252 HOW TO LIVE IN THE COUNTRY 



of those rare inspirations that change the whole do- 

 mestic and social life of the world. 



To-day the can is as common in South Africa as 

 in New Jersey. It lies in piles everywhere, defying 

 the plow or the shovel to cover it. It lies beside the 

 cabin of the Southern negro, emptied of corn, as- 

 paragus, green peas, peaches, and a dozen other 

 luxuries. That marvelous novelty the " love apple " 

 of our mothers, now the tomato, sells by the millions 

 of cans in China and Japan. All the world has gone 

 a canning. Every little home is finding its pride and 

 its pleasure in turning winter into summer. A 

 wealthy friend, dressed in her silks and jewels, re- 

 cently led me through her store room with a pride 

 equal to that shown in the ball room, as she waved 

 her hand over the hundreds of cans and jars, say- 

 ing, " I did this with my own hands." It is one 

 of the finest arts yet invented. 



However, we count most of all in this indoor liv- 

 ing on the presence of electric power to light the 

 house and the outhouses, to bring water into the 

 kitchen and hot water into the chambers, operating 

 the churn, washing dishes, scrubbing floors, sweep- 

 ing and cleansing the house of dust, in a way that 

 our mothers could not have foreseen. Only the other 

 day came news that we could store heat as well as 

 power, a new and novel discovery already applied 

 in English kitchens, whereby electric-born heat is 

 stored for use, while the electric power is switched 



