3 70 
5THE RURAt NEW-YORKER 
4 
Woman and the Home 
From Day to Day. 
THE FIRST BLUEBIRD. 
Jest rain and snow ! and rain again! 
And dribble! drip and blow ! 
Then snow! and thaw! and slush! and 
then— 
Some more rain and snow! 
This morning I was ’most afeard 
To wake up—when, I jing! 
I seen the sun shine out and heerd 
The first bluebird of Spring !— 
Mother she’d raised the winder some— 
And in acrost the orchard come. 
Soft as an angel’s wing, 
A breezy, treesy, beesy hum, 
Too sweet for anything! 
The Winter’s shroud was rent apart— 
The sun burst forth in glee, 
And when that bluebird sung, my heart 
Hopped out o’ bed with me! 
—James Whitcomb Riley. 
* 
A woman’s good roads congress was 
recently held in Tacoma, Wash., for the 
purpose of gathering and disseminating 
information on the subject, so that 
women now possessing full citizenship 
may vote intelligently. There are nearly 
200,000 women in Washington who will 
soon be called upon to vote on bonding 
and taxation for road purposes. Good 
roads certainly possess a powerful inter¬ 
est for the women, for nothing increases 
the isolation of the farm so greatly as 
those highways that vary from mud to 
dust according to the season. 
* 
In pioneer days, says the Youth’s 
Companion, a settler near the present 
town of Albany, Mo., bought for his 
wife the first cook stove ever seen in 
that part of the State. It was an object 
of great curiosity, and the woman’s next 
door neighbor—who lived 10 miles away 
—came to see how it would work. With¬ 
out comment she saw the dinner cooked; 
she ate the meal with judgment held in 
reserve, and then remarked, with a 
shake of the head: “Well, Sarah, it 
cooks all right ,and the victuals taste 
good, but I don’t believe it will ever 
be a success.” 
* 
There are about 3,000 people living 
on the Magdalen Islands, far out in the 
Gulf of St. Lawrence, who are cut off 
from the mainland for about six months 
after Winter sets in. They are mostly 
French. Acadians, a hardy people who 
seem to find their isolated life quite to 
their liking, but the Dominion of Can¬ 
ada has decided that they have a right 
to be up to date in the world’s news, 
and has arranged for a weekly news 
letter of 1,000 words to be sent them 
regularly by wireless. The letter, com¬ 
posed of the best news of the week, will 
be sent by the Postmaster General at 
the expense of the Dominion Govern¬ 
ment, French being the language used. 
These letters will go to the local clergy, 
to be read to their congregations at the 
close of Sunday service. It seems rea¬ 
sonable to suppose there will be no fall¬ 
ing off in church attendance with the 
extra attraction of this Sunday supple¬ 
ment. 
* 
A New York architect offers, as one 
solution of the back-to-the-land problem, 
a plan of community living. He suggests 
a tract of land, say 300 acres, with a 
community house for about a dozen 
families in the middle of it. The house 
would be built in apartments, like a 
model tenement, with all improvements, 
only the apartments would be built in 
two stories, instead of one, and would 
have more light and air than the ordin¬ 
ary city house. Each family is to have 
an allotment—a piece of land for truck, 
fruit, poultry or whatever is desired. A 
farm superintendent would cultivate and 
crop as much of the land as was not 
taken up by the allotments, supporting 
work and dairy animals, and he would 
attend to any team work needed by the 
tenants, and keep a general supervision. 
The advantages of the plan are that 
March 16, 
tenants could engage in farming of the 
kind suited to their capacity without 
ruinous experiment, while the communal 
home would relieve them from the iso¬ 
lation and inconvenience that bears so 
heavily upon the women of the family 
when they leave the city for conditions 
quite novel to them. 
* 
It is said by the newspapers that 
scientists of the University of Pittsburg 
are experimenting with an edible com¬ 
pound made from petroleum. It is said 
that the experiments are financed by 
great interests connected with petrol¬ 
eum, and that the hydrocarbons of the 
mineral oil are transformed into fatty 
acids, which when blended with glycerine 
form a new food. We might begin to 
acquire a taste for it by spreading vase¬ 
line on our bread, but somehow a com¬ 
bination of glycerine (which is, we be¬ 
lieve, a by-product of soap factories) 
combined with petroleum put through a 
college course, does not sound like a 
cheering substitute for old-fashioned 
butter. 
* 
Vegetarian croquettes made as fol¬ 
lows are both savory and nourishing: 
Wash one-quarter cupful of dried Lima 
beans, lentils and split peas. Soak over 
night in water enough to cover; drain, 
add three pints of water, one-half a 
small onion, one stalk of celery or the 
green from two stalks, one small car¬ 
rot, a sprig of parsley, a bit of bay leaf 
and one clove. Cook until lentils are 
soft, remove seasonings, drain, then rub 
through a sieve. To the pulp add one- 
half cupful of stale bread crumbs (whole 
wheat preferably), one egg slightly 
beaten, one teaspoonful of salt, one 
saltspoonful of white pepper; beat well 
together. Melt one tablespoonful of 
butter, add one tablespoonful of flour 
and pour on gradually one-third cupful 
tals scattered about will also be found 
excellent, and though we none of us like 
their acrid odor, it is preferable to the 
presence of the moths. Good window 
screens, put in early, are a protection 
against clothes and buffalo moth. With 
constant cleaning, airing and shaking 
out, naphthalene and gasoline, “Dis¬ 
tracted” should soon see victory ahead. 
The frequent turning out is especially 
objectionable to these insects, since, like 
other malefactors, they prefer darkness 
rather than light. 
“Starter” or Yeast. 
On pages 103 and 206 I have just read 
articles on a seemingly mysterious 
“starter” or yeast, which mystery I 
think I can throw some light upon by 
giving the process by which I have been 
.making this “starter” here in Wyoming 
for some time. I first learned the pro¬ 
cess from a German woman who worked 
for me and who made excellent bread. 
In making the “starter” only the water 
in which potatoes were boiled is used, 
but I see no reason why potatoes could 
not be used as well, but I have not felt 
like experimenting with an already good 
thing. To make the “starter” save the 
water in which potatoes were boiled 
(say for some meal), cool, and meas¬ 
ure, and to each medium-sized coffee- 
cupful add three scant tablespoonsful of 
sugar, put in a glass fruit jar and set 
in a warm place to ferment. As soon 
as fermentation sets in (which will be in 
about 10 days) the “starter” is ready 
for use. In making bread use an equal 
part of warm water and the “starter” 
(never put salt or water in the part you 
are saving for next time) ; salt must be 
put in the bread, not “starter.” The 
“Oregon Reader” has already told how 
to make the bread and save the “starter.” 
With proper care this “starter” will keep 
indefinitely. mrs. w. h. e. 
When you write advertisers mention The 
R. N.-Y. and you’ll get a quick reply and a 
“square deal.” See*guarantee editorial page. 
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The one right cutting principle—four-bladed 
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surface of a perforated steel plate—cuts like 
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it means more money at killing time. 
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of hot cream. Beat well into the cro¬ 
quette mixture and let get cold. Then 
flour the hands, shape into croquettes 
of even size; egg, then crumb them; 
fry in deep, smoking-hot fat and drain 
on brown paper. Serve very hot with 
tomato sauce. 
Fried Apples. 
Will you favor us with a really good 
plain recipe for fried apples? There should 
be one in the “Rural Cook Book,” but do not 
find it. mrs. c. F. b. 
Plain fried apples are ordinarily 
served with bacon or sausage. Fry the 
meat and take out of the pan, putting 
in oven to keep warm. Then core the 
apples (which should be tart), but do 
not peel, slice across about one-fourth 
inch thick, and fry until tender in the 
bacon or sausage fat, turning when 
needed. Pile the slices of apple in the 
center of the dish and arrange the meat 
around it; serve very hot. Apples are 
also peeled, cored, cut across in slices, 
sprinkled with lemon juice, and then 
fried in butter, to be sprinkled with 
sugar and served as a dessert. We in¬ 
fer, as plain fried apples are specifically 
named, that the inquirer does not refer 
to apple fritters, in which the peeled and 
sliced fruit is dipped in batter before 
frying. 
A Plague of Moths. 
Will you answer as soon as possible an 
appeal from one who wishes a cure and 
remedy for the destruction of moths in a 
house? I have found them, real live ones, 
in almost every room. distracted. 
Clothes moths and carpet beetles both 
thrive best where they are little dis¬ 
turbed. Clothing or other fabrics fre¬ 
quently brushed, handled or swept are 
practically immune. Do not keep any 
woolen articles packed away without 
frequent handling and shaking out. In¬ 
fested closets should be well cleaned 
and then sprayed with benzine or gaso¬ 
line, care being taken that no light or 
fire is brought near until there has been 
time enough for the inflammable vapor 
to pass off. Plenty of naphthalene crys- 
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