1902 
663 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
A Feminine Apple Buyer. 
A. MISSOURI WOMAN IN A PAYING BUSINESS 
The question is frequently asked of 
me how I came to take up the business 
of apple buying and packing. I could 
not give a more direct answer than that 
I took up the work lying nearest my 
hands, which in-my case chanced to be 
handling fruit, and finding that I could 
successfully manage the work, the ques¬ 
tion has been how to lay the work 
down. We frequently hear of the possi¬ 
bilities in many branches of rural life 
that are so attractive to the toiler in the 
city, and advice galore is given to the 
man whose daily round of toil has be¬ 
come burdensome, and whose very soul 
craves the “sights and sounds” of the 
country. But for the women who form 
such a large proportion of the city’s 
toilers we offer little inducement to take 
up a business that has advantages to 
offer on nearly every side. Besides, my 
observation leads me to believe that it 
is more often the wife than the husband 
who grows dissatisfied with the new 
venture that takes them from city to 
country, and though health and pros¬ 
perity are theirs they grow lonely and 
long for the old “hand-to-mouth” exist¬ 
ence that surrounds them with the bus¬ 
tle of city life. Generally this discon¬ 
tent would never be felt if these wives 
and daughters had a business of their 
own to claim their time and abilities, 
and give them the satisfied feeling that 
comes when one sees the results of care¬ 
fully planned labors well wrought out. 
When, after about 18 years of office 
work, we left the city for the country, 
moving on a farm, many friends tried 
to dissuade me; among the reasons of¬ 
fered was always heard the lament that 
I would work myself to death on a 
farm. But really what is the work of 
an ordinary farm wife who can take her 
children with her through every hour 
of the day, and lie down with them at 
night, compared with the woman who 
must give say, 10 hours to confined, un¬ 
remitting work in office or elsewhere; 
add to this one hour for going to and 
from work, the thousand things mother 
must do at home, and the half of night 
spent in sewing, mending, etc.? 
When we first came to the Ozarks. 
handling peaches was a rare pleasure, 
and when that pleasure was fairly well 
paid for in addition I immediately 
adopted the business of packing for 
market. From peaches to apples was a 
small step, and as it lay nearest I tried 
that, and found that careful painstaking 
work is appreciated as much in the or¬ 
chard as in the office; that the business 
ability and judgment needed in clerical 
work were exactly the same qualities 
needed in buying and handling a large 
apple crop, and as clerical positions are 
overcrowded and good apple packers are 
scarce I made my choice at once. 
This work requires a good deal of ex¬ 
ertion, much driving from orchard to or¬ 
chard, and, in this country, walking 
through orchards estimating crops, 
judgment in buying, training sorters 
and packers, and superintending per¬ 
sonally every detail of the work, yet it 
is within reach of an active working 
woman and is profitable as well. Last 
Fall I packed 6,720 barrels of apples, 
and often grew very tired, but during 
my long years of office work I nearly 
always grew very tired by time night 
came, and yet hours of work often 
awaited me that must be done. 
Not only during packing season do we 
find interest in our work; following 
that we follow the fruit to cold storage 
with our interest, watching the markets, 
noting sales, and condition of fruit we 
have packed, trying each year to gather 
new lessons for the future. Before the 
fruit is finally disposed of we are exam¬ 
ining the trees in the orchards, noting 
conditions of bud, blossom and growth. 
Early in the Spring we begin to study 
the crop around us, and all over the 
apple belt, ever widening our experi¬ 
ence, making many congenial acquaint¬ 
ances in many States, and from one year 
to another we can keep ourselves inter¬ 
ested, contented and longing not for the 
old city life, with its long hours of cleri¬ 
cal toil. a. z. MOORE. 
Wright Co., Mo. 
A Homemade Waitress. 
The removal of plates and dishes al¬ 
ready used, and the labor of replacing 
them with another course, means an 
awkward break in the meal in house¬ 
holds where there is no one to wait up¬ 
on table. It is an extra burden upon a 
housekeeper who is glad enough to sit 
down after her labor in the kitchen. the 
appliance shown in Fig. 271, reproduced 
from The American Kitchen Magazine, 
is a very convenient labor saver, com¬ 
bining the convenience of the serving 
table, with the utility of the dinner 
wagon (a small folding table on casters 
used largely in restaurants as a tem¬ 
porary receptacle for supplies). 
The “waitress” in question is made 
from a firm box 20 inches long, 17 inches 
wide, and 12 inches deep. Four pieces 
of smooth 2x2 lumber, each 14 inches 
long, are required to form the legs. The 
top of the box, supported by slats, form¬ 
ed one shelf. The board that is to be 
the base of the serving table must then 
be taken off and the four corners sawed 
out to admit the legs. After the holes 
are sawed out, the board must be re¬ 
placed, the legs set up in the box two or 
the jars, like peaches. Peel, core and cut 
in half, dropping the pieces into cold 
water, to prevent discoloring. For four 
pounds of apples, make a syrup with one 
quart of water, one pound of sugar, and 
the juice and rind of one lemon. Bring 
the syrup to a boil, and then remove 
the lemon peel. Put the apples into 
glass jars, fill up with the boiling syrup. 
Stand the jars on pieces of board in the 
wash boiler, put in it water enough to 
come two-thil’ds up the sides of the jars, 
stand the covers on the jars, but do not 
screw down. Put the boiler on the front 
of the stove, and let the water in it boil, 
continue cooking until the apples can 
be pierced with a broom straw; then re¬ 
move, and seal up. Be sure that they 
are brimful of syrup; if they have 
shrunk down, fill up with boiling water 
or syrup. 
Fall apples make a delicious jelly 
when flavored with Rose geranium 
leaves. Proceed as in making crab- 
apple jelly; when strained and put to 
boil add two Rose geranium leaves to 
each quart of syrup. Remove the leaves 
before putting the jelly in glasses. 
Ginger apples make a delicious pre¬ 
serve. Pare and quarter as many apples 
as desired. Weigh and use as many 
pounds of sugar as of fruit. Make a 
syrup of half the sugar, using a cupful 
of water to a cupful of sugar; pour 
syrup over the apples and let stand 21 
hours. Now add the remainder of the 
sugar. Peel a lemon, boil the rind in a 
little water (about half a teacupful of 
water to one rind), and to every two 
pounds of fruit add this lemon water 
and the juice of a whole lemon, also one 
ounce of ginger to every two pounds of 
fruit. The ginger may be tied in a mus¬ 
lin bag if not desired put in with fruit. 
Cook until the apples are transparent. 
This recipe will answer equally well for 
pears, vegetable marrow, squash and 
citron (the latter should be boiled in 
clear water first until tender). 
w 
4f 
A HOMEMADE WAITRESS. Fl8. 270. 
three inches, or high enough to allow 
the shelf to rest upon them, and the 
whole fastened together firmly. It is a 
good plan to nail a board about two 
inches wide across the front to hold in 
the numerous dishes which will be 
placed there later. A railing or board¬ 
ing is put on three sides of the top, and 
four casters complete the structure. The 
original designer dyed her “waitress” 
with green cotton dye, and then rubbed 
it with floor wax to prevent spotting, 
but enamel paint would be convenient 
to apply, and excellent in appearance. 
At meal times the “waitress” stands by 
the hostess, with dessert or any other 
additional dish on its shelves; plates 
and dishes removed during the meal are 
placed in it, and the extra course put on 
the table. After the meal all the dishes 
are placed on the serving table, which is 
then rolled into the kitchen, saving 
many unnecessary steps. 
Canning Apples. 
Can you give me a tested recipe for can¬ 
ning apples in glass jars? m. k. 
Massachusetts. 
Canned apples need care in prepara¬ 
tion, or they do not keep well, appear¬ 
ing to ferment quite readily. Most 
recipes given direct that the apples be 
boiled first in clear water until they 
soften, then lifted out and put into 
syrup. We think this causes some loss 
of flavor, and also breaks the apples un¬ 
necessarily, so we prefer to cook them in 
MOTHERS.—Be sure to use “Mrs.Wins- 
low’s Soothing Syrup” for your children 
while Teething. It is the Best.— Adv. 
Rural Recipes. 
Oiled Cucumber Pickles.—Peel and 
slice 25 cucumbers of medium size. 
Cover them with salt and let them stand 
over night. Drain off the liquid the fol¬ 
lowing morning, and put the fruit in a 
stone jar. Have ready and cover them 
with a dressing comprising a half cup¬ 
ful of olive oil, one-fourth cupful ol 
white mustard seed, one-fourth cupful 
of black mustard seed, one-half table¬ 
spoonful of celery seed and a cupful of 
the choicest vinegar. No cooking is re¬ 
quired. 
Peach Marmalade.—Place the peaches 
in a wire basket and plunge them into 
boiling water for two minute^. Rub off 
the skins, cut the peaches in halves and 
take out the stones. Measure the fruit 
and place it in a preserving kettle. For 
six quarts of peaches use one quart of 
water. Cover and cook for an hour; 
then add three quarts of granulated 
sugar and cook for an hour longer, stir¬ 
ring often. The marmalade should be 
smooth, thick and rather glossy at the 
end of that time. Put in small jars 01 
glasses. Seal with paraffin before put¬ 
ting on the cover. 
Grand mother’s Succotash.—The ears 
of corn, one-half dozen, or seven it 
small, to a pint of beans, are scored 
down each row with a sharp knife, then 
the tender pulp or kernel is pressed out 
from the ear. The cobs are then put 
into a quart of boiling water and cooked 
hard for 20 minutes. Remove them, and 
in this water boil the beans for half an 
hour. Now add the corn and cook five 
or six minutes longer. Season with six 
dashes of pepper, butter the size of a 
walnut and one-half cupful of thick 
cream (milk will do), and one teaspoou- 
ful of salt. Serve hot and at once thai 
none of the flavor escapes. 
TR’f GRAIN-0! TRY GRAIN-01 
Ask your Grocer to-day to show you a package of 
GRAIN-O, the new food drink that takes tho place 
of coffee. The children may drink It without Injury 
as well as the adult. All who try It, like It. GRAIN-0 
nas that rich seal brown of Mocha or Java, but It Is 
made from pure grains, and the most deUcate stomach 
receives It without distress. M the price of coffe* 
ii>o. and 25o. per package. Sold by all grocers 
GOOD 
HORSE, 
SENSE 
U 
will teach you that 
coffee in an air-tight, 
sealed package is 
V/ purer, cleaner and 
W ft fresher than coffee 
1 kept in open bins. 
LION COFFEE 
Js never sold in bulk. 
WURLITZER 
Brass Band 
INSTRUMENTS, DRUMS, ETC. 
Reduced Prices. Don’t buy until yon see , 
new 80-pp. Cat, B. MAILED FREE. 
The Rudolph Wurlltxer Co., 
178 K. 4th St., CINCINNATI, O. 
DERRICK OIL CO. 
Box 63. Titusville, Pa. 
ELITE OIL. 
A perfect burning 
oli. Shipped on triai, 
to be returned at our 
expense if not satis¬ 
factory. (SO-giil. galva¬ 
nized iron storage tank 
with pump, cover and 
hasp for lock.Write for 
particulars and prices. 
A Farm for You 
California 
The Santa Fe will take you there 
Any day in September or October 
for only $33 from Chicago, or $25 
from Kansas City. 
Corresponding rates from East generally 
—tickets good in tourist sleepers or chair 
cars—enjoyable ride on the shortest, 
quickest, pleasantest line. 
Also one lare, plus S3, round trip to Great 
Southwest, first and third Tuesdays, 
August, September, October. 
Exceptional opportunities for homeseek- 
ers in magnificent San Joaquin Valley, 
California. Money-making investments. 
Write to Geo. C. Dillard, Gen. Agt. 
Santa Fe, 377 Broadway, New York, 
for California land folders. 
Cheap Excursions 
