376 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
[September, 
TEE M©1IJ§E!H[©L® 0 
For other Household Items see “ Basket ” pages. 
A Well-arranged Pantry. 
BY L. D. SNOOK, YATES CO., N. Y. 
In this age of multitudinous articles in the shape 
of china, glass, and other ware used in cooking and 
at the table, a special room in the form of a pantry 
is needed for their proper care and protection. In 
the accompanying engraving is shown a portion of 
a pantry that is well arranged and convenient. The 
window is placed at the end of the room, while 
around three sides is put a shelf, thirty inches in 
hight, and from fifteen to twenty inches wide. Be¬ 
neath this shelf are placed drawers, cupboards, 
shelves, etc. The shelf situated in the end of the 
pantry is left unobstructed for cutting meat, bread, 
mixing pastry, and even for washing dishes. It 
will be found the most convenient and most used 
part of the whole room, being near the light, and 
with plenty of space. At either side of the pantry 
are arranged other cupboards, shelves, drawers, 
etc., in any manner thought most convenient, and 
are used for holding table linen, glassware, china, 
silver, etc., while those near the floor are for kettles, 
pans, pails, and other coarse kitchen ware. Some 
may think ten or a dozen drawers are far too many 
for one pantry, but in practice, more, instead of a 
less number, could be economically used. It is 
best to furnish 6ome of the drawers with locks and 
keys, that they may be securely fastened when de¬ 
sired. Paint the wood-work in some light color; 
it is better to simply oil the top of the shelf near 
the window with raw Linseed oil, as it is much 
used, and paint soon wears off. 
Over-work at School. 
BY FAITH ROCHESTER. 
Words of warning still seem to be needed, lest 
children be done to death in the process commonly 
called education. The brightest ones are in the 
most danger, though parents and teachers seldom 
seem to be aware of this. “ It is no task for him 
to get his lessons,” they say. “She learns so 
easily, she can take another study as well as not.” 
But brain work still is work, though done with 
pleasure. Some play uses up vitality, and the best 
beloved occupation may exhaust the nervous force, 
if too long continued. There is no more sad but 
truthful application of the old saying, “Haste 
makes waste,” than in the crowding forward of 
children at school, especially the bright ones. 
Within the last year I have seen some sad cases 
of breaking down among school children, and 
there are other bright young minds and bodies 
within my range of observation for whom trouble 
surely waits, unless preventive measures be taken 
very soon. The little boy delights his parents and 
teachers by his readiness in learning his lessons, 
and he is rapidly promoted from one grade to an¬ 
other, becoming more and more ambitious as he 
sees the pride of his parents and the pleasure of 
his teachers. Nature makes frequent protests, 
but these pass unheeded. The boy grows nervous, 
has impaired digestion and circulation, for Nature 
is saying as plainly as possible, “ I cannot give this 
boy the good, healthy body that he needs, if you 
persist in letting the brain use up all his nervous 
force or vital energy. He cannot eat his cake and 
keep it too. There are limits to his constitutional 
vigor. If you persist in over-drawing upon this 
capital invested in him, he must break down.” 
Very few teachers and parents understand Na¬ 
ture’s language. They do not know that cold feet, 
constipated bowels, or catarrhal symptoms, may 
result from over-study, as much as do headache or 
brain disease of any kind. But 
children would not so soon 
break down if their bodies 
were not neglected and abused 
at the same time that their 
brains are overworked. The 
exercise of the brain calls the 
blood to that part, and this 
alone has a tendency to disturb 
the circulation of the blood. 
The equilibrium is farther im¬ 
paired by insufficient dressing 
of the feet and legs, especially 
among little girls. Bat some 
little girls are better protected 
from the cold in winter by 
thoughtful mothers than little 
boys, who wear the fashiona¬ 
ble short trowsers and no leg- 
gins. Well-dressed little girls 
now wear for winter cloth¬ 
ing, long woolen under-draw¬ 
ers, coming well into the boot-top, under the 
thick stockings, with thick leggins for out-door 
wear. They also wear long-sleeved under-garments 
and outer-garments that afford real protection; 
double mittens in the coldest weather, and hoods 
or “nubias” that protect the forehead and sides of 
the head, as well as the top. One of the oldest 
and most important rules of health is this : “ Keep 
the feet warm, and the head cool,”—not cold. If 
the blood is driven from the surface of the body 
by cold, especially at the extremities, internal or¬ 
gans are more or less congested by excess of blood, 
and in this way many different diseases are brought 
on. Poor food and bad air make the blood im¬ 
pure, and this poor, devitalized blood cannot prop¬ 
erly nourish the various organs. Something must 
fail, either the physical health or mental vigor. 
Sometimes the brain fails. Actual insanity may 
result from over-work of the brain. Sometimes 
the bright, precocious child becomes almost idiotic 
from combined over-work of the brain, excitement 
of feeling, and neglect of the body. More fre¬ 
quently the mind becomes simply weakened, and 
can no longer confine itself to hard study. The 
brain must have a long rest, and probably never 
fully recovers its lost power. The brain itself, 
though the organ of the mind, is but a part of the 
body, and its failure is a failure of physical health. 
But sometimes the mind seems even clearer and 
stronger than ever, as muscular power fails. A 
time of especial peril to girls is the age between 
twelve and fifteen. Nature then seeks especially 
to round out and develop the woman from the 
child, and over-work of any kind tends to thwart 
her plans. Many a poor girl who started well in 
life, physically speaking, goes into a decline at this 
age, because of the foolish haste of the parents 
about her schooling. In this “slaughter of the 
innocents,” piano practice counts heavily. 
But the child is not “ crowded ” with study, the 
parents and teachers say.' It learns easily, and has 
plenty of time to play. Just such children 1 have 
seen break down—those who never needed to be 
urged to their lessons, who conscientiously per¬ 
formed all their piano practice without a murmur, 
or an expressed wish to play out-doors instead. 
Indeed, one of the first signs that the pupil is over¬ 
worked is its reluctance to join in active physical 
sports. There is a limit to the amount of vital 
energy each one possesses at any time, and if this 
is habitually expended, mostly by the brain, the- 
rest of the body can have little, and in this way 
all of the bodily functions are impaired. The 
over-tasked pupil probably seeks recreation in. 
light reading rather than in active out-door sports, 
and this usually makes a bad matter worse. 
That Gem Recipe. 
I undertook to tell how to make water gems, but. 
the directions did not get into print as I intended. 
The measures were given correctly—three cups of 
water (or milk,) to four cups of freshly sifted, en¬ 
tire wheat flour, or a little less of unsifted, genuine 
graham flour. But the water should always be 
stirred into the flour, and it is easier not to turn it 
all in at once. This is the way I have made gems 
every day for many months past. First the fire ; 
I fill the fire-box more full of wood, than on any 
other occasions, and turn the heat upon the oven, 
set the gem-irons upon the top of the stove, and 
then sift some of the entire wheat flour, unless L 
have some that has been sifted within a few days. 
Flour freshly sifted, lies so lightly together, that 
four cups of this is not much more than three of 
packed flour, just from the barrel. 
I measure out four teacupfuls of the sifted flour 
into a pan, then three teacupfuls of cold water, 
pouring in two, and setting the last one beside my 
pan, while I stir the rest together smoothly. Then 
I stir in the last cupful. I rub the gem-irons over 
with a buttered rag (using a fork, the irons are so 
hot,) and immediately dip the batter into them as 
they set on the hottest part of the stove. My irons are. 
large, and the amount I stirred up just fills the pans. 
I put them into the hot oven, and then look to the 
fire again, usually adding a stick or more of wood 
if I have been hindered while stirring up the batter. 
Until lately, I thought it best to set the irons upon 
the rack and bake the tops a little first. But since 
my stove has been well cleaned, this burns the tops, 
and 1 find it best to set the gems directly upon the 
oven bottom. They always rise some while baking,, 
and should be delicately browned all over when 
done. Do not take them out too soon, but when 
they are really done (so that they will not sink in a 
little at the top,) do not leave them in the irons 
longer. Minnesota House-keeper. 
A Simple Work Box. 
I saw a work box in the April number of the- 
American Agriculturist. Inclosed is a plan of one 
I made some time ago, and find very useful. It is 
10 inches high, 8 inches wide, and 6 inches deep. 
The drawers are 2 inches deep inside, and are made 
of I-inch material; the rest is of s-inch boards. 
Each drawer has a brass knob. The top projects 
I-inch all around. Two strips, with wires for spools 
are placed on one side, the other end has a strip of 
leather tacked on for scissors. A pin-cushion is 
placed on the top. The cost of everything besides- 
labor was 20 cents. A. H. D. 
I A Hint to Fruit Cannerg. — “ Reader 
| writes us from Burlington, Kansas, as follows : “ I 
notice that in an article on canning fruit in July 
1 last, you say, ‘ placed in jars previously warmed 
A COMMODIOUS AND WELL-ARRANGED PANTRY. 
