OCTOBER 61 



now always striving to do some work of their own. The 

 over-strained gentility that my author speaks of does 

 still and must always exist. He touches on too many 

 subjects for me to go on quoting him. But the employ- 

 ments he recommends for women, laying especial stress on 

 nursing, do make one realise the changes and the improve- 

 ments of the last thirty years. All his advice about stores 

 and cooking utensils and general management of the 

 kitchen is excellent. It is carried out far more in the beau- 

 tiful kitchens of modern Germany than anywhere here. He 

 is as strong as even I could wish about the use of earthen- 

 ware casseroles and fireproof dishes. But both servants 

 and mistresses hate them because of the breakage, which 

 of course is very troublesome ; and the excessive heat of 

 our fireplaces makes them more difficult to manage. 

 English servants, too, are so conservative that it is 

 extremely difficult to interfere in any way with their 

 method of work. They only like to do things as they 

 have always been done. 



On looking over these two books I find the receipts so 

 good and so unlike those in the ordinary cookery book 

 that I shall copy several of them to disperse through the 

 months as they seem to me seasonable. It is often 

 difficult to remember how each generation requires to be 

 told the same things over again. Among other good and 

 useful hints, one is to keep a supply of corks for putting 

 into any bottle that has been opened, so that it can be 

 turned over on its head in the store closet and thus 

 prevent the air from getting to the contents. This 

 ensures your not having to buy a fresh bottle of oil for 

 every third salad, or a fresh bottle of anchovy when you 

 require only a teaspoonful. I am afraid the modern 

 cooks are rare who will take the trouble to attend to 

 such details. 



This dressing of two chickens in different ways for 



