« A FAIR EXCHANGE IS NO ROBBERY.” 
WHO IS THE ROBBEB IN YOUR HOUSEHOBI) ? 
When Should the Husband Help the Wife P 
There Is considerable dlscnsslon over the question as to Just how 
much the men folks on the farm should help In the house, and how 
much the women folks should help outdoors. For the benefit of our 
readers, we would like an expression of opinion from jou on the sub¬ 
ject. Under what circumstances should the women of the household 
do such work as feeding calves, pigs and poultrj, milking, tending 
the garden, driving the horses on the mower and reaper, rake, etc. ? 
When should the men folks perform such work as helping wltti the 
washing, cooking, sweeping, washing dishes, etc. T Who should bring 
In wood and water, build fires, etc. ? 
Fred Grundy on the Lie-a-Bed Man. 
The man who lies in bed while his wife, daughter, 
or even the hired girl, builds the fire ought to be 
plunged into a snowdrift and held there until he binds 
himself in the sum of $1,000 never to do the like again. 
I know some men who would not allow a wife or 
daughter to build the morning fires, but when it comes 
to the hired girl—why, that’s her business ; she’s paid 
for it I In this connection let me relate a little inci¬ 
dent : 
A farmer hired, for 50 cents a week, the 14-year-old 
daughter of a poor widow to “do housework and 
make herself generally useful.” She was one of those 
slender little things that a breath of cold air chills to 
the bone in a moment, and who have a natural dread 
of cold ; yet that great lubber compelled her to get up 
at 5 o’clock every morning through the cold winter 
and build the fire and get breakfast ready before he or 
his family stirred. Then if everything wasn’t just 
right, she was given a good round scolding for variety. 
Several years rolled by, and he died, leaving a widow 
and three daughters almost penniless. In the mean¬ 
time the widow’s daughter had become a woman, mar¬ 
ried, and with her husband was living on a farm in 
another part of the State. Learning of her where¬ 
abouts, her former mistress sent her 12-year-old daugh¬ 
ter to her with a letter begging her to keep the girl a 
year or two and feed and clothe her for such work as 
she could do. The woman well remembered the treat¬ 
ment she had received while working for that family, 
and she was not long in reminding the old lady of it; 
but she pitied the poor little thing that came seeking 
food and shelter, and took her in. She is living there 
to-day, and is treated like a human being. It would 
be well for people to remember that the “ irony of 
fate ” sometimes reverses conditions, and that it is best 
to treat the homeless and fatherless in a manner cal¬ 
culated to win their highest esteem rather than their 
lasting hate. “ Do unto others as ye would that they 
should do unto you ” is a good rule by which to be 
guided. 
The men should always build the morning fires, 
clean out the ashes, fill the kettles, and see that there 
is a good supply of coal or wood and water in the 
house, and then call the cook. Every farmer with a 
spark of manhood about him will do these things 
anyway. He who compels his wife to do them is a con¬ 
temptible lout. The men should also dig the potatoes, 
parsnips, etc., and this, together with the chores 
enumerated above, is about all the regular morning 
work that ought reasonably to be expected of the men 
in busy times, except it be another bucket or two of 
water after breakfast and at noon. If there be only 
one woman in the house, the men should assist on wash 
days, even in the busiest times, to the extent of carry¬ 
ing in all coal and water needed, and in case there are 
children to be looked after, a man can well afford to 
spend an hour helping with the heaviest part of the 
washing, or, at least, to come in about 11 o’clock and 
finish up while the woman prepares dinner. It is 
cheaper to do this than to pay doctors’ bills, to say 
nothing about the equity of the matter. 
In thrashing time a man can, in a few minutes, 
make the woman’s part 50 per cent easier by doing 
a few of the heavier jobs—getting all the water, coal, 
vegetables, etc., needed, into the house, and it is time 
well spent. After supper is over at such times, there 
is a whole ocean of work to be done in the house, es¬ 
pecially if the thrashers remain over night, and a man 
can do lots of it without either lowering his dignity 
or injuring his spine. I am well aware, however, that 
most men prefer to lie under the trees, where it is 
cool, and smoke and swap yarns with the thrashers ; 
but I gently drop this hint as a reminder. 
Milking, feeding calves, pigs, etc., is man’s work, 
and should be done by him, but the poultry should be 
left for the w omen to look after. Not one man in a dozen 
can handle a hen properly, and therefore they should 
let the fowls alone. The poultry and the profits ac¬ 
cruing from them belong to the women. The men 
should do the plowing, cultivating, hoeing and most of 
the planting in the garden, but they cau leave the 
training of vines, thinning out plants, and other light 
work to the women, because they can do it better and 
more rapidly than men. Women on the farm should 
know how to milk, and how to feed stock of all kinds, 
so that in case the men should become ill, or be sud¬ 
denly called away, they can attend to all these matters 
intelligently. They should also know how to harness 
and hitch horses to vehicles and implements, and to 
drive well. The education of a farmer’s daughter is 
not complete until she can do all these things, and do 
them right. Neither is the education of a farmer’s 
son finished until he knows how to cook a good, plain 
meal. He never may have occasion to do this thing, 
but it is well to know how if it ever becomes neces¬ 
sary. One of the most utterly helpless and bewildered 
things under the sun is a man who is suddenly called 
upon to cook a meal when he doesn’t even know how 
to grease a pan; or a woman obliged to feed a lot of 
stock when she doesn’t know whether they should 
have hay, straw, corn, oats or wheat, or how much of 
any one, and is “ afraid to death ” of a cow. The man 
may be laughably awkward about the cooking, and 
the woman may do the feeding in a queer, left-handed 
manner, but if they can do them fairly well, and in¬ 
telligently, that is all that is necessary. 
The man that can cook is never “ left,” and his wife 
never has occasion to fear that he will starve to death 
if she miss a train and fail to get home, or be obliged 
to stay overnight with a sick neighbor. And if she be 
ill, he can slash around and fix up things and keep the 
household in good running order, which in itself is 
good medicine for a sick woman. And the woman that 
can milk, feed stock, harness and handle a team is a 
jewel, because she can take her husband’s place in 
case he is disabled or called away, or can run some 
of the machinery in tbe field if a hand get “ overhet ” 
or “ droughty ” and cuts for town. And besides each 
can better appreciate the labors of the other because 
they know some of the difficulties with which they are 
beset. 
Christian County, Ill. 
No Meridian Line in This House. 
There is no meridian line established in our family 
circle over which the women folks on one side and the 
men on the other are not allowed to cross in their 
daily duties. When the weather is fair, and the men 
are busy in the field, the women should advance out¬ 
doors for wood and water, to feed the calves, etc. As 
the days shorten, or become unpleasant, the men 
should follow up the reaction and take up the slack 
places indoors, as far as the necessities may require. 
We try to train our children, both boys and girls, to 
know how to do something in either of the two depart¬ 
ments of household and farm work. Our daughter 
can hitch a horse to wagon or buggy, and milk some ; 
but this is men’s work. The boys and the “ old man ” 
are occasionally drawn upon to fill up the slack places 
of churning, cooking and sweeping, while the hired 
cook is on a high strike, or disability from any cause 
takes place in the household force. The boys that are 
too masculine to do a little feminine work occasion¬ 
ally, are not the honorable and prosperous citizens we 
see all over the land to-day. So, too, the girl that is 
not too feminine to help her father or brother a little 
in the two-handed places, is the one sought by a sensi¬ 
ble man to preside as queen over a great household. 
Anderson County, S. C. J. c. stbibling. 
Different Kules for Different People. 
Conditions of life are so varied ; the relations exist¬ 
ing in the married life of some so widely different 
from that of all others, that just how far wives should 
help their husbands, or husbands should he'p their 
wives in the work of a farm, cannot be definitely 
stated. One wife may feed calves, pigs, poultry ; may 
do the milking and superintend the garden, and not 
sacrifice her self respect, while such work is nothing 
less than degrading to some other wife. One wife 
would rather keep a servant to do the rough house¬ 
work, and use her energies in helping her husband. 
No woman should labor in a garden, drive horses on a 
mower, reaper, rake, etc. Such work injures her 
health—it is man’s work. But she may drive the 
horses to the blacksmith ; she may lend a hand when 
thrashing is being done (the lightest hand), she may 
help in preparing vegetables for market. There are 
countless things that she may do, providing she keeps 
this rule in mind : “ Never sacrifice self-respect, 
intellectual culture, the care of the children, or home 
comforts,” for these are more valuable to the husband 
than gold; these are the little things that make his 
life happy. 
When should men folks perform such work as help¬ 
ing with the washing, cooking, sweeping, washing 
dishes, etc. ? Who shall bring in the wood and water, 
build fires, etc. ? I have seen a man do all these 
things and I have thought, “ How small he is!” I 
have seen another man do even more and have 
thought, “He is truly a model husband.” Circum¬ 
stances alter cases—the very nature of the man deter¬ 
mines the question. As a rule, the farmer should 
bring the wood and water, make the fires and hire a 
woman to do the washing ; as a rule he should not 
sweep, wash dishes or cook. He should be governed 
by this principle : “ My wife needs tender and affec¬ 
tionate care; if at any time it would relieve her—make 
her life easier—there is nothing that I will not do for 
her.” MISS m. v. p. 
Union County, N. J. 
Tbe Part False Pride and Laziness Play. 
It would be a false pride indeed that would keep a 
farmer’s wife from helping in any way physically 
possible, and laziness is inex3usable in either party. 
There are some kinds of work that seem to belong to 
the man of the house. It takes but a short time to 
start the kitchen fire as he passes through the room to 
do his morning chores, and his wife should be on hand 
soon enough to attend to the stove drafts. Wood and 
water can be brought when returning from the barn. 
If one woman attends to her own work, she has very 
little time to spare until afternoon, and then sewing 
and mending can fill up the time until tea ; so in warm 
weather the cool of the day is her leisure to go about 
the farm. But if one day is too much like another, 
she gets to be a machine and so loses much of the 
pleasure of farm life. I do not think it unmanly for 
her husband sometimes to help wash the dinner dishes 
or help about the washing, so that his wife can get 
outdoors and take an interest in his work. As to 
riding mowing machines, I would rather feed hens ; 
but if a woman has the skill, it is no more unladylike 
than to ride in an express wagon. If she likes to dig 
potatoes or pull weeds in the vegetable garden, why 
isn’t‘it just as healthful as to work in her fiower 
garden ? It is proverbial that smart women have lazy 
husbands, and I hope The R. N.-Y. will publish some 
spicy letters from that class; but to a true woman 
there is nothing either disgraceful or sinful in the out¬ 
door work of the farm. mbs. s. h h. 
Essex County, Mass. 
Out-of-Door Work Benefits Women. 
It seems unfortunate that it is necessary to discuss 
such a question. It is an indication of a screw loose 
somewhere, and reminds one of an act in real life, 
often seen, in which two children are given a disagree¬ 
able task and each is jealous lest the other should not 
do his or her share. We are all children grown, as 
such questions show; and it is only where the members 
of the household are partners, perfectly harmonious 
and heartily interested in their work, that such ques¬ 
tions adjust themselves according to adaptability, or 
circumstances, or necessity. There is a false and super¬ 
ficial sentiment that does not deserve to be considered, 
but which still keeps many from a free exercise of their 
inclination or bent in this direction. In general, 
women don’t work outdoors enough. More’s the pity, 
on the farm, where there is such a good opportunity, 
where the pure air of Heaven is just outside the door, 
and all the beauties of God’s handiwork inside the 
line fences. How city folks prize these things. But we 
go to our work with eyes blinded, ears dulled, and 
heart hardened to these glorious opportunities. I often 
wish, as I pause in my work to notice some of these 
A cream of tartar baking powder. 
Highest of all in leavening strength. 
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Report. 
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106 Wall Street, New York. 
