1104 
Z>’hc  RURAL  NEW-YORKER 
Farm  Women’s  Experience  Club 
Short  Notes  by  Farm  Housewives 
The  Strong-arm  on  Washday 
Blue  sky,  sunshine  and  a  light  breeze, 
just  the  right  kind  of  a  day  for  washing! 
While  breakfast  is  cooking,  we  put  on 
a  boiler  of  water  to  heat,  sort  the  clothes 
into  piles  and  give  the  table-linen  and 
handkerchiefs  their  preliminary  wash. 
By  the  way,  the  best  treatment  for  tea, 
coffee,  cocoa  and  most  fruit  stains  is  that 
same  soaking  and  sousing  in  lukewarm 
water  without  soap.  The  handkerchiefs 
get  a  more  thorough  wash  in  soapy 
water.  Next,  the  gasoline  engine  and  the 
power  washer  are  oiled  and  made  ready 
for  business.  As  soon  as  breakfast  is 
over,  the  washer  is  filled  two-thirds  full 
of  water  as  hot  as  the  hand  can  bear, 
half  a  cake  of  soap  is  shaved  in,  the 
least  soiled  white  clothes  put  in  and  the 
engine  started.  Ten  or  15  minutes  run 
is  enough,  and  a  turn  of  a  lever  starts 
the  wringer.  After  the  second  hatch  is 
put  into  the  washer,  the  first  batch  is  put 
into  warm,  slightly  soapy  water  in  the 
boiler  to  scald.  As  soon  as  the  white 
clothes  and  towels  are  washed  and 
scalded,  they  are  rinsed  in  a  tub  of  cool 
water,  and  put  through  the  power  wring¬ 
er  at  the  same  time  the  machine  is  wash¬ 
ing  the  colored  clothes. 
When  all  have  been  washed  and  rinsed, 
the  water  is  emptied  and  the  bluing 
water  put  into  the  machine.  Bach 
batch  is  run  a  minute  or  two  in  this 
water  before  being  wrung  out.  The 
men’s  overalls  and  smocks  are  just  lifted 
from  one  water  to  the  other,  as  the 
thick  buttons  are  hard  on  the  wringer. 
We  lay  aside  in  a  small  tub  or  basket 
the  clothes  tbat  need  starching,  and  pro¬ 
ceed  to  give  the  sunshine  and  the  breeze 
a  chance  by  hanging  the  rest  of  the  wash 
upon  the  revolving  clothes-reel.  With  the 
starching  and  the  clearing  up,  the  wash¬ 
ing  is  finished,  taking  about  three  hours 
for  150  to  200  pieces.  One  Can  rest  or  do 
quite  a  bit  of  other  work  while  the  ma¬ 
chine  is  running,  but  we  never  allow  chil¬ 
dren  to  help,  for  power  machinery  is  not  to 
be  trifled  with,  whether  in  home  or  factory. 
About  three  o’clock,  when  the  sun  is 
hottest  and  the  clothes  are  perfectly  dry, 
Ave  take  two  baskets  and  the  clothespin 
apron  and  put  the  clothes  to  be  sprinkled 
in  one  basket,  and  in  the'  other,  those  to 
be  folded  and  put  away.  The  latter  is 
by  far  the  larger  quantity,  as  we  iron 
only  starched  clothes,  table  linen,  pillow 
cases  and  handkerchiefs.  The  others  are 
folded,  sorted  and  put  away,  with  all  the 
freshness  and  sweetness  they  have  gath¬ 
ered  in  the  air  and  sunshine.  Of  course 
if  they  are  the  least  hit  damp,  they  must 
be  hung  on  bars  for  awhile. 
Does  this  sound  like  a  Blue  Monday? 
dren  enjoy  trips  to  the  city,  but  epi¬ 
demics  in  the  country  are  usually  traced 
to  cities.  The  little  folks  can  be  given 
some  other  treat  and  kept  away  from 
contagion  more  than  they  are. 
We  country  people  are  not  ns  sanitary 
as  we  might,  be  nor  ns  we  ought  to  be, 
but  sometimes  we  are  blamed  for  diseases 
that  originate  with  and  are  passed 
around  by  city  people.  As  we  learn,  we 
can  keep  improving  health  conditions. 
But  let  us  not  forget  to  look  over  every 
member  of  our  families  and  ask  our¬ 
selves,  “Is  be  or  she  in  the  best  of 
health?”  If  not,  it  is  our  business,  the 
housewife’s  business,  to  find  out  the  rea¬ 
son  and  remedy  it  to  the  best  of  our 
knowledge  and  ability. 
TIXE  OFEN  AIR  GIRLS. 
T  thought  perhaps  some  of  the  girls  liv¬ 
ing  in  the  country  who  read  this  paper 
might  be  interested,  so  I  am  writing  to 
you  about  a  club  we  have  just  organized. 
The  name  of  our  club  is  “The  Open  Air 
Girls,”  and  onr  motto  is — "Be  Observ¬ 
ant.”  One  object  of  this  club  is  to  learn 
more  about  our  surroundings.  As  we 
live  in  the  country,  1  think  it  is  very 
important  that  Ave  should  at  least  recog¬ 
nize  ami  know  something  of  the  different 
kinds  of  trees  aud  their  value;  that  AA"e 
should  recognize  the  birds  in  the  region 
of  our  homes;  and  understand  their  bear¬ 
ing,  whether  harmful  or  otherwise,  on 
agriculture;  that  WO  should  kno\\r  some¬ 
thing  of  the  Weeds  found  around  our 
his  part  to  the  real  benefits  of  a  college 
education.  The  farmer’s  daughter  needs 
the  cultural  values  that  such  an  educa¬ 
tion  has  to  offer  just  as  much  as  or 
more  than  do  her  city  cousins.  Life  on 
the  farm  has  much  in  it  that  is  hard,  tire¬ 
some,  and  fearfully  monotonous.  But.  it 
is  right  here  that  the  college  trained 
girl  on  the  farm  has  the  advantage.  She 
sees  more  than  her  own  tiresome  duties. 
She  has  had  a  glimpse  of  life  of  a  broad¬ 
er  kind  and  her  life  is  brighter  For  that 
glimpse.  Her  interests  reach  nnt  beyond 
the  four  Avails  of  the  kitchens  to  the 
great  busy  Avorld  of  which  she  is  but  a 
part.  She  has  an  interest  in  life  that 
college  has  had  the  poAver  to  awaken. 
But  aside  from  the  values  to  herself, 
aside  from  those  A'alues  that  we  call  cul¬ 
tural,  there  are  the  intensely  practical 
values  that  the  college  has  to  offer  every 
farmer’s  daughter.  What  could  he  of 
more  practical  value  to  any  farmer’s 
daughter  than  a  foui^  years'  course  in 
household  arts  and  sciences?  Work  along 
this  line  is  becoming  more  popular  every 
year  and  this  is  rightly  so,  for  it  is  an 
age  of  practical  efficiency  and  the  home, 
the  unit  of  society,  surely  needs  efficient 
management.  Not  only  the  course  above 
mentioned  but  every  other  college  course 
has  practical  value  for  the  farmer’s 
daughter.  I  think  the  biggest  gain  to  be 
found  in  the  mastery  of  any  course  is  the 
efficiency  that  one  must  acquire.  Col¬ 
lege  work  has  to  be  done  well  and 
promptly.  This  lesson  of  concentration 
is  one  of  the  hardest  to  learn,  but  once 
learned,  it  is  of  lasting  value.  Its  appli¬ 
cation  outside  of  college  is  probably  of 
greater  value  than  during  the  years  of 
college  work.  Especially  on  the  farm  is 
efficiency  important,  and  I’m  sure  I’m 
safe  in  saying  that  the  girl  avIio  has  had 
four  years  of  College  training  will  be 
For  a  large  family  on  a  farm,  there  is 
nothing  tbat  is  so  great  a  help  as  a 
power  washer  and  a  small  gasoline  en¬ 
gine.  The  cost  is  not  greater  than  many 
of  the  pieces  of  machinery  that  the  men 
consider  a  necessity  and  that  are  used 
only  a  week  or  two  during  the  year, 
while  the  washer  is  needed  52  Aveeks.  It. 
is  very  convenient,  to  have  a  line-shaft, 
so  that  you  can  wash  in  the  shed  in  the 
Summer  and  iu  the  house  in  the  Winter. 
When  the  mercury  is  at  zero  or  below, 
warm  the  batteries  and  use  hot  Avator 
in  the  cooling  tank,  if  a  water-cooled  en¬ 
gine.  Any  woman  can  care  for  and  run 
a  small  engine,  probably  batter  than  the 
men  folks,  for  she  is  naturally  more 
careful  about  details. 
LOOK  ALTER  THE  CHILDREN'. 
If  your  children  have  not  already  been 
examined  for  defective  hearing  and  eye¬ 
sight,  enlarged  tonsils,  adenoids,  diseased 
glands,  etc.,  it  can  yet  be  done  before 
the  school  year  begins.  It  is  astonishing 
how  a  child’s  health  improves  after  the 
removal  of  adenoids,  diseased  tonsils  or 
glands,  and  it  is  not  serious  nor  very  ex¬ 
pensive.  A  little  neighbor  girl  was  get¬ 
ting  quite  deaf  as  tlie  result  of  enlarged 
tonsils  and  adenoids,  but  after  one  day 
at  the  hospital  her  father  says,  “You'd 
think  it  was  a  different  kid.” 
Enlarged  glands  in  the  neck  should 
not.  be  neglected,  for  they  are  likely  to 
become  tubercular.  These  troubles  very 
frequently  follow  whooping-cough  and 
other  “children’s  diseases,”  therefore 
every  effort  should  he  made  to  avoid 
them,  and  to  build  up  the  health  after¬ 
ward  if  a  child  contracts  them.  Chil¬ 
An  Illinois  Barn  Turm 
homes,  and  perhaps  of  some  method  of 
checking  them  ;  that  Ave  should  learn 
about  the  flowers,  the  insects,  and  the 
many  other  things  which  many  of  us  see 
every  day  without  having  any  knowledge 
of  them,  and  in  many  cases,  not  even 
knowing  their  names.  Although  we  or¬ 
ganized  the  club  just  recently,  I  already 
find  new  interest  in  the  trees,  flowers, 
birds  and  weeds  in  the  vicinity  of  my 
home.,  and  I  am  sure  that  you  Avould  find 
the  subject  one  of  interest  also. 
Social  intercourse  is  another  object. 
The  young  people  living  in  the  country 
are  brought  together,  and  have  a  splendid 
time,  besides  obtaining  much  valuable  in¬ 
formation  from  the  programs. 
This  is  the  program  which  will  be  ren¬ 
dered  at  the  next  meeting  of  our  club : 
Quotations  on  trees  for  roll  call.  Secre¬ 
tary’s  report.  Essay — “Evergreen  Trees 
and  How  They  May  Be  Distinguished.” 
Essay — "The  Ash  Family.”  Musical 
number.  Essay — -“Tile  Maple  Family.” 
Essay— “The  Oak  Family.”  Those  who 
have  essays  are  going  to  bring  examples 
of  their  subject  in  order  to  illustrate 
them,  and  some  of  them  will  probably 
give  their  essays  orally.  We  have  had 
seA'eral  meetings  in  the  woods  and  fields, 
and  took  our  lunch,  thus  having  a  regu¬ 
lar  picnic,  and  We  are  contemplating 
many  pleasant  trips  before  Fall.  I  do 
hope  some  of  you  will  try  our  plan,  for 
I’m  sure  you  would  have  lots  of  fun,  be¬ 
sides  learning  something  worth  while. 
Ncav  York.  grace  avitueruead. 
COLLEGE  EDUCATION;  FOR  THE  FARMER’S 
DAUGHTER, 
In  yeans  past,  the  farmer’s  daughter 
has  not  had  her  share  of  the  advantages 
that  the  college  has  been  ready  to  offer 
her.  This  has  been  due  not  so  much  to 
financial  inability  on  the  part  of  the 
farmer  to  send  his  daughter  through  col¬ 
lege,  as  it  has  to  a  sort  of  indifference  on 
1  Into  a  Bungalow. 
considerably  farther  on  the  high  road  to 
efficiency  than  the  girl  who  has  never 
had  those  four  years. 
But  after  all,  Ave  are  told  that  the  aim 
of  education  is  to  prepare  us  for  life,  a 
life  that  is  more  than  mere  existence. 
I)o  not  the  girls  of  the  farm  want  to 
live  as  avcIL  as  anyone  else,  live,  I  mean, 
in  the  fullest  sense  of  the  word?  Of 
course  they  do.  And  their  farmer  fath¬ 
ers  want  them  to.  Only  sometimes  they 
don't  seem  to  realize  that  the  college 
training  is  the  best  all  around  training 
and  they  don't  encourage  their  girls  to 
take  advantage  of  what  the  college  has 
to  offer  them.  MARIAN"  A.  .7 AMI, SON. 
Ncav  York. 
A  Helper  for  Farm  Women 
The  gasoline  engine  is  not  generally 
appreciated  by  farm  women,  I  can  name 
10  farmers  in  my  vicinity  who  make  use 
of  them  for  pumping  water,  grinding  plow 
points,  crushing  corn  or  sawing  Avood, 
Avhile  only  one  has  also  hitched  on  the 
Avasliing  machine.  Water  is  conducted 
through  pipes  to  different  hydrants  in 
hog  lot  and  pastures  while  the  cook  still 
Avajks  to  the  well  for  fresh  water  for  the 
table.  Now  I  don’t  especially  blame  the 
men  for  this.  It  is  the  women  Avho  must 
look  alive  and  search  out  ways  of  light¬ 
ening  their  labor.  No  one  is  going  to  do 
their  thinking  for  them.  “Where  there  is 
a  will,  there  is  a  way,”  is  old  but  still 
true. 
The  cream  separator  and  churn  may 
each  have  its  belt  from  the  line  shaft 
AA’bich  is  turned  by  the  belt  from  the  en¬ 
August  19,  1916. 
gine.  In  Summer  the  ice  cream  freezer 
and  in  Winter  the  sausage  grinder  Avill 
turn  out  their  mixtures  with  a  minimum 
of  wear  and  tear  on  the  human  frame  by 
this  means.  A  power  washing  and  wring¬ 
ing  machine  of  high  grade  costs  $25 
(there  are  cheaper  ones),  and  is  Avorth 
its  Aveight  in  gold  to  the  housewife  Avith 
a  large  family.  While  the  machine  is 
Avashing  the  second  lot  of  clothes,  the 
wringer  is  pressing  the  rinse  water  from 
the  first  lot,  as  the  housewife  merely  starts 
them  by  band  between  the  rollers  whence 
they  drop  into  the  clothes  basket  ready 
for  the  line. 
Some  Avomen  will  exclaim :  “I  could 
never  run  such  machinery.”  You  can 
learn.  lake  many  other  things,  it  is  sim¬ 
ple  enough  when  you  know  how.  Care 
must  be  exercised  that  apron  or  skirt 
does  not  catch  in  flying  wheels,  but  ease 
in  management  comes  readily  Avith  prac¬ 
tice.  MRS.  ETHEL  AVILEY  STALLINGS. 
Indiana. 
Exchange  Ideas 
It  is  gratifying  that,  some  response  has 
been  made  to  the  request  for  letters  from 
farm  Avomen.  This  is  your  page.  Fill  it 
brimful  of  whatever  is  interesting  to  you. 
That  which  interests  you  is  likely  to  be 
just  what  somebody  else  wants  to  hear 
about.  All  letters  that  are  published  Avill 
be  paid  for. 
If  thrashers  or  silo  fillers  drop  in  sud¬ 
denly  and  “pie  timber”  is  lacking,  this 
rice  pudding  recipe  may  prove  useful.  It 
is  enough  for  20  persons.  Boil  1%  cups 
of  rice.  This  makes  about  six  cups  of 
boiled  rice.  Add  two  cups  of  sugar,  two 
teaspoons  of  salt,  y2  teaspoon  of  cinna¬ 
mon,  2  2-3  cups  of  washed  raisins,  two 
quarts  of  sweet  milk  and  eight,  beaten 
eggs.  Bake  until  done  in  the  middle. 
Our  strawberry  bed  this  year  would 
doubtless  look  very  small  to  many  of 
you.  But  it  has  been  snob  a  source  of 
satisfaction  to  us  that  I  want  to  tell  you 
about  it.  Last  year  about  550  straw¬ 
berry  plants  were  set  in  two  long  toavs 
beside  an  open  ditch  through  some,  mucky 
swamp  land.  Two  hundred  and  fifty  of 
the  plants  AA*ere  of  the  Fall-bearing  kind 
and  avc  did  not  get  over  20  quarts  from 
them.  The  rest  Avere  Senator  Dunlap. 
Many  wore  killed  by  Avet  weather.  We 
began  picking  Tune  27,  getting  15  quarts 
that  day,  aud  the  last  picking  was  July 
22 ;  the  best  day's  picking  was  52  quarts. 
We  paid  two  cents  a  quart  for  picking 
and  one  cent  a  quart  for  delivering  to 
customers.  The  children  did  all  the  de¬ 
livering  and  much  of  the  picking;  155 
quarts  in  all  were  taken  from  the  patch, 
and  what  Ave  could  spare  of  them,  about 
270  quarts,  Avere  sold  at  1 2 cents  a 
quart.  We  could  have  sold  many  more. 
The  children  added  a  little  to  their 
savings  hank  account  and  took  great  in¬ 
terest  in  the  crop,  as  they  helped  to  de¬ 
cide  how  to  spend  the  strawberry  money. 
It  was  much  more  fun  to  renew  the  sub¬ 
scription  to  father’s  favorite  magazine 
than  to  buy  sugar,  so  the  principal  thing 
avo  did  with  the  money  was  to  reneAV  alf 
our  papers  and  magazines,  and  get  “Boy’s 
Life”  for  the  Scout  of  the  family. 
Drying  Corn 
T  notice  an  inquiry  for  drying  SAveet 
corn  in  the  oven.  Fill  oven  with  corn 
in  the  husks  before  breakfast.  An  hour 
later  husk  and  cut  from  the  cob.  Spread 
on  a  sheet  on  a  flat  tin  roof  that  the 
sun  strikes;  it  will  dry  in  one  day. 
Spread  on  plates  or  racks,  and  dried 
around  the  .stove,  it  takes  a  little  longer; 
is  very  SAveet.  amanda  m.  raker. 
Ohio. 
A  Skirt  Back. — This  is  suggested  by 
Charlotte  E.  Carpenter,  of  the  Colorado 
Agricultural  College : 
Mnuy  of  our  friends  Avho  are  crowded 
for  closet  room  may  be  glad  to  know  of 
the  skirt  rack,  which  holds  eight  skirts 
and  may  be  attached  to  the  inside  of  the 
closet  door.  This  rack  is  an  oblong 
frame  a  little  longer  than  half  the  length 
of  the  door  and  a  little  narrower  than 
the  width  of  the  door.  In  this  frame  are 
fastened  eight  rods.  The  lower  edge  of 
the  frame  is  fastened  to  the  door  with 
hinges,  a  cord  is  attached  to  the  upper 
end  of  the  rack  at  the  center.  This  cord 
passes  over  a  pulley  fastened  near  the 
top  and  center  of  the  door,  thus  making 
it  easy  to  raise  and  lower  the  rack.  The 
rack  is  dropped  to  horizontal  position, 
the  skirts  are  folded  and  laid  over  the 
rods,  then  the  rack  is  pulled  up  against 
the  door. 
