1872 .] 
225 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
THE H©t[Jl»ElS[©m 
fgy (F 0r Qthgr Household Items , see “ Basket ” pages.) 
The Warren Cooking Pot. 
In the Household Department for January of 
last year we gave a description and engraving of 
tlie Warren Cooker or Warrener. Our knowledge 
of it was obtained from having partaken of a dinner 
at the house of a friend, where an imported utensil 
of this kind was used. The article gave rise to so 
many inquiries as to lead to the. manufacture of an 
improved form of the Cooker in this country. The 
parties making it, no doubt find it to their interest 
to advertise it, and we think it is generally kept in 
household-furnishing stores. Cooking in this ap¬ 
paratus is entirely different from steaming. The 
SECTION OF THE WARREN COOKING POT. 
meat is placed in a closed vessel, which is sur¬ 
rounded, top, bottom, and sides, by steam, but no 
steam comes in contact with the meat. The cook¬ 
ing goes on at a temperature slightly below that of 
boiling water, and no amount of stupidity or 
carelessness can dry up the meat. There is neither 
steam nor water to extract the juices, and the vessel 
being tightly closed, the llavor can not bo dissipated. 
Gravy is formed, and it is just what gravy should 
be, the juiccof the meat. AVeliaveused this Cooker 
continuously for several months, and would on no 
account go back to the old method of baking in 
an oven. We have only used it for plain joints and 
roasts. These are cooked until within a short time 
before serving, when they are placed in a hot oven 
for a few minutes, for the surface to brown, except 
where boiled mutton is required, when it is served 
just as it comes from the Cooker. The meat is 
always thoroughly done, never dry, but always 
juicy and fluvorous. Since its use was instituted, 
there have been no complaints of the butcher, and 
we who live in the country often have abundant 
cause of complaint. A small roasting piece of 
beef can be had rare-done and juicy, which is next 
to impossible with a stove oven. Veal is a meat 
that requires long cooking to make it digestible, 
and when done sufficiently in the ordinary way it 
becomes dried and stringy. By the use of the 
Cooker the slow cooking cau be prolonged until 
the veal is thoroughly done, and the subsequent 
browning in the oven can be given without percep¬ 
tibly drying it. We only give such points as are 
within our experience ; the circulars accompanying 
the Cooker give directions for several compound 
dishes which we have not yet tried. The Cooker is 
provided with a chamber for steaming puddings and 
vegetables, with no extra heat. The illustration here 
given shows the American form of the Cooker, in sec¬ 
tion. First there is an outer vessel, containing water 
in its lower part. Next is an inner vessel which holds 
the meat; between this and the outer one is a space 
filled with steam. A pipe, shown at the right hand, 
conveys the steam from this space to the steaming 
chamber above, but no steam goes into the place 
which contains the meat. A double or hollow 
cover, its cavity filled with steam, incloses the 
whole. AA'hen the steamer is not used, the cover 
fits directly over the meat compartment, and an 
opening in it fits upon the steam-tube before 
mentioned. After the meat is put in, all that is 
required is to keep the water in the outer vessel 
boiling. The meat docs not shrink, and it is claimed 
that there is a saving on this account of two ounces 
in the pound. The larger Cooker is of sufficient 
capacity for a good-sized roast, and a second size is 
made to suit small families. We regard the Warren 
Cooker as one of the greatest household improve¬ 
ments yet introduced, and worthy of general adop¬ 
tion by those who desire well-cooked meats. 
Home Topics. 
BT FAITH ROCHESTER. 
My dear good girl, my domestic, my servant, had 
been gone a month, and my hands were more than 
full of work. 
I have not written anything on the servant-girl 
question, I believe, but this subject interests me 
very much. My sympathies arc quite as much with 
the servant-girls as with the mistresses. We do 
well to remember that the papers, in which all 
these questions arc discussed, if at all, are conducted 
by the representatives of education and capital, 
and ignorance and shiftlessness have not- much 
chance for a hearing. AA'o are all of the time blam¬ 
ing trees for inclining hopelessly in just the direc¬ 
tion the little twigs were bent in childhood. Wc 
might better be engaged in looking after the little 
twigs of humanity around us now, doing our best 
to prevent their getting some wretched twist that 
will make good their chances for lives of poverty, 
incapacity, and crime. 
But my “girl,” of whom I began to speak, was a 
real treasure in the house, an element of peace in 
the family, a “helper” indeed. Her only trouble 
seemed to be the separation from her own particular 
friends. Reading and writing were unknown arts 
to them all, and as Greta left a lover behind in com¬ 
ing beyond visiting distance, to live with me, it is 
not strange that she suffered some from homesick¬ 
ness. If mistresses would remember that their 
hired girls have ties of family and friendship, that 
they love to make friends and to be approved, they 
might find some of their difficulties removed. 
But my good girl was gone, and ere this she is 
probably married. I was kneading bread, with a 
child at work at the table, on each side of my bread¬ 
board. Some housekeepers could never stand that. 
But a bit of dough is such a fascinating plaything 
for a child that I can never refuse it—unless I am 
decidedly “cross”—in which case repentance is 
sure to follow. Each child has its own round stick 
for a rolling-pin, and its own bits of earthen and 
tin for baking dishes. 
Bother? Yes, of course. But it is worse bother 
to have children unhappy. Once make up your 
mind that everything cannot goon like clock-work 
where there are children in the family, and that the 
children’s happiness is a matter of considerable im¬ 
portance, while their real, lasting welfare and useful¬ 
ness is, or should be, the chief end for which the 
farm and 6hopand household are kept running, and 
then this subject of “bother” will be properly 
considered. 
AVell, we three were making bread. The baby 
had waked and called for mamma, and papa, coming 
in just then, had taken her up and brought her 
along to oversee the baking operations. 
“ I don’t see how in the world I can write for the 
Agriculturist this month,” I said. “ It would be foT 
the June number. AVliat topics would be especially 
suitable for June ? Please suggest.” 
And he very kindly did so. I asked him to write 
them down, and he did, saying that I could make 
them over as I pleased. But I am fain to copy them 
down just as he left them, though he has omitted 
from the notes some excellent things he said about 
the connection between a farmer’s (or any other 
person's) health and ability to work, and the qual¬ 
ity and cooking of his food. 
Not wishing to draw needlessly upon the sym¬ 
pathies of any one, I may say that since that con¬ 
versation, two weeks ago, the family force has been 
augmented by the helpful hands and clear head and 
kind heart of a relative—for in this region kind 
household helpers are very difficult to get. [We 
may say here, as it will answer several questions, 
that Mrs. Rochester lives in Minnesota.— Ed.] 
Here are the notes : 
Relation of the House to the Farm. —June 
is a busy month for the farmer and for the farmer’s 
wife. The growing crops are to be looked after, 
corn to be cultivated, new ground to be made 
ready for late potatoes and ruta-bagas, and in the 
latter part of the month hay harvest begins. The 
success of these various field operations depends in 
no small degree upon 
the administration of 
the commissary de¬ 
partment. The effort 
of the farmer is to 
get in a full day of 
well-planned labor, 
and to this end he 
must have breakfast 
over and his work¬ 
men and teams start¬ 
ed in the early morn¬ 
ing, and must have a 
good nourishing din¬ 
ner promptly at noon. 
But in order to se 
cure this, some mat¬ 
ters require his atten¬ 
tion in the house. It- 
is his place to see— 
1st. That there is 
an abundant store of provisions, suitable for the 
food of the working force of the farm. 
2d. Plenty of help in the kitchen. If he fails to 
secure the necessary help in the house, he should 
reduce his farming operations accordingly. 
3d. Ample supply of water, and well-seasoned, 
properly-prepared wood j^ist at hand. 
4th. It depends upon the master of the house 
(using this term as we do “ mistress of the house”) 
to start the day. His getting up early makes it easier 
for every other member of the family to rise. 
Mr. Rochester. 
“Very good! ” said I, “I am rather pleased that 
your first help in these ‘ Topics ’ should come in 
the shape of hints as to men’s 
duties in the household depart¬ 
ment. If there are men who 
need such suggestions, they may 
be able to receive them with bet¬ 
ter grace from a man than from 
■a w Oman. There are men who 
‘ never allow a woman to dic¬ 
tate’ to them, you know.” 
Fig. 3.—bib. Straw Beds.— Most people 
who useffeather beds in winter, 
put them away in the summer and sleep on straw 
beds. These should be very full, and they will 
not be found hard or uncomfortable by any 
except the sick or aged, and usually, not even by 
them. Our grandmothers, who wove their own 
linen-ticking, used to call nine yards of tliree- 
fourths-yard-wide linen a bed-tick pattern, but the 
modern bed requires cloth a little wider. Good 
striped ticking is best. The best form is box-shape 
(fig. 1), with four small holes near the corners, in 
the upper side, and one longer one in the middle. 
This admits of adjusting the straw all over the bed 
more easily than in case of a single slit. Each one 
