178 



HOME AND FLOWERS 



INTEREST THE CHILDREN IN HOUSE- 

 KEEPING 



(Concluded from page 175.) 



are to be cooked, and allow them to soak 

 in cold water. 



If a child studies zoology or has nature 

 study in the school, she may just as well 

 learn the life history of household pests 

 as to study altogether more remote animal 

 life. The life history of household pests, 

 the mosquito, common fly, buffalo bug and 

 cockroach, and the means of getting rid 

 of them, are as interesting as the story of 

 other animal life. Shall not the pupil m 

 the botany class know how to select and 

 cultivate the flowers best for the home 

 garden as well as to analyze the wild 

 flower? Drawing is a favorite study in 

 the schools. Is it to develop the talent of 

 the genius here and there, to train the 

 eye and the hand simply for the making 

 of pictures? Every child should receive 

 as a direct beneflt from the study of art a 

 finer taste for fashioning dress, for deco- 

 rating the home, for adorning the table. 



Shall the training for home life be con- 

 fined to the girls? There is much agita- 

 tion over the necessity for training girls 

 for domestic life and for motherhood. It 

 is high time that the boy shall go into 



training to live intelligently in the home, 

 and to assume his part of the burden wisely. 

 While the mother's work may be that which 

 is strongest and most observed in home 

 making, the master's supplements and 

 strengthens it, and is necessary for the 6om- 

 pletion of the home plan. Ignorant as many 

 girls are of the principles of domestic life 

 when they marry, girls are less strangers to 

 their domestic responsibilities than are boys. 

 Boys are in many instances left to care for 

 themselves. They have a manly pride for 

 independence in the affairs which govern 

 their physical welfare. Many, when they 

 go away to school or to college, must shift 

 for themselves, darn their own stockings, 

 and get their own meals. While they may 

 be the better off for this experience, they 

 should learn how to live, and not sacrifice 

 their physical welfare too much in their 

 efforts for intellectual attainments. Their 

 interest in camp life affords an opportunity 

 for instruction in many lines which will be 

 of value in home life. They will certainly 

 become proficient in building a fire, though 

 perhaps they may not acquire so much skill 

 that later in home life they will long to get 

 up early in the morning to be the first to 

 build it. They will not be a stranger to 

 the preparing and cooking of meats after 

 they have lived in camp. 



BITS OF EXPERIE^s^CE I?s^ HOFSEKEEPHS^a 



We expect our readers to contribute an important share in the plans for a well-ordered 

 household. The letters from correspondents here added offer some valuable suggestions. 

 Send questions or comments, and we shall find them a great help in building up the de- 

 partment. Your questions will show us what you want to know, and we can the more 

 readily offer helpful material. \Mille ail communications should be signed when they 

 are sent to us, we will, if you request it, not publish the name. That is entirely as you 

 prefer. 



'"I send you the description of a kitchen 

 with this letter, which will aid in discov- 

 ering the good points — if there are any. I 

 also send you a photograph of the outside 

 window and screen cupboard. The wire 

 netting in the door does not show in the 

 picture, but it is there, and a necessity 

 to keep out flies — and still not shut off the 

 light from the window door leading into the 

 pantry. The store room — the only cool cel- 

 lar room in the house — is also light, a desir- 

 able condition considered from a hygienic 

 standpoint." 



A WoMAx's Pkivate Purse. — (S. E. 

 Wolfe, South Coventry, Conn.) "A woman 

 should be provided with a specified sum 



AN OUTSIDE WINDOW AND SCREEN SAVE TRIPS T« 

 THE CELLAR 



