows that her ability to provide the com- 

 forts and luxuries of life, and to meet her social and philanthropic obli- 

 gations, depends very largely upon her ability to manage carefull}' and 

 wisely the family income. She is neither unwisely extravagant nor fool- 

 ishly parsimonious, but makes every dollar buy its full equivalent. This 

 necessitates some knowledge of business methods. 



The scientific housekeeper believes in system, but will not let it tyran- 

 nize her; has a sense of proportion, and is thus able to distinguish be- 

 tween essentials and non-essentials; she practices simplicity in cook- 

 ing, in housefurnishing and in dress both for hygienic reasons and to 

 cut off all unnecessary work. Understanding herself and her work thor- 

 oughly, she is able to wisely direct the work of her assistants, and is not 

 likely to be heard bemoaning the difficulties of the servant question. It 

 would be difficult to attach a money-value to the services of the home- 

 maker who is thoroughly in love with her family and her work, but she 

 can count among her sure rewards the satisfaction of knowing that she 



