HOME HELPS. 315 



may be clearing off the pests by eating them or their eggs, 

 or depositing eggs on the bodies of their enemies, which 

 are from that stage doomed to destruction. 



XXV. HOME HELPS. 



GOOD BREAD and How to Make It. Good bread is the 

 rule in Australia, bad bread the exception. This is the 

 case in the bush as well as the towns, and is attributable in 

 the first place, to the excellent quality of the wheat and 

 flour ; and in the next to the skill in bread-making that 

 pervades the community. It is an accomplishment of which 

 Australian women may well feel proud. Good bread means 

 good digestion, contentment, health ; for all of which the 

 country is somewhat famous. The first requisite for good 

 bread is good flour not necessarily the whitest or finest 

 flour, but sweet, dry, wholesome flour, made from sound 

 grain, without mixture of any kind. Whatever the price, 

 this is the cheapest, the most healthful flour. Even in 

 public establishments it has been proved by actual testSj 

 extending over months and years, that the best flour is the 

 cheapest in the end. Flour can be tested for its " strength " 

 or bread-making qualities, in the manner described in the 

 author's "Helpful Chemistry for Agriculturists." 



Yeast. This is another important ingredient in bread- 

 making, A simple and thoroughly good way of making it 

 is to put loz. of hops into 2 quarts of water ; boil until the 

 water is reduced by one-third ; strain this, and add to the 

 water two tablespoonsful of sugar ; when the mixture is 

 cool add two tablespoonsful of flour, and bottle the mixture. 

 This should make about 3 pints, and what is wanted first 

 for use should be put into a bottle that contained yeast 

 before. If no sucli bottle is handy, a few drops of vinegar 

 or a bit of dough will cause it to ferment. It is ready for 

 use as soon as fermentation sets in, or in moderately warm 

 weather about twenty-four hours after the fresh yeast is 

 made. It keeps for weeks when corked tight and put away 



