i89i 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER; 
487 
A FEW WAYS OF USING GOOSE¬ 
BERRIES. 
G ooseberries are not used in this 
country so much as in England, 
though with surer modes for combating 
mildew they will no doubt become more 
generally known and liked. Most persons 
enjoy eating them fresh from the bushes, 
but they are not raised in sufficient quan¬ 
tities in this locality now-a-days for cooks 
to understand their merits. 
They are very nice to use with meats, 
when simply canned and they make deli¬ 
cious marmalade. Like all fruit contain¬ 
ing small seeds, one must be careful not to 
cook gooseberries too much. They have 
one decided merit—they are as good for 
cooking while green as when perfectly ripe. 
Green gooseberries make very nice pies. 
They should be baked with two crusts, and 
they require a generous amount of sugar. 
Doubtless the most famous dish prepared 
from gooseberries, though why so delicious 
a dainty should bear such a name passes 
my understanding, is 
Gooseberry Fool.— Wash two quarts 
of green gooseberries carefully, aod remove 
the stems and dried blossoms. Put them 
in the preserving kettle with just enough 
water to cover them. Cook until soft with¬ 
out covering the kettle. Press the fruit 
at once through a colander or sieve with 
the back of a spoon, and while the pulp is 
still hot add two pounds of granulated su¬ 
gar. When cool stir a quart of rich cream 
or the same amount of boiled custard into 
the gooseberry pulp, until thoroughly 
mixed. Serve with whipped cream and 
sponge cake. 
Gooseberry Fool, No. 2.— The old Eng¬ 
lish way of concocting this dish was to 
prepare the pulp the same as in the first 
recipe, adding an ounce of butter with the 
sugar. Six eggs were then beaten very 
thoroughly and stirred into the pulp, and 
the mixture was returned to the fire until 
the eggs were cooked. When cold, some 
cooks stir in a spoonful of spinach juice to 
make it a bright green color. 
Cake is served with this dish and an ac¬ 
companying glass of milk is regarded by 
many persons as a necessity. s. A. L. 
A SCHOOL GIRL’S THOUGHTS ON 
COUNTRY SCHOOLS. 
S A. LITTLE’S article on country 
• schools in The Rural of February 
28 was too short. Her closing sentence: 
“ And though much depends upon natural 
talent, birth and blood, even more depends 
upon how that talent is nurtured and cul¬ 
tivated from its earliest existence,” if 
rightly applied, in our schools, would be a 
benefit to every pupil. 
With a new teacher every term, the 
country schools do not furnish much ma¬ 
terial for the cultivation of talents. If a 
good teacher were to have the same school 
for, say, five years at least, then better 
results could be expected. The teacher 
soon becomes acquainted with every 
pupil’s natural tendency for this or that 
study, and, if given time, could by judicious 
help and encouragement cultivate a talent 
which would be a lasting benefit to a pupil. 
As it is, the pupils rush through their 
studies as if all they had to do were to 
learn by heart what the books contained, 
and by the time a new teacher comes for 
the next term, they have forgotten most 
of it. 
Classmates of mine could answer every 
question given, on the maps of Europe, for 
instance. But let the teacher tell them to 
take paper and pen and write an imag¬ 
inary journey through Europe, visiting 
the principal cities, noting what they are 
celebrated for, crossing the principal rivers 
and viewing the noted mountains, telling 
of the different climates and products, dif¬ 
ferent forms of government, etc., and they 
would be completely lost. 
This should not be so ; for It is not what 
we know but what we make use of that 
counts, and it seems to me one of the 
requisites to the cultivation of a talent is 
gtUwUiuwotttf gktlMrtijsiittfl. 
Please mention The R. N.-Y. to our adver¬ 
tisers. 
When Baby was sick, we gave her Castor la, 
When she was a Child, she cried tor Castorla, 
When she became Miss, she clung to Castorla, 
When she had Children, she gave them Castorla. 
composition writing. Have every pupil 
write a composition on his or her lesson. 
Even a dull lesson in geography could thus 
be brightened and more easily learned, and 
when pupils by their own efforts have writ¬ 
ten and memorized a lesson in their own 
words, ten to one it will never be forgotten. 
Take a lesson in history: what could make 
it plainer or more easily learned than for 
the pupils to write it out in their own 
words ? A pupil could take an Interesting 
imaginary voyage and follow Columbus 
and his discoveries, or any other eqaUy in¬ 
teresting subject. 
Composition is the finishing touch to 
every education. In many country schools 
it is not taught. In some it is taught, but 
in such a manner that it becomes a task in¬ 
stead of a pleasure to the pupils. 
A small class of girls in our district school 
were given autumn as a subject to write a 
composition on. Now, what child could in 
the dead of winter write a composition on 
autumn ? Children know of no past and 
see no future exc9pt as it furnishes or will 
furnish them pleasure. The present time 
is all in all to them; then why not give 
them a subject which they can both see and 
know exists t Again, what do children know 
about autumn anyway f They see no so¬ 
lemnity or beauty in the preparations 
which Dame Nature is making for her long 
winter’s sleep ; to them autumn has no 
charm except as it brings the pleasure of 
nut gathering, rips pawpaws, apples, etc. 
The same is true of winter, and in fact of 
all the seasons. In winter they see and ap¬ 
preciate only the fun they can have In the 
snow and the visit of jolly old Santa Claus. 
Spring does not awake in their minds any 
sense of the grandeur and beauty which it 
is putting forth. They see not the swelling 
bud and the faint green of the grass, or the 
charm of the bright, warm days. They only 
know that then is when Easter comes and 
the fun of hiding, cooking and coloring 
eggs. 
The beauty and usefulness of summer 
do not affect them. They think only of 
the warm sun and warm earth as espe¬ 
cially a time when they may go barefooted. 
Famous mud pies are then made and the 
poor craw fish and minnows are chased in 
the shallow water. 
Give pupils subjects to write upon that 
they are familiar with. The seasons and 
such subjects should be left for older and 
wiser heads. 
In city schools, composition is an impor¬ 
tant study, but in the country it is neglect¬ 
ed, to the loss of the pupils. To know a 
thing is good, to express it well is better. 
Illinois. farmer’s girl. 
GENERAL DIRECTIONS FOR 
CANNING. 
W HEN fruit cans are emptied they 
should be thoroughly washed and 
rinsed and carefully dried so that there 
may be no danger from mold. The rubber 
may be dropped in each can or, still better, 
be put in a box kept for the purpose. The 
covers should be screwed on carefully and 
jars of one kind kept together. When 
needed for use rinse each can in cold water, 
see that the rubber and cover fit so that it 
will not leak, and put rubber, glass top and 
metallic ring in such a position that you 
know to which can it belongs, and where 
you can reach it easily when needed. The 
cans may be put in the warming closet of 
the stove if it is large enough, otherwise 
put them In warm water and heat them 
gradually till the water is nearly boiling 
hot. 
Fold a wet towel to at least four thick¬ 
nesses and put it at the back of your work 
table, and have one or more cloths ready 
for wiping cans, etc. A strong two-quart 
dipper is perhaps as convenient as anything 
to hold the can while filling, where the 
fruit is cooked in the preserving kettle. A 
fruit tunnel which fits the cans easily is a 
great convenience, as is a small dipper with 
a long handle. A spoon is better for dip¬ 
ping out large fruits, but the little dipper 
expedites matters for small fruits, mar¬ 
malades, etc. 
Soft fruits are best cooked in the cans. 
Strawberries and red raspberries should 
never be cooked in any other way. Fill the 
cans as full as possible with fruit. Make a 
syrup of sugar and water, let It come to a 
boil, skim and cool. Fill the cans with the 
syrup and screw on the top without the 
rubber, then set them In a wash boiler. 
There is an ingenious contrivance made for 
holding each can in a wire frame which 
protects the cans from each other and from 
the bottom of the kettle. A handle which 
fits into the top of the frame enables the 
can to be lifted out without danger to can 
or fingers. The boiler should have enough 
cold water poured into it to come to within 
two inches of the top of the can. The 
water should boil from five to ten minutes 
for berries and longer for more solid fruits. 
When cooked remove the can to the table, 
take off the top, fill to the brim from a 
surplus of hot syrup kept for the purpose, 
put on rubber and cover, screw down 
securely and set bottom upwards on the 
folded towel. If there is any chance of a 
leak it will be shown in this way. 
A granite or porcelain kettle should al¬ 
ways be used when frnit is cooked before 
it is put in the cans. None but the purest 
sugar should be used for putting up fruit. 
Some sugar will not make jelly, no matter 
how skillful the cook may be. All fruit 
should be of fine quality, ripe but not over¬ 
ripe, and perfectly fresh. There is more 
danger in cooking fruit too much than too 
little. The following rule may be found 
useful in measuring sugar, though tastes 
differ. The amount indicated is for a quart 
jar of fruit: Cherries, 6 ounces; straw¬ 
berries, 8 ; raspberries, 4 ; blackberries, 6; 
quinces, 10; pears, 8; peaches, 4; pines p 
pies, 6; plums, 8 ; currants, 8 ; cranberries, 
12. S. A. LITTLE. 
InUlCpTREADMlULSjHRESHINGMACHINES, 
lnW^ L vGircular^DragS/w Machines, 
IO^WL^Fodder Shredders. c f 0 UN DRY Co. 
\ ^QDRESS 
The Chieftain Tedder. 
WITH PATENT ATTACHMENT. 
to relieve strain on Forks, Frame and Horse. Square 
Steel Axle extending from Woeel to Wheel. Com 
Lined Shaft and l’ole. If you need a Tedder, write 
for Circular and Special Cash price, or name of near¬ 
est Dealer. 
THE CHIEFTAIN CO., Canton, Ohio. 
Or, again, there are other girls who, 
seeing some wives neglected and forsaken 
by their husbands, tremble for themselves, 
and rather than fall into this misery, will 
never marry at all. This I have myself 
often considered ; for to see your husband’s 
love die away, and be followed by nothing 
but neglect or contempt, must be a terrible 
thing. Yet we should all hope that this 
misfortune may not fall upon us, but rather 
the long continuance of love to the very 
end, when youth and strength and beauty 
have long gone, and the man’s skill of hand 
is forgotten, and he can only sib in the 
chimney-corner. There the two old folk 
should comfort each other; and, I think, 
they might then bless the Lord for the in¬ 
stitution of marriage. I speak not against 
wedlock—I, though I am an old maid whom 
no man has ever wooed. What then ? So 
much the worse for me—not so much the 
worse for wedlock. Shall I cry out that 
grapes are sour t Not so.—W. Besant, in 
Harper’s Bazar. 
Conversing not long since with an emi¬ 
nent preacher, I answered in astonishment 
at something he said: “Can it be possible 
that you believe still in the ivy and the 
oak ? ” “ Yes, indeed I do,” he replied. 
“ Why, Doctor,” I said, “ can it be you care 
for a woman who can only lean. You, with 
your great heart and brains, must need a 
heart and soul to answer you in return. 
Surely, in all the emergencies of life, you 
want a strong woman with you to help you 
tide over the days of darkness. Your wife 
cannot be simply the clinging ivy; must she 
not also be the strength your spirit craves?” 
“ You are right,” he answered, “I am oak; 
but my wife, God bless her, she is oaker.”— 
Mary Seymour. 
Readers of The R. N.-Y. will please tht 
advertisers and benefit the paper by always 
mentioning it when writing to advertisers. 
RHEUMATISM 
neuralgia, 
and sciatica 
can always be 
successfully treated 
with 
Ayer’s Sarsaparilla 
A cure 
is sure to follow 
the persistent 
use of this 
medicine. * 
Has Cured Others 
will cure you. 
Tuft's Pills 
enable the dyspeptic to eat whatever he 
wishes. They cause the food to assimilate 
and nourish the body, give appetite, and 
DEVELOP FLESH. 
Office, 39 & 41 Park Place, New York. 
275 ACRE FARM. 
Fertile, warm early soil. 
Hood tirati Land. 
Hood Butter Farm. 
Hood Truck Farm. 
Hood Fruit Farm. 
Good Poultry Farm. 
Depo.it of Pink Granite. 
Depo.it ot Fine Molding Rand. 
Famous Hprlng of Pure Water. 
Twenty-seven miles from Boston. Six good menu 
facturlng village markets within seven miles; one 
mile from railroad station, post-office, etc. 
tS>r FOR SALE AT LOW PRICE. 
May be divided into two farms. Two houses, big 
barn. etc. 
Address “ FARM,” care Tub Rural Nkw-Yorkkr 
USE BOILING WATER OR MILK. 
EPPS’S 
GRATEFUL-COMFORTING. 
COCOA 
SOLD IN LABELLED « LB. TINS. 
General Advertising Rates of 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
TIME8 BUILDING, NEW YORK. 
The following rates are invariable. All are there¬ 
fore respectfully informed that any correspondence 
with a view to obtaining different terms will prove 
futile. 
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sized type, 14 lines to the Inch).80cents 
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Yearly orders occupying 10 or more lines 
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Preferred positions.25 per cent, extra. 
Reading Notices, ending with “Adv.,” per 
line, minion leaded.75 cents 
No Advertisement received for leas than $1.00 
for each insertion. 
Terms of Subscription. 
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French Colonies. 4.08(29^ fr.) 
Agents will be supplied with canvassing outfit on 
application. 
Entered at the Post-office at New York City. N. Y. 
as seeond-class mall matter. 
D’ye see those 
skates ? The Pitts¬ 
burgh lamp is 
" ahead. It gives 
’magnificent light. 
It is easy to 
care for. 
It keeps itself clean—all 
but wiping. 
Send for a primer—can’t 
tell it all here. 
Pittsburgh, Pa. PITTSBURGH BRASS Co. 
Package makes 6 gallons. 
Delicious, sparkling, and 
appetizing. Bold t>y all 
dealers. FREE a beautiful 
Picture Book and cards 
•ant to any one addressing 
O. B. HIREU * CO., 
Philadelphia. 
