198 MORE POT-POURRI 



aired, the servant's view is that then ' so much dust gets 

 in.' And yet by a 'cussedness ' peculiar to themselves they 

 constantly leave ice-safes open, which of course to act 

 properly should be kept tightly closed, and never opened 

 at all except for the minute when things are taken out or 

 put in. When the ice is melted they should always be 

 carefully cleaned out. The following is, I consider, a 

 good way of keeping things from dust in a larder without 

 shutting the windows : Instead of the usual perforated 

 tin covers, which get rusty and shabby and cannot be 

 cleaned, I have neat covers of all sizes (made at home) 

 of rather thick zinc wire, and then I cover these with 

 clean butter-muslin, which can be renewed or washed 

 directly it gets dirty. They should have a twisted zinc 

 wire handle at the top, to lift the cover on and off quite 

 easily. The principle is the same as the outdoor covers 

 for keeping off spring frost on young plants, recommended 

 in my former book. 



The real fault of all the houses I go into to-day, my own 

 included, though less so than some, is that they are far 

 too full. Things are sure to accumulate. Avoid rubbish, 

 frills and valances, draperies and bows, and all the 

 terrible devices of the modern upholsterer. They all mean 

 dust and dirt in a very short time, especially in London^ 

 and a labour to keep clean which in fact no one carries 

 out, and which is only very temporarily rectified by the 

 spring cleaning once a year. I have a French domestic 

 book which I think fascinating and instructive, just 

 because it is French, and much less showy and more 

 primitive than English books of the same kind. It is in 

 two volumes, is called ' Maison Eustique des Dames,' 

 and is by Madame Millet Eobinet. It has had an immense 

 sale in France, and all the little details of household life 

 seem more dignified and less tiresome when read in 

 excellent French. 



