446 
TIIE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
June 3 
• 'T^T'T ''y r ▼ ▼ ▼ ▼ T ’'TW'TW 
f Woman and Home \ 
From Day to Day. 
A garden is a lovesome thing, God wot! 
Rose plot, 
Fringed pool, 
Fettl'd grot— 
The veriest school 
Of peace; and yet the fool 
Contends that God is not— 
Not God! in gardens! when the eve Is cool? 
Nay, hut I have a sign; 
'Tis very sure God walks in mine. 
—Thomas Edward Brown, horn 1830. 
* 
For covering the walls of the bathroom 
Sanitas wall oilcloth is strongly recom¬ 
mended. It can be washed off like tiling, 
which it resembles in appearance. It is 47 
inches wide and costs 25 cents a yard; a 
seven-inch border to match costs five 
cents a yard. 
* 
Prunes cooked slowly in maple syrup 
are delicious. No fruit seems to vary 
more in quality than the prune, and its 
faults are not always the result of care¬ 
less cooking. Old stock cannot be made 
palatable; the fruit must be fresh and 
well-kept. Small prunes of excellent qual¬ 
ity are very cheap, five to eight cents a 
pound, and will be found quite as satisfac¬ 
tory for general use as the more ex¬ 
pensive large ones, so long as they are 
fresh stock. 
* 
Asparagus a la vinaigrette is a deli¬ 
cious dish for a cold Sunday dinner. 
Cook as for boiled asparagus. While 
cooking make a hot French dressing by 
mixing together in a saucepan over the 
fire six tablespoonfuls of salad oil, two 
of vinegar, two teaspoonfuls of French 
mustard, half a teaspoonful of sugar, 
salt and pepper to taste. When the as¬ 
paragus is tender drain, put in a deep 
dish and pour over it the hot dressing. 
Cover and set aside to cool, then stand in 
the ice chest for an hour or so before 
serving. 
* 
The first young beets, when only the 
size of a hickorynut, are served with their 
own tops as “greens,” as follows: Re¬ 
move any rusty or ragged outer leaves, 
but do not trim the tops from the roots. 
Wash carefully without breaking the skin 
of the roots, cook in salted boiling water 
until tender. Cut off the leaves close to 
the roots, drain in a colander and chop 
fine, seasoning with butter, pepper, salt 
and lemon juice. Keep hot by setting the 
dish in a p'an of boiling water while the 
roots are scraped and trimmed, then dish 
with the little beets as a garnish around 
the “greens.” 
* 
When visiting one of the primary 
schools some years ago, the day before 
Memorial Day, or Decoration Day, as it 
was then more generally called, says a 
writer in the Boston Herald, I, as usual, 
as a member of the School Board, ad¬ 
dressed the pupils. When closing I said; 
“Well, children, you have a holiday to¬ 
morrow. What day is it?” 
“Decoration Day!” from all in unison. 
“What do you do on Decoration Day?” 
“Decorate the soldiers’ graves,” said all 
together again. 
“Why do you decorate their graves any 
more than others?” 
This was a sticker, but finally one little 
fellow held up his hand. 
“Well, sir, why is it?” 
“Because they are dead and we ain’t.” 
* 
The views of the old lady thus ex¬ 
pressed in the Youth’s Companion will 
appeal to a good many who know a little 
more than she about fencing as a femi¬ 
nine accomplishment: 
“It does beat all, Michael, what they’re 
teaching girls now in these city schools,” 
said old Mrs. Milliken, laying down the 
advertising section of a big daily which 
she had been reading closely for the last 
half-hour. “Of course when Jamie went 
to the farm school and they gave him 
digging afid chores and such, it seemed 
right enough, for he was a boy, and was’ 
fitting himself for making a living off 
the land. 
“But what I can’t make out is why ever 
city folks, and girls at that,-and ones 
that don’t need to be scratching to make 
ends meet, should be paying twenty-five 
dollars extra, as the paper here says, just 
to learn fencing.” 
“Does seem kind o’ queer, ma, come 
to think of it,” returned the old man, at 
the other end of the table, “but seems like 
of late I’ve been hearing a lot of talk 
’bout nature studies and ‘back to nature’ 
and simple lifes and such, and maybe 
that’s the city folks’ way o’ getting at 
those things, though it ’pears to me as if 
’twould come handier for ’em to take a 
jaunt out in the country where real fences 
was, if they’re so mighty anxious to be 
learned 'bout the building of ’em !” 
Charity Sweetheart’s Letters. 
We have been so busy housecleaning 
and gardening that I have not had time 
to put my grumbling on paper, which 
was perhaps a good thing for the readers, 
who, no doubt, think I do not realize my 
blessings enough. If one could just live 
in the present it would be easy, but the 
future will loom up, dark, to every 
thoughtful girl, who has no lawful pro¬ 
vider, and is without a settled career. It 
is very fine for Carnegie to give ten mil¬ 
lions to college professors who are beyond 
the limit age, but there is no bonus for 
the maiden aunt who has spent the best 
years of her life catering to the needs 
of those nearest to her, or toiling to help 
other people’s children. But Spring has 
so many allurements that it is not easy 
to be glum, for 
“The west winds blow, and singing low 
1 bear the glad stream run. 
And all the windows of my soul 
I open to the sun.” 
If we could live more in the sunshine, 
and less over the cook stove, many of our 
dreary thoughts would vanish, and the 
healing power of light and air would 
soothe and tranquilize us. So with rake 
and hoe and sometimes spade I have been 
out in the garden, and the result is in the 
hands of Him Who “giveth the increase.” 
The boys have planted whatever they fan¬ 
cied in their garden plots, and, as usual, 
they differ in their methods and ideas as 
widely as in character. Cleveland wanted 
a little of everything, and put his beans 
in too early, so, that they caught the frost 
and he had too many things crowded to¬ 
gether. Grant helped his brothers with 
the digging and raking before he planted 
his choice, which was melons in hills that 
were made early and sown first with let¬ 
tuce seed, and as soon as it was warm 
enough the melon seeds were put in the 
center of the hills, to start while the let¬ 
tuce was growing. As soon as the salad 
was fit for the table we all shared the 
dainty leaves in sandwiches, and enjoyed 
it because it was grown by the laddie for 
us. Sherman would not buy any seed, 
but begged from me some sweet peas and 
radishes, eating all the latter while they 
were very small, and neglecting to hoe 
his sweet peas now that they are up, or 
to put strings on them. I told him yes¬ 
terday that his sweet peas were like un¬ 
trained children, growing very lop-sided, 
and not likely to come to any good unless 
trained to regular habits of growth while 
young. “Oh, well, aunty,” he said, “I 
don’t care about them. I want to work 
at something that will make money.” 
How could I blame the boy'? I am 
trying to do that myself all the time. Per¬ 
haps the tops and marbles I should buy 
with the money may seem more of ne¬ 
cessities than his, but the thought is the 
same. How often I have said it to my¬ 
self when toiling at work that seemed 
ter bring no recompense, “I want to work 
rt something that will make money,” as if 
everything depended upon the cash in 
hand. There is a beautiful glamour over 
everything that is likely to turn out profit¬ 
ably, and I cannot blame Sherman, for we 
are all like the “maid and the milk pail.” 
counting up, and anticipating results, only 
to have our hopes dashed to the ground 
by one careless movement. 
We are encouraging the little melon 
grower because the preserves we have 
enjoyed most during the Winter was a 
confection made of melon rind. It was 
cut off just where generally thrown 
away, and boiled till clear, after cutting 
into small pieces; then a syrup made to 
which a little green ginger was added and 
the rind put in when cold, and heated 
through, sealed up while hot. It proved 
to be very much like the expensive gin¬ 
ger compote, with the added taste of soft 
candied peel, and was a very great favor¬ 
ite while it lasted. 
Gardening is hard work; the steady use 
of the hoe makes your back ache, and the 
weeds will crop up, if the land is neg¬ 
lected for a little while. We have had 
heavy rain that prevented the necessary 
attention, and already the weeds are visi¬ 
ble above the seedlings. No time for 
dreaming, or for theory, while necessity, 
which “knows no law”, shows the daily 
duty to the woman with the hoe. 
CHARITY SWEETHEART. 
Ill Cherry Time. 
Several years ago I spent part of my 
vacation on a farm where there were 
cherries in abundance. The idea of dry¬ 
ing some came to me, and I was given 
permission to use all I wanted to. So I 
set to work picking and pitting the firm, 
ripe fruit. Each plateful was liberally 
sprinkled with sugar. The fruit was then 
set in a sunny place to dry. When my 
work was finished I had several quarts 
of fine dried cherries. These I used the 
next Winter in place of raisins in cakes 
and puddings, finding them an excellent 
substitute. 
Canned Cherries.—This fruit is one 
which a young housekeeper can safely se¬ 
lect when just beginning to learn how to 
can fruit, for my experience has proved 
it to be the best of keepers. While 
peaches, plums and berries with the best 
of care will often spoil, the cherry al¬ 
ways behaves itself, a great relief to a 
busy woman. After pitting the cherries 
weigh them, allowing one-fourth of a 
pound of granulated sugar to every pound 
of fruit. First heat the cherries until 
juicy, then add the sugar which has been 
heated in the oven. Cook gently till the 
sugar is dissolved. Then boil for five 
minutes, and can. If the cherries are very 
juicy can the juice left in the kettle. It 
will be an addition to a pudding dressing 
the coming Winter. 
A couple of weeks ago I made a cot¬ 
tage pudding, making a dressing as fol¬ 
lows: Cherry dressing: One-half cup 
butter, one-half pint hot water, one-half 
cup granulated sugar, one heaping table- 
spoonfdl of flour, one-half pint of cherry 
juice. The sifted flour, butter and sugar 
were first made into a smooth paste. The 
hot water was added gradually, then the 
cherry juice. The sauce was then allowed 
to boil till done. 
Cherry Pudding.—One egg, one-half 
cup sweet milk, one teaspoonful baking 
powder. Stir in flour to make a stiff bat¬ 
ter, and as many cherries as possible. 
Bake in buttered pudding dish. Serve 
with lemon sauce. 
Spiced Cherries.—Make a syrup by 
boiling together four pounds of granu¬ 
lated sugar, one pint of vinegar, one-half 
ounce each of cinnamon bark and whole 
clover. Cook in this till the skin breaks 
nine pounds of firm, ripe cherries. 
Cherry Pie.—Sift one teacupful of flour, 
mix with it one cupful granulated sugar. 
Stir this into the cherries before putting 
in the pie tin. Bake with two crusts. 
HELEN C. ANDREWS. 
P ureWHitf Jeab 
does not necessarily mean 
White Paint. Pure White 
Lead is the best possible 
basis for ninety-nine out of 
a hundred shades of paint, 
particularly the light tints 
that are now so popular 
for suburban and country 
houses. 
But White Lead must be PURE to be 
good. Our booklet n What Paint and 
Why” (sent free) tells you how to get 
Strictly Pure White Lead and why it is 
the best house-paint. Write the nearest 
office. 
NATIONAL LEAD COMPANY 
Largest makers of White Lead in the world 
New York, Boston, Buffalo, Cincinnati, Cleveland, 
Chicago, St. Louis 
National Lead & Oil Co., Pittsburg 
John T. Lewis & Bros. Co., Philadelphia 
3% or vastly more 
as you choose. 
The bank may pay 3% interest on 
the cash difference between the cost 
of putting in a hot air furnace or stoves 
and the cost of 
American 
1 V Radiators 
& 
DEAL 
Boilers 
But this difference invested in our 
outfit for steam and water warming 
will yield many times the 3% (many 
users save as high as 40%) by the 
great economy in fuel and labor, ab¬ 
sence of repairs and in household 
cleanliness. Then, too, the outfit 
outwears the building — is a perma¬ 
nent investment. These facts are 
established. It is not the first cost 
but the low cost of running that 
decides shrewd investors our way. 
After all, the comfort, convenience and abso¬ 
lute control of inside temperature in anv weather, 
are most important. These benefits represent the 
real economy — the dividends which figures do not 
and cannot measure. 
Whetheryour building is OLD or new, SMALL 
or large, farm or city, send for our booklet ( free) 
“ Heating Investments Successful.” It will make 
you a better judge of heating values. This is the 
best season to buy ! 
Dept. 9. CHICAGO 
Bar Telephone— Strongest Made 
If yon can't 
ring every 
one with 
this your 
wire is 
down. 
Write us. 
Eastern 
Tel. Mfg. 
Company 
West 
Chester, 
Penna. 
THE HESSLER 
Rural Mail box. 
Best and cheap¬ 
est Rural Mail 
Box on the Mar¬ 
ket. Fully ap¬ 
proved by Host- 
master General 
Big profits for 
agents. We want 
an agent in every 
town. Souvenir 
Buttons free on 
application A 
large, strong box 
and a small price. 
H. E. Hessler Co., Factory 8, Syracuse, N.Y. 
INDRUROID 
ROOFING 
Requires no Coating - or 
Paint. 
Acid and Alkali Proof. 
Elastic and Pliable 
Always. 
Strong - and Tough. 
Absolutely Waterproof 
Climatic Changes Do Not 
Affect It. 
Prac'ically Fire Proof. 
Can Be Used on Steep or 
Flat Surfaces. 
Anv Workman Can Put 
It On. 
No Odor. 
Will not Shrink or Crack 
Eight in Weight. 
Does not Taint Water. 
Write for samt les, prices and 
circulars. 
H. F. WATSON CO. 
ERIE, PA. 
Chicago, Boston, 
Mention R.N.-Y. 
