hampshire county farm bureau monthly 

 home: making 



FARM BUREAU WORK IS 

 COMMUNITY WORK, NOT 



THE AGENT'S WORK 



Washington Expert Urges that it be 



Done to the Satisfaction 



of Local People 



Mrs. Salisbury, of the United States 

 Department of Agriculture, conferring 

 with Home Demonstration Agents of 

 Western Massachusetts recently, very 

 concisely expressed the function of the 

 Homemaking Department of the Farm 

 Bureau with the following suggestions: 



That homemaking should be put on a 

 basis with other industries. 



That a Farm Bureau is an organiza- 

 tion of men, women, and children to 

 handle agriculture and home aifairs be- 

 cau.se all make for the home. 



That the Farm Bureau exists to make 

 your community so satisfactory that you 

 wouldn't live elsewhere. 



That the Farm Bureau is an office 

 where knowledge on home, agricultural 

 and club affairs is received and dis- 

 tributed. 



That this community work is your 

 work — not the agent's. Their work is to 

 help you. Women and men alike must 

 realize it is their work and have it done 

 to their satisfaction. That women who 

 carry on follow up work in clothing, 

 household management, etc. become Home 

 Demoyistratws. Don't let the demon- 

 stration stop — spread it and tell it to 

 other women. Let the Home Demonstra- 

 tion Agent know what you are getting 

 out of her work. 



That the Home Demonstration is only 

 the representative — you are the demon- 

 strator, trying out the value of the 

 knowledge. If it's good spread it over 

 the community. 



DO YOU KNOW TEXTILES? 



Purchasing clothing material is a 

 present-day problem of the housewife as 

 she must bear in mind the gi-eat necessity 

 for saving material to meet the added de- 

 mands on the depleted supply, and pur- 

 chasing so economically that the family 

 pocket book will not suffer through her 

 carelessness. Only through the knowl- 

 edge of fundamental principles govern- 

 ing the selection of material and experi- 

 ence gained from continued practice can 

 one become an intelligent buyer. 



It has been made possible by the State 

 Extension Service to have Mrs. Mary 

 Woolman give two courses on textiles in 

 Hampshire County. The course of five 

 lectures gives information on the subjects 

 of textile industry, the economic situa- 

 tions of clothing materials, the relation 

 of clothing to health, and hints for in- 

 telligent shopping. Mrs. Woolman will 

 meet the women of Huntington May 14 

 and each successive Wednesday afternoon, 

 and the women of Northampton May 1.5 

 and each successive Thursday afternoon 

 for five weeks. 



THINGS FOR WARM WEATHER 



Fireless Cooker, Iceless Refrigerator and 

 Fly Traps Offer Possibilities 



In another month or two we shall be 

 complaining of the warm weather and 

 wishing that we had thought sooner of 

 making a fireless cooker, or an iceless 

 refrigerator, or an up-to-date fly trap. 

 A demonstration in the makng of one 

 or more of these appliances might seem 

 more practical to many a community at 

 this time than a demonstration in the 

 preparation of food. If you are inter- 

 ested, communicate with the home de- 

 partment. 



Reading List of Books on Thrift and 

 Savings for Children 



"Can you finance yourself?" 



"Are you conducting your household 

 finances on business-like principles?" 



"Above all, teach the children to save; 

 economy is the sure foundation of all 

 virtues." — Victor Hncjo. 



Bexell, .J. A. First lessons in business. 

 Philadelphia — Lippincott, 1919. 



Bowsfield, C. C. — How boys and girls 

 earn money — Chicago — Forbes. 



Colling, A. F. Money Making for 

 Boys. New York— Dodd, Mead, 1917. 



Pritchard, M. T. and Turkington, G. A. 

 Stones of Thrift for Young Americans, 

 New York — Scribner 191-5. 



GOOD RUBBERS THE BEST 



INSURANCE AGAINST 



SPOILAGE 



Many who la.st year conserved their 

 food supply by the cold pack method have 

 realized that they made a big mistake 

 because they did not give sufficient at- 

 tention to the grade of rubber rings. Al- 

 most any composition rubber would seal 

 a jar for the old fashioned "hot pack" or 

 "open kettle" canning. A satisfactory 

 ring contains plenty of live rubber com- 

 bined with tough, strong fiber, which 

 gives it the necesary toughness to with- 

 stand the devulcanizing action of the 

 long boiling in the cold pack method. 



The rings should cling closely to the 

 neck of the jar and resist the action of 

 escaping steam and air which tends to 

 blow soft rubber out of place; otherwise 

 the ring will blow out from underneath 

 the cover. 



Care must be exercised to obtain ex- 

 actly the right size to fit the jar. Be 

 sure it is wide and thick enough to in- 

 sure a perfect 'seal. A rubber ring 

 should be absolutely tasteless and have 

 nothing in its composition that can boil 

 out and taint the food, and should be 

 capable of stretching without breaking. 



Buy modest colors and conservative 

 styles in garments which are expected to 

 give long service. Extremes in either 

 color or cut become conspicuous when 

 styles change. 



Different Kind of Scraps 



Corporal : That was some scrap at 

 supper last night. 



Assistant Corporal : What's that — a 

 scrap? 



Corporal : Yep, the coffee soaked a roll. 



The second quarterly meeting of the 

 County Committee on Homemaking was 

 held at the Farm Bureau at .3.00 p. m., 

 Monday, April 7. The Home Demon- 

 stration Agent reported on the work done 

 since January first and future work of 

 homemaking projects was discussed. 

 Miss Comstock and Miss Gifford, both of 

 the Massachusetts Agricultural College, 

 were present. 



There's a reason other than vanity why 

 a woman should be well dressed ; it gives 

 her self-confidence and ease of manner. 

 Well dressed does not mean expensively 

 dressed. 



HOME-MADE SOAP 



Make soap of fats which cannot be 

 used for cooking. 



First clarify the fat. Melt it up and 

 add water, bring to a boil, and allow to 

 cool. The fat will form a solid cake on 

 the top of the water. The impurities 

 may be removed from the bottom of the 

 fat. Melt fat again and heat until all 

 water has evaporated, till bubbling stops. 

 Then slice a medium-sized potato into 

 the fat and strain through a dry piece of 

 cheese cloth. 



To each five pounds of lukewarm 

 grease use 



1 small can lye. 



1 quart cold water. 



1 cup hot water. 



3 tablespoons borax. 



4 cup household ammonia. 



2 tablespoons sugar. 

 1 teaspoon salt. 



Mix lye and cold water, let stand till 

 cold, stirring occasionally. Mix i cup 

 hot water with 3 tablespoons borax. Let 

 this cool and add \ cup household am- 

 monia, 2 tablespoons sugar, and 1 tea- 

 spoon salt. Pour lye into grease slowly, 

 stirring continually with a wooden spoon 

 or spatula. Add other mixture, stir un- 

 til light and thick. Pour into an enam- 

 eled pan lined with paraffin paper. 

 Crease before soap get cold. — Louise F. 

 Lacey, Colo. Agr. College. 



