284 
THE RURAb NKW-YORKER 
Woman and the Home 
From Day to Day. 
THE FIRST SPUING DAY. 
I wonder if the sap is stirring yet, 
If wintry birds are dreaming of a mate, 
If frozen snowdrops feel as yet the sun, 
And Crocus fires are kindling one by one: 
Sing, robin, sing! 
I still am sore in doubt concerning Spring. 
I wonder if the Springtide of this year 
Will bring another Spring both lost and 
dear; 
If heart and spirit will find out their Spring, 
Or if the world alone will bud and sing: 
Sing, hope, to me! 
Sweet notes, my hope, soft notes for mem¬ 
ory. 
The sap will surely quicken soon or late, 
The tardiest bird will twitter to a mate; 
So Spring must dawn again with warmth 
and bloom, 
Or in this world, or in the world to come: 
Sing, voice of Spring! 
Till I, too, blossom and rejoice and sing. 
—Christina G. Rossetti. 
• 
The Philadelphia Record tells of a 
unique use for the telephone. “I have a 
pretty big family and have to darn three 
days a week. I broke my gourd a month 
ago and this here thing comes in pretty 
hand, so I thought I would use it,” was 
the explanation offered by an old lady at 
Hershey, near Lebanon, when it was dis¬ 
covered she was putting a six party tele¬ 
phone line out of service three days each 
week for several weeks by detaching the 
receiver to use as a darning gourd. 
* 
A recent newspaper note states that 
the New York Zoological Park has just 
received two Tasmanian devils, which are 
the strongest jawed animals in existence, 
able to break iron with their teeth. A 
reference to the naturalists tells us that 
the Tasmanian devil is a burrowing car¬ 
nivorous marsupial animal; it is about 
the size of a badger, covered with coarse 
black hair and is very savage in disposi¬ 
tion ; it will kill sheep, and seems an 
animal of most unpleasant temperament, 
as suggested by its name. It belongs 
to the same class as our little friend 
“Brer Possum,” but possesses a very 
different character. 
* 
If the farm sportsman supplies the 
housekeeper with rabbits, she will find 
them improved by cooking in a casserole 
as follows: The rabbits should first be 
parboiled in water to which a table¬ 
spoonful of vinegar has been added, and 
which should be changed at the end of 
half an hour for more water with vine¬ 
gar in it. At the end of two hours the 
pot should be taken from the stove and 
the rabbit drained of all the water. A 
hot skillet or frying pan should be ready, 
with melted butter, in which is a sliced 
onion, a clove of garlic chopped, two 
cloves, two branches of thyme and two 
bay leaves. Into this the pieces of rab¬ 
bit, well covered with flour and salted, 
arc placed until browned on both sides. 
Then a little over a pint of stock, and a 
pinch of pepper are poured into the skil¬ 
let and stirred with the gravy. This is 
then thickened with two tablespoonfuls 
of flour and poured into the casserole, 
in which the rabbit has been arranged in 
layers, with chopped onion and carrot. 
The gravy should fill the casserole. The 
lid is then put on and the casserole is 
put in a moderate oven and left for 
two hours and a half. 
* 
The Department of Agriculture states 
that so far 9,968,000 copies of the various 
farmers’ bulletins dealing with food 
topics have been called for, or one bul¬ 
letin to every 10 persons in the total 
population. In the case of every one of 
these bulletins over 100,000 copies have 
been needed to meet the request for 
them, and in the majority of cases three 
or four times this number, the demand, 
apparently, having a direct relation to 
the subject-matter, the bulletins dealing 
with the commonest food materials being 
the most popular. Thus, over 700,000 
copies have been published of the bulle¬ 
tins on bread making. Of Farmers’ Bul¬ 
letin 128, “Eggs and Their Uses as 
Food,” 555,000 copies have been dis¬ 
tributed, and of Farmers’ Bulletin 121, 
“Beans, Peas, and Other Legumes as 
Food,” 420,000 copies. The publication 
which deal with the preparation of food 
have been particularly sought after, 762,- 
000 copies having been issued of Farm¬ 
ers’ Bulletin 203, “Canned Fruit, Pre¬ 
serves, and Jellies—Household Methods 
of Preparation,” and 740,000 copies of 
Farmers’ Bulletin 256, “Preparation of 
Vegetables for the Table.” The bulletin 
which heads the list in the demands 
which have been made for it is Farmers’ 
Bulletin 391, “Economical Use of Meat 
in the Home,” which discusses the prep¬ 
aration of this staple food material with 
reference to economy as well as palat- 
ability. In the two years since this bul¬ 
letin was published eighteen regular edi¬ 
tions, aggregating 1,420,000 copies have 
been issued by the Department of Agri¬ 
culture, and, in addition, a special reprint 
of 500,000 copies ordered by Congress, 
making a total of 1,920,000 copies. 
* 
A good many city writers who profess 
to relate the hardships of woman’s work 
upon the farm dwell upon the toil she 
undergoes in her garden, in the effort 
to have some of nature’s beauty near 
her. They seem unable to understand 
that the labor we love is not toil. It is 
wearisome enough to hurry from kitchen 
work to pick fruit or vegetables, and 
hurry back again for the endless round 
of cooking and cleaning, but it is resting 
to the mind and soothing to the nerves 
to work among plants, and many a tired 
woman knows it is the one thing that 
aids her most when worn by the stress 
of many cares. “God Almighty first 
planted a garden, and indeed it is the 
purest of human pleasures,” says philo¬ 
sophic Lord Verulam. Wherever we see 
a flower garden we know we shall meet 
a friend, even though there is nothing 
more ambitious than a ragged old Prairie 
Queen rose and a straggling row of 
hollyhocks, or a prim little bed of ger¬ 
aniums edged with clam shells. If the 
family purse does not permit any 
“boughten” flowers we like to see a bed 
of ferns from the woods, and perhaps 
some wild laurel and dogwood or Rho¬ 
dodendron. The one thing that is al¬ 
ways saddening to us is the farmhouse 
with no touch of beauty in its surround¬ 
ings; no vines, no trees, no flowers—as 
though the owners, in their zeal for pro¬ 
ductive returns, grudged soil and sun¬ 
light to any growing thing that can repay 
by beauty alone. Says Saadi, the old 
Persian poet: “If thou hast two loaves, 
sell one, and with it buy a rose, for the 
bread is but food for the body, whereas 
the rose is food for the soul.” 
Coloring Feathers. 
Someone asked recently how to color 
and paste feathers for flowers. I will 
tell how 1 colored some white wings. 
My father killed a great white roos¬ 
ter ; he cut the wings off close to 
the body. (No one had wing for dinner 
that day). I wished to have them blue 
and brown. I fixed some bluing, as for 
clothes, and put the long feathers part 
into it. It took only a short time to 
color these feathers a pretty light blue. 
I made strong coffee, dissolved alum 
in it, then soaked the rest of the wing in 
that until it was a soft brown, and 
went nicely with the blue. I wore them 
all Winter on a hat; snow did not hurt 
them. I suppose if I had wished for 
pink I would have ground up beets, 
or yellow, then carrots; we try to use 
what we have up here in the country. 
In Winter, when eggs are high and 
white, I put boiled squash (real yellow 
squash) into loaf cake to make a gold 
cake. To glue white feathers or any¬ 
thing light colored I make paste from 
flour and dissolve some good glue in 
it' H. s. 
March 2, 
Where Many of the Well 
Dressed Women Come From 
In almost every community in the 
United States, in almost every 
country on the globe, there are well 
dressed women who buy their clothes from 
Montgomery Ward & Co. They buy through 
our Women’s Fashion Book, an authority 
for the latest, the best creations for 
women’s wear. The fit, the fabric, the 
style, the wearing qualities of their clothes 
aro of the same high grado that Is found in 
the clothing of the most fashionably dressed 
women of the big cities. And yet, theso 
Montgomery Ward & Co. customers are paying 
only two-thirds, and often only one-half of what 
other women who buy from retail stores are 
paying. 
And. madam, you, too, can havo the best 
duality of clothing that money and brains can 
manufacture if you will lmv them through the 
pages of our WOMEN’S SPRING AND SUM¬ 
MER FASHION BOOK. You need only put 
your namo and address on the coupon below 
and the number 3 0, which Is the number of 
this hook, and it will ho sent to you at once, 
free of charge. Remember that we ouarantee 
tho fit, style, fabric, workmanship—every¬ 
thing—'about each single garment, to please 
you perfectly. If for any reason you are not 
entirely pleased, you may return your purchase 
at once and wo will refund your money and 
any transportation charges you have paid. 
Ihit tho numbers of the othor books you 
want on the coupon also. 
2. Pianos. 
8. Organs. 
4. Trunks. 
7. Furniture. 
9. Wall paper. 
11 . Grocery List. 
1 r». Carpets & Rugs. 
17. Baby Carriages. 
19. Sewing Machines. 
24. Underwear 
Samples. 
27. Baby’s Dress and 
Toilet 
30. Women’s Sprint 
Fashion-Book. 
35. Dry Goods. 
80. Muslin Wear. 
37. Millinery. 
Put the numbers of tho books you need on 
this coupon, and your nuino and udress, und 
send it to us immediately. 
Montgomery Ward & Co. 
Chicago Avenue Bridge, 19th and Campbell Sts. 
CHICAGO KANSAS CITY 
Please send mo the following books free of charge: 
Book Numbers 30. 
Name 
P. O. 
162 
State 
Send coupon to the nearer address 
Dowr- 
and 
off! 
TOWER'S 
FISH BRAND 
REFLEX 
SLICKER 
THAT’S WHERE ALL 
THE WATER GOES 
Even the front of this slicker 
is WATERPROOF! our Reflex edges 
(Pat’d) guide eveiy drop to the bottom. 
Made for good hard service jet looks 
like an ordinaiy overcoat. 
YOU CAN T GET WET 
t ° W£r s satisfaction 
i *i GUARANTEE^ 
/«W BRM® 
* 32 ° 
Everywhere" 
aj TOWER, co. 
BOSTON 
TOWER CANADIAN im 
TORONTO. 
aia 
TRAVELING 
When you write advertisers mention The 
. N.-Y. and you’ll get a quick reply and a 
square deal.” See guarantee editorial page. 
For thoso who havo from 800 ft. to 1^ inilos to go for 
their mail. Easily placed on telephone polos or 2 x 4’a | 
fastened to fonco posts. The 
OAKWOOD MAIL CARRIER 
Mado ontiroly of metal. Ball-bearing pulleys. Sold | 
on thirty days'trial. Write for book “Gotting the Mail.’ 
Oakwood Mfg. Co. 47 Stanton Ave. Springfield, Ohio. 
CIDER-PRESSES 
The Original Mt. Gilead Hydraulic Press 
produces more cider from loss 
apples than any other and Is a 
IIIU MONEY MAKER. Sizes 
10 to 4U0 barrels daily. Also 
cider evaporators, apple- 
buttor cookers, vinegar 
generators, eto. 
•f CATALOGUE FREE. 
THE HYDRAULIC PRESB MFG. CO. 
Ill7 Lincoln Ave., Mt. Gilead, Ohio, 
Or Room H9 L 39 Cortlandt Street, 
uw York, N. Y. 
.8 
the most efficient device 
■ ■ t made for pumping water by water. 
A All Raises water 30 feet for each foot 
of fall—no trouble 
^or pumping expense.. Satis¬ 
faction guaranteed. 
Booklet, plana, estimate, FREE. 
RITE ENGINE CO. 
2429 Trinity Bide., N. Y. 
We are STILL MAKING and SELLING 
Rubberhide Boots 
They nro better than ever. The Increased demand 
i »rovos it. Only best Oak Leather used in the soles, 
tesolablo by auy cobbler. Ask your doalor or write 
us for booklet and prices. 
RUBBERHIDE COMPANY 
Dept. C, Essex Building, Boston, Mass. 
