668 MISCELLANEOUS FARM SUBJECTS 



bottles with close fitting stoppers, and in the expense of the bottle. It 

 may be well to consult the druggist regarding good bottles for this 

 purpose. Mason jars do well. A mangle for the household ironing may 

 be a paying investment. These may be had costing from $15 to $40 

 and run by gasoline, gas, electricity or some are made to iron simply 

 by the pressure brought to bear on the rollers. Only flat clothes are 

 run through the mangle, but the time taken for their ironing is so 

 much less than that required by the usual method that the mangle 

 is paid for in a comparatively short time. Unless the fire is kept 

 up for other purposes, there is also a saving of fuel. Many who are 

 situated where they can use gas or electricity are buying the flat-irons 

 which are heated by these means. A new iron is on the market 

 which is run by the burning of denatured alcohol and there are also 

 irons heated by charcoal. The value of these irons is mainly in 

 saving the heat and the travel from the ironing-board to stove. 



Although alcohol is far less dangerous in use than gasolene as far 

 as probability of explosion is concerned, there should be no misun- 

 derstanding respecting the fact that it is an explosive substance both 

 when in the form of vapor and when mixed with air, and all the 

 precautions which are used in the case of gasolene should be em- 

 ployed also with alcohol. 



A CABINET FOR HOME BAKING. 



A simple cabinet for controlling temperature during the dough 

 stage has been devised by the Household Economics Department of 

 the Ontario Agriculture College. It is 2 feet 8 inches high, by 2 feet 

 2 inches broad, by 2 feet deep, outside measurements. The whole 

 is lined with asbestos, and divided into upper and lower compart- 

 ments. The partition is placed high enough to allow a small coal 

 oil lamp to be placed in the bottom compartment. The lamp is 

 used as the source of heat, and the heat is transmitted through water 

 contained in a shallow covered galvanized iron pan placed in the 

 center of the partition. The fumes from the lamp are allowed to 

 escape through small holes in the wooden frame below the partition. 

 The top compartment may be used with or without slatted shelves, 

 and may be kept at any desired temperature by raising or lowering 

 the flame of the lamp, thus influencing the temperature of the water, 

 and consequently, that of the compartment. A very small lamp 

 with the wick turned as low as possible is usually sufficient to main- 

 tain the temperature at from 70 to 80 F. The thermometer should 

 bo left in the cabinet and the temperature noted from time to time, 

 and the flame of the lamp so regulated as to give a constant desired 

 temperature. 



The cabinet may be made any desired size, and may be so 

 arranged that the top will answer as a kneading board, and pans and 

 other utensils may be kept in it between baking days. By the use of 

 such a cabinet it is possible to maintain the dough throughout the 

 fermentation period at any desired temperature, and thus render it 

 possible to control one of the main sources of worry and uncertainty 

 in breadmaking. The asbestos is used to reduce the danger of the 

 case taking fire if anything happened to the lamp, and also to check 



