66 HOME COMFORT. 



a luxury, all the great chefs of the kitchen are men. The Franca- 

 tellis, the Soyers, the Blots, and the Gouffes, whose names are 

 familiar on both continents, are simply by profession male cooks ; 

 but they are also men of genius, and deservedly take rank with 

 artists, tor it takes as much talent and thought to prepare a thor- 

 oughly good dinner as to paint a picture. In some nomes of luxu- 

 rious living the health of the chief cook is a curious matter of 

 solicitude, because when he is sick he loses his taste and the dishes 

 are liable to be badly seasoned and improperly prepared generally. 

 Some enthusiastic gourmand recommends an employer to feel the 

 pulse of his cook every morning, and examine his tongue, for he 

 says if " the cook's palate is dull, his master will find me ragouts 

 and sauces too highly seasoned." 



In France, all classes, the men as well as the women, study the 

 economy of cookery and practice it; and there, as many travelers 

 affirm, the people live at one-third the expense borne by English- 

 men and Americans. There they know how to make savory messes 

 out of remnants that others would throw away. There they cook 

 no more for each day than is required for that day. With them 

 cookery ranks with the arts, and a great cook is almost as much 

 honored and respected as a sculptor or a painter. The consequence 

 is, as ex-Secretary McCullough thinks, that a French village of a 

 thousand inhabitants could be supported luxuriously on the waste 

 of one of our large American hotels, and he believes that the entire 

 population of France could be supported on the food which is liter- 

 ally wasted in the United States. Professor Blot, who resided for 

 some years in the United States, remarks, pathetically, that here, 

 "where the markets rival the best markets of Europe, it is really a 

 pity to live as many do live. There are thousands of families in 

 moderately good circumstances who have never eaten a loaf of really 

 good bread, tasted a well cooked steak, nor sat down to a properly 

 prepared meal." 



But in American households it is not the fashion for men to 

 concern themselves with the details of the kitchen. The wife is the 

 prime minister in the administration of the household, and within 

 the limits of her jurisdiction her power over the fortune and well- 

 being of her subjects is absolute. If she be ignorant of the arts of 

 frugal management, or willfully extravagant, or carelessly indiffer- 

 ent, not only the purse but the health of the family will suffer. The 

 wife is the central figure in the household, and the man's way to 

 home comfort consists principally in getting a good wife, who 

 knows the things worth knowing in household management, or is 

 teachable and willing to learn. 



Requisites of a Good Wife A good wife, it may be 

 remarked, is not a natural growth, springing from the soil without 

 care or cultivation. Something undoubtedly is due to parentage 

 and example, but in the main a girl is what she is trained to be. 



First of all in the list of qualifications that fit a woman for 



