The RURAL NEW-YORKER 
1239 
Plans for Our Women’s Clubs 
The return from camp or from vaca¬ 
tion trips, and the opening of schools 
and colleges, tells us that Summer is 
over, and iu the midst of the pickling, 
cleaning and sewing of this busy season 
we are trying to plan something worth¬ 
while in the way of social activity and 
community work. At the best—yes, even 
now—'Winter is a more or less shut-in. 
time in a farming community, and what¬ 
ever brings us together in a common ef¬ 
fort has a value over and above any 
actual accomplishment. 
IIow different women’s c-lnbs are today 
from those of 20 or 30 years ago! Then 
wo were “looking up” the material for 
elaborate papers on Savonarola, Byzan¬ 
tine architecture, or the influence of Bot¬ 
ticelli on the inhabitants of Timbuetoo, 
where now we are working out a plan 
for ventilating the schoolhouso or listen¬ 
ing to a lecture on penping bills in the 
State Legislature! In every town and 
village women are organized in civic 
clubs, women's auxiliaries, and the like, 
these often a part of some larger organi¬ 
zation whose aim is uot merely self-cul¬ 
ture or creation, good as these are iu 
their place, but some form of community 
betterment based on a definite, construc¬ 
tive program. Perhaps a list of the re¬ 
cent activities of a woman’s club in a 
Connecticut village may help others to¬ 
ward arranging such a program : 
1. Support of a district nurse. (If 
you question the value of district and 
school nurses, ask your doctor's opinion). 
2. Campaign against tent caterpillars, 
both eggs and nests. (The co-operation 
of school children and Boy Scouts is a 
great help in this merry warfare). 
3. Hot school lunches. 
4. “Cleaning-up” days. 
5. Cleaning of the town reservoir (a 
big undertaking). 
<>. Rummage sales (conducted in the 
most approved manner for the benefit of 
those of small means). 
7. Donations to the Flower and Fruit 
Guild. 
8. Contributions to nearby hospitals. 
(Iu my home town we are asked to give 
a can or two of fruit or vegetables to a 
neighboring hospital every Fall, cans be¬ 
ing furnished to the local representative 
who has the matter in charge), 
9. Friendly oversight of the town poor. 
10. Work for a town forest aud for the 
promotion of scientific forestry. (Road¬ 
side planting, the planting of memorial 
trees an«l tree surgery are kindred mat¬ 
ters which appeal to us all). 
Another list includes a course of lec¬ 
tures by competent men and women, cov¬ 
ering town, State and Federal govern¬ 
ment and the duties of citizenship; paint¬ 
ing the inside of the dirty and dingy town 
hall; putting up township boundary 
signs on main roads; the care of the 
village green (in .a certain New Hamp¬ 
shire hamlet the village triangle is glori¬ 
fied by a great bed of Zinnias, which re¬ 
quire almost no care after they are set 
in the .Spring, and furnish a glowing 
mass of bloom until frost) ; active par¬ 
ticipation in the work of providing a 
playground and supervised sports for the 
boys of the neighborhood. Money for 
these various undertakings was raised by 
entertainments and by contributions from 
outside friends, as well as by membership 
dues. In many towns we can hardly find 
a more important object to work for than 
the establishment of a recreation center, 
looking to the building, in time, of a 
community house, with books, magazines, 
games, equipment, for the serving of re¬ 
freshments, and a convenient, airy and 
cheerful room for lectures, dances and 
the meeting of the Dorcas Society or the 
Ladies’ Aid. This, too, would be the 
place for such meetings to work for the 
destitute and unfortunate, as we all 
found time for in the hard days of the 
wa r. 
To the book lover good books are the 
best missionaries. A rural book club of 
about 25 members has been a success 
with us. Each member loans oue book, 
and these books are passed on fortnightly 
in a regular order, returning to the owner 
at the end of the year. The books are 
mostly current fiction, with a sprinkling 
of sociology, biography and drama. 
A hill town boarding-house where I 
stopped recently had in the course of long 
and honorable service amassed a library 
numbering, if I remember rightly, be- 
Iween 2,000 and 3,000 volumes. They 
were excellent books, too—Carlyle, Hux¬ 
ley, Agassiz, the Brownings, all of the 
great Victorian novelists, much of the 
best American literature. The books 
were covered and numbered, and there 
was a card-catalog, but ro librarian— 
just a printed notice asking every guest 
who drew out a book to deposit five cents 
in a slotted box, at the same time jotting 
down his name and the date in the book 
hanging conveniently near. So nickel by 
nickel the library had grown, aided by 
donations, of course, and who can say 
what its Influence had been, not only 
among the Summer butterflies, but dur¬ 
ing the long farm evenings in Winter? 
Perhaps in your town there is a strug¬ 
gling library which meets the pressing 
demand for fiction and juveniles, hut has 
little or nothing left for history, 
biography and social science. Perhaps 
there is no library, and hungry .vouug 
minds go hungry. 'Phis may he the 
women’s clubs’ opportunity. 
DOHA HEAD POO DALE. 
Crocus Joys 
Everyone know9 or should know that 
bulbs should be planted before the ground 
freezes, but when n letter came the mid¬ 
dle of December asking me if I could use 
a few Crocus bulbs I didn’t say “No.” 
A dozen Crocus wouldn’t, take much 
room, so I thought I could lift one corner 
of the evergreen boughs covering the bulb 
bed, take an old ax and break the frozen 
crust of earth, dig up the '"'ft earth, plant 
bulbs, cover with soft so 1 ,., two or three 
inches of stable litter, evergreen boughs, 
and replace the six or eight inches of 
snow. 
In due time the box came. I stared. 
Not owe, but 20 dozen Crocus, and three 
Narcissus Pootaz Irene, the loveliest it 
has been my lot to meet. 
When the planting of these bulbs was 
discussed the nipn folks vrirh one accord 
began “to make excuse.” .Tack, knowing 
I often divided with friends, asked if I 
couldn’t divide with some one. Good 
luck was with me and brought a beau¬ 
tiful midwinter day; the sun shone warm. 
First, I selected one dozen bulbs with 
three or four sprouts and planted around 
a large Olotbilde Soupert rose that was 
on its way cellar-ward. These Crocuses 
began to show sprouts by February 20. 
and the last of February the rose and 
bulbs were brought to an unheated room, 
later brought to a window in the same 
room, being careful to take them from 
the window at night to avoid ehilling. 
Early in March the first bud opened, and 
they were carried to the living-z^oom to 
surprise the man of the house. 
The whole family were enjoying (?) 
the “flu” at the time, and how bright and 
hopeful the cheery things looked. The 
family doctor walked directly to them, 
exclaiming at their beauty, while our 
bachelor neighbor said: “That looks 
Spring.’’ The dozen bulbs gave us over 
50 blooms, and gave us more pleasure 
than any other plant last Winter. 
But to return to my midwinter gar¬ 
dening. I removed the snow from the 
bulb bed and found 'lie ground, although 
wet and cold, unfrozen, so I quickly 
planted the bulbs about two inches apart 
each way, covered with two inches of 
dirt, two or three inches of stable 
litter, evergreen boughs, and replaced the 
snow. There were more bulbs than could 
be planted here, so I filled Mayne’s flower 
bed in the same way. 
“Do you expect they will grow put 
into that cold soil?” anxiously inquired 
the man of rhe house. 
“I certainly do.” 
“They must be queer bulbs.” for he 
had only seen them planted in the regu¬ 
lation way in September or October. 
Then I plant them three or four inches 
deep and the same distance apart. 
I thought to myself about these: 
“Time will tell.” and it did. 
Never had there been such a display 
of Crocuses in town: white, white with 
a few lavender stripes, more stripes, and 
so on. to a beautiful royal purple, and 
my favorites, rhe golden, that looks so 
cheery in a dull yard. The display lasted 
over a month, almost every bulb giving 
more than one bloom. 
After blooming, when the leaves were 
dead. I lifted the bulbs, set them in an 
orthodox manner ready for next .Spring. 
The bulb bed is now bright again. The 
Flanders poppy, an Easter gift a year 
ago. self-sowed, and four or five plants 
were left, as they need plenty of room 
to reach their height of beauty, and cox¬ 
combs border them. 
The Narcissus Pnetaz Irene were 
planted in the open ground at the same 
time as the Crocuses, only giving them 
more room and four inches of dirt, and 
all grew and bloomed beautifully. In 
fact, the varieties of hardy Narcissus are 
about a> satisfactory as anything we 
have, and each new one seems lovelier 
than the one before. It is said moles will 
not eat Narcissus bulbs, and they are 
exceptionally hardy SlM rarely fail to 
both bloom and increase, mother bee. 
Tomatoes In Cider 
The following recipe for keeping ripe 
tomatoes has been used in my family for 
over 30 years, and has always been a suc¬ 
cess : We put them in fresh cider. The 
day the cider is made, gather ripe toma¬ 
toes by cutting an inch of the vine with 
each tomato, Be sure there are uo breaks 
in the skin, and wipe carefully with a 
dry cloth, not using any water. Have 
ready new stone jars, one or two gallons. 
Place tomatoes closely, but do not crowd 
them, and fill jar with cider. When jars 
are tilled, tie a clean cloth and several 
thicknesses of paper over them. Keep 
them in a cool place until Cold weather, 
then where they will not freeze. When 
wanted for use during the Winter or 
early Sprlug. lift from the jar, place on 
a plate to drain, slip off the skin, which 
will he like thin paper, slid*, sprinkle 
with salt and white sugar. You will find 
them very pretty aud appetizing. I have 
kept them from October until the follow¬ 
ing May. mbs. o. m. gordox. 
Another Washington Cake Recipe 
The following is the recipe my mother 
used when I was a little girl ; The whites 
of three eggs, beaten to stiff froth, one 
cup white sugar, three-quarters cup sweet 
milk, one-half cup butter, two cups flour. 
i>ne teaspoon soda, two teaspoons cream 
of tartnr. Bake in three fins Make cus¬ 
tard with oue pint of milk, yolks of two 
eggs, one-half cup white sugar, flavor. 
Spread custard between layers and on 
top. j. m. 
A Companion for 
Good Times 
W HEN the young folks get together for an 
evening of good times at home, the player 
piano is instantly the center of attraction. It makes 
possible the dancing and singing that are the very 
life of the party. 
The beautiful Weaver player piano is an instru¬ 
ment you will be proud to own. Noted for its pure 
sweetness of tone; perfect mechanism and beauty 
of appearance; admired by all who see it and hear 
it, it will prove a constant source of pride and 
pleasure to you. 
With a player piano you have all the advantages 
of hearing and playing the finest and most elabo¬ 
rate pieces—yet, in just a second’s time you can 
change player to piano, ready for you actually to 
play yourself or for the children to practice. 
Only a small outlay down is necessary, and the 
Weaver is yours, to enjoy the whole time you’re 
paying for it. The terms are purposely made 
easy. These easy terms will buy a Weaver upright, 
grand or player piano. Write us to-day for 
further information. You will never regret it! 
WEAVER PIANO CO., Inc. 
Factory and General Offices: York, Pa. 
Weaver, York and Livingston Pianos aiul Player Pianos 
WEAVER 
T^EEPS every room delightfully comfortable in the coldest weather. 
Bums little coal or wood. Is thoroughly durable and rehable. 
Installed in one day. No pipes in the cellar, will not spoil fruit or 
vegetables. Send for free copy of “Warmth and Comfort” 
UTICA HEATER COMPANY. 111 Whitesboro St, UTICA, N. Y. 
AreYou Fond ofGood Coffee? 
My coffc* i« so good that people who 
drink it never chance. 
Yon couldn't make good bread of 
flour ground from shriveled or 
mouldy wheat- Small, unripe, brok¬ 
en coffee berries will not make 
wholesome coffee. 
My coffee ie delicious because it is 
zround from large, plump, RIPE 
berries. It is satisfying and healthy. 
It soothes the nsrves and helps di¬ 
gestion. 
Yo« can DRINK ALL YOU WANT! 
Ssnd only ♦1.00 (check, money order or caahl for S-lb. 
trial order. Money back if it does not please you. 
All postage pud by me. 
ALICE FOOTE MACDOUGALL 
Dept A 73 Front Street New York. N. Y. 
Tl II | DO FINEST EARLY FLOWER 
LJ L_ I ING GARDEN varieties 
^ HOLLAND PRODUCES 
*5 bulhs, mixed colors. $1: tO for *8. Plant now. Bills 
or large stamps. SHINS skgotxs CUMroiU* F«rrr It., bo lark 
Stop, Look and Listen 
Natural Yarn Cotton Socks. Not dyed or 
bleached. Just as they come from the 
machines. Real comfort for 
tender, swollen or blistered 
feet. Give twice the wear of 
jiyed stockings. Send 20 cents Kj u 
for single pair; 95 cents for half Ml * 
dozen: or $1.80 per dozen. Sizes f (ja 
9H-11H- Prices west of the ills- r 
sissippi River. $1.00 for half 
dozen or $1.90 per dozen. State t, | 
size of shoe. /; f %M| 
Mafii 1 Va 
Natural Yarn 
Hosiery Mills 
Fleetwood Penna U.S.A. 
