108 
and cut in dice, bread toasted and made into milk toast, 
is just so much better for being stale. The smallest scraps 
are worth saving, shapeless as they may be, for these should 
be dried and converted into bread crumbs, a jar of which 
ought to be on every kitchen shelf. Bread crumbs are much 
better to use than cracker crumbs for everything. Scraps 
of toast are very good converted into bread crumbs. 
If your stove or range has a back shelf, you will save 
time and always be prepared, if you keep boxes of crackers 
there, for they are always warm and crisp, ready for use. 
If you have no shelf to your range, put up a temporary 
bracket shelf just for this purpose. It will make ample 
returns. 
The refrigerator calls for the attention of every house- 
wife, and some hints may help here. Get a yard of cheese 
cloth and cut in two. When the ice comes lay one half of 
the cheese cloth, folded double, in the bottom of the ice- 
compartment. ‘The next time, remove this piece and place 
in the other, rinsing the one which has been in use. If you 
are careful to cover the drain with the cloth, the cloth will 
hold much, if not all, which would become slime and is so 
horrid to clean. You will be surprised at the accumulation 
of dirt and the ease with which it is disposed of. Time is 
saved if one is careful to wipe off the outside of any dishes 
holding food before placing in the ice-chest. Never have 
anything warm put in the ice-chest, for the steam from such 
dishes creates odors not good. 
At least once a week a thorough washing is necessary— 
walls, ceiling, and doors, as well as the shelves. Keep a 
skewer, such as the butcher sends, for pushing the cloth into 
all grooves. Make a suds of ivory soap and plenty of borax; 
set this away to cool before using. Never use the strong- 
smelling kind in washing what must be closed at once. Get 
on your knees to your refrigerator once a day, lest some- 
thing grows too old for use again, and place a bit of char- 
coal on each shelf. This will absorb odors, and keep the 
refrigerator smelling sweet; but no food of penetrating odor 
should ever be placed inside closed doors. 
To my mind the greatest economy of all is the fireless 
cooker. If you have never used one, don’t wait any longer. 
In the summer they are simply wonderful, and in the winter, 
although one may be using a coal range, they are helpful. 
There are many good ones on the market now, but I had 
great fun making mine myself, and I would not be without 
it. When cooking with gas, one saves both time and money 
by its use, which makes possible the meats calling for long 
cooking, and the awful turnip and cabbage odor is not in 
evidence when cooked in the fireless cooker. Housewives 
can put on, or rather in, their dinners after breakfast, go 
out for the day, and find their dinners ready when they 
return at night. 
Just study your kitchen; you will find it interesting and 
entertaining, if you take the right spirit into it, The whole 
house will respond to the extra attention given to the 
kitchen. I think a man, mere man, appreciates such study in 
woman more than any study of art or music; and we are 
all striving to please some one man, to make his home what 
it should be, a place of comfort and rest. Milton said: 
‘Nothing lovelier can be found in woman than to study 
household good.” 
COLD WEATHER HINTS 
ANY years ago a carpenter who was at work on our 
house asked me for a tin dish to put his nails in, and 
then for the privilege of putting them into my oven. It 
was bitter cold outside, and he said that by heating the nails 
he kept his hands from getting numb while working. 
On these days, when the wind blows and the weather is 
so bitter cold, any help that the one doing the washing may 
get should be found for her. Here is one great help: Half 
an hour or more before hanging out the clothes (the coldest 
AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS 
March, 1912 
job any woman ever had) place the clothes-pins in the oven, 
taking care that they do not scorch. When all is ready, put 
them into a clothes-pin apron pocket, and you will be sur- 
prised to find how warm your hands will keep from repeat- 
edly putting them in the warm pocket to get the pins. 
Also, always have the bluing water (the last stage of the 
washing) as hot as you have water for. The clothes are 
then warm to handle, no matter how cold the weather. 
THE CARE OF FURS 
T IS coming time now to think of placing our furs beyond 
the reach of moth and buffalo bug. It has been my custom 
to comb and brush carefully all furs every little while all 
Winter, and then hang them in the sun. This should be 
done with extra care when getting ready to shut them up. 
Although I have a spacious cedar chest, furs and hats with 
feathers are taken care of separately. Inthe rush of all the 
things the housekeeper finds necessary to attend to in the 
Spring, the matter of caring for furs must not be overlooked. 
Paper bags have other uses than cooking, for in paper 
bags do I store my furs. No matter how well cleaned, 
moths will find their most destructive way if there is a crack 
through which they can get in at furs. After cleaning my 
furs most thoroughly, while the sun heat is still in them, I 
take my paper bags out into the yard and put my furs in 
them. I fold the end of the bag over twice and stitch across 
the fold with the sewing machine, having sprinkled in a little 
camphor. Now I defy the moths to find an entrance, and 
I have never failed. 
The large fur coats and fur-lined coats are a problem. 
We cannot all send our coats to cold storage, either from 
lack of convenience or money, and bags of such prodigious 
size are not made. But wide wrapping paper can be found, 
and we can make our own bags. Take about two yards of 
paper and two yards of unbleached muslin to reinforce it. 
Fold together with the muslin for lining; fold the edges over 
and stitch together. On one side stitch loops for hanging by. 
After sunning, combing and brushing the garment, fold care- 
fully with bits of camphor and lay inside this big bag. With 
great care, fold and stitch the opening. If bugs cannot get 
in they cannot do damage, and I have found paper bags to 
be sure. Do not try to use newspapers, as they dry out and 
grow brittle. 
MiGe= sa lea a eee 
HOW TO MAKE GOOD LAWNS 
(Continued from page 101) 
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as on terraces or embankments, it is easier to secure a lawn 
by sodding. The best of sod should be bought from a 
nurseryman, who has sod growing for this purpose, and it 
should be applied in strips one foot wide and three inches 
thick. After firming it, cover the area with a light coating 
of rich loam and broom it in between the crevices, then 
thoroughly roll it. The edge of a lawn adjoining a walk or 
hedge should be bordered by such sod strips. In securing 
fertility, should you have a season for preparation before 
you make the lawn, sow such cover crops as Crimson Clover, 
Hairy Vetch, Cow Peas, Soy Beans, or any good legumin- 
ous crop. This is the cheapest way of fertilizing and it pre- 
vents the possibility of many weed seed. In sowing the seed, 
great care should be exercised so as to evenly distribute the 
amount needed. A calm day should be selected, and sow in 
opposite directions and crosswise, and immediately rake 
with an iron-toothed implement, and roll. The best season 
for making a lawn is immediately after the Spring rains, 
and before the heat of Summer tends to dry out the ground. 
If it is sown during the rainy season the seed might wash 
and cause an uneven lawn. For Fall sowing, September 
is undoubtedly the best month to secure a fairly heavy turf 
before it is covered with the protecting blanket of snow. 
