At the beginning of our prize contests 
on page 188, among the conditions stated 
was one that all manuscripts entered in 
the contests would be retained by us. 
We repeat it, that no one may forget it 
and expect the return of his manuscript. 
* 
Judging the manuscripts this time has 
been more of a task than in any previous 
contest, as there were so many articles 
of superior merit from which to select 
the best. Perhaps the approach of holi¬ 
day time has something to do with it. At 
any rate, we believe that our eaders will 
so far agree with us as to the excellen¬ 
cies of our literary bill of fare, that the 
display of cooking recipes usually made 
at this time of year will not be missed. 
* 
It is frequently remarked by oppo¬ 
nents of the cause, that the women fav¬ 
oring women suffrage are not the home 
women, wives and mothers. That there 
should be a majority of women not closely 
bound by home ties among the workers in 
the cause, is right and best. Aggressive 
work m ust be done until the object sought 
is attained. Put it is not desirable that all 
womankind should become as aggressive 
as these frontier workers need to be, 
and it is just as well that the mothers of 
the nation are doing their part simply 
in bestowing on their daughters the 
gentleness and sweetness which the race 
will always need, and always have, too, 
albeit there are some who would have 
us to think that women are losing their 
fineness of nature. 
* 
It took a great many generations to 
subdue this country of ours and dstab- 
lish wealth which could afford ease, 
refinement, education, and all that is 
desirable in higher life. It may take 
several generations to bring social condi¬ 
tions up to the ideal which reformers 
have in mind, and there may be several 
generations of the necessary aggressive 
women to effect the change. Put the 
flower of that civilization, the perfect 
woman, will take on all the graces and 
beauties of life, and she will rejoice that 
there are no more battles to fight, no 
more evils to destroy. Perish the thought 
that women wish to be men and are 
carrying evolution in that direction. 
•* 
Taking it altogether, there is more 
real, earnest effort on woman’s part to 
bring man to the measure of her own 
standard, than there is to conform to 
masculine lines. The demand for a 
single moral standard means that men 
shall become more like women. The 
steady growth of sentiment in this direc¬ 
tion, is a more reliable indication of the 
civilization toward which we are tend¬ 
ing, than the bloomer craze or doings 
at women's conventions. 
THE PRIZE WINNERS. 
FIRST PRIZE. 
Agricultural Co-Education. 
While the young farmer of to-day has 
had a fine chance to study his profession 
in one of the many agricultural schools, 
his wife has been left to get along as best 
she may, having no more scientific knowl¬ 
edge of her life work than her mother 
has been able to give her. While her 
husband knows exactly the reason why 
he sows certain crops on certain soils, 
and just exactly the process green grass 
has to go through before it becomes yel¬ 
low butter, what does she know about 
the poison which forms when tea stands 
in a tin teapot, or the composition of the 
yeast that makes her bread rise ? She 
knows the effect of the sun’s rays on her 
best carpet, but ten to one she doesn’t 
know the reason for it. 
This woman lias the most important 
department of the life partnership ; yet 
she is equipped with no more intelligent 
knowledge of her life work than were 
her ancestors of 100 years ago. What is 
needed for the farmer woman of to-day 
is an education in the agricultural col¬ 
leges. It is not a new idea. The plan 
of educating the women with the men in 
this branch, is now in operation in Den¬ 
mark, and in Minnesota there, is a school 
of agriculture for girls, the only one in 
the country. It is quite an old institu¬ 
tion now. and the results are very satis¬ 
factory. The students receive instruc¬ 
tion in sewing, canning, household 
chemistry, entomology, cooking, etc. 
Who shall say that a woman will be 
worse off for having a thorough, prac¬ 
tical knowledge of the work she must 
do all her life long ? 
Put even though we are convinced 
thatsuch an education would work won¬ 
ders in the farming districts, it will not 
AUNTY-SUFFRAGE. From Life. Fig. 263. 
become a reality unless women are 
aroused to a sense of an opportunity 
they are losing, and are urged to do 
something in the matter. Think about 
it, talk about it, make all the earnest 
effort you can, and like all good things, 
it may come slowly, but it will come in 
time. KI.VA C. BUTTON. 
SECOND PRIZE. 
Pomology. 
“My faith in human nature has been 
sadly shaken,” said Carrie, putting an 
empty plate ou the table with unneces¬ 
sary violence Her father and mother 
looked at her inquiringly. 
“ Half an hour ago,” she went on, “ I 
would not have believed it possible 
that a respected citizen of this town 
could be so selfish and dog-in-the-man- 
gerish as to deprive himself of some¬ 
thing he wants, for fear some one else 
may share the benefit of it. I took that 
plate of peaches over to Mr. and Mrs. 
J udkins, and they were delighted with 
them, and said that they were the nicest 
ones they ever ate. I told them how 
many jars we had put up, and they were 
astonished. Then I said that they were 
natural fruit seedlings, and if they would 
plant the stones, they would have some 
trees just like ours. Mr. J udkins laughed 
and said that he didn’t expect to live 
long enough for that, and Mrs. Judkins 
joined in and said that it took so long 
for any such thing to come to bearing, 
that it didn't pay. They threw the 
stones into the coal hod, and I took my 
plate and came away. 
“ Now they have had just as good a 
chance to have fruit as we. They’ve had 
their place longer than we have ours, 
and they have even more land ; but see 
how much fruit they have ! This year 
they had a half bushel of wild grapes, 
and two or three barrels of inferior ap¬ 
ples, while we’ve had all the fruit and 
berries we could eat, and have even 
given to them 1 I say that a man who 
won't set out trees because he’s afraid 
that he won't get all the good of them 
himself, doesn't deserve to have any 
fruit.” 
Carrie paused for breath. Her father 
was looking at her mother with a pecu¬ 
liar expression. ‘ Do you remember 
what a hard time you had getting me to 
set out those first fruit trees ?” he asked; 
and then they both laughed. 
SUSAN B. ROBBINS. 
THIRD PRIZE. 
Fun, Education and Culture. 
As the short, chilly days of the year 
approach, we earnestly look about us for 
occupation for the dear little ones, who 
must not be permitted to spend too much 
time out of doors. I find the use of 
“ Anagrams ” an unfailing source of de¬ 
light and improvement for them. If one 
forgets to purchase them when in town, 
some that will do nicely may easily be 
made from the large-lettered advertise¬ 
ment headings, and the headings of 
newspapers or magazines that are in 
distinct letters ; paste them upon paste¬ 
board, and cut the letters apart. Be sure 
to have them trimmed evenly, and as 
nearly of a size as possible. One will 
need to keep the “ I ” by itself and make 
a special work of pasting it on the card, 
as it is too easily lost if left to no larger 
space than it occupies in the papers. One 
will also need many more vowels than 
consonants. 
It is a perfectly fascinating pastime, 
and so educational withal—this building 
up of words from a box full of mixed 
letters ! The little ones are delighted to 
learn new words in this way, which they 
never forget. The older ones find 
pleasure in selecting some familiar word, 
shaking the letters together, and testing 
the spelling abilities of the rest by 
having them find what the word is. 
The whole work of making the ana¬ 
grams is especially good for the children. 
It teaches them to be observing , when 
watching for suitable letters; saving, 
when they put them by for future use ; 
expeditious, for mother cannot be troubled 
with this litter too long ; neat, for they 
must not scatter the paste or leave any 
A/ 
scraps about; persistent, for until many 
are made the work is in vain. Then the 
use of the anagrams teaches them to be 
patient, attentive, accurate and ordei'ly. 
All the lessons learned in this effort will 
find use and application in any sphere of 
life to which the dear young people may 
hereafter be called, mrs. Alice weld. 
A MAR’S MODEL KITCHEN. 
UR kitchen, Fig. 204, is not a perfect 
model, but has some features 
worth considering. The size is 12x14 
feet. It is wainscoted in pine, ceiled on 
the sides and overhead with narrow 
cucumber ; the floor is of pine, painted a 
light yellow. The woodwork is filled 
and varnished. The joists of the floor 
extend out to build the piazza on. The 
floor slopes to the northeast corner, at 
the outside door, 1% inch'; a pipe in 
the floor at the lowest place leads out of 
doors. The platform in the woodshed is 
an extension of the kitchen floor. The 
chimney is of fine, red, pressed brick, 
set with white mortar, wainscoted 
about two feet. Tables are built in the 
walls with no legs. There are upper and 
lower cupboards back of the range, and 
a cupboard above the wood platform (or 
woodbox). The doors to the woodbox 
match the cupboard doors. Over the 
range in the ceiling is a ventilator, a 
12-inch pipe extending through the roof. 
One lower cupboard in the pantry is a 
circulating air cupboard, with a hole 
through the floor at one end, through the 
bottom shelf at the other end, through 
the top shelf at the first end, and -into 
the partition at the back. Here we can 
keep provisions at about the same tem¬ 
perature as in the cellar. Special features 
are the slanting floor, ventilator, tables 
built into the wall, cold-air cupboard 
and the woodbox. c. w. sackett. 
THE BABY’S PICTURE. 
T was a perfect day in late September. 
The soft wind swayed the drooping 
branches of the willows and syringas, 
and scattered the petals of the late 
roses, as we stood by an open grave in 
the little country cemetery. It was a 
tiny grave, lined throughout with soft, 
white wadding, and edged with a wreath 
of myrtle and white asters. It looked 
very cosy and restful, with the sun shin¬ 
ing down into it. But the slight form of 
the young mother shook as with a sud¬ 
den chill, as the small, velvet-covered 
casket was carefully lowered, and the 
broad breast of the father heaved with 
its pent-up burden, while a band of 
white-robed children cast in a wealth of 
delicate blossoms. 
The touching prayer had been offered, 
a comforting hymn sung, and, as we 
turned away, leaving all that remained 
in the considerate sexton’s care, some 
one whispered, 
“ Of all sad words of tongue or pen, 
The saddest are these, it might have been." 
Yes, in all probability, the baby would 
not be lying there, had it not been for 
the unwise management of the mother. 
She did not nurse it, and as the weather 
was warm, thought it unnecessary to 
warm the milk, but gave it as it hap¬ 
pened to be. Of coursp, the tempera¬ 
ture varied considerably, and the child 
was subject to violent crying spells. 
When any one remarked upon this, the 
mother would reply: 
“ Oh, this is nothing ; he is used to it. 
scrofula 
Any doctor will tell you 
that Prof. Hare, of Jeffer¬ 
son Medical College, Phila¬ 
delphia, is one of the high¬ 
est authorities in the world 
on the action of drugs. In 
his last work, speaking of 
the treatment of scrofula, 
he says : 
“It is hardly necessary to state that 
cod-liver oil is the best remedy of all. 
The oil should be given in emulsion, so 
prepared as to be palatable.” 
He also says that the hy- 
pophosphites should be 
combined with the oil. 
Scott’s Emulsion of Cod- 
liver Oil, with hypophos- 
phites, is precisely such a 
preparation. Thus the 
latest and highest medical 
authority testifies to the 
great value of cod-liver oil 
emulsion in scrofula, espec¬ 
ially when there is a family 
history showing weakness 
of the lungs. 
Scott & Bowne, Chemists, New York. 50c. and $1.00 
