824 
THE RURAb NEW-YORKER 
August 12, 
Woman and the Home 
From Day to Day. 
The Night Before the Mowing. 
All shimmering in the morning shine 
And diamonded with dew, 
And quivering in the scented wind 
That thrills its green heart through— 
The little field, the smiling field, 
With all its flowers a-blowing, 
How happy looks the golden field 
The night before the mowing. 
All still ’neath the departing light, 
Twilight, though void of stars, 
Save where, low westering, Venus hides 
From the red eye of Mars; 
How quiet lies the silent field 
With all its beauties glowing; 
Just stirring, like a child asleep, 
The night before the mowing. 
Sharp steel, inevitable hand, 
Cut keen, cut kind ! Our field 
We know full well must be laid low 
Before its wealth it yield; 
Labor and mirth and plenty blest 
Its blameless death bestowing; 
And yet we weep, and yet we weep 
The night before the mowing. 
—Dinah Muloch Craik. 
* 
Here is a delicious cake which calls 
for creamy sour milk: Cream one cup¬ 
ful of butter with two cupfuls of sugar; 
add four egg yolks and a cupful of the 
sour milk. Sift three cupfuls of flour 
with a scant teaspoonful of soda several 
times; then stir the other ingredients 
into it. Add raisins and citron and 
fold in the whites of four eggs. Bake 
in layers. 
* 
We were asked some time ago to 
give a recipe for old-fashioned sweet 
flag candy, but were then unable to 
comply with the request. We have 
since received the following recipe 
given by the New York Tribune which 
we are told is an old one, used by the 
Quakers: 
Scrape the sweet-flag roots like car¬ 
rots or parsnips to remove the skin; 
cut in the thinnest slices possible and 
boil in water for an hour or more. Re¬ 
move them from this water and boil 
them in another. Throw off this water 
also, and repeat the process a third 
time. Now prepare a syrup from a 
cupful of water and a pound of sugar. 
Put in the cooked slices of sweetflag 
and .boil them down until the syrup 
candies around them. Stir them, and 
when the sugar becomes white and the 
syrup seems to be absorbed take up 
the candied slices with a skimmer, so 
as to drain them, and cool them a little. 
Put them in a large pan and stir them 
repeatedly while drying. In a day or 
two the confection will be ready. 
* 
The fashion papers now describe 
those one-piece dresses we find so con- 
•venient as “slip-on” dresses. What a 
comfort they are, with no bothersome 
belt, no necessity for pins to make sure 
the waist doesn’t “hike up,” and linings 
reduced to a minimum! The middle- 
aged woman of matronly figure, who 
felt that she “didn’t look right some¬ 
how” in the separate skirt and shirt¬ 
waist, can make a “slip-on” dress of be¬ 
coming model, and know that she can 
change her dress with no more trouble 
than an old-fashioned wrapper, while 
the young girl may vary the style with 
fancy collar or trimmings, and have 
something very smart at small cost. 
Nothing is cooler or more serviceable 
for general wear than a “slip-on” dress 
of natural linen, with pipings, collar 
and cuffs in contrast. A black and white 
striped material is very stylish for such 
trimming; so is plain red, blue, green 
or lavender. White linen dresses, made 
in similar style, with colored collar and 
cuffs, are very pretty. The Summer 
sales in July and August have made 
linen much cheaper than in the Spring, 
and we have seen such a dress made 
for less than two dollars. 
Dr. Wiley, the pure-food expert, gives 
a very sharp warning against adulter¬ 
ated soda water. He complains that the 
unscrupulous dealers use saccharin, caf¬ 
feine, and other chemicals in their 
drinks. 
“Caffeine,” says he, “should be driven 
from the market by law. Its effects, es¬ 
pecially on young people, compare with 
the effects of cocaine and morphine. I 
could not venture an opinion on the 
yearly number of little children whose 
lives are ruined by the use of caffeine 
and other ‘dopes’ hidden in the soda- 
water glasses. At the rate silly parents 
are allowing children to ruin their ner¬ 
vous system and stomachs by drinking 
the dregs of dirty, unsanitary, filthy 
drug-store soda fountains, I am inclined 
to believe that the next generation will 
find that we have developed a race of 
nervous wrecks. Many mothers would 
lift their hands to heaven in holy horror 
if their little boys or girls would walk 
into the house puffing cigarettes, but 
still they will lead them to soda foun¬ 
tains and allow them to fill themselves 
with all sorts of stuff that has just as 
bad effect on their systems.” 
* 
Those farm diaries we have been 
publishing for several weeks past are 
most interesting, but they only give 
one side of farm life. There is an¬ 
other side—one which stands for tire¬ 
less industry, sympathy and self-sacri¬ 
fice, and that has ever been the woman’s 
side. In the town many of the indus¬ 
tries which we regard as women’s work 
have been taken out of the home and 
commercialized, thus compelling the 
women to follow them and swelling the 
army of women wage-earners. In the 
farm home more of these industries re¬ 
main to increase the regular work. The 
selfish and self-seeking woman of the 
restless modern type makes many of 
us grieve for our lost ideals, but is she 
nqt necessary in the great scheme of 
evolution? Too many men like to as¬ 
sert that their superior sex “supports” 
the women. It is true that in the old 
crude ages of the past man went forth 
to slay the mighty cave bear and bison, 
or to slaughter his enemy in battle, 
while the woman stayed home—not, 
however, to enjoy restful idleness, but 
to hunt for fuel, fruits and nuts, to 
tan skins, to weave, to till her rude 
garden, and, by slow degrees, to work 
to a civilization where the man could 
drop his weapons, and toil at the indus¬ 
tries she had made her own. And with 
it all was her woman’s crown of ma¬ 
ternity, with its demands upon her phy¬ 
sical strength, her mental energies, and 
her courage and self-sacrifice. There 
are few situations in life where the 
primitive virtues which first led human¬ 
ity upward find fuller expression than 
on the farm, and it seems only fair that 
we should show, by some women’s 
diaries, what these brave helpmates are 
doing as comrades and partners in the 
everyday life of the farm. The diary 
printed this week comes from Ohio. 
The Plague cf Flies. 
Will you tell me what to do? My house 
is simply swarming with flies. 
MRS. g. s. 
The first thing to do is to discover 
the breeding places of the plague, if 
near by, and correct these conditions. 
Neglected stables or stable yards, where 
manure is permitted to collect, are the 
most congenial breeding ground of the 
filth-loving fly. Stables should be 
cleaned regularly, and manure covered 
or kept in screened inclosures. Screen¬ 
ing of the stable is an advantage, and 
adds greatly to the animals’ comfort. 
See that there are no garbage heaps; 
either bury or burn all kitchen wastes. 
Be sure there is no open cesspool to 
which flies can gain access; this is a 
point often neglected. If the house is 
properly screened a persistent campaign 
should get rid of those now so trouble¬ 
some. Use poison paper or traps; we 
think the sticky paper a disgusting 
nuisance. Darken rooms not in use, put¬ 
ting poison or trap at some point where 
a light will fall on it. In a recent anti¬ 
fly campaign in Worcester, Mass., more 
than 10 barrels of flies were turned in 
by contestants. The winner, who re¬ 
ceived a prize of $100, was a 12-year- 
old boy, who caught the flies in traps of 
his own construction; he turned in 95 
quarts of flies. 
The Rural Patterns. 
When ordering patterns always give 
number of patterns and measurements 
desired. 
The first group includes 7061, yoke 
blouse, 34 to 40 bust, with sleeves sewed 
to the armholes, with or without collar 
and under sleeves. 7010, four-gored 
skirt, 22 to 30 waist, with side gores in 
two sections, with or without trimming 
on front and back gores, with high or 
natural waistline. 7085, girl’s square 
yoke night gown, 2 to 12 years. 7078, 
raglan coat, 34 to 44 bust, with collar 
that can be worn open or closed. 7069, 
child's yoke dress, 1, 2 and 4 years, with 
square or high neck, short or long 
sleeves. 6936, three or two-piece skirt 
with simulated tunic, 22 to 32 waist, per¬ 
forated for deep band or for two ma¬ 
terials, with high or natural waist line. 
Price of each 10 cents. 
The second group shows 7077, one- 
piece blouse with pointed collar, cuffs 
and belt, 34 to 42 bust, with gussets 
under the arms, with or'without lining. 
7092, peasant blouse for misses and 
small women, 14, 16 and 18 years, with 
or without stock collar and under 
sleeves. 7087, long coat, 34 to 44 bust, 
with square or round collar, with or 
without pockets, perforated for three- 
quarter length. 7076, three-piece skirt, 
22 to 32 waist, with high or natural 
waistline, with or without trimming 
band. 7093, six-gored skirt for misses 
and small women, 14, 16 and 18 years, 
with front gore made with scalloped or 
plain edge, with high or natural waist¬ 
line. Price of each pattern 10 cents. 
Wh-en you write advertisers mention The 
R. N.-Y. and you'll get a quick reply and a 
“square deal.” See guarantee editorial page. 
Macbeth “ Pearl 
Glass” lamp-chim¬ 
neys bring the right 
balance of draft to 
the flame, and let 
the light shine with¬ 
out hindrance. 
Common chim¬ 
neys give a dull 
light. They hinder 
the light because the proportions 
are wrong and the glass is misty. 
Get my Index and you will know just what 
lamp-chimney to get. I make one for every 
style and size of burner. Address, 
Macbeth 
Macbeth-Evans Glass Co. Pittsburgh 
Chicago: Philadelphia: 
178 East Lake Street 42 South Eighth Street 
New York: 19 West 30th Street 
Reg. U. S. Pat. Off. 
on 
put off buying that 
Victor! You owe 
it to yourself and 
family. Don’t de¬ 
prive them any 
longer of this great 
P 1 
easure. 
Go today to the nearest Victor 
dealer’s. If you don’t know who 
he is write us and we’ll tell you. 
Write us anyway for complete catalogs of 
the Victor ($10 to $100) and Victor-Victrola 
($75 to $250). Easy terms can be arranged 
with your dealer if desired. 
Victor Talking Machine Co. 
20th and Cooper Sts., Camden, N. J- 
Bernner Gramophone Co., Montreal, Canadian Distributor* 
To get best results, use only 
Victor Needles on Victor Records 
WESHIPonAPPROVAL 
•without a cent deposit, prepay the freight 
and allow 10 DAYS FREE TRIAL. 
IT ONLY COSTS one cent to learn our 
unheard of prices and marvelous offers 
on highest grade 1912 model bicycles. 
FACTORY PRICES &&S5 
a pair of tires from anyone at any price 
until you write for our large Art Catalog 
and learn our wonderful,proposition oo first 
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RIDER AGENTS SSrSTSS 
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Do Not Wait; write today for our special offer. 
MEAD CYCLE CO., Dept B80. CHICAGO 
CA DUO Circular free. Dept. 151, Lelands’ 
iHnWIO i< - arm Agency, 31 Milk St., Boston 
CflD OAI C— If you want the best farms for the 
lull OnLL money, send for our large free catalog. 
HALL’S FARM AGENCY, Owego, Tioga Co., N.Y. 
irn Form? FOR SATjE CHEAP, ill fertile 
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50,000 MEN WANTED 
In Wes tern C anada 
200 Million Bushels Wheat 
to be harvested 
Harvest Help in Great Demand 
Reports from the Provinces of Manitoba, 
Saskatchewan and Alberta (Western Can¬ 
ada) indicate one of the best crops ever 
raised on the continent. To harvest this 
crop will require at least 50,000 harvesters. 
Low Rates will be given 
On All Canadian Roads 
Excursions are run daily and full particulars will 
be given on application to the following authorized 
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apply to all who wish to take advantage of them for 
the purpose of inspecting the grain fields of Western 
Canada, and the wonderful opportunities there 
offered for those who wish to invest, and also those 
who wish to take up actual farm life. Apply at 
once to 
Canadian Government Agent 
J. S. CRAWFORD 
30 SYRACUSE SAVINGS BANK BUILDING. SYRACUSE, N. Y. 
