The RURAL NEW-YORKER 
899 
affair, that is not at all pretty, but it is 
strong, large enough to hold two tubs, 
ami high enough to work without bending 
at an on comfort able angle. 
.lust try working with everything at 
the proper height, and see how much 
easier it. is. Kt'Tii w. Gordon. 
Be of Good Cheer 
Everywhere this Spring we heard 
“There are better times ahead,” and how 
good it seems after hearing “Cheer lip, 
the worst is yet to oome." Spring was 
1 ite in coming in Vermont, hut May 
brought 11 s such warm days that vegetation 
fast caught up with the- season. Wo have 
had such beautiful weather that farm 
work has gone ahead fast. If "One is 
nearer God’s heart in a garden than any¬ 
where else on earth” I surely ought to he 
growing better every day, for every pleas¬ 
ant day af.or baby wakes from bis noon¬ 
tide nap he and I go gardening, lie has 
a trowel for a shovel, and a place thick 
with dandelion's gold under an apple tree. 
Errol walks now. but it is more fun to 
wander on all fours up and down the gar¬ 
den paths, and lay Ids little face against 
the velvety polyanthus, pansy or English 
daisy borders, and smell and say. “See. 
Ihey’re pitty." and he is grov\ing stronger 
ami rosier every day. 
"Is your housework and sewing all 
done?” Oh, no. but many years ago 1 
read of a woman who remarked that 
when she reached the Other Side she 
should hate to think she spent all the 
days of her probation here scrubbing a 
board: don’t you agreeV 
Then the bird neighbors seem to under¬ 
stand our friendliness; one day Winsome 
Bluebird sat in the Jiutterniit tree and 
flew down within eight feet of me when I 
tossed out angleworms from the flower 
led. Cedar waxwing came as near, very 
observant of my work, while today I sur¬ 
prised Mr. Goldfinch taking a bath when 
I went to the 1.it tie Brook to get water to 
sprinkle some newly set plants. 
If is a great growing season : the scions 
are starting nicely, tlie newly set honey 
locust are all living, fruit of all kinds 
bloomed well and is setting well, while 
the germination of seeds seems to be well 
above the average. 
What good people there are in the 
world! After I wrote of raising bouse 
plants from seeds, unseen friends sent me 
many other varieties, and there are over 
100 baby Gloxinias alone, besides Cycla¬ 
mens, Cinerarias, Calceolarias, Oxalis. 
etc., and now two Jerusalem cherry seed¬ 
lings have arrived. Some day some may 
like to know how it is doup in a little 00- 
year-old farmhouse. I do not know why 
we have lived here 21 years and not done 
more with perennial vegetables. And why 
buy sage cut with a mowing machine and 
raked up, dirt, weeds and allV So this 
little herb garden is beginning to expand. 
Thyme seed germinated beautifully and 
there are four rosemary plants. Lavender 
and Summer savory are not up yet. hut 
sage is coming. 
The ideas of other kifeheus are inter¬ 
esting. We are trying to turn this house 
into our castle in Spain. The staining 
of a floor with permanganate of potash 
appealed to me. There is timber of all 
kinds on the farm, but no hard wood 
good enough for flooring, so will have a 
clear spruce floor. Would this solution 
be a good dye for it. and would it be pos¬ 
sible to oil it with linseed oil. or isn’t the 
"il linish suitable to use on spruce? 
The present kitchen and living room 
will lie used as a living room, hut a kitch¬ 
en proper will he finished in a woodshed 
ill. and "built-in-ness" is my hobby. The 
built-in woodbo.ves arc nice, but the very 
best on(> 1 ever saw was a built-on cup¬ 
board. The lower part was filled with 
wood through a small door at the back; 
on the kitchen side it opened like the up¬ 
per half of a door. The wood could be 
easily reached, but the upper part of the. 
woodshed cupboard was fitted with 
shelves and nails, and here was the pile 
of waste papers, extra cloths for cleaning, 
stove blacking and brushes, lamps, can¬ 
dles. etc. There was no patent on it. so 
we will copy if. 
In the living room is a big built-in cup¬ 
board. Now 1 want it opened at the back 
and through the partition into the kitchen 
to be. and a step will place things from 
tin* stove to the cupboard, and on the liv¬ 
ing room side a step will place things 
from the cupboard to the table. 
< >n the south side I want casement 
windows, and beneath these 1 want more 
built-in cupboards to hold separator tools, 
small garden tools, children’s rubbers, 
mittens, shoe repair Outfit, hammer, 
lacks and nails. Things more important 
come first, hut the men will work on it 
as they have time. 
Mother and 1 sttill make rugs, and we 
are always interested in new color com¬ 
binations. Her last order was for a 
braided rug. all black and white, the cen¬ 
ter braided of two strands of black and 
one of white, for 1“ or more rows, then 
all black one. mottled three, black one. 
mottled two. black one, mottled one and 
black one. I am going To braid a similar 
one of hi tie. black and white. Flour sacks 
furnish good white material cheaply. To 
the members of the Economy Club these 
sacks are a great help. 
The Farm Bureau is having a member¬ 
ship drive in Vermont, and we all went 
to the talk and moving picture, Spring 
Valley. This was different from the last 
one I went to. Sometime- I may not 
live To see it—our department of educa¬ 
tion will have movies for our school chil¬ 
dren. teaching nature study, geography 
and history, possibly literature, in such a 
way that the things told of in their text 
books will seem like life, instead of some¬ 
thing afar. MOTHER BEE. 
Shortcake Variations 
Berries are plentiful this year, and the 
everbearers give us such a long season 
that many varieties of shortcake are in 
order. (’berries, peaches and oranges, 
too, are good substitutes* for berries. 
Quick and easy to prepare, but not the 
less tasty, js 
Cracker Shortcake.—For three people, 
allow six large soda crackers, one pint of 
thin cream, three-fourths epp of sugar, 
one quart of berries and a few drops of 
almond or lemon extract. Crush the ber¬ 
ries with half a cup of sugar, and soak 
the crackers for 10 minutes in the cream, 
to which the extract and the remaining 
sugar have been added. Put together as 
usual and pour over them any cream that 
is left. 
Equally good is peach shortcake, made 
with l’rench toast. Prepare the toast in 
the usual way. using one egg, three cups 
of milk and three tablespoons of sugar to 
six thick slices of stale bakers’ bread, out 
in half. Brown delicately in a little hot 
fat; it should be soft and custardy. Ar¬ 
range mi individual plates, with sliced 
and sweetened peaches (or other fruit i 
between layers, and serve with cream if 
you have it. 
Busk Koll-Me T’p.—One compressed 
yeast cake, one tablespoon of sugar, one- 
half cup of mashed potato, one cup of 
potato water, two cups of flour. Beat 
necessary for progress, hut that does not 
mean that everything must- be changed. 
In regard to short skirts, it has taken 
me a whole year to get mine up to my 
shoe tops, and every time I go on the 
street T am worrier] for fear my cotton 
stockings show; for I have too many 
shoes and stockings to buy for my children 
to indulge iu -ilk stockings, and even if 
I had silk stockings, I should feel the 
same about my skirts, for the habits of a 
lifetime are hard to change. I know 
tlmre are some who always go to extremes 
and wear their skirts too short, but it is 
the rule, and not the exception about 
which I am speaking. It is the use of 
good things, and not their abuse, which 
I want to impress on your minds. 
Another good style is the bobbed hair. 
I know this will raise a storm of protest, 
but it is true just the same. It is more 
sanitary than long hair, more easily taken 
care of. and becoming to more types of 
faces than any other style of hairdress¬ 
ing. But I haven’t the courage of my 
convictions, though if my hair was natur¬ 
ally curly I should have it bobbed. But 
I haven't, the time to spare to curl it. and 
I really would look an awful fright if it 
were not curled. I haven't the courage 
to wear it straight bobbed, so unless the 
best of the women of my age bob theirs. 
I .shall be a meek little sheep and follow 
the leader. 
One of the best of all styles has come 
to stay, and that is athletics for women. 
I firmly believe that if women had not 
gone in for athletics, they never would 
have had the courage to go after the 
A pretty .mil useful gift fur a housewife wouhl lie one of the hot ilish holder sets Illustrated. 
Kaclt set consists of four pieces, three holders aitd a case for them. Either oj’ 1 these sets could 
he made iu an evening. No. 1700 is for eross-stiteh embroidery in blue. No. liLOA is for outline 
embroidery, also in blue. The designs are stamped on unbleached muslin, and with tloss to com¬ 
plete embroidery cost 50 cents per set. 
well and stand in a warm place for one 
hour; then add "lie beaten egg, one cup 
of sugar, one-half cup of butter, one-half 
teaspoon of salt, and flour for a soft 
dough—about three cups. Let it rise un¬ 
til double in hulk, when half the dough 
may be formed into rusks. Boll out the 
rest in an oblong, about half ail inch 
thick, and cover with raspberries or 
blackcaps which have been crushed, 
sweetened and drained "of their super¬ 
fluous juice. Set in a warm place until 
very light and puffy, bake about hali an 
hour and serve warm, with berry juice 
for sauce. 
Banner Tea Cake.—One-fourth cup of 
butter, one-half cup of sugar, one egg, 
one-half cup of milk, two cups of flour, 
two teaspoons "f baking -powder. Spread 
in a shallow pan and cover with ripe ap¬ 
ples or peaches, peeled and cut into 
eighths; press down slightly and sprinkle 
with sugar, adding a dusting <>f cinna¬ 
mon. Bake about 40 minutes. 
Blueberry Card.—One-half cup of but¬ 
ter. three-fourths cup of sugar, yolks of 
two eggs, one-half cup of milk, one-half 
teaspoon each of soda, cinnamon and nut¬ 
meg. one and one-half cups of flour, one 
pint of blueberries, dredged with flour, 
whites of the eggs beaten stiff, with one- 
fourth teaspoon of stilt. Mix in the order 
given and bake iu a large shallow pan. 
Serve warm, with foamy sauce. 
RACHEL K. PAHLGREN. 
We Are All a Flock of Sheep 
For instance, let ns consider the styles 
of clothes, etc. There are good. bad. and 
indifferent styles, and I should like to 
know why we cannot adopt the good 
styles permanently. But. tin; we follow 
the leaders like a flock of sheep. There 
are two sets of leaders: the younger set 
that follows every style in its season, and 
tlie older set. that rails at and condemns 
the younger set. Wo all follow the lead¬ 
ers. Few of us have the courage of our 
convictions. What could be more sani¬ 
tary. healthful and comfortable than the 
short skirt? But we older ones will put 
a blight on it in time, and unless we are 
careful the long skirt trailing in the tilth 
atul germs will be with ns again, for in 
nothing so much as in styles does history 
repeat itself. We are most of us fully 
convinced that the short skirt is best in 
every way. so why not let it stay short? 
Why is it we can never let well enough 
alone, but must keep agitating and fret¬ 
ting for a change? It is this constant 
desire for frequent changes, universal the 
world over, which. 1 believe, is respon¬ 
sible for the whirlpool in which we now 
find ourselves. I realize that change is 
vote. When they found themselves phys¬ 
ically tit to meet men. it made them 
mentally more alert, and hehold the stu¬ 
pendous result. 
I am one of the stay-at-home kind, and 
never intended to vote, for I was not. inter¬ 
ested in suffrage. But I voted last year, 
and shall continue to do so. for there are 
enough sheep following the leader, so I 
do not mind being one of the crowd. In 
fact, once iu a while I enjoy being one 
of a crowd. 1 am willing to stay on the 
shelf part of tlie time, but shall Rome 
down often enough so my children will 
not gef too far ahead of me. They still 
think that mother’s opinion on all sub¬ 
jects is worth listening to. and that re¬ 
pays me for the real effort it has cost me, 
both mentally and physically, to keep any¬ 
where near them, they are rushing along 
so fast- It would be so much easier to 
just drift along and let them go ahead. 
Bless the youngsters! What a dull, old 
fogy world this would be without them. 
But to revert back to styles: the men 
are just as bad as the women. Oh, yes. 
you are! How many of you would have 
the courage to wear kuee breeches because 
they are more comfortable and econ-'lineal 
that) I he long ones flapping around your 
shoes? IIow many of you would have the 
courage to wear a soft collar with a dress 
suit, or wear a comfortable business suit 
on some dress occasion? You know you 
hate the stiff, starched collars; hut the 
laundryinait doesn’t. How many of you 
wear your hair just as you like it best, or 
do you wear it parted because the rest do. 
or pompadour for the same reason? 
There are many styles for women which 
1 could condemn, such as paint and pow ¬ 
der. but there are enough others to do 
that, so T will not. There is too much 
blame and not enough praise for the 
young people nowadays, so l will let 
someone else dip liis pen in vitriol; I will 
dip mine in rose water. We rail at the 
young people of today, but what of the 
young people of tomorrow ? Unless we 
exercise a little more supervision over 
their leading and music, they will be 
much worse than those of today. How 
can we expect the children to learu and 
appreciate good English when they see 
and eagerly devour every day such lan¬ 
guage as some of the cartoons now serve 
them? How are they going to learn any¬ 
thing about art and other refining in¬ 
fluences when they have such examples 
before them? All the children I ever 
saw were able to think up enough mis¬ 
chief for their mental and physical de¬ 
velopment without having more called to 
their attention. 
And how can they possibly know good 
music When their ear drums are bombarded 
with such ding-dong, bang-bang, plankity- 
plauk, music as they hear wherever they 
go? All those things appeal to the worst 
set >>f emotions in tlie human family. The 
world cannot run oa those emotions for 
any length of time any more than the 
physical body could live on garbage. If 
we feed our children's minds on garbage, 
tlie result will be mental indigestion of 
such magnitude that the next generation 
will see things iu a much worse chaos 
than they are now. The men who founded 
this glorious country of ours did not give 
of their worst emotions. They gave of 
their best, arid the result is the strongest 
country in the world. But. the strongest 
constitution in the world could not last if 
fed constantly on garbage, filth and 
germs. We are constantly working for 
the betterment of youth and adult minds, 
but what are we feeding our children's 
minds? roxanna. 
An Old-fashioned Bedroom 
The Saturday work being out of the 
way and the old New England Saturday 
night supper smelling appetizingly from 
the oven. I am going to sit down and 
tell my friends about my bedroom. First, 
it is a child of my brain and hands, so 
please excuse me if I “bear on” too hard 
with praise. My good man built our 
bungalow with his own hands, but refuses 
to touch a paint brush, and I find more 
pleasure in doing than hiring. 
The room is 10x12 ft,, with north and 
west exposures, getting all the afternoon 
sun. Two windows are built out from 
the sill, forming a -shallow angle. This is 
on the north side, and the wide sill makes 
an ideal place for a hardy fern and pretty 
cushion, a Thought it is not a scat. The 
walls are paiuted with flat finish paint. 
Pink tint, with a very narrow line of 
brown forming a panel effect on each 
wall. This was done by measuring down 
front ceiling 10 in. and in front corners 
If! in. Thus the line runs horizontal 
with the ceiling all hut 16 in. on each 
side, then turns down, running vertically 
with the corners for IS in. Across the 
corners formed by this line I drew a 
spray of the wild Fall Aster with its 
beautiful bluish violet heads and long 
green leaves, and painted them in natural 
colors. 
Being very fond of sturdy old furniture, 
and possessing some vary rickety pieces. I 
set to work to see what could be done. An 
<dd four-poster was sent to the mill and 
the posts re-turned, thus removing old 
dents and chipped places much better and 
very much cheaper than having them 
scraped by hand. It was then finished 
mahogany. An old table with small draw¬ 
er had an old mirror attached to the back 
and received three coats of ivory paint. 
This makes a pleasing dressing table. The 
old drawer pulls were intact, luckily, and 
needed only a brisk rub with brass polish. 
On front of drawer was painted a spray 
of the lovely Spring beauties, those shell 
pink, five-petal wild flowers, with their 
long, graceful leaves. A quaint old rock¬ 
er with mahogany arms and rockers, but 
otherwise of pine, was painted ivory with 
tlie Spring Penuries on board of'back; 
also a small chair to set before table. 
Two old luster ware candlesticks hold 
pink candles on top of this table. A high¬ 
boy furnishes drawer mom a-plenty. The 
one up-to-date feature I had to have was 
a nice hardwood floor, with two hand¬ 
made braided rag rugs, into which I put 
a bit of pink to match the walls. 
The drapery question was settled by 
crisp white scrim curtains, hanging 
straight to the sill, with over-drapes of 
green and cream cretonne in that old pat¬ 
tern called palm leaf. A valance goes 
around the lied to match the over-drapes. 
Now comes an old sea chest, long mas¬ 
querading with the old folks as a grain 
box. This, too, required three coats of 
paint to cover the years’ abuses, and then 
it spray on the lid and on the front of 
the Spring beauties. Iuto this go spare 
blankets and comforters, and its worth 
£ as a storage place is untold. It is placed 
under the double uorth windows, and 
with two pretty cushions to match over¬ 
drapes thrown onto it, furnishes the dear 
“foolish" touch every true home woman 
wants in her own bed chamber. 
MRS. PEG. 
Philadelphia Cinnamon Bun 
In common bakeries we find cinnamon 
buns selling at 12 for 85c. bur a few 
very fancy bakeries offer cinnamon bun 
(or cake!, rich, sticky all through, sell¬ 
ing at (Ute per lb. Can you give recipe 
for making this rich, sticky sort? 
H. B. O. 
The cake described is what is known 
as Philadelphia cinnamon bun. A recipe 
from the “bun zone” is as follows: Three 
heaping cups of flour, one pint milk, one 
teaspoon butter anti two of lard, or all 
of butter if preferred, a little salt, one 
cup sugar, a little cinnamon, one yeast 
rake. Make a thin butler with part of 
flour, let rise over night. In the morn¬ 
ing add the rest of the flour, let rise, 
spread (do nor roll) on pastry board, 
spread with butter, sprinkle with cinna¬ 
mon and sugar, roll and rhen cut. Lay 
the buns cut side down on well-greased 
bakiug pan or round cake tin. Let rise 
again, and just before putting in oven 
pour over it a syrup made by dissolving 
u cup of brown sugar in just enough 
water to melt it. Chopped or seedless 
raisins may be used instead of currants 
if preferred. When baked, run a knife 
around the edge of the pan, and turn the 
buns out. sticky side up. 
