No. 4.] BOYS' AND GIRLS' CLUB ^YORK. 189 



1. Are they of good salable size, such as dealers and good judges de- 

 mand? 



2. Are they true to t3'pe, similar in shape, color and general appearance 

 to a standard potato of this variety? 



3. Are they sound? 



4. Are they firm, not hollow, not brittle, not spongy, not green? 



5. Are the ej^es shallow, making it possible to pare without great 

 waste? 



6. Are the skins bright and of good color and texture? 



7. Are they clean? 



8. Are they free from scab, worm holes and other blemishes? 



9. Are they of about the same size, shape, color and textui-e? (This 

 last is very important.) 



Home Economics Club. 



While the work of this club was designed primarily for girls, 

 a good number of boys have entered certain phases of it, just 

 as many girls have entered the clubs heretofore described. 

 Home economics, — that age-old art of "housekeeping," — can 

 it be called "economic" in the same sense as raising corn or 

 fattening pigs? Who can set down in the shabby symbols of 

 "net gain" or "profit" what happens to a parlor or living 

 room while the deft hands, critical brain and affectionate heart 

 go from curtained windows to picture-hung walls, from bric-a- 

 brac to furniture and floor until they all exhale a neatly ordered 

 harmony? "Dollars and cents!" How would a tidy kitchen, a 

 neatly spread table or a well-ordered chamber look smeared 

 with dollar signs and profit marks? The essence of this sort of 

 work is of the spirit and not of the hands. It is the contribu- 

 tion of love and the homing instinct to human happiness. It 

 belongs in the catalogue of things that are "without price." 



This, however, is not the whole story. The girls are given 

 a chance to exercise their abilities for economic production in 

 the Canning and Marketing Club. The work in this club 

 extends beyond the walls of the house, but not entirely beyond 

 the realm of the home. It unites the house and the garden 

 into a genuine home-making enterprise. This of itself would be 

 reason enough for the existence of the Canning and Marketing 

 Club. But it goes farther. Through this club the girls are 

 finding a way to turn time and energy into money. They 



