1873 .] 
345 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
CSF” (For other Household Items , see “Basket ” pages.) 
Short Hair for Women and Children. 
A fine bend of hair is a beautiful thing. It 
forms a becoming background or setting for the 
human features. Other “little w omen ” than Jo 
March have considered their long, abundant, glossy 
hair their “one beauty.” Some of these same 
little women have found, however, that they were 
really better looking than before when they have 
had their long curls or heavy braids cut off 
It seemed “such a pity” to all their friends, 
and they felt themselves that it was a great risk to 
run, because they might not look half as well after 
the barbering as before, and they hadn’t a bit of 
beauty to spare. But the deed is done, and the 
friends who remonstrated most earnestly are per¬ 
haps forced to confess that short hair can be made 
very becoming to some persons. 
Long hair is often very unbecoming we all know. 
Thin coarse locks are no ornament. If cut short, 
and tossed up lightly about the face, they some¬ 
times improve the personal appearance very' much, 
as many have learned during the late frizzing days. 
Long hair is usually drawn away from the face, so 
as to afford less of a “ setting” for its wearer than 
short locks give. It is called a covering for woman, 
but it is drawn up from the neck in such a way, at 
fashion’s demand, that it covers less of the body 
than hair only two inches in length. 
While not advocating the. total abolition of long 
hair, let us see what good reasons may sometimes 
constrain a sensible woman 5 have her head shorn 
of its reputed “glory.” 
The long, thick hair considered so desirable has 
considerable weight, and it taxes the nervous 
power to carry it about. A pound of hair is as 
heavy as a pound of candles. Worn in braids or 
rolls over the top of the head, it will actually make 
depressions underneath the rolls or braids, quite 
perceptible when they are removed after a few 
hours’ pressure. At the same time, such long hair 
produces considerable discomfort. One may be¬ 
come so accustomed to this as to pay little atten¬ 
tion to it. Worn in a coil at the crown or back of 
the head, it disturbs the circulation and provokes 
disease, and it renders any comfortable resting of 
the weary head almost impossible. What misery 
there is in the use of hair-pins ! What “ ridiculos- 
ity ” in the “rats,” cushions, jute chignons, etc.! 
What an amount of time, and care, and life-power 
gets used up in dressing and arranging this weight 
of hair, especially if it must be put in curl-papers 
or frizzing-pins over night! 
Does it pay? Every woman should answer the 
question for herself. Outward adorning is all 
right if it does not interfere with the more precious 
inward adorning of the mind. The adorning fash¬ 
ion ordains is often barbarous in the extreme, and 
why does not a cultivated taste rebel? 
What relief it is to get the head into such a con¬ 
dition that it can be bathed and dressed and rested 
with ease! IIow pleasant it is to run the fingers 
through the hair when the head is tired and heated! 
What a comfort it is not to have one’s hair in the i 
way when hurried or when weary ! 
But there is an answer ready for all reasoning in ! 
favor of short hair : “ Oh ! I think long hair looks 
best for a woman.” That settles it, of course, for 
most women. Here and there is a woman who 
considers health and comfort and convenience of 
more consequence than prettiness. There are 
women, too, who can not believe that anything is 
really beautiful or truly becoming which tends to 
injure health or destroy comfort. But most of 
us go from one fashion to its opposite, unthinking 
slaves of fashion as we are, and everything we 
are accustomed to is considered tasteful and proper. 
And then a few women have husbands who con¬ 
sider themselves* sole arbiters in all matters con- J 
cerning their wives’ apparel, and such men are ! 
pretty sure to like to sec women (those belonging | 
to themselves) looking like duchesses, in plaited 
hair and broidered apparel, 
Little Girlie had long golden curls, and we loved 
them until we saw how it fretted her and her mam¬ 
ma every day when the task of unsnarling and re- 
curling had to be performed. And the curls were 
so warm on her neck and shoulders, and such a 
temptation for baby’s pulling fingers! So they 
were cut off, and when the pretty head -was “ shin¬ 
gled” the child actually was prettier than before, 
and her mamma admires the golden curls laid 
away in the bureau-drawer more than when they 
graced and tormented and cultivated vanity in her 
child. Rell. 
How to Make a Refrigerator or a 
Meat-Safe. 
In compliance with a request, we give cuts of a 
refrigerator and a meat-safe, with the following 
directions for making them : 
The refrigerator is a wooden box of suitable size, 
having a recessed lid. It may be divided into 
Fig. 1.— HOME-MAKE REFRIGERATOR. 
chambers if desired, to keep various articles separ¬ 
ately, as butter from vegetables, or meat from fruit 
or pies. A central chamber with a separate lid is 
made in the upper part of the box to receive the 
ice. This should be made of sheet-zinc, and have 
a pipe in the bottom to permit the water to drain 
away as the ice melts. The shelves which divide 
the upper and lower parts of the box should be 
placed where the dotted line is shown in the cut, 
and should be made of slats, and movable, so that 
the cool air will circulate all around, and that they 
may be taken out to be cleaned occasionally. The 
box needs lining to retain the coldness communi¬ 
cated by the ice. This lining should be a good 
non-conductor of heat, and as good a one as any is 
thick woolen felt, of which two thicknesses may 
be used, tacked on to the inside of the box, and 
covered with sheet-zinc soldered closely at the cor¬ 
ners. Where the felt can not easily be procured, 
double walls may be made, and the space between 
them filled with pounded charcoal. The box 
should set on feet, so that it is not in contact 
with the ground, and that the water may drain off. 
A meat-safe may be constructed by making a 
frame of four upright pieces, with a close top, back, 
and bottom, and two or three shelves, with a frame 
door at front. Mosquito-net or wire-gauze may be 
nailed over the frame and door, and the articles kept 
in the safe will thus have plenty of air, but will 
be kept free from flics. On no account should any 
gauze be put on the top, or flies would drop their 
eggs through it. Fig. 2 shows a saife of this kind. 
-— • —a ts ->«■- 
Home Topice. 
CV FAITH ROCHESTER. 
Something about Eyes.—I f the remarks I am 
about to make are not approved by the editor-in- 
chief, you, dear reader, will never see them. So, 
if they do appear upon the page for which they are 
written, you and I may feel additional confidence 
in these same opinions. I do not wish to imply 
that all my views put forth in these pages have 
been “indorsed” by any editor, but I make these 
opening remarks because I am less and less inclined 
to speak ns one having authority, and because I 
am more and more distrustful of ignorant tamper¬ 
ing with ourselves and our children. 
Sight is one of our greatest blessings, and it is a 
pity that it should so often be lost or impaired 
through ignorance or carelessness. How often did 
my mother warn me that I was “trying” my eyes 
when I was leaning out of the window to read in 
the twilight, or beg me not to spoil my eyes by 
reading while riding! I wish she had taken the 
book away from me, and so I mean to do by my 
children (gently but firmly), if their fondness for 
reading overcomes their judgment. We had better 
try first to convince our children that the pleasure 
gained by a few minutes’ close application of the 
eyes in a light so dim or unsteady as to make see¬ 
ing extremely difficult, always “ costs a great deal 
more than it comes to.” It is like any other strain, 
and its repetition will constantly weaken the power 
of vision, and result in positive disease if contin¬ 
ued. Reading while lying down always wearies 
and injures the eyes, and is one cause of serious 
disease, especially if such use of the eyes occurs 
when one is recovering from sickness. The power 
of sight is very easily weakened when the body is 
weak or weary. Mothers who are recovering from 
confinement, and who are conscious of many little 
stitches needed in the family raiment, arc very apt 
to use their eyes for sewing before they can really 
spare any strength in that direction. Weak eyes 
from this source are very common among women. 
I have been reading parts of Dr. II. W. Williams’s 
“Diseases of the Eye” lately. I looked to see 
what he said about near-sightedness, or myopia. I 
knew so many cases of myopia among musicians, 
especially among piano-players, that I had won¬ 
dered if the study of music, the close attention to 
the fine notes, was not often a cause of near-sight¬ 
edness. There can be no doubt that it is often a 
cause of the rapid development of incipient and 
before unsuspected myopia. Any pursuit or em¬ 
ployment that calls for a use of the eves upon small 
or near objects has this effect. Children are often 
discovered to be near-sighted when they first begin 
to apply themselves earnestly to study, or when 
they undertake to learn some business in which a 
steady use of the eyes becomes necessary. Myopia is 
much more common among the educated classes 
than among the ignorant and unskilled, though a 
hereditary predisposition may exist equally in all 
classes. Dr. Williams says that it “ results in 
most cases from anatomical conformation, and is 
often hereditary ; and, except in the slighter cases, 
is capable of being scarcely, if at all, modified for 
the better by age or treatment.” 
Many parents have an idea that their myopic 
children may outgrow their nearness of vision, and 
they arc unwilling to have them put on glasses for 
fear they maj' always have to wear them. Dr. 
Williams says : “ It is evidently useless for persons 
affected with myopia to deprive themselves of the 
very great aid to be derived from the use of glasses, 
in the hope that with advancing years their vision 
may become normal.” It is true that a slight 
