i89o 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
671 
WEEDS WITHIN DOORS: 
BAD HABITS. 
OLIVE E. DANA. 
E VERY calling has its own tempta¬ 
tions. Sometimes they seem to be 
inseparable from it; sometimes even the 
outgrowth of its best characteristics. It is 
folly to ignore them. “ Weeds want only 
to be let alone 1” and it is presumptuous to 
suppose that the highest, or the humblest, 
or the most sheltered life or labor is with¬ 
out them. It is the best plan, and the 
safest, to guard against them, to watch lest 
they appear, and to root out the faults they 
materialize in as soon as possible. 
The housekeeper has her temptations. 
There is danger of her forming “bad 
habits,” of getting to herself “ ways” that 
hurt and hinder her and her household. 
Not housekeeping habits ; I am not speak¬ 
ing of housewifely excellence. That, alas! 
may co-exist, it would seem, with any 
number of unlovely traits. To it we are 
too ready to sacrifice a higher ideal, and it 
is never well to spoil the woman for the 
sake of the housewife. 
One fault, often serious, is the exagger¬ 
ation of trifles. Who has not seen very 
little things,—a forgotten article at the 
grocer’s, a delayed meal, a chance or un¬ 
welcome visitor, an untoward accident, an 
unwitting interference with the plan of 
the morning’s work,—suffered to destroy a 
day’s peace ? A little, little cloud, at first 
and in itself, but somehow it overspread 
the family sky and made the home atmos¬ 
phere anything but homelike,—dark and 
forbidding and even humid. 
It is certainly a reprehensible habit, and 
one to be overcome. Let us not invite 
trouble by sorrowing over trifles, nor be so 
slow to learn and practice thankfulness 
that some sharp stroke of discipline must 
instil the grace. 
“ I do not think,” said a thoughtful 
woman who had had a not unclouded life, 
j usb settling into peace and brightness in the 
s inset years, “I do not think any one learns 
real heart cheerfulness without suffering.” 
Said another, cheery and sympathetic still 
m the midst of a broken household circle, 
speaking of the season’s work and its being 
well done in season: “ I don’t think so 
much of those things as I used to. I used 
to think I must have my canning and pre¬ 
serving done at just such a time. But I’ve 
come to see that there are other things of 
more consequence.”A brighter, busier, more 
capable housekeeper never breathed, but 
she had learned the “ relative” values of 
things. 
And the housekeeper, the home-make^ 
above all other women, ought to “ value 
the ends of life more than its means.” Nor 
should she allow half its satisfaction and 
comfort to be swamped in the little vexa¬ 
tions which will occur, and which are annoy¬ 
ing, but which are, after all, so small. Akin 
to this is the habit of fretting. Indoor life is 
good soil for this weed, I know. But there 
are working-women far more closely con- 
tiued, invalids whose feet seldom or never 
touch the earth, who keep bright and 
cheerful, and tranquil, by the grace of 
God, unhelped by west winds or warm sun¬ 
shine, unhindered by deprivation, anxiety, 
or isolation. “God loveth a cheerful 
giver,” whether, I fancy, the giving be of 
silver or of service, of tithes or of time. We 
have sometimes to be thankful for inter¬ 
ruptions. Self-absorption is bad. House- 
absorption is little better. We need to lift 
our heads and look around to see what our 
ueighbors are doing, to hear what they are 
saying, to get the rebuke, the warning, or 
the inspiration of their lives, and to give in 
like manner, of ours. 
Then there is carelessness about looks and 
dress and manners, and all mental habi¬ 
tudes. Housekeepers are especially prone 
to this fault, and the most devoted of them 
and the most unselfish, are readiest to con¬ 
tract it. She “ cannot afford,” the time, or 
strength, or money for such things as make 
other women comely, and keep them 
young. Journeys and visits, books and 
leisure, an occasional new gown, a daily 
£tti,siccUancou,$ §uU’CVti,$i»8. 
If you name The R. N.-Y. to our adver¬ 
tisers you may be pretty sure of prompt 
replies and right treatment. 
When Baby was sick, we gave her Castorla, 
When she was a Child, she cried for Castorla, 
When she became Miss, she clung to Castorla, 
When she had Children, she gave them Castorla. \ 
SOME resting-time, a change of dress, are not for 
her. Besides, it is too much trouble to get 
them. 
But that is a true thing that Shakespeare 
says, through one of his characters : “Self- 
love, my lord, is not so vile a sin as self- 
neglecting.” We cannot do our best unless 
we are our best. Sometime she will see it. 
These are not all of our special besetments 
at home. The habits of over-much and un¬ 
generous criticism, of gossip, of lack of 
consideration, of petty bickering and con¬ 
tradiction, of inquisitiveness and other 
breaches of personal courtesy, are all easy 
to form and hard to be"rid of. The privacy 
of home, and its freedom are too often al¬ 
lowed to shelter and foster them. And 
they are to be hated cordially, and to be 
uprooted unsparingly, whenever and wher¬ 
ever they appear. 
children should have a pie for dinner, how 
much would each one receive ?” “ Why,” 
remarked a bright boy, “ each would get 
an eighth.” " But there are nine persons, 
you must remember.” “ Oh, I know that; 
but the mother wouldn’t get any. There 
wouldn’t be enough to go around.” “ ’Tis 
true, ’tis pity ; pity ’tis ’tis true,” but—is it 
funny ? 
“WOMEN’S WORK” IN CANADA. 
I N a late Rural in Woman’s Work, Pene¬ 
lope Wise tells us how hard she has to 
work. I hope she does not live in Canada 
while obliged to labor in that way. My 
wife does not get up in the morning until 
the fire has been well started, and has to 
have breakfast ready only by the time the 
morning’s chores are finished, or six o’clock 
in summer. As for milking cows or 
churning, we have learned that these are 
men’s tasks. The milk is sent to the 
factory from spring until October 15 to be 
made into cheese, and from that time until 
January 1, we are going to send the cream 
to the factory to be made into butter; and 
although we keep 10 cows, and expect to 
keep 30, we do not consider it any part of 
woman’s work either to milk or take care 
of the milk. When we want butter we buy 
it, as we can make more from the factory’s 
cheese in the summer than we could by 
making the milk into butter. The only 
milk that is brought into the house is for 
cooking and for cream for berries, etc. As 
for sewing, we get a girl for 50 cents per 
day, though when we want a dressmaker 
we have to pay $1. I hope that no reader of 
The Rural allows his wife to make his 
coarse clothes when he can get a good pair 
of ready-made overalls for $1. Of course, 
the women take care of the chickens and 
hens, and pocket the proceeds, but I do not 
think that is what can be called work, 
when one has a nice, light, airy hen-house, 
and the feed is all provided for the poultry, 
and everything is kept neat and clean. 
The worst thing in connection with wo¬ 
men’s work on the farm is the boarding of 
hired help in the house, and although I 
pay the men extra for getting their wash¬ 
ing done at home, I hope soon to build a 
house where they can board themselves. 
We have an abundance of all kinds of 
fruits and berries on our farm,so that there 
is no need for the women to search the 
corners of the fences for miles for a few 
wild berries. I have also tried Mr. Terry’s 
plan of mending bags on rainy days; but 
my wife says she hopes people will not 
think that it was she who mended them ; 
my fingers are too big for sewing. We 
also think it economy to get the best 
machinery to make the house-work light, 
for it is next to impossible to get good 
help. Servant girls are so scarce in the 
country that we cannot afford to get one. 
L. P. HUBBS. 
A 
CANNING GREEN TOMATOES. 
CORRESPONDENT asks whether 
green tomatoes can be profitably 
canned for winter use ?” I have success¬ 
fully canned them for a number of years. I 
generally use those that remain unripened 
when the cool weather comes on. Select 
those that have not even commenced 
to turn; wash them clean and cut them 
into pieces as you would apples for stew¬ 
ing (you need not peel them unless you 
want them very nice); put them in a porce¬ 
lain-lined or agate-ware kettle, cover with 
water and let them come to a boil to re¬ 
move the strong taste and bright green 
color; take them out in a colander and 
drain off all the water, then replace them 
in the kettle after having weighed them, 
adding half a pound of light brown sugar 
to each pound; let them boil about an 
hour or more, being careful to stir very 
frequently to prevent burning; about 10 
minutes before you take them from the 
kettle slice lemons enough to allow two or 
three slices in each jar; fill the jars and 
fasten up air-tight while boiling hot. 
These are excellent for either sauce or pies 
and when cooked in this way will easily 
keep until used up. M. R. B. 
TOMATO CATSUP. 
A well-tested recipe for this old favor¬ 
ite is as follows: Boil half a bushel of 
tomatoes until soft, and remove the skins 
and seeds by passing the pulp through a 
sieve. Add to the liquid one-fourth of a 
gallon of vinegar, one-haif cupful of salt, 
with ground spices to taste, one tea-spoon¬ 
ful of Cayenne pepper, and a little onion, if 
liked. Add also one-half pound of sugar. 
Boil slowly until reduced one-half. Set 
away for a few days; then heat to boiling 
once, and if too thick to run easily, thin 
with good vinegar. Bottle and seal. If it 
is especially desired to keep the catsup 
bright in color, the spices must be put in a 
bag so that they may season without 
darkening the mixture. 
It is said that the women inmates of an 
English prison make the best tomato 
catsup in Great Britain. They first bake 
the tomatoes in an oven and when quite 
soft rub through a sieve, add to every 
pound of pulp a quart of Chili vinegar, one 
ounce of shallots, a quarter of an ounce of 
white pepper, and half an ounce of salt. 
Boil all this together until soft, then rub 
through a sieve and add to every pound of 
sauce the juice of three lemons. Return to 
the sauce-pan and cook thick like cream; 
when cool, bottle, cork and seal. This 
recipe is quite new in this country. 
separating them into small pieces and soak¬ 
ing them in rather strong brine for two or 
three hours. Drain, wash in clear water 
and put into a granite kettle with just 
enough vinegar to cover ; add six pounds 
of granulated sugar for each gallon of 
vinegar with three sticks of cinnamon, one 
table-spoonful of whole cloves and a hand¬ 
ful of mace. Boil until the cauliflower may 
be pierced with a straw, but be careful not 
to cook it too much. Put the pickle in 
self-sealing cans. This is a very delicious 
pickle. s. A. LITTLE. 
$ti,$;ccUaneou!S Advertising. 
In writing to advertisers please always 
mention The Rural. 
With His Thumb, 
A boy Is said to have saved the Netherlands 
from inundation. Multitudes have been 
saved from the invasion of disease by a 
bottle of Ayer’s Sarsaparilla. This medicine 
imparts tone to the system and strengthens 
every organ and fibre of the body. 
“ I have taken a great deal of medicine, 
but nothing has done me so much good as 
Ayer’s Sarsaparilla. I experienced its bene¬ 
ficial effects before I had quite finished one 
bottle, and I can freely testify that it is the 
best blood medicine I know of.” —L. W. 
Ward, sr., Woodland, Texas. 
“ Confined to an office, as I am, from one 
year’s end to another, with little or no out¬ 
door exercise, I find great help in Ayer’s 
Sarsaparilla, which I have used for several 
years, and am at present using, with excel¬ 
lent results. It enables me to keep always 
at my post, enjoying the best of health.” — 
H. C. Barnes, Malden, Mass. 
Ayer’s Sarsaparilla 
PREPARED BY 
DR. J. C. AYER & CO., Lowell, Mass. 
Sold by Druggists. $l,six$5. Worth $5 a bottle. 
FOR BETTER, FOR WORSE. 
W OMEN who have husbands to sup¬ 
port them often take it as a mat¬ 
ter of course, and perchance even complain 
that they are not supported in ease and af¬ 
fluence. It might be well for such to look 
at another side of the matter sometimes : 
It has been estimated by an employ^ of the 
United States Bureau of Labor that there 
are 27,000 married men in the city of New 
York who are supported by their wives, 
less than 7,000 of whom are in menial 
service. The modistes are in the majority. 
This includes dressmakers and milliners, 
many of whom own property, some being 
very wealthy, and all well-to-do. The 
boarding-house keepers rank next in num¬ 
ber ; the professional women, who embrace 
doctors, lawyers, dentists, aurists, writers, 
teachers, musicians, lecturers, designers, 
painters and embroiderers, come third. 
Then there are the shop-keepers, who, it is 
said, make the best providers. 
IS IT FUNNY » 
S EVERAL of the women’s papers are 
publishing the following, which is 
credited to Parlor and Kitchen. It is sup¬ 
posed to be a joke: “ And now, children,” 
remarked Prof. Hailes in one of the public 
schools the other day, “if a family con 
sistiug of father and mother and seven 
FOR OLD AND YOUNG. 
Tutt’s Liver Pills act as kindly <m the 
child, the delicate female or infirm old 
age, as upon the vigorous man . 
tutt’s Pills 
give tone and strength to the weak stom¬ 
ach, bowels, kidneys and bladder. 
MORE ABOUT PICKLES. 
Sweet Pickles.—So many recipes are 
given for pickling peaches and pears that it 
is not worth while to add more to the num¬ 
ber, and it is more than possible that she 
who sends out any recipe for pickles de¬ 
serves some censure. The American house¬ 
wife who has learned “ how not to do it ” is 
the one to be envied rather than she who 
stores her closet with highly spiced dainties 
which do not “ aid digestion ” even though 
they “ wait on appetite.” However we are 
prone to like these objectionable tid-bits 
and the sweet pickles are no doubt the least 
objectionable of the whole pickle family. 
An abundant supply of citrons and a dislike 
for the pickle made from ripe cucumbers, 
which other members of the family relished 
led me to evolve 
Pickled Citron.— Citron makes a very 
delicious sweet pickle. Peel the melon, 
slice quite thin, remove the seeds and cut 
into strips. Cook until tender in slightly 
salted water, then drain carefully. Take 
enough cider vinegar to cover the melon. 
For each gallon of vinegar use six pounds 
of sugar aud one table-spoonful each of 
cloves, cinnamon and allspice. Put the 
spices Into a little bag and tie securely. 
Add a few blades of mace and, if liked, a 
little ginger-root. When all are scalding 
hot, put in the melon and boll till the pieces 
look clear. Put the pickle iu glass jars and 
seal. Ripe cucumbers and melon rinds 
may be pickled in the same way, but they 
do not equal citron. 
Pickled Cauliflower.— Prepare three 
small heads of uice white cauliflower, by 
GOLD MEDAL, PARIS. 1878, 
w. bakekT& CO.’S 
BreaM Cocoa 
Is absolutely pure arul 
t; is soluble. 
No Chemicals 
are used in Its preparation. It has more 
than three time* the strength of Cocoa 
raised with Starch, Arrowroot or Sugar, 
and is therefore far more economical, 
costing less than one cent a cup. It is 
delicious, nourishing, strengthening, EA¬ 
SILY Digested, and admirably adapted 
for Invalids as well as persons in health. 
Sold by Grocers everywhere. 
W. BAKER & C0.a Dorchester, Mass. 
USE BOILING WATER OR MILK. 
EPPS’S 
GRATEFUL-COMFORTING. 
COCOA 
SOLD IN LABELLED « LB. TINS. 
MACHINERY CO. 
PICKET MILLS, 
Drag and Wood Saws, 
HORSE POWERS, 
MARSH STEAM PUMP. 
2A Levi St., Battle Creek. Mlrh. 
General Advertising Rates of 
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M second class mall matter. 
