530 
AMERICAS'- AGRICULTURIST. 
[December, 
and the shoe-tops, leaving a space covered by 
only the thickness of the stocking worn. 
Low-necked frocks and short sleeves have 
gone out of fashion, but feminine arms sel¬ 
dom are sufficiently clothed in winter. Even 
where a sack is added for warmth it is often 
sleeveless. The rule of health in this matter 
is to distribute the clothing equally over the 
body and limbs. Skirts can never supply the 
place of long warm drawers, they are so 
flowing and changing in their adjustment to 
the figure. 
Children—indeed all of us—should be so 
warmly clad that we can enter a cold room 
without feeling a sudden chill, should be 
dressed warmly enough to sit and play or 
work in rooms moderately warmed and well 
ventilated. 
lusufiicient Clothing. 
When there is a lack of warm clothing 
there is always a drain upon the vital ener¬ 
gies which tends to break down the health, 
and this sometimes takes place when the 
victim lias such a good constitution and such 
excellent health, as to be able to bear with 
impunity almost any neglect and exposure. 
I know of women who wear thin cotton 
stockings all winter, and who say that they 
do not need anything warmer in-doors, but 
these are not healthy women, and I doubt if 
their supposed ‘ 1 feelings ” correctly indicate 
the body’s needs. Those who dislike the 
feeling of wool in contact with the skin (and 
I think that this is much according to habit 
or use), can wear a thin pair of cotton stock¬ 
ings under woollen ones, which is better for 
warmth than two pairs of cotton stockings. 
Nourishing Food, Pure Air, Plentiful Sleep, 
and Happy Exercise, are all essential to per¬ 
fect health. Nutritious food is necessary for 
good blood, and this cannot be pure, unless 
clean, fresh air be bountifully supplied. 
Growth and repair cannot go on properly 
without the entire rest of healthy, unforced 
sleep, and exercise of both body and brain is 
necessary to the health and strength of each. 
Shears — Scissors—Knives, etc_Sug¬ 
gestions to Men. 
How the 11 men folks ” would fret and 
sweat, grumble and growl, if they had to 
chop, mow, or whittle, or do any cutting, 
with blunt or round edge implements. Yet 
nine out of ten of “ women folks” do most 
of their cutting up of meats with dull knives 
—round edged, made barely usable by rub¬ 
bing them on a stove top—with an outlay of 
unnecessary strength and patience; bread 
slices are haggled into thick and thin forms, 
with dull, over-thick knives; long beating in¬ 
stead of cutting the hash meat fine ; and it 
makes one ache—as badly as their hands or 
fingers ache—to see women trying to go 
through or shape a piece of cloth with shears 
or scissors, loose or rickety at the joints, and 
as for cutting edges on the blades, there are 
none. The Remedy.— First, we would say, 
let every woman, young or old, learn to sharp¬ 
en implements, if necessary taking lessons of 
the men folks, or some one else. (We will 
give an illustrated lesson on sharpening im¬ 
plements in an early future number, that 
will explain the whole matter to women, and 
men too.)— Second, let every man, who is a 
man, having a house and deserving one, give 
personal attention to the household cutting 
implements. Ten minutes a week, or twenty 
minutes a month, of an evening or rainy day, 
will suffice to sharpen the shears and scissors 
clear to their points, tighten the joints to 
make the blades meet through their whole 
length—not so tightly as to strain the fingers, 
or so loosely as to let the cloth turn through 
uncut. Also, to grind off the round of the 
kitchen cutting and chopping knives, and 
put an edge on them ; ditto the table knives. 
—N. B. Sharp table knives greatly help and 
save the teeth, save time in eating, while very 
finely cut meats, afterwards masticed long 
enough to mix them well with saliva, digest 
far more easily, digest more thoroughly, and 
nourish and strengthen one much more. 
Sharpening knives often, pays well. They 
soon dull in cutting upon porcelain or China 
plates. In the absence of a good sharpening 
steel, a case knife can be fairly sharpened on 
the bottom edge of a dinner plate. A thought¬ 
ful “ head of the house ” of our acquaintance 
often steps into the dining room in advance 
of the bell call, and quietly sharpens all the 
knives—especially if he has a suspicion that 
the steak or roast is not of the tenderest cut 
or cooking, and especially if company is to 
be present. 
A Saving of Soap. 
We recently saw in the kitchen of a New 
England house-keeper the contrivance here 
figured. It consists of two cups of wire 
gauze, each at the end of a spring handle. 
A SOAP SHAKER. 
Left to themselves these cups spring apart 
by the elasticity of the handle, but they are 
brought together and held in close contact by 
means of a simple catch. In the use of soap, 
the pieces become, after a while, too small to 
be convenient. This affair is intended to hold 
the small bits of soap, which are put in the 
cage formed by the two cups. The handle 
allows the soap to be used in the water for 
washing dishes or for other purposes. By 
shaking the cage in the water the soap is 
utilized to the last fragment. This useful 
affair, in Providence, where we saw it, is 
sold at the furnishing or “ notion ” stores for 
the low price of ten cents, a sum which would 
very soon be repgid in the saving of soap. 
Eaby's Clothes and Mamma's Health. 
BY R. M. 
I know a smart little girl whose mamma 
has quite delicate health. Baby has always 
worn white dresses, but this fall her mother 
is making up flannel frocks, with the inten¬ 
tion of putting the old short white dresses 
over them for aprons. This would be very 
neat and pretty, but Miss Baby is only just 
learning to walk, and makes her seat upon 
the carpet much of the time. She must have 
a clean frock every day, so long as she wears 
white ones. Mamma has these to iron, 
though not to wash, for she hires her wash¬ 
ing done. But the ironing is mamma’s hard¬ 
est work, and her physician frequently cau¬ 
tions her against overwork, as she has quite 
a family to work for and wait upon. 
Wouldn’t it be much better for her to discard 
tire white aprons and substitute neat white 
bibs, trimmed with the prettiest of strong 
laces, if she likes, and pinned down, if she 
chooses, with a baby’s bib pin, or with some 
such “safety pin”? Mamma thinks the 
white aprons will be needed for additional 
warmth as the weather grows cooler. Why 
not put the added garment beneath the dress, 
as there is room ? Or let baby wear a little 
sack, either one knit of zephyr, of which 
there are many varieties, or one cut from 
pretty flannel and pinked or bound with rib¬ 
bon ? Baby’s first short dresses ought to be 
cut pretty long, so as to cover her limbs while 
sitting. Little stockings of best quality now 
reach above the knees. Some mothers, who 
can not afford to buy these, piece out the 
stocking legs with the tops of other old stock¬ 
ings. These will last much longer if little 
knee panties be worn—not drawers—which 
are troublesome and labor-making while a 
child wears diapers. The knee panties are 
made separate, each buttoning by one button 
on the side of a waist (running up to a point 
in that case), or by three or four buttons on 
the skirt waist, or on a waist made for the 
purpose. These should be made of strong, col¬ 
ored flannel, and save much labor in darn¬ 
ing stockings, besides adding to the child’s 
warmth and holding the diaper in place. 
One thickness of stocking between the 
knee and the foot is hardly sufficient for win¬ 
ter weather. Under-drawers (cut separate, 
so that one can be unbuttoned at the waist 
and taken off without the other), made of 
flannel or of woven merino (mamma’s old 
stockings will do), or long warm leggings, 
should be worn, if the child, in a northern 
climate, is to be well protected from the cold. 
I spoke to baby’s mamma about her read¬ 
ing. She said she never could get any time 
now for reading, and in speaking about her 
work, she mentioned the ironing as the great¬ 
est burden, especially because the darling 
baby's portion was so great. I believe that 
bright little baby would be more thankful a 
dozen years from to-day for a health}', well- 
informed mother, than for one who had so 
used up her time and strength in attending 
to the little child’s wardrobe, that she has 
grown to be a confirmed invalid with a poorly 
informed mind. 
A Great Boon to "Women. 
The recent expiration of several patents on 
sewing machines attracts less attention than 
its importance demands. Among the many 
great inventions and improvements of the 
past two-score years, no one has contributed 
more to the comfort and the health of woman 
than the sewing machine, which has largely 
done away with the everlasting “stitch, 
stitch.” We have often written that it was 
the duty of every man to provide a sewing 
machine for his wife, even if he had to seLl 
an acre of land, or part with a favorite horse. 
Yet §60 to §75, the price until recently of 
any of the really effective and useful ma¬ 
chines, was a serious item for hundreds of 
thousands of families. Multiplied efforts 
without number have been made to supply 
cheaper substitutes. For twenty years we 
have been on the outlook for them, and 
sometimes hoped that the end was obtained, 
but disappointment came. The ten and 
twenty dollar machines turned out a good 
deal of a bother, to say the least. 
But a great change has now come. Good 
effective machines, on tables, worked with 
foot pedals, those eveiy way equal to the 
