1906 . 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
463 
Collecting and Using Down. 
Now that the useful subject of keeping 
geese and harvesting down has been 
opened, it is to be hoped that geese keep¬ 
ers and pillow makers will take pen in 
hand. What I can offer is not expert tes¬ 
timony, but may be of some interest. 
Years ago, when my grandmother was 
living in the family of one of her chil¬ 
dren, a colony of geese was one season 
added to the poultry output. Her daugh¬ 
ter-in-law was city bred, and a person of 
determination. When Grandmother told 
her that those geese ought to be plucked 
every two months during the hot weather, 
my aunt declared the custom inhuman, 
adding that no such practice should be 
instituted in her household. Grand¬ 
mother felt to her bones that the inhu¬ 
manity lay in forcing those poor geese to 
wear their heavy down underwear all 
Summer. Nature had blessed her with 
her own share of quiet determination. If 
geese must go promenading up and down 
past her windows those geese should be 
managed in the good old-fashioned way 
familiar since her childhood. So a small 
boy was bribed, and the small girls in¬ 
terested, and two or three times each 
Summer Grandmother would repair to the 
rear of the woodshed with a stocking in 
her hand and, no doubt, the light of set¬ 
tled purpose in her eye. Seated in a low 
chair with a large, deep basket at her 
side she was ready to have the geese 
brought her one by one. The stocking's 
part in the proceedings was to act as muz¬ 
zle, for geese can bite. But with the 
stocking drawn over their heads and 
well down their long necks they lay meek¬ 
ly, debarred from any bill defense, though 
I suppose wings and legs were ready for 
battle. With left hand grasping both legs 
firmly and the stockinged head and neck 
held securely against her left side under 
her arm, Grandmother’s right hand wa9 
ready for expert duty. 
Only the fine under feathers are pulled 
with the down and only those parts of the 
bird’s body where down is most plentiful 
are ever plucked. A smart pull is neces¬ 
sary, but the future comfort of the goose 
no doubt nerves the plucker’s hand—that 
and the knowledge that “live geese 
feathers” are vastly superior to any se¬ 
cured from the body of a dead bird after 
scalding. From my Grandmother’s per¬ 
severance concerning those geese, and her 
subsequent industry in making ticks and 
covers, resulted an array of new beds and 
pillows which sufficed for the “setting 
out” of each little grand-daughter of the 
family, when in a few years her time 
came for migrating to a nest of her own. 
Strange to add, I have more than once 
been driven to conceal much amusement 
over hearing my aunt, she of the humane 
convictions and unalterable antagonism to 
the goose plucking, boast unblushingly 
how she herself made all those fluffy, 
downy furnishings for her daughters from 
geese once kept on the farm. 
Every traveler in Europe becomes inti¬ 
mately familiar with the duvet, light as 
air and warm as a stove, which graces 
the well-made beds of the Continent. The 
fille de chambre or whatever her German 
or any other name may be (in Italy it is 
not a fille of any spelling, for men are 
employed to put the chambers in order), 
she who waits upon you by inches in your 
bedroom, but never appears elsewhere, 
well knows how to toss the down cover 
lightly and evenly atop of your mattressed, 
blanketed and counterpaned bed. No 
shakes or pulls from your untrained 
hands can effect what she accomplishes 
with a few pats. These down quilts have 
usually a white slip, some cotton fabric 
with heavy twill being the more com¬ 
mon choice, though occasionally turkey 
red or striped or delicately figured 
material is used, for the managers of the 
best hotels and pensions well know the 
tourists’ love of perfect cleanliness, and 
whatever revelations a chance glimpse 
into native habits may show, all the ap¬ 
pointments for the money-laden American 
are studiously suited to his liking. Per¬ 
sonally, I preferred relying upon my soft, 
big traveler’s shawl for any warmth I 
might need to add on cool night (coolest 
nights would be more exact, for all nights 
were cool). To me the duvet, though de¬ 
lightfully cosy for an hour or so, seemed 
after that to hold an accumulation of 
heat, its quality as bed covering being 
quite unlike that of the more porous 
woolen blanket or shawl. Yet a New 
England Winter makes such bed cover¬ 
ing quite acceptable, especially if one fol¬ 
low up-to-date customs and sleep with 
open windows and closed registers. Two 
down comfortables have been always a 
part of our house furnishings. They are 
made without tuckings or quiltings, as is 
also the duvet one sees in Europe, and 
this state of mobile fluffiness seems to me 
the only proper make. Those seen in Eu¬ 
rope were the exact size of the bed, al¬ 
lowing space for pillows. As single 
width beds in double bedded rooms is the 
rule for tourists’ use, this is quite suffi¬ 
cient. But where two people occupy a 
wide bed the down covering is less de¬ 
sirable, for the warmth is never at the 
sides where most needed, and the upper 
blankets are much inclined to slide. Those 
made by my grandmother have an exten¬ 
sion of the outer covering without down 
filling, which tucks under the mattress at 
the foot, and is very useful in holding 
them in place. These, and those seen 
abroad, are filled with pure down, having 
no trace of feathers intermixed. 
PRUDENCE PRIMROSE. 
Household Congress. 
Cotton Waste is a fine cleaning agent, 
it is the best possible stuff to use instead 
of floor cloths, wall cloths, dust cloths, 
and mops. It is one of the best agencies 
for polishing waxed floors and furniture, 
and is uneqnaled for a stove polishing 
cloth. It is very cheap, and can be 
bought anywhere. It is a labor saver, as 
it is burned or thrown away after use. 
MARY A. HOWE. 
Roxbury Cakes. —Beat the yolks of 
two eggs; gradually beat in half a cup 
of sugar; one-fourth cup of butter soft¬ 
ened but not melted; half a cup of mo¬ 
lasses, half a cup of sour milk, and then 
one cup and a half of sifted flour, sifted 
again with one teaspoonful of cinnamon, 
half a teaspoonful of cloves, a grating of 
nutmeg, and one teaspoonful of soda. 
Beat in the whites of two eggs beaten 
dry. and then half a cup of raisins and 
half a cup of walnut meats broken small. 
Bake in small tins. I have used this re¬ 
cipe often and always found it excellent. 
It is taken from Boston Cooking School 
Magazine. mrs. c. h. l 
The Bookshelf. 
The Way of the Gods, by John Luther 
Long. In this the author of “Madame 
Butterfly,” takes us back to Japan, where 
the samurai Arisuga, pledged to heroic 
death, throws away his ambitions for the 
love of Lady Hoshi, “Dreatn-of-a-Star.” 
Losing all through his marriage into a 
despised castle, Arisuga submits to a me¬ 
nial life in America, and dies wretchedly; 
his widow fulfills his promise and dies 
heroically in battle the “great red death” 
for which Arisuga longed. Mr. Long 
suggests Lafcadio Hearn in his keen ap¬ 
preciation of the Japanese atmosphere, 
and he has grown in artistic feeling since 
he stirred our sympathies with unhappy 
Madame Butterfly. Published by the 
Macmillan Company, New York; price 
$ 1 . 50 . 
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As evidence that this is in every 
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Assets, $1,750,000. 
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Banking Dept. Supervision. 
Earnings paid from day re¬ 
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Letters of inquiry solicited 
and promptly answered. 
INDUSTRIAL SAVINGS AND LOAN CO, 
5 Times Bldg., Broadway, New York. 
”A Kalamazoo n 
Direct to You” 
You save from 20% 
to 40% by buying a 
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at lowest 
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Moreover, you 
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• We Ship On 
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If you do not find the Kalamazoo exact¬ 
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Send Postal for Catalog No. 114, 
All Kalamazoo s are shipped prompt¬ 
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Kalamazoo Stove Co., Mfrs.. 
Kalamazoo, Mich. 
All our cookstovs and ranges are fitted with 
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JUST RIGHT AFTER DINNER 
Trv Them! ^ you can t buy cmc- 
1 1 J 1 • lets in your neighbor¬ 
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packet. Any jobber will supply store¬ 
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FRANK H. FLEER & COMPANY, Inc. 
Philadelphia, U. 8. A., and Toronto, Panada. 
This is the Mabk 
THAT STANDS FOR THE 
RANGE WHICH 
BAKES 
A BARREL OF FLOUR 
WITH 
A HOD OF COAL. 
SILL STOVE WORKS. 
ROCHeSTCR , N.Y. 
T wenty-f ive Bushels 
of WHEAT 
to the Acre 
means a productive capacity 
in dollars of over 
$16 per Acre 
This on land, which has cost 
the farmer nothing, but the 
price of tilling it, tells Us own 
story. The 
Canadian 
Government 
gives absolutely free to every settler 
160 acres of such land. 
Lands adjoining can be purchased at 
from $6 to $10 per acre from ruilroada 
and other corporations. 
Already 175,000 farmers from the 
United States have made their homes 
in Canada. 
For pamphlet "20th Century Canada,” 
and all information apply to Supt. of 
Immigration, Ottawa. Canada; or to 
THOS. DUNCAN, Canadian Government Agent 
Syracuse Bank Building, SYRACUSE, N. Y, 
Mention this paper. 
n A TCIUTQ SECURED OR FEE 
UA I E.ll I O RETURNED, 
■ Free report as to Patentability. Illustrated Guide 
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BURNS BARRELS OF AIR 
NOTHING 
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