1902 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
97 
Day by Day at Northwood. 
The notes from Hope Farm, that lit¬ 
tle nest among the hills in New Jersey, 
are welcomed here as a letter from a 
friend. The Hope Farm family seem to 
us as old acquaintances, and we would 
surely hitch up Fanny and Queen some 
bright day and drive over just for a 
talk with the Madame and a romp with 
the Bud and the Sprout, were it not that 
we are over a thousand miles away on 
the bleak prairies of Iowa. 
As I sit here alone in my little kitchen 
a snowstorm raging without, Pa and 
the boys at the barn housing the 
cattle and sheep, I wonder whether any 
of the R. N.-Y. people would be inter¬ 
ested in the doings of an Iowa farm. We 
call our farm Northwood, because a 
strip of woods, skirting English River, 
lies across the north side, which has 
been partly cleared off for our orchards. 
The south side is prairie corn land. The 
telephone is the most precious and prac¬ 
tical boon that has ever come to farm¬ 
ers; it has conquered solitude and has 
literally put the farmer right in town. 
There is scarcely a home in this county 
(Keokuk) without a ’phone. Jack (my 
husband) says that our telephone was 
worth at least $500 to us last Summer, 
when our house burned down. I ran to 
the ’phone the first thing and rang the 
alarm call, one long ring, and cried 
“Help, oh help, our house is afire!” In 
a few minutes almost the entire village 
was down there (one-half mile) and 
everything on the first floor was carried 
out in good condition. Fortunately we 
had an unoccupied house near by into 
which we moved. We are afraid to un¬ 
dertake the expense of rebuilding our 
home next Summer for fear that the 
drought, which almost paralyzed Iowa’s 
farm industry last season, should con¬ 
tinue this year. 
At last I have my Winter’s fruit cake 
baked; I postponed it on account of 
scarcity of eggs—not an egg did our 
hens lay for weeks. Here is my recipe 
for fruit cake. One should commence 
to prepare the nuts and fruit several 
days beforehand: 'One pound brown 
sugar, one pint Orleans molasses, one 
pound butter, one pound flour, 10 eggs, 
one cupful chopped hickorynuts, two 
pounds seeded raisins, three pounds 
currants, one-half pound citron, one 
pound figs and dates, two teaspoonfuls 
each cinnamon, cloves, allspice, one 
nutmeg. Bake three hours. Cover with 
icing, so that it will not dry out—it will 
keep a year. 
How many of our housekeepers save 
the tea that is left after a meal? It 
makes fine vinegar. Pour it into a jar 
in which is some sugar and a speck of 
yeast. With us this season cider vine¬ 
gar is very scarce, and apples an unat¬ 
tainable luxury. 
When making up your “big sponge” 
for bread at night did you ever try mix¬ 
ing one loaf stiff with buckwheat flour? 
Let it rise and set away to replenish the 
buckwheat batter from day to day. Your 
cakes will almost bubble off the grid¬ 
dle, and a spoonful of molasses will 
cause them to brown beautifully. 
Jack says that the drought has taught 
us a good lesson in economical feeding, 
and that we shall never see cattle win¬ 
tered in Iowa, knee-deep in hay and 
straw again. Last Winter, shredded fod¬ 
der was a novel experiment; this Win¬ 
ter it is a stern necessity, and although 
we have a pile as high as the barn, yet 
the boys are feeding it almost as care¬ 
fully and gingerly as if it were fruit 
cake. I asked the boys what makes the 
butter so yellow. They answered: 
“Shredded fodder.” The cows like it, 
and eat it as if it were June Blue-grass. 
Although it costs so much to produce a 
pound of butter nowadays we only get 
15 cents per pound for it at the village 
store. I wonder whether you eastern 
women appreciate your advantages, situ¬ 
ated as you are, so near the great mar¬ 
kets; your homes almost within the 
radiant circle of those marvelous cen¬ 
ters of life and culture. a. h. m. 
A Feathered Family. 
The group shown in Fig. 41, where 
Miss Cherry M. Kimball, of Franklin 
Co., N. Y., is serving breakfast to her 
feathered charges, could doubtless be du¬ 
plicated on many a farm. The ducks and 
turkeys, with their young caretaker, are 
in the lane near the barnyard, the well- 
kept orchard of Golden Russets, with 
the sugar orchard off to the right, form¬ 
ing an effective background. A notice¬ 
able feature in all the suggestions offer¬ 
ed us concerning work at home for the 
country girl was the advice to keep 
poultry on a business basis. It was the 
general opinion of those who had tried 
it that no other immediately available 
field offered so much encouragement. 
There is much to be said in favor of such 
work. Many girls have all the responsi¬ 
bility of the poultry yard without rea¬ 
sonable remuneration. Their wants may 
be supplied in accordance with the cir¬ 
cumstances of the family, but they have 
no feeling of independence; nothing that 
they may call their very own. This 
point of view does not always suggest 
itself to their elders; yet there is no 
doubt that it is often at the root of 
youthful dissatisfaction with farm life. 
There are many cases where the rights 
of the sons are recognized, while those 
salt and one-fourth as much pepper, 
cook for a minute longer and serve with 
small crackers or toasted pilot bread. 
Apple Turnovers.—These are very 
popular in some of the New York res¬ 
taurants. Roll out puff paste as you 
would for ordinary pies; then with a 
large cake cutter, either fluted or plain, 
cut out rounds. Place a tablespoonful 
of rich apple sauce or marmalade in the 
center of each round; then double the 
paste half way over to a half moon 
shape. Brush over with egg and 
sprinkle thickly with granulated sugar. 
Bake in a quick oven until well glazed; 
about 30 minutes. 
With the Procession. 
There are answers which, in turning 
away wrath, only send it to the other 
end of the room.—George Eliot. 
It may not be possible for every wo¬ 
man to be a good cook; cooking is a 
fine art. But every woman who is a 
housekeeper should understand the fun¬ 
damental principles of home economics, 
the beginning of every profession which 
has its root in daily living.—Mrs. Moot. 
To exalt household labor, to encour¬ 
age simplicity, more genuine and sim¬ 
pler hospitality, plainer dress, the use 
of nutritive foods, and to spread the 
thought that it is not the house we live 
in, but the life that we live in it that 
is important; all this is worth while 
A FEATHERED FAMILY. Fig. 41. 
of the daughters are ignored; their duty 
and service are taken as a matter of 
course. Modern usage has opened many 
occupations to women, and girls are no 
longer driven into ill-considered mar¬ 
riage as their only avenue of escape, but 
the country is a loser when these young 
women must seek a livelihood in the 
city. The farm should be a cooperative 
industry, where each member of the 
family finds a place, and a fair reward 
for the labor given. 
Rural Recipes. 
Porto Rico Beef.—Chop a large onion, 
a small carrot and a pepper together; 
put them in a saucepan, add a quart of 
water or stock and simmer for an hour. 
Then add to it two pounds of cold meat 
cut in large pieces, three small cucum¬ 
ber pickles, one teaspoonful of salt and 
the juice of a lemon, and half a cupful 
of butter. Cook for 15 minutes longer 
and serve with a border of boiled rice. 
Corn Chowder.—'Cut two slices of salt 
pork into small bits; peel and slice half 
an onion and fry it in the salt pork. 
When it begins to brown add two cup¬ 
fuls of canned corn and two medium¬ 
sized potatoes peeled and sliced; add a 
pint of boiling water, cover closely and 
cook for 20 minutes. Melt two table¬ 
spoonfuls of butter, stir in two table¬ 
spoonfuls of flour, add a pint of hot 
water, and when it thickens stir in the 
chowder. Season with a teaspoonful of 
and is part of your work.—Mrs. Town¬ 
send. 
Not in withdrawing from the world, 
but in keeping yourself unspotted from 
the world, is your virtue or religion 
shown.—Episcopal Recorder. 
I believe that to make a country 
beautiful will do more than anything 
else to make its people happy and con¬ 
tented. Nothing will do more to en¬ 
courage patriotism than to have the 
surroundings of our homes so attractive 
that they will be loved and admired.— 
O. C. Simonds. 
II my name isn’t 
on your lamp chim- 
neys you have 
trouble with them. 
Macbeth. 
If you’ll send your address, I’ll send you 
the Index to Lamps and their Chimneys, to 
tell you what number to get for your lamp. 
Macbeth, Pittsburgh. 
MOTHERS.—Be sure to use “Mrs. Wins¬ 
lows’ Soothing Syrup” for your children 
while Teething It is the Best.— Adv. 
OC YVY No. 6 Comic or Business Return Bn- 
L\) AAA velopes, with your name, business and 
address printed in upper left hand corner. 10c.; 100 
for 30o., postpaid. Logan S. Ellis, Loganville, O 
TF YOUR present employment does 
A not take up all of your time, it is 
quite possible that you can double 
your income by taking the agency for 
your town for 
The Ladies’ Home Journal 
AND 
The Saturday Evening Post 
You can surely make every minute of 
your time profitable. We want ener¬ 
getic workers to secure new subscri¬ 
bers and renewals. 
We Allow Liberal Commissions 
Also liberal rebates for large clubs. 
And, in addition, 
We are going to reward 
764 of our most success¬ 
ful agents with $20,000 
at the end of the season. You may 
make five hundred or a thousand dol¬ 
lars during the winter in addition to 
commissions that would ordinarily be 
deemed ample compensation for the 
work. Write 
The Curtis Publishing Company 
PHILADELPHIA 
GOOD AGENTS WANTED! 
$25 to $300 Earned Weekly. 
MEN AND WOMEN AGENTS WANTED 
to sell the “Famous Mary¬ 
land ” Carpets, Rugs, Art 
Squares, Draperies and Red 
Sets in every section of the 
Country. We pay freight, sew 
carpets free and furnish wadded 
lining without charge. 
We now Include with this 
outfit, catalogue of “ Famous 
Maryland ” made - to - order 
Clothing with large cloth samples attached, 
also Gent’s Furnishings. We guarantee out 
Clothing to fit, and prepay Expressage. Address, 
JULIUS HINES & SON, Baltimore, Md., Dept. 320 
WOOD 
saws nows 
TREKS 
With n FOLDING SAWING MACHINE. !> CORDS by ONE MAN in 
10 hours. Send for FREE illus. catalogue showing latest Improve¬ 
ments and teatimonials from thousands. First order secures nerency, 
p iildin(t Scwins: Mach. Co. 55 N. Jefferson St. Chicago. Ill 
QIIDTIIDE CURED while you work. You pay 
ItUr I UHC $4 when cured. No cure, no pay. 
ALEX. SPEIRS, Box 967 , Westbrook. Maine. 
California-Oregon Excursions 
Every day in the year. The Chicago, 
Union Pacific and North-Western Line 
runs through first-class Pullman and 
Tourist Sleeping Cars to points in Cali¬ 
fornia and Oregon daily. Personally 
conducted excursions from Chicago to 
San Francisco, Los Angeles and Port¬ 
land, leaving Chicago on Tuesdays and 
Thursdays. Lowest rates. Shortest time 
on the road. Finest scenery. Inquire of 
your nearest ticket agent, or write 
H. A. Gross, 461 Broadway, New York 
City. 
W. M. Burgard, 301 Main Street, Buf¬ 
falo^. Y. 
A Liberal Proposition. 
Thrice-a-Week World and ) $1 gR 
The Rural New- ¥ orker f a year 
Oae of our special offers le the Thrice-a-Week 
World and The Rural New-Yorker combined 
for $1.65 a year. By this arrangement yon are 
sure to obtain all the news of the day, and infor¬ 
mation of special interest to the farm and home 
at the same time. The Thrice-a-Week World Is a 
clean, reliable newspaper, and the low figure at 
which it is offered, in conjunction with The Rural 
New-Yorker, should make the combination un¬ 
usually attractive. 
