FEBRUARY 201 



though Married.' It dwells, however, rather on manage- 

 ment of husband and house than actually on teaching 

 the servants their duties. A really well-housemaided 

 room requires but very rarely that terrible turning- out 

 when everything is upside down for a day, and things 

 are mislaid, and some things are never found again 

 which is the terror of all masters and mistresses. Two 

 things are essential in a well-kept house, and, unfortu- 

 nately they war against each other ; one is continually 

 having plenty of open windows, and the other is a pre- 

 vention Of any accumulation of dust. This can only be 

 fought by continual wiping and dusting. When the 

 mistress of a house is looking through cupboards and 

 larders, and insisting that they should be well aired, the 

 servant's view is that then 'so much dust gets in.' And 

 yet, by a 'cussedness ' peculiar to themselves, they con- 

 stantly leave ice -safes open, which of course to act 

 properly should be kept tightly closed, and never 

 opened at all except for the minute when things are 

 taken out or put in. When the ice is melted, they 

 should always be carefully cleaned out. The following 

 is, I consider, a good way of keeping things from dust 

 in a larder without shutting the windows : Instead of 

 the usual perforated tin covers, which get rusty and 

 shabby and cannot be cleaned, I have neat covers of all 

 sizes (made at home) of rather thick zinc wire, and then 

 I cover these with clean butter -muslin, which can be 

 renewed or washed directly it gets dirty. They should 

 have a twisted zinc wire handle at the top, to lift the 

 cover on and off quite easily. The principle is the 

 same as the outdoor covers for keeping off spring frost 

 on young plants, recommended in my former book. 



The real fault of all the houses I go into to-day, my 

 own included, though less so than some, is that they are 

 far two full. Things are sure to accumulate. Avoid 



