WOMAN  AND  HOME 
Some  one  writes  to  ask  if  we  will  give 
him  the  address  of  “The  Lonely  Parson.’’ 
Certainly — but  we  have  no  thought  that 
Mr.  Gilbert  is  “lonely."  It  does  not  read 
that  way,  and  he  ought  to  have  pleasant 
mental  companions  for  solitary  hours. 
* 
This  discussion  of  meat  canning  is 
timely  because  during  the  Winter  farm 
stock  may  be  killed  and  canned  to  best 
advantage.  No  question  about  the  im¬ 
provement  in  any  family  to  substitute 
canned  fresh  meat  for  at  least  part  of  the 
salted  and  smoked  product.  As  we  have 
often  urged  too.  it  will  be  possible  for 
many  a  housewife  to  develop  a  trade  in 
canned  meat  if  she  can  put  it  up  neatly 
and  uniformly.  An  Arizona  poet  has 
just  broken  out  i.n  song  against  the  tin- 
can  farmer,  who  is  the  man  who  buys 
canned  food  instead  of  producing  it. 
That  is  well  enough,  but  we  want  prose 
and  poetry  both  in  praise  of  the  house¬ 
wife  who  patronizes  the  home-heated  can 
rather  than  the  butcher’s  cart.  Just 
compare  tin  fresh  farm  meat  put  right 
into  cans  with  the  stuff  carted  all  day  in 
the  cart  over  the  dusty  road  ! 
*5* 
Justice  Siiearn  of  the  X.  Y.  Supreme 
Court  recently  decided  that  a  mother  has 
rights  in  her  children  at  least  equal  to 
those  of  the  father.  It  was  a  ease  where 
husband  and  wife  had  separated.  The 
father  claimed  the  children  on  the  plea 
that  he  bad  a  common-law  right  to  the 
child  and  could  not  sign  it  away.  The 
old  law  held  that  the  wife  had  prac¬ 
tically  no  rights,  since  upon  entering 
marriage  her  legal  existence,  was  sus¬ 
pended.  Mr.  Justice  Shearn  made  short 
and  sharp  work  of  that : 
It  is  claimed  that  a  father  has  a  par¬ 
amount  right  to  the  custody  of  a  child. 
This  was  once  the  law,  hut  we  have 
emerged  from  the  dark  age  during  which 
married  women  had  the  status  of  slaves 
and  chattels.  The  only  basis  of  the  fath¬ 
er’s  nllegpd  superior  right  today  is  his 
obligation  to  support  his  children.  This 
basis  disappears  when  one  considers  what 
a  mother  gives  to  her  children  in  suffer¬ 
ing.  self-sacrifice  nnd  devotion.  On  any 
admeasurement  of  lights  determined  by 
service  rendered,  the  right  of  a  mother 
to  the  custody  of  her  children  is  at  least 
equal  to  that  of  the  father.  The  real 
test  should  be  the  welfare  of  the  child. 
4. 
We  become  more  and  more  convinced 
that  the  big  question  of  modern  farming 
is  how  to  keep  the  girl  on  the  farm  con¬ 
tented  and  enterprising.  The  hoy  will 
stay  there  if  the  girl  is  satisfied.  Ask 
the  graduates  of  agricultural  colleges 
why  they  do  not  buy  farms  and  settle 
down,  and  many  of  them  will  tell  you 
that  the  girl  does  not  want  to  live  in  the 
country.  We  think  the  girl  should  come 
first — the  old  girl  No.  1  and  the  daugh¬ 
ter  No.  2.  Line  up  100  fathers  who  have 
really  tested  the  thing  fairly  and  they 
will  tel]  you  that  $100  rightly  invested 
in  educating  and  training  the  girls  has 
given  better  returns  than  the  same  amount 
of  money  put  into  the  boys.  The  girls 
stay  by  the  old  folks,  often  when  the 
hoys  walk  off.  Wo  know  a  typical  case 
which  most  of  our  readers  can  duplicate 
from  their  observations.  There  were 
three  hoys  and  a  girl  in  the  family. 
Father  and  mother  grew  old,  but  the  hoys 
went  off  to  homes  of  their  own.  Kate 
was  left  to  care  for  the  old  folks.  They 
were  nervous  and  hard  to  please,  and 
no  man  wanted  to  live  with  them,  and 
thus  Kate  grew  up  through  the  years 
an  old  maid — cheerfully  and  gently  car¬ 
ing  for  her  parents,  The  hoys  needed 
money,  a*nd  they  came  demanding  a 
division  of  father’s  property  before  his 
death..  They  got  about  all  that  was  worth 
while,  and  Kate  was  left  with  a  small 
part  of  the  farm  to  give  the  old  folks 
a  home.  When  they  died  the  “girl"  was 
a  faded  and  feeble  woman.  Her  life  had 
been  gently  burned  out  in  care  of  the 
old  folks.  The  little  farm  had  unex¬ 
pectedly  gained  in  valUP  and  the  brothers 
actually  came  and  asked  her  to  divide 
with  them.  Now  many  a  girl  goes  on 
through  life  denied  the  things  which  be¬ 
long  to  her  because  of  this  old  notion 
that  every  sacrifice  must  be  made  to 
keep  the  hoy  on  the  farm. 
The  girl  is  more  important  and  she 
may  well  have  first  care.  As  time  goes 
on  more  and  more  of  our  farmers  will 
see  the  sense  and  justice  of  this,  and  they 
Sfce  RURAL  NEW-YORKER 
485 
will  give  the  girl  a  fair  chance.  They 
ought  to  begin  with  bodily  comforts  and 
opportunity  for  earning  something.  A 
warm,  pleasant  house,  good  stove,  fuel 
and  household  tools  are  the  girl's  right. 
She  should  never  be  expected  to  put  up 
with  less.  Give  her  a  chance  to  develop 
some  little  business  of  her  own,  with  the 
proceeds  for  her  own  use,  and  what  is 
better,  acknowledge  in  public  that  your 
girl  is  a  help  and  a  treasure.  Keep  the 
girl  ou  the  farm.  It  is  the  bjg  farm 
need  to-day. 
* 
Here  is  a  story  they  are  telling  of  our 
State  Farmers’  Grain  Dealers’  Associa¬ 
tion  officers  and  directors: 
The  State  meeting  was  at  Bloomington 
Feb.  9-10-11,  and  at  the  close,  officers 
and  directors  met  to  decide  on  a  city  for 
next  convention  to  be  held  in.  Decatur 
representatives  won  out.  and  at  once  sent 
A  Freak  Market  Basket 
out  one  of  their  number  to  get  two  boxes 
of  cigars  to  pass  around.  Said  repre¬ 
sentative  came  in  and  made  the  rounds, 
but  only  one  of  the  12  men  was  found  to 
be  a  smoker.  The  two  boxes  were  pre¬ 
sented  to  him.  Maybe  by  next  year  this 
one  will  have  quit  the  habit  and  then  it 
can  be  said  that  not  one  of  the  men  who 
who  want  a  Summer  outing  at  reason¬ 
able  cost  and  also  many  farmers  and 
their  wives  who  hjjve  rooms  and  board 
to  offer.  Here,  for  example,  is  a  letter 
from  a  woman  in  Orange  Co.,  N,  Y. 
My  trouble  is  this.  I  want  to  take 
boarders.  For  four  years  I  have  adver¬ 
tised.  but  without  success.  1  have  had 
one  or  two  boarders  at  a  time,  just 
enough  to  pay  my  extra  grocery  bill 
and  the  advertisement.  They  all  seem 
to  be  satisfied  except  that  it  is  so  lone¬ 
some.  I  feel  if  I  could  only  have  eight 
or  10  at  one  time  it  would  be  a  better 
advertisement  than  any.  My  advertise¬ 
ment  i.n  the  World  or  American  always 
costs  me  $10  or  $15.  I  have  each  year, 
only  10  or  25  letters  in  answer  to  it, 
never  more.  These  letters  I  answer  as 
well  as  I  can.  hut  still  they  do  not  come. 
We  always  have  a  fine  garden,  our  own 
milk  apd  other  farm  produce,  I  am  a 
good  cook  and  housekeeper,  beds  are 
comfortable,  rooms  airy,  large  living 
room,  porch,  lawn,  etc.'  Station  three 
miles,  free  transportation.  This  is  a 
Cut  to  Show  the  Fraud 
beautiful  country  and  I  am  sure  no  one 
would  regret  having  spent  a  vacation 
here.  My  rates  are  reasonable. 
MRS.  H.  M.  D. 
Now  the  question  is  how  can  such 
women  obtain  boarders?  No  doubt  there 
are  many  who  could  find  rest  and  com¬ 
fort  ut  her  home.  How  is  she  to  find 
them  ? 
which  would  show  up  well  at  a  contest. 
Mrs.  E.  S.  Marla tt,  who  entered  "Polly” 
last  year,  has  a  superior  strain  of  Reds, 
as  has  Mrs.  Wilson,  who  entered  “Betty." 
If  several  of  such  women  could  combine 
and  enter  a  pen  of  birds,  sharing  the  ex¬ 
pense  between  them,  they  could  make  a 
fine  business  venture. 
* 
The  Farmhouse  Parlor 
I  ‘am  wondering  to-day  as  I  sit  in  my 
home  in  solitude,  if  the  average  parlor 
at  the  country  home  has  been  as  little 
actual  use  as  our  own  has  been  to  our¬ 
selves.  We  live  so  near  town,  that  social 
gatherings  have  never  used  it,  as  we  all 
go  to  town  for  such  pleasures.  Our 
farmhouse  has  been  built  30  years,  and 
in  all  that  time  the  parlor's  outside  door 
has  not  been  opened  for  gatherings  but 
four  times,  to  carry  out  Mother,  and  in 
three  years  Father,  and  after  a  few 
years  more  a  son,  and  lastly  hi.s  mother. 
This  room  is  to  us  more  associated  with 
sadness  and  gloom  than  of  anything 
cheerful  and  bright.  I  am  not  reaching 
out  after  sympathy;  I  think  this 
instance  has  had  its  precedent  so  many 
times  that  those  parlors  we  used  to  know 
about  are  becoming  a  thing  of  the  past. 
The  farm  home  has  greater  demands 
than  for  parlors.  We  want  first  our 
water  system,  then  our  bathroom  and 
all  that  is  usually  found  with  it.  We 
want  wide  shady  porches,  and  all  up-to- 
date  convenient  accessories  that  are 
available  on  a  farm  home. 
In  these  days  of  automobiles  and  tele¬ 
phones,  much  of  our  social  enjoyment  is 
diverted  from  the  home,  so  much  so  that 
we  see  the  need  of  more  complete  do¬ 
mestic  arrangements  in  the  home,  than 
when  we  built  these  homes  years  ago. 
We  wish  to  obviate  the  difficulty  of 
high-priced  labor  in  caring  for  the  home, 
so  instead  of  spending  money  upon  the 
little-used  parlor,  we  will  let  all  of  the 
everyday  wants  dominate  us  and  let  the 
control  the  most  powerful  and  influential 
farmers’  organization  in  this  part  of  the 
country  is  a  smoker.  Of  course  drinking 
was  a  closed  issue  with  them  long  ago. 
I.  L.  SEARS. 
R.  N.-Y. — A  remarkable  thing  and  a 
good  thing.  There  are,  of  course,  many 
fine  people  who  do  not  object  to  tobacco. 
At  the  same  time  they  will  admit  that 
smoking  or  chewing  is  a  mastering  habit 
and  that  he  who  can  overcome  it  is,  in 
his  way,  a  stronger  character.  From  an 
economic  point  of  view  there  can  be  no 
real  defence  of  tobacco.  It  lias  no  food 
value,  it  is  an  exhausting  crop  for  the 
soil  and  returns  little  or  no  plant  food 
after  its  burning.  We  can  easily  point 
to  50  young  men  who  have  been  injured 
by  tobacco,  but  we  do  not  know  of  one. 
who  has  been  benefited  by  it.  It  is  a 
tine  thing  that  these  business  farmers, 
trying  to  improve  economic  conditions, 
should  take  such  a  position. 
$ 
Last  month  we  printed  a  letter  from 
three  women  who  desired  a  cheap  Sum¬ 
mer  outing.  They  wanted  a  place  where 
tin*  three  could  room  and  do  their  own 
cooking  and  housekeeping.  We  printed 
it  to  see  if  responses  would  be  made.  Al¬ 
ready  50  or  more  people  have  asked  for 
the  address  of  "A.  E.  F."  In  such  cases 
we  simply  send  the  letters  on  to  the 
interested  parties  and  leave  them  free 
to  answer  as  they  see  fit.  This  incident 
shows  that  there  are  many  town  people 
As  we  all  remember,  last  year  30  farm 
women  each  entered  a  pullet  i.n  our 
“Favorite  Hen"  contest  at  Storrs.  Mrs. 
R.  tY.  Stevens  entered  a  White  Wyan¬ 
dotte  named  “Tilly"  and  this  bird  made 
a  remarkable  record.  This  year  Mrs. 
Stevens  has  a  full  pen  at  the  Contest. 
They  are  doing  well  at  present,  standing 
first  among  the  American  Wyandottes, 
and  well  among  the  entire  100  pens.  On 
the  strength  of  this  record  Mrs.  Stevens 
felt  justified  in  advertising  her  stock,  and 
she  has  already  sold  over  1,000  eggs 
and  300  baby  chicks.  The  large  breeders 
may  smile  at  this,  but  it  means  much 
for  a  farm  woman,  who  until  Tilly  gave 
her  fine  performance  at  the  contest,  did 
not  realize  that  she  had  developed  a  tine 
strain  of  the  breed.  Mrs.  Stevens  will 
next  year  enter  birds  at  two  different 
contests.  The  point  about  this  is  the 
value  of  practical  advertising.  If  Tilly 
had  not  gone  to  the  contest  she  would 
have  finally  blushed  unseen  in  a  chicken 
pie.  If  her  nieces  and  half  sisters  had 
not  done  well  this  year  Tilly  would  have 
been  regarded  as  a  freak  apd  not  con¬ 
sidered  by  breeders.  The  contest  shows 
that  Mrs.  Stevens  has  a  good  strain  of 
Wyandottes.  We  have  claimed  from  the 
first  that  these  contests  would  operate 
in  just  this  way  to  popularize  a  strain 
or  a  flock,  or  take  the  wind  out  of  big 
paper  stories.  We  feel  very  sure  that 
many  other  farm  women  have  fine  birds 
room  we  might  only  use  for  weddings 
and  funerals  go  by  default.  All  things 
are  changing  except  our  coming  in  and 
our  going  out  of  this  world. 
Ohio.  j.  si.  SMITH. 
❖ 
Papering  Old  Wall 
Fan  you  tell  me  how  to  treat  an  old 
plastered  wall  to  prevent  burning 
through  new  wall  paper?  Some  of  my 
walls  are  very  old  and  on  putting  on  a 
green  paper,  dark  spots  showed  through 
in  a  few  hours’  time.  F.  ii.  H. 
The  walls  referred  to  should  be  washed 
with  strong  vinegar.  When  dry  size  with 
a  glue  size,  one-half  pound  of  glue  to 
the  gallon  of  water.  Put  glue  in  cold 
water,  a  tin  dish  preferred.  Let  it 
stand  over  night,  then  place  the  dish 
that  the  glue  is  in  into  a  larger  dish, 
fill  this  dish  with  hot  water,  and  let  it 
stand  on  the  stove  where  it  will  keep 
hot  and  not  boil  until  the  glue  is  dis¬ 
solved.  Spread  the  glue  on  the  walls 
with  a  wall  brush,  than  use  a  lining 
paper,  odd  rolls  are  all  right.  When 
this  is  done  put  on  any  color,  style  or 
quality  of  paper  wanted,  and  you  will 
have  a  perfect  job.  si.  n.  d. 
* 
A  Fake  Market  Basket 
The  picture  on  this  page  is  taken  from 
the  Housewives’  League  Magazine,  and 
shows  one  of  the  tricks  of  the  retail  trade 
in  this  city.  Much  food  is  sold  by  the 
basket  or  measure,  without  any  definite 
agreement  as  to  just  what  the  measure 
contains.  Those  who  do  not  understand 
the  fraud  in  such  a  business,  see  a  large 
basket  standing  beside  the  goods,  and 
they  think  they  are  to  receive  a  great 
bargain.  Somehow  the  potatoes  or  ap¬ 
ples  do  not  last  out  as  they  ought  to 
after  they  are  taken  home.  No  wonder 
when  we  look  at  the  basket,  which  has 
been  cut  away  to  expose  the  false  basket 
made  on  the  inside.  Evidently  the  house¬ 
wife  who  buys  such  a  basket  filled  wi.th 
vegetables  is  paying  a  large  price  for  a 
good  slice  <>f  not  very  good  air,  for  the 
cunning  arrangement  of  the  inside  bas¬ 
ket  shuts  off  a  large  capacity  for  storage. 
Buying  goods  in  this  way  is  about  as 
satisfactory  as  the  "shadow  soup”  which 
a  Colorado  man  once  told  us  was  fed 
to  his  neighbor’s  children.  He  said  the 
housewife  put  the  kettle  of  water  on  the 
stove,  and  then  hung  a  meat  bone  so  that 
the  shadow  fell  into  the  kettle.  This 
was  boiled,  thickened  up  with  a  little 
cornmoal.  and  put  on  the  table  as  “sha¬ 
dow  soup.” 
Who  Was  It  Said  White  Leghorns  Are  Wild  ? 
