674 



THE GARDEN AND FIELD. 



May, 1914 



® Home I>Jotes. ® 



Arc You a Brute ? 



A fair definition of the word 

 bnite as applied to humanity may 

 be said to be " One who causes 

 needless suffering to anything 

 which is helpless to defend itself." 

 It occurs to us that if members of 

 the " gentle " sex, who, with per- 

 haps unconscious ironv, parade the 

 streets of Australia adorned 

 with " scalps " somewhat after the 

 manner of Indian braves, were to 

 consider that definition as applied 

 to their treatment of " God's 

 Beautiful Winged Creatures," re- 

 ferred to Mr. M. T. N. Stephens 

 in a letter to the Press of 7th 

 April, they might find food for 

 serious if sorrowful thought. The 

 " gentle " North American Indian 

 usually has the danger and dis- 

 comfort of doing his own killing 

 and confines it to his enemies, the 

 " eentle " woman pays someone 

 else to do her dirty work of kill- 

 ing our feathered friends. The 

 " gentle " Indian is, of course, a 

 savacre, the " gentle " lady is a 

 Christian, or supposed to be. Per- 

 haps that makes a difference. 



Mr. Stephens yerv kindly for- 

 wards us a copy of his letter from 

 which we extract the following : — 



GOD'S BKAUTIFITT. WINGRD 

 CRRATURKS. 



Allow me to direct attention to 

 two articles in the " Nineteenth 

 Century " for February last on 

 which these remarks are based, 

 but every sentence of both articles 

 ?s well worth reading. 



Nothing more striking can 

 show th« necessity for immediate 

 Federal action following the bold 

 and humane precedent established 

 bv our American cousins (who 

 have freed the TTnited States for 

 ever from the shame and the hor- 



rors of the millinery trade in wild 

 birds' plumage), for not only is 

 the slaug-hter world-wide, but Aus- 

 tralia will probably be among the 

 countries deluged with this plum- 

 age obtained for the adornment of 

 nature's already " fair sex." But 

 let us hope, as Lord I^ilford said, 

 the day will soon dawn when no 

 women in civilised and law-^abiding 

 countries will be allowed to dis- 

 fimirp their heads with the plum- 

 age of -wild birds, for when that 

 dpT does come this horrible traffic 

 will cease. 



Give women the right to vote 

 bv all means ! The world would 

 be no worse, probably better if 

 they had it everywhere, but it is 

 not too much to ask that they in 

 turn will help to give God's beau- 

 tiful winged creatures the right 

 simply to live and continue to 

 charm us bv their form and plum- 

 asre and delight us with their grace 

 and freedom. It is larsrely a wo- 

 man's nuestion, and could be quick- 

 ly decided if onlv women would 

 decline to wear pieces of dead birds 

 in their hats. The comparatively 

 few men who r^et their livine bv 

 the vile massacre are not worth 

 considerinsr. It would be an in- 

 sult to women even to susrsrest 

 that their remqrkable inp-enuitv in 

 personal adornment cannot devise 

 somethiTi"- to take the plaice of 

 wild birds which, alive, appeal to 

 lis all if onlv by their mere help- 

 lessness. 



A larsre and incrpasrn" -^'uantity 

 of feathers, other than those pro- 

 hibited, is received into South 

 Australia; £4,000, £7,00, and 



TO, 000 worth of dressed feathers 

 durin<T the Past three years re- 

 snprtii'pb', n-nd tMs does not in- 

 clude either feathers used in im- 

 ported millinery or undressed fea- 

 thers of which latter, however, 

 there are few. 



The imports into the whole Com- 

 monwealth are also heavy, and 

 show a remarkable increase. The 

 value of dressed feathers rose from 

 £45,619 in 1911 to £85,983 in 1912, 

 and those undressed from £5,096 

 £6,281 ; that is £92,000 worth in 

 one year. Think for one moment 

 what merciless destruction of beau- 

 tiful, free wild birds this alone re- 

 presents and then say whether 

 you as an individual intend to do 

 your little best to continue it or 

 to prevent it. 



^ 



Bacon. 



Whether you like your bacon fat 

 or lean, you always want it sliced 

 very thin ; you want the rind and 

 bits of bone removed ; and you 

 want it cooked enough, crisp and 

 tender, but not too dry. It takes 

 a little care to cook it just enough; 

 the frying-pan should be hot, the 

 slices of bacon laid in flat, and turn- 

 ed as soon as they are seared ; 

 when grease collects in the pan, 

 it should at once be poured off 

 into a cup ready at hand for the 

 purpose, else the bacon will not 

 be crisp and tender. Bacon should 

 be turned often and watched close- 

 ly ; scorched bacon is even more 

 horrid than other scorched things; 

 and, finally, bacon should be eaten 

 as soon as it is cooked. 



The last point naeans that with 

 a bacon meal, you miist have 

 evervthing else ready before you 

 cook the bacon. If there are eggs 

 to be cooked with it, and yon 

 cannot do them simultaneously, it 

 is better to do your eggs iRrst, 

 and before they are quite done put 

 them into the" oven and let them 

 finish themseflves there, while you 

 attend to the bacon. 



Frying is the common way of 

 cooking bacon. The best way re- 

 quires a hot oven and a fine wire 

 broiler. If you have never eaten 

 bacon cooked so, you have a treat 

 in store. Place " the strips ol 

 bacon on the broiler over a drip- 

 pin e-pan, and leave it in the oven 

 eight or ten minutes, or less if you 

 have a very hot oven. The drip- 

 ping-pan saves your valuable 

 grease to use in making delicious 

 any fried thing, and the bacon 

 cooked on the broiler is much 

 better than fried bacon. 



The oven secret about bacon 

 may be applied in other ways. 

 Kscalloped thinsrs, potatoes, oys- 

 ters, beans, or tomatoes, covered 

 with a layer of thin slices of 

 bacon make the most deliciously 



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MARLBOROUGH CITAMBRRS, WAYMOUTH ST., ADELAIDE. 



