HAMPSHIRE COUNTY FARMERS' MONTHLY 



HOME MAKING 



DO YOU KNOW JUST WHERE SEE YOURSELF IN A 



THE MONEY GOES? 



In these days of high costs, there are 

 few families that do not have to figure 

 close to pay the bills, and occasionally or 

 habitually as the case may be, — lay by a 

 few dollars for use later. 



Of course there are exceptions, but the 

 average housekeeper and head of family 

 "mess and quarters" does not know just 

 what it costs her per month or per week, 

 to finance the thing. About all the aver- 

 age woman knows, sad to say, is, that all 

 she gets she has to spend. 



It is a fact, however, that the cost of 

 providing meals can be regulated to quite 

 an extent. It is therefore, in order for 

 the home keeper to figure out what pro- 

 portion of the family income should be 

 spent on food and house, and when she 

 has arrived at the proper figure, she 

 should keep exact record of her expendi- 

 tures and see just how she stands with 

 her budget at the end of certain periods. 



She may find that one week her food 

 bill was large, and that the next week 

 it was below the average. On looking 

 through the list of expenses, she may dis- 

 cover that she was using large amounts 

 of certain meats or vegetables which were 

 unusually costly whereas other kinds 

 would have been nearly as good to use. 

 Possibly the season was too early, and the 

 fruits or vegetables scare and high. 



She may discover that her family is a 

 large meat consumer, which is often the 

 case, and that meat costs the most of any 

 one kind of provisions. Meat is demanded 

 as food, but many families eat more than 

 they need. Possibly the meat consump- 

 tion can be reduced. Perhaps there are 

 less expensive cuts of meat which could 

 be palatably prepared. 



There is fertile ground for thought 

 when one has the facts before one as to 

 just what the money went for and how 

 fai- it went. 



The budget system should be applied 

 to the other expenses of the family: 

 clothes, fuel, rent, amusements. In the 

 latter, of course might be put the woman's 

 occasional ice cream in the afternoon and 

 the man's tobacco or candy or whatever 

 little side is.sue it is in which the man 

 indulges. These last often are large 

 items. 



The re.sult of this system is, that after 

 a length of time, the family can tell by 

 an examination of their records where the 

 funds go the fastest, and most important 

 of all they can judge at what point they 

 had best economize, be it clothes, food, 

 fun or something else. All successful 

 business is conducted in this way, and 

 family financing can be conducted more 

 successfully in the same mannei'. It can 



BECOMING HAT THIS 



"NEXT SEASON" 



How many women mentally trim hats 

 during their idle moments in the street 

 car, between the acts at the theatre, and 

 even — sad to relate — in church when the 

 service lags a bit? Probably every woman 

 with an imagination sees herself in a be- 

 coming bonnet the next season. Why is 

 it always the next season and why is she 

 never quite satisfied with the hat that she 

 is wearing? 



In the case of the average woman the 

 answer is this: — The season is getting 

 late and she is still wealing the old hat 

 and it does look so shabby toward the end, 

 or she must have a new hat in a hurry 

 foi- some social event and she hasn't a 

 thing that is suitable. So she seizes a 

 few minutes out of her busy life and goes 

 shopping all by herself. She does not 

 stop to think just what she wants, which 

 shape will be most suitable or what color 

 scheme will be most becoming and will 

 go with her gowns. She simply starts 

 out to buy a hat. Her imaginary plan- 

 ings have been in vain .so far as putting 

 them into execution is concerned. When 

 she arrives at the shop the milliner 

 doesn't know about the rest of her ward- 

 lobe and she really does not care very 

 much about whether the hat is becoming 

 or not so long as she makes the sale. The 

 i hat the woman wants is far too high in 

 I price so she ambles about among the 

 cheaper products and tries to persuade 

 herself that she can get along with some- 

 thing she doesn't want at all. That is 

 the way the thing works out year after 

 year and the wonderfully becoming head- 

 gear is always a mirage. 



A very charming and well dressed 

 woman gives us this idea. She says 

 "Whenever I see a pretty gown or hat 

 either actually or in my mind's eye I go 

 right home and make a sketch and wi'ite 

 out the color .scheme. When the time 

 comes to buy a hat I have a house clean- 

 ing of my fashion notes, and take an 

 inventory of my stock of materials and 

 trimmings. If the hat is too difficult for 

 ime to make myself I gather all my ma- 

 , terials together and visit my milliner who 

 I really tries to carry out my ideas." 



Another woman says "I never go alone 

 , to buy a hat. I would just as soon think 

 of going alone to buy an oriental rug. 

 { When I invest in anything so expensive I 

 want someone with me on whose judgment 

 I can rely." 



A knowledge of hat making and trim- 

 ming is of great value to the woman of 

 moderate means. With the help of her 

 Continued on page 5, column 2 



HAVE A PAIR OF 



I KITCHEN SHEARS 



In these days we are continually taking 

 short cuts. All kinds of labor-saving de- 

 vices are on the market, some cheap, 

 others reasonable while the rest are won- 

 derful electrical appliances which fill us 

 with envied desire. But while many a 

 housewife looks with longing eyes at some 

 wonderful electrical machine, she often 

 overlooks some cheap little thing that, if 

 rightly used, would greatly lighten her 

 work. 



One of these is a pair of scissors which 

 everyone has in the house, yet seldom 

 thinks of using in the kitchen. Hung 

 near the kitchen on a convenient hook, 

 they come in handy dozens of times a day. 

 Of course, any old pair of scissors will 

 not do. They may do for cutting paper 

 or string, but for culinary purposes one 

 should have a good steel pair. They can 

 be washed like a knife but one must see 

 that no moisture remains at the screw 

 to cause rust. 



The housewife will find that she can 

 use the scissors to cut up many little 

 things more quickly and easily than she 

 can take the food chopper out, use it 

 and clean all its parts and put it away. 

 Parsley, mint, celery leaves, lettuce, and 

 other soup greens can be cut up with the 

 scissors much more conveniently than ta 

 be put through a food chopper. The scis- 

 sors will cut up peppers for salads or 

 soups, and are very useful in cutting 

 lemon and orange peel, raisins and in pre- 

 paring pineapple. The pineapple should 

 be sliced without removing the outer por- 

 tion. Each slice is then carefully trim- 

 med with the scissors and they may be 

 used to remove the dark eyes. 



By using the kitchen pair of scissors, 

 the pithy portion of oranges and grape 

 fruit may be easily removed without dis- 

 turbing the fruit. 



Celery and I'hubarb can be cut more 

 quickly with the scissors than with a 

 knife and one's thumb suffers less. 



One of the best uses of the kitchen 

 scissors comes to light when one is clean- 

 ing fish. Cut off the head, tail and fins 

 with the kitchen scissors and you will be 

 surprised at the ease with which you clean 

 the fish. 



There are a dozen and one ways of 

 using kitchen scissors. Hang a pair near 

 your sink and you will be surprised to 

 find how many times a day you use them 

 when you are in a hurry. If you have 

 discovered other ways in which a pair of 

 kitchen scissors may be useful, write to 

 the Agent, so that all members may have 

 the benefit of your experience. 



