THE  RURAL  NEW-YORKER 
51 
Household  Accounting 
The  Massachusetts  State  Board  of  Ag¬ 
riculture  has  issued  Circular  Xo.  34, 
“Household  Accounting."  by  Miss  Laura 
Comstock.  It  will  be  found  suggestive 
by  housekeepers  who  wish  to  be  system¬ 
atic,  and  to  organize  their  households  on 
a  business  basis.  We  are  sometimes  sur¬ 
prised  to  find  how  many  careful  women 
do  not  keep  accounts  of  their  expendi¬ 
tures.  One  reason  for  this,  among  farm 
women,  is  the  fact  that  many  of  their 
supplies  do  not  call  for  cash,  being  sup¬ 
plied  by  the  farm  or  taken  in  trade.  Un¬ 
less  things  traded  or  grown  on  the  farm 
are  credited  with  their  market  value,  the 
actual  returns  of  the  farm  arc  not  fully 
counted. 
To  arrive  at  proper  expenditure  of  the 
family  income,  a  budget  must  be  made 
out.  divided  into  certain  fixed  propor¬ 
tions.  The  following  suggested  budget 
for  a  family  of  two  adults  and  three  chil¬ 
dren  is  given  by  Ellen  H.  Richards  in 
“The  Cost  of  Living”  : 
Percentage  for: 
-jo 
Family  Income. 
Two  adults  and 
i— 
two  or  three 
Z  £ 
’fi 
C_  £ 
children  (equal 
*3 
■M 
2  If 
to  four  adults: ) 
O 
!•& 
Any  Income  (ideal 
division  i  . 
25 
20 
15 
15 
25 
$2,000  to  $4,000.  . 
25 
20 
15 
20 
20 
$800  1o  $1.000... 
30 
20 
10 
15 
25 
$.-.00  to  $800 . 
4  5 
15 
10 
10 
20 
T'nder  $500  . 
00 
15 
5 
10 
10 
It  will  be  noted 
in 
the  budgets 
thil 
the  smaller  the  income  the  higher  the  per¬ 
centage  spent  for  food.  A  man  earning 
but  $500  spends  60  per  cent,  or  $300,  of 
his  income  to  supply  the  amount  of  food 
necessary.  If  he  has  a  garden  or  gets 
some  produce  from  the  farm,  the  per¬ 
centage  spent  for  food  may  seem  abnorm¬ 
ally  low. 
Regarding  the  keeping  of  household  ac¬ 
counts  Miss  Comstock  says  that  the  host 
method  is  that  which  will  give  the  least 
trouble,  take  the  least  time,  and  show 
daily,  monthly  and  yearly  expenditures. 
An  elaborate  “system”  has  killed  many 
an  honest  attempt  to  keep  accounts. 
Keep  them  in  such  a  way  that  a  balance 
can  be  made  at  any  time  between  re¬ 
ceipts  and  expenses.  Items  should  he 
so  listed  that  there  will  be  no  difficulty 
in  seeing  how  much  is  spent  for  food, 
how  much  for  clothing  or  other  purposes. 
The  simplest  way  of  keeping  accounts 
is  by  the  envelope  system.  This  plan, 
however,  seems  only  advisable  when  one’s 
ncome  is  not  much  above  $1,000  a  year, 
a. id  is  received  at  stated  times.  Envel- 
;  t-s  are  marked  and  the  apportioned  sum 
laced  inside.  'When  any  money  is  taken 
•  he  date  and  amount  should  be  recorded 
•n  a  slip  of  paper  and  placed  within.  The 
account  should  be  balanced  weekly  or 
monthly,  depending  upon  when  the  appro¬ 
priation  is  renewed.  If  any  money  is 
borrowed  from  one  envelope  for  another 
careful  record  should  be  kept  of  it.  Fol¬ 
lowing  this  method  means  that  many 
times  more  money  is  kept  about  than  is 
safe  or  desirable.  Also,  when  money  is 
borrowed  from  one  account  for  another 
and  not  credited  there  is  confusion. 
The  account  book  is  more  complete 
than  this.  An  ordinary  unruled  note 
book  or  loose-leaf  note  book  may  be  used 
by  ruling  the  pages  to  suit  the  divisions 
of  the  income;  or  a  family  expense  book 
may  be  bought  with  printed  headings. 
Two  pages  should  be  used  for  the  ac¬ 
count.  On  the  extreme  left  of  the  first 
page  should  be  a  column  for  the  days  of 
the  month.  The  source  of  receipts  should 
he  noted  as  well  as  amounts.  The  page 
is  then  divided  for  groceries,  meats,  rent 
or  taxes  and  interest,  labor,  carfare  or 
other  traveling  expenses,  if  daily  travel 
is  required.  The  second  page  is  divided 
into  clothes,  and  a  general  division  called 
“higher  life,”  which  includes  columns  for 
church  and  philanthropy,  books  and  mag¬ 
azines,  travel  and  amusement,  savings, 
household  appliances  and  furniture, 
physician  and  dentist.  The  daily  totals 
should  be  calculated  and  the  sums  placed 
n  the  columns  reserved  at  the  extreme 
right  under  the  caption  daily  total  ex¬ 
penses.  At  the  foot  of  each  column  space 
s  left  for  the  totals  of  each  column.  The 
grand  total  of  these  totals  at  the  bottom 
of  the  two  pages  should  balance  with  the 
grand  totals  of  the  daily  totals.  Space 
is  indicated  for  the  monthly  total  receipts 
and  the  monthly  total  expenses. 
In  the  back  part  of  the  account  book 
two  duplicate  pages  should  be  ruled  for 
a  recapitulation  by  months.  When  bal¬ 
ancing  accounts  at  the  close  of  each 
month  the  totals  should  be  carried  for¬ 
ward  to  those  pages. 
The  card  system  is  well  liked  by  some 
people  for  keeping  accounts.  In  using 
cards  the  headings  may  he  the  same  as 
those  in  a  book.  Each  mouth  the  total 
expenditures  should  he  transferred  to  a 
card  reserved  for  monthly  totals. 
For  the  Apple  Consumers’  League 
Winter  Apple  Pie. — Chop  six  large  ap¬ 
ples  quite  fine,  as  for  mincemeat;  mix 
with  the  juice  of  a  lemon;  a  little  of  the 
grated  rind ;  one  cup  of  currants  and 
chopped  raisins ;  one  cup  of  sugar,  two 
large  tablespoon fuls  of  butter  cut  into 
small  pieces  and  a  little  nutmeg  or  cin¬ 
namon.  Put  the  mixture  into  pie  tins 
lined  with  paste,  cover  with  a  thin  crust 
and  bake  half  an  hour. 
Jellied  Apples. — Pare  and  quarter  six 
large  apples,  preferably  sweet  ones.  Slice 
one  lemon  over  them,  add  one  cup  of 
water  and  bake  till  tender,  or  they  may 
be  steamed,  instead.  Then  make  a  syrup 
of  two  cups  of  sugar,  put  in  the  apples 
and  cook  them  three  minutes,  which  will 
make  them  transparent  and  clear.  Then 
take  them  out  carefully,  add  one  ounce  of 
gelatine  to  the  syrup.  Let  it  just  come 
to  a  boil,  then  lay  a  slice  of  lemon  on 
each  apple  and  pour  the  syrup  over.  It 
is  a  dessert  that  is  very  pretty  piled  high 
on  a  glass  dish,  covered  with  whipped 
The  Nation’s  Spread  for 
Griddle  Cakes  and  Waffles 
FOUR  hours  of  breakfasting  from  New  York  to  San  Francisco 
—and  golden  brown  Karo  being  poured  thick  over  tempting 
hot  cakes  every  minute. 
The  Nation  s  breakfast — Karo  on  cakes,  waffles,  corn-bread  and 
ot  biscuits  —  in  many  thousands  of  homes,  day  after  day. 
Araerlcnn  women  have  also  found  out  how  Karo  helps  in  making  deli- 
ous  pastries,  puddings,  candy-  and  jams  and  preserves  that  will  not 
•ystallize.  Scores  of  welcome  recipes  in  the  free  Corn  Products  Cook 
ook — send  for  it. 
It  ;s  the  custom  now  among  thoughtful  housewives  to  order  Karo  by  the 
cionsly  baked  cakes  that  can  be  made. 
The  Griddle  heats  uniformly  over  entire 
baking  surface  — cakes  bnked  evenly.  It 
needs  no  greasing.  It  doesn't  rust— and 
it  stays  clean  and  bright  on  both  sides. 
Get  50  cents  worth  of  Kara  from  your 
grocer  at  once— Send  us  the  labels  and  85 
cents  in  stamps  or  money  order  at  once. 
You'll  get  the  griddle  by 
%  parcel  post  prepaid. 
/  Corn  Product*  Refining  Co. 
I  Dept.  204  P.O.Box  161 
'  •/  New  York  J  J 
Embroidery  Designs 
rt«ux/»raw 
No.  914  is  a  design  for  embroidering  an  in¬ 
fant's  sheet  and  pillow  case.  The  scalloped 
edges  are  to  he  padded  and  buttonholed.  The 
leaves,  flowers  and  dots  may  be  worked 
solidly,  as  eyelets  or  in  a  combination  of  the 
two.  The  stems  are  to  be  outlined.  The  cen¬ 
ters  are  to  be  worked  solidly.  Price  of  trans¬ 
fer  pattern,  10  cents. 
(.‘ream  and  dotted  here  and  there  with  a 
bit  of  bright  jelly  or  candied  fruits  of 
different  colors. 
Baked  Apples  With  Dates. — Choose 
good  mildly  acid  apples.  Remove  the 
core  and  skin,  then  press  into  the  opeu 
center  one  or  two  stoned  dates.  Add  a 
very  little  water  to  the  pan  and  bake 
without  destroying  the  shape  of  the  ap¬ 
ples.  The  natural  sugar  of  the  dates  will 
supply  necessary  sweetening. 
Apples  a  la  Bernice. — Pare  and  core 
eight  large  apples.  Cut  each  opple  into 
eighths.  Put  a  layer  of  apples  iu  a  baking 
dish  and  over  them  strew  bits  of  butter 
(one  teaspoonful)  and  four  tablespoonfuls 
of  sugar.  Cut  one-fourth  pound  of  washed 
figs  into  halves  and  put  them  on  the  ap¬ 
ples.  Sin-inkle  two  tablespoon  fuls  of 
sugar  on  the  figs.  Make  a  batter  of  one 
egg  beaten  to  a  froth  and  add  one  and 
one-half  cups  of  milk.  Sift  one  teaspoon- 
ful  of  baking  powder  with  one  cupful  of 
flour  and  add  to  the  egg  and  milk.  If 
the  batter  is  too  thin  add  a  little  more 
flour.  Pour  the  batter  into  the  pan  over 
the  figs  and  bake  about  one-half  hour. 
Serve  with  cream  and  sugar. 
Apple  Puffets. — Two  eggs,  one  pint 
milk,  sufficient  flour  to  thicken  like  waf¬ 
fle  batter,  1)A  teaspoons  baking  powder. 
Fill  baking  cups  with  alternate  layers 
of  batter  and  finely  chopped  apples  sweet¬ 
ened.  Steam  one  hour;  serve  with  cream 
and  sugar. 
Apple  Fritters. — Pare  and  core  tart  ap¬ 
ples  and  Cut  thi  ni  in  slices  about  one- 
third  of  an  inch  thick,  leaving  the  round 
opening  in  the  centre.  Dip  the  slices  in 
fritter  batter  made  of  one  pint  of  milk, 
three  eggs,  a  little  salt  and  a  pint  of 
flour.  A  teaspoonful  of  baking  powder  is 
sometimes  mixed  with  the  flour.  Beat 
the  eggs  well,  adding  first  part  of  the 
milk  and  salt,  then  the  flour  aud  the  rest 
of  the  mill,  alternately.  Beat  the  batter 
together  quickly  and  add  the  apples  im¬ 
mediately.  then  fry,  browning  each  bat¬ 
ter-covered  slice  separately. 
36  South  Clinton  Av«.,  Chicago.  Illlnol*. 
A-5  i  ,  Pry  off 
£\ .  r$y  1st  cover 
?  iiV-U  to  sift 
Pry  off  2nd 
cover  to 
empty 
quickly 
Whenever  you  make  a  batch  of  soap  be  sure  V’V- 
8  that  the  lye  you  use  is  the  strongest  and  purest 
j)  you  can  get — and  that  means  v-i 
N  BABBITT’S  LyI  1 
I  In  the  New  Can  with  the  Sifting  Pry -Off’  Top  i 
1 Look  for  Babbitt’s  In  che  handy  can  with  the  two  tops,  t 
•  at  your  grocer’s.  Absolutely  the  best  can  on  the 
\  market.  Use  little  or  much  as  you  desire. 
J  B.  T.  Babbitt  has  been  known  for  79  years  as  a  maker  of 
high  quality  soap.  His  reputation  is  your  guarantee. 
Babbitt’s  Pure  Lye  is  highest  in  strength  but  not  in  price. 
10c  at  all  first  class  grocers  and  druggists 
It  makes  home  made  soap  that  is  perfect  in  quality,  appear¬ 
ance  and  cleansing  results.  It  is  also  used  with  entire  satis¬ 
faction  for  all  other  purposes  to  which  any  lye  is  adapted. 
V  Beautiful  and  useful  presents  D  T 
A  given  free  for  Trade  Marks  .  *  1  *  . 
.\\  cut  from  Babbitt  labels.  /  \  BABBITT  ' 
M\  Send  for  Illustrated  X  \N 
JfC'.  \  Premium  Catalog.  /  'v\  York  , 
