254 
£0i* Women. 
CONDUCTED HY MISS KAY CLARK. 
AN AMERICAN GIRL HEARD FROM. 
I am another one of those gills who, like 
“Annie Winfrey,” rio not think housework 
so very charming. If the able writers who 
often take ns for a subject would only say: 
“Get the girls interested in housekeeping," I 
could agree wit h them, for every girl should 
know how to keep and manage a house. 
Housekeeping means the management of do¬ 
mestic affairs which require great skill and 
judgment; and while it may lie construed to 
menu a performance of many household labors 
it does not necessarily mean all the downright 
hard work of a house. Rut, instead of house- 
seeping, they say: “Get those girls interested 
in housework," which means all the work of 
the house, washing, ironing, scrubbing, clean¬ 
ing, cooking, etc., and if we dare ever so faint¬ 
ly say we do not like this work they glare at 
ns with open disapproval. Now, I think we 
girls are greatly abused. If you choose to look 
the country through 1 do not believe you can 
find one girl in a thousand who willingly sits 
down, leaviug her mother to do the work 
alone. Yet the papers of to-day teem with 
articles accusing us of not working. You can 
hardly find one of us who does not do all in 
her power to lighten her mother’s work, and 
we deserve more credit than is given ns for 
doing so much that is unpleasant. Not that 
housework is degrading, hut hard and disa¬ 
greeable. Still we do this work willingly and 
cheerfully because wo consider it our duty and 
are interested in our labors to this extent, we 
know the work must be done and it is our 
place, to do it aud more satisfaction is given 
when work is done well than otherwise. This 
is not saying that we like the endless round of 
housework, aud why should we? Why should 
we like to soak our hands in dish-water three 
times a day, steam ourselves over a wash-tub, 
scorch ourselves over the ironing-table and 
r.iast ourselves over a cook-stovc until our 
races are scarlet, gradually deepening to a 
royal purple—a very lieautifui color in its 
place but not often admired in the face. Are 
we vain because we do not like to do work that 
makes our hands rough and our faces coarse? 
p > say nothing of backaches and weary limbs. 
1 wonder if there are many women who can 
truthfully say they would rather do house¬ 
work than anything else? To country girls 
housework frequently means, in addition to 
the above, feeding pigs and chickens, aud 
sometimes even milking the cows, and always 
getting the vegetables from the garden, pick¬ 
ing herries, and hundreds of other things not 
thought of until they turn up to be done, in 
Mrs. Annie L. Jack’s charming stories there is 
always at least one servautto do the drudgery, 
i can see how housework in that n ay could be 
made very pleasant, but doing it alone is a dif¬ 
ferent thing. Perhaps not one of these wri¬ 
ters who take us to task so often ever went in¬ 
to a kitchen aud did the work week after 
week, year after year, or they would not 
think it so strange that we dislike it. Since 
considering this subject I have taken some 
pains to consult my girl friends who I know 
do a great deal of housework and have not 
found one who says she liken the work, still 
does it conscientiously and cheerfully. Of 
Course I am speaking of people whoso circum¬ 
stances make it necessary for their women to 
do the work If one can ha.ve plenty of serv¬ 
ants I don’t blame the girls for not going into 
the kitchen. There must be some way of 
learning to keep house w r ell and doing house¬ 
work in case of an emergency (such as marry¬ 
ing a poor manl, without a lifetime of practi¬ 
cal exjierience. There may be some girls in 
poor circumstances who let their mothers do 
the work in order to preserve their own beauty 
hut I am sure they are few compared with the 
number of girls in the world. These few are 
probably so hardened that no advice can 
touch them; therefore why lecture and scold 
us all so often when so few are the sinners and 
they evidently beyond reform? Victoria. 
"THEY WHO WOULD REAP WELL 
MUST FIRST SOW WELL.” 
This ancient maxim is not more true with 
regard to the material world, than it is to the 
moral and mental. The farmer in order to 
gather in large crops must cultivate his fields 
well in Spring, and sow good seed in which no 
vile weed seeds are found, and he must ha rrow 
and roll the ground afterwards properly, and 
then he may reasonably look for a fair return 
for his labor when the harvest comes. 
Likewise in his business management he 
must carefully attend to all the little details, 
pay his small debts as well as his large ones; 
be on the alert for waste here and there, watch 
the markets in order to buy and sell to good 
advantage, and try each year to have a sur¬ 
plus left even if it is small, after supporting 
his family. If he does this steadily and wisely 
THE RURAL f$EW-¥©RIK£H. 
APRILS! 
he is laying the foundations well for comfort 
and prosperity in the future. 
Bo the housewife must sow well if she would 
reap abundantly. She must in the morning 
have a plan for the work of the day not only 
that she has to provide for t he accomplish¬ 
ment of the different kinds of work that comes 
during the year, and if she plans her course 
well she will reap besides daily comfort, well 
earned leisure for literary effort, or time to do 
any outside work in which she is interested 
and which makes her feel as if she was one. of 
the great, world after all. 
But in nothing else does this old proverb 
apply with stronger force than it docs to the 
educating and roaring of children. There in¬ 
deed we must, sow well if we would reap well. 
The good seed must be sown in ground pre¬ 
pared by the sower, arid the work must he 
done in the springtime of life; the weeds must, 
be carefully uprooted, and the more careful 
and loving the hand that sows, the better will 
be the prospect of a bountiful harvest. We 
must work with nature and not. against her or 
our work will be vain. No other sowing gives 
the satisfaction that comes when we reap in 
children the ripened fruit of judicious sowing. 
B. a D. 
- *■ 
HEALTHFUL HOUSES. 
ZEA MAYS. 
To have our houses healthful is worth great 
care. I do not think a home can be so, if, 
when it has been closed a few 
hours, it has a musty smell. Yet, 
how often this occurs. If I am 
not mistaken, one cause may be 
found by examining beneath the 
floor. The house has been built, 
without a cellar, and there is an 
almost unventillated space; per¬ 
haps a layer of damp and moldy 
soil. Possibly in building a large 
amount of shavings were left lying 
there to decay. Now, a cellar is 
bad enough, liable as it is to neg¬ 
lect aud to have decaying vegeta¬ 
bles and fruits, or perhaps im¬ 
pure water sending noxious ex¬ 
halations to the living rooms; and 
I am not sure that tlic ordinary no-cellar 
plan is any worse. What shall be done? Can 
we not prevent most of t his trouble by a layer 
of mortar beneath the floor? The cellar can 
of course be lathed and plastered overhead. 
How shall the floor without a cellar beneath 
lie made to prevent the musty smell in the 
rooms above? Has anyone experience? If so, 
will he please give it. If the mortar is spread 
on the surface of the ground there would still 
lie left, an illy-ventilated space, unless special 
arrangements were made. Can the floor rest 
directly upon the mortar ? Another thing, as 
our houses are often made with flic cellar-way 
just, beneath the chamber stairs, if nnplastered, 
there is a communication between cellar and 
chambers through the joints in the stairs, so 
that, the cellar air can go directly to the 
sleeping-roou^ above. I think these stairs 
should have another place or that the cellar¬ 
way should be plastered. 
CARD OR LETTER POCKET. 
The furore for filling parlors and sitting- 
rooms, with fancy articles of all shapes and 
sizes still rages; and it is a rare thing to call 
Fig. 180 . 
on a friend, where such articles are not to be 
seen. That they are expensive, is a fact: also 
that unless rich materials are used, much of 
their beauty is lost. We present our readers 
with a cut of an article that, is elegant, if 
elegantly made, and allows for a. considerable 
display of Piste. The shape, which is a horse¬ 
shoe, is cut out of very stiff pasteboard or 
heuvy bristol-board, two pieces alike. Cover 
it with plush, upon which has been embroidered 
a vine, or bunches of flowers look ns pretty. 
The pocket, can be made of satin, either of a 
contrasting; color, or like the plush, used for 
he back. On the pocket is embroidered a 
corresponding spray or bunch of flowers. This 
can be hung against, the wall, or have a strong 
strip of pasteboard, covered with the same 
material fastened to the back, and thus made 
an easel of it. It is used for cards or letters. 
A MALE FRIEND EXPRESSES HIS 
OPINION ABOUT “YIP-YAPS.” 
In Fob. 5Mth Rural, Jane Garley gives a 
splendid dissertation on what she calls “yip- 
yaps.” Now, to my mind. Jane is entitled to 
the lasting gratitude of the whole family of 
Rural readers, and especially the male por¬ 
tion. I don’t want to say a word against those 
lady writers who never can see anything good 
in a man, but nevertheless they have one or 
desire to get one. But it is so rare for the pen 
of a female to be used iu praising a man, that 
1 for one feel like giving the above writer my 
thanks if nothing more. Judging from the 
tone of most articles written by the fair sex 
upon the genus man, he is the worst brute over 
created. Now 1 am ready to admit that there 
arc those who disgrace the name of man, aud 
are certainly unfit to share any woman’s love. 
For such 1 make u0 apology. But how is it, 
on the other side? I leave that for the ladies 
themselves to answer. None of us are angels 
yet, and 1 tear some of us never will lie: but 
ouo thing is certain, a genuine case of yip- 
yaps never made a man any better, nor a 
woman either for that matter. 
One ok the “Horrid Creatures.” 
-♦ ♦ ♦ . 
Fig. 181. 
Domestic (Sconcing 
CONDUCTED BY EMIJ-Y MAPLE. 
THE KITCHEN AND ITS GARRET. 
ANNIE L. JACK, 
I remember a game that was played in my 
youth among the young people in country 
places, called “Kitchen Furniture,” and l 
often think that in naming the articles of fur- 
niture in use a great many were left out that 
are required nowadays. 1 am looking for 
ward to the competing articles iu the Ru¬ 
ral for some new ideas on this important 
subject. Said a lady to me lately, “Why did 
you have your greenhouse attached to the 
kitchen; it. should have projected from the 
parlor.” But we feel that, with the door open 
into our comfortable room, where we cook and 
experiment, aud spend so much of our time, 
the sight of the flowers is a constant refresh¬ 
ment. And for those who have no glass 
house, I would suggest always to have a few 
plants in the window. A Calla and Carna¬ 
tion, with two Geraniums and a box of Mig¬ 
nonette take very litt le room. I remember 
some years ago, I put my Calla in a little keg; 
but, previous to planting, I put iu a dozen 
roots of parsley, spreading out the long tap- 
, roots, anil having holes bored through the 
sides through which the stalks and leaves were 
brought. The whole was set into a shallow 
dish, and white sand placed iu it, with a con¬ 
stant supply of warm water. The flower did 
well aud the parsley was green and fresh all 
Winter, curling and growing around the sides 
of the tub—useful as well u-s ornamental. I 
do not possess a “model” kitchen; for 1 see 
many things that need improvement; but the 
floor is of hard wood that needs no scrub¬ 
bing, but is easily wiped or mopped. There is 
a noiseless force-pump, with soft water; a 
sink and spacious pantry; windows ojiening 
at top and bottom, and, in Summer, Venetian 
blinds, A passage between kitchen anddining- 
rooni is a great advantage in keeping the smell 
of cooking, even doughnuts, from other parts 
of the. house. The cellar under the kitchen is 
light and dry; in it we have the washing done 
in Summer, and the cooking in very hot 
'weather, by the aid of a discarded stove that 
stood us in good stead for many years before 
we had the present, range. The outlook on 
one side is to the yard, giving the men u view 
of the distant- stable. On the other side is the 
sunny garden, where bloom the roses, and 
when apple trees blossom and fruit, making 
the wood-shed look as if in a bower. 
All dishes aud kitchen utensils are kept in 
th« pantry close to the sink, and within three 
or four steps of the stove. There are two 
tables—one easily moved about, light and 
small; the other has only one fault—the cor¬ 
ners are square, and in purchasing I would 
never advise such, for one is sure to run 
against the hard corner, or, worse yet, to sec 
the dear little careless head of the unlearned 
baby bruised thereon during its first year of 
efforts at. walking. There is a hose for water 
ing the greenhouse in Winter or rinsing any¬ 
thing about the doors in Summer. In dry 
weather it is quite a luxury to sprinkle the 
grass and flower-beds. A bracket-lamp hangs 
over the sink, with a shining reflector, and 
there are plenty of cupboards for pots and 
pans. But there is a ijarrct, mid. oh! it tries 
my soul and patience even to think Of it. How 
I wish that cast-off shoes could be effectually 
cremated: that crownleai hats could follow suit, 
without being called for agaiu; that feathers 
from defunct chickens could he at once con¬ 
verted into pillows, and that extra stove-pipes 
had a home of their own. For it's “Where 
are my old slippers?” “Oh, in the garret.” 
“What has become of the new-fangled patent 
watering-can ?” “Banished to the garret.'' 
“ Who knows where my skates are?” “ I saw 
them in too garret;” and so goes the refrain. 
Yet. when it gets a coat of whitewash every 
Spring, and the stove-pipes are laid on a 
shelf, and the Thyme and Sweet Ma jorum and 
sage, wrapped in fresh papers, are hung upon 
the wall; when the children dart around dis¬ 
covering treasures, and carry off their prizes, 
aud the last cobweb disappears, then the gar¬ 
ret seems a pleasant and necessary part of the 
kitchen that we delight, to honor. 
SNAPS. 
ADELINE E. STORY. 
Oh, these printers! To think of my being 
made to say, as in the Rural of March 17th, 
that my digestive organs are frir, It is well, 
perhaps, for the fame of Job that he had no 
experience with these triers of modern pa¬ 
tience! Seriously, though I should have noth 
ing to say about the mistake that, converted 
fair into for, were it. uot that the word, as it 
stands, looks very like an attempt at. slang, the 
use of which is to me, a most obnoxious mode 
of expression, either in writing or conversation. 
For washing hands that have become 
cracked or blackened, we find nothing better 
than Indian meal rubbed on with the soap. 
It. not only removes the dirt but softens and 
whitens the hauds as well. For men and boys 
doing farm or shop work it is excellent and 
should be kept always at hand. 
Now is the time when the rural housewife 
gives attention to the setting of hens for early 
ehiekeus. It, is a good plan to set two or more 
on the same day. then when they are ready to 
come off, pul one of the hens in a coop with all 
the chickens aud reset the others as well as two 
or three new ones if possible, this time allowing 
those that have been sitting for six weeks to 
take charge of the lot. In warm weather a 
hen will take care of 80 or more chicks as 
easily as 10. 
In smoking meat we find the work much 
sooner and easier done by putting a little sul¬ 
phur on the corn cobs or whatever is used 
each time the smudge is built. 
I have seen it stated that kerosene used as 
an insect destroyer will cause the hair of ani¬ 
mals to come off and yet 1 have known of its 
lieing applied, and freely, to the heads of chil¬ 
dren to loosen and remove dirt from the scalp 
without injury to the hair. I should not 
recommend its use. however. A teaspoonful 
of ammonia to a pint of soft, water, in which is 
a little soap, is much to be preferred. 
Rabbits here iu the West, where they arc 
almost as numerous as mosquitoes in some of 
the older States, are far from being the in¬ 
offensive creatures they look like In the picture 
1 looks. Various are the devices employed to 
prevent, the destruction of fruit trees, such as 
binding cloths around the trunk, sprinkling 
blood about them, hanging tiny flags made of 
strips of white cloth on sticks a foot high and 
placing them here and there through the 
orchard, rubbing the hark slightly with axle 
grease and lard, etc. When wo had attended 
to the fruit trees last Fall we thought little 
more about the rabbits. This Spring we find 
our rose and lilac bushes badly injured and 
every bud taken from the young Norway 
spruces. So much for not knowing the fond 
ness of these creatures for flowers and 
evergreens. 
• -♦♦♦- 
A NICE PUDDING. 
Boil one quart milk iu a double kettle, add 
to it two tablespoonfuls corn-starch (which has 
been previously dissolved iu a little cold milk), 
four tablespoonfuls sugar, c*ie-half teaspoon 
ful of salt and a small lump of butter. Stir 
