California Agriculturist and Live Stock Journal. 



wiiter was turned to the garden. "To 

 what use do you put that stream of wat- 

 er?" "None at all." Although the 

 same man has owned the place for six- 

 teen years, he put out last season, for 

 the first time, some evergreen trees. 

 AVith plenty of water, these trees had to 

 l)c watered by hand — the water carried 

 all of two hundred yards in pails. All 

 the water for the house, and for washing, 

 had to be carried still farther. When 

 the chickens were not laying they were 

 not fed, because "there was no profit in 

 feeding" them then; and when they laid, 

 why, they were "doing well enough on 

 what they picked up." As a matter of 

 course, chickens don't pay on that farm. 

 The cows are milked anywhere from five 

 o'clock to ten in the evening. There is 

 butter on the table only half the time. 

 "Cows don't pay without green feed;" 

 but no effort is made to supply such 

 feed. The boys are leaving home as 

 soon as they are old enough, and the 

 girls learning ti'ades. This, as many a 

 one in California can testify, is not an 

 exceptional case. Is it because nature is 

 so lavish that people think no work or 

 carefulness is needed? 



In strong contrast to this picture, an- 

 other arises before my mind's ej'e, viz: 

 farming in the old Key.stone State. The 

 outside things were different. The farm 

 in good order, fences in perfect repair, a 

 large, commodious barn, well tilled. In- 

 stead of one or two cows to furnish milk 

 and butter about half the year, five to 

 eight and ten was the number found on 

 nearly every farm, and a tub of butter 

 for market every week. Every farm had 

 a large garden and a good orchard. The 

 farmer carried berries of nearly every 

 kind to market, with apples, potatoes, 

 beans, and nearly every week a basket of 

 eggs. In the winter turkeys and chick- 

 ens were sent off hy dozens. True, many 

 of the farmers were what people here 

 would call "old fogies," but as a general 

 thing they were intelligent, and once 

 convinced that a new idea was a good 

 one, tliat was the right way to do ever 

 after. 



I do not wonder that Eastern people 

 are in ecstacies over California when 

 they come here in the winter. Two days 

 ago I had a letter from Baltimore in 

 which the writer stated that the weather 

 was bitterly cold and it was dangerous to 

 venture out because of the ice. To-day, 

 the lith of February, is too pleasant for 

 one to remain in-doors. Bright and 

 warm, at least it is here in the moun- 

 tains, the air pure and bracing, every- 

 thing green and fresh, the wild flowers 

 springing out of the warm ground — is it 

 surprising that the first settlers here 

 called it God's own country? 



But you h,ave such terrific storms in 

 the mountains. Well, suppose we do. 

 1)0 you not think we appreciate pleasant 

 weather when it comes? AVe are free 

 from fogs, have an ever-changing picture 

 of beauty before us, for we can look over 

 an area that you dwellers in the valley 

 cannot see one-tenth of at one time. The 

 air is pure and free, and we are healthy 

 and free, too. Not so entirely shut out 

 from the world as one might think, for 

 we have the best of companions — books 

 and papers. 



THE GENIUS OF THE KITCHEN. 



BY MKS. E. M. ABBOTT. 



Yes, dear reader, why not? If we have 

 always associated the word <imms with 

 those who excel in the arts and sciences, 

 back of all these there is an army of 

 1 presiding geniuses, who require for the 

 I faitliful discharge of their duties and re- 

 s|ionsd]ilities, a talent more varied and 

 a lalior more complicated than that of a 



^^-ira.j- - ^ 



Raphael or a Hogarth. "Who will deny 

 that the faithful housewife is guiding a 

 pencil which paints life-pictures more 

 beautiful than those of aGuido. 



The kitchen which we have in our 

 mind's eye is not the separate hut, as at 

 the South, where the " help " preside as 

 of old, and which the wealthy mistress 

 never sees the inside of from one mouth's 

 end to the other ; neither is it the California 

 kitchen ( where the Mongolian is the ca- 

 terer and man of all work for a consid- 

 eration in gold coin), built in shanty 

 style of rough redwood boards, with one 

 window looking out into the back yard; 

 but the New England kitchen, with its 

 sanded floor, in a large wing of the main 

 building fronting the street, spacious, 

 neat, airy and sunny, the throne of the 

 wife and mother, where her large family 

 have arisen to call her blessed, where 

 her radiant face bent over the little cra- 

 dle as she kept time with the rocking in 

 a sweet lullaby, the constant accompani- 

 ment of her manifold labors and duties. 

 The evening is occupied with her knit- 

 ting-work, her only resting-spell, which 

 she alternates with helping the boys in 

 their "examples" in arithmetic and the 

 girls with their sewing and embroidery. 

 If this is a fancy sketch at the present 

 day — the commencement of the Centen- 

 nial year, a half-century ago it was true 

 to life. The presiding genius of the 

 kitchen was also the inspiring genius of 

 the home, the central magnet and heart, 

 which was eminently a position of honor 

 if not of power. If the average woman 

 of the present day cannot sit for the por- 

 trait herein drawn, we will not say that 

 it is due to degeneracy, or that they are 

 not as intelligent, refined and noble-mind- 

 ed as their mothers and grandmothers 

 were; but that habits, tastes and opiJor- 

 tunities, which are in the legitimate or- 

 der of progress, have changed with the 

 cycles of time. True, some apparently 

 for the worse, but in the main we have 

 added to the storehouse of knowledge, 

 which in turn has "sought out many in- 

 ventions" whereby bone and sinew labor 

 have been lightened, thus adding to the 

 means and opportunities of obtaining 

 useful information, which in olden time 

 was considered, for woman ,at least, su- 

 perfluous. The time has come, and let 

 us be thankful, that she can, in addition 

 to those home duties which are first in 

 importance, do even those better by par- 

 ticipation in cares and objects outside. 

 The one point conceded by every intelli- 

 gent mind is the necessity of education. 

 Not a smattering of reading, writing 

 and arithmetic, but in its broadest and 

 most liberal rendering. This change 

 has been wrought by a comparative few, 

 at a sacrifice of wealth, reputation and 

 friends, by hard work, with no pay but 

 hard names. But who will argue for a 

 moment that the change has not been 

 fiu' the better for both men and women. 

 After obtaining an education it is not in 

 the nature of things for woman to rest 

 satisfied without putting it to practical 

 account, for every stej] towards enlight- 

 enment is only a suggestion for a fur- 

 ther demand, and she is no longer looked 

 down upon by men from an eminence 

 on which experience alone, and not abil- 

 ity, placed them. A new age and era 

 have come, which were as inevitable as 

 the law of gravitation, and that which 

 once had the name of fanaticism is now 

 common .sc/i.se and nothing more or less, 

 and that is a very good thing to have in 

 abundance. Among other things women 

 have learned that the everlasting knit- 

 ting-work is not their vorniat sinle; and 

 men are no longer satisfied with wives 

 who know nothing beyond the cooking 

 stove. The genius of the kitchen may 

 also be a genius in the arts and sciences. 

 San Josk, l-'cbruary, lH7f>. 



CHOICE RECIPES. 



CONTRIBUTKD BY LADY COBEESPO.SDENTS. 



Ginger Sponge Cake. — One cup of 

 molasses, one of butter, two of brown 

 sugar, four of flour, one of hot water, 

 four epgs, one large teaspoonful of soda, 

 two tablespoonf uls of ginger. Bake in a 

 moderate oven. 



Pl.ain Kailkoad Cake. — One table- 

 spoonful of butter, one cup of sugar, 

 one egg, one and a half cujis of fiour, 

 two-thirds of a cup of milk, half a tea- 

 spoonful of soda, one teaspoonful cream 

 of tartar. 



Lemon Pie 'SVithodt Lemons. — Two 

 tablespoonfuls of vinegar, one of flour, 

 three of water, four of sugar, and one 

 teaspoonful of extract of lemon. 



Good Breakfast Cake. — Cold mashed 

 potatoes mixed with flour and rolled out 

 and cut into biscuits are very nice and 

 healthful. 



Oatmeal and • Cocoandt. — Oatmeal 

 mixed with grated cocoanut makes a very 

 attractive cake to both old and young. 

 Take three heaping teaspoonfuls of 

 grated, or two of prepared dessicated 

 cocoanut; add to it half a pint of fine 

 oatmeal and two heaping teaspoonfuls of 

 sugar; stir into it one gill of boiling wat- 

 er, and mix thoroughly together; turn it 

 out on the rolling board, roll thin, and 

 cut out as for common crackers. If 

 wanted very nice, jjut a piece of citron 

 and half a dozen currants into each cake, 

 sticking them into the dough. Bake in 

 a slow oven, and watch carefully lest 

 they brown a shade too deep. To make 

 crisjiy, let them stand a day or two in an 

 uncovered dish. 



A Nice Dish. — To cook fine hominy, 

 boil with considerable water until soft, 

 and thicken just before serving with corn 

 starch dissolved in cold water. 



Graham gems, wuth cocoanut and sug- 

 ar added, are also an improvement on 

 plain gems when eaten cold. 



Graham Flohr Puffs. — One quart of 

 sweet milk, two eggs, flour to make a 

 thin batter; fill the gem pans two-third 

 full, and bake in a quich oven. 



Mashed Potatoes. — Mashed potatoes 

 are very nice with only salt and sour 

 cream added. You will find it better 

 than sweet cream to use. 



To make nut cake, take one-half cup 

 of butter, one and one-half cups of sugar, 

 two cupsful full of flour, three-fourths 

 cupful of sweet milk, one cupful of nut 

 meats, two eggs, or the whites of four, 

 one teaspoonful of cream tartar and one 

 ane-half teaspoonsfnl of soda. 



Iiilomciu 



SOMETHING ABOTJT WOMAN'S 

 SUFFRAGE. 



GAIN women citizens of the United 

 .T/iV/li States have memorialized Congress, 

 this time asking the right of suf- 

 '^Urf frage in the District of Columbia. 

 <^'e)'' Why the "white men" who repre- 

 sent us — or pretend to — don't give up 

 and let the women vote, is more than we 

 can account for. Surely every man born 

 of a woman should km^w tliat when a 

 woman makes up her mind for a thing 

 she will accomplish it soimer or later. 

 'J'his matter of sullVage for women is 

 only a qiK'Stion of time, and that time 

 can' only be gauged by man's perverse- 

 ness and stupidity. Here is a string of 

 "whereases" and a "therefore" in sub- 

 stance as set forth: 



Whereas, the United States Su]n-eme 



Court has decided (in the cases of Spen- 

 cer vs. The Board of Registration, and 

 Webster vs. The Judges of Election of 

 this District, ) that by the first section of 

 the Fourteenth Amendment ' ' women 

 have been advanced to full citizenship, 

 and clothed with the capacity to become 

 voters," and further, that this section 

 does not execute itself, but requires the 

 supervention of legislative power in the 

 exercise of legislative discretion, to give 

 it effect; and whereas Congress made an 

 nnjust discrimination in giving suffrage 

 to colored men in the District of Colum- 

 bia, and refusing to give it to women — 

 thus depriving the intelligence and mor- 

 al jjower of citizens of said District of a 

 fair opportunity of expression at the 

 polls; and whereas woman suffrage is no 

 experiment, but is universally admitted 

 to be successful in Wyoming, which has 

 been redeemed from lawlessness through 

 it; and whereas, a fair trial of equal suf- 

 frage for men and women in the District 

 of Columbia, under the immediate su- 

 pervision of Congress, would demon- 

 strate to the country that justice to 

 woman is policy for men: and whereas, 

 "the woman citizens of the United States 

 are govermd without their own consent, 

 are denied trial by a jury of their p>eers, 

 are taxed without representation, and 

 are subject to manifold wrongs, result- 

 tng from unjust and arbitrary exercise of 

 power over an unrepresented class;" and 

 whereas, this is the centennial year, 

 when the spirit of '76 is breathing its 

 infiuence upon the people, melting away 

 all prejudices and animosities and in- 

 spiring in our national councils a clearer 

 perception of individual rights; there- 

 fore, the memorialists pray Congress to 

 establish a government for the District of 

 Columbia which shall secure to its wom- 

 an citizens the right to vote. 



One of the strongest petitions of this 

 kind ever offered was placed befoi-e Con- 

 gi-ess, in 1873, by Dr. Mary E. Walker. 

 Among a host of reasons why suffrage 

 should not be witheld from woman, the 

 doctor urged the following strong point: 



" The equality of the rights of women 

 with men, when the Constitution was 

 framed, was not questioned by our fore- 

 fathers, for i€0>nen were at tliat time voting 

 in the State of New Jersey, and co«(i)i- 

 ued to exercise the riyhl for two gena-ations, 

 without their constitutional rights ever 

 having been questioned, dearly procing 

 that it was the intention of the fathers 

 to secure such rights to women as well 

 as men. The fact that the women did 

 vote unqirestioned, proves the spirit of 

 the Constitution, for it was in the time 

 of its framing, and while its framers were 

 all licinq, and ready to explain the spirit 

 of the same." 



Authentic reports from Wyoming show 

 that great benefits have resulted from 

 women's power to over-balance such evils 

 as politically curse the communities 

 where they are denied the ballot. 



We cannot close this article without 

 calling attention to the fact that a sister 

 republic on this continent recognizes that 

 woman has a right to her rights, at least 

 politically, and no foolishness. Read 

 the annexed on woman suffrage in Chiii:; 



"A curious question has arisen in some 

 towns in Chili on occasion of the inscrip- 

 tion of citizens in the electoral registers. 

 At San Felipe one woman presented her- 

 self for registration, one at Casablanca, 

 and ten at La Serena. As the law makes 

 no distinction of sex, and as the only 

 ([ualifications required for citizenship 

 are to have attained one's majoi-ity and 

 possess a knowledge of reading and * 

 writing, the Boards decided to register 

 said representatives of the weaker sex, 

 so that at the coming elections women 

 will be admitted to vote." 



