AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
153 
THINGS I SEE HERE AND THERE. 
BY JIINNIE MYRTLE. 
I sometimes see two families living side 
by side, with nearly the same means and the 
same in numbers ; and one is in constant tur¬ 
moil and confusion, and the other always 
quiet, pleasant and agreeable. What makes 
the difference 1 In one the lady has been 
rightly and thoroughly educated for her pro¬ 
fession, and in the other every thing con¬ 
nected with house-keeping is new and dis¬ 
tasteful. To one the broom and the dish¬ 
cloth and the gridiron are familiar things. 
She does not consider her hands polluted by 
any of the implements of cooking, and she 
never has a servant as wise as she is herself 
in the mysteries of pounding and compound¬ 
ing, and therefore she is never deceived and 
never imposed upon. 
The other hates the sight of a kitchen, and 
knows nothing about the preparation of any 
article of food which she is in the habit of 
ordering, and therefore does not know 
whether she can afford it, nor whether, if 
prepared, it is done as economically as it 
might be and should be. 
In one there are three servants, and every 
thing is half done and at “ loose ends and 
in the other there is one servant, and a place 
for every thing and every thing in its place. 
What makes the difference 1 Only this : 
that one lady sees to every thing herself— 
looks into every nook and corner, and saves 
every crumb and scrap, and the other sees 
to—nothing. 
I am far from thinking that every lady 
should cook, or wash, or iron, any more 
than that every man should dig, and plow, 
and mow, and thresh, when he can do some¬ 
thing else to much better advantage. But 
the work of a farm is never done well when 
the owner does not sometimes work with 
his men. Bo the work of a house is never 
done well when she who directs does not 
prove that she can practice as well as 
preach. 
I do not know a more thorough lady than 
this one whose house is always in such 
thorough order, nor one whose hands are so 
expert in every species of labor—one of the 
proofs, of which there are many, that a true 
lady makes the best house-keeper, and one 
who is not capable of making a good house¬ 
keeper is not capable of being a lady ! though 
she may be very delicate, and knows how to 
bow, and courtesy, and dress, and dance. 
I often hear it remarked of a family of 
daughters, “ What excellent wives they will 
make!” because they are great workers. 
But those who Avork most do not always ac¬ 
complish most. They often waste more 
than they save by their labor. It is a preva¬ 
lent idea among farmers, and mechanics 
especially, that they must not think of hav¬ 
ing a lady for a wife, because they need a 
wife to Avork. While it is only a lady, a 
well-educated lady, who can Avork efficiently, 
economically, and systematically. No avo- 
man, under any circumstances, should be 
obliged or consent to drudge the Avhole time. 
Those who do, neglect their children, and 
destroy their healtli—make a wreck of their 
nerves, and become fretful and useless ere 
life is half spent. 
Comparisons are often made between our 
grandmothers and the mothers of the present 
day, recounting the great labors the former 
performed. But it was not so difficult ob¬ 
taining good help in those days as in these, 
and those w r ho were at all well off did not 
think of doing without it. Those who did, 
drove their children out of sight to take care 
of themselves, did Avhat they could, and left 
the rest undone. They ate and drank, and 
lived from day to day, and year to year ; but 
they did not live comfortably, or as Chris¬ 
tian people should. 
I knoAv ladies Avhose husbands are enjoy¬ 
ing an income of ten thousand dollars a year, 
avIio Avash all the dishes of the family morn¬ 
ing and evening, if the house is full of com¬ 
pany, and rub the silver, skim the milk, take 
care of the butter, make all the sweet-meats, 
and go through the kitchen and pantries 
every morning and see that every thing is in 
order. These things they consider no part 
of a servant’s business, as they certainly are 
not. This thorough supervision is every 
woman’s duty, and every true Avoman’s 
pleasure. 
The farmer may work hard all summer 
and fall, but all the Avinter—especially in 
these days of threshing-machines—he may 
rest. But for his Avife there is no rest—win¬ 
ter and summer are alike—“ the Avork is 
never done.” 
Men, and farmers especially, are proverb¬ 
ial for liking to “ live avcII,” and it is this 
“living Avell ” Avhicli makes slaves of the 
women the world over. They do live on 
the fat of the land—live a great deal too Avell 
for their health, and many of them too Avell 
for the interest of their pockets. Those 
who Avork hard need good nourishing food, 
but grease is not nourishing, and this ingre¬ 
dient is altogether too common in the dishes 
upon farmer's tables. The frying-pan is too 
frequently resorted to, for no kind of food, 
meat, vegetable, or cake, is healthy, fried. 
Meat should be roasted, broiled, or boiled, 
and cakes should be baked. This is the de¬ 
cision of all good physicians and physiolo¬ 
gists ; but people arc such slaves to their 
palates, that it seems impossible to give any 
efficiency to the laws of health or comfort. 
A farmer’s family ahvays have comforta¬ 
ble food : flour, rye, Indian corn, and buck- 
Avheat, Avith eggs, cream and milk in abund¬ 
ance, Avhich may be moulded into infinite 
varieties of good things that are palatable 
and healthy. 
When a young lady buys her crockery, it 
is just as Avell, and as cheap, to get that 
which corresponds, and will give a pretty 
look to her table, as to get a dozen different 
colors and forms ; and then it does not take 
so long, when once the art is acquired, to 
arrange a table in a neat and orderly man¬ 
ner, as it does to have things here, there, 
and every Avhere, in a different place every 
time. 
On the table from which I have made this 
draAving, I dare say, no article has varied a 
hair’s-breadth from its position for ten, and, 
perhaps, twenty years. It looks so simple, 
and I know will look to many so ridiculous, 
that I hesitated long about transferring it to 
the American Agriculturist ; but I know so 
well the way hundreds and hundreds of ta¬ 
bles are laid, from mere thoughtlessness, 
that I venture to set this, hoping those Avho 
have every thing in “apple-pie order” will 
have patience with me for attempting to 
teach those who I know do not. 
Fig. 1, is the breakfast and tea table, which 
are so nearly alike as to need but one rep 
resentation ; and I set a common, old-fash¬ 
ioned square table, presuming these are still 
the most common—though I hope they are 
not, as oval ones are prettiest and most con¬ 
venient. 
Fig. 1,- 
Breakfast and Tea. 
% 
# 
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L 
W 
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P 
B 
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T 
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++ 
T. .Tray. AV Warm bread or muffins—meat, for 
JS Butter. O.. Cold bread. [breakfast. 
P . Preserves. E> . . Cake—Salt and pepper at breakfast. 
C..Cheese. E Id- Extras. 
# . Plates. l&tt. .Plate, knife and fork. 
Knife and fork handles together, blade of knife toward 
the plate. Tray always covered with a white napkin- 
cups and saucers on the side toward the lady who pours 
the tea, and sugar-bowl and cream-pot opposite. 
Fig. 2.—Dinner. 
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It Butter. M .Meat. IV Sauce or cheese. 
++ 
X X. . Vegetables. C. Castor. e e e e. .Extras. 
It .Bread. P.. Potatoes. It t. Pickles, 
5r5 §t§ . . Salts, with spoons crossed each side—or in op - 
posite corners of the table. 
My table, it Avill be seen, is a good old- 
fashioned country table. It is not genteel 
in the city to have cheese for tea, (or any 
thing else!) but this fashion is very little 
heeded in the country. 
At breakfast and supper the lady pours 
the tea Avhile the gentlemen help to eatables. 
The quickest, most convenient, and hand¬ 
somest way of helping at dinner, is, for the 
gentleman to put upon his plate meat and the 
vegetables nearest to him, and the lady put 
upon her plate those nearest to her, and then 
exchange, and each having supplied the plate 
taken from the other, hand it to those near¬ 
est, and soon, till all are helped. 
