5i4 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
June 29. 
I Woman and Home 
From Day to Day. 
OF AN ORCHARD. 
Good is an Orchard, the Saint saith, 
To meditate on life and death, 
With a cool well, a hive of bees, 
A hermit’s grot below the trees. 
Good is an Orchard, very good, 
Though one should wear no monkish hood; 
Right good when Spring awakes her flute, 
And good in yellowing time of fruit. 
Very good in the grass to lie 
And see the network ’gainst the sky, 
A living lace of blue and green, 
And boughs that let the gold between. 
The bees are types of souls that dwell 
With honey in a quiet cell; 
The ripe fruit figures goldenly 
The soul’s perfection in God’s eye. 
Prayer and praise in a country home, 
Honey and fruit; a man might come, 
Fed ou such meats, to walk abroad, 
And in his Orchard talk with God. 
—Katharine Tynan llinkson. 
• 
Fruit toast is a wholesome dessert for 
invalids or children, and may also make 
its appearance as a nice supper dish. 
Toast bread carefully, so that it is dry, 
but not burned. Make a nice fruit sauce— 
strawberries or raspberries are very good 
—sweeten to taste and thicken with a lit¬ 
tle arrowroot, and pour it while boiling 
hot over the toast. 
* 
When silver is blackened by sulphur, as 
in eggs, or by contact with rubber, wash¬ 
ing does not affect it, because silver sul¬ 
phides are insoluble in water. Rub first 
with salt, and wash in ammonia and wa¬ 
ter. If the ammonia is not used the metal 
will quickly tarnish again. For ordinary 
silver cleaning nothing is better than 
whiting, made into a paste with ammonia 
or alcohol, and most cleaning powders 
sold are composed of it. Ammonia should 
not be used, however, in cleaning silver- 
topped scent bottles and similar articles, 
because these tops are often made of'cop- 
per coated with silver, and wherever the 
ammonia remains on copper it forms poi¬ 
sonous copper salts; better use alcohol for- 
such cleaning. 
* 
As we are likely to be short of fruit this 
Summer it will be well to try rhubarb in 
more ways than usual, to increase our 
stock of canned goods. It will make a de¬ 
licious marmalade with figs. Three 
pounds of rhubarb, three pounds of sugar, 
one pound of figs, juice of one lemon and 
grated rind of half. Wash the figs and 
cut fine and put in the bottom of the 
kettle; cut rhubarb into inch cubes and 
spread evenly over the figs; over the rhu¬ 
barb distribute one pound of the sugar 
and let stand over night. In the morn¬ 
ing cook slowly until it looks clear, then 
add remainder of sugar and cook until 
thick. About fifteen minutes before tak¬ 
ing from the stove add juice and rind of 
lemon. This quantity will make two 
quarts of marmalade. It can be sealed 
while hot, or put in jelly glasses and cov- 
ere with paraffin. 
One of the potted meats recently ex¬ 
amined by the New York Health Com¬ 
missioner was described on the label as 
“Fine old English luncheon meat as pre¬ 
pared at Haddon Hall in the reign of 
Queen Elizabeth.” It consisted of fibrous 
tissue and fat, with scattered pieces of 
skin, glands, hair and a little muscular 
tissue. Since there is nothing new under 
the sun, such a mixture may have been 
prepared in the reign of Queen Elizabeth, 
but we think that auburn-haired lady 
would have made things warm for the 
cook had such a compound appeared on 
the royal table. One sample of veal loaf 
examined, which contained a preservative, 
consisted chiefly of cereal and fatty and 
fibrous tissue, with a few muscle fibres. 
The various analyses we have seen of 
late show a lessening use of preservatives, 
and w-e believe that most manufacturers 
are honestly trying to comply with the 
Pure Food law, but we consider most pot¬ 
ted meats too expensive to be used, save 
in emergencies, by careful housewives. 
In the cheap grades we appear to pay 
meat prices for cereals even if the sub¬ 
stance is not actually deleterious. We 
have heard of housejceepers who make pot¬ 
ted ham and chicken for their own use. 
If any of our readers can give recipes 
and experience in keeping such prepara¬ 
tions for home use we feel sure the in¬ 
formation would be of value to others. 
* 
A good many parents are impressed by 
the varied knowledge modern school chil¬ 
dren acquire, though some of it is doubt¬ 
less assimilated as thus suggested in the 
Youth’s Companion: 
“It seems to me,” said Mrs. Wakeman, 
pausing on the sidewalk to let the grade 
pupils, just released from bondage, rush 
by, “that school must be more interest¬ 
ing than it was in my time. The chil¬ 
dren acquire so much general knowledge 
nowadays—so much that is useful—” 
“They do,” agreed Mrs. Northrop, 
promptly. “Now here comes little Johnny 
Greenfield—we’ll ask what he learned. 
Here, Johnny! Tell us what your les¬ 
son was about to-day?” 
“About octagons,” replied blushing 
Johnny. 
“And what,” pursued Mrs. Wakeman, 
“is an octagon?” 
“It’s a many-sided animal,” piped the 
lad, “that grabs you when you go in 
swimming.” _ 
The Girl oil the Farm. 
So much has been said about “the boy 
on the farm” that sometimes “the girl 
on the farm” may well feel slighted. In 
our grandmothers’ day, the daughters 
found ample scope for their energies in 
doing many things which can in our day 
be better and more quickly done by im¬ 
proved machinery. The farmer has the 
latest style of mower and reaper, and 
his family have the most up-to-date con¬ 
venience indoors. In the heart of every 
healthy American boy and girl is a feel¬ 
ing that makes them want to have a cer¬ 
tain amount of independence; that is, they 
want to feel that they are recognized fac¬ 
tors in doing the world’s work. Rural 
schools of our day give better education 
than city high schools 75 years ago, and 
country children are, as a rule, to-day, 
up to city standards in the essentials of 
education, if not in all the frills. Then, 
too, the average country girl has a bonus 
of good health to add to her equipment, 
and there is no reason why she should 
not be equally as successful a business 
woman as her city cousin. There are no 
parts of the farming business which a 
girl may not learn and at least oversee, if 
the actual labor be too hard for her. But 
the boy’s question becomes the girl’s 
question: “Where is the chance for me 
to earn anything when the farm yields 
only enough for Father? I must go away 
from home to get ahead.” 
Let us take a familiar phase. The far¬ 
mer keeps cows and sells his cream at a 
creamery, frequently carrying it two or 
three times a week. The daughter, with 
a knowledge of dairying and a liking for 
it might run a dairy at home, possibly 
buying cream from neighbors also, pay 
for it, make her butter, market it, and 
carry on the business herself just as in¬ 
dependently as if she were away from 
home. There is a great variety of farm 
occupations to choose from, such as poul¬ 
try, sheep, bees, vegetables, small fruits, 
cut flowers, herbs, jellies, pickles, etc. 
When she launches out, however, it would 
be well for all concerned to observe the 
following “don’ts”: 
Don’t expect her to do half the house¬ 
work when she is in business for her¬ 
self any more than if she were employed 
in an office. 
Don’t stand off and make her feel un¬ 
comfortable any more than you would 
Neighbor Jones. 
Don’t try to dictate to her as to how 
she should carry on her business any 
more than you would like to have her or¬ 
der your affairs. 
Don’t think she ought to turn the profits 
over to you any more than you would 
expect your grocer to do so with his. 
There are also “do’s” as well as 
“don’t”: 
Do treat her like a rational business 
woman. 
Do give her encouragement, even if at 
first it is up-hill work for her, for that 
condition is true of many a man in busi¬ 
ness. 
Do let her try the newest methods, even 
if she has to learn wisdom by experience. 
Do be honorable in your money dealings 
with her. 
Do give her a chance to earn a com¬ 
petency in the blessed, pure air of the 
country, and doubt not that some time 
you will be glad you kept “the girl on the 
farm.” Henrietta m. brayton. 
Homemade Candy. 
Velvets.—Mix in a saucepan three cup¬ 
fuls of coffee sugar, a cupful of boiling 
water and one of the best quality of mo¬ 
lasses. Set over the fire and bring to a 
boil. Add then a half-teaspoonful of 
cream of tartar, stirred in well. Cook 
steadily until the syrup hardens in cold 
water, when stir in a half cupful of but¬ 
ter and as much soda as will lie on a 
dime. Take at once from the fire when 
it boils up, after the effervescing is over, 
add any essence you like, and pull into 
light, yellow ropes. Lay these on a floured 
board and cut into lengths of an inch and 
a half. Wrap in squares of buttered 
paper. 
Peanut Brittle.—Wet three cupfuls of 
granulated sugar with a scant cupful of 
boiling water. Let it melt over a slow 
fire. Cook gently, without stirring until 
a little dropped into cold water hardens 
quickly. Add a cupful of roasted shelled 
and skinned peanuts, with as little use 
of the spoon as may be; turn the mix¬ 
ture into buttered pans and cut up while 
hot. The brittleness of the candy depends 
much upon the scant use of the spoon. 
Another recipe for peanut brittle is as 
follows: Boil together a cupful each of 
brown sugar and molasses with two 
tablespoonfuls of butter and one table¬ 
spoonful of vinegar. When a bit of the 
mixture will crack brittle dropped in cold 
water add a cupful of blanched peanuts, 
remove from the fire, add a scant tea¬ 
spoonful of baking soda, beat hard and 
pour the whole into a buttered dish. 
Maple Brittle.—Boil one and one-half 
pound of maple sugar, one cupful of New 
Orleans molasses, one cupful of water and 
a level teaspoonful of cream-of-tartar to 
the “hard-crack” stage. Test by drop¬ 
ping in cold water, after ten seconds roll 
into a ball, chill a few seconds longer and 
then press between the teeth, and if it 
leaves them without sticking, add half a 
cupful of butter; boil for three minutes, 
remove from the fire and stir in two 
level teaspoonfuls of bicarbonate of soda 
dissolved in a little water. As soon as it 
begins to foam pour it out upon a mar¬ 
ble slab or large platters (well oiled) 
and spread very thin. Sprinkle with fine¬ 
ly chopped nuts, and when cool pour melt¬ 
ed chocolate or a thin fondant over the 
top, and when the chocolate is firm cut 
or break into squares. 
Plain Molasses Candy.—Put four cup¬ 
fuls of New Orleans molasses in a good- 
sized iron kettle. Add a piece of butter 
as large as a big egg and two tablespoon¬ 
fuls of vinegar that is not too sharp. If 
the vinegar is very strong it should be 
made half the strength with cold water. 
Let these ingredients boil rapidly so that 
there is a yellow froth on top until the 
last few minutes of cooking and stir con¬ 
stantly with a big spoon. Over a quick 
fire this should be dorie in twenty or 
thirty minutes. After the first fifteen 
minutes of boiling drop a little from the 
spoon into cold water every few minutes 
until it becomes brittle as soon as it 
strikes the water. It is also well to test 
it by allowing drops of the liquid to fall 
from the spoon until a thread an inch 
long spins out from each one. Imme¬ 
diately this occurs the kettle should be 
removed at once from the fire and one 
teaspoonful of baking soda stirred quick¬ 
ly and thoroughly into the molasses. Pour 
without delay in thin layers into buttered 
cake tins. Fill the kettle up with warm 
water and place back on the stove. 
When the candy becomes set around the 
edges turn them over into the center and 
begin to pull with the tips of the fingers. 
If the hands have been thoroughly washed 
before starting to pull there is no need 
of greasing them, quick movements and a 
little flour being all that is required. As 
soon as the pulling makes the candy a 
light golden brown draw it out into a 
long stick and on a floured board chop it 
into small pieces. 
More Rhubarb Recipes. 
Orange and Rhubarb Marmalade.— 
Three pounds of rhubarb, four and one- 
half pounds of sugar, three oranges, the 
grated rind of one orange. After grating 
the yellow from one orange, remove the 
peel from all three and cut in small pieces. 
Cut»the rhubarb in inch cubes, mix with 
one and one-half pounds of sugar and 
the oranges and let stand twenty-four 
hours. Cook until it looks clear, then 
heat the remaining three pounds of sugar, 
add, and cook until thick. 
Spiced Rhubarb.—To two and one-half 
pounds of rhubarb, washed and cut in 
inch pieces, add one cupful of vinegar, 
two pounds of sugar and one tablespoon¬ 
ful each of cinnamon and cloves. Put 
all in a preserving kettle and boil stead¬ 
ily for half an hour. Put in jelly glasses, 
covering the tops with paraffin. 
Uncooked Canned Rhubarb.—Wash, 
peel, cut into inch cubes and fill compact¬ 
ly into glass jar, then pour slowly into 
the jar good fresh water to overflowing. 
Adjust rubber, screw on the top and set 
away in a cool place until morning. Then 
if there be any air bubbles tap the side 
of the jar, fill again to the brim with 
water and screw on cover tightly. If 
tops and rubbers are perfect the rhubarb 
will keep until used. 
Rhubarb Marmalade. — Four pounds 
rhubarb, four oranges, juice of all, peel 
of two; four pounds sugar, one lemon, 
two pounds of raisins. Peel and cut the 
rhubarb into half-inch pieces. Prepare 
the oranges by squeezing out juice and 
cooking the peel in water till tender. 
Drain and scrape out white skin. Ex¬ 
tract the juice of the lemon. Put the 
rhubarb into a granite preserving kettle, 
beat it slowly to boiling, cook fifteen min¬ 
utes, then add the sugar, orange juice and 
peel, lemon juice and raisinS, and cook 
slowly until thick. 
Almond Marmalade.—Cut rhubarb up 
very fine, and to each cupful add the pulp 
and juice of one orange, one teaspoonful 
of the grated yellow of the rind, one 
tablespoonful lemon juice and one and 
one-half cups of sugar. Let stand until 
the sugar is dissolved, boil rapidly until 
transparent, then add one-half cup of 
blanched almonds cut in thin, slices, boil 
up once and put in glasses. 
Here is an excellent pudding, especially 
calculated to please the members of the 
Apple Consumjers’ League: Peel and 
slice several sour cooking apples into a 
pudding-dish; add sugar and water as for 
stewing Cover and bake until nearly 
tender. Sift together two cupfuls of flour, 
three tablespoonfuls of baking powder, 
and a scant half teaspoonful of salt. Beat 
one egg, mix in half a cup of sugar, two 
tablespoonfuls of melted butter and one 
cupful of milk, then stir the latter into 
the dry ingredients. Pour the batter over 
the partly cooked apples, and bake about 
20 minutes. Serve with whipped cream 
or a creamy sauce made with sugar, white 
of egg, and lump of butter. 
